Can't end on a sad note...

I just finished my post about Lexy and am sitting here at the computer a total mess. So I have decided that I can't end on a sad note. We had an increadibly busy week with the start of school, Melissa starting work and school, and then John and I really starting to talk seriously about updating our kitchen.

So I come into the house yesterday and John has our huge cabinet (which is actually 3 sm. cabinets) totally cleaned out and everything stacked on the counter. My sister walks through the front door with a puzzled look on her face and John just tells her that he's cleaning.....yeah right! Our plan has been to take that cabinet out because it sits right over our bar and totally closes off the kitchen from the rest of the house. I wish that I had a "before" picture, but take my word for it, it stunk!! Basically our evening ended with John and Robert (our Bro-in-law) tearing the cabinet down. This officially marks the start to our KITCHEN MAKEOVER!

Some of our plans include refinishing the cabinets (possibly even new doors) with cream paint and then sanding and antiquing them and then adding new hardware. Sewing a skirt for my bakers rack to cover up all of our crap that I stack on the shelves. Possibly looking at new countertops as well as new flooring (that will be the biggie, it depends on if we can find any good deals.) It should keep us plenty busy this winter!

Here are a few pictures of Johns great work...



Imagine a very large cabinet looming in my kitchen. We are going to put a small cabinet there in the corner.



My now open, very cluttered kitchen.

Here are a some pictures of the kiddo's...



What is this picture you might ask yourself?? Why it is my children sleeping in their doorways. I don't even know why we spend the money to buy them nice beds. Hunter ends up sleeping on the floor EVERY SINGLE NIGHT!!!



I wonder if he could feel my presence here...looming over him, willing him to sleep in his bed just one night.



Contrary to what you may think, this picture is not a picture of the hole that is half patched at the end of the hallway (Jazzy found out that running in the house is not a good idea when she landed her head in the wall.) But it is a picture documenting that even after hundreds of dollars spent at the orthodontist to put gadgets in her mouth to stop the thumb sucking, sucking the thumb wins in the end.



Jazzy's hair will not hold a curl with the curling iron, so I decided to buy the pink foamy rollers.



Morgan, my niece, decided that she wanted in on that action.



The cute thing was that Morgan thought that the rollers were the "hairdo." She didn't understand that the curls the rollers produced were the actual "hairdo." Therefore she wants to wear the curlers to preschool on Monday.



The outcome...CRAZY HAIR!!! Holy cow, I couldn't believe how curly those things made her hair! A bit out of control, but cute none the less. She felt very stylish getting ready for church today!

Some Sad News...

So, the time that we have been dreading has come. A relative of Lexy's has stepped forward to take her. Her caseworker came for a visit a couple of weeks ago and told me she had some exciting news. Then she dropped the bomb and I felt my heart tear out of my chest. I knew that this would happen, I mean, we are "foster" parents after all, but maybe I was searching for some sliver of hope.

The bottom line is that John and I just don't feel like our family is complete yet. Yes, I have given birth to two amazing kiddos, but for us the adventure doesn't stop there. (And anyone who knows my large, loud and crazy family realizes why two is only the beginning for us.) We initially started out on the road to adoption, but felt prompted to switch gears to fostering several months later. It is hard to realize what the Lord has planned for you.

So here we are, back to my beautiful Lexy. The caseworker tells us that it is her mother's cousin that lives in Roseburg (about an hour south of us.) They sound just fantastic. They are the parents of three teenagers, they have been at their great jobs forever, and they are completely estranged from Lexy's immediate family. From the sounds of it they will be a great resource for her. (Yes, it does sound like I am handling it well, but I am really NOT!) I was told on Friday that the family has started their homestudy and things will probably be happening in a week or two. "Things" being defined as transitioning Lexy down south already. Of course, as much as I am praying for a delay, I don't know which would be worse...to have her taken from us in the next week or two, or to have it drag on over the next few months???

I am trying to get through this the best that I know how....not think about it. Our entire family...the kids, John, my parents, my family...we are all pretty much crushed. We are just trying to spend as much quality time with her as possible and hope that this family will be open to us keeping in contact.

So to answer the question on everyone's minds, Yes, we plan on taking in another child. My mother and sister of course think that I am crazy. Everyone can see how much this is hurting me, but there is something great at work here. All I can think of is what a gift that our family has been able to give to Lexy. She is totally thriving in this environment full of people who love her soooo very much. Even if it has only been for 5 months, how could I not give that gift to another child??? We have talked with the kids about it, and John and I have talked a great deal. We have been trying to rationalize why we should or shouldn't take another child. Things like me starting student teaching in January which means full time daycare, or how easy it is to have two totally self sufficient children. But what it all boils down to is that call that we get telling us that some little boy or little girl needs a good home for a little while. The kids understand this and look forward to helping someone else.

So now that you have read through miles and miles of mindless babble, here are some pictures of our smallest muchkin.



She got the color crayons and book out of the craft closet all by herself.



So then she would dump out all the crayons, color for a while and then try to put all the crayons back into the box.



She would then start the process all over again! :)



The last hour had been spent in the garden with daddy and Hunter and she was totally beat from picking all of the veggies. She decided to take a break and devour a HUGE tomato from the garden. She ate the entire tomato! What you don't see in this picture is that John and Hunter are sitting with her at the table doing the same thing.



Lexy and I had played playdough together for over an hour this particular morning, then after nap I see her run to the craft closet and then run to the table with her cup and some playdough. She dumps them on the table, runs back to the closet and comes back with a rolling pin and toys. She then proceeds to play with said playdough as if nothing is out of the ordinary. It cracked me up, she is so independant!



Can't even remember what happened, but what a great picture!



Making pancakes with mom on Sunday morning.



Helping mom with vacuming the floors. Notice the new addition to our dining room in the background. A huge sheet of wood that helps keep Roxy out of the living room. Lexy knows that she can slide it out of the way to get in and out of the room and then she slides it closed when she has gone through.



She has decided that she no longer wants to help, but needs to take a break.

First Day of School

So today was that magical day that only happens once a year. No, it is not christmas or my birthday. What could it be you ask?!? Why the first day of school silly. That magical day when you don't hear "I'm bored" a million times, you only hear it a few hundred. The day when kids are excited to go to school, unlike a week from now when they will be "sick." And it is the day when my children will get up willingly at 6:30 in the morning. What a wonderful day!! Crazy as it was things went pretty smoothly. Kids dressed, hair done, teeth brushed, breakfast eaten, lunches made, ready to walk out the door by 8am. The sad part was that I was not able to be with them when they were dropped off to school. Being that I work in an elementary school I miss out on the fun of taking the kids on the first day. So....that said....the following pictures were taken by John.




Jazzy on her way out the door. **Please excuse the dead plants and dried up sunflower heads - just imagine how beautiful they were this summer!**



Hunter, the one and only time this year he will be smiling on his way out the door to school!



Yep - take the picture and get the heck out of here



And of course, now that Jasmine is a 4th grader pictures at your desk are off limits, per Jazzy ;)

The after school verdict.....drumroll please..... They have both agreed to go back again tommorrow!!! Both really like their teachers (for the time being) and are excited for this new school year.

Meet Roxy

Meet the newest member of our family...Roxy. She is a 7 week old Austrailian Shephard. We had been wanting a puppy for a very long time, but refuse to pay a huge amount of money for a dog. We figured that when it was our time a dog would find us. That time was about a week and a half ago. My sister calls me to tell me that she knows someone selling puppies for $75 if I wanted the number. So I call and our family went to play with the puppies that night. The family was super nice and had the parents of the puppies right there for us to visit with as well. It was great! We new immediatly that we would take one. Fast forward to today. Roxy has been with us for a week and a half and she is a wonderful addition to our family. The kids adore her and have participated in her care 100%. Potty training stinks!!! (literally and figuratively) but she is picking up on it rather quickly. The kids take her out every 1/2 hour to try to potty and then stand out there cheering and clapping when she does. I am sure our neighbors think they are crazy as they are shouting out "Good potty Roxy, you went pee. That is so exciting, good dog!" But, as a result, she went outside to go potty all on her own today!! I am glad to get a good handle on this now because I start back to work this next week and the kids start school the following week, so it will be a little bit harder then. All in all I think that Roxy was definitely meant to be a part of our family!



Her favorite past-time activity....eating ;)



Her other favorite activity



Starting to get tired after a round of tug-o-war on the couch...mom was not pleased



Chillin on the couch, watching Mythbusters with dad



Will you cut it out with the flash already... it is really distracting!

So Here We Are...

So here we are...jumping on the blogging bandwagon. I have thought of starting one for the longest time, especially since we have so much family that lives out of state, but I just never got around to it. Then I was talking to some of my classmates about the world of blogging and many stated that they blogged mainly to keep an online journal of their life. Hmmm... that made sense. There is so much going on in our daily lives that I quickly forget because I never journal it. Well, that is about to change. So here we go - sit down, buckle up, and enjoy the ride.

Introductions:

John is currently a chef at Sheldon Oaks. It is a retirement community and he is second in charge in the kitchen. It is not neccessarily his dream job, but it has its upsides. His hours allow him to be home for a late dinner (7ish) every night, which is very important in our family. It is also a very relaxed environment and he really enjoys the people he works with.

I (Melissa) work at Thurston Elementary part-time in the life skills classroom (special ed.). This has been a really great job and is allowing me to get some hands on experience with teaching. Unfortuntly I will have to quit at christmas break. It is somewhat bittersweet. I will be very sad to leave my classroom and students, but I will be happy because it means that I am starting my student teaching! I am a full time student at Pacific University. In May of 2008 I will be graduating from the elementary education program with my Bachlor's in education and my teaching license - then begins the hunt for a job!

Jasmine is nine years old and is going into the 4th grade. Can you believe that I already have a 4th grader!! Jazzy loves being with our family. She is a huge help around the house and with her little sister. She loves riding her bike with the neighborhood kids, bouncing on the trampoline and swimming. She has also become quite the reader ( a girl after my own heart!).

Hunter is our 7 year old boy...need I say more. Trouble is not his only middle name, there is also sneaky, attitude, dirt diggin, rambunctious, mischivious, and snuggly. With as much trouble as he finds him self in, it is hard to get angry at him! He is ready to roll at 8:30 am, wanting to know if he can go play with his friends or ride his bike. He is still asking these same questions at 8:30 pm. But, with as crazy as he makes it, I couldn't imagine life without him!

Lexy just turned two and has transformed our lives. Lexy came to us as a foster child May 1st of this year, but in only 4 short months she has become the center of attention. Lexy's homelife was not too great, she was extremely neglected. Because of this she has some developmental delay's. Lexy came to us barely able to walk, not talking at all, she didn't even know her own name. But in such a short time she is already running around the house, talking up a storm (although much of it is still nonsense talk, but she is a total motor mouth!) she is even learning baby sign. Her future with our family is unknown at this point. Because her mom failed to appear in court her visits were suspended. Here we are, 2 months later, and her mom still has yet to contact the state. Our hopes and prayers are that Lexy will be able to become part of our crazy family through adoption (if her mom ends up losing her parental rights). Until then she is just as much a part of our family as our other two kids. She has us all wrapped around her little finger.

So, now that you are bored out of your mind here are a few photos...



The kids...we were actually trying to capture a pic of the out-of-control static hair that Lexy had, but by the time I snapped the picture it was gone.



Hunter and Zoe, doing what they do best...sleeping on the board that covers the fire pit.



Lexy putting on her "elf" shoes (they are actually the covers that go on the handles of the booster seat...go figure.)



Lexy playing with the dollhouse.



Our three at the petting zoo (Portland Zoo)



Sweet Jasmine



At the Portland Zoo