K is for kids

 I love kids, I think they're great. I kind of dread the day when they all grow up and go away. What would I do with myself? Hubby points out that we'll probably have grandchildren by the time they're all gone so apparently I shouldn't worry so much. Kids are great and some children don't get to experience the joy of being kids. That makes me sad. I think I'm going to bed now because I am obviously tired maybe my day was busy what do you think?
4:15- Cap climbs in my bed because he had a bad dream
6:30- Giggles and Princess give the wake up call
7:15- Breakfast
8:05- Legoman and Cap off to school
9:30-10:59 Pick up the house and vac because I haven't vacuumed in a while and someone's coming over
11:00- Speech for Giggles (of course all littles are involved)
12:05- Rush off to the park for lunch and playdate realize the car is on empty and pray I don't run out of gas after the playdate
1:45- Get littles sippy cups of ice water and put them down for naps
2:30- Cap and Legoman arrive home and are quickly shushed and bribed with wii games to keep quiet so they don't wake the littles
2:35- dishes, laundry, gardening, making my bed, and think about sitting down for a minute
3:50- Odd sound wakes up Giggles. Giggles is cranky and cries and wakes up the Princess who is now cranky too.
4:30- Moose wakes up after cranky girls walk into his room and cry while throwing toys
4:45- Hubby is on his way home gather stuff to take kids to town (the big one with Costco)
5:15- Throw kids in car while hubby changes out of his uniform and speed into town to make it to the nursery before it closes
6:03- Nursery is still open even though it's supposed to be closed. Grab Nanking Cherry bush, celery, broccoli  cauliflower and asparagus
6:35- Sportman's Warehouse
7:32- Costco
8:00- Olive Garden and wait 19 minutes to be seated (my poor kids were so hungry made me feel like the worst mom EVER)
10:22- Get home unload kids and car
10:45- Remember I need to do my A-Z blog before bed but can hardly think straight so I just do a schedule of my dad and a generic word for my letter.
NIGHT!

J is for Judge

 Hate the decision or love it the judge makes all decisions with child welfare cases. The judge decides if there is enough evidence to pull a child out of a home, most people don't know that though. They always seem to blame the social workers. They can pull a child out of a home for 48 hours if they're sure the child is in immediate life threatening danger and they have to have enough evidence of abuse to prove to a judge it was a serious emergency. Otherwise the judge will have them return the child if there's not enough evidence. They also decide when the parent is ready to have their child back, granted most time they take the advice of the social worker but in Giggles case the judge decided it just wasn't fair. With Angel's case the judge decided defiantly not reunifying her as it went against the therapist, case worker, supervisor, lawyer and even dad's lawyer was said 'well he didn't show up, guess he doesn't really care.' Sometimes I wonder if the judges know how much their decisions affect these children. Do they just make decisions to hurry the case along to cross one more off the list? Or do they really consider the child's best interest in the situation?

I is for ICWA

 So we are trying to adopt Princess. Everything was going absolutely perfectly and smoothly towards it. Dad had already relinquished and mom did last month. In the process of filling out the adoption packet and the social background information when her dad mentioned 'oh by the way I think my grandma was full Indian. Maybe Cherokee or something like that.' Which mean I get to brush up on ICWA laws.

 ICWA stands for Indian Child Welfare Act and it really is a good thing. It makes sure that Native American children have extra rights to help ensure they are brought up in the same tribe. It is there to protect the rights of their Native American heritage. I think that's a great thing. I'm not so happy that it means that IF Princess does have a full blooded Native American ancestor (that can be proven) it means that the father might have to RE relinquish his rights or that it has the potential that she could be removed to be in a home with people from the same heritage. I know neither of her parents have ever gone to the reservation, other than to pick up fireworks a couple of times and they don't teach her any of her heritage. We do more of those things here than she ever would with her parents.

 Of course this is all hypothetical, apparently many many people claim Native American ancestry and majority of them say they are Cherokee. Honestly I though I had Cherokee history too until all this came up and I researched it. Nope. At least if I do not from anyone listed on any of the rolls which means there is a possibility but its not likely. So now the social worker had to send off letters to each of the tribe's office and they are supposed to answer her with in a week if this ancestor was actually considered to be part of their tribe. That would mean they'd have to be on the rolls. I was given the information and I searched and searched and couldn't find them so I'm not too worried. Its been 2 weeks now and social worker hasn't let me know (of course she's been on vacation for the last week so that could be part of it). For now we get to wait and see.

H is for Human Interference

 Ha! You thought I was going to continue what I normally do in the blogging world, talk about something personal in my life. Not today, well actually sort of. See my father in law wrote a book called Human Interference. Not only that but Hubs and I are on the cover, so it is kind of personal. 

More than that though, its a pretty good book and I don't just say that because I know the author. Hubs is a second generation air traffic controller so its something he of course loves to read about but I enjoyed it too and honestly I could care less about airplanes and control towers other than when they directly affect my life. So if you're looking for a book check it out, if you read it PLEASE leave my dear sweet father in law a comment on the book. It makes his day so much when he gets comments (even when they're not 5 stars). Right now he's hiking the Pacific Coast Trail with my brother in law. Meanwhile my mother in law, sister in law and two kids are following in an RV to be there to resupply them. They have already shared some amazing pictures and my hubby can't wait to hike part of the trail with them later this summer. 

G is for Giggles

 Bet you thought I was going to do a G is for girls post similar to my boys one but no today is for sweet Giggles. Not sure how much I've mentioned about her so this will be a little refresher course. Giggles is the most beautiful little girl I have ever seen, everyone can't believe how pretty she is. Slightly curly blond hair and the biggest dark blue eyes I've ever seen. She is also the loudest child I have ever met and the most courageous, nothing scares her. Honestly I wish she was more scared of doing crazy things I feel like I am always having to call her social worker and let her know how many injuries she's amassed that day. Giggles is as rough and tumble as my boys but still likes to have her nails painted. Everyone tells me how much 'my daughter looks like me' which I just say thank you instead of explaining that she's a foster child. Now that she's started talking so much more she'll smile and say 'Thank you Giggles pretty like mama pretty. Giggles really pretty.' Huge sentence for a child that was pretty much non verbal 6 months ago.

 As for whats happening with her case? Well that's where things get sticky. The judge decided to terminate her mother's rights since no one knows where she is BUT she also rule for reunification with the father. The father is in jail and will be for another 2- 2 1/2 years. He's only seen Giggles ONCE and that one time was when we were on vacation near him and took her in for a visit. The father has never raised any of his children (he says his rights were terminated but no one can find the proof) and has a history of drug abuse. I am so heartsick over this decision. I hope that he is serious about getting his life together and that he is the world's best single dad or that he screws up REALLY early so that it doesn't affect her. She'll FIVE by the time he gets out and starts getting visits with this man. She'll have 4- 6 months to get used to the idea of living with a total stranger. To go from a loving caring home with lots of siblings, toys and parents that know how to handle more difficult children to an unknown situation. (Just in case I haven't mentioned it earlier Giggles is an extremely difficult child, we adore her but she gives us a run for our money :) ) I know a lot can happen in two years but this is one of the biggest worries on my mind right now. Sorry for the downer of a post I'll make it up to you with picture of Giggles camping this weekend.

You can't see it in the picture but she camouflaged herself with dirt, she is covered head to toe. 

F is for Farm

 I have a secret (well unless you know me in real life) desire to have a farm. In 3-4 years hubby and I want to have a farm. Not one to earn a ton of money or anything just something that is pretty much self sufficient. We want cows, chickens, ducks, guinea fowl, rabbits, sheep, pigs and great Pyrenees dogs. Actually we've picked the breeds for most of our livestock. Dexter cows, Icelandic Sheep, Orpington and Americana chickens and American Chinchilla Rabbits. We've haven't looked into pigs and ducks as much yet. I am already gardening with heirloom organic seeds (well mostly). We're trying to weed out GMO fruits and veggies. With a large farm that's something we can do. I'm thinking 20-50 acres while Hubby wants over 100. We'll  have to see what we can find but I can not wait. We will wait though since we have to wait and see what happens with Giggles we're not going to leave her with a new foster family while she has to go through visits with her dad. We are even waiting for at least a year after they reunite her so that if he messes up we are still here to be there for her. She loves cows. That's her in the picture below

Cap playing with baby chicks

All 5 of the kiddos on the tire swing.

 See what I mean a farm would be great.

E is for Early Intervention Services

 One nice thing about having foster children they get Early Intervention Services, here in Nevada they go by the acronym NEIS. Of course Moose gets NEIS as well for his speech. So far I have loved all our therapists except one and it wasn't that I disliked her I just didn't love her. Probably because Princess HATED her which led the speech lady to tell me that she thought Princess was possibly retarded and preforming at a 6-12 month level cognitively. She also got Princess signed up for a developmental therapist as well who Princess decided was ok so she talked up a storm. So the tally is:
Moose- Speech Pathologist (well not any more he just turned 3 and aged out since he'll go to preschool)
Giggles- Speech Path, Occupational Therapist, and Developmental Therapist
Princess- Speech Path and Developmental Therapist

 After seeing all the work they do I think I'd like to be an occupational therapist when I grow up, seems like their job consists mainly of watching kids play and helping you learn new ways of dealing with issues. Ours is particularly fun and the kids adore her and get excited when she walks in the door. I know she has a PhD and has tons of training but she looks like she has the easiest job. All three kids have improved dramatically with help from our NEIS team. Its really a good idea if you have concerns about your children to seek out professionals  I believe every state has a similar program. Most of the time they're free or they use your insurance.