This week has been a busy one! Lots to do to wrap up the school year... still working hard on the rooms (unfortunately!) School is out for the summer now and I know I'm going to be busy with the boys for most of it.
Thursday, was T's 4th grade graduation. Very important ceremony! Normally, the grade 4's would not be leaving the school. However, with the new middle school going up and ready for the fall, grade 4's and 5's got to graduate with the grade 6 kids this year. Here are a couple of really cute pics.
T walking down the aisle to the "stage". He was so excited to dress up for this one!
T in the crowd. Very handsome!
The cake in the party room after the ceremony/performance.
T and me!
T and Will
T and Mrs. Stone
T and his friend
T and more friends
T and Mrs. W T and Faith
T and Mrs. Purnell
T and Mrs. S.
T and Mrs. Quinn
Thursday was also his final game for baseball! Yay!! I missed it though because I was off to the RS Annual Progressive Supper.
Not sure if this pic will show up but...
It was a very fun night! These pics are only of half the attendees - the rest went outside into the hostess' beautiful backyard. Lots more people than we'd bargained for came and that is a good thing! Good friends, great food and wonderful camaraderie. Felt good to have a girls night and laugh for awhile... before the summer break really kicks in.
Mudding takes a lot of work! And I am a self professed "drywall dummy". I am so sore today I can barely move... but we're slowly (very slowly) seeing some progress. I'm anxious to get these rooms done for so many reasons.
I NEED my own craft space!!
The spare kids need a spare room to store their stuff and put their part-time beds.
Our adopting of V and T is getting closer to being finalized. That means that we will have license to foster more children and we will NEED the extra space.
School is done in two days and I can't work as efficiently with them "trying to help".
I'm sick of drywall dust and mud being traipsed all over the house!!!
You know it's bad when the four year old you babysit notices and says things like, "Someone really trashed your house!" I had planned to work on it some more today - but need to rest my arms and shoulders - at least for this morning. Here is a pic of D working away on the room. I love him for doing this for me! I also wanted to share a little bit about Father's Day last Sunday. The boys were so excited to share what they'd made and try to make D's day a great one. V had made a cute little card and a clay picture inside a CD case. Very unique idea! D loved it. Please excuse the counter mess behind the picture...T forgot his card at school, so quickly wrapped up a Boston Pizza chocolate that comes in a mini box and shaped like a pizza. Also very cute and D loved it.
I had made a couple of gift cans, filled them with candy and resealed them for him to open. He thought that was a super cute idea! We also made him waffles for breakfast before we headed off to church.
The Primary kids sung a song and I have to tell you - those kids are so freakin' cute! I wish I could have a video or picture to share with you. There is one little guy who kept grabbing the microphone and placing it right in front of him. One of ours stood out in front all smiles and happy to be seen - the other hid behind some of the taller girls so no one would see him. I love Primary kids performances. They either make me laugh right out loud or tear up because I feel their wonderful spiritual presence. I think D had a pretty great Father's Day - though I know he was missing his own kids too.
There will be more to write later, I'm sure as this is the last week of school (boo!) AND baseball (yay!)
One of the things we've been working on in the past year is getting our food storage a little bit closer to the "one year" mark. Any progress is good here as we started out so close to the "none at all" mark. We've done well and now have boxes and boxes of cans in our basement. So when I saw this one, I thought I'd best post about it to get my entries in!
Shelf Reliance is having a contest to earn one of these...
You can get your own entry into this contest by going to http://www.shelfreliance.com/blog/ and following their directions there. Good luck to you and me both! :)
It took a couple of days to have time to write about this one - but we're going to Atlanta Georgia!! The agency that we foster through sends people to the Conference on Treatment Foster Care each year. Last year, we were pretty new to fostering, so I didn't even think to apply. However, this year, we felt like we were a little more "seasoned" and so I put together a very small proposal - but we were chosen to go!!
So DH and I will be heading out - sans children - for four days! I've always wanted to see some of the southern US and we're both just stoked about the chance to go!! DH already looked up the hotel we'll be in and YES! there is a temple 20 minutes from where we'll be staying. I'm hoping we have a chance to get there too. :) Never mind... I just read that they will be renovating during the time we'll be there... :(
In the meantime, our basement renovation is coming along so nicely! Most of the drywall is up and we'll be starting the taping and mudding today. :) We found enough leftover laminate under the stairs to do the craft room up, and maybe even enough to do the short hallway. Another thing to be super stoked about!
With all this going on, as well as baseball, end of school activities, cubs, callings, etc., we feel like we've been so busy!
Had to tell this story though... TP has been taking what he calls his "Human Sexy-ality" class at school. While this was a very embarrassing topic of discussion for the older children, TP seems to have no qualms about discussing what he's learning in class. Not sure he's getting it totally though, as he asked me the other day if it's "boys or girls that grow hair on their 'generalities'". I bust out laughing!! I couldn't help it!! He did at least know that it's girls that "grow breasts"... though I've got some neighbours that mow their lawns without shirts and it leaves me wondering if it's just the women... Yuck! (I'm in the EVERYONE NEEDS TO WEAR A SHIRT Club.)
Actually, this go round with the "sexy-ality" class has been the easiest one that I've ever experienced with the kids. Our conversations are almost clinical, and TP doesn't scream "gross!" or "Mom's shouldn't talk about that stuff!" or my favorite - "You didn't really do THAT did you?!" So while TP is talking about what he is learning, VP gets that evil grin and asks if they show pictures. More laughing... and concern... I'm certain that this round will be entertaining, while next year's round with VP will be quite a bit more "interesting".
I also got to go back to the temple this week with three great sisters - all of whom I work with in the Relief Society. We had such a great day! The weather was perfect. We weren't rushed. Lunch in the Temple was amazing. It was nice to have a grown up day - I should do it more often. I did note though, that there are not many people under 100 years old that go to the temple in the middle of the week - and not many of those are men. I did love the company though! We laughed and talked all the way down and back -making the trip seem all too short. Spending time with good friends like that makes me love them all the more. Thanks girls for the highlight of my week!
We started over a month ago... The framing and the rewiring were being done at the same time. We had the drywall delivered a couple of weeks ago - but then didn't know how to put it up! Our good friend, Zane, came over to help Drew and Greg put it up. Zane couldn't lift the boards, but he was able to talk the boys through it. Said he felt like a city worker just standing there not really doing anything. So the boys got the ceilings up in the two new rooms. Looks like I'm going to be getting my craft room soon!! Woo hoo!!!
We got to take a break for Sunday though. Sunday's are so nice when we get to go to church early, and get home to enjoy the rest of the "Day of Rest".
He's not usually this grumpy... just doesn't like his picture being taken. LOL!
So here is a picture of what we woke up to this morning...
Nice... NOT!!! It's June the 6th people! And we have freakin' snow on the ground in Calgary! I swear this year has been like the winter that never ends!
Oh ya... I had to include this video we found on You Tube last night. The missionaries were over for dinner and Elder Booth suggested that we look up the Lego Ammon video. It was cute, but next to it on the list of related videos was this one... which is HILARIOUS! Warning... if you do not speak in Mormon lingo, this may not make much sense to you... Thanks to Matt Worley for using his humor and genius!
I'm still giggling at what my DH did this morning. When the alarm went off, there was a song playing called, "Stolen Moments". The opening lines of which say:
Oh my little one Sitting on my lap Every time I look at you It's me that's looking back...
So picture it, we're just waking up and we hear...
Oh my little one Sitting on my lap Every time I look at you
and DH sings - "I hope that you don't crap!" I laughed right out loud! However, I'm afraid I can never hear this song again without bursting into peals of laughter.
The other night, I was sitting at Terry's softball game and I was carefully watching how other families were interacting. There were some people behind me discussing the birth of someone's nephew, parents coming to stay with them, and more discussion on the birth of each of their children. Families are great, aren't they?
There were so many different kinds of families there. Couples who had been together so long they even dressed alike. Couples that were newer together. More than a few families where mom and dad sat on opposite sides of the field - definitely NOT together! These parents were cheering their children on, encouraging them, and praising them for each hit or run.
A couple of the players siblings were on the sidelines too - begging for parents attention. "Dad, come play with me!" or "How do you spell...??" Dads would go play for a few minutes, but then remind the child that they were here to watch the game.
Did I mention that these games take FOREVER to get through?? Did I also mention that there has yet to be a warm day when they play? I have finally resorted to packing a sleeping bag in the back of the van for the days that I go watch. I'm still trying to understand the excitement and euphoria that others claim to feel for this game. It just doesn't hold any draw for me. But I go, to be supportive and watch Terry's excitement when he does get a hit. Okay - I admit when that event does happen I feel the swell of joy and pride for my boy - but other than that, I'm just freezing my butt off at the side of the field.
But back to the people watching...
I especially love watching the way these small players interact with their parents. They are still young enough that they cry when they get hurt, and nothing feels better in that moment than a mom's warm hug and soothing words. I've witnessed this more than once. I've done this for Terry more than once. Course the flip side is that they are also old enough to be embarrassed by the show of affection. I mean, what guy wants his teammates seeing him get some cuddling on the sidelines?
I wish that I'd had the ability to do something like this for my older kids. But back then, we were so poor and I was so tired from working that I just didn't have it in me to give. They bring it up once in awhile - but truthfully - none of them really expressed a deep desire to participate in any sport type activities. Maybe they knew I just couldn't - I'll have to ask them.
Our family would have been one of the ones where parents sat on opposite sides of the field - making the kids both relieved at our presence, and torn in their loyalty. Every one of our children experiences this still. Six of them have step-parents and two of them have entire other "birth family". Sadly, we have failed at making this work as a joint parenting venture. There is much competition for loyalty from other parents, siblings and even some grandparents. Of course, if we could have all gotten along, none of us would be in this new family that we've created!
For me, having grown up in much the same circumstance as my own kids, I can honestly say that I wouldn't trade my experiences away. Most of them were not pleasant - not even happy - but they made me who I am. I grew stronger because of those times. I learned that it was okay to love more than one parent at a time - love is unlimited. I also learned how to handle things that break others down. I learned how to solve problems, learned to cope with what I could not solve.
Our family life now is far from perfect - but we're trying. We've worked hard on not letting the kids divide us or manipulate us. We've purged a few people who don't deal well with change. We've taken advice from successful families, and stopped listening to those who are full of advice, but simply don't understand the intricacies of a blended family. I don't know what the future holds for us, but I know that what we're building here is worth it.
T walking down the aisle to the "stage". He was so excited to dress up for this one! 
T in the crowd. Very handsome!
The cake in the party room after the ceremony/performance.
T and me!
T and Will
T and Mrs. Stone
T and his friend
T and more friends
T and Faith
T and Mrs. Purnell
T and Mrs. S.
T and Mrs. Quinn
