FULLY FUNDED! and HOW that happened!

FULLY FUNDED! and HOW that happened!

September Blog

The activities never seem to stop around here. Scouting has started again in full force. Monday night is cub scouts for Ashton, boy scouts for Jordan, and girl scouts for Heather. This weekend Jordanis going down to Charleston, SC to spend the weekend on the USS Yorktown. Ashton has this same "field trip" in March. Tuesday's belong to Caroline and Jessica. Both are in the same troop and Candy is still an assistant leader. They are planning on going on a huge trip with all the fundraisers they have held over the years. Looks like the girls want to go to London. They need a lot more money to do that. Wednesday evenings consist of youth group. Thursday's is gymnastics for Heather and Jessica. Friday we head out to the counselors after school. She has given us great insights on how to deal with dealing with certain kids behaviors. Each week gets a little easier. I like to say 2 steps forward then a step back. Bedtimes have become much easier. We have loaded all the bedrooms with sound machines and lavender scented plug-ins. The kids are all in their own rooms at night now as well which has helped a lot.

Some of the weekend trips have included going back down to the beach house for a weekend. Jessica didn't want to go so she stayed with grandma and grandpa. We also went to Lake Gaston for the kids CAR (Children of the American Revolution). The house we went to was on the lake with a dock. Ashton rode a jet ski, the kids got to go boating, and a cookout for lunch.

A few items from the last month. School started on July 9; we tracked out for our summer break on July 27; Candy turned 40 on July 28; we spent one week at the beach; we went boating at Lake Jordan; and we have had the construction finished on the house and have begun the excruciatingly painful chores of moving into the new rooms. Here are some updates on the family:

Caroline: Caroline started her 8th grade year at Lufkin. She is a terrific student and is well organized when it comes to her schoolwork. She will do great this year because I have come to find out that she knows just about everything. At the beach she went skating on two of the nights and showed that she can stay up on them for long periods of time. She also went to the movies with some friends from school and saw "Hairspray". She stated "That was a great movie and John Travolta is really dreamy." Right now she is attempting to cram a lifes worth of "stuff" into her new bedroom which is painted pink and green. She finally realizes that she has truly been blessed.


Jessica: Jessica started 6th grade at Lufkin. Her favorite teachers are her language arts teacher and her math teacher (I never get tired of hearing how great her math teacher is). She scored a 100 on her first science project and has kept up in all of her classes. She likes to keep her locker ajar because it "takes to long to open." This girl flat out likes to swim and dive. Of course on land she does all these gymnastical moves that we are looking at enrolling her in the gym for real training. The picture at the right was taken at the roller rink. She was pretty good at getting around the place and fell hardly at all. At the lake she enjoyed riding the inner tube and doing flips off the boat.

Jordan: Jordan has had the busiest summer so far. He spent one week at boy scout camp, he has been camping on 2 other weekends and has been advancing through the ranks at a brisk pace, as well as all the other trips to the beach and lake. He started Lufkin this year is grade 6 so he has the same teachers as Jessica. Once again he just raves about his math teacher. This guy must be really great. Jordan tried to skate and lasted approximately 30 seconds before realizing he was not made for walking on wheels. Jordan helped to paint his new room in orange and his furniture is all black. He calls it the "tiger" room. He has also been doing Networks (basketball) on Wednesdays and Thursdays. He is getting some skills.

Heather: One morning Ashton came running into the house shouting that there was "a huge snake at Uncle Todd's house." I love snakes so I went to get my shoes on and go on over and look. I stepped out the front door and there was Heather holding the thing with it wrapped around her body. Heather loves animals/reptiles. We let the snake go but she still takes care of her bearded dragon, Tinkerbelle, as well as walks and plays with the many dogs on the street. She has been a huge help in the reorganization of the house as she assisted in the painting of 2 bedrooms, assembling the bunkbed in Ashton's room, disassembling and then reassembling the bunk in Jordan's room, putting together the entertainment table for Jordan's room, and assembling her own bed. She is the self-proclaimed "drill girl"! Heather is now in the fourth grade and can't wait to have the math teacher that her sister and brother say such terrific things about.

Ashton: Ashton started grade 2 at Olive Chapel Elementary. He is not a big fan of doing homework and we typically have to wait for him to calm down and then he does quite well. He has improved so much in his swimming. He goes so often that I guess that was bound to happen but he does seem to pick up on things rather quickly. At roller skating he fell and fell and fell. By the end of the night he was falling a lot less and then he won the elimination game. His prize was a free night of skating which is why we went back 2 nights later. He improved quite a lot and now he is talking of playing roller hockey. Who knew? Ashton bought a spider man fishing pole with his allowance and when we took the boat out on the lake he spent a good portion fishing. He learned to cast that line out there a good ways too!

Parents: The parents are coming up on 15 years of marriage (August 22) and although these last few months may have been the toughest they have been some of the best. The house is finally completed. All the kids have their own rooms. We have a giant new family room and we are all on vacation together now at the same time. This is the first time we have the same school/vacation schedule in the last 7 years. Candy turned 40 but seems no worse for the wear. She also has lost 70 pounds and has decided that she can now inner tube. She is also telling me that we are snow skiing in the winter. Me? Just give me my one night of poker a week and I am happy. Fantasy football is coming so that also brings a smile to my face.

Home

The last 10 days have been spent enjoying the time off from school and learning how things work around here. The house is a wreck with all the construction. The dry wall went up on Friday so the end may be near. It will be nice to have all the kids in their own bedrooms. School starts tomorrow and we are gearing up for that. Ashton had his 8th birthday at the end of June. We had a party for him over at Aunt Wendy's house. A small affair with an attendance of about 25 people. We have made many trips to the pool as swimming is a favorite activity of the family. Jordan just completed a week of boy scout camp. He had a lot of fun and earned many merit badges.

Emergency 9-1-1

We have been allowed to watch the kids until Wednesday of this week. I drove to Crossnore early on Friday with Caroline and Jordan to catch the end of school year awards ceremony for Jessica, Heather, and Ashton. We ate a cookout style lunch and then came on home. Upon our arrival Heather decided to call me on my cell phone (even though I was upstairs). In her haste, instead of area code 919 she dialed 911. Fortunately the police called back and verified that there was no emergency. Saturday morning Ashton picked up this Pirates of the Caribbean phone and he dialed 911. Now we have never used this phone but Heather had found it laying in the boys room and plugged it into the wall in her room. Once again the police called to verify that there was no emergency. Later the same day we go to the pool. The pay phone there was too much temptation. Jessica could not get any calls out (because she had no money and it is a pay phone remember). She wants to check if 911 works so, you guessed it, dialed those 3 numbers. This time an officer came out and Candy had the guy give them a speech. Hopefully, this will end our experiences with the Apex police department.
Today is Sunday and we have been to church and McDonald's. Ashton has not fallen today yet (he fell Friday night off his scooter, Saturday walking from the car, and Saturday night running in the street). Things are going well. We meet with the Wake County social worker tomorrow to submit all our paperwork and get licensed as foster parents. She says we could have that license by the end of next week. Then it is only a matter of time until the kids will be placed in our home and there will be no more long trips up and back to pick them up.