fun lately
Current mood: mellow
Category: Life

I went to PVCC and signed up for a couple of classes yesterday.  I figure when the kids go back to school, what-the-hell, I will too.  I surprised my Mom by telling her I'd be taking knitting as a hobby class It's pretty crazy since before kids I had no interest whatsoever in crafty stuff. 

Life with kids is just so different than life before them.  We went to court on Tuesday.  My brother and sister-in-law had petitioned for more visitation.  Adrian and I talked them down to what we felt was an appropriate first step.  1 day per month unsupervised and when they get a bigger place and we 4 adults agree its set up for the boys then it goes to 1 weekend per month unsupervised. 

Swim team is almost over for the summer.  Damien has done well.  He's swimming in the Champs meet this coming weekend.  Tomorrow is the last day of Skate Camp for him.  He's been taking a skateboarding camp all week at the McIntire Skate Park.

Adrian and I are getting excited about going to Maine.  We're taking the boys up in August and it's going to be so cool to get to show them all that.  Maine's coast is so foreign the way the tides behave and the bogs are pretty cool. I just reserved a B&B for us to stay in today.  I remember it from when Adrian and I went 2 years ago. 
It's called the Betsy Ross House and we're lucky to have gotten it as it's peak season in Maine right now through the end of April.  Lubec is a tiny town and everything else had been booked except for the little motel that we stayed at last time.

Gotta run, I've managed to get dinner made and served and the dishes done since starting this entry. 

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My hubby rocks and meet our dog
Current mood: thankful

My husband is a wonderMan.  He sets his mind on something and there it goes.  For instance, he’s decided to turn our study into wall-to-wall shelves for all the figgin’ books we have, etc.



The project he made before he started this one turned out really awesome.  here he is in the making of it. 

And here is our newest family member.  he’s been our loving buddy since the week before Thanksgiving.  I can’t believe someone didn’t want him.  He knows house rules and is My boy.  This be GRENDEL

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Damien’s Birthday Party
Current mood: calm

Damien turned 8 Friday.  We had his party at Tonsler Park Playground and despite the drizzle and chill we all had a great time.

Damien earned enough by doing chores (a little over $60) and through birthday money to buy himself a Gameboy DS-lite.  He got Pokemon from his Mom and Dad to play on it.  He’s thrilled.  Mamaw and Grandaddy got him a microscope and he thinks that’s pretty cool too.  He got cool gifts from his friends and sister also.

Adrian and I got Damien several things that are pretty cool too.  I picked out and registered him for a Skate Camp this summer (5 days @ 2.5hrs per day).  I also got him a lefty baseball glove and a short sleve shirt, tie, and shorts.  Adrian picked out a really cool Gerber Multi-tool.  He sat at the table for about 45 min practicing opening and closing each tool this morning.  It has a spring loaded plier, a straight blade, a serraded blade, a saw, screwdrivers, can openner, scissors, etc.  He really likes it.

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Bush Gardens and More
Category: Life

Life has been grand. 

We took the kids to Bush Gardens May 5/6. ..

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Custody Granted
Current mood: pensive
Category: Life

     What a stressful morning today was!  Adrian and I went to court for our petition for custody of Damien and Josh.  Custody was granted; Matt and Christina didn't contest. 
     We were surprised by the visitation recomendation by the boys lawyer.  Matt and Christina are only being granted supervised visitation.  Adrian and I aren't allowed to be the supervisor and they aren't allowed to come to our home to see the boys.  It will probably be our mother who will supervise which will be dificult for her we know. 
     We talked about the strict visitation on our way home from court and in the end we understand that it is so that the kids aren't confused by having too many parent types all in their home where they thought they already knew the rules.  They need to see our home as home and us as the authority figures, our rules and expectations as the goals to be striving for.  They do so far, so things are going well.

     We love these guys so much and for all intents and purposes we are their parents untill some unknown time in the future when one of, or both, their parents have a solid footing again.  Above all else, we will always be family and nothing can ever change that.  As I get older family is the cornerstone by which I judge my self and my actions.  I would be lost, alone without feelings, without my family.
    

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Family Days
Current mood: optimistic
Category: Life

Last week...

Damien lost a loose front tooth the last day of Spring Break 2007.  He's been playing with the tooth for ages it seems so I'm glad it's finally come out!   Of course now everyones calling him Snaggle Tooth

We often walk from the house to C'ville Coffee so we can get some exercise and family time.  Climbing trees plays a major role for the boys.  I taught Damien to climb this tree on his own finally.  Here he is having a triumphant roar In the end I couldn't resist climbing up myself. .

     Wednesday of last week we all ate at Guadalahara.  Adrian and I learned a valuable lesson.  Don't put a little kid in a plastic outside chair WITH a booster.  The center of gravity is too high and the chair to fragile or wobbly or whatever.  Josh went flying back with no way to break his fall.  The entire patio gave a communal gasp and he broke out in terrified tears. 
     I took Josh to the ER to make sure he didn't have a concussion.  He didn't but we were the life of the ER.  We sang, colored, tickled, giggled, and received lots of grins.  He loves to see his picture; he's truly a child of the digital age.

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We may have kids now ;)
Current mood: chipper
Category: Life

Adrian and I have been living the family life these days.  Our nephews, Joshua (3) and Damien (7), moved in full time with us March 2nd.  We are headed to court next week to get custody of the boys.

We're also working on getting pregnant

Life has been full of surprises and lots of fun.  Who knew we'd be parents already LOL.

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Family
Current mood: cheerful
Category: Life

Adrian and I have been taking care of our nephews the past several weekends.  Basically, they live with us from Friday untill I go to work on Sunday afternoon.  Damien is 6 and Joshua is 3 and they're awesome tykes who need us. 

It's been a little bit of a challenge and certainly a lifestyle change but it has shown me that I can trust that my husband will be an awesome father.  He has the patience of Jobe.  This past Friday night after we had dinner he got out a stiff plastic sheet, two supper strong magnets, and a piece of steel wool (steel wool made for lots for splinters, he recomends getting fillings) and proceeded to show the boys just how the magnets created electrical fields and paterns.  He even let them participate, again, this led to lots of prickles but what a learning experience. 



On Saturday Josh and I walked downtown to visit Clifford The Big Red Dog and ride the carosel.  He had a good time and I managed to buy a christmas present or two.

On Saturday afternoon, my parents came over so that my Dad could spot Adrian on the roof.  He had to fix the Dormers that Brandon never finished.  Mom is caught here playing with Josh.   If you could hear the laughter you'd crack a grin right now

Sunday, I got sick.  Both boys had been sick and now it was my turn.  We've been trying to teach Josh (3) to cover his mouth when he coughs but he didn't learn it fast enough to keep me from getting the bug.  Adrian took the boys to the groc. and then they came home and made pancakes.  Then they were off to McIntire Park.  Home for drinks and then back off to Dowden Towe (sp?) Park for rolling down hills and romping through sand by the river. 

Life is grand and I'm married to the most awesome man in the universe

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Purses are as dirty as shoes
Current mood: bouncy
Category: Life

This is a repost of someone elses stuff. 

Have you ever noticed gals who sit their purses on public restroom floors - then go directly to their dining tables? Happens alot! It's not always the 'restaurant food' that causes stomach distress.
Sometimes "what you don't know 'will' hurt you"! Read on............. Mom got so upset when a guest came in the door and plopped their purses down on the counter where she was cooking or setting
up the buffet. She always said that purses are really dirty, because of where they have been.
Smart Momma!!! It's something just about every woman carries with them. While we may know
what's inside our purses, do you have any idea what's on the outside? Shauna Lake put purses to the test - for bacteria -with surprising results. You may think twice about where you put your purse.
Women carry purses everywhere; from the office to public restrooms to the floor of the car. Most women won't be caught without their purses, but did you ever stop to think about where your
purse goes during the day?
"I drive a school bus, so my purse has been on the floor of the bus a lot," says one woman. "On the floor of my car, probably in restrooms." "I put my purse in grocery shopping carts, on the floor of bathroom stalls while changing a diaper," says another woman and of course in my home which
should be clean." We decided to find out if purses harbor a lot of bacteria. We learned how to
test them at Nelson laboratories in Salt Lake, then we set out to test the average woman's purse. Most women told us they didn't stop to think about what was on the bottom of their purse. Most said
they usually set their purses on top of kitchen tables and counters where food is prepared. Most of
the ladies we talked to told us they wouldn't be surprised if their purses were at least a little bit dirty.
It turns out purses are so surprisingly dirty, even the microbiologist who tested them was shocked. Microbiologist Amy Karren of Nelson Labs says nearly all of the purses tested were not only high
in bacteria, but also high in harmful kinds of bacteria.
Pseudomonas can cause eye infections, staphylococcus aurous can cause serious skin infections, and salmonella and e-coli found on the purses could make people very sick. In one sampling, four of five
purses tested positive for salmonella, and that's not the worst of it. "There is fecal contamination on the purses," says Amy. Leather or vinyl purses tended to be cleaner than cloth purses, and
lifestyle seemed to play a role. People with kids tended to have dirtier purses than those without, with one exception. The purse of one single woman who frequented nightclubs had one of the worst
contaminations of all. "Some type of feces, or even possibly vomit or something like that," says Amy.
So the moral of this story - your purse won't kill you, but it does have the potential to make you very sick if you keep it on places where you eat. Use hooks to hang your purse at home and in restrooms,
and don't put it on your desk, a restaurant table, or on your kitchen countertop.
Experts say you should think of your purse the same way you would a pair of shoes. "If you think about putting a pair of shoes onto your countertops, that's the same thing you're doing when you put your
purse on the countertops" - your purse has gone where every individual before you has spat, coughed, urinated, emptied bowels, etc! Do you really want to bring that home with you?
The microbiologists at Nelson also said cleaning a purse will help. Wash cloth purses and use leather cleaner to clean the bottom of leather purses.
THIS IS WORTH SHARING!!!
Our lives are not determined by what happens to us but by how we react to what happens, not by what life brings to us, but by the attitude we bring to life."
> > --Anonymous

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Vancouver
Current mood: chipper
Category: Life

Adrian and I are in Vancouver!  We missed a flight and then spent over 5 hours getting through customs but we finally made it.

We're staying at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver for now.  Later we'll be staying at a really cool hostel the Cambie Gastown and we may stay at another Cambie over on Vancouver island for a couple of days.

So technically, we got married July 28. Here's a picture   We are still going to have a wedding ceremony and all but we did the court house thing for now.  This way we get some of the bennies now.  I'm still using my own name and I'm still wearing the engagement ring but ... Yippe!

Anywho, I hope all is well with everyone else, we're doing great.

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