So for the first time at the Patch (my daycare) we have kiddos in school. We actually have two that started kindergarden and both seem to be loving it! Well little 2 year old J asked my 2 year old Princess where his sissy was. My Princess responded by saying, "she is at the GARDEN shop!" As in kinderGARDEN!
Too cute!
Friday, September 25, 2009
Thursday, September 24, 2009
GAP contest
Please vote for Ethan & Ada Grace in the Gap casting call here {vote for us} you can search me but member name ashleyjene....you can vote once a day per child through November 17th....the leader is at 265 votes already E has 2 and AG has 2...please help us out!
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Stealing Money~
This is going to be a gripe post...
I work HARD for my money...caring for children is very rewarding and many times a ton of fun...but it is hard work! My husband works VERY hard for his money...yesterday he spent a good part of the morning bent over in a trench pulling wires and putting pipes together. When you take our money combined (we have a combined checking account and there really is no his money/my money...it is all OURS!)
But there are companies out there preying on those of us that are stand up people and taking our money away. It used to be a big deal to get a cusotmer service workers name & ID number now they throw them at you without even asking for it. The reason? Big companies have no customer service and they will have some reason that the lie that their cus.rep. gave doesn't matter, your verbal agreement isn't backed up by our company policies...GGGGGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRR!
This is Wednesday, every day this week I have had to battle people for money that was taken out of our account and what their company policy says vs what their cus.rep told us and try to get 5 different charges in 5 different types of situations returned.
#1 & 2 ~ We signed up for frontier.airlines cards while on our trip to Chicago last year for the fact that we got 40000 free miles, after a year of having the card we were charged $49 a piece for an annual fee ($98 total)....we were told that we signed up for a annual fee free card! We paid it (lest we get interest on it too!) and I called to cancel the card. The lady said "well mam, if you would like to keep the card I can refund the charge you are on the fee free program!" I said that would be great...we only use them in emergency situations anyway and do not carry a balance at all! So that was the end of the conversation because she couldn't help me with my husband account. He called and got someone completely different but asked to have the fee refunded and to make sure that he was on the fee free program so this didn't happen again! Much to our suprise the women said he wasn't eligable and that would not be possible. If you are going to have a card you are going to have to pay the consequenses! We battled for over an hour before I finally was able to get the fee refunded!
#3 ~ a charge came onto our check card from a MAGPROSUSA in the amount of $75 and we had no idea where it came from. They put up a {small} fight at first but said the refunded the money but it may take 2 business cycles to show up...that means they get my $75 for 60 days while I sit there needing that money to put food on the table! We are still waiting!
#4 ~ I had looked into bargain network to see about the really cheap houses in forclosure...I fell for their free 30 day trial and was told by Natasha #154425 that the was all I was signed up for and the monthly fee of around $60 would not be charged to my account...WELL here comes a charge of $59.80! To make matters worse, when I called to rectify the situation they transferred me to supervisor Melvin #154055 who graciously undertood where I was coming from and said our company would like to refund you $29 for the misunderstanding...if I am not mistaken that is about $30.80 short! When pressing issue that it was not an authorized withdrawl they said I am sorry but this is company policy and it is all that we can do. You can write 9500 W Dodge RD Omaha NE 68114 to further take matters into your own hands. I asked to speak to someone higher up and they said it was impossible...apparently Melvin is the owner of the company! He hung up on me, so I called back...got dear Melvin again...who hung up on me AGAIN! So I called back..got a different sup that wouldn't said her # more than once and I didn't get it all down the first time...who also hung up on me! That is where it stands...
#5 ~ The breate of fresh air. A $69.95 charge shows up on my account from InvesterSparks 01 or something like that. Apparently by using the bargainnetwork site you authorize these people to charge your account...NOT EVER STATED BY ANYONE! However, upon calling them (you have to get their phone number from the bargain network people) I got a VERY {for real he was a peach!} Jordan # 23779 and said he was sorry for the inconveinience and the refund would show up in 2-4 business days. I thanked him 5 times for being so kind and actually dealing with me!
So in 2 of the situations we are still fighting for our money back and in three of them it turned out okay...but when you have $302.75 STOLEN out of your checking account in a weeks time it hurts...and overdraft fees add up...heres to hopin that the other ones show up soon!
I work HARD for my money...caring for children is very rewarding and many times a ton of fun...but it is hard work! My husband works VERY hard for his money...yesterday he spent a good part of the morning bent over in a trench pulling wires and putting pipes together. When you take our money combined (we have a combined checking account and there really is no his money/my money...it is all OURS!)
But there are companies out there preying on those of us that are stand up people and taking our money away. It used to be a big deal to get a cusotmer service workers name & ID number now they throw them at you without even asking for it. The reason? Big companies have no customer service and they will have some reason that the lie that their cus.rep. gave doesn't matter, your verbal agreement isn't backed up by our company policies...GGGGGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRR!
This is Wednesday, every day this week I have had to battle people for money that was taken out of our account and what their company policy says vs what their cus.rep told us and try to get 5 different charges in 5 different types of situations returned.
#1 & 2 ~ We signed up for frontier.airlines cards while on our trip to Chicago last year for the fact that we got 40000 free miles, after a year of having the card we were charged $49 a piece for an annual fee ($98 total)....we were told that we signed up for a annual fee free card! We paid it (lest we get interest on it too!) and I called to cancel the card. The lady said "well mam, if you would like to keep the card I can refund the charge you are on the fee free program!" I said that would be great...we only use them in emergency situations anyway and do not carry a balance at all! So that was the end of the conversation because she couldn't help me with my husband account. He called and got someone completely different but asked to have the fee refunded and to make sure that he was on the fee free program so this didn't happen again! Much to our suprise the women said he wasn't eligable and that would not be possible. If you are going to have a card you are going to have to pay the consequenses! We battled for over an hour before I finally was able to get the fee refunded!
#3 ~ a charge came onto our check card from a MAGPROSUSA in the amount of $75 and we had no idea where it came from. They put up a {small} fight at first but said the refunded the money but it may take 2 business cycles to show up...that means they get my $75 for 60 days while I sit there needing that money to put food on the table! We are still waiting!
#4 ~ I had looked into bargain network to see about the really cheap houses in forclosure...I fell for their free 30 day trial and was told by Natasha #154425 that the was all I was signed up for and the monthly fee of around $60 would not be charged to my account...WELL here comes a charge of $59.80! To make matters worse, when I called to rectify the situation they transferred me to supervisor Melvin #154055 who graciously undertood where I was coming from and said our company would like to refund you $29 for the misunderstanding...if I am not mistaken that is about $30.80 short! When pressing issue that it was not an authorized withdrawl they said I am sorry but this is company policy and it is all that we can do. You can write 9500 W Dodge RD Omaha NE 68114 to further take matters into your own hands. I asked to speak to someone higher up and they said it was impossible...apparently Melvin is the owner of the company! He hung up on me, so I called back...got dear Melvin again...who hung up on me AGAIN! So I called back..got a different sup that wouldn't said her # more than once and I didn't get it all down the first time...who also hung up on me! That is where it stands...
#5 ~ The breate of fresh air. A $69.95 charge shows up on my account from InvesterSparks 01 or something like that. Apparently by using the bargainnetwork site you authorize these people to charge your account...NOT EVER STATED BY ANYONE! However, upon calling them (you have to get their phone number from the bargain network people) I got a VERY {for real he was a peach!} Jordan # 23779 and said he was sorry for the inconveinience and the refund would show up in 2-4 business days. I thanked him 5 times for being so kind and actually dealing with me!
So in 2 of the situations we are still fighting for our money back and in three of them it turned out okay...but when you have $302.75 STOLEN out of your checking account in a weeks time it hurts...and overdraft fees add up...heres to hopin that the other ones show up soon!
Sunday, August 30, 2009
God is Good!
I just have to say that it is incredible how God works. It seems that when you least expect it He sneaks up on you and has this amazing plan all in order that you could not have put together better if you tried! That being said, our plan is still in the works. But, there are so many things that are coming together and surprizing details that 'pop' up....it is AMAZING~which seems like a terrible understatement at this point.
But with all of this we need to pray and then pray some more. There are many details that are lining up, but still many details that need to be worked out and we covet your prayers. God knows the answer, and I tend to get impatient...but His timing is the best and that is what needs to come around!
But with all of this we need to pray and then pray some more. There are many details that are lining up, but still many details that need to be worked out and we covet your prayers. God knows the answer, and I tend to get impatient...but His timing is the best and that is what needs to come around!
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Customer Service
So this is a big *rant* post...customer service to me is worth much more than a good deal. Unfortunately today, with all of these big corporate owned businesses customer service isn't a huge need for the company...they will get your money whether they are good to you or not and if they don't get my money they will get someone else's!
We had a terrible experience with AWFUL customer service at a hotel recently that just makes me sad to think that we live in this country with this kind of people 'serving' us!
We stayed at a hotel in a tourist town and received a good price for a nice room...nice meaning it could accommodate the 6 of us very well...not meaning exceptionally clean or modern or something to that affect! We got into the room Friday evening around 7:15 and decided it would maybe be best to go swimming since we had all day Saturday to 'be tourists' around town! The pool wasn't anything fancy, but it was nice enough and we enjoyed our chance to let the kiddos swim. We went up to the room and decided to go for a night stroll on the 'boardwalk' in town. It was a beautiful evening. We arrived back into our room at 10:00 and turned on the TV...we had 3 or 4 channels. Handsome went to the front desk to ask what we needed to do to make it work (thinking there was a button or something) and he was treated very rudely and told that in fact the satellite had been out since the last storm...which was before we reserved the room...and no one felt the need to let us know that when the reservation was made OR when we checked it. While he was waiting there the woman turned to the guy behind the desk and said she was tired of the walking noise from room #205 and wanted him to call and fake a noise complaint...#205 happened to my our room number and my husband (who she didn't know) happened to be able to hear this. He came up stairs to check and see if we had received a call and immediately returned to the front desk...long story short she was caught and scared, she actually called the manager on his personal cell and talked to him...but after talking to him her attitude returned and my husband was yelled at! He lined up a time to chat with the manager in the morning before check out.
That morning we all went down about an hour and a half before actual check out (they didn't have continental breakfast and 2 two year olds are hungry in the morning!) We were able to 'chat' with Chris and he was not so nice either. On an expensive room they first were going to do nothing and they didn't think it was a big deal. We asked to talk to someone with some pull...and he got offended and short. We turned in our room keys with the understanding that we wanted to talk to someone about the kind of service this hotel was providing to its guests and said they had not authorization to charge the card that was used to 'hold' the room at reservation. We had no intentions of not paying, but we wanted to talk to someone to at least hear they were sorry for their staff being so rude and untruthful! They said they would call us after talking to the general manager. When he called about a half hour later he told us that he didn't see the problem and if we were not out of our room in short order we would be double charged! We were already out! We walked back to the hotel and were told that they had charged the card that we told them not to and when we challenged the legality of doing that and asked why we were being treated so terribly after proof of their staff lieing to us he tried to kick us out of the hotel. We asked them to call the cops, he refused...
To make a long story short they ended up refunding the charge on the card, allowing us to pay for it the way we wanted (we were going to split it 3 ways) and gave us $10 off! Never once did they admit that someone screwed up or that their staff had done something wrong...
How rude!
On the plus side...buy all the good.y hair products you could ever want! My daughter uses the classic.goody.barrettes (lots of them) and I cannot find them ANYWHERE around here any more. So I called the company and asked how I could order some and not only did they give me a phone number where I can talk to a REAL person and order how ever much I wanted they sent us two packages of them for the inconvenience! GO GOOD.Y!
We had a terrible experience with AWFUL customer service at a hotel recently that just makes me sad to think that we live in this country with this kind of people 'serving' us!
We stayed at a hotel in a tourist town and received a good price for a nice room...nice meaning it could accommodate the 6 of us very well...not meaning exceptionally clean or modern or something to that affect! We got into the room Friday evening around 7:15 and decided it would maybe be best to go swimming since we had all day Saturday to 'be tourists' around town! The pool wasn't anything fancy, but it was nice enough and we enjoyed our chance to let the kiddos swim. We went up to the room and decided to go for a night stroll on the 'boardwalk' in town. It was a beautiful evening. We arrived back into our room at 10:00 and turned on the TV...we had 3 or 4 channels. Handsome went to the front desk to ask what we needed to do to make it work (thinking there was a button or something) and he was treated very rudely and told that in fact the satellite had been out since the last storm...which was before we reserved the room...and no one felt the need to let us know that when the reservation was made OR when we checked it. While he was waiting there the woman turned to the guy behind the desk and said she was tired of the walking noise from room #205 and wanted him to call and fake a noise complaint...#205 happened to my our room number and my husband (who she didn't know) happened to be able to hear this. He came up stairs to check and see if we had received a call and immediately returned to the front desk...long story short she was caught and scared, she actually called the manager on his personal cell and talked to him...but after talking to him her attitude returned and my husband was yelled at! He lined up a time to chat with the manager in the morning before check out.
That morning we all went down about an hour and a half before actual check out (they didn't have continental breakfast and 2 two year olds are hungry in the morning!) We were able to 'chat' with Chris and he was not so nice either. On an expensive room they first were going to do nothing and they didn't think it was a big deal. We asked to talk to someone with some pull...and he got offended and short. We turned in our room keys with the understanding that we wanted to talk to someone about the kind of service this hotel was providing to its guests and said they had not authorization to charge the card that was used to 'hold' the room at reservation. We had no intentions of not paying, but we wanted to talk to someone to at least hear they were sorry for their staff being so rude and untruthful! They said they would call us after talking to the general manager. When he called about a half hour later he told us that he didn't see the problem and if we were not out of our room in short order we would be double charged! We were already out! We walked back to the hotel and were told that they had charged the card that we told them not to and when we challenged the legality of doing that and asked why we were being treated so terribly after proof of their staff lieing to us he tried to kick us out of the hotel. We asked them to call the cops, he refused...
To make a long story short they ended up refunding the charge on the card, allowing us to pay for it the way we wanted (we were going to split it 3 ways) and gave us $10 off! Never once did they admit that someone screwed up or that their staff had done something wrong...
How rude!
On the plus side...buy all the good.y hair products you could ever want! My daughter uses the classic.goody.barrettes (lots of them) and I cannot find them ANYWHERE around here any more. So I called the company and asked how I could order some and not only did they give me a phone number where I can talk to a REAL person and order how ever much I wanted they sent us two packages of them for the inconvenience! GO GOOD.Y!
Monday, August 10, 2009
Seven Years
*So you may not think this to be a normal Anniversary post...and you may not even like it...but you don't have to read it if you do not want to!*
So today is our anniversary, EXCITING I know. But the thing is that it wasn't all that exciting or for that matter grand. Not because we aren't OKAY or anything, just because the last year has been so upside down.
You see when you are married to a person for seven year, you all of a sudden do not just figure them out...no, quite opposite actually. Just when you have them figured out they go and change. Sometimes it is a good change that the Holy Spirit has been working and sometimes it isn't such a great change that happens because, well because you have been stomped on too many times and you aren't going to let it happen again.
Enter where I am...I have struggles that are medically fairly difficult to cope with emotionally anyway (thank you extreme PCOS) but throw the junk that we have been through in our face and it is melt down. I don't even know who I am any more. The things I used to love I despise and the things I used to want do not matter any more. This makes it difficult to plan...
I am not gonna lie, the hurts that have come from the church *family* that we have been a part of over the course of our seven years have about killed me...I was once a VERY trusting person and now have a very difficult time buying one word from anyone! Face value seems to mean nothing to anyone any more, and when you {Jason & myself} are who we are no matter what it seems to cause troubles. You see folks just because we do not hang our heads on the ground and mope around because the cards delt to us stink (and we have had some stinky hands handed out) doens't mean that we are okay...doesn't mean that you can take more...and doesn't mean that we are going to just keep going with no trouble.
No that is not the case. I am a real person and I have no shame in hiding who we are. I just ask the courtesy from you that you PLEASE be honest with us and that you PLEASE take us into consideration when making plans that involve us.
So, after seven years we may not have celebrated in a fancy fairy tale manor (we don't have money in our checking account so we couldn't have if we wanted to!) but we do know that while we have seven years under our belt...we have many more to come because we are there for each other. God was too good to us when he put us together...we have the same ideals (mostly, mine include some things that most people never could afford~my poor husband still puts up with me) we have the same beliefs...we both try VERY hard to be who we are and nothing less...we both want to love each other for the rest of our earthly life.
God has plans for my husband...great plans, and I do pray that those plans unfold quickly...because the faster they unfold the faster we can get on to His service! Thank you for the seven years together honey...they have been a rollercoaster, but at the end of the day we are together whether it be at the top just about to fall or at the bottom making the climb...we are side by side and that makes the world a better place!
For those of you that are reading this and feeling something...you need to know that this isn't written with names or faces in mind, but if you are reading it and feeling like you are sinking a little lower in your seat...maybe you have some things that you need to deal with...just sayin'
So today is our anniversary, EXCITING I know. But the thing is that it wasn't all that exciting or for that matter grand. Not because we aren't OKAY or anything, just because the last year has been so upside down.
You see when you are married to a person for seven year, you all of a sudden do not just figure them out...no, quite opposite actually. Just when you have them figured out they go and change. Sometimes it is a good change that the Holy Spirit has been working and sometimes it isn't such a great change that happens because, well because you have been stomped on too many times and you aren't going to let it happen again.
Enter where I am...I have struggles that are medically fairly difficult to cope with emotionally anyway (thank you extreme PCOS) but throw the junk that we have been through in our face and it is melt down. I don't even know who I am any more. The things I used to love I despise and the things I used to want do not matter any more. This makes it difficult to plan...
I am not gonna lie, the hurts that have come from the church *family* that we have been a part of over the course of our seven years have about killed me...I was once a VERY trusting person and now have a very difficult time buying one word from anyone! Face value seems to mean nothing to anyone any more, and when you {Jason & myself} are who we are no matter what it seems to cause troubles. You see folks just because we do not hang our heads on the ground and mope around because the cards delt to us stink (and we have had some stinky hands handed out) doens't mean that we are okay...doesn't mean that you can take more...and doesn't mean that we are going to just keep going with no trouble.
No that is not the case. I am a real person and I have no shame in hiding who we are. I just ask the courtesy from you that you PLEASE be honest with us and that you PLEASE take us into consideration when making plans that involve us.
So, after seven years we may not have celebrated in a fancy fairy tale manor (we don't have money in our checking account so we couldn't have if we wanted to!) but we do know that while we have seven years under our belt...we have many more to come because we are there for each other. God was too good to us when he put us together...we have the same ideals (mostly, mine include some things that most people never could afford~my poor husband still puts up with me) we have the same beliefs...we both try VERY hard to be who we are and nothing less...we both want to love each other for the rest of our earthly life.
God has plans for my husband...great plans, and I do pray that those plans unfold quickly...because the faster they unfold the faster we can get on to His service! Thank you for the seven years together honey...they have been a rollercoaster, but at the end of the day we are together whether it be at the top just about to fall or at the bottom making the climb...we are side by side and that makes the world a better place!
For those of you that are reading this and feeling something...you need to know that this isn't written with names or faces in mind, but if you are reading it and feeling like you are sinking a little lower in your seat...maybe you have some things that you need to deal with...just sayin'
Friday, August 7, 2009
J.E.N.E.
So this is going to be a rather random post...maybe a rant post...about several things that are roaming around in my mind that really do not make up enough of a post on their own.
~Read at YOUR own Risk~
*So I don't know what is going on with BLOG.GER lately...when I upload my pictures to my blogs they come up in the <.html.> print or something and not the actual picture...this makes it difficult to rearrange them according to order because all I see is letters and numbers that make no sense. I have found where my picture title is and I use the persons 3 initials and then the date followed by the letter of the alphabet. {Complicated I know} Say your name was Alice Gertrude Hansen and the picture was taken on August 10th 2007 and it was the 5th picture of Alice that day it would be labeled: AGH8-10-07e
Does that help? Anyway, since I have found where the title of the picture is in that mess of code I can have my photo program open and at least put a caption under the picture...but it is more work than when the picture itself was just there. Also, I can no longer 'justify' 'center' or 'right side align' my text any more...what happened to this? And then there is the choosing of 'extra small' 'small' ect. ect. font size and the type of font I want to use is gone too. Anyone know what is going on here? Moving on...
*I have been blogging and reading blogs for about 1 year and 4 months now and in that time my trend of types of blogs I read have changed drastically. I know have a HUGE list of blogs I subscribe to and magically they 'pop up' when there is a new post and I read...SO THANKFUL FOR THE RSS FEED! But my blogs of choice are now of people struggling to become parents...the infertile, adoptive parents in waiting, IVF, IUI, PCOS victim, would do anything to have children blogs. Not because I am a depressive person...but sometimes it is nice to know that you are not alone, and in knowing that you are not alone (having been through a good chunk of that stuff) trying to be some sort of an encouragement to those that are not yet blessed with children. Which brings me to...
*Why is it that just because we have two children that should make me happy and we do not need any more? Seriously, it never ceases to amaze me at the boldness of people that either A) have a quiver full of their own that any time he looked at her she was great with child or B) had their 2 and took care of business so there would be no more children....SERIOUSLY just because I am different and cannot carry children to full term means that I should be limited to 2 and be happy? Now do NOT get me wrong here...I am more than happy that the Lord has blessed me with the two best children in the WORLD that I so do not even deserve...but even they are desiring Baby Emi or Baby Owen to come home SOON! I digress...my heart goes out to the ladies that have been hurt badly this week with miscarriages...MOandWill, Susan, Kate
And then there are these ladies that are doing everything humanly possible to keep their babies in just a little longer taking it one day at a time to be able to hold their precious ones. MiaandPeter and Carrie and this lady our prayers are with you!
If you have been there before or are just an encouraging type person check them all out and leave an uplifting note...
*So there you have it, there are so many more things rolling around in my mind, but it is late and we just had a great time this evening with some GREAT friends....so will save some for later!
Happy weekend!
~Read at YOUR own Risk~
*So I don't know what is going on with BLOG.GER lately...when I upload my pictures to my blogs they come up in the <.html.> print or something and not the actual picture...this makes it difficult to rearrange them according to order because all I see is letters and numbers that make no sense. I have found where my picture title is and I use the persons 3 initials and then the date followed by the letter of the alphabet. {Complicated I know} Say your name was Alice Gertrude Hansen and the picture was taken on August 10th 2007 and it was the 5th picture of Alice that day it would be labeled: AGH8-10-07e
Does that help? Anyway, since I have found where the title of the picture is in that mess of code I can have my photo program open and at least put a caption under the picture...but it is more work than when the picture itself was just there. Also, I can no longer 'justify' 'center' or 'right side align' my text any more...what happened to this? And then there is the choosing of 'extra small' 'small' ect. ect. font size and the type of font I want to use is gone too. Anyone know what is going on here? Moving on...
*I have been blogging and reading blogs for about 1 year and 4 months now and in that time my trend of types of blogs I read have changed drastically. I know have a HUGE list of blogs I subscribe to and magically they 'pop up' when there is a new post and I read...SO THANKFUL FOR THE RSS FEED! But my blogs of choice are now of people struggling to become parents...the infertile, adoptive parents in waiting, IVF, IUI, PCOS victim, would do anything to have children blogs. Not because I am a depressive person...but sometimes it is nice to know that you are not alone, and in knowing that you are not alone (having been through a good chunk of that stuff) trying to be some sort of an encouragement to those that are not yet blessed with children. Which brings me to...
*Why is it that just because we have two children that should make me happy and we do not need any more? Seriously, it never ceases to amaze me at the boldness of people that either A) have a quiver full of their own that any time he looked at her she was great with child or B) had their 2 and took care of business so there would be no more children....SERIOUSLY just because I am different and cannot carry children to full term means that I should be limited to 2 and be happy? Now do NOT get me wrong here...I am more than happy that the Lord has blessed me with the two best children in the WORLD that I so do not even deserve...but even they are desiring Baby Emi or Baby Owen to come home SOON! I digress...my heart goes out to the ladies that have been hurt badly this week with miscarriages...MOandWill, Susan, Kate
And then there are these ladies that are doing everything humanly possible to keep their babies in just a little longer taking it one day at a time to be able to hold their precious ones. MiaandPeter and Carrie and this lady our prayers are with you!
If you have been there before or are just an encouraging type person check them all out and leave an uplifting note...
*So there you have it, there are so many more things rolling around in my mind, but it is late and we just had a great time this evening with some GREAT friends....so will save some for later!
Happy weekend!
Saturday, August 1, 2009
What August 1st means to me...
Today is a wonderful blessed day! Today was the 1 year mark from the day that we were able to finalize our Boo Boo's adoption! We celebrated family style.
We woke up and brought the kids into our bed for some Saturday morning cartoons...I love it when we are able to start out a little lazy on Saturdays! We then got the kiddos breakfast, gave them a bath, got ourselves ready and gave Boo is gift....his very own smell good like Daddys!
After that we went to the rest-a-want of his choice (it just happens to also be Mommy's favorite!) Then Daddy took Boo on their first father/son hike, we had just gotten one of those hiking backpacks for kids to ride in and they enjoyed their time together...even though they ended up in the middle of several rattle noises (I would have freaked...those snakes scare me silly!) Apparently Boo said his famous, "wats dat?" and lifted his feet up a little higher! They were gone about 2 hours and the Princess and I enjoyed some shopping and chatting with a friend while they were gone.
We all came home a took a nap...woke up and went to Dairy.Queen for supper and ice cream, came home and had some family fun and now the kiddos are sleeping very soundly in their cozy little beds.
If any of you know us IRL, you know the fight we had to get to a year ago today...to legally make him ours. Now he would have been 'ours' forever even if the state would not have allowed us to adopt him, when you bring a little one home at 6 days old and have him for 21 months he WILL be yours forever...
Thankfully that day ~August 1st 2008~ came and we had a BIG celebration! Boo managed to fill the courtroom and then some to standing room only because there were so many people that were so excited that this was finally going to happen! Then we went home to have an open house celebration with cheezy turkey sandwhiches, yummy cake, and punch...after which we had a smaller time with close friends and family at the very same rest-a-want that is now his favorite!
The day was filled with so many memories...how mad I was at my father for missing the first part of the hearing (adoption hearings aren't very long...15-20 minutes tops) what could be so important that he HAD to be on his phone NOW! It was my Aunt from Chicago and her daughter-in-law with 2 daughters and the brand new baby boy and they didn't have directions to the courthouse! I forgave my dad and burst into tears because I didn't know they were coming and it was a nice suprize! How the judge reacted when our lawyer said what the adoption was costing us (a wopping $75 ~ it is good to make your lawyer your best friend...thanks Eric! You can have all the pork chops you want on us...any time!) All the wonderful people that we had with us that day. And the pictures that we took because our lawyer had our son drinking out of a shot glass...thankfully it was only lime juice! The fact that DSS was SHOCKED at the number of people that showed up to the finalization, and the fact that DSS just didn't know what to say about that.
Oh I could go on forever and ever, and that is just about the adoption process. Not the health fight and eventually victory that Boo went through, not the process of terminating his cleary not so capable birthmother's rights (I wish more than anything that when the Lord brings us another baby, that this time we will be able to have a HAPPY story to tell our child about his/her first mother.) And then the battle with DSS about the fact that my husband was a pastor and we were not giving Boo the freedom to make his own religeous decisions (hello...he came to our home at six days old and at finalization he was 21 months old...what kind of religeous thoughts does a child of this age have?)
Anyway, the Lord had greatly blessed us with our Princess and our Boo. Now we just keep praying for EDH and/or OOH to come home soon! We love you already and cannot wait to meet you one day and learn your story/walk your journey with you!
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Memories!
I know that my children are only almost 3, but it seems that so much has happened in their short little lives! We have lived in 3 different 'homes' and had so many changes!
The most recent move was not one that we chose, but looking back it was for the best. Tonight we had the chance to walk back into that house and visit with some a friend from our very first church as a married couple and his new wife. They were staying in our old home, the parsonage, and asked if it were not to awekward that we might come and talk for a while. So we dressed the kiddos (they were in their jammies) and headed out the door at 9:45 pm excited to see our friends, with little time to think of where we were going. I expected my daughter who remembers everything to remember our 'old house' since it was just 7 months ago and she remembers things from before that...but for some strange reason they didn't remember it. Maybe because our things were not in it, or because there was ALOT of stress for most of the time that we lived there....or just because they love their life and home so much now they do not need to think about the past at this point. Either way, I remember...
Everything was pretty much the same, just a few minor things had been done since we moved out 7 months ago (VERY MINOR) the carpet, paint, light fixtures, etc. were all the very same. Which maybe only made it easier to think, to think of the victories our son won while we lived there...to think of the mile stones our children acheived behind those four walls.
It was fun and tormenting all at the same time. I watched my son who was suppose to never walk jump down the stairs into the sunk-in living room tonight, the very stairs that were once a huge hurdle for him to the point they were a barrior. The very stairs that he first climbed after being told he wouldn't. And now tonight, those very stairs he was jumping off!
I saw knicks in the walls where our children's toys (specific incidents) bumped, and spots in the carpet where dirt from my plant was thrown while looking through the windows at us after the kids had locked us out!
I saw the very corner that I cried in just days before we were told we needed to leave, that corner was where I prayed and cried knowing that our time there was limited. The banister where my children used to try to squeeze their little cheeks through and look down over my husband and I on the couch...the details my husband put into the house to make it our home.
Yes, tonight brought back a slew of emotions and thoughts. But with all of those memories (and as far as the family part of it goes ~ happy memories) it still didn't hurt to walk away again. It didn't hurt the first time, nor did it hurt this time. I would guess that we will not be back in that house again...and I would also guess that if the church people really knew we were there they may not be too impressed. But I count it as a blessing from God.
First, we were able to catch up with someone who we (mostly my husband) spent many an hour talking to and I thought was such a great guy for making the decisions that he did. Meet his sweetheart of a wife, and have some great time of fellowship.
But second, God allowed me a 'rewind' button tonight. I was just telling my husband the other day that I didn't remember much about our children as babies. That isn't true, and God helped me see that tonight. The memories are tucked away back in my mind to pop up here and there with a trigger. I can have glimpses of that part of their lives here and there, but now...now I need to enjoy where they are a lock away more memories because we all know they grow up TOO fast!
I wouldn't change anything about our lives now, (except for a little bit larger home for daycare & maybe having a baby or two ;) ) But really those things are up to God, not us, and our life is good. Most nights (5 or 6 a week) we have daddy/husband around where before we were lucky to get him one, our kids are happy, and we own our house. We have learned who are real friends are, and those friends are GREAT!
Thank you Lord, for the glimpse into the past...
The most recent move was not one that we chose, but looking back it was for the best. Tonight we had the chance to walk back into that house and visit with some a friend from our very first church as a married couple and his new wife. They were staying in our old home, the parsonage, and asked if it were not to awekward that we might come and talk for a while. So we dressed the kiddos (they were in their jammies) and headed out the door at 9:45 pm excited to see our friends, with little time to think of where we were going. I expected my daughter who remembers everything to remember our 'old house' since it was just 7 months ago and she remembers things from before that...but for some strange reason they didn't remember it. Maybe because our things were not in it, or because there was ALOT of stress for most of the time that we lived there....or just because they love their life and home so much now they do not need to think about the past at this point. Either way, I remember...
Everything was pretty much the same, just a few minor things had been done since we moved out 7 months ago (VERY MINOR) the carpet, paint, light fixtures, etc. were all the very same. Which maybe only made it easier to think, to think of the victories our son won while we lived there...to think of the mile stones our children acheived behind those four walls.
It was fun and tormenting all at the same time. I watched my son who was suppose to never walk jump down the stairs into the sunk-in living room tonight, the very stairs that were once a huge hurdle for him to the point they were a barrior. The very stairs that he first climbed after being told he wouldn't. And now tonight, those very stairs he was jumping off!
I saw knicks in the walls where our children's toys (specific incidents) bumped, and spots in the carpet where dirt from my plant was thrown while looking through the windows at us after the kids had locked us out!
I saw the very corner that I cried in just days before we were told we needed to leave, that corner was where I prayed and cried knowing that our time there was limited. The banister where my children used to try to squeeze their little cheeks through and look down over my husband and I on the couch...the details my husband put into the house to make it our home.
Yes, tonight brought back a slew of emotions and thoughts. But with all of those memories (and as far as the family part of it goes ~ happy memories) it still didn't hurt to walk away again. It didn't hurt the first time, nor did it hurt this time. I would guess that we will not be back in that house again...and I would also guess that if the church people really knew we were there they may not be too impressed. But I count it as a blessing from God.
First, we were able to catch up with someone who we (mostly my husband) spent many an hour talking to and I thought was such a great guy for making the decisions that he did. Meet his sweetheart of a wife, and have some great time of fellowship.
But second, God allowed me a 'rewind' button tonight. I was just telling my husband the other day that I didn't remember much about our children as babies. That isn't true, and God helped me see that tonight. The memories are tucked away back in my mind to pop up here and there with a trigger. I can have glimpses of that part of their lives here and there, but now...now I need to enjoy where they are a lock away more memories because we all know they grow up TOO fast!
I wouldn't change anything about our lives now, (except for a little bit larger home for daycare & maybe having a baby or two ;) ) But really those things are up to God, not us, and our life is good. Most nights (5 or 6 a week) we have daddy/husband around where before we were lucky to get him one, our kids are happy, and we own our house. We have learned who are real friends are, and those friends are GREAT!
Thank you Lord, for the glimpse into the past...
Monday, July 27, 2009
HELP!!!!!
So, sadly, it is time to start planning birthday parties around here again...and by 'sadly' I mean that I cannot believe the year has gone by already and that my kiddos will be 3 soon!
But I need some help, I know there are great ways to make your own good quality photo invites and send them to a printer to have them printed...but I need HELP! The kids' themes are Mickey (for Boo) & Minnie (for the Princess) Mouse. I would like to put different elements together on my own and send them to a photo procceser, but do not know how to start or get the background/bourder for the foundation....if there is anyone what would have some insight to share I would appreciate it! Thanks so much!
But I need some help, I know there are great ways to make your own good quality photo invites and send them to a printer to have them printed...but I need HELP! The kids' themes are Mickey (for Boo) & Minnie (for the Princess) Mouse. I would like to put different elements together on my own and send them to a photo procceser, but do not know how to start or get the background/bourder for the foundation....if there is anyone what would have some insight to share I would appreciate it! Thanks so much!
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