Where is my husband???

Men are good for many things, among them, procreation and fixing stuff when things go wrong. One of my children opened the vent on the roof of the bus. They failed to tell me and/or to close it. So here is me, pulling into the carwash today, when I hear a crunch and a bang. Well, the crunch was the sound of the hinges being ripped off the bus, the bang was the vent cover landing on the ground about 20 feet behind us. Most every man I know is out of town. Now don't get me wrong, I can operate most tools, and know many women who can, i just don't personally have the ability to creativly attach the vent cover (to keep out the rain) nor do I know a woman who does. Tommorow I can work on getting replacement parts to fix it properly, but without those replacement parts, getting the vent cover on securely is out of my scope. The blessing is, I found a man I know who has ability and is not in Kentucky or Montana at the moment, he will stop over tonite and pop it in for me...although I am dying to know how he will secure it, LOL! I might have to photograph this, just for posterity, as well as to remind the children why we ALWAYS shut the vent, LOL!
Did one more page today, Scrap matters is releasing a super fun grab bag for only 5 dollars, and I got to play with it today as part of the design team, everthing but the flowers and the ribbon (scrappy shannon) are from the kit, tons more stuff I didn't use, I have actually already scrapped these pics, but the word art was just beggint for these photos of Gabbie, Brittany and Isaih last spring.....

Busy Weekend

Jeff and Alexandra left for Montana on Saturday morning, Tyler is leaving for Kentucky on Tuesday. Grandma is coming to visit on Tuesday (For Gabriela's surgery) Got some scrapping done this weekend, (played with Scrappy Shannon's new kit "Diamond Plate" Got baths done, cleaned out the linen closet, the pantry shelves and the Tupperware cupboard. I know, you all envy my exciting life, LOL!
Here are some of the pages I did, the ones of Addie's Birthday are the one's done with Scrappy Shannon's new kit.
Too tired to post more, Blessings to you all! -DeAnna

WOW!

Alexandra had her 16th Birthday party last night. Teenagers everywhere, the place was lousy with them! We had lots of fun, oh, and I think they did too! Set up teh firepit in the driveway and they roasted hot dogs, had cookie salad and chips.

Than they played big, better, best. Too funny! Split them into two groups of 4, sent them off with plastic spoons and straws. They go out to find someone who will trade them for something bigger and/or better. Alexandra's group was able to trade their spoons for some Miracle Grow, they traded their miracle grow for a light up halloween pumpkin, and traded their halloween light up pumpkin for a fax machine, new in the box, complete with spare ink cartridge.

Meagans' groups came back with a plethora of items, antlers, construction cone, applebees' discount card, all kinds of goodies. We then had cake and ice cream and let the kids watch movies. Um, till 3 AM when mom put the smack down. The driveway, camper and living room are a disaster. Oh, well, it was all fun!

Jeff and Alexandra leave for Montana on a mission trip in the morning, so we need to clean up this mess and get them packed. Isaih is suffering from a self-induced haircut, so I will need to get him to the barber today somehow (Jeff is at a firefighter event in Owatonna) and I need to drive three of the teens back to the cities shortly. Then I think I will take a nap as sleeping from 3 till 7 didn't really do the trick for me, especially after coming home wednesday already sleep deprived, LOL!

Back home again.....

We got home late yesterday afternoon, exhausted! We finally got to meet our new daughter, Nevaeh. She is beautiful and smiley, with an infectious giggle. The initial meeting was difficult, there were SO many people there, foster parents, birth mom, foster parents adult children, Nevaehs worker, Nevaeh's court appointed gaurdian, the foster parents adult children (no one could quite figure out why they were there, but they were.

The rep from our adoption agency, Mike, described the initial atmosphere in there home as hostile (to those of us there regarding Nevaeh's adoption) but it did improve with time.

We each got to hold her a bit, when Mike and the gaurdian convinced foster mom that she needed to let us hold her.

We were also able to go to her therapy appts with her the next day before we departed for home, very helpful in understanding the current goals. Also received copies of her current medical records which were very enlightening to read through as we found them to not be consistent with the information foster mom and birth mom were sharing. Nevaeh needs to get a lot of things in place that are not currently being done, it would also appear that some treatments she is currently getting may not be appropriate for her. We can begin sorting all that out when we get her home.

We spoke with Mike by phone on our way home, he expressed concern regarding foster family changing their minds about the adoption. This makes us all the more eager to get her home. Not only do we see her as our daughter, but as mentioned before, it does not appear that her current programming is meeting her needs, although i beleive foster mom is well intentioned.

Anyway, I need to sign off as i have a nursing agency coming to interview regardin Nevaeh's overnight cares and then need to drive out to pick up a bunch of Alexandra's freinds for an overnight party. Will leave you with some pics of our initial meeting, also posting pics of Addie on her Birthday.

Blessings! -DeAnna

Last post until Wednesday

Today is Addie's ninth birthday! We will have spaghetti, ceasar salad, and texas toast for dinner, with make your own sundae's for dessert!

After that, Jeff and I will head off to meet Nevaeh...will bring back more pics as well. The next time we see her should be to bring her home.

Got up at 3 AM, wonder why I am not sleeping?? Anyway, Made a scrap page, so I will post it here.....the web version has an extra flower (right on Annie's foot, LOL!) but I did correct that in the print version.

So heres a funny, dear freind Loren tells my husband that the old electrical thingies we found redoing the kitchen are worth money. (house was originally wired in the early 1900's) the house has been rewired since, but noone removed the old stuff. So Jeff decides to remove it and make a few bucks, ambitious right? Yeah, well but when he's done, Meg says "Mom, why won't the light turn on in my room?" I tell her how odd that is as all the fixtures in the house have the bulbs that will last until the second coming of Christ. Jeff asks her if the ceilinig fan works. Nope.

Whoops, guess he cut some wires added AFTER the early 1900's. Jeff spends a couple of days fixing this, as the parlor and dining room lights also don't work. Well imagine how happy he ws to get those fixed. So I go upstairs to put away the boys laundry and notice two things 1) the light in the landing doesn't work. b) the light in the boys' room doesn't work. I didn't laugh. That would have been wicked. Later, Jeff points out to me that if I plan on using the second floor bathroom, I better do so before the sun goes down, guess what, no light :0)

He told me this morning he was going to get the lights on the second floor working. I thought that was a nice idea, but we are leaving town today, and at this rate, the second floor would be fixed, but the bedrooms on the third floor would have no power. I told him (in no uncertain terms) this project would have to wait until we come home :0)

The waiting might kill me. Monday we will celebrate Addie's ninth Birthday, and then we leave to meet Nevaeh. We will get to meet her at 11 AM on Tuesday. I spent the day today doing TONS of paperwork, had to fill out about 15 different forms to transfer all of Nevaehs' medical records from her current specialist and GP to her new specialist and GP. I spend quite a while on the phone arrangeing appts for her with all the new specialists come August, and was able to scheduele them for hte same three days as Annie and Carlos' typcial Mayo Appts, which means less time away from home. On the other hand, it does mean a three day stay at Ronald McDonald House. It's a wonderful amazing place, we just prefer to be home. It's not really that far (about an hour and a half) but that's three hours a day in the car three days in a row. A lot for any child. Too much for three children with nuero issues.

Still trying to get a copy of her ECSE IEP (there should be a prize for the reader who knows what that means!) LOL! Other than that, we have most everything done. Have a nursing agency and will be interviewing nurses on Thursday. I just want to have everything in place when she comes home so that there are no gaps in care as well as being able to just focus on the whole family adjusting and bonding.

Jeff is out with reserves tonite, I think the kids and I are going to go to bed early tonite, mom is exhausted and the kids seem a bit overwhelmed from the excitement of the last day of school. I think I finally found a home for all the "treasures" they bring home on the last day. You know what I mean, popsicle stick figurines, dried up bottles of glue, name tags, you name it. Now multiply times four. (the older kids are homeschooled) Anyway, it felt like a mountain I needed to conquer. I always forget about all that until they walk int he door on the last day. It must be a defense mechanism. :0)

Blessings to you all~ I will try to stay busy this weekend to make the time go faster.

This week.....

What a crazy week! Jeff and his cohorts at the fire department burned a house down last weekend. Took some of the kids to watch. It was amazing! The heat was so intense you had to keep backing up, at one point I was accross the street and two houses down, the heat still stung my face. I have never seen anything like it. On Monday Jeff took Gabriela to see the ENT, she will be having her tonsils and adnoids out on June 16 (don't forget Jeff leaves for Montana with the older kids on the 13th for a mission trip, so mom is flying solo with nine kids and surgery) Praise God for Grandma!!! She is trying to arrange for the day off so I don't have to bring six children to the hospital for Gabriela's surgery.
Carlos and Annie are both having oral surgery, so I had to scheduele all three surgeries and pre-ops. Jeff had his official fire department pinning last night at city hall, and it was Brittany's 21st birthday! WOW! Do I feel old or what! We went to El Molino's for dinner with Rita and Lauren. Rita, Brittany and I each had a Rasberry Dacquiri (after Daddy ran her back home for her ID, LOL) Then came home for cake and ice cream, then off to the pinning ceremony. After the pinning ceremony, Brittany and I went out to take some pics for her 21st birthday, got some really good shots!
Monday is Adrianna's 9th birthday, then after celebrating, Jeff and I will leave to meet Nevaeh! We are both so excited! We will also get to meet her birthmom and her teachers as well as go to OT, PT and speech with her.
When we get home we will be getting Jeff and the kids ready for Montana, then surgery. Shortly after we should be bringing Nevaeh home. WOW! Don't expect a lot of postings in the next two weeks :0) Leaving you with pics of Britts birthday and the house fire. Blessings! DeAnna PS Whoops! Can't find pics from last night, will locate and post them later :0)

update....dull

Today we found out will will indeed get to meet Nevaehs' birthmom, Tara on the ninth. We will also get to go with Nevaeh and fostermom to PT, OT and speech that day to get familiar with her programming. The worker is trying to arrange it for us to meet with her teachers as well. We will be bringing her some clothes laundered at our house to help familiarize her with the scent of our detergent as well as giving her something to bring home with her....some of my children came home with only the clothing on their backs, so you just don't know.... I need to keep praying about our school situation, last night in a meeting where there could be no public discussion, the school secretary was named interim director. What???? No wonder they said that parents couldn't speak. There was no talk of her qualifications, or the reasons for choosing her, just a vote, with unanimous results. Does this SCREAM qaurum to you? Good golly, then one of the teachers started telling me that people are WATCHING HER HOUSE. While I do feel terribly for her that she beleives this, it was hard not to laugh. The hardest thing is I LIKE these people, just not their actions as of late. I NEED this school to stay afloat for my children. I am not proud of how I behaved last night. I let my emotions get the best of me. I need to pray for strength on this one. It is such an emotional issue for me. The teacher who beleives someone is watching her house also accused me of being disresptful by posting of the issues on my blog. I am trying to figure this one out as noone who reads this blog knows where my children go to school. The people who live in our community already KNOW what's going on. The newspaper will have a heyday with the most current drama. I imagine it will get worse before it gets better. Two people cannot be in charge of a school, the parents and staff need to work together, the parents thoughts and feelings need to be respected and taken into account. The teachers thoughts and feeling need to be respected (I did not do well at that last night, and still owe some apologies) It feels as thought the staffs attitude is if you don't agree with everything going on, then it is personal and you are against them. We just have to move past the proffesional/personal thing. Anyway, I have rambled enough. Blessings! -DeAnna

Update....

Haven't posted in awhile, but here it goes. Just got back from retreat with an AMAZING group of women.....wonderful to have so much time with my dear freind Sandy, as well as other like Bonnie, Yvonne, Amber and Cheryl. Great to cut loose a little and giggle like schoolgirls.

After a 5 year battle, our dear daughter Annie was finally able to get a spot at the Academy for the Blind. The Academy was not the problem, the typical school did not want to release my daughter. Most families have this problem with accesing the Academy for the Deaf or the Academy for the Blind. Most turn to attorneys as we did. Anyway, Annie will start there with summer school, but got to spend a day there with her para, I sent the camera along and got lots of wonderful pics back! I scrapped some thhis weekend, but this is the one that made me cry. My daughter is on the left. She is being led down the hall by a new freind. I loved it. It spoke to my joy of finally having an educational environment for Annie that really suits her needs, where she can thrive....so I am posting that layout.

Got the call we have been waiting for, on June 9 we get to meet our new daughter, Nevaeh. We will make a transition plan at that time and should have some idea of when we can bring her home. The kids (and us) are all antsy to get her home, but we DO know she is getting good care where she is now (not all our kids had that benefit) so that brings me some peace about the waiting.

Also made Birthmom a scrapbook this weekend. She is really hurting and scared right now. I am hoping the book eases her fears a bit. We are under no legal obligation to maintain contact, she knows nothing of our family and is understandably very frightened right now.

Also, remember, digiridooscraps has thier grand opening on June 5! They are now live now, so if you haven't checked them out do so!

Blessings to you all! -DeAnna

Photo of Nevaeh

Here is the photo of Nevaeh, I realise it's not the best, but it's all we have now.....

It's a GIRL!!

Yes, we got the call! We are blessed enought o be Nevaeh's forever family! Have not gotten to meet her yet (which is typcial) Have been keeping myself busy buying clothes, setting up a bedroom space for her, all the things you typically do to get ready for a new child, I guess I am nesting as my freind Rita put it, LOL!

Of course, there was scrapbooking involved, tommorow I will mail Nevaeh's worker a scrapbook for her. There is one page for every member of our family. The pages are done in a large format as Nevaeh is visually impaired, so I stuck with close up shots of each of us and kept the embellies simple to avoid visual overstimulation....Some of the pages are posted today. The left side is fairly empty as I will be laminating the pages and binding them into a book with my "yourstory" Machine. I should be able to post a photo of Nevaeh later today, she is gorgeous, of course!!!!

I should tell you as well that the awesome frames and chipboard words are from haynay designs, available at scrapmatters, they are actually really fun ditressed solid colors, I just needed them to match the crazy bright colors I was using due to Nevaeh's visual impairment, but I do ADORE these as it! The distressing on them is too fun! Check them out here: http://scrapmatters.com/shop/product.php?productid=1871&cat=0&page=1

and waiting and waiting and waiting......

Still waiting. I am sleeping 3-5 hours a night. i wake up between 3 and 5 AM, just too much spinning in my head for sleep, even with Ambien. Not only Nevaeh, but now my children's school seems to be imploding....Here is the most recent article from our local paper...
http://www.wasecacountynews.com/news.php?viewStory=2847
Very stressed out about this. It may not seem big until you know that the school has had 4 directers in as many years. The staff seem to be turning on each other like canibals, and we are in danger of not having a sponsor and/or building. We may be faced with having to bus the kids to Owatonna or Mankato as I do NOT see the typical public school as an option (if you think I feel strongly about that, you should talk to my husband, LOL)
Maybe everything just seems bigger when there is a lot on my mind. Maybe tommorow we will hear something about Nevaehe that willl make everthing else seem small.
A week until Birch Park!!! Four days with freinds, fun and a bottle of wine, BOY do I need that!
Blessing to you all! -DeAnna

Nevaeh

Not a lot to say today, no blogging, no scrapping this weekend. Only nerves. I cleaned all weekend. No so much because Nevaeh's workers are coming to visit today, but because that's what I do when I am nervous or stressed. The blinds are dusted, the doors are scrubbed and polished, all the sheets are changed and comforters washed. The window washer is coming this morning, all the wood floors are polished and all the area rugs have been cleaned by servicemaster, (love those folks!)
I have cleaned, scrubbed, dusted and organized anything that can be. I am sure I will be in a frenzy until they leave today. I know God has a plan for Nevaeh, and I know it may not be our family, many other families have submitted homestudies. I just need to get through this and find out. My heart is planning, my brain is waiting. So much to think about. Bless you all and please send up a prayer of thanks to God that no matter what family is right for Nevaeh, that she will have a forever family, finally.
Blessings! -DeAnna

WFD Class of 2009

Ok, didn't sleep last night and not feeling really motivated to do much today, so what did I do you ask?? I scrapped the car fire pictures from last night of course!

Tuesday....

Jeff is in the final stretch with firefighter school. Last night they were burning cars, I took the kids to watch (from inside the car accross the street) and of course, took pictures to scrapbook (watch for those later today)

I got to play with Haynay's new kit "medicine" that you can get at Scrapmatter.com, lots of fun! While there are a lot of fun components that are medical themed, the kit has a ton of papers and elements that are great for boy pages as well. My LO and QP are above.

Pretty regular day today. School, confirmation, firefighter meeting, cleaning the youth center.

Blessings to you all ! -DeAnna

Camp Courage

AMAZING!! That is really all that can be said regarding this weekend. What a blessing to be surrounded by people who not only understand your child's disability, but live it. We were at Maple Lake Camp Courage this weekend for the yearly TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) camp. All of the families there have a child with a TBI. The affected children just got to have an amazing time in an environment where everyone understands their needs. The siblings got to spend a weekend having a wonderful time in an environment where they do not have to explain their siblings behaviors or needs to anyone. Just have fun!

Having an environment that is both physically and emotionally so safe and supportive for Carlos was a priceless experience. We will defiently go back every year. We met so many wonderful and couraguous families, what a blessing to develop this support system. Most of the children received their injuries in car accidents. It was heartbreaking to hear these parents speak of their guilt and regret. In one family Mom collided with a snowplow, She had minor injuries, her son had no injuries. Her daughter (then three) had a profound head injury. Her child had been a typcially developing three year old until that point. Suddenly she has almost no use of her limbs, has lost her language abilities and is blind and tube fed. I pray that mom can move past her guilt (it has now been 6 years since the accident) but I know as a mom this could be almost impossible. Their younger child has also been profoundly affected, and actually tells people that "mom did this to my sister". It seemed that the family was suffering with a lot of blame and guilt. It broke my heart.

I should say the weekend was NOT a pity party, it was a chance to talk about our amazing children, most who were not expected to survive their injuries. In their own way, each is now thriving. It was a weekend of celebration and emotional healing. We have waited for three years to get a spot at the camp, and found it to be one of the most amazing experiences we have had as a family. The camp simply blessed us, without a doubt, we will be back every year. No scrap pages today, just some fun pics from camp :0) Included is a pic of a little boy named Mikey, I found him to be so endearing as he reminds me of my son. He becomes very fixated on things that excite him. Our golf cart excited him, especially once I explained to him that the flames make it go faster. He knew where the cart was every moment, LOL! Saturday night when schedueled events were over, we were too tired to do anything but go to bed. Mikey's family was headed up to the pool. We were thrilled to hand over the golf cart to his family, Mikey was beside himself! I have a picture in my head of Mikey waiting at the gate for us next year when we arrive, well, I guess it will be the golf cart he is waiting for :0) Blessings to all of you! Please give your kids an extra hug and kiss today, but for the grace of God you go here. None of us ever dreamed our children would become statistics. Blessings! -DeAnna

Bless

Another QP

OK, got up at 430 AM, and decided this page had to be done in a boy theme as well....the download is set up to either do an extraction (as i did) or to delete the blue clouds and put in a full pic, you can get this one from Scrappy Shannon as well. I believe the kit is going online this weekend for National Scrapbooking day. Blessings! -DeAnna (who is off to give showers and get children to school....and I just spotted a typo on the page I will need to fix as well....don't worry it will be fixed before Shannon posts it....

Going to Camp

Headed off to camp tommorow with Jeff and the kids. Camp Courage does a family cam for families with a child with a brain injury, we have tried to get a spot before, but only 15 families can go each year. This year we got a spot...The kids are excited, but confused about how we could be going camping without the camper, LOL!

Not much to say today, just getting the kids packed for camp, will pack Jeff and I tommorow, and stop at the pharmacy for med refills....

Hey! Digi Ridoo Scraps opens this weekend, all of you will see it before me, LOL! I only wish they weren't opening the weekend we will be out of town, and no wifi, i checked, LOL!

Well you all have fun checking it out.....http://www.digiridooscraps.com/index.html

No word yet on Nevaeh, the adoption workers are trying to hammer out a meeting place and time. Usually they come to your house for the meeting. Did I mention my ceilings are ripped out?? Oh, well, I know they want to see REAL, ripped out ceilings is pretty real :0)

Blessings to you all! -DeAnna

Oh, I almost forgot!!! Scrappy Shannon let me play with her new kit, Called Home. I had fun playing with it today, and Addie enjoyed posing for the photo for me, she adores the page. The page was made with Shannon's new kit, of course, and not just pinks, LOTS of blues, greens and browns. I just, well, have six daughters, so I use a lot of pink....You can also get the QP of this layout from Shannon....It will be on her site soon...Check it all out at her website: http://scrappyshannon.blogspot.com/

Nevaeh

We got potentially exciting news today. We are being interviewed to adopt a little girl named Nevaeh. Read that name backwards.....yep, Heaven. She turned 4 about two weeks ago. We don't know much about her but her age and a beautiful picture I have of her (I am not allowed to post for privacy reasons)

The kids are jazzed about it, they would love to have 10 more sibs. I am up for whatevever God has planned. I stopped trying to guess years ago, as i never would have guessed I would have nine kids, I never would have guessed I would EVER digitally scrapbook, and BLOGGING?? No way! "Be still and know that I am God". I am working on that one, being still is not my stronguit :0)

Waiting is tough.....May 7th will come though, faster than I think. The hardest part we went through in adoption was waiting to bring our kids home once we knew they were ours. There is song (Christian, of course) that goes:

Cuz I just want to be with you

Just want this waiting to be over.

I just want to be with you

And it helps to know the day's getting closer.

Every minute takes an hour

every inch feels like a mile,

till I won't have to imagine ,

and i finally get to see you smile

You can see it on Youtube here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTKdSBIuGdA&feature=related

The song really embodies the angst i felt while waiting to bring my kids home. It was toughest with the second adoption, as we had to keep bringing the kids back to a situation we knew was bad. During that time, this song would come on the radio, and i would have to pull over the car to compose myself.

God tell us to be "anxious for nothing". I am going to work on that.

Now, what to post for scrapping today??? Let me check my scrap files and see what I find :0)

Crazy Wednesday

I am so excited Scrappy Shannon has a new kit for me to play with, "Called Home" Close to my heart as my nephew went home to Jesus at birth in 1995, I will create something for his parents, they have so painfully little of him.

Today will be a little dicey, Addie (still 8, almost 9) has been coughing like crazy and has lost her voice and I seem to be developing another kidney infection. Sooooo we will have to get to the doctor today. We also have a meeting at 1:30 at the school. I need to clean the youth center, and then there is confirmation. So busy, but good, except for the doctor part, LOL!

I have high hopes for the meeting. It is hard for people to understand Reactive Attachment Disorder. It requires on to understand how profoundly early abuse and neglect affect a child. I too could have never grasped the profound affects before adopting. I DO empathize with those who don't understand, but it is frustrating as well. Well meaning people just think my girls need just a little more love. There are loved at home. Why else would we still be here 5 years later after all this family has been through to have these children in our family? The hard part for people is they LOOK so typical. They're wounds are on the inside, and difficult to address thereputically as they have little to no concious memories of what happened in those years.

They have made so much progress, and yet I am still so frightened for them. They still lack an ability to fit into societal norms, making and keeping freinds is very challenging. Staying focused on schoolwork is very difficult, and yet they are exceptionally bright children.

We struggle every day with how to best meet their needs, as do their therapists, doctors and mental health workers. When all these professionals are stuggling, how can people on the outside who have no training in RAD seem to think they know all about these girls and what they need. It is hard. These are people I like and respect, but again, wrapping your mind around what these girls have survived is painful for adults, so they focus on the fact that they LOOK so typical.

I read a quote in a book I borrowed from my freind Cheryl it said "There are no children here, they have seen too much to be children". I cried when I read that, as it seemed to embody my girls. Amazing children, survivors, if we could only get them to understand their potential and the amazing plans God holds for these girsl.......

Blessings! -DeAnna

Oooops! Almost went the day without showing you some scrapping....Here is Meg (13), Alexandra (still 15, but not for long) and Brittany (still 20, but not for long) they were just playing around in the kitchen around Valentines day, and you guessed it, I grabbed the camer. Not a layout so much, just an altered 4x6. One of the reasons I love these is they make GREAT postcards (and only 9 cents each!) I just have them printed as 4 x 6's, then draw a vertical line down the center of the back. Now write the address on the right side of the line (I like to use a journaling stamp to create the lines) along with a postcard stamp, and write your message on the left, VIOLA! A custom postcard for only 9 cents, you just saved paper (vs. sending a card with envelope) as well as postage, I have made Thank You cards as well, and keep them with the bills on the counter (I know, ironic I keep Thank You's with the bills, LOL) but I HAVE gotten better about sending thank you's!

Blessings! -DeAnna

Go Bonnie!

My dear freind Bonnie (see picture) WON a Cricut Expression today! I was so excited for her, I think I can hear her screams all the way from Fargo! I love seeing wonderful things happen to wonderful people. God has really been showing himself to me lately, and not just through a Cricut. After a five year uphill battle, we FINALLY were blessed with a spot at the Academy for the Blind for Annie. There just are things she can't learn from sighted people. It would be like trying to submerse yourself in chinese culture without going to China. Ain't gonna happen.

We had also been working for close to a year on getting one of our other children into a theraputic program that we have hopes will be able to help her. We finally heard today she has a spot starting in June! God is just amazing. I know that all the time, but sometimes I need reminded. Big shout out to all the parents with special needs kids, you know what I am talking about. Sometimes we have to work so hard to have our childs needs met, it just makes you want to beat your head on a wall. I remember right after we adopted Annie, the lifegaurd at the healthclub we belonged to told us Annie couldn't use the waterslide, because she's blind. I just couldn't understand that....now if she was a qaudrapalegic (sp?) I guess I could understand a bit more, but shes' just BLIND. I tried to explain the law to them. They were not interested. We cancelled our membership. Little did I know then that it would be one of the lesser battles we would fight.

Anyway, God has always made it possible. These last two weeks was just a wonderful reminder that he is here in the big stuff and the small stuff. Thanks, Bonnie.

Not an exciting day today, Carlos, Addie and Alexandra are off to the Children's Theater. Tyler is till in Geogia, and go his care packages. (yeah!) Annie has an appointment this afternoon for new orthotics in Mankato, so I will get to use my 50% off coupon at Michaels.

Doing housework this morning...how can I do so much housework and still never have a clean house? I can think of 9 reasons, LOL! Tried to call Isaih's former foster mom Fertimmia yesterday, I had sent her a layout of her and Isaih, the pictures were taken when we first met Isaih at Ferimmias' home. I could not reach her. I am anxious to find out if they have a web cam as it would be fun to put Isaih on the webcam with her. She has not seen him (except in pictures since he was nine months old....he is now almost four.

Jeff only has this week and next week left of firefighter classes! Just four classes to go, woooohoooo! Excited for this, as then Jeff will get to fully participate in firefighting, and this will no longer consume our lives....

So if today's subject is Firefighting and Isaih, what will our layouts be of?? Yep, firefighting and Isaih, this is the layout I mailed to Fertimmia a couple of weeks ago.

Well, off to try and clean up the house. I often think of the phrase from "The Cat in the Hat". It says "And this mess is so big and so deep and so tall, we cannot clean it up, there is no way at all." Blessings! -DeAnna

I wanted to wait until the first to tell you all, but I just couldn't wait! I am now also on the CT for Digi ridoo Scraps opening on May 1. It is going to be an awesome store! Make sure to check it out come May1st! And Yvonne, who wants to know where the pictures of me are, right there, sister, on the web site, LOL! Remember, the site does not open until May 1, but I will post a link ASAP......Blessings! -DeAnna

Another dreary day....hectic mornng, mondays are shower days for the kids, which means getting them up a bit earlier and laying out their clothes in the hallway outside the bathroom. We can do 5 showers in about 15 minutes, assembly line style....then meds, teeth, hairbrushing, glasses, shoes, breakfast, after breakfast we blowdry hair....I guess it would look a little crazy to someone who didn't live here, but the kids know the routine and it typically goes quite smoothly.

We have a PCA assesment for Annie this morning, I hate those appointments, they focus on all the ways my child is not like other children, no focus at all on all of the amazing accomplishments she has made. I know it is neccesary, but I hate that on paper, my child looks so incapable.

There is a story of what it is like to parent a child with needs. They say it's like saving all your life for an amazing trip to Ireland. You dream of seeeing the Emerald Isle. You plan, save, and finally pack for your amazing adventure.....then the plane lands and the captain announces "Welcome to Italy". Italy is amazing, the language, the people, the buildings. You see and do everything you can, but your heart aches for Ireland.

With adoption it's a bit different, we knew we would go to Italy. But seeing my child struggle, to see her stared at in public. To see her poked and prodded by specialists....my heart aches for Annie to go to Ireland. For her, not for me, I chose Italy, she wanted Ireland. That said, we know God has amazing plans for Annie, she is an amazing child.

Anyway, since Annie is the topic today, I will post another layout of her..... You can click the image (as with all the layouts) to see it larger....

Already looking forward to Memorial Weekend!

Looking forward to Memorial weekend....four days with my favoritist people (that don't live in my house, LOL) at Birch Park retreat, one of my favorite places....My best freind (mom) and many other wonderful and dear freinds Cheryl, Sandy, Bonnie, Kim, Yvonne, Kathie Jean, Natalie....the list goes on....fun, prizes, scrapping ....I just can't wait. Not much left to do to plan for it either, which is nice. Pack up my stuff and go!

http://www.birchparkretreat.com/

Precious Petals, Freebie QP's

It is a rainy, dreary day here in Southern Minnesota....the perfect day to try some more blogging and learn some new tricks....

I recently joined Scrappy Shannon's CT, and am having a great time with it. Shannon recently blessed with me her new kit, Precious Petals. I have had so much fun with this awesome kit! I made a layout of my daughter Annie (age 10) and a few Quickpages (see above) you can get from Scrappy Shannon. http://scrappyshannon.blogspot.com/ you can also preview her fab kit on her blog as well.

You can get her awesome kit here http://prettyscrappy.com/xcart/manufacturers.php?manufacturerid=65

Yeah, I know, I found the typos in the layout of Annie and will get them fixed....I should learn to check spelling before I save a layout....

No church today, Jeff didn't get home until 5 Am, busy night on police reserves. Just wasn't up to taking nine children to church alone today, and no way would I get a chance to shower this morning with Jeff in bed and the kids all nuts from being cooped up in the house....It just doesn't feel like a Sunday without church. If I can keep the kids quiet enough for Jeff to get some sleep, we can go to evening services.

Blessings! -DeAnna