Full House

We have had a full house this week with Jordan co-babysitting  a 12 week old and I got an emergency respite placement Monday evening. What a little manipulator we met. I had to laugh at some of her ploys and had to crack up at the response that my kids had to her behavior. They had a "does that really work?" look on their faces and then when I stayed consistent they had the "Now you know what we have to deal with" look. LOL!!!

Overall, she fell in with the group pretty quick. She seemed to enjoy school here and really liked working at the food bank. I love the lady that runs the food bank as I brought in a extra kid in a Rotties shirt and the lady just put her right to work, stocking shelves and packing orders.

I was suppose to have a yard sell this weekend, but the weather was not so conducive, so another time.

Have a great weekend.

Room Make-Over

For her 13th birthday, Jordan got a room makeover. 3 years ago she got switched to the boys room and the boys to the girls room. They very quickly took down the princess wall border, valence and jumbo princess wall stickers. She said she kinda liked the space theme and left it up along with the glow-in-the-dark stars. comets and planets.

Jordan loves music! So I found this great set on E-b*y and surprised her.

(Notice the doll baby and the e-Reader on the desk. The contrast is not lost. LOL!)

A fresh coat of paint and a whole lotta purging makes for a nice teen girl room.

Gainfully Employed

7th grade has been babysitting for these past 2 weeks and has 1 more week to go. He is an 11 week old baby and is as cute as can be. She does very well with little babies....poopy diapers and all. He really likes her and his little face lights up when she walks in the room. He knows her voice and prefers her. The baby's mommy is doing well too and the anxiety of leaving him seems to have lessened.

Jordan is rolling in the big bucks now and very close to her goal of saving enough money to buy a very nice digital camera. I may need some ideas for a quality 'point and shoot' for her.

Now if I can survive the eye rolling and other mess......

Happy Birthday, Jordan

13!!

How did she get to be 13?

Her story: About 3 weeks before she was born, "The Worker" asked me if I was ready for a new baby? I laughed and said, "I don't know nothin' 'bout takin' care of no baby!" in my best "Gone With The Wind" Southern drawl. She laughed, I laughed, we went our separate ways. 3 weeks later I was at court with a different client and the supervisor from my agency was there also. She came up to me and asked if I was here for my new baby? I had no clue what she was talking about. She said "Worker M said you were taking the new baby. She was born today and will be discharged tomorrow." I was in kind of a "dear-caught-in-the-headlights" mode when I said, "I thought she was kidding when she asked me that, but okay"

So a tiny, pink, little girl was discharged and when they placed her in my arms... I can't even describe the feeling. The initial thought was that I would foster until she was placed for adoption. Little did I know that her forever family had already been found in us!

Happy birthday, Kid!

3 Books Down

This was our Kindergarten curriculum this year...

Today he completed another workbook with smiles and cheers. So now "A - Z Bible Stories", "Handwriting Without Tears" and "Spectrum Phonics" are completed and he has 30 days left for Lifepac Language Arts and Math and about 6 days of lessons for Spectrum Reading. As for science and social studies... I did not come anywhere close to completing them. I just could not get into the way they were organized and ended up doing some of hie science with the other grades (adjusted to his level) and social studies we did together.

I am starting to shop for next year's goodies.

How Much Is That Doggy In the Window?

Our dog is being allowed more and more freedom from his crate as he gets older and is now sleeping out of his crate most nights. Tonight he discovered the full length mirror at the end of the hall. He thinks its another dog. He does not like that dog. He barks and growls at that dog and as that dog moves to and fro, he works harder to defend his domain. It is so funny to watch because he is so serious about that dog in the mirror. Of course I stopped laughing when he woke the baby up with his barking. Crazy dog.

For the first time in months, we have a very slow week coming up. 7th grade is starting a new babysitting job that she is very excited about, but we have no appointments. Yay!!

Book It

Today we will use our Book It coupons for lunch. I know that I will have to add the buffet in for the boys 'cause that little pizza will just be an appitizer for them. LOL!