Happy Thanksgiving!!

Edible

For my birthday, I received an Edible Arrangement. I was so thrilled and it is so neat. We are not as fond of the chocolate covered strawberries as I thought, but the rest was so fresh and beautiful.

Home School Lite

We made it home Sunday, early evening and the kids decided that they missed school enough that they wanted to get back into it. They set up school and got everything ready without me even telling them to. My foster child, Jeanna*, DID NOT WANT to go back to her public school and promised to cry Monday morning. I debated back and forth as to whether to send her or not for the 2 days before Thanksgiving Break and her teacher (who really does not like Jeanna all that much) had suggested that I just keep her home for those 2 days. But school attendance is an issue that I don't want to have problems with, so I sent her on Monday. Luckily the hot lunch for that day was a meal that she liked. It was the only reason she went. Ha Ha!

We are doing just review type work here in Rottie Land. 8th grade did a couple of hours on Monday as well as 1st grade. 4th grade ended up doing a bit more as it is just the nature of his gig. Today is my birthday so we will watch a movie together...my choice even though I will most likely fall asleep and only see the opening and closing credits as usual! LOL!

Our church added a Wednesday morning prayer meeting that I am excited about as I never get to go to the evening one (bedtime conflicts), so we will get to attend that tomorrow morning before Entertaining Angels. We have also decided to give out meals to any families that come for personal needs on Wednesday. We will be giving out a small chicken, a bag of potatoes and a can good. Just a small meal for hard times.

Thursday we look forward to our traditional grilled cheese and french fries Thanksgiving dinner.

To my Sister-girlfriend: You know I love ya! We are making arrangements.

*My foster daughter's blog name

A Great Finish

We did another night swim tonight in order to get the annual pictures of them jumping in and also another attempt to get the picture of them all doing handstands at the same time. The jumps were fun and entertaining! They just could not get the handstands this year, but it was hilarious trying! All in all... a fantastic trip.

soda overload...

I never buy pop in the States and usually only drink it while on vacation. I have to say.. I have had my fair share and then some. My poor kidneys have been assaulted. While I am not ready to go home yet, I am looking forward to my ice maker and my big 'ole water jug.

We are packing it up and getting ready to leave on Saturday. The boys say they miss the dog, but are not ready to go home yet. Both girls miss their beds and say they miss home and the dog.

We did not get our usual underwater handstand and night swim pictures this year even though we did both.  We may try one more time tomorrow.

Ownership

We have not done school yet this week (of course it is only Tuesday morning), but the kids have learned and experienced so much other stuff that I once again feel like it trumps worksheets.  The children have enjoyed a lot of "ladder ball" and surprisingly, Jeanna is very good at it.

I am having lots of feelings about posting highlights of our vacation, but really want to have the documentation. One of my favorite lines that the Judge says during the adoption process is that "...this child will now have all the rights and privileges of this family..."

It is my privilege to be able to share this life with my children, to see their faces of "first WOW's!!!" and hear them say, "Mommy look!" even if it is the millionth time they have done a flip in the water.

I own my feelings... I own my privilege.

Swimming



I heard: "un,  deux,  trois, GO!" about a million times during that week.  

We have had 4 great days in a row of swimming. First someone let the girls use their underwater camera for an afternoon and they took tons of underwater pictures.The next day ocean was FABULOUS and a whole crowd went body surfing. Jordan had a blast and it was pure entertainment for those of us who did not brave the waves. Last night on 11/11/11 there was a full moon. We had spent the night at a different resort for a few nights and they had a heated, salt water pool that was so warm that when Jackson stuck his foot in, he quickly pulled it back out... I thought he had gotten burned. We went for a night swim and it was wonderful. The moon was bright, the water was warm and we had the pool to ourselves. We had so much fun.