Wayback machine: Recap March 19-28 2010

It's been a long week..and I've been a bit busy, so let's see what's happened.
The kids went to visitation and had a nightmare Tuesday night.  I passed the first and second test at the academy.
My class passed our uniform inspection, after the third time.  I was a bit concerned that we wouldn't pass it, namely because different people inspected each time, and we finally got a consistent inspector. 
 We learned how to polish the boots to shiny perfection.
 We toured the prison and got to watch the "apes" in solitary act like 5 year olds.
 On Saturday, I went and helped my fellow club members at the Lubbock Easter Egg hunt, and today, we went to church.

 Current count: 6 meltdowns (1 a day.)
                       20 time outs
                       3 cool down periods.

 As for the cool down periods, I've learned to tell the cranky kid it's because he/she needs to cool down and relax, and it's not punishment. 
The oldest still doesn't like to go to bed and cries, but I've been reading her bible stories before bed and it seems to help.
The youngest finally slept all the way through the night, just one night.  Mommy fed her a mixture of milk and oatmeal to fill her belly.
 We'll see if she sleep all the way through the night tonight.
Until next week, be well.

Every day it goes faster, going faster than a rollercoaster.

Sorry I haven't said anything for the last couple a' days.  It's been busy.
Poor Kacey, she said the kids were just wild yesterday, and the dogs were even worse.
You gotta feel for a frazzled teenager, however, on the bright side, if a boy wants to neck, she'll say no, (chuckles)
 Yesterday, we had a full day of prison class.  It's interesting, and today was just as interesting.  We got to get fingerprints, ID's made, and ate in the staff cafeteria.  It wasn't bad food.  I've had worse in some hospitals I've worked at.
 We also got fitted for uniforms.  Pants 2 sizes too large, because they'll shrink when washed, and a shirt that I thought might be too big, but fit.  We did the always popular "In the cup" test, and our first written test.  I passed it with a 94.

I got home and the kids were sitting out in the doghouse.  literally, they were inside the doghouse, sitting down and drinking juice.  I couldn't help but laugh.

Just a couple of things I've forgotten over the last few days.


3/18 - Happy Birthday Dad
3/19 - Happy Birthday Hon.

The Magic number 117 and the snoopy dance.

Do you remember watching Peanuts as a child, and watching Snoopy do the "Happy Dance?"
Do you remember how it goes?  The beagle points his nose in the air and dances on his hind feet as he cocks his head to the right, then to the left, and then to the right again.

So, like Dora singing, "we did it, we did it, we did it yes."  I successfully completed my test today.

I only needed a 75, in order to pass the physical agility test.
I did   20 sit ups                                                for 20 points
          17 push ups                                            for 17 points
          30 deep squats                                       for 30 points         
          carried a 45 pound shot bag 30 yards     for 10 points
          Climbed the ladder 4 times                     for 20 points
         and ran 1/4 mile in 3minutes 11 sec         for 20 points
          and the grand total is                                   117 points.
 
       And that's why I was almost doing the Snoopy Dance.

Oh, Ruby Tuesday, who could hang a name on you?

    Today, the teenager and I took the kids for their visit to mom.  Mom looked okay, but I think I detected a bit of that slow mental speed that the folks at CPS tried to tell us about.
     Let's start off with the meltdowns.  Cath had one, because she didn't want to wear the dress mom Kristie laid out, Ham had a small meltdown because he didn't want to wear the clothes laid out.  Jaz didn't melt down...ice water in those viens. :)
     Mom showed up at 10:06 and greeted the kids.  "Cake!" Cath demanded, because her birthday was yesterday.  She's now 4.  Mom didn't have cake, but did want to take them out to eat at Mickey D's.  Of course, that was after the family pictures she wanted to take.  Cath, from what I understand, didn't sit still for the pictures, thus holding them up for Mickey D's.  So, they missed lunch, and mom didn't change Jaz's diaper during the visit.  If I were CPS, that's a thing I'd be watching for, the fact that mother didn't even change the diaper.  Needless to say, we did that as soon as we got home.

      That was right after I stopped and got them kiddie meals at Mickey D's.  Now, we are just waiting for Ham's ECI teacher to show up.

      By the way, The teenager has been a godsend this week, I wish she'd stay with us.  In case she reads this, her name is Kacey, and she's a wonderful young lady.


      More tomorrow.......

Rainy (snowy) days and mondays always get me down..........

     Today seems to count for both. It's a monday, and it's raining and snowing.  Darn it all.

     Jaz decided she didn't want to sleep last night, so I was up with her at 2,4,and 5:30, while the other two kids, the teenager, and my loving wife slept.  Poor Jaz, everytime I picked her up and rocked her, she went to sleep, but everytime I put her down, she woke up.  Believe me, I can sympathize with sleepless nights, I've had a lot of those myself.

     I'm hoping that wednesday is the day that lets me go back to work.  I feel like I can run the 1/4 of a mile in less than 4 minutes.  I know I can do the 20 push-ups and 20 sit ups, and deep knee bends, and carry 35 pounds 30 yards. (After all, a bass drum weighs more than that,) and climb ladders (Been there, done that.)

     Anyway, for today, I'm down, mainly because of the monday, rainy day thing.

   

And the time change kicked our butt........

     We had all three kids, plus the teenager bathed and ready for bed by 10pm, last night, and during all the hoopla, I forgot to set the clocks ahead an hour.
      Of course, the baby (jaz) doesn't know anything about time changes, and when she got hungry this morning, it was at 6:30am, but of course my clock still said it was 5:30am.  I didn't realize what time it was until I walked in and the DVR clock was different than the clock on the wall.    Needless to say, it was saying 8:00, and I don't think that's enough time to get jaz, kath, and Ham ready to go to sunday school.  I know it definitely wasn't enough time to get the teenager ready to go. 
        So, we stayed home.  I only had to use the time out card, once.  The rest of the day, Kath was a good girl.
        I love these kids, and it bothers me that Kath won't be a normal 4 year old.  She still thinks of Jaz as her baby, and doesn't listen.  I've gotten used to the temper tantrums when I give her a time out.
        Ham is my good boy.  He obeys, he pays attention...now if I could just get him potty trained, we'd have it made.  He loves to be out doors and loves to ride the scooter and try to climb the tree. 
        Jaz is only happy if someone's holding her and walking around.  Other than that, she's a wonderful child.  When I'm around them, my blood pressure drops and I feel calm.

        Of course, the teenager, Kacey, is Kristie's sister, and is a good young lady, and if I could only get that perpetual frown off of her face, we'd be good to go. 

        It's bedtime, and all the kids are in bed, and the house is sort of quiet.

Going to the park, time out, the little one is fascinated by the kitchen.

     On the second day of foster care, my wife said to, "I'm going to lose my mind."

     It only makes sense since the oldest girl started trying her parents at 2 in the morning.  Little feet wandering the floor at 2am, bothers mother slightly.  Then at 4am, she was found coming out of the babies room, then at 6, she was up and running.  That little girl starts talking when she wakes up and doesn't take a breath or even stop talking until she's asleep.

     During the afternoon, we went to the park and let them climb all over the slide.  It was fun watching them, but if you ever think that will put them to sleep, no way, it just juiced them up.

     Then we came back and finally put the playpen up to contain the littlest one.  That was after we spent most of the day trying to keep her out of the kitchen.  For some reason, she just has this fascination with the linoleum.

     After eating dinner, we let the kids play in the living room, and had our daily meltdown when we told the oldest not to stand on the windowsill.  After giving her three warnings, I had the temerity to ground her to her room for five minutes.  You'd think I was putting her in a dank dark cell all by herself for life.

      Five minutes later, we released her from solitary and let her play in the living room.

      Tomorrow's lesson?  Kacey is a horsie and she gives free rides. (laughs)

    

Of food, weight, height, play, bath, and sleep, blessed sleep

    T+1 day, and so far, all is well.  The foster parent express is just smokin' down the tracks.  We were all set to start our day, when "da boy," decided he didn't want to wear the Texas Tech Windbreaker. 
    I was like, "Yay, this kid has some taste....he doesn't like that double T brand."  When we let him put on the other jacket, he was fine.  On the up side, at least he didn't have to wear that camo jacket. 
    The girl woke up and chattered as she figured out what she wanted to wear.  And the baby did what she does best and drooled as she cuddles in my arms. 
     After getting them all dressed, we went to the WIC office and got each of them a card.  From what I could gather, they get double what they would have gotten before.  Again, "yay," they'll have food.  They weighted the kids, they measured the height, and then had to "Stick" the older girl's finger for blood work. 
     Before you wonder how that worked, I didn't lie to her at all, "It's gonna be okay, it'll be a little sting, and it'll be over."  I held her hand, so she'd know she was okay, and then waited in the hallway with the baby while the two older ones followed Mom into the nutritionists office. 
     Then it was back home, with the two oldest left with me, while the baby went with mommy shopping for nutritious food.
      Being a substitute teacher does have some benefits, and I used them, when I had to send the oldest girl into a time out, for not doing what I said.  She threw a fit when I left her in her room by herself.  Most parents might have given up, but I drew that steely resolve and let her cry it out. 
      Then mom came back and let me unload the car. Don't ya know I just live to unload the car?  It's true.  Just ask.
       After a bit, mom just decided she had to run and get the baby tub from once upon a child, and she left me alone with them again. 
       I was counting down the seconds until she got back and bath time started.  Once all three were bathed, she read them a story, while I relaxed, for the first time today.  Finally, she sent them to bed, and I took them time to pen this journey.
       So, it's T+1 day and FPA Express is on course and speed.  There are no troubles here, Houston.

T-1 hour and counting

The count is at T-1 hour and counting, and I have this conversation going through my head.
"FPA, Houston, T-1 Hour to go.  System Check."
"Houston, FPA, All systems go."
"Are you sure?"
"As sure as I can be."
"You do know that you can't just send them back once they are there, right?"
"Affirmative, Houston."
"What will you do if..........."
"We'll do what other parents have done, and belt in for the ride, houston."

Am I bit nervous?  Sure, but this is what most new parents must feel like.  We'll have three kids under 4, and with their arrival 22 years of living on my own and 3 years of marriage, without kids, will change, and of course I'm a bit nervous.

Of the questions that go through my head, the most important is: "Will I be a good parent?"
The Answer:  Only time will tell.  I'm sure I'll get ribbing from my sister about the way we raise the kids and how we treat them.  It should be interesting to see which way of nurturing works best: my sisters mercurial parenting style, or our calm style of parenting.

But like any one in the armed forces can tell you, "Your plans never survive the first meeting with the enemy."

It's not a bad day

Mother nature is mother nature, and she does her own things for her own reasons.  Take for instance; the rain for the last few days.  The same moisture that greened up the grass in my new back  yard, also started a slow rot in the boards that make up my new fence.

Okay, it's not a new house, the house was probably built in the 50's, and the fence was probably set up at the same time.  On one side, it's being held up by a heavy piece of concrete, and on the other side, by a strong piece of wood.  But hey, I don't own the house, I just rent it, so I can't get the owner to fix the fence.

As I was saying, the slow rot that taking part in the fence, hit an end point this morning, when my super beagle (Simon) either dug a hole through the wood, or found it from last night, and called his brother (Duke) out into an adventure that sent them eight blocks from home.

Luckily, I found them and brought them back, and spent most of the morning fixing the four slats that had the rot.

Now, here it is, 2:00pm, and I'm sitting outside, listening to the internet radio (I love wireless,) and typing this blog post.

Sooner or later, this afternoon, I'll have to lock the yahoos in the garage for 5 minutes, while I go and run once around the block.

The distance is 1/4 mile and I need to run that 1/4 mile in less than 3 minutes, and then do 20 sit ups, 20 push ups, 20 deep squats, then carry 45 pounds for 30 yards in less than a minute, and then climb 4 ladders in order to pass the physical activity test for the new job that I need.

And what happens when you pass those tests?  I get to attend the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Academy, and take my place as a correction officer.

It sounds like a challenge, and I love a challenge.  Who knows, I might be better at this job than I was at my last job.

Till next time.

T-16 Hours and counting

That's right, the countdown is at t-16 hours and counting.  No, I'm not talking about how long it will be until we lift off from mother earth and greet father sky.  It's T-16 hours and counting until our home is filled with the pitter/patter of little feet, and it's been a long and rocky three years since we started this journey.

You see, I married the most beautiful and generous woman three years ago, and we started our life, happily envisioning our own contribution to the world.  We so badly wanted children of our own.  Sadly, my wife has a medical condition that prevents her from having children, and while I was momentarily disappointed, I bucked up and put my faith in God, as I always have. 

We went to specialists, who ran tests, and coallated reports for a year, and finally told us that we couldn't have kids. 

From there, we put in our paperwork to an adoption agency, who showed our profile to a young woman who was having a child that she didn't think she could take care of.... yeah right.  She decided to keep the child and raise it on her own.  My wife was crushed, and I comforted her the best I could.  I railed and cursed, and envisioned crushing the people at the adoption agency between scylla and carybdis. 

Our next step was to take Pride classes at Texas Department of Family Protective services, with the idea that if we couldn't have children of our own, we could at least be foster parents. 

So, in less than 16 hours, our house will become home to two little girls and one little boy, who's mother can't take care of them.  We invited the kids over to visit our house last week, and they hadn't been there more than five minutes before they called me Dad, and my wife Mommy. 

Part of me wil be so happy to have children around the house, even if they aren't fully ours, unless their mother fails her assignments from the CPS folk. 

Would I adopt them?  In a heartbeat.  Will I love them?  As if they are my own children.

How will it work?  I'll let you know.  Feel free to come back and keep up with the saga.