Heads, noses, wrists and legs, wrists and legs

I know that this post is a week past due, but the past week has been very, well, challenging to say the least. We had a wonderful 4 days with Chali and Jen! We took all the kids to the park and had a picnic. The weather was amazing. I took them back to the airport last Monday which was really hard for me to do! I miss my girlie.

We've always had really difficult nights with Josh, but now the days are becoming tough as well. They say 6 weeks is the honeymoon stage and now we are running up on 2 months, so honeymoon is over. We are working really hard with him on discipline, cause and effect (which he doesn't understand yet) and anger management. It's a long, tough road ahead, but we feel that with God and good people surrounding him, it is possible! He is actually sometimes saying "yes ma'am, and please and thank you" without being prompted now.

Well the results of Mom's MRI...fractured tibia. Owie! We are thankful it isn't muscular though and doesn't require surgery! Mom is still getting around with the help of a cane, but she's moving a bit quicker now. She's not in as much pain anymore which is so great! She is still needing to ice it each day though, because there is still swelling in her knee. I think she twisted and sprained her knee as well, not just fractured the tibia. Her next appt is on the 23rd. She gets the cast off of her arm and recheck the leg/knee. She is thinking she will be able to drive after getting the cast off.

On an exciting note, I am coming home to surprise Chali on her birthday! I am so excited, I feel like a little kid! Originally, I wasn't going to be home until after mom got her cast off and could get around well enough to keep up with Josh, but she insists I be home for Chali's birthday. She has some people lined up to help out. I am nervous about leaving her though. I know she can handle herself, but Josh is another story. He is my kids times 10. I am trusting that God will provide and knows what the heck he is doing. =)

Mom and I started to get sick about 3 days ago. We both have colds. No fun. Yesterday, we all stayed in our pjs. The kids played most of the day by themselves. That is one huge thing we have to be thankful for...Karis and Josh get along really well. They played games, hide and seek, mommy and daddy and blocks all day. I feel a tiny bit better today. We are drinking lots and lots of cold care hot tea and honey. Well, looking at the computer makes my head hurt even worse, so I'm going to call it quits now. Hope everyone is well!

Update on my Mama and what's going on with us

Well, as some may already know, on Sept. 21st my Mama fell and broke her wrist and messed up her knee. She lives in a condo on the 3rd floor with no elevator AND has a 6 yr old (extremely active) foster son. I immediately figured out how to get Chali to and from school for the next 2 weeks, packed Karis and I up and made the 11 hour drive down (13 hrs for those of us with a 3 yr old in the car.) Jee and Kim are our lifesavers right now! I enrolled Chali into afterschool care and Jee and Kim are taking turns picking her up and helping Austin out when needed. How wonderful you two are! *muah!*

So, Mom is very fortunate to have wonderful neighbors who had been taking care of her. She and Joshua were staying with a retired couple on the first floor before I got here. Another neighbor had been taking Josh to and from school every day. She is still taking him most days. The day that I came Mom tried again to scoot up all 3 flights of stairs on her butt and made it! Geesh! She is all casted up on her right arm with a pretty blue waterproof cast. I keep telling her she needs to let me sign it! Haha! She has been rolling around the house in her office chair. Her neighbor gave her a cane to use and she has been getting around a little with the cane. However, she said today that the pain has not gotten any less. Tuesday she went back to the dr. and he said they needed to do an MRI b/c it's not getting any better. He thinks she may have a torn meniscus. Yesterday I took her for her MRI and we find out tomorrow what the results are. She asked about how long she would be out of work because, you know, those bosses, they like to know these things. He said the crystal ball says mmm at least 4 weeks or so. Oh boss lady is gonna love that.

Meanwhile, taking care of Joshua has been very challenging for me. He needs a whole different level of discipline that I have not really had to do much in my mama days. Joshua's been having a difficult time because his mother missed his first visitation last week and is now back in jail. He has not seen or talked to her since his birthday in mid August. So please, please pray for him and us.

Joshua and Karis have been having fun together though. Josh really loves to have someone to play with. (at all times) They are starting to bicker a little like brother and sister but it's very minimal. We bought some games to play with the kids and we don't think Joshua has ever really played games before...other than video games. He is loving it. He absolutely loves music! He asks every day, "I can turn the ipod on?" So several days ago, I said, "Let me see you dance." He just looked at me. So I said "Can you dance?" And THIS is what he does! We have a b-boy in the house! I apologize it's so dark. My phone doesn't have flash for video.

I asked him if he'd ever danced before and he said no. I cannot believe it! He is a natural! Mom wants to get him a little cd player for his room so he can just have at it whenever he wants. I have other videos of him dancing to Austin's and my song "Hanging" but they wont send because the file is too big. I need my card to transfer them onto, but of course it's in IN.

Chali and Jee are flying here tomorrow morning!!! I cannot wait! I have missed my Chay SO much! Phone conversations with her have been fun but I can't wait to kiss and hug her. The cutest thing though are the conversations between her and Karis. Overexcited and squeally "Hi Karis!" "Hi Chali!" "I miss you!" "I miss you too!" "I'm flying on a PLANE to see come see you!" "I know!" Oh I love it. Precious memories.

I will update tomorrow or this weekend when we find out the results.

Having such a blast!

"Wash Your Troubles Away"

Well, even though we are so exhausted between shows we can barely function, we are having so much fun with the show! Mom and Josh (my mom's foster son) came up this past weekend. We really enjoyed meeting him and spending time with him. He is such a cute kid! He just turned 6 but is smaller than Chali. Jen and I went to Goodwill and Salvation Army to find him some clothes (b/c they sent him with only the ones on his back.) But what slim pickings they have. We found a few items and it was like Christmas for him. His face lit up. So sweet.

Friday night was opening night and it went great! Everyone was pumped and it went so smoothly. Unfortunately, we have a few people in that are extremely ill and several of us getting over it. Our villian ended up in the ER on Saturday at 4:30am! He had been having an allergic reaction to the antibiotic they had put him on the week before! I cannot believe he was still making it through performances! I have mucho respect for that man! Saturday we took the kiddos to the zoo. Josh had never been to a zoo before. Of course we left the darn camera in the car. Poo. But they had a great time. And of course to follow tradition...Zesto's ice cream on the way home! yummy! Then home to pass out before the next show. Saturday night Mom, Josh, Trip and Jen came. Another great show! Josh had a blast! The show is very active and interactive. The audience is very much involved with this show, so Josh thought that was fun.

"Opal & Lavania"

We had brunch at Spyro's on Sunday, then Mom and Josh had to leave. =( Never enough time. And off to the theater we went again for a matinee show. We had several friends there on Sunday, including Chali's teacher Miss Miller as well as Ms. Jan, her teacher last year. We had another great show, despite poor "Phineas." Chali just swelled with pride as her teachers brought her flowers! I don't think I have seen her beam that much before. =) Thank you Ms. Jan and Miss Miller for making her day!

These are all the girlies in the show. Karis, Meiying, Grayson, Allison, and Chali.

Karis liked trying on my wig. It's about as long as she is tall. Lol.

We are excited about another weekend of perfoming coming up! But GRATEFUL for a few days off inbetween! Pray for Ed "Phineas" and other cast members to be feeling their best! Mama Zannie, Papa D, Aunt Donk and Uncle Andrew are coming this weekend. Yay!

Does anyone even read this?

I am beginning to wonder if anyone reads this blog. I know I don't post as often as I should, but I do the best I can. I'm not so blog savvy. Anyway, I just see all the comments on everyone else's blogs and not that I am whining for comments here, but it just makes me wonder if I should quit blogging b/c I'm not sure if anyone is even reading this.

My sweet little 3 year old Karis just hopped over to me and said "Mama can I get in your lap?" with her mosquito eaten face. Poor baby, she was outside yesterday evening for 30 minutes and her face and arms are eaten up. Chali has none. What is it in the body chemistry that dictates whether or not you get to be graced with the presence of those little suckers? And now she wants me to get on playhousedisney.com so she can play. When did she grow so big? I wish she'd knock it off. I think I only have a few more months before she looks like a little girl instead of my little baby girl. At least the knuckles on her hands are still indented. When those pop out, it's over for me. =( Hurry up Grace and Jen! I needs me some babies!!!

Camp - i - do

Ok, just fyi, the pictures go backwards. Next time I will know to upload the pictures backwards so that they will be in the correct chronological order. =)

Back in the beginning of August, we went to Erik and Jaclyn's wedding in Michigan. They are friends of ours from college. This was no ordinary wedding. It started on a Wednesday and went through Sunday. We of course didn't go until Friday. This would be Chali and Karis' first camping trip! The drive up was beautiful...a perfect day. We set up camp without a hitch and took off immediately to find some food. That evening there was a clown named Pink-E doing face painting, balloon animals,hats, swords and magic tricks. She was a BIG hit. That night there was an open mic up at the lodge...lots of great musicians!

So, I had a really hard time sleeping that night because of all the other campers. (Anyone that knows me, knows I'm a light sleeper.) There were also a few guys (including Erik I believe) who stayed up at the lodge until like 3am singing their hearts out. I finally got to sleep and then it started pouring, which actually aided me in my sleep troubles. However, soon after the sun rose, it began to drip slightly into the tent. Nothing too bad though. I got out of the tent and tried to get the water off of the top of the tent. Meanwhile, it's still pouring.

So Saturday we try figuring out what to do until the wedding. Boating, putt-putt, and all of the usual activites are not really an option in the sheets of rain. The girls and I ended up sitting in the car most of the morning while Austin worked on the music in the lodge. We ran into the lodge to get dressed for the wedding and literally looked like we walked in from the shower...dripping. So I just put some bobbypins in my hair and gave up, hairy armpits and all. Whatever. It was a hippie wedding. Who cares? =)

Right before the ceremony, the rain stopped and the sun peeked through. It was a beautiful ceremony! Like nothing I've ever experienced before. Jaclyn's dress was amazing! One of her friends made it! Gorgeous. After the ceremony we ate the most amazing food. All fresh, organic food from her parents farm. Oh so delicious! Then we went back outside for a dancing/drumming performance. And guess who performed? Abass...from Chali's school! Abass taught African drumming at Chali's school last year and will be again this year. Chali had befriended a little African girl named Seera. sp? who's tent was next to ours. We eventually found out that she lived in Ft. Wayne and then after that found out that she lives with Abass. I put 2 and 2 together and figured out that she was the little girl that danced in front of the drummers at Chali's performance last year! Crazy. Small world. Anyway, back to the wedding...the drummers and dancers were incredible! Lots of dancing that night back in the lodge. I do believe Chali had her first dance with a boy. Pictures below. =)

I slept better that night. I slept in the car. Haha. They made us breakfast on Sunday morning. Again, delicious food. Homemade bagels. Yummy! What a wonderful time we had. Despite the rain. It was an great experience. But I have to say, I was so very very happy to have my bed back! =)





Chali and I at the reception. I think this is the curliest my hair has ever been.



Karis with the mic. Definately her Daddy's daughter!


Chali's dance partner.


Not sure what this look is, but it makes me a little uncomfortable. =)


The lovely bride and groom!


The kids dancing with the drummers.


One of the main drummers.


Austin and Erik.


Karis was clapping to the beat, on beat, the whole time!


The incredible dancers!


Chali, chillin' outside the tent. (before the rain)


Karis in her new sleeping bag!


The girlies with Pink-E the clown.

Karis' Health

Last Friday, Karis had an appointment at the allergist for allergy testing. Oh my goodness, 3 hours of sitting, needle pricking, sitting, dr. talking, needle pricking, sitting, dr. talking, dr. talking, and more dr. talking. So after he talked to me for an hour, (I am not kidding), I walked away more confused about everything than I was when I went in. Granted, I did pick up on a couple of things, but overall, holy crap. Ok, so maybe overwhelmed is a better way to describe how I felt, and still feel.

The results...
Karis is allergic to dogs, cats, dust, molds, trees, trees native only to Ft. Wayne, wheat, milk, and a couple others that were on her arm that I had to read a few hours after we got home. I am not sure what exactly they are, but I wrote them down and they will be discussed at our next appointment, where they will have a book about Karis and her allergens all typed up and ready for us.
In the meantime, we are to unbunk the bunk beds because she isn't allowed to sleep under the top bunk anymore. Apparently all of the dust mites, skin cells, etc. breed in mattresses more than anywhere else and that is all falling on her all night as she sleeps. Ewww. Even more ewww, was listening to him explain that dust mites produce 200 times their body mass in poop which also floats around and we breath in.

So what we are instructed to do...
We have to buy the allergy encasings for all the mattresses, pillows, and comforters so that these nasty little dust mites (and their poop) won't bother Karis. We have to buy a humidity gage so that we always keep the humidty between 35 and 45. We have to buy the allergy filters for the ac/heater. (did that yesterday.) He would like us to buy a hepa air cleaner. She is not allowed to use down pillows anymore, which both the girls use, so new pillows are in order. Tiara has to have a bath at least every other week. I am supposed to wash her sheets in hot water twice a week. (this one I find comical.) I am lucky to change the sheets every 2 weeks!

We were going to move the twin beds into our room (it will become a guest room when we move upstairs), and my in-laws were planning to bring a full sized bed up sometime soon, which I was planning to put in the girls room. For those of you who don't already know, the girls both sleep on the bottom bunk, which is a twin. Karis is starting to fall between the bed and the wall. They are just getting too big to sleep in a twin together. But the only way Karis will sleep through the night is with her sister. So as I told the dr. about Dwight and Zannie bringing up the full sized mattress, he begins to frown. (You must imagine, he is very "Rainman"esque anyway.) He is not too keen on her sleeping on an old bed. He would much prefer that we bought a new mattress. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? How in the world are we going to afford all of this???

So they believe that her allergies are breaking down her immune system and causing her to get more serious illnesses. I have to take her today to get blood drawn because they are going to do an immune system test to see if hers is weak. Oh, and by the way, the doctor, nurses, AND the front desk staff all said that she is the best kid they've had in years! She didn't cry, whine, scream, nothing. They said she was better than many adults they have in there! They probably poked her back with 100 different allergens and then did her arms with about 10 on each arm. What a trooper!

Back on Stage!

We have some fun and exciting news!
Last weekend, I received an email from a little theater here in Fort Wayne. It is an old fire station that they have turned into a theater now called the Firehouse Theater. Anyway, the email said that they were auditioning for Noah's Ark and needed 8 children. So I asked Chali if she would be interested in auditioning. Of course she said absolutely! So Saturday Jen and I took the girls to the theater. Now Karis saw Chali up there and wanted to audition as well, so we humored her. Then the director, Paul, asked my sister and I if we wanted to. I thought it would be good for Chali to see Mommy up on stage (even though it's been 12 years since I've been up there!) So I got up there and read a part and so did Jen.

Paul ended up calling me on Tuesday and let me know that plans had changed. He didn't get enough men to audition for Noah's Ark, so he was changing it to a musical comedy melodrama called "Wash Your Troubles Away." He said he would like both Chali and Karis to play the little waif orphans and then he offered me the lead and my sister a part alongside my character! Here's a short rundown of the storyline...

Olympia (my character) is the owner of a laundrymat in the town of Digalittledeeper. Olympia discovered while washing clothes that there were gold flecks and nuggets sometimes in the pockets leftover from the miners. So she's been saving all of this gold for some years and is now ready to retire and sell the place to Ida (Jen's character.) Well some of the villianous people find out and end up somehow killing Olympia with a heart attack I believe. Then I come back in the second act as my twin sister Ophelia. I haven't gotten very far, but from what I am understanding, there ends up being some big hoorah about who should get the laundrymat and whether or not there was foul play in the death of Olympia. Chali and Karis get to sing a couple of songs and I am so excited to see that! I was a little worried about Karis but Paul said even if she just runs around the stage, it will be fine because they are supposed to be dirty, unruly little waif orphans. Heehee! I read through a bit last night with Chali and it looks to be hilarious!

It will be showing September 11th-20th. We are so excited!