Alot Going On

I haven't been posting much lately--not because there hasn't been anything to post about, but because it's been crazy!

I told you the story about how we got the track cleats for Kayla, but I didn't tell you about the euphonium. Ty saw an online post for a euphonium for $50. It said it was in okay shape but had an air leak. That could mean almost anything. I was picturing either bad valves or a leak in the joints. But I decided to take a chance on it but asked if she'd take $40. She did, and I became the owner of a euphonium.

I took it to a music store to be evaluated. Turns out the only thing wrong with it is that it has the wrong mouthpiece. But it's playable anyway. So the twins are taking turns playing the instrument. One plays trombone and the other plays the euphonium. 

Kayla is on the soccer team. She and I made a contract. It basically says that if she wants to remain on the team she cannot steal, lie or skip her jobs. She must maintain a good attitude. On days she violates it, she doesn't go. The coach agrees with this. So some weeks she hardly goes. At her school there are very low expectations for students, and they get to play in the games even if they don't go to practice! I hope to move her to Kaleb's school next year. It's kind of in the middle between the charter school she was at with over zealous requirements and the title 1 school she's in now. They have not won any games yet. In fact, the game have been called on the mercy rule so far.

On the last post I asked you to vote on your favorite picture of Jasmine. The one below was the winner.

I have been making a lot of wreaths that I hope to sell. We will see what happens with that. Here are a few.

I hope to get some good pictures tomorrow to share next time.

Fun Friday

Which Photo

Spur of the moment I stopped and took some photos of Jasmine in front of a warehouse that we've taken photos at before. I posted about 18 of them on facebook asking which they liked best. Several of them got multiple votes.

Here are the top ones. Which one do you like best? (It's going to be her facebook profile photo)

Fun Friday: Young Basketball Star

I showed this to my kids to encourage them to be dedicated to whatever they want to do. We also talked about how God gives the talents, but it's up to them to develop them.



I am interested in knowing what activities your children are in, what age did they start and how dedicated they are to them. How do you encourage them?

Life as It Is

A lot going on lately. We've been finishing up the projects I talked about previously. Unfortunately Rick has been battling some infections so hasn't been up to par.

River gets around really well now, so it can be exhausting (in a good way of course) to keep up with her. She's been hanging out while Mama works and even stayed overnight Sunday night.

I think I totally missed sharing about the beginning of the new year. I started a new tradition--our own polar bear plunge with breakfast cooked at the beach and hot chocolate afterward. Of course it's not as cold here as up north where they have true polar bear plunges.

Before

Hamming it up after
Looking at the video taken on my new Go Pro and Jessica's, we discovered that the three "littles" cheated by not going all the way under. Next year we are thinking of going to the springs where there's a ledge to jump from and all jumping at once.

We all made our goals/wish list/ to do list for 2017, read them aloud and toasted them with sparkling blueberry/grape juice.

Afterward three of us went to a combination birthday celebration. When Jessica was dating Hunter and Adam was dating Deja, we had four late December/early January birthdays. So we started going out for them. Deja dropped out of the picture, and River joined the team December 30, 2016. So we still have a four way celebration. Anyone can go, but everyone pays for his/her own meal.

I have more to post about, but this is already getting long. So, next time.

First Home Study Visit

Remember a few days ago I posted about all the repairs we decided to do at once. Well, we didn't get them all done in time, so we hid what we hadn't finished. For example, there was a spot on the deck where the boards didn't line up quite right, so I lined up everyone's work boots on that board, and the flaw was no longer visible. Problem solved.

Our caseworker's name is Billy. Don't know his last name. But when he came in, he asked how we knew the Millers, a family we used as a reference. I said they were just down the street, and we got together at the bay for jet skiing several times a year. You've seen them in my photos.

(Josiah comes down often to see if Tyler is available because his own older siblings are all out of the house.)

It turns out that our caseworker knows the Miller family because their churches get together once a month. So we have a Christian case worker, which is nice. They are both pastors who  have small churches so work a "regular" job during the week.

At this first visit he said he was just going to do a quick walk through and get briefly acquainted, and then next time he'd talk to each of the kids. I told him the three younger ones were psyched up to talk to him, so he interviewed them one at a time. Adam, Tara, Sierra and Kealen all came in during this time. I'd made cream cheese chicken chili. It made the house smell good in case there were any pet smells. It was Three Kings day, so we had Three Kings cake with strawberries and cool whip. Later we tried it with caramel syrup. Yum.

 The caseworker said he'll look around more closely next time. I'm not sure when he comes back, but I hope we have the rest of the repairs done. Right now I am making wreaths to sell so the living room looks like Dollar Tree and Hobby Lobby threw up in it. 

Here are some of the wreaths I've done:

Diaper wreaths

 Frozen party wreath (once the little gifts are off it can be used as a holiday wreath)

Princess Valentine Wreath

I have some other updates that I'll try to get to on Wednesday.