Adventures in Babysitting Part II~ July 4, 2009

To start the holiday weekend off, we made the 1 hour trip to my hometown for the big Fourth of July parade. Here is a picture of my two nieces, my two nephews and my grandson enjoying the parade and waiting for the "candy throwers."

Liz (3), Katie (6), Tiegen (5), Grayson(3) & Christian (4)

After the parade, we had a picnic lunch and then headed to my sister Connie's house to pick up my niece, Shelby for the weekend. We came home for a couple of hours and the kids played in CJ's wading pool, sliding down the slide into it. Shelby had a great time doing that. Next, we went into P-town for the festivities there. They had kid's games and a "jumpy thing" set up. What fun!

I caught a picture of my grandson, CJ while he was airborne! Shelby is in the back in the red.

Here's the two of them having a blast! It wasn't easy getting Shelby out of there, she loved it!


Later on, we had a pork chop dinner, and there was karaoke. While we were waiting to sing, I asked Shelby if I could take her picture. This is her being dramatic and posing. What a nut!

And finally, on to the fireworks!! Here is Shelby, CJ and "Uncle Grandpa Ray" as we were calling him. He's Uncle to Shelby and Grandpa to CJ...so it all works out. Ray had been wearing a hat earlier in the day...thus, the hat-hair.



A few shots of the fireworks...they were pretty good, as usual here in P-town! They've been doing this for 8 years here now, and hopefully they'll be able to continue them.

Everything went great with Shelby...until she started telling me that she "needed to throw up"...wonderful! I didn't know whether or not I should believe her...but she wasn't kidding. I had a light blanket over her, and decided the best thing to do, was to let her barf into that...at least I could wash the blanket. Shelby wasn't really sick, she gets acid reflux, which was the cause of her needing to vomit, but I felt sorry for her. I felt her forehead, and she said, "I'm sick, I have a fever." I didn't want to try to carry her down out of the crowded bleachers in the dark, during the fireworks display...so I just held her, bunched up the pukey blanket, and waited for the fireworks to be over. Meanwhile, Ray had no idea what was going on and got some great firework pics.

We did get the kids home and settled in...and eventually, they were asleep. We had to get up early on Sunday and get the two little ones, Molly, her friend, Liz and ourselves all to church by 8 AM.

Ray and I were singing, so Molly and Liz watched Shelby and CJ for a couple of hours in the toddler nursery. They did a pretty good job keeping the two of them occupied. Everything went pretty well...until after church...when I lost Shelby for a few minutes. The big girls walked out of the room, and (since I was talking to a friend in the doorway), I didn't immediately notice that Shelby had followed them. Apparently, they hadn't noticed either. She didn't actually go very far, but since she had taken off her shoes at the top of the stairs, I wasn't sure which way she had gone. Was she downstairs...outside? I enlisted some help from some people who happened to be there in the hallway, and after a few minutes she was found. She was just sitting in a chair in the library...reading a book. As I said, she hadn't gone far at all...but the chair she was in was in the corner of the room, and I couldn't see her without actually stepping into the library! She seems to love to play these little tricks on people.

After church, we did our usual "Chinese" for lunch. Shelby didn't like much of anything they had to offer, but she did enjoy dipping her sugar donut in the ketchup...mmmm...good. While we were eating, I asked her how she liked the fireworks the night before. Her response was, "Boom! throw-up!" I guess that about summed it up for her.

Sunday afternoon, after we'd all taken a nap, Shelby was outside with my daughter, Jessica. She saw the wading pool and decided she'd like to go for another dip...a skinny-dip that is! Before Jess could stop her, she was stripped completely naked and sitting at the top of the slide in the front yard! It's a good thing we live out in the middle of nowhere, and no cars happened to be passing by. I grabbed her, brought her in the house and got her dressed. Shortly after that, we took her home.

On the way to her house, I took a picture of her playing her Hanna Montana guitar. This is Shelby's rock star pose:

While she was sitting behind Ray in the van, she pointed to him and asked, "Is he Christian's dad?" to which I replied, "No, Ray is Christian's Grandpa." Shelby burst out laughing and said, "Oops, my bad!" Can you tell she has older brothers and sisters? All in all, it was good weekend, and Shelby can be a lot of fun...I just probably have a few more gray hairs now, than I had before she came to visit.

A Shower With a Chance of Freezing...babies??

As I said in my last post, I went to my niece, Jennifer's baby shower this past weekend. Very appropriately, it was sprinkling off and on outside during the shower too. It was held at the sports bar that her parents have owned for years, and where Jen also works. There were many of her friends and relatives there, so she receive a lot of very nice gifts. We played the usual baby shower games...and one rather UNusual one. Jen's sister, Chris had frozen a little plastic baby in an ice cube and suspended it from the ceiling on a string. The object was to guess what time the little plastic baby would be "born". It was pretty funny...

Here's the baby dangling above the bowl on the table. You can see it's feet starting to emerge...I guess it's coming breech!

Here's a close-up of the baby...I can't tell if it's a boy or a girl...can you?

After a while, since the ice wasn't melting as fast as anyone had predicted it might, Chris started to "induce" it by holding it in her hand to melt the ice cube.

Eventually, the tiny babe was born. People were leaving, so Chris just walked over and broke the ice...letting the little thing fall into the bowl! The time of birth was something like 3:47pm I think. I had guess 4:02...and I might have been right if it wasn't for Dr. Chris perfoming a C-section! I didn't get a length and weight on it...and I still couldn't tell if it was a boy or a girl!! Oh well.

April Showers Bring May Weddings ~ May Showers Bring...July Babies??

Last Saturday afternoon, I went to my niece, Holly's bridal shower. She's the daughter of my "internetaphobic" brother, Dan. I don't believe she has a problem with me posting her picture here...after all I swiped it off of her facebook page. Holly will be marrying Nate C. on May 16th. It seems like forever since we've had a wedding in our family...and this year two of my nieces are getting married. The funny thing is... they're BOTH marrying Nate. No, they aren't polygamists...both girls just happen to be engaged to guys named Nate. The other niece, Crystal is engaged to Nate B. They'll be tying the knot on September 25th.

This Saturday afternoon, I'm going to a BABY shower...for another niece, Jenny. She is due on July 2nd...but I'm thinking if she tried real hard...she could have it a couple of days early and Kathy and Bonnie and I could share our birthday with him/her too. No, they haven't found out the sex of the baby yet....because they don't want to know. We're all very curious!

It's 12:30 AM and I'm still thinking about what I'm going to put on her baby shower cake. It really WOULD help to know if it's a boy or a girl! LOL! Oh well, I'll figure something out. I'm thinking I should go to bed and "sleep on it" (no, not literally)...and get up and decorate it in the morning before the 4 year old grandson wakes up and wants to help. Goodnight.

One Big Happy Family!

My niece, Jackie first became a foster parent back in 1997, when she and her first husband, took in a little girl named Krissy, who was 5 years old, and her half-brother Joey who was 7. Joey went to live with his biological father a little over a year later, but Krissy stayed with Jackie for another year, before going back to live with her maternal grandmother. Meanwhile, they took in little Alyshia, who was just a few months old when she came to live with them. Later on, a set of 3 siblings; Tiffany, Jannessa and Timmy all came to live with them too. Jackie and her husband adopted baby Alyshia, and the other 3 siblings continued to live with them as foster children for the time being.

(Alyshia)

Eventually, Jackie and her first husband divorced, and agreed to share joint custody of their daughter Alyshia. The three foster children stayed with Jackie, even through this difficult time.

Jackie soon met her current husband Jim, who was also divorced, with 2 children of his own named Austin and Colton. When they met, Jackie and Jim found out that they had something very special in common. They both loved children...especially those that were not easily placed into new families. For example, those with special needs, or those who happen to be a little older than most potential adoptive parents are looking for...or a set of three siblings, who want to stay together in the same family. They married in 2001 and adopted Tiffany, Jannessa and Timmy.

Through the years, Jackie and Jim have taken in over 100 children, some short term, others for longer, and then a couple of years ago, Jackie's very first foster child, Krissy came back into their lives. Krissy came back to live with them, along with her younger sister, Cassie, who was just 4 days old when Krissy first became a part of Jackie's life. The family has recently adopted both girls, making them a permanent part of their happy home. When Krissy was a little girl, Jackie had given her the nickname "Chrysanthemum." When she was adopted, Krissy decided to make it official, legally changing her name to "Krysanthemum", or Kryssy. They also changed Cassie's name to Lily at that time, after Jim's mother. Here are their two little "flowers":

(Kryssy) (Lily)

I also learned less than a year ago, that Kryssy and Lily's older brother Joey had been going to the same church as I was, for the past few years. I knew Joey from church, but did not recognize him as the little boy that used to live with my niece. So now, he is part of our large extended family too. Coincidentally, he is best friends with the son of one of my best friends. I did a post about some of the strange "coincidences" I've found among people from my church and me.

Jackie and Jim are pictured here in the back row between foster children, Tanya and Eric. Seated on the couch are: Timmy, Desirae, Alyshia, Tiffany, and Lily. Jannessa and Kryssy are in front.

The family currently consists of 10 children, aged 11-21. Jackie and Jim are in the process of adopting former foster daughter, Desirae. She is now 19 years old, and engaged to be married soon. Desirae would like to be an official part of the Feiler family by the time her dad, Jim walks her down the aisle in October of this year.

Jackie and Jim Feiler of Luxemburg with their children Austin, 14; Colton, 12; Desirae, 19; Kryssy, 16; Jannessa, 17; Alyshia, 11; Lily, 11; Tim, 16; and Eric, 14, on March, 17. (Jason Wachter, jwachter@stcloudtimes.com)

The St. Cloud Times featured an article on this amazing family in last Sunday's paper. Click Here to read it. One reason for the newspaper article, was that Jackie and Jim have been named the Special Needs Foster Care Providers of the Year by the Minnesota Social Service Association. They will receive this award today. Congratulations, Jackie and Jim! God bless you and yours.

Over The River and Through The Woods...

We went over the river and through the woods, (maybe even a couple of rivers), to Grandma's, (my parents') house for Thanksgiving dinner. Of course there was waaay too much food, as usual, and I think I counted about 30 of us there. Mom and Dad have a huge insulated garage that has a wood stove in it, so we were all comfy and cozy. I thought I would share a few random pictures that I took that day. I didn't get my camera out until after we were done eating though.

Just relaxing in the garage after almost everyone was finished eating

My three little nieces, Shelby, Liz and Katie coloring:

Here's a random group shot I took in the house, but little Shelby noticed me with the camera and gave me her best smile and said, "Cheeeeese"

This is my niece, Chris and her husband, Kevin. It just happens to be Chris' birthday today. Happy Birthday, Chris!

Here's my dd, Molly, (on the right), with her cousin, Amber who is 5 or 6 years older than her, but you'd never know that by looking at the two of them.

My step-daughter, Ruth and her husband Dan just added a new member to their family. Here they are with our newest "grandpuppy".

Here's a close-up of the pup. Her name is "Star".

And finally, a couple more of Katie and Liz. They are sitting on G & G's treadmill. Little Liz was really getting into posing for the camera.

Thursday Thirteen ~ 13 Pictures of my Summer so far

It has been a very busy Summer. We've had many grad parties, a church picnic, two 50th birthday parties, (including mine), a 30th birthday party, an 80th birthday party...something every single weekend. This makes it a bit difficult for those of us who are trying to lose weight. It's not just the temptation of wonderful desserts and foods at these parties, but mostly the fact that there are generally not a whole lot of healthier choices to be had...unless one brings one's own food to each party...and that's no fun. All in all, I feel like I'm doing pretty well just to "maintain" lately.

The first half of the Summer, I didn't have a digital camera...and then a couple of weeks ago, after I'd gotten a camera for my birthday, my computer crashed. Therefore...I'm going to try to upload some of the pics I just now got off my camera. Here we go...

1. Above is our church picnic, once again, graciously hosted by the Peterson's. The pork chops were provided and grilled by other church members, and then beans and coleslaw were made and served by still other members who worked very hard to put on a delicious meal, (not to mention the numerous desserts brought by everyone to share). I did indulge in a very small sliver of cheesecake there, if I remember correctly. Thanks everyone, for all you did to make it a day of great food and fun.
2. After the dinner, we made our way down the hill to "gather at the river" for baptism. Below is the lovely little Lydia, just before her "dunking" by Pastor Al.


3. We do Karaoke the 4th Friday of every month at our church. This was perhaps our youngest Karaoke participant yet. Some of you will recognize him as Lisa's little guy, Sam. Actually...he was "helping" his Daddy, sing a song here. It may have been "The Streak"?
   
   
   


4. In June, two of my late sister Patty's daughters, visited MN from AZ. Above is me with April who is 17. I'm wearing my new size 16 capris in the pic. Yes, I have lost over 30 lbs, even though I look HUGE next to little Miss Size 0 there.
5. Below is one of me with her 15 yo sister, Sarah. She's such a sweetheart.
   
   
   


6. Above, is a picture of me, April and my sister Laurie. Some people say she and I look a lot alike, as we get older. I never used to look like any of my siblings when I was a kid.


7. Below, April wanted a pic with her 3 uncles, and they were all happy to oblige. L to R: My brothers, Dan, Mike and Bob give April a "lift" while Bob's wife, Rose looks on.

8. In August, Ray's Aunt Marilyn turned 80! Above: she is opening the gift from us. The date on the pic is wrong, it was actually 08/02/2008.

9. Below, is a pic of Marilyn with her nephew, (my dh Ray) and niece, (his sis Cheryl), and some of our children and grandchildren. Is Marilyn not the youngest, (and shortest), octogenarian you've ever seen? She barely comes up to my chin!

L-R: Molly, Sarah, with her husband, Brad behind her, Dan D. (Ruth's fiance), Ray, Ruth, me with Marilyn in front of me, Cheryl, her hubby Darryl, their sons Alan and Kevin, and Alan's wife, Becca holding their daughter Brooklyn. Their son, Brian is standing directly in front of his Great-Great Aunt Marilyn.

10.The next day, we had a get-together at my parents' house to see April and Sarah off. They were both heading back to AZ the following day. Above is my sweet niece Katie, and her cousins, Tiegen and Grayson.

11. Below: "sisters holding sisters"- April is holding cutie-pie, Elizabeth while Sarah has Liz's big sis, Katie in her arms. I think they're all adorable. 12. Above is a "Kodak moment" of my mother reading to 3 of her youngest grandchildren, L to R: Tiegen, Shelby (Connie's daughter), and Grayson. Mom's oldest grandkids are in their mid 30's now. She also has a few great-grandchildren and one great-great-granddaughter!

13. Below is another cute one of "2 sisters and 2 brothers", my brother Bob's little girls and my sister Kathy's little boys on tractors. I'm pretty sure I have the cutest nieces and nephews on the planet...but then, I may be a little biased.