Grateful

I was just looking through my pictures and was thinking how much I have to be grateful for. So in no particular order, today I am grateful for...

The sweetness of innocence (I know my days of this are numbered):


The silly-ness of 6 yr-old boys:


How much my daughter looks like me:


Eternal Families:


My sweet, sexy, hard-working hunk of a husband:


Girl Power:


Sisters:


Family:


and Love:

We did it!

Our whole family made the 5 mile walk for the Boise March for Babies (March of Dimes). It was only 35 degrees when we started but it warmed up nicely and turned into a beautiful day. It meant so much to me to have my family and friends rally with me for such a wonderful cause. It felt so good to be proactive and helpful in fighting something that has been so devastating to our family. I felt so close to my little son the whole day and just felt enveloped in the love of so many people. I even gave my little speech without to many tears and got a wonderful reaction from the crowd. Thank you so much to all my friends and family who contributed financially and who walked with us. It sincerely means the world to me.

The Starting Line:


My family:

My team:

Errr...

My computer got a virus. It screwed up everything. I thought I had lost all my writing, pictures, speeches, and tutoring information. Luckily Paxton was able to fix most of it but I still lost a bunch of pictures I took last weekend. There were some that I loved and I will not be able get back again. Whoever it was that wrote that virus robbed me of something that is irreplaceable and I simply can not understand the motivation behind it. What sad, miserable person gets kicks out of hurting innocent people he has never met before? I'm sorry that they, whoever it was, must have some forlorn existence where they can contribute nothing positive to the world and instead derive pleasure from making other people as miserable as themselves. So, this is the post I will make instead of the beautiful pictures of my children at the new exhibit at the zoo and the pictures of some of my best friends that are both moving.

Deep Thoughts by Bryce

Bryce: Mom, what would the world be like if people didn't have any thumbs?

It is rare that I don't have an answer for something but this one stumped me, I could only think that we wouldn't have door knobs or use scissors. Any ideas?

Uncomfortable

Uncomfortable situations I found myself in this week:

Tuesday: Was unexpectedly given a handful of dead fish by my son (he found them in an irrigation canal and was convinced if we put them in water they would come back to life).

Thursday: Found my daughters pocket full of live worms.

Friday: Had my skirt suddenly blow up around my neck in a weird gust of wind while I was standing in my driveway (thank you Idaho weather).

Later Friday: Found that someone had put granola in my bed.

Saturday: who knows what tomorrow will bring

I know life is seldom boring at my house but come on...

Beauty School Dropout

Shaylee age 3:



Shaylee after the first time she found my haircutting scissors:


Shaylee after the second time she found my haircutting scissors:


Shaylee waking up on Saturday with gum in her hair:


Shaylee on Easter Sunday being glad that her mom knows how to cut hair:

Lucky Girl

Can I even say how lucky I am to be married to Paxton. He is amazing, sweet, wonderful, hardworking, pretty dang hot, and treats me like a princess. Last week I was having a bad day and at the end of it all I wanted to do was take a bath and read a book. I got in the tub and filled it up but forgot I had been doing wash and consequently had a luke warm bath. Paxton came up later and noticed I was shivering but stupidly determined to sit in my bathtub. A few minutes later he came back with huge pots of water he had heated up on the stove for me. I, of course, burst into tears. He kept bringing water till my bath was perfect. I really am one of the luckiest girls on the planet.

For Colin (2)

I got my page set up. If you like you can donate here. Even $1 would help. Thank you again!

http://www.marchforbabies.org/707222

For Colin

As many of you know, I competed in the Mrs. Idaho International pageant this last month. It was a good experience for me where I met many good women that stood for remarkable causes. It hadn't occurred to me to compete again until a friend offered me an award (she was moving and couldn't use it) that covered the cost of the next competition. So, I have decided to compete one more time but I want to dedicate my time and energy to The March of Dimes in memory of our little son Colin. As most of you know, due to complications Colin was born 14 weeks early and only lived for four hours. He is still very much a part of our family and we miss him terribly. I am happy to be able to represent a program dedicated to helping babies like our Colin and families that have the emotional and financial cost of having (and losing) premature babies.

On April 25th our little family will participate in the Boise, March for Babies. It is a 6.1 mile course and ALL FIVE of us will complete it for a total of 30.5 miles (yes, even little Avery). In an effort to raise money in Colin's name, I was hoping that some of our friends and family could consider donating one dollar for each of the children you have been blessed with. I know that finances are tough at the moment and many of you contribute to many other good causes so this is totally voluntary. Even if you just check my blog and have never met me or my family we would still welcome a small contribution. If any of our family is close and would like to join our walk we would love some company and strollers are welcome! There will be food and entertainment afterward.

The most important lesson I have learned through all of this is that it is easy to ask for a miracle when things go wrong, but it is harder to be grateful for the miracles of so many things going right. Thank you all so much for your love and support over the last two years. Your prayers and thoughts have helped us survive and we will forever be grateful to you all.

Quote of the week

Bryce: Mom, maybe we could get a pet rat, or a snake, or a killer whale. You aren't allergic to them. But we can't get another dog. Daddy is allergic to them... they make him crazy.

FYI

We had an upsetting experience a while ago and I thought I would pass on the basics of it in case someone else could end up in this awkward situation.

About 12:00 in the afternoon (while I was tutoring) I got a knock at my door and opened it to find a police officer (Detective Somebody) and two people who introduced themselves as social workers or Child Protective Services. They asked to come in, so of course, I let them in. As they were coming in Bryce ran over and hugged the police officer, which I thought was a little strange but Bryce tends to be a little overly friendly anyway.

They told that they had received a call about an incident a few days before and someone had reported a child had been locked out of the house early in the morning. I was completely floored and then remembered that the week before I had been up with Bryce (who had a bad cough) on and off all night. The next day the kids didn't have school so I fed them breakfast, turned on cartoons and went back up stairs to lay down again (having only got five hours of broken sleep). Sometime while I was sleeping Avery had drug a stool over to our front door and undid the chain (we use as a precaution to keep kids in more than keep anyone else out) and unlocked the dead bolt and went outside. She hadn't unlocked the lock on the knob though and locked herself out. It was fall and she was just in her nightgown so it was chilly but not freezing. She knocked and rang the door bell but the kids didn't hear with cartoons on and I didn't hear because my bed room is at the back of the house and upstairs. My neighbor's daughter heard her and came over and knocked until Shaylee opened the door. Shaylee mentioned it to me later but didn't come and get me. So, got up a bit later, talked to the kids about not unlocking the door while unless they ask me first and didn't think much about it.

I explained this to the social workers and the police detective. They told me that before they had come over to talk to me they had been to Shaylee and Bryce's school and had talked to them individually there. I guess they had pulled the kids out of class and talked to them in the school office. My understanding now is that they can do that since the kids aren't on private property. That is why Bryce recognized the officer. They asked if they could look through the house and again (slightly shell shocked) I said yes. Luckily my house was pretty much spotless and I had actually made cookies that were out on the counter.

They saw that we had put a lock on the outside of Avery's door and told us that we had to take it off. I told them that we had put it on because she we had just put her in a regular bed and she would get up and wander around at night. (Particularly to avoid something like her getting out of the house imagine that.) But they said we had to take it off anyway, which seemed invasive and counter. They looked through the cupboards to make sure we had food. All the while the police officer was chit chatting telling me how nice my house was and how sweet my kids where and how nice it was to have calls that were so obviously unfounded. The social worker said very little and looked unpleasant.

They left saying that we had to call when we had fixed the lock. I called Paxton and bawled of course (I'm glad that I made it until they had left though). He was furious and made a whole bunch of phone calls. We also had a good friend of ours who worked at the office with the other social works vouch for us but even still there was no apology or anything at least consoling. We turned the lock around and eventually got a letter saying the case was dropped and the allegations were proved false.

For the next few days Paxton did a lot of research that I thought would be good to pass on. I don't know if knowing it would change the way I acted but at least I would have had the chance to make an informed decision.

First, anyone (including police officers) CAN NOT enter your house with out your permission or with out a warrant. I realized I gave them this permission when they asked if they could come in and I said yes. You can demand more information or speak to them outside if you want. You can also refuse them entry and they would have to ask a judge for a warrant (which in my case probably wouldn't have happened but the case could not have been closed so quickly).

Secondly, they have to ask permission to look around the house. There are a number of things they look for (cleanliness and sanitary conditions, dangerous items where children can reach them, available food, and locks on the kids bedroom doors) that add up in points and if the points are so high, then more serious action can be taken. In our case we only had the one lock and even then they can only "recommend" we change it but if we don't, then the case will not be closed.

Third, the record (though closed an proven false) is still kept. I guess there are tons of calls that come into Child Protection Services. Someone else I know got called in because their three year old walked over to a neighbors house and knocked on the door and said, "I'm cold." I guess there are some people who call in so many times that their stories are discounted.

Fourth, when they talked to the kids at school I guess they asked questions like, are you hungry very often? Is your house safe? And what happens when you get in trouble. That was all I could get from the kids except that Shaylee was upset and didn't want to talk about it because she was afraid she said something that would get me in trouble. I guess she told them that when she got in trouble she went to time out but if she did something really bad she got a spanking. I had to tell her she did what she was supposed to and she should always tell the truth to adults.

Finally, I know who called us in and I would like to think that they really were doing it in the best interest of our kids (Paxton says otherwise and don't bring it up with him unless you want an earful). I really don't harbor ill feelings but it is hard not to think about it when they live across the street. I have gotten over my paranoia of letting the kids play where someone can see them and have just let them be kids. I hate the feeling that I have been judged as a mother but I know that I give everything I have to my family and though I am not perfect, I am doing the best I can.