Van's Skate Park

Grandma told Jerome for his 12th birthday she would take him to Vans Skate Park. I was hoping not to go, not really wanting to witness my son flying down a 12 foot ramp! However, I had to go to sign the release form (not to sue if my kid dies on the ramps) and as it turned out, we had a GREAT TIME! Jerome hopes to go again. He is earning money to return to Vans by reading and making his AR goal.



Thank you Grandma for taking me to Vans!



Thank you mom for buying me a $75 skateboard!



I have been busy with the coupon adventure... Got 4 packs of Prevacid (14 count) for .99 and 2 FREE scrubby bubbles cleaners. I am trying to keep tabs on what I am spending while I "save" money. I'd like to see what our budget ends up averaging out to over a few months. I'll keep you posted.

Happy Birthday Jerome!!

We had a great time for Jerome's 12th Birthday! He is excited that his new privilege is riding in the passenger seat in the front of mom's van and dad's car! His new responsibility is cleaning the shower.

After adding up all of his new Lego toys, he decided that he had 1,842 new legos to put together! Wow! Here are a few pictures displaying the event!

Here we are singing Happy Birthday!


Here is the Loot!

Hands of Love

The kids and I were headed over to my parents for lunch and a swim when Kevin asked me to tell the story of how he was adopted. No problem, as this is a story that I like to tell! Each time I tell it to the kids, I add in new details that they either don't remember from telling to telling, or it wasn't appropriate at the last telling. (Here is our first family picture from 2 1/2 years ago).

So I started this time with talking about how Mommy and Daddy had to take a class and fill out lots of paperwork. Then we went to an Ice Skating event to meet kids who needed mom's and dad's. That is when I first saw Kendra wearing a red dress. That Mom and Dad talked with you and we decorated cookies with frosting and candies. I told how Jerome wanted to ice skate and that Kendra was scared but willing to give it a try... and that after we met, we still didn't know if we could become your mom and dad. That we had to wait for the judge to talk to us. I shared that we had to wait for 4 long weeks to find out if we could be your mom and dad. We got to go to Jerome's 8th birthday party and that the kids called us Ms. Christina and Mr. Lowell because we didn't have the go ahead yet to be officially mom and dad. The story ended at my parents driveway and off we the kids went into the house.

Except for Jerome. He was crying... What is the matter?, I questioned... He explained to me that he wished he still had the gift that I gave him for his 8th birthday. This seemed strange to me, as he has not mentioned this in the 2 1/2 years he has lived with us... I said that I felt that perhaps the tears weren't about the toy as he has a room full of toys, and the back porch that is loaded with toys too, but that perhaps he was remembering a time of his life that happened before he moved in with mom and dad, and that something made him sad. He said, no it was the toy he missed but my mothers intuition told me otherwise.

Oh how I wish that my little ones had a different start in life. One with control, basic needs being met, without irresponsible caretakers... I wish that I could see into their past, and comfort exactly what makes them sad in the present... but that isn't the case. Instead I trust God that He will heal their emotions, memories, and whole being.. that He will help them heal, and hold their hearts in the hands of love that surround them now.