Foster system frustration!!

Today I had a conversation with Elizabeth's social worker that really...well ticked me off. The system is so screwed up. No wonder there are so few foster parents! If I wasnt so in love with this little girl, I think I wouldve told them where to put their policies. I normally do not get so bent out of shape about stuff like this. I do feel that they are taking advantage of a group of caregivers (our family included) referred to as 'non-relative caregivers'. I think that tomorrow I will need to make some calls, something has to change. Any person that has been in the 'non-relative caregiver position is aware of the issues that I am talking about. A non-relative caregiver is essentially a foster parent that receives no subsidy to cover the childs expenses. Not that I (or any other parent) goes into this for money, however to not be given any help at all financially , is very frustrating. As a 'relative caregiver' you are given a small subsidy...but if you are not related to the child, even if your long term situation is not to adopt, they offer no financial help as a non relative caregiver. That is just, well, wrong. Got that off my chest...whew!

Tropical Storm Faye

Well, I just woke up this morning to find out that the tropical storm has made landfall and that it will be slowing down shortly. We will be getting tons of rainy weather! Schools are closed here today and tomorrow, my hubby has today off! From what the forecast says, our county (Polk) is supposed to catch the brunt of the storm. Somehow even though we are inland we get rough weather with these storms. I live about 20 west of Lake Wales and they are the ones that got it bad during the Charley, Jeanne hurricane issues. We were left without power for a week during Jeanne. I pray for limited destruction, keeping our power, but mostly a cozy, rainy day with my honies!

What a weekend!!

Finally school started today!! Whew, was I ready!! All the kids were so excited last night getting all their things together. I think Caitlin was the most excited. This year she officially gets to use her new name (since she was adopted). She also has a couple of her best friends in the class with her. Kyler said his teacher rocks!! Then I got the news...no school for the next 2 days!! Damn hurricane Faye, lol. I worked today in the office which was nice. The people there are a lot of fun and it's a nice change of pace. I will probably be off tomorrow as well. Over the weekend Caitlin had a great visit with her biological sister and came home a bright and cheery kid. SO happy to have spent time with Deborah. Two of my boys went to Miami to go to a Baptism and it seemed that everyone made plans around here. The weekend was relatively uneventful. Donna is still in the hospital and hoping to leave tomorrow, but I am not sure with the weather what they are going to do. I have to admit, I LOVE hurricane weather!! I do not like the destruction, but I LOVE the weather! My son Vinnie loves it equally. I was reading his myspace and he has his mood set as 'Yay, hurricane Faye'. Go figure, he's a twisted little bugger like his mother. He fared out well today in school. He got his favorite teacher as his homeroom teacher. I cannot believe that he's a Junior already, I feel like he was just born. Anthony started high school today and says the day went smoothly, he is a very type 'A' personality...and was very anxious at orientation. He said that he found all of his classes but was having a hard time finding his drafting class. But his drafting teacher was really cool about it. He said so far he got great teachers. He is in all honors classes, and very proud of that. Where the heck did he come from?? LOL!! Pictured above is Vinnie.

To-to's and ballerina slippers...

Today I left for work at 4:00 a.m. I had surveillance on a guy in Daytona. I got home late afternoon and we headed over to see Donna at the hospital. Come to find out since she has been in the hospital she has had a second stroke. Lord, I pray she pulls through this okay! She is really the 'rock' of Terry's family. On a brighter note, I picked Lizzie up a to-to at Wal-Mart (and some little ballerina slippers) and she has been strutting it all over the house since I brought it home. My husband commented on her beautiful to-to and she looked at him like he was crazy, (she calls her female parts her to-to, lol), she probably thought he was some kinda perv, lol. She even wore it to the hospital, she got lots of attention from the nurses!!One even gave her ice cream. I will have to make sure to get lots of pictures of that!! We are trying to get everything dialed in for school Monday. Some of the kids are really excited, most are not...lol. Mainly the older kids! I am ready for a hint of normalcy. Tomorrow Caitlin is having an overnight at her biological sister's house. She was recently adopted by a family in a neighboring town. Caitlin was also in that family's home at one time. She is very excited as she doesnt get to see Deborah very often. She also has a biological brother that we need to set up a visit with. He lives fairly close, but we keep missing eachother. I work in Daytona again tomorrow and have Sunday off : )
I want to do nothing but spend quality time with my family!! Bye for now!

Things have been crazy!!

Wow, it has been a few days since I have last posted mainly because we are running around like a chicken with its head cut off! Well, Terry's sister is again, back in the hospital...getting the run around as to what is the matter with her. She is really becoming depressed.We are concerned for her, that is not like her. We are headed back up to the hospital tonight after the 'sitter' gets here. Today was orientation at ALL the schools today. In one 4 hour block we needed to hit 4 seperate schools, with the middle and high school kids having seven class each. I felt terrible because we thought that one of the middle school's had an evening orientation as well as a morning....and they didnt. Dustin was not able to go see his teachers, although we made it in time for him to get his schedule. ALL the schools had afternoon orientations! The one we chose to visit in the afternoon, doesn't! He was amazingly cool about it though. Last night I had to work (I am a private Investigator) at a club doing surveillance on a guy that is in a lawsuit, clearly not injured as he claims BTW... and my husband and I took advantage of this time to spend quality time. As we showed up to the 'club' we found the guy, found a great seat near him to get video and just hung out together. This should've been a great time! We were bored stiff...lol. Guess we are not 'club' people? Most of the people there were much older than us, and the band was awful. I never understood how people fall into this lifestyle. All I could think about was my kids at home. My husband and I had a chance to be alone and that was nice. Not too much converstion though, it was pretty loud (and smokey). We have been struggeling a bit lately with our marriage. We both have very strong views of what we want out of life, and both are quite different. Hopefully overtime we will be able to compromise and come to a happy medium. The love is DEFINATELY there. Pray for us...

Not again??

Yesterday the hospital let Donna come home. She was still weak and dizzy but she really wanted to leave the hospital so I believe maybe they let her leave early. Kyler, Lizzy and Terry all made a Welcome home banner for her to return to and I am sure she loved it! We attempted to visit her with Kyler and Lizzy in tow but literally minutes after arriving the kids were bouncing off the walls...So much for a relaxing day at home! Heck, I was about to have a stroke, lol. Needless to say we left as quickly as possible as to not give her any stress. Donna and Kyler are especially close and I guess I thought them seeing eachother would have been a good thing, guess not, lol. Donna and I have had differences in the past but it kills me to see someone with so much life look so depleted. I want to help, just not sure exactly what to do. Anywho, we came home and had just a nice family evening together! We were about to lay down for bed and received a call from Donna's fiance and apparently she had collapsed on her way to the bathroom, she did not become unconscious, just couldn't get up. Jeff (Donna's fiance) called my husband to help get her up and talk her into going back to the hospital. When we arrived she look terrible, white, weak, vomiting and nausious, not really with it at all and couldn't get herself up off the floor. My amazing husband was able to talk her into going...After seeing how bad off she was we opted to call an ambulance to take her back to the hospital. Wouldn't you know that they saw her at the hospital and then sent her home? I am terrified for her health. All the prayers we can possibly get are appreciated!

Prayers for Donna

• Late last night we got a call from Winter Haven hospital letting us know that Terry's sister, Donna, had a mild stroke. So of course first thing this morning we ran up to the hospital! We brought Kyler and Lizzie, both behaved as angels (amazing)! We got home around lunchtime, ate, and I laid Lizzie down for her nap. Terry brought Kyler to go see Wall-E and spend some quality time together. I got to enjoy the house to myself and what do I do...I fell asleep with Lizzie, lol. Although I got to experience waking up on my own. Not with an alarm clock or a kid tugging my shirt, but naturally....wow that was nice! When I awoke I received the news that my mother and a boyfriend that she had recently parted ways with were back together again...I am thrilled! We love this guy! He treats her great, the family great, kids too! Best part is that he was my husband's best friend growing up, lol. We went over to my mother's house and went swimming with Kyler and Lizzie as well as my sister and her fiance. What a great evening it turned out to be. Everything started out so rough and ended so nicely! Things always have a way of getting better. BTW, Terry's sister will be coming home tomorrow. We are going to go decorate her porch with a welcome home banner and balloons. Kyler, who is especially close to Donna, wants to bake her a cake. So to the grocery store we go first thing tomorrow morning! Pictued above is my Mom and Pat, underneath is Kyler our little pistol!

An Early Rise

So this is my first post. I am starting this is a means to share our life with family and friends, as well as vent. I have a blog that I have been following for a few months now that has given me much inspiration, heck, maybe I can do the same for someone else. Today started bright and early when my son Vinnie came home at 4:00a.m. furious and upset. (BTW, he was not coming home late...just extremely early) In a nutshell he had been done wrong by a girl that we have considered part of our family for many years. He was beside himself over her betrayal and I really dont think that at this point she will be part of our lives any longer. Also, we got a call from Elizabeth's social worker that her grandmother's homestudy had been approved and that she may/may not be leaving soon. This was a shock to us as we thought she would at least be around a few months. We have all grown attached to her, even our teenagers that tend to poo-poo the whole foster/adoption thing have grown close to her! I have to say that I am heartbroken, but I know this will be a good opportunity for her biological mother and her to bond. That's good right?? How is it that all the right things have to sting a bit?? This is our off weekend with the older boys. My oldest three go to their dads. His oldest three go to their moms. So it is just the younger ones, which we of course encourage to spend the night with their friends, lol. Although, since Lizzie has been with us we still have her. It is nice to get a breather though. Tomorrow morning we plan to get up early and go yard saling. That is something we enjoy doing when we are low on kids, we get to spend more individual time with whoever is with us and also get out of the house. My hubby likes to shop for tools. I prefer play clothes for the kids and house stuff. Wish us luck! Above pictured is our foster daughter Elizabeth and our daughter Caitlin.