Well, our A/C is kind of working right now.

And I think the high is somewhere around 106 today. Turns out that the guys who fixed it in June might have fixed it wrong. And that might be the reason we needed a new compressor. No matter who caused it, the new compressor still can't work right because of other issues.

I am so glad that we have a home warranty, but Brian is equally upset at having to deal with them on this issue.

So, what do you do in Phoenix in the summer when your A/C is down? Get the heck out of the house & find free A/C! Last night I took the kids out to dinner and to the play land at the mall. I was very proud that I entertained them and kept all of us out of the house for a whole 3 hours! I didn't even get too mad at them.

Today, we did the movies and a lap around a different mall. This time we made it for over 3 hours!

Right now they're all snoozing and I think we're going to hit the pool this afternoon for our cool off session.

The new frog is doing well.

That's all for now..

This one had better not leave us..

I am so sick & tired of all of the blarney that we're still going through with our foster care stuff that we added a different type to our family.

We have a new frog!

After going to the toy store with a friend and her kids (it's the coolest toy store ever, by the way!), I told the kids that we could go to the pet store and pick out a fish. There were these adorable little frogs @ the toy store and I thought that a fish would be easier to maintain (a.k.a. keep alive). *BUT*, then we went to the pet store and saw the cute little frogs they had there.

So, we now welcome Spotty to our family. Bean is totally afraid of the thing. But the boys are in love. They want to touch and hold him all of the time. I'm hoping that as the newness wears off we'll be able to share this pet with a couple other families.



I never thought that I'd be the mom who doesn't care for pets. But that is what I am.



I love the dog and this new frog is cute, but I could live with a pet free home.



In other news, David is now bald!

Aww.. I have great Dad's in my life!

Well, a day late & a dollar short seems to be the story of my life lately.

But, I did want to take some time, even a little late, to say something about how lucky I am. Through this past week and the struggles that it held, I was never alone. Brian is a wonderful husband and an amazing dad. When I am at the end of my rope, he takes on part of the burden. When I'm tired, he gives me the time to recharge. Watching him with the older boys at the pool was a gift that he gave to me yesterday. He has so much patience. I know that they will remember days like that when they are my age.

I remember days with my dad. We would hike or go to the Art Center or the Science Center. We had our special days together. I was kid #2 so I had the second Saturday of each month with my Dad. I'm pretty sure he knows how much that time meant to me... If not, maybe he'll read this! Thank you, Dad!

And thank you to my friends and family. This has been a challenging week for us. Thanks for letting us know that we aren't alone.

We're back down to 4 kiddos.. the baby has left us as quickly as she came.

Mama of 5, again!

Well, after the flurry of calls last week, our phone didn't ring again until yesterday. But, this was the call that counted. I now have a 6 month old daughter sleeping peacefully behind me.

She's a chunky monkey! But, has been a good baby thus far. I have no clue what to expect as far as her schedule. Last night she treated us to a full night of sleep! She slept from 8 to 5! Why didn't my other kids do that?

I wish I could post pictures! She's very cute.. but, if you want to see her you'll have to come by and help me out for a day. LOL!

What's one more..?

These really are the days that will send me to an early grave.

We've had calls about three different infants today.

None of them are here, nor on their way here (that I know of at least).

I know that there are some very happy foster mamas and papas out there that have new little bundles to love on. It breaks my heart to know that three little babies have already been hurt so early in life. But, I know that they will be loved tonight, and safe tonight.

Brian and I laugh about foster care. We had no idea how hard it would be. We had no clue that we'd willingly give our heart to be broken. And, now, after we know better, we still are eager to do it all again. We know that there are children in need. We know that we have love to give. We know that we can be the answer for one child and one family.

So, I am now trying to clean up the house and do some laundry in case we *do* add another to our crew tonight.

Either way, I have another reason to hold on extra tight to my babies tonight. I'm so glad that they came to us. I'm so lucky to have adopted three of them already. How did this all turn out so well?

Big Girls Don't Cry...

We've created a monster.

Daddy's conversation with her last night:

Daddy is whistling..

Bean: Why you do that?
Daddy: I was being silly.
Bean: Was it because you said to my surprise, like this (sung at the top of the lungs) BIG GIRLS DON'T CRY...


A few months ago I had the sad realization that the "oldies" that my kiddos are growing up with are from the 70's. This will simply not do. So, each couple of weeks I'm adding a new song to the rotation and trying to create at least one family of little ones that will know all of the good bubblegum oldies that I grew up with and love. I do mix in some of the new stuff and they have their own music that they enjoy.

One of the most interesting parts of this is that only one of the kids is really that interested in music. Bean is always dancing or bobbing her head or just kind of moving around whenever she hears anything. We had a little foster guy who did the same a few years ago. We thought it was from his bio-family, but now I'm convince that some people are just born with the music in them. What a beautiful thing.

I think I can, I think I can...

I'm feeling overwhelmed today.

My boys are back home and summer is in full swing.

We already did the grocery shopping (can I say that I love thegrocerygame.com?? I saved $123 and spent $118). And the Head Start teachers have already been out to the house to see the little ones.

All that I have to do is entertain the troops for another few hours.

Can I handle them all at the pool? I avoided it all last summer. But, I really would like them to be able to go when only I'm around. Thankfully, V is a little afraid of the water. Our little Bean is the problem, she will walk straight into the water until it's over her head. Yesterday my older boys went down the water slide! It was way exciting as they've always been to scared in the past.

Wow.

This ended up being way more of a ramble than I had planned.

Anyhow, I guess I need to kick it into gear and try to make the most out of the rest of the day.

It's gone baby, gone.

My hair, that is.

I chopped it off. I would have waited a bit so I could donate, but they wont' take hair that's been highlighted, so I went ahead and cut seven inches off. Maybe next time around I'll be able to, but I'm thinking that I'm too addicted to changing my hair to stop with the dye obsession.

So, without further ado.. here's my new do...

This is a little before & after. The "before" is a few months old, but you can see the general idea.

My big boys are still gone. The little ones are enjoying the attention and time that they have with me, but I'm finding that they aren't very good at playing without their brothers' guidance.

OH, MY GOSH... I almost forgot!

Court was yesterday for our little guy. And it was good. It was as good as we could hope for. Of course, nothing is over until it's over.. but we are now one small step closer to adding another to our family. Brian is taking bets as far as how long it will take from this point. He's thinking April of 2010. My naive & hopeful side keeps thinking it could be this year. Maybe it'll split the difference and happen in February. I think that the only thing that matters to us is that we will one day be able to call him our son without that pesky "foster" word getting in the way.