almost Christmas time

here is my monthly update. I do think aout this thing quite often, but it's so hard to find time to sit still anymore without interuptions.

Currently the 3 big girls are eating Happy Meals (hey, it's Saturday... I get a day off!), Curtis is napping, and Sydney (baby 4 mo) is with my friend for the day. (YAY!) We are supposed to go to Safeway here soon for the girls to decorate gingerbread houses. They provide everything and I get to leave the mess there!! hooray for that!!

This morning we had rehearsal for the Christmas play for the kids. We ran through it 3x, but I think we could use another 30. IT's so hard to get Karen to cooperate... she's all over the place. Gracie, 6, is fighting a cold and just wanted to lay down. Vanessa, 9, was sick last Sunday, so I think she's not 'all there' in terms of what she did last week. Sydney is going to be baby Jesus. Curtis, if I can find his costume, will be a baby bull in the manger scene. Or he'll just watch.

We are getting a new computer for Christmas. It's all here right now, but Paul needs time to put it all together. Being a computer geek that he is, he has to buy it into pieces and create it.

We're back to training Curtis to sleep through the night. Syd has slept through 2 nights in a row, but C wakes up 3-4 times. I'm TIRED!!

Chris and Jon arrive next week for C-mas. YAY!! We will spend 3 nights at the in-laws. Should be interesting... 2 of them, J&C, Kim, and us 7... 12 people. Thankfully they have 2 bathrooms!!

Well, if you read my Christmas letter and have come here for updates, here it is. The girls will be with us a couple more months. I'm getting DSL at church (Paul is installing it now). my msn is rizaroni73@hotmail.com.

I should see if I can find my kitchen counters before we leave for the grocery. Merry Christmas!!

Trick or Treat!!

Can you believe this was my first year to take Karen trick-or-treating?? We've always done church events. This year the foster girls' mom, grandma and aunt came over, so we hit the Main Street merchants for candy, came home for dinner, then hit the blocks around our house. We then headed to our pastor's home for his 'treat'...the fact he and his son dressed up and tried to scare them. Then the girls hit the neighbors' for more goodies. They had a lot of fun. Boy do I have a lot of chocolate to eat!! MMmm!!

Karen is a beauty queen (although she changed it to a 'fur queen'), Curtis was a baby bull, V was a cheerleader, and G was a Queen. Baby S was a piglet... I just made her a hat with piggy ears on it.

October 8

Life continues to be insanely busy. Looks like we'll have the girls for another couple months. No one can ever tell us for sure, but it doesn't look like they'll be going home any time soon. We are doing better at getting in a routine. I just wish we had a 2nd bathroom!!

Curtis is now a crawling maniac! He also started pulling-to-standing on his own. He's SO proud of himself.

We had the kids' pix taken yesterday.

Buddy 800

This was our second trip to Wilsonville, Oregon, to compete in the annual Buddy 800. The money goes to BGMC: Boys and Girls Missionary Crusade. This year all money raised will benefit Kids of Katrina. They will be filling backpacks with school supplies and other goodies.


Curtis was on our pit crew this year. We became obsessed with team spirit, so we made our own NASCAR style racing suits. Curtis had his own shirt. Although he didn't get to ride the track, he looked awfully cute in the driver's seat.


The Fun Center had a mini-golf course. The houses were Curtis' size.

FDOS

First Day of School! Hallelujah!! Three kids out the door... two babies left. "S" is now 2 weeks old, "G" is 5 and in kindergarten, and "V" is 8 and in 3rd grade. Then Karen is now a first grader!

pictures to follow when they'll finally upload.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

I'm so tired!! We received 3 foster girls last Tuesday and I've been 'whelmed' since. Not sure if it's Over-whelmed or what. "S" is 1 week old, "G" is 5 yrs, and big sister "V" is 8 yrs. Sweet girls, but the mess that 5 kids can create is, well, overwhelming! I wake up with "S", go to sleep for an hour or so, up with Curtis, sleep an hour or so, then back up with "S" again.

Karen is spending the week with Grandma and Grandpa Steele, so that's one less person to tend to.

It's hot here, too. We have pathetic A/C, so it just puts a dent into the temp in the house, but I'll take what I can get!

Did someone say "nap time"??

Camping at Jubilee Lake

This is our 3rd time camping at Jubilee Lake. Talk about a dirty time!! woowee!! Seven days and my shower and own bed have never felt better.




This is how Curtis took his daily bath. The water got warm enough that it was fun to play in.









I caught the first and biggest fish.




I always take a picture of Paul with his baby while camping.

My girlfriend got baptised during our church service.

See these yucky feet? That's with a 'bath' that morning. My feet are still stained from all the dirt!!

Teefers

It's hard to get a baby to smile big so as to show off his teeth. Here are my attempts:

Happily Ever After

Last night our pastor's daughter got married. Needless to say it was a beautiful ceremony. I'm sorry it is not a good picture. I dont' have the best digi cam. He is a combat veteran with 2 purple hearts and a silver star. He is gorgeous!! (can I say that?) She is also a beautiful lady, inside and out. Karen, Paul and I were the gift table guards and had to deliver the gifts to her parents' house after the ceremony. I had moved the seats in the back of the van, but that still wasn't enough room. Some friends helped us out and we used their trunk.


And as good looking as the bride and groom were, Curtis was the best-dressed dude there!!

Beach Hunk

Okay, more of a Backyard chunk, but my baby's my baby! I love how he can be a cranky-pants, but put him in water and he's a very happy boy.

Welcome to Muddy Frogwater

Can't get to NE Oregon to enjoy Muddy Frogwater days? Then I shall have to bring it to you! Our city is busy branding our town as a Frog town. We have several 'works of art' around town to encourage visitors to stop and shop. Makes ya just want to buy, buy, bye!!

Curtis the swinger

Here are pix of Curtis... does he look like Paul? Am I the only one who doesn't see it?

Paul's Home!!

YAY! He's home...and he's happy about it, can you tell? I made a good home-cooked meal...the best he's had in 2 weeks... and he fell asleep shortly thereafter.

I'm glad he's back. oh yeah, he liked how the bedroom turned out. Said I did a very nice job. 8oD

Weally Weary Wednesday

Whenever I get the camera out, Curtis won't keep his off of me. He watches very closely. I already have him trained about looking at me for a picture!

Every month I take a picture of Curtis next to this calendar. I did it with Karen, too. It's neat to see the growth progression.

YAY! my room is done....err, OUR room is done! I put the quilt rack up all by myself. This is the quilt Paul's great grandma made. The little table lamps were black. I sprayed them white. You notice how Curtis is keeping his eyes on the camera?

ME

I figured I should post a pic of me... this is me on a good day. Must not have been a "stressed out by Karen" day! lol

Here is Karen on her tree swing. Daddy's pushing.

Tired Tuesday

It's one of 'those days'. I'm tired, irritable and grouchy. I need a break. I'm tired of being a single parent. Karen is very, well, she's herself. And that can exhaust anyone. She's trying to my soul. She had a friend over to play. They fought over Curtis...holding him, feeding him... They fought over toys, the pool, playing, not playing, not picking up. I feel the need for a very large Dove chocolate bar! Tonight is Bunko, so I'm looking forward to a break. I do have to take Curtis with me, but he's cute enough that others will want to hold him. Plus, I'm hoping he'll take a nap. It's hot. I feel sweaty. No time to shower again. I feel crabby.

My Piglet

Curtis had his 6 month appointment today. He is 20#, 10 oz and 27". His two bottom teeth are in and his top 2 are just breaking through. Doc said he's doing great.

Oh Scrap!

I finally got to scrapbook this weekend. It has been a very looong time! Curtis and I headed to a friend's for the night and Karen went to my parents'. I scrapped my heart out and got 13 pages done. Some are the "Larisa Signature"; aka: very simple. Some I scraplifted from a magazine. I just wanted to put a dent, albeit very little, in my pictures and get some done. My favorite ones are here.
This red one is very simple, but I really like the pictures. He had never done this before, and hasn't since.


This tan one is of my grandparents. Curtis is named after Grandpa Cecil (his middle name is Curtis). The poem came in a swap and it fit perfectly.
Here we have Karen and her buddy Alissa playing on our new tree swing. Alissa is moving to NW Washington and Karen is quite sad about it.
Here is another typical "Larisa" page. Super simple, just a bit of fiber, and let the pictures speak for themselves. There is just something about his eyes.

This is sweet Aireanna, our last foster baby. The embellishments are from a swap and were perfect for these pictures.

This is my favorite page of the weekend. This is one I scraplifted. Since he was just sitting in the bouncy seat, it's not like I can write a story about it. He was cute, so I took pictures!


I love pictures of Paul holding Curtis. Makes me fall in love with him over and over. The star poem is another swap item.
Here are some newborn pictures Paul took of us. You'll see very few pictures of me... I usually am the one snapping pix and don't get others taking ones of me. The poem is "Only God Could Create a Little Boy" and is written by a gal who writes for twopeasinapod.com. It is so sweet! I used washers for the first time. They say "precious" and "little one".


Here we have Curtis peeking through the heart cutouts in his cradle.
Last one... Another of Curtis and Daddy. The journaling is a quote that says: "There's no pillow quite so soft as a father's strong shoulder."