Shew! It is 11:33 as I write this post and I'm waiting up patiently for the love of my life to return home from a VERY LONG WEEK of work! Working every other weekend is ROUGH! Causes me to get GRUMPY, but I have to keep myself in check and not COMPLAIN, as I know with this economy the way it is, I am forever grateful to my Heavenly Father for protecting our family from yet another job loss!!!! PRAISE JESUS!!
Today we had our foster license renewal meeting. It expires March (talk about saved by the bell!) and to renew there are about 15 or so forms that have to be filled out, signed, even a few notarized. NOT EASY! A home inspection has to be done again and CEU have to be submitted, CPR has to be up to date, physicals for Ben & I have to be done every three years, etc. SO MUCH MAINTENANCE, but again, not complaining, God has given us the most incredible miracles we could EVER ASK FOR! And we are SO GRATEFUL TO HIM FOR THIS!
Just finished making two more batches of applesauce! For those in my family reading this, didn't this tradition come from Granny!? I think it did. I remember making applesauce at Gpa & Gma Abuhl's house, but she cooked the apples down with the skin, then had this strainer that had a metal bar that rotated circularly and squished the apple puree out into a bowl. Mmmmm! So good! Such great memories! Anyways, I've been making some applesauce. My boys, meaning Benjamin, Laine and Ezra, can't get ENOUGH of the stuff. It only made 5-3 cup containers! :( I also decided I'd try to make cinnamon rolls from scratch. Mmmm! We'll see how they turn out! Again, the great thing about it is that my bread machine (THANK YOU MOM AND DAD BALTZLY) actually does all the mixing and first round of raising for you! In 90 minutes top. So I just throw the ingredients in and let the machine go! Then I have to finish them, but that's a huge part of it! :)
Just a random thought, I'm actually thinking about having a stand at our farmers' market next season! :) What do you think!? I would LOVE it! I think it would be SO MUCH FUN! I just have to come up with something "unique" to sell that's different than everything else at the farmers' market. I suppose I better GO to see what else is being sold! :) Ha! Anyway, just a thought! :)
Alright, well, this was a RANDOM e-mail, sorry!
Friday, February 27, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Reality Check!!!!
So, I have a "funny now" story to tell you about, but not "funny then." So buckle your seatbelts as I tell it to you! :)
I have been doing a lot of cooking and baking lately and was in need of some eggs. As cheap as I am with getting my groceries, there is a store called Vekol that I usually go to when I am in need of a few dozen eggs as they are only $.99!!!!!! Can't beat that! So, since I haven't been out for the last 3 days or so, I decided it's time I embrace myself, load up all my cuties and head out there after dropping Laine off at school.
A little "Vekol" history for you will help you better understand my story! This is a hole in the wall "ex" gas station that used to exsist on the Ak-Chin Indian Reservation. It's only about 4 miles from our home, but you have to travel onto the reservation to get them. NOT A PROBLEM, just giving you the "whole picture."
So, I drive on out to the store, graciously unload my two littlest one (mind you Ezra doesn't have shoes on as he just got the top of his foot cut on the bottom of our door so refuses to put shoes on), I grab a "basket" to go grab my eggs and proceed to walk up to the counter where I will pay in a few short seconds. So, while standing there, the clerk (an Ak-Chin Native American Indian) looks at me and very bluntly says, "Are those YOUR children?" My heart stopped, I regained consciousness and said with a smile, "Why, YES, they are!" And as quickly as I could dart out the door, I did, threw the kids in the car and FLEW out of that parking lot.
Why does this matter, you ask!? Well, if many of you will recall, we had a baby, Adalinne, that we had less than a year ago that proved to be a very SMALL percentage Native American indian, maybe 1/100, very little. After the mom proved that to the judge, the judge ordered her immediate removal and placement with a family member or a "tribe" member. Since this removal, our family has been very afraid of this biological mother of Ezra and Chavalah proving that they are part NAI as we know what could happen so quickly. While we'd like to HOPE Ezra wouldn't ever get "removed" once adopted, we really DON'T know. Our dear therapist that is full blooded NAI in the very first visit recognized their NAI attributes and is fully convinced they are FOR SURE at least half NAI!!!! I don't mind that, I love my babies however they are, but we're just really trying to get through Chavalah's adoption before something like Adalinne happens to us again!
Not much else new this week. Laine is "student of the week" in his class, so we've been a bit busier preparing a few extra things for him. He's quite excited. He got to bring something today for "show and tell" and he chose to bring his remote control car that he got from Uncle Ben & Aunt Aubrey for Christmas. He can't get enough of it! So sweet!
Hope you all have a great weekend!
I have been doing a lot of cooking and baking lately and was in need of some eggs. As cheap as I am with getting my groceries, there is a store called Vekol that I usually go to when I am in need of a few dozen eggs as they are only $.99!!!!!! Can't beat that! So, since I haven't been out for the last 3 days or so, I decided it's time I embrace myself, load up all my cuties and head out there after dropping Laine off at school.
A little "Vekol" history for you will help you better understand my story! This is a hole in the wall "ex" gas station that used to exsist on the Ak-Chin Indian Reservation. It's only about 4 miles from our home, but you have to travel onto the reservation to get them. NOT A PROBLEM, just giving you the "whole picture."
So, I drive on out to the store, graciously unload my two littlest one (mind you Ezra doesn't have shoes on as he just got the top of his foot cut on the bottom of our door so refuses to put shoes on), I grab a "basket" to go grab my eggs and proceed to walk up to the counter where I will pay in a few short seconds. So, while standing there, the clerk (an Ak-Chin Native American Indian) looks at me and very bluntly says, "Are those YOUR children?" My heart stopped, I regained consciousness and said with a smile, "Why, YES, they are!" And as quickly as I could dart out the door, I did, threw the kids in the car and FLEW out of that parking lot.
Why does this matter, you ask!? Well, if many of you will recall, we had a baby, Adalinne, that we had less than a year ago that proved to be a very SMALL percentage Native American indian, maybe 1/100, very little. After the mom proved that to the judge, the judge ordered her immediate removal and placement with a family member or a "tribe" member. Since this removal, our family has been very afraid of this biological mother of Ezra and Chavalah proving that they are part NAI as we know what could happen so quickly. While we'd like to HOPE Ezra wouldn't ever get "removed" once adopted, we really DON'T know. Our dear therapist that is full blooded NAI in the very first visit recognized their NAI attributes and is fully convinced they are FOR SURE at least half NAI!!!! I don't mind that, I love my babies however they are, but we're just really trying to get through Chavalah's adoption before something like Adalinne happens to us again!
Not much else new this week. Laine is "student of the week" in his class, so we've been a bit busier preparing a few extra things for him. He's quite excited. He got to bring something today for "show and tell" and he chose to bring his remote control car that he got from Uncle Ben & Aunt Aubrey for Christmas. He can't get enough of it! So sweet!
Hope you all have a great weekend!
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
LaMaze (sp) Class............well, sort of!!!
A very quick update for those checking. I need to run get Laine from school, but in the words of my dear sweet husband, "Well, it was like lamaze class AGAIN for us." We still play the "waiting game and practice" before our "delivery." We get our children in an unusual way and we often try to compare to actual situations of others giving birth themselves. So this is Benjamin's "analogy."
Our hearing was actually disappointing. We were set to go, our termination would've been scheduled within the next TEN DAYS, however, the biological mothers' attorney objected! :( As the original date for this hearing had been set for April 8. He admitted he hasn't seen her in 2 years, and actually didn't even have an address for her to notify her of the hearing, but just in case she found out in a "fluke" way that her hearing was set for April 8, her attorney is objecting today's hearing and requesting the opportunity for her to show up in court on April 8 as originally planned. Judge granted in her attorney's favor, so we are set for another hearing on April 8 at 9:30 AM, then go back to court again on April 22 at 9:30 AM, and IF MOM DOESN'T show up on April 8, April 22 is the DONE DEAL! That will terminate her parental rights right then and there, no "setting a hearing" for termination.
Emotionally I'm so exhausted. Although, I must admit, I'm the most relaxed and calm I've been in awhile. God is giving me the peace that passes all understanding to get me through this agonizing time of "waiting and wondering." So, He's WORKING on me! To make me what I OUGHT to be!
Again, as always, SO APPRECIATE your prayers! Love you ALL!
Our hearing was actually disappointing. We were set to go, our termination would've been scheduled within the next TEN DAYS, however, the biological mothers' attorney objected! :( As the original date for this hearing had been set for April 8. He admitted he hasn't seen her in 2 years, and actually didn't even have an address for her to notify her of the hearing, but just in case she found out in a "fluke" way that her hearing was set for April 8, her attorney is objecting today's hearing and requesting the opportunity for her to show up in court on April 8 as originally planned. Judge granted in her attorney's favor, so we are set for another hearing on April 8 at 9:30 AM, then go back to court again on April 22 at 9:30 AM, and IF MOM DOESN'T show up on April 8, April 22 is the DONE DEAL! That will terminate her parental rights right then and there, no "setting a hearing" for termination.
Emotionally I'm so exhausted. Although, I must admit, I'm the most relaxed and calm I've been in awhile. God is giving me the peace that passes all understanding to get me through this agonizing time of "waiting and wondering." So, He's WORKING on me! To make me what I OUGHT to be!
Again, as always, SO APPRECIATE your prayers! Love you ALL!
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
PLEASE, PLEASE BE PRAYING!!!!!!!!!!!
Just a reminder, I've posted on this before, just want to post a quick reminder for those that are checking, to pray specifically for our court hearing tomorrow (Wednesday) morning at 9:30. Just pray ALL morning as we don't know our specific place in line on the docket full of sometimes 15 cases at the same time.
Tomorrow is called the Permanency Hearing which is scheduled to basically make sure everything is "in line" to set our Termination Hearing. If everything is there, aka, mom still not at hearing, fathers' name or identity as been asked for so they can terminate ALL parental rights when needed since we really have no clue who the father is in our situation, THEN they can set us up with our Termination of Parental Rights Hearing which is usually scheduled for within the next 30 days!!! Lord willing, we will walk out of the hearing tomorrow knowing that date, and once that Termination hearing is finalized......................we can start filing our needed paperwork to adopt!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Keep checking. I'll have an update try, tomorrow afternoon, or if not afternoon, by 7ish in the evening after my kids have gotten settled in bed! AZ time that is! :)
Tomorrow is called the Permanency Hearing which is scheduled to basically make sure everything is "in line" to set our Termination Hearing. If everything is there, aka, mom still not at hearing, fathers' name or identity as been asked for so they can terminate ALL parental rights when needed since we really have no clue who the father is in our situation, THEN they can set us up with our Termination of Parental Rights Hearing which is usually scheduled for within the next 30 days!!! Lord willing, we will walk out of the hearing tomorrow knowing that date, and once that Termination hearing is finalized......................we can start filing our needed paperwork to adopt!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Keep checking. I'll have an update try, tomorrow afternoon, or if not afternoon, by 7ish in the evening after my kids have gotten settled in bed! AZ time that is! :)
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Valentine's Day at the Baltzlys!
We had such a fun Valentine's day here at our home.
Growing up as a child, my dear mama set out to make Valentine's day every year something to remember. My fondest memory of Valentine's day was when she put a handmade "coupon" in our lunch sack. It happened to be a Friday that year, and the coupon indicated they had a special thing planned for that night and they'd be picking us up EARLY (BIG DEAL) from school that day and it was a surprise as to where we'd be going or what we'd be doing. It turns out, they booked a hotel in Cedar Rapids, with a pool, that we drove off to straight from school, and we got to stay the night there, and swim, etc. That was a HUGE DEAL back in my day! :) (I make it sound like I'm old or something.)
My point in telling you that story of my childhood is more or less to say, my parents always made this day so special, and it made me feel SO LOVED and SO SPECIAL!!! So, THANK YOU MAMA, for creating those special days I'll NEVER forget, and THANK YOU for setting such a great example for me to follow as I raise my babies!!!
While I'm not trying to compare or live up to what my mom did for us as kids, I wanted to make yesterday special. With that said, we had one of the best "family" days we've had in a very long time (too long), and I'm still smiling today because of it! I'll let the pictures narrate our day for you! :)
We started off by making our own calzones!! What fun!
Mommy helped Ezra! :)
Daddy helped Laine!
Then we topped it with the brush of an egg and parmesean cheese!
Daddy then took the boys outside to play while mommy set the table with a few extra "fun things" to enjoy the meal with.
Oops, sorry! I didn't turn it right. This was Laine's special spot! :)
My "boy" valentines. I'm so spoiled!
Ezra enjoyed playing with his straw more than drinking out of it! :) Daddy showed the boys how they could blow into the straw and make it whistle.
Mommy made a "bunny" salad. Laine thought it was a mouse. Could've been! :) I should've just agreed with him, I probably would've been better off! :)
Ezra LOVED his cards! He just went nuts. Surprisingly almost more than the candy!
Laine with his "Lollipop" cookie. It was so yummy! Mmmm!
Good to the last drop! :) There was a surprise "mint" in the middle! :)
Benjamin & I topped the beautiful day off with our "traditional" steak dinner at home! We LOVE this! Kids in bed, just the two of us, no crowds, no expectations, MUCH LESS expensive! It's great! We've done this for several years now.
Since we've been together (this was our 7th), I've always made Red Velvet Cake for Valentine's Day, and I probably won't ever stop. It's just so yummy and it's the only time a year I do it.
Look at that RED cake! I LOVE the beauty of this cake! Almost don't want to eat it! :)
HAPPY VALENTINE'S to EACH of you faithful blog readers! From our family to yours! We love you all!
Growing up as a child, my dear mama set out to make Valentine's day every year something to remember. My fondest memory of Valentine's day was when she put a handmade "coupon" in our lunch sack. It happened to be a Friday that year, and the coupon indicated they had a special thing planned for that night and they'd be picking us up EARLY (BIG DEAL) from school that day and it was a surprise as to where we'd be going or what we'd be doing. It turns out, they booked a hotel in Cedar Rapids, with a pool, that we drove off to straight from school, and we got to stay the night there, and swim, etc. That was a HUGE DEAL back in my day! :) (I make it sound like I'm old or something.)
My point in telling you that story of my childhood is more or less to say, my parents always made this day so special, and it made me feel SO LOVED and SO SPECIAL!!! So, THANK YOU MAMA, for creating those special days I'll NEVER forget, and THANK YOU for setting such a great example for me to follow as I raise my babies!!!
While I'm not trying to compare or live up to what my mom did for us as kids, I wanted to make yesterday special. With that said, we had one of the best "family" days we've had in a very long time (too long), and I'm still smiling today because of it! I'll let the pictures narrate our day for you! :)
We started off by making our own calzones!! What fun!
Mommy helped Ezra! :)
Daddy helped Laine!
Then we topped it with the brush of an egg and parmesean cheese!
Daddy then took the boys outside to play while mommy set the table with a few extra "fun things" to enjoy the meal with.
Oops, sorry! I didn't turn it right. This was Laine's special spot! :)
My "boy" valentines. I'm so spoiled!
Ezra enjoyed playing with his straw more than drinking out of it! :) Daddy showed the boys how they could blow into the straw and make it whistle.
Mommy made a "bunny" salad. Laine thought it was a mouse. Could've been! :) I should've just agreed with him, I probably would've been better off! :)
Ezra LOVED his cards! He just went nuts. Surprisingly almost more than the candy!
Laine with his "Lollipop" cookie. It was so yummy! Mmmm!
Good to the last drop! :) There was a surprise "mint" in the middle! :)
Benjamin & I topped the beautiful day off with our "traditional" steak dinner at home! We LOVE this! Kids in bed, just the two of us, no crowds, no expectations, MUCH LESS expensive! It's great! We've done this for several years now.
Since we've been together (this was our 7th), I've always made Red Velvet Cake for Valentine's Day, and I probably won't ever stop. It's just so yummy and it's the only time a year I do it.
Look at that RED cake! I LOVE the beauty of this cake! Almost don't want to eat it! :)
HAPPY VALENTINE'S to EACH of you faithful blog readers! From our family to yours! We love you all!
Chavalah's first "big girl" food!!!!
Chavalah is getting SOOO big! We got past our "6 month" mark to start eating solids, although I know you don't HAVE to wait until they are 6 months. Anyway, I just can't get over how fast these little ones grow and get big and start doing things that are not so "infant" anymore!! :( I have to admit, this has been, probably the most difficult transition for me as I really am NOT sure of my future with any more kids/babies. I just DON'T know. God may bless us with one more, or none more or a few more, I really don't have a clue! I know if I were "able" to have children, I'd have liked to have TRIED for one more, but that's not an option, so with each baby I get, I just hold tight and devour all the time of "baby" I can!
All that to say..................my baby girl is GROWING UP! And she's LOVING this next stage of growing up! You should've seen her. She plunged forward practically BEGGING for the next bite. She didn't have a "sour" type facial expression as you typically see when they are trying a new "texture." It was as though she had eaten it all her life. She did have some trouble with the "tongue" and trying to figure out what to do with that texture of a bite in her mouth. She'll get the hang of it, I know! So, below are just a few of the pictures we took of Chavie taking her first few bites of cereal!
Here's what I'm talking about with the whole "tongue" thing, trying to figure out swallowing texture. What a fun adventure.
All that to say..................my baby girl is GROWING UP! And she's LOVING this next stage of growing up! You should've seen her. She plunged forward practically BEGGING for the next bite. She didn't have a "sour" type facial expression as you typically see when they are trying a new "texture." It was as though she had eaten it all her life. She did have some trouble with the "tongue" and trying to figure out what to do with that texture of a bite in her mouth. She'll get the hang of it, I know! So, below are just a few of the pictures we took of Chavie taking her first few bites of cereal!
Here's what I'm talking about with the whole "tongue" thing, trying to figure out swallowing texture. What a fun adventure.
Friday, February 13, 2009
We have had the funnest time with our new Hummingbird feeder! Awhile back, Laine had been asking for a hummingbird feeder and I thought, "why not!?" I wasn't sure how well we'd attract them, but to my PLEASANT SURPRISE, we have TONS! They entertain us pretty much all day! They are the most fascinating bird! So neat. I actually make our own "nectar" and I just made my third batch of it. They are sucking it dry nearly weekly! It's so much fun. They will fly right next to you and eat even if you're standing right there! Benjamin took the cool pictures!
Cookies! Cookies for AWANA!
AWANA hike was this past Sunday! The kids have SO MUCH FUN and work up a hearty appetite for after the hike. I volunteered to bring the "dessert" or cookies for the fun night! I think they went over well! Who doesn't love sugar cut out cookies and buttercream frosting!?
FRIENDS! Can't live without them!!!
Last Friday, we had the honor of having some of our good friends over for the evening. We had SO MUCH FUN! We are SO THANKFUL for these friends. It's actually kind of odd, but we have so many similarities and we just have hit it off almost from the first time we met. I met Johnna a few years ago through a local mom's club. I wasn't participating much, but had attended a "Mom's Night Out" event where we initially met. Johnna then did the persuing of me again, and continued to try and get me to become more involved with this group. This was all during our first year here in Arizona, and when Loren passed away, etc, and at the time I wasn't at all interested in "getting involved." I shut down usually around the anniversary months of our babies, but dear Johnna kept on, keeping on! I finally invited her to "brunch" at our house so our kids could get together and play, and we could visit and get to know one another! The rest is HISTORY! She is so dear.
The similarities: Her name is Johnna, mine Joanna. She has a daughter Dalaynie and they often call her "Layne" and we have Laine, of course. They were born just a few days apart in September. She is from Minnesota, and I'm from Iowa, so MANY things in common.
Anyways, so we had them over for a cook out. We had so much fun!!! The kids PLAYED AND PLAYED AND PLAYED, while we visited and laughed and sat by the fire.
Here we are, Johnna & Joanna & Chavalah! Friend for absolute EVER!
This is their son, Nick! He's ADORABLE! He calls me "Nia." I love it!
Enjoying the fire!
Laine & Laynie on the scooters!
"Monkey see..........Monkey do!!!"
The similarities: Her name is Johnna, mine Joanna. She has a daughter Dalaynie and they often call her "Layne" and we have Laine, of course. They were born just a few days apart in September. She is from Minnesota, and I'm from Iowa, so MANY things in common.
Anyways, so we had them over for a cook out. We had so much fun!!! The kids PLAYED AND PLAYED AND PLAYED, while we visited and laughed and sat by the fire.
Here we are, Johnna & Joanna & Chavalah! Friend for absolute EVER!
This is their son, Nick! He's ADORABLE! He calls me "Nia." I love it!
Enjoying the fire!
Laine & Laynie on the scooters!
"Monkey see..........Monkey do!!!"
100th Day!!!!
Laine stylin' his necklace he made at school with what started out to be 100 Fruit Loops. No, there are not 100 on there anymore, and if you are counting, there are 63 left! :)
Guess what I found the boys doing!? :) I thought it was so precious. Laine was so giving!
Laine had his 100th day of school last week! They had so much fun! It was a big day for everyone at the school. Laine was thrilled, and mommy was thrilled when he came home! Kind a neat thing they do. Today they pretty much had a "play" day and did fun things.
Superbowl 2009!!!!!
Me and my new nephew, Oscar!
Ben, Aubrey, Jack & Dad all watching the first half. Definitely not as exciting as the second!
Oma always thinks of her grandkids. No matter how interesting the "adult" activity might be at any of our family gatherings, she's always thinking of her grandkids! Thank you Oma! We love you SOOOOO MUCH!
:) The Baltzlys (minus Chavalah) :) Chilling out watching the game!
Towards the end of the game! All the kids were getting REALLY sleepy!We spent this years VERY EXCITING, yet disappointing Super Bowl over at Ben & Aubrey's house! THANK YOU Ben & Aubrey! We had a blast. Just wish our home team would've won the Super Bowl! They lost, although, I'll say, they had an incredible "come back" second half! Shew!!!!!!!!!! And many thought we couldn't do it! :)
Random
Here are just a few random pictures taken in the last few weeks.
Our little sweetie, Chavalah! These are the fingers she sucks all the time and we call it her "I love you" hand! :) Getting SOO BIG!!!
Our little sweetie, Chavalah! These are the fingers she sucks all the time and we call it her "I love you" hand! :) Getting SOO BIG!!!
My boys!
Granny having coffee and a small treat at my house!
First ever "snack" eaten at the swingset picnic table! First of many I'm sure!
Brothers! Aren't they precious!? They are SO HAPPY!
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