Well, it's scheduled! At last, it's scheduled, and I am hopefully going to have some relief SOON! I will be having surgery on my wrist, March 19!!!!! Please pray for me that day. I'm VERY anxious, but know who is in control of my life! And for that I'm so grateful! Very minor, I have carpel tunnel that has made over half of my hand completely numb and useless. I have been dropping things, don't have strength in the hand to hold anything real tight. They say 70% of people that have the surgery feel immediate, day after, no numbness, etc. YAY!
Please also pray that Benjamin can get a little time off on "medical leave" so he can help me through the first week mainly with all our little ones. This will NOT be easy! I'm basically completely helpless until I get my stitches out at two weeks. Should be interesting.
Again, thank you for your faithful love, prayers and support! We are truly grateful!
Monday, March 9, 2009
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Cinnamon Rolls
Mmmm, mmmm, GOOD!!! So, these may actually look like Pillsbury Grands, but they AREN'T! :) I finally found the juiciest, most lucious cinnamon roll recipe I've EVER made before. Eyes closed, hands down, they are Cinnabun rolls! Mmmmm! And SO EASY! I was almost embarrassed at how easy they were.
To top it ALL OFF! My dear husband said, "Wow, baby, these are JUST AS GOOD as the Amish sticky buns back home, if not BETTER." He grew up in the heart of Amish, Ohio, so that was a HUGE compliment! I was proud! :)
Only way to get your hands on a pan of these is to book your ticket out to Phoenix, AZ, and reservations at the Baltzly Bed & Breakfast!!!! :) Any takers!? :)
"Mommy" in the eyes of Laine!!!
So, just recently, I was tagged in a really fun questionnaire. Sometimes I get tired of the ones that I have to do the answering, this was a unique one where I was supposed to ask my son what the answers to the questions were! They are kind of fun! Enjoy! :)
1. What is something mom always says to you?
Clean up my toys!
2. What makes mom happy?
When I give kisses!
3. What makes mom sad?
When I don't give her hugs.
4. How does your mom make you laugh?
Tickles me.
5. What was your mom like as a child?
A little girl.
6. How old is your mom?
30! (Right on, cutie! :))
7. How tall is your mom?
Big!
8. What is her favorite thing to do?
Play games!
9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
Cook and play games with my daddy.
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
A cooker.
11. What is your mom really good at?
Baking.
12. What is your mom not very good at?
Playing games!
13. What does your mom do for her job?
Clean up. (so true, so true!!!!)
14. What is your mom's favorite food?
Macaroni & Cheese (yeah right!!! this is what HE wanted for dinner tonight! :))
15. What makes you proud of your mom?
Because you cook.
16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Elmo. (???) (I asked him why that was and he said because he likes Elmo, it's his favorite, so I guess I'll take that for an answer! :))
17. What do you and your mom do together?
Go to school.
18. How are you and your mom the same?
Our eyes....our eyes are green!! (right on!)
19. How are you and your mom different?
Our toe nails and our hair. Mine are short and yours are long!
20. How do you know your mom loves you?
Because you say, "I love you, Laine."
21. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
Starbucks and Tully's. (Cha Ching! :))
1. What is something mom always says to you?
Clean up my toys!
2. What makes mom happy?
When I give kisses!
3. What makes mom sad?
When I don't give her hugs.
4. How does your mom make you laugh?
Tickles me.
5. What was your mom like as a child?
A little girl.
6. How old is your mom?
30! (Right on, cutie! :))
7. How tall is your mom?
Big!
8. What is her favorite thing to do?
Play games!
9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
Cook and play games with my daddy.
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
A cooker.
11. What is your mom really good at?
Baking.
12. What is your mom not very good at?
Playing games!
13. What does your mom do for her job?
Clean up. (so true, so true!!!!)
14. What is your mom's favorite food?
Macaroni & Cheese (yeah right!!! this is what HE wanted for dinner tonight! :))
15. What makes you proud of your mom?
Because you cook.
16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Elmo. (???) (I asked him why that was and he said because he likes Elmo, it's his favorite, so I guess I'll take that for an answer! :))
17. What do you and your mom do together?
Go to school.
18. How are you and your mom the same?
Our eyes....our eyes are green!! (right on!)
19. How are you and your mom different?
Our toe nails and our hair. Mine are short and yours are long!
20. How do you know your mom loves you?
Because you say, "I love you, Laine."
21. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
Starbucks and Tully's. (Cha Ching! :))
Friday, February 27, 2009
Progress!!
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!
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!
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! :)
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