January 4, 2012

I made my husband a Chicago Bears blanket for Christmas.  It is very warm an cozy.  Early this morning (I'm talking 3am) it was chilly in the house and I woke up to find my kitten and dog cuddled in Daddy's blanket.  Too cute these two animals are.  They play and sleep together all the time.  They have since the kitten was 4 weeks old.  I will post a picture later of one of their first naps together.

January 3, 2012

January 3rd

These are my beautiful daughters Aspyn-Kaylah (red pants) and Margarita.  They are wonderful girls and I can't wait to see the women they will become!  And yes, that is a knife that Aspyn-Kaylah is holding to her sister's throat....  lol?

January 2, 2012

Twitten really wants to be an outside kitty and we won't let her.  Too many coyotes and wild dogs around for her to be safe outside.  So, she will have to settle with sunning herself in the the doorway and climbing the screens.

A year in Photos.

I have decided to take a photo a day for the year 2012.  It will be fun to see how our lives change over the course of 365 days.  There will be photos of my kids, animals, family, friends, anything that catches my eye.  At the end of the year I will also be making a photo book - I haven't decided if it will be a scrapbook, photo album or a photo book from Snap Fish - but, I will have all 365 photos in a book next January.

So here is January 1, 2012 (I know, I'm a day behind with the post - the picture is REALLY from yesterday.)

This is Robot Uno's butt.  We got it for Christmas and I think he has the cutest little tushie!

Mommy Time

Over the past few weeks I have been feeling a little trapped in this world of mine as Mommy and Wife.  I haven't worked in the better part of a year and my time has been filled with paying bills, chauffeuring kids, laundry, cleaning, cooking, laundry, worrying about money, sleep overs, laundry (we have 6 people in our home there is A LOT of laundry), mediating fights, fixing broken hearts, homework, the list goes on and on.  The only thing missing from my duties as a Mommy is the all important "me time".  So between yesterday and today I reached empty in my "gas tank". 

Our social worker was here today for her monthly visit and Mr. K and I were talking with her about my issues.  And she came up with new rules for our family.  She literally took my calendar off my wall and started writing days and time when I am "off". 

We brought out all of the kids, including the kid down the street who is here more than my kids are, and explained to them that Mommy has a "gas tank" and that it needs to be filled once a week.  All of the kids agreed that I sacrifice a lot for them and agreed that 5 hours a week for myself is acceptable for them.  They are not allowed to call, text, email, Facebook, or smoke signal me during that time.  They are also not to have their dad call me to ask me a question.  If they don't know the answer they can wait until I get home.

Now, I am sure that you are thinking, "5 hours to yourself - good for you - but, you still have to come home and prepare dinner".  To this I say "No Ma'am!"  My girls are to cook dinner for the family every Thursday that I am gone.  We will prepare a menu for the night and ensure that they have everything they need to prepare the meal ( I will keep some money in the cookie jar for pizza just in case).

So, beginning July 8th I will have 5 hours of uninterrupted "me time" every Thursday - now the big question will be What will I do with free time?????

~Heather

My Kids

Last Friday my son (stepson if you want to get technical) Brett came home from his mom's house in Florida. He lived with her for the 1st 10years of his life, local to his dad and me.  When he was 10 she moved to Florida with her new husband and he stayed her in California with us.  Last summer he made the decision to move to Florida to be with her.  He comes to visit us when he is out of school on vacations.  So, he is here for his Spring Break and I couldn't be happier.

In August our family lost 1 kid (Brett) to Florida and gained 3 more (adoption).  During these past 7 months our family is finding its way.  Sometimes it is hard to stay on track with 3 teens/tweens that are new to the family.  The kids Omar 14, Maragarita 12, and Kalla 10, keep me busy being a mom and referee most days.  We feel like a family and all is well.  That is until Brett arrives, then we feel complete.  As soon as he sees the other kids it is as if he was only away at a friends house for over night.  I wish that his mom lived closer to us so that we could see him more frequent.  But for now we just have to enjoy the time that he have as a Complete Family while we can.

Heather

Tea Time

Yesterday I had a wonderful time at tea with my best friend, Laura, and one of her childhood friends, Cathy.  It was a spure of the moment invite for me and let me tell you am I happy that I answered that phone call.

Laura and I have tea at The Eating Room, in Redlands CA, on a regular basis.  Martha Green has the most wondrful bakery and little restuarant.  And their tea- YUMMY!  This was Cathy's first visit at The Eating Room it was fun to see her reaction to the wonderful food.  Her 9 year old daughter is obssessed with tea parties.  She was able to get some great ideas for her daughter's next party.  Cathy lives 90 minutes away from Redlands and she wants to come down once a month to visit with Laura and me at The Eating Room.  I can't wait.

Thanks for making my Saturday a fun filled day!