Dirty Hive

I wouldn't tell you how old my dear husband turns today. But, I will tell you that it rhymes with dirty hive. Like that, Honey? Hee hee hee.

Yes, June 29th is Scott's birthday. We have already celebrated in a major way. For starters, we went back to the beach this past Friday. Mom and Annette were still there and allowed us to come back. It is about a three hour trip for us. Boy, was it worth it! I absolutely love the beach. Growing up, we would go each summer. I found comfort in being there. Whatever was going on in my life, it was always there and I would soon return to it. I enjoy the beach all the more now, with my own little family. There is no greater joy than watching my family by the sea and the sand.

This morning, we treated Scott to one of his favorites, homemade biscuits and then it was present time. The kids and I had gone shopping for him and the kids were very anxious to give him the gifts they had bought him with their money. He was so surprised with the Barnes and Noble gift card, the new Indigo Girls CD, new shoes and a green iPod nano. Yes, we spoil our live-in hero.

Tonight we will all dress our finest and go out to eat in honor of Scott. It should be a sweet night out followed by cupcakes.

So, happy birthday to my absolute favorite person in this world. Thank you Lord for allowing me to be his wife and letting me experience love at first sight with this amazing guy thirteen years ago. I am so very thankful for a family man that loves and adores me like no other.

Celebrating you, Scott . . .

Emerald Isle 2009

I just uploaded a lot of photos from our time at the beach. We are so thankful for such a sweet getaway.

My mom surprised the kids. She sewed capes on t-shirts for Julian, Maddie, Kalen and Brayden. She decorated each of them to give each child something different. So cute!!

Date night in Beaufort.

We went out to eat at a place called Clawsons and walked downtown and next to the water.

Mom hanging out with the kids as they dug a hole.

Mom and Annette took us to the aquarium. We saw lots of cool creatures. The kids really enjoyed it.

Mom likes fishing. My Papa and Grandma would always go. Mom has taught the kids how to fish. They all caught several.

Yes, he caught that one. He also caught two more!

Another Road Trip

We just returned today from a wonderful extended weekend away at Emerald Isle. We were invited by my Mom and Annette. They were already there and had the beach house ready for us. The weather was simply delightful. We all had such a great time. I will post more photos later. Here are a few.

Class Complete

We completed our 5 week foster care and adoption classes. Tonight was our final meeting and we were able to bring our own families and have a ceremony of sorts. Scott was a part of a skit that demonstrated that every foster child needs a team of committed people behind him or her supporting the child and meeting his or her needs within the partnership of other team members. We kind of had a little graduation. Our instructors handed us each a certificate and a gift. It seems corny, but it was a big deal to me. I was proud to have completed this course. It was a lot of work and made us dig deep. Each week I would experience many highs and lows. More often than not, I was hopeful and eager. Although, several nights I came home heavy and doubtful. I think the classes did what they were supposed to do with my heart and mind. I feel more prepared to step into the role of a foster or adoptive parent.

There are many more steps that have to be taken to be a licensed foster parent or before adopting a foster child. Our hope is that we continue to stay informed and keep communicating openly with each other, our children and our social workers. We made our wishes known to the trainers/social workers. We filled out the official application, among tons of other paperwork, to become a foster parent hoping to adopt. Our next step is for one of the social workers to call us to set up a date for her to come and do a home study with us. That is our next step. From then on, we will work closely with our assigned social worker to jump through all the hoops necessary to become a licensed foster home.

Camping

This past weekend we took a road trip to the mountains. We were anxious about passing through Boone and meeting up with some of our best friends, the Kruideniers from SC. As we reminisced our way through our old hometown, we noticed quite a bit has changed. What hadn't changed were those cool mountain breezes and that small town comfort.

We met Daniel, Jennifer, Ellen and Arianna at the Grandfather Mountain campground. Spending an entire weekend with this family was sure to be a treat. We were delighted to find our plots right next to a creek and surrounded by woods and greenery. Up above our plots, there was an open field with mountains all around. It felt like a little piece of heaven.

Our families quickly set up camp in our little haven and began making memories. The smell of a campfire, laughter and wide eyes were all around us. The kids stayed in the creek most of that first day. They found several crawfish. Their sense of wonder was alive in the nature that encompassed us.

Our families are both vegan and we enjoyed bringing food to share and cook on our handy dandy camping stoves. We ate burritos, corn, spaghetti, green beans, oatmeal, hot tea, coffee and lots of other yummy snacks. Daniel brought some veggies from their garden and grilled them on the open fire. That was fun to watch and taste. Little did we know that fire roasted potatoes would be such a hit for the kids. They would put a slice of potato on their roasting sticks and stick it in the fire. Later, they roasted tofu dogs.

Our set up was all six kids in a huge tent that Daniel and Jen borrowed from a friend. Then each couple had a tent. So the guys set up all our tents in a row by the fire pit. We enjoyed being so close to one another. We had access to a bathhouse. We were not exactly roughing it.

We went out to the Hebron Rock Colony on Saturday. We took a death defying hike. (Ha ha ha- Jen and Daniel) The kids were so adventurous, much more than myself. I did alright though. I hiked with the best of them, Scott said. Such a sweet hubby. The weather was gorgeous. Jen took a lot of photos there. I will share those later.

All in all, our camping trip could not have gone better. I was so pleased with the kids' ability to sleep in a tent all together with Ellen and Arianna. Sure, they got up with the sun, but they are suppose to on a camping trip, right? That was an after thought though. Getting up just after 6am is not my idea of vacation.:) They were very well behaved and were content with being together and exploring in the woods. For me, the time outdoors was refreshing and revitalizing. Taking our family camping was a lot of work, but well worth it. Here are several pictures from our first Kruidenier and Morrison camping trip.

Just arriving in Boone.

A van full of happy campers anxiously awaiting a weekend away.

This was taken right when we arrived. This is just by our campsite.

Here's the gang just after meeting up. The guys didn't waste any time and began putting up the tents.

From left to right- Kalen, Arianna, Ellen, Brayden, Julian and Madelyn

Roasting potatoes.

Kalen holding a crawfish.

Roasting tofu dogs.

One of my favorite moments, a big game of UNO.

The kids playing duck duck goose.

Kalen, Arianna and Julian

We took a hayride around the grounds.

Yes, we saw that Maddie. The kids passed around the orange juice.

Madelyn was in heaven this weekend with Arianna and Ellen.