Friday, April 27, 2012

MIA for far to long!

I know, I know! I've been MIA for a LONG time from this blog. I tend to update on Facebook instead of here however I wanted to share with everyone a little bit of what's been going on!

First my family is doing GREAT!

We were all so excited to see Tyreque at Christmas time!

And then Ahma, Papa, Chato and the 2 little ones also joined us!
The only one missing was Raquel - maybe next year we will get everyone together at the same time!
We all went to Christmas Eve service  together!
And got ready to celebrate!
 Hopefully the next time they come to visit we will have nicer weather. 

 Rod took the girls to the Daddy/Daughter dance. Here they are all dressed up. Aren't the all beautiful?!


Second. My business is doing GREAT!

If you haven't already joined us you should check me out on facebook!

Third!
You all know I have a heart for adoption and fostering. Since moving to Washington we haven't been able to foster.  Some day when things calm down we plan on pursuing this love again.

Until then I am helping to raise awareness and advocating for those who ARE pursuing adoption.

I have introduced a new line of Adoption Awareness shirts. You can find them at

We are using this line to raise funds for those who are pursuing the gift of adoption. You can meet these families and see what the exciting things going on over at


Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Hello out there is cyber land~


Have you all missed me? I keep telling myself that I need to come by here more often and post. Maybe I need to add it to my daily...well maybe weekly...list of things to do.

Life here is busy as usual. School is coming to an end. Track season is almost finished. We are halfway through tee-ball season. Makkiah was recently diagnosed with autism. We are working on IEP's for next year. Working on getting ABA therapy in place.

Business is doing great. I've started doing more sewing. I'm almost at 100 sales on my etsy. Still making hairbows. The store is continuing to do great.





I promise I'll try to stop by more often and post!

Friday, April 23, 2010

Taniyah's First Lost Tooth

A few days ago Taniyah said "You want to see my shark teeth?" I thought she was being funny and said "Sure"

She opens her mouth and has a second row of teeth growing behind the first row on the bottom! She said they are "shark teeth" because sharks have two rows of teeth. That might be true but little girls aren't supposed to!

So we've been diligently wiggling her bottom teeth to get them to loosen up. This morning we got up early to take Jaleel and Makkiah in for a doctors appt. She was eating her cereal and all of the sudden says "My tooth. It's GONE!"

Do you know how hard it is to find a little teeny tiny white tooth in a bowl of cheerios and milk? Let's just say it's not easy.

She's so proud of her missing tooth!

Wednesday, April 07, 2010

Update on us!

I've finally made it back here. I'm going to try to get back into the habit of posting here on my blog. I'll post an update on how everyone is doing and then I'll move forward from here.

In June 09 Tyreque graduated from high school! We are SO SO SO proud of him! He's overcome so much in his life and it was an awesome accomplishment for him!


Right after graduation Rod, the six youngest kids and I piled into the van and headed off towards Washington for our big move. The Navy had decided after 12 years to move us in a new direction. We've now been in Washington 9 months and are loving it!


Cavelle is 2.5 years old and is growing so fast! Last time we measured him he was 42 inches tall and weighed 32 pounds! He's such a happy boy most of the time and so very smart! He's got an incredible vocabulary and can't wait to start preschool in the fall. He gets upset when he can't stay at preschool with Taniyah on school days.


Taniyah is 5 now and in Headstart. She's got quite the personality. She chatters all the time and is a leader in her class. She knows how things should be done and gets upset when others don't do them. She loves all things girly, the neighbors dog and church. She played soccer last summer and can't wait for the new season to roll around so she can play again


Makkiah is 9 now. He's been through a LOT in the last year. He's been on a special formula for a year now. He had major surgery in October. I'll do a post to explain what's been going on with him as it will be long. He's gained almost 2o pounds this year and grown 2.5 inches! He's in 3rd grade and has an awesome year in school this year. He scored in the top 3% of the district on their standardized tests for his age. He played soccer and basketball this year and is currently playing baseball for the first time.


Jaleel is 12 and in 6th grade. He's excited for the school year to be over so he can go to middle school. He's such a sweetheart and has a very caring spirit. This year he's played football and basketball. He's currently playing baseball for the first time. He's also learned to ride the unicycle this year and surprised the instructor with how quickly he picked it up. He's so proud to be riding the 6 foot "giraffe" and is practicing juggling while riding.


Destini is 12 and in 7th grade. She's making great progress in school and has made many friends. So far this year she's been in a play and played basketball. Her basketball skills improved greatly this season and she was awarded "Most improved player" by her team. She'll start track next week and is looking forward to it.


Brayana is 13 and in 8th grade. She's also the oldest at home now. This year she's played football, soccer, basketball and will start track next week. Her basketball coach said she's the most athletic 8th grader she's ever coached and looks forward to having her play next year. She's also in honors classes and doing well.


Raquel is 16 and a Junior this year! It's hard to believe that it's been 3 years since she entered our life! She chose to stay in San Diego when we made our move to Washington but we love her and claim her as one of our own! We will always be Mom and Dad to her and we are so glad that she claims us also! She's doing great in school, playing baseball, staying active in her school and even finds time to call us and chat. She came to visit us over Christmas vacation this year and hope to have her back this summer.


Ladaria is 18 and a Senior this year. She decided to stay in San Diego with family to finish out her Senior year. She's taking AP classes and has maintained an awesome GPA. She's done basketball and track this year. She's applied to and been accepted by several colleges. We are so proud of her! She also came to visit us during Christmas and we had a great time.


Tyreque is 19 now and graduated from high school last year. He's turning out the be an incerible young man and we are so glad to have had the opportunity to play a role in it. He's currently working at In & Out and joined a band Lindburgh Skies. They've been on the radio a few times and done several shows! He's also an incredibly talented artist and is considering becoming a tattoo artist. Whatever he chooses to do I know he will be great at it. He also came to visit at Christmas and it was so nice to have all my kids home again even if it was for a short time.

Monday, February 22, 2010

Decisions

So I'm trying to decide if I want to continue on with this blog or start a new one since we no longer live in the money pit!

Decisions, decisions, decisions!

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Honoring those who Served and now Rest



If you click on the photo you can see the entire thing

Monday, May 25, 2009

Memorial Day



Today is my brother Jeremy's 37th birthday! Happy Birthday Big Brother! I know you are watching us and close to us. We love you and miss you dearly!

Today was also the day that we took Raquel to her new "home". She'll be staying here in San Diego to be close to family. It was sad to take her and leave her as she's just like one of my own. My Mommy heart didnt' want to do it but it was a decision that she made and her worker backed up. Doesn't change the fact that I will always be there for her just like I am for all of my kids but I will miss her.

And today is also Memorial Day. A day to remember all those who served our country in order for us to have the freedoms that we sometimes take for granted. There are many costs to those freedoms and to those who have served our country in the Armed Services - Navy, Marine Corp, Air Force, Army and Coast Guard I say thank you!

We want our children to understand the true meaning behind the day. We don't want them to think that it's just another day off of school so we took them out to Rosecrans National Cemetery. We want them to understand the sacrifice for their freedom and hopefully they will never take it for granted. It was amazing to see all of those flags out there and it makes you stop and think about all those who have served. Breathtaking. And it was awesome to see lots of people out there doing the same. So with that here are some photos from our day!