Recovery Day!

Today we didn't do much of anything.

We hung out at the house, went to the swimming pool and recouped from our trip. Chatted, got caught up, and relaxed.

And I found an interesting bug. It was dead but Rod had fun "posing" it to take pictures.

Beginning our trip

We are all packed up and headed off to Florida and Georgia for two weeks.

We got up really early, really really early. Got all of the kids and luggage packed into the van.

Deacon H drove us to the airport and dropped us off. We did curbside check in and headed off for security.

What a process. Shoes off, medications out, baby food out, laptops out, camcorder out, pockets emptied, belts off, earrings off. Stroller and carry on bags pushed through. And then on the other side all of that stuff put back on.

I found the kids a place to park and started carrying bags over. Thankfully I didn't pick up any bags that weren't ours.

We got through in plenty of time and hung out in the terminal waiting for our flight.

We learned that they no longer preboard people with small children. Nope you just have to board with everyone else. So with nine kids in two we boarded and tried not to hold up traffic to much.

We made it to DFW and had some time to stretch out legs and run around. They have this really cool structure in the airport that the kids enjoyed playing in.

After a while we were on our second leg of our flight to Orlando. Once we boarded the flight we were delayed, by an HOUR! One extra hour sitting in a plane with nine children and no change of scenery, they were wanting a war. Thankfully my kids did very well, the baby was tired and went to sleep and the others listened to music and had snacks.

We got into Orlando much later than we should have and I knew that Mom was probably beside herself. I was right. She was waiting, as patiently as she could, for us to come through the gates.

By that point we were all tired but we still had to get the rental and drive to Vero Beach. After a stop at McD's and some coffee I was good to go. I think I did much better than the semi driver who was swerving anyway.

Off to camp

Brayana is headed off to sixth grade camp.

Last night we went out and bought the last few things that she needed.

The list grew since it's decided to rain and the snow elevation is dropping today.

She might get snow while she's there.

We had to make sure that she stayed warm and dry.

Thankfully several of the things she needed were on clearance but still available in the sizes that we needed - WHEW!

Who would think that the stores would bring out the swimsuits and flip flops when we are in the midst of winter storms?

We couldn't find rain boots in her size, and for some reason I couldn't convince her that the cute little lady bug boots might squeeze onto her foot if she tried hard enough - LOL.

So with a bigger dent in the pocketbook, a bag filled to the brim and nice cozy sleeping bag -

off she goes!

He's mobile!

Who me?

Yes!

He's figured out how to scoot.

Last night Cavelle was laying on the floor and he figured it out.

He's been getting up on his hands and knees and going nowhere.

Funny thing is that's not even how he gets around.

He looks like a seal more than anything else.

It's funny to watch him on the go -lol

and he is quite proud of it also!

RAIN?!

I almost forgot what it looks like!

Not really.

But it's been so long since we REALLY got rain.

And it is supposed to RAIN all weekend.

I'm excited!

I love the rain!

Well, most of the time anyway.

Playing around

I've been playing around with my camera

Trying to learn to use the manual settings

These are a couple that I took while playing with the f-stop

She really didn't want to get out of the tub

Isn't he handsome?

From kitchen to playroom

This is where the original kitchen in the house was. The sliding glass door had drywall over it, there was a REALLY old dishwasher, and these cabinets that you had to stand on a step stool to reach. This was the only real kitchen out of the four units that our house was broken up into. So we took down the cabinets

We took the drywall off so that we could put the pet door in the slider on this side. Tyreque did an awesome job of repairing the water damage that had been done

The sheet is covering the wall that is missing since we took down the cabinets. We need to redo some wiring and it's more of a project than we want to start right now so the sheets work. At the bottom of the wall a piece of plywood is screwed so that the wiring is covered up though. Notice the UGLY tile on the floor :puke We also put the door in that goes upstairs. The stairs went through the guest bedroom before. After we took down the cabinets down we brought the steps straight down through the wall and walled in the stairwell.

On Saturday we went and bought a piece of remnant carpet and layed it down. We screwd carpet onto the steps also. It's nothing permanent but it sure looks a lot better than it did!

So we turned it into a play area and took all the toys out of Tete and Jayda

And a view from the steps

Happy New Year

Justin, Melissa, Brandon and Levi came to visit us from Arizona.

We decided to go spend the day at Seaworld with them. 5 of our kids were gone so we had a small group.

We went and saw the Shamu show

Makkiah was FINALLY tall enough to go on a ride and was so excited

Then we went to check out the starfish in the tide pools

We also went on the ride "Journey to Atlantis" but by the time we got through the line it was to dark to take pictures. Makkiah was tall enough to go on that one. Jayda and Brandon went on both of them also.

And just cause I think he's so darn cute here's a picture of my nephew Brandon:

Winter pictures of the kids

Cavelle





Taniyah





Jayda



Makkiah




Jaleel



Destini



Brayana



Raquel




Ladaria



Tyreque

Baby Push Ups

My little guy is growing to fast.

This is his newest trick aside from the new tooth.

He says first you get in this position:




Then you keep you back straight like this:



Make sure you keep your chin up:



And then strike a pose:

First tooth

The first tooth came in on December 1st.

Unfortunately my camera was not working and I didn't get a picture of it.

It got knocked off the table by one of my kids while I was transferring pictures.

Thankfully I had bought insurance on it and it was replaced.

I wasn't sure that I was going to have a camera for Christmas.

I sent it in on December 4th.

It was supposed to be repaired or replaced in 10 business days.

On December 21st when I still had no camera I called.

No one knew what was going on with it except for the fact that I was getting a new one.

The problem - no one knew if it had shipped or not.

An email was sent and I was told to call back on Monday.

Monday I called back and the one person who could answer the question was not there.

I was told I could buy a camera and return it when mine came.

Not what I wanted to hear at all.

So I went and took a shower so I could get ready to go get a new camera.

When I came out there was a PINK box waiting for me.

Christmas Eve and what showed up?

My new, upgraded, 2 lenses included CAMERA!!

And along with it -

The ability to take pictures of this:

An arrest has been made

Family photo
Angelina EspalinOCEANSIDE – A year-long investigation into the death of a 4-year-old girl ended Monday night with the arrest of her young foster mom, Oceanside police announced Tuesday.
Dania Haros, 23, is being held without bail on suspicion of murder and violent assault on a child. She is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday.
Angelina Espalin died on Nov. 19, 2006, after suffering blunt-force head injuries, according to the Medical Examiner's Office.
Haros and her husband took the unconscious girl to Tri-City Medical Center at 8:30 a.m., and concerned hospital staff members reported her head injuries to police, said Oceanside police Sgt. Leonard Mata.
She was airlifted to Rady Children's Hospital, where she died later that day.
The death was ruled a homicide a few days later after an autopsy.
Investigators said it didn't appear a weapon was used.
Angelina and her 2-year-old sister lived with the couple for five months before she was killed, said Oceanside police Sgt. Karen Laser. Her sister was placed with another family after the death.

Sweet Angie

Sweet Angie
It's been one year since you were taken from this earth. One year of sadness, of pain, of heartache.

You were not born of my body but you will always and forever be a child of mine in my heart. You will always hold a special place in my life.

You were very much loved. Very much wanted. I'm so sorry that the wrong people were able to make such life altering choices for you.When I sit and think about what you went through and how you must have felt it hurts my heart. It rips it to shreds.

The peace I have is in knowing that while you were here with you knew that you were loved. You knew that you were wanted.

I remember the smile on your face, your laugh, your little way of doing things "Angie style" and it makes me happy. It makes me smile to know that I was a part of your life and you were a part of mine.

I thank God each and every day that he gave me the privelege of being your second Mom. Of holding you in my arms, of loving you. I am thankful that you are no longer in pain. That no one can ever hurt you again but how I wish that things had been different.

I wish so much that you were still here on this earth. That I could still have the oppurtnunity to share you and your life with your family. But it is not to be and it is not for me to understand at this point. Maybe someday, maybe never.

We all love you sweet baby girl!

Making biscuits

First you roll out the dough.


Then you put it on the pan.



Then you have yummy biscuits.

It's finished

The fence is finished! 150 feet of new fencing.

It looks so different now that the old falling down fence is gone. Both the old wood and chain link has been replaced. So we now have new fence all the way around the house.


Once we get the front cleaned up I will take a picture of the front of the house.