Preliminary hearing

Today was the preliminary hearing in Angie's death. There were only a few witnesses called but it could have been a million. There were two things that I decided today while hearing the testimony - 1) Dania isn't going anywhere. I am confident that she will be punished for what she did and 2) We had some awesome detectives who worked Angie's case. I can't imagine what it must have been like to work her case but I could tell that they were thorough and worked their tails off to make sure that Angie will get the justice that she deserves. To them I say a huge "Thank you".

If you are interested you can watch the video here:

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/15972263/detail.html

The woman accused of beating her 4-year-old foster daughter to death appeared in a Vista courtroom as a medical expert described the girl's cause of death.
Prosecutors allege that Dania Haros, 23, of Oceanside beat Angelina Espalin to death in November 2006. Haros has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and assault on a child causing death. Her preliminary hearing got under way Wednesday.
Deputy Medical Examiner Christopher Swalwell testified about the wounds he found on the child's body during her autopsy including more than 30 head wounds.
"There were 15 bruises in the facial area... a few on the chest and abdomen, several on the lower back area," he said. "What she really died from is not the bleeding into the scalp but the damage of the brain beneath her skull led to her death."
A photo was shown of Espalin taken the night before her death. Officials said she was at a birthday party and the picture shows bruises on her face and eye.
Detectives said Haros told them she got frustrated with Angelina because she wouldn't go to sleep and forcefully put her to bed. They said she also told them the 4-year-old fell and hit her head. An investigation found several instances of prior abuse, including teachers who thought they saw bruises.
"She said she tried to move Angie's bangs out of the way to see what it was and basically said that the hair had been plastered or stuck to her head with what she thought was hairspray," said Gregory Stahley, Oceanside police detective.
Haros was a foster mother to Angelina and her younger sister Elisa. Haros had been the girl's foster mother for six months.
S'te Elmore, a previous foster parent of Angelina's was in court for the hearing. Elmore, of Spring Valley, helped raise Espalin in 2005. She said she wanted to adopt the girl and was horrified when she learned of her death.
"I don't understand why nobody else said anything," she told NBC 7/39.

Something exciting from today. While we were out in the hallway for a break we saw Bill Murray who was at court for a property dispute. He was in the courtroom next to ours.

All by himself

He's been letting go of the table and standing for a few seconds but tonight he stood long enough for me to get a photo!!

Finished!

The girls fixed the ceiling their room. I think they did a great job. I told them how to peel the old paint and stuff off and then to use the joint compound to repair it. They painted it and tada a fixed ceiling.

I made the curtains for all three windows and the one for the closet.

Next I will make matching pillows in coordinating fabric

Bedroom progress

Yesterday we went to IKEA and picked out bed covers, then we went to the fabric store to pick out a material for pillows and curtains to go with them, then we went to Home Depot to get paint to match.

So yesterday the girls painted the two main colors on their wall. This morning they painted the second coat of brown and I made the curtain to go over their closet and got it hung up.



So this is where we are at right now. I wasn't to sure about the paint colors that I chose to go with the fabric but I think it will look really nice. I have two pillows sewn also but don't have them stuffed yet.



We are going to put a black stripe where the two colors meet, around the the door and window trim

Easter

Baskets all in a row



Tradition is to read the story "Easter Bunny are you for real?". We read the book after we have gone to church, after everyone has eaten lunch and before anyone touches their basket. I want my kids to know the REAL reason for Easter.

This is what happens when you buy the 17 year old candy but no basket. He finds his own!



They eat the candy



And this is the effect it has on them



And he wanted a hat like his big brother

Replacing the door

With Rod off on deployment my projects have started. It keeps me busy and helps to keep my mind off the fact that he's not here. It's also a form of stress relief for me I guess.

So my projects have started.

My first project this deployment has been replacing the door in to LD and RQ's room. They had huge wooden double doors that went into their room. I'm not sure what the intention of the doors was when they were installed since they did not have any way of latching or closing the doors.

This has been a project that we've been wanting to do for quite some time. It kept getting put on the backburner as I thought it was going to be a hige undertaking and would leave the girls with a large hole for several days.

I was so far from wrong. It's turned into one of the easiest projects we've done in this house so far!

The first day we took the molding off and the old doors out. The old doors were picked up by someone whose going to use them for a haunted house.

We hung a sheet up over the hole as their "door" for bedtime.

Then the second day I got the door framed in, installed the door, and got the drywall up. It went really quickly. After I had the drywall up I taught the girls how to tape and mud. Since the drywall was up and mudded the door was functional and there was no hole in the wall. One say is all it took.

The third day I taught them how to texture the wall to match the surrounding wall. They learned quick and did a great job.

The fourth day the newly textured wall got a coat of primer and the hallway side got a coat of yellow paint to match the rest of the hallway.

The only thing I have left to do on the hallway side is to install the molding back. While the girls were doing the texturing I went around and did touch up patching on the cracks and screw holes that had appeared. I also did touch up painting and installed new hardware on the living room gate!

Not only is he upright

Not only has he learned how to stand up

He has also....................







learned how to do it AND get toys out of the basket!

My Daddy is a Sailor

This is a photo that I took of the ship as it was leaving on deployment. I found the poem online and added it to the picture. A lot of times the kids who are left behind during a deployment get overlooked. I try not to let that happen to my kids.

A piece of my heart is gone

And I just thought I would make a signature tag to let everyone know. Please keep our family in prayer as we go through this extended deployment. Aside from the deployment we have a lot of stuff that our family is going through in the next couple of months. Pray that the Lord carries us safely and swiftly through it all.

Saying goodbye

Photos from the ship leaving. We took him lunch and watched the ship leave





Doesn't happen very often but a picture of me



Hanging out in the XO's chair





Not impressed that Dad is leaving



Working

Dancing with the kids - Rod on the ship and the kids on the pier

Fun with Dad

Today is our last real day with Rod before he leaves on deployment.

We took the kids to the theater and watched the VeggieTale movie "Pirates who don't do anything".

The kids really enjoyed it.

We then walked over to the bowling alley and played two games.

Then we took all the kids out to dinner.

All in all it was a good day and I think the kids had lots of fun.

Friendship Festival

Tonight Makkiah's class had a Friendship Festival.

Each of the kids drew "pictures" of themselves with the color of the shirt that they were wearing.

They sang songs - both as a complete group and as seperate classes.

As I sat watching them I couldn't help but think back when I was in first grade doing my own school program.

I actually remember two of them - one had a summer theme with pools or something, the other was a Christmas program.

It's hard to believe that my own children are now repeating the same process.

Road trip back to Florida

Since we got home so late last night we didn't pack.

I crashed before I even ate dinner and slept hard.

So this morning I got up and started packing.

We cleaned out the van, got the luggage packed for the plane trip and headed back to Florida.

The plan was to go back to Ahma and Poppa's house for the night.

About three hours from there the plan changed and we decided (well Rod and someone else decided) that we should just stop for the night in Orlando.

We had gotten a late start, it was later than we had planned on being on the road and we had to be at the airport early for our flight.

So we found a hotel and stayed for the night.

All the girls in one room and all the boys in another room.

Church and visiting family

Today we ventured off to church.

We spent a lot of time at church.

It was hot in there.

We left at 1:30 or something like that and they were just getting ready to do communion.

It was hot in there.

We had to leave to feed our hungry kids.

Rod and Gregory went to visit someone in the hospital and I headed back to his parent's house.

I made it there before anyone else so we had to wait for his Mom to get home and let us in.

Fed the kids and waited for Rod and Gregory.

Headed off to his Aunt Jan's house to visit with her since she wasn't able to come the day before.

I fell asleep on the couch while they visited.

We then headed home again as it was late and we were all tired.

Combined Family Dinner

Today we had a family dinner. Rod's parents each have lots of siblings. I know that if I try to put the numbers down I will probably get them wrong. I think his Mom is one of 8 and his Dad is one of 7.

Since we were only going to be there for a few days we had a large combined dinner with aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews, etc from both sides of the family who came to fellowship with us. It was a great time to catch up and of course to listen to stories about "Spike".

Since we had all the family gathered I decided to do pictures. Mind you this was not an easy task. The living room was not large enough for everyone to gather for a photo so we decided to do two groups outside. The next problem being that it was dak outside so we got the floodlight out. Some people managed to sneak out before the pictures were taken.

Rod's Mom's side of the family

Rod's Dad's side of the family

Since Rod's Grandmother is frail we chose to take seperate photos inside with her.

Rod with his Mom and Dad and his Mom's Mom

Grandma "Boil"

Fun Day

Today we went to the Fernbank Museum of Natural History

We watched the IMAX movie "Journey into Amazing Caves"

It was an awesome experience and the first time that we had seen an IMAX movie.

The screen was five stories high and 72 feet wide.

Then we went home, went and did a little shopping, and visited with family who stopped by.

It was a fun day

Road trip from Florida to Georgia

Last night we packed up all of our clothes and got luggage loaded into the van. I still wasn't feeling 100% and was really tired so I left the packing to Rod and the kids.

This morning I got up and repacked the van so the rest of the luggage could be added. Got waterbottles filled, kids fed, odds and ends gathered and then we headed off to Georgia.

We had made the decision to take the scenic route along the beach with a few stops along the way.

We stopped at Daytona Beach and Cocoa Beach just so we could say that we had been on the beaches there.

Then we drove way out of our way to a lighthouse that we had seen a sign for. We didn't realize that it was that far out of the way until we were almost to it. It was really tall and neither of us felt like climbing the 200+ stairs to the top so we just took pictures of the kids in front of it.

We passed the Disney Cruise Ship

We also saw a lot of damage still evident from the last hurricanes

and a lot of scenery

and pretty much enjoyed the day.

When it was nearing dark and we hadn't made the 5 hour drive to the Georgia border we decided that we needed to get moving.

Last day in Florida

Today is our last day in Florida.

I went with Mom to drop the baby off at his visit.

Then the two of us went out to breakfast and had some good conversation.

Went back to pick the baby up.

Stopped by Sam's Club on our way home.

The kids had one last trip to the pool.

Rod had one last trip to the hot tub.

We went to Bible Study at the church which we really enjoyed.

Then we headed home to pack and het ready for our road trip.

ACTION Presentation and the Waterpark

This morning I woke up SICK. Well really I woke up in the middle of the night with a fever close to 103. I took tylenol, a cool shower and laid with my wet towel on the bed trying to cool down. I was hot and miserable. Add to that the fact that I could breath and was coughing. YUCK!

The kids had a presentation at the Lakewood Clubhouse and I was not going to miss it. I got up, took more tylenol, wet washcloth, did hair and headed off with the family. Since I was sick I even got a coveted ride on the golf cart, however, because I was sick I did not get any pictures of them.

After the presentation we went to the waterpark. When we arrived we were the only ones there! We had the entire pool, waterslide and spray park to ourselves.

The kids had a blast. They went up the stairs and down the slides.

They spalshed

They floated (you can click on this photo to watch the slideshow)

And I slept

Then it rained and the kids still had a blast, well Tete ran to the canopy cause she didn't want to get wet. You can see the rain in the picture if you look close enough.