Sailing!!

Our family was invited to go to Sailfest 2005 at the San Diego Yacht Club. It's a day that is put together for children who are chronically ill and their families. We took 7 of the kids, Amah and Poppa with us for the day. The other two girls stayed with a friend for several reasons - 1)Neither of them likes to sit for very long periods of time 2)One of them had a very hard time listening and doing what you ask of her 3)We were going sailing and I didn't know what to expect 4)I didn't know how many little ones we could keep aboard a sailboat without losing one overboard.
We arrived at the Yacht Club and they allowed the kids to shoot water from the Harbor Police's boat.













After that we were assigned to a yacht. Since we were the largest family there we got the largest boat there - a 50+ foot racing yacht. It was really nice and the captain was great. He had a wonderful crew there to help. The captain of the yacht is the owner, with his brother, of UK Sailmakers.
After we started sailing I was REALLY glad that we didn't have ALL the little ones on there with us. I'm sure that we never would have made it the whole sailing time without losing one overboard. As it was we had to strap Makkiah to the boat so that he didn't go in when the boat went up onto it's side!
After we were done sailing we went back had a nice BBQ lunch that was catered by the Yacht Club. Kids got thir faces painted, had ice cream and snow cones. At the end they also got a certificate for participating. It really was a fun day.

They made it!

The Novice Rv'ers have finally arrived. Mom called and said that they would probably be in around 7 or 8 pm. We had a babysitter coming for the evening so we told her to give us a call when they made it in and we would meet them for dinner. Erin got there around 5:30pm and we made it out the door around 6:00pm. Mom and Poppa made it in around 7pm, just as we were pulling into the bookstore parking lot. We knew it would take them a few minutes to get things in the house and situated so we went to the bookstore and such. After we were done we headed for our usual dinner spot "Carnitas Uropan" which is a really good mexican food place. We had dinner, got caught up on some talking and went home. We are glad that they made it and that they will be spending a few weeks with us here before heading back out on the road. Before they can do that they need to get some more BRAKE work done! We are going yachting on Saturday so I will update again then.

Oh the Horror!

I wanted to write this post before and hadn't had the time to do it. Then as I was writing the name to it, I thought about what people might think that it means. It's not about that though. It's about the new gate that we installed at the bottom of the stairs and Taniyah's utter horror at the fact that it's there.
We installed a gate at the bottom of the three stairs going from our living room into the library. I suppose it helps to keep the kids where they belong except for the fact that the 2 year old and 4 year old can open the gate. The reason that we had to install it is for our foster care license. We are supposed to have one at the top and one at the bottom but I haven't been able to bring myself to put up the second one. It is only three steps and I can't see a real need for two gates on three steps. Might as well just put on in the middle for good measure. We'll see what licensing says when they come for my yearly inspection.
Taniyah, fortunalty, can't open the gate yet but let's us know, in her own way, that she DOES NOT like the gate in it's current location. I tried to get a picture at her utter dismay but everytime I tried this is the picture I got.

After several failed attempts I decided to get sneaky. I hid around the corner with the camera stuck out. I could see the screen enough to get the picture but she couldn't see me. Finally the results that I was looking for.









And just so that everybody doesn't think that I'm just the meanest Mommy out there. I did open the gate and let her through. And after her VICTORY this is how she looked.









She really does NOT like the gate, at least not in the closed position!

Unbelievable

This is whole situation is just so unbelievable to me.

I can't imagine the pure despiration that these people must feel.

Pure, utter desperation.

They are starving.

They are thirsty.

They are dying.

People in the Astrodome that have died and been left where they were sitting.

Dead people laying in yards.

Floating in the water.

I can't imagine.

I've only been able to watch bits of news.

It's so overwhelming.

It's overwhelming and I'm on the other side of the US.

Moms with babies.

Babies with no milk.

No diapers.

No clothes.

No water.

The Mom whose baby wouldn't wake up was unthinkable.

Pregnant women.

Women in labor.

I'm sure that's it's replaying time and again.

They need help.

What can we do to help them.