Couldn't Pass It Up...

The most beautiful rainbow As we grow up, we learn that even the one person that wasn't supposed to ever let you down probably will. You will have your heart broken probably more than once and it's harder every time. You'll break hearts too, so remember how it felt when yours was broken. You'll fight with your best friend. You'll blame a new love for things an old one did. You'll cry because time is passing too fast, and you'll eventually lose someone you love. So take too many pictures, laugh too much, and love like you've never been hurt because every sixty seconds you spend upset is a minute of happiness you'll never get back. Don't be afraid that your life will end, be afraid that it will never begin.

I know that most of you are probably going to receive this in a forward, but I just thought it was something nice to post (just in case you do not receive it!)

Thankful for Strollers!

This is Princess and Sunshine trying out the John Deere Wagon, but Sunshine isn't strong enough to ride in it yet.
Here we go! We had many comments and many MANY different looks as we were strolling around Spearfish like this. I took the triple, Handsome the double....I know I posted that the double is my favorite, but with two boys of that size in there it would be a little difficult to push!
  Princess had fun while the boys played on the awesome playground that we have here in town.
 Sunshine was famished after a long walk (like he did any of the work.)

Daddy took both Princess and Sunshine into the enclosed playground and pushed them on the swings. They both squealed and laughed, I only wish that strollers could go in there...so I could have been closer to get better pictures of their first time on a swing.
Daddy took a few, but he said that Princess wouldn't look at him while he had the camera in his hands!
 Sunshine is really enjoying his time on the swing.
They were trying to get back into the playground while Daddy was rounding up the two older boys.
Both of our kids like to eat leaves!

I was a great day, we were over 70 degrees here and wanted to take advantage of the beautiful weather. The kids needed to burn off some energy...of course it was Mom and Dad that did all the work!

Superman!!!

Once again I have to give my hubby a big thumbs up! He can do so many things at one, and figure out how to make them work!
Ada is very interested in what Daddy is doing.
In case you didn't notice in the first picture, she has her lovely pink John Deere boots on from Grandpa and Grandma Norgaard! (Thanks to Uncle Zach talking them into it!)
Daddy is putting together the John Deere wago that Ada and Ethan were given for their birthdays! Of course, from Grandpa and Grandma Norgaard.
And in case you didn't notice in the other pictures, Jason has figured out how to attach the phone to his head to talk and work at the same time! You know how it is, there are just some people that talk and talk and talk....he has too many things to do to sit still and talk on the phone!






So once again he is watching Ada (or she is watching him), talking on the phone, and putting together the kids' wagon!

Just to save some of you the time...just because we like John Deere, doesn't make us hicks!!!

Sorry...

Sorry for the misspelled words in the last post...my fingers were not working so well!

Our First Tragedy

The poor ducky, it is a good thing he wasn't a true living being!
Do you see the little fingerprints in the red? The kids thought it was alot of fun to play in it!
Ethan, still laughing and smiling...even though he has several battle wounds to show.
The scene of the crime. We are still in the process of thinking of little people that are mobile and ready to experiment with anything they can get their little hands (or fingers) on.
Daddy, who feels like he is ready to pull his hair out, I guess I will not be looking for him to offer to watch the kids while I go out again!

So here is the story. Every first Thursday night of the month we have FPA (Foster Parent Association) meetings that we can go to and it counts toward our credit hours that we need to keep up for our yearly foster parent liscense. Well, we tried taking our babies to the nursery back in January (Ada was 3 months and Ethan was a week old) and we were not exactly pleased with how they were tended to. We then found out that only one of us needs to attend to get the credit hours. So we started taking turns staying home with the kids. These meetings are usually 2 hours long and teach us about different things that foster parents will find useful. Tonight we learned about Meth and the effects it has on people and what are the warning signs. Anyway, I will be honest, I was looking forward to a night without 5 little people competing for my attention, though I love them all dearly. I went to the meeting, learned alot, reaffermed that I never want to be around drugs, talked to other foster parents after the meeting, and arrived home about 8:45 as usual. When I walked in I was greeted with a "be careful!" I looked down and saw chairs strategically placed throughout the kitchen and dining room and went on to see the scene as viewed in these pictures.

Jason is a wonderful person, and he has found out what we go through every day. One of the older boys had a bathroom problem and hid it from him until it was too late andthere wasmesses all over. The other boy wet his pants. Then while Jason was on the phone with his uncle trying to find out what is going on with Grandma Henry (she is failing very fast) it heard a loud noise. Ethan had gotten some jars off of a shelf and one broke, home made salsa (dad we could use another jar!) Well, our children have a strange love for peppers and spicy things so before Jason could get their they found out that the salsa tasted very good! The kept digging around and putting it in their mouth. Ada was able to walk away with no cuts at all. Ethan must be right handed, because his right hand is all cut up. I have not actually seen the hand without the bandages, Jason took care of all of that before I arrived home.

If any of you know my hubby, you know that he doesn't like to panic over things. He had just gotten on the phone with his Uncle Dave and there was alot that needed to be shared. Jason was on the phone almost the entire time that he was bandaging/cleaning/checking the kids out! Uncle Dave had no idea what was going on! After checking out the situation, Jason saw the cuts were minor and knew and ER visit was not needed.

I do not know detail by detail, as I was not home. But my wonderful husband went through alot tonight and I am very thankful for him...I am also thankful it was him!

Somehow through this entire ordeal, I ended up getting in trouble! Imagine that!

Ethan is fine, and is in bed right now playing around! (Thankfully)

Theropy Time

The kids all like when Sunshine has theropy because the theropist bring all sorts of fun "new" toys to play around with. Here Sunshine wanted what A was playing with, and he was going to stop at nothing to get it!
 Princess is very excited about the ball game she is playing with and Sunshine has what he wanted!
He is a happy boy with girlie hair!
 Princess saying "so big"
 Sunshine drooling like crazy after chewing on the pull aparts. He is cutting more teeth agin.

Ethan Alexander

I know he needs a hair cut, but I cannot get the boy to sit still long enough to even consider it! But that is a huge blessing! If you remember, less than 4 months ago we were still hearing "he may never walk" and Jason and myself were still worried that one morning when we went to his bed he would be blue. I am so thankful for this little miracle, God is too good!
He is sad because I wouldn't share my water with him!
I told Jason last night that I thought he was the most handsome man in the whole world...but I told him very quickly that there is someone on his heels, Ethan!

How I spent church last night!

I worked really hard to get everyone to church, ended up being 25 minutes late (good thing we live next door!), and then only get to sit there for 15 minutes before taking the triple stroller and all three babies out to the foyer to play!
Ethan has learned to stick his tongue from his big sister!
Isn't he just the cutest little man you have ever seen!
Ada really got to giggling after a while!

She also gets serious at times.
Does this look like a little girl that is about to do something naughty or what?
She doesn't like tights, she always tries to pull them off. He she said, "Mama, what's this" in her special Ada language.
Look at her new trick.
She knows it gets peoples attention back to her.

Brother & Sister

In this picture Ethan is tackling Ada and she isn't loving it! She actually threw him off of her and he landed on his tummy, he cried...she laughed!
This is Ethan and Ada trying to be nice to eachother. Notice the emphasis on TRYING! Some days they are like oil and water...and some days are smooth.
Our kids think water bottles are great toys, they also think that it means they are going to have a bottle of their own. With all the traveling we do, I always would bring a bottle of water to make bottles for the kids on the road...now they think it means they are going to get food right away.
Ada is waiting for her brother to get up the stairs, she gets impatient sometimes! They have switched lately. Ada is now faster and always trying to out do Ethan!
And my beautiful baby boy! He is such a card. His favorite thing to do is growl "mama" like he is tough! Too funny.

Well, the other three had a visit today and so they are having a rough day. They are too young to understand why they get short little visits and have to be taken away from their mommy again. It is always tough on them!

Hey all, sorry about the lack of pictures lately, I have been forgetting to have the camera around while the kids are being so cute...my goal for the afternoon...to get some pictures for you all to view! Would love to hear from any of you!

Fall Fellowship Potluck

We had a fall fellowship potluck on Sunday after church and this is the only picture I was able to take. I had my hands full even though Jason was able to help me, but 5 kids at a potluck it a little more than we are used to handling! We did have a great time, it is so fun now that the church is growing and there are so many kids around. We were at Dave & Roxey's house and it was so nice outside we were able to have the potluck in their ship with the doors open and the kids were able to play on the swings.

I wish I would have taken more pictures, but I forgot once everything was started. Maybe I will be able to take more pictures at our next church activity on December 9th, we are all going caroling and then we will have a potluck to follow!

Make Over!

I do hope you enjoy the make over! Please take the time to sign my guestbook!

New Additions

Do to the number of little people in our home, we have decided to add a wonderful gate to the top of the basement stairs! Ada and Ethan aren't so sure about it, particularily when Mama goes down the steps to do laundry and leaves them upstairs!

Again, with the number of little people running around here...I now have added another stroller to our fleet. Since my favorite is still the double Eddie Bauer, I am sad to see it be "put to rest" for now. But I have not "driven" the stretch limo except to church yesterday. Ethan was not loving that it isn't stadium seating like the double, but when we go to church Papa Dave picks him up right away...so that really doesn't matter! Kailey was able to lay completely down in the back seat, and the front two seats have two levels of recline. I do anticipate that this Baby Trend will make my life alot easier. So, in the matter of one year and three months, we have bought a great single stroller, double, and now a triple. Jason is thinking that things are getting a little out of hand. I told him not to worry, triple is all the higher I plan on going when it comes to strollers!

Read another story, please!

As I stated in the previous post, we enjoyed having David and Kristi with us this weekend. The kids had fun too. It was interesting, as we were sitting at the Fall Fellowship Potluck after church on Sunday, one of the guys from church asked the Flincks where they were staying. After responding that they were staying with us, the look on this man's face was too funny...he couldn't believe we could fit the 7 of us and the 5 of them all in our little house. We actually had no major problems!

Flinck Family

This past weekend the Flinck family was here with us. They were able to present their work to the church people, and we were able to have some great fellowship! Their kids are soo much fun. Andre and Christopher really enjoyed playing with them. We are very sad that they will be leaving for Chile sooner rather than later, but at the same time are very thrilled that they will be serving the Lord where He has called them.

I didn't get to ask David any questions about my husband, but maybe that is for the beter. Jason still hasn't fessed up to the stories I heard before!

Please pray for David, Kristi, Jordan, Ben, & Kaylee as they prepare to move to Texas from Minnesota. Check out their blog too!

Christmas Pictures

Well, we were able to get an okay picture of all of us for the Christmas cards. We are however, going to be taking a different picture to hang on our wall. (Somewhere other than the Wal-Mart picture studio!)

They had no patience for our children, but none the less, we we all look pretty good. My eyes are even open!

Wal-Mart

Loosing that battle. My mother has found it rather interesting at how I insist over and over again with companies for customer service. I have spent many an hour asking for services from companies that fall under "customer service" and in many cases the company should provide through their own warenty, but is trying to get out of it.

Just this summer while my mom was here I had a go around with Kodak to fix my mom's camera so that she could have it for Zach & Christy's wedding. They didn't want to, even though it was under warrenty...we made it happen.

There have been several battles...I really do not want it to turn into a battle, but they usually elevate it to that. I am currently in a silly "battle" with Wal-Mart. If only I lived in a town with Target or somewhere else to shop. We do have K-Mart, but they just do not have everything that I need.

If I could, I would never shop at this aweful store again, but the sad truth is that it is the only place open when I am able to shop in this town. With 5 kids I do not go out during regular business hours, I always go shopping after 10 pm...so to WalMart I go!

I encourage anyone with options to not shop to WalMart!

Wy The Way, if you want to know what is the current issue with WalMart...email me...I would be happy to share!

Boo Boo

This is Boo last night. He is just up and into everything. They have a system worked out. I mix dry cheerios with a few apple jacks to add a little fun for Princess. Well, she would rather find a way to get rid of the cheerios so she can have more apple jacks. Boo is at a point right now where he thinks he needs to eat 24/7 (I thought that hit when they were teens?) and so he stands up beside her high chair and she hands him the cheerios! I have to say this is a much better idea than her last, she would just start dropping them on the floor when I wasn't looking at her....cheerios make a sound when the hit the floor! She never did understand how Mama knew when she was in trouble! Silly kids!

Just to keep you all up to date on where things are as far as Boo is concerned....

On December 13th we have the "Final Dispositional Hearing" I will try to explain...that is the hearing where birthparents rights could be terminated. In this case that is the most likely situation, they will terminate on birthmom and John Doe. We then will have to get clearance that he is available for adoption (which will take more time than it will be a problem) and then somewhere January..Febuary..or March we will be in court again to officially make him ours! We are very excited about this...the chances of him ever leaving us are 1 in a million. Birthmom could have a chance to appeal, but it is very rare that a judge overturn a ruling in a foster/adopt situation. Especially dealing with this case...birthmom cannot take care of herself, let alone raise a child. She didn't appeal with her other 3 kids, and I have very good reason to believe she knows that she has lost Boo and is currently trying to have another baby. In her mind at some point the state will just stop fighting her and let her keep a baby.

Medically, Boo is functioning almost like a normal baby boy these days. He still has some developmental delays, but we are sure that he will outgrow them soon since he is feeling better! As you all have seen lately, he is moving around, going up steps, and just all around a happy little guy! We are even seeing the dark circles around his eyes go away, and his eyes do not appear to be sunk in any more. We do give much credit to the natural suppliments...they are getting all the parasites transferred from birthmom out of his system which is allowing him to get his nutrition (instead of the bugs eating it all up) he is starting to slowly gain weight, and he is starting to try and form words. I know when he is saying "all done" [one of Princess's favs!] "hi" "duck" "dada" "Princess" & "mama" He also has special little sounds for "bubbles" & "puppies"

It is amazing to see how he is such a different baby...just wait until you see him at Thanksgiving or Christmas...you will be shocked!

Do pray for him on Friday as he is having a special hearing test. We are still unsure about if he can hear everything or not. It is much better than it was, but we are just covering our bases. He will have to be put under, so we have all the other children taken care of for the entire day! After his hearing, we just are waiting to see if he will grow out of the occasional stiffness in his legs, though he is learning to work around it when it is there.

We are just so thankful that the Lord has placed Ethan and Ada in our home. They are truely to miracles! We also think they happen to be the two cutest kids in the world...sorry to all my cousins with kids...but I am sure you understand!