This is where I share bits and pieces about my less than dramatic, but not quite boring life! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/sparkles/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Tue, 5 Aug 2008 23:56:00 -0500 Tue, 5 Aug 2008 23:56:00 -0500 I don’t think anyone even visits my blog anymore, but for those of you who occasionally still do…here’s an update of what’s going on in my life ;) I promise, I do have an excuse for not posting for several months.  Life has been really crazy.  There’s been so many changes in my life…family…etc. these past several months that I don’t even know where to begin.  I guess I’ll start with one of the most exciting events…the adoption of our “lil fro-head” Hayden!  I haven’t been able to post any “revealing” pictures of him in the past, but now that he’s officially ours, I can post as many pictures as I want, sooo…meet Hayden :) Then finally the day we had been waiting for!  Adoption Day... I know...he's adorable :) and it's so nice that he's finally ours.  On a sad note though, my 6 year-old foster sister ended up going home.   I'm not supposed to say much about the case, but I'll say this much...it's pretty bad.  She should have never ever gone home and the whole situation scares me.  She's been home for around a month and just the other day we were able to see her and she just wasn't the same little girl.  It's really heart-breaking.  Please pray for her. Then, in the next couple of weeks, we're going to be celebrating Little Miss Hannah's adoption anniversary!  Oh gosh, what would we ever do without her!  She truly is the sweetest, cutest, most beautiful little sister I could ever ask for :) Our little Princess... This is at her very first voice recital after singing "On the Good Ship Lollipop"...           Then there's Stephen, wow, what can I say...he's a wild, crazy kid!  I have no idea how he turned out to be the monster he is, but it happened!  Haha, we all love him though, he's sorta, kinda, really cute. :) Haha... Hannah and Stephen...adorable :)   Love Hannah's face in this one!  hahaha I was planning on posting more on what's going on in my life, but I've already spent so much time on this post that I'll save it for the next one.  So, that was kind of an update on my family...in the next post I'll update you all on the exciting...stressful...crazy things going on in my life :) http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/sparkles/570590/ Tue, 5 Aug 2008 23:56:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/sparkles/570590/ Ok, so I had a post all typed up and my laptop went totally wacky on me and I lost the whole thing.  I'm not too happy.  Anyway, this is now going to be shorter than it was originally going to be.  Day 2 Day 3 Hmm, this is kind of weird, but I think this is the first time I have worn a skirt three days in a row!  It's actually really fun though.  Thanks again Brooke for doing this challenge!  Tomorrow, or some other day this week I will try and rewrite what I originally had in this post, but right now since it's getting late, I better head of to bed. Also, thanks for your comments everyone!  I'll try to comment back as soon as I have some free time tomorrow!  Hope you all are having a great week! Jenna http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/sparkles/471553/ Thu, 31 Jan 2008 00:08:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/sparkles/471553/ Well, lets just say that was an unexpected blogging break and leave it at that.   Moving right along now...most of you know about my little foster brother, Hayden, that we have been trying to adopt.  Well, today was a very exciting day in his case!  This morning, Hayden became officially free for adoption.  His birth parents rights were severed which that means that we are one step closer to adopting him!  WooHoo!  I just thank God for giving us our precious little Hayden.  He has truly been a blessing.  As for our other two little foster kids, their cases are slowly moving along.  Both of their case plans look like they are headed to adoption, but you just never know.  I'm not going to lie, having this six year old little girl has not been easy.  I absolutely love her and do not regret in any way taking her, but she has totally pushed me to my limits.  As do most children in foster care, she came to us with many behavioral problems.  I realize that this is not her fault and is a result of the neglect she has suffered her entire life, but none the less, it's still very difficult.  I often have to remember that she is just a diamond in the rough and over time, with enough love and training, she will become a beautiful young girl on the inside (she already is on the outside).   Looking on the bright side now, her and Hannah are now little ballerinas.  They started classical ballet classes a couple months ago and are really enjoying it!  They look so adorable in their pink tights and little leotards with their hair pulled up in buns.  I wish I had a picture to show!  Both of them are always prancing around the house flaunting the new moves they learned in ballet...it's too cute!  They were both born with natural talent.      Also, I would like all you girls to go check out the challenge that Brooke posted on her blog!  In a nut shell, the challenge is to wear a modest, yet fashionable, skirt or dress every day for a week.  I am not at all against pants, but think that this will be fun!  I have well over twenty-five beautiful skirts hanging in my closet, but I am always apprehensive to wear them on a normal week day because I usually feel like I am dressing up to much.  Well, not this week.  I think I'm going to have fun with this!   Hehe!    So, go over to Brooke's blog and check out what she has to say.  She makes some good points about how you can be modest and feminine, yet fashionable at the same time.  So, part of the challenge is to post a picture of your outfit for the day, I decided on this outfit.  I absolutely love the skirt and kind of forgot about it until this morning when I was looking through my closet.  I really enjoyed wearing it today.  I'd also like to thank the ones who have waited patiently for a blog update...this post is for you!  Hehe! Jenna Oh, and btw, I realize that it is not Christmas anymore and will have my brother put up my regular template when he gets the chance...but at the moment I have no idea where the code is saved...haha. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/sparkles/470106/ Mon, 28 Jan 2008 23:29:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/sparkles/470106/ Wow, can you believe it's already December?!  I'm so excited; this is my absolute favorite time of the year.  I always enjoy bringing out the Christmas decorations, hanging the Christmas lights, and decorating the tree.  Infact, that's what I have pretty much spent this whole week doing!  Every year it's our family tradition to go up north and cut down our Christmas tree.  Last Saturday, the 24th, we went with a few of our good friends and cut down our Christmas tree.  Oh, our tree is beautimus!  It has got to be the best we've ever had!  It's a huge 12ft tree, so as you can imagine, it takes quite a while to decorate.  I must say though, the hardest part of decorating a 12ft tree is trying to get the angel on the top!  I wanted to be the one to do it and at first I was convinced it would be a cake walk...hahaha, well, I almost fell into the tree trying to get it on!  It was pretty scary.  Finally, after 20+ minutes and with my sister's help, I got the angel on the top, yeah!  BUT, now my sister is saying that it looks crooked, soooo, that may mean another trip up the ladder...woohoo.   Well, since I don't have a lot of time to write much more, I will just post a bunch of pictures.  Hey, pictures are worth a thousand words, right?!      Oh, I almost forgot!  We had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  Thanksgiving dinner was at our house with my grandma and then we went over to my aunt and uncle's house for dessert.  Ohhhh, it was delicious!  Here's some pictures from my aunt and uncle's house... Here's Hannah...I think she was watching Cars.   Cameron just about to blink...hahaha.   Me, my aunt, and Delaine...I insisted on taking the picture in my aunt's beautifully remodeled kitchen, even though you can't really see much of it in this picture!  Haha.   Then here's pictures from Saturday when we went up north to cut down our tree... I love this picture of Hannah!   Oh, and this one of Stephen is really cute too!   Here's me and Delaine...I think we look like elves!  Hehe.   Random picture of me...   Ok, now here's me trying to put the angel on the tree.  I finally got it on about 20 minutes after that picture.   Stephen with one of his ornaments...hahaha, he makes the funniest faces for the camera!   Then....the finished product!  It all paid off in the end.   Then, ofcourse, we needed to get some pictures of the little ones by the tree!     That last one turned out kind of fuzzy, but still cute. Ok, well, that's all for now folks!   Hope you all have a great week! Jenna http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/sparkles/436511/ Fri, 30 Nov 2007 12:31:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/sparkles/436511/ Wow, there have been some crazy things happening in my life lately.  Since everyone is in bed, I figured that it was a good time to sit down and write up a post.   Ahhhh, so where in the world do I begin?  Ok, I know the last time I told you all about Hayden's case it wasn't looking like we were going to be able to adopt him.  His mom was messing around with the case and basically making a big mess out of things.  Well, we kept praying for a miracle, and by God's grace things changed drastically in the course of one court hearing.  Now, without a doubt, we will be adopting Hayden!  I honestly couldn't have imagined it being any other way.  I believe Hayden was truly was meant to be with our family and he has been such a blessing to us.  We all just love him to death. Doesn't he have the most awesome hair!?  Awww, he's just so adorable...I wish you could see more than just the back of his head. Now, here is the crazy thing...last week our family grew by two!  Yep, two new foster/adoptive placements!  Last Friday my new little sister, who is six, came to live with us.  We have had visits with her for the past month and we were so excited to finally have her with us!  She is just an absolutely gorgeous girl.  She has silky, blonde hair and beautiful, big, brown eyes.  She's just plain beautiful, I wish I could show everyone a picture.                       Then, that same day we also recieved our second little girl.  She is a beautiful, month old little preemie!  We have also been visiting her in the hospital for the past month and she is just precious!  I honestly don't know how it happens, but we just keep getting the most gorgeous kids.  The exciting thing is, we will most likely be adopting both of these little girls.  Both their cases look more than promising for adoption.  This means that our family has now grown to 10!!!  Yes, we are nuts...but in a good way!  Ok, so there is just a little update on what's going on right now in my family.  I know I haven't been posting at all, but once things slow down a bit, I fully intend on posting more regularly.  I also haven't commented in the past month or so, but hopefull I'll get around to commenting some of you soon.  Well, I better go to bed, it's getting late!  Hope you all are having a great week and if i'm not able to post before next week, I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!  Sparkles            http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/sparkles/419900/ Fri, 2 Nov 2007 14:48:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/sparkles/419900/ Happy Birthday Amanda!!! Amanda I am so grateful to have such a sweet friend like you!  I hope you have a SUPER 18th birthday and that this year will bring you many blessings!  I'm sure God has some wonderful plans for you!  I love you and am so glad to call you my friend!  Ok, so now let's get this party started!!! First of all, I will be arriving to your party in this gorgeous black dress...   carrying this beautifully wrapped present...     Ah-ah-ah, you can't open it yet...and no peeking!  That will come later! Oh my!  Doesn't the food just look plain delicious!  Yummmy!  But we can't forget the cake!  You can't have a party without a cake!  Well, actually I couldn't decide between the cake or the cupcakes...so I got...I mean made...both. Ok, and now the moment you've been waiting for...your present!  Mind you that it took me FOREVER to figure out what to get you, but knowing that you are a huge superman fan, I decided to get you this... Isn't it beautiful?! Oh Amanda, I really wish I could have made it to your real Birthday Bash...that would have been so incredibly awesome!  Since I couldn't, I figured this was the least I could do.  I hope you enjoyed it!   Luv ya! Jenna     http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/sparkles/415179/ Thu, 25 Oct 2007 17:47:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/sparkles/415179/ I kind of got tired of looking at the same post for almost a month now, so thought I should write up a post.  Initially, I was going to do a post to update you all on my little foster brother (who by the way, is the cutest little thing EVER) but I will save that for my next post and instead I will tell you all about my exciting day!!!  Well, my dad was planning on buying a computer for all of us kids.  We have been using our parent's laptops or the practically dead computer in our schoolroom to do all of our school work, blogging, etc.  We were at Best Buy for at least an hour and a half looking at computers, but when the toddlers started acting up, my parents decided to drop us kids off at home and then go back and continue the search for a computer.  Well, to make a long story short...my parents were out practically all day then came home with one really nice computer and TWO laptops!!!  I couldn't believe it!  Me and my sister had been asking for a laptop, but we didn't think we would get one before Christmas, so we were absolutely shocked when my dad walked in and set a box in front of each of us.  Then my brother got the desktop, which is really neat looking.  I think the monitor is a 22" screen, so it's nice and big!    Well, that's my exciting day but, now it's kind of late and I still have to straighten up the house before I go to bed, so I better go!  Next post will be an update on Hayden! Hope you all have a great week! Sparkles P.S.  I would also like to thank my wonderful brother for the very pretty template he created for me!  Thanks Cam!! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/sparkles/396459/ Sun, 23 Sep 2007 23:26:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/sparkles/396459/     Hello Everyone!  Wow!  Ok, so things have been really busy over here since we've been back from CA.  I just got some free time and thought I'd take advantage of it and write up a post.  I know, it's about time!     Ok, so we went to northern California this past week and had a great time!  The first day we took a gorgeous train ride through the Redwood Forest to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.  This was probably my most favorite day because we spent a good deal of it on the beach and boardwalk.  My cousin and aunt had met us there, so after we had our lunch us older kids went on some rides while the adults took the younger ones on a few little kid rides.  We rode a few roller coasters and after everyone talked me into it, we went through the "Fright Walk"!!!  Yeah, well, the name describes it quite well.  It may just because I am a complete and total wimp, but it totaly scared the living daylight out of me!  I'm mean it's actually pretty funny now that I think of it.  Seriously, you should have seen us!  Cameron was walking in the front, my cousin Elaine was behind him with a tight grip on his shirt, then me and Delaine behind them holding each other close screaming like a bunch of lunatics!  Yeah, it was a sight to behold...unfortunately I didn't get any pictures, I was to busy worrying about whether i'd get out of there alive or if I'd die of a heart attack! LOL!  Yeah, a bit of an over-reaction, I know.  Anyway, after we recovered from that, we met up with the rest of the family and headed down to the beach.  It was the absolute perfect beach day, the sun was shining bright and there was not a cloud in the sky!  We had a wonderful time and Hannah and Stephen absolutely loved it too!  The water was a bit cold, but after awhile I got used to it.  So after we spent a few hours at the beach, we packed it all up and headed back to the train which then took us back through the redwoods to the place we parked.  That night we had a lovely dinner with all my aunts and uncles and my grandma at my Uncle Stuart and Aunt Rosemary's house in San Jose.  It was a really nice way to wrap up the day.     So, the next day we went to the Monterrey Bay Aquarium, which was really awesome!  I never knew how many species of jelly fish there were!  Oh, and the sea otters were so adorable!!!  There was so much to look at it was amazing!  There was also this fish called a "Sun Fish", and let me tell you, it was the biggest fish I have ever seen!  It was so ugly too!  So, yeah, we had a really nice time there and my grandma, cousin, aunt, and uncle went with us too, which made it extra special.  Then after that we ate at a shrimp place on the beach called  "Bubba Gumps,"  which was pretty good.  I am learning to step out of my box a little and be more adventurous with the foods I eat, so therefore I am slowly starting to enjoy eating seafood.     Then on our last day we went down to Pier 39 and Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco.  It was really fun!  I have been there once before, but forgot how neat it was.  So, we did some shopping, walking around, went on a bay cruise that took us under the Golden Gate Bridge.  Once again, we ate at a seafood restaurant that overlooked they bay.  I was even more adventurous here and ordered crab cakes, and to my surprise they were out of this world DELICiOUS!!!  After, we were done at Pier 39 and Fisherman's Wharf,  we went over The Golden Gate Bridge and drove through this little town called Saucilito right on the other side.  Well, to say I fell in love with it would probably be an understatement!   It was so quaint and had a absolutely gorgeous view of the bay!  The only problem is that you have to be beyond filthy rich to live there.  Yeah, so I can kiss that dream goodbye.      After that we headed down to Southern California to spend a few days at Disneyland which was fun, but nothing really new since we go there a lot.  So, overall, we had a wonderful vacation to California and I was so sad to leave.  Ok, so here are the pics!   Me, Hannah, and Stephen at our RV park.  Stephen is shooting his Spiderman web in every other picture!   The train ride through the redwoods to the boardwalk.  Note: No identifying features were reaveled on my little foster brother!   Stephen loved it!   The Redwoods...the picture doesn't do them justice, they were breath-taking!   The Boardwalk!  Awww, it was so fun!  I absolutely loved it!  Note: Once again, no identifying features were revealed of my little foster brother in the lower left-hand corner of the picture!    I can't believe that I actually got a picture without a billion people in the background!   Hanny on the beach.   Stephen playing with his beach toys.   Me, Cameron, and Delaine with our cousin Elaine.   This is after the beach at my aunt and uncles house with a lot of our family.  The Aquarium  Stephen with my Aunt Sherry. The sea otters...they were so adorable! This room was so cool!  Practically the whole ceiling was an aquarium with anchovies swimming round  in circles in it! What was so neat about this aquarium is they had so many activities for the little ones! Hannah and Stephen had so much fun there! Elaine (my cousin), me and Delaine on one of the observation decks at the aquarium. Pretty self-explainitory!  Hannah enjoying her churro and Stephen, again, shooting his web at something! Me and Delaine found it quite entertaining watching the guy crack the crabs!   Delaine got this picture while on the bay cruise that went under the Golden Gate Bridge.    Wow, ok, I think I put up toooo many pictures, so I'll stop, but there is one more picture I just have to put up!  For privacy reasons, I am not allowed to reveal my little foster brothers full picture identity, sooooo...here's Hayden undercover!!!   Yes, a star is born!  LOL!   Hope you all have a great week!   Sparkles      http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/sparkles/382738/ Thu, 30 Aug 2007 19:32:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/sparkles/382738/ Hey Everyone!  Just a quick note to let you all know that I'm back from vacation.  We all had a great time and I'm going to do an entry about it, but just haven't the time yet!  We got alot of pics, but I have to resize them before I post them, which could take awhile!  So, hopefully I will be able to get a post typed up in the next day or so.  Sparkles http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/sparkles/381498/ Tue, 28 Aug 2007 22:16:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/sparkles/381498/ Ok, this is going to be incredibly short...especially since it's two in the morning and I'm really tired.   First off, I want to apologize for being so behind on my commenting.  This past week has been really busy and I haven't had much time for blogging, but I fully intend on getting caught up, I promise!!!    Also, we decided to do a kind of last minute trip to California!  We have alot of family there that we are going to visit which is really exciting since we haven't visited them for quite awhile.  So, first we are going up to San Francisco to visit our family for about four or five days and then after that we are coming back down to the Aneheim area to go to Disneyland for a couple days.  So it's going to be about a week long trip.  And, since we are leaving in probably less than an hour I better go and finish up a few things.  When I get back I'm sure I'll have a bunch of pics to share!   Hope you all have a great week!   Sparkles      http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/sparkles/373693/ Wed, 15 Aug 2007 04:04:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/sparkles/373693/