My Halloween Pics

Whew...I'm just barely gonna get these in ON Halloween. Pics of my girls and my pumpkin!

Darn it...only had like 20 mins to get these posted so they'd be on Oct. 31...by the time the pics got loaded I guess it was after midnight. Phooey. And why aren't they posting where I wanted them?!?
Oh well...
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Ok, so I signed up for a blogrolling accout so I can get more organized and also add a little somethin' to my blog. Only prob...I know NOTHING about HTML or java. I attempted to copy and paste to get it started but it didn't show up. Where exactly am I supposed to paste it to?!?!

I know there's gotta be someone out there in blogland who can help me with this! Sigh...I feel like such an amateur....

The Trials and Tribulations of Being a Foster Parent

Ok, first I'll start here by telling you a bit of what's been going on since April of this year.

MrKB was a long haul truck driver working for a major company and I rode along with him on his rig. We had been doing this for over two years. We basically lived on the truck...we didn't have a house or apartment...it didn't make sense to rent someplace we were only gonna be at MAYBE two days a month. We would stay out for months at a time, and when we did come in for days off, we'd stay either with friends or at one of our parent's homes.

So anyway...we came into the city for a few days off back in April. Had something like four days off, then we had gone to Ardmore to pick up a load. Between picking up the load and heading back toward OKC, MrKB gets a call on his cell saying his Dad is in the hospital and they think he had a heart attack. We immediately call his company and they tell us to just bring the load to the yard and someone else will take it to where it needed to go. We do this, and then go see his Dad.

A day or so later we're at his Dad's house when his brother calls. At this point in time we hadn't seen or talked to him in about 2 years. Well, he says that him and his girlfriend are losing their parental rights and would we be willing to take the kids, including their baby girl who'd just been born about 2 1/2 weeks before. We said we'd talk about it and get back with him. Keep in mind that between the two of them they have SEVEN kids, and don't have a one of them.

So...probably the next day we go meet them somewhere to discuss all this. BIL is a mess...drunk off his ass and crying his eyes out...though I can't say that I blame him, if I'd just found I was losing my kids for good, I'd be drunk and crying too. We discuss the situation with them and at first we were only going to take the baby, but they begged us to take 2 yr old and 5 yr old also. There is another little girl who is unfortunately a meth baby with serious problems...she is almost 2 yrs old now and baby girl (who is 6 mos) has passed her developmentally. I just can't deal with that, and go from having no kids at all to 3. Ok, that's 4 of their kids. Her oldest from a previous relationship is staying with her grandparents, and his two oldest have been adopted by my MIL. We are working on getting 3 of them adopted.

Of course, all these kids are in DHS custody, and we've been subjected to every background check, home check, you name it. We went through the required parenting classes, got a 3 bedroom apartment within a month of finding out all this...we've done every thing we've been asked to do and more.

We brought baby girl home from the hospital where she'd been since she was born when she was 3 weeks old. All we had to do to get her was pass a background check. We got 2 yr old at the end of June. Had a few visits with her and then they moved her right in. No problems! They are healthy, happy, and well taken care of...DHS has said this themselves. We were supposed to have 5 yr old in with us by the end of July. Has it happened?? NO! Which brings me to the point of this post.

5 yr old is currently in a "therapeutic foster home" due to his severe asthma, eczema, allergies, and developmental delays. All that means is those foster parents underwent additional training on top of the required training. BUT...he is not the only child they have.

I don't like these people.

They're the type that act all nice to your face, then talk shit behind your back.

First...when we were supposed to start having regular visits w/ 5 yr old to get him "used" to us and get ready to move him to our home, these people were never available...didn't return calls, didn't show up for court ordered visits between all siblings, that kinda thing. Finally I got fed up with that and finally the case worker made a set time for visits. We were going to have a few four hour visits, then some eight hour visits, then some overnights, THEN they'd move him in.

EVERY fuckin' time we had a visit with him, his other foster parents were finding some stupid thing to go to the case worker with. We brought him back late...he peed his pants twice after a visit...we brought him back "soiled"...he's FIVE people. Definitely potty trained. Over and over it's stuff like that. One time I was talking to the foster mom on the phone about a visit, and we were just chatting. We are in the process of potty training 2 yr old, and the day before she'd stayed dry all day. I was relating this fact to her (because I was proud she'd stayed dry, so I was bragging) and she took it to mean that 2 yr old hadn't gone to the bathroom AT ALL and that I must not have given her anything to drink!!! Instead of asking me to clarify this, she went to the caseworker!!! GOD!

Oh, I need to add that his current foster parents were wanting to adopt him and were gonna fight us for him in court. But then (at least they TOLD us this) they decided they weren't going to fight for him.

Anyway...

We had him for a few hours today...We were also supposed to have a "family team meeting" (one of the 'and more' stuff we've been doing) but we cancelled it 'cuz both of us are not feeling real well.
While MrKB was talking to our counselor, she told him that his foster parents (actually it's always the foster mom) had yet again gone to the case worker about 5 yr old. THIS time, when we took him home last weekend after he spent the whole weekend with us, "his clothes smelled like smoke, his inhaler smelled like smoke, his breathing machine smelled like smoke...and when we washed his clothes we didn't use the special soap he has to have so he broke out in a rash...yadda yadda yadda."

I've about had it with this bitch.

First of all, yes, we smoke. We smoke strictly OUTSIDE..one of the many things DHS wanted us to do. Tell me, how in the HELL was his breathing machine and inhaler exposed to any smoke at all?? The machine was kept in a bag until it had to be used, then put up right after. The inhaler was in the kitchen on top of the microwave INSIDE A ZIPLOC BAG! I am so pissed off it's not even funny. I think that his foster parents DO still want to adopt him, but if they think we're gonna just relax and assume that's not gonna happen, they're wrong. I personally think they are just trying to find any little thing to make us look bad the next time we go to court over this.

Because of all their bullshit, DHS is dragging their ass on getting him with us. It's always something else they want us to do before they move him in with us. I'm sick of it. They had no problems letting us pick up a 3 week old baby from the hospital...no problems moving 2 yr old in after just a FEW visits. WTF is the problem with this one?!? Why would we be good enough to be the parents of his sisters but not him?

We are calling a lawyer Monday. We go back to court Nov. 17th. Maybe he can help us. I'm tired of all the bullshit and lies.

My Second Half-Nekkid Thursday

Okay, so I know it's early, but I have company tonight and wanted to get this in early.

I know there's a Halloween theme this week, but I don't have any Halloween pics....This is pretty scary though. It's a pic of MrKB's leg after he got hurt at work. He's a truck driver and was making a delivery at this store that failed to put the safety plate down between the dock and the trailer. MrKB ended up stepping off into the gap and got a sprained wrist and this:
Pretty scary, huh???? He did this back at the end of June, and STILL has a bruise from the middle of the circle-looking mark. Yeesh!

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

Not feeling very creative again today...really not much news either. I spent most of the day cleaning my house, ooooo how exciting!! NOT. So I thought I would tell a little about myself by listing some of my favorite things. Here I go...

Favorite Drink: Coke Classic (I'm hopelessly addicted!)
Favorite Food: at the moment it's Fettucine Alfredo w/ chicken and broccoli
Favorite Restaurant: Red Lobster
Favorite Movie: Legends of the Fall
Favorite Author: Stephen King
Favorite Actor: Brad Pitt (soooo sexy in Troy)
Favorite Actress: Jodie Foster
Favorite TV Show: ER...also love Desperate Housewives
Favorite Color: Purple (MrKB loves me enough he let me paint our bedroom purple!)
Favorite Season: Spring
Favorite Holiday: Valentine's Day (got married VDay 1995)
Favorite Book: The Green Mile by Stephen King...or any by him really
Favorite Thing to Do: hit the casinos baby! (winning is a bonus...still love to go)
Favorite Person: My husband
Favorite Hobby: Crosstiching
Favorite Car: '68 or '69 Camaro

That's all I can think of...if ya wanna know more, ask! :)

My Poor Baby Girl!

Today wasn't a very pleasant day...baby girl had to have her 6 month shots. She ended up getting 5 shots all together...4 regular shots and a flu shot. She was definitely NOT happy! Breaks my heart every time it's shot time. Babies are so clueless...just laying there minding their own business, then all of a sudden they're hurting and don't know why. My Mom stayed out in the waiting room w/ my 2 yr old, and she said they could hear baby girl crying all the way out there. 2 yr old was so concerned with that, she went all the way around the reception desk, down the hall and stood in front of the door to the room we were in. Awwwww.

Had 5 yr old with us all weekend. The visit went well...he spent all day Saturday playing outside w/ his cousin and neighborhood kids, so he liked that. Sunday the temperature outside had dropped quite a bit and he wasn't too happy that he couldn't go out to play. He wasn't the only one, though...there were NO kids outside playing since it was so freakin' cold. I'll be glad when we finally get him in our home for good. It's getting tiring having to go back and forth every weekend just to see him for a short time.

I need to get my house cleaned back up. Looks like a hurricane passed through here after having two boys here all weekend. (my nephew stayed over too)....but I just don't feel like it right now, I am tired!

That's all I really have for today. Maybe I'll have more to talk about tomorrow, I dunno....

Thank God It's Friday

Doesn't make a whole lot of sense to title this post "Thank God It's Friday" really. I am a Mom and like all Moms my work is NEVER done! There is always something to do. But, to me it means that MrKB is off work for the weekend and can at least help out with the kids, and maybe let me sleep in since he's used to being up at 4:30 in the freaking morning every day, he gets up waaay before I do on weekends.

But anyway...so I have finally joined the ranks of the MANY HNTers and posted my first HNT pic. As of this writing I had 13 comments on my baby girls chubby little hand! Wow! That means that at least 13 people made their way over to my humble little space out here in blogland...the most comments I've had in one day so far since starting my page of rantings and ravings. Even more than that, last night when I checked profile visits before I went off to bed (somewhere around 3:30a.m.) I'd had a grand total of 16 visits. Just awhile ago I checked again and there's been 76! WooHoo! People know I am here!

My first HNT experience was great, though somewhat exhausting. By the time I got my little pic up and posted about it over at Osbasso's there were already something like 223 people who had theirs up before I did. I spent the rest of the night checking out these many HNT pics and bookmarking blogs that I wanted to go back and read more of later. I now have 30 marked, and I'm sure I will add more. This blogging and blog-reading thing is gonna take up much more of my time than I thought! Which is not a bad thing, as I really enjoy it. :)

BTW...I need to get me one of those hit counter thingies...if anyone can tell me how, please let me know! Also, while surfing all these blogs, I was amazed at how creative and beautiful so many of them look. Mine is so plain and cookie cutter boring! I have no idea how to make it more "mine".

Today I spent the day with 5...count 'em...5 kids in my house. My mom-in-law brought her two (who happen to be my niece and nephew, 8 & 9...half brother and sister to my kids...long story there, maybe I'll go into it later sometime) over this morning because they are on Fall Break and she had to work. And later that morning the 5 yr old we are still working on getting in our home got dropped off by his current foster parents for a weekend visit with us. Then of course I have my 2 yr old and baby girl.

The day went pretty well. Kids behaved themselves for the most part. 2 yr old got a goose egg on her forehead though, from her attempt to climb on the crib...she fell and whacked her head on it pretty good. The way she cried and carried on you'd think she'd split it clean open! Sheesh...

When mom-in-law came to pick up her kids, my 2 older ones wanted to go to her house, and since she said she didn't mind I was like "Take 'em!" So they went, and I got a couple hours or so of relative peace and quiet by myself while baby girl took a nap. MrKB came home with stuff to make homemade hamburgers and hotdogs on the grill and has gone to go pick up 5yr old from Grandma's. He is bringing 9yr old back with him to spend the night and 2yr old is gonna stay the night there.

Man, I'm tired...

My First Half Nekkid Thursday

Here it is! My very first Half-Nekkid Thursday pic. Did I do this right? Hope so!

Happy HNT!

Whiney Wednesday

Okay, here I go:

Why is potty training a 2 1/2 yr old so dang frustrating?? Just when I think she's just about got it down, she starts pissing in her pants all day long again...yet she's dry after sleeping all night and after nap.

Baby girl has been extra fussy today...don't know what her problem is...maybe she's teething, but I don't see any yet.

I'm still very upset at Mr.KB for losing all our rent money. All I'm gonna say about that particular subject.

This is the best time of year for fishing right now and I can't go because I don't have a license. MrKB doesn't want to get them now since they'll just expire at the end of the year. That's something else that bugs me...why aren't they good for a year from the day you buy them?? Doesn't matter when you get them, they all expire Dec. 31. Really sucks 'cuz I love fishing and I haven't got to go in like 3 years now. :( Haven't been camping either for that matter...and I do REAL camping, tent and all...No sissy RV for me! That's not camping, that's takin' your house with you.

Let's see..what else can I whine about? Oh, I know...since now we don't have rent paid like we were gonna, we're not gonna have money to go out the next couple weeks like we were planning to. I was really hoping to go to the casino!

That's it...if I think of anything else, I'll let y'all know.

Arrrrghhhh!

Does anyone besides me have a husband who is constantly shoving his money in the same pocket he keeps his car keys in? My husband does this, and I don't know how many freakin' times I've told him NOT to do it, because inevitably money gets lost when keys get pulled out. Maybe not every day, but it has happened more than once. Well, tonight it was the mother of all the times he's lost money this way...usually it's not more than 20 or so bucks, but tonight it was ALL OF OUR RENT MONEY!!! 575 FREAKIN' DOLLARS!!!!!!! GAWD!!

I'm so pissed...Of course he felt bad enough already, but you know I HAD to tell him that I've told him OVER AND OVER not to keep money and keys in the same pocket! I don't, and I've NEVER lost money. (I hate purses...in true redneck woman fashion, I keep my money and keys in my jeans pockets..but not the same one.)

Sigh...anyway...

A few years ago, before I went on the road with MrKB one of my puter hobbies was making stuff on Paint Shop Pro. I had lots of cool lil things I'd made, siggies and such. But unfortunately I don't have them anymore 'cuz they were on my old puter and it was stolen along with all my software, and therefore my Paint Shop Pro. A couple days ago I decided to make a visit to my old MSN group where I did most of my learning how to make stuff just to see if it was still in operation. It is and I've rejoined, now all I gotta do is get the PSP proggie again and see if I can remember how it works! LOL

One of the members there made me the siggie that is at the top of my post...it was supposed to go here, but didn't work out that way. Oh well, ain't it pretty?? Boy I miss making those. By the way, if y'all wondered what the KBear in my name was, it's because I collect koala bears...it's my favorite animal, and I even have a tattoo of a koala on my left thigh just below my bikini line. My Mom always told me to never get a tat, so when I got it I wasn't gonna show her, but I did, and she said "Ohhh that's so cute! And so YOU!" LOL I think she was glad I got it in a place that's easily covered up too.

Just Another Manic Monday

Hey y'all!

My back is much better today, thanks for asking! LOL I may actually be able to clean my house tomorrow....I definitely need to finish laundry that I started the day I threw my back out. I had a load of jeans in the dryer and a load of colors in the washer...asked Mr.KB if he would PLEASE get the jeans out of the dryer and put the other load in so I wouldn't get mildewed clothes. I didn't even care if he put them up or not, but do you think he did that??? Not only no, but HELL NO!! Geez...Believe me, I chewed him out for it. I haven't checked, but I could bet money that my clothes are all mildew smelling now, and that was the whole point of asking him to do that for me.

Anyway, today we went to our counseling appointment w/ our 5 yr old. I think it went pretty well. Before we left I mentioned to the counselor about our caseworker wanting us to take the therapeutic foster care classes (because she is wanting us to take them through their company). The counselor seemed surprised and said basically that she didn't think it was necessary for us to take them. She said that if her company or any other organization that she knows of had us go thru the training, that they would expect us to take on other special needs foster children. At this point in time we aren't interested in doing that. Not that we don't want to, we just have a lot on our plates just going thru what we have in trying to get our nieces and nephew in our home and adopted..

After counseling we went to my mom-in-law's to pick up the girls, then out to eat at Golden Corral again. When we got to our table, the one behind us someone had just left recently...they left a hell of a mess, including a red drink that a kid must have spilled. There was red drink and ice all over the table, the floor, the high chair...lots of food on the floor, table, etc...and these people had the nerve to leave the waitress a measly ONE DOLLAR tip! That's just sad. We never leave a mess like that when we go to a restaurant, I just can't do it. I'm always putting all our silverware and napkins and stuff on plates and I stack them up so they can just pick them up, and I WIPE UP SPILLS!! I had a waitress once tell us we were too neat! Leaving a mess is one thing, but at least tip better than a freakin' dollar! Or if that just happened to be your last dollar, at least apologize to the waitress for the mess and promise you'll make it up to her the next time you're there. Stuff like that just bugs the hell out of me, and I've never been a waitress!

So, anyhoo...got that off my chest! After dinner, we went to Target (just cuz it was closer to the restaurant than WalMart) so I could get some decent speakers for my computer, and I got a new mousepad that has a gel wrist rest attached to it. I have carpal tunnel from all the time I used to spend on the computer a few years ago and it sucks. I have to stop typing every now and then while I'm blogging because it bothers me. I deal with it though. The speakers I had before were lil cheap ass things, but at least I had some sound. Just I had the volume all the way up on the volume control on the puter and they still weren't very loud at all. Sometimes I had to put my ear right next to one of them to hear things. these new ones are a bit bigger and have their own volume control. Much better! :)

Hope everyone's week has started off pretty good. Hope my life so far hasn't bored ya to tears!
'Til next time...

Still Recovering :(

Amazing how one second or two of hurting yourself can take days or weeks to heal from...oh well, at least I can sit at my puter without it bothering me too much.
Nothing much goin' on so far today. MrKB let me sleep in while he got the girls up, fed, and dressed. Baby girl is sleeping now. She's got to where when she gets tired, she will cry and fuss and then when you try to lay her down so she can go to sleep she just fights it like she's gonna miss something important if she sleeps. Eventually though, sleep wins.

Yesterday we had our weekly visit with our 5 yr old. It went pretty good, except for our van breaking down. After MrKB had picked him up they came back here then we all went out for lunch at Golden Corral. I needed to get some stuff from WalMart, so we headed that way. Well, between the restaurant and WalMart the van started acting funny, like it wasn't getting power. We got parked and hubby killed the van then it wouldn't start again. Ended up calling my Dad for help and he came out to jump start us. It's looking like the alternator went out. :( Luckily my parents have an extra vehicle we can borrow so MrKB can get to work until we can get the van going again.

We'd been planning to take the kids to the park, but that incident kinda shot that all to hell. I'll be glad when we finally get our lil boy in our home for good. These visits are a pain in the ass...right now he lives in a city it takes a half hour to get to, and we only get him for part of the day. He hates it when it's time to go back, he seems ready to stay with us permanently, but DHS is dragging their feet on getting him here. We've done everything we're supposed to do, but the case worker keeps coming up with more and more stuff for us to do before she places him with us. NOW she wants us to take therapeutic foster care classes on top of the regular ones we finished in JULY. Why couldn't she have asked us to take them back then?!? Noooo, she waits until now to tell us. He was supposed to have been placed in our home by the end of July, and here it is the middle of October.
I was really hoping to have him before school started so we wouldn't have to put him through changing schools and all that drama. Sigh...

We are considering going ahead and starting the adoption process on our two girls now instead of waiting until they're all in our home. That way we'll have DHS out of the picture as far as they go. The sooner the better.

My Little Girls :)

Two pics of baby girl...top one is one of my current faves, and middle one is just so darn cute! Bottom pic is my 2 yr old...she is really somethin' else! Are they cute or what??

Feelin' Better

Wooo...my back is feeling better today. I managed to get around without having to look like a frail old lady with the walker most of the day. Took a pain pill and a muscle relaxer then went and soaked in a nice hot bath...AHHHHHH! So right at this moment I mostly feel a little stiff and kinda sore, which is lots better than having to crawl on my hands and knees 'cuz I can't walk kinda pain.

Mom came over first thing this morning before the little ones were awake to help me out for the day until MrKB got home. Thank God for Moms! Don't know what I would have done without her. It really sucks not to be able to pick up my baby girl right now, especially when she's got that "I want Mommy and ONLY Mommy" cry goin' on. I also hate the guilty feelin' I've been having about not being able to carry on with my normal Mommy duties. MrKB worked all day then had to come home and take care of the kids, and even though he hasn't complained I can still tell he wishes he didn't have to do all that extra stuff. And I REALLY hate telling him 10, 15, or 20 times that something needs to be done and he just says "I'll do it in a minute" then never gets to it. Anybody else got a husband like that???

Tomorrow we have to go pick up the 5 yr old for our weekly visit with him and he house is a wreck. Mom at least cleaned my kitchen up for me, but there's still the living room, vacuuming, laundry, the bathroom....sigh. I'll be glad when I can get around well enough to get this stuff done without having my back go into spasms. Not that I particularly enjoy housecleaning, but you never know when someone from DHS might unexpectedly stop in, and besides, baby girl is gonna be mobile just about any day now and I'd like to keep the hazards down to a minimum.

OH THE PAIN!!!!!

Ok, so nobody's left any comments...wonder if anybody's been here at all...

Well, today is sucking big time...this afternoon I was getting up out of a chair, simply standing up, and went and slipped a disc or pulled a muscle in my lower back. I am in some severe pain and really should be lying down, but wanted to check some blogs first. Took 3 Aleve and put an ice pack on it and am hoping for the best.

At least MrKB is home and can take care of the little ones...but what in the fuck am I gonna do tomorrow?!?! Earlier I went to go lay down on my bed and had to CRAWL my way to the bedroom, then when I woke up about an hour and a half later (having to pee of course) I tried crawling my way to the bathroom (which is right across the hall from my room) and didn't make it out the freakin' door!! Got as far as the door then had to lay flat on my back and holler for MrKB, who of course was shocked to find me lying on the floor like a dying deer or something. About 20 mins later I'd managed to pee, then came the lonnnng excruciating journey to my front porch so I could smoke a damn cigarette. (Since we are foster parents we can't smoke in the house.)

Don't know what the hell I'm gonna do tomorrow when MrKB has to go to work...I've got a potty training 2 yr old and a 6 month old baby to take care of! Not only that, but mom-in-law has to work and I'm supposed to watch her 9 and 8 yr old too. Man, THIS SUCKS!!!!!!! Anybody got some really good pain pills???

Sigh...prolly nobody will read this anyway, but it still helps to vent about it. Hope everyone else has had a better day!

I Am a Virgin Blogger

Ok, so here I am...my first post on my shiny new blog! Geez, suddenly I feel like I am back in junior high having to get up in front of the class and give a speech. (That was never a strong point of mine, considering I was painfully shy.) I'll give this my best effort, and hope I am not too boring.

Little bit about myself: I am 33, married for 10 1/2 years to a wonderful man, who for posting purposes I guess I will call DaddyKB. :) I have 2 stepdaughters, 14 and 12, who live in Texass (sorry Texans, but I'm a born and raised Okie!) with their bitch of a mom. Not very nice of me to say so, but it's true!

Earlier this year we took on the responsibility of being parents to our nieces and a nephew, after my brother-in-law and his g/f lost their parental rights to their kids. Between the two of them they had 7 kids and couldn't care for any of them, but kept poppin' 'em out! We are taking 3...a 5 yr old boy, who we are still working on getting into our home from his other foster home...a 2 1/2 yr old girl...and a baby girl who is 6 months old today. The last few months have been exciting and difficult at the same time. DaddyKB and I had tried throughout our marriage to have children and it just wasn't happening, so this I guess is the reason whatever higher power out there had for me not getting pregnant, I was destined to have these children to raise and love as my own.

Anyway, life has had quite a lot of change for us, but we are doing well! I hope people will enjoy visiting my blog, and I hope to make new friends. Thanks for stopping by!