Queenpudi's Xanga

I get to see my girls today, woo hooooooo!

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 06:28:06 GMT

I am sooooo excited. Today I'll be visiting with the babies we had for 6 months earlier this year. They have been gone for 3 months and I'm sure I'll be seeing some changes. They live 3 1/2 hours away with their grandparents so it has been difficult to arrange visits. I'm thrilled and can hardly wait. I know it sounds a bit silly, but they were a big part of our home while they were here and will always own a piece of my heart. I'll try to post some pictures later. Good day all.

Exciting news.....

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 02:09:38 GMT

I just got word from my daughter this weekend that they are turning one of my favorite books (thanks to Matthew) into a movie. "The Secret Life of Bees", by Sue Monk Kidd. I loved this book and the characters. So anyways I heard that Dakota Fanning is playing the lead (think she's awesome by the way). It's due to come out next year. Just thought I'd let you know.

Life as I like it

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 02:03:25 GMT

We have been spending a lot of time at the lake this summer and it has been soooo refreshing. I take the kids and go a couple of times a week and when my hubby isn't working we usually go again on the weekend. It's fun getting all the necessities around for a picnic or cook out at the lake. We pack our favorite games Boggle, Yahtzee or Scrabble and usually I rook someone into playing games with me on the beach while the youngers enjoy the water. It really is simple yet wonderful and the weather has been most cooperative this summer. Lots of sunshine without the humidity. Although there was the one afternoon when we raced for the van and sat out a hail storm that had me a little concerned, only to have the children race for the water as soon as the lightning stopped as we saw a double rainbow overhead. It was beautiful.

I'm trying to keep things simple and unencumbered. I mean it really is a struggle sometimes to not let us all get too busy and going off in too any different directions. But my two oldest girls (my adopted daughter and my neice that lives with us) will be graduating this year and I'm blown away by the speed at which these last few years have flown by. I want to enjoy them as they prepare to go off on there own and pursue their dreams. So we have closed our foster care license and will be focusing on family. I am going back to college in the fall to finish up my degree in Early Childhood Education and know that will be a bit of a juggle. Besides that I do plan to live as simply and peacefully as possible. We have had some pretty tumultous times over the last couple of years and it is my desire to enjoy and better appreciate all that I've been given....beautiful healthy children who keep me on my toes, a husband who loves me most when I feel like I deserve it least, brothers and a sister who do the same and friends that have been here for us through the years. I am blessed and I am grateful. Thank you all!

Some of my drawings....

Wed, 07 May 2008 07:28:19 GMT

Ok. So I have this idea that I've pondered in my heart for years now for a children's book. I want to write and illustrate it. I love to draw, but realized I need lots of practice, so I've been practicing on my family. I know these drawings are a bit juvenile in style, but they are strictly practice until I perfect my technique (hee hee). So go easy on me please. I have colored them in with colored pencils, except baby "H", I used pencil and a little ink on her. It was fun and a great outlet for my creative urges.

BABY "H"

BABY "J"

JULIA WHEN SHE WAS 2 (I didn't mean to make her look like a 80 year old lady trapped in a two year old body, it was the way I highighted with the colored pencils. A bit comical, anyways.)

MY GREAT NEICE KIMBER ANNE

DANIEL JOSEPH

MY NEICE CATHERINE BEFORE SHE CUT HER HAIR

Stress or no stress? That is the question.

Tue, 06 May 2008 08:51:33 GMT

Ok so have any of you ever seen the test where you score how much stress you are under? Certain events are given a score from 1-100 with 100 being the most stressful. I've seen them a couple of times and changing jobs and moving are right up there with the death of a loved one. They are like 100 points. So this is what the last week has looked like for me. Last Friday we had to let go of two little foster daughters that were in our home for almost 6 months (maybe not a 100 points on the stress detector but right up ther for sure). My hubby left his job of three years to be closer to home and cut down on the cost of gas and started his new one yesterday. To top it all we are in the middle of packing to move, again. This time just two blocks to a more economical and efficient house, but still packing and moving 8 people is a big undertaking, another 100 points! Geesh, are we a glutton for punishment or what? Seriously, things are going pretty smooth and I'm not complaining, just making an observation. I think I'm too busy to acknowledge that it could possibly stressful.

I'm just grateful it's not my PMS week.

Prom Time

Sat, 03 May 2008 21:25:41 GMT

This is my neice Catherine and her prom date, Trevor. She is 17 and she has lived with us for almost 2 years. She is beautiful, sensitive and strong. Hers is a story to be told by her alone. She has survived some things that would make many people lose their mind. She has made the choices to let her experiences make her stronger instead of letting them break her. I admire her for her ability to love and forgive when it would have been easier to hold bitterness and resentment.

Junior Prom 2008:

I hope they have a wonderful and safe time.

Just got a call....

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 19:02:07 GMT

Ok. So we just got a call saying it may be another week before the girls will actually be leaving. More "redtape", that needs to be finished. So they'll do an overnight and probably be with us for one more week. It looks like we are in for a bit of a roller coaster ride. So well just hang on and make the most of it. Blessings all!

We're saying goodbye, again.

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 20:50:46 GMT

Well our little foster daughters that came as Christmas presents (December 21 of last year) are getting ready to leave the Ahumada house and head 200 miles north to live with their two sisters, ages 3 & 4 and their grandparents in a city on the shore of Lake Michigan. I knew the day was drawing close, but I wouldn't let myself think about it too much. Today I began packing their things and the hard reality began to set in. I've been weepy off and on all day, but I will heal. My kids have mixed emotions about it, but seem to be holding up alright. They'll be leaving Saturday and adjusting to be with relatives that they have just met since coming to foster care. I believe God will carry them and be with them. They will be loved and well cared for and we will rest in the knowledge that we loved well and carried them as far as we could.

Here are a few pictures of them from when they came just over 5 months ago and a few of them now. Pray for

them if you you will. Thanks.

Baby "H" at 2 months. and weighing in at 7lbs. and looking a little like an alien.

And looking a wee bit frightened...................

You gotta love those big ol' eyes and the chicken hair.

Here she is today at 6 months old and blossoming like a little rose bud. The "wild eyed" look is gone and she is such an easy baby. She only cries when she's hungry and she smiles a lot.

This is "Little A" or "Red" as my hubby likes to call her. She was 17 months old when we got her and not yet walking. She had four teeth, can you see 'em?

Here she is today. 20 months old and two more teeth later. She is coming out of her shell more and more every day. She is my tempermental one, I hear it comes along with the red hair. But she is gaining confidence and starting to trust.

They will be missed................

Miss Kristina

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 21:19:36 GMT

This is my 16 year old daughter Kristina. I remember the first time she came to visit, she was 11 years old and prolly weighed a whole 75 lbs. soaking wet. She was carrying a Lord of the Rings trilogy book with like 1,100 pages or more. She had this little tiny face rimmed with a cute page boy hairstyle. She was coming to visit her older brother David and her baby brother, Marko who had been living with us for about two months. I remember she kept telling her older brother David to, "Cry me a river David," whenever he complained about anything (which was quite often as I remember). We found her quite articulate for a 6th grader and decided that her cyniscism would fit right in with our family.

She has grown into a beautiful young woman that I truly admire. She has overcome a lot and managed to keep her sanity in situations that many adults would find themselves losing theirs.

We have overcome and worked through a lot with her and I am genuinely grateful that she has taken our last name and become a part of our family. Kristina is bright, beautiful, witty and sensitive.

The adults in my family appreciate her the most I think because she can carry on a conversation on many different issues. She cares about her world and the events that are taking place from here to Africa. She has so many aspirations for her future and I look forward to seeing her fulfill them.

She'd like me to think that she isn't a big kid lover, but she does pretty good with all the brothers and sisters she has. And look at how playful she can be........

And one of my favorite things about her is her love for old things. She got this coat at Goodwill. We both enjoy rummaging through other people's cast offs and finding bargains. She's a blast!

Lovely, lovely lady. You have a bigger piece of my heart than you realize. I'm proud to call you daughter.

This is my little artist, Aleksandar Wayne

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 02:19:49 GMT

Alex is my 9 soon to be 10 year old son. He is such a sweet boy and very sensitive. He loves to draw and is quite good at it actually. He enjoys school, especially the social aspect of it and he seems to like the challenge of learning as well. He's always coming home with some new fact that he is learning at school excited to share it with us at dinner.

Marko and Alex are biological brothers of Serbian decent. And like Marko, Alex came to live with us in 2002 when he was just 4 years old. He was soooo little and quiet and eager to be a part of whatever excitement was going on in the house from pillow fights with Papa to playing swords with his brothers.

Here he is supporting his new "do". He's going for the "Emo" look. He likes to do his hair and look good for the "ladies". He tells us he has 5 girlfriends at school. His older brother Daniel likes to give him a hard time about this.

And as you can see, Alex is a baby lover as well. Actually, Al loves everybody. He is the peace maker in the house. If anyone is in crisis they can count on Al to lend a shoulder. He is my little helper and is always asking if there is anything he can do to help, especially when I'm in the kitchen. He has already learned to peel potatoes, crack and cook scrambled eggs and help set the table. He's an all around nice young man.