Artsy Fartsy

BNo. This post isn't about flatulence. Although, with two boys ages 7 and 8 (and myself) the fart humor does abound here in Drosche Land. I mean, it's a guy thing right?  Plus it's funny. But enough about that, again this post isn't about flatulence. 

Nope. I'm talking about the arts here. Culture people. Performing and visual. See, last week was a big week for the arts here in Drosche Land, specifically Wednesday. 

Wednesday is Chapek day and Braeden's 3rd Grade class was leading it. The topic was humility and they did a performance of the Dr. Seuss story, Yertle the Turtle. A classic. I love it and read it to my students every year for Dr. Seuss Day.  So I was excited to hear this. More so when I learned that Braeden would be playing the titular role of Yertle. Now. You'll remember from prior posts that he was not always so keen on being in front of people. For anything. A performance?  Nope. An award?  No thank you. Alone or group?  Not a chance. Then last year came and he landed the role of an extra in the school play. I don't know what changed, but it did. And I am so glad it did. So, the Chapel service. It was simple and to-the-point. Some of the kids took turn reading the story aloud while others silently acted it out. So not only was he the main character and thus, center of attention, but he also had to do actual actions throughout it all.  He rocked it. He did such a great job and truly enjoyed it. I was so proud and recorded it all on my iPhone 6 Plus (thank goodness for 64 gig) for Amy to watch. She was, of course, just as proud as I was.  But I think Braeden himself was the proudest of all, and that may be the best part.  Confidence building at its finest folks!

But the fun didn't stop there. Jackson had his moment to shine during Chapel also.  See, every year our Art teacher takes samples of student work that she has collected to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, to be entered into their School Art Program. Earlier this year my class did farm pictures with chalk as they were learning about blending and shading. Jackson drew a beautiful picture of a cow. I loved it and the Art teacher even commented on how proud she was of it. But it was never sent home.  I was hoping she would enter it but eventually I forgot. Then about a week before the Chapel service last week she excitedly told me that he'd received a ribbon for his work after she'd entered it at the Rodeo!  Awesome!  I was so proud!  Flash forward to the big day and it turns out he received a 1st Place ribbon!  His work has been on display in the entry at school since then!  I've always been into art myself, I love it. Art History was my favorite class in college, aside from education courses. I dabbled in photography in high school and received some ribbons and medals from competitions. But life happened and art and photography fell to the wayside. I've always still loved it but not really devoted much time to it. I've enjoyed taking pictures of the kids, as you know, but that's as far as I've gotten.  So I'm very pleased to think that my love of art may have been passed down to one or more of the kids. Very proud.

It's also reminded me of how much I love it. Maybe I'll get more serious about it. Who knows?  But for now I'm riding high on the boys and their successes and that is just fine with me. #proudpapa

All is well, patron of the arts, in Drosche Land. 

Braeden as Yertle the Turtle. 

The artist. 

Happy Day

Birthday that is.

Today was mine. I traveled further down the 30ish road. I'm still getting used to being in my 30's despite having entered a few years ago.  It still amazes me that I am that old. 

Anywho, it was a great day.  Amy busted it to make my favorite foods for dinner and dessert. The kids made beautiful cards for me. And then there was my present. Amy got my family members together to get me an iPhone 6 Plus!  Holla!  However, despite being ordered a while ago, it has yet to ship so I am eagerly awaiting it.

School was more of the same awesomeness. My Room Mom, who also happens to be a friend and coworker, got the parents all together and spoiled me with gifts, lunch, treats, and general pampering. It was great. So nice to be thanked and appreciated. Definitely made the day. 

So here I sit now. Everyone in the house is asleep and all is quiet. Tomorrow is just another regular day. Back to normal. Now is that peaceful, yet slightly melancholy, time when it is all calmly coming to an end. Sort of like Christmas night once the presents have been opened, food eaten, and kids tucked in. Everything is over and you are thankful for your blessings, but still it is all slightly sad that it is over. Do you feel that way on your birthday?  Christmas?  Just wondering. 

But all good things must come to an end and today was definitely a good thing. I was spoiled by my beautiful wife and wonderful kids, family, friends, coworkers, parents, and my dear little students. Great gifts. Great sweets. It was quite the day. I'm very blessed and lucky. 

That's it I guess.  Tomorrow begins another adventure of a year in my 30's. What lies ahead?  What does He have in store?  Who knows, but I can nearly be sure that, if history rings true, there will be many adventures along the way. 

All is well, one year older, in Drosche Land. 

Getting Schooled

Well, I've been gone for a few days as things have been super hectic here in Drosche Land as we prepped for another school year. You can imagine how busy we have been with both Amy and    being teachers and having the 5 kids. But all is well and we have survived the beginning of August which was filled with meetings, preparations, classroom setup, meetings for T & L, and just life in general. We survived!  Today was the first day of school for all of us. Amy lucked out with a 1/2 day while the kids and I jumped in fully with a whole day. All in all it went very well. There were no tears this morning when getting ready. No tears when taking pictures, which I love to do. No tears during drop offs. That in and of itself is a success!  Everyone came home excited and exhausted. They are all asleep now but I, for some reason cannot fall asleep. So here I sit, telling you about our day. 

Stella. This year she is in the Toddler 2s class. Little Miss. Look at her. She was so excited to meet her new teacher, she talked about her for the past few days. She is potty trained and ready to go. Full of sass as always but sweet on the inside. Right now she is I so fully into wearing dresses which she proudly proclaims as a "pretty dress" over and over. So we let her wear one for the first day. She also loves her new shoes that light up (thanks Mom!). They are adorable. Right now in life she loves to play with all things girly still. Dolls, stuffed animals, purses, anything pink, bows, etc. Barbies are just around the corner!  Favorite foods are noodles and rice, she's a carb loader. She also loves fruit and French fries (carbs again). Sophia the First and Doc McStuffins are her favorite shows and she is obsessed with any princess movie, The Princess and the Frog and Sleeping Beauty are in full rotation now. She's a firecracker and has us all wrapped around her little finger.  Again, I'll mention her sassiness, oh my!  

Jackson. First Grade this year!  As you know he has come to St. Mark with Braeden, Stella, and I and I am so excited. That means that he is in my class and is the second of our children that I will have taught. He is one of a kind. We have found a good balance of medicine for his ADHD and he is thriving and focused. He loves numbers and anything mathematical. Right now I think he may be heading toward something related to engineering, I could totally see that. He's obsessed with his Kindle and Minecraft. He loves superheroes and collecting feathers (he found a blue jay one on the way to the car this afternoon). He loves being an older brother and dotes on Stella and L. While cartoons of any kind are still loved, he is getting to the age where he loves the Disney tween shows. Jessie, Austin & Ally, and I Didn't Do That to name a few. He had a great first day of school today and is excited to have me in class. With him being at Epiphany last year with Amy I really haven't seen him in an educational setting until today so that was interesting. With as outgoing as people think him to be, he is actually very analytical, sensitive, and quiet. He spent the majority of today just taking in the new surroundings and watching, assessing, and learning. I know he will come out of his shell eventually, he just takes slowly to new situations. But he is a trooper and there isn't anything he can't do if he puts his mind to it. 

Braeden. Third Grade. Seriously?!  Where has the time gone?  Oh he loved today and came home full of talk about his binder, planner, and all the procedures he learned. He loves school and is always excited to start a new year. He proudly proclaimed that today was going to be easy because, "first days are always easy because yet you don't have any homework yet!"  Just wait little man, just wait. He has always been, and still is, our athletic one. There isn't a sport he won't watch or want to play.  He would have the TV tuned to ESPN all day everyday if we would let him. He also is obsessed with video games, sometimes glued to his Playstation 3 and Kindle. He loves to read and is always wanting to start a new book, if only we could get him to finish one!  Like Jackson he is fully into the Disney tween shows. I think he truly believes he is going to turn 16 any minute!  Help us when he does becaus we already are dealing with some of that preteen attitude!  Oh my!  But he is an excellent oldest child, always wiling to pull extra weight and help ell out when needed with the many younger children. He has a huge heart and is a compassionate person, never thinking the worst of anyone.

T & L. Obviously I can't share their photos here. But they started today as well. T in PreK and L in Waddlers. They have adjusted to school very well considering they have never been in a group care setting.  T's teacher said she had a great day and was very excited to be there. Possibly the highlight of her day was her new backpack that she has been dying to carry since we bought it about a week ago. Her teacher is amazing and knows of the situation. She has been nothing but supportive and helpful. No matter how short of a time T is in her class, I know she will do well.  L has the same teachers Stella had last year so that was a smooth transition for us. We know she will be well cared for and loved. Her report today came with a picture of her with a huge grin on her face. She enjoyed it. She also is doing so well and that is exciting. Her teachers also are so thoughtful and caring, which we already knew when dealing with Stella and her allergies last year. 

Amy and I also had great days today. Our classes are awesome and the kiddos great. We are off to a great start. Amy is happy to be teaching the same grade for a second year and the stability and familiarity that comes along with that. I am so blessed to be at St. Mark and am loving it as always. 

So, all in all it was a great first day. Sure there will be days when things are far worse, but maybe I'll come back and read this post during those times to remind me of the good. This year is going to be a great one. It started off a little crazy with the girls' placement and all that has come with that, but we are adjusting and adapting. I know we will have a great time this year, all of us. It's so exciting. Everything is new and fresh. Everyone is excited and eager. I love my job. Well, I think sleep may finally come so I will wrap this up for tonight. One great day down and just a 170ish more to go!  Ha!

All is well, getting educated, in Drosche Land. 

Placement

So it happened. Yesterday. We'd spent weeks waiting, not being selected for several placements. Then out of the blue it happened. 

We'd spent the entire day at a water park with the cousins. Kind of a goodbye to summer daycation. So, there we were; hot, waterlogged, and tired. Not 5 minutes in the car and the phone rang. I knew immediately it was DePelchin because we recognized the phone number. Here we were, not expecting it in the least and an hour and a half away from home. Not such a bad thing though since it always takes about an hour or so to hear back from CPS. We listened to the information and said yes. About an hour later, 5 minutes from home, we were chosen. 

Now, obviously I can't go into too many details for legal reasons. I'm sure you understand. 2 girls, sisters, ages 4 and 13 months.  They are adorable. They've been with us just a little over 24 hours as I'm writing this and honestly we don't know much. Such is the life of foster care though. We should know more tomorrow and receive some answers about what kind of placement this is and how temporary or permanent it will be.  Until then we are living in the moment. Once again waiting. You'd think that a placement would take away that problem. But alas, #fostercarelife. 

So 5 kids is noisy. It's a constant hum to dull roar of activity. Someone is always talking. It's likely that someone is crying or about to. There are not enough toys for everyone. Ever.  But they are all getting along very well. The girls are doing well. Stella and the boys are doing well too. I'm not going to lie though, it's a lot of work. 5 kids. Amy and I haven't sat much at all. You are always going. Sure, right now is the crazy time when everyone is adjusting and figuring things out, so it won't always be this way. But it is for now. But that's alright. Honestly. Amy and I both still feel strongly that we are doing the right thing. Sure there are risks with foster care and foster-to-adopt but it's worth it. Regardless of the outcome, Amy and I have been given the opportunity to care for these 2 girls when they so desperately need it. To make an impact. To show His love for them. Yes, we do firmly believe this is what He is calling us to do. Despite the fatigue and despite the risk. 

So, that's that for now. Tomorrow will be tomorrow and who knows what it will be. But tonight we are good and all is quiet as everyone is asleep. I myself am about to collapse and turn in myself. Just wanted to share the good news. 

All is well, now with 5 kids, in Drosche Land. 

Making a Run for It

Ok. So if you know me at all you know that exercise and I are not good friends. We are barely acquaintances. However, this summer that has changed a bit. 

I've never been one for physical activity. When I was younger it was mainly due to being overweight. And lazy. When I lost all of my weight I just never got into it. I guess my laziness remained. That and I never saw the point. I'd much rather obsess over and control my eating to lose and maintain weight.

This summer though Amy started up a fitness plan with some friends of ours. They would run/walk every morning. At first I was all, "good for you!", and thought nothing more of it.   Then reality hit me. Hard. In the form of weight gain, the worst. I guess as I've gotten older, into my 30's my metabolism is not what it was before. It's still good I think, but I can no longer just drop weight as easily as I could before. Gasp!  Factor in all of the stress/anxiety from the adoption process and I had put on some weight. Not much, but it was above my flex range and I hated it. I eat my anxiety and being at home over the summer was not helping either. 

So, Amy suggested that I try running. Ugh!  Seriously?!  But nothing was chasing me!  No zombies or clowns, what was the point. But,alas, I decided to give in and try it out. How bad could it be?

My first time out I did 2 miles. I'm pretty sure I almost died. I may have blacked out somewhere along the way but I can't be sure. But I survived. Sure I was out of breath and my legs were killing me and I was drenched in sweat; but I was alive. So I decided to continue. That was about 2ish weeks ago and all is going well. It's not horrible. I won't say I love it, but I definitely don't hate it anymore. It is somewhat enjoyable, mostly when it's over and I've recovered, but enjoyable nonetheless. I still have yet to experience this "runner's high" people talk about. I'm pretty sure I have the runner's low down pat, but a high?  Nope. Not yet at least. But I've lost a few pounds and I feel better. 

Well, in keeping with the way Amy and I dive head first into adventures we have also signed up for our first 5K. Seriously. It's a GlowFoam run late next month and I am actually excited about it. It was Amy's idea and she talked me into it.  So, we are in prep mode now and I have stepped up my game to get ready for the 5K. Apparently it is like 3.1 miles so yesterday I upped my daily run to 3.5 miles. Again, I didn't die so all is well with that. 

Amy and I also got Fitbits yesterday to boost our fitness adventure. We are in love. You know I love me some technology and wearable technology is taking over. So now my Pebble I have the Fitbit on, I'm always connected!

Now, I'll quickly clear some things up for you. I do not run the entire time, not in the least. I am not that good. Yet. But I don't walk slowly the entire time either. I do a combo of briskly walking and running. Alternating between the two during my time. I'll call is rulking since it's neither full-on running but also not walking. That makes it sound better. Rulking. That's more my speed!

So, that's it. If you would have said, even a month ago, that we would be into fitness, rulking, and prepping for a 5K I would have said you were crazy!  But here we are fully into a new adventure and loving it. Life can be surprising I guess. Always. 

All is well, working on our fitness, here in Drosche Land. 

Double Trouble

Yes. The above happened this past week here in Drosche Land. 

Finally, some news on huge adoption front. Well, one of our adoption fronts. The pet one. See, we'd been debating getting a new dog for a while. We desperately missed Lucy and needed some grieving time. However, we also thought that Rex was lonely. He needed a companion. My parents watched him when we went to DisneyWorld and he loved hanging 

out and playing with her two dogs. Then we went on vacation with my family and again he enjoyed them. So, Amy and I decided to bite the bullet and get a new dog. 

Truth be told though, it was Amy who was ready first. Randomly one day she was researching and looking online. The next thing I know she was doing a great job lobbying on behalf of getting not one, but two dogs. Two?!  I wasn't so sure about this. Especially since we were looking at puppies rather than older dogs. Two?!  I mean, I've always wanted twins, but two puppies?!  At the same time?!  After some serious convincing I found myself with the boys on the way to a shelter. Amy had found two puppies and we'd fallen in love with their pictures. 

As luck would have it they were available when I got there. In fact, that was the first day that they'd been available for adoption after their initial inspection, doctor's visits, and spaying/neutering.  Plus I was the first person to inquire about them since I got there first thing. The boys and I were instantly smitten. About an hour later we were headed home with two tiny puppies in the truck with us!

They're miniature schnauzer mixes. We personally think they look like they are mixed with dachshunds.  If this is so the technical name for them is, I kid you not, schnoxies!  However, I prefer my own term - schweenies!  So that's what we are going with. Originally we were looking into chihuahuas or chihuahua mixes. But after some research we figured they were not for our family. So mini schnauzers it was. 

Their names at the shelter were Hannah and Hamilton. As cute as those sounded we decided on Mickey and Minnie since this was the summer of Disney!  They are 8 weeks old and each weigh just under 4 pounds!  So far they have gotten along so well with Rex. In fact, he is so timid around them and Mickey chases him around often. Rex is so mild-mannered and timid in nature anyway. But he has become very protective of them and always stays where he can see them. That or he just doesn't want to be snuck up on!

We are in the process of potty training them and even when they make a mess it is so small that it is not remotely difficult or stressful. They also sleep through the night without crying so that is great.  So, overall they have been a great addition to our family and have brought a lot of fun and excitement into the house. The kids love them and Are great, we are working with Stella on being gentle though since, she is two and in that rough and tumble stage, she can be a bit heavy-handed. 

So, there's our second big adventure of the summer. Last year it was the pop-up and the Sequoia. This year it was my truck and twin puppies!  It's always an adventure here so we will see what next summer brings. I shudder to think!  :)

All is well, now with puppies, in Drosche Land. 

Keep On Truckin'

Hey. So we are on vacation with my family right now. It's the heat of the day which, here in Texas in July, is a good portion of the day. Today we are spending this time inside the camper. Amy and Stella are napping, the boys are having some relaxing time with their Kindles, and I am here catching up on blog reading and now posting. Nothing fancy, but relaxing nonetheless.

We try to limit the kids' video game/Kindle time throughout the school year and even during the summer. Although summer and vacation times are a but more lenient. They get some time each day with it though, I mean after all everyone needs a little down time to veg out right?  But that's not the point of this post, so on with it. 

Back in June we traveled to Disney World. It was amazing. Yes I know my promised posts about it all have yet to materialize, but patience dear readers, hopefully they will come while the summer is still current!  Anywho, we stayed at Disney's Fort Wilderness Campground. We took the camper with us and had a blast. The Sequoia though, did not have as much fun. 

She's a great vehicle and we love her. In fact, today is the one-year anniversary of when we bought her. She hauls around our brood comfortably and reliably.  She was bought for her roominess and her towing capacity. But that was back when we had the pop-up. Sure, she could pull the Fireside just fine, but gas mileage was brutally low. Also, we have grand plans of traveling to the mountains someday, maybe next summer. All the hills though may be too difficulty for our beloved Sequoia. So we began looking for a larger, more powerful tow vehicle when we bought the Fireside last spring. We researched. We toured lots. We compared. We talked. We prayed. We decided. 

A few weeks ago we took the plunge and bought a truck!  We'd originally looked into used as we had with the Sequoia, but given the fact that it will serve as a day-to-day vehicle as well as a workhorse tow vehicle we decided to go the new route. To save an wear and tear and get the most out of it. 

What did we get?  We happily bought a Ford F150 with a crew cab so we could have the room for everyone.  Our one an only requirement was that it have a gat tow package, anything else that it came with in our price range was icing on the cake. I'm lucky to have Amy who is such a savvy researcher. She was able to find the perfect truck, in the exact color I wanted - Denim. 

I'm still in love. She is wonderful and we could not be any happier. One first outing with her and the camper didn't go as expected (forthcoming post) but we brought her out for this one and it was so much better towing with a truck than the Sequoia. So, that's our crazy purchase for this summer. Last summer brought the pop-up and the Sequoia. Next summer?  I shudder to think!  :)  If you're in June marks for a truck I highly suggest Ford. It's my first Ford but when we compared the big 3, Ford, Chevrolet, and Dodge, Ford just seemed to have everything we needed and wanted at the perfect price point. Plus they are known for their towing abilities and power. Nuff said. Love it. 

All is well, truckin' along, in Drosche Land. 

Trippin'

We made it to Disney World!

It was quite the eventful trip. We left early yesterday morning and ended up spending 14 hours in the car (several breaks and a too-long lunch) driving 656 miles. It made for a long day. A very long day. Stella watched Frozen 5 times. 5.  Now not only do I know all the songs (ok yes, I knew them well before today) but now I know a good portion of dialogue as well!  We stopped somewhere in Florida at Falling Waters State Park. We basically hooked up electricity and water, ate, and slept. That's all we had the energy for. 

This morning we left a little later so it was good to sleep in a bit. We only spent about 8 hours driving and only got in 2 viewings of Frozen.  But we made it in good time. After hooking up and unloading Amy and I took the kids to meet with a friend from college and her family. It was good to visit since we hadn't seen them in 4 years!  Yikes. Then back to the campsite.  Any plans for exploring the grounds and amenities tonight were cut short by rain. Lots of it. Apparently that's what it does here in Florida. Rain. Right now it's a light rain and between that and the fact that everyone is sleeping the camper has a very soothing and relaxing sound. Ahhhhh. The forecast for tomorrow says clear skies until rain in the evening. Hopefully it's not as much as today. But we will see. Can't complain though because we made it to Disney!

Also got to experience quite a number of camper firsts this trip so far. Driving it for so long. Pulling through gas stations. Backing into the spot here at Disney (we've stuck to pull-through sites thus far).  All in all though it was a great trip. Long but any good road trip is.  The real fun starts tomorrow though  and hopefully it'll be dry!  Especially since were headed to Animal Kingdom. Safari time!

All is well, at Disney, in Drosche Land. 

Last Minute

You know how it is. No matter how much you prep and plan for a vacation, the day before is hectic and filled with a whirlwind of activity as you get ready to leave. 

Today was no different for us as we are leaving super early tomorrow morning for the drive to Disney.  However, our first errand handed us a nice little setback. See, we had to cool the fridge and put stuff in the camper. But the fridge wouldn't turn on. Ugh. Propane was ok so it had to be the battery. Next up, impromptu trip to Camping World to get it checked out. However, they were anything but helpful; providing us with only further frustrations. Luckily we were able to just drive up the road to Holiday World and turns out the battery just needed to be charged.  Score!  So it's there while we spend the rest of the day planning. 

I'm currently blogging from the waiting area at Kwik Kar (I LOATHE stupid spellings of business/product names, must be my inner teacher) blogging while The Beast gets her oil changed. Despite my loathing for the name, the place it close to home and the price is right so I can turn my teacher eye for a bit.  The Beast by the way is our name for the Sequioa. I wanted a name for her, I like naming cars. Weird I know. We couldn't decide on once so this one stuck. It fits. She's huge, she works hard, she puts up with a lot of Drosche Land craziness.  The Beast it is!

So, after this it's back home to finish cleaning and prepping food. Clothes are all packed and loaded into the camper so that's done. Tonight we pick up the charging battery and drop off Rex with my parents who are being awesome and dog-sitting for us while we are at Disney. Woo hoo!  Then it's early to bed so we can early to rise. 

Vacations are awesome and this one is going to be epic since it's our first Disney trip. But they are so much for to prep for, not to mention the recovery work that will come next week once we return.  Such is life. Everyone's vacations seem to be that way. Totally worth it though. Stay tuned for copious amounts of pictures!

All is well, Disney bound, in Drosche Land. 

2

Stella turned 2 today!

2. Years. Old. Where has the time gone?  I feel like I say this three times a year on each of the kids' birthdays but it still shocks me.

2 years. Wow. 

So much has happened in the past 2 years here in Drosche Land and I am sure the same can be said about everyone.  We have been through a lot. Ups and downs. Highs and lows. All in the short life of our little princess.

She has definitively changed us. For the better of course. We've learned what patience is as we've ridden the rollercoaster that is food allergies.  Her allergies have also inspired us all to eat a lot healthier. We've also had to rethink who is in charge here as she seems to be fairly certain that she runs the show, especially when it comes to her brothers who will do anything she asks (nearly always willingly).

As you can see from above, Minnie Mouse is a new favorite. Maybe it's because we are heading to Disney in less than two weeks (yikes!) and thus are always talking about it. Maybe it's because she watches Mickey's Clubhouse.  Either way, she is in love with the large stuffed mouse, clad in all pink. Hello Kitty is another favorite of hers lately. She is also very much in the "why?" stage of life and is constantly asking that about anything. She loves to eat applesauce in the squeezable pouches. She has also taken to saying, "Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!" and pumping her fists up and down when she's excited or happy. It's hilarious. 

I could go on and on about Stella and all that is this wonderful little girl. But I'll leave it at the fact that she, like every child, is a blessing. Throughout whatever we have been through these past 2 years, she has helped us to keep our perspective in life. She's reminded us what is most important and she has shown us that it's ok, and valuable, to roll with the punches and be flexible. She's made us smile when we didn't want to or didn't think we could. She's given us something to look forward to when everything else seemed bleak. She's changed us. For the better. 

All is well, 2 years older, in Drosche Land. 

Lucky Day

Wednesday was a good day.  However, it was also the last full day of school and super busy so you are just now hearing about it on Friday. 

1. We received an email late Tuesday night, after we'd already gone to bed, from our Home Study worker. Our Foster-to-Adopt Home Study was approved!  So that started our day off on a good note. But it also means more work for us. Since we have now expanded to the fostering world, we will need a fire inspection of the house. But before that we have to have our gas lines inspected. S the past few days have involved phone calls between myself and the fire marshal's office and plumbers.  A plumber is coming to the house on Sunday and we will see about the gas line inspection then. Friday brings the fire inspection so hopefully by this time next week those things will be taken care of and we will be ready for the next step. What's that you ask?  Well, I was just going to tell you. Within 2 weeks we I will be contacted by someone from Matching and that process will begin. Yet another step closer. Hopefully an easy and quick step???  Fingers crossed!

2. So, Wednesday was good. Bittersweet as another year came to an end. I had a great class and I'll miss them terribly. This past year of changes was amazing and I was I truly blessed with awesome coworkers, friends, students, and families.  The changes were refreshing and reminded me of why I LOVE my job and what ministry is all about!  But the end of the year came and went. On the way home Amy and I met at the doctor to get our TB skin tests (another step since we'd received our approvals). Upon leaving, luck once again visited us. Via a texting contest with my favorite radio station (104.1 KRBE) I won an iPad Mini!  I know right?!?!  I've rarely won anything in life so I was quite excited about this. Plus I got to be on the radio for a few brief seconds. What fun!  You know I love me some Apple products so an iPad Mini is something right up my alley. I have to go pick it up next week so stay tuned about that. 

So, this past week has been a good one for us here in Drosche Land. Amy's and Jackson's last day was today and they also had a good one to end a good year. Next week brings meetings and cleaning before summer fully begins and then we will be in full whirlwind status as we prep for Disney!  But it seems as though things are settling down and calming a bit for us which is good for a change, especially since we are about to (hopefully) enter into the fine stretch of the adoption process! For now though things are good. We've got approvals, an iPad, and summer is here!

All is well, lucky, in Drosche Land. 

Trading Up

Spring Break. It's pretty much over. The last few hours of Sunday are waning away and the fun of the past week is quickly becoming a memory. Tomorrow life resumed and things get back to normal.

We had a great Spring Break and truly enjoyed ourselves. As usual we were super busy the entire time and I now need a vacation to recover from Spring Break, but I'd probably just make more plans rather than vegging out like I'd like to do so maybe it's best that there isn't one. But enough about Spring Break. I'll post more on that later, I've got something else to talk about here. Plus I'm not done sorting through all of the vacation pictures. 

So. Trading up. You know that Amy and I love camping. You also know that this past summer we purchased a pop-up camper. We loved it. Sure, our first couple of attempts were fraught with drama and are memorable for all the wrong reasons, but we did love it. 

However, we neglected to get an air conditioner installed when we bought it. Something we almost instantaneously regretted.  Our plans of using an a/c unit we got from Home Depot never panned out the way we wanted them to so the week before Spring Break we began the process of getting one installed. Well, as is the case with us, it was also an ordeal. They had to order the part. Then they couldn't just install it because a hole had to be cut for it. But then they couldn't find any plans for the camper so they didn't know if it was pre-braced or pre-wired for one. Ugh. So we picked it up at the last minute and decided to take it out without one. After all the weather was nice and it would likely not be needed. 

Enter Spring Break. The weather was amazing and we actually used the heater for the first time due to the chilly temps. We did get a little warm on none last day but it wasn't has horrible as we'd experienced. But we quickly realized that we had already outgrown the pop-up. Especially with our upcoming trip to Disney this summer and the adoption. So we decided to upgrade ourselves and get a bigger, hard-side camper. 

Well, easier said than done. The process ended up being several days, several looooooong days, as we went through the motions of what we wanted, what was available, what we could afford, what we could manage, etc.  Long hours were spent at Camping World. We were still tired and exhausted from our Spring Break trip but it had to happen now, we're in a time crunch with spring already here and out weekend filling up with swim team (a post for another time).  Plus we wanted to take it out a couple of times before Disney and we have only a few months left in the one year buy back deal we were taking advantage of. 

But, at long last, the process was finished. Finally. We have our dream camper. One that is big enough for us to use now and grow into with our family over the next many years (we will not be going through this process again for a very long while).  So, on with the details. 

It's 26 feet long. It has a queen size bed for Amy and I, a twin over full bunk, a dinette that converts to a bed, and a sofa bed. Plenty of room for all 3 (soon to be 4) kids to have their own sleeping arrangements. It has a bathroom with a toilet and shower. It has a good sized refrigerator with freezer. And it has a ton, I mean a ton, of storage.  It's huge. Double the weight of the pop-up, triple the height, and about 10 feet longer. But thanks to some awesome tow hitch upgrades and a special brake system installed it drives smoother than the pop-up ever did. It was nowhere near as difficult to pull as I'd worried myself it would be. My only concern is backing it up but that will come with practice so we shall see about that. We are so excited and happy to finally own it.  We are also thrilled to have our garage back since this is way too huge to fit there so we had to rent storage for it. 

Our inaugural trip is set for the weekend after next so I will keep you posted on how it goes. We cannot wait and are counting the days until we get to take her out.  But until then we are happy and excited. I'll leave you with a few pictures we have of it from when we picked it up yesterday!  Woo hoo!

All is well, rv-ing, in Drosche Land. 

No Small Parts

You know the saying.

No small parts, only small actors.  Well, I have no clue where it comes from or who said it but it has come to mean something here in Drosche Land.  

If you know me or have been following us here for any amount of time you know that Braeden has always, and I mean always, shied away from any kind of public performance  or attention.  All of his Christmas performances he refused to take part in, instead opting to cry and watch from afar.  His Pre-K graduation; same thing.  Boys dance?  Yep, same thing.  No matter what Amy or I bribed him with tried worked.  Ever.  The first time he willingly, and without tears, participated in something was last year in 1st Grade.  Yes, I'm serious people.  It was the Advent/Christmas concert at school.  He technically was one of over a hundred children at the front of the church singing and he wasn't in the front.  But I'll count it.  

The other parents always pitied us.  There I sat with my camera ready, watching whatever performance it was, with no kid to take a picture of.  Nope.  Sad huh?  We eventually got used to it and stopped worrying about the lack of documentation he would have later in life.  We just learned to accept it for what it was and hoped we'd be able to coax him across the stage at his high school graduation.

That was until this year.  Our school is putting on a Spring Play and students of all ages, 2nd - 8th Grades, were invited to try out.  Well, guess who wanted to give it a shot?  Yep.  I was floored.  Seriously?  For real?  Was I being punked?  Nope, no hidden cameras around and April 1 is far off.  This kid was serious.  He seriously wanted to try out.  So we obliged him.  Encouraged him to sign up.  Talking with him and let him know that auditioning didn't mean he would get a part.  But we were proud of him for doing it.  And we were.  Very.

Then the night before auditions came.  We were Rehearsing with him to prep him. That's when his nerves set in and he started to second guess himself.  We worried that he wouldn't go through with it.  I didn't mind one way or the other, but I was looking forward to the experience for him and the confidence boost it might provide.  But we talked, calmed down, and practiced more.  He was as ready as he was going to be.

So the day of the audition dawned and he was still set on trying out.  I'll be honest.  I was nervous.  The likelihood of him getting a a part was slim, I know.  But he is my baby still, even though he is growing up all too fast.  I didn't want him to be nervous, disappointed, or embarrassed.  But I couldn't do anything about it.  Just pray, sit back, and let him live his life.  My little man.  Lo and behold he went through with it.  One of my friends was one of the judges and I was told he did well.  Now we just had to wait for the casting to be posted.  

The day arrived.  It was up.  He didn't get an actual part, but he was cast as an extra.  Nothing fancy.  Nothing tremendous.  Well, not for anyone else.  But for us this was a huge milestone.  Now we wait for his time to begin practice.  Suddenly we are parents with a kid in some kind of extra curricular.  We knew we'd be here eventually since he loves sports.  But we were thinking 5th Grade.  Not 2nd Grade and certainly not play practice.  But such is life.  Just when you think you know what's going on, you're thrown a curve ball.  HE keeps it interesting for us, I'll admit that.  One day everything is going along normally and the next day we're living in the midst of an actor.

Oh, the part?  A squire in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court.  Rest assured there will be subsequent posts with pictures!  Stay tuned.

What up!

All is well, inside the actor's studio, in Drosche Land.

   

I Wish You A Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year

Merry Christmas.

Happy Holidays.

Happy New Year.

I hope that the holiday season has been awesome for you and yours dear readers.  It certainly has been great here in Drosche Land.  December has been busy here, as life seems to be lately, but I wanted to make sure and close out the year here with you.  Plus I haven't posted any pictures of Christmas yet!  Yikes!  Luckily I think I'm still in the acceptable time frame for holiday pictures.  For a few more hours at least.  I'll do my New Years recap post tomorrow and focus on Christmas today. 

We are a little over a week into our Christmas Break here and it has been great.  Restful.  Relaxing.  Fun.  Joyous.  Just what we needed this holiday season.  Last year was Stella's 1st Christmas, but being just 6 months old she didn't get much out of it.  18 months though is a fun age for Christmas.  She knows who Santa is and will, on cue, say, "Ho, Ho, Ho" when she sees his picture.  Super cute.  So it has been a blast to watch her this year as she experiences everything about Christmas.  The only thing we didn't do was actually make it to see Santa this year.  Best laid plans and all.  Oh well, maybe next year?

The boys are still in the prime age for Christmas, especially Jackson.  He just loves opening presents.  He genuinely gets excited about any gift he receives and genuinely loves watching people open presents.  One of his best traits.  Braeden is on the cusp though.  You know what I mean.  He sort of has things figured out about the big man in red.  But I think his childhood will just not let go of it yet.  He knows something is up, but still believes.  So, the magic is still much alive here in Drosche Land, as I am sure it will always be.

This Christmas was also a special one for Amy and I as it is the last one we will celebrate as a family of 5.  With the adoption moving briskly along we will have our daughter with us next year!  Crazy to think, but so exciting as well.  We did take some time to talk, just the 2 of us, about what she might be doing this year.  How she might be celebrating.  Its bittersweet of course, but knowing that it was the last one we will all celebrate apart did bring some comfort.

So, celebrating the birth of our Savior was a pleasant experience here in Drosche Land this year and I pray it was for you as well.  We still have a few days left of break and, thankfully, have no big plans for them!  Just more rest, relaxation, and family.  Sounds great!  So, Merry Christmas.  Happy Holidays.  Happy New Year from Drosche Land to you. On with the pictures!

All is well, merry, in Drosche Land.

Stella's 2013 Christmas Picture

Jackson's 2013 Christmas Picture

Braeden's 2013 Christmas Picture

My 3

Annual Christmas family picture!

The boys opening presents

Stella and one of her 2 Cabbage Patch babies

A stroller!

Jackson loved his Minion goggles!

The boys opening their Kindle Fires

Stella loved opening presents!

Amy opening Braeden's gift for her that he made at school

Bows!

KINDLE FIRE!

Feeding her baby

Minion goggles and a fart gun!

Her new princess nightgown

He's getting so big!

Deja Vu All Over Again

Adoption.

It's never truly left our hearts or minds.  It's been nearly 2 1/2 years since we had to stop the process with Margaux.  It was sad.  It was hard.  But we do believe that it was part of God's plan for us.  We have Stella.  

However, Amy and I have never stopped feeling a pull toward adoption.  

It's hard to explain.  We've tried.  To family.  To friends.  But honestly, it's hard.  We feel that God has placed adoption on our hearts.  That He has called us to do something.  We have spent the last 2 1/2 years trying to figure out what that something is.  Should we adopt?  Should we advocate for orphans?  Should we raise money?  Awareness?  We didn't know.  We discussed it at length and prayed continuously.  We waited.  And waited.  And you know how little I enjoy that!

About a month though it came up again.  As usual, just working its way back into our lives.  Adoption.  What to do?  So we talked about it once again and found that DePelchin, an agency here, was having an informational meeting.  So we decided to go.  We hadn't told anyone yet.  We thought, and hoped, that attending the meeting would help to guide us where He needs us.  So we went.  It was eye-opening.  Enlightening.  And it provided us with an answer and a direction.

Yes, Amy and I have once again begun the process of adoption.  Its quite different this time around though.  We are not seeking international adoption, for many reasons.  Instead, we are staying local.  We will be adopting from CPS.  The one similarity will be the fact that our child will likely be of an ethnicity different than our own.  No big news there.  I mean, we were in the process of an international adoption once upon a time.

So, the orientation meeting confirmed in us the calling to adopt.  We told our parents.  They were surprised, and understandably so seeing as how this came out of nowhere really.  But they will warm up.  Again.

Yesterday we began work on the application and have it nearly completed already.  Again, not our first rodeo.  Also, much of the legwork with gathering all of the documentation is already done and we will be able to use it all this time around.  So in that sense this adventure will be slightly easier.  Having said that though, we have a long road ahead of us.  We know that.  Again, nothing new.

The boys are both very supportive of an adopted sister.  Oh, yeah, we are looking to adopt a girl, between the ages of 2-7.  Again, much like before.  Braeden and Jackson both understand that she may look different (race) than us and they do not care.  They are excited.  They find it cool that Stella will have a sister.  

I guess that's about it.  It's getting late here and I'm fading fast, but I wanted to get this post out.  I've been mentally writing it all day.  Here we are again.  This blog started with the news of our adventures into adoption.  It then followed us as we planned for Margaux and eventually had to say goodbye.  It has seen the birth of Stella.  Job changes.  Life.  It's all been here over the past 3 (wow, almost 4) years.  And now we are back to adoption.  Another adventure.  Hope you're ready for the ride.  We are.

All is well, haven't we been here before?, in Drosche Land.                 

Back At It

So, here I am.

Back.

I believe that last year there is a similarly titled post around this time.  

So, August was supposed to catch us up on July and the summer.  Then August began.  August is to teachers, what April is to accountants.  Needless to say, things have been ridiculously busy here in Drosche Land.  So much change going around, our heads are still spinning.

So I'll try and cram as much into this post as possible to catch us up and bring us current. But it may get long so if you need to pause for a snack or beverage, that's cool.  

So, where were we?  July.  We bought a camper.

We stayed at home for July 4th and, as usual, celebrated with some small time fireworks.  We enjoyed it and no one lost an eye or finger!  Although there was a close call with a rogue firework that didn't go as "aerial" as it should have.  But the kids enjoyed it and I got to blow stuff up.  A win-win.

Jack's favorite are the sparklers!

Braeden's first time with a Roman candle!

  

Then we were getting ready to head to Arkansas for our big family vacation with Amy's family.  We do it every year and Arkansas has become a favorite spot of ours.  Well, a few days prior to leaving, 2 I believe.  We took the van in to get inspected.  It failed.  Crap.  So we took it to our mechanic to figure out what the issue was.  Turns out she was in worse condition than we'd anticipated.  I mean, she was well loved, a true workhorse.  But her time, with us at least, had come to an end.  The needed repairs were expensive and there was no guarantee that she would even last a year.  So, we decided to get a new car.  Shut up!  Yes, we did.  Although we'd enjoyed being car payment free for about a year, we couldn't avoid it any longer.  So we headed to Carmax (where we bought the van) and looked for something to meet our many needs.  We'd researched online and ended up just happening across a Toyota Sequoia.  It had what we needed and wanted.  It was big, with a 3rd row to hold everyone and everything.  It could tow our new camper.  It has a sunroof.  Ok, not a need but still a perk!  Best of all, the price was great and we got a fair deal on the van as a trade in.  So, we bought a new car, just about a week and a half after the camper.  Seriously.  It's never a dull moment here.

The new car in all her ginormous glory!

We are totally in love.

So we headed to Arkansas in our new (to us) car and loved every minute of it.  The vacation was awesome!  Stella did very well considering it was her first ever vacation away from home.  Our family was luckily understanding of the fact that she wakes up early and only teased us a little.  The boys found a new love of riding on a boat and being pulled in the tube.  I found that I can hold my own against Amy's brother and cousins, all around 10 years younger than me, on a rough and wild ride on the aforementioned tube!  Still got it!  It was great to get away and we enjoyed the much-needed vacation.  Possibly the best part of all was when we went fishing and Jack caught his first ever, and second, and third fish!  Amy learned how to unhook them so we will be prepared for our next big catch.  I caught a catfish that was just slightly too small to keep, much to Jackson's and my dismay as we love us some catfish.

I have a habit of taking "Road Trip" pictures.  Amy kindly obliges!

Jack the fisherman!

I love this shot of Amy and I.

Stella enjoyed the lake and didn't fuss too much over her lifejacket!

My girls!

Catch of the day!

Braeden enjoying the boat!

The last bit of July was spent at home, relaxing and bemoaning the fact that summer was all too quickly drawing to a close.  You know the drill.  But, before we all got back into the swing of things, we did make some time for a trip to the beach.  Now, I know people, even my fellow native Houstonians, hate on Galveston.  Yes, the water isn't crystal clear.  Yes, there is seaweed.  I get it.  But I still love me some Galveston.  We had a blast.  The boys have always loved the beach but we weren't so sure about Stella.  Turns out we needn't worry at all.  She is a little beach bum herself. She took right to it and didn't fuss all day.  She enjoyed herself splashing and running around, every now and then stopping to try and eat some sand.  It was the perfect goodbye to summer and left Amy and I wondering why we don't make it to the beach more often.  So we make plans to camp there over Labor Day!  However, with the latest development of Jackson's broken arm, we have had to cancel that since casts and water don't exactly miss.  Another camper trip foiled!  But there are plenty of other times coming up.

My girls at the beach! 

My favorite shot of the day!

My boys playing around!

Stella and I building sand castles!

So, that brings us through the busy month of July and into August.  True, August is nearly over but we're nearly caught up.  I promise.  This post has gotten lengthy, although I hope I've won you over with the many pictures!  :)  I'll do one more catch up post to fill you in on the joys that have been August 2013 here in Drosche Land.  Then we'll be squared away and ready to move forward.  And yes, that post will come before the end of the month.  I have a week!  

All is well, nearly caught up, in Drosche Land.