The Start of a Nice Weekend!

I think this is what a great Saturday looks like. The girls had a wonderful hour long soccer class at the fields. They did extremely well and burned off a lot of energy. M dominated on offense and S ruled defense. A quick trip to lowes to get some pavers for the back yard then drive thru McD's with lunch time at a nearby park. They girls ate lunch and then worked their way thru the stationary work out equipment in the park. Then we found the super huge play area. The play structure is 3 levels tall. It has a rock climbing part and 3 super tall curvy slides. Climbing up three stories was slightly scary for M but she conquered her fear and started to love it. S, on the other hand, jumped in head first. It could have been six stories and she would have loved it. After playing for awhile the girls started looking for pine cones and nests within the big park trees. I love seeing them play nicely and use their imagination on different things. 

Tomorrow will be another fun, exciting day. We are going to venture out to the beach. Our plan is to be there before noon and hang out near the water. If I feel brave a walk at the Santa Monica Pier could be possible. We are so excited that Stephy, Sean's Aunt and Uncle, and Sean's best friend will all be joining us. It will be (hopefully be) a fun filled day! 

Here's the first picture of the girls that I  sharing online. Enjoy the masks! 

A Good Weekend

Thank heavens for a really great weekend!!! We survived with no fits and tantrums!! YAY!

We all had a great time with Stephanie visiting. The girls loved her and she did amazing with helping out and keeping them entertained. Soccer practice went really well and they both enjoyed it. The girls each have soccer balls to practice with. The day went so well that we even went out for a nice dinner Saturday night. The girls were excited to get dressed up in cute dresses that they had not been able to wear yet. Sunday we spent the day in our pajamas doing arts and crafts and watching tv. All in all, it was a good weekend. (Oh, the little dog was finally picked up early Saturday)

Yesterday the girls went to the post office and mailed off their first packages to their family members. They made pictures and colored pages for their bio- nana, papa & auntie and foster parents, and made thank you cards for my dad and step-mom. They also got a P.O. Box at the post office for their family and others to send them letters. If any one would like, you are welcome to send the girls letters or cards to PO Box 490, Lancaster CA 93584.

That's pretty much it for the week so far. Nana (Sean's mom) will be leaving us tomorrow :(. She has been such a great help with unpacking and helping with the girls. I will be spending my day on Thursday at the insurance office, working on getting the girls signed up for their CA insurance. On Friday we have a home visit from a New Mexico state worker (since we have not been assigned one here yet.)

Now, what to do? Breakfast then some more picture hanging!

My Plate is Over Flowing!

So here's an update of how things have been going lately. I already blogged about school for the girls starting on September 4th and how the first week (3 days left of the week) ended with both girls not behaving appropriately. One resulted in a 'hot slip' being sent home and the other was just a conversation. On Monday of this week, M was sent home with a 'hot slip' for not behaving appropriately (I really should not be giving details on the specific issues). And as another Friday rolls around, another 'hot slip' for S comes home from inappropriate behavior. These behaviors are generally not keeping their hands/body parts to themselves. The girls do not know what appropriate behavior should be when faced with situations that challenge them. This is where therapy would come in to play.

Speaking of therapy... The school uses a wonderful therapy service for kids that experienced trauma and hardships. I am so excited about getting them started, but it takes the California medical insurance to get them started. Which we do not have yet. This makes me so frustrated. These little lovelies are somewhat lost and are needing the additional help.

Tomorrow we start soccer. I hope that the additional exercise and experience with other kids, outside of school, will be a benefit and a chance for me to see the girls interacting with other children. Since I do not see them interacting with others, I am not able to coach or help them along with things go astray. I am really hoping that this will help. If attending soccer goes well, gymnastics will be the next activity they will be signed up for.

The girls love arts and crafts. Construction paper, scissors, pencils, tape, stickers and crayons will keep them busy for a little while. We haven't broke out the markers or paint yet. They are excited to meet my friend Stephy tomorrow and have her here to play for awhile. I think she will fit right in with the little lovelies.

And the rest of how things are going... the brown boxes are starting to disappear! YAY! I have unpacked more and more each day and started to put boxes into a storage unit near by. Sean's mom has been here and has been a great help with getting the boxes unpacked and out of the garage. Today we were even able to hang pictures up on the wall. And the rest of my plate is filled with a stray dog that has been hanging out at my door for the past couple of days. I have placed several calls to animal control and they keep telling me someone will be out. Thankfully, the small dog is friendly and super cute. I had hoped that someone would be looking for him, but no one has came by yet. I posted on FB and CL with no luck. I hope they come soon. He has started scratching at the door and trying to dig under the fence.

Time to cook dinner!

Saturday on a Quiet Street

One of the nicest things about the neighborhood that we moved to is that the road in front of our house does not have thru traffic. The only reason cars go on the road in front of our house is if they live on it. Which makes it quite nice for M&S to have an evening bike ride. The breeze is nice since the days are scorching hot. There are a few kids that live close by, but it's not overwhelming and loud. 

This morning was a morning full of fits and tantrums and whining. A day that we wanted to run errands and enjoy some time out of the house. We finally got the girls to a calmer state with a promise to listen and to behave the rest of the day. 

We made a Costco run, lunch at Rubios, and a stop at health food store. Our outing ended with a dead battery and a 45 minute wait for a service truck. We made it home and naps were a breeze. After dinner the girls had a choice of staying up late and watching Brave or riding bikes with a normal bed time. They actually chose to ride their bikes. We were happy for the good choice, but Sean and I really wanted to watch Brave. 

Maybe tomorrow! 

A Month In...

It's been a month since we met M&S. A month of transition, change, learning, and a move over 700 miles away. The past few weeks have been absolutely crazy. We packed up, and unpacked into our new house. We are now living in California.
Living, unpacking, and pulling my hair out! Trying to do as much as I can without going mentally insane. If you know me, you know that having our lives in boxes and living out of boxes drives me crazy. I am learning that it will take time, just like everything else. Our lives of being so simple are totally opposite and I am learning how to handle it.
M&S are doing pretty well. They started school on Wednesday of this week, after a run around with the schools psych for almost a week. He needed to review all of their educational plans and decide if the school in our district was the correct school. The first couple of school days went well. One of the girls has a good teacher that told me that she was behind the class (which I knew.) And now we are looking into a tutor for her to help her get more on track. I have not heard anything yet from the other's teacher, but I know soon that I will. I still have to get with the school psych to find out what services the school provides for the girls.
But today is another day. I got a call from school that M needed a different pair of shoes because she was getting blisters. When I arrived, M informed me that she had hit a girl in the stomach. She said that they were playing, but did it on purpose. She also said that she just wanted to go home. We had a talk about how that is not appropriate and how we would not like to be hit, and to think about your actions. And then she finished her day at school. I told her that she could not go home when things go wrong and to be more careful. I picked up the girls from school at the end of their school day and S informed me that she hit someone as well. She said they were playing that the other girl was playing dead and she hit her in the mouth. The teacher gave her a hot slip about not keeping her hands to herself. The consequece for their actions today is no TV tonight (Friday Night), and the whole weekend to work on keeping their hands and feet to themselves. They are not allowed to touch/play with each other, us, or the dogs. Sean has been on a business trip this week and comes home tonight. They also have to sit down with their dad and tell him what happened. I just hope I am handling this the right way.
We have learned to keep the consequences simple. Where I wanted to ground them from TV the whole weekend, I know to limit to just a night. We are trying not to pile up the consequences so that they explode.
The girls are spending the evening at the kitchen table coloring or working on school type work. Later they may be able to play in their separate rooms, but not with each other.
I know that these issues will come up in school. There are so many things that I want to do with the girls, fun things like gymnastics, playing at different parks, going to the beach, and spending time in LA with family and friends. I feel that these are special outings reserved for the girls being well behaved. If we do these when they are not behaved it makes it seem like its ok to not behave. It may be awhile until we are able to go out and do fun stuff. But on the flip side, I want them able to behave when we do go out as well. Catch 22!


And yes, it's been awhile since I blogged last. I hope to be able to blog more as the brown boxes disappear!