Missing Arielle

This has been alot harder then we ever thought.... Arielle is still gone and we have not heard no word from her or about her... that means no answers to our phone calls or text messages! I pray each day that she is ok and she will find her way back to us...

The hardest thing has been Khadija, she misses her so much and has sat in sadness many times during the week and even called me and told me over the phone 'she misses Arielle'. What can we do? Once again I keep telling myself that she does need that time with her mother but at the same time I can't keep the thought out of my head that her mother has pushed her off again and probably is staying at the Nursery Crisis again with complete strangers... that thought scares me and makes my pray even more that Arielle is OK and i know she is a fighter...

and will make it through this again and will find her way back to us. My mom has gotten her the cutest winter coat and snowpants, Arielle we are not moving ahead without you... I put all the summer clothes away in the girls room and have your winter clothes ready for when you come back, that was hard. I hated seeing all her clothes and not having her here... I never knew I would hurt this much from her being gone, well, actually I did because I feel it everytime we had to let her go to her mom's for a day. Don't tell daddy Tor though because I try to stay strong for him while she is gone!!

So this week we have made many phone calls as to what steps are next, I have information coming in the mail today for help with Attorneys and also have talked to an attorney on the phone and she said that we have a very good fight for custody and the facts are so clear that we should not have a problem at all with getting custody, now I just have to see about funding, since that is the hardest part of the situation for us. Does anyone know where or how to help with funding and court fees... they are so much. I would give up all gifts and everything if we could get funding to get Arielle back, well actually that is where all my money will be going to the next month or two... Please pray this will not take 2 months to figure out and remember us in your prayers too. This will be a long process that I (our whole family) will MAKE IT THROUGH.

This is how much Khadija loves Arielle... I can see why she misses her so dearly... she even makes sure she has a teddy bear on her bed each night at bed time. So of course we pray for her safe homecoming each night.

And the boys keep asking when she is coming back home... we have not resorted to telling them we don't know when but we do know that she is coming back!! and had to convince Daddy of this too this weekend.

PLEASE PRAY... and she missed her long awaiting dance class Saturday (it was only the 2nd week, but she was so excited for Dance this year because she got to be old enough... last year she only got to watch Khadija)

Taylor Luv,

Andrea

"Even your Prayers will Help"

ARIELLE - We Miss Her Already!

This is my husband's daughter who we have had living with us since 5 days after we met her in January. She just got to turn 3 years old last month on the 9th of October at Chuck E Cheese... Our oldest turned 10 the very next day. Just one of the many cool connections our family has together. Two sets have a birthday back to back. Sunday Arielle has been kept by her mother( she just did not show up to meet us), she will not give her back and this is the second time her mother has done this... her mom realizes after about 5/6 days that she can not handle her and starts putting her in Nursery Crisis or just leaving her with miscellaneous people. Her mom has many problems and has been dianosed with several depressions, bi polar and multiple personalities. She has given all 4 of her kids to their dad or the dad's close relative including her 4 month old. That was the 4th baby for her and she is still only 21 years old and married to the last father but trying to figure out how to get a cheap divorce. She has been living out of her car and just in the last month able to get section 8 housing from the county. Still no place for Arielle when she has a room and too many clothes and toys and everything she needs waiting for her at home with us. I believe a child should be with their mother but when the mom calls me for hlep on how to calm a baby or child down and I have to instruct her to grab them and hold them and tell them "you love them", she is just not fit to be her mommy when I can give her so much unconditional love!

We don't know what to do, we want her back and need to find ways to get court papers because without that we have no say in anything, even if she is not taken care of over there with her mom... no one will do anything, we have tried Children's Protections (which has visited her many times over the years, police (which she has had come to our house), and been down to family court. What else can we do??? I am looking for suggestions or something... I know I don't have a big group out there reading my blog but any help even the couple that might browse through here.

Arielle has everything she needs with us and her personality has grown so much in the last 10 months. She has blossomed and bloomed with us. We can not do anything, even her mom's grandpa is on our side for us to raise lil Arielle. We got her back the first time because he had her and her mom was no where for days and he can not take care of her in his old age, we picked her up from his house and she was just curled up on the coach with coat and shoes on... and jumped and got so excited to see dad. We have picked her up twice from a Nursey Crises Center because her mom left her and didn't come back and they can not keep her past 72 hours at a time.

She has so many opportunities with us to have and that she has experienced... please enjoy the pictures... Also she just started Dance classes and had her first class right before we dropped her off with her mom on Saturday...

Here she is at one of the many trips to the Science Muesuem, Granny bought the Grandpa/Grandma pass so we can go anytime for Free!

Here we are at Valleyfair, a full day of rides and fun!

Movie in the park... this was the coolest thing ever... they set up a hugh blow up screen and we watched Little Giants the night before the boys started Football for the city.

Arielle got picked from the crowd to come up on stage at Valleyfair, they got the cutest lil girl in the audiance!!

The girls dancing to Grandpa's band at the country club... I tell you these kids get around to everything...

The last trip of many beach visits this summer... we brough the rafts at the end of the season while they were cheap... we will be ready for next summer! Plus we bought a pool for the backyard too at the end of the season for cheap.

Just our HAPPY Arielle on a typical day...

Yesterday when I picked the boys up from Library... Malik's first questions was "Is Arielle back home?" it breaks my heart that even the kids will miss her so soon... How can we get her back?

Where can you get help with court fees and whatever else you need to do... seems like no one will help us at the county offices and family justice center, we been down there 3 times. Has anyone ever written companys for donations, do you know what has to be done to get such help, we need it!

Taylor Luv
Andrea

PS... Arielle calls me mom and calls her mom by her first name all the time, even to her mom on the phone. It is hard for Arielle to know my name with 3 kids running around calling me mom though... but she is My Daughter 100%.

I went from knowing nothing about black hair and wanting to get a book from the library on styles (my husband insisted there was no such book) but I can do it all now... I have learned her hair and love doing the braids, just about a month ago I finally got the corn-braids down and they actually look really good. This picture is the first time i ever did it... I am so much better now, I just don't have an updated picture on the computer yet... I will try to get one up this week!

I love love love her!

2 WINS n 3 Loses!! BUT...

FRIDAY NITE STADIUM FOOTBALL HERE WE COME...

TAYLOR BOYS... I love the nights when we get to wear our name jerseys... it just makes a parents so proud to see our last name makin big plays... I never knew it would feel this good! I love Football Season now and looking forward to many seasons to come... Great Job Boys n the whole TEAM, Go Rebels... Now for the exciting news....

We get to play the halftime show at the Champlin Rebels Highschool Football Game FRIDAY NITE!!!

My boys get to play like the big kids... get to feel the stadium noise da excitement and feel the cheerleaders on the sidelines... Can football get any better for a 8 and 9 year old!!! I think not! Boys I love you and Mom and Dad are so PROUD!! As dad says... "No Mercy" boys.

They are two of the best wonderful loving sons and the best Big Brothers in the world! They give everything their they tackle on their best and now get to experience A PRO feeling already, they definitely deserve this one! U guys are the BEST and we are going to have FUN FUN FUN Friday Night.

It is set ups like this that get you heart a beating... Take 'em down MALIK.

And great take offs like this JAMAL #35, right in the middle, look at him go...

OH... and don't forget the sideline action... I think this is the start of the new sideline romance... these two are inseparatable since the first practice... you will find these two together each game weather they are run the sideline or playing at the park... we laugh and enjoy every bit of innocence BUT best beware DADDY is watching him like a hawk with his lil princess... and remember Ben this is a short time relationship... cuz I think DADDY has made up his mind that Arielle is to date NO BOYS between the ages of 10 and somewhere around 35!!!!!!

Taylor Luv,

Andrea

Dance time is coming again... Signing 2 Princesses this time!

PRINCESS KHADIJA!


Princess Khadija... 3 years old! Now the Dancing Princess... This is last year, we are going to register her again next week but this year we will have 2 Dancing Princesses in class and I can not wait... I wanted to share this with you all because my Friend Angie put her lil princess in dance and had her first session last night with Kenidi... the picture are breathe taking of her Kenidi! Wish I had the power of good pics but I will make do with all the pics i have because my lil princess makes all my pictures turn out just perfect!! Most of all I wanted to share this video below of Khadija's first dance class... boy I thought we should never come back for my lil dancing princess was just "in the way".... but I was wrong... we were welcomed back and she became a "STAR" as the weeks went on!!!

And some more pics from our dance classes... I would share another video of the ending recital BUT the video thing takes WAY TOO LONG... and I am not a camara person so we are riding a rollarcoaster ride all the way thru our dance routine... because I hated being behind the camara and wanted to see it live... so you will get motion sickness on that ride.. for real!!

She did learn to stand in the line... YEAH Khadija!!

We even got the stand up straight with your hands to the side... Standing Tall Khadija, luv u so much!

You gotta love these moves in dance class... I love her excitement on her face and how she is just ready to go on "GO Khadija"! That a girl!!

Picture through the window... she did learn to follow the leader in Dance Class and be the cutest one at it too... sorry just a proud mommie!! All the girls were the cutest thing though, I never expected it to be so cute with all the lil girls dancing away with smiles and love filling the room!!

Taylor Luv and Princess Luv,

Andrea and Khadija

Fingerprints Friday

There is a song by Steven Curtis Chapman that says:
I can see the fingerprints of god.
When I look at you, I can see the fingerprints of God
And I know its true. You're a masterpiece
That all creation quietly applauds
And you're covered with the fingerprints of God...

Here are my fingerprints of God... it is amazing to me that a chicken can look so soft and cuddly like just like a white kitten but it is a chicken... Some animals exist and you never know it... that is how wonderful God is and it shows us how he can make us all different and it is the difference that we need to appreciate so much when we think of each and every person we know and have come in contact with in our lives... I love God for thinking about each one of us. He knows each one of us and cuz we are different so we know that he cares for for us too because he had to create each one different and give us each that specialness we try to deserve and use correctly for him.

God is good. All.the.time.
So look around you and see where YOU can see God's fingerprints. Is it in nature? Kids? Animals? Where do you see them?
Here's how to join in...
1) Blog with your interpretation of God's fingerprints. Be sure to link back to Beki's blog so others can find the entire list of participants!
2) After you've posted your blog on Beki's, sign her Mr. Linky over there. Have fun exploring the other links as well. Hopefully this will make us look at things through fresh eyes throughout the week! Thanks for this weekly post Beki. We all love it!

I dont know how to link Beki's site... so that blue Beki's (dont work) look for her here... http://pamperingbeki.blogspot.com/2008/09/fingerprint-friday.html

Taylor Luv, Andrea

Football Time.... 12-6

The face of a Champion!

Yes, A Win, what a way to start out the first football season!!

This year we are trying a new sport for the boys... we have them in Fall Football... Cool Nights and lots of sideline excitement! With their own personal cheerleaders on the sideline they get hyped up and ready to play ball each week. We had our first game last night and we turned over the ball on the first play and scored a touchdown with our first set of plays... (I will learn the terms eventually)! Yeah... boys! We have 2 boys on the same team both playing defense for on the offense side, so they are on the field together... Jamal gets to also play when we receive the ball via a kick... Go Jamal, I am so proud of both of you for the endurance and determination you have given football this year, love you both and can't wait for the next game!! Go Taylor Boys and the whole team!!

GO REBELS!!

Malik Taylor #39 Jamal Taylor #35

Looking forward to a GREAT YEAR.

Look for pics of the cheerleader in coming post... Taylor Boyz come with their own cheerleaders... of course, the cutest girls on the sidelines too!!

Taylor Luv, Andrea

Princess Khadija is 4 Years OLD!!

MY PRINCESS IS 4 and MY HUBBY is 29!!

MY PRINCESS KHADIJA IS 4 YEARS OLD (August, 2, 2004)... I remember her as a baby!!

Well my Princess Khadija just turned 4 years old last weekend and my one and only lovin husband got to turn 29 the next day... two very special people in my life with special days back to back... I can not believe my lil baby girl is 4 years old... i thought about how much she has experiences in just a short 4 years of life.... I take so much credit for who she is and I wanna cry at what I have been able to make of her. Of course I do have to thank many people for the help and support along the way.. thank you mom and dad, you guys have helped me through so many tough times and my uncle Randy who has watched my kids many days so that I can go to work and bring my money back home to my kids each day!! I have to thank her father for giving me my much wanted, very much wanted, daughter! I wanted a lil girl like no one can explain LOL! I got her and can't explain what joy and pleasure I get each and everytime i get my girlie time together with her... I want to thank Daddy Tor now, because he has given me a sense of family, we have now become a family together and this feeling is the greatest feeling every and together bringing God into our lives it even feels better, I have always had God in my life but not until now have I felt that my family is together with God in one household. Another pic of my lil girl as a baby girl who is now 4 years old and creating smiles everyday and given more love then I ever thought possible from a child.

So many things she has amazed me and looking back at all the pictures and trying to pick a couple out to show my lil girl as a baby, I didn't have a digital cam yet when she was a newborn baby ;( but we do now and have gotten pics of both Florida trips, some from our New Orleans trip and just started walking to sitting and those days at the zoo and valleyfair and everything in between... I love looking back on the pics of all my kids and reflecting on what I have done with them and how far I have been able to take them. I got to be mommy and daddy for a few years, since Khadija turned one til I met.....

Tor, the love of my life and he got to turn 29 last weekend too... I wish I got to share more of those 29 years of life with him but I know I get the next 29+ years to come!! This is a wonderful man that I can not even explain how much he means to me... he has come in like superman and taken me and my kids to a family situation and not even he himself knows how he did it... but he has and I LOVE HIM so much! He has given me a new look on life, family, kids and God. We together have learned so much about all of these and the best part of it all is we are learning it TOGETHER because neither of us knew it before and we are finding out that in a "learning type of mode" really it is some deep love feelings that have reached parts of our hearts that we never knew about and it is crazy but oh so fun to be experiencing this with him and only him. He turned 29 by my side this year and I hope I have made it a rememberable one for him. He is loving, giving, exciting, kind, a teacher, a husband... I got to marry this wonderful man in December on the ocean, I love you Tor so much for that experience...

nothing could of made it a better day, I had you on my side and with my kids (our kids)!! He has become a daddy, a wonderful one too, you really are a great daddy I love you for this too....

You have also given me the wonderful life of being a mommy to your kids to and making us the Brady Bunch or "TT" "Taylor Team" I love all my Kids all 6 of them that we have together!!

nd all the times we have had together too... I know you have come from such a different type of lifestyle but no one could ever tell by how much love has changed you to a Man, I Man that I love dearly and appreciate greatly... I love you Tor and look forward to MY 29+ years by your side!!

Lookin forward to my memories to make with Khadija at 4 and we gonna make the best of your last 20's year too hunny cuz 30 is right around the corner now!! Love You Both!!

Taylor Luv,

Mommy and Wifey

Hello All... I know I gotta get better at updating if I want to keep ones interested. Well it has been a busy month, we are getting ready to roof our house, we have lumber in the driveway to build the deck and getting things ready for our 2 kids from Michigan to come next week. Little bit of what we been doing... Mama got some beads and figured out how to put them in her princesses hair....

Next the kids finished school... I know have a 4th grader in house and a 3rd grader... they are getting older way to fast!! :( Why can't they stay young and I am finding out the trouble making does actually get worse as they get older too!! We celebrated Graduation from 2nd and 3th grade with dinner at Panera and ICE CREAM treats at Cold Stone Creamery (a great and yummy place for all that have not tried it)... I guess the camara lense cover got a lil taste of the ice cream too...

I got alil ice cream too... Dad passed on the ice cream but did enjoy the time with us.

We also got to attend the Father's Day Parade here where we live... We got to spend the first Father's Day with Daddy Tor... more about how much I appreciate him as Daddy in the next post I do (tomorrow)!!

The the girls loved getting the couple pieces of candy that the boy's let them get... boy they do not want to share the collecting part of the candy... but they gave happily and willingly once they collected it all up :) I love the way the boys show love toward both their sisters... It is amazing what those boys will do for the 2 princesses!! Great Job Malik and Jamal for being such great big brothers.

Not the best picture but we are working on their being photographed skills as we speak!! I Love you guys so much!

We checked out a petting zoo at the carnival and a boat show on the Mississippi River while at the Father's Day Festival too! Let me know if there is some way to upload pics to the blog machine too because I am feeling like this one pic at a time takes too long.. is there a trick??

Also this month, my husband's mother came to our house for the first time... she loved and was very impressed with our home, that gave me a very good feeling... it has been a tough road getting to homeownership that I almost thought was never going to be possible, many times thought that... But here I am a proud homeowner with a loving husband and many great kids to share it all with... It couldn't get better, well it could but I have my family to share it all with as it does get better!! I love you all so much, including the in-laws, relative and my parents... all your support along the way has gotten me here today, without all you I couldn't of done it!

A special shout-out to Daddy coming soon... I know Father's Day passed and I did not post but better late then never... and he did get appreciated in person on the correct day!! I love you Tor, Daddy and my loving husband.

July has much to come, Michigan kids are coming to stay with us, a new roof on the house, hopefully the deck will be completed, siding probably will come in August is my guess, Arielle will have a lil sister-Genesis-her mommie is due anyday now, oh and her mommie got married a couple weeks ago too.

I will work on more regular post... even if I am only doing this for myself... atleast it gives me something to look back on in years to come and refresh those special moments in time, because them seem to go by so fast and almost unnoticed sometimes too.

Taylor Luv,

Andrea

Field Trip

Well today, my oldest is going on a field trip for school and I am letting him be a photographer on his field trip, of course with only a 5$ disposable camara.... but they are heading to the Metrodome, where the Twins and the Vikings play their games while in season and they are touring that. Then they get to go on a boat ride for an hour to an island and have lunch and board back on the boat for an hour ride back to the buses!!! Well we have very windy weather here today and storm clouds giving action every once and awhile so I don't get to find out weather they got to enjoy the boat ride til he gets home and calls me here at work to tell me how his day went.... I can't wait to hear all about it and share pics from a 9 year old photographer... how exciting.

I bought all the lumber for our deck we are building and went and applied for a city permit this morning too... so that is coming soon also! I just don't have any pics to match up with my story for today just yet... but here is a favorite pic to share to end and make way for a great weekend for everyone! Have a great weekend...