Sunday, August 16, 2009

Water Challenge

Today Angie from Angelica Grace Designs is hosting Foto Find Friday on her blog and the theme is water! I don't know how to do the link thinging back to her page so go visit her to see more water pics and one of my favorite blogs to spy on at http://angelicagracedesigns.com/blog/

Now for my water pics... these were taking at one of our many picnics at the Mississippi River near our home....
Standing on Water...


and now Jamal's attempt at walking on water... :)

And now for a couple pics of what water will do to trees and their roots....


This is really cool looking in person, these washed out roots and HUGH! (as big as us grown ups and remember I am 6 feet tall)

and Malik was able to get get himself tied up and stuck...
Roots as big as us and remember I am 6 feet tall!

And now one last pic to take you to the sky now... (this is just another of my favorites from that day)


Thanks for checking out my water challenge pics!
Taylor Luv,
Andrea

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

I Heart Faces - The Eye's Have It






You can just sink in to Khadija's eyes here and get lost... and you gotta love them Eyelashes on the way in too....





I love Faces..... is about "The Eye's Have It" go check out http://www.ilovefaces.com/ to join in the fun and see more beautiful eyes this week!!!





Wednesday, January 28, 2009

I Heart Faces - Joy




Here are my two pictures this week!!! I had to do the adult one this week... because it is truly easy to find a picture of joy in a child's face... but to capture "joy" I mean real joy in an adults face is definitely a precious moment to freeze in time and I did it here with my hero..."my dad" definitely a picture to keep safe... the one person a daughter always want to make happy!!
(It helps that we are at Disney World too)
"Grandpa's Joy"

The next is simply the cutest smile eva.... how the simple things in life can make a 2 year old happy... a princess crown, a pink dress and, of course, a cupcake!!
"Joy's of a Smile"

I hope you enjoyed my joyious moments and they have brought a smile to your face today... I definitely find these two pics to be favorites! Be sure to check out http://www.iheartfaces.com/ for many enJOYing pictures (dats my father sense of humor...LOL)

Arielle we are still trying to get back in our household, last we heard her mother has let her with grandma to care for... we have filed papers for a court date, waiting on a set day! Please pray for us and Arielle, we hope soon she will be back home us again...

Taylor Luv,

Andrea



Wednesday, January 21, 2009

I Heart Faces



Well I am gonna try to figure out how to entry a picture for this contest and May I will WIN too, how fun would that be... check out the contest ova at, www.iheartfaces.com and join in on the funness!!

Here is my pic of Khadija in Florida enjoying the warm sun... (This has always been a favorite of mine and is framed in my bedroom!)

Check out the site and join in on the funness too... Lets see your faces pics too!

Taylor Luv,

Andrea

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Tuesday's Laughter

Laughter LivesThis post is part of "Laughter Lives! Tuesday" on the Riggs Family Blog. Check our their blog to read everyone else's "Laughter Lives!" posts.

My Laughter story begins with Jamal...
This was a couple years ago at a religious event, afterwards we went to dinner with my parents in a crowded resturant where I was there trying to decide what to get my boys, we discussed the menu with them several times coming back to the "Grill"Cheese sandwich for Jamal. He says he wants it but then we can't understand what he don't like about it because "Mom knows Best" what her kids like to eat.... and Jamal loves his cheese!!


So we knew what we was gonna order the next time the waitress came by... we were set!! Here she comes we go around the table... crowded resturant and I order Jamal's "Grill"Cheese sandwich and he lets out a big yell and temper tantrum and we can not understand what is the problem, so after we have EVERYONES attention around us... We find out that Jamal does NOT want a "Girl"Cheese sandwich............. He WANTS a "Boy"Cheese Sandwich!!


Of course, he is 100% Boy, so of course, He wants himself a "Boy"Cheese Sandwich.... why can't us parents figure these lil things out!!

Monday, November 17, 2008

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

Monday, November 10, 2008

"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!