What a Family

Wow! What a weekend!! My mom and I set out for our journey to Joplin on Fri. morning. We left way to early in the morning, but I won't hold that against her! :) We went through Kingman & met up with my cousin's wife, Mendy & their daughter, Makayla. I hadn't meet either one of them, so it was nice to finally meet them since they have been in the family for several years now. We got to my aunt & uncle's house about 1:30pm Friday. We had a nice lunch just hung out talking. By Friday evening, my aunt from Arizona was there as well as some of my aunt's family. My sister & her husband were also there, which was good since it had been a while since I had seen them. We spent the evening playing Crainium which was such a hoot!! By the end of the game everyone was laughing so hard!! Later that evening was spent with my cousin Kristal her boyfriend, Will, also my cousin Erika and her boyfriend, Owen. We went to a bar and had a GREAT TIME!! Let's just say I was pretty tired the next day! The next day was a lot more eating, watching a movie, and playing another game. This game didn't get as carried away as the night before, but was still a lot of fun. I also spent some time helping Mendy and Makayla get ready for the Easter Bunny! Makayla was such a cutie and I had a great time playing with her!! Sat night Kristal, her friend Mitzi, and I went and had a girls night. We went dancing on this night which was so much fun!! I love to go dancing, so I enjoyed every minute of it. Sunday was the BIG DAY that everyone had come for. We celebrated and toasted to my uncle who had just received his Doctorates degree! We also toasted and celebrated my cousin's birthday that was also on Sunday. Everyone is so proud of my uncle and everything he has accomplished!! We also celebrated Easter complete with a big dinner and a visit from the Easter Bunny! The little kids got to hunt Easter eggs and dance with the Easter bunny which was a huge hit! Monday was again a driving day. My mom and I drove home very tired and got home early evening. We had such a great time seeing everyone during the weekend and laughed lots.

What's My Deal

You know when I started this I sure thought I would blog more than I seem to be at this point. Guess that means I have actually been busy and out of trouble! :) Actually work has been extremely busy. I now have 13 kiddos on my case load and as soon as my co-worker goes on maternity leave I will have nine of her kids. Good thing I work at a mental health center!!...LOL! Fortunately, I am much more prepared from the first time she went on maternity leave. I had only been working about 5 months and barely knew my kids much less what I was supposed to be doing with hers and mine. This time though it will be much better and I am so much more prepared. Doesn't mean I'm not going to be pulling my hair out at times, just means I think I know what I am doing! Ha-Ha!!
My mom and I are getting ready to go to Joplin this weekend to celebrate my Uncle getting his doctorate! I am SO proud of and excited for him!! Seems like he has been working on it "forever". My cousin's birthday is also this weekend so I am looking forward to going out with she and some of her friends to celebrate. It's going to be a fun weekend I'm sure! I think there are going to be several people down there so it should be a good family time as well.
I went to the eye doctor last week. I went because my eyes were driving me nuts from my allergies and wanted to talk to the doctor about eye drops. I also thought since it had been "awhile" (ok, so it had been 3 years) I should probably have my eyes checked. At the beginning of the appointment I thought I was just "wasting" my time, but as it turns out my eyes had changed a lot. Funny how a person doesn't notice something like that until they're shown they aren't seeing "everything". Needless to say I am waiting on a new pair of glasses to come in. Maybe then I will see what I have been missing. I am hoping I get them before mom and I leave Friday.
Rich and I continue working on the adoption process. For those of you who don't know, yes Rich and I are in the process of adopting. We have finished and signed our homestudy and now await a "best interest staffing" to tell us if we have been selected as a possible family for a child we have been interested in. As a case manager I got to take part in one of these "best interest staffings" and it was pretty interesting. I don't know if ours will go the same way or not. We will not get to take part in ours, we will only know the outcome. Keep your fingers crossed for us that we are chosen! If we are chosen we will get to start spending time with the child which would be very cool!!