Poker face...

For our “lesson” today I decided to teach my kiddos poker! They are 9,6,and 5 and all have varying issues that make comprehension and retaining information more difficult. However it was fun and my little one got a little ruthless! Poker was always very important in my family. My grandpa was truly the center of our family and he LOVED poker. All nine of his grandkids learned at a young age and it was a major part of all family get-togethers and it was serious, real money was involved! My grandpa died sadly and too soon shortly after I started my fostering journey. He was crotchety and old school. He would make brash statements that would sometimes embarrass me and came from an old school way of thinking when it came to mixed race relationships. He lived long enough to meet my youngest adopted son (who was the first of my three placed with me) He made some smart alec comment about my baby’s beautiful bushy afro but then later when it was just me and him he told me how proud he was of me and how cute my kid was. Today when I was teaching them to play poker I thought my grandpa’s biggest complaint wouldn’t be about their race, or their special needs, it would be that I waited this long to teach them! Love you grandpa.

Happy birthday D!

Today was my nephew's fifth birthday party. I love him so much, he is such a little stinker. He is my sister's bio child and her one with "special" needs. He is a genius, truly. She began wondering if he was autistic, and had him go through several screenings and it turns out his IQ is just extremely high. He just turned five and can read and write anything and can figure out complex math problems. He is behind socially and has a lot of quirks that can make other kids and parents uncomfortable. I hate to say it, but it is nice that she has him, because it can give me someone to talk to. THe issues are so different, but to have a special needs child puts you in a different place as a parent.

On a negative note, my mom was there and decided to criticize my parenting in front of my 8yo daughter who was having an "evil" moment! She is having a hard time understanding that getting mad at somebody doesn't mean that you hate them. She also needs to learn to stop blaming me for everything and feeling so bad for herself, but she'll get there. She did end up turning herself around though and had a good time though she tried to milk my mom to get out of the situation.

I miss you!

I really miss posting in this blog. It used to feel nice just to let it go, then it became a hassle, but maybe I will start back up! My family is again changed since the last time I posted. The teenager that was with me is now moved on. She was with me for 6 months but needed a forever, and we were just not her fit.
We are in the middle of a snowstorm right now, a blizzard, a snowocalyps some people are saying! What it means for us is plenty of gallons of water, batteries, candles, and hoping that we don't get a call for a placement!! I hope all kids are safe and warm tonight!! For me and my kids, we are enjoying board games, brownies, fake birthday parties, and coloring! I hope that they can keep up their great behaviors tomorrow as we will still be snowed and iced in the house!
Now it is time to read up on all of the other blogs!