Shoal Creek Cottage Giveaway in Progress

There is a great giveaway in progress over at Shoal Creek Cottage! This is the cuttest blog I have ever seen. It really is a cutest Blog with a Cause. Debbie is having a giveaway of the CUTEST SNOMAN you have ever seen! You have got to take a look! So, get a cup of tea, relax and take a stroll through the Cottage! http://shoalcreekcottage.blogspot.com

Our New Family! Girls in matching Pink

Photo on top shows us in just about the middle Dean is holding Taylor and Courtney is standing in front of me as we all answer the questions being asked by the Judge. The lady to the left of us in the pink vest and white shirt is a friend of mine from church her name is Judy Pruitt and they adopted a very cute little girl named Cierana she looks just like the little Dora the Explorer cartoon girl. You can see her just to the right and above Judy's head. The photo on the bottom we sat in the middle next to Judge Fagg for a group photo of all of us. It was a great time. The girls had lots of fun and there was lots of cookies, Chili from Wendy's it was really nice. Dean's family was there including his dad and Step-Mom from hell. Everyone from our Grandparents raising Grandchildren group was there. It was a great day! It was also a little bitter sweet for me its kind of hard having a daughter that gave up her kids, I'm not sure how I'm handling it right now. Were just glad the girls have a safe and happy home and we will deal with the rest of the stuff at a later time.

ADOPTION FINAL, FINALLY!!!!!!

On the right is Judge Russel Fagg with girls at our adoption on November 1st which is also National Adoption Day! On the left is Mary Burst, our case worker from DPHHS. It was a great time. There were 13 couples adopting children the same day. We have waited a long, long time for this day. Now, we are the parents and we don't have to ask permission to take them somewhere. and we don't have to be afraid that DPHHS can take them away or my Wonderful Mother-In-Law can cause anymore trouble! HooooooRAY!!!!!!!!! We made it!!!!! All those classes and meetings and monthly visits from the Case Worker Foster Care Liscensing, and Home reviews ARE OVER!!

Well, it's been a while since I have had time to post to my blog. I have been busy working on my new chicken coop and also tearing down the building they are in and trying to save another building to put all the stuff in from the building being torn down. Meanwhile, my house looks like the city dump, no one has clean clothes to wear and we have to go to the Attorney's Office this Friday the 17 th to sign adoption papers for the girls! Good thing I have matching outfits for the girls put back just for this purpose! If were lucky our appointment on Friday is early enough that we might get the date of our court date to finalize the adoption! Well, I can't say it is too soon. It's been a long time that we have waited for this! It is kind of bitter sweet though. I wonder what goes through my Daughter's mind about this i haven't told her that we have a date at the Attorney's Office yet. Sometimes I wonder how much I should tell her. Just what do I expect her to say? Well, I'll just have to keep in mind that at least they have a stable home with us. and my Daughter can visit wen she wants. We took the day of today because Dean is home and he made the Snowman with the girls and they really enjoyed it. Even Sarah one of our dogs enjoyed getting into the picture!

All is well again

Well, all is well in her world again! Remember those candy necklaces? When I was a kid I used to love them! My grandmother used to buy them a lot for me when I was a kid. So, here I am passin it along to my grandchildren. Guess thats the way its supposed to be.

really, Really, REALLY NAP TIME!!

Now you can see why I had to put off our Cottonwood hunting trip for a few hours.

Mornin chores

Heres Taylor helping with the morning chores, she's gathering the eggs. We thought we needed the Pumpkin Bucket to get the job done. She also has a princess bucket for the same job. We cleaned up around the yard after this. She also helped me pick up a lot of Hers and Courtney's aluminum cans. We had to get them inside in the barrels before it snows. We also pulled some weeds, fed and watered Perdy our sheep and Chandler our goat them fed the cats all 7 of them. Then it was time to go get Courtney from Pre-school. We came home and had lunch and at first we were going to go down to the river to look for Cottonwood bark. But taylor was getting really cranky, she needed a nap real bad.

Taylor's First Shopping Spree

Monday, Taylor and I went shopping at our local Rescue Mission Bargan Store. We got out of the car and half way across the parking lot taylor started to yell "Yuck it, Yuck it!" she can't say Look so she says Yuck instead. Well, she is only 2 and I have tried to get her to say look, but until she can say it we know what Yuck means to her. She is really excited! No cars are coming so I let go of her hand and let her run. She goes straight for this childrens stove and starts turning all the knobs and it sounds like water running and something frying in a skillet.

She turns to me and says "Want it Please! Theres no price on it, and at a place like this if you see something you like better grab it now. So, i carried it inside and asked if they could find a price for it. I was told they could do that and that it would cost a whole whopping $3.99. SOLD! I said with a smile on my face as a very excited Taylor kept telling the sales lady "Yuck it! Yuck It! I had to tell the sales lady that it meant she liked it.

Now, we were just having us a time like no other shopping away finding loads of reminets of fabric for crafts, ribon, a Chicken picture I couldn't live without. It was great until I got to the car! Oh, @#&#@!! I locked the keys IN THE CAR!!

In my Chrysler Mini Van the button to lock the car in right where your thumb is when you pull the door handle to open it!! Oh, There is a Safety Feature that you can't lock your keys in the car when the keys are in the ignition but, when you take the keys out and put them on the seat your out of luck!

They ought to make the horn honk when you try to lock the door with your keys laying on the seat! That way you will be so embarassed you will hurry to get back in and drive away!! Which also saves you money.

Oh, so much for hurrying home to pick up courtney from Pre-School! We were 20 minutes late getting her because we had to wait for the Emergency Road person to get there to open our door. Luckely I had the Pre-School Teacher's cell phone number and she is a friend of mine!!

Now I just owe her Bigtime! You all know what Payback is. . .

Support Groups give Back to Grandparents

Here are a few links to help find a support group in your area:

• http://wwwaarp.org/family/grandparenting/articles/grandparent_support_groups.html


• Casey Family Services/The Annie E. Casey foundation,


• http://www.caseyfamilyservices.org/


• The Brookdale Foundation Group Relatives as parents Program:


• http://www.brookdalefoundation.org/relativesasparents.htm

Well, now it looks like the Grinch and a pumpkin. I'm making some progress.

This is my first doll. it is called Party Time Jack. I got the pattern from Hill Kountry Krafts. This is jacks body so far. It's making me hungry he looks like a chicken or turkey ready to put into the oven! Well, his nose is a little crooked. Sewing hs face is really hard. My fingers are sore even when I used a thimble. I hope he looks good when he is done. He will be going on ebay when I'm finished.

http://www.hillkountrykrafts.com/

Check out the wb site it is sooooo neat!

If you like doing krafts this is a great place to visit.

This is poor Taylor's pink eye. The rest of us have managed to avoid it so far. After washing bed linens, toys I hope I can avoid getting it. i have been sewing away trying to get Party Jack ready for his appearance!! He is going to be so cute I won't want to put him on ebay!

bye for now

Well, it is not a good day in town today! There are lots of happy kids though. Early this morning about 2:AM the high school burned down. Some of it is still standing but it is a complete loss. My Neice Melody is a sophmore and school has been suspended until other arrangements can be made. They say it is Arson and my Neighbor's Son is being blamed.

Guess my house is too dark. This is my living room after cleaning it up and re-arranging after I piled everything from the front porch out here. I keep my tv, dvd,video in the cabinet to the right to keep the girls from putting sandwiches in the VCR and DVD player. My satellite box already has the card missing and I can't get the cover to go back on. I was afraid someone might get electrocuted! At least in there I can close it up and fix it so they can't get into it. I'm using a great big steamer trunk for a coffee table and it is full of afgans and blankets. I need a bigger house!!

Sewing Closet

Well, after a long time I have finally gotten rid of enough stuff off my front porch to finally make a sewing closet! The other end of the porch is stacked up to the ceiling with stuff. I don't thnk I want to show you that part. But I'll keep working on it and maybe one day I'll have a sewing room! well its good enough to get started making dolls and I have a few old fashioned aprons to make also.

COURTNEY & TAYLOR

These are my two Grand-Daughters, Courtney on the left and Taylor on the right. We were on our way to church.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

This picture is of the 1st steps Courtney took and she came to me!

My Daughter with her Girls & Father of both girls

On the left, is one of the few pictures I have of my daughter with both of the girls. It is taken at my In-Laws house where she was staying at the time. Taken in March of 2006. The girls were taken into state's custody in October 2006. Deanna was trying to be a good parent, but she had made so many bad decissions that at this time in her life things were just about impossible for her. The Girls' father was absolutely no help he had nothing going for him. He was one of my daughters worst mistakes.

Courtney was about 1 1/2 yrs. Taylor was still considered only being a month old even-though she was born in December the year before because of her being 3 months premature.

On the right is a rare photo I have of my Daughter, and Courtney on her 1 st birthday and Eric the Father of both Girls. He split before Taylor was born and I have no pictures of him with her at all. Thank goodness for my camera!

This is one of my favorite pictures of my mother Virginia Archer (on right) and my Aunt Joann Hart (on left) . My mother wrote on the back of this picture. It says Love Grammy & Aunt Joann. 1990

Grammy 53 yrs. Aunt Jo 57 yrs.

My mother passed away from complications of Diabetes. My aunt passed away from Cancer. I have Cancer on both sides of my family. My Father also died of complications of Melanoma, skin Cancer. If you or someone you know have Cancer please visit this blog. http://www.shoalcreekcottage.blogspot.com
My cousin Debra Facer has a wonderful blog about her life as a 10 year Cancer Survivor. She is very talented and commited to raising money to fight Cancer. I cannot say enough about this blog except that it is a wonderful place to visit and I love her with all my heart. May God bless you and keep you, may he shine his face down upon you, may he give you peace, hope, glory & love & a good nights sleep and a good day tomorrow.

A Little Eggstra on Eggs

Did you know you could freeze eggs?
I didn't! I have sooo many eggs that I have been supplying all my friends with fresh chicken eggs. No one buys fresh chicken eggs because everyone in town has chickens. According to this book "Stocking Up" by the staff of Organic Gardening and Farming you can.
Freezing is the only way to keep eggs safely at home for more than 2 weeks. Eggs, both fertile (when you have a rooster, Whoop Eyeee! :) and infertile (When there is no man of the house :(
will keep as long as 6 months in the freezer, if you prepare and pack them properly. the rule for selecting the right food for freezing applies for eggs just as it does for fruits and vegetables: Choose only the very freshest. Eggs even a day old or two should be stored in the refrigerator and used within a relatively short time, as recipes call for them.
Freeze only just gathered eggs.
Eggs in their shell expand under freezing temperatures and split open. For this reason, they must be shelled and stored in appropriate containers.
If you are storing eggs in rigid containers, leave a little head space for expansion. you can separate the white for the yolk and freeze each separately, or you can store the eggs whole. If you are freezing egg whites alone, they can be frozen as is, in airtight containers. for convenience, pack as many egg together as you will need for your favorite recipes. You can them thaw and use a whole container of egg whites at one time. If you are packing yolks separately or are packing whole eggs, you will need to stabilize the yolks so that they won't become hard and pasty after thawing.
To do this, add 1 teaspoon of salt or 1 teaspoon of honey to each cup of yolks. Twelve yolks make up 1 cup. Break up the yolks and stir in the salt or honey. Of course, it is necessary to mark on the container whether salt or honey was used as the stabilizer so that you won't ruin recipes by adding more salt or honey than you had intended.
If you are packing your eggs whole, you will also need to stabilize them with salt or honey. Add 1 teaspoon of salt or honey to each cup of whole eggs. There are about 5 whole eggs in 1 cup.
Scramble the eggs with the salt or honey before packing and freezing. Whole eggs can be packed together in one container, or they can be packed individually by using a plastic ice cube tray. To pack eggs separately, measure 3 tablespoons of whole scrambled eggs(which equals 1 whole egg) into each separate compartment of the ice cube tray.
Place the filled tray in the freezer, and when the eggs have frozen, pop them out and store all the egg cubes in a plastic bag. By doing so you will be able to take from the bag and thaw just as many eggs as you need at one time. Eggs should be thawed completely before using. they thaw at refrigerator temperatures in about 9 hours and at room temperatures in about 4 hours. If frozen properly, thawed eggs have the taste, texture, and nutritional value of fresh eggs and can be used successfully in all recipes calling for eggs.
To make up 1 egg from separately frozen whites and yolks, measure out 1 Tablespoon of yolk and 2 tablespoons of white. Eggs should be used soon after they thaw, as they deteriorate rapidly.

My Bird Garden

I have a few new features in my Bird Garden. I garden for relaxation and to help keep me sane. I talk to myself while in my garden and and my puppies and kitties always come to help. They are good listeners and it saves lots of money on a counselor! My little garden I do just for me. it used to be my pond but when we got the girls we had to remove the pond for the girls safety. I thought about enclosing it, but couldn't think of a way to make it look nice with a fense around it.

I'm Very Primative!!!

All this blogging has turned me into a VERY primative sort of person!! I'm learning as I go. Pray that I find out quickly before I turn into an even MORE primative sort of gal. Check out profile photo to see what I mean.

Looking Good!

Well, it's a little straighter! I had to leavel the floor inside and put blocks under the coop in the back. Get a new door and insulate inside. Hope its done before the snow flies!!

The Chicken Coop

The old banderob chicken coop. My brother-in-law Jon hauled this building to our property from just down the street from Charlie Banderob's old place.

Charlie, who has since passed away was the local area historian. And his father and Mother were one of the first families to land on the Huntley Project. I first heard about the breed of chckens that I have now from old Charlie. He was quite a guy to sit and listen to. A great story teller. He was born on Feb. 28, 1905 here in Montana. I don't know exactely when the chicken coop was built but it is a least 25 years old.

He told me this story about how this breed of chicken ended up in this area:

Charlie's father, Frank A. Banderob met and married his mother Emelie D.M. Thormahlen on April 15, 1895 in Wisconsin. Frank had been here in Montana in 1892 with a building crew and he really liked the area.

When word reached them that Senator Clark of Montana was offering an opportunity to get almost free land, and the chance to work on ditch construction to help you pay your way, and irrigate said lands. They loaded up in June of 1899 with their belongings which included the Silver Laced Wyandotte chickens into an emigrant car and shipped out to Bridger, Montana. His Mother Emelie with 2 older children and the basket of hatching eggs in a grape basket, came out on the passenger train. The same year (1999) he told me the story about how this breed of chickens were the first in our area they had some of the chicken on exhibt at the Homesteader Day Celebration.

They were beautiful! I always wanted some. Well, my Husband was raised on a farm and they had thousands of chickens and his mother used to have an egg route so all the kids had to help in the opertion! He never wanted chickens at our house. So, I didn't have any until on day I thought why not! We got them this year at Easter for the girls to watch grow up. We also got 2 turkens, they are chickens with no feathers on their necks. and 1 Turkey!!!

He helps me feed the animals when he is home giving me a break but he is not to crazy about the chickens. He just built me a new hen nest for the eggs :)

He loves home-made chicken Noodle soup a staple for them as kids every sunday. He also helped me get the chicken coop leveled out :) :)

It is kind of Ironic thatI would get the Old Banderob chicken Coop that was used for the same kind of chicken.

If your wondering why I have tme to post this. . . . THE GIRLS ARE TAKING A NAP!! :)

Hurray!

Tonight I hit Paydirt!

I finally found a flavor of Hamburger Helper that is actually good. They girls liked it also.

Crunchy Taco. I had a busy day got supper on the table late and needed something quick! Bedtime and come and gone and I was about to be tortured by a 4 and 2 year old:(

As they say" Get Em Before They Get You". Dinner was fast, even faster was the bath, then there was the story and the blessing and to the finish line! Bedtime has arrived at Last!! And now I'm trying to get this blog done. This is my second attempt at this blog, I was so frustrated the 1st time I just deleted the whole thing. Now I have my handy Webster's Sspeller handy and A little quiet time. There is hope yet.

I have this little chicken house I'm trying to get into shape before winter (I hope) the work has been slow because there has been such a problem with Wasps and Hornets this year. I have been stug about 5 time within a week. Now we are having a professional coming next week to help since they have gotten into our siding of our house.

We find a least two wasps in the house daily. Everyone screams and runs around, and when someone finally runs into another the screaming gets louder! I wonder if the neighbors can hear? Then I have to look for the fly swatter (because they girls just won't leave it alone) I can get my revenge by squasing it into oblivion!

I thought I might somehow be able to be of some assistance to someone else who is going through the things that led up to us now adopting our Grand-Children. It's been a long road for us and there have been many, many tears, anger, and sadness and personal burdens along the way. But through the Grace of God we made it through.

These children are our Daughter's children so it has been a bitter sweet experiance. It has not been a winning solution for any of us. But one thing I can say is that through all the bitterness, pain and sorrow we have come to love one another and understand each other better than we have in a long time.

The girls know who their Mother is because they remember her and they call me Grammy

they talk with her on the phone, I talk to her on the phone. We all tell each other "I Love You" and I don't take it for granted anymore because there was a time when thing were so bad communication with my Daughter was not possible. And I went to bed at nite not knowing if my Daughter and Grand-Children were O.K.

I don't ever want to be there again. On my Birthday this year I got a phone call from my daughter wishing me a Happy Birthday!! After I cried a little bit, I smiled a whole lot! That was the best Birthday Present I had in a long time! You see, my Daughter and I were pretty close when she was little, we had so much fun together!

She used to show Rabbits. Not just 4-H rabbits we were members of The American Rabbit Breeders Association! It was so much fun we traveled through Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, North and South Dakota to these Rabbit shows, stayed in Motels with our rabbits in their little traveling cages.

She had many Grand Champion Mini Lop and Netherland Dwarfs one of which was best in show in the state of Montana! That one's name was Leo she named him after the actor Leonardo DeCaprio. Then there was Ted our Grand champion Mini Lop! He was such a sweet rabbit. She made tons of homemade suckers to sell at school to help pay for entry fees and supplies. Dean, my husband was kept busy building more rabbit hutches. I think at one time we must have had about 30 rabbits but some were for meat.

It was devistating to us that our daughter would end up in a bad crowd of people and get herself into so much trouble after everthing we did for her. She wanted nothing to do with our ideals. I think it took loosing her children to get her attention. She signed over her parental rights to the State of Montana and so did their father. I was glad that we could finally start the process of adoption, but at the same time it was MY Daughter giving up her children! Where did I go wrong? How could I have raised a Daughter to care so little for these little, helpless children?

These are some of the things that I thought about. I was Ashamed for my Daughter, Ashamed of my self and if it had not been for these 2 little Angels I don't know what I would have done. They needed us Sooo bad! My Doctor prescribed Anti-depressents!! THANK GOD!!

It was like a kick in the butt! Man, did I ever feel GOOD! I felt so good that I became the berrybestgrammy I am today!

My daughter Made a mistake in her life and It cost her dearly. I know she is very sorry for what happened but the important thing is that she is on her way to getting her life turned around.

As with most parents who have Drug and Alcohol problems, and their children are in the custody of the state, it takes more time to recouperate than Family Services will keep their children. The law states that after so long a time Family Services needs to seek permanency for the children. But, with Kinship Care its a little different, I don't think there is an actual time limit. A lot depends on how the parent is doing on their care plan.

Each State is probably a little different, but I'm sure according to Federal laws they have to stick closely together. I'm just amazed at how many children are in the states custody just here in Yellowstone County alone!

I urge everyone in this position to seek professional help or join a support group! There are people out there that can help! This is such an emotional problem, don't go it alone! At a time like this you need to have your witts about you, you have to become you grandchildren's best advocate!! There are situations where even disabled adults need help also. I will try to post websites and other information as I get it. Hopefully there will be some info that may help.

My Husband Dean is a Truck Driver and most of the time me and the girls are on our own, well....with 2 dogs Spott&Sarah, , 6 cats, 2 birds, a goat named Chandler, a sheep named Perdy, a frog named Lucky, an aquarium full of fish and about 24 chicken, and 1 turkey who is NOT supposed to be a pet who does NOT have a name because were supposed to eat her on Thanksgiving or Christmas. There is a long story here about this turkey I will tell you about it in another post some time. Maybe I can have a contest sort of on what to name her if we decide not to eat her.

Oh, No! I included a picture of the wrong Kids!! They were my Kids when I was an Empty Nester. See what happens when you stay up too late to blog!!