Coming back

Right now I have 12 children and 4 dogs (1 child is ours, 2 dogs are ours -- things haven't changed that much) in the house, but I'm going to start working on this here blog again.

Broad and narrow updates: Huckle loves kindergarten, even though he's almost a year younger than 1/2 the kids in his class he's in the top 3 for reading proficiency, he spends most of his days riding his (de-training wheeled) bike around the neighborhood with a posse of 5-9 year olds, I started gardening/farming my suburban 60X120 plot of land and haven't had to buy more than a few pounds of veg since May, I've sold $870 worth of organic basil to local eateries, which subsidizes my gardening habit quite well, we got travertine floors throughout our house, my cat ran away and was gone for 4 weeks, then a family found her in their backyard when they noticed a cat trying to push open the back door, since the cat came back she's actually friendly, like a real pet, Huck's father could still be released from prison at anytime, we had a prowler in the backyard a few months ago and I am now a liberal with a gun, we went to MN this summer for 3 weeks, while there my dad taught me to shoot and it turns out I'm frickin Annie Oakley, I've come to terms with the theory that if Huck's father ever attempts to make good on his threats to me and mine, I'll shoot him to stop him, I carry a Tazer in my purse everywhere I go, I bought my sister $1400 (original retail value, not including shipping) of West Elm furniture for $50 for Christmas (2 of these and 1 of these -- Yay Pottery Barn outlet store 10 minutes away!), I got a stock tank pond for Christmas, I made almost all our give-to-others gifts this holiday (except for the sister and her husband, neither of which appreciate stuff like that, so I don't waste my time), I've knit 3 sweaters in the last 2 weeks, Lexapro and Tramadol have a strange interaction that makes you obsessive and hyper focused (but I like it and totally owe the extensive gardening/landscaping to said interaction, booyah),I've naturalized my hair and haven't used shampoo in over 8 months (but I still get it colored - not ready to embrace the 5 years of grey I've got going), last night I taught myself how to spin yarn from wool on a drop spindle (built the spindle myself too) and ended up making 175 yards of DK weight single ply yarn (gosh darn it does my left shoulder hurt right now), and also last night Huckle had his SECOND successful sleepover at a friend's house.

And my husband and I have turned out to be a "catch" for other couples -- we've been invited to six houses for New Years' Eve, and we're currently trying to work it out so we hold one big party here at our house to get a bunch of our friends together instead of six disparate satellite parties. That means I'll need to pick up the dog poop from the backyard. And maybe cook something. Maybe.

Back later! Let me know if you'd like to hear more about any of the stuff I mentioned above, having a direction to go in will help me write more. Any of those topics can be fleshed out, and of course there's more, but that's what came to mind after making 18 PB+J sandwiches and putting a big rock over the boxer puppy's freshly dug hole along the fence.

I've been reading the whole gang's blogs, even if I often don't comment (see above re: 12 children -- it is a normal thing, since I'm one of the only WAHMs and we have a Wii and a sandbox). I hope you all had a happy holiday season, are safe and warm and happy (if not overjoyed), and I wish you a Happy, Happy, Happy New Year.

Lawdy, I need a nap.

Lets hope I stay safe.

Huckle: Mom, we can't break our legs.
Maer: Nope, we don't want to, do we?
H: If you break your leg, Daddy and I will be sad.
M: Will you take me to the hospital?
H: No, we'll get a new mommy.

Vital statistics

In February 2005, Huckle weighed 29 pounds and was 34 inches tall.

In November of 2006, Huckle weighed 36 pounds and was 36 inches tall.

In December of 2007, Huckle weighed 45 pounds (winter clothes) and was 43 inches tall.

Is it common for kids to grow barely at all from 18 to 39 months (this was his first time in foster care, then 4 months of reunification), then grow 7 inches in a year, or is something strange?

He's really flat footed.

Here's a pic.

I know a lot of people missed the photographs around finalization, so here's another one, also only for a limited time. Christmas morning. Note the Milkbone Dog Treat licenced pajamas. I couldn't resist.

Photo taken down! Thanks for your comments. He's sooo cute. *sigh*

Isn't this illegal?

I know it isn't right, but isn't it also illegal? Doesn't that count as discrimination? And instead of the same sex couple that was denied, Huckle went to the hetero couple that threw him out with nothing five days later, which led to him going into another foster home for a week (the one that was told he was a 1.5 hispanic boy), before coming to us.