Friday, April 25, 2008

Cap and Gown

Dominique's cap and gown for graduation arrived today. I guess I have to face reality now. It is becominig more and more official. I called him to let him know of the arrival, he was excited until I told him about the letter that accompanied the delivery. No piercings, no inappropriate clothing, it is a Formal event and dress should reflect that!
I HAVE TO WEAR A TIE??????????
Yes, and dress slacks
No way, I am wearing Dickies not dress slacks
Dress slacks, and why don't you buy some while you are in Atlanta?
No I am not trying anything on...
ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!
I LOVE my son.....I love my son..........I really love my son.......but, why is he so unreasonable??????

Destination Atlanta

I got a phone call from Dominique last evening at 6:20 he was still on the plane but had arrived safely in Atlanta. He was very nervous but also excited. I am glad he took a friend with him it is a nice distraction and support.
This morning I talked to him again, they are driving down to Talahasee to pick up his little brother, Phillip, whom Dominique has never met except through pictures and phone calls. I wish I could be there for this first meeting. Lisa promised to take a ton of pictures for me. I know the time there with his brother and bio-dad will fly by for him. Please keep them in your prayers.

Thursday, April 24, 2008

On his way!

Well, I just returned from the airport. My son is a brat! He kept saying....are you gonna cry mom??? HUH? Are ya? Are you gonna shed a few tears for me??
ARGH! Yes, I am....but not when you can see, you little stinker!
His poor friend Scott, has never been on an airplane before, he was more than a little nervous. They have to change planes in Milwaukee, that ought to be interesting. I tried to tell the check in lady that they were unaccompanied minors and needed a personal escort. When she asked for an additional $100 I quickly changed my request. I also tried very hard to get them wings but the airline doesn't have any.....CRAZY! What airline doesn't have wings???? Since she disappointed me twice she did offer to page the boys over the PA system personally just before they were ready to board their plane. I thought that was fair!
Madison is convinced something horrible is going to happen and they wont come home. The ride home was not very fun! Let me tell you! I think she is better now.

Its been way too long.....

Where do I begin?
So much has been happening in our little corner of the universe.
Dominique has been officially accepted to Grand View College. Yeah Dominique! So far he has been awarded a scholarship for $6,500 for his academic achievement. Yeah! The award letter is being prepared by the financial aid office now, so pray he receives more scholarship money. He has decided to live on campus. Another Yeah! I am so very proud of him. He is going on a long awaited journey today. Please pray for him. He is traveling to Georgia to visit his bio-dad for the first time EVER. Pray for me too, I am a nervous wreck! But also believe he needs to take this journey....
His graduation date is May 17th. At First Federated Church in Des Moines. His party is on May 23, 2008 from 5-8pm and it is at Lions Park in Altoona, Iowa. I am excited for him and the opportunities that lie before him....I am so sad my boy is leaving home and going out into the world, something I am not ready for....
Madison has been struggling A LOT lately.....
We are preparing to leave for another trip to MN for Isaiah. He is really praying hard that we can continue waiting for surgery, he is looking forward to golf lessons again this summer and does not want to miss any. We leave Monday may 5 and return sometime May 7 at night.
Elijah is 3 games into baseball season and loving it more than last season. They are a great team this year. All the boys get along really well together and we have 3 really great coaches.
Amaris is doing well, she has been struggling with memories of her life before she came to be part of our family. These memories are hard on her but we are working hard to help her through.
Sam is.....well, lets just say not much has changed in his world. I am hoping Kindergarten will help in the fall....if your opinion is different than that....please don't share, I would like to keep my dream as long as possible. I just hope Mr. Nelson (our principal) still likes us after next year.
We still have our little visitor...he arrived in our home Jan. 31. He is thriving and growing every day! What a blessing he has been to our family!
In June, Dominique and I have the privilege of traveling to NJ to attend the wedding of a very dear old friend of mine. I am super excited to go. Not only will I see my friends who were like a second family to me, BUT the bride has chosen to have an authentic African wedding, and all guests are asked to wear African attire. Scott and I decided that traveling from Iowa to NJ with 7 children is not the best idea. So, Dominique and I will go it alone this time. Thanks for dropping in to check out our happenings.

Friday, April 11, 2008

Happy birthday RENN!


I am so sorry this is one day late.
Happy Happy Birthday to you my little friend! You were such a very special part of our lives when you lived here in Iowa. I had the honor and privelge of baby sitting you. You and Elijah were always fun to watch grow together. I hope you had a great day!

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Funny Nephew Story

A little ver a week ago my little nephew who lives in New Jersey accidentally called me instead of his dad. We are close on the speed dial phone. Anyway, he and I had quite the talk. He and his sister and his mom had all been sick. He toild me this funny story.
Colum: We have had the Icky Sickies ion our house.
me: I am sorry to hear that, are you feeling better?
C: A little, mommy hates the icky sickies.
Me: I do too.
C: Micayla has them too. and know what?
M: What??
C: did you know the boogey man?
M: No.........tell me about him.
C: I don't like him.
M: I dont think I would either.
C: Yeah cuz he sneaks in my room when I am sleeping and fills up my nose with boogies and I can't breath and sometimes he sneaks up on me when I am awake too. I hate it when that happens and know what mommy hates it when the boogie man gets her too.
M: (laughing) I definately would hate the boogey man too buddy!

Congratulations Bro!!!


I am so excited for my brother. He is about to begin a new journey in his life. He will be leaving in a couple weeks for training. His job will be to maitain and fix wind turbines. Yes, I think he is crazy for even wanting to be that high up in the air. But he is very excited about the opportunity. Isaiah has been praying for almost 2 weeks that Uncle Cowboy would get the job. It is always amazing when God's plan is exactly the desire of our heart! I am proud of you Phlip!

New blogger

So, I have been having some issues with Isaiah nbot wanting to write for school. He is so creative and tons of great ideas but getting those ideas from his brain down on paper is a challenge and often times results in melt downs and tears. So, I decided he likes to be on the computer so, today I set him up with his own blog. www.isaiahsplace.blogspot.com his blog name is lego lover. Of course! Silly what else would it be called. Stop by check his work out and leave him a message of encouragement now and then.

Friday, April 4, 2008

Sick kids....again....and the traveler returns

We have been battling sickness after sickness here for the past 3-4 weeks. It seems that one gets a bug, shares a variation of that bug with a sibling, then we have a day or two of recovery and a brand new bug enters the home! Even my Lysol tricks are failing! The poor baby has been so sick all week. Now Isaiah has it again, Madison hasn't been feeling well, Amaris had the pukies, ACK!! I want spring to come soon so I can open up this germ infested house and serve eviction notices to all the unwelcome guests who have invaded the bodies of my family!
On a lighter note....
Dominique returned at 12:50 am. He had a great time with Pastor Heath and the entire Seven team. Thank you a million times Pastor Heath for investing so much Love into my Boy! It was so encouraging, yesterday morning I talked to him on the phone and for the first time in a long time, I heard the voice of my Dominique, he was happy, excited, and a joy to talk to. What ever God did to his heart while he was away, I pray God continues the work and brings someone along side him to encourage him.
I finally completed and turned in ALL of Madison's paperwork. YEAH! I also finally completed Dominique's transcript and will be sending it off today! Again, YEAH! This means I am one step away from my reward. I bought the new Karen Kingsbury book 2 weeks ago as an incentive for me to figure out all this crazy paperwork get meetings scheduled. I have 2 more calls to make then I get to start my book! I am so excited to read this book. I also bought another book, this one will be my reward for getting rid of the winter clutter, and get that dreaded spring cleaning done!
How do you all motivate yourselves to get things accomplished??

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

SEVEN

Very early this morning Dominique left the house to meet Pastor Heath and his team to travel to Burlington Iowa for a Seven project out reach. Pray for the team that they would be vessels for God to work miracles through. This is a very important trip to the team. Pray divine protection over each and every member and an anointing over them that will blow people away!
Also, pray for Dominique...he has been struggling lately and this trip could make a world of difference for him in more ways than one. I just love Pastor Heath for continuing to love my boy even after all this time. He has brought Dominique through the toughest times of his life so far. Pastor Heath has a heart for youth and God has truly blessed him. They will be gone until late Thursday night. Thank you all for covering them in your prayers!!!!! I am sure we will hear amazing stories of how God moves during this trip both in the team and in the lives of those they touch!

Update on Gramma

Gramma is doing much better. She is getting back into a routine and adjusting to the idea of using her walker instead of her cane. Thank you all for praying for her. She is an amazing woman and I love her so much!

What is happening now.

Saturday was a crazy day in the old Albers household. Isaiah and Elijah were supposed to be at church at 8:30 to help Scott set up for the pinewood derby races. Isaiah, Amaris, Madison and Scott took off for the church at 8:45. Isaiah was able to race his car. He did not win this year but had a great time racing and even more fun making his car. When he got home he got out all of his cars. He has one for every year since Kindergarten, the funny thing is every single car has red and black on it.
Madison is working on daily living skills and this weekend we decided a great thing for her and her mom to do together instead of sit at our kitchen table would be to take her laundry to the laundry mat and learn how to use the facility. What a difference this made in our household. The stress of supervising visits has really gotten to everyone. This was a nice "test" to see how they do without supervision and a nice break for us. They didn't do too bad. Maybe we can plan more things like that in the coming months.
Of course since it was the weekend, Dominique was at Alex's house. His home away for home.
Elijah had opening ceremonies for little league Saturday. This is always an exciting day for him. I am so glad Isaiah had something to focus on for himself because he has always dreamed of playing ball and will never be able to. He always gets so sad when this time of year rolls around. We had team pictures, opening ceremony and a scrimmage game. A huge thank you to my mom for coming over and watching the baby so he didn't have to be out in the wind all morning. Sam and I had fun watching the boys play ball and playing catch.
Isaiah is officially signed up for his golf lessons. We did this in faith that our report May 5-6. Will be that we can continue to wait for surgery. It is hard to believe we have managed to wait almost a whole year. Although we have noticed some neurological changes that make us uncomfortable, our doctors are still OK with waiting. So, wait we will.
I finally completed Dominique's transcripts and have sent them off for approval so we can mail in all his college apps. Reserved the park for his party. Completed and mailed all Madison's paper work I have been working on for the past month. Things are moving along.
We have had several different kinds of illnesses going on in the house. Nothing a little antibiotic and a lot of Lysol wont take care of. I am definitely ready for spring!