Finally!!

Yay! I finally have some time to write! And I have SO much to say! I think I'm going to post several different posts on the different topics I have been dying to talk about over the last few weeks, so get ready for plenty to read!! I hope I can get through all of it...I am having a sleepover right now with Bonita, Linda, Monique, Tasha and Lindsay. So, we'll see how long I last without being called away to judge a dance contest or preview the next great rap. I am SO thankful that these girls have the relationships that they do. I'll talk more about that in a different post...

Of course, I have to start with the cruise! I still miss it and we all are already trying to figure out when we can go again. It was an AMAZING vacation!!

I went with my friends Frank, Elizabeth, Shera, Jonerik and Emily. We flew out pf Philly early on Monday, and even had fun waiting in the airport, playing games and trying to hold in our excitement. We arrived in Miami, immediately found a cab that dropped us off at the ship, and easily made our way onto the ship; and it was even better than we imagined!! Our rooms were kinda small, but who cares! We spent most of our time touring the ship, or touring the islands!!

The itinerary had us stopping at a different island each day, arriving around 8 a.m. and disembarking (or taking off as Jonerik called it) around 5 p.m. So, we had plenty of time each day to enjoy the ship as well as the island. Our first stop brought us to Grand Bahama island. Elizabeth, Frank and Shera decided that they wanted to spend the first day relaxing on the ship, but Jonerik, Emily and I decided to tour the island. First we looked into renting scooters, but it was kind of expensive and it turned out I was the only one old enough (though that would have been a really funny picture...me driving with JE and Emily on the back of my scooter). So, we decided to take a cab into the "city" and hang out at the beach a bit.

God had something even more amazing in store for us! As we walked along the beach we saw some jet skis. We couldn't tell if they were for rent or not but started talking about how much fun they would be. So, we decided to ask and they were for rent!! So, we rented the jet skis for an hour and got to ride over a mile out to sea (over crystal clear blue waters). It was AMAZING and SO BEAUTIFUL!! We had a blast!!!

The next day we stopped at Nassau Island, which has a really amazing casino. We didn't gamble, but did go to their aquarium and took a boat tour of the island. All six of us spent the day together and had a blast (of course). We're kind of like the TV show "Friends"...when you get all 6 of us together, its just awesome. :)

Our last island day was spent in Great Stirrup Cay, a private island owned by Norwegian Cruise Lines. The people on the ship were the only people on the island. It was GREAT!! Jonerik, Emily, Frank and I decided to rent snorkel gear and check out the sea life. The water was so clear and beautiful, goggles were hardly necessary. It was the most relaxing day! The cruise ship even had an amazing lunch buffet set up for us on the island!!!

The food on the cruise was beyond delicious and we all ate way more than we ever should. Plus, every night we got to see different shows the ship had, went to a karaoke bar on the ship, and enjoyed walking around the ship (trying to work of some of the food we ate, haha). I also had some good time to spend alone reading, and hanging out with Jesus. Our only complaint was that the cruise did not last long enough. Next time we will definitely go for at least a week!!

That vacation was an incredible gift from God that I am still in awe of. Every once in a while I will find myself thinking..."I was on a cruise?!? In the Bahamas?!?".

Yes, yes I was. And it was SWEET. :)

Cruisin!

Tomorrow morning at 4 a.m. I will head to the airport with 5 friends that I really love. We will fly to Miami where we will board a cruise ship and spend the next 5 days together traveling to the Bahamas and having an amazing time. I am SO PUMPED!!!

I realized earlier this summer that it has been 4 years since I have taken a real vacation. That is a long time! (I don't count the beach trip earlier this summer since I had 9 kids with me!). I'm ready for this one!

How can I afford such a trip?!? JESUS!! Haha, seriously though we found an incredible last minute deal that we couldn't pass up. And thanks to our rebate checks, we had the money to do it! We actually looked at some cruises leaving out of Philly, but this deal was so amazing that the cost of the cruise plus the flight to Miami was still cheaper. Thank you Jesus!

This last week has been insane. For the first time in my life, I am actually important at my job. What I mean by that is, while I used to be able to just go away and have someone cover me for a few days, now I have to actually take care of things before I leave because there isn't anyone else that can do them. So, I have spent all week basically preparing to go away...and its been crazy. But, honestly, a lot of fun too. :)

But, now I am ready to go. I have sent tons of emails, made several spreadsheets, spent hours on the phone training people to do what I do. I have also typed up several different "How To" documents and answered countless questions. If I didn't come back from this cruise, my job would still be covered. :)

I have also gotten everything ready for Kids Club. Birthdays, slide shows and even a new bulletin board are ready to go.

So, now I am ready to cruise. Did I mention that I'm really excited?!?!

I know there will be internet available on the cruise, but I am going to avoid it. I think I would be too tempted to check my work email and that wouldn't be fun. So, you will have to wait until I get back to hear all about it. :)

Alright, I need to get some sleep so I can actually get up in time for the airport run! (Thank goodness for Frank Hinson who is willing to wake up at a crazy hour to drive us all to the airport. We weren't sure we could find anyone who liked us enough to do it, haha).

Please pray for good weather!! There aren't any hurricanes on the horizon, but there is still talk of rain. We want sun!!

Also, please continue to pray for my roommate situation. A friend of mine knows that I have been struggling with having a roommate and recently mentioned to me that she actually really needs a roommate and she was wondering if my roommate would be willing to move in. I thought it sounded like a great idea (their personalities actually match better), so I mentioned it to my roommate. Well, she didn't take it well and is pretty upset right now. I really feel like this is something that God may be doing, but I need Him to come and show all of us what He is up to!

I am hoping that this time of me being away will really allow both of us to really hear what God wants to do.

Also, PLEASE be praying for Carisa and her family. She is 8 1/2 weeks pregnant and is horribly sick. She was very sick with her last pregnancy but this one is even worse (which I hope means its a girl, hehe). I even took her to the ER on Friday because she is so depleted of nutrients. Her doctor's aren't overly concerned about her health (this is actually somewhat common), but she is miserable. Please pray!

Alright, I am off to bed. If my last vacation is any indication (the "dream" vacation), I will take tons of pictures, and I will share them all when I return!!

We're Back

Well, we've been back for a few days but I have been so busy I haven't had time to write anything! This has been, and will be a very busy week for me with Reading Rocks starting as well as a group being here, and we have our block party on Saturday. I'm already tired...

Plus, unfortunately I returned to a horrific mess in my house that has taken me 2 days just to make liveable. The kittens created much poop that was never cleaned up, which has led to many flys and other bugs. And that's only the beginning,. I don't consider myself a neat freak by any stretch, but I can't live in the grossness that has become my house. I spent a good amount of time yesterday and today cleaning, so I'm feeling a lot better about things now.

My roommates from last summer, Jenna and Brooke, are here visiting for a few days and we have had a BLAST! We have had great conversations, yummy food and much laughter. And, they have very graciously helped with the cleaning. Jenna leaves tomorrow and Brooke on Wednesday, and I don't want either of them to go!!!

While the return to "normal" life has been busy for me, it has been even harder on the kids. They returned to the issues they had left behind, and they are having a hard time adjusting. For several of the kids, those issues greeted them at the door (actually, it was the lack of anyone to greet them that reminded them of their struggles). One set of kids came home to find a huge fight had broken out in their house while they were gone. Evidence of the fight was still all over the house, as well as bruises on her mom, brothers and sisters.

Another set of kids came back to discover that they were leaving in 3 days to spend the summer with their real parents...the ones they were taken away from several years ago because of the abuse they suffered. Another kid's pregnant sister tried to kill herself while we were away. This kid actually doesn't know this yet, but secrets can't be kept forever.

I know that all sounds kinda depressing, but that is the reality that these kids are living with. There is a part of me that wants to load them back into a van and head to VA for good. Of course, that would be teaching these kids to run from their problems rather than run TO JESUS with their problems. I don't want to do that...

So, please be praying for these kids as they readjust. And, please pray for me to be able to point them to Jesus and not help them run away.

Last Day

Today was our last day on vacation and while the kids are excited to get home and see their families, I am not ready to get back to work (although I do miss Gizmo).


WE had a very laid back day, hanging around the house and a bit at the beach. For the most part it was pretty calm, although we did start the day with some excitement...

Pillow fight!! It erupted spontaneously, but was hilarious and fun.





Most of us have been pretty beached out, so we didn't spend much time at the beach today. Thankfully, with movies, video games, board games, markers, nail polish and hair products, we were able to keep ourselves occupied all day.

Since tonight was our last night we decided to go out to dinner. Our original plan was to go to Macaroni Grill, however when we arrived we discovered that the power was out and they didn't know when they would be able to serve food again! So, we walked to several places around the Macaroni Grill only to find wait times of over 2 hours! As we headed back to the car to try and scout out some other possibilities, Pedro and Bonita noticed the lights seemed to be on at the Grill, so we checked one more time. Thankfully, the lights had just come back on and we were seated almost immediately! I think God did the power outage on purpose to clear out the restaurant so we wouldn't have to wait as long. :)

We all got dressed up for dinner, so before we left I wanted to take some nice pictures of everyone. As we were getting ready, however, a storm hit. I was so mad!! The only rain we had all week came right when I wanted to take pictures. God is so good, though, and as we were walking to the cars to go out to eat, the clouds parted and the sun came out!! So, we quickly ran to the beach to snap some pictures. We also have a really cool porch swing in front of our house, so I took some pictures there as well. I had to apologize to God because He obviously knew what He was doing. The lighting was great, and thanks to the rain, the beach was empty.

I have loaded all the pictures into my Phanfare site, and some of them actually look really good! I am hoping Carisa can edit them so they look even better and I will get a lot of them printed for myself and their families.

Here are some of my favorite individual pictures of each kid:


Pedro (and his million dollar smile)


Miguel


Tasha


Monique


Linda


Bonita



Luis


Zuley


Lindsay

Aren't they so beautiful and handsome?!?

After dinner we came back to the house to clean up, and decided to make some smores for dessert. Yummy!




We are heading out somewhat early in the morning, and I am hoping they will sleep most of the ride. I have a group coming in tomorrow, so I will literally get straight to work when I get back. On the bright side, my roommate from last summer, Brooke, is already in Philly for a visit and will be waiting for me when I get there. I am SO excited to see her!!!!!!

Still Perfect...Almost... :)

Today was another very low key day. We were all up pretty late last night with our dance competition, so most of us slept in (except of course Miguel...which means Lindsay didn't get to either). In fact, several people didn't even make it to the beach until almost 11.

At 1 we all got in the car and headed to our next surprise event. We went dolphin watching!! We boarded a boat and went on a 90 minute boat tour of the ocean to look for dolphins...and we saw some!! It was so exciting! We also saw some sting rays and jelly fish along the way (though we couldn't get any pics of the sting rays).





Unfortunately, the boat ride wasn't all great. Here is what we looked like when we came on board:


And this is what most of us looked like on the way back:



In fact; Zuley, Shera and Tasha were the only ones not looking like this by the time we were back on land. Thankfully, we were all feeling good when we saw the dolphins, so we were still able to enjoy that. However, while this was all the kids' first boat ride, it may also be their last.

The bright side of everyone feeling sick is that we were all pretty calm for most of the afternoon/evening. In fact, right now we are all watching an Animal Planet special on cats together, with several people dozing off. The living room in this house will fit all 11 of us, as long as we don't mind being close. :)

Tomorrow is our last day here, we leave early Saturday morning. This is the first time I have not been ready to get back to Philly! That may be because I brought a whole lot of Philly with me. :) Tomorrow we are spending the day at the beach and then dressing up to go out to a nice dinner together. The dinner will be to celebrate our final night together, as well as all the graduations we had last week. I'm so excited to see everyone dressed up!! Even the boys brought some of their nicest clothes! I am not looking forward to trying to get ready with 11 people and 2 bathrooms... :)

The introvert in me is CRAVING alone time, which is hard to come by in a house with 11 people. So, I will at least be excited for that on Saturday. Other than that, though, I am not ready to leave!!!!

Low Key

We had a very low key day here at the beach, but we all continue to love every second of this vacation.

This morning we all woke up and took our time eating breakfast, watching a little TV and then eventually trickling out to the beach as we felt like it.

What are we watching in this picture?

Super Why! Super Why is a kid's show that helps you learn to read, and we all enjoyed watching it together this morning. I thought that was funny. :)

The beach wasn't so much for for Lindsay today, she got a little sun burned. It really is as bad as it looks. I'm just glad she didn't have to deal with this while we were at Busch Gardens. We have put plenty of aloe on her back and we're praying it will heal quickly!!

At the beach today it seemed like everyone was much more interested in the sand than the waves. So, we decided to have a sand sculpture contest. I am SO impressed with their creativity! Shera didn't help them at all!!

Tasha, Linda, Miguel and Lindsay created this sunflower:


Bonita and Monique created this heart:


And Pedro and Luis made this turtle:


I was so impressed with all of them, I couldn't declare just one winner, so everyone won!!

We actually spent most of the afternoon/evening at the house playing hide and seek and then taking naps (well, I took a nap, haha). After dinner we watched "So You Think You Can Dance" together. While watching, we decided to hold our own So You Think You Can Dance.

All the kids came up with dances and performed them for me and Shera. Again, I was way too impressed with their creativity to declare one winner, but that didn't really matter, we all just had a lot of fun together!!


I know I have been sharing a lot about what we have been doing, but this vacation has been about so much more. Unfortunately, I haven't figured out how to put it into words yet. Actually, I haven't completely figured it all out yet.

Bonita and Monique have been inseparable all week and told me today that they are going to get the best friendship bracelets ever when we get back. The first few days we were here, Monique was pretty reserved, but in the last day or so she has just blossomed. I have known her for a little over 2 years now and I have NEVER seen her this happy...all the time. I hardly recognize her...this week she is showing me the kid I have always known was in her.

Linda and Pedro are teenagers now, and this week I am seeing just how much they have grown up. I am getting a glimpse of who they can be when they grow up, and I am so impressed.

We have 9 kids here...6 puerto rican, 2 black and 1 white...and to watch them together you would think they were actually a family that has grown up together. There are little fights here and there (which happens in families too), but overall they really enjoy one another and take care of each other. Everyone has been trying to help Lindsay with her sunburn. If Miguel can't reach something, no one makes fun of him, they just help him. When Tasha does something silly, everyone laughs and encourages her. When Monique dances, everyone cheers her on. I am just in awe.

My heart is stirred, and full. I have had plenty of people tell me that while I love these kids, it won't compare to the love I will have for my own kids. I don't know if I will ever get to test that theory, but right now I just don't believe it. I am SURE I will love my own kids in ways I never imagined, but I just can't even describe how I feel about these kids. And its okay with me if no one else understands that, I don't really think I do either, haha. I just know I am blessed, and so thankful for that.

Where did we go today?

Busch Gardens!! We spent all day (11 hours total!) at Busch Gardens, Williamsburg, a theme park about 45 minutes from where we are staying. We didn't tell the kids anything (actually, we told them we were going on an all day hay ride, but I don't think they ever bought it), and they were so surprised, and SO excited!!



It was pretty hot all day, but thankfully Tuesdays are a GREAT day to go to Busch Gardens. We hardly had any wait time in lines, which was awesome.


Busch Gardens is great because its not a huge theme park, but has plenty to keep you busy. There are 5 major roller coasters, and several of our kids rode all 5! I was so proud of them! Bonita, Linda, Monique, Pedro and Lindsay (yes, the same Lindsay who wouldn't even go on the Log Flume last summer) rode all 5 of the coasters, including Apollo's Chariot 3 times in a row!! (They didn't feel so great after that, haha).

This ride is called the Griffon and has two 220 foot drops at a 90 degree angle. It was crazy!!


Escape from Pompeii (the one pictured below) was the only ride that all 11 of us rode together, and we all loved it. Miguel isn't much for rides (he is terrified of heights), but he isn't really tall enough to ride much anyway. He was GREAT today, though, as I gave him the job as map-keeper and route planner. He and I had several "meetings" throughout the day to discuss our next plans. When Shera and I were discussing changing some of the plans (we were all getting tired), Miguel announced; "Okay, we'll make this one change, but then we have to stick to the plan. I don't like it when people change the plan". I want him to lead mission trips someday. :)

Tasha rode every ride she was tall enough for, including the Alpengeist and the Big Bad Wolf. She is so brave!! Luis, Zuley, Shera and I rode a lot of the rides but we all kinda took turns hanging out with Miguel and Tasha (when she wasn't tall enough for a ride). I really enjoyed hanging out with those two kids, they are hilarious. I wish everyone else got to see the Tasha I see. Around most people she is really shy and quiet, but that's not really her at all. She's actually very talkative, silly, giggly, clever and fun!

In the middle of the day we took a break to eat a yummy picnic lunch that we packed the night before. Then, it was quickly back to the park where we stayed until it closed.

One of our favorite things was the 4-D adventure "ride" called the Dark Kastle. We felt like we were flying through a haunted house being attacked by creatures, but we never left the room. :) This was the only other thing that we all went on together, although we stayed as a group all day which led to even more fun as everyone shared exciting experiences.



By far our favorite part of the day, however, was the Pet Shenanigans show we got to see. They had trained cats, dogs, ducks, pigs, and even mice put on an amazing show for us. It was so cute!

They even had this parrot that did math!! Seriously! They had people from the audience shout out math problems. Then the parrot would walk to the number that was the answer and flip it over. He did addition, subtraction, multiplication and division! It was great!



By the end of the day, we all looked like this:


Okay, Shera and I didn't look like that (we had to drive), but we certainly felt like it!! All the kids are passed out asleep and I don't expect them to be up too early (except Miguel, he is always an early riser...then he wakes Lindsay up and they have breakfast together before all the other kids get up. I think that is so sweet!).

We all had a GREAT day though. As we were leaving the park I asked the kids if any of them were ready to go back to Philly...and I got a very resounding NO! They are ready to get back to the beach though. :)

Tomorrow will just be a relaxing day at the beach. We have a few more exciting things planned for the week, but we need a day to chill after all the excitement of today!

Another GREAT day!!

This vacation continues to be incredible!! I'm not exaggerating at all, we are all having so much fun!!

This morning almost everyone slept in a bit (which means til 9 a.m.).

That is really how we found Monique sleeping this morning!!

We discovered two very rare animals today. I believe this is the first time either of these animals has been photographed.

First, we have the Miguelito Burrito. I know it sounds like food, but it is in fact a very mobile, worm-like creature. Here is a rare picture of the creature:

Next, in the water we found the incredible rare Tali-shark (Tali and Tasha's nickname). This shark can be scary at first, but is a pretty docile creature.


We again spent a good amount of the day on the beach and in the water.




The kids also very much enjoy the sand, creating many things. Here is Tasha trying to keep the water away from Pedro's artwork. :)


What was he making? A sand nose!


Pedro and Zuley also made a sand frog:


After dinner, we went out for a special treat:

We found a Rita's in VA!! It was a nice reminder of home, and very yummy. :)

Tomorrow we are heading out in the morning for a day trip. We will be gone all day, and the kids have no idea what we're doing. You'll have to check back tomorrow to find out! :)

(*I have loaded all my pictures...I'm up to almost 400!...on my Phanfare site, if you want to see everything!!).