Q&A #202

Would love to hear more about Kellsey's specific goals for the year! My little Julian just had his one year evaluation...lots of goals (mostly relating to getting to stand/walk, eating skills, early language skills, you know the drill) 
I will definitely post more about those after her IEP meeting :). I imagine there will be lots of speech goals and lots of "getting ready for Kindergarten!" goals. :)


About the north pole... make sure to get PLENTY of rest the day before, especially if you will be pushing any of the kids in a stroller.. the place is almost all uphill. There is a ton of climbing, just like the zoo! Actually, since it's mostly all IN the mountains there will be a lot of uphill at most places. I reccomend Manitou Springs, it's gorgeous! Enjoy Colorado! 
We have been to Manitou Springs and love it there! Such a cute little town! Thanks for the tip about the North Pole! We have heard about the zoo having lots of hills. I'm kind of regretting selling our double stroller now. Keeghan NEVER wanted to sit in it anymore, but I bet with lots of hills he and/or Kennedy will tire out quickly! 


Just wondering, whats your bus phobia about?? 
I don't like the fact that they don't have seat belts (which Kellsey's bus would), there have been too many stories of bullying on buses (which I wouldn't have to worry about on Kellsey's bus because they're all preschoolers going to the special ed preschool), and the bus driver who drove in our neighborhood in TN drove like a crazy person, so I am trying to get over that. It took everything in me just to let Kass and Kam go on the bus for field trips and that was with me or Frank either in the car behind the bus or on the bus with them AND lots of teachers ON the bus with them! Kellsey is still little and the fact that she can't TELL me what happens on the bus is an issue for me, too. Call me paranoid, they just freak me out. If at ALL possible, we'll avoid the bus this year, and next year for sure we'll be back to no buses! 


Shouldn't Kennedy be in 2nd grade if she is 7? What was the point of doing homeschool 1st grade last year if she just has to do it all over again? 
We didn't do 1st grade last year. We  redid Kindergarten last year which is what she needed. She's right where she should be. 


its your little intro to 5 kids all in school. haha, how does one with 5 kids have them all off not BUGGING mom at once? wow! 
Well, it's usually Keeghan who is talking my ear off constantly and he was at the store with dad! LOL Other than that, as long as Kass and Kam aren't bickering *ahem*, and no one is hungry, the kids are all pretty good! :)


LOVE LOVE LOVE The Monkeys! :)
Did you paint the monkeys and trees/vines on the wall or did you get big stickers?...The color is great! :) 
They are wall decals, we found them on etsy. Those ones were GREAT quality, the ones on the other side (the no more monkeys jumping on the bed) were not so great. We had a hard time getting them to stick right. Wait till you see Kellsey's! I'm excited about hers... if it ever gets here!


Love it! Wow! I am enamored at the fact you can paint any wall, etc. in your rental. When we've rented it has to stay the exact way they left it which is white.  
Well, the only reason we got to paint Kennedy and Keeghan's rooms (and their bathroom eventually) is because the last renters painted them funky colors without permission. They were supposed to paint them back to white before we moved in and they never did. We are not allowed to paint Kassidy, Kameron, Kellsey's or our bedroom or any of the other bathrooms or the living room or anything. The other kids' bedrooms are white, which is fine. We're making it work. The living room and kitchen is a cream(ish) color which is also fine. Our master bathroom has one random green wall... which is strange... but whatever! LOL Better green than hot pink I guess! :) The people who lived here before were very... odd. 


Televisions in every bedroom? With all those toys, I'd think they wouldn't need a TV. Why do you have one in each room? 
Obviously you didn't look closely enough at Kassidy's room. She doesn't have a TV. Neither does Kameron. Or Kellsey. They DO have a TV in the little shared rec area right outside their 3 bedrooms though. Frank and I don't have a TV in our room either, for that matter. We've had that Mickey Mouse TV and Princess TV for years, they used to be Kass and Kam's but they didn't want them anymore. Lots of kids have tvs in their rooms, I don't see a problem here other than the fact that you are looking for one. 


That is adorable! Have you seen the stuffed animal storage called THE ZOO? Look it up online (maybe search stuffed animal storage THE ZOO). I have a friend that got it for her little guys room and it is adorable...or maybe they built something based on this. I am not sure of the cost :).
Ohhh!!! I love that!!! I may like that better than my idea! Somehow I can picture Keeghan trying to climb into that thing! LOL! I wonder if Frank could build one similar? Hmmm! Thank you! Now my wheels are turning! haha 


Wow!! I think a toy hammock would be pretty cool for the monkeys but I know whatever you pick will be awesome!
I have a proposition for you, come to the UK, I'll pay you to decorate my house and you can pick up Kellsey's furniture whilst you are here? (Just kidding! But seriously, I am in awe of your decorating skills!) 
Kath, are you talking about a pet net that screws into the wall? We had those in our last house, and I kind of wanted those for this house (we seriously have like 4 boxes of stuffed animals in the garage still because we have nowhere to put them!) and my thought was to put them lower so the kids could just get the toys out and put them back as they needed them... Keeghan would NOT be happy if his monkeys were out of reach, but Frank says that if the animals are put in and out constantly the screws are eventually going to tear big holes in the walls, and we don't want that. And knowing Keeghan (and Kennedy and Kellsey for that matter) they'd probably try to sit in it! HA! As for coming to the UK, I'll be right over! ;) It would probably be faster than waiting for this thing to get here already! 


Where do you get the cute bedding for your kids? I am looking for some for my kids who are 13,12 and 11. 
I got it from Beyond Bedding. They have super cute stuff and all coordinating! I love the quality, too! They have crib bedding, toddler bedding, children's bedding, teen bedding and even grown up bed sets! Next time I have to buy bedding for me and Frank, I'm looking there first. The only thing that I didn't buy was the sheets... they were REALLY expensive and they were just solid colored sheets. I'm sure they were really nice, but I bought sheets that matched the kids bedding at Target for less than half the price. Also, if you buy the window valances, be careful! Keeghan's valance was too short for his window, so you may want to measure first. For some reason, Kassidy and Kennedy's valances were almost twice as long as the boy's... weird! Anyway, there's my review on their bed sets! 


I love it... Love the monkeys. I had one when I was a kid.. He's name was Casey... He'd be outside and when he wanted in he'd kick the door.. 
You had a real monkey?! Like a real real monkey?! Keeghan would LOVE that! Me, not so much, but I'm pretty sure that would be Keeghan's dream pet! LOL 


what about kassidy's room?! 
But... I DID do Kassidy's room! :) I did a virtual tour at the end of her Q&A... which I guess some of you would have missed if you can't get video to load, huh? OK I'll post pics of hers too. :)


That's awesome! The word "pirates" in "It's a pirate's life for me" should have an apostrophe, though. :) 
Oh my goodness, I know!! It's been driving me nuts! haha Frank said he wouldn't have even noticed. Grammar snobs unite!! :o)


I love his room (and Caleb is going to love it when I show it to him and will be begging us to redo his room like this). Where did you get the wall art above his bed? 
I got it right here off ETSY. If you go on there and search for pirate wall decals, you will find TONS!! 


Recently you did a post on the kids. Did you remember you had these pics of Kellsey? Anyways, I am rereading your adoption journal. I move in 2 days and plan on contacting you with some adoption stuff once I am situated. No, I can't adopt but I have some ideas that God is placing on me so will need someone to roll them off of. Let me know if this is ok please. 
Yep, I did remember. :) Those were taken just a few months before we met her. I guess I don't consider those to be "baby" pictures of her which is what I was posting on that series of posts of the other kids. I only went up to 6 months old on them and then I posted Kellsey's 1 year and 2 year old (approximately) pictures of her which are the only "baby" pictures of her that I have. She was almost 3 there, and then of course from 3 years on I have lots of pics of her :). When we went to the SDA (state department of adoptions in Ukraine) they had a newborn picture of her. She was maybe 1 week old? It was adorable! I wanted that picture SO badly but they wouldn't let us have it. It's sitting in a file somewhere, probably never to be looked at again. So sad. And yes, feel free to contact me any time.