New Year in 2010

So we're all hanging in here over in Tucson. We've gotten a pretty good rutine down with Audrey and I at night. Jennifer is now getting the hang of it also. We do dinner, bath, teeth, story, and bed. Kids starting to get the hang of it and not fighting as much as they were in the begining. Christmas went well. We got to be able to go to San Diego for Christmas and see my sister Michealle, her husband Daniel, and her children Imala (9), and Lore (5), along with Deshi my aunt, and Joan my grandmother. We had good family times while we were there. Was a little stressful at times, but when is it not when family gets together. I got to go to see Sherlock Holmes while we were there with my sister, Dan, Uncle John, and Michealle's friend Kamela. It was a pretty good movie.

Looks like the boys might be with us as long as May, but we're thinking it may not be that long. So Chris, Audrey, and I have signed a six month longer lease just to give us more time to get things together to get ready move without the boys here cause it makes it really hard.

Grandma is in the hospital currently with pneumonia, but looks like she'll be going home tomorrow thank God! Thank you for all your prayers and support through this. Colleen went out to San Diego to go take care of Grandma when she comes home from the hospital cause she's going to still be really weak. Thank God that she can do that, otherwise I'd be figuring out how to get out there myself! Wouldn't that be fun?

But otherwise things are going well all things considered, and we're all staying in pretty good spirts otherwise. So heres to everyone feeling well and having a wonderful new year!

New pictures are up

Sorry haven't updated recently, but will eventually get there, just not at the top of my list. So new pictures are up on the picasa website. Check them out. From November, December, and Christmas' that we've had. Let me know if you want copies and of which ones and I'll send you soft copies to print them out if you can't download them. Happy New Year to all and ttys we love you.

www.picasaweb.google.com/tiffanyhammar

Enjoy!

We've survived the first week

Hello all, sorry been so lax in putting an update up, but getting everthing and everybody washed, laundered, put away, homework done, fed, and everything that children entail I've basically dropped into bed at night. Audrey has been a wonderful help in getting things together and done in a timely manner with all of them. Good news is they're adjusting, bad news is that means that the middle one is more prone to tantrums now, but that is the beauty of them having their own bedroom. Can just put him in there until he decides to stop screaming. I go in every few minutes and ask if he was done yet, and just got screamed at, so said ok and left and repeated it until he decided to stop screaming at me. Took a little while but he did eventually stop screaming. He was decidedly unhappy at that moment. Now I'm told by the courts that I cannot discuss anything about any of the court hearings that will identify the children, or possibly harm the case in anyway shape or form, so if you ask, I am unable to give any answers other than we're working on it basically. Hopefully we get everything to happen the way that we want it to go. Good news is that the older two boys have been granted permission to go on the Polar Express train ride in Williams like they have every year for the past 4 years (I think 4 years...). They're so excited to go, they get to go this weekend. They travel to the North Pole, pick up Santa Clause, and go back. Is pretty cool if you ask me. I'm going to look into how much it costs for us to maybe go next year. The kids say it's pretty cool. I'll have to see.

Things are starting to fall into routine around here, which helps alot with the kids. We had JC here to day also, his mom was feeling really bad, she seems to have caught something that isn't looking very comfortable. So I kept him today after picking him up from school for her to get some rest. At this point, what is one more fairly self sufficient kid? But over all everything seems to be going fairly well. I'm glad that I have loving friends and family that are so supportive through this! I know some people think we're crazy  for doing this, but I think that it's crazy not to. Have to give and love as you would want to receive and be loved. With that note I am off to my show and relaxing. Have a wonderful rest of your week.

Love, The Tucson Fennimore Family (and then some).

Addition

So it has come to my attention through me rereading my blog that I have missed giving credit to someone that it is due. Audrey, my deepest and sincerest appologies. I did miss putting out there all the help that you have given me. She has been an angel with helping with bed times, nap times, snack and dinner times, cleaning up after dinner, helping with the laundry. Things that my overwhelmed brain has recognized, but failed to publically ackenoledged. My brain is currently in Tahiti drinking Mai Tai's so I'm currently missing things straight in front of my face. So Audrey, I'm sorry, and thank you for all that you have done for all of us in this time of need.

All my love and hugs,

Tiffany Fennimore

6 kids and counting and death in the family

So this week has been a little interesting. So my girlfriend left her husband Sunday evening, called police on him since he did something stupid, and she had a long night talking with them and such. Come Monday morning she got arrested also (cause TPD is STUPID), and CPS took her kids.... Tuesday we had CPS meeting with her whole family in town (her mom flew in monday night from ND), and I got placement of all 3 boys in my house. We couldn't be more happy about that outcome. I'd much rather deal with having 6 children in my home under the age of 7 then have the boys split up in foster care! CPS is working on long term placement at the grandmothers house in ND, and eventually back to mom, but it takes 2 months minimum to get all the paperwork and such done. But it's worth it for the babies! Thank god for Kathy, she's the grandmother, and she has been here everyday minus today, helping me not only with those kids, but also my own. She's here to help me in anyway that she can. Her other daughter, the kids aunt, is helping me out by getting me some stuff for the kids that is just theirs and not just stuff here that is my kids. I think it is really important that they have some stuff here that is theirs, not just the basic essentials. The kids entire family is rallying together to get them anything and everything they need to be comforatable and for their basic essentials. I am so touched to see a family rally together like theirs has. I know that I have stunned some people with what they're calling my generosity of taking these kids in. I have to give credit where credit is due. My family is my example. My mom, my aunt and uncle that took care of me growing up, and the others that have been an example in my life show me daily to open my heart to people. If you have a friend in need, give them the shirt off your back to help them. If they're close enough, they're family. The kids mom and I have been friends for going on 14 years. We've been watching each others children grow up. I'm aunt Tigger to her boys. She's an aunt to my kids. I am just touched enough that she trusts me enough to take care of her babies. I have been taken in officially by the rest of her family as a part of her family LOL. The great grandparents of the kids have just been wonderful, they got me things i needed for the boys no questions asked, AND I didn't have to go to the store to get them, even better huh? hehehehehehe. So needless to say, I currently believe I have the worlds best husband. He told me when I left for that CPS meeting "Do what you need to do" and I came home telling him, "Honey we're doubling the size of our family tomorrow." He took a deep breath, looked me in the eye and said "Ok, what do I need to do to help you?" I'm not lying when I say I got teary eyed. It was the best thing in the world when my  heart soared from what he said. It proves the metal of the man that I married, and that I knew his true character inside and out. I love him a little more each day, but that was a lot more after he told me that let me tell you!

Now to top this upheveal in our lives, my Great Grandma in bisbee, more commonly known as Nana Horn had a heart attack last week. Just a minor one and all things seemed to point that she'd be able to go home. Unfortunantly her body gave up. She passed away thursday evening around ten fourtyfive at night. She went peacefully in her sleep and just sighed out and never inhaled again. My great aunt donna her daughter said it was a peaceful passing. My only thing is I feel guilty for not going down there in the last two months. I promised her next time I came I would bring the children with me. In September kids were sick, in october she was sick and at the urgent care when I went to come down, and just didn't seem to be up to me coming down. Now here we are in november, and she's gone. I know that those aren't things I have any control over, and that I shouldn't feel guilty that i robbed her and my children of the last time of them seeing eachother, but as we all know, we can't order our emotions to feel the way our logical thoughts think we should feel. I'll get there eventually but it's still too new. With all of this going on, I'm currently in my box as I put it. The feelings are there, but they're boxed up for now, and there they'll stay until the funeral on tuesday morning. I just have to much here to let that out without freaking out the kids, and that's the last thing the 3 boys need added to their own upheaval. But I seem to be doing ok. Not great, but ok. Thats not me just saying it to pull the wool over anyones eyes, but I'm ok with her being gone. She's not in pain anymore, she's not struggling to be alive anymore. She's at peace. And that knowledge and that knowledge alone is enough for me to make it through. I'm touched that my great Aunt Donna has asked Chris to be a pall bearer in her funeral. She's having Grandma Joyce's urn placed into her casket with her. Grandma Joyce was Aunt Donna's twin sister, and my Father's mother. So Nana was my dad's mother's mother. If that makes sense I hope I explained that right, my brain is pretty dead right now.

Well it is a quarter after ten, I'm going to head to bed. My love to all and if anyone has any suggestions on scheduleing for 6 kids, routines, or large meals for everyone, I am open to suggestions! Will post again as soon as I can get the time to do so.

Love,
Tiffany and family

P.S. I posted the Halloween pictures http://picasaweb.google.com/TiffanyHammar/200910Halloween#

Today our nutshell was a partially smashed pumpkin

So today looks like it's turning into the most expensive pumpkin patch visit we'll ever do!
Start of day went well, tried to get girls down for a nap early, Sky didn't take one even though she needed one badly. Serena took like an hour nap, then we wen to leave about 11:15, was supposed to meet Sheila and the gang at noon. Needless to say she was running late also so we were going to get there about the same time. We're driving, getting kids lunch in the car, doing alright, get off I-10 and start down I-19 toward Agua Linda farms (nice place by the way), and I feel the car vibrating what seemed to be more than would be normal. I comment on it to Audrey as we're continueing down the way. All of a sudden it got really vibration, and I think in my head, ok there's an exit, I'm going to take it. So I was getting ready to try to merge right in traffic and then shake rattle and roll went the back end of the car and you hear this thunk thunk thunk bang. I was like holy crap what did I just run over? And the back end of the car started to shimmy bad. I of course by that point in time had taken my foot off of the gas pedal and began slowing down and looked in my rear view mirror in time to watch part of my tire fly over the car behind me. I had to get onto the left shoulder of the highway because I was surrounded by traffic. I made sure everyone was ok, and put my head down on the stearing wheel and went "holy crap!" to put it mildly. I was shaking so badly. I got out of the van to go look at the tire and see how bad it was. ALL of the tread had stripped off the tire. Luckly for us didn't blow also. Was still full of air. Let me tell you someone was watching over us today on that one! So I call my insurance company to get the number for road side assistance because the numbers not on my insurance card. I get ahold of his office, explain my situation, and they give me the number, but ironically I"m stranded like 10 minutes from my agents home. His office had called him after they gave me the number, which it was a good thing they did! So I tried the number, no answer three times! So I call his office back, they told me that Dan was going to call me asap. He calls me, he's in his car on his way to come help me fix my tire! One of the many reason I love my State Farm agent! So Dan shows up, with Amy in tow, and changes my tire for me! How lucky am I! So that was our adventure for the morning! We get the donut on the car, and away we go to finish our pumpkin trip (we were only like 20 minutes from the farm by this point, and they kids were so excited to go!) So tomorrow morning after I take Sean to school, I get to go find out how much a new tire is going to cost me on top of having just did a good bit of maitenence on Chris's car, and we're both due for a transmission flush on our next oil change which costs a hundred bucks a piece for Pete's sake!

So we get to the farm, get the kids out and headed to the fun and let me tell you they had a blast! It was so fun watching them go on the tire swings, go through the petting zoo area, climb the hay "castle" they had out, and we bought a pony ride ticket for them too. Pictures pending me getting them on my computer hopefully tomorrow! We even rode the tractor out for Sheila to pick out a pumpkin (we have plenty). The kids loved it and had a blast, and were in pretty good behavior, even Gabriel, for the day that we'd had. Coming home was... interesting with 4 sleepy kids and two worn out adults. Poor Audrey, I thought she was going to kill me ehehhee. We came back home through town off of I-19 due to the tire thing, and towards the end, the kids were all yelling and playing in the back at such a loud volume and I couldn't get them to stop. They'd been stuck in the car for an hour, and they were playing and not fighting at that point in time, so I just looked at her and said "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em" and I started yelling and making noises with them too, it was hillarious. She thought I was nuts. But we had fun and that's what counts!

Well it's late here now, I've had a pretty long day and need to get some sleep so we'll catch up with you tomorrow folks. Have a wonderful monday!

The Fennimore Clan

We had a good anniversary

Thank you Sharon, Vince, and Audrey. We were able to go out to chinese food for our anniversary. It was pretty good stuff! Audrey stayed at home with Sean and Serena so we cold go out alone, Sky stayed at Debi's house today and tonight so gave us both a break that way LOL. But tired now and going to go snugggle up and watch an on demand movie with chris.

Have a good night everyone and once again, thank yoU!

Love Tiff and Chris