Texas-Arizona-Florida Perkins

Welp. I tried Facebook and Instagram for telling our story, some stuff even went to Youtube! But they just aren't the best format to tell the real stories. So here I am, back on the blog 😏 It would be impossible to fill in the details of the last 12 years to say how we arrived at this point - living in Florida with our youngest 3. It's a fun ride and I invite anyone and everyone to come on it with us! Here's how it started: the Pandemic of 2020. 

But first a side note to explain some additional family members. We had the opportunity to have Caitlyn come to live with us in the spring and summer of 2017. She and her younger sister were living down the street from us in foster care and it wasn't going well. Our oldest (Kassie) was about to go off to college so we said hey, we have an extra room! Come on over! So she did. And for the next few months, she was with us and we were able to facilitate her and her younger sister being reunited with another sister and family in Massachusetts. After Caitlyn left, both Dan and I felt good, patted ourselves on the back for a job well done in listening to the Spirit, and doing what was needed to help these beautiful girls. 

Grandma Kass (2017) & grandkids at Lake Tahoe. Caitlyn is standing on the right with the orange shirt.

Fast forward to a few months and I am in the Gilbert temple. I just felt God tell me that we needed to become foster parents. There is almost a 5-year gap between Sophia and Caroline (now Milo) and we just thought it might be nice if Sophia had a little sister near her age. I came home from the temple and was a little worried about telling Dan. As is his everyday tradition, he went to Circle K for his diet Dr. Pepper. He came out with tears in his eyes and said, "I think Circle K plays hymns on their loudspeaker. I just heard Because I Have Been Given Much in there." So now he had confirmation that we needed to move forward. God😊 So we started the process of becoming foster parents and before you know it, we had 3 more kids!! Adopted in December 2018 and sealed to our family in December of 2019. (Now we were a family of 6 girls and 1 boy smack in the middle!) Again, that part of the story is long and for several other posts but suffice it to say, that's how we gained some extra kids so when you see their pictures, you'll know who they are.

So NOW we can get to the Pandemic of 2020. At that point, we had 6 kids living at home, all of them struggling for one reason or another. It led to scrolling Zillow as my pastime. Filters included at least one acre of property, 4 bedrooms, water on the property, close to a beach, and something we could pay cash for after selling our house in Arizona. At that point, it was a pipe dream, something I thought could maybe help some of the struggles our kids were having. Meaning they could have a lot of space outside to disconnect, spend time in nature, slow down, and have less stress. 

BUT... our community in Gilbert was so good! Our neighbors, our church people, our friends, our schools, our people, and our proximity to family... when looking at the pros and cons list, it was REALLY hard to say which column was winning out. Finally this summer, only 3 of the 7 kids were left at home but 2 of them really struggling, we needed a change. You can read between the lines as to how desperate the situation had to be to leave. We had been praying for a long time to know what to do and now we were getting the answer that it was finally time to move. I guess God knew it would take a lot of time to get us warmed up to the idea. With His direction, we started searching Zillow seriously and getting the house ready to put on the market. This is the house we found in Defuniak Springs, Florida that made us pull the trigger.

On August 1st, we finally had our Gilbert house ready to take pictures. (Side note, why do I always wait until I'm selling a house to fix it? My master bath looked awesome! And for posterity, I am going to include pictures of the Gilbert house but you can skip over them.)

On August 9th, without a sign in the yard, the real estate agents brought 8 different buyers through and the next day we had an offer for over the asking price! Plus they were willing to let us stay until fall break! Our heads were spinning! That was WAY faster than we expected. Immediately we recognized God's hand in this process. We quickly got things in order and booked a house-hunting trip. First stop, the house in Defuniak Springs, FL.

The Royal Wedding

I was only 6 when Diana and Charles got married, well before VCRs and DVRs, so if we wanted to watch - it was live, baby! My mom woke us up when it was still dark and I remember being in awe of the puffy dresses, wishing I could be wearing one. (I did get a haircut kind of like Diana's later that same year:)

So naturally I wanted my kids to have a similar memory of William and Kate's wedding, even though we have a DVR. They were not thrilled about the prospect of waking up so early, right up to the very moment when I woke them up with my fancy hat on:) I told them that they were cordially invited to attend the Royal Wedding but that they must wear their finest head adornments if they wished to attend (all this in my best British accent - a bit Hermione sounding said Kassie). They actually got up and came downstairs to my Royal tea party with their fascinators and enjoyed mini muffins, juice and watermelon flowers with cantaloupe balls. All the while keeping their pinky fingers in the air and using their best British accents.
We had flowers and used the Rosenthal candlesticks (which glam up any occasion).

The table was set with our best china and we even used napkins!

Overall, the event was a success and the wedding was great, too. We had to fast forward to the "I Will" part and didn't get to see the ride home or the kiss on the balcony till after school. The girls wanted to wear their hats to school so I let them. I wish I had taken pictures of that, too, because Kassie decided to go as a member of the Royal Guard. She wore a bear hat (it is seriously the head of a bear, worn because the black hats are made of Canadian Black bears), a red jacket decorated with ribbons on safety pins. She looked like a dork. I told her (as nicely as possible) that she was going to get teased. No worries, she said. No one teased her and she came home the same as she left. Must have gone okay.

Can I just say that the girls all oohed and awed over Kate's dress. I am so glad she looked so classy and timeless. It was a good example of what a real "Princess" wedding should be like. Luckily we have a few years before we have to worry about that. But at least now they will have a frame of reference to have their own princess wedding. Pretty little girls.

http://www.turbobubblegum.blogspot.com/

Recently I decided that my personal blog was for posterity, for stuff our family did. Not for my projects and ideas. But then a couple of friends approached me about starting a blog for just that purpose - sharing our ideas and projects! So after a few weeks of planning, we are officially launching

TBG

We will be having a Grand Opening, a Blog Warming if you will with lots of giveaways so keep watching!

Time

Sophia has been sick this week. Monday it was all over the cereal aisle in Walmart. Tuesday no throw up but other issues. Wednesday I caught it in the throw up bowl. Thursday I wasn't so lucky and it ended up all over her and her car seat. It's Saturday night and we're getting pretty good at the bowl but poor little thing only wants her mommy. And mommy has a lot of other kids, a niece, a mother-in-law, a husband and an unfinished master bedroom redo to take care of! Tonight as she struggled to get to sleep I became impatient. I just wanted a minute to myself and I clearly wasn't going to get it. After putting her back in bed numerous times and laying by her for a while, I gave up trying to do my own thing and just sat on the floor by the side of her bed holding her hand. Thinking. It took a while to turn my thoughts from the "what I wish I were doing" to the more philosophical "where else would I rather be". As I held her tiny hand, I knew she was just happy to have me there to comfort her. Was what I wanted to do more important than her tonight? No. Do I know mothers who would give anything just to have their baby's hand to hold again? Yes. Did these thoughts change my attitude toward sitting there? Absolutely. So I sat there holding her hand until she fell asleep and enjoyed EVERY moment of it. I thought about how many things take up my time that aren't priorities. Projects and commitments that take my time away from my little ones and big ones. Do I need to do them? Sometimes. Do I want to do them? Sometimes? Can I do them? Sometimes. As long as I remember that my priority is my family*. There is a finite amount of time in this phase of my life where my family does need so much of my attention. This phase will be over before I know it and I will have time to do more of the things that I want to do. For now, I will fit in what I can, keeping in mind that if I say yes, it needs to be because it's what is best for my family. *My definition of family is broad including but not limited to my nieces and nephews, siblings, in-laws, and occasionally friends.

What We've Been Up To

We've been busy! In no particular order, here are some of the things we've been up to:

The 6th grade band played at the schools Fine Arts Night. Outside. It was a beautiful night and these are some of the best pictures I've ever gotten of a band concert. Kassie is dressed in black because also as part of Fine Arts Night, the 5th and 6th grade Ballroom Dancers performed! They have been practicing for a few months and it was very cute. If I was really high tech, I would include video, but today I'm all about getting this written down for posterity.

Kassie also tried out for the Honor Band a few weeks ago, she didn't make it:( It was a good experience and I hope what she learned was that she needs to practice more. Like I can talk. I could have been so much better if I had practiced. I played well enough to get by and didn't make an effort to be better. Maybe if I had gone to a better school, I would have had some competition for first chair. Oh well, maybe I can get my kids motivated. After school the weather has been so fantastic the kids have been playing outside everyday. One whole week they made boats and floated them in the pool. They were at it before school and after school. Isn't it fun to see what "floats their boat"? (I know, I'm so funny.)

The first grade had their musical, Caroline's class were turtles. Caroline tried out for the lead part and she was so good, I told her that if she didn't get the part, there must be something wrong with the teacher's ears! One day she came home and said, "Mom, there is something wrong with Mrs. Gossart's ears!" She was dissappointed but she got to be a firefly. They only picked girls to be fireflies because they had to do a twirl around dance and I'm pretty sure the boys wouldn't have been up for that. Caroline is a great singer and she would teach Sydney the songs at night when they were supposed to be going to sleep. Cute. We've also had a few fires for fun. We've made some yummy smores and are hooked on the coconut marshmellows thanks to the Stonelys! Wish we could have gone camping with you guys for spring break. Grand Canyon next year?

The Science Fair came and went. Sydney wanted to participate so we tried this experiment first. You put packing peanuts in a variety of household chemicals and see which chemical will dissolve the peanuts first. When I got the peanuts from the UPS store, the guy said these were biodegradable. I said good. Well guess what. Two days after starting this experiment, there was NO change. It was obviously not going to work so we had to switch to different one at the last minute.

We went with an electromagnet, which Energizer said could be made with two D batteries. Nope. I went for the 12volt at Radio Shack and the kids had a great time playing with it. Didn't win any awards or anything but it was fun.Caroline has been doing Daisies this year and we did our first Girl Scout Cookie sale this spring. I am really not a fund raiser person, telling my kids no for EVERY one in the past. This seemed different, maybe it's because I actually buy the cookies and I know everyone else does too. Dan took boxes to work with him and sold them all! People in the neighborhood were so cute because Caroline would show up at their door with her Daisy vest on and ask if they wanted to buy some cookies. Some people said they had already bought from another girl so no thank you. But some people said they had already bought some "But you're so cute, I'll buy another box." She really had that going for her.

Spring Break is going to have to be a separate post because, as usual, we did a whirlwind vacation. I mean, we moved from Texas so we wouldn't have to drive so far. But since we're used to driving 17 hours one way, we thought why not do Disneyland, the beach, then go skiing in Utah! So that's the next post, too much to cover.

Bragging on Sophia

My mother-in-law has always said my kids were genius, but what can you expect from a very biased source? Recently Kassie started keeping a list on her iPod titled "Things that 2 year olds don't normally say and do but Sophia does". Long title. Some of the things on the list include:

Asking how fast we're going in the car and what street we're on.
Asking if I'm frustrated when I blow out my breath very loudly.
Using lines from movies in appropriate situations and with accents or voices.
Telling her sisters to "knock it off" when they are annoying her.
Smelling smoke and asking who is having a BBQ.

We have to give her something to do when we are having family night so plays with game cards.
We potty trained her using treats whenever she went to the bathroom. That was a few months ago. On this day, she actually went all by herself and decided she was entitled to a treat. She opened the freezer and climbed up to the top shelf to get the chocolate chips, spilling them in the process. I thought it had been quiet for a while and this is what I found.

Also, she has been giving up naps lately which makes for a very cranky baby about dinner time. One day, I called everyone to dinner and she didn't come. I went looking for her and found her in her room like this. She had made a bed in her doll crib and climbed in, falling asleep sitting up! Too bad I didn't have video because her head lolling from side to side was really funny.

Most days she is just fun to be with. I know that all too soon, she will stop saying things like "hampshoo" for shampoo, and "paper toilet" for toilet paper. I am savoring these moments of cuteness and silliness, the joy of innocence and trust. They will be over too soon.

Valentine's Day at our house

First just let me say that I go back and forth about Valentine's Day. Some years I wish Dan was mushy and romantic and some years both of us are too busy and put Valentine's into that category of annoying holidays to get through. Annoying simply because there is so much commercialism surrounding it AND what you have to do for the kids for school is crazy.



Our first year married, Dan tried to surprise me by buying See's Candy. I was young, romantic, I idealized things. I wanted to start married life Valentine's Day out right and make SURE Dan understood EXACTLY what I expected for the next 70 years! So I snooped. I know, none of you are surprised. I found the duplicate check in the check book for the See's candy and I was thrilled! Until Dan found out that I had ruined the surprise:( Then he said he was never going to try to surprise me for Valentine's Day again! Did I mention I was young then? Luckily for me, and Dan, I realized that I didn't need something great from Dan to show me how much he loves me. Everyday he gives me that. Well, almost. So the next year, two days before Valentine's Day, he himself can't wait to show me the surprise. It's a ring from the jewelry store he worked at. It's beautiful. Fake, but beautiful. Beautiful because he said he was never going to try to surprise me for Valentine's Day again, but he did. So 15 years later, there have been a few surprises on Valentine's Day but mostly fun cards from the kids and fun dinners in or out for us.



Which brings me to this year. This year I planned in advance. I bought little boxes of heart candy for the kids, caramels for Dan and rang the doorbell and ran - around the back and in the back door. (Side note: one of my most memorable Valentine's as a child was when my grandma and her two sisters "kicked" Valentine's for us. They left some candy and a little disco shaker thing. Apparently back in the day, the way you left a Valentine for someone was to put it on the porch, kick the door, and run! So Gram did that for us and we loved it!) When I came to the front door, the kids were still looking for who had rung the doorbell, except Sophia who was already trying to get her candy open. Dan showed me the boxes and asked me who I thought had left them. Duh. Did he not recognize my handwriting? When Kassie saw them, she came right over to me and hugged me. She recognizes my handwriting:)



Then to dinner, which was supposed to be breakfast but I apparently don't love my kids as much as some moms do, the moms who get up extra early to make this fancy breakfast and eat it actually for breakfast. I think my kids will remember it just as well as a dinner. Anyway, we had heart shaped pink pancakes, strawberries & whip cream, eggs, bacon, OJ, and strawberry milk (which didn't go over too well. Go figure.) The kids loved it. We had a fun, no fights dinner, which is a gift in itself. It was a great night. Then we left to deliver a few Valentine's of our own, and disgracefully left our mess on the table. But thanks to our little dog, he cleaned up all the bacon while we were gone. Gross.

This is only what I did for my little family. Of course all the kids had school parties and had to have treats and Valentine cards. I made cupcakes for Caroline and Sydney (another side note: Wilton's had a heart cupcake pan that I thought would be sooo fun. It doesn't work, even if you follow the directions to a T.) So obviously, they got regular cupcakes but they were very cute! For Kassie, Amelia, and Colin (my niece and nephew), I made heart shaped brownies, mini cupcakes and chocolate truffles rolled in sprinkles. I know, crazy. But you should have seen their faces when they realized they got to take it to school. Priceless and worth all the bother, including having to borrow eggs from the neighbor because it was so late at night and I really didn't want to go to the store. Anyway, it was great.

Oh, Dan and I had lunch together on Valentine's Day and that was it. No jewelry. No cards. No candy. No flowers. And I was really okay with that. Because this is what I have finally realized after so many years: you can buy fancy stuff for Valentine's. You can go out to fancy dinner. But the real love is shown in the little things you do for each other (I'm including all the people you thought to give Valentine's love to). Dan works hard for our family every day. I do laundry and dished over and over and over and over, because I love my family. People show kindness every day of the year. So do we need a special day to show each other? Yes. Because otherwise, we take it for granted and get bogged down in the mundane, expecting it, and we forget to celebrate how wonderful our mundane is. That's my current theory of Valentine's Day. Hope yours was great!