Boys vs. Girls

Ryleigh got invited to a boy's birthday party this weekend. It's a boy from her class. I RSVP'd and said that we would be coming. The mother replied back and thanked me for my RSVP then went on to say that Ryleigh is the only girl that her son had invited to her party. When the mother asked why only Ryleigh he replied with "she is way more fun than the other girls".

Hmmmmmm.

Really.

Define fun.

Clearly this is a behavior that we should nip in the bud. This act of funness. It shall not be tolerated.

All joking aside, I thought this was really sweet and cute. And very interesting. Ryleigh has always tended to gravitate toward the boys. From 18 months until she was 4 her very best friend was Adam. Adam whom she competed with every second she was around him but who she was so sad to leave behind when we moved to Canada. Then there was Kyle, her true love, her prince. Kyle's picture hangs on the mirror in her bathroom and often accompanies her when we go out. There are many that have never met Kyle that know a lot about him.

This year in school is really the first time I have seen Ryleigh become overly concerned with her girl friends. She has tried to wear bows like them, wear pink like them, talk about Hanna Montanna like them and even got her first yellow mark at school over an argument about ICarly...she is not even allowed to watch ICarly!

Ryleigh is definitely all girl, all princess and totally concerned about her hair. But it's nice to know that her knack for forming boy friendships is not completely lost to the preschool years.

Donation! Donation!

Ryleigh will be participating in Jump Rope for Heart next week. If you would like to help her reach her goal of $100 please visit her website below. Yeah, the kids have their own fundraising websites now. It's officially a crazy world.

Thank you in advance for your support.

Ryleigh's Jump Rope for Heart Page

The Olympics

Did you see the opening ceremony? I let the girls stay up an hour later than normal so they could see as much as they could. My favorite part was where Ryleigh went and got her globe and made me point out where each country was as they marched into the arena. My second favorite part is where they paid tribute to Newfoundland! If you missed that part, they did a pretty cool fiddle and tap dancing performance that the creator said was inspired by his trip to St. John's. Honestly the only time I think I ever saw someone tap dancing was when we passed a bum on Water Street (downtown). The fiddle however is a really big part of the Newfoundland traditional folk music which is influenced by their large Irish population. Every Sunday they would play only traditional folk music on the radio and I always looked forward to getting my weekly dose of fiddle playing and singing about fishin' and drinkin'. See, not that big of a difference between Texas and Newfoundland.

So the Olympics are in full swing and now I'm just looking forward to seeing Stephen Colbert make speed skating worth watching.

You're a great and brave Americna Stephen Colbert...I salute you.

What Three Weeks?

Um, wow, that was three weeks? Really?? It just went by so darn fast!

Jeramy left yesterday for another three weeks out on the rig. The big reason that these last three weeks went by so fast was the 30 hours of CASA training that I went through. And now, 5 full days of class later, I am certified to be a Court Appointed Special Advocate. In a nutshell, what I'll be doing is this.

When a child is removed from their home by CPS for abuse and/or neglect they are placed in a foster home with up to 7 other foster children. A CPS caseworker is assigned to them and they are one of 40 or so cases for that caseworker. The child is provided with an attorney and they are one of 50 or so cases for that lawyer. Their case will go before a judge every few months and they are one of hundreds of children that judge sees. If I am assigned to that child they will be my only case. Fort Bend County is one of the very few counties that are able to provide a CASA for each and every child that have been removed from their home. I will monitor the child's situation and write a report for court one a month so that all involved will have a personal account of what's going on with that child. I am required to meet face to face with the child at least once a month, more if possible. I will interview their caregiver, their parents, their lawyer, their teacher, their doctor, anyone that can give me information that will help me make suggestions concerning their placement and their needs.

I've wanted to do this for about four years now, but just haven't ever felt like I could give it all that I wanted and needed to. I've wanted to do this because it is needed and because I feel so blessed for this life that I have. I'm lucky as hell, I know that. I'm lucky that I hve such a strong mom and such a great step-dad and that I got steered in the right direction. My support system growing up was endless and I think that's what gets me the most. If my parents gave up on me there would have been a line a mile long of suitable people that loved me and would have taken me in and given me all they had. These kids I'll work with, most of them don't have a single person. Not a single person that wants to care for them and can care for them. My hope is that I can provide a ray of hope and a set of eyes and ears to watch over a child that so many others have abandoned. My hope is that I can give back.

So now I wait for my first case. I have requested a pre-teen/teenager. And that's pretty much all I can say about that. Once I get a case, I'm not allowed to talk about it for obvious reasons.

To those that have encouraged me through the application and training process....Thank You!