"To say the least"

So, I am Nancy Drew Jessica, ever so watchful and I am going to save the bridge. I call 1-866-4SAFENJ the next day to report this very suspicious random phone call, with the consent of Mr. Erman (after all, he had called the police that night and they said there is nothing they could do.)
Investigator Bergen is put on the case. He takes it very serious. I am going to email the recorded portion (digital recording) of the conversion over the same day. I decide to listen to the full recording before sending it, as any good detective should do.
"It will be dangerous"
"We will be wearing camouflage."
DING, DING, DING!!!! I know who this is. It is Isaac's scout master!!
Hurry, call Investigator Bergen back.
Me: "Hi, this is going to sound crazy, but I know who it is and he doesn't mean any harm, please please check out his website, you will understand!"
Investigator: "Well, we can't do that. This has peaked our interest to say the least."
CLICK
Me: I have got to call him! I have got to tell him I just turned him into Homeland Security!
I call and quickly tell his wife I have to speak to him. He is in WA teaching a class (I know all about the class, night survival- in the water- under a bridge!) I explain and he calls back.
The interesting fact is that Erman's cell number is not in his phone, he doesn't even know it. Erman never called him. Erman did not know his cell number!

20 Minutes later

Phone rings..
Investigator Bergen: "Hi, this is Investigator Bergen and I looked up his website like you said, and....this guy is pretty impressive to say the least. I wouldn't mind taking a couple classes from him myself. There are no worries. Thank you for your concern."

This is Jessica Drew signing off with another "dud bomber".

Should you call Homeland Security Hotline?

It is 12:30 at night. You are just dozing off to sleep. Your cell phone rings. You say "Hello, Hello." Nobody answers. You hear a group of people talking and a man telling how to avoid surveillance.
"What are you going to say if the police pull you over?"
"What do you do if your being followed?"
Some thing about going to a bridge. "It will be dangerous. There will be people there. What do you say if a police man on the bridge shines a light on you?"
"We will have two cars there."
You do not recognize the phone number. You do not recognize the voice? Your number was just randomly called, by accident during a planning of some event? What do you gather from this conversation?

Leave your thoughts and I will explain next blog.

Memorial Day Kick Ball Tournament

We had a last minute BBQ and Kick-ball tournament. This is our down home NJ fun. We don't need a lot, just friends, food, and the blender (smoothies, not alcohol) Thanks Jon! We survived with the mosquitoes. We had daddy baby-holden' fly ball catchers and mama's kickin' home runs (not me), however, the picture looks like I got a home run and I look like I got some good speed. The faster you run the less mosquito bites. Gotta love NJ!
Take a closer look, about everyone is slappin' a mosquito.

I want your Recipes

Send me your favorite recipes. I want them. Not one's that you want to show off, but realistic, real, all-time favorite, classic, or the cake from scratch that your grandma use to make. How about Leslie's Hawaiian chicken thighs? Linda's favorite bread recipe? Elaine's chocolate cake that Porter loves? I know Jill, Jamie and Amy have some good ones too. Grandma too.
I am currently re-vamping my recipe book. And while everyone may have gone digital, I am old school. My favorite new thing is base-ball card sheets for 3 ring binders. And once I finish, I can send them to you, if you want. Either way, I want your sweet, sour, brittle, soft, doughy, and delicious recipes! Even, food supply recipes (if there are good ones).
Send at least 3 to my email
our4apaches@verizon.net

My Jaida

Here is my sweet, sweet Jaida. She is going to start middle school next year. She has a unique taste in clothes. I will sometimes have to send her back up stairs to change (something I said I would never do as a mom). She is soooo much help around the house. I do not have to ask and she knows what to do. If I am sick with a migraine I can count on her to make dinner. Lately, she has been attempting to wear her brothers old shoes??? Maybe she is just trying to vex me? Today we saw a girl dressed in florecent clothes, splatter paint tights, and striped leg warmers. She said, "See mom, at least I don't dress like that." She has wild dreams and loves animals. I think she can talk to animals. She reminds me a lot of Mr. Apache man, but she is also her own self. She also got new fashion glasses and looks so grown up in them. It is an amazing thing to watch your kids grow up before your eyes. Time does fly. I love who she was, who she is and who she will become.

We'rrre Baaaacckkk

We'rrrre baaaccck. Isaac stop farting on your brothers head. Mr. Apache man, you taught him that. Can't you teach them something useful, like the Apache language. Jaida, take a shower. I will tomorrow. Landon, concentrate on your homework. Kaylin, thank you for my many mother's day gifts. One, two, three, four..... And life goes on and on. While the noise level will never go down again. We take it day by day. Our newest goal is coming to CA this summer. It is a need, not a want. There are some useful talents among the kids. Isaac likes teaching himself how to play the piano. And Landon will organize your cupboards. It may be another thing Mr. Apache man taught the kids, OCD! We had to say goodbye to our seeing eye dog, Xebec. He and Isaac received 2nd place at the dog show. However, we did get our very first seeing eye dog back. He has been in Wisconsin working as a guide dog. Tiki, our dog, developed allergies and so the man gave him back after 3 years. He is now a happily retired guide dog and loves to chase our cat that won't leave!

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=7510385&page=1

Take the Parent out of Foster

A while back I saw this story on 20/20 about Hannah Overton, a foster mom convicted of killing her 4 year old foster son because she did not seek medical attention in time. It scared me. She loved her children. She went to church. Nothing out of the ordinary.
The boy dies at the hospital of salt over-dose. The dad is now home with with their five kids.
It is a scary thing, being a foster parent. Maybe I was naive. The foster care system puts kids in homes to let them feel like they have parents, then the system strips them of all parental intuition. We, foster parents, are not allowed to administer Tylenol in the middle of the night for a fever or teething. We are to call the doctor at 3 in the morning and get permission from the doctor to administer Tylenol. They put kids in your home and tell you that these are not the normal kids. Have child proofing throughout the house because if some accident happens you will be charged.
If you remember when our foster baby was sick with bronchiolitis. This was the scariest thing. After watching the Hannah Overton story, I knew that if I needed medical attention I had better call the ambulance. The baby stopped breathing 3 times that week. We called the ambulance 2 times. I took her to the ER 3 times because of breathing difficulty. Erman and I would stay up all night rotating holding.
Another time she went on a visit with her bio mom and she dropped her out of the carseat because she forgot to buckle her in. When the driver arrived she told what happened and that she was "checked out at the facility". I called the worker immediately. She was gone. It was Friday around 5 pm. On Monday morning she called me frantic to get her to the ER. "What if she has a concussion." The nurse that visits her told me that I want any fracture or fall documented because if that fractured her skull and it was never documented that she fell on her bio mom's time it would be me they would look at. I took her to the ER and they took one look at her and said "normal". The nurse later told me that I should have made then take a x-ray to document if there was a simple fracture.
The CPS worker of my four yr old would inform me that I needed to take him to the doctor for an abrasion on his ankle. They would accuse me of feeding him foods that were manufactured in a facility that made dairy products. When he was fed weekly allergen foods at visits because workers failed to monitor his food. And of course, threaten that they were going to investigate me because I had dogs and he was allergic to dogs. Even though the doctor had stated that it was fine. The last 6 months have been a constant fear that he may have an accident and I would be found inadequate as a mother. The nurse involved with the case said, "let them investigate you, they won't find anything". But, I want nothing more than to as far away from CPS.
How can foster parents be true parents when they have this constant worry?
My four year old was scheduled to have an adnoidectomy. CPS called and told me they needed to move him one week after surgery because he needed to be in a home to properly care for his medical needs. Yet, they were going to let me bring him home after a surgical procedure? I told them I would not take a child to have a surgical procedure if they felt he was not being taken care of.
I absolutely loved him. I feel like I have had to let one of my own children go in order to protect my others.
The system is failing. It needs major renovating. Foster Homes are not the answer. Orphanages are not the answer.