At the end of this year, my adopted stepson will be sixteen years old. He has yet to get his driver's permit and is simply itching to do so, so that he may begin driving while he is sixteen, along with the rest of his friends. His maturity level have definitely grown, so much so in fact that we brought home the driver's test study guide for him and told him to get his proof of enrollment form so that we could take him up to the local DMV and get him a learners permit for driving.

As any young teenager would be, he was absolutely thrilled, yet each and every time we come close to taking him up to the DMV, he does something that he knows will prevent him from being able to obtain one.... more

When children have been traumatized by the events that they cannot control in their lives, their first recourse is often to act out as much as possible. With so much chaos going on in their lives, they seek control in any way that they can, making mountains out of molehills and digging their heels in over frivolous matters.

This can be very draining for parents to deal with... more

So I read this interesting article this morning that said that spouses tend to be copycats. That's right one tends to follow the other when it comes to behavior and lifestyle changes. The study that was done showed that when one spouse decided to make a change in lifestyle such as eating healthier, exercising, quitting smoking, or even getting a flue shot, greatly influenced the other spouse to quickly follow suit.

The study showed that a spouse was five time more likely to quit smoking if their partner had already done so, as well as five times more likely to quit drinking if their partner... more

Yesterday I, unfortunately had to go to traffic court. That's right, the beautiful, wonderful, and perfect Julie, was not so perfect last week and was nabbed for speeding. Being the sensitive soul that I am, being pulled over for not paying attention to how fast I was going was absolutely devastating for me, and the poor officer had to pause several times in his explanation of what papers he needed from me, and where I needed to appear (there are no mail in tickets in our town, you must appear in court, yikes even more scary) because I was sobbing so hard that he knew I could not hear him. I tend to take my mistakes very hard, and this was my first ticket as an adult; all I could see was... more

Yesterday I shared how our family enjoys going to a pumpkin patch each year to pick out our pumpkins for Halloween, and kick off the holiday season with a day of family bonding in the great outdoors. I am sure that some may feel that going to a pumpkin patch might not be for them, if their family is not into carving pumpkins into the traditional scary Jack-o-lanterns that decorate the doorsteps and front yards of those who celebrate Halloween.

There are, however, many other things that you can do with pumpkins, besides carving faces into them. Pumpkins are considered a ... more

Now that we are officially into October, I suppose it is about time to seriously start thinking about the holiday season, and for our family the holiday season begins with Halloween. It used to be that the beginning of fall season signified the downfall of our family. My adopted stepson had so many unresolved emotional issues that the holiday season was simply too much for him to bare, and he would begin to systematically destroy absolutely everything that he could to ensure the terrible,... more

Court is an intimidating place for adults who know what the legal system is, it can be completely terrifying for younger children who have no idea what judges are, why they are there, and what gives them the power to tell others what they can, and cannot do. When preparing for your stepparent adoption journey, one of the things to make sure to put onto your priority list is to make sure that your child is informed on what to expect when going into the court room.

As my youngest son gets older, we talk more in depth about the fact that his big brother had another mommy when he was younger,... more

This morning I read a story in the news that has made me sick to my stomach. It is the story of a mother's fight to protect her children from the man that she believes is sexually abusing her youngest son. The suspected abuser is not a stranger, but the paternal grandfather of the youngest child, a six year old boy.

The boy's father passed away when the little guy was only four months old, and the grandparents sought legal visitation of their new grandson. For reasons not stated in the article, the visitation was to be supervised by the grandmother. Everything seemed to be going along just fine, until... more

A few weeks ago I described our adventures in trying to send off our passport applications, and how we had hit a roadblock at every single turn. Well, I am thrilled to announce that after all of that hassle in getting the applications out, the last three finally arrived today! My husband's came last week, which was not a surprise to us, since he was in the military anything official tends to go faster for him, and thankfully the rest of the families passports followed closely... more

This weekend my adopted stepson was quite the busy man! He had his Lock In with the AFJROTC on Friday, where they stayed up all night drinking soda, playing dodge ball, and video games, and just hanging out and getting to know each other. My adopted stepson had an absolute blast, and promptly came home and went to sleep upon his return to the house early Saturday morning.

He knew that Saturday was going to be another late night, as he was attending the school's Homecoming Dance, and wanted to be... more