Reverse visits

Well, we just had our first experience visiting with previous foster kiddos and what a delight it was!  We had so much fun getting to be the "fun ones" who could let loose and not have to worry about all the worries anymore.  The kids are doing great and are very happy.  Our prayers hold strong for everyone to stick with it and make it through all the hard times!  Thank you Lord for a sweet visit for us to all be together again for some hugs and lovin!

Quietness feeds Tears

There have been a lot more tears lately than I expected.  I was hoping for a couple months of refreshing joy and relaxation, but it has taken a sudden turn into the unknown and the unfamiliar quietness of the house that we got so used to being chaos that has led me to tears.  Everything special, everything precious, everything I'm thankful for, everything sad, everything happy, everything joyous makes me cry!  I'm definitely an emotional wreck!  I don't even know what questions to ask or topics to think through or what to talk about or what to keep to myself, but I do know that even when I'm at a loss for words I can still PRAY!  Thank you Lord for hearing me even when I don't know what I'm saying.  Thank you for holding me when I need it - I love you!

Preparing for another Departure

Our second placement is moving to a better equipped home.  Our training was not near enough and now we know all the more what we are and are not called to do.  It was a tough decision, but we believe it's better in the long run for both us and him. 

Now we plan to take a break, whatever that will end up meaning...I don't know.  In the mean time, I will find my kid fix elsewhere. 

4 kids - 1 week - Placement #2 begins in 1 hour

Well, we did it...we let go of our first placement - 3 kiddos who have forever changed our life!  We learned so much from them and are very thankful that they were our first kids.  We will love them forever and pray for them to have a peaceful return with their birth parents.

This morning, in about an hour, our second placement will be arriving.  He is a 4 year old little boy who speaks Spanish and English.  My husband already speaks Spanish and who knows if this will be my chance to finally learn it!

So now the tables have turned...it used to be 3 girls and 2 boys in the house and now it will be 2 boys and 1 girl! LOL:)  I don't know what to expect on a lot of different levels.  This placement is going to be SO different than our last one.  The biggest difference is that we don't have to have anything to do with reunification services, or so they have told us...we'll see how that goes.  Of course we'll always have to deal with the behavior following any visits, but we won't have to see all the interactions and get frustrated on those adult levels.  We'll just get to love on the kid!!!  So we shall begin a new journey and see where it leads us.

Please join us in praying for the lives of our 3 kiddos who are home now and the 1 boy who will be experiencing new emotions being moved into a place he doesn't know.

The Rollercoaster Returns!

We are going to meet a 4 year old little boy on Friday to see if he will be our next placement!  Yes, you're right we still have our sibling set of 3 kiddos in our home and we are already taking calls on a next placement:)  I'm not willing to pass anything up when I get a call!  In April when we very first heard that our 3 kiddos were going home, we took a call seriously about 3 boys, but we decided (with the Lord's obvious prompting through my husband) that we needed to focus on our 3 we currently have.  Thank you Lord for not letting me sink my heart into those boys and keep it deep in the heart of these 3 we have because we are SO thankful for the time we have been blessed with.  We started with a 7, 5 and 2 year old and right now they are a 7, 5 and 3 year old who have all made HUGE accomplishments since we've had them!!!  It has been so fun and encouraging to spend the time with them we have.

BUT...

We heard they are going home VERY soon so it's almost time to move on and we've already gotten a couple calls.  From the beginning this little boy has had my heart and the other sibling set has gone a different direction before we were even able to have it be part of our considerations.  Was that God too? ~we'll see:)  We are happy to go through the process and see what our future holds.

We will not be involved with reunification efforts again like we were this time and I think we are both really looking forward to getting rid of that emotional headache.  Although I'm sure there will be other new headaches we will discover, but that's all part of the "local community/state court system package" we have knowingly signed up for.  I still feel called to this specific avenue for our potential adoptive kids. 

Hmmm...well, here we go!  The kids are officially having their first long weekend with their bio-mom in over a year...this weekend.  We are so happy for them and pray this transition will be smooth and peaceful and quick, they have had to hang on for too long.  We are going to miss them when they finally leave, but they are headed in the right direction.  We've already gotten calls about next placements:)

Birthdays are Precious

What an unexpectedly BLESSED day!  My heart is SO happy right now, it's filled with a Joy only JESUS can give!  Today was the first time I've ever celebrated a birthday of a child of my own (well my own foster kid) and what a Joy...now I know why so many moms spend so much money on their kids' birthdays.  Well, I didn't spend hardly anything, but it's easy to see why they get so carried away.  The feeling you get from bringing such special celebration to a life can easily be forgotten when it's only done once a year and you could easily think you had to have spent a lot of money to make that happen right?!  Wrong!  Today's birthday party was planned, put together, attended, enjoyed and over - all within 8 hours - AWESOME:)  I haven't been planning anything more than a simple family cake and dinner for the last couple days, but all the sudden today as I was putting the cake in the oven and looking around the kitchen I suddenly realized I had plenty of what I would need for dinner and then some so why not invite some of our kids' friends.  We don't let the kids have sleepovers or spend much time with friends because we live so far from their friends and we don't have enough time to really establish friends in our immediate area because of their crazy life schedule with visits, etc.  So we invited only two families, both have kids that our kids have spent significant time with AND they were both able to come!!!  It was so awesome and the kids got along great and ate well and let the parents chit chat which hardly ever gets to happen either!  We had so much fun and were just so excited to be able to spend some precious catch up time with the adults too who we have missed so much...thank you Lord for a precious day and the excuse of celebrating a beautiful life to make it happen!!!

What a Summer!

Wow, time has FLOWN by for sure!  When we thought the wrap up was beginning, we thought we'd only have barely one more month with the kids and now it's been three with possibly another three or more in sight.  We've had the kids for over five months now.  To think of how far they've come mentally, emotionally and spiritually and to think we might have them for that much time all over again after already having their trust and not having it be a new relationship...makes us so excited for how much further they can get in the next several months!  We are so thankful for getting SO much time with the kids this summer and seeing the hurdles they've jumped!

The Wrap Up Has Begun

We got word last week that Placement #1 would begin unsupervised visits and begin their transition back into their birth parents care over the next month.  It was a shock to hear since we had gutt feelings we'd have them longer, but we weren't saddened.  We really have been pulling for these parents since they are trying.  We've heard of so many parents that don't even try...so sad, but I know our day will come to have to witness that.  We are already excited about what the Lord holds in our future for the next group.  We've been made very aware that since we are now known for taking sibling groups, we'll get a call pretty quickly!  YAY, we are excited to meet the personalities of the next little stinker-bugs:)  We have really enjoyed these kids and have learned so much from them.  We are extremely thankful that we got a great set of kids for our first placement to keep us energized for the next!

Some cool happenings since the kids have been in our care:

• #2 learned her ABC's without missing letters and to count to 20 without missing numbers
• #1 learned how to whistle and skip rocks
• #3 learned about 15 baby signs and says words to match, and has started singing the alphabet
• #1 & #2 asked Jesus to live in their heart and now they often remind ME when it's time to pray
• #2 learned how to tie her shoes
• #1 got to attend boy scouts
• #2 got to play futsal/indoor soccer
• #3 attended story time at the library and found great joy in books
• #3 started liking the potty for daily business

No Turning Back Now

Well, I think we're officially Foster Parents now! No turning back now!  We've had the kids for a few days shy of 1 month already, we've known them for almost 2 months!...very hard to believe because the time has flown by!  We're well into kid's church, night-time prayers, mid-day naps, school bus stops, homework, nightly reading, abc's & 123's, cub scouts, soccer, and so much more!  We finally have the schedule down and then there's a change, then we get it down, then there's a change:)  It definitely took this situation for me to LET GO of my rigid routine ways though!  They still shine through OF COURSE, but I have learned to be flexible and am loving to just be there for the kids, giving them an all access pass without my mind wandering on work!  I don't know how moms work and keep their sanity.  I can't stand the days when I have something on my mind to take care of and can't let the day just flow without worrying to get it done. 

Taking Me Back

Well today was the first time I was able to take my own kids into church with me and I've longed for this experience.  I've always wanted to give my kids what my mom ALWAYS gave me when I was growing up...that soft sweet love that was sitting next to me, whispering in my ear to be quiet during prayer time and singing praises to our Lord in my ear.  I must say it melted me and I long for the many experiences to come and if I can give that feeling to EVERY kid that enters my home, I know they will have a fond memory of church in their life that they will never be able to forget our God!  Lord, I pray for their excitement for you to only grow as the days progress:)

Placement #1: A Sibling Set of 3

Saturday is the big day! The kids have been fortunate enough to have nearly a month for transition, something that is very unlikely for the majority of situations for Foster Placement.  This is a new effort being put forth and I'm curious about the difference.  Some foster parents I meet are stunned at the idea and others know that this would be a better thing for the kids, in their eyes, even though they haven't experienced it yet.  Maybe we are guinea pigs for the county, who knows, but one thing we do know is that even if the kids end up being upset about permanently moving homes, they will know they can trust the people in the home they will be moving into, not strangers they've never met.

For those of you who know my planning attitude, know that I'm thriving on all this schedule coordination!  It's my favorite part besides finally getting a cute little two year old to snuggle into me after waking up from a nap:)  All the kids seem to have been taking a better liking to my husband than I, although they do know who to go to when they're hungry or thirsty:)  We are blessed to take care of these kids and we look forward to what they are going to teach us during their time with us.  Please keep these kids in your prayers during their transition of finding out that they are going to be living with us and not just visiting.  We are so thankful for all the angels that have taken care of us thus far!  Please know that God wants to Bless you all, as you have been a Blessing to these kids in a big way.

Talk about "Wrapped Around Their Finger!"

Well, I got to take the kids to a dentist appointment this week, well the oldest two that is.  I LOVED it because they took the kids back one at a time so I got one-on-one time with BOTH of them!  It was so great to see their personalities. 

THEN we both spent a few hours with them yesterday, at the park the whole time!  What a gorgeous day it was too, thank you Lord.  We had so much fun just getting to know the kids and gaining their trust.  I was so impressed with myself for thinking of taking "water breaks!" and I was even more impressed when they listened and obeyed - what a great feeling!  I also brought some food along, so after about an hour we all sat together and had a perfect picnic.  All the kids ate a tuna sandwich, except the little one wasn't too hot on that so brother took care of finishing it off.  Then they all tried at least one carrot, and the middle one LOVED them, she said, "These are so yummy!"  Always good when you find a vegetable a kid likes!  Last we had applesauce and this was THE cutest  experience ever.  I couldn't really imagine the way this would go, but it couldn't have been any different...so I brought the applesauce in a tupperware container and handed everyone a spoon.  I let my honey have first dibs since he's a little squirmy about "double dipping" then everyone took one spoonful and I went back to him to have another bite before the "double dipping" fiesta began!  It was awesome:)  We all sat there eating applesauce, and spilling it on the grass and I didn't have to clean up ANYTHING!!!  Loved it:) 

So back to the play we went.  We had already played tag for a while at the playground before we stopped, then we played soccer, duck-duck-goose, sharks & minnows, and back to the playground we went after another water break.  We played till it was too dark and began getting cold.  So we trekked back to the car, put on our jackets for a minute to warm up and while we were warming up, we ate the homemade doughnut holes I had set aside for the end!  We thanked them for hanging out with us for the day, and talked about their plans for the rest of the weekend since it's a long weekend for them and then said we can't wait to spend ALL DAY LONG with you on Valentine's Day!!!

So there you have it!  Our first day with our kids was SPECTACULAR!  We were blessed by these kids and are so happy that they get to escape their thoughts and worries, if only for a few hours.

~OH and on a side note, this county is GREAT!  We have been given dressers, lamps, stuffed animals, boxes of crayons & markers, brand-new clothes for all the kids, tomorrow a bed will be delivered so that we have our last of 3 beds and also this week we will get a free carseat for the toddler!  Thank you San Luis Obispo County, you are why we live here~

Winter Cleaning

We met the kids yesterday, what great kids!  We began cleaning out our office/3rd bedroom over the weekend and nearly finished today.  Once we're done, Pedro will close off the two doorways to make it private...it's so nice to be married to a handyman!  He's going to make one opening a bookshelf on one side of the wall and a dry-erase board on the other side of it:) - so creative.  The other doorway, will actually be the useable one.  We've got three more visits setup for the week and then we'll see where we stand on timing for moving them in.  Definitely a learning experience, this whole thing.

3's a Crowd

We're about to learn a lot more about that famous saying!  It didn't take very long to get a call:)  Yesterday we heard the information on a placement for 3 siblings (ages 7, 5, and 2 years old).  We talked, asked questions, prayed, gave praise, smiled, laughed, joked, then said, "Let's do it!"  We meet the kids on Monday and begin a transitional period of about 1-2 weeks before they will come live with us for who knows how long...let the excitement, unpredicatability, fun, craziness and new life begin:)

We're Officially On-Call!

Well, Thursday was D-Day!  We officially were transferred and cleared to be moved from the stagnant adoption only call list to the active foster/adoption call list.  We're excited in many ways, but most of all just to get kids in our home that can use some love and care for just a small portion of time.  Being on the adoption list meant we were waiting to hear about kids who were ready for adoption to immediately be a part of our family.  This year as we've continued to educate ourselves, pray and be open to accepting each other's thoughts on the subject, we have both come to a point at the same time where we are completely on the same page at the same time! WOOHOO!  THAT, is called God's timing:) LOL, He'll keep us on different pages at different times until He has us right where He wants us then say, GO! 

This last month has been jam-packed with trainings and prayer and conversation to assure we're ready for this and so we are.  Trainings will continue, but all the required ones are complete.  Thank you all for your prayers and we shall continue this roller-coaster.