Big Announcement

Now what was I going to blog about today..........hmmmm...........seems like it was something important, but I just can't seem to remember--I'm just kidding. :)

As most of you know last year in June we had two little foster boys placed in our homes.  They were 20 months and 10 months old.

In the early part of this year both of them had parental rights terminated making them available for adoption.

As you may have guessed we were definitely interested in adopting them.

However, there was one little glitch.

There was a family member that was also interested in adopting them.

For reasons I can't blog about that would have never happened.

But as a formality they had to have an adoption home study done.

Basically what this meant for us is that the adoption of these two little guys would take a looooong time.

Those of you who have been through the adoption process know what this means.

Extra stress!!

Because, until the last document is signed, and the judge makes his ruling there is just a feeling you have.

Maybe it's a little like being pregnant, overdue, and just wanting to give birth. ( I've never been pregnant so that might not be a good analogy.)

Anyway, back to my story.

Yesterday my case worker ( whom I like a lot ) called me and told me that the family member had withdrawn their appeal to adopt the boys.


Which means..................................

We are adopting these two little guys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Guess What

I am so excited right now!

I'm sitting here at my computer desk jittering, and I am NOT a jittery person.

There is a silly smile plastered across my face.

See there was something that I've been wanting to share on this blog.

But there was one more prayer I was waiting to be answered first.

The last couple of days have been rough for me.

I just felt tired and discouraged.

But today I got a phone call that was that final prayer that got answered.

So, I have some big news to announce.

But................

I think I'll wait till tomorrow to do it.  hee hee

Facing My Fear

 I have a couple of secret fears--especially in relation to foster parenting

Things that I'm pretty sure I would not handle well.

This past week one of those fears became a reality.

I found head lice on my children.

I very nearly lost it.

I washed bedding,

I scrubbed heads with weird smelling chemicals,

I nit-picked. (literally)

I fretted and stewed until my husband could come home and look at my head. ( Which itched like crazy )

I called everyone who we had been in contact with for the last couple of days.

And at the end of the day I realized something profound.

HEAD LICE ARE NOT THE END OF THE WORLD!

Don't get me wrong I wouldn't wish the crawly little bugs on anyone, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be.

  Many loads of laundry washed in hot water.

 Lots of head scrubbing and holding squirmy toddlers still, but we all survived. 

Somehow my imagination had ranked head lice up there with a national disaster, and it's really not.

Have you ever faced your worse fear, and realized it's not as bad as you thought?

Did I Really Just Say That?

Want to listen in on a phone conversation I had earlier today?

It went something like this.

Me, "Hi D- I'm so glad I got ahold of you. I was wondering if you could babysit for me tomorrow?"

D- "Sure!  I have a little girl I'm babysitting right now, but I don't have her till Wednesday."

Me, "Oh good, it would just be four of the kids, I thought to make it easier on myself I would only take three with me to the Dr's office. "

Did I really just tell someone that taking three toddlers to the Dr's office would be easy?

ABC's of Motherhood

~~~~~~~

J is for Joy

~~~~~~

Joy is not a plastic smile on your face as you grit your teeth while changing yet another diaper.  It goes much deeper than that.  Most mom's have aspects of mothering that they struggle with, and if we let them they can "steal" our joy.

I'll give you an example.  Pink eye is making the rounds at our house, and over the weekend it caught up with me.  I staggered around doing my work while my eyes itched and blurred.  I did NOT feel very joyful.

While passing a mirror I glanced at my reflection and was surprised to realize that I looked like a weepy mess.  I hadn't been crying, but my eyes were red and swollen, and a little scary looking.  For some reason this struck me funny, and I kept laughing every time I thought about how pathetic I looked.

In looking at the big picture I realized that this illness won't last forever, it really doesn't hurt, and it gives me something to laugh about when I look in the mirror.

"My brethren count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;  Knowing this that the trying of your faith worketh patience."  James 1:2-3 

Happy Birthday

Today is my favorite person in the world's birthday.

My husband is turning 37!

I thought I would celebrate it on this blog by sharing some of my favorite things about him.

He loves the Lord and he's not ashamed to share it with others.

He has a good sense of humor--he can make me laugh when no one else can.

He is an awesome daddy!

He mows the lawn. This may seem silly, but I HATE mowing the lawn, and he has never asked me to do it once in all the years we've been married.

You know how people say "its the little stuff that means the most?"

Well, every day he calls me on his way home from work and offers to bring me something/anything from the grocery store.  If I told him every day that I would like a Diet Coke he would bring me one.  ( I don't, but that is something that means a lot to me.)

He likes spending time with me---I know lots of married couples that seem to just tolerate each other, but we both love just being with each other.

He is one of those people that can "read" other people really well, and he can usually tell you what I'm thinking about something. 

If you know me in real life and you see my hubby today wish him a Happy Birthday!

What Were They Thinking

When twin two year olds, and an eighteen month old.

Get their hot little hands on a tin of bag balm.

And spread some on the dog.

And quite a bit more on the carpet.

And a little in their hair.

It will take quite a bit of this.

And a good bit of elbow grease.

And some muttering under your breath.

To clean it up.

Oh, except for the dog.

She apparently enjoys the taste of bag balm.

One less thing I have to clean !