April 24, 2016, at 10:01 pm | The girls were excited to participate in their school’s annual science fair. It’s a fun, open-ended fair where kids can do any kind of educational project they like and display it in the school gym. Becky chose to do her report on rainbows and prisms, and Susie chose to research Alaska. Each girl did an experiment as well – Becky created a rainbow using water, a flashlight and a mirror, and Susie simulated how whale blubber insulates whales from the icy water by making a glove out of Crisco and Ziploc bags for kids to see how it protected their hands from cold water. I love how excited the girls were about their projects, and how much fun they had working with their friends!
 
 
April 22, 2016, at 11:03 pm | Jim and I have commented over the last few years that Jimmy really and truly reminds us of a dog in so many ways. He’s eager, slobbery, hungry, hyper, affectionate, loyal, bumps into things a lot, a messy eater, and has boundless energy. And the latest proof? He bites and destroys Nerf balls exactly like a puppy. See the bits of orange foam wreckage? You’d think we never feed the child!
April 20, 2016, at 9:08 pm |
April 19, 2016, at 11:08 pm |
April 18, 2016, at 10:06 pm | Our family had to say goodbye to Baby X last week. He was placed with a biological relative who was willing to adopt him. We were all very disappointed he couldn’t stay with us longer, but we pray that the Lord will protect and nourish him in his new home. It was such a privilege to get to care for him for the first month of his life.
When I think back over the last four weeks with five children in our house, the words of comedian Jim Gaffigan come to mind: “You know what it’s like having a fourth kid? Imagine you’re drowning…and then someone hands you a baby.” That’s very similar to what it felt like going from four to five. It was crazy! And now that we’re back to four, I feel like I’m on vacation. There’s nothing like having five kids for a month to make having four kids feel like a walk in the park. So if nothing else, our first foster care placement has made me appreciate sleep, free time, and the ability to thoroughly clean the house.
But even though I love sleep and a clean house as much as the next person, I’m anxious to receive another child into our care very soon. Having Baby X in our home was logistically difficult, but emotionally wonderful. I really loved getting to snuggle a baby again, especially one that was the same size as our girls when they were newborn. I adored feeling that four pound bundle tucked under my chin. Our kids were big enough that they did very well entertaining themselves when I needed them to, and fetching diapers and blankets for me when my hands were full. I unfortunately had to limit the amount of physical contact they had with the baby when a stomach bug made the rounds among everyone for almost two weeks, but when they were cleared for cuddling again, it thrilled my heart to see the kids lavishing love and attention on this tiny child in our home. Overall, I couldn’t have asked for the kids to do any better than they did from start to finish. They were excited and welcoming when Baby X came to our home, and they never tired of having him in the house, even when it meant my hands were occasionally too full to hold them. I think they also grieved his sudden departure appropriately. One of the last nights he was here, I overhead Becky tell her sister, “No matter how many other foster children we have, I don’t think I’ll ever love any of them as much as Baby X.” Her comment gave me the opportunity to talk with the girls about the nature of love, and how their Daddy and I even had the same thoughts before Jimmy and Danny were born, wondering how we could ever love anyone as much as we did the girls…but our capacity to love is limitless, thanks to the unending nature of God’s love toward us.
One of the reasons Jim and I felt it was important to do foster care was to help the kids understand how fortunate they are to have a loving family. What I didn’t anticipate was how many more conversations foster care has allowed our family to have about spiritual matters. When I was explaining to the kids one night about how we needed to give Baby X to another home even though we really, really wanted to keep him here, the Lord brought to my mind the concept of submission. I frequently have talks with the kids about how it’s important to obey authority figures even when you don’t want to, but it’s not often they see me having to live out that principle myself – and how that’s exactly what the Lord Jesus Christ did on the cross, putting our needs before His, and submitting His Will to that of the Father’s. The Lord Jesus said, “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done” (Luke 22:42). Often the Lord calls His followers to do very hard things (like bringing a child into your home, or saying goodbye to a child), because it is His Will that we do so, even when it’s not our will. And when we walk in His Will, He gives us the strength to obey.
I’m sure as we progress in our foster care journey and care for kids who are sometimes difficult to love, I will need to be reminding myself over and over, “Not my will, but thine, be done.” There are SO many things about parenting (biological or foster care) that are difficult. And of course my flesh strains against such sacrifice. Getting up multiple times a night? No thank you! Going over the same behavior principle over and over and over and OVER again? Ugh! Sweeping that same kitchen floor for the fifth time that day? Why can’t these kids learn to keep their crumbs on their plates?!?! But when we JOYFULLY sacrifice, we bring honor to God. We teach our children what it looks like to love. And we become more like Christ, which is the goal of every Christ-follower. Foster parenting has taught me how FAR I have to go in my efforts, but how FAITHFUL our Father is in leading His children toward Him.
Boy do I miss those little toes!!
April 17, 2016, at 10:22 pm | Me: “The sun rises in the East, and sets in the West.”
Jimmy: “It’s good the sun sets in the West. The cowboys need the sun in the desert. It gets dark there.”
*******
As Danny was walking out the door at his grandparent’s house, he popped his head back in and cheerfully said, “If you need me, I’ll be outside pooping.”
*******
Susie: “Mama, in Heaven, we will have to wear royal clothes? Sometimes they’re kind of itchy…and I don’t like to dress up.”
******
I asked Danny a question, and he answered, “Mama, wait, I’m thinkin’” and then he paused and looked up above his head. Then he turned to me and asked, “Why is there no bubble coming out of my head?” (He’s been looking at his sisters’ comic books where there are ‘thought bubbles’ above people’s heads when they think!)
******
Danny, asking what he could do to help heal from a cold: “How do I feel better?”
Me: “Well, you need to get lots of rest and drink lots of water and you’ll feel better in a few days.”
Danny: “And drive a motorcycle, would that help? Would it??”
*******
Jimmy, handing me an iPad: “Please tell me your passcode. I can forget. I’m an expert at forgetting!”
*******
Susie: “A kid in my class wants to be a math-magician when they grow up.”
*******
Me, looking down at what Danny put in my hand: “Danny, did you just hand me snot?”
Danny: “No.”
Me, relieved: “Oh good.”
Danny: “It’s dry snot.”
*****
Me: “Jimmy, what state do you want to live in when you grow up? Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Florida, California, Texas…”
Jimmy: “Texas Roadhouse!!”
April 15, 2016, at 8:06 pm |  
I just had to share these acrostics that Becky came up with for her name and mine. I especially love the one she did for herself – I think it describes her perfectly!
EMILY
E: Energetic
M: Marvelous
I: Is the perfect mom
L: Loves her children
Y: You are a great mom!
REBECCA
R: Really nice
E: Excited all the time
B: Beautiful
E: Energetic
C: Cool
C: Crazy
A: Animal lover and Arty
April 14, 2016, at 10:45 pm | If it were up to me, I’d never let any crafts involving color dye enter my house (the mess! It’s everywhere!!), but since I had “forgotten” to let the kids dye Easter eggs for the past few years, I gave in to their pleadings. I boiled up some eggs, laid out the materials, and tried not too wince every time I saw drops of food coloring fly across the kitchen! The kids had a blast dying them all, but barely let the dye set before they insisted on consuming all the hardboiled eggs! At least it was a nutritious craft!
   
April 13, 2016, at 10:34 pm | Only at our house does taking down a dead tree involve a chainsaw, a Polaris Ranger, a tug-of-war-rope and four eager helpers!
Here’s Susie with a chunk of the felled tree – she wants to use the wood for a carving project!
April 11, 2016, at 9:05 pm |
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ABOUT US I'm blessed to be saved by the grace of God, loved by my wonderful husband Jim, and embraced by my twin girls, Rebecca Faith and Susanna Joy and my sons Jimmy and Danny. I started this blog in May 2008 when I was hospitalized for pre-term labor at 24 weeks gestation. The Lord allowed me to keep the girls inside until they were 34 weeks along, and on July 27th, Rebecca made her debut, followed by Susanna, five minutes later, on July 28th. We ecstatically welcomed Jimmy into our lives on April 25th, 2011, and Danny on August 31, 2012. This blog has been a personal journal of faith and motherhood and the only way I can remember which child did what and when. Thanks for stopping by to share in my Faith and Joy! Feel free to e-mail me at: [email protected]. |
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