Running away

So this might be a long story. Like I keep saying, I am going to post the stories of when we got each girl, but I just keep thinking of other things to post. So I will give you the quick version of how we got A because it pertains to this story. After we had M for about 6 months, we got a call and H and A needed a home immediately. We also had another girl living with us and there was just no way we could handle 4 girls........NO WAY we could EVER do that..........so we thought at the time! So we said that we would take the 2 for the weekend.......only for the weekend........they needed to go to a different home on Monday.......it was a weekend only. That's how we have to talk to dhs sometimes, well, some of them anyway and some of our workers were WONDERFUL! (We love you Mary!) Anyway, we got the girls for the weekend. They were 4 and 2. They did great in our home and we took them to dhs on Monday. On Tuesday we called and asked where they were. They were in a shelter. A shelter? Our M's little sisters were in a shelter? So we called our friend Angie who also did foster care (and also said she would never adopt and now has 2 bio children who are grown and 3 adopted children!). We told her what was going on and she was as sick as we were. She said that she would take A if we could take H.
WAHOOO..........great idea! That's what we did.......it was perfect! The girls got to see each other at church and daycare. So about 4 or so months passed by. As they passed, our home became more and more settled. M and H were able to work through some issues, and Angie's home became harder and harder. Angie is an awesome person. Really. She has a huge heart and is wonderful. Looking back, we can just see how God was gradually preparing our home to get A and her home for A to leave. We are forever grateful to Angie for what she did for our A in those few months. We are still very connected to Angie and her entire family....we love them!
While that is a great story in itself, that is only the background information needed to understand the real story. Go ahead and get some coffee for the rest of the story if you want. I told you this was going to be a long one!
So A had been at our home after coming from Angie's for about 3 months. She loved being with her sisters, and she was doing really well in our home. The older girl that was living with us was great with A, and they had a special bond. However, with all of the foster kids that we had for a longer period of time, they all had a very hard time when they hit the 3 month mark, or around the 3 month mark. I don't know what it is about that timing, but around 3 months, I guess the honeymoon phase is over. Our sweet children who are grateful to be in our home and who love us dearly suddenly decide at the 3 month mark that they will question every rule, and test us again and again, be their meanest ever........just to see if we will still love them and want them in our home.
A was in this stage. And with her, every time she didn't get what she wanted, she would want to go back and live with Momma Angie. We heard this over and over and over and over and .........you get it right? So she went through that stage and was well on her way out of that stage when one day we were leaving in the morning to go do something fun. I don't remember what exactly that fun thing was, but it was fun. The whole morning and the whole time we were doing the fun thing, she was talking about how she was just going to go to Momma Angie's house. This was different this time because she started saying it when she was perfectly happy, not in trouble at all. You have got to understand this girl....she is determined, stubborn, and can get obsessive.......so what I'm saying is, if she sets her mind to something, there is no changing it.
So I get smart........I think of the Full House episode and I think there was a Brady Bunch episode when whatever child wanted to run away so the mother packs their bag for them and packs so much stuff that the kid can't carry it, decides they really do love it at their home, and works things out with mom......it ends with a hug and warm fuzzy feelings.
Yep, that's exactly how it would work. She is obsessing about going to Angie's, so if we pack her bags, pack them heavy, and send her out on the road by herself, she is sure to turn back and all will be well! Um.........NOPE! Nope nope nope, this is NOT how it happened.
HERE is how it happened:
A is crying and wanting to go to momma Angies so we say, ok A, you can go to Angies, let us help you pack. So I put our purses and whatever other heavy things we could find in a back pack. She didn't see what we put in. She hugged us, kissed us, got her helmet on , got her back pack on, and headed out.
Oh dear, she is not having a problem so far.
She got on her TINY Dora bike and started to pedal away down the road. (We live on a country dead-end road, so don't worry!)
Autumn!!!!!! She isn't having a problem......what do we do? We can't let her go to the highway!
Oh my goodness......I don't think Jan Brady ever got this far. Now what do I do?
So Autumn went and told her she forgot some things. She packed a little suitcase with like a 10 or more pound bag of potatoes! A came back and got her potatoes (she didn't know it was potatoes).
Oh yeah, this will get her. There is no way that she can pedal and steer the bike, with the big backpack on her back, the helmet falling in her face, and the suitcase to take too. No, she won't get far at all!
WRONG!!!!!!!
She was doing it.....she was dragging the suitcase alongside of the bike. What in the world?
So I start following her down the road because I don't want her to get to the highway.
Think Trinity, think.....
At first I just followed without her knowing I was following her, but then she kept going, so I had to give myself away. I didn't know what else to do, so I just started talking to "myself" really loud for her to hear.
Wow.......look at those clouds! I hope a tornado doesn't come. She didn't even care...... So I started talking TO her. A, if a big storm with lots of thunder comes, you need to take cover. And if a big mean stranger comes, just ride the other way. And if you see a skunk, try not to get sprayed.
I was trying to make her want to come home, but she just said, "ok" as if she was THANKFUL for all of the advice!
I SAID........if you see SKUNKS, you need to not get SPRAYED!!!!!! I hope that TORNADO doesn't blow you away!
Nothing.........she just kept riding. At this point Autumn joined me and we were both saying those things. She then comes close to the highway......not dangerous close, just close.
We HAVE to do something! What are we going to do? Why did I try to do that stupid reverse psychology from those dumb shows like it would really work?
So Autumn went to the grass parallel with the highway in the direction she wanted to go to momma angie's. Autumn peeked in the grass then jumped back in surprise.
Snake! Snake! Oh my goodness, I saw a snake. A, just be real careful of that big HUGE snake in that grass right there.
There was no snake, it was just our last resort! A froze......her big, worried eyes looked up at us.
Is it big?
Yep. Hope it doesn't hurt you ....be safe!
This was working.......she was buying it! I could smell her fear! So we turned around and said goodbye and started slowly walking back towards home. HOPING she would follow. Sure enough we hear:
Wait. I think I don't want to go there anymore. I think I will just go home.
Oh yeah! Mrs. Brady has NOTHIN on me! It's working! We walked ahead of her back home and God made it rain! PERFECT!
She got home and said she decided to stay at our house.
Good. (very matter of fact)
We love you and this is where you belong.
Never had her run away again!

My new toy!

I got a new camera! I love my cameras. I love to take pictures! I love it that you can totally capture a moment in time and just freeze it forever.
So as an early birthday present, Autumn and the girls got me a new camera! I got a waterproof camera!!!!

I am SOOOOOO excited! I can't wait to use it......in the pool, sprinkler, rain, snow.......can't wait!!!

We went out for a little bit yesterday in the sprinklers and I got a couple, then today I had M spray the water on the camera so I could get these....she kept knocking it over with the water, so it was funny. Tonight we are going to a friend's house to swim............you know I will post pictures later!

Have a happy day!

Just in case you want to know...

A couple of people have asked me how to comment on this blog. I told them, but I thought there might be someone else that might want to know. Or maybe I just want you to know cause I want to hear from you. OR maybe those couple of people are the only ones who read this.......either way......you just click the "comments" button at the end of a post. You write whatever you want to write, then it will say: comment as. Scroll down to anonymous if you want. Be sure and sign your name IN the comment if you sign as anonymous. You can preview your comment, then click on "post comment".

Easy right? That's how you do it.......JUST in case you were REALLY wanting to know!

Thanksgiving

I know....it's not Thanksgiving. And this isn't a sweet post about giving thanks every day of the year, although that would be nice.....yeah, I should probably do that. Anyway, that is a different post...this is a Thanksgiving story from a few years ago. Why did I choose today to tell this story? I thought of it today. I haven't thought about this story in a while and I thought of it today and I figured I don't know when I will think of it again, so I better write it down while I am thinking of it. So............come back in time with me a few years.

We had M and H in our home as well as big H (a girl who lived with us for almost a year. She was tween age, fair skinned, blue eyes, blond hair and very pretty). M was 6 and H was 4 or 5. (At some point I will take you through the journey of us starting foster care, getting each girl and adoption). So I was driving the car.....had the 3 girls in the back. I heard muted arguing. I say muted because I was totally zoned out. I was either singing to the radio, or so deep in thought. The arguing grew louder and a little more intense....not hitting each other intense, but it just wasn't going to stop. So I start listening. I know, I should be more in tune to what is going on in the car while driving, but I'm not. That is when I find myself answering uh-huh or oh, yeah to a lot of things without really listening. I need to get better at that. I have gotten a little better, but there is always room for improvement! Anyway.......I was driving.......there was arguing.......I started to listen. I hear the following conversation:

Big H: You are not M!

M: Yes I am too!

Big H: No you aren't M.

M: I am too

Big H: No you aren't. Trinity, Tell M that she is NOT an Indian.

That cracked me up right there. I don't know why, but it was just funny. M was EXTREMELY feisty when we first got her....now she is more of a controlled feisty, but it was more untamed then. I could just imagine her at school for her Thanksgiving play fighting with everyone telling them that she IS an Indian! Oh yeah.......clue in Trinity......you are the referee right now....you have a fight to resolve.

Me: No M, you aren't an Indian you are Mexican. Your dad is from Mexico so that makes you Mexican.

I love it that the girls are Mexican. I think it is fun. I think it is a fun culture and we try to embrace that culture when we can. We have made the tradition of making tamales at Christmas to include their Mexican heritage. I love traditions and culture and heritage! I know......back to the story.....what is with me tonight chasing all of these rabbits?

M: Oh, I thought I was an Indian.

I can see the proud eyes of Big H in the back...proud that she was right. I think those eyes also said, I told you so!

Me: No, you are Mexican. I like it that you are Mexican.

M: Aww man, I thought I was an Indian. Oh well, that's ok H (big H that is). You are still a pilgrim!

5 hour trip

I said a while back that I would post pictures from our trip to my step-sister's wedding, so here they are. Autumn reminded me a day or so ago that I hadn't posted and I said that I would and it gets on her nerves when bloggers say they will post pictures and never do....don't want to get on her nerves, so here are the pictures! Some of them anyway. The wedding was so fun....it was small and just tons of fun. My step-sister Stacy and her husband catered all of the food......they did an incredible job! The girls always have fun with their cousins.....cousin J always comes to stay with us in the hotel when we go....good memories!

The girls love dancing....usually we just have dance parties in our kitchen, so it is fun for them to dance with other people besides just us in other places besides just our kitchen.
Me, dad and Autumn. I'm glad we got to visit with him. It has been a while since we have seen him. He got to come to our hotel and visit for a couple of hours the day of the wedding, so that was great!

Cousin J fits right in to our clan! They all enjoy each other so much. There were a couple of times she was with us that we forgot she was there because she is so good!

I love to watch the girls dance when they forget that people are watching. None of the girls danced when we first got them. Through my few years of experience with foster care, there are two standards that I use to judge if a kid is stable and secure in a home. If they are stable, their skin and hair are healthy.
All of the girls, except for A came to us with unhealthy skin or hair, and it cleared up in a noticeable amount of time. Also, I say you can tell if a child is secure in their home when they are comfortable enough to dance......not in public necessarily, but just dance. Anyway, there I go on my rambling, but that is why I love to see the girls dance. I love to see the freedom and joy they have when they dance!

Here is the whole crew.......minus Bethany and her fam....they weren't able to make it this time.

Uncle Mike (my step-sister Nanna's husband) is so good with the girls and they love him.

The bride, Amy, and the parents.

The night before the wedding, we got together and ate and the kids played. I'm glad they get to see their cousins and spend time with them.

When I am around a bunch of boys, I am reminded how different boys and girls are. I grew up with only sisters, have a house full of girls now, so I am so not used to boys wrestling, making funny noises, and all that comes with having boys. I AM used to squeals about nothing, mood swings like crazy, and drama like you have never seen, but wrestling and such.........not so much! These boys are great kids and fun to be around!

Hmmmmmmmmm............these two make quite the pair. They are pretty quiet, which means they just MIGHT be making some sort of plan.

Little cousin (boy) J is just so cute. He always smiles, which brings a smile to all of us.

They had so much fun together.

On our trip, about halfway, we stopped at Becky's daughter's house. These guys are basically my girls' other cousins. They have so much fun together, and when it is time to leave each other, there is always pouting and crying or sneaking into the other ones car to try and go together. That brings back memories......my cousins and I used to try and sneak to each other's homes (sound familiar Macy and Amanda?) The "potty stop" at their house was so fun but way too short!

This is Becky and Joey, Becky's youngest grandson. He is SOOOOOOOOOO cute! When we were walking out and saying goodbye, he just laughed and laughed at us. It SOOOOO made me not want to leave!

ramblings about camp

Last week....the week we had 6 children in our house....I also got to help with a day camp our town put on. It is a great camp. This is my second year to help with it, and it is just wonderful. M got to go last year for it, and M and H both got to go this year. They loved it! Every day they had nutrition class and steps to respect class, which is an anti-bullying class. The other two sessions every day rotated. They got to do art, soccer, CSI, Wildlife, golf, archery, kickball, martial arts, and I think one more thing that I can't think of. I just can't say enough about the camp. At the end of the camp, their team leaders, which are high school students, gave out awards. H got the "quietest" award, and M got the "helping hands" award. I was very proud of both of them throughout the camp. I think it is funny that H got the quietest award because she talks at home, that I forget how quiet she is in public. Now if you want the girl to talk, take her some where one on one. She will talk. She isn't as much of a group girl, she's a one on one girl. And it SO doesn't surprise me that M got the helper award. The archery people (who were absolutely awesome!) gave out little awards after each group went through. They gave out mostly a little prize for the best shot. But M got a prize from the archery people for helping out and helping the guy teach. What? How can she help him teach when she doesn't even KNOW anything about archery? That is a unique trait about M for sure....she can claim it. She may not know anything about it, but she just claims it with confidence, and everyone around her thinks she knows what she's talking about. Same thing with her clothes......it may not EXACTLY match, but she wears those unmatching outfits with confidence, that people just think it is SUPPOSED to look that way! Anyway......I know I am rambling. I was proud of my girls for how they acted and treated others at camp. I am very proud of them!

Santa

I know I am posting a lot today. I figure that I am in the mood, I am remembering the stories, and I have a little time, so I might as well post several now cause there might be some days when I don't post any! So tonight at dinner, I forget how we got to this point in the conversation, but the conversation turned to talking about Santa. I won't say a lot about Santa cause I'm not sure if any kids read this blog and I just don't want to say too much, but let's just say that we had "the conversation" with our older two a couple of years ago about Santa. They were getting Santa and Jesus confused, and they thought they may have been naughty in the past because they haven't always received gifts, so we set them straight on that. So A told us tonight that she does not believe Santa is real. So we asked S what she thought. S, do you believe in Santa?

S said, I believe in Jesus.

That's my girl! LOVE HER!

Jerry's back!

Little miss A found a toad the other night when we were at our friend Becky's house. She named this toad Jerry. This toad made her SO very happy. She was giddy. She just went around laughing and singing....just happy! She would just say that Jerry is her best buddy.

However, we had to leave Becky's house, and this made A very sad not only to leave Becky, but to leave Jerry. Becky has assured us that she has seen Jerry since, but when we have been over there...........no sign of Jerry.

We went over to Becky's house last night for her birthday. Happy Birthday Becky! A looked and looked for Jerry, but she didn't find him. She cried. She cried the whole way home. She just couldn't understand why Jerry wouldn't come and see her. She was so beyond logic, that we had to make her try and understand Jerry's reasoning and what Jerry might be feeling. We told her that Jerry might have met a girl and that girl frog might have a little girl or boy that she visits, so Jerry might have gone to be with them.

Believe it or not, A was pretty much ok with that explanation. And then this afternoon, the girls were outside playing with the water hose and "swimming" in the mud. Autumn was cooking dinner, and I was in my room writing that extremely long previous post.

I hear screaming......that's not unusual. There is a lot of screaming in our house. This screaming lasted a little while. I could tell right away from the screams no one was hurt, no one was mad, no hurt feelings, must be something good. It was an excited scream that lasted a little while, so I got up to see the excitement. I walked around the corner to see A's BIG HUGE smile..........JERRY'S back! I guess this little toad travelled the whole 10 or so miles from Becky's house to ours!

She was SO happy! She loves this toad and I have just come to accept the fact this is the way God made her......to love toads, snakes, lizards, dead mice.....you get the idea! She was a little confused by the fact that Jerry sounded different than he did the other day. She said he got his baby voice back because he sounds higher today than he did the other day! Her sisters were so happy for her. They don't necessarily like the same things that she likes....for sure not as much as she like them, but they know she loves them. I hope they always support each other and are happy for each other, cry with each other. I pray they will always be such close sisters!

Welcome home Jerry!

Call from the teacher

I'm taking you back to the beginning of February. I was sick. Very sick. I spent a couple of days in bed, which I don't do often, so I was very sick. Poor Autumn. I couldn't even make it out of bed to pick out clothes or do the girl's hair. Yes, I do the girl's hair and pick out the clothes. Autumn can, but would rather not to. She pretty much does everything else, but at least I can say I contribute in those two areas! Back to the story....I was sick. Autumn got the girls ready and took them to school.......peace and quiet.......now I can finally slee........the phone rings. Agghhhh.....I wish Autumn wouldn't call me when I'm trying to sleep. So I answer, and it isn't Autumn.

Me: Hello?

Them: Trinity?

Me: Yes.

Them: This is Mrs. Smith

Oh no........Sister 3's teacher. She must be sick too. Or maybe she's in trouble. Oh dear....it's only 8:15 in the morning and she's in trouble already? That must be bad trouble. Or maybe she's sick. Or maybe I should I listen to what she has to say first.

Me: Hi! Is everything ok?

Mrs. Smith: I was just calling to let you know that A brought something to school today.

Oh dear....this child. She sneaks weird things in her backpack. I don't know why she feels the urge to do this, but she does. Why in the world is she calling me before school starts to tell me this? Usually she just saves the things in a bag until I see her. It must be something bad....Oh great, it's probably a knife or something and she's going to get kicked out of school.

Me: OK......what is it?

Mrs. Smith: She brought a little pink purse/pet carrier thing.

Let me just tell you that I love Mrs. Smith. She was wonderful for A. She is calm, consistent, not shocked by the strange things A says or does........well, until this particular morning....

Me: OK........

I said ok, but I was really thinking: Why would you call me about a little purse thing? Wasn't our system working where you just saved what she brought to school and showed me later? We should have patted her down this morning to make sure she didn't have anything. I want to get back to sleep!

Mrs. Smith: Trinity, the little purse had something in it........

Me: Ok

Mrs. Smith: Trinity, it had a dead mouse in it.

It took me a second to realize what she said because she said it so calm. A - DEAD- MOUSE!!! Are you kidding me?????!!!!!!!!! A dead mouse? Oh gross, oh gross OH GROSS!!!! yuck yuck YUCK YUCK YUCK!

Me: A (pause) DEAD mouse? As if a LIVE mouse would have been better?? I crack myself up sometimes when I look back at a situation!

Mrs. Smith: Yes...they were all playing inside for recess before school and all of the kids were gathered around her, so I went over to see what they were doing, and she was showing them all. I just threw the whole purse away, I hope that's ok.

We probably said a couple more things.......it wasn't funny to me at the time. All I could think about is.....Oh dear, my child needs to go to counseling because she likes dead things! I cried, called Autumn, Bethany and Becky and went to sleep.

Luckily, I had a much better outlook on the whole thing when I woke up. And my friend Michele called me and made me feel so much better. Michele teaches a different grade at the same school, so she knew about it right away. All she could do was laugh! It took me a couple of hours, then I could laugh too!

Really. Think about it. My daughter brought a DEAD mouse to school! Yep, that's funny! The thing is, a COUPLE of days earlier, we found that dead mouse in our house. I think S found it, hollered, and Autumn went and put it in a sack and threw it away. A wanted to see it, but we were so disgusted that there was a dead mouse in our house, that we said told her to not worry about it and get ready for bed! There was our mistake...we should have let her look at it! Apparently she got it OUT of the trash and put it in her purse, waited a couple of days and then brought it to school. How in the WORLD did we not smell that?

So she got home from school and we ask her about it.....she tells us that the poor little mouse wasn't dead! A: I promise it wasn't dead! Cause its eyes were closed and it's mouth was together. (She closes her eyes and sucks her cheeks in and puckers her lips together.) A: Then it was like this. (she opened her eyes real wide and showed her teeth)

They were also reading a book at school about a mouse, so in her little mind she was contributing to helping her classmates learn. I love her little tender heart, even for gross little creatures! And did I mention how much I love Mrs. Smith? I love her....she is absolutely wonderful. And for her end-of-the-year gift, we got her a little fuzzy play mouse! She liked it.

And that is the story of the mouse.

My little criminals

Best Friends........that's what their shirts say....that's what they live every day, except the moments that they are fussing with each other! Well, even in those moments, they are best friends, but I need to find a different shirt that is more fitting. It wouldn't only say best friends, it would say: best friends AND partners in crime! Yep.......my two little criminals!

Awwwwww.........look at those sweet little girls........don't let their sweet little faces and smiles fool you! Don't get me wrong, they are such sweet girls they just........well, let me tell you a little story. This story is from today. Yes, we had a very exciting day. So I went to the office in the morning, and then at lunch realized I need some materials for Wed. night, as well as a few other errands to run for church. Autumn is just staying home with the girls for the summer, so they just decided to come along for the ride. We went for lunch........the girls were great! Yay!!! That doesn't always happen, so that was a nice surprise. Then we went to a store......minor meltdown, almost turned major, but stayed minor. By minor, I mean just screaming and laying in the floor refusing to go anywhere. I just say: "That's fine, stay there, but I'm going shopping" and she got up and came.....pouting, but came. Now major meltdown would have meant continuing to scream and kick in the store........me having to carry her out.......well, you get the idea! Went to another store.....the Dollar Tree. I love the dollar Tree! It makes my job as a children's minister so much fun and easier. I find so many things there I can use. So the deal was.......if they made it out of dollar tree without any meltdowns, major or minor, they could pick something out...anything in the store (that's why I love the dollar tree!) 3 of the 4 girls made it......S almost made it.....at the very end she had gotten tea light candles and opened the package. Then on to Staples.......we made it through Staples........went on to the next store......made through that store, made it to the car and H starts tattling. I don't even hear what she is saying because I just hear tattling. Then I listen.....what???? Are you kidding me??? OH MY GOODNESS............... our little S and A just STOLE!!!

They are thief's! They stole paper clips, other clips, erasers, magnets, and highlighters out of staples......oh no.......my life is in shambles cause my 5 and 6 year old children are stealers! Really. My sister Bethany stole a pack of gum when she was like 7, and we thought that was bad, but now our LITTLE children have stolen things from the store!!!!

Me: Why did you steal those? Where did you hide them?

S: I put them in my pocket.

Me: Well where did A put them cause she doesn't have pockets?

A: In my pants.

Then I just start yelling random things in a panic. Good grief why do I do that?

Me:You put these things in your PANTS?

There I go again asking questions that I really shouldn't ask.

So we go on to the next store. Let me tell you that these two little girls were PERFECT in that store. It might have something to do with the fact that every two seconds I was telling them that we were going back to Staples they better hope that the store people don't call the police because if the store people call the police they wouldn't send the kids to jail, but they might send the parents to jail so they better start praying now. I know....I probably shouldn't do that. But, I am thinking if these girls aren't scared now of stealing, then we will be in a LOT of trouble!

So we go back to THE store. I went ahead of Autumn and the girls and talked to the store clerk and told her that we were there earlier and my daughters stole something and we were there to return it.

Clerk: What did they steal?

Me: Well, they got some clips and paper clips and erasers and such from that bin over there.

Clerk: You brought back paper clips?

Me: Well, it's more about the principle of stealing not what they stole!

So miss store clerk calls the manager up to talk to them....and that is when the girls walked in.

A started to panic a little when she saw her on the phone.

A: What is she doing? Who is she talking to? What is she going to do? Is it the police?

Oh, and on our way to the store, there was a police car in the parking lot next to it. That was great when the girls noticed that police! Worked great!

The manager came up. Miss store clerk went and told him what was going on. I went up to him with my back to the girls and said, Please just talk to them and tell them it is wrong to steal and please don't be nice.

Let's just say that if you look up nice in the dictionary, this manager's face would be there. He is a nice man, you can just tell he is nice. He walks nicely, he smiles when he listens, he smiles when he talks. He is a nice man. He is probably a really good grandpa, but he just wasn't the person I wanted to scare the girls into not stealing again! He nicely went to them and nicely told them that he appreciated them bringing the things back and stealing is wrong. (Oh yeah, did I mention that the big girls split when we got in the store. They went to look at the backpacks. They did not want to be around and let people think they were stealers!) The nice manager nicely told them it just isn't nice to take things and he wouldn't call the police this time. Oh, I wish I would have had a camera handy to take a picture of those girls' faces when he said that. It was fear because he mentioned the police, and complete relief because he wasn't calling. I then stepped in and said (while nodding my head the whole time to Mr. nice manager to agree with me) This is a big deal isn't it? You girls can get in a lot of trouble and cost the store and this nice man to lose a lot of money.

The girls cried, said they were sorry, and were ever so sorry to get out of there. I sure hope this is the end of their criminal history!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day dad! I love my dad very much and wished we lived closer to see him more often!

We saw him a couple of weeks ago at my step-sister Amy's wedding. He got out there and danced with all of the girls. Love it!

S was obviously having the time of her life dancing with grandpa! I love you dad! Happy Father's day!

My heart hurts a little today....I am so grateful for my dad, grandpa, and uncles, as well as men in my church that have become like a dad/uncle to me and like a grandpa to my girls. My heart hurts though, for several of my friends who have lost their dads. I know it hurts to lose your parent. I know that it is hard on a day like today because you don't want to ruin other's celebrations, but your heart just hurts and aches. I have been praying for those friends and I try to be sensitive to those around me on these days. I know I can get very caught up in what is going on with me and my life that I forget to be sensitive to those around me.

Also, my heart hurts for my girls. Through the whole process of fostering and adopting the girls, Autumn and I have sought to just be obedient. I am going to start posting the journey we went on to decide to do foster, and the journey we went on to get each of the girls, so there will be more details later, but we have and are always seeking to be obedient. This doesn't always mean we understand everything going on, but we trust in the Lord, and cling to the fact that he is Almighty...he is sovereign. So though we don't have all of the answers, we know He does, and He will reveal our next step at the right time. The question we get all the time (sometimes people ask it and sometimes we can just tell people are wondering) is "What happens if the two of you get married?" The answer.........we don't know! That is one of the things we are trusting that God has the plan and if he has men for Autumn and I, he knows our unique situation and has a plan! I love our situation right now. I love our life. My heart does hurt today and some other days because I know the girls sometimes wish they had a dad in their life and that is one thing I can't give them right now. But this again is where trust comes in...and I trust the Lord with not only my life, but my precious girls' life. And right now, I am thankful for my dad. I am thankful for my uncles, their uncle Jarrod, Skippy and others at church and friends that play a huge role as positive males in their lives. Happy Father's Day!

Oh, and I forgot I was going to share the sweetest thing that happened last Father's day. At school and church, they will make gifts or cards for their dads on Father's day. We usually talk about this and list out the various men they could give these things to. Last year, H brought home her Father's day card. It was to God. She said thank you for being the best dad in the world and for making everything for her. It was just precious! I agree.......thank you Lord for being the ultimate father!

Haircut

So I'm trying to write things down that I want to remember, so here it goes. A couple of years ago, at the beginning of December, we got a young teenage girl, K, as a foster. We knew this wasn't going to be a long term deal, but K needed us at the time. She was a sweet girl. You could look at her, and know immediately that she was a troubled girl and hadn't had a lot of love or attention. She needed a haircut and a friend of a case worker volunteered to cut K's hair. So we drove all 7 of us 45 miles away to get her hair cut. The beautician was SUPER sweet and made a HUGE fuss of K, which she had probably NEVER had that much attention. She made K feel like the prettiest girl ever. We also figured that if we were making the effort to get a haircut, we might as well get every one's hair cut. So we did. And the lady didn't mind at all. She just conversed with each girl as she made them feel like a movie star! Well, it was A's turn. A got up in the chair, and the lady started in and talked to her. A did really talk a lot, but just gave her that wrinkled brow look. The lady looked at and and said, You are very pretty! To which A bluntly replied, YOU are VERY loud!
The lady laughed and said, you are right!

Coby Jack Tinsley

I uploaded these pictures in the opposite order that they showed up, and I'm too lazy to switch it!

This has been both a fun and sad week. Well, and crazy, but that is really a given! So...we went on our 5 hour trip, as I posted before, and I still intend to get photos up from that trip. On our way back, we picked up baby H, a friend's little girl, and we watched her until Thurs. We got home on Sat., and our dog Maggie was in the front yard. The dogs (Coby and Maggie) are always in the back yard and we don't let them out on purpose. We hollered for Coby, but he never came. On Sunday Autumn went to pick up little cousin B to keep him for a week (yep, that's 2 extra little ones) and I took some of the girls to church. Me and my crew drove around looking for Coby near us, but didn't find him. So I called Autumn to tell her of our failed search, and she told me the news.......He was on the side of the highway just 1/2 mile from our home. DEVASTATED!!!!!!!! I yelled......not the right reaction, but I yelled......then I apologized to the girls later. Coby was my dog. I didn't even want ONE dog when we got Maggie. But Maggie is such a great dog, and something in me just wanted one for myself. So we went to the shelter and picked out Coby. We all loved this dog. Sister 3, A, especially loved him. Of course she loves all creatures, but her and Coby just seemed to bond really well: they both push REALLY hard on you when lovin on you, they both can STINK up a room, they are both stubborn, and they are both really loving and sweet. So when we told the girls........of course we were all just heart-broken. So how did they get out of the yard? Well, we have this neighbor who has a son who is mentally challenged, and we have had lots of situations where we had to call the sheriff on him. He had let our dog out before, so there were locks on the gate, but he loosened the fence at the corner and let them out. So, I realize this is "just a dog" to most people, but this was part of our family and we have to figure out how to help ourselves and our kids grieve.
Of course there were tons of questions and they just couldn't believe it. S kept saying, Toby wouldn't run into the street. He knows to watch for tars.
It has just been so sad. So we decided we all needed closure, and today we had a "service" for Coby. We let the girls pick out their clothes and how to do their hair, and we picked a tree to be "Coby's tree". We gathered some "flowers" from the field and all said a few words about him. S had been praying for God to help Coby, and A informed her that we can't pray for dead people. A: When people die, they already made their decision and they are either with God or the devil. Like Elvis. He did bad drugs and now he's with the devils but maybe he's with God but it won't help if we pray for Elvis, so we can't pray for Coby either.

Did you follow that? Well, welcome to our world of following random thoughts! So we made it clear that in our service, we would just say words ABOUT Coby not TO Coby, cause we can't talk to dead people or animals!

When we headed out to the "service" S thought we were going to the church. Makes perfect sense....we always have service at the church! She asked, Is everyone going to tome and say something about Toby?

So we had our service. They said how they liked Coby to follow them around, wake them up in the mornings, cuddle with them at nights, etc. M sang a song about Coby. There were tears. It really was sweet!

We love Coby very much, and the girls are ready to love another dog, but I'm not so sure I am ready for another dog. Autumn loves to look at the dog shelters websites anyway, so she already had some in mind to look at. I don't know how soon we will get another dog, but the girls have enjoyed looking at the pictures of dogs. S doesn't seem to have an opinion on any of the dogs. H gets stuck on a few that she really likes, but she would go for whatever. She asks us about ever 2 or 3 hours if we have filled out the application for a dog yet. A wants another dog, but she looks at me to get my reaction before she decides if she wants that dog. M begs for every dog we look at. I told her We can't just get every dog we look at. We saw a lot of kids at the shelter before we got you. If we would have just gotten the first ones, we wouldn't have you! We have to wait for the right one, not just the first ones. She understood perfectly and hasn't pushed anymore!

So, why was our week fun? Well we had those two precious babies visiting, and we had TONS of fun! Really, I think that was the Lord's timing that the two babies were with us. They helped to keep our minds off of Coby. Also, I was working a day camp this week and M and H attended this camp. We had SO much fun! Our town puts the camp on and we focus on healthy eating and anti-bullying. We also have a lot of fun activities.....soccer, archery, tennis, golf, art......it is TONS of fun! So it has been a good week, even in the midst of heart ache. Good thing our joy comes from the Lord and doesn't depend on our circumstances!

Confession

You better becareful if you are pouting or crying around me if I have a camera in my hand. I WILL turn around and take a picture and THEN try and figure out what is wrong!

I really love this picture of A. I don't know why.....poor girl is crying, but I still love this picture.

There she is..........littlest sister throwing one of her famous fits!

So why am I showing you pictures of my children crying and pouting? You might be thinking: what in the world is she thinking?

Well, I have a little confession............I started this little blog here to document little moments, conversations, and occasions in my life that I just don't want to forget. However, I guess I just ASSUMED that people might leave comments and tell me what they think! Yeah, so I guess I'll be a little pouty and selfish.............LEAVE ME A COMMENT EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE!!!!!!!(Imagine me crossing my arms in front of me, stomping my feet and whining REAL bad while saying this!) Just kidding.......actually I'm sitting on my bed and laughing at myself cause I think I'm real funny!

Little Fishy

Like I've said before, I'm trying to remember funny or great stories from the past and document them before I forget them. So we will go back to the time when we first got A. She had turned 3 a few months before, so, as you can imagine, our new little 3 year old talked so cute. She didn't say her r's (still doesn't and she's 6). Her "r" sounded more like the "y" sound, and her "ck" was a "t" sound. So when she said, I like your car....it sounded like......I lite youwr tie. Her "g" sounded like a "d". So when she said...."good job".......it sounded like......"dood job"
I know we are supposed to really help kids talk right, but it is so cute when they don't. I know, I know......it isn't going to be cute if they still talk that way when they are 18, but it was really cute at age 3. Her little raspy voice just made it all the cuter!
Also, her "f" sounded like a "b" and her "sh" had more of the "ch" sound. So, with all of this in mind, let me tell you a little story about this little girl, and every time she speaks in the story, you have to read it out loud and pronounce it as she would..........if you don't do it, the story just won't be that good. Also, when you are saying her lines, you have to say it in a raspy little voice. Ok, so you don't have to do the raspy little voice, but you do have to pronounce things the way she would.
We got A beginning of March, and we went to my aunt's house for Easter. I'm thinking this was their(aunts, uncles and cousins) first time to meet A, but even if wasn't their first time to meet her, it was their first time to be around her for very long at all. So, my aunt got the girls a little fishy game........the game where the little fish "swim" around and you have to catch them with the little poles. Of course the girls wanted to play the game. "Please tan I play the dame?"
So we let them play. M and A were playing at the table, and we were all around, not really paying attention, but just talking, relaxing, etc. I hear M say: "You better come here ya little fishy. I'm gonna get you ya little fish!"
Of course, A wants to mimic everything that her oldest sister does, so she repeated everything. Now, just remember all of the pronunciation rules I stated earlier, and imagine you are us......sitting around just kind of listening.
This is what we hear: "Tome here you little fish ("f" ="b" sound and "sh" = "ch" sound) I'm donna det you ya little fish." It took us all a while to figure out that she was talking about a fish, not a naughty word!

Fast forward a few months to August. Autumn asked the girls what they wanted to get me for my birthday. A was VERY quick to decide EXACTLY what she wanted to get me. "a birthday party and a fish". Remember the proununciation rules.....Autumn forgot the Easter incident and apparently we didn't talk about fish alot, so Autumn did not recognize the "fish" word. Autumn had her repeat her wishlist a few times, and every time, it sounded the same. Why in the world would A want to get THAT, and how does she know that word anyway??? So my birthday passed, and A got me a birthday party. No fish. Autumn just couldn't understand what she wanted. It wasn't until a couple of months later that A was looking in some water that had tadpoles in it and she was saying: "I'm donna det you little fish". Autumn realized that she really wanted to get me a fish..........not the other thing!

Are we there yet?

This weekend was fast and furious. We left on Thursday afternoon and travelled 5 hours for our step-sister's wedding, stayed Thursday night and Friday night, came back Saturday, plus a few more things this weekend. So it was just plain crazy! BUT, it was SO much fun! Our friend Becky went with us on our 5 hour trip, so it was 7 of us in a 7 passenger van. Good thing Becky is easy-going and doesn't mind screaming girls on the 5 hour trip! The girls really do pretty well on trips. You know...there ARE those screaming fits from the 2 little girls, but IF they go to sleep, they do much better! Well, too bad S didn't go to sleep! We started this 5 hour trip, but Becky had to stop at the post office, and it was more on the way to stop at the town 15 min. away instead of go back to the one in town. So we got to the post office and pulled in to drop off the mail, and yep, we got THE question.....Are we there?

REALLY???????? And can you guess which girl said this???????...............Probably most of you guessed sister 3, A..............and you would be right. Yes, that is how we started this 5 hour trip.

We get a little further (couple of hours maybe) and the question comes again............and again........and again. We try to give creative answers besides......No, not yet. We gave answers like......well, we are here, not there, but we are here....(we were hoping this would just confuse them! And we gave answers like....yep, we're here, do you like it? But, saying the same things over and over to that same terrible question becomes not funny fast even to Becky and I, who laugh at EVERYTHING. so we told them to NOT ask that ANYMORE!!! We were getting pretty close, so Autumn told them, Girls, it will take about an hour to get there.......that's about 2 episodes of Full House. Full house is their new favorite show. They think it is new and wonderful, and they even wonder if the Tanners are real and want to take them on vacation with us. We are just fine with them watching Full House because even the "good" disney or other shows, just have an attitude about them. Not that they are terrible, we just don't want our girls to watch them all the time at the house. Believe me, they don't need any help with attitude....they have plenty......and more to share! So......back to the car story.........we get about 15 min. from our destination on our 5 hour trip, we (the adults) are in full conversation about something, and I'm sure littlest sister wasn't happy about something cause she was pretty grumpy cause she didn't have a nap, and H yells out from the back..........Is Full House almost over?

My first thought was......Oh poor girl......she doesn't know that Full House was over before she was born! But then Autumn reminded me what she said about it taking 2 Full House shows to be there. Wow..........good job miss H for finding a new and creative way for asking the age-old question.............ARE WE THERE YET??????????????

I will post pictures from the trip later!

The "C" word....

You know you've heard those words...."Mom.....she said the F-word!" Or whatever word they said. We all dread when our children say naughty words! We all dread when our kids will do naughty things...but we know it will happen. SEVERAL times, one of the girls have come in and said....She said the F word. To which we ALWAYS reply.....What is the F word? The response? FART......ok, yeah, that isn't bad. But we say, Well, that isn't a nice word, but it isn't a BAD word, but we just don't use it because we want to act like little ladies!

This has also happened with the S word. Trinity......(this is always said with the high, whiny, I'm tattling voice)....she said the "S" word!!!!!! Of course again we reply.....what is the "s" word? And the answer??? STUPID or SHUT UP. Again, we go over the face that those are not nice words and we need to say nice things from our mouths.

So, today, Autumn was at home with the girls. A comes up in the tattle, whiny voice......Autumn......M said the "c" word!

So this one is easy......she must have said crap (a word we NEVER use in our home!). But we have NEVER heard ANY of the girls use that word.....what in the world? But, smart Autumn asked....What is the "c" word?

The answer?????? HATE

Yep, the "c" word is hate!

Don't mess with my sister!

I love my sisters. I love that we are close. I don't know what I would do without my sisters! Our girls are close. They are truly best friends, especially the little girls and the big girls.

People ask me all the time if the girls fight......well, yeah....they do. They fuss more than they fight. But you know...they just pick at each other. BUT if someone ELSE tries to pick on one of their sisters, then WATCH OUT!!!!! Let me just tell you a story about that one.

The girls ride the bus for a SHORT time across town to meet Autumn at her work. In that VERY SHORT time one day, there was a new boy at the school who rode the bus and boy did he make the wrong move. This boy, who is in the same grade as sister 2, H, is the kind of boy who likes to pick on people. Let's just say he visited the Principal's office the first day of school. So this boy got on the bus and started to pick on H. Nothing bad I don't think, just picking on her because he knew her from class. Well, he picked the WRONG girl to pick on, let me tell you! Sister 3 and 4, yes, the littlest sisters went right over to him, and started punching him. Yes they did! Well, A had gotten stung by something, and it had started to swell, so we sent some antiseptic spray...actually we went and personally gave the spray to the teacher. What we did not count on was the teacher sending the spray home with A in the outer pocket of her backpack. So what does the girl do when she feels her sister is being threatened by the big mean boy? Not only did the two of them punch this kid, but A pulled out the spray and sprayed him in the face with it! Yep, she did! Oh dear, what do we do with these girls? I don't think we will have to work on the area of self defense, or should I say sister defense! So this 8 or 9 year old got beat up by a 4 and 5 year old! Let's just say that this kid did NOT pick on ANY of the girls again!

Yep..................I LOVE sisters!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!