The girls are wanting to redecorate their rooms. Autumn and I aren't really much of decorators, so that really would be good to make them look really cute. Our deal was this: if they can keep their rooms clean, then we can pick some things out to put on the walls. Autumn has been looking at some of those sticker decoration things to make it cute. So the girls have been talking non-stop about exactly what they want on their walls. And you have to know that there are two rooms, so there are two girls in each room. So the ideas:
M changes her mind all of the time. She wants blue, then she wants cars, then she wants rock n' roll or high school musical, then she wants cowgirl......can't really make her mind up.
S wants princess.....She wants blue because of Cinderella and she wants a princess room.
H has a very detailed image in her mind of exactly what she wants her room to look like, but I just don't know if we can see the image well enough to make it just like it. She wants 80's rock. Yep, 80's rock....I don't know where she came up with that one, and that is not what I would guess for her, but that is what she wants. On one wall, in gold or silver, she wants drums, on the other wall she wants a guitar. She is so funny and hasn't left the idea of 80's rock...she is stuck on that one.
A.....well, Autumn asked them tonight if they could only put one thing on their wall, what would it be? A's answer................either a picture of Elvis or Jesus!
So these will be some interesting rooms, but honestly, I am really thinking they aren't going to hold up their end of the deal in keeping their rooms clean!..............we shall see!
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
VBS
We had VBS last week and had tons of fun. We had a lot of kids and it was just a great week. I will say that I am relieved just a bit that it is over....it is sad that it is over because I love it, but it is a relief because I am just glad to know it went well and not have to worry about it.
Here is H and her friend....they both look so pretty!
S and her new friend........both sweet little girls and both just a little mischievious!
A is hanging out before we started.
Our theme was Saddle Ridge Ranch, so each night we had theme nights. We had crazy cowboy hat night, belt buckle night, etc. This was rodeo animal night. A was a bull dog. She likes dogs and a bull goes to a rodeo. She had a collar for the dog, and made horns for the bull. She was afraid people would laugh at her, so she wouldn't wear the whole thing.
This is from Rodeo clown night. Autumn let them pick whatever they wanted to wear for rode clown night. They looked on the internet to see examples and then set to work. Every other day, A brings in totally unmatching outfits begging to wear them. The ONE day that she can pick a mis-matched outfit, she chooses something that matches! It took a while, but she finally got into the whole mis-matched thing.
Here's the fam. Autumn was a good sport and dressed as a rodeo clown, but I chose to just wear the hat.
Once she put the outfit on, she became a clown. One of the girls said that the clowns can't talk, so she turned into a mime. I was laughing SO hard, and she enjoyed getting to put on a show for me!
Here is little miss piggy for rodeo animal night. For a long time she has liked me to call her Mommy's little piggy, so this totally fit her!
All week, we raised money for an organization that does orphan care in Africa. We had a little contest, and each of the four of us had a bucket. (The four of us is our staff minus our pastor. left to right: me, Mark the music minister, Tyler the youth minister and Mike the associate pastor.) The person that got the most money at the end of the week got a "cow pie" in the face. We ended up raising over $1000 and we all tied, so we each got 10 pies. We had lots of fun, and we drew kids' names at random to give us pies. It did look pretty nasty!
I like the expressions on both of our faces! It is pretty funny!
S happened to get called. That does look pretty gross.....it really looks like cow pooh!
The cow pies were made with chocolate pudding, cool whip, oat meal, and green food coloring. Tons of fun!!!!!!!!! I love VBS!!!!!!!!!
Sunday, July 25, 2010
splish splash
We went to a splash park in a nearby town a couple of times recently with different friends each time. This thing is so cool...it's free and very fun. They just have sprinklers and different water shooters and buckets that dump water. The girls had a ton of fun. I took my underwater camera, so I had tons of fun too!
I like this picture....as you can see...M is pushing S to stand under the exact place where she knows the water is about to dump out of the bucket. Just look at her face...you can almost hear the evil laugh come out of her! And S is having fun just anticipating the water. A is looking for her bucket to dump, and our friend O is just taking it all in!
I love this.....you can tell so much of the story without the face...seeing them holding hands shows how much fun they have with their friends!
They huddled up together waiting for the water to drop.
We also went with another friend, L, and cousin B, and his friends.
B had fun! He liked walking around and getting wet!
Well, at first he liked getting wet, then he wanted to just run around. When we went the first time, Autumn went to gather the girls up to go home. Autumn and I had both stayed pretty dry...that is until she quickly got out of the way of the kid shooting the water....only to step under the bucket right when it dropped! So when we went back with cousin B, she was careful to stay out of the bucket's way. B had gotten tired of getting wet, so she was trying to get him to just walk around and have fun. She was trying to show him how you walk through the whole thing and not get wet, but just walk around and see everybody. That is when the fountain turned on right when she was on it.....yep, got her wet, but did NOT get B wet....she blocked him!
So he started running around on his own. He would go and sit on the fountain (when it was off) and go step on others, stand right under the buckets, etc. We were waiting for those fountains to come on when he was on it, or buckets to drop on him, but EVERY time he walked away, the fountain would come on. It NEVER came on when he was on the fountain. He NEVER got wet...after he decided to not get wet anymore. And every time he was on the fountains and such, we would laugh and laugh because we thought he was about to get wet, but he thought it was great because he thought we were laughing at him!
We had SO much fun!!!!!!!!!!!!1
I like this picture....as you can see...M is pushing S to stand under the exact place where she knows the water is about to dump out of the bucket. Just look at her face...you can almost hear the evil laugh come out of her! And S is having fun just anticipating the water. A is looking for her bucket to dump, and our friend O is just taking it all in!
I love this.....you can tell so much of the story without the face...seeing them holding hands shows how much fun they have with their friends!
They huddled up together waiting for the water to drop.
We also went with another friend, L, and cousin B, and his friends.
B had fun! He liked walking around and getting wet!
Well, at first he liked getting wet, then he wanted to just run around. When we went the first time, Autumn went to gather the girls up to go home. Autumn and I had both stayed pretty dry...that is until she quickly got out of the way of the kid shooting the water....only to step under the bucket right when it dropped! So when we went back with cousin B, she was careful to stay out of the bucket's way. B had gotten tired of getting wet, so she was trying to get him to just walk around and have fun. She was trying to show him how you walk through the whole thing and not get wet, but just walk around and see everybody. That is when the fountain turned on right when she was on it.....yep, got her wet, but did NOT get B wet....she blocked him!
So he started running around on his own. He would go and sit on the fountain (when it was off) and go step on others, stand right under the buckets, etc. We were waiting for those fountains to come on when he was on it, or buckets to drop on him, but EVERY time he walked away, the fountain would come on. It NEVER came on when he was on the fountain. He NEVER got wet...after he decided to not get wet anymore. And every time he was on the fountains and such, we would laugh and laugh because we thought he was about to get wet, but he thought it was great because he thought we were laughing at him!
We had SO much fun!!!!!!!!!!!!1
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Bible Stories: our version
We had a fun and relaxing (lazy) day after a busy week and we topped the day off with an evening at our friend Becky's house. Skip grilled while we swam, then we all enjoyed the yummy food together. On our way home, A shared some of the Bible stories she has learned. I think it started out with a story from VBS, but it turned out to be her summary of the Bible, and our entertainment for the night!
Creation:
When that man God made first was runnin' around, he started naming those animals. But he got the rabbit and fox confused and called the rabbit a fox and the fox a rabbit. Then the servant had legs but they brought that fire cross out, I mean the sword and threw it on the ground but the servant had legs, but God made it not have legs and crawl on the ground.
H: It's SERMON, not servant!
Me: No, it's serpent.
A: Ok, well the servant (her and Autumn argued about that a minute) had to crawl on the ground with no legs.
Good Samaritan:
There were those two mean men and they saw the good guy walkin' so they hit him and took all of his clothes. He was hurt real bad so the shepherd came by (she knew it was the shepherd cause he looked like a shepherd because of his shepherd clothes). The shepherd wrapped him up in sticks and that wrapping stuff and took him to a dungeon because he was hurt.
Noah:
Noah was the one who was on that big ship, and there was a deer that got hit by the storm and he died. But he took some people on that ship so they were ok. He sent out that crow and he was afraid of the water so he came back, so then Noah sent out that white bird and he did good.
Jonah:
Jonah told those other men to throw him in the water and they did cause he didn't do what God wanted so God sent a big blue fish to come and eat him for a lot of days. Then after I don't know how many days, that fish shot him out of his mouth and he was okay.
Joseph:
Joseph got a nice coat that had a lot of colors on it and he got it from his dad, but his brothers didn't like it so they threw him in a big pit to die. But someone came by with a stick to get him out, but they weren't very nice to him with that stick.
David and Goliath:
There was an army of Samaritans and they didn't like the people from Samaria, so they went to fight them every day. They said one two three four every day, but no one wanted to fight because they were real sholdiers (soldiers). But then that boy came out to fight the big guy (later she called him the giant) and he put a rock in it and swung it 15 times then it went and killed him down.
Daniel and the Lions:
Daniel wouldn't pray to anyone but God so they put him in that hole. The mean guys put him in that hole, not his brothers. The mean guys didn't want him to pray to God. Then the lions were there and they were nice to him because God made the big lion nice and the big lion told the other lions to be nice. So they were nice to Daniel and when Daniel left, they were mean again because they were hungry.
The fiery furnace:
Those three guys wouldn't do what the king wanted because the king wasn't doing what God wanted, so they put them in the fire and God kept them safe. They all died but the angel brought them back to life and saved them. And they didn't get poked or bruises or anything!
Okay, so we have some work, but she is on her way......just a little confusion!!! It was SO funny!!!
Creation:
When that man God made first was runnin' around, he started naming those animals. But he got the rabbit and fox confused and called the rabbit a fox and the fox a rabbit. Then the servant had legs but they brought that fire cross out, I mean the sword and threw it on the ground but the servant had legs, but God made it not have legs and crawl on the ground.
H: It's SERMON, not servant!
Me: No, it's serpent.
A: Ok, well the servant (her and Autumn argued about that a minute) had to crawl on the ground with no legs.
Good Samaritan:
There were those two mean men and they saw the good guy walkin' so they hit him and took all of his clothes. He was hurt real bad so the shepherd came by (she knew it was the shepherd cause he looked like a shepherd because of his shepherd clothes). The shepherd wrapped him up in sticks and that wrapping stuff and took him to a dungeon because he was hurt.
Noah:
Noah was the one who was on that big ship, and there was a deer that got hit by the storm and he died. But he took some people on that ship so they were ok. He sent out that crow and he was afraid of the water so he came back, so then Noah sent out that white bird and he did good.
Jonah:
Jonah told those other men to throw him in the water and they did cause he didn't do what God wanted so God sent a big blue fish to come and eat him for a lot of days. Then after I don't know how many days, that fish shot him out of his mouth and he was okay.
Joseph:
Joseph got a nice coat that had a lot of colors on it and he got it from his dad, but his brothers didn't like it so they threw him in a big pit to die. But someone came by with a stick to get him out, but they weren't very nice to him with that stick.
David and Goliath:
There was an army of Samaritans and they didn't like the people from Samaria, so they went to fight them every day. They said one two three four every day, but no one wanted to fight because they were real sholdiers (soldiers). But then that boy came out to fight the big guy (later she called him the giant) and he put a rock in it and swung it 15 times then it went and killed him down.
Daniel and the Lions:
Daniel wouldn't pray to anyone but God so they put him in that hole. The mean guys put him in that hole, not his brothers. The mean guys didn't want him to pray to God. Then the lions were there and they were nice to him because God made the big lion nice and the big lion told the other lions to be nice. So they were nice to Daniel and when Daniel left, they were mean again because they were hungry.
The fiery furnace:
Those three guys wouldn't do what the king wanted because the king wasn't doing what God wanted, so they put them in the fire and God kept them safe. They all died but the angel brought them back to life and saved them. And they didn't get poked or bruises or anything!
Okay, so we have some work, but she is on her way......just a little confusion!!! It was SO funny!!!
Pink eye
Sorry I haven't posted much. We had VBS all week, so it has been crazy busy at our house. We had a great VBS! I will post pictures of the girls from VBS later, but for some weird reason, I thought of a random story from a few years ago, so I will share that while I am thinking of it, because it is funny and I want to remember it.
About 4 years ago....we just had M in our home. She woke up one morning and her eye was kind of pinkish. I worked in a daycare and I work with kids all the time, you know, so I am SURE this is probably pink eye, but it MIGHT be allergies, so we will give it a day or so. It didn't have goo coming out of it yet, so.......hmm.........M wouldn't even hardly let us get near it. She didn't trust right away.
We took her to daycare, and when I picked her up, her eye was still pink. When she woke up the next morning, yep, still pink WITH gunk coming out, so we called the dr. and told her that M had pink eye.....no doubt about it, because remember, we have worked at daycare centers and KNOW what pink eye looks like. We work with kids, and just KNOW what pink eye is!
The dr. called in the pink eye medicine for us.....whew! That was easy! Hey Autumn, we are pretty good at this foster parent thing! So Autumn go the eye drops and brought them home....now just for getting them IN M's eye! We got the first drops in.......took two of us, but got them in!
The next morning Autumn went to work, so I was flying solo with getting the drops in....so I went in and woke her up, then went right for it....that way she didn't have time to wake up and fight me hard! So here I am, holding her hands down, talking calmly to her while trying to shove eye drops in her eyes. She was blinking a lot, and I was trying to pry her eyelids open long enough to get these things in.....and that's when I saw it....
What is that?
Is that a bubble from the drops?
What is that?
Girl........be still..........I'm trying to see what that is!
What is that?
OH.
MY.
GOODNESS!!!!!!!
That is a SEQUINS!!!!!!!!!!!!
Be still!
I can't get it!
GIRL...........BE STILL!!!!!!!!
Got it!
Yep.....that is a sequins!
How in the WORLD did you live with a sequins in your eye?
This was not glitter, not a little piece of sparkle, no, this was almost as big as a contact, full out goes on a dress, sequins!
How in the world did she do that? I mean really, when I get a piece of dirt, or a spec of anything in my eye, it hurts like crazy! How did she do that? Who IS this girl?
"M, why did you put that in your eye?"
"Cause I want to be like you!"
Oh my.....she had seen us put contacts in our eye, and this little clear sequins did resemble a contact, except that it was kind of jagged and bumpy, and had to hurt her eye so bad!
Ok, so I guess that is when I realized you NEVER know what will happen with little ones....NEVER!!!!!!!!!!
About 4 years ago....we just had M in our home. She woke up one morning and her eye was kind of pinkish. I worked in a daycare and I work with kids all the time, you know, so I am SURE this is probably pink eye, but it MIGHT be allergies, so we will give it a day or so. It didn't have goo coming out of it yet, so.......hmm.........M wouldn't even hardly let us get near it. She didn't trust right away.
We took her to daycare, and when I picked her up, her eye was still pink. When she woke up the next morning, yep, still pink WITH gunk coming out, so we called the dr. and told her that M had pink eye.....no doubt about it, because remember, we have worked at daycare centers and KNOW what pink eye looks like. We work with kids, and just KNOW what pink eye is!
The dr. called in the pink eye medicine for us.....whew! That was easy! Hey Autumn, we are pretty good at this foster parent thing! So Autumn go the eye drops and brought them home....now just for getting them IN M's eye! We got the first drops in.......took two of us, but got them in!
The next morning Autumn went to work, so I was flying solo with getting the drops in....so I went in and woke her up, then went right for it....that way she didn't have time to wake up and fight me hard! So here I am, holding her hands down, talking calmly to her while trying to shove eye drops in her eyes. She was blinking a lot, and I was trying to pry her eyelids open long enough to get these things in.....and that's when I saw it....
What is that?
Is that a bubble from the drops?
What is that?
Girl........be still..........I'm trying to see what that is!
What is that?
OH.
MY.
GOODNESS!!!!!!!
That is a SEQUINS!!!!!!!!!!!!
Be still!
I can't get it!
GIRL...........BE STILL!!!!!!!!
Got it!
Yep.....that is a sequins!
How in the WORLD did you live with a sequins in your eye?
This was not glitter, not a little piece of sparkle, no, this was almost as big as a contact, full out goes on a dress, sequins!
How in the world did she do that? I mean really, when I get a piece of dirt, or a spec of anything in my eye, it hurts like crazy! How did she do that? Who IS this girl?
"M, why did you put that in your eye?"
"Cause I want to be like you!"
Oh my.....she had seen us put contacts in our eye, and this little clear sequins did resemble a contact, except that it was kind of jagged and bumpy, and had to hurt her eye so bad!
Ok, so I guess that is when I realized you NEVER know what will happen with little ones....NEVER!!!!!!!!!!
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
A special place
We got to go to Falls Creek to visit our aunt and cousin and our church. I have so many special memories at Falls Creek, so it was fun to get to share those things and memories with the girls. This picture reminds me so much of my childhood. When we went to Falls Creek with my parents, all of those youth girls toted us around! The youth girls carried our girls around, curled their hair, and doted on them!
There is a memorial for my mother there. It was a special place for us to be together and share some memories of her..........LOVE that!
I love this picture.....it somehow makes a connection of my mother to the girls........I really love this picture. I like it better than smiling faces around it.........I love this!
Don't get me wrong.......I like this one too, especially since we don't get a lot of pictures with all six of us.
LOVE this one........I have SO many GREAT memories of lining up to get icees with my grandmother at Falls Creek. The difference is......notice they have TWO dollars in their hands.....much different than the 50 or 75 cents we paid.
M enjoying an icee.
We took them up to the prayer gardens, which is special because my grandpa helped get that there. They loved looking at it, but they were a little confused. You see, we saw my grandpa a few days before we went to Falls Creek, but when we saw this, S started freaking out and saying, "What happened to him? We saw him just yesterday! Why did him die?"
They thought this was a grave site, so we quickly told them why his face was on the plaq.
Praying..........LOVE that!
Becky and H relaxin.
There is a memorial for my mother there. It was a special place for us to be together and share some memories of her..........LOVE that!
I love this picture.....it somehow makes a connection of my mother to the girls........I really love this picture. I like it better than smiling faces around it.........I love this!
Don't get me wrong.......I like this one too, especially since we don't get a lot of pictures with all six of us.
LOVE this one........I have SO many GREAT memories of lining up to get icees with my grandmother at Falls Creek. The difference is......notice they have TWO dollars in their hands.....much different than the 50 or 75 cents we paid.
M enjoying an icee.
We took them up to the prayer gardens, which is special because my grandpa helped get that there. They loved looking at it, but they were a little confused. You see, we saw my grandpa a few days before we went to Falls Creek, but when we saw this, S started freaking out and saying, "What happened to him? We saw him just yesterday! Why did him die?"
They thought this was a grave site, so we quickly told them why his face was on the plaq.
Praying..........LOVE that!
Becky and H relaxin.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Oh, this girl!
Just from reading the title, which girl do you think I am talking about? Yes.......it is about A, sweet, question-asking, tender-hearted A. Yesterday morning for church, the youth group had their share time from Falls Creek youth camp. It was a great service. God did great things in these kids lives and it was fun to hear about it all. So I am sitting by A, and during one of the songs all of the kids who got saved at camp lined up and one by one went to the microphone and quickly said, "My name is _________ and I got saved at camp" or "I am ___________ and I gave my life to Christ and got saved" or something to that sort. Well, about 7 or so had gone (there were a lot saved!) and A leans over to me and in her "whisper" that is really more like talking, but kind of a little louder than talking because it is whispering and talking, so it magnifies her already raspy voice.....she said, "well, what are they all getting saved from?" It was pretty funny because the question didn't sound like it was out of curiosity as much as out of irritation! I think she was a little irritated that they were all saved but didn't even say what they were saved from! I love to see things from her perspective! It is so different than mine!
After our VBS kickoff, which was so much fun, we were picking things up and getting things ready for VBS to start. The girls just find something to do while we are there. The little girls found our friend Emily, who is teaching S's class this week. So they were "helping" Emily do all sorts of things.........thanks Emily for letting them bug, I mean help you! So anyway, while they were in there decorating, A was asking a ton of questions........this surprises you right? She asked what everything was, and whatever else she asks about things. Emily was putting up some bull horns for decoration because we have a ranch theme. So this is the conversation (as I remember Emily telling me it went):
A: Did those come from an animal?
Em: yep.
A: Oh, was it a cow?
Em: No, it was a dog.
A: Noooooo..........dogs don't have horns........unless it is a bulldog!
Oh, I laugh every time I hear that! Oh, that girl.........I love her!
I do promise that I will get up pictures soon.....well, I will get them up sometime, hopefully soon!
After our VBS kickoff, which was so much fun, we were picking things up and getting things ready for VBS to start. The girls just find something to do while we are there. The little girls found our friend Emily, who is teaching S's class this week. So they were "helping" Emily do all sorts of things.........thanks Emily for letting them bug, I mean help you! So anyway, while they were in there decorating, A was asking a ton of questions........this surprises you right? She asked what everything was, and whatever else she asks about things. Emily was putting up some bull horns for decoration because we have a ranch theme. So this is the conversation (as I remember Emily telling me it went):
A: Did those come from an animal?
Em: yep.
A: Oh, was it a cow?
Em: No, it was a dog.
A: Noooooo..........dogs don't have horns........unless it is a bulldog!
Oh, I laugh every time I hear that! Oh, that girl.........I love her!
I do promise that I will get up pictures soon.....well, I will get them up sometime, hopefully soon!
Saturday, July 17, 2010
This week
Well, it has been a crazy but fun week. I don't have one particular story, so I will give you some highlights from the past week as well as point out (to myself cause I often overlook things) some things that I am thankful for.
Next week is Vacation Bible School. Actually, the festivities start tomorrow, Sunday, so we have been super busy getting things ready for our big week. Next week will be busy, but the preparation week usually holds longer days at the church for our whole family. Autumn is in charge of all of the crafts, so on top of decorating, we have all of the crafts to prep too, so we pretty much lived at the church. It might sound like I am complaining, but it is quite the opposite....it has been a ton of fun to decorate and get ready this year. And I have awesome teachers and leaders, so it has made my job so much easier. Here is a rough schedule of what our week has been like (and again, I am so not complaining...I love VBS and the week before and I don't want to forget the details of it, so I am writing them all down):
Monday--10 hours at the church...we brought our lunch so we didn't have to leave. Oh, and this was the day that our youth left for Falls Creek, so they had leftover pb&j sandwiches. We ate their sandwiches and saved our stuff for later. Thankful for that. When we went to leave after our long day without leaving the church, I said, "Let's go girls.....finally time." They really did look at me and say, "But I thought you said we got to stay for a long time today." Well, I am thankful that they enjoy hanging out at the church ALL day!
Tuesday--We got a late start out of the house. Our friend lets us keep her one year old daughter while she goes on business trips, so we had her Tuesday and Wed. So off we went, first to the church to pick up the things the youth group needed at camp, then to the store to get more things they needed (remember we have 6 girls in tow) then off to camp. I am thankful that our sweet little one year old friend is the sweetest baby and didn't cry ONE time the whole day! I am thankful our four little darlings didn't really cry either! Good day! We got to visit with the youth group, visit my aunt and cousin who were at camp with their church, and go to some special places (I will have pictures later and explain why the places were special.) We got home after 11 or so. The girls had so much fun and I am so thankful that the youth girls are so sweet and love to dote on my girls. One girl curled S's pigtails, and she thought that was the coolest thing EVER!
Wednesday--more time at the church in preparation.....had a fun wacky Wednesday fun night with our church kids. We played pie-in-the-face musical chairs, so we had TONS of fun! Oh, and all of that time at the church that day, we still had the baby plus another friend's daughter who is A's age. I am thankful she is the best baby ever and likes to be rolled around in the stroller and entertained by the girls. I am also thankful that the girls were happy to entertain.....ok, they actually kind of sort of fought over who got to entertain her, but the fights were small and easily resolved. I am also thankful that our other little friend is such a sweet girl and good helper.
Thursday--I took the day off. We went to lunch at one of our favorite places and then went to the splash park. I am thankful that the splash park was free and that we had fresh blueberries to eat there. We went to the church that evening just for a minute to do a few things.......or actually for 5 hours........I am thankful that the girls were not real happy to leave the church! They really are good help and low maintenance when we are working on projects.
Friday--I spent the morning at the church and the girls got to be lazy at home.......fun. Then we got all dressed up, did fingernails, and went to a DEAR friend's wedding. I am so thankful we got to see so many friends that we love so much. I am thankful that H got to dance at the wedding. They all got to dance, but that was the highlight of the month for H. She LOVES weddings and parties in general. Her eyes are bright as she scans the room and takes in all of the details! It would not surprise me if we had a little wedding planner in the future!
Saturday--called the sheriff (I will tell that story later), lazy morning, worked at the church in the afternoon a little while, then we went to our friend Becky's to swim and catch up.
Aren't you glad I didn't give you the long version?! (that's a joke.........get it? cause this post IS really long!)
I can't wait for VBS........God did a great work in the lives of our youth and adults at camp, which will mean a great service tomorrow and awesome VBS. Can't wait!
Next week is Vacation Bible School. Actually, the festivities start tomorrow, Sunday, so we have been super busy getting things ready for our big week. Next week will be busy, but the preparation week usually holds longer days at the church for our whole family. Autumn is in charge of all of the crafts, so on top of decorating, we have all of the crafts to prep too, so we pretty much lived at the church. It might sound like I am complaining, but it is quite the opposite....it has been a ton of fun to decorate and get ready this year. And I have awesome teachers and leaders, so it has made my job so much easier. Here is a rough schedule of what our week has been like (and again, I am so not complaining...I love VBS and the week before and I don't want to forget the details of it, so I am writing them all down):
Monday--10 hours at the church...we brought our lunch so we didn't have to leave. Oh, and this was the day that our youth left for Falls Creek, so they had leftover pb&j sandwiches. We ate their sandwiches and saved our stuff for later. Thankful for that. When we went to leave after our long day without leaving the church, I said, "Let's go girls.....finally time." They really did look at me and say, "But I thought you said we got to stay for a long time today." Well, I am thankful that they enjoy hanging out at the church ALL day!
Tuesday--We got a late start out of the house. Our friend lets us keep her one year old daughter while she goes on business trips, so we had her Tuesday and Wed. So off we went, first to the church to pick up the things the youth group needed at camp, then to the store to get more things they needed (remember we have 6 girls in tow) then off to camp. I am thankful that our sweet little one year old friend is the sweetest baby and didn't cry ONE time the whole day! I am thankful our four little darlings didn't really cry either! Good day! We got to visit with the youth group, visit my aunt and cousin who were at camp with their church, and go to some special places (I will have pictures later and explain why the places were special.) We got home after 11 or so. The girls had so much fun and I am so thankful that the youth girls are so sweet and love to dote on my girls. One girl curled S's pigtails, and she thought that was the coolest thing EVER!
Wednesday--more time at the church in preparation.....had a fun wacky Wednesday fun night with our church kids. We played pie-in-the-face musical chairs, so we had TONS of fun! Oh, and all of that time at the church that day, we still had the baby plus another friend's daughter who is A's age. I am thankful she is the best baby ever and likes to be rolled around in the stroller and entertained by the girls. I am also thankful that the girls were happy to entertain.....ok, they actually kind of sort of fought over who got to entertain her, but the fights were small and easily resolved. I am also thankful that our other little friend is such a sweet girl and good helper.
Thursday--I took the day off. We went to lunch at one of our favorite places and then went to the splash park. I am thankful that the splash park was free and that we had fresh blueberries to eat there. We went to the church that evening just for a minute to do a few things.......or actually for 5 hours........I am thankful that the girls were not real happy to leave the church! They really are good help and low maintenance when we are working on projects.
Friday--I spent the morning at the church and the girls got to be lazy at home.......fun. Then we got all dressed up, did fingernails, and went to a DEAR friend's wedding. I am so thankful we got to see so many friends that we love so much. I am thankful that H got to dance at the wedding. They all got to dance, but that was the highlight of the month for H. She LOVES weddings and parties in general. Her eyes are bright as she scans the room and takes in all of the details! It would not surprise me if we had a little wedding planner in the future!
Saturday--called the sheriff (I will tell that story later), lazy morning, worked at the church in the afternoon a little while, then we went to our friend Becky's to swim and catch up.
Aren't you glad I didn't give you the long version?! (that's a joke.........get it? cause this post IS really long!)
I can't wait for VBS........God did a great work in the lives of our youth and adults at camp, which will mean a great service tomorrow and awesome VBS. Can't wait!
Thursday, July 15, 2010
My name is not Monica!
This is a funny story. It might get long, but it is funny and sadly, it is very true. Last year, we had H in tumbling and dance class in a town about 25 minutes from us. H enjoyed going, and we all enjoyed the evening in the "big town", but as you can probably imagine, life just gets hectic with four girls during school. We have homework, other activities, stories from the day, fits from being so tired from school, and well, you can just probably imagine. So keep all of that in mind as you read this.
It was one of those days, and I had all 4 girls with me, and at that time (remember, they were 3, 5, 7, and 9), it was a chore just to get everyone from the car to wherever we were going without fits and such. So we were going into the dance studio and there were lots of moms and kids sitting outside because it was such a nice day. There was an article in a local magazine about our family and the adoption and such, and the article had our picture, so as we walked into the studio, a lot of the moms said how nice the article was and so on. We talked a little with them, but tried not to get too distracted on our journey into the studio. Once in the studio, another mom met me with warm eyes, a big smile, and a welcoming "hi!" So, figuring that she was being friendly because she saw the article, I said, "Hi! How are you?" She was pleased to speak to me and obviously wanted to keep the conversation going. She asked about my kids, to which I replied something like, "We are all doing great and having fun!" She was so glad to see me, and I was on a mission to see exactly where the girls ran off to, so I didn't think any more about meeting that woman.
Well, the next week came.....same routine....coming in with the kids....long day, tired, you know how it goes. I walk into the studio and that friendly woman spoke to me again. Man, that woman sure is friendly. I guess she really felt like she got to know us through that article! How nice! We make small talk.......how are the kids...talk about how busy we both are and so on. I passed by her, walking out of the room when she hollers, "We'll see you later Monica!"
What? Was my new friend calling ME Monica? Oh no, I didn't tell her my name was Monica did I? Of course I didn't, what are you thinking Trinity? I should probably tell her I'm not Monica.........but the moment passed. She was off being friendly to someone else, and I was in a totally different room, and how terribly awkward would that be if I walked BACK in the room and said......um, my name is not Monica. Well, maybe she just got mixed up. Oh well. Then the thought left my head, I was busy keeping up with the kids while we waited for H to get out of class. I didn't think about that woman again........until the next week.
Yep, you guessed it. Same routine. I brought the girls in and she was there to greet me with a smile and small talk. Same as last week........I go to leave and she says, "Bye Monica!"
This time......I just say, "Bye!"
How awful for that poor woman to be so embarrassed to find out I wasn't Monica! So I became Monica to her! And it wasn't as if she just thought my name was Monica and I was myself just named Monica. She thought I WAS Monica!
I would see her almost every week. Sometimes she would just say hi, and sometimes she would say hi Monica or Bye Monica, to which I simply responded appropriately! I would try and rush past her so she wouldn't ask too much and figure out I wasn't Monica, because THAT would be awful! (Oh my, what was I thinking, really!)
The year was coming to an end, and it was dance recital time. There were several little girls from our church, so Autumn and I went to Walmart and got flowers, tissue paper and ribbon to wrap up the flowers ourselves for the girls from church. We got to the recital WAY early on accident, but we thought we would take advantage of the time and space and spread our stuff out to wrap all of those flowers. We were busy with our task when I hear, "Hi Monica!"
Oh boy, my friend. "Hi!"
She was very nervous I could tell. I guess maybe this was her first recital.....I don't know cause I try not to ask questions, or she would ask me, I mean Monica questions and I don't know the answers for Monica.
She saw all of the flowers spread out on the table, which covered most of the table. I guess it looked like enough flowers to sell because Monica's friend said something about wanting some of those flowers. I guess she was wanting to buy them and thought we were selling them?? I don't really know, and I just smiled and kind of chuckled at her and kept on doing what I was doing. What is it with this woman? First I become Monica and now she is going to take my flowers! I kept a hand on those flowers and she didn't ask again. BUT, she DID ask another question......."So Monica, Sherry told me to save her seats. How many do you think she will need?"
I know, really, this should be the moment when I say, "Hey woman, you are real nice, but I'm not Monica." But would I do that? NOOOOOOOOOO of course not! I don't know why I just couldn't tell her. So I turned to her and said, "I have NO idea!"
I felt like just saying, "um.....I think she'll need 12 seats" but I didn't. She figured 6 was enough seats for Sherry and I agreed. So she went to save seats withOUT my flowers.
You would think that would be all...........WRONG!!!!!!!!
During the recital, A had to go to the bathroom. No problem......that is until we go into the bathroom and Monica's friend is in there helping her girl get changed. "Hey Monica!"
"Hey!"
A's eyes bugged out of her head and she slowly turned her head to me. You could just see the wheels in her head turning and I could see the words coming out of her mouth. Oh great.....I made it all year being Monica and A is going to ruin it on the day of the recital.
I couldn't let that happen, so I quickly covered her mouth and shoved her into the stall so she could go to the bathroom. Poor girl. The only thing I told her was, "Please don't ask questions right now."
Well, the recital went great, and while we were in the parking lot talking to some friends, guess how came out the door.......yep, Monica's friend. I wasn't sticking around for this one, so I DOVE into the back of the van, just laying there hoping she didn't see me. Whew!!!! It worked!
So ladies and gentlemen, the moral of the story.....please just tell someone when they have your name wrong. Endure the awkward moment and go for it! Believe me, it is exhausting being someone else!
It was one of those days, and I had all 4 girls with me, and at that time (remember, they were 3, 5, 7, and 9), it was a chore just to get everyone from the car to wherever we were going without fits and such. So we were going into the dance studio and there were lots of moms and kids sitting outside because it was such a nice day. There was an article in a local magazine about our family and the adoption and such, and the article had our picture, so as we walked into the studio, a lot of the moms said how nice the article was and so on. We talked a little with them, but tried not to get too distracted on our journey into the studio. Once in the studio, another mom met me with warm eyes, a big smile, and a welcoming "hi!" So, figuring that she was being friendly because she saw the article, I said, "Hi! How are you?" She was pleased to speak to me and obviously wanted to keep the conversation going. She asked about my kids, to which I replied something like, "We are all doing great and having fun!" She was so glad to see me, and I was on a mission to see exactly where the girls ran off to, so I didn't think any more about meeting that woman.
Well, the next week came.....same routine....coming in with the kids....long day, tired, you know how it goes. I walk into the studio and that friendly woman spoke to me again. Man, that woman sure is friendly. I guess she really felt like she got to know us through that article! How nice! We make small talk.......how are the kids...talk about how busy we both are and so on. I passed by her, walking out of the room when she hollers, "We'll see you later Monica!"
What? Was my new friend calling ME Monica? Oh no, I didn't tell her my name was Monica did I? Of course I didn't, what are you thinking Trinity? I should probably tell her I'm not Monica.........but the moment passed. She was off being friendly to someone else, and I was in a totally different room, and how terribly awkward would that be if I walked BACK in the room and said......um, my name is not Monica. Well, maybe she just got mixed up. Oh well. Then the thought left my head, I was busy keeping up with the kids while we waited for H to get out of class. I didn't think about that woman again........until the next week.
Yep, you guessed it. Same routine. I brought the girls in and she was there to greet me with a smile and small talk. Same as last week........I go to leave and she says, "Bye Monica!"
This time......I just say, "Bye!"
How awful for that poor woman to be so embarrassed to find out I wasn't Monica! So I became Monica to her! And it wasn't as if she just thought my name was Monica and I was myself just named Monica. She thought I WAS Monica!
I would see her almost every week. Sometimes she would just say hi, and sometimes she would say hi Monica or Bye Monica, to which I simply responded appropriately! I would try and rush past her so she wouldn't ask too much and figure out I wasn't Monica, because THAT would be awful! (Oh my, what was I thinking, really!)
The year was coming to an end, and it was dance recital time. There were several little girls from our church, so Autumn and I went to Walmart and got flowers, tissue paper and ribbon to wrap up the flowers ourselves for the girls from church. We got to the recital WAY early on accident, but we thought we would take advantage of the time and space and spread our stuff out to wrap all of those flowers. We were busy with our task when I hear, "Hi Monica!"
Oh boy, my friend. "Hi!"
She was very nervous I could tell. I guess maybe this was her first recital.....I don't know cause I try not to ask questions, or she would ask me, I mean Monica questions and I don't know the answers for Monica.
She saw all of the flowers spread out on the table, which covered most of the table. I guess it looked like enough flowers to sell because Monica's friend said something about wanting some of those flowers. I guess she was wanting to buy them and thought we were selling them?? I don't really know, and I just smiled and kind of chuckled at her and kept on doing what I was doing. What is it with this woman? First I become Monica and now she is going to take my flowers! I kept a hand on those flowers and she didn't ask again. BUT, she DID ask another question......."So Monica, Sherry told me to save her seats. How many do you think she will need?"
I know, really, this should be the moment when I say, "Hey woman, you are real nice, but I'm not Monica." But would I do that? NOOOOOOOOOO of course not! I don't know why I just couldn't tell her. So I turned to her and said, "I have NO idea!"
I felt like just saying, "um.....I think she'll need 12 seats" but I didn't. She figured 6 was enough seats for Sherry and I agreed. So she went to save seats withOUT my flowers.
You would think that would be all...........WRONG!!!!!!!!
During the recital, A had to go to the bathroom. No problem......that is until we go into the bathroom and Monica's friend is in there helping her girl get changed. "Hey Monica!"
"Hey!"
A's eyes bugged out of her head and she slowly turned her head to me. You could just see the wheels in her head turning and I could see the words coming out of her mouth. Oh great.....I made it all year being Monica and A is going to ruin it on the day of the recital.
I couldn't let that happen, so I quickly covered her mouth and shoved her into the stall so she could go to the bathroom. Poor girl. The only thing I told her was, "Please don't ask questions right now."
Well, the recital went great, and while we were in the parking lot talking to some friends, guess how came out the door.......yep, Monica's friend. I wasn't sticking around for this one, so I DOVE into the back of the van, just laying there hoping she didn't see me. Whew!!!! It worked!
So ladies and gentlemen, the moral of the story.....please just tell someone when they have your name wrong. Endure the awkward moment and go for it! Believe me, it is exhausting being someone else!
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
A sweet prayer
I love to hear the girls pray. I just love it. Every child that has come into our home as a foster child has left our home knowing to pray. I think it is fun to hear them talk to the Lord. S's prayer is very predictable......she prays every day for our friends....Skip, Becky, Casey and Carter. She prays most of the time for Bethany, Jarrod, and cousin B, and she prays most of the time for each person in our family. She might name a few more people that she is thankful for, and says amen.
H talks to the Lord and tells him about her day. She tells him what she liked most about it, and if anyone had mentioned to pray for something, H remembers to pray for it. She is diligent and will remember to pray.
A.......well, you just never know what is going to come out of her mouth to the Lord or to anyone else! You NEVER know! Thank you Lord that you know her heart!
M prays for people and situations that either bother her or that she is encouraged by. She will pray for her own attitude or for the Lord to help her in her weaknesses.
I love to see how each of them are different. I love to see their personalities come out in all areas. I love to see them coming closer to the Lord and learning to go to him in everything......big things, small things, good things and bad things. I love that!
Several months ago, M prayed one of the sweetest prayers I had ever heard.
"God, thank you for this day. Thank you so much for my family. Thank you God that I don't have to wait anymore for a family like those kids in those pictures we saw. (There were pictures in the mall of kids waiting for an adoptive home and it broke her heart.) Thank you that you gave me my family. Please let people who know you choose to do foster care so that those other kids don't have to wait anymore. I love you. Amen"
I love it that their hearts are sensitive to other people's hurts and situations. I love it that they want to do something about it. (M was begging for us to bring home a brother when we passed by those pictures in the mall. I had to remind her that you can't just pick out a new kid like you pick out a new barbie.) I love it that they choose to make a difference in the world! I really do love that!
H talks to the Lord and tells him about her day. She tells him what she liked most about it, and if anyone had mentioned to pray for something, H remembers to pray for it. She is diligent and will remember to pray.
A.......well, you just never know what is going to come out of her mouth to the Lord or to anyone else! You NEVER know! Thank you Lord that you know her heart!
M prays for people and situations that either bother her or that she is encouraged by. She will pray for her own attitude or for the Lord to help her in her weaknesses.
I love to see how each of them are different. I love to see their personalities come out in all areas. I love to see them coming closer to the Lord and learning to go to him in everything......big things, small things, good things and bad things. I love that!
Several months ago, M prayed one of the sweetest prayers I had ever heard.
"God, thank you for this day. Thank you so much for my family. Thank you God that I don't have to wait anymore for a family like those kids in those pictures we saw. (There were pictures in the mall of kids waiting for an adoptive home and it broke her heart.) Thank you that you gave me my family. Please let people who know you choose to do foster care so that those other kids don't have to wait anymore. I love you. Amen"
I love it that their hearts are sensitive to other people's hurts and situations. I love it that they want to do something about it. (M was begging for us to bring home a brother when we passed by those pictures in the mall. I had to remind her that you can't just pick out a new kid like you pick out a new barbie.) I love it that they choose to make a difference in the world! I really do love that!
Monday, July 12, 2010
The Journey: part 1
I have said that I would tell our journey of starting foster care and getting into this crazy adoption thing with my sister! So here it goes. I really don't know how far I will get, or when I will get to the other parts, but here is the start. That is why I titled it the journey part 1...I'm not sure how many parts it will have.
My friend Angie and her husband decided to do foster care and I was so excited for her. I was telling my friend Charlotte about it, and how neat it was, and I guess I was talking about it so much that Charlotte said, "Well Miss Trinity, it sounds like YOU need to do foster care!"
Yeah. Right Miss Charlotte, single people can't do that...........can they?
So I asked Autumn about it, and sure enough they can do that. So later, Autumn and I decided that we would buy a house, Bethany was going to get married and we would do foster care together. Yep, that's how it would be. Autumn and I didn't let Bethany in on this plan...no need for her to worry! Now, we all three lived in a rent house together, and Bethany wasn't dating anyone, not even interested in anyone, but that's what would happen.
Well, we bought a house, and not even a month after we bought that house, we got a new youth minister at our church. And right away we (Autumn and I) knew that Jarrod was right for Bethany, and just under a year after they met, they were married. So while they were engaged, it was a no-brainer to start the process to foster.
We enjoyed our classes and couldn't wait to start the process of actually getting kids! Our mindset in the whole thing was to do foster care.....only foster care. We felt that we were equipped to take in kids in trauma and be a safe and secure place for them for as long as they were with us, whether that was for a day or a year. We thought that we could help them and teach them get them ready to move to their next place, home or an adoptive home. That was just how it was going to be. The man came to do our home study, which went just fine. At the end of our visit he asked, "So what happens if a child comes into your home and you decide you want to adopt them?" I didn't even let him really finish the question when I answered, "Oh..no, we WON'T adopt....we just won't. We are in it just for foster care........." and I went on and on about how we won't adopt.
"But what will happen IF you decide that you just can't live without this kid and you decide to adopt?"
"Um....no, that won't happen, we decided that we just aren't going to adopt, this isn't even a question."
Ok, apparently this nice man just doesn't understand this situation....
He says, "I understand that you don't have any intentions of adopting, but I have to ask this question and have an answer for it, because I just know that the people looking at this application are going to look at your situation and want an answer. I have to tell them what you would do if adoption came up.....who would adopt the child?"
Oh my goodness....whatever......I guess I better just give an answer, but that won't happen. So as I rolled my eyes in my head (at least I hope I really didn't roll my eyes at the nice man) I gave the answer (and Autumn said things too, but I will sum it up here), "Well IF that came up, we don't know exactly what will happen, but we trust the Lord that he will lead our steps. So IF he can change our minds on this, then we KNOW he WILL have an answer and we WILL just know what to do."
That answer worked, because we got approved. Then we waited. I got SO impatient! I would call Autumn and say......."I just want a kid!" Oh, and by the way, we only wanted kids that were kindergarten through 5th grade, and only one, MAYBE two kids at a time.......MAYBE two!
Autumn worked at a shelter at the time, so she would come home and tell me about different girls and their stories. We looked into getting a couple of them in our homes, but for various reasons, that never worked out.
Then Autumn calls and she had heard from our worker that we could have an 8 year old come to our home for two weeks. She was in a foster home at the time, but that mother needed a break. YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Let's get her.......and I can go shopping, and pick out clothes.......um.....Autumn stopped that......she has things and we don't need to get her anything. Ok, I can deal with that.
So we got her. She was very sweet and really enjoyed our home. There were some issues to work through and we talked with her a lot. She was making a lot of progress in different areas and she held her head with more confidence. A week passed, and we knew we had one more week with these girl. We decided that it would be best for this little girl if we slowly helped her back into reality by having another little girl come into the home. That way she would get used to sharing attention and we could better prepare her to go back. We gave her a Bible when she left and she told us that she felt good about going back because she had learned lessons about life.
BUT, about a week into it, Autumn came home and told me about a little girl at the shelter. She said she thought we might should get her in our home. Autumn kept talking about this little girl and how whiny she is, but everyone only talks about how sweet she is. Autumn kept saying how weird it was that every time she saw this little girl in the shelter, she was complaining or crying, but nobody, even the workers that usually got frustrated with whiny kids, would say that she was whiny, they just said she was sweet. Autumn said how much work she would be, but that she thought we should get her and that this little girl in the shelter would be great for helping the little girl we had in our home adjust. So, we decided to get the little girl from the shelter, and so began our journey we didn't know would last forever...........our journey with Sister #1......the beautiful and feisty miss M!
My friend Angie and her husband decided to do foster care and I was so excited for her. I was telling my friend Charlotte about it, and how neat it was, and I guess I was talking about it so much that Charlotte said, "Well Miss Trinity, it sounds like YOU need to do foster care!"
Yeah. Right Miss Charlotte, single people can't do that...........can they?
So I asked Autumn about it, and sure enough they can do that. So later, Autumn and I decided that we would buy a house, Bethany was going to get married and we would do foster care together. Yep, that's how it would be. Autumn and I didn't let Bethany in on this plan...no need for her to worry! Now, we all three lived in a rent house together, and Bethany wasn't dating anyone, not even interested in anyone, but that's what would happen.
Well, we bought a house, and not even a month after we bought that house, we got a new youth minister at our church. And right away we (Autumn and I) knew that Jarrod was right for Bethany, and just under a year after they met, they were married. So while they were engaged, it was a no-brainer to start the process to foster.
We enjoyed our classes and couldn't wait to start the process of actually getting kids! Our mindset in the whole thing was to do foster care.....only foster care. We felt that we were equipped to take in kids in trauma and be a safe and secure place for them for as long as they were with us, whether that was for a day or a year. We thought that we could help them and teach them get them ready to move to their next place, home or an adoptive home. That was just how it was going to be. The man came to do our home study, which went just fine. At the end of our visit he asked, "So what happens if a child comes into your home and you decide you want to adopt them?" I didn't even let him really finish the question when I answered, "Oh..no, we WON'T adopt....we just won't. We are in it just for foster care........." and I went on and on about how we won't adopt.
"But what will happen IF you decide that you just can't live without this kid and you decide to adopt?"
"Um....no, that won't happen, we decided that we just aren't going to adopt, this isn't even a question."
Ok, apparently this nice man just doesn't understand this situation....
He says, "I understand that you don't have any intentions of adopting, but I have to ask this question and have an answer for it, because I just know that the people looking at this application are going to look at your situation and want an answer. I have to tell them what you would do if adoption came up.....who would adopt the child?"
Oh my goodness....whatever......I guess I better just give an answer, but that won't happen. So as I rolled my eyes in my head (at least I hope I really didn't roll my eyes at the nice man) I gave the answer (and Autumn said things too, but I will sum it up here), "Well IF that came up, we don't know exactly what will happen, but we trust the Lord that he will lead our steps. So IF he can change our minds on this, then we KNOW he WILL have an answer and we WILL just know what to do."
That answer worked, because we got approved. Then we waited. I got SO impatient! I would call Autumn and say......."I just want a kid!" Oh, and by the way, we only wanted kids that were kindergarten through 5th grade, and only one, MAYBE two kids at a time.......MAYBE two!
Autumn worked at a shelter at the time, so she would come home and tell me about different girls and their stories. We looked into getting a couple of them in our homes, but for various reasons, that never worked out.
Then Autumn calls and she had heard from our worker that we could have an 8 year old come to our home for two weeks. She was in a foster home at the time, but that mother needed a break. YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Let's get her.......and I can go shopping, and pick out clothes.......um.....Autumn stopped that......she has things and we don't need to get her anything. Ok, I can deal with that.
So we got her. She was very sweet and really enjoyed our home. There were some issues to work through and we talked with her a lot. She was making a lot of progress in different areas and she held her head with more confidence. A week passed, and we knew we had one more week with these girl. We decided that it would be best for this little girl if we slowly helped her back into reality by having another little girl come into the home. That way she would get used to sharing attention and we could better prepare her to go back. We gave her a Bible when she left and she told us that she felt good about going back because she had learned lessons about life.
BUT, about a week into it, Autumn came home and told me about a little girl at the shelter. She said she thought we might should get her in our home. Autumn kept talking about this little girl and how whiny she is, but everyone only talks about how sweet she is. Autumn kept saying how weird it was that every time she saw this little girl in the shelter, she was complaining or crying, but nobody, even the workers that usually got frustrated with whiny kids, would say that she was whiny, they just said she was sweet. Autumn said how much work she would be, but that she thought we should get her and that this little girl in the shelter would be great for helping the little girl we had in our home adjust. So, we decided to get the little girl from the shelter, and so began our journey we didn't know would last forever...........our journey with Sister #1......the beautiful and feisty miss M!
Sunday, July 11, 2010
hide-and-seek
Have you seen those Red Robin commercials? There are different ones. Well, one of them the little girl counts to 10 or whatever and says: Ready or not here I come! Then she sings "red robin" and all the kids come out of their hiding places singing, "yum....." Then the little boy says, "Hey, that's not fair!"
Well, the other morning the girls were playing. I didn't even pay attention to what they were playing. I knew they were giggling and playing well, so I didn't pay a lot of attention. I was getting ready......all was peaceful and happy. I see S walking down the hall and she sings, "Red robin........red robin..............red robin..........." I CRACKED UP!!!!!!! I laughed so hard. Here came 3 little girls........."What are you laughing at?"
New lesson learned: if the red robin song doesn't get them out of their hiding places, just laugh hysterical and they will get nosey enough to come and check it out!
Well, the other morning the girls were playing. I didn't even pay attention to what they were playing. I knew they were giggling and playing well, so I didn't pay a lot of attention. I was getting ready......all was peaceful and happy. I see S walking down the hall and she sings, "Red robin........red robin..............red robin..........." I CRACKED UP!!!!!!! I laughed so hard. Here came 3 little girls........."What are you laughing at?"
New lesson learned: if the red robin song doesn't get them out of their hiding places, just laugh hysterical and they will get nosey enough to come and check it out!
Thursday, July 8, 2010
G-ma
First, let me say that when I uploaded these pictures, it puts them in reverse order, so you will see our day from end to beginning. Oh well......that's how it goes sometimes!
Here is our day. We started out at the parade, which those pictures are on a different camera, so I will not show them on this post. Then we went to my aunt's house for my grandma's 80th birthday celebration and my nephew B's birthday celebration. We always have SUCH a GREAT time with family.....food, fun, chaos, laughter, and lots of love! It was fast and furious but so much fun.
I went to find A at one point, but she went and found a bed to lay on......um....wait a minute, yep, she had a fever. If a kid misses out on the fun, they MUST be sick. We made a pallet and let her lay in the middle of the fun anyway.
Uncle Scott and S. The girls always have a great time with him.
My cousin Sarah is so creative. She had her kids make this garden stone for g-ma. She mentioned it to us so we could maybe make one too.....great idea! Well, we tried it, but we obviously aren't as crafty as Sarah, so ours didn't make it to the party. I don't know what went wrong!
I like this one....it is Macy capturing the present chaos on her camera. Fun memory
This is one of my FAVORITE pictures of the day. It is SO my family.....sitting around talking. I like the expressions on each of their faces and I like imagining just what they might be discussing!
Yes, this is blurry of Scott and Connie, but that wasn't who I was trying to capture. Look a little further back. In the midst of all of the fun, Trapper fell asleep.
Sweet dreams I hope!
Cheese!
It's fun that G-ma and B share a birthday. They are both very special people! G-ma is an amazing woman of God. She's not a gossip, she serves the Lord with her talents, she is faithful, even-tempered, a great cook, and so much fun. We love her so much! My girls cry about every two weeks because they want to go see G-ma.
Cousin T enjoying the cupcakes.
Yummy!
These girls do everything together when they are around each other.
He is just too cute!
My uncle Scott always used to get us the CRAZIEST gifts for Christmas and such, that is before he married Connie....thanks Connie, yall give great gifts now! Really, you just never knew what he would show up with. One Christmas he showed up with t-shirts that had a picture of himself. He had one shirt for all of us cousins. We loved the wacky gift! Well, my parents found one of our shirts and wrapped it up for B for his birthday. We all laughed and he just didn't know what to think of it all!
Cousin A has the best facial expressions. He helped G-ma and B blow out the candles.
Blowing out the candles.
Singing happy birthday.
They were playing their instruments for their "band".
Best Cousins!
Cousin Macy taking pictures.
Cousin H is so sweet!
A loves to color!
B loves to sing.
Looking at pictures
Cousin A and the girls loved playing with the dolls and little kitchen.
This is so cute, all of the boys drinking their drinks.
M looks thrilled I know.
Macy made the yummy cupcakes.
B and aunt Deborah getting ready to eat.
Here is our day. We started out at the parade, which those pictures are on a different camera, so I will not show them on this post. Then we went to my aunt's house for my grandma's 80th birthday celebration and my nephew B's birthday celebration. We always have SUCH a GREAT time with family.....food, fun, chaos, laughter, and lots of love! It was fast and furious but so much fun.
I went to find A at one point, but she went and found a bed to lay on......um....wait a minute, yep, she had a fever. If a kid misses out on the fun, they MUST be sick. We made a pallet and let her lay in the middle of the fun anyway.
Uncle Scott and S. The girls always have a great time with him.
My cousin Sarah is so creative. She had her kids make this garden stone for g-ma. She mentioned it to us so we could maybe make one too.....great idea! Well, we tried it, but we obviously aren't as crafty as Sarah, so ours didn't make it to the party. I don't know what went wrong!
I like this one....it is Macy capturing the present chaos on her camera. Fun memory
This is one of my FAVORITE pictures of the day. It is SO my family.....sitting around talking. I like the expressions on each of their faces and I like imagining just what they might be discussing!
Yes, this is blurry of Scott and Connie, but that wasn't who I was trying to capture. Look a little further back. In the midst of all of the fun, Trapper fell asleep.
Sweet dreams I hope!
Cheese!
It's fun that G-ma and B share a birthday. They are both very special people! G-ma is an amazing woman of God. She's not a gossip, she serves the Lord with her talents, she is faithful, even-tempered, a great cook, and so much fun. We love her so much! My girls cry about every two weeks because they want to go see G-ma.
Cousin T enjoying the cupcakes.
Yummy!
These girls do everything together when they are around each other.
He is just too cute!
My uncle Scott always used to get us the CRAZIEST gifts for Christmas and such, that is before he married Connie....thanks Connie, yall give great gifts now! Really, you just never knew what he would show up with. One Christmas he showed up with t-shirts that had a picture of himself. He had one shirt for all of us cousins. We loved the wacky gift! Well, my parents found one of our shirts and wrapped it up for B for his birthday. We all laughed and he just didn't know what to think of it all!
Cousin A has the best facial expressions. He helped G-ma and B blow out the candles.
Blowing out the candles.
Singing happy birthday.
They were playing their instruments for their "band".
Best Cousins!
Cousin Macy taking pictures.
Cousin H is so sweet!
A loves to color!
B loves to sing.
Looking at pictures
Cousin A and the girls loved playing with the dolls and little kitchen.
This is so cute, all of the boys drinking their drinks.
M looks thrilled I know.
Macy made the yummy cupcakes.
B and aunt Deborah getting ready to eat.
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