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!