Oh, of course I forgot where I took the first set. Shoot. No size comparison there. Oh well, their faces sure are different in just a year! Wow.
Friday, June 28, 2013
Then and Now
I try to take the girls pictures on the first and last days of school every year. I didn't get started until C's Kindergarten year, so I don't have very many yet, unfortunately. But I have this years. Okay, so the end of year picture is actually from a day or two after the last day. Oops.
Oh, of course I forgot where I took the first set. Shoot. No size comparison there. Oh well, their faces sure are different in just a year! Wow.
Oh, of course I forgot where I took the first set. Shoot. No size comparison there. Oh well, their faces sure are different in just a year! Wow.
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
10 Years
This March 15 marked 10 years married to my amazing husband. Still, today I find myself looking over at him in the living room and wondering how in the world I could be this blessed. I wonder if that feeling ever goes away. I hope not. I know I'm doing everything in my power to make sure it doesn't.
10 years filled with babies and cancer treatments and now with others' babies as we jump into our latest adventure. Filled with trips and date nights to keep our sanity, and parenting and learning each other and loving who we're growing together to be. Filled with long, late night talks about our future, and more and more now about what God truly has planned for us, and with philosophical debates and inside jokes.
I can't even believe how amazingly blessed I am. I still blush when he looks at me across a crowded room. I still get butterflies when he shows up somewhere I wasn't expecting him. I still think he's the most handsome man in the world.
He's the most forgiving person I know, and knows just how to treat me when storms are boiling up in my mind. He's an amazing father and loves our girls completely. He's adventurous and kind and compassionate and full of integrity. He can do anything he puts his mind to and loves to figure out how things work. He has been my rock in more storms than we've been able to count, and I love that he's the one God gave to me for that.
Truly, I am blessed beyond what these mere words can say. Truly, God knew what he was doing when we met nearly 13 years ago. Truly we are blessed every day with God's protection on our marriage. 10 years. Feels like a lifetime and a second in the same thought. Forever and not nearly long enough.
Monday, June 24, 2013
At it Again
We currently have the second placement from Safe Families going on in our house. This time we moved in two little girls, age 5 and 7. They fit right in at the end of our line-up of girls, and besides feeling a bit more overwhelmed and a bit busier, this placement has been much easier than the first.
The girls have even been going to their parents for overnights on Saturdays, which gives us a break from extra work, and them a break from strangers! It has worked out really well so far.
We've made sure to keep to a structured schedule. Everyone is up by 8:30 (I don't wake them, they're all just early risers), and as they roll out of bed they get breakfast. We usually have cartoons on at that time, because it's summer and why not. They then get to play for a while. Sometimes they play outside, sometimes inside, and sometimes, with 5 of them, I have half in one place and half in the other.
At 10:00 we have snack. Our school district does a Summer Stretch program, which is some math and reading review during the summer, and the girls came with some workbooks from home too. So as they finish up their snacks, we do 'school time.' Each is allowed to go their own way again after that, and they play until lunch. After lunch we usually get swimsuits and sunscreen on, and play with our water toys. The slip-n-slide is almost always going. We have popsicles at 2:15 and once everyone is done the girls all take turns picking out one of our movies. As they are all over the age of 5, but I still need to have a quiet time (and so do they), they are watching movies. Don't judge. ;)
The movie is usually done at 4:00. We have a snack and they get to play again until supper time. After that is either more play or we do bath time. The girls get to call their mom and dad and then it's off to bed between 7:30 and 8:00.
This schedule has been working amazingly well for us. Discipline issues have been at a minimum, and it's usually just a small tift about who had a toy first. And if it gets any worse than that, it usually means someone needs a nap. We've had two impromptu naps, which made me realize why they were so upset at the time, since they moved in.
I have no real guidelines for how to act online with the kids we move in through SFFC. So I err on the side of caution and do not post their names or any pictures. So you won't be seeing any of that on here.
They have been a blessing. We are so blessed to be able to help people in this way.
In other events, A and C have started their summer tap classes and this week is summer camp. S goes to summer camp in 2 weeks. We visit the local mobile library and go swimming at my parents' pool some nights. It has been low-key and so much lower stress than the first time around. We may actually be getting the hang of this.
The girls have even been going to their parents for overnights on Saturdays, which gives us a break from extra work, and them a break from strangers! It has worked out really well so far.
We've made sure to keep to a structured schedule. Everyone is up by 8:30 (I don't wake them, they're all just early risers), and as they roll out of bed they get breakfast. We usually have cartoons on at that time, because it's summer and why not. They then get to play for a while. Sometimes they play outside, sometimes inside, and sometimes, with 5 of them, I have half in one place and half in the other.
At 10:00 we have snack. Our school district does a Summer Stretch program, which is some math and reading review during the summer, and the girls came with some workbooks from home too. So as they finish up their snacks, we do 'school time.' Each is allowed to go their own way again after that, and they play until lunch. After lunch we usually get swimsuits and sunscreen on, and play with our water toys. The slip-n-slide is almost always going. We have popsicles at 2:15 and once everyone is done the girls all take turns picking out one of our movies. As they are all over the age of 5, but I still need to have a quiet time (and so do they), they are watching movies. Don't judge. ;)
The movie is usually done at 4:00. We have a snack and they get to play again until supper time. After that is either more play or we do bath time. The girls get to call their mom and dad and then it's off to bed between 7:30 and 8:00.
This schedule has been working amazingly well for us. Discipline issues have been at a minimum, and it's usually just a small tift about who had a toy first. And if it gets any worse than that, it usually means someone needs a nap. We've had two impromptu naps, which made me realize why they were so upset at the time, since they moved in.
I have no real guidelines for how to act online with the kids we move in through SFFC. So I err on the side of caution and do not post their names or any pictures. So you won't be seeing any of that on here.
They have been a blessing. We are so blessed to be able to help people in this way.
In other events, A and C have started their summer tap classes and this week is summer camp. S goes to summer camp in 2 weeks. We visit the local mobile library and go swimming at my parents' pool some nights. It has been low-key and so much lower stress than the first time around. We may actually be getting the hang of this.
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Boring Blog Update
I got a shout out from a former teacher the other day who actually has a bit
of a readership and of all things he linked to my blog. This brought
to my mind the fact that I hadn't actually written anything in
something like 6 months so I thought I'd throw something on here for
once.
We've seen some changes around our little house in 6 months. We made
that trip to Disney. All three girls are in school full time. And we
started working with a group called Safe Families. This group offers
temporary "Safe Families" to the children of people who are going
through a crisis. Be it homelessness, job loss, health issues or
anything along those lines, this program keeps these kids from
becoming homeless as well, or from having to enter the foster care
system.
We were approved and signed up way faster than we thought we would and
already have had our first placement. Three little boys came to live
with us on February first. I was telling people that we doubled
our kids and tripled our noise. Hubby and I had an infant sleeping in
our room, all three girls were in the basement bedroom, and the two
older brothers were in the upstairs bedroom.
It was a whirlwind of an experience but we've really been shown that
we are right where God wants us. We were approved the day before these
boys needed us. Our church has rallied around us with support. And we
trust that as this is where we are called to be, that all our needs
will be provided for. From keeping our sanity with this many children
running around to the monetary expenses that will surely start to show
up.
We brought the boys home to mom and dad last Wednesday. Yesterday I
realized we hadn't sat down to dinner at our dining room table since
they left. In all that busy-ness I think we were just relieved to not
have 3 more kids in the mix. Plus I don't think 3 weeks was long
enough to get hugely attached. We miss them, to be sure, but they
didn't come to feel like members of the family in that time. More like
really cute guests. Good friends. I'm sure wrap-ups will not always be
so smoothly.
So that's where our family stands now. Welcome, if you're here from
Walker's blog. Sorry I don't look as busy as he made me out to be. I
am training for the riverbank 10k, and S is training along with me.
Hubby is simultaneously training for a GoRuck challenge and the
riverbank 25k on back to back weekends. A has a dance coming up and
she and C have a dance recital in the spring. We're on a rest period
until we get more Safe Families kids. And I hope to take more time to
get some words on here and process stuff through a little better. I
guess that’s pretty busy.
of a readership and of all things he linked to my blog. This brought
to my mind the fact that I hadn't actually written anything in
something like 6 months so I thought I'd throw something on here for
once.
We've seen some changes around our little house in 6 months. We made
that trip to Disney. All three girls are in school full time. And we
started working with a group called Safe Families. This group offers
temporary "Safe Families" to the children of people who are going
through a crisis. Be it homelessness, job loss, health issues or
anything along those lines, this program keeps these kids from
becoming homeless as well, or from having to enter the foster care
system.
We were approved and signed up way faster than we thought we would and
already have had our first placement. Three little boys came to live
with us on February first. I was telling people that we doubled
our kids and tripled our noise. Hubby and I had an infant sleeping in
our room, all three girls were in the basement bedroom, and the two
older brothers were in the upstairs bedroom.
It was a whirlwind of an experience but we've really been shown that
we are right where God wants us. We were approved the day before these
boys needed us. Our church has rallied around us with support. And we
trust that as this is where we are called to be, that all our needs
will be provided for. From keeping our sanity with this many children
running around to the monetary expenses that will surely start to show
up.
We brought the boys home to mom and dad last Wednesday. Yesterday I
realized we hadn't sat down to dinner at our dining room table since
they left. In all that busy-ness I think we were just relieved to not
have 3 more kids in the mix. Plus I don't think 3 weeks was long
enough to get hugely attached. We miss them, to be sure, but they
didn't come to feel like members of the family in that time. More like
really cute guests. Good friends. I'm sure wrap-ups will not always be
so smoothly.
So that's where our family stands now. Welcome, if you're here from
Walker's blog. Sorry I don't look as busy as he made me out to be. I
am training for the riverbank 10k, and S is training along with me.
Hubby is simultaneously training for a GoRuck challenge and the
riverbank 25k on back to back weekends. A has a dance coming up and
she and C have a dance recital in the spring. We're on a rest period
until we get more Safe Families kids. And I hope to take more time to
get some words on here and process stuff through a little better. I
guess that’s pretty busy.
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