Our Quiet House

Today our house is quiet. We took our girls to live with their grandma yesterday afternoon. It was very bittersweet. We enjoyed having them in our home for 9 days. We swam, played barbies and kitchen, ate at "Chick-A-Lay" twice (K's pronunciation) and I braved Wal-Mart with the crew by myself twice! They got to watch Henry play baseball, went to church, ate at MickyDonald's (again, K's pronunciation) and went to 2 swim parties. It was quite an adventure, to say the least! I'm happy K and L will be with family and will be able to visit with their mom. At the same time, I grew to love these little ones and desire nothing but the best for them. We saw them flourish during the short time they were in our house. We made a special point to love on them, encourage them and praise their good behavior and efforts. We all had moments of frustration, but we had a very good first experience with fostering. I have believed for some time God has called us to this unique ministry, but that was only confirmed after the last 9 days. It is my prayer that we will have a positive impact on the children who come through our home, no matter how long or short they stay. We will love them as our own for as long as we have them!


For now, our house is quiet. Henry and I are snuggling in the chair with Rollie waiting for blueberry muffins to cool enough to eat.


We will enjoy the quiet for now, but can't wait to see where our adventure takes us next!

Our Adventure

This week has been quite an adventure. To say the least. I always wondered where I would be when our first call came. It was Tuesday and Henry and I were at the car wash. Two little girls needed a home. Even though Scottie was out of town and we had several obligations over the course of the week, how could I possibly say no?? Wouldn't that be incredibly selfish of me? After all, this is why we signed on to be foster parents. These girls' world had just been turned upside down and they needed help. Of course I said 'yes, bring 'em over!'
They came later that evening and didn't have much with them. I bought them some pj's and a few things to get us through the next few days. These precious girls are so sweet! We have had a great time loving them and playing with them. We have spent quite a bit of time playing outside and went swimming yesterday for the first time. They loved it!! I wasn't sure how they would like it, but they did so well. They are even tolerating Maggie swimming with them really well! We have had a few moments here and there, but I think the girls are adjusting very well. Henry is a super big brother! But I knew he would be! He has such compassion and is very caring with little ones. He is pretty patient and loves helping them do things. He is having to learn to share ALL his stuff...something tough for an only child! It's a new adventure for all of us. Scottie has been so anxious to get home from Super Summer and meet the girls. It has been hard for him to be so far away knowing all that is going on here. He comes home today and we can't wait!
There have been several amazing blessings that have already come out of our adventure. A lot of people have stepped in and offered help. I have bought the girls several things, but we have had lots of stuff donated. An organization called Nothing In Return brought us a bunch of toys, clothes, snacks, soap, toothpaste and all kinds of goodies! A DHS worker came yesterday afternoon with a sack for each girl of brand new clothes from The Children's Place and we had a fashion show! They are thrilled to have new things. I really don't think they have had anything new before. We have a meal coming tonight through The CALL. We are so blessed!
Beyond that, I appreciate Henry more. The last few days have been a huge adjustment for all of us and he has been such a trooper. He has had to share me with 2 other people, something he has never had to do before! We snuggle and hang out when the girls are napping and after they go to bed. I am trying to be careful to spend one-on-one time with him when I can. I have also come to realize how spoiled I am. I have been really selfish with my time and I didn't even realize it until the girls came. I went anywhere I wanted, bought what I wanted, ate out whenever I wanted and didn't even think about it. I have been blessed beyond measure and took it for granted. Having two precious little ones come into my home with nothing has made me realize a lot of stuff. God is doing an amazing work in my life through these kids and their situation. I had no idea that would happen. I knew I would be helping out some kids who needed it, but I didn't know they would be helping me, too.
Please pray for K. and L. The first court hearing is next week and I will be attending to find out as much as I can about their situation. Pray for their family. My prayer is for reunification, but I want them to be in a healthy environment.
Thank you for your prayers!!

Baseball

This is Henry's first year to play baseball and it has been such a positive experience. His coaches have been wonderful and patient as he learns, and the players really work well together as a team. We are so glad we have had this experience this year.

We have traveled to Lincoln, Prairie Grove, Elkins and West Fork for games.

We had lots of games to make up because of a really rainy spring!

Henry's last game was this past Wednesday. They won 12-6! It was a great way to end a great season.
Tournament is this week and we are pumped!! The Fireballs are ready!!!!

What We've Been Up To

It's been a while since I've blogged. The end of the school year came so fast and we were so busy, this has taken a back seat for sure! I wanted to update on our journey into foster care/adoption. We officially began our journey on January 17th at an information meeting with the CALL. The first part of our journey ended yesterday with our "final" final walk-through with DHS yesterday. DHS wanted to come on April 30th for our final walk-through, but we were not in town that day. I didn't hear back from them for almost a month. They came on May 26th and found several things that I needed to change or do. The night they came, Kendra and I were in the process of painting the "foster" room and Scottie's gun cabinet was still in the room! Shameful! Our DHS worker said we would have to have the room set up before we would be put on the list to get a child. I hadn't been told this before or I would have had the room set up a long time ago!! We were also told to put key locks on our gates and shed and a chime on our back door (they were pretty concerned about our pool). In the garage we had to put away some things that were just out. We were also told there would be a safety plan for the pool, the gun cabinet (which is now in our bedroom...ugh) and Scottie's 4-wheeler. With the end of school, my final concerts, Henry's baseball games, church, etc. we decided to wait until I was out of school to finish everything and have DHS come back. It was a good decision.

Yesterday we were approved for 2 children, age 0-5, either sex.

Here are some pics of the room:

Our journey is just beginning. We know it will take a few days or so for our information to be processed and entered into the computer before we get a phone call. We have been praying for wisdom and discernment in as we enter into the next phase. There are lots of unknowns, but we know God has called us to this ministry. We were told yesterday by DHS that there are 130 children in foster care and only 28 foster homes. We are humbled and excited to part of this huge need. We cannot wait to see what God has in store for us!

Easter and A Craft

Easter Sunday was a great day! We had an early service at church in addition to regular worship. Grama and Papa came to church with us.

Henry was so handsome! He actually wore a tie that I got to pick out! That is a rare thing.

The Easter Bunny brought him some tasty goodies and his favorite...Legos!

Easter Sunday was cold and rainy. Not ideal for egg hunting! Henry's grama and I hid eggs for him inside.


I don't consider myself to be particularly crafty, but I dabble. We went to Second Mile (second hand store) to find stuff for MORP a couple of weeks ago when I stumbled upon these flowers! They charged me $2 for all of them!! What a deal! Most of them still had the price tags on them and if I would have paid retail, I would have paid over $35! When I got home, I got out my white pitcher and made a little spring arrangement.

I am pretty proud of my new project!! Happy Spring!!

Spring Break 2011

We went to Winter Park, Colorado, this year for spring break with 24 teenagers, college students and adults from church. It was an AMAZING trip!! We had a wonderful time together skiing. Driving through Kansas was rough! So flat and a bit depressing...we saw lots of tumbleweeds! Mountains in the distance...

Taking a break on the first day. Scottie was so good and patient with me on the first day! I hadn't been skiing since high school and was a little rusty. He helped me so much!! Henry was in snowboard school all day that first day.

Scottie and I really enjoyed skiing together!! We've been together for over 17 years, but had never been skiing with each other!

We stayed at The Vintage Hotel which was a gondola ride from Winter Park Village. It was very nice and I would highly recommend it!

Henry had a fold out couch bed and loved it!! Our room had a fireplace and a kitchenette...perfect!! They also provided a locker for us to store our ski stuff at night.

Hittin' the slopes with my boys!! This was the last day we skied. It was snowy all day and windy. Made for rough conditions, but we still had a great time together.

Snowboard champ!! Henry really did great. He picked up snowboarding pretty quick and said he loved it and can't wait to go back! We are so proud of him!!

Gondola ride from our hotel to the village.

Tunnel on Village Way

What a great trip we had!! I can't wait to go skiing again - I forgot how much I enjoyed it!!

Our Adoption Journey

Our adoption journey officially began on Monday, January 17th, and an informational meeting. It unofficially began much earlier than that. Mid-way through the meeting I looked at Scottie and said, "We are exactly where we are supposed to be." I just felt in my spirit that it was right. And I still feel that way.

We have been praying for several years for God's direction for our family. After cancer, a miscarriage and not knowing if a successful pregnancy is even possible, we began seeking God's will believing He desired for us to have more children. In November, we sensed Him leading us to adoption. Shortly after, the C.A.L.L. started in our area. While we have considered foreign adoption, we feel there is such a huge local need and decided to work with DCFS through the C.A.L.L. We have completed our PRIDE training and have our paperwork nearly done. We have our home study scheduled for next Friday and will complete CPR training on April 9th. The only thing left after that is a final DCFS walk through and our home will be open.
When we began our journey we planned to go "adopt only." We have the option to foster, foster to adopt or adopt only. As we went through training, we began to reconsider foster to adopt. Our trainers said it is typically the fastest way to go, but as foster parents, the goal is reunification of the child with their birth parents. So that means we could have a child or children in our home and have to give them back. At first we worried about Henry getting too attached and not understanding having to return a child to their parents. We ultimately decided we should foster to adopt and have a real peace about that decision. We have talked to Henry and explained that we may not get to adopt the first child we have in our home. We may only have them to love for a little while and have to give them back. He seems ok with this. Scottie asked him today if he wants a brother or a sister. He replied, "I would like one of each!" We feel we could take one child or a sibling group of 2.

So, the journey continues. Every day we are a little closer to the child God has for us. I pray every day for my children. For the family of the child. For God's direction. We have such a peace as we travel this road. We know there will be bumps ahead and this is not an easy journey, but are so excited to see what God has planned for our family.