Home Visit...check

We had our home visit last night. I didn't realize that the person coming to see us was a therapist. We figured it out very quickly though. He gave us a 'quiz' that we both had to fill out at the same time that we couldn't discuss. We had to answer questions about the history of our family and the family of our spouse. We both had all of the same answers so that was good. He dug pretty deep and got a good picture of what my childhood was like and what the childhood of my parents was like. He congratulated me on breaking the cycle of abuse and enabling and praised Davin for all he had done to help me process those tough times and memories. I don't think I have ever been praised for surviving and doing well and Davin has never been praised for helping me before. The talk was interesting to say the least.

He talked to Alea and asked her how she felt about her parents taking in other kids. She said she was excited. He asked how she would feel if they broke her favorite toy. She informed him that it cost $14  to take an American Girl doll to the AG hospital and that if they broke one of her dolls her parents had better get the doll fixed because her dolls cost $120 each!!! I told her that was a bit too much information but our guy said at least she is honest and we know where we stand with her. I think he got a kick out of her.

Our guy said we were very honest people (I guess you would feel that way after somebody told you all of their deep, dark, ugly stuff like I had to do). Because he trusted us he said he knew we would fix the one thing we needed to get fixed and that he wouldn't be coming back out to do a final check. He said he would work on our paperwork and probably get it to our worker at DHS by September 10th.  It could take a week or a couple of weeks after that for us to be open. My friend who is also a foster mom couldn't believe he didn't need to come back again because they had to do 4 visits to her house before she could open.

Time Jump

When I turned in our foster care paperwork two weeks ago I was told that we would probably get called for a home study around September 10th and then would probably be an open home a week later. To my surprise I got a phone call on Friday night (August 15th) and someone from DHS will be here this Thursday the 22nd to do our final walk through. I guess that means we could be 'open' a week after that.

When I told my school counselor this (she has been very supportive and gets to hear about our foster care journey all the time) she said that means our kid is ready for us. When you think about why kids come into care and then think that our kid is ready to come to us it is a sad thought that I can't really focus on right now. When we get our child we will know more than we want to know about the evils of this world so dwelling on it right now won't get me anywhere. I just keep praying my prayer for God to protect her heart, body, mind, and spirit. I know it is difficult to go through something that would cause a person to come into care without coming out damaged in one or more (or all) areas but that is what prayer is for.

Please join me in praying for the protection of our little girl's heart, body, mind, and spirit.

(P.S. I know I keep saying her and that is because we have decided that a girl would be the best fit for us right now. I also keep saying "our" and I don't mean that we are going to adopt, I just mean that every child that comes into our home will be "ours" for as long as she lives with us and ours in our hearts forever.)

First Day of 4th Grade

Love, love, love this amazing girl!!

A fro-yo date with my girl

Alea decided she wanted to hang out with me at my school for the last two days of her summer break instead of stay at her Grandma and Papa's house. After a long day on Thursday we went out to Five Guys to dinner and then had some very yummy fro-yo for dessert at TCBY. I love this girl to pieces!!!

On a sadder note...Alea gently told me today that I don't need to walk her in to the first day of 4th grade. She assured me that she could do it on her own. I told her it wasn't that I didn't think she couldn't do it it was just a tradition and I just want to see her off on the first day and take a picture with her and her teacher. She assured me that she would be fine and gently told me that she was sure no other 4th grade mom or dad would be walking their child into school on the first day. I guess I have been notified that I am officially not cool anymore and that she is getting too big for some things. I guess I'll drop her off at the curb and try not to cry on the way to school. :) My sweet, big girl. At least she tried to be as gentle as possible with her words. 

Nesting?

I have been working on the foster room lately. It is interesting to me how I like to hang out in it like I did Alea's room in Wisconsin before she was born. I have a few other things I want to get for the room (such as a cute yellow owl night light from Target, a yellow bed skirt, ribbon to make a ribbon/material covered canvas photo board, a grey something to add to a yellow chevron material covered canvas board I have, maybe a small rug for right next to the bed, and a twin size mattress cover/pad).

Today Davin is adding some shelves and a rod in my closet. We have already shampooed the carpets and the grand finale of the day is Davin going to buy a gun safe. He has always wanted one. It is kind of one of his bucket list purchases. We have to have our guns more secure to be foster parents so he is getting a safe. He is very excited. He is hiring a moving company to help him move it in the next week or two. He keeps asking my opinion about the safe and I know he is excited but it is so not exciting to me. I'm glad to have something else checked off of our to do list but I just can't get excited about that purchase.

I start back to work on Monday and I'm actually not depressed about it for the first time ever. That doesn't mean I am excited about it or looking forward to it in anyway but at least I'm not depressed. That is a true miracle!

Sleepover Update

The girls were still going strong at 10 pm last night holding a fashion show. I told them they could play for another 40 minutes or so. When I came out of my room at 10:40 they had their beds made on the living room floor and were lying down for the night. I guess they finally got tired. I checked on them at 11 and they were being very silly and had the flashlights going. When I checked on them at 12:40 Alea and N were asleep but the other two were up talking. I told them to go to sleep and hope they did. When I got up at 8:30 I heard lots of screaming coming from the living room. They were playing hide and seek (apparently it was the screaming version).

After they got ready and packed up we went for donuts and milk and I took the girls home. I think they had a great time. I believe the party was a success!

A mega sleepover

I promised Alea that she could have her three best friends over for a sleepover this summer before school started back. I have to start back to school on Monday so I guess I put it off for as long as possible. A, M, N, and G are having a great time. They have already played in the sprinkler, ate dinner, and gone for a 2 1/2 mile hike to feed bread to the ducks at the lake. I don't know about them but I am pretty worn out already. It is funny that it takes them so long to do anything. When they go into Alea's room to change clothes it takes them 30 minutes to get anything done. This is fine with me because it is making the night go faster for me. :)

They also have plans to decorate and icing cupcakes (that Alea and I made earlier today). They each brought at least one of their American Girl dolls so maybe they will play with them later. I've already heard talk of getting and giving make-overs as well.


Feeding the ducks.

Going for a walk. (I have no idea why Alea is walking like that.)

It's coming along

This is the clean corner of the foster room. I still need to clean out the closet some more and decide if I am taking out some other stuff, but it is coming along nicely.

My dad made the pallet that I painted on. My mom made the quilt at the end of the bed, the tag blankets on the dresser, and the crochet blanket on the desk. My mom snagged the desk for me from her work...they were getting rid of them. 

Ernie

My half-brother, Ernie, died on Friday. It has been quite the weekend of drama but I think things are finally settling down. Becky and I just played the role of the sane people giving advice to our parents on how to handle people and their drama. It is always an interesting when the kids have to act like the parents/adults to their parents and other adults. Anyway, I don't think there is going to be a funeral or at least one that anyone I know is going to go to. Ernie had always had physical and mental issues and I hadn't seen him in a couple of years. I am sad for those that knew him best.

Applepaloosa

 My sister came down on Wednesday and we bought supplies to begin our two day applepaloosa fest. The previous owner of our house planted two apple trees in the backyard. In the past we have let someone else pick them and have them. This year we decided to make use of them ourselves. I spent a couple of days earlier this week researching apple recipes on Pintrest and Becky brought her canning gear she got from mom. Here are some photos of our process so far.

This is the most loaded down apple tree before we picked any apples. You can see one branch is about to break off because it is so heavy with apples.







Apple fritter bread.                            Apple toffee dip. Major yum!

Applesauce.

We called in apple peeling reinforcements last night about 8:30. Davin was such a trooper.

 Apple pie filling. This is our first batch. We are working on a 2nd
batch right now.


 The kids picking apples on day 2. So far we have picked and used three 5 gallon buckets of apples. There is still at least that many still on the tree.