The Police May Be Looking For Me.......

Yesterday, Louie's preschool class visited the Cincinnati Museum Center for a field trip.  Part one of the field trip was the visit Holiday Junction, a holiday train display at one of the muesums. 

Louie LOVES trains, so part one of the field trip was great!

He was in absolute wonder at so many trains!  So much to see!!

Beloved Thomas the Tank, Annie and Clarabell

There was a very short time to look at the trains, and then it was time to make our way back upstairs for part two of the field trip.  All the classes were to preform together part of their upcoming Christmas program.  This is where it all went down hill.

Louie informed me that we was his stomache hurt and he would not be able to preform.  Much whinning, crying, and boo hooing followed.

Since there was such  a short time to see the trains, I told the girls and Louie that after the preschool performance we would go back down to see the trains again.  I also offered them the option of going to Children's Museum for a short time before we heading home.  The girls decided they wanted to go to the Children's Museum and we started to make out way to the elevator.  Louie had an amazing recovery and was anxious to go play.

I then explained to Louie that since he was "sick" he would have to sit by me instead of playing.  Cue the tears.......  I knew this was going to be challenging, but what happened for the next hour was much more than I anticipated.

Louie cried all the way down the elevator, he rolled around on the floor crying for a good 30 minutes.  At this point an employee of the museum began walking past me at regular intervals.  I suppose she thought I had done something to him, but this little tantrum was ALL him!

Now it was time to go home.  I tried to put his coat on him, as he was rolling on the floor ( as a horrified father looked on).  It is about 20 degrees out, so how could I not put his coat on him?  He refused to put his arms in the armholes. He had kicked off his cowboy boots it the middle of his fit and I put them back on him.  He had them off as quick as I had them on him.  I stuffed the boots and the coat in the stroller.  I knew what was going to happen next and it was going to be ugly!!!

I got the girls all ready to go, bundled up the baby, and then gave instructions to the girls.  I told them I needed their help, and they needed to be ready to help me.

It is now time to pick up my 33lb 3 year old and head to the van.  The battle was ON.  So I carried my boy out of the Children's Museum on to the elevator, out through the lobby, and then down the parking lot to the van as he kicked and yelled and screamed the entire way. This was the longest 10 minutes of my life!

Onlookers were simply amazed, I am sure, at my lack of mother skills at this point.  If they only knew the whole story. But I could see no other options than taking him out thrown over my shoulder.  All the while people are staring at me, the crazy lady. 

The picture of me carrying this child in the cold with no coat on, no shoes on, screaming his head off was just ugly! 

Let me just say, Louie is an EXTREMELY intelligent 3 year old.  He was playing me, and he wanted to see if I was going to back down.  Which I COULD NOT do.  Once the challenge is on, you have to follow through.

He cried and kicked and screamed all the way home.

So Louie chose consequences instead of blessings yesterday.

I feel as if I wrestled with a hog.

And the police may be knocking on my door any minute to see if Louie is OK.

A Good Read

I have been reading a great book the past few days.  It is A Sister's Secret by Wanda E. Brunstetter.  It is a story of a young Amish girl and the secrets that she is hiding from her "running around years."  

I have read many books set in Amish Country, but I have never read one that has so many unexpected twists and turns in the plot.

I can't wait to get a quiet moment tonight (hopefully) so I can finish it!  A good book an a cup of hot tea....sounds great doesn't it???

This author has also written a series for children set in Amish Country.  My daughter has read most of them, and really enjoys them.  http://www.amazon.com/Schools-Always-Trouble-Somewhere-Book/dp/1597892335/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1291673060&sr=1-5

Thanks to my mother in law for giving it to me for my birthday! 

Dear Teddy

My story starts in early July when we realized that Sunshine's beloved bear Teddy was missing.  Sunshine received Teddy for her first birthday.  He has been her comfort in many storms.   Tornado sirens....loneliness....sickness...  Teddy accompanied her in the OR when she got her tonsils taken out.  Teddy was a trusted friend.
Teddy is now gone.  We conducted a thorough search.  I made phone calls.  We backtracked our last days with him.  He was just gone.

I bought Teddy at Toys R Us.  I knew that he was an in house brand called Animal Alley.  So I began to search E Bay.  Maybe I could find someone who was kind of like Teddy.  I searched for hours, and then low and behold, I found TEDDY!  Same brown and white plaid bow, same fur, same eyes.  AMAZING! 

So we put in a bid, and Sunshine bought Teddy with her own money.  It was great to find him. 

He arrived soon, and Sunshine was thrilled.  But you know as well as I do, that a new bear doesn't feel the same as a loved bear.  His fur wasn't as soft.  His fluff was not the same.  He became Mrs. Teddy and he would have to due, because he was all we had.

Fast forward three weeks ago.  Teddy was on my mind.  He kept popping up in my brain at random times.  Was it just Mommy guilt?  I have to admit, I did feel reasonable for letting Sunshine lose Teddy.  Of course it wasn't my fault, but how could I let her lose her beloved bear?  I was heartbroken because I couldn't find him, I couldn't fix it.

Last Friday, I was at a friend's house.  Her older two children and her husband were on a youth group over night.  They were going to several places that night.  Including a Columbus Blue Jackets game and to hotel with an indoor water park called Fort Rapids.  We had taken a trip to Fort Rapids back in May.  It was a fun family place to go.

Monday morning...my first thought of the day Teddy.  I went throughout my usually busy day, but at the end of the evening Teddy was on my mind.  I started thinking we never contacted Fort Rapids to see if Teddy was there.  Sunshine was sure that she hadn't taken him there.  But, I guess it wouldn't hurt to send them and email and see how long things stayed in the lost and found.  I sent an email that night explaining that we had lost the bear over the summer, and I inquired how long they kept things that ended up in the lost and found.

Tuesday morning....I received an email from the housekeeping manager at Fort Rapids.  She explained to me that they usually kept things 30 days.  They donated somethings and threw some things away.  But she went on further to say, it might still be here.  Please send a description of the bear. I sent her a description of the bear and I also attached a picture of Mrs. Teddy.

The bear was really driving me crazy.  Why was the bear coming to my mind?  Was this God trying to tell me something?  Was it the Devil playing tricks on me?  I asked a dear friend what she thought.  She didn't really have a clear answer for me, but she said she would pray for me that I would have a peace about the situation.

So later Tuesday afternoon I got another email from Ms. Karen, the housekeeping manager.  It read like this:

I have the bear.  What do you want me to do with it?

Seriously?  I was awestruck.  I had goosebumps.  I could not locate Ms. Karen's phone number and call her quick enough. 

When I spoke to her on the phone, she said, "We get rid of alot of things that are left here, but we keep the animals.  I read you last email and opened up the attached picture.  I then looked up and there Teddy, sitting on a shelf in my office."

Ms. Karen put Teddy in the mail to us on Tuesday and he came in the mail today.

This is Sunshine and Teddy reunited.

Sunshine and Mr. and Mrs. Teddy.

But the most incredible part of the story is that God put this Teddy bear on my mind.   If he hadn't I would not have continued to look for him.

Our God cares about us.  Even about the "little" stuff.  He is SO GOOD!



When a Two Year Old Dresses Himself......

You praise him because he did it all by himself.  No matter what :)

All Dressed Up

You just never know...

what a day around here...

is going to bring.

I love my goofy kids!

A Visit With Father

I am struggling with the SYSTEM this week.  It is an internal struggle, not a struggle with phone calls and emails, but a struggle none the less. 

Louie and My Man 

Louie's father was released from jail a few weeks ago.  Now he is accompanying Louie's mom on the weekly supervised visits.  Louie's father is a player.  He has no parenting skills and when he is around Louie's mom's parenting skills are restrained.(This info is from my Worker)  She is just not her self. 

 Oh and by the way, Louie's dad wants Louie to go and live with his mom.  He just has to prove his paternity first.....seriously...this child is named after you and your name is not on his birth certificate???  That just tells me you didn't even bother showing up when he was born.  No wonder he has mentioned you exactly once since he came to stay with us.  And that was just to tell me that when daddy pierced his  ear it hurt. 

Well, you might be wondering if all of this is having any effect on my darling 2 year old.  I can only say...Y..E..S!!! 

So now, we have gone back to the behaviors that we saw 5 months ago.  He is angry.  He is defiant.  He is sad. 

The system is not working for him.  In fact, I have yet to have a foster placement that the system really did have their best interest's at heart.

H E A R T    B R E A K I N G

The Lillies of the Field

These beauties are growing in my yard.  They remind me of words that Jesus spoke:

And why are you anxious about clothing?  Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow:  they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

Matthew 6:28 ESV

Life is Sweet?

We had strawberries for lunch today.

Some of them were really sweet.

Some of them were a little sour.

Aaaaahhhhh the taste of summer.

Someone got a little carried away with the "sour" face.

Louie is AIRBORN!

Summer is so much fun!

Especially where there is water involved!

Happy Mother's Day!

I can't imagine how hard it would be to have your child in foster care on Mother's Day. When Louie went to his visit on Friday, I sent his mom a gift. I framed this picture and we made a little hand print card for her.

He is such a sweet boy!

Easter Pictures

I rounded up my children to take some pictures in their Easter outfits yesterday. It was quite the challenge with all four of them! Of course we had to squeeze it in between the piano tuner coming and lunch! Fun, hectic times!

Louie must think these flowers are funny!

This is the happiest baby I have ever met, but I have yet to take a decent picture of her. I had to distract her with a flower just to get her to sit still.

My Kit Kat: Growing up TOO fast!

Sunshine

Louie has one of those way to cheesy smiles.

Seriously, this is the best we could do. This was the first shot and it was all down hill from here.

Endless Chatter

"Louie" our 2 year old foster son talks, ALOT! Around here, we are just not use to endless chatter. Our birth children have always been pretty quite. I suppose we are just a quiet family.

Once my mother in law asked me if I allowed them to speak in the car. She had just taken them somewhere and the silence was so shocking that she could hardly believe it. Yes, my children are allowed speak in the car. They just prefer to look out the window and think quiet thoughts. There is nothing wrong with that!

Louie is not quiet. He talks and he talks and he talks. I have to ask him to be quiet pretty often. He has a precious little voice, but really....I need quiet to think. I am mothering four children, I need to think!

We were in the car today running the girls to piano lessons, when I had a thought about all of Louie's talk.

This thing about my sweet little boy that drives me bonkers is the the thing that his mom probably misses the most.

I guess I can listen to the endless chatter. Although I still need a few quiet minutes to think, I am going to think about chatter in a new way from now on.

I Cry Every Single Time...

Tonight my family and I were sitting around watching a concert on CET. My parents introduced my girls to Celtic Women a few weeks ago, and they really enjoy their music. We watched them sing several beautiful songs, then they sang You'll Be in My Heart by Phil Collins.



Guess who is now watching with huge tears streaming down their face? That would be me. I cry every single time I hear that song.



The girls and I watched the Disney movie Tarzan a few years ago. BAD IDEA. I was nearly hysterical by the time the music was over. My children thought I had lost my mind.



There is something about the lyrics of this song that grab my heart strings when I hear it and PULL until I am crying buckets.



I remember hearing this song for the very fist time. It was August of 2000 and I was pregnant with my oldest daughter. I remember crying hysterically then too. I was driving at the time, so I made myself PULL IT TOGETHER and for safety's sake I did. But, something happened that day that changed me, and marked that song for me in a way that brings me to tears every single time I hear it.



It is all about being a mother. It starts by the humbling idea that God has allowed me to carry part of His Creation. I have been blessed to give birth to two amazing daughters, I have had two babies whisked away directly to heaven to wait for me there. This life giving experience has changed my life forever.

'Cause You'll be in my heart

You'll be in my heart

From this day on, now and forever more

Truer word have not been spoken of a mother's heart.

YouTube - Phil Collins - You'll be in my heart

I must add, I heard this song twice today. The first time I did not cry. This may be the one and only time EVER! I was sitting in the salon having my hair cut. I thought it would be a very bad idea to sob hysterically when someone was using a VERY sharp pointy object so close to my head.

Is this not the sweetest picture of a boy and his doggie?

Can You Believe It?

First off, I adore my little foster care children. They are very sweet children that God has blessed me with (for a time). You know that you are doing the Lord's work when you are totally at the end of yourself, and there is somehow peace there.

But seriously, how many phone calls are TOO many in one day? I think 8 is about 6 too many.

1. Mom calls: What time is the visit?
2. Mom calls again: Can we change the time?
3. Worker G calls hubby: To talk about the visit
4. Worker G calls again

Child is dropped off for visit.

5. Mom calls: You didn't bring me any diapers. I don't have a car. You get paid to buy the diapers. You should bring me diapers.
6. Call Worker: What? I am I really suppose to supply her diapers? NO, but we do anyway.
7. Mom Calls: I don't have any clothes, I sent them all to you.
8. Call Worker: What? I asked her if she was keeping clothes. TWICE!!!! But I take her the clothes anyway.

Our dear worker is going into the office on Monday, even though he scheduled a vacation day. He wants to get the details of this case sorted out. I hope, for his sake he can do it in less than 8 phone calls.

Another Wild Day

It has been another wild day around here. This is our second day of being snow bound, but that is not the half of it! Our two darling foster care placements: 8 month old girl K, and 2 year old boy L are keeping me hopping!

Here are the highlights:

2:00 AM-The dog needs to go out. I trudge through the 8 or so inches of snow to the back yard so she can take care of business.

11:30 AM-My sweet darling children make lunch, maybe they are afraid there won't be any if they don't!

11:45 AM-Baby K's mom calls and changes the time of today's visit.

12:30 PM-L Boy messes his pants AGAIN.....oh the clean up :(

1:30 PM-Dear Hubby comes home to pick up baby for visit, didn't get the text about the time change. He then heads back to work.

1:45 PM -Social Worker G calls about visit details.

2:12 PM Social Worker G calls again about visit details.

2:13 PM Baby K's Mom calls to confirm time of today's visit.

2:55 PM Hubby takes Baby K to neutral location for pickup.

3:12 PM Hubby calls to ask if K's mom knows the time.

3:20 PM Hubby returns home after mom is a no show.

3:21 PM Mom calls to ask when the visit is going to be today.


Are you exhausted? I sure am! Not to mention the home schooling, the meal preparation, and everything else that goes with it......

I am so blessed to be able to take care of these little darlings. I am so blessed to have my own darlings (who aren't so little anymore).

GOD IS SO GOOD!