It's a Crazy Life

Hello friends and family that still tune into watch our lives unfold! Most of my friends don't keep up with their blogs anymore, but I use mine as a diary of the children's lives, so I will try to be faithful about updating as much as possible. Well, since I last blogged, a lot has happened. It seems like a million years ago. Aaron was gone all summer and that was really difficult with trying to get into a new routine with the boys we foster and then learning how to juggle four children, two of which were into everything. It was a tough struggle in the beginning and there were some days that I didn't know how I was going to get through it all, but we survived. What I didn't realize, was how hard it would be to do your normal activities with four children. Going out and about with a baby, toddler, preschooler and 6 year old was near impossible, which meant we stayed home a lot and that left me feeling very lonely. All my friends were going to the beach etc. and those were things I couldn't do by myself and it was very depressing. I forget how isolating it can be to have a baby in the house again. I tried to keep the kids busy playing in the baby pool, slip and slide and on the swing set. Bella said it was the best summer ever, because she got to love on the baby, which made her summer, but Natalie and Hova argued about everything and fought over toys all day long. That has gotten a lot better in the last month. Our foster boys have grown so much in so many ways. It's been fun to be on this journey with them. The baby learned how to stand, walk, say a couple of words and gained 5 teeth with us. Hova is almost two and he's been a blast to watch. His first sentence was "I Wub u", which was said to Aaron over skype while he was gone. He loves having a daddy around and eats up "guy time." He's gained so many words and everything has become so much clearer. Every day that they are here we love them even more. When they leave, which I think will be in December (it's tentative) it will be hard to say good-bye. I don't know how professional foster parents do it. All the hugs, cuddles, "I love yous", and when they lay their head on your shoulders when you hold them - wow, what a reward, but how painful at the same time. We started out with the boys thinking it would be a very short stay before they were placed with family and then it was indefinite and even though we would like to adopt them, we always knew it wasn't an option. After everything we learned through this process, Aaron and I have decided to not to seek children for adoption that have already had their parental ties severed. I don't know what the future holds for us, but if it means that it's just the four of us, I think we will be content with that.

Bella started second grade a couple of weeks ago and she loves it. She loves her teacher and her closest friend from kindergarten is back with her in second grade and she's made lots of new friends and is very happy. She just turned seven on Friday and she had a tea party for her birthday. Everyone that was invited, showed up, so it was completely crazy here that night. 12 screaming girls hyped up on sugar and excitement. I've never seen such excited girls!!!! Aaron's mom let us borrow her huge tea set and we did sandwiches cut in cute flower shapes and lots of pretty candy decorating the table. I actually succeeded in making Bella's teapot cake, which was a huge relief. I had planned lots of games, but the girls wanted to have more of a play date, so we left some time at the end and they had a blast. I think next year we will skip an actual party and just plan a giant play date for the girls.

Natalie started preschool at Learning Ship and loves school too. We miss Mrs. Jenny at gymnastics preschool from last year - she is a wonderful christian woman who is blessed with the gift of teaching young children. Nat's new teachers are Mrs. Anne and Mrs. Sue and Bella had them back when she attended Learning Ship. Mrs. Anne is the most beautiful person inside and out that I have ever met. I truly feel God's presence when I am around her. I feel very blessed that Natalie gets to be in her class this year.

Right now things are crazy but good. We take the boys for visits with their bio parents twice a week, Bella is in school full time, Nat has school three days a week, we have small group, I have Bible study, the girls have AWANA and I watch my neighbors's son once a week. It's nice to have Aaron home again and things back to semi-normal. Happy fall everyone:)