Baby Update!

For those who haven't heard yet, we got a call yesterday, that there was a baby at the hospital who needed foster parents.

For those who have already asked, or who haven't asked but will:  

He is a foster baby.  

Permanency is up in the air.

We did not get to name him.

Yes I am already attached.

So.  I can't share too many details.  But here's what I can share:

Baby Boy is one month old (yesterday).  He is on some medications, which we had to learn to administer, and a heart/apnea monitor, which we had to learn to operate.  The monitor is a precaution because of the meds he is on; they are NOT for existing heart/breathing issues.

He has a goofy name (not new for us, as some of you know!), and after some family discussion, we have decided that we are going to call him Ty.  It fits him really well actually!  And this way, I can call him "Ty" here and won't reveal his actual name :-).

So far, he really likes to be held.  I am hoping I can get him swaddled up good and tight so that he will sleep in the crib and I can at least get a little sleep at night!

I am LOVING baby-wearing, just like I knew I would.  I used my carrier earlier today at my mom's, and he fell right to sleep in it; right now I am using a sling I got for free with a promo code, and he is sound asleep once again.  This one is better because I can type while holding him!  I am hoping for another promo code to show up in my email soon so I can order another one ;-)

The kids love him.  I anticipate the typical adjustment period for Kaleigh, but trying to plan for that and make sure she still gets her "Mom time" and is included in helping with Ty.  The boys are already past the "new baby" phase and are back to "life as preteen/teen boys."  The dog is very curious and interested, but handling the whole situation really well.

I have to say, I have not been this tired since we got our first two kiddos three and a half years ago.  It was nice to have a little notice this time though! 

I think that's the basics for now.  Please please please keep me in your thoughts and prayers!  Right now, my main concern is that he sleep at night; not necessarily through the night, but at least long enough that I can get some sleep too!  Thanks all!

NaNo Update

Well, I promised a few people I would try to keep them updated on my NaNo progress.

Here is my first update:

I am behind.

Due primarily to the content of my first update, this is as much of an update I have time to provide right now.

This and That

A few personal miscellaneous items going on my life these days...

We have, I believe, a new church home.  We are enjoying it very much overall.  When I start to wonder about something, it helps me realign my expectations to remember there are no perfect people, no perfect pastors, and no perfect churches.  Hunter has become very grounded in the youth group, which also meets on Sunday mornings; and Kaleigh is really enjoying her first year of Sparkies, as well as the Sunday morning class that she just started (they don't call it Sunday school there).  I have met a few of Hunter's youth group leaders - in addition to the couple that I already knew - and last week one of Kaleigh's Sparks leaders introduced herself to me and said that she can really tell that Kaleigh works on her verses at home.  So far, all of the people at church have been warm and welcoming, and that is a refreshing change.

As far as my own involvement, I joined choir back when it started in early September.  My mom was in the choir last year, and already knew everyone; without her there, I never would have gone.  We sang last Sunday morning for the first time, for the Missions Conference.  It has been such a joy, the opportunity to sing again in an organized choir, the weekly fellowship with others in praise, and just getting to know a few people on a little bit higher level.  

My piano teacher from high school - a friend of the family whom I've actually known my entire life - also goes to our church, and has inspired me back into serious playing.  I've played a few times since moving, but it tends to fall to the back burner, with everything else going on.  Now I've been inspired to set aside time every day to play, and to work on whole pieces rather than just putzing around with this and that.  And it's really just the sitting down that needs to be made intentional; once my fingers hit the keys, I can play for hours until something urgent or pressing calls me away.  It has been a much-needed escape and a good way to squeeze in some alone time.

Crafts have also taken up a large part of my free time lately.  I'm doing some crafty Christmas presents again this year, so it's a good excuse reason to start early.  I plan to make candle gift packs for Randy's employees again this year - it's been a few years since I've had the time/energy/space to do these, so I'm looking forward to it!  I haven't started those yet, because there are a few supplies I will need before I get started.  I am also making each of the kids a blanket to match their new room themes.  Last year, Ryan requested another fleece blanket, so I am just looking for a good pattern to go with his theme (Americana).  Kaleigh's colors are lavender and pale yellow, and I am making her a quilt.  Hunter's theme is space, and I haven't decided on what kind of blanket to make him yet.  I'm kind of just scouting out material and waiting to see what comes.  His might be a kind of hybrid between the fleece blanket and a quilt; we shall see.  Other crafts include a baby blanket I need to whip up for the newest addition to the family, Emmalyn; the fleece pillow covers for the boys' giant pillows; and some cards for my personal stash.

Next week begins a month of my favorite extracurricular activity of all time: writing.  That's right; Tuesday is the first day of National Novel Writing Month 2011.  I am waffling between a couple of ideas right now, and might end up working on two novels, like I did last year.  On the subject of writing, I also plan to put together some more query letters and send out some more queries to agents in the coming weeks.  That also ended up on the back burner what with moving/unpacking/homeschooling/day-to-day stuff/etc.

I guess that's enough time spent on the miscellaneous.  Time to get back to my laundry and cleaning!

Last Day of Break

Here we are, on our last day of fall break already.  I just cannot believe the way time flies.  It seems to always be slipping away from me; the flight of time motivates and challenges me to avoid letting idle moments pass by, to make each moment count for something: to get things done, to spend time with my kids, to teach, to learn, to accomplish, to love.

Anyway, it was a nice break.  We made cookies and homemade apple cider, shopped for Daddy's birthday and made him a giant Packer cookie (complete with green and gold frosting!), played games and watched movies, painted fingernails (okay, girls only), and went grocery shopping.  

On Friday, we woke up semi-early and made cinnamon rolls and coffee and surprised Randy with his birthday gifts.  Then, Hunter and Kaleigh spent the day with their great grandma and grandpa while Randy and I enjoyed a day out and about for Randy's birthday.  We had lots of fun just bumming around, and even used up the rest of our Flex-spend dollars (since it's getting near the end of the year, I was afraid we were going to lose some of our money!): Randy got some much needed inserts at the Good Feet store, and I was able to get new glasses, which will be nice since my current pair is over 4 years old.  We also enjoyed good coffee and good food and just plain old good time together.  I love spending time with my best friend, to whom I am just lucky enough to be married! 

Just before supper time, we picked up the kids and took them to Grandma and Grandpa's house, where they spent the night and all day Saturday.  Randy and I had a nice dinner Friday night at Olive Garden, then enjoyed a lazy cozy day snuggling on the couch with movies and yummy snacks.  At the end of the day, we joined our children at my mom and dad's for the family birthday celebration.  My mom made fried chicken and mashed potatoes and a Bailey's marble cheesecake.  There were football, and wine, and a game of Trivial Pursuit; and a good time was had by all.

And so on this, our last day of fall break, we celebrate our happy weekend like this:

WE CLEAN.

Yes, I am a mean Mommy and mean Teacher.  I make my children/students choose between schoolwork and house cleaning.  Muahahahahaha.  

In all seriousness, our weekends have been so packed for the last couple of weeks, that the house has become a bit of a disaster.  My dreams of always maintaining a perfectly neat and tidy house have been shattered.  They must be restored ASAP!  

So today we will do dishes and laundry, vacuum and dust and mop floors, make beds, and put away clutter.  We also have a couple of errands to run.  Then perhaps there will be time for a bit of relaxation this afternoon, before we jump back into school work tomorrow morning bright and early.

Happy Monday!

Weeks Five & Six - and a Break!

Well, at the end of week 5, I didn't feel like there was much to report.  So I didn't bore you with that.

Last week, we wrapped up week 6 of school, and since we also did two weeks of summer school before officially digging in for the year, I decided it's time for a break.  It worked out nicely, because we just finished a spelling unit and a Bible unit, just finished reading Journey to the Center of the Earth, and finally(!!!!!) got a firm comprehension of adding and multiplying fractions.

Well, there you have our wrap-up of the last two weeks ;-).

I feel the need to state again that one highlight of my week last week was on Friday, when I graded Hunter's math homework from Thursday and Friday, and I could see that he was really "getting it."  I even pointed to one fraction that he had forgotten to reduce, said, "This one needs reduced," and got in response: "Oh, that's one-half."  After weeks of struggling over the concept of reducing, he did it in his head!

Another big highlight of last week was when we picked him up from youth group on Wednesday night.  He had a sheet with several passages of scripture on both sides, and excitedly explained that if he memorizes all the verses by January 1, a large portion of the cost for the winter retreat would be paid.  He gets so excited about things, it's energizing (and sometimes tiring) to witness.  (And by the way, this was the first I'd heard of said retreat.  Don't get me started on the subject of one's child's first time away from home.  Just don't even.)  We told him that if he memorized all the verses and earned that portion of the trip, he could go on the retreat.  He came home and for his bedtime reading, immediately began working on the first passage, Psalm 1.  

On Friday, he said the entire passage to me from memory.  I was floored.  And thrilled.  Ecstatic, really.  That night, he had his first youth activity.  Later as I picked him up, his Small Group leader told me that the minute he'd gotten there, Hunter had rushed to find him so he could say his verses.  

My heart overflows.  I cannot express my joy in how he is so eager to get involved in the youth group and the memorization of scripture.  He was in AWANA last year, and did memorize verses nearly every week, but he never showed quite the exuberance he is showing now.  Granted, yes, there is something to earn.  But the verses will be in his heart and his head, and the thing to be earned is a weekend of fellowship with peers and godly leadership and training in the Word.  Can't think of anything that would be better.

Week Four

I have to stop and think for a minute... last week seems like a long time ago!

Hunter finished Robin Hood (the next book he chose) in two days.  Then he read it again, in two more days.  I think it's safe to say he enjoyed that book.  This reminds me of an article I once read about boys and reading, but I think that could get lengthy, so I will save it for another blog post!

In math, Hunter is working on the relationship between fractions and decimals.  I have to say, I'm a little concerned that he's not getting the concept that fractions are parts of wholes, even though I have used many different illustrations to help him grasp it.  In math (well, all of our subjects really; it just applies mostly to math) I like to teach/introduce a new concept, and then continue working on that concept until he really understands it well.  Then we move on to the next concept, having reviews every couple of weeks to make sure he doesn't forget how to do anything he's already learned.  I think we will be spending quite a bit more time on fractions and decimals.

Hunter got a B on his spelling test again, so this week we are adding an additional day of writing his words.

I finally got to the box that had our Ramona books in it, so Kaleigh and I started reading together again.  I've missed our Ramona time!  We continue our reading games, and her concept of putting letters and sounds together is growing; it is fun to watch!  I also got a lot more of our crafting supplies unpacked, and a great work center set up in the basement; so Kaleigh and I spent some time scrapping (card-making, really) last week and over the weekend. 

My dad got grapes for making grape juice, and in true Bissett fashion, had more than he knew what to do with.  So I got free grapes and spent last week canning juice.  I ended up with 5 dozen jars, but still have enough to do another 2 dozen at least; on Saturday I went in search of more jars and found a few more boxes.  Hoping to find apples soon so I can start on applesauce.  We'll need to get another shelf for the storage area soon!

We made it up to see my cousin and her new baby last Tuesday.  Emma is absolutely beautiful, and I enjoyed getting in a baby fix ;-).  We also had a lovely time playing with 2-year-old Annie, who I think enjoyed having playmates for a day.  I really wish we lived closer so we could see each other more often!

Well, I am off to check on the steel-cut oatmeal cooking on the stove, and to wake my Monday morning late sleepers!  Today I have quite a few things to work on around here, some of them fun and some of them not-so-fun, but all should make for a busy Monday.

Week Three

Our third week of school had smooth spots and rough spots.  I guess this is typical, though, right?

In Literature, we completed Black Beauty and wrote a book report on it.  Tomorrow we will pick out our next book, and now that we are in the swing of things, I am going to do a better job of planning out the timing so that we finish this one in two weeks instead of four!  I found a great site that has lots of companionship resources for classics, so we're going to use some of these worksheets as we read through the next book.  Also, I think Hunter will be presenting his book report orally this time.  Time to start working on those oral presentation skills!

Hunter didn't concentrate as well on learning his spelling words this week, and got a B.  Don't get me wrong; a B is still good.  I just know that it is not his best, since he has shown that with the right amount of studying and focus he is able to get an A.  

In math, we reviewed Greatest Common Factors - something we had just begun to touch on at the end of last year - and tackled Least Common Multiples.  He remembered GCF's very well; LCM's were rough at first, but once he got the idea, he did them easily.  Near the end of the week, we started learning about operations with decimals, which we will continue this next week.

Science/Bible/Social Studies - plowing ahead.  Nothing remarkable to report.

Although on Monday, Hunter dragged his math out all. day. loooooooong....  on Friday he had all of his homework done by 11:00 a.m.  This allowed us a nice afternoon of field trips: a trip to Sam's Club to get a couple of items (and try all the tasty samples, of course!), and a surprise outing to the movie theater to see Lion King in 3D!  The kids had never seen the Lion King (I was surprised!) so it was twice as fun as I originally thought it would be.  We all had a blast - it was really fun to watch them watch the movie, and it was also fun to see a movie that I saw the first time it was in the theater 17 years ago!

Yesterday, Hunter attended his first youth group activity.  The youth group met to help clean the church, and then went out to Pizza Hut for pizza (Hunter's favorite. food. ever.).  He had a good time, and it's good to see him starting to get involved in things like this.  

This week, Kaleigh memorized John 3:16 and the Pledge of Allegiance.  She is also working on the Pledge to the Awana flag, and almost has it down.  When she completes that one on Wednesday  night, she'll get her book and start working on more verses!  I was a little concerned about her ability to memorize, but she is doing a great job!  We will continue to recite the verses she has already memorized, so that she doesn't forget them over time.  Her learning to read is also coming along very well.  Every day she is sounding out more words, often all on her own.  One day this past week, she came to where I was working in the kitchen and said, "Mom!  'O-N' spells 'on' and 'O-F-F' spells 'off'!"  She was so excited that she had figured that out.  It was very cool.  We also got a hold of a used Kids Boggle game, which she loves to play; that is also giving her exposure to more words and teaching her how to recognize them.  It is missing a couple of letter cubes, so I need to get to a craft supply store and find some blank cubes that I can use to make replacement cubes.

I got a couple of boxes of my scrapbooking and sewing things unpacked, and I'm starting to get a nice little crafting area set up in the basement. I feel like the unpacking is coming kind of slowly at this point, but I also feel a tiny bit of accomplishment every time I get through another couple of boxes.  I keep thinking of that scene in The Incredibles where the mom unpacks the final box years after they've been in the home and says, "We're officially moved in!"  That's going to be me!  HAHA!!

Well, the Packer game is on and requires my full attention; so I'm going to wrap this up.  

Happy Autumn!!

Week Two

Our second week of school was MUCH less stressful than our first week!  I can't even begin to describe how much of a relief this is to me. 

Of course at the end of last week, I was giving myself pep talks: "It's just the first week.  We're still getting into the swing of things.  It will get better."  But there was still that little nagging... concern... at the back of my mind that we were starting the year off with a struggle and it was only going to go downhill from there.

I'm so glad my louder "voice" was right.

Hunter got an 'A' on his first spelling test!  He worked really hard on his first week of words.  He begrudgingly learned some new things in math (he strongly dislikes new concepts in math - he only wants to do things he already knows how to do).  He struggled through science, but that was basically because he wasn't paying attention to the questions; he often gets into the habit of reading the first few words of a question, guessing at the rest of the question, and then answering the imaginary question instead of the real one!  The second time through, he did much better :).  He is still enjoying Black Beauty, and is almost finished with it, at which point he will prepare his first book report!  We started the new reading comprehension book this week, and I really like it.  It's much more in-depth and creative than the one we used last year.

Kaleigh's main schooling right now comprises learning to read, memorizing verses for Sparks, and growing her comprehension of numbers.  I am taking a "play" approach to Kindergarten; most of her "work" is done through games that we play together, or observations as we go through our day-to-day life.

We are still waiting for another foster placement.  I'm ready (or at least, I *think* I'm ready) for more kids in the house, but I know God's timing is perfect; so whenever I'm tempted to start getting impatient or anxious about it, I just pray and ask God to give me peace and keep His hands on our future little ones, wherever they may be right now.

The cooler weather has been such a blessing this week.  I just love fall!  This segue from summer into winter, when the temps are hovering in the 50s and 60s, is my absolute favorite time of year.  I need to find the battery charger for my camera, so that we can get outside and take our school pics while the weather is so perfectly crisp!

After being sick all last week, and spending all of this week trying to dig out from under the pile of laundry and cleaning and shopping and dishes, I was glad to be able to get a little more organizing and unpacking done in the office today.  I still have TONS to get done, but every little bit helps, and the office is where the majority of the unpacking is left to be done.  Getting that area organized has been a daunting task, but I think once I'm through it, a big part of the remaining unpacking will go fairly quickly.

I had more I wanted to include in this post, but my head is pounding like crazy, so I think it's time to stop typing and give my eyes a break from the computer.

My Cousin. My Friend.

My fabulous cousin just had her second beautiful baby girl!  I am almost more excited about Emma than I was two years ago when Annie (her big sister) was born!  Although I have to say, it's pretty much a tie :).  

My cousin and I are only six months apart, and grew up together.  The children of a traveling church planter, my mom and my cousin's dad put down roots and stayed here when their parents (and four other siblings) moved on.  When we were kids, we didn't see each other as much as we wanted to.  And so, to be perfectly honest, we weren't exactly "best friends" or anything.  In high school, we lived in different worlds, went to very different schools, had different friends, and seemingly different interests - although looking back, I realize our interests weren't all that different: we both played sports, were cheerleaders, played musical instruments.  Although we got along and enjoyed each other's company, I can't really say we were "close."

Since becoming "grown ups," we've become what I can now confidently call "close."  She got married long before I even had a serious relationship, but even though we still didn't have much in common, somewhere around that time we both kind of grew into a new stage of life.  The pieces that would give us the capacity to become more than cousins were finally falling into place.  

I think I would say that it was a little over two years ago, when Randy and I were dealing with the whole situation with the kids, during which time Annie was born, when she and I really began to grow closer.

Like sisters, we were bound by a relationship neither of us had any say in.  And since I had only brothers, and she was an only child for 11 years, we were each the closest thing to a sister the other had, at least as young children.  And now, we are more than cousins: we are friends.

And I guess that is why I am so excited about Emma, and know that I will love her every bit as I love her sister and her Mommy.  I couldn't possibly be more excited for her if we WERE sisters; and the girls are the closest things to nieces that I have right now.

So congrats to my gorgeous cousin Tina and her lovely family.  I love you all so much, and cannot wait to meet the sweet little new addition :).

First Official Week of School

Well, we got through it.

It was definitely not the world's easiest first week of school, not by a long shot.  But together, we got through it. 

I was sick all week with a bad virus, so no "first day of school" pics.  I was doing well to get through all of Hunter's lessons with him.

Kaleigh didn't even do school work this week because I just wasn't up to it.  She has been doing a series of sort of "screening" tests for the last couple of weeks, so I can get an idea of where she's at and what she needs to learn this year.  She went above and beyond the goals I mentally set for her last year, so in many sub-areas, she is well ahead of the "typical" student starting kindergarten; however, there are a few things that I can see we need to work on.  She is somewhat lazy as far as reading; she has known most of the letters and their sounds since she was 3, and has known all of them except Y and W (sounds) since early last year.  We have been working on putting the sounds together in 3-letter words, and though she can clearly do it, she seems uninterested in learning to read overall.  It's definitely not something I can relate to!  I wanted to read SO badly that I started at 3 and was reading by 4.  At her age, I was sitting in a mainstream kindergarten class trying to figure out why a teacher was teaching me things I already knew! LOL.

Oops, sorry for that little sidetrack :).

Anyway...  Here's what I did with Hunter this week:

We continued science and Bible from last year; there's not much of a difference between the content at the 5th and 6th grade levels in those subjects, and why would we discard all the learning he can still gain from the 5th grade books just to put him in a book that says "6th grade" on it?

In reading, we are going to have more guided reading this year; I am going to alternate between current works and classics.  Last year, I let him pick what he wanted most of the year, because I just wanted him to READ.  He has developed enough of an enjoyment for reading, that I think he will get more out of guided reading this year than he did early on last year, when I tried the same thing.  Right now, we are reading Black Beauty, and he is really enjoying it, which makes me very happy :).  I am also planning to do reading comprehension again this year, but probably 2-3 times per week, rather than every day like last year.  I guess I'm kind of swapping the ratio on literature and comprehension this year.  Also, sort of related, my mom got me a bunch of used books from one of the schools where she teaches, so between that initial stockpile and Goodwill, I don't anticipate any shortage of good reading material.

We still have some catching up to do in math, but he is much closer to 6th grade level than he was to 5th grade level at this point last year, if that makes any sense.  Meaning, I think we made significant progress in getting him caught up last year.   He is now learning how to do long division with a 2-digit divisor.  He doesn't care for it any more than I did at his age, but by the end of the week, he was catching on.

In spelling, we also continued with his 5th grade book.  We use Zaner-Bloser, which is pretty advanced anyway; and when you get behind in a subject that already doesn't come naturally for you, well...  Let's just say I think spelling is going to be one of those things he always has to work harder at than anything else.
I am still putting together a social studies curriculum.  More on that later.

Well, I guess that's about it for the summary of our first week of school.

I hope the rest of you, whether homeschooling or with kids in mainstream school, had a great start to the school year as well!

Busy Summer!

I have sorely neglected the blog this summer :(.  But in my defense, it has been the busiest summer I have ever had in my life!  If you had told me two years ago that life would be even busier when I stopped working outside the home, I would have politely chuckled and nodded while thinking, "Yeah, okay."  But it's true.  My life has never been busier (although my first year of fostering while also working full time outside the home *might* make this a tie for the busy-ness award).

At the time of my last entry, we had just gotten back on the dual foster/adopt list and were getting ready to go on a family vacation.  Since then, we (obviously) went on vacation (which was very fun for all involved), I took and completed my final class and field placement (the two year olds I worked with were a blast!), we got most of our new furniture (still waiting on two pieces that were on backorder, as well as a shelf that they delivered damaged and is also now on backorder!), and have had quite a few people over to visit (I just LOVE having the room to invite people over!)

We did NOT have time to do summer school at home, as my field placement took up a LOT more time than I thought it would.  Therefore, though I would normally start our autumn term right after Labor Day, we are going to begin reading and math on Monday, and focus on those subjects for two weeks before throwing the rest of the subjects into the mix on Tuesday the 6th.  I could have started summer school three weeks ago when my class and field placement ended, but I decided instead that I would rather have the time as a *real* summer vacation with my kids, with neither of us having to focus on academics.  So we have done some summer crafts, played games, watched movies, baked and cooked and just generally had some good fun before jumping back into school.

I discovered some... disturbing news a few weeks ago.  I can't really give details, since this blog is open to the world wide web and all its viewers, but it is foster/adopt related, and has caused me to have even less faith in the system than I had before, if that is possible.  Grievous errors have been made which affect not only us, but other foster parents, and possibly our children in the future.  I hope to be able to give more details in the future - I hate leaving people hanging - but there is no way to know right now what will happen.  Please just keep us in your thoughts and prayers, as there are many difficult decisions to be made, NONE of which are under our control.

I finally went out and found some houseplants, something I knew back in February I wanted to do here.  I started with three, and hope to add to them in the coming months, as I continue to unpack and organize.

Speaking of which, no, I am not unpacked yet.  But I am getting there.  The lack of one bookshelf is putting a serious cramp in this plan, as well as the lack of storage in the office area.  Still trying to figure out how I am going to accomplish the storage of office supplies.

I am very much looking forward to a few hours alone with my hubby tomorrow.  It's been about three weeks since we had some time alone that was not late at night after kids were in bed.  We don't have any "major" plans other than being alone together and just "hanging out."  :)

I am seriously going to try to update regularly this year.  I am looking forward to what this school year is going to bring for us, with more space and opportunities, both in the house and in our new town, and I am excited about sharing the journey as we go!

p.s.  I can't believe I have a sixth grader!  I'm not old enough to have a sixth grader!  ;-) 

Settling In

Once again, I must apologize for the length of time between posts.  It has been a crazy month that has gone MUCH too quickly!

We have been keeping busy with unpacking, getting settled, doing laundry and dishes, etc.  It doesn't feel like "our" house to me yet.  Or at least, it all feels surreal still.  Almost like we're visiting.  I think it will take awhile to really feel like it is OUR house. 

In a little over a week, we leave for vacation.  My mom's family is having a reunion.  It will be fun to see people I haven't seen in awhile and to spend time with cousins and their kiddos.  My kids are, of course, very excited to see their second cousins; they will also get to meet some second cousins that they have never met, which will also be a lot of fun.  There are three pools and free kayaks and paddle boats and biking at the resort where we are staying; I am hoping for some quiet relaxing time with my cousin in between all the activity with the kids.  I am also very  much looking forward to stopping to visit my best friend Shannon on our way home.  A year between visits is about all I can take.

As soon as we get home, I start my summer class, which is six weeks long, and also a summer practicum working with kids with special needs ages birth to 3.  I'm somewhat looking forward to that, but also getting tired of classes.  Thankfully, this is my last class before I do student teaching.  I am, however, considering taking some additional classes for an autism specialization; but I haven't decided for sure yet.

We have officially been placed back on the foster-to-adopt list (we were previously on the adopt-only list, as we were in our tiny house waiting to move).  I am excited for what God has in store for our family, and praying over our children - both present and future - every day.  I have to admit that at times lately, I have gotten nervous that we would get a call for kids while we are on vacation; but then the Holy Spirit quietly reminds me that God already sees our children and knows where they are and when they will come to us, and He is not going to send them to us when we are not here!  

We are finishing up the end of our school year.  I was hoping that this would be our last week, but Hunter doesn't seem to want to buckle down and do what needs to be done in order to finish this week, so we shall see after tomorrow where we are at.  We are, once again, doing school during the summer.  I decided when we started last fall that we would take a year-round schedule approach to homeschooling; Hunter did so much better in the fall when he kept up with the work over the summer than he did the year before after having 3 months out of school.  So I scheduled breaks throughout the school year, and we will of course have a break here before we begin our summer work, and another break between summer and fall. 

Well, that's about all that's going on in our exciting lives right now.  Time to go switch laundry and get another cup of coffee.  Hope everyone is well!

36 Days / Packing Update

This past weekend, Randy and I spent a couple of hours packing in the basement.  Well, I was packing; he was going through paperwork and either tossing or setting aside for filing or shredding.  I got about half of my craft items packed.  That is, candle-making supplies, jewelry-making supplies, cross-stitching: all packed; sewing and scrapbooking: not packed, mostly because they are all in their own containers or storage, and I'm not sure whether I should just transport them that way, or pack them into larger boxes so I can let the movers take them without worrying about them.  Still debating that one...

Yesterday I either packed or bagged for Goodwill all of Kaleigh's books except: our favorite, Where the Wild Things Are, 4 Care Bear & Rainbow Brite books my cousin lent her, and a couple of activity books (colorforms, magnet book, etc.).  Lest you think I am totally cruel and heartless, the top of the box is open; she's not allowed to get into it, but if she gets tired of the books she has, I can take out a couple at a time while still keeping the majority of them packed.

We also went through all of her toys together, throwing away some "garbage-y" toys (old happy meal trinkets, broken pieces, toys in rough shape that she never plays with, etc.) and organizing everything that was left.  I packed all of her games and more involved items that we keep put away anyway, and told her that if she doesn't keep her toys organized and put away, they will be getting packed.  This should be interesting.  I think her dress-up clothes will get packed soon.

The next few things I am mentally planning to attack are packing a few random items of clothing that are either too small or too big for Kaleigh, bagging some clothes that the boys pulled out for Goodwill, starting to pack up parts of the kitchen that we don't use regularly, and gathering up movies and CDs and packing the CDs.  Not sure where to go after that, but I think I'll take care of these steps first and see where that leaves me.

St. Patrick's Day 2011 in Pictures

We started our day with green vanilla oatmeal... yum!

which we were obviously very excited about!

After doing some schoolwork (No, Hunter, this isn't a day off of school, even though we ARE Irish...) we had yummy Shamrock sandwiches and green milk for lunch.

After quiet time, we had green apples and shamrock cookies for snack...

...and Mom made us new Irish t-shirts!

We ended our day with corned beef and steamed red potatoes, carrots, and cabbage - YUM!

We hope you all had as lovely a St. Patrick's Day as we did!

Valentine's Day 2011 in Pictures

We started off with a craft: coloring the bingo cards we would use later in our V-Day game.

Then we moved on to our pizza party!

Complete with pink strawberry milk!

We played our bingo game, and enjoyed some of our treats.

Later we had the special cupcakes that we bought at the store (I could not possibly hope to make such beautiful cupcakes at home!).

After the kids went to bed, Mom and Dad had an amazing steak dinner and some treats of their own...

And here are the beautiful flowers that Dad brought to Mom :).

Excitement!

Well, if by some miracle you haven't heard the news yet...

WE GOT A HOUSE!!!!

Of course, there is still the long process of home inspection and a multitude of tests, waiting for taxes, and all the paperwork that happens between now and closing on April 27.  So continued prayers for a smooth process are very much appreciated.

Now on to the juicy details I know you are all waiting for on the house.

It was listed as a four bedroom, three bath, which is what attracted us to the house in the first place.  We were only looking at four bedroom houses, because Randy wanted to make sure Ryan had his own room.  The fourth "bedroom" is actually not a bedroom, but an additional separate room in the basement.  In fact, the home is assessed and is being taxed as a three bedroom, two bath (a permit was never pulled on the building of the bath in the basement).  Ryan is not interested in making this room into a bedroom, because he does not want to sleep in the basement.  He does, however, have no problem continuing to share a room with his brother, especially given that the new room is much larger than their current room, and we plan to build the boys loft beds with desks underneath in order to optimize their space even further.

One of the "little" things where we see God's hand in this home for us: if the home had been listed (accurately) as a three bedroom, we never would have seen it.

As long as we're discussing the basement, let's start there.  It is a finished L-shape with tile floor, making it great for a rec room / play room / gathering area for get-togethers.   We also plan to put the piano down there (with the dehumidifier nearby of course), as well as the craft desk and craft storage.  The basement is also a walk-out, first to a railed/gated patio, then to the backyard.  There is a storage shed built to the side of the patio.  Then, the BONUS: the owner built the basement out under the (four car) garage and made it into a storage area and workshop.  The laundry, water heaters, and well tank (oh, yes, did I mention it has a well??) are also kept there.  

Another "little" thing where we see God's hand in this home for us: I had been keeping my eye out for houses that included outbuildings (knowing that this couldn't be a "must have" for us, or we might never find a home), because Randy loves to do woodworking.  I had been secretly hoping and praying that God would give us a home with a place he could practice this hobby that he hasn't been able to for many many years.

On to the main floor.  There is a lovely living room, where we can have an actual main floor family room (currently our living room is tiny and our family room is in the basement, which is fine but not very practical).  The kitchen is amazing, with ceramic tile flooring, an island and two-year-old granite countertops (something I have always wanted but never had much hope that I would have), a lower "desk" type section (perfect for bill paying), and an attached dining room.  The dining room walks out onto a beautiful deck (over the downstairs patio), which overlooks the back yard as if from the second story, since the basement walks out into the yard.  The two kids' bedrooms are down the hall from the kitchen, with the bathroom between them.  Now we've come full circle to the living room, where we find the front door and the stairway to the second floor.

The stairway - with it's contemporary black metal railing - leads up to a loft that overlooks the living room (matching black metal railing along the edge of the loft).  The loft will be an office and library.  There is a third deck that walks out off the loft - standing up there and looking over the backyard is like being three stories up.  Very cool!  Through the double French doors off the loft is the master suite - something I cannot WAIT to experience.  Imagining a bathroom in my bedroom is heaven after 
a) having to go downstairs from our bedroom to use the bathroom and 
b) having one bathroom for anywhere from 5 to 8 people.  There is also a walk-in closet (yes! finally don't have to keep our clothes in the kids' closets!), and the bedroom itself is about twice the size of our bedroom now. 

The yard is HUGE and filled with trees, some of which will come out.  The front yard is also decent and has a row of trees along the street, which is GREAT for us super-private people :).  The driveway goes up, turns 90 degrees into the garage, or goes straight to a hill down to the backyard - perfect for sledding in the winter.  There are also steps that go down to the yard or up to the main level deck.

This house is all kinds of perfect for our family - the main reason we know God's hand is in all of this!  The other "little" things are in the way the offer process went.  We wrote the offer on Wednesday after our second showing.  We gave him til Thursday, but due to his work (truck driving) and the weather wherever he was at the time, he needed the weekend to look at the offer and make a counter offer.  I spent the weekend panicking that we hadn't offered enough and he was going to find another potential buyer who would offer more than we had.  Then Monday morning came, and our Realtor called to tell us the counter offer was coming that evening.  Thankfully for my nerves, she already had the information on what he was going to counter offer (he's selling on his own, so doesn't have a Realtor working for him).  All he wanted was to take the purchase price up slightly (much more slightly than we expected!) and to remove the part about him paying for a survey showing the property lines.  We were so thrilled and happy with this that we didn't even have anything to continue countering with!  We were more than happy with his counter offer and signed it right away.

We also received our W2 the next day and did our taxes, which came out to be quite a bit more than we were even hoping for - let alone expecting.

God is so good.  Now I just need Him to give me the strength and determination to get the house packed and cleaned and purged (I intend to throw away A LOT while packing).

Please keep the prayers coming.  There is still that little nervousness at the back of my mind, and probably will be until May 1, when we have closed and are moved and the old place is cleaned, etc.

But...

We have a house!!

Plans

I use the word a lot, although I use it loosely and with a grain of salt.  Because it is true that if you want to give God a good joke, you should make plans.

So the plans to which I am going to refer are made prayerfully and with a mindset of flexibility.

As most of you know, we have been outgrowing our little house for almost two years.  To be honest, the house feels smaller every day.  I am certainly not complaining - I am more than thankful that we have a home to live in and a family to live in it!  But, the fact remains that we need more room.  So the big goal we've been working toward and praying for and dreaming of for 2011 is buying a house and moving.  As soon as we get Randy's W2 and file our taxes, we can meet with our Realtor and begin looking for a house.

I am trying to do as much as I can between now and then, to make the move as smooth as possible. 

I have only moved twice in my life: once when I moved out of my parents' house and once when I got married and we moved into this house.  The first time, I had very few things of my own and was able to move them with my car and the help of a friend with a pickup truck.  The furniture I bought for that little place was delivered by the furniture company.  The second time, we moved both of our apartments on the same day into this house.  We were able to move everything in one trip, with our two cars and a Budget rental truck, plus a number of very kind friends.  We had each lived in our apartments for just a little over a year.

We have lived here for almost five years and have had six kids here.  I'm also certain that the longer you stay put in one place, the more you accumulate, so I'm convinced that this move will be bigger than the moving of the two apartments into this house.  

So, in the interest of trying to make this move less of a hassle than I fear it will be, I have made a plan.  I intend to move through the house a room at a time and pack up what we don't need right now and purge our belongings by tossing out anything that we don't need at all.  While I'm doing that, I'm also going to do some deep cleaning, so that the move-out cleaning won't be a week long process.

Sorry for the rambling and randomness of this entry.  I write this here so that I can keep myself accountable and also keep track of my progress so that I feel like I'm getting something accomplished.

Happy first week of 2011!  =) 

Happy New Year!

Our turkey just came off the grill - for the first time ever!  Randy has been wanting to try this for several years.  It looks soooo yummy.  I would post a picture, but I can't seem to find my camera.  Anyway, we are basically having a mini Thanksgiving dinner, since my husband can't eat turkey without stuffing and green bean casserole.  We also had some appetizers this afternoon; chips with guacamole, mini wieners in a special sauce, cheese curds, and baby pigs in a blanket which Kaleigh helped to make - her first successful cooking attempt :).

Our dinner will be enjoyed with a family movie, and the kids will ring in the new year with sparkling grape juice at 10 p.m. before hitting the pillows.  Randy and I will then enjoy the grown up movie with a few grown up snacks (crab cakes and stuffed mushrooms) and will ring in the new year at midnight with grown up sparkling juice (aka Asti) ;-). 

Tomorrow we'll head to my mom's for brunch and then homemade Chinese food later on in the day with my cousin and her family.

I hope you all have a safe and happy New Year's Eve and New Year's Day!

Good bye, 2010!

Hello, 2011!  May you bring happiness and good changes for all!