funnies

okay i'm sure i'm going to totally forget so many of the funny sayings i've heard lately, but here goes...
when we first got our foster kiddos, jovi called them juliette (instead of Julia), hextor (instead of Hector) and wand (instead of Juan).
dane the first few nights was totally making fun of juan. it was quite sad. i would put them down in their cribs and juan had a hard time falling asleep. i would stay in there trying to get him to calm down, but dane is used to going to sleep all by himself, so it had the opposite effect on him. anyways, one night juan was laying in his bed crying and i was laying on the floor and i could see juan was holding his blanket and putting it to his mouth when he would cry. dane would grab his blanket and mimick him then throw his head back and laugh. he doesn't do it anymore thankfully. that same night, i was still trying to get them to both go to sleep and so i layed down on the floor inbetween their cribs with my eyes closed. next thing i know, dane yells mama and starts throwing his pillow and animals and blankets out of his crib at me! stinker!
one night jovi was taking her bath and when she was done, i told her to just stay there while i grabbed her towel. she tried to get out on her own and slipped and kind of fell in slow motion luckily, but she did hit her head a little. through her tears i asked her what happened and she said "i was trying to get out of the bathtub and unfortunately i slipped and fell and hit my head". how many 3 1/2 or 4 year olds know how to use the word unfortunately!
i'm drawing a blank now...more later!

We got kids!

Julia (6), Juan and Dane (both 19 months), Jovi (4) and Hector (2 1/2)-what a good lookin' bunch!


Wow! 2 months since I've written! So a lot has happened. I was planning to use this time to write down kiddo funnies (and I'll still try to remember to do that), but I think it's mostly going to be a major update! We have foster kids! I hate calling them that because they are just precious kids and I want to think of them as as much mine/ours as possible. Okay, so here's the story. The last blog I posted was that we were officially licensed. Once that happened, I just knew we were going to get a call immediately b/c we're just a good home :) and b/c they've said over and over that there are so many kids who need a home. Well a few days went by, then a few weeks and we hadn't gotten a call. Then like the first week in May we found out that a friend's daughter had hand foot and mouth disease. Dane had been exposed while staying over there for BSF. So we had to watch and wait to see if he was going to get it. He didn't look like he was showing signs over the weekend and then monday he came down with a slight rash, a few bite looking things on his feet and a slight fever. I figured he was coming down with it...and we got our first call that night! It was for a 9 month old baby and I didn't know what to say b/c it's so contagious. She said CPS probably wouldn't go for it so we had to say no. We were bummed but we resolved to believe that God is in control and He had another home picked for this precious baby. So we waited...and waited. The day before BSF ended we got another call for a 6 yr old girl, a 2 1/2 yr. old boy and 1 1/2 year old boy. The youngest boy had the same birthday as Dane! I was a little nervous about the last day of BSF, but we said we'd take them and she called right back to say they'd already been placed in another home. Bummer again. We got a few emails about kids, but the cases seemed to severe for us to handle or for our kids and as we prayed about it we just didn't feel a peace at all about taking any of those kids. So, thursday the 4th of June we got a call about 2 little girls. At first they sounded perfect. However, as family link got more info on them and passed it on to us, we weren't so sure. There had been severe neglect, possibly sexual abuse of some type, and they were both very aggressive. We got another call the same day about 3 kids, a girl and 2 boys. 3 sounded a little overwhelming to me but so did the 2 girls with all the issues. Jamie at family link basically said she worried about Jovi's safety. I asked for more info on the 3 and it was the same 3 that they had called about just a couple of weeks before!!! I told Jamie I didn't know what to do and that she knows us and these kids and I trusted her decision, we'd take either. She called 2 mintues later and said we got the 3! I felt such a peace...then we jumped into action. They came the next day, that afternoon. So the day was spent scrambling to get bunk beds and a crib, etc...The showed up on friday at about 3:30. Julia is our daugther and Hector and Juan are our sons...along with Jovi and Dane of course. It's been just over a week and I don't want them to go anytime soon. I find myself worrying a little here and there thinking they could go at any moment. I knew that going into it, but these kids are so precious and so sweet and they seem to be adapting to our schedule so well and so quickly. God is just so good! Here are some examples of how good He is and He has really just orchestrated this whole thing...One of Dan's clients gave us $500 to help out! That covered the bunkbeds and mattresses. One of my old clients has given Julia new clothes and lots of diapers for the boys. Another friend gave us a bunch of diapers. My Aunt Linda is sending a care package with lots of things for the kids (not sure just what yet, but knowing her, it'll be grand :) ). The girlfriend of a coworker of Dan's (and she babysits my kids some) gave clothes and shoes to the kids. I had been given so many boy clothes for Dane and I had the hardest time going through them, knowing there was no way they'd all get worn by Dane. God knew these boys would be coming and they are all the same size basically! God is good! Will do kid funnies in the next blog...

"Let the little children come to me" Mt. 19:14

The most recent adventure we have been called to embark on is to be foster parents. We have completed all of the paperwork and are awaiting our final inspection of our home (we had a smoke detector out and had to replace it), we have completed the training (2 saturdays from 9-9!) and I am currently working on the prehomestudy questionnaire (I never remember how to spell questionnaire/questionairre/questionnairre). They agency will come do a homestudy and we will go over the types of kids we'd be willing to take in. That sounds so unfeeling and robotic. To clarify, the kids are typed based on how abused and neglected they were. There is Basic, Moderate (defined by more behavioral problems and usually on some type of medication, in particular psychotropic meds) and severe (kids in wheel chairs, retarded, cerebal palsy, etc...as a result of the abuse, or some even abused b/c of it I imagine). Because our children are still so young and do need so much of us we will probably stick to basic. Once they are older, I'd like to think we'd take any child that needed care. Some of the stories we heard from other foster parents are just too horrible to even mention! It is so sad and I just don't understand how anyone could hurt their babies as these people have. If they leave our home with nothing else, I hope they know and believe that Jesus Christ died for them and their parents (as sin wrecked as they are) and Jesus is wanting them to come to Him and He will take care of them. I am praying they will understand the word safe and feel safe and secure in our home. I am also praying for wisdom in general. I have no idea how this is going to work and it is so very liberating to just trust the Lord. I have no control here and for once I think I like it. My heart feels so full of the Lord it wants to burst. I just can't say enough wonderful things about our creator and how He has taught me and sought me and brought me to Him in such a wonderful way through the organization of BSF. I don't want to give the organization any more credit than is due them. It is all b/c of the Lord that they exist and are touching so many lives. Will definitely keep you/me posted on how this journey progresses. I will put up pictures as well so our family can see our new kiddos when they come to us.
Blessings...

My Precious Little Ones...

Will I ever get tired of writing about my babies??? Not at all! So, I'm sitting at the dining table working on my homiletics for BSF and Jovi is sitting next to me coloring. She was trying to find a page in her workbook to color and was singing as always...and I do mean always! It took me a minute to realize she was singing "Be Thou My Vision". What a blessing! I love that song and do play it. It amazes me how she picks things up. She has such a joyful heart and a grateful heart! She loves the Lord and that gives me so much joy because she loves Him inspite of anything I've done. God is so good to call His children to Him and to so gently hold them in the palm of His hand.
Another funny is that she was singing a song she totally made up in the car this morning. It lasted a good 5 minutes or more...she just kept going. Some of the lines were "thank you for all the kids you created, thank you for the ingredients in cake, thank you for the houses we live in, thank you for the trees, thank you for the food, I love you so much, please hold onto my balloon for me for when I get to Heaven" and it went on and on! So sweet.
Dane was supposed to be sleeping, but has now awaken so I must go tend to him. I need to write more and that little doodle bug soon. He too is growing so fast and developing a love for the Lord I could have only dreamed about.
Thank you, Precious Lord, for my beautiful babies!

The Cause of Christ

BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) has been such a blessing to our family. For one, I am studying the Bible and getting so richly fed. The Holy Spirit has absolutely enabled my understanding far more than I ever would hae dreamed. Second, it is bringing my kids to an understanding of Christ and a realization that they need Him. I'm writing about this b/c they have handouts called Home Training Lessons (aka the pink sheet). It has practical, biblically based advice for raising your children according to the word of God and so they have a Biblical world view. Lesson 6 for The Life of Moses study talks about praying for your child. How important it is that we intercede for our children from the very beginning! This world is going to throw so much at them, they need the protection of our prayers. I don't know if BSF did it on purpose but the sheet gives 12 things to pray about regarding your child, so I broke it down to try to pray one thing consistently per month. I kind of waivered/forgot for January and February (maybe even december of last year...oops!) and just found the sheet again. So for march it says to pray that your child will "boldly speak about Jesus and become a leader and standard-bearer for teh cause of Christ rather than for causes of the world". It gives 2 supporting verses...Galatians 6:14 May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord, Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. And 1 Timothy 6:17 Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. I love that last line, "who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment". God is so loving toward us and He wants our enjoyment, so much so that He provides what is needed. My prayer is that my kids will be bold in Christ, that they will further the cause of Christ and that they will seek the approval of the Lord, Jesus Christ only-well done my good and faithful servant.
The other day, Jovi was laying on some pillows on the floor in our room while I was on the bed doing my Bible study. Out of no where she says that she wants to know how Jesus can come live in her heart. I said a quick, silent prayer that I would say just what God wanted me to say. I told her to come sit on my lap and let's talk about it. I explained why we need Jesus in our hearts,that we are sinners and He died for our sins so God wouldn't punish us for them and so we can go to Heaven for ever and ever. I told her that all she had to do was pray and ask Jesus to come live in her heart and said "I want to do that". So we did. She is only 3 1/2 and I have wondered since then just how much she gets it. I wondered if this was really it, it sounds silly, but does this "count" as her accepting Christ as her savior? I spoke with the children's leader at BSF and she thought it was wonderful and shared with me the story of her kids accepting Christ as well and they were young, 3 and 2. She said for this age, having been raised in a Christian home, this is just the next logical step, vs. someone who doesn't know Christ until they are much older. They have more of an awareness of their sin and it is more of a "conversion" experience. She told me to just encourage Jovi and do still talk about it with her. She does understand so very much. It amazes me. I'm anxious to see what happens with Dane.
My babies are such blessings and I have been so convicted of my wrong, abrasive parenting style. I yell way tooo much and I am praying that God will give me His gentleness with my children. I want home to be a safe place for them not one that puts their tummies in turmoil b/c they never know how mom is going to pop off or fly off the handle at them.
Thank you Jesus for your word, for the conviction of sin and the removal of guilt!

My Baby's going to school!!!!...sort of

So Jovi is officially a preschooler...starting this september. I signed her up today at Noah's Ark Preschool. She will be going tuesdays and thursdays from 9-2pm. Not knowing what the next year is going to hold, I thought this would be a good transition. If we homeschool, she'll be fine, if we do Veritas, she'll be used to a 2 day a week schedule and if we do regular school (public or private), this will be a good transition.
Here's the funny thing. I talked with the director and found out all the info-when to register, cost, how registration works, etc. Registration was on a wednesday and I (and Jovi) have BSF those mornings and wouldn't be able to make it when they opened the doors at 10 am. She told me there were only 2 spots left for Jovi's age group. I just left it in God's hands. We got there at 11:30ish. No one was there in line or anything, so we missed the rush. This also meant that we probably wouldn't have a spot and she would be wait-listed. I told the woman what age group we were there for and she said "We have one spot left.". I was floored. All I could say was "that is the grace of God".
So now we are praying for a smooth transition for her come this fall. She is doing a summer camp for the month of June, same days only from 9-12. All about transition. She is such a smart child. I am praying she will be challenged and it will be a nurturing environment for her. She has such a love of learning and I don't want anything to get in the way of that.
One last story...I love this story. So I got a book for Christmas called "Leading Little One's to God". I may have already mentioned it...Jovi calls it "Reading Little One's to God". Anyways, it's kind of like a catechism. It starts with creation and how God created the earth, etc...and moves to each major story/theme in the Bible. We were reading about Jesus' ascension and I was going over the questions at the end of the section and I don't remember the question, but Jovi's response was "Oh, Mom! I know this one. I learned it last year in Mrs. Hill's class!". Mrs. Hill was her teacher in BSF last year when she was 2. Such a blessing. More later....

Dane-tastic!

Poor Dane...he is such the second child. This is so bad and I can't believe I'm admitting it, but I have to remind myself that he is his own person, not anything like his sister. Jovi is still our wildcard b/c she is going to get through every milestone before Dane (and any other's God blesses us with, although at this point I sometimes wonder if He is smacking Himself in the head for giving us what He has...) and I feel like I forget he's a person, who is experiencing everything for the first time and in such a different way than his sister. He is so funny! And so smart! He is trying to be so verbal. He tries just about every word I say to him. Some you can make out and others are just total nonsense. Last night I was changing his diaper and getting his pajamas on and he tickled my foot and said "tikow, tikow, tikow". It tickled and it was funny and I just cracked up. He did it over and over and over again.

His routine is so nice right now. He is such a kid of routine (as is Jovi) but he seems to set it as much as need it set where Jovi needs it set but doesn't set it...does that even make sense? Hopefully it will still make sense to me when I read this in 5-10 years. What will blogging look like then? I digress...

Our current routine for Dane is as follows: he's up between 7 and 7:30 am. Usually plays sweetly in his crib. Get him out, do breakfast and any morning activity we have planned. Do lunch around 11 or 11:30. Play, read a story or 2 and change diaper, nurse, put him in his bed and he falls asleep. He stays there until about 2 or so. Up and playing again, maybe a small snack. Outside time, weather permitting. He is into everything. He is persistent! Does not matter how many times you remove him from a situation or tell him no or even pop his hand or bottom, he waits till you aren't looking and does it again, and again, and again...it's groundhog day baby style. Anyways, we do dinner around 5. Baths after if time and it's bath night. Play some more. Do story time all together "Leading Little One's to God" or as Jovi calls it "Reading Little One's to God". And then I read him another short story. His choice of late is "Nighty Night". It's a baby Sesame Street book and he loves it! He gets and comes laughing and plops in your/my lap to read and screams out their names..."Melmo! (elmo). B-Bir! (big bird) Bir! (bert)". So cute! Okay, I have to run. Dear husband just got home with stuff for the kiddos (clothes and a tent from a client!) More soon...I hope :)