Sowing Seeds

The end of January the kids helped our dear friends, Joe and Gloria, sow seeds. Joe had surgery for a blocked artery and needed to take it easy, so the kids helped with some of the beginning garden preparations.



I know that the kids had a fun time and I think Joe and Gloria did too.

After all of the work, popsicles were handed out to the workers. And then we enjoyed the nice afternoon.

Below: Clay climbing in the olive tree

Below: Paige made friends with an earthworm

Bike Maniacs

One the things on my long "to do" list, was to teach the kids to ride their bikes. We tried a while back with no success and since then, it has been pushed to the back of my mind. They really had no desire. Paige had a scooter that she loved riding and Clay would ride his big wheels that he was way too big for. They didn't have any reason to learn. Thankfully that changed a couple of weeks ago. Clay decided it was time to learn, so he began practicing and of course you can't let your little brother learn before you do, so Paige was on her bike without training wheels trying herself. Within a few tries, Paige was riding as if she had been at for years.



And a few days later with some practice times at a nearby parking lot, Clay got the hang of it too.



So now what do we do in our free time? Ride our bikes, of course. Drew has his bike with training wheels and the other two will be on theirs going up and down the sidewalk. Over and over again. Clay is still learning a bit of control.

We have even taken Paige on the river trail by our house and if my calculations are correct she rode over 7 miles that day.

So the scooter and big wheel are now beginning to collect dust in the corner of the garage, because they kids have learned that you can go way faster on the bikes.

So I am happily checking another thing off my "to do" list. I have a little time before I am ready for Drew to take off his training wheels. I would like him to begin looking ahead instead of down at the ground as he rides. A little dangerous, he is. :)

GO COLTS!!!!!!

Trouble with Leaving a Comment

I have had a few people email me to tell me they tried to leave a comment but were unable to. I have had comments from non-blogger people, so I am not sure if I have something that I need to change with the settings or if it is something that they need to do. Does anyone have any advice? I love hearing from people, so I want it to be easy to leave comments. This technical stuff is not "up my alley" so I am clueless. Please leave me a comment if you know what I need to do (and if you know what I need to do and can't leave a comment, please email me)

Foster Classes Continue

We had our 2nd of 9 foster parent classes this week. I intended to post earlier to update, but as you can tell, that didn't happen.

We continue to learn a lot about the system, which is good. It is very complicated and each and every situation is different. But to atleast know the process is helpful.

Before this class I spoke with the lady in the adoptions part of the county social welfare office. After speaking with her, I learned that since we have specified adoptions, we will only get calls from the adoptions office. And it will only be for children whose parents' rights are terminated, or the social worker is going to recommend the rights to be terminated. That was a huge relief.

But then we go to the meeting, which is run by the fostercare part of the office, they are sharing the huge need in foster parents who are willing to get the 2 am in call for a child that is in need. With that you still have the opportunity to adopt if the child is opened for adoption. In fact you would probably be the first choice. So you would have children in your house sooner most likely. But then it isn't going to be guaranteed that you will get to keep the first ones, because reunification with family is the first goal.

And then she says if you are going straight adoptions you might have to wait a long time.

sigh

Jathan and I have to do what is best for our family. We have three children right now, and they are our top priority. What is best for them? I think we both agree that going straight adoptions is. I am just tired of waiting. I am tired of the process. I am tired of proving to people that we can parent and our home is safe. I am growing weary. This is a long journey. I went to the first meeting with our original agency in November of '07. It has been long.

I don't understand why adoption is so hard. Why if there are wonderful, loving parents out there that want to adopt and orphans all over the world and in this country who need a nurturing home, why is it so hard? I have to go back to the truth of God's word. He is in control. He loves those orphans more than I do. He is sovereign over all. He is good. I don't understand why. I may never understand why. But I know that the one who is in control knows why and knows exactly what He is doing. I also know that each step of the way, He is guiding me, carrying me, teaching me and loving me. I am not alone. It is not all in vain. I am in the refiners fire, and I am hoping that through this, in the end, I will mirror my savior much more than I did before I entered it. I have to focus on that, because I am tired on my own.

Time to Train Clarification

I hope, if you are a parent of children in the home, that when you read my original post, that it was encouraging to see that fruit will come. I hope also, though, that you didn't think I have it all together in my training of my children. Nothing could be further from the truth. I have so much to learn. I wrote the post mostly to remind myself of the importance of taking the time to train. Because it does take time, lots of time and lots of patience! Little by little, when we have taken the much needed time, it has been fruitful. I need to remember that. In the daily grind, we get so caught up in crossing things off of our list (I am really talking to myself), that we forget what our goals are. I get so caught up in the short little sprint of the day, that the marathon of life is no where in view. Of course sometimes we need to focus on today to remain sane, but we have to remember what our goals are.

Thank you to all that have commented.

On a practical level, one comment was about arranging the kitchen so the kids could unload the dishwasher. I have run across this when I have had my kids unload. I told them to put all the items that belonged in a place too high for them to reach on the counter. I found 90% of the items on the counter. So that is one thing I do myself. But if I would rearrange, it wouldn't have to be that way. I want to have an atmosphere for training. I would love to hear of ideas that that you have had or have heard that has helped you train your children.

Time to Train

When my kids were little (like when they were 3, 2 and a baby) I wondered how on earth people could have more than three. I even wondered how I was going to survive with three. When you are in the middle of babies and toddlers, it is hard to look past the diapers, bottles, carseats, pack-n-plays, naptime, high chairs, having to tote anything and everything with you when you go anywhere, and having to do everything for your kids, like putting on clothes, shoes, coats, etc. But then little by little, things change, suddenly you aren't putting on 4 pairs of shoes (counting your own) whenever you need to run to the store. You can say "get your coat on" and it happens. And my all time favorite was when I could tell them to get in the car and get buckled. I wasn't having to buckle 3 different carseats anymore! You realize that your job (in addition to the most important job of teaching them the things of the Lord) is to help them become more and more independent. We are training them to become adults! I am learning more each day of what my kids are capable of if I would just take the time to train them. But the time is well invested. Even though it is so much faster (and might look a whole lot better) to clean the bathroom counter myself, Clay will never learn if I don't take the time to teach him. Baking a cake is a whole lot easier when it is just me measuring, adding and mixing. But they are learning when they are reading the recipe, measuring out the ingredients and turning on the mixer. And then you have days when you see the fruit of your labor.

Normally, we have company in our home once a week for dinner. We have gotten to the point where I can say we are having company tonight, lets get the house straightened up. Now, I can put the leaf in the table and they will put the pad and tablecloth on. I can get the dishes from the high shelf and they will set the table. And I can even tell Paige what I would like help with in the cooking or baking and she will (for the most part) take care of it herself. It is a huge help to me, but it is also reminding them that we are serving as a family.

I am writing this more to myself, to remind myself, that training takes time and energy. But in time we can have confidence that our children will grow. I want my kids to be prepared adults. Unfortunately, they aren't always wanting to be trained, but we are working through that too. Teaching to work hard is another lesson in itself.

The best reward is seeing their face when the cookies turn out just right, the table looks great when the company comes or when you say to them "you have been a big help to Mommy!"

Below is a picture of Paige a few weeks ago, baking cookies for company coming. (Paige has found that an added benefit of mixing the cookies herself, is that she can add as many chocolate chips as she would like!)