Snow Day!

Finally, we got SNOW!
So beautiful!

I am so thankful for my sweet

husband.

He spent the morning shoveling us out.

I got to stay in the warm house

enjoying the beauty of the day!

Everyone Do the Dinosaur

Yesterday, the kids were paleontologists.

Just for the day.
We had a very fun time at the zoo learning
about dinosaurs.

The teacher, Brianne, did a great job getting

the kids interested and keeping them

busy as we studied dinosaurs.

One of the best parts about the zoo class

are the educational animals.

The kids get lots of hands on

experiences.

By far, the biggest thrill was the

baby alligator.

The kids got to pet him

and learn about him.

They also learned how parts

of him are like dinosaur parts.

After lots of animal fun, there was a table

activity. Everyone had their own cups of hardened

plaster. They chipped and dug and cut

away layers of dirt and plaster to

reveal a little surprise inside.

It was a very fun morning for all of us.

I wonder if the time inspired any future

plans for paleontology (the study of dinosaurs).

There Are Days

There are days when it's so easy

for me to wake up, get moving, and enjoy

the things of this life. Then there

are days when all I want to do is

be in heaven.

I must confess, I don't have a death wish,

I'm not suicidal, I just want to be with my Mom.

I want to tell her about everything that's happened

since she's been gone. I want to tell her about the kids.
One of my Mother's greatest joys was being a grandmother.

She loved my kids, and she loved to listen to me

talk about the kids.

When P. and Baby D. joined our family my

Mom embraced them as if they were her own

grand babies.

She staid at our house one weekend so that I could get some sleep.

She woke up all night to take care of the baby.

She loved being able to do that.

When Jon and I made the decision to have the boys removed

from our home, it broke her heart as much as it did ours.

She loved those boys so very much. Nothing made her

happier than knowing that Jon and I still got to see them.

During her last year of life, the boys' foster mother offered to bring them

to see my Mom. My sweet mother didn't want them to be sad, or worried, or scared.

As much as she may have wanted to see them, she didn't.

If I could go to heaven, I would talk on and on about having

four kids again. I would tell her how big

the boys are. I would tell her how happy the kids are

to be together because blood alone doesn't make you siblings.

I would tell her how much I love her.

I would thank her for raising me to have the strength and courage to wake up every

day, even when I don't want to.

I would thank her for giving me the desire to be a mother.

It Never Ends

More kids means more laundry.

It seems like it never ends.

Our washing machine and drier deserve

an award. I know what we'll be doing

this weekend.

Hairdo's and Zoos

After fixing Doodles hair,
Baby D. decided he wanted his done too.

After a morning of Hairdo's,

we went to the zoo

with Papa.

Despite the snow,

a good time

was had by all.

Especially Papa.

After all of the hiking through the snow,

he took ALL of us out for lunch

at Taco Bell.

What fun!

An Old Fasioned Ice Harvest

This weekend, we took a little trip

so the kids could learn about ice harvesting.
Although it was cold,
each of them took a turn pushing
the ice blocks towards the bank.
This way the horses could pick them up.
They also tried sawing the ice.

The Big K. described it as "Really hard work."

Doodles couldn't move the blade without

Daddy's help.

After cutting our ice,

we walked to the ice house

to watch the workers move the blocks of ice in.

The village saves the ice in the house through the summer,

and then they have an ice cream social.

This ice harvest happens every year.

I went to my first one while I was in college.

It was so much fun to take the kids, and

to see the joy on their faces as they tried

something new. At the end of the day,

the Big K. told me,

"Boy am I glad we have a refrigerator."

So am I.

Happy Valentine's Day

My daughter loves a good holiday.

She would celebrate every holiday on the

calendar if we'd let her.

President's Day, Flag Day, anything.

I believe this love of holidays comes from never having

anything to celebrate before we met her.

She and her brother had never had a birthday,

Easter, or Thanksgiving.

When Doodles got a family, she got holidays.

Because of her love of all days special, I really enjoy

making the time fun.

Today was Valentine's Day. What fun

it was to think of special things to do for the kids.

We enjoyed heart shaped pancakes and pink

milk for breakfast.
The kids loved them, especially Doodles.
Every year, we give the kids some Valentine
candy and a book.
This year was no different.
This morning after church,
each of the kids took some time to open their cards
and their presents.
A happy Valentine's Day was had by
all.

Hope you had a fun day with the person or

people that you love.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Getting To Know You (Again)

This past week has been CRAZY. Adding two little

ones to our family has made us much busier!

The boys lived with us for one year.

They moved out right before

my Mom was diagnosed with cancer, because we believed

they would be returning to their mother, and we

really want to adopt.

Throughout the time they've been out of our home,

we've come to know and love their mother.

We've staid in touch with their other foster mother,

and we've seen the boys off and on.

When the county asked if we could take the boys, we

knew we had to say yes.

Friday, I realized how right that decision was.

P. and D. have visits with their mom, and

they had one on Friday. P. became very upset.

I held him, told him how much I loved him, and I let him

know that he was staying with us until he could live with his

mom. I told him his mom would be coming over to

our house, and that we would be doing things together.

I rocked him in the rocker, something he loved as a two

year old. I held him. I kissed him. I told him how much we

loved him. He started twisting my hair. A habit he

had when he was a toddler.

After I held him for a while, he went into his bedroom.

He opened up his toy bin and started going

through all of his old toys. I'd saved them all of

this time. I'm so thankful they were still here.

As he went through his things, he would

bring them out to me. He would

say, "Mommy, I remember this." or "I love this".

Finally he looked at me and said,

"I did live here before. I did. I remember."
The smile on his face was HUGE! His

eyes have been sparkling ever since.

I knew, at that moment, our decision to allow

the boys back into our family, no matter how long

or how short, was the right one.

God had them returned to us for a reason that only He knows.

I'm just so thankful for this time.

Wow! What A Week!

On Monday morning, we received a call.

It wasn't totally out of the blue,

but it was still a surprise.

Our two former foster sons, the ones

we visited with before Christmas,

needed to be removed from their foster home.

The county wanted to know if we would take them back.

WOW! We really don't want to be foster parents.

Our goal has always been adoption.

We said we'd pray, and we did. After much talking

and praying, and talking to our kids,

we decided to allow the boys to come back.

We couldn't send them to another home.

We know what that does to kids.

Our kids had eight homes before they came to us.

They suffer from those moves almost daily.

We couldn't do that to the boys.

Today, they moved home. They were so excited.

The look on the baby's face. I believe

he remembers his time here, on some level.

P. was also so excited to be home.

He laughed and played,

and was hugging and kissing us

all evening.

And so, we take each moment as it comes.

I don't know the Lord's will in this, but

I believe He wants the boys here.

We love them so much, we love

their mother. These children have become a part

of our family. I pray that they always will

be, and that the Lord will use us any way

He sees fit.

Oh how I wish my Mom were here right now. To see the kids.

To know they're home. She would be so happy.

Just An Ordinary Day

In the play "Our Town", one of the characters

gets the chance to choose one day

to go back to. To re-live.

I remember the author's writing that described the character

as an observer of an ordinary day in her life.

If I were given the opportunity to go back, observe,

enjoy, just one day out of my life,

I would choose the day that we

went to the Bronx Zoo.

Not because it was a holiday, a birthday, a wedding.
Not because it was any different than any other
day. I would go back because it was
such an ordinary day.
Our lives had yet to be touched with mortality.
It was the last time that we were
all together, before life
was shadowed with cancer.
With death.
We spent a whole day together.
We walked through the zoo and enjoyed
each other's company. We met my
brother. We ate lunch.
We laughed.
The weather was perfect. We had so much
fun.
We thought there would be a million more
days like that one.
Less than one month after that trip to the
zoo, we found out my Mom was dying.
On that day, she wasn't dying.
We weren't hurting.
We weren't healing.
We were a family that was whole.
If I could go back, just for the day,
I would enjoy it more.
I would savour the time that we shared.
Some how I would make the day last longer.
I would slow down and enjoy it more.
It's funny how an ordinary day, spent with
loved ones, can become such a special
memory.
I'm so thankful that we shared that day together.
I'm so thankful that we had that time.
One thing that my Mother's illness and death has
taught me is how finite life is.
How you just never know when the ordinary
may become the extraordinary.