R.E.S.P.I.T.E. Find Out What It Means To Me...

That's right, after nearly 3 months of going nonstop, this Mommy & Daddy get a night off. Little Buddy is headed to his former foster Mommy's house to spend the night (they have a really good, healthy relationship). Gramsie and GramPapa are coming over this evening and watching SweetPea for a few hours. DH and I are going to go on a double date with AuntieMoo & Uncle Kiwi (my SIL and BIL) for a lovely dinner.

Sweet relief.

Ever kicked around the idea of becoming a foster or fost/adopt home? Did you know that you can become a respite care provider and "get your feet wet" to see how it all works (without making the full blown commitment)? Us foster families so appreciate being able to have a few hours (or overnight) to recover and regroup. It keeps us healthy and, in turn, is great for our kiddos, as well.

Exhale...

Hansel & Gretel..

This past week has been a wild one to say the least. One of those types that was so jam-packed it flew by in a blink. The best night (in my book) was doing respite and hanging out with Hansel (4 years old) and Gretel (his 2 1/2 year old sister).

Hansel made us mac and cheese and also served us hot dogs and carrots. He's quite the chef!


They were an absolute laugh-riot and completely adorable. He had his serious moments ("You've gotta make the noodles juuuust right, Wissa") and both had a wonderful sense of humor. It was a delight having them and I told their family we would be happy to schedule watching them a couple times a month.

They were stoked!

God is always watching and listening to our hearts. He knows deep down this was a hard week for me. Our twins (Jack & Jill--we had them for 9 months) recently had a birthday. Our little darlings are out there somewhere and they have been haunting my thoughts and dreams. I continue to pray for their safety and well being but wish I could just lay eyes on them and know for certain all is well.

It's completely out of my hands and I have to trust in Him.

Having Hansel and Gretel visit was very healing and I loved every minute of it. Our time together also confirmed that our next placement will be sibs.. close in age. As always, His timing is perfect.

It was just what I needed.

Hiatus Schmiatus...

Although on foster hiatus, I'm doing my best to stay in swing of things. Last weekend I manned a booth at a local fair for our county trying to get word out about the need for foster families and respite care providers. Aside from the micro burst that about blew us to KS it was an awesome day with a great turnout. I met other foster mamas and made some new friends..

Totally cool.

I have to admit, I'm completely missing the sound of little feet, children's laughter and the chaos that has been my life this past year and a half. I'm stoked to report that tonight our home will be rockin' as we're doing respite for a local family. We'll have a 2 1/2 year old little girl and her 4 year old brother tearing up the joint. The plan of attack is to eat a nice meal then run our legs off across the property. Maybe we'll look for bunnies, pick flowers, collect rocks

..and run some more..

Can't.Wait.

Ring Phone Ring..

We got a call from "E" (our wonderful new placement worker) on Friday and it sounds like one of the other families may need respite care over the holidays for two little girls (an 18 month old and 3 year old). Basically, it's baby sitting for another foster family. We are required to do respite at least three times and did it once back in August. It is a great experience for newbies like us and relieves foster parents .. so everyone wins. I told "E" we're home all through Christmas but leaving for a long weekend of snowmobiling on New Years Day.

The possibility of doing respite or having an emergency placement has been my motivation for getting the inside of the house decorated for Christmas. My hopes aren't all that high that "The Call" for our placement will be coming anytime soon. I'm sort of in a funk and time seems to have taken it's toll on the excitement level... Bah Humbug.

Honestly, I'm really not feeling the spirit of the holidays this year and believe you me, I love Christmas. Work is cutting hours, gift giving has been scaled way back and deep down I think I'm a little sad we don't have an itty bitty yet. Selfish, right? The upside is this frugal holiday helps focus on The Reason rather than the commercialism of the holiday season.

SO, we await yet a different type of call.

Things I Learned Today

10) No matter how many expensive toys are spewed across the floor, a 2 year old considers the teal balloon to be, hands down, the most interesting.

9) You can play with said balloon for hours on end.

8) I can work in the yard all day and be exhausted that night. I can cook, chase kids, lay on the floor, coloring and talking for half a day and it's the same level of exhaustion.

7) At breakfast, you can pour maple syrup on anything and it will get eaten.

6) Little heads come ----> <---- close to fitting between the stair rails.

5) Gliding on a wood floor wearing socks is as fun as ice skating.

4) No, a 2 year old can't handle the glass of water by himself (no matter how adamant his 7 year old sister is that he can). It's best to go with your gut instincts.

3) The water drinker's drenched clothes dry much quicker using a hair dryer rather than the clothes dryer.

2) On most first attempts while eating spaghetti by hand, a 2 year old is capable of hitting every clean spot on his face, missing his mouth completely.

1) Children's joyful giggles and belly laughs are gifts from God to make grown ups relax and their hearts smile.

3 Kids + 6 Hours = 0 Bloodshed

WooHoo.. Sweet Relief!



I must admit, I had visions of crazy dancing in my head last night. The downright worst Super Nanny episodes ever flashed across my mind's eye. Screaming, hitting, cursing.. Kids Gone Wild Versus Cowering Adults. Would that be us?

I'm pleased to report, we had none of it.

Don't get me wrong, our family room looks like the Tasmanian Devil spun through. I've got spaghetti embedded in places I don't even want to know about and I'm certain missing pen caps, crayon pieces and other miscellaneous objects will end up choking my vacuum later on. Other than that, it was smooth sailing and a fun time.

The girls helped with breakfast, remarkably capable of cracking eggs without getting shells in the mix (not bad for a 5, 7 and a 39 year old if I do say so myself). They sat at the table for both breakfast and lunch like angels (DH quizzed the girls on math.. they loved that) and we held nice conversations. We had the normal sibling quarrelling but nothing I couldn't handle that prompted me to run into the closet and hide.

While I did dishes DH sat with them through a few cartoons and they laughed when he called it, "SquareBobSpongePants". Silly newbie. He noted that kid shows sure aren't what they were back in our day..

The 2 year old was all boy and took a few headers and spills (there were no scrapes.. I pray there's no bruising). Do they ever STOP? No. Thank goodness he was tough as nails.

I asked J how many hours of respite were required and she said, "No, it's not hours it's TIMES.. you are supposed to do it 3 times." Do 3 kids count as 3 times? Of course not (hey, we couldn't help but ask). I think they suckered us by scheduling easy, darling kids the first go round to boost our flailing egos. Now that we think we've got this kid-thing figured out, they'll lower the boom with a wild child (or two or...).

One Respite Down .. Two To Go!

Do You Hear What I Hear?

Apparently not. If you do (and you were, say, anyone other than my husband) you would have heard me tell you last night that we had 3 (three, tres, two more than one) kiddos coming tomorrow morning. Not two children.. which he swears is what I told him. Um, no. Seriously, I wonder sometimes if I'm really the teacher in the Charlie Brown cartoons that is the "Wha wha wha" noise in the back round.

Oh well, can't say I don't suffer from selective hearing myself (but that's different.. that usually pertains to shopping).

Dippin' Our Feet In The Kiddie Pool

Had a message tonight that a local family needs some respite care on Saturday morning. Basically, it's a foster family that needs a break and we babysit their kiddos (in this case, it's a grandma and grandpa-a kinship placement-that need a few hours in the morning to attend a class). So, from 8am-2pm we'll have a 2 year old boy and his 5 and 7 year old sisters hanging out with us. It's going to be a very different kind of morning here at the ole homestead. I'm sure they'll have us spinning.. but I'm still excited!

Hopefully we can tread long enough to keep our noses above water level.