Mommy Chronicles

Adam is working in the school store and loves being paid in product, he gets ice cream! He also was recently bribed by a two liter of Mountain Dew for scoring 5 goals in soccer. He also has been very organized single counting every aluminum can him and David are saving. They are close to the 800s!................................................. .................................................................... David has been taking a keyboarding and computer applications class, he even helped me build a power point! He loves the singer/rapper Lacrae and hopes to go to his concert sometime. He is adored by Lillie and is quick to give her hugs and loves when he gets home everyday............................................................................ .......................................... Matthew is enjoying junior high and responding well to the added responsibilities with that! He continues to love to read and has been researching different fish. He also loves playing wipeout on the wii. All three of the boys are on the "Thunder" adapted soccer team and really exert themselves. This week is the state playoff game so it will determine if they keep playing or not. They have had a great season though and have really amazed us!............... ....................................................................................................... Libby started playing the upright bass, a really cool instrument I had to u tube to know what it even was! She has been getting high ratings everyday for speaking Spanish in the classroom, she is very eager to do well in school. She has earned enough classroom points to chose to be the teacher for an hour, right up her alley!................... .................................................................................................. Reany started playing the violin! She has been busy working on her trampoline flips and hasn't given up her love for dance, although enjoys one less thing in her schedule for now. She likes reading books about animals and is freehand in a picture of a tiger for Noah. She loves writing and playing with her little sisters............................. .......................................................................................... Noah is a wonderful kindergartner! He comes home from school singing songs and wanting to play teacher. He came to me with tallies all on a sheet and numbers written saying that is how kindergartner a do math and they each mean a number. He is a leader in the class, every time I spy on him, he is up front and engaged. He loves animals and learning about them as well. He has become a resident artist as well, creating pictures of specific animals and us.. ..................................................................................................................... Naomi starts school on Friday! Her preschool screening revealed their interest to have her attend the class and work on articulation (3 sounds are being flipped and flopped.). She will get to use her dora backpack, which means we have to find a different bag for dance. Her hair is getting really long and she added some nice layers to one side, hopefully that was a one timer....................................................................................... .............................. Lillie is my first toddler to cry for broccoli, she loves her broccoli! She is a talker and is very expressive. She has taught me that infants should cry it out to sleep through the night, she yells at the top of her lungs, "MOMMY!!" Over and over, even shouting, "MOMMY, I LOVE YOU!!!" How do you refuse that? When tried to she goes down the list, daddy, Libby, Reany, Noah. This girl is smart!...................................................................... Mommy and Daddy's tenure is approaching. We have been trying to regroup more often, overnights are nice, missing out on a full days routines and focusing on ourselves. Selfish, right? Not really, we have to be upward in our relationship with God before the horizontal relationships can prosper and the parent relationship is the underlying atmosphere for our child rearing. This is the song that never ends................................................

Expectations

These are my expectations. Parenting children with attachment issues, in that there were traumatic experiences they had no control over, can be exhausting because they do have control over their responses to you. As a primary caregiver, it is often the mother that gets the short end of the stick. So I made them their own sticks, with flags on them. Everybody has flags to do, and they are numbered since there are some expectations before going to school. We have hygeine issues, we have memory issues, and we have mom issues. The flags take out that level of interaction for me and give me more of a break in the nagging. It is simple, and if we have leverage or expectations from them- such as soccer games, pop, what have you, we have compliance. Now what I really need to do is make one for Luke too, because he is not always requiring they do the flags. Of course he just doesn't value it as much as I do since he is not the one regularily expecting compliance on such mundane things. The last two mornings I skipped out on the morning, if Luke offers, I take it. There is no reason for both of us to be up, the earlier for me the easier to error (either me or him, mostly him, haha.) He is going hunting this weekend though and the kids have off from school, so we will have plenty of time together. We are doing great this school year, minus the babysitting special ed and having to be on our toes advocating for our kids education. We are blessed, we are both at home now, so that is a great thing...most days. I also have been subbing some, which is lots of fun and enjoyable to accomplish things, unlike the laundry mission around here. I had the priviledge of hosting an adoptive moms retreat at a local camp this past weekend, so that was my hunting trip. Hunting for R&R, got it! Met some neat women and reconnected with others from years past. We unite in our unique parenting experiences and encourage one another, it is really rewarding to see how we are changing the future for our kiddos! Even though we are left confused and tattered, we are raising some great kids and are winning for trying! Hats off to all you awesome moms!

A New School Year!

My little buddy is a kindergartener!! Noah is in spanish immersion and loves it! After the first week though, he did say that the day gets a little long and that he thought he should probably quit. Of course, I told him that he cannot quit school until after 12th grade and even then he will go to college and so he can just nap when he gets home if he needs to:) These girls are in 5th grade now! They started playing in Orchestra too, Libby chose the huge upright bass, Reany the violin. They are continuing with piano as well and are turning into wonderful little women! New students at the junior high and at the high school!! Only freshman go to high school the first day around here, and they both are off to a great year. This junior got to play hooky the first day of school! He gets to work at the school store this year though and so is really enjoying that and the store cash he earns even moreso! All three boys are playing soccer this season and are doing awesome, they might lead their team to state! Adapted sports are an incredible blessing to our family. Naomi started her first day of gymnastics and dance the first day of school too! She is doing great in the class and it is wonderful to see her respond to instructions, learn basic movements, and participate in a class setting. Soon she will be joining the 3 year old preschool too and working on some of her sounds (just barely qualified for articulation.) Little Lillie is a ham and an adorable one at that. This little monkey is very talkative and a smarty pants.

Giving Up

With sadness, I gave up on the big step girls. After over a decade of trying to teach them self-respect, dignity, and moral character; after over a decade of fighting for them to be of concern to their father- knowing the realities of paternal influence; and after a decade of going against the grain, I have chosen to flush out of the system and will wait patiently for the pangs of childhood to pass. In the end, I hope that righteousness prevails. I hope that they survive. I hope that my kids are not emotionally scarred from having the disconnect in this relationship. I hope that they know in their hearts how much I have cared for them and had high hopes for them, and that I wish nothing but the best for them. Things are still my fault, I could never win and in the end seem to be punished for the wrong reasons and there is no loyalty for what is right. There were ample opportunities for the truth to be told, there were ample times that I was told either lies or things they cannot be truthful about behind my back. I tried. I really did. In the end, I am praying that they recover from the upbringing we would do most differently, and from the youthful desires of the flesh. There is no end in my love for them; but as a person, I have to understand that they are their mother's daughters and someday they will (hopefully!) return. Years ago their grandmother had said she was glad we were getting the kids because we might leave them alone. That resignates to me, that the wrong has won and there is a battle here; however, I am submitting to God's authority and though the power of Christ I can accept there are thing I cannot change and that my wishes were always just that. Please Lord, take care of my girls and return them home sooner than later! Amen

August 2013, and then it was over

One of my boys favorite things to do is fish. Some friends came and brought their gear and fish they had cleaned, Luke is a catch and releaser,for a fantastic fish fry. Thanks Ryan and Michelle! Found this on the camera. The girls were having a photo shoot with Ms.Lola. Isn't she cute!

She knows what to do, but not sure when to do it. boop boop! Not even 18 months and wanting to potty train, this could take a while. grunt grunt

Somewhere over the rainbow, we had a double rainbow and everyone who posted the rainbow had it over where they were. I guess we can't hog God's promises! This RV, our latest great idea, finally made it's home to storage out of our driveway (after a couple months being in the way!) We envision some great time to be had on the road. After a kid scratched my 2010 nice 12 passenger, it became clear that we are not really in a phase of our lives to have anything that cannot be destroyed. So we got rid of the van and decided on this family fun apartment on wheels. Everyone wants to know if we are going to church in it. No, we are church in it!

Sonny, Isaac, and Noah all bringing home 1st place state wins in Brainerd. We got some skill in these genes! Sonny actually bought our newer van and we got back our old trusty '96 Ford Club Wagon. I could tell you til I am blue in the face that no vehicle is going to make me cool.

We had the honor of puppy sitting! Otis came for a week and he is the late Bruno's grandson. He was a solo pup and was spoiled rotten over here. His eyes were not even open yet! He came with his momma Bella and we loved having them! It was not convincing enough though to puppy shop yet. maybe. someday.

My darling sister with our newest nephew, Ivan Lee. He was such a honey and we had our first mini reunion. Being in 3 different states we decided to prioritize a weekend each summer and plan it, so we had a nice time in Sioux Falls, tbd if we will rotate hosting or find a resort for the future.

THE 3 YEAR OLDS!!!!!!! GETTING BIG AND ALL SO CUTE!!!!!!!

The cousins! We did skip out on a couple, and that is our reality because we cannot have the same expectation for everyone. We are not your typical family and never will be, incase that wasn't established. And that is okay.

Next time this duo will have seperate check ups. We were at the clinic for 2 hours!!! What do ya do? Take some pics! They both scored 20/40 on their eyes too, but since then the eye doctor squashed it for Naomi and confirmed it for Noah. She did say though that we will wait on doing any eye wear for him unless worsens. Bum though, thought he would always be perfect:)

.........................a mother and her son................................. ........................this kid cracks me up! ...............................

somebody got a bike! still a little leary, but by next year will be bringing home trophies!

Rider in the black helmet, gaining on the one in front. This was Noah at the state final race, he lost his lead in the burm when he went high and the rest went in and he got nubbed out. He then went from last to fourth and had a very successful first year in BMX. He was awarded a state plate that day and ranked number 5 in the whole state! We are blessed always and abundantly. We had a good summer. We are going to have a great school year too! It's how we roll!

July 2013 road tripping for family

I took a few kids on a road trip to Sioux Falls, SD. My cute nephew, Oscar, was glad to show a few cousins around. Lillie had so much excitement. The park was not as impressive, but the falls are beautiful. It was a hot day! We spent the night at my brother Reed's new place and then went to pick up the oldest sibling of our adopted kids.

Annie stayed with us for about a week. Here is their maternal biological grandmother and aunt with them. It was great to see the kids together again. We regret that Ashley was not included, but hope that when she is older she can join us too! The grandma calls us sometimes and is grateful that we have the 4 we do, and was going to visit Annie, but after nearly 9 years of hearing she wanted to visit, we welcomed them to come and see everyone.

For the road trip home, we trailed across Iowa and went to my other brother, Ryan's house. Noah got to experience a FireFly Expedition! Noah and Henry capturing wild bugs just before bed.

Noah caught on right on his hand, and below you can see it lit up for the camera! What fun this was, as I fondly remember catching fireflys at dusk in my field behind my childhood home.

Uncle Ryan with his boys and everyone's favorite cousin, Noah, reading a story before bed.

Sylvi the gorgeous red head! She is a sweetheart and it was great to spend some time with her. Made it so worth the 16 hour car travel over a 2 day period:)

Grandpa Curt made the travel with us and was relieved to be delivered back home. We hadn't seen Annie since I was pregnant with Naomi. She had come for a week and then it backfired in various ways, as we had some concerns with her transition planning that the state was responsible for due to her being in long term foster care. Her visit stirred her emotions as well and we became the bad guys. In the end, it likely prompted her to have some additional services and connections with people that she may not have otherwise. Since aging out of the system, it has become evident once again that the system fails people. We just be who we are and do what we do.

4th of July

Luke went fishing and I spent the morning in the kitchen. I made a random smorgasbord of: veggie pizza (crescent roll crust with seasoned cream cheese topped with chopped veggies and cheese), American flag fruit pizza, rice pudding (first time ever which included ruining a great pan'o'10 years, but nailed it), BBQ meatballs, yummy buffalo chicken, tuna pasta salad, and Patriotic jello desserts. Num, I like food and like serving my family! At one point I thought we might bring our food and guest family with us down to Luke's moms but we played phone tag after her late invite and missed their eat time. By the time we ate we missed their swim time too, but still enjoyed a dip in the course pool, we scare everyone away and have the pool to ourselves! Just one more joy of a large family!! For several years now we forfeit the metro chaos fireworks commotion and settle for some packs of home fireworks. The kids really don't mind and we had a great time setting them off at grandmas. It was a great day and we are proud to be American, where at least we know we're free and we proudly stand up and thank God! We are working on Luke 11:28. Our country has seemed to oppress Christianity and modern Christians seem to have privatized their faith, and biblically that is not good and we want to reap the rewards of obedience. More to come. Happy 4th!!!