Wordless Wednesday: Sensory Processing Break Through

Family Friday: The Ever Changing Numbers of a Foster Family

Dear Friends and Family,

One thing that is ever changing in a foster family is your numbers. By that, I mean the numbers of children in your home. If you read last week's post about Adoption you know that we recently adopted and added to our permanent family. We now officially have four biological daughters and two adopted sons!

However, change is always happening when you foster. We currently are fostering a sweet baby boy and a teenage girl which brings our household to a grand total of 10 people! The baby was placed with us through DHS and has been with us for a couple months. The teen was a mutual placement with her parents' consent to stay with us for a period of time till things evened out in their home. We don't know how long either of these placements will be with us.

What is funny to us is when people comment on how many are in our family! Honestly, we don't notice it. Until days like today when 6 out of 8 kids are gone for the weekend. Then it seems SUPER quiet!

Praying that your weekend is blessed!

If you missed last week's post:Adoption!

Until next time...

Have a blessed day and embrace the craziness in your life!

Heidi
Numbers 6:24-26

Throw Back Thursday: My Grandpa's Guitar

This guitar has many happy memories for me. 

All having to do with my grandpa.

October 15th marked 5 years since my grandpa died. 

Part of me still expects him to be out in his shop when I go to visit grandma.

Other parts of me can't believe time continued after he died.

Grandpa was always the silent supporter in all our musical endevors.

He loved nothing better than to see his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren be involved in music of some sort.

After my grandpa died, my grandma gave me his guitar. 

It plays the loveliest music you ever did hear!

I will always treasure playing my grandpa's guitar because of the memories I have of him playing.

Here are some pics of grandpa playing:

At a Rest Home Meeting with McKenzie and Jordyn, his great-granddaughters

Probably about my age...he had that guitar a long time!

If you missed the last Throw Back Thursday: Praise Reports From The Past

Until next time...

Have a blessed day and embrace the craziness in your life!

Heidi

Numbers 6:24-26

Not So Wordless Wednesday: Music With Daddy

Often you can find Noah asking Daddy for music before he falls asleep...

Tuesday Tidings: Tears or Rain

Tears or Rain.

A Poem by Shelby 

I'm running, though I can not see.
My sight is clouded by the rain falling around me...

Or is it because of the tears running down my face?
I seek the One who can help me.
Who I can go to with all my worries and troubles?
But because of my sight being blurred by the tears streaming down my face, I can not see...
Or is it because of the rain falling around me?
As I run, I crash into something or Someone.
But before I can fall the Person grabs my arm.
“Why are you running, dear one?”
The voice of the Person asks.
I recognize the voice of my Beloved Heavenly Father.
Though I can not see Him through the rain and my tears, I know He is there.
He comforts me in my time of despair.
And calms me with His comforting voice.
The rain slows to a drizzle.
And my tears soon stop running.
“You have comforted me once again. How can I thank you?” I ask my Father from Heaven.
“Just come to me for all your needs and cares and I will be there for you.”
He says and starts to leave.
“ Wait! Don't go! I don't want to be alone.” I call after Him.
“I am always with you. I will neither leave you nor forsake you. For I know the plans I have for you. Plans of good and not of evil. To give you an expected end.”
He is now gone to His heavenly home.
But I know in my heart that I will never be alone.

If you missed last week's post: Sacramento Special Meetings


Until next time...

Monday Madness: Am I Back in the Groove?

What's On My Mind Today:

Good morning!

I'm praying that as you read this that the Lord will bless you today! As I sit down to write, I glanced over at my calendar to see what is coming up this week. There are some things that will need prayer and things that could change. One thing that won't change: God's ability to get me through the week that is staring ahead of me.

This week there is at least one court date I need to go to for the parents of one of our current placements. It's not mandatory to go as a foster parent. However, I make them a priority. For starters, you learn a lot of things about the case that DHS can't tell you for confidentiality's sake that is made public knowledge. I also find that the parents often have no one else standing there to support them. How scary that must be? I can't imagine. 

This week I am preparing for something exciting that you will find out about later. There is a lot of planning that goes into it. Maybe a little less than I imagined? While I am pretty well prepared, there is a lot to accomplish in the next couple days and I have no idea when I will find the precious time to get it done.

Most of you know that currently, we have 8 children. Six are ours and two are temporary. Because of that, I have been trying to get into a different rhythm than I am used to for this school year. Every year is different. Usually, by now I am in the groove of things, but it's just starting to come together! What makes it a bit more complicated is that on the school front, we homeschool, have one in private school, one in public school and one that is homeschooled but uses the public school resource room. Talk about going in different directions all day long! With a lot of prayer, the Lord has allowed me to delegate some tasks that I thought I needed to accomplish and ask for help in other areas. Rarely do I look at the calendar with dread now. 

Time to get going on the To-Do List! Praying your week goes well!

If you missed the last Monday Madness post: Celebrating My Girls' Birthdays

Until next time...

Have a blessed day and embrace the craziness in your life!

Heidi
Numbers 6:24-26

Family Friday: ADOPTION!

Dear Friends and Family,
In getting back in the groove of blogging, it seems appropriate that the first Family Friday post should be about our recent adoption!
A little backstory: if you are new to my blog, you would need to know that we are a foster family. We have been doing this for ten years and despite the sometimes challenging and often hard times, it has been worth every moment. Through this, though this was not our original plan, we have added two boys into our family of all girls. You all know our son, Tony, who has been in our family since he was 9 months old. What you may or may not realize is that we have been fostering a little boy since Thanksgiving 2016. On the blog, he has gone by a couple names: Stuart Little and Little Mr.
It is my privilege to introduce Noah James as part of our family! He always was a part of our family, as all our foster kiddos are, but now we have the blessing of adding our last name to the end and making it, as my mother-in-law says "official"!

I'm still waiting on pictures from friends and family so I can make him a photo album but here are some fun ones from his Gotcha Day! I hope you enjoy!

He was counting down the days for MONTHS!

Such a happy boy!

So excited to go inside!

He can hardly contain himself!

Sitting on his birth mama's lap and asking what is happening next!

It's OFFICIAL!

One of his foster mamas and her son.

For his adoption feast, he wanted sherbert and grapes!

There were several amazing things about this day of September 6th. One is that the courtroom was jam-packed with people from all over: DHS, church, family, and friends. The other is that we had the blessing of having his biological family there to share the experience as they have become an extended part of our family! It was such an amazing time and we feel so blessed to have had so many people come to celebrate with us!

If you missed the last Family Friday post:Kudo Tokens

Until next time...

Have a blessed day and embrace the craziness in your life!

Heidi
Numbers 6:24-26

Tuesday Tidings: Sacramento Special Meetings.

Today's Tuesday's Tidings Is Brought By:

Sierra 

NOTE FROM HEIDI: Before you start reading this post, I want to preface this by saying that over the years as I have seen my girls emerge and grow as young women, there have been so many times when I have felt helpless as a parent. I know you have all been there. You see your child going through something that you wish you could take away and make easier for them. However,  you know that in order for them to grow as a person and as a Christian, they need to learn how to lean on the Lord more than you. 

I hope you enjoy reading the following blog as it was certainly a tough time we went through with Sierra but seeing how God has brought her through the other side, has been amazing and wonderful!

I believe it was two years ago, at Youth Camp, that there was a sermon on trials and how they made us stronger. How that in those times we would be closer to God. Well, I had been in a dry spot for a while at the time, so that night I prayed earnestly that God would send some trials my way. 

The year passed and I forgot about my prayer. But this year at Camp Meeting I started to have a really hard time with tuning the devil's lies out. It was easy to lean on the Lord at first, but when it got harder I got upset. 

Progressively harder trials came my way and each time I got more angry and depressed. I started to feel farther and farther away from God. Remembering to have my devotions in the morning got harder, and because of that, I wasn't getting the encouragement I needed. 

Finally, I started to get angry at God, I wasn't in a good place. A really nasty trial came, and because of where I was spiritually, I was weak. I started changing as a person. I was hurting my siblings and my mom with my actions. I withdrew myself from them and was entirely too open-eared to the devil's lies. 

Last month, it came time for Sacramento special meetings. I did not want to go, and in my cloudy sense of mind, I didn't even really know why. I assumed it was because I had a panic attack at the last youth meetings, but in reality, the devil knew God was working on me, and he was going to do everything in his power to keep me from going. However, my amazing mom wasn't going to let me get away with skipping, so I went with my dad and my other sisters. 

God spoke to me in those meetings and made me realize that the reason I felt so dry before this trial started, was because of my self-hatred. That I needed to love myself because I'm made in His image. And He reminded me who asked for these trials in the first place!

I was so ashamed of myself! God then told me that He put me through the trails I'd been through to prove to me that He loves me and would never leave me. I felt real joy, which was amazing after wasting so much time trying to find it in temporary things. 

The image that comes to my mind when I think about what I've learned is this: Outside you can find two kinds of sticks, the small ones don't break when you bend them because they move with the pressure, but the bigger ones are stiff and under pressure, they break. I realized that I was the stiff stick. What I learned is that if I don't trust God and I fight His Will, I'm eventually going to break. But if I lean on God in the hard times, He won't let me break, it will only make me stronger. The size difference represents our attitude about the pressure, when we trust our own understanding we inflate ourselves making it harder to bend. But when we don't try to understand why and trust in the Lord, we stay small. Small compared to God who has everything under control. This experience humbled me, and I can't thank God enough!!

If you missed the last Tuesday Tidings: Birthday Thanksgiving

Until next time...

Sierra

Not So Wordless Wednesday: I'M BA-ACK!

Wow...I am not really sure where time has gone to...looking at my calendar and my online photo album tells me what's been up for the past several months but how did it go by so fast?

In May, I mentioned that I was going to take a break for the summer. It just went a little longer than I anticipated! Now that things have slowed down, figuratively speaking, I am hoping to get back in the swing of thing. Plus, two of my girls have dozens of posts they are anxious for me to get online!

To get things going, here are a few pictures of some activities you can look forward to me posting about in the near future:

Some Pet Additions...

Some Trips to Our County Parks

Our Church's Annual Conference/Camp

Trip To Maryhill, Washington

Many Trips to Parks With Friends

A Trip To Silver Falls

A Teen Addition to our Family

Start of the new School Year

ADOPTION DAY!!!!
Don't you love this first glimpse of our sweet boy?

A Baby Foster Addition

As you can see, it's been a bit crazy! I hope you enjoy this mini-post, let me know!

If you missed the last  post: Birthday Thanksgiving

Until next time...

Have a blessed day and embrace the craziness in your life!

Heidi

Numbers 6:24-26

Tuesday Tidings: Birthday Thanksgiving

Today is my birthday and I am thankful to be alive and reaching my 15th birthday.

When I was a born, for two long scary minutes I didn't breath. It was especially scary for my mom, because they wouldn't tell her what was going on.

They tried multiple things, but nothing worked. As I turned purple and blue, something special happened. My family prayed over me and as that was happening I started breathing!
I'm so thankful I did!

An added bonus: I had no brain inguries or side effects, praise God!

I Hope You Enjoyed My Blog Post!
Sierra