DECEMBER FUN

1. Cheyenne's 15th birthday. That girl is a mile-a-minute talker, she keeps us on our toes, and underneath everything, she has a huge heart and the potential to go absolutely anywhere she wants in life, by sheer will-power alone. She wanted a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles birthday (ha!), so that's what she got. We ate out at Texas Roadhouse for dinner and then came back for cake, ice cream and presents with the family.

2. We had two of the cottages over at our house one Friday night in December, and it was nuts. Jam-packed with kids playing Wii, having a Just Dance tournament, playing Twister, playing Hide n Seek in the dark, playing board games, etc. It was SO much fun. We are amazed at how God has put us in this place with other wonderful house parents that we have quickly become good friends with. Our little community here continues to bond closer and closer together. The house moms here have also started rotating having lunches together, going out for coffee, taking walks together, etc., and the house dads all get together to play basketball on Tuesday nights in the gym. It's greatness.

3. When Dan and Vicky (Michael's parents) came to visit us over Christmas, Vicky brought her iPad. Our children's home has provided each cottage with an iPad, so Vicky showed me some wonderful apps, books, and educational programs to download. The boys spent a ridiculous amount of time with "Talking Larry." If you don't know what that is, look it up. I'm pretty sure you can download it to the iPhone as well.

4. A really awesome lady from Michael's school has her own cookie catering business on the side, and she offered to come decorate sugar cookies with us one afternoon when the kids were on Christmas Break. We had a ton of fun, and everybody decorated a sugar cookie for my mom's birthday celebration that night, where we all met up at Freebird's - yum!

5. My newest girl, Kat, is a sweet, precious 7th grade girl. She played the flute at her old school but didn't own an instrument (she had rented at her previous school). I played the flute for years and still had mine, which is in decent condition, so she signed up for band at her school and is using my old flute. She had her first concert in December, and we snapped a couple of pictures before we left. Isn't she adorable?!

6. I tried potty-training Jasper for a couple of days, and right away my suspicions were confirmed: my easy-going little boy is not bothered by messes or nastiness. This was clearly illustrated after a morning of discussing the advantages of being a big boy who uses the potty and gets to wear Thomas the Train underwear (he LOVES Thomas the Train), when he was standing in my bathroom talking to me, right next to his little potty, and proceeded to plop a turd on the floor mid-sentence. Yep. So I sat him on the little potty, talked to him about how that's where the stuff goes, and asked him if he needed to tee-tee. He says, "No," so I give him a book to look at for a couple of minutes to make sure and to bring the point home. Nothing happens. So I set the book down, and stand him up. He immediately begins to pee all over the floor, and the book sitting on the floor beneath him. Fabulous. I have concluded that neither he nor I are ready for him to be potty-trained, and he is still wearing diapers at the ripe old age of 2 years, 10 months. Judge me if you will :). This mama refuses to let bodily fluids stress her out.

P.S. I do not have pictures of this experience, for obvious reasons.

December was a whirlwind of fun and family. We are grateful to be where we are, thankful for the Lord's many blessings, and recognize the necessity and wonderful presence of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And now on to a new year right by His side!

CHRISTMAS

Christmas was a crazy, wonderful time for us this year. We celebrated right before church on Christmas Day at my parents' house, and again later that day when my extended family came to our home for the day. We were blessed and excited to have Michael's parents with us as well this year. On Christmas Day itself, everyone brought finger foods and we munched on everything instead of having a formal sit down meal, which worked out wonderfully since everyone arrived at different times throughout the day. We played games, had a gift exchange, and renewed our tradition of playing kickball. It was wonderful seeing everyone and having our family all under one roof for the day.

Before Christmas, our cottage went to several parties hosted by churches and organizations, and all of our kids were blessed by the gifts they gave.

On major holidays, our girls all go on family visit for 5-7 days. When they got back, we had our cottage Christmas, watching Christmas movies and opening presents.

We took a ton of pictures, but I don't have them all in an organized place yet. Below is a collection of pictures of all the different ways we celebrated Christmas this year that actually ended up on my computer.

Christmas Day

On our way to the Breakfast Pajama Party hosted by a church in the area.

Cottage Christmas

BIRTHDAY BOYS

The ridiculousness of just now posting this entry has to be pointed out. Michael's birthday was two months ago, Bennett's was one month ago. I really love having an up-to-date blog, but I think this will continue to be my life for a while. For the first time in my life, I truly understand the phrase, "There are only so many hours in a day."

Without further ado, here is the post I started about a month ago and am just now publishing. Sure do love my birthday boys!

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Michael turned the big 3-0 back in November, and Bennett turned 5 in the first week of December. Craziness in this house. Absolute craziness.

It's funny how some numbers seem so much more significant than others. Both of them hit really significant milestones this year. I'm in denial that Jasper turns 3 in March, and I'll be 30 (gulp) this summer. Time flies when you're having fun, eh?

For Michael's birthday, we had giant sub sandwiches with all the fixings, double chocolate chunk cookies, and vanilla ice cream, all at the birthday boy's request. My parents came over to celebrate. For his big day, Michael said he wanted to spend quality time with each of our kiddos, so throughout the day he spent a half hour doing something fun with each one. He played the Wii with two of our girls - a dance tournament of sorts that was rather hilarious. He colored in coloring books with another of our girls, and took a long walk with our fourth. With the boys, he played golf on a stretch of land running between two of the houses on campus. My dad went out there with them and then we all took about 15 minutes to gather up all of the golf balls.

We didn't have a huge party with tons of people, we didn't do anything hugely out of the ordinary, and we didn't spend a ton of money, but that's not really Michael's style. He basks in simplicity and loves being with family above all else. So that's what we did, and he had a marvelous day, which was all that mattered to me.

Sometimes I hint at what an amazing man my husband is, but truly, truly...he's amazing. I don't say this to make others stand up and take notice. I don't say it to brag, because it has absolutely nothing to do with me. I don't say it to make others envy or wish they had better marriages or husbands, or whatever. I say it to bring him honor. He works hard at being who he is. Everything he does for our family is intentional, thought out, and purposeful. I am blessed with each day I spend with him as my best friend and partner on this road.

The family out golfing across the street from our house. So fun, and such a Michael idea :).

Now on to my Bennett, our "little blessing," who has turned out to be one of the biggest blessings in my life. This child of mine is so complex, so goofy, so funny and unique, it has taken me a full five years to figure out what I know about him now, and I know that I still don't understand everything that makes him tick. It has taken me a full five years to begin to truly appreciate the beauty of who God has woven him to be. I believe I will spend my entire life trying to figure out my first-born. Bennett marches to the beat of his own drum, and watching him do it is fun and frustrating and wonderfully new every morning. My oldest is full of surprises, convincing arguments, ridiculously mature commentary, and silly antics that make you want to either squeeze him tight or scream out loud, depending on the day and the situation. Lord, I love this boy. He brought my motherly instincts to life. He has taught me to pray for patience and wisdom. I have laughed and cried harder over him than anyone else in my life, I think. Our Bennett James is a beautifully made child, and I burst with pride to be his mommy. Not because he always does what he is supposed to, or because he's always where he should be. Not because he says the right things, looks handsome enough (although he is my little heart-breaker :) ), or goes with the flow, or does things the way I think is best. Nope. It's because God entrusted his little heart, mind and body to me. The Lord made him mine, even while Bennett belongs to Him, and I love my little pal to pieces.

For Bennett's birthday this year, we went to pick up donuts on the morning of his birthday, and later picked up his Cars 2 birthday cake and balloons. We spent the day playing games he enjoyed and hanging out with Mimi (the best way to spend any day, as far as he's concerned). When we asked him what he wanted for his birthday dinner, he told us "QT corn dogs." Classy. We ate dinner and opened presents with just the family. On Saturday morning we had his pajama party at the playscape, and his closest friends all came to make the day extra special. He's pretty proud of being 5 now, and reminds me of his age several times a day :). Here are some pictures from the birthday week:

Mimi got him a giant "snow globe," as he likes to call them. He's a little obsessed with them.

The Birthday Party

Some of my nearest and dearest friends.

And now that I've thoroughly gushed and mushed you out, here is what my Benito is up to at his five year mark:

We've been homeschooling this semester, and so far he has learned to write his first and middle name - we're working on his last name. He is learning to write the capital and lowercase letters of the whole alphabet, and can write his numbers 1-10. Basic phonics books are a breeze for him, and have been from the beginning. I think we're going to have to move onto something a little more complicated for next semester. Counting, basic adding and subtracting, and other math skills such as patterns, sorting, etc., come just about effortlessly to him. He is reading in that he can piece sounds together into words and also use basic context clues to figure out what a book is saying. However, we're starting sight words next semester, so there aren't a whole lot of beginning readers he can tackle yet. I'm thinking this summer he'll really take off with this. Bennett still isn't a fan of coloring with basic crayons or markers, but he loves to do more creative things, like painting, molding clay, cutting and glueing, etc. He also loves listening to all kinds of music, and without fail asks what each and every song we listen to is about. This provides some awesome opportunities to talk about God and subjects surrounding Him when we're listening to the radio or our CDs in the car. He loves playing outside, exploring, and has to be in a perpetual state of motion - the same way he's been since he was a baby. We have decided to put him in Kindergarten at the school where Michael teaches next year, and I know the classroom environment will be hard for him (it always has been), because he pretty much breaks the mold wide open of the still, quiet child, but I also think it will be good for him, and he will learn important lessons about self-control, following through with tasks, and that he will love the social aspect of it all :). At five years old, Bennett's very best friends are David and Taylor, Sage and Joelle, Deacon and Anna, Foy, and of course Jasper John.

RANDOM THINGS

I really am working on a kajillion blog posts, I promise. It's just that I never have time to finish them! Which bums me out a little, because I really do enjoy blogging thoughts and pictures. But I've hit my limit on daily allotted time, and when there are only so many hours in the day, there's only so much you can do; some things inevitably get put on the back-burner.

Up and coming are posts about Michael's birthday, Bennett's birthday, C's birthday (one of our girls), and my mom's birthday. Michael's was Nov.12th, but the other three have all been in December. Whew! I also need to do a blog post about all of our Christmas activities, including having two of the other cottages over to play games and hang out, and several of the Christmas parties we have been to.

Random things that have happened in the past month: there is a wonderful lady who owns her own cleaning business, and she now comes out once every couple of months to deep clean our home. Fabulous.....Bennett and Jasper have both managed to avoid the doctor so far, up until yesterday, when I took J in for an ear infection. Awesomeness....We are feeling the love and generosity of family and friends this holiday season - it's amazing....I miss my friends. I see a handful of my die-hard friends fairly regularly through church and play dates, but my circle has gotten significantly smaller. That is to be expected with what we are doing here, and Michael and I have made great friends with two of the other house parent couples here, which is so helpful, but I'm missing my friends that I'm just not getting to see hardly at all anymore. There's no real remedy for this, because of the whole "there are only so many hours in a day" thing again, but there it is....Getting Christmas ready for seven kids is nothing short of insanity. Tonight I'm pulling a late-nighter to watch movies and wrap presents. Tomorrow my beautiful, wonderful mother is coming over to help me finish up....We'll do our cottage Christmas on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, since all of our girls will be at their bio homes over the holidays....I am still on a learning curve that never seems to end; I can practically feel my brain synapses tingling :)....I love being here. I love what we are doing. I love watching these girls change and begin to trust before my very eyes. I journal back and forth with a couple of them, and it's amazing what they've been through and how resilient they are....Our boys are doing so well here - they love everything about it. The only exception to this being Bennett telling us the other day that he's still a teeny-tiny bit frustrated that he's not the oldest anymore :)....One example of my learning curve is how much new music I've been introduced to. Most of the girls LOVE listening to music and love having me listen to the stuff they like (all appropriate, of course - they love complaining about how strict we are, and I love nodding and smiling at them while changing nothing :) ). There are some fantastic songs out there that I'd never heard before, and some great artists I've been introduced to. Thanks to iTunes gift cards we've received at our Christmas parties, our iTunes account has exploded. Also awesome....I have found that I actually LOVE hosting now that I have a home that is appropriate in size and equipment to do so. I used to dislike it with a passion, but now it brings me joy. I love having groups, other kids, family, etc. over to play, eat, and hang out. What a blessing to use our home this way. We had all of my extended family over for Thanksgiving Day, and for Christmas, Michael's parents will be here, and then my mom's side of the family will be here on Christmas Day, as well as my parents and brother. Love it....My husband is full of awesome. He is my perfect de-stressor, and is so thoughtful and considerate of what I need at the moment. He keeps me sane :)....I've also gotten back in touch with being a little more of a girly girl again, a by product of now having five teenage daughters, rather than being surrounded by testosterone at all times. One of my girls bought me some perfume the other day when we were at the mall, and I'm enjoying wearing it. We do each other's hair, paint each other's nails, watch girly movies together, etc. Funny enough, that also makes my times playing trains, racing cars, and climbing jungle gyms that much sweeter with my boys....

and I think that's more than enough for now, folks. Still plugging away at the birthday posts, and of course, after that comes the monstrosity that is the Christmas post. Makes me break out in a cold sweat just thinking about it.

Hope you're all enjoying the holiday season!

LIFE AS I KNOW IT

I'm having a hard time posting these days because it is hard to describe what goes on in our home from day to day, and what I am experiencing in all aspects of life.

Michael and I are working on tweaking my schedule and figuring out how to minimize my stress levels right now. We go on relief week next week, where all of the girls stay at another cottage for a full week, and that will be helpful in getting some much-needed rest, I think. Usually we are supposed to receive a full week like this every fifth week, but they had to hire a new set of foster parents before that could happen. There is a great couple here now, and the rotation has begun, praise the Lord.

I feel like a chicken with my head cut off almost all of the time, and it is rare that I actually finish a to-do list, which drives me bonkers, but can't really be helped. Having six kids (seven, starting tomorrow - we're getting another new girl) changes things in so many ways, and having four to five of them being yours only temporarily really throws some interesting elements in the mix.

We are working hard to provide a stable, structured, healthy environment for these girls. We have been here for three months now, and those three months have included a lot of tweaking, praying, changing and re-changing things to figure out what works best, a lot of relationship building, a lot of REALLY fun times, and also a lot of time being sick (I've been sick three times since we've been here - once a month on average, and I think it's mostly because I'm worn down and not getting enough sleep) and some time crying out to God for wisdom, and sometimes just crying.

The first month was a honeymoon period, that's for sure. It's just downright hard now, to be honest. But God has called us here, and we know He wants us to make a difference in these girls' lives while we have them. So we will let Him be our strength and give all we've got while we are here.

Bennett and Jasper are still thriving and love it here, which again, is a tremendous blessing that there are no words of thanks to express. They love everything about being here, and are getting to experience so many more things than we would have been able to provide for them otherwise. That's a wonderful feeling. We're pretty sure Bennett will go to the school where Michael teaches starting next year, and we feel wonderful about this. He and his daddy will get to spend a lot of wonderful quality time together on the drive there and back every day.

Homeschooling is still going great. Bennett is reading basic C-V-C words, and is reading very basic readers with help, although the perfectionist in him still gets frustrated when he can't master everything immediately (welcome to my world, pal :) ). Jasper loves school time and always wants to be involved doing his own activities as well.

Recent events have included Michael turning the big 3-0, Halloween festivities, going to the State Fair with Mimi, getting to meet one of the MVP Rangers along with his family, where we decorated sugar cookies and got free Rangers hats, going to the movies, the girls and I having a fabulous movie marathon, roasting more marshmallows in our fire pit, having other cottages over for Game Night and Hide-n-Seek in the dark, and hosting Thanksgiving for my entire family at our house (25 people).

Coming up is Bennett's birthday on Tuesday (he's turning FIVE...gulp), and the kajillion Christmas parties we will be attending (around 3-4 each weekend until Christmas). I'm taking the girls Christmas shopping for their friends tomorrow after school.

Whoo-wee, it's a crazy, busy life here, but we wouldn't have it any other way and don't wish to be anywhere but here, right where God wants us. I'll try to sneak in a picture post of the outdated events I haven't posted about yet (like Michael's big birthday, the fair, etc.).

FAMILY PICTURES

Leah Minogue Photography came out and took family pictures for us. She did an AMAZING job. Here are a few of my favorites!

ADDING AND TAKING AWAY

Last week one of our girls left for reasons that break my heart. Today a new girl was added to our house. Emotions are mixed and high - it's an interesting, crazy thing, taking away and adding to a family. This girl is sweet and talented and comes along with a heartbreaking story, pretty much like all the rest. I am thankful she is here with us. I'm glad I get to be her mom, no matter how short or long that time may last. I have not ceased to be amazed by the way God has filled in the gaps we may have been missing in order to do this job. He is so good and so adequate when I am nothing close to either.

I love working here. These children who would not have a home (or at least not one that wasn't abusive or frightening or awfully unstable) if not for this place. God has blessed us to have called

our family here.

Bennett was so excited when he heard we were getting a new girl. He must have asked me a hundred different questions about her before she came this afternoon. And when she got here, I introduced them to each other. There were smiles and high-fives all around. Now she is unpacking in her room - the few precious belongings she owns - and I am sure she is wondering what will happen to her now as she starts a new school, attends a new church, learns new schedules and rules, and tries to fit into a new family. It blows my mind.

I am glad she has come to a good, safe, godly place, even though she may not know it yet. She will know it soon, and my prayer is that she will grow and flourish, even as my prayer for the girl who had to leave is that God will be with her and give her what she needs, and that she takes with her whatever small lessons she learned while she was here.

On a lighter note, we are hosting Thanksgiving Day for my entire extended family (my mom's side and my dad's side) this year, so in the midst of everything, I am slowly gathering table ideas from Pinterest, picking up candles and pinecones, acorns and weathered wood, and other bits and pieces of Thanksgiving goodness, and putting together a menu for what on earth to make (luckily it's a potluck-type affair - I may cook for eight now, but eight to thirty is WAY too big and stressful of a jump for me!).

Anybody have fabulous Thanksgiving plans this year? Who's hosting? What's on the menu and what's the plan for decor?