So much to do

IT has been a while since I have posted. Our two little guests went to some relatives at the end of April, Then I traveled out of town to a Foster parent conference. The weekend before I left was our 22 wedding anniversary, and thanks to Grandma, We got to spend a night away. WE stayed at a hotel here and went bowling and to a movie, then just "hung out" We even slept in until 8 o'clock. ( can't remember the last time I did that.)
For Dinner before we came home, we went to the Melting Pot.It was SOOO Good. Especially the chocolate! ( Can chocolate be bad???)

Anyway.... The Tuesday after I returned, we picked up two new little guests. A two month old girl and her almost three year old brother. Due to the trauma of their situation, it has been a little bit hectic.
Baby E doesn't scream so much anymore. My buddy J is finally starting to feel safe and comfortable, and has even started trying to communicate with us. We actually heard him laugh today. Good progress!!
I am so grateful for the glimpse that a loving Heavenly Father gives me each time we take another one of his precious little spirits into our home.
It also amazes me that he knows them and he guides us as to how we can best help them.
I pray for these little ones, and hope that those who are in authority over their situation will be prompted and follow those feelings to do what is best for these precious little children.

AS school is winding down, there are so many things to attend. Concerts, awards ceremonies, showcase performances. all added on to our already busy schedule.
I am grateful to my mom and sister who are so willing to step in and be part of our extended foster family to help us be everywhere we need to be.

It's the little things

Gabbi turned four .

When we have birthdays at our house, it is a special day.

You get your room decorated and there is usually some type of party.

*( although if you have a teenager like Tyler, you must be more specific on how many people you think are coming , or you will end up with a house full of 35 teenagers)

I don't know that Gabbi has ever really had a party for her. We had a pinata, lots of friends(cousins). Presents, games and cake & ice cream. Nothing really fancy, but to her, it was like heaven.

She was giddy and dancing all day "is this for me?" she would ask.

"Another present? " she responded . She proudly wore her crown and necklace for days.

Life as seen through the eyes of a child is really pretty simple.

What are we eating, can I go play ?

Can I have a hug?

We could all learn a lot.

Racing

Mr Wesley loves to race off road. Mrs. Wesley not so much!!

With allot of little ones running around, it is a bit of a challenge to pack everything and go out in the middle of the desert and keep them busy for 10 hours or so.They do like to play in the dirt, but that gets old after a while too.

Mostly it just depends on the circumstances and "who " we have with us. Four under the age of 5 is a little crazy but with just Serra & Abi adn a baby, it is much more do-able. As long as we have our own "facilities" anyway. **( I'll spare you the name of what they call "their facilities")

IF there are plently of cousins around that can help as well.

They really should find a place with less dirt for these races!

That's part of being a family though is we support each other in those things that matter most to us.

WE are creating memories and building relationships.

I just have to keep telling myself this!! How about the lake instead????

Mom Look a tattoo!!

It has been a while since I have had a minute to update our story here.

As you can see my little ones keep me on my toes.

I should have known there was a problem when they were quiet.

I thought they were just playing nicely upstairs so I could vacuum.

I think we only have one or two "permanent" markers in the house, but Abi seems to always locate them. Luckily our skin replaces itself frequently, so it only took a week or so for this to mostly go away.

I can't say as much for the wood banister though

This is when we are supposed to laugh right?????

Welcome Mr Tattle

With two four year olds and two two year olds in the house, we had tattling going on constantly. It was driving me crazy. I felt tlike I could not get through a half hour without

"Gabbi touched that"

Lele isn't eating"

"Abi is on the table"

" Serra didn't get her shoes on "etc etc.

One of my caseworkers gave me the idea of MR Tattle. ( see above)

Whenever there is an issue that just needs to be addressed, they can go tell Mr Tattle

ALL ABOUT IT !

At the end of the day, I get a compiled update of the days issues and address the masses of how we should try and do better .

Yes, I was like you, why would they go talk to a paper on the wall??

Well I don't exactly know why, but they do.

HALLELUJAH

Life is much better at our house since MR Tattle came to stay.

Now I can eat my cheerios in peace. Well maybe.... anyway

Lasting effects

Today we had a difficult day.
WE had to take Lele in to see a physical therapist for her foot.
Due to some neglect, and subsequent surgeries, so has allot of scarring, limited mobility, and walks only on her toes with that foot.
I can only imagine what is going on in her mind when she sees these doctors, and they try to come near her. Although this therapy place "looked" very fun with lots of toys around , no one "looked " like a doctor, she wanted NOTHING to do with it.
She began to whimper and latched onto my neck for dear life as we waited in the waiting room.
Then as we got out into the therapy center and MS Beth tried to talk to her she began to scream and kick and thrash around. We let her just cry it out and roll on the floor as we tried to show her some toys and calm her down, but it was not working. So that they could even see her foot, I had to literally wrestle with her to get her sock and shoe off . I again tried to just hold her and rock her as she just sobbed. IT was just heart wrenching to see her in such distress.
Even though what we were doing was trying to help her. This went on for over 20 minutes before she finally began to calm down. MS Beth patiently talked to her and tried to get her to relax. As she touched her foot to assess the situation, she again became very agitated.

It's hard to imagine such trauma in a young child's life and the lasting effects of those memories.
An hour later we had made it through, and She got her fruit snack for being so brave.
Now I just have to prepare myself to go through it again as we have to go back next week to be fitted for a brace for her foot. I am sure she will be thrilled.
I just pray Heavenly Father will help to ease the distress for her, and help to heal her tiny heart of all the abuse and neglect.

Do we become blind & deaf??

Have you ever wondered why it is that as soon as you get on the phone, that the children seem to get very loud, and do everything they know they are not supposed to??

Today I actually decided to CALL my sister instead of trying to decipher the code messages off of facebook.
They had been fed and changed and were peacefully( remarkable) playing, so I thought this would be a good time. No sooner had I said Hello when all hell broke loose. Serra is whacking Gabbi with a plastic tube, Lele and Abi are fighting over the dolls.( we only have 6 of them) they decide to run the grand prix circuit around the center of the house, and yell as loud as they can.
Even after excusing myself several times to address this, they then went upstairs and decided to hurl things off the balcony.

I think,... that they think ... we become deaf and blind when we are on the phone!!!

Who knew???