4 years ago today.....

Answers

As most of you remember Jason and I did foster care for a couple of years and had 7 of the greatest kids ever in our home. We were lucky enough to adopt Austin and Karlee through this experience and it has been very rewarding for us as a couple to be parents. Since that time, it has been 4 years since the adoption, we have talked about doing foster care again off and on. I haven't been ready for a while because of the emotional and mental tole it takes on me. A few months ago I got the impression that maybe it was time we start getting into foster care again. Of course this scared the snot out of me and I pushed it to the back of my mind. There have been some recent events recently that have caused us to really think and act on this. I have been babysitting my 2 nieces for a couple of years now. One of the reasons we didn't just jump on the foster care bandwagon right away is because of this. I don't have a car big enough to safely transport extra kids. Some recent events in their family caused them to I guess in a way "lay" me off from watching their kids. I was sad to hear the news about the girls but knew it was best for their family. Jason and I pretty much took this as a sign that maybe this was our window of opportunity to get started again. Austin has been asking for a baby brother or sister as well. He is so sweet! I love it! Well, I of course started praying and thinking a lot about whether this was the right thing for our family, given our children's background. I didn't get an answer. I kept this up for about a month when I realized that maybe we needed to get the ball rolling to receive the answer I was looking for. It took a week before I got the guts to actually call and get started. Thanks to my good friend Tammi for talking me through all of my insecurities and anxiety of doing this again. I really don't know what I would do without her as a friend. Tammi is an amazing Mom and example to me. I am grateful for the hour long talk we had to get me to see that it isn't as scary as I thought it was going to be. Tammi has great perspective on this issue. She and Bryon are getting licensed again as well to do foster parenting again. Thank you Tammi! I made the call. Whew! What a weight off my shoulder's! We met with the recruiter in our home on Monday night this week and she asked us questions about our family, our parenting styles, our experiences with foster care and instructed us on how to get started. We have to have 32 hours of classroom time as part of the licensing. We started last night...... I tell you, I got the answer to my prayers last night in that classroom. The class was about discipline. What a great class. It really makes you think about your own parenting skills and what you can do better. The second half of the class is where I got my answer. A lady came who is a cluster facilitator for the Murray area. Cluster's are groups for foster parents to get guidance and understanding from other foster parents. Anyway, she came and talked to us about her experience as a foster parent. The beginning of her story was so similar to ours it was amazing! As she was talking about her kids and how they joined their family this overwhelming feeling of peace and happiness filled me. It was really hard to not break down and cry in the middle of class. I know that this is the road we need to be on right now as a family. I am not sure if we will have another one join our family permanently or if we are going to just help some lost souls along the way. But I am truly grateful to be able to look forward to a new teaching experience with my children of selflessness, understanding, and service. Austin will be amazing with taking these little ones under his wing. Karlee is as excited as Austin and wants to have a playmate to be her little partner in crime! I am so excited and overwhelmed by all of this. It is going to be a great adventure! I am also grateful that the Lord answers our prayers. It is a wonderful miracle to be a mother.

Boring

Life has been pretty boring lately around our house. Just the mundane tasks of kids, school, work and church callings. I hate the winter. There is never anything to do. It's too cold to go outside to play or go for a walk. I'm not a skier and never will be. I just hate winter. I am excited that we get to sign Austin up for baseball this Saturday and that will start in March for practices. Something to look forward to! Austin is also finishing up Jr. Jazz this Saturday and that has been fun to watch. It has broken up some of the monotony around here! Ha ha ha! I am also looking forward to Valentine's Day and this next Monday. The kids will be out of school and we can go do something fun! Dollar movie anyone?! That's my rant for now. Hopefully I didn't just jinx myself for something crazy to happen around here. I'm knocking on would as I am typing this!