August is winding down...

...and with it my remaining days of being in my 30's...  :-)

I came on here to do a normal random post...but just typing that first sentence takes me in a different direction...namely, how has my life changed in this past decade.  What events (significant or otherwise) have happened?

So....rewinding 10 years...as I ended my 20's and started my 30's...that would've been 2006.  At that point I had 3 children--1 boy, 2 girls, ages 6,4,and nearly 2.  That was the time we were discussing our family...more kids, finished?  And eventually, we decided to pursue Foster Care....and by the next spring, we were certified foster parents and looking forward to providing a family for child(ren) who needed one...whether temporarily or permanently.

So, to the best of my memory which I totally admit could be faulty:

2006 - I turned 30 in the fall; we started the process for foster care.

2007

• Certified as Foster Parents  (April...I think)
• Built and addition (Kitchen/Dining Room over Garage, Remodeled Former Kitchen/Dining Room into additional Bedroom, Main floor Laundry.  (June-November)
• Brought a 2-day-old infant boy (Zach) into our home and learned the ropes of foster care.

2008

• Zach remained with our family.
• Mark (Zach's brother) joined our family in October.  He was 2-1/2 weeks old.  Zach's case went basically on hold so we could run the two cases together and have one adoption date instead of two.
• A friend from church died (Brain Tumor).

2009

• Zach and Mark are adopted (September)
• Another friend from church died (Cancer)
• Both of those events were the same week.
• Micah, Zach & Mark's brother, join us at 2 days old.
• As of December I had 3 babies...newborn, 14.5 months, 29.5 months...and our older children, ages 5, 7.5, and 9 (nearly 10).

2010

• Now everything is kind of a blur in my memory.  I probably would need to go back and read my blog to remember my life!

2011

2012

• We took our first family roadtrip with the camper.  We went to Maine and New England....loved it!

2013

• Family Road Trip #2 - We went to see all 5 Great Lakes...Headed west through Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois.  North through Wisconsin, East through the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Down to the lower part of MI, east through Ontario, South through New York and back home again.
• Moving!  We were surprised and thrilled to be able to move to a home in the country with a couple of acres.  (November)

2014

• Family Road Trip #3 - Creation Museum (KY), West Virginia
• Animals started joining our tiny farmette.
• I start Homeschooling Josiah for 9th Grade.

2015

• Family Road Trip #4 - Canada!  We went to New York (Thousand Islands), Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, PEI, back to New Brunswick, South through Maine and other New England states home again.  It was one of our favorite trips, yet there was a very bad time when we witnessed an auto accident and were reminded of our own mortality...we later learned the driver died.
• Family Based Therapy.  This amazing but extremely intense therapy was fabulous...but so difficult.  Total support for 8 months...and then it's done.  So helpful!
• A weekend trip with Randy to Shenandoah National Park in the fall.

2016

• No Family Road Trip this year...our kids are growing up!  We did enjoy a long weekend camping in Southwestern PA and our annual beach trip.
• I went with a few of friends to Old Forge, NY for a long weekend.  This was the first time since I was a teenager that I went with friends (and without Randy) away for fun and relaxation.  It was fun, and yet strange as it was something outside of my "norm".
• Expand Homeschooling to 3 children...Josiah (Gr. 12), Autumn (Gr. 9), Mark (Elementary)

What else?  I can't remember the dates:

• Yearly trips to the beach with friends.  One year we rode the ferry to Cape May...so hot!
• The death of another friend.
• the Marriages of all 3 widowed friends to lovely women.
• Lots of new nieces and nephews
• Weekends spent with Karen's family at the cabin.
• Lots and lots of hours researching attachment and trauma, reading books, attending trainings.
• Hours upon hours of therapy sessions...attachment therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, personal therapy....and evaluations...neuro psych, etc....and doctor visits...well-child, sick, gastroenterology, orthopedists, etc...and a couple of minor surgeries (Tear Duct, Tubes in Ears, Tonsil Removal, etc.) and hospitalizations (RSV, Pneumonia/Dehydration).
• Choosing to make Young Living Essential Oils, Supplements, and Products part of our family wellness routines.
• Time alone with Randy...this has gotten much more difficult as our family grew in this past decade.  We do swap babysitting with one couple periodically...but for longer periods of time...we went to the Louisville Truck Show one year.  We went to the Northeast Adoption Summit a few years ago.  I went along on the truck to New York over a weekend one year.  I keep thinking we need to go away alone for fun sometime.  :-)  All those times were fun, though, even though they all had a work or learning component as well.
• Retreats/Weekends Away (without Randy or my family) in addition to above - a couple of times I went to the Ladies Retreat (church).
• Monthly and then twice-monthly play groups with other local foster/adoptive moms.  Their support has been invaluable!  Lots of tea, lots of coffee.  :-)

And....watching my children grow up.  They are now 6-16.  My oldest has his license and plans to graduate from high school next spring.  This year my oldest daughter joins youth group...how can it be that I have 2 kids in Youth Group already?!  And my youngest goes to school every day all day this year...time marches on...

I don't know if I could've faced my 30's if I had known everything that would happen...but I trust that the same God who has been with me thus far will be with me in my 40's, whatever may come.

Zephaniah 3:17.

1 more day...

...of summer vacation.  It's hard to believe that school starts again this week.  I can tell, certainly, by the tenseness in some of my kids, the uncertainty about their new classes, rumors about the teachers they will have, and getting back to the school routine.

Today was a totally blank day.  I did lots of laundry, cooked meals, broke up arguments, and all the normal every day stuff.  I even took a bit of time off and read "Come Rain or Come Shine" by Jan Karon.  I enjoyed it...but at one point got all teary as I was reading about Dooley & Lace and the complications of their traumatic pasts when it came to the wedding...because my mind went to 3 of my sons.  And I thought about how if they choose to get married, they will have to navigate the waters of inviting (or not inviting) adoptive family and biological family, whether siblings or parents or extended family.  I guess that could be easier or harder depending on how they transition to adulthood and how they choose to interact with us and/or their first family and/or their biological siblings & families.  I felt sad just thinking about that extra challenge they have.  :-(  But I moved on and enjoyed the book.

For our last day, we'll see what happens.  The only guarantee is that Janae needs to have a tooth pulled!

Then Wednesday we will start into our school year.  This year:

• Josiah - skipping 11th grade and going to 12th.  He only needs 3 more credits to graduate!
• Autumn - Grade 9 - Homeschooling for the first time.  Taking 2 classes at a local co-op, Environmental Science and Research Paper (Writing)
• Janae - Grade 6 at our local Mennonite school
• Zachary - Grade 3 at our local Mennonite school
• Mark - Grade 2 - He has been in Life Skills for Kindergarten & 1st Grade.  This year we are going to try homeschooling him.  He will also be going to Speech & Occupational Therapies.
• Micah - Grade 1 at our local Mennonite School.

Enjoy your week!

2 Days in a Row

It's been a long time since I've been motivated to do 2 posts in 2 days!

Many years ago...a friend introduced me to the BBC miniseries:  Cranford, Wives & Daughters, and North & South based on books by Elizabeth Gaskil.  I think it was during a year that I had a baby who did not like to go to bed early, so I would watch an episode or two during those hours between when the other children went to sleep and the baby did.  Anyway, I found a DVD Set on Amazon containing those 3 series and put it on my wish list a couple of years ago.  Earlier this summer, I finally purchased it.  And on Sunday, I introduced Autumn to the first episode of Cranford.  We watched episode 2 tonight.  And my girls and I are wanting to watch more.  We enjoy a peek into that time period immensely (and are glad we live in today's world).

Today was fairly uneventful...occupational therapy, laundry, cleaning, bookwork, settling disputes...things like that.

In addition to reading "The Statesman and the Storyteller", I am also reading "Have a Happy Family by Friday" by Kevin Leman.  I have long ago learned to read any sort of self-help book with a "pick a thing or two to try and/or what of this will work for my particular circumstance" attitude.  I enjoy his books mostly because he mixes humor into his writings.  :-)  Yesterday I read "Monday"...and appreciated it!  We'll see how I feel about "Tuesday" when I get to that chapter.

In the past few weeks 3 young pigs and a bunch of turkey chicks have joined our farmette.  It's fun to see the new animals.

Well, that's all for now!  Have a lovely day!

Randomness

We spent the past week at the beach...now that we're home I'm faced with the reality that, despite the heat and  humidity, summer is approaching the end and fall is coming.  School starts next Wednesday.  This summer has had it's tough times, but all the same, I am sad to see it coming to an end.  I know that the return to school & it's routine will be good for me, but I love the relaxed yet busy nature of summer.

When we go to the beach, I pack up a lot of my kitchen and take it with me...including my food processor.  I now have learned that I need to be more careful in packing it.  I had it in a bag.  As we were unpacking the van at the beach house, Janae was carrying that bag into the house.  The blade cut through the bag and sliced her leg.

Did I mention that our oldest son got his driver's license earlier this month?  And that he drove to the beach so he could stay just part of the week and come home to work the rest.  (He said it is so quiet here without us all that he could hardly stand it!)

Anyway, Randy & I left the kids and unpacking in the hands of our older children and took Janae to a local Urgent Care where she received 6 stitches.  Unfortunately, they began falling out a few days later.  So we butterflied those spots.  Yesterday we removed the only 2 stitches that had not fallen out.  Today at the pool she bumped her leg and it split back open.  :-(  So it is once again butterflied up and we will be watching closely for infection.

Other than that, our beach trip was mostly uneventful.  We enjoyed the sun, the sand, the waves.  Our friends joined us for part of the week and some family joined us for another few days.

Zach is on his last trip with Randy for the summer.  Micah is hoping to squeeze one trip in yet.

The girls resume their music lessons this week.  They had a 6 or 7 week break while their teacher got married and settled into her new home.  Which reminds me, I still need to map out where her new house is.

Mark continues to have Occupational Therapy biweekly and Speech Therapy weekly.

After a 6 month break from therapy, we are once again seeing a therapist to help us with some of our children's struggles.  We will be meeting her weekly...at this point I'm not sure if it will be one specific child, multiple children, or mostly me.  And yes, I know that's vague, but I'm not one to put all that out there...but I do want to acknowledge that it is part of our life.  Adoption is a wonderful way for a child to have a family...but it's always born out of loss.  And some kids just have a really hard time, whether from the loss itself or from trauma of their experiences (even prenatal) or exposures.

I am watching the Olympics  as I type this.

I'm reading an interesting book about John Hay and Samuel Clemens...but I can't remember the title at the moment...Statesman and Storyteller or something like that?

I'm also wrestling with how much and how and if necessary and such regarding changing our diets.  I'm reading Trim Healthy Mama (minimizing/eliminating sugar) and cookbooks based on that plan as well as a book about Recipes for ADHD & Autism...minimizing Gluten and Casein (dairy).  Mulling over it all...so hard!

Well, this is certainly quite long enough.  Have a lovely week!

Still Running Behind...

...at blogging that is.

July was busy and crazy with one child or another gone every week.  August has all of us together again, but looks to be just as busy.  And...school starts a mere 3 weeks from Wednesday already!  I love having my kids home...but part of me is ready for the school schedule...perhaps because some of my children just do better with a stricter schefule.  Not ready to pack lunches though!

Well, blogging on my tablet is a bit more tedious, so that's all for now!  Have an excellent day!