Above Average Week

I am sitting at my desk trying to plan out the next week's schedule. As I look at the calendar I am a little concerned how we are going to accomplish school and household tasks at all. This week is stuffed and I did not even realize it until this moment. We have no less than 7 medical appointments to go to in one week!

My calendar looks like a giant slalom coarse for down hill skiers.

We normally average about 2 medical appointments per week. I don't know how I was not looking ahead on the calendar to see that is was becoming impacted. It will be a challenge to get school work done and the bases covered, much less make sure that laundry, meals and dishes are squeezed in the cracks that remain.

You would also think that we would have a break for the next several weeks, and that we have seemingly compacted several weeks worth of appointments into one, but as I look into the future I see we are on par for our normal schedule.

You know what they say, a doctor a day keeps the apples at bay! Did I get that backwards??

I'm in Love with these Mugs!

I can't believe they are growing so quickly!

I am one blessed Mama!

A New Kind of Crazy

We have taken the last 2 months and sorted through our possessions and cleaned out our closets in preparation for a yardsale to raise money to meet the rising costs of this adoption. We have come to realize that with any adoption the numbers you plan on and the numbers that you end up with when you are done are two distinct tallies. I am not a fan of this game. I would not do well in the construction business I fear. I want to come in on time and under budget. Doesn't happen in building a house and it sure has never happened in an adoption. This time is no exception as fees are accumulating and expenses adding that we were not informed of beforehand.

Yet, unlike construction you cannot choose to go with a lower grade of flooring or switch out the fixtures. The kid you love is the kid you love and nothing will keep you from going forward.... nothing that is except cold hard cash to pay for the procedural legalities. I think it is the one sad fact that keeps great kids out of great, loving families .... that mammoth gap of fiscal ability to pay for the legality.

We have pleaded and applied for a reduction of fees regarding this adopting given the circumstances and given the fact that we were taken unawares by the multitude of medical needs that would require so much money. We have met a brick wall in every turn, even those working within the system are a little surprised to find no give in their organizations.

So we are working all the angles we know, and one of the least favored by my dearest is the dreaded YARDSALE. Yet, it is our greatest opportunity barring more unpleasant sacrifices that could be made i.e. kidney donation (that's a joke, really). Our friends rallied around us when they heard we were having the fundraiser and donated lots of their good stuff to us. So much so, that our garage was full to the rafters with saleable items.

We were blessed and all ready to hold the sale last weekend when weather impeded our progress so we rescheduled for today. We prayed all week for great weather and we advertised all over the place. Today was beautiful and we had a crew of 3 families come and help us haul it all out early this morning and set it up for sale. Friends lent us tables and even one friend gave us the seed money for the cash box! What great friends!!!

We had a fair amount of traffic but the one thing we hadn't factored in was that we were near to a flea market and everyone stopped there first and spent all their easy cash before coming over to our place. You should have seen our place -- corner to corner display of great, good merchandise all for the taking at rock bottom, out the door prices. There were antiques at real show stopping prices and some great buys along with a flood of run of the mill yardsale items. I was surprised at what sold and what did not and to whom. Then there was the guy who haggled down a $10 item to $3, and before he got it to the car changed his mind and brought it back for a refund. No problem, we sold the thing full price within the hour, but it was funny!

There was also a great chance to sew goodwill within our neighborhood as lots of folks had come looking if not buying. We gave toys to the kids and of course the buttons had handfuls of lollipops to give away as their job during the day. You would think that I would have at least one photo from the day but NOOOOOOO I was too busy to even think about it.

In the end we sold about a third of the loot, took about 5 trailer loads to Good*will and put the remaining third of the best quality loot back into the garage to decide what it's fate shall be at another time, when we are not so exhausted. Nothing came back into the house, except for the kids.

After all this work the eager buttons gathered around the table as we counted the money. Amazingly, even with the spendthrifts, we still made a profit of $600! Woohoo, God is great! We are exhausted.

10 Months

Today marks the passage of our 10 month anniversary with Sweetpea. We are amazed that it has been 10 months while at the same time we scratch our heads and say, "it can't only be ten months, it feels much longer to us". She is elated that today is a special marker. In lieu of celebration amidst our hectic day we popped marshmallows into the cheeks of all four buttons and played a silly round of "Chubby Bunny" with strawberry flavored ones of coarse for we are girlie girls! (The strawberry ones are pink, I cannot vouch for their taste but they sure look cute!) She is delighted to be delighted in even with a small celebration. I hugged her more than usual today and told her that I was so glad that she is a part of our family.

Recently something happened that hasn't happened in a long time and it caught my attention. She caught a moment of an infomercial of a steaming floor cleaner, I'm sure you have seen this lately too, and she joined the chorus of young voices who longed to have such a product. (Okay, I will admit yet another time my children are strange, even to me. Longing for a floor cleaning product at such tender ages can mean a lot of things but it doesn't mean that they like to clean the floors, just that they are acquainted with such tasks once in a while. Why they wish to own such a device rather than a doll or toy is beyond me.) Sweetpea went on to say that she recognized that she had no money to buy such an expensive product right now but that she would have her husband buy it for her when she got married.

This line of thought happened hundreds of times a day when she first came to us. Anything she wanted and was seemingly denied she would intone about this future husband marrying her, getting a job with lots of money at which time she would beg him for the money to buy the desired item. For the longest time she had a story about this husband buying her a hotdog truck and driving it around so she could sell the hotdogs. Eventually she allowed me into the story by creating a job position for me as the mustard dispenser, but not the ketchup, it was too valuable!

So when she made mention of this mythical husband the other day it was said softly almost like a distant echo. I caught it and realized that she had not said that for a very long time, that she was growing out of her need to hold onto her story. Also her past constraints of how she understands the world are beginning to shift, for she lives in a family where the wife is well loved and never needs to beg the husband for money. The wife also does not wish to live in a hotdog truck! It just isn't my cup of tea.

These are really subtle changes in her that I could easily miss. I am so glad that God is using a highlighter to show them to me when they occur so that I will rejoice in what He is doing in her heart.

Yes, we are alive

I realize that it has been a while since the last post. I have been getting heckled. A lot. A lot of heckling from a certain corner and so I have caved to the pressure and amidst my crazy busy life I am squeezing in a moment to blog and say we are still all breathing. I promised. I promised that if my heckler would go far, far away.... like say to Japan I would consider posting. Today the heckler left for Japan and I am keeping my promise.

It's just zany things like this that make this quirky life so very tolerable.

Today.

Today felt like plunging off a bridge into freezing water. No matter how much you prepare for the moment of impact and know that the water is going to be breathtakingly cold, you cannot steal yourself enough against the onslaught. Preparation on par with the grit of MacArthur's troops is equal to this momentous task. And it is done yearly, amazing!

I am of course waxing poetic about matters educational. School. While although we officially started lessons over 3 weeks ago today was the moment of impact where we join the frenzy of weekly cooperative education, at which I teach 2 classes and wear many other hats while juggling the class schedules of the 4 children for whom I gleefully join this circus.

If I sound delusional, or if this does not make near enough sense, one must chalk it up to serious lack of sleep for the last 4 days and the physical exhaustion of a near marathon day today.

But I just want the credit for posting, sense or no sense. I survived this incredibly big day of the beginning of coop and I took a moment to record this sense of victory.

Perhaps tomorrow I shall emerge from the frigid water and inhale a sweet lungful of air - relief.

Praise

We got back a little while ago from the hospital. I am wrung out but so very grateful to God that he saw us through this little trial. Every request of my heart was not only answered but met with more than I could have hoped for.

Sweetpea handled not eating or drinking all day long remarkably well. We were kind to not let anyone eat in front of her so that it was not testing her endurance. She handled the intake and prep very well. When it got to the real stuff she started having great anxiety but never to the level she has shown in the past! We were also so pleased to find a wonderful Child Life Specialist at our disposal with lots of things to engage her and let her play doctor, she even got to place a real live IV line into a doll!!!! What a thrill for her.

She resisted her own IV line going in, but again not as much as in times past......in took only 4 adults today instead of the 6 of last time to hold her down. She also resisted falling asleep and started to get wild instead, which they said was a normal variable. Once asleep she wanted to stay asleep through recovery. We had a hard time waking her up. We could only get her to come around after enticing her with food, cookies and lemonade, which she snacked on and rolled back for another snooze!

We got her home and she was jello girl. Watch her wiggle, see her jiggle....if it weren't so serious it would have been comical. We had to help her walk and escort her everywhere. She really wanted to go out to dinner afterward and do something special but after all was said and done she barely made it to bed without becoming one with the floor.

Thank you to each one of you who held us up in prayer and encouraged us throughout the day. Your care eased our burden and pointed us to the only real peace there is, the peace offered by Christ.

Happy Birthday Big Brother

Wishing my big brother a very happy birthday.......

may you forever be outstanding in your field!

Big Day Thursday

This week has been really busy and I have been thankful for the activity because it has kept my mind from worrying about tomorrow, and yet tomorrow is looming large before me now. Sweetpea is going into Children's Hospital for a proceedure and will be under sedation and this bears risks for her more so than other children. I feel the pull to worry, and yet we have faith that God is in control, leading us and protecting her......so why am I in a funk over the risks?

I would be really blessed to know that people were praying for her. We go in at noon and they are saying that we cannot expect to be discharged before 6, if all goes well. Pray that I will walk in peace and that I will be able to give that peace to Sweetpea as she is not the most relaxed kiddo in a medical environment given her history. Pray that God is glorified in all that He wills and that our faith will grow as we tend to our beautiful little princess and her needs.

Also please pray for pleasant staff as each time it is difficult to explain our unique situation and each person has a spin on our situation, oftentimes it is not a positive or healthy one for Sweetpea to overhear. We are constantly challenged as to our position as her parents because it is the norm to see us as "foster parents" with no long term stake in the care of this child, rather than her full parents who are waiting for the legal machines to catch up with the realities of the heart.

o, the lengths we will go

Happy Anniversary T and G, we celebrated your day your way. Can you guess?

We went all in for cow today and for our endeavors we were rewarded with delicious food. We also were rewarded with meeting lots of friends who equal if not exceed our strangeness with their own brand of "unique". Some identities have been concealed to protect their dignity.

................that's the END, and I'm not telling any tall TAILS.

Blueberry picking

We were invited by some friends to join them in a clandestine raid on a blueberry patch. Even after 2 hours I think the blueberries were winning. We ate as much as we could hold and put the rest into buckets to carry home. The blue in our hands may eventually wash off, undeniable evidence that we were indeed the culprits of the blueberry scandal!

A 5K Fourth of July!

The day dawned early and we were up and getting ready to run the first race of our careers, the 5K. The 8 year old, the 6 year old and the 5 year old coaxed their dear old dad to run with them and we were off to the races!!!

These 3 buttons were the races youngest contenders. They were mighty proud to pin on their race numbers and line up at the back of the pack. There were some serious "out-for-blood" runners in the race and then there were some that had definitely just showed up to run with no training or serious thought about it.

The girls were briefed as to the water stations and looked forward to being able to "stop" at the 2 of them to take a break. When the time came there was no stopping and much to their disgust people where throwing their cups on the ground!!!! NO WAY - LITTERING!!! They were aghast. Seriously, their Baba had to command them to throw down their cups, otherwise they would have run the rest of the race with cups in hand! Too funny. I assured them later that the water station people gladly picked up all the cups and not a cup was left, it was the rule of the race....don't know if they really believed me though.

After tailing them for the start of the race and making sure they made it up "Killer Mountain" where I was afraid littlest button would take a fall and seeing blood not be able to continue the race (which of course she did fall but having been told to wear capri's and gloves the knees and hands were saved from injury and she went on unscathed) we wiggled into the middle of the race course to meet them at a corner to cheer them on. My Beloved was so happy to see Top Button and I as they came around that corner. He said it gave everyone an energy boost and they sprinted to go past us giving us thumbs up.

It was the perfect weather for the race and even one family had a sprinkler on the coarse to coll down the runners who wanted to run through it. The kids enjoyed their time. They enjoyed most seeing their rooting section pop up around corners where we could get to the race coarse. They knew when the end was near and they put their all into it to cross that finish line with their time recorded. Second Button was first in our group and then littlest Button, then Baba, lastly Sweetpea. Their best training time for a 5K has been 50 minutes. On race day they all came in under 38 minutes, which was Sweetpea's time. What great progress, all new personal bests!

After the race they indulged in liquid refreshment and bananas.......the reward of champions. Then we went to the parade and had an excellent but quiet 4th of July. They are already talking about their next race and planning how they are going to do it differently. We will have to see, this racing thing can get out of hand and poor Baba will have to really start loving running to encourage such optimism.

We missed the fireworks as everyone was ready for bed long before sunset. This year we only dreamt of pyrotechnics.

Beauty and the .......exhausted tribe

It was jubilant and wondrous, fabulous and grand. I am so thankful that God gave my button this opportunity to participate in this program and as we soar on the heights of a job well done we also recognize that it has been so exhausting.

We ended the 2 live performances today with a break down of the set and a total clean up of the building we were using before everyone headed over to a cast pool party where they indulged in excesses of sugar and giddy laughter. I was grateful that the car can drive itself home because by the time we we leaving we were melted.

Up to my Eyeballs in Beauty.....

Beauty and the Be*ast that is! My oldest button is at a drama intensive camp for the last week. When she auditioned for the program and got cast to play the part of "Chip" the little teacup I really thought this would be a great thing for her. I had no idea that when they said it was an "INTENSIVE" they really meant that included the whole family.

The rest of the buttons have been very supportive and helpful as we have been spending all of our waking hours working on the play. It is quite an undertaking they have cut out for themselves. In 10 days they take a group of green teens with the desire to act, some with experience and some not, and not only teach them how to sing and act but also produce the entire musical and then perform it live TWICE on the tenth day.

A little on the crazy side, but that's theater for you. Living large and crazy and praying that it comes out well.

To balance out all this craziness the rest of the buttons are hard at work training for their first 5K. They have decided that the July 4th 5K is the race to do and so we have ourselves quite a lot to accomplish in a short time. It is going to be a very interesting (read: riotous) week.

Pray for me.

Fanatical Racers

I am not complaining. There is nothing in this world that would make me complain about these crazy, lovely girls I am raising .... but I am perplexed beyond words as to why they have become such nuts over running.

It seems as the days go by they get MORE obsessed with running. They wake up and I find them staring me into consciousness, willing my eyes to open the slightest so they can ask the question burning on their brilliant minds for the nanoseconds they have been awake....."can we go running today?"

Monday they made a new personal best of 2 miles. Tuesday morning while waiting for time to get dressed for our court date they went out and put 1.6 miles under their belts, just to cut the tension. They took the dog with them and the dog barely made the circuit, and we think he slept for the rest of the day. After a gruelingly long day today they begged their Baba to take them running after dinner. They made a new personal best of 2.5 miles!

I went out to pick them up and they were so proud of themselves. My sweet hubby was limping slightly as his new shoes are breaking in his feet a little (he's had his new running shoes for over 2 years already and still live in the box, so rarely have they been used before). After being so eager to tell me about their run they pled with me to let them out of the car so they could run all the way home. Baba made the ruling on that one, no.

I marvel at how God has created their unique hearts and what so easily captures their imaginations. This running thing is Second Button's natural forte, she's an easy athlete but unfocused on what she wants to really do, except that is for running. She has pulled all the others into her love for stretching her limbs and feeling the wind under her feet.

Summers around here are usually filled with water and lots of swimming from May through September. We have yet to be immersed, it's such a shame. With all this strange weather pool time hasn't been an option. I would never have thought this summer would have been a summer of running instead of swimming.........it's rocking my world, help what planet am I on?!!!!

Glorious

Done
Done
DONE
Our court appointment went very well. God blessed us greatly. Firstly and not to be overlooked the buttons were dressed sweetly with nary a stress, and four hairdos with no angst. Fifteen minutes to departure and I still was undressed and unstyled but THEY looked great!

We got to the building with a full half hour to spare and got on street parking right in front of the building.......unheard of, sincerely. There was even time still left on the meter.

As we passed through the metal detectors the guards were more interested in making comments and admiring the girls then checking the bags and noticing that people in our party were setting off the machines. We have been here before and this was not the regular atmosphere. I felt we were breathing rarefied air today.

All through the building our little band did attract quite a bit of attention. The kids didn't seem as bothered by it as usual as their minds were preoccupied with the coming events. Our lawyer met us in the upstairs lobby and went over the details of the day and buzzed between us and the other families he was representing. We were one of 5 adoptions slated on the judges docket.

We went third. The courtroom was spacious and empty as it was closed to the public. Marvelous M took off his lunch hour and showed up right in time to be our photog guy. We sat across a wide table from the judge, the same one the B's and the K's had had, which was helpful in showing the girls his picture beforehand. The proceedings started and I felt like I was at an auction. Both the judge and the lawyer spoke sooooooo quickly that I had to listen with all my strength to follow along. There were several errors and I jumped in to stop them so that the errors could be corrected. Towards the end I realized that maybe I should have raised my hand or given some nod to the legal hierarchy when I wanted to interrupt but I really was barely holding my own in trying to get it corrected before they had gone to the next page.

The kids did really well. The littlest ones stood between us as we were seated. Second button stood beside her Baba and read a book and wondered as we stood up when it would begin, she had missed the whole thing because she was waiting for some "action" and not just the words. Top Button sat behind us and watched but did not really understand much.

The only time that was troubling was towards the end of the proceeding and the judge asked the lawyer if he knew whether the first parents would show up today. For the record the judge stated the date and time and took a moment to stare at the closed door to the courtroom. Sweetpea turned to look at the door with a jolt and a face of horror as if she fully expected them to walk through at that moment. I pulled her close and knew what she could not tell me right then. The judge continued on and with each passing minute her tense body began to relax.

It ended just as anti-climatically as it had begun and poor Sweetpea also wanted action. She wanted more than just words from this judge. She wanted him to "do" something, to signify what had happened esoterically on paper to satisfy the demands of the legal system. She wanted him to "cut the line" between her and the first family. He, of course, did not understand what she was talking about or why she would want such a thing.

We all stood up and posed for pictures. Which I will post later. Right now sleep is overtaking me. The judge asked that we send him a copy of the picture as he has a large scrapbook he keeps of all the families he has worked with, that speaks highly of him.

We exited the courtroom as they called the next family and we gathered in the hallway and the 6 of us did the happy dance. It was silly and it was great -- and the lawyer acted like he had no clue. Oh well, one must celebrate the big things in life and break out in dance. Six danced.

Then we walked hand in hand out of the building into the glorious sunshine and drank in the goodness of God!

We go back for the final hearing in January.

Until then we continue with visits from the social worker and reports to the court.

Tomorrow We Go to Court

Tuesday, which is tomorrow, we finally get our day in court. That will be our first of 2 court dates to complete the adoption process for Sweetpea. We lost the last court date in May and then it seemed so far away to wait for June 23rd, but now it is upon us.

The lawyer called today and informed us that he will not be there tomorrow due to a death in the family. He is sending his stand-in and the show will go on, thankfully. He then spent the next 20 minutes on the phone speed talking me through the "talking points" of the process tomorrow. Mostly dates and details that we will have to verbally testify to -- as if they do not have it printed ad nauseam in the ream of paperwork we have already submitted -- but perhaps for succinct-ness (word?)we will have to reiterate it once again. I am going to work on a cheat sheet tonight putting these important facts down on paper for us to quickly reference in case nerves or mommy brain kicks in? Otherwise it might sound something like this....

What's your name? ugh, ummmm, yea, hon could you answer that one for me?
What is the child's name? Top Button, no, Second Button, sorry no, Bottom Button, ugh, Cody (the dog) ergh! I'm sorry it's coming to me now......Sweetpea!
Where do you live? In a house! (Smiling sweetly as I revel in easily mastering one of the questions!)
What are the series of events that led to the placement of this child in your home in 2 minutes or less? You-have-got-to-be-kidding-me!

Get the picture of why I feel I need a cheat sheet?

Please pray for the kids as they are going with us and the bottom two are really scared. They are scared for all kinds of reasons but none that we can dissuade easily or reassure them away from. Sweetpea is covertly afraid that her first parents will show up, even though they are still oversees and have been abundantly clear that they had no desire to ever appear in court. She is also afraid that the judge will "make the decide" to send her back to them. I think that is a very understandable fear and a decision that would be very, very rare for him to make but it's in the margin of possibility and she is living in that margin with her fear.

Second Button has been telling her story of going to the judge and how he let her sit on his lap and bang his gavel and gave her a lollipop when she left. I have told Sweetpea she is NOT seeing the same judge and to not expect the same treatment. The retelling of the story was to assure her that judges are nice people, not a contract of what will happen tomorrow. Either way the wind blows tomorrow, fear or over-confidence, I am packing a lollipop on my person just to be on the safe side.

After the cheat sheet my biggest angst is what will we all wear, it is court after all, and a significant moment in our family's history. I have not yet applied my grey matter to what will cover all the bitty bodies. As if you couldn't guess this one, Sweetpea wants it all to be matchy-matchy. She has such a huge need to belong and find her significance in belonging. So I had best get this posted and let those brain cells spin in the direction of creative clothes coverings!

Please pray for all our hearts and for a favorable ruling in regarding to our petition to the court!

Father's Day in Photos

We loved on my main man today and celebrated his wonderful heart of fatherhood as he fearlessly leads this band of merry maids. They sang for him, danced for him, fed him a steady diet of pizza and root beer and got all dressed up for a special portrait to bless his heart.

Big Plans - Sweetpea Style

I wanted to share with you some photos from our day of preparation for Sweetpea's dedication at church. This was such a sweet day for my daughter and I and I got to see dimensions emerge from her that I had not seen before.

The oldest buttons returned last night from a party with these curlers in their hair. Thus, it follows that this morning the littlest buttons would want curlers in their hair as well. When the older girls took theirs out and sported their curls curl envy was born and they blessed their little sisters heart's by doing their hair up too.

My Sweetpea and I spent some cuddle time together talking about what it meant to be dedicated as this was a totally foreign concept to her. She liked the part where she got to pick the dresses and that we are to have a big dinner to celebrate after church. The dresses were the easy part for her, she knew immediately what she wanted.....to match her sisters! Then we got down to business to plan the dinner together. She really got into this hostessing thing.

She had very specific ideas of what she wanted on the menu for the dinner. I was impressed that things came out pretty balanced. Having never given her the power of the pen before to craft the menu I was pleased to see more than just sweets listed, ham was pretty prominent. I love her little lefty pinky that sticks out when she writes, it's so adorable.

There were of coarse some negotiations during the planning. She wanted to invite the world and I had to tell her that we had only one ham and a large family already so she was going to have one guest. She has become a social girl with a lot of friends. She has gone from thinking that the world is a threatening place and people are enemies to being able to seek out her special people and create ongoing relationships with them. They are not yet deep and true relationships yet but they are on the continuum now at least.

I love this angel face. I love that I get to paint her finger nails and toe nails and that it makes her feel all girlie girlie. She used to peel those nails off ridiculously harsh and the ends of the fingers were raw most of the time. I know that it was a reflection of the inner turmoil but now she has allowed them to grow. They have been quietly celebrated by her sisters who either want them and don't have them because they too are gnawers or have them and get to adorn them with light polish and wish others to match. Today she got them polished and it was a golden moment.

I can't believe today is our six month-aversary of having Sweetpea in our family. It has been an astounding six months. While it has not been easy she amazes me at how rapidly she has changed. She is a sponge for love and has flourished in this wild, crazy atmosphere we call life in our household. Her very face is changing and I don't just mean all those missing teeth are finally growing in either!

I love how she is growing in all facets of life. Because she isn't spending all her time surviving she has a lot more time for deeper thinking and has gotten to be reflective and a great one to hold conversations with about the big things in life. She will normally spring these large ponderings upon me during moments of cuddling when she is feeling safe and we are being quiet. I want to be able to make time to always hear what is on her heart, even if it takes her a while to get it out.

This is the face of love. I love this photo of her because she is so unguarded and so content just to be with me and do this silly planning thing. There is trust in these eyes. Trust that even though she has not a clue of what will happen tomorrow at church during this "dedication" she will be safe and fine because I am her mother and I will make it so. I look at this face and I feel so blessed by God.

Our Little Visitor

We still have our little visitor staying with us. This makes life a tad more stressful for me than normal. She is a great kid; vivacious, energetic, funny and smart. Yet she is a post institutionalized child with behavioral problems and so she also needs some aid in navigating the waters of life. This is something I am familiar with but not something I have done with children not my own. It takes on a whole new perspective when you are asked to draw patience from deep down into your toes and I am thinking that this is harder when there is no hope of future return.

But I am wrong once again as I see the fruit of God's love upon this child and the progress she is making in our household. When she first came she was bossy and arrogant, always first, always best, always biggest, always more and always RIGHT! Without lecture and reprimand for these negative behaviors she has noticed that the other kids aren't in competition with her, in fact they don't even play the same games (save Sweetpea who gets swept up into it easily and reacts accordingly). I think she believes she has stepped into an alternate reality that she doesn't understand because we have begun to see changes in her. Of her own accord, I cannot stress this enough, she is giving preference to others, SHARING, giving compliments and support and just once admitted that perhaps she did not know best! Wow, big stuff in a short time.

She is an aching heart longing for love and yet rejecting the very love that her family is trying to give her. It is a familiar orphan scenario, yet so heartbreaking. It will take her family lots of good support and counselling as well as consistency to demonstrate true love to her and get around her walls of defenses. I pray for this situation daily and would covet your prayers as well, that God would heal this child's heart and restore to her life.

Fun Mother's Day - with Art!

We had a very sweet and sedate Mother's Day this year. The girls dressed up for church for me without much of a fuss and that in itself blessed my heart. We went over to a friends house to share lunch after church and had such a sweet time together. I got to chat while the youngest buttons were creating works of art with play*dough and the older ones were having a blast playing board games. I was very impressed with Sweetpea's rendition of an elephant, this is the first time she has created something so realistic. I, of course, had to capture the moment on film.