Alyssa graduated

Last week Alyssa graduated from Kindergarten. She was part of the SCS ceremony and there were so many songs and presentations of what they have learned! I am so proud of my little butterfly. She has increased her knowledge of so many things since March. Most of all shes more confident and social.

She received her award of "most generous" and thats so fitting too! Well most of the time but when she sets her mind to it shes one of the kindest little munchkins around :)

I remember back to when i graduated from kindergarden...yes quite a LONG time ago, I was sent home with a certificate and a graduation hat. But I dont remember having any special ceremony. Im glad that the Christian School put a lot of thought into having a nice ceremony. It will be nice for her to look back on. Plus they learned LOADS of stuff, from scriptures, to cute songs, and lots more.


Here are some pictures of her evening.

No Guarantees

Theres no guarantees in foster care....

I have heard this from my social worker on numerous times.

This little lovely blessing in our lives could be moved and placed in a waiting adoptive home with the county at any given moment. I could live in a bubble and pretend that it will not but I cant. Im working on timeframes now...after the first 48 hrs, next a two week, and wow if we could get a whole six months with her we could be considered a little higher up on the choices of families that could work on keeping her.

I wonder what God has in store. I find my mind going places...(but not to far) of purposes he had with placing her in our home. Oh the potential journey it could be. Or the quick experience of some wonderful time with a beautiful brand new life. What will come of tomorrow? For right now I just add my desires and hopes to my "daily" bread prayer list and know that God is hearing me. I trust him no matter the outcome.

Psalm 33: 20 Our soul waiteth for the Lord: he is our help and our shield.
Psalm 34: 8 O taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

Mali-potamus ;)

Life has really changed the last few weeks. Oddly in a very good way. So much has been cleared off our plate in such a quick time. I was finding myself stunned at how much free time I was beginning to have. School semester ended, I was back to my normal work schedule of three days a week, no longer helping out in the weekly childrens ministry, and the largest part was we were back to parenting just our two children and the door that we had opened up to foster parenting was quickly beginning to close. We were convincing ourselves that we were right where we wanted to be. But just when you get comfortable God loves to stir things up a bit.


So Monday evening we received a text message from our foster agency asking if we would have interest in a baby girl coming to live with us? WHAT??? Seriously? A 7 day old baby blessing! My heart danced and I already knew what I wanted to say but then again I have to check with Israel....What if he didnt want this change? And then of course my sister, I had to make sure she was alright with caring for a newborn the few days I go to work, and to talk with the girls after I pretty much assured them that it was just going to be us four for a very long time.

Well called up my sister...NO PROBLEM! I tried her first because that was the easiest. And Israel he wasnt to bad himself. I had to assure him that it was what I wanted. How could I not? But of course my sleep schedule would be very interupted. I wanted to make sure he was ok with me changing that aspect of our lives dramatically. And surprisingly he was. This will be different he said, one child vs. multiple foster children, and a BABY! That means no arguing with our children, hitting, tantrums, and acting out. Well at least not this early in life. The girls were keenly interested in what this change would mean. I think Abby panicked at the idea at first but once I explained where the baby would be sleeping and just how small this little girl is going to be.. ..she came around.

Sooooooooo we have a new little angel in our home. Her name is Malorie...her name means luckless and that just doesnt settle well with me so I call her Mali...which means Flower. And while looking up the names Amber and I discovered that means Hippopotomus in another area of the world hence the name Mali-Potamus :)

Oh how we adore her. She is an incredibly GOOOOOD baby. Only whimpers for a feeding here and there. Shes has brought so much light into our home. The baby scent, the cuddle times, we forgot just how good having such a brand new life in our arms felt. The girls do fight, but over who is going to hold her! They are not fighting over the front seat because each wants to have their place next to Mali.


Here she is :)

Maybe God just wanted to remind us how good it feels to have a baby in our midst. Whatever hes doing we are just so grateful. Shes one special little being and I feel so honored to watch over and protect her :)

Oh by the way...Amy from Evystree is doing an awesome giveaway for one of her beautiful lacy tees:

Check her out! her stuff is awesome, I proudly wear one of her awesome hoodies and so do two of my three girls ;)

Mothers Day Tea

This afternoon was spent at my daughter's 2nd grade class at school, (Stockton Christian) I was blessed to be invited to Mothers day tea. We entered the room one at a time, with white lights, lace, and flowers everywhere. The lights were dimmed to add to the effect. It was so beautiful.

We took pictures one by one with our lovely children. Abby was glowing in her dressy clothes and I was smiling to see how proud she was to help put on this celebration. We sipped tea (and hot chocolate) together and snacked on finger foods. It was delicous and very well put together.

Abby showed off various things in her classroom and was able to just share some of herself with me. I loved having the special time with my little lady. Wow has she grown up. I remember her so itty bitty small and here she is now almost at the end of her second grade adventure.

There was a tear jerking presentation in which each child got up one by one and either read a letter or a poem. She was very quick to read hers and get past presenting her letter in front of everyone :) She did so well though. Here is what my baby girl wrote to me. Sister Noble was so sweet and typed them up and framed them.

Dear Mom,

 

I Love you so much Mom! There is so much to thank you for. You are the best Mom in the whole world. I want you to know just how much i love you. Thank you for all the thinngs you do for me. I love the clothes and all my toys you buy for me. Thank you for signing me up for school I have many friends and learn new things every day. I pray for you every day too. Most of all mom I am so thankful you are a christian mom. You have a bright smile and a happy heart. Jesus truly shines through you. Thank you for teaching me right from wrong. I think you are the most beautiful mom in the whole world. I love you Mom.

Happy Mothers Day.

Love,

Abby

I was so touched by her letter, here I am glowing right after holding her special gift to me :)

Ok so of course I was choked up. She makes me so proud. They then presented us with handmade gifts, a beautiful framed photo of themselves with special crafty pieces all over the frame. There was also a "promises box" handpainted with specially selected jewels glued on by Abby :) Inside were the promise bible verses that they learn and a special scroll that lists 31 virtues to teach our children.

Besides Abbys letter that box touched my heart. I felt myself tear up as I heard Abby read each promise to me. What a gift we have that our children get the opportunity to be raised in a home where they are surrounded by parents and family friends that believe in Jesus. Its the best gift I could ever give her.

I am so amazed at where my little Abby is in life. And best of all I get to see her continue to blossom. God is good, All the time.

Here are a few more fun pictures from the day. Abby had a fun time with the camera!

Some of our favorite people.

Nuna is such a jewel :)

Sharea in abbys class. She loved the camera too!

Kisses from Abby

Butterflies and beautiful girls

I love you Abby, thanks for showering me with your love today!

I cant leave my other little baby girl out. My little Alyssa came home all excited to give me the treasure she made me to celebrate Mothers day! Here we are she was sooo incredibly happy to give me her gift!

I cant wait for you to open it mommy!!

Ok she can breathe ;P It is now officially opened and mommy LOVES her special handmade mug with my handprint and hand written name!

This mug is adorable, Good job to The Mud Mill!!!

New Habits

So this week has been very very different for me.
It started off with an attempt to clear away a path in my life of all the things that were becoming hindrances for me. One of the main ones (and this isnt for everyone) was facebook. I had my husband change my password just so I would truely just take a break from the whole social networking arena. I will admit the first day was somewhat difficult. I would find the urge to just pick up my laptop and just peek at what is going on in some of my friends lives, etc. And not having the option to was a very good idea or else I would have easily broke my little experiment. Moving on throughout the week I have found it easier and easier to go on without it. Yes this will probably sound strange for some but for others maybe not. Its so easy to get caught up with enjoying "being in the know".
Instead I started some new habits that I have been wanting to do for awhile. I read a book. I lost myself in the book. A wonderful read by Tony Bailey...Buckle Up and Enjoy the Ride.  What a faith building book!!! But more importantly a reminder of how IMPORTANT morning prayer is. I found myself crying at work at several different parts of the book. Wanting to allow opportunities in my life for God to pour out his spirit in even the smallest way like some of the major stories int he book. Such sacrifices but what a journey that man has been on with the Lord.
I have been spending more time with the children. I am not so quickly annoyed when the children do something that they shouldnt or come and interrupt me when I am on my laptop. We are eating at the family dinner table again. All the obvious things but some of these things we were allowing to slip away and a new normal was setting in for us.
And then the habit that I am most amazed at. The time I have put aside for morning prayer. I feel like I have rediscovered my walk with the Lord. And best of all we are doing it as a family.
My husband pulls me aside the other night and says..Babe I dont think I have been as happy as I am today. I truely mean that.  That makes me smile. When I can see my husband is feeling the same contentment that I am feeling inside I know theres nothing that we could not stand against together.
I feel like just four days into these small changes (he has made some of his own) our priorities are shifting. Instead of centering our schedules around the foster children (which we no longer have), my school schedule, work, or social activities..we are setting up our schedule to accomplish walking with the Lord. I want to truely know the effort I am putting into serving him is my very best and not just empty words where I convince myself that I have a relationship with God. And for that habit to be formed and played out consistently I would continue to give the things that in the end are so unimportant.

So if there is something in your path..be encouraged that it can be moved. And how good it feels.. I wonder why it took me so long to take the step :)

Much love to anyone who has read this.

I can almost say I did it :)

By this time next week I will be able to say I completed ANATOMY! This has been quite a crazy journey. Its not so much the subject, I LOVE THE SUBJECT. But what it has taken is Mucho Memorization skills. To do that with four children and in the middle an UNEXPECTED move to another town has made this class a weee bit .....difficult. But I love that I can soon say I did it!!!
I know that yes there are five more prerequisite classes before I can apply for the program that I want however I am going to rejoice in the little milestone. Lots will be changing this next week for us.....
Our foster parenting journey will be coming to an end. We have decided that we are going to take these younger years of ours and just utilize them with our own children. We learned so much by making the choice to become foster parents. Most importantly it has brought Israel and I to a place of amazing communication and we treasure the family we have more than ever. The girls have also learned a lot from this experience, but are eager to have our family of just us four back. Simple little things we took for granted will no more be overlooked! Its going to be so strange yet its going to be wonderful.

Im so excited for this summer...Im going to treasure the small little moments and not let them fly by. Smell the flowers....stay a little longer in the park with the girls....take a trip to see friends that we miss OOOOOH so much in Texas and hug them all so tight!!! Its only been since November since Heather and Jason moved but our heart misses them tremendously! Cant wait for August!!!

But the little milestones....next week Anatomy 125 over! and maybe with an A ;)

First day of school...in March

So the girls started at the Christian School today :) It was neat to see them so excited for the first day of school....in March. I love that they have eachother too. They walked up hand in hand ready for the new adventure that awaited them. I feel good about the decision that was made to have them go...and I find myself eager to hear about their first day...less than 45 minutes away :)