Our First Placement!

OMG! We have our first placement!! I can't believe I haven't told you all about this sooner. But honestly, I'm so tired, I'm just in zombie mode. Let me just start at the beginning.
It was a Monday evening and I'm sitting in a super boring Cookie Training meeting for Girl Scouts. All of the ladies there are being super rude to me, saying i don't really have a troop because I only have 2 girls. Apparently you have to have 5. I had 7 when I started but when it came time to pay, no body came back. Despite my efforts to throw parties at my own cost to recruit, but that's a whole other story. I'm at this meeting texting my husband about how rude these ladies are and he starts telling me to go out in the hallway and call him. I'm thinking hes just saying that to give me an out. I'm just not that kind of person to get up and walk out. Like, I would hold a pee for 8 hours to keep from interrupting or drawing attention to myself. Anyway, he keeps on, that he really, really needs to talk to me. So I give in. I'm embarrassed but, oh well, he's my hubby. I go out in the hallway and he tells me DCS called about possibly having a premature baby girl for us to foster.
"What?! (Screw not drawing attention to myself.) What did you say? You told them yes, right? You better call them back right now and say Yes! We definitely want her!" So at this point I'm buzzing with excitement! The next day they called and said they got the detention order and she would be coming into care with us. So that night I got to go up to the hospital and just hold her. I just fell in love with her teeny little 5lb self. I stayed there holding her until I had just enough time to get home for my hubby to leave for work. The next night I stayed the night at the hospital with her to make sure I knew what to do with her apnea monitor and she's been at home with us ever since.
Hubby came up with her nickname which is also what we'll call her here. Half Pint.

This was her all dolled up in her Christmas dress. Yep. She got to spend Christmas with us. She's been here for 4 weeks today. She's growing and changing so much, and I'm sure that you know why I can't show you her pretty little face. But just believe me when I say, she's absolutely gorgeous. We just can't get enough of her.

Well, she's starting to move around and soon she'll be calling for me in her grunty little way. I better get a bottle ready.

Thanks for stopping by and come back soon. I'm looking forward to sharing this journey with you all. 

A Reply? Finally!!

      Oh My Gosh! I finally got a reply back from our foster care specialist. Sadly they are extremely busy in the work that they do. But it was good news! I have been emailing her just to let her know not to forget about us. I don't want to be too pushy and risk her putting our paperwork at the bottom of the stack just because I'm annoying the crap out of her. This last email I said, "Hey, I just wanted to let you know we haven't changed our minds." And I got a reply back! She said she plans to have our home study written by the end of next week! Yay! I don't know how long it takes for us to be officially licensed after that, but its a step in the right direction! Woohoo!! I'm so ready! My kids are starting to wonder if it's really happening. It seemed like we had to do a lot really quickly so it was a big thing in our house for a little while, then nothing at all for the last month. But now, finally, there is light at the end of the tunnel. I'm so excited to fill our empty room with children who need us. What better way to honor the Lord, than to open our hearts and our homes to His children... Gives me goose bumps just thinking about it.
     Thank you all for tuning in to this journey with me. I can't wait till I have more to share with you!
Goodnight!

The Great Church Debate

      "I never in a million years thought I would be doing this again. Many of you know, I've been VBS and Sunday School Coordinator at my church for a few years now. And I love it. I really do. But that's as far as my love for this church goes any more. A very wise woman told me that being busy in the church is just that, busy. It doesn't make you any more faithful. I want my children to grow up in church. In this day and age, there are negative influences all over. And I want my kids to have positive influences. I'm not a great Christian but I love Jesus and I'm trying. I want my children to have a great relationship with the Lord. And that's just not happening at our church. We're not getting spiritually fed. I've found that I've lost respect for my pastor (but that's a whole other story). I never thought I would have these feelings toward a person in his position. And it's become acceptable for me to take the kids to Sunday School and not even stay for the church service. It may be socially acceptable, nut I'm not ok with it. I want more from my self. I need accountability. Our church is dying and I've struggled for quite some time. I just don't know what to do... Should I stay and try to help rebuild it? Or do I take my kids somewhere else? Am I really going to be looking for a new church for my family again? Am I strong enough to ignore the stares, to not walk in to a new church and feel like you're crashing someone's family reunion?"

     That ran through my mind constantly a few weeks ago. I could barely see through my tears to write it. I decided to resign my positions. I did so with the intent of going back to church for the right reasons, not just because I was obligated to be there. I though, "I'll get up Sunday and sit in the pew and listen, take my kids down to Sunday School and not worry about if the teacher's showed up or if they have enough materials. I'm just going to be an ordinary church goer." After I resigned from my positions, a friend from church asked if I would like to try another church with her the next Sunday. What did I have to lose? So we went together and I left the kids at home because I didn't want to drag them around "church shopping". But I loved it there. It was so lively and upbeat. And even though folks there are struggling, they're praising God. It was such a refreshing change from what I am used to. One of the things that drew me to the church I've been at for 6 years, was the traditionalism. Every thing about it was just like I remembered church being from when I was a kid. So naturally, I thought, this is how its supposed to be. Nothing about this other church is "traditional". There is a full band instead of a choir, the pastor wears blue jeans. No body is judging you by what you're wearing or how much money you're giving. They're just glad you are there! And I haven't even gotten to the children's part yet. They're main focus is on growing Godly children. They know that our children are the focus. So instead of dividing up their resources into lots of little ministries they focus on the children's ministry. And the absolute best part... My KIDS LOVE IT!

      We will definitely miss our old church family. But it's time for us to move on. Of course, I've been asked repeatedly in the last week to come back to our old church. Right now, I just can't. Monkey is 10 now. I feel like the next 5 years are going to be crucial in his spiritual growth. I only get one shot at giving him the best. I've prayed about it. If I can take him somewhere that he wants to be at, where he enjoys learning about God, and building his relationship with God, then how could I not? And Banana is not far behind him. I want my children to have a relationship with God throughout their entire lives. And I NEED for them to know Him throughout their teen years. When they feel like they have no one else on earth, and they will feel that way, its teen tradition, I want them to think "I'm ok. I don't need anyone else on earth. I've got God on my side!"

     Although choosing to leave my church has been one of the most difficult decisions I've ever had to make, I'm 97% confident that I made the right decision. For my children and my self. Hubby even came with me one day. He said he didn't hate it, which was way better than anything he ever said about our other church. Keep praying for us. Maybe we'll settle in and this will be our new church home.

Thank you,

I have been working on...

     Yesterday, I promised to reveal what else I've been working on. This "project" has been a long time dream of mine. It required training for both my husband and myself, many family discussions, interviews of my family, room redecorating, and modifications to our home. Do you think you know what it is yet? If you guessed Foster Care... You're right!
It has been such an emotional ride. But, we've now completed all of our class work. We are CPR, First Aid and AED trained. Our children have been interviewed, our home has been inspected and our friends and family have submitted reference letters. We are at the bottom of 4 home studies that our Foster Care Specialist is in the process of writing but when she finishes (hopefully soon), we will be licensed foster parents. Then we will just be waiting for placements. I would love to do sibling groups, but Mr.Random is a little more leery. He would prefer to start with one and see what happens. And he's probably right. Because it is an adjustment for our entire family, we may want to start off slowly, ease our way into it. I recently spoke with another foster mom in our area and she told me that when she started foster care, about 4 years ago, several of her couple friends became foster parents too, but have since quit. I always thought it was a lifetime commitment. I certainly intend for it to be for our family. At this point we have decided to accept children who are 4 and under in to our home. As our children get older, we may accept older children. Both Monkey and Banana are excited to have a baby and/or a toddler in our home. God really has blessed me with great children. I know they will big great foster siblings to anyone who comes in to our home. I can't wait to share more of this exciting journey with you all.

I can not wait to have a little person in this room!

Come back soon. I will be sharing details about this room and the decorations I've been working on for this.
Thanks for stopping by!

Crazy Busy

Aaaah! My life is so crazy right now.
Preschool is back in session. Yay! I have 2 classes again. My morning class has 11 students, 10 boys 1 girl. Seriously! 10 three year old boys doesn't take long to wear you out. My afternoon class is much more mellow with 7 girls and 3 boys. But both classes are a lot of fun. Last year, I had only 5 kids in one class and 7 in the other class. So to say that this year is much more challenging, is an understatement. However, I firmly believe that with greater challenge comes greater reward. I'm most excited about our Winter Wonderland program. I think it will be super exciting to have so many little voices singing. Not to say that I didn't enjoy my classes last year, I very much did. I'm just really excited to spend my days with such a fun, rambunctious, eager group of kids.
I also decided to take on another job at my church. Custodian. Well, another woman and I are splitting the duties. Last time our church lost a custodian, we went nearly 4 weeks without one. So Mrs.B and I decided to split the duties. The last custodian we had was less than stellar. Many duties had gone undone for quite a while. So we've spent the last week putting in extra hours to get our church looking beautiful again. Custodian is a much unappreciated job. Many, many props to housekeepers and custodians every where. It's hard work! And it's 7 days a week. I've been going in after the kids go to bed, that way I know all of the church activities are over plus I don't have to miss out on time with my kiddos. They're so busy, I feel like I hardly see them as it is.
About them being busy, Monkey has soccer on Monday and Wednesday, Taekwondo on Tuesday and Thursday. Banana has 2 dance classes on Wednesdays and Girl Scouts every other Monday. And oh yea, did I mention that I decided, at the very last minute, to be the Girl Scout leader. Because I'm just so bored... Ha.
I also have something very very exciting going on that has taken up quite a bit of time lately. The good news is that all of the work I had to do for that is over. Now we're just waiting. I know you're dying to know what it is. But... You're going to have to wait till tomorrow.

Image credit: Google Images

Thanks so much for stopping by. Come on back to see what I've been working so hard on.

Medieval Times for 4! Do Not Miss This Deal

      So Medieval Times is having a big sale. Have you ever been there? I went with some ladies once, a couple of years ago. I had won some tickets over at Kingdom of Chaos, so my mom and both of my siter-in-laws and myself went. It was such a great time. I've been itching to go back and take the kids but we hadn't found the time. Now they have such a great deal going on, I'm going to have to make the time. Join me! Click on the picture and pick up your Family Four Pack today.

Seriously, this is what you get in your Four Pack:

• 4 Admission Tickets
• 4 Course Meal Fit For a King or Queen (each person gets this)
• 2 Rounds of select beverages (per person)
• 2 Hour ACTION PACKED SHOW
• Free Parking (Always)

That's only $32 per person! The tickets are good for shows all the way up till 9/30!You can't even get dinner and a movie that cheap anymore, let alone a live show and dinner experience. 

Hurry and get your tickets HERE, before time runs out!

And I almost forgot to mention this fun little gem-
This summer thru July 31^st Medieval Times is hosting Knight Training- where kids can go down into the arena and train with the knights. Sign up when you get your tickets!

Smells Like Summer (Australian Gold Sunscreen Review)

You know there are certain smells that remind you of specific things? I don't mean that smelling pizza reminds you that you're hungry. I mean how pine trees and cinnamon smell like Christmas. Well Australian Gold Sunscreen smells like summer. It doesn't just smell like sunscreen or plain lotion. It smells like summer. Like beaches and boats and swimming and sunshine and barbecues. I've only ever used Australian Gold products to help me get a tan before, never the opposite, until now. This suncreen is gentle enough to wear on your face and tough enough to wear in the pool. It dries clear and not too oily. It's water resistant (for 80 minutes), and sweat proof too. That last part is my personal opinion. Indiana humidity is no joke and with active kids, I need a product that can hold up to my sweat and theirs. This one is it. Sunscreen is a part of our life in the summer, so why not have one that feels and smells great...
I received a sample of this product to try in exchange for my honest opinion.

Mommy Fail 345712

I'm sure I'm not the only non-perfect mother out there. We've all said things in front of our kids that we wish we could take back. Sadly, I probably have a list 10 miles long. But I'm working on it.
Anyway in an effort to conceal my true dirty words, I called someone "juice bag" instead of douche bag and that just sort of became his nickname. But tonight while talking about said person I referred to him as JuiceBag. Monkey did not skip a beat and corrected me by saying "Mom, it's douche, not juice" Bahahaha! I started choking and heaven forgive me, I could not stop laughing. So I just stood there with my back turned to him, shaking in silent laughter, trying to compose my self long enough to tell him that he can't say that. All the while this kid can not let it go, so he just keeps trying to correct me and Hubby is doubled over in the fridge, pretending to look for food, but actually laughing hysterically. Thanks a lot Hubs for coming to my rescue. Not. He literally told Monkey to never, EVER repeat anything his mother says. Lol.
Oh well, all's well, that ends well.
Lesson learned.

When You Finally Realize Your Baby Sister Can Kick Your Butt...

Hey there! You all may remember a while back I had a Wordless Wednesday post of my favorite military person. Well, in honor of Veteran's Day I thought I would bring her back and share some more with you all about her. She's my younger sister, by 17 months. (The way our birthdays fell, we were 2 years apart in school.) But I've always felt super protective over my siblings. She'll always be a bratty baby to me.
About her:
She's in graduate school at one of the top schools in the country for her field. She spent 4 years in active duty in the United States Air Force and has since been in the reserves. She currently holds the title of  Technical Sergeant. Although she would kill me if she found out that I told you this; she just got picked number 1 for an officer training scholarship program. EEEEEEP! My baby sister is going to be a Lieutenant!!!

This is her accepting the offer on Veteran's Day. Isn't she beautiful?!

Yep, she's on her way back to active duty. While we don't live in the same state now, I still get to see her almost monthly since her reserve base is in my state. Once she's stationed, I'm going to see much less of her and I'm going to miss her terribly, but I can't help being so excited and so  proud of her. Since I've never written about her, I never gave her a name. So I guess we're going to call her Lulu (for lieutenant). Pretty cute, right?

On a more serious note, if you see a vet today or any day, Thank them. And ALWAYS, ALWAYS PRAY for them. 

Raising My Mother

Grrrrrrrrr! I need a place to vent! I am so over drama with my mom. First she left my step dad and moved in to my house. She won't get a job, she's been getting money from my step dad and using it to go out all the time. Now she's dating a 30 year old scrub who lives with his mom. And mind you I'm only 29. Eeeeewwwww! They just went to Las Vegas for a pool tournament. They borrowed my van to get there, and what the heck does she do? Gets my van impounded! Seriously! I couldn't make this up if I wanted to. We had to get an email copy of a release form from the towing company, print it, fill it out, get it notorized and fax it back in order for them to release the vehicle to her. I swear if I wasn't 2000 miles away I would have gone and picked it up and left her stranded. She's so irresponsible. And every word that comes out of her mouth is a LIE.

I just don't get it. She had me when she was 19, my sister at 20 and my brother at 21. We all had shit for dads, never a dime of child support or welfare. My sister and I only met our dad once. Yet, she pulled up her big girl panties and handled her business. She gave us all a wonderful childhood and raised us well. None of us are in jail or on drugs and we all have good work ethic and all go to church. It makes absolutely no sense! The worst part is my sister and I have only ever had one parent, her! And now since I'm raising her, who is our mother? She's physically here so there's nothing to grieve; but she's gone for us. My mother has always been my number 1 role model, but now Im losing respect for her. Thats the hardest part. What do you do when you lose respect for your mother? I don't know how to get passed this. 

Honor your mother and father. It's one of the commandments. I just don't know how right now... I've talked to her, yelled at her, guilt tripped her (tried to anyway, not one of my finer moments), but nothing works. Im not usually one to care how another person chooses to live their life, but with my mom I just can't accept it. I still love her, obviously, she's my mom. I just need help accepting this new path she's chosen. But I also feel that I have to draw the line somewhere. Grrrr. 

Well, thanks for letting me vent and if you have any advice for me, feel free to leave it in the comments. 

~Ms.Random

A Different Perspective...

I would like to say how sorry I am for the victims and the friends and families of the victims involved in the Boston bombings today. Having a 7 year old son, I could not imagine losing him. My heart breaks for the parents of the 8 year old boy who died today. That's not to say that any other people involved are less important, I just can not stop thinking about the young boy's family. Probably because I have a son so close in age to that boy. I know there is nothing in the world that anyone would ever be able to say to console me if my Monkey were so unexpectedly taken from me. So I pray for peace and acceptance for his mother.
This evening we talked about the bombing with the kids. They heard it on tv and saw the tears streaming down my cheeks as I tried not to imagine what the mother must be feeling. So we talked about it. Monkey heard that there was an 8 year old boy who died. He didn't ask any questions but just kept repeating that an 8 year old boy died. At bedtime I suggested that they pray for the people involved in the bombings. And as I listened to Monkey's prayer, my heart melted. He said "God, I am so happy that 8 year old boy gets to go live in the best place ever (heaven)."
Wow! I mean, talk about seeing things from a different perspective. How many of us could see through the tragedy and be happy for this child who gets to meet Jesus? Not me. Not until my 7 year old son enlightened me. I love his pure heart. God surely has blessed us with that boy.
In these awful times, I pray that everyone of us can see something from a different perspective. Let us not judge and be divided, but come together as brothers and sisters in Christ and see through our hurt and anger to be there for each other.

My Monkey and ADD

     I need to get serious for a little bit here. My handsome little Monkey has just been diagnosed with ADD (attention deficit disorder). And while I've always kind of known that he had this disorder, I'm still a little freaked out that he really does. I had asked all of his teachers up until now what they thought and none thought that he did. But that was preschool and kindergarten so he never really had to have much of an attention span until this year. And this year, with new expectations an homework, this disorder has really shown through. His schoolwork is really suffering. And so is his confidence. So I sucked it up and told the doctor that while every body else disagreed with me, I still thought that he had ADD. I think that everyone else was a little confused because he doesn't bounce off the walls like most ADHD kids. But low and behold when Hubby and I and Monkey's teacher did our surveys, they all basically looked the same. So now we know... What's next?

This is my Monkey ;-)

Its actually a picture from Attentionsdeficitdisorder.com 

     Well for us, it's medication. Our doctor prescribed Vyvanse. He said it's in the same category as Adderall. I'm really nervous about it but I'm also very excited to see how my baby will grow once he gets a chance to blossom. Our doctor also said that Monkey has Autistic tendencies. So when we treat the ADD the Autism will be come more prevalent or not and we will be able to find out if he does have Autism or not. We always knew he was special. Now we know he's just Super Special. Either way we are super blessed, because clearly he's highly functioning.

     Now for the pity party part. I like to be very open and honest so I'd be lying if I said that I'm ok with all of this. I know that it could be much worse. And while I am beyond grateful that it isn't, I can't help but wish that it just wasn't at all. I know it's so selfish but dammit, why? Why my baby? Why couldn't it be me? Or better yet, somebody that I don't know? That way I could just live in my bubble and feel sorry for other people. My boy is so timid and loving a sweet, so why him? I just worry what growing up is going to be like? I just want to him to have a life that he loves. To not have to struggle in school. To grow up and get married and maybe have babies. Work a regular job or go to college. Whatever he wants. Just not be trapped in some mental disorder where he's just almost able to do everything normally. I want him to go on dates and have at least one good lifelong friend. There are so many things I want for both of my babies and mental illness does not make the cut. Like I said, I know that I'm being selfish. I have a friend whose Autistic son is 13, completely nonverbal, very aggressive and combative, and I'm sure she would give anything for him to be half as functioning as my son. And I am so beyond grateful that if my son has to have any mental illness that this is as bad as it is but I just don't want him to have to have any at all. So yes, I'm a selfish bitch, but it is what it is. OK. Pity party over.

     I seriously crave advice and information, so anything that anyone would be willing to share with me about ADD or Vyvance, would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for stopping by and please come back soon.
~Ms.Random

Wordless Wednesday

We had a first this last Sunday... SKATING!
The pics are kinda blurry since they were moving and I was taking them with my phone but you can see what we were doing and that they were having fun! My cautious little Monkey had to bring his elbow and knee pads and his helmet. But he got too sweaty to keep them on after he got the hang of it.

 

 

 

Thanks for stopping by and come back soon.

~Ms.Random

Happy Groundhog Day

      Hey there.  I'm sure you all noticed my book blast blunder. Ha. Nothing like making a mistake in public. Oh well. I can't always be perfect. Most of the time is good enough. But in all fairness, I've been running on NO SLEEP!
Monkey got a high fever and was out of school for a whole week. No other symptoms, just a fever. Doctor said infection must have been in his blood and just attacked everything. He was scheduled to go back to school on Thursday and he did. But wouldn't you know, Banana would wake up puking at 2am Thursday morning. Poor little thing, she didn't stop till 3:30 in the afternoon. 13 and a half hours of puking, 1-3 times an hour makes for a pretty miserable 4 year old. When it finally stopped she passed out on the couch. Friday she was doing better but not eating. Monkey went to school and all was looking up. Or was it? Of course not. Monkey starting puking in his bed at 10:30 last night. And the poor little fella didn't stop until 3:30 this morning. Every 45 minutes. But he wake up at 8:30 this morning with a pretty good attitude and said "Good thing it's a weekend so I don't have to miss school." So please keep your fingers crossed that we are done with this nastiness. It's NO FUN!
      All in all, today has started out pretty good. I'm pretty sure we are on the mend and 'Punxsutawney Phil' Predicts Early Spring. WooHoooo!

     (taken from Google Images)

     I know the beginning of this post didn't sound too happy but today is a new day and it's looking brighter by the minute! I hope every one of you has a Happy Groundhog Day!!
Thanks for stopping by and come back soon!
~Ms.Random

Welcome To Our New Home

     As you know we moved recently. It was the weekend after Thanksgiving. And I must say... I am in love with my house! We have lots of rooms. Both kids have their own rooms, Hubby has a room for his music equipment and I have a craft room. Well, I will, as soon as I get it cleaned and organized. But hey, I have a room for all my stuff. Lol. We have a basement!! A walk out basement at that. And Hubby has a garage. And a nice big deck. Our last home was beautiful too, but it was a manufactured home. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but I really wanted a basement and there is no resale value in manufactured homes. We definitely have work to do here to make it our own and I can't wait. But hey I got Pinterest for ideas, right?

This is the living room. Its kind of a mess. I didn't think to clean up before I took the pic. Oops:)

 This is kitchen, which is also a mess. But hey, we actually live here.

And this is the deck where I plan to have Hubby cook all of our meals when it gets warm out.

   
     The kids have adjusted to the move so well. We still live in the same town and they go to the same school so that really helps. We bought our last house when Monkey was 7 months old so he and Banana didn't know any other home. I was nervous that it would be hard on them to move but, they both love the new house as much as Hubby and I do. They even have a play room in the basement. Not that they actually play in it, but it's there and they can if they want to. There is a concrete floor down there leading to all the rooms that they just love to ride their scooters on. And did I mention it is within walking distance to "the big park"? There are 3 small single piece of equipment parks in our town and on larger park that the kids have dubbed "the big park". (Our town is pretty small.)

    This is just a little bit of our home I hope you enjoyed seeing it. Thanks for stopping by and come back soon.
~Ms.Random

4 Generations of Crazy

     Hey y'all. How's it going? I hope you're all having a good weekend. I am super sleep deprived and finally finished the longest drive of my life.
      Right now we just made it to Kentucky (about 350 miles from me).  My grandpa, who I barely know, has always lived there. Until my uncles decided it was too much of a hassle to go down there whenever he got ill or anything. So they transplanted him up to their town when he got too sick and left him to fend for himself. Yes, my uncles are arseholes, but in all fairness he was never much of a dad to them. And he's lived in another state for the last 30+ years.
Anyway. My moms genes got all screwed up somehow. And she's nothing like her brothers or her parents. I think when their family got souls and consciences, my mom was the only one who got one. And God help me, I'm a sucker just like her. So she's been taking care of him, even though he hadn't called or visited or spoke to her in 30 years. But that's her, that's us. So now he's dying and here we are on a road trip to his hometown for one last visit. Its Grandpa, my mom, myself and both my kiddos. 4 generations of crazy.
     Apparently there is some big festival going on. So it should be alot of fun. If I don't go absolutely bonkers and lock all 4 of them in the hotel room and take off on my own. Ha. So far on this road trip, noone has been hungry at the same time or had to pee at the same time. My mom has been over-indulging the kids with junk food. She gave them Cherry Coke at 7:30 at night. If they have pop, its usually caffiene free. Sprite, root beer, etc. So needless to say, Banana went nuts. She was jumping on the bed, running around in circles, and laughing like a hyena. I think it had the opposite effect on Monkey because he laid down and went right to sleep.
   Well I'm off to the parade. Hope you all have a good weekend. Thanks for stopping by.
~Ms. Random