Weekly review

Phew! Sorry it's been so long...with these foster care meetings and the holidays I sometimes feel like we are just keeping our heads above water. Anyway - we're excited that our last class is next Tues! So this Monday we were making a family album. We plan to make copies of the pages for our own family, so if you ask us some time we'd love to share it! Wednesday we didn't work out. Too tired. Still trying to get our rooms in order upstairs. Progress is being made! We have the one bed taken apart so we could move it. The small room needs a few things removed and the twin bed set up. We'll get there - this weekend both rooms must be photo ready. Tomorrow I'm meeting some other parents at the mall's new indoor play place. Mo loves going there!! It's really not that big, but it's just a great indoor place to burn off some energy. Most of the time we go and we're the only ones there...I guess he might be the only kid who is up that early and I'm the only momma who gets us out the door!! Oh well. No complaints. Well, I was planning to eat a banana split, but the Packers are not doing too well. It's hard to eat when you're nervous or agitated! But banana splits (minus the cherry!) are on my list of favorite treats. What are some of your favorite treats?

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's the Saturday after Thanksgiving, actually, but I thought I would share some things about our celebration. We were very thankful that all of Dave's siblings and families could be with us for a pre-Packer game lunch! The 16 of us hardly fit around the table. Later in the day we had a white elephant gift exchange - I think I mentioned it earlier (read this). I am enclosing a photo of the funniest gift I got - I don't know, something about it just made me bust out laughing! The collar is fuzzy and it's a ZEBRA!! HAHA!!


The other thing I wanted to write about today is that it's Dave's birthday. Now he's 30, just like me! Most of you probably knew that already, but here's a few things you didn't know...
1) I love the way Dave asks people how they met. He can be pretty romantic and sappy sometimes, but I just get this grin when he asks that question. It's fun to hear other people's stories.
2) I love the fact that he asked to hold my hand the very first time. He had that much respect for me and my body that he asked me. He didn't think it was his right or that he deserved it. Of course I said yes!
3) I love the way he dishes out the hugs and kisses! Moses and I both feel so loved.
4) I love him dancing. If you have never seen Dave's best moves, you are missing out. The way he uses his leg to play air guitar makes me melt! *SNORT* Yes, I'm kidding!
5) I love to be outside doing stuff with him...hiking, biking, camping, going to sports events or just getting the football stuck in the tree! And I love that he always helps me with the garden.
6) I love the way he helps me see the big picture. Sometimes I get hung up on the details and he reminds me that we'll get through whatever it is and we'll move on to the next thing.
After 8 years of marriage he is still my best friend. I thank God for blessing my life with someone who is so committed to me and our family. Anyway - now you know a little more about the birthday boy and why I love him so much! Isn't he cute??

Happy Birthday, Dave!

Flip!

Today is Monday, but we're flip-flopping stuff due to Thanksgiving. DW and I are going to work out tonight and make bread and pumpkin pie on Weds. Then we're off to Neenah! Everyone will be home and it will be the first holiday w/o Dave's dad. Sorry if that sounded blunt. I guess I'm trying not to think about it too much now, since I know I'll probably be crying about it at some point. Anyway - we are hoping to have a white elephant gift exchange, since not everyone will be at Christmas. I keep thinking I'll find something around here, but I don't want to part w/stuff or it's just dumb and not really all that funny. What's the funniest white elephant gift you ever saw? Did you get to keep it? What did you do w/it? I have a memory of some elephant ashtray or something, but I don't remember when or where that happened.
In other news, we have started to get things in the upstairs bedroom ready for foster care kids. I'm getting excited! Our last class is in 2 weeks!!! We really want to put a pic of the bedrooms in our family album, which is due Dec. 4 - the last class. Did I say I was getting excited? I guess I forgot to say anxious and to say that I'm 'nesting' horribly. Dave didn't get that when I told him that. I keep finding things like our closet that I feel compelled to organize. It's not a bad thing, but it doesn't necessarily get us closer to the foster care goal. Oh well! I'm trying to stay focused...speaking of that, I have some laundry to hang and then I'm headed upstairs! Happy Monday =)

Week in Review

Phew - the week got away on me! Tuesday we went for a really long walk. I didn't work out on Weds...I was crabby, it was cold and I guess I was tired from Tues! We walked to the grocery store and after purchasing a 10lb bag of potatoes and other stuff, we walked up the hill to Big Lots, and home again. I made some bread this week - did I already talk about that? We have a breadmaker and all the supplies, so I feel compelled lately to just make our own. Friday we met at church for playgroup. It was nice to vent a little and feel 'in touch' w/other adults!
We've been working on getting things ready for foster care kids. Today we picked up some furniture from my brother's future in-laws. It was an awesome gift - a bed and a dresser! The 2 rooms upstairs are shaping up...slowly. We have started the fat application. The thing that will take the longest amount of time will be the 'autobiography' section. There's a lot of questions about each of our backgrounds/upbringings...if that's a word! Lately we have heard good news from a lot of friends...adopting soon, pregnant, successful deliveries...it's been emotional for us b/c we are in a time of waiting. That doesn't mean we don't feel JOY for them - we definitely do!! We are not hurt by hearing their news, although many of them have been very considerate of our feelings. We know they are praying with us and supporting us on our journey, just as we hope we can do for them! So I guess that's about it for foster care news. We'll keep you posted - our last class is Dec 4!

I. M. F.

So today I have 3 things I want to write about...
First, I had a discussion with a friend about people who inspire us. Who inspires you? Leave a comment! You don't have to say names or anything...for me, I am inspired by my friend Tracy to take better care of this planet. Jason and Linda inspire me to eat better. My best friend Dawn inspires me to make stuff. Dave's dad always inspired me to be cheap! My parents inspire me to treat people better, to be faithful to your family and give of yourself. My friend Maria inspires me to keep up my Spanish! Old photos of myself (you can use yourself!) inspire me to workout. (Who is that skinny girl??) The DeVries inspire me to adopt a bunch of kids, make them feel safe and loved. Yeah I could probably go on...
The second thing is Make It Monday - I made granola. I have been wanting to do this forever. It was easy and I'm going to make more. "YUM YUM!!" That's a direct quote from Mo.
Finally, I want to talk about fixing things. You know how sometimes you just don't think you can pay to have an important thing fixed, but you are not sure how you are going to take being inconvenienced by not having it working? And then God just takes over. He either fixes it, finds you something to replace it or takes away the inconvenience. Last year I broke our snowblower. Or at least I thought I did! It was the last big snowfall of the year, a heavy wet one. I like being outside and I like the satisfaction of knowing I can clear the driveway. (I like mowing the lawn, too, by the way, even with the push mower!) Anyway - I was 'throwing snow' and the thing made a large BANG and died. There was a puff of smoke if I remember correctly! I attempted to finish the job by hand and gave up. Well, that dumb things been sitting there for 3 seasons...now with the weather really getting cold, I kept bugging Dave to get it fixed. We really don't have the money. We have spent a lot of money on home improvements this month. And we are really trying to get rid of the debt, although we know it won't be completely, before we have foster kids. Anyway - I prayed about this...Dave looked online and learned a few things about the machine. Tonight he took it apart and found out it has NO SPARKPLUG. How it just vanished without me noticing, I don't know. So he figured he'd start with that...he brought a new one home and it worked!!! Phew - I said a quick prayer of thanks. I am reminded of how God provides...it was good because Dave learned something about the engine and the machine, and I learned to trust. God is in the details, I'm still working on that...

WOO HOO WOO HOO

AHHH!!! I'm so excited - I just found out that our friends who are adopting from Russia are going Nov 30 to pick up their son!!!!!! AHHHHH!!! WOO HOO!!! For those of you that know me, you know I love all things kids and I have been praying for this couple as I know they prayed for us when we dealt w/infertility issues...AHHH!!! I'm just writing this all so that I can ask you - please pray for them RIGHT NOW!! Maybe by the time you read this, they will already be gone to Russia, or maybe you're just found this blog and are reading all the old posts or WHATEVER, but please, they will always need prayer!! He doesn't really speak any English and he was in an orphanage in Russia...they hardly know anything about his background, so there's a lot of question marks, but we are all believing that God has put this family together!! It's such a cool, long, cool COOL story and if you see me, ask me about it some time! Thank you for your prayers...Okay, I'm going to go dance a little! WOO HOO!!

Fearless Friday

Today we went to the Family Resource Center. It's not the most fearless thing we've done, but since we'd never been there before, I think it counts. They have a large room with lots of toys, which may sound boring to you, but to a kid, toys you've never seen before are so-o-o exotic! Mo had fun! Some friends from our 'playgroup' (if you call it that!) were there, too, so it was cool to see them. I also stayed longer than usual, which I think counts as fearless because you never know what kind of mood you'll get when you go off the routine! But lunch was great and we had no nap problems. We're looking forward to the zoo tomorrow! Hope you have a good weekend...

Goals update

Foster care training - 3 out of 10 classes done, first interview tonight
Losing weight - um, not yet
Booth in the kitchen - might have a guy coming soon!
Potty training - he goes at night before going to bed, but otherwise, we've not done much about that
Christmas letter - we're all excited b/c we think we've figured out the video thing...stay tuned!

Weekend News Update

We had a lot of fun this weekend! We started the day at Saturplay, which is like open gym for families with 2-3 yr olds. Moses was awed by all the stuff they had at the Early Learning Center and we were wondering if he would be a little scared by all the kids and noise. When the teacher called everyone to sit in a circle so she could go over the rules, he ran right over and found a spot to sit! We were like, "Where'd he go?" and just grinned when we saw him with all the other kids. It's like he's trying to tell us he's ready for school! *SNIFF* But that's cool to see!
Then it was on to Lakeland College. We had a family photo taken at the Family weekend...
...That's Beatrice from Malawi, Africa. Our other "adopted" daughter, Minhee, was working. We'll have to add another photo of her later. We decorated foam fingers together, ate lunch and saw the first half of the football game. Beatrice was happy to go to the game because they had just taught them about it in the Transitions to America class. The players came and showed them the pads and equipment, tried to teach them the rules and warned them about the noise! I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall for that one...
Well, yesterday was Monday and I didn't make much. I started a crochet project. I have been wanting to buy a wrap or a shawl, because I get so cold in church! Instead I decided to use my resources and save my money. Or as Dave reminds me, our money! Sorry if this project sounds boring...I'll keep you posted anyway. I'm using black because I already have a ton of it. I found a pattern online for 'easiest shawl ever'. We'll see about that!!

Friday Fun

We're going to the ARTery today at the JMKAC! They have all these craft projects you can do and it's all free! Mo would much rather use someone else's stuff anyway. This quarter you can put pompons on a mannequin, use wire and buttons to make a sculpture, paint, color, play w/a huge bubble maker, etc. They have this cardboard house (much nicer than you could make at home!) w/beanbags and books. Last time we had so much fun and were the only people in there! I have called a bunch of other parents to invite them so we will see who all comes. If we do anything cool, I'll be sure to report back...tomorrow we're going to Family Weekend at Lakeland w/our 'adopted' family of Beatrice from Malawi and Minhee from Korea. It will be fun to share that w/them =)