Merry Christmas

I hope your Christmas was as wonderful as ours!! We really do love this time of year. Thanksgiving is great and then the time between with birthdays and Christmas is just a blast!!! We have loved it even in the middle of selling/buying a house! I am thankful that the stress didn't get too bad and we were able to truly enjoy the birth of our Savior and celebrate what that means.

This years biggest gift was our new little puppy, Tinka. I know what some of you are thinking, crazy! Yes, it might be a little crazy to add a dog to the mix of moving, fostering, traveling etc... but the problem is this cute little girl who has BEGGED for a puppy to love for a long, long time.



She has a big heart and she loves animals and animals seem to really love her. So, what can we say...we caved to the pressure! Just kidding. We did think about this for a really long time. We have been considering it and researching it for at least a year. Sometimes when things like this or maybe the foster care thing show up on the blog you may read it and think we make impulse decisions. We really don't, we just don't put it out there for everyone to weigh in on. We talk about it, think about it, talk some more and eventually make a decision. So, we have a dog. She's sweet, cute and the kids are crazy about her. So far all is well for us...not so sure about Tinka. She just can't find a good hiding spot. They always find her!! Poor girl needs a break sometimes.

Jake was actually in on the secret and went with me to pick her up from her former home. He really likes her too! He was quite disappointed that Tink was a gift for Cara...although she is all of ours, if it weren't for Cara's relentless pleas for a puppy we wouldn't have gotten one so we thought she should get to open the present.

Like I said, the poor little puppy is being hugged and loved on so much I think she might not be too sure about life around here, but overall, I think she likes all the attention. Cara was beyond happy, excited and grateful for this gift. She has thanked us over and over for her puppy.


In other news, we sold our house!! All I can say about that is Praise the Lord! We are making next to nothing on it or actually, maybe nothing, but we need more space so we will just be thankful that we have a buyer and we are not taking a loss. I cried a couple times about leaving this little house full of wonderful memories, but today when all the kids were home all day long I was quickly reminded that moving on is a good thing. We had a contract on a house and the inspection showed mold so we are getting out of it. Unfortunately, more money was lost on that, but I am still trying to be optimistic and thankful that at least we could get out of it and find out before moving in about this as it would be very bad for all of our allergies. So, Wednesday we are looking at a house and HOPING it will be our new home! We are actually taking a contract with us and will make an offer on it if all goes well. Please pray with us that it does. We may even be able to lease it during the time between our closing here and the time it takes for everything to go through on that house. That would be great to not have to move twice. This house has had no pets in it for a long time, has wood floors in the bedrooms (both big issues for us) and we think there is a lot of living space and 3 toilets - - whoo hoo!! Do you all know how hard it is to only have one toilet for 5 people?? I know that people do it all the time and it can work, but my kids all seem to have to go at the same time and it is going to be really nice to have some options :).

So, PRAYING that this might work out so we can get settled. We feel very unsettled. Half of our stuff has been packed up for a long, long time. So long, I can't even remember what, but a lot of my kitchen stuff and decorations. I have really missed decorating, but haven't wanted to spend money so I am excited to start fresh and get a house in order.

And finally, for this lengthy update, we are excited that we are officially licensed to foster. We are waiting for our call to pick someone up. They had a little one a week ago but he was close to Abby's age and they are hoping to place an infant in our home. We are eager to see who God will bring...will keep you posted on that!

We are heading to one of our favorite places next week and will have LOTS of photos to post. Cara is excited to see Snow White and Abby can't wait to meet Sleeping Beauty or Sleeping Booty as she says! Jake is excited about the rides. He has grown so maybe he will be able to ride even more of the big rides.

Here's a cute pic I got of Abby in her new shades. She's ready for some fun in the sun!!

Hope you are enjoying this last week of 2009!

Happy 3rd Birthday Abby

HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEET LITTLE ABBY!!!

We love you so very much! How did you get to be three??

Feels like we brought you home yesterday.


You are such a sweet little gift from God!
I still marvel at God's goodness to us when
He gave you to us!!

You are precious, sweet, silly, smart and absolutely beautiful!

I don't think you could be any cuter or sweeter!! WE love you like crazy!!!

XOXOXO

Mommy

Look, No Feet!

I just saw this picture on my computer and it made me laugh. This is Cara doing her "trick."

All I Want for Christmas

Is my two front teeth.

Happy 5th Birthday!!

Sweet little Cara celebrated her 5th birthday yesterday. Thankfully, we had already had a few celebrations because yesterday was just a great big mess of a day. Cara, was such a good sport about her day being ruined by Abby's unfortunate injury. She loves her baby sister deeply and missed her. When Jeremy picked her up around dinner time to take her out for her birthday all she wanted to do was go to the hospital to see Abby.

Cara celebrated her birthday at school on Wednesday. Her teachers had a birthday crown for her and I had a new outfit wrapped up for her when she woke up (this was a great way to avoid the what to wear battle we've been having lately)! She loved it and looked super cute.

The next day, her actual birthday, I had planned to take Cara, her friend Ellie, and Abby to a fun play place near our house. She was so excited. I made her this shirt to wear for that day and she loved it because she is so proud to be a big five year old!!! This isn't actually the skirt I had planned for her to wear this shirt with, but as you can see, I lost the clothes battle that day :). It was her birthday after all. She is loving the boots too. She pretty much wears them every. single. day. She is big into skirts right. Love her and her little personality so much!

Well, we obviously didn't make it for our fun party for 4! We were getting in the car when the big collision occurred and the day took a quick turn. So, we had to have a "Birthday Redo" today. Cara went to school this morning, we picked her up a little early and rushed to Abby's doctor's appointment. After that we picked up her friend and then when we got home there were fire trucks at our house!! (NEVER A DULL MOMENT). I texted Jeremy from the doctors office telling him that the house smelled wierd. Long story short it wasn't a gas leak and all was well. Funny part was when the girls asked us why the firetrucks were there Jeremy said because we thought we smelled gas and they thought we meant toots. It was SO funny!! Those little girls were giggling about the firetrucks coming because we smelled toots for the longest time and we laughed a lot too.

ANYWAYS, after that we had some lunch, went to pick up Jake and then we waited for my Mom to come, dropped Abby off and headed out for the party. I say party because Cara thought it was the BEST PARTY EVER even though she only had one friend there!! That is one of the many reasons I love her. It doesn't take much to make her happy. While I was sad to leave Abby tonight just like I was sad to leave Cara yesterday, I was so glad to be able to enjoy Cara and make her birthday such a fun time.

We love you so much, Caraline!! You are a breath of fresh air. What a sweet sister you are. You are kind and caring. You are growing up too fast, but I am enjoying the fun things we can do together.

Love, Mommy
XOXOX

Holidays

Today feels like the weekend because Jeremy has been home all day. I love it! It makes me so happy for all of us to be home at the same time with not a whole lot that has to be done. Finally, I feel better. Thank the Lord for the antibiotics. Why they made me wait two weeks before giving them to me I don't know, but hooray for feeling better! It was not fun not being myself. Now that I am feeling better things are getting done around here. My house got pretty messy and it was making me crazy so I have actually enjoyed cleaning up the last couple days in between visits from friends and family for Thanksgiving. My friend Alissa and her family are in town (I think I said that yesterday?) so we enjoyed spending time with them early this week and now Rob, Tiffany and little Allie are here. I am enjoying holding her and just getting her little face stuck in my brain. She's such a sweetie. It was fun for Jeremy to meet her today. He loves tiny babies so he was happy to hold her for awhile too. The kids are of course crazy about her and so happy to have two little cousins.

After dinner tonight I asked Jake if he wanted to go shopping with me. I needed some tights for the girls and I really only intended to buy that, but then when we got to Gymboree I realized it was that time of year...this happened last year too. They pull out all their boxes and mark everything down. Plus, the whole store was 25% off and I had a 20% off coupon. So, we were there awhile. He was a really good sport. He sat and watched the tv and then he went and looked at the boys clothes. He walked up to the register with a super cute scarf around his neck. He really liked it and since he never seems interested in what I buy him I thought we should definitely get it. He looks really cute in it. After that we ran through Tim Hortons and got Jake his favorite treat, Honey Dip Timbits. It was a fun time with my boy.

We are looking forward to tomorrow. Thanksgiving is such a special time. We are blessed and I am so amazed each year at all that has happened and how we have always been taken care of. I love my life (even on the crazy days) and really wouldn't want it any other way.

Friends are Fun

Last weekend we celebrated Jake's birthday with his friends from his class. All the little boys came and it was so much fun!! We went bowling and ate pizza and a delicious cake. It was so neat to watch the kids interact. He goes to a pretty small school and there are 10 boys in his class. Sometimes they remind me of siblings. They are sweet and loving and then they can bicker too, but I noticed that they seem to do well at resolving things. It was really a fun time and I know Jake felt very special.





Here's my little guy with his cute toothless grin! The other front tooth is about to fall out anyday.
After Jake's party his friend, Collin spent the night and stayed all day Sunday. They had a great time.

This week was a short school week. Today was Jake's Harvest party which was lots of fun. We are also enjoying some company. Our good friends, Grady and Alissa, and their kids are in town and we are having Landon and Reagan over all night for a sleep-over. Fun times!!

We also got a call that there are some babies in the hospital that are almost ready to be discharged. We hurried around and got the last couple documents into our social worker and are just waiting for a call to pick one up...I hope they only ask me to take one! The kids are excited and we are trying to stay caught up on stuff around here so if we only have a few hours notice it's not completely crazy.

We are finding more and more people who are fostering since we have started. It is so neat to see how God is using people to love these little ones. I love it!!

Blogging Funk

I have been in a blogging funk. Stuff is happening, but I just can't seem to get on here and write about it. You know Nov/Dec are just busy around here with birthday/holidays/crazy business season. I do love it though...my favorite time of the year!!

So, here's a quick list of things going on around here...

- Jeremy has been MIA this month. He gets in today and we are EXCITED to see him! Jake has actually been missing him more lately and he is especially excited to show him his missing front tooth. It just fell out and he spends a lot of time looking at himself. It's cute and fun. He was so excited to be the first in his class to lose a tooth in November. They get to write their name on a special tooth chart.

- Back in October, Jeremy and I both enjoyed being a part of Jake's pumpkin day at school. I got to go on the field trip and then Jeremy met up with me and we helped with "center time" in his class. We love to see him interact with his classmates and be a part of his little world. It is so strange for him to be gone so long everyday and it's great to be able to be involved. I am planning the Harvest Party with a few other moms and can't wait...should be fun! Maybe I like this so much because I miss the classroom a little?? I don't know, just love being with my little man.

- Cara is doing great with Pre-School. She has made some friends and her teacher says she does great when she is there. Our biggest issue now is agreeing on her clothing choices for school. Fun times!

- Abby is enjoying "Homeschool"... Not really, but this is what she tells everyone. She is so funny! She tells Jake and Cara stuff like, "I didn't cry at homeschool." "I was good at homeschool." Last night Cara told Jake that she got M&M's at school. He was disappointed that he doesn't get candy at school and Abby said, "I will get you some of my candy from my homeschool." Then, we got her pumpkin full of trick-or-treat candy down and she gave him some. It was so sweet!

- I have been sick for 3 stinkin' weeks! 3 weeks...it's crazy! I have a cough that will not go away. The only good thing about it is that I have finally gotten my rear into my pre-Abby jeans. Got to look at the bright side!

I hope your November is going well. We are looking forward to Thanksgiving. Jake brought a sweet letter home for me the other day telling me the things he was thankful for. Of course, I will be putting it in the "Keep Forever File".

Tomorrow, I will try to get some pictures up.

Our First Little One

This week we welcomed our first little foster baby into our home with lots of excitement! He is a precious little boy. He is easy going and happy and absolutely adorable. He is only here for a few days, but we have enjoyed him and loved on him and been blessed by his sweet personality and cute little chuckle.

It has been a bit crazy though. Jake and Cara have been awesome and embraced the little guy. Abby, not so much. She is definitely the baby of the family and not too happy about the little intruder. Actually, he's not little at all. He is quite big for his age which may be why she doesn't understand why he doesn't do what she says! Apparently our sweet little girl has some issues with sharing :). She's not into sharing her stuff, Jake's stuff, or anyone else's stuff. She stands guard of her toys and the kitchen cabinets. She's like the energizer bunny running around to make sure she keeps track of him every step he takes.

So, all in all, it has been a week. An interesting, crazy, busy week. I think we will all be a little sad to see the little guy go (well, maybe not Abby). He is a sweet, sweet boy and so lovable. He is so happy to see me when he wakes up and when I walk around to get him out of his car seat. What a privilege it has been to love on him, even just a little. I know we will always remember him since he was our first placement. I pray that things get better for his little life and that he is surrounded by people who love him.

Happy Birthday!!!

I didn't know that I could love someone so much until the day I found out about you! You are a joy, a delight, a blessing. You are loved more than you know and you are my favorite boy in the entire world! I thank God for your life every single day and pray that you will love Him with all your heart. You are a passionate, intense little guy. Daddy and I are excited as we watch you grow.

The other day when I went on your field trip and you held my hand I wondered how much longer you would do that?? You are growing up so fast!! When I say "I love you", you say "same to you!" and it makes me happy. So very glad you are part of our family.

Love you,
Mommy

Beautiful FALL

We are enjoying fall! Our yard is full of beautiful leaves and we love driving through our neighborhood and seeing all the beautiful colors! It is really gorgeous right now.
Lots going on lately and I can't seem to get a post written.

The GOOD List

So, Jake is helping me keep track of who is being good around here. He's in the lead (for now!). Love this!

Happy Birthday Gramma!!!

Today is my Grandma's 91st Birthday! You'd never know it. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

We LOVE you!!!

Jeni, Jeremy, Jake, Cara & Abby

Holly and Allie

OHHHHHH, I miss her already!


and her...

and yes, this is apparently my "Meet my NIECES outfit". I hadn't planned on wearing the same thing, but then I arrived and it was so cold in St. Louis I decided to wear it again!

Could we all just live in the same state, please?!

Allie is HERE

Welcome to the world Allie!!! WE LOVE YOU!!!

Our second niece, Allison Leigh (Allie) was born late Wednesday night. The kids and I went for a quick visit after school on Thursday. We enjoyed meeting little Allie and holding her. She's a sweet, sweet baby girl and we already love her so much.