Try that again with RESPECT please :)

Jeremy I just got home from an awesome weekend away. We hadn't been away without any children in a long time. It was WONDERFUL!! He had been in Alabama and I met up with him in Franklin, KY and we continued on to Nashville.

Thursday night we got Chipotle carryout and ate in the room and watched TV! We are soooo exciting :)! We woke up Friday and had breakfast then headed to the Empowered to Connect conference where we heard Dr. Karyn Purvis speak for the next two days on caring for children from hard places. It was amazing information. She is a smart, compassionate, funny women who has taken scientific information and developed wonderful tools to work with kids who have been through abuse, trauma, difficult pregnancies etc.

There are so many things I want to say about this, but one of my favorite things is that Jeremy and I went together. This was huge. We both got to learn these techniques instead of me coming home and trying to remember them and implement them in our home. Like they said at the conference, you need to be on the same page and it needs to be the right page. We were not on the same page a lot of the time and we were clearly not on the right page in many ways :). We are so excited about some new things we are going to be doing in our home and as we continue to work with foster children. We are so thankful to my parents who kept our kiddoes over the weekend and to Hazel and family for keeping B as he still has to stay with a licensed family.

So, one thing we are implementing into our home with all of our kids is a team spirit.
We have three rules to promote teamwork:

1. Stick together
2. No hurts (inside or out)
3. Have fun


And.....like the title says, "Would you like to try that again with respect, please???" You will probably hear us saying this a thousand times a day for awhile. I have already said it in the school office, dr's office, van, a parking lot, wal-mart and target (and it's only Monday!). And, I will make my very best effort to get down on their level, make some kind of touch connection and say it with a kind tone. And you know how I know it's working....they are saying it to each other! Too funny....

Abby was pitching a little fit in the van on the way home because she wanted a piece of candy. She just couldn't bring herself to ask in a kind way and I heard Jake saying over and over to her....."Abby, if you just ask with respect she will say yes." And I will say YES as much as possible.

Some of the information was scary to me. Early trauma, abuse and neglect does some serious stuff to little brains. I tend to prefer denial over the facts, but I am so proud of myself for listening well, taking good notes and praying 2 Timothy 1:7 a whole lot ("for God did not give us a spirit of fear..."). It is exciting to see that someone (Dr. Karyn Purvis - - who I will be studying anything and everything she has written) has spent thousands of hours and millions of dollars doing scientific research to offer HOPE to these precious children and the families taking care of them.

You might also hear me saying, "use your words" over and over and over!!

Such a great time.