The Great Catch

There are all kinds of ways to learn and still have fun.

We delight in magnets over here. And we’ve been using magnets to fish for letters.

We fished for our names, the alphabet, and “sharks”.

Amazing what a simple magnet tied to a pole can do to a child’s excitement level. =)

– Adore them.

April 4, 2013 0

Homeschooling

I’m super due for a homeschooling post. We’ve been doing some fun things, but I’ve got to be honest, with the “twins” to balance amongst homeschooling instruction and catering to my two year old, I don’t always have time or hands to take pictures.

So soak in the rarity of these moments. 😉

Learning about gems.

A fun science experiment about filtering water through “things God made”:

Shake up the nasty dirty water.

Shove cotton balls in our pop-bottle filter.

Time to add the sand on top of the paper towel and cotton ball layers.

And yes it can get a little messy, but we love it when she helps. =)

Now for the dirty water…

Try not to look so excited about watching it filter through…

Whatcha think? Drinkably clear?

Pretty clear, but certainly not drinking it. Hehe.

Rock exploration/comparison

Free drawing with Mommy’s teacher board.

And a lovely manger scene. =)

Well that’s all our homeschooling adventures for now… you know, cause worksheet pictures are less entertaining. 😉

April 2, 2013 0

In the Morning.

Today I am feeling really beat down by orphan care. Between the bickering, twin 2’s constant discontentment and downright screaming today, my Hannah’s undoing of her sleep training (be it due to the added stress of our household, the addition of Twin 2 in our room for the 1.5 months before we moved him out, or her own demise), and now round 3 of lice as discovered once again in my two year old’s hair after the culprit being our oldest foster son. Today I just want to run away. I want to take my biological family and run away. I want to hide from the constant beat-down. I want to hide from the sicknesses of twin 2. I want to hide from the chaos of five kids. I want to hide from the constant battles and struggles. I just want to take “my kids” and run away from all of this orphan care.

I won’t. But I just want to be honest.

Not every day is glamorous. And this Mommying is really hard. And it hurts. And it brings me to tears. And there are moments I just want to run away. It’s hard to love someone so much that you want to run away from them and yet take them with you as well.

Today I want to blame someone. I want to call up his Mom and ask her how she could do this to them. I want to call up his “Dad” and ask him why this was ever okay. I want to yell at someone for the harm they have done to these kids. And I want to cry and hold them and just run away.

And I want to yell at someone for how little of a Mom I have left to give to my girls after dealing with the babies. I want to cry to someone about how much it hurts to tell my four year old that no I can’t play with her AGAIN because I have another diaper to do, or a baby to calm, or I just can’t think straight after another hard night of being up every 45 minutes. And I want to cry to someone as my baby screams at bedtime because she’s overwhelmed and tired and just flat out mad – coping with all the changes. And I want to take my favorite blanket and hide away at the bottom of my closet because it all feels like too much and it all won’t stop swirling.

I may sound like a wimp. I may sound like a fool. But I just wanted to be honest.

This hurts. And this is really hard.

And I want to fall on my face again before God and ask Him why. Why is it so hard? Why does it have to be this way? And what will I possibly do if after seeing my utter raw self these boys go home?

There’s silence.

A lot of silence.

But I know He’s listening. And I know He cares.

Joy will come in the morning…. it just has to!

March 19, 2013 1

Wordless Wednesday: Because Sometimes

Because sometimes you just have to dress them all in matching outfits and try to take a picture…

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Oh and did I mention that to keep their attention Daddy shot a balloon at them?

– Love catching their delight. =D

– 4 yrs, 2 yrs and 4 months are so much fun!

January 23, 2013 0

4th Birthday Cuteness

So here’s Rachael’s 4th Birthday cuteness in pictures. =)

my dear friend, Darlene, sent us this wreath to welcome home our Hannah. It has a clip on sign saying “welcome home Hannah” that can be replaced with this “happy birthday” clip on sign. Then the sign also has a clip attached to it and a name tag for each of the girls. SO thoughtful and super cute.

We started the weekend out with our intermediate family fun.

and we let Rachael struggle with Aunt Jes’ tape job. 😉

She didn’t complain once, especially post-gift.

Then on Saturday we had the family over to celebrate with a brunch and festivities:

our chefs.

our fine china via Rachael’s choice.

clown pancakes

making princess party hats (and knights for the boys)

pin the crown on the princess

pinata with strings (no we weren’t going to beat Ariel with a stick – that would have traumatized my kids)

the cutest little onlooker

And caked goodness. =)

with Daddy’s help again this year.

Then came the surprise slumber party with a friend that night. It was the first slumber party for Rachael and Josie both. =)

Watching a movie together WITH POPCORN!!! (simple excitements)

dance breaks during the songs, naturally

And then this happened:

Wonderful time, indeed!

January 17, 2013 2

Christmas Dump

No, our house is and was not a dump, but I wanted to take a chance to dump some lovely Christmas pics on here with minimal explanations. – That’s how I roll, people. hehe.

Actually, I think the pictures don’t need lengthy explanations and I just don’t want to forget these moments…