Moving right along....

Had our home study last night. Went very well. We were told about a 2 brothers sibling group that we are considering. (Didn't expect that one to happen so quickly!). We are still dialoging on that one. Would mean doing some bedroom flip flopping as the boys room is not big enough for DCFS standards (there can only be a max of 3 in there square footage wise) so Kirk and I would need to take their room and put the four boys in our master bedroom. Then we would need to use one of the beds in the girls room in the "new" boys room. Would likely need to rip down the lovely flower wallpaper border--which was gonna come down anyways. Means if Kirk and I went to the boys room, we would also inherit the cool camouflage mural painted on the wall. Now that's nice! So--still chewing on all that. Alot to think about...I need to also make some phone calls to the schools and see how the school schedule would mesh with "home school life". So, we are thinking (and praying!) on that one. It's not like if you turn them down, they will quit calling. As it was put to us, if they call you twenty times and you say no, they will call you the twenty first time the next day. Guess they have pretty thick skin--which is good. So, we will see what the next days bring...pretty exciting!

Foster Care Update

Forgot to drop a note on the progress of getting licensed for foster care....

We are very close now.

The PRIDE classes were completed weeks ago and so was the mound of paperwork, physicals, and fingerprinting. We met with Joyce, our licensing worker at the agency, last Wednesday. Spent a few hours talking about a variety of topics (from our childhoods to how we handle conflict). She will come and check out the house a week from Wednesday to make sure we meet the requirements set by DCFS. Then all that is left is for her to write a report and submit it to the board of the agency we are going thru. (We are going thru ECFA--which is a Christian agency who works with families to assure they are recommending good Christian homes. They are VERY through. I would HIGHLY recommend them! They have been wonderful!) So I am anticipating we will likely be licensed by the end of the summer. Then the real adventure begins! We will see what challenges God puts before us in this new endeavor! Please pray for us! We have gotten all "kinds of advice" from those in our lives. Some we have listened to and some ....well, discarded. Kirk and I know we are "taking a risk", but feel like we have and are doing all we can to prepare ourselves and our family for this calling on our family. We are very excited about what God can and will do thru this! Stay tuned ......

Thoughts of one on a Mental Health Break....

It's been a few weeks so thought I would sit down and do some typing. Needed a mental health break...(the boys are currently squabbling). Guess it's a case of the Mondays. Been a hectic few weeks. Kirk has been working lots of hours. Usually summer isn't so busy but for some reason it has been crazy busy for him at work. Last weekend he had gotten called out on storm so I packed us all up and we went with him. (We kinda like the guy and will take what we can get!). Turned out to work really well for us. Stayed at a Hilton Garden Inn--which I had never been at before. I give it two thumbs up. Really nice pool and we enjoyed ourselves.
Saturday Abby and I went to the Annual American Girl seconds sale in Middleton, WI. There is a children's museum there that gets all the returns and seconds from American Girl and sells them all at a fat discount and in turn they reap a hefty profit. They actually sell tickets to this thing thru ticketmaster! We went with my friend Christy and her two girls and made a weekend of it. Again--stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn . (I am plugging the Hilton so much they are gonna have to comp me next time I am in!). Bought lots of stuff. My arms are still hurting from lugging all that stuff around! Abby scored 2 new dolls and I got lots of Christmas shopping done so it was a successful trip.
What else? My son (Kyle) spent some time w/Grandma this weekend and came home looking like a surfer dude. He has been wanting highlights in his hair and Grandma gave him some this weekend. He now has a new middle school look. Can't believe the kid is entering 6th grade. I am getting old. I went to a wedding yesterday for Zac (My good friend Missy's kid) and as I was sitting at my table with my hubby, my BFF Jess and her hubby, I realized something. The music was too loud and the 20 somethings gyrating on the dance floor repulsed me, and somehow we had become "the old people" attending this event. We even left kinda early like the old folks always do. When did that happen? In as little as 7 or 8 years I could be "a mother of the groom".(gosh--I HOPE NOT!) Where does the time go? I did learn one thing--Midge is a dancing fool! My brother is getting married in about 8 weeks and I am sure she will be a hit there as well. She was a trip!
Well, I guess I am gonna close this session of my ramblings. The boys have now stopped squabbling and there are dishes to do. Until the next squabble....LOL