Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Maranatha, hope for a rough day!
This has been the roughest day for me since we got the kids. We had a 3 hour apt at a counselor for one of the kids. I thought the rest of us would be in the waiting room, but we were all in there together. The kids were very ill behaved and we all walked out frustrated! The ride home was frustrating until they fell asleep. We got home and I took them all to bed and the boys refused to go to bed. They peed on each other and fought and grrrrrrrr. I just felt bad as I was parenting from frustration. Bob was awesome and kept the boys home tonight while the rest of us went to church. It was good to go share about faith and get built up. Maranatha to you all, it means The Lord is coming, and that is the reason I go on. As a believer we have so much hope and an amazing future! So, instead of staying frustrated I am choosing to focus on my hope for the future and amazingly, I feel much better tonight! I am ready to continue on in the Lord's work and be the best mom I can be:-)
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
"Bored" Is Not a Word Heard in Our Home
It has been a little bit since I had the time or energy at the end of a day to blog. Folks, we are hoppin! The family as a whole is continuing to mesh and grow closer together. It is so amazing to really get to know each child and see how each one interacts with each of the other kids. Amber and Josh have been over a few times since coming back from their honeymoon and it has been wonderful to have all of us together twice. We celebrated Bob's birthday and then Amber's birthday all together.
I must say, the truth is my house is trashed and trying it seems I can either get laundry done or clean most of the house but have not figured out how to do both and/or clean my own room either. I am trying not to stress too much and just keep chugging doing my best. I did find that having a work day day or two a week with a younger helper assigned to an older kid seems to work very well, so we will be doing more of that.
The girls seems to be settling in more this week. Some of the newness is wearing off and they are seeing the routine. They are quite good at keeping their room clean. They are quite clingy when they get tired. I have spent a great deal of time learning and reading up on how to care for their hair and have spent countless hours trying new things. I am feeling more comfortable with it but it is quite time consuming. It does give me great chances to talk with the girls and connect with them one on one. They do everything together and are inseperatable. We have learned they are Very afraid of the dark and purchased more night lights to light the way to the restroom, as fear was keeping them from doing so. They have tried several tricks to manipulate situations or answers they don't like, but they are learning quickly that "this ain't our first rodeo"!
Javon, or JJ as we call him is soooo cute that he tries to charm himself out of any trouble that may find him. He is struggling with using cuss words and lying and we are working hard to help him stop both. He loves to snuggle and gives compliments on all the girl's hair or clothes and is just a charmer! He does not easily lay down for naps and has the ability to really frustrate us with this (luckily there is enough of us to take turns walking him back to bed that no one gets too angry).
Brian, he has a special place in my heart, but he is also extremely difficult to parent at times. He really struggles with self control and lies often when he even thinks he could get in trouble. Being consistent is so key with him. He takes up big chunks of time in correcting some of his poor choices. He has the kindest and sweetest heart in the world. He loves to be a helper when ever he can and is very protective of others.
They all love the pool and swimming is a daily event for us. We got swim caps for the girls to protect their hair. They all LOVE playing dress-up and that has become great fun for those rainy days. Speaking of rainy days, it is hard to keep the boys inside. They have so much energy to burn that those days when they are stuck inside are torture to us:-)
The toughest part for Bob and I right now is the lack of one on one time we have together. We go to breakfast on Friday mornings now for our weekly date and we are figuring it out.
Ya know, even at the end of a LONG day, I am still thrilled with what God is doing in our home. I love all my babies!!!
I must say, the truth is my house is trashed and trying it seems I can either get laundry done or clean most of the house but have not figured out how to do both and/or clean my own room either. I am trying not to stress too much and just keep chugging doing my best. I did find that having a work day day or two a week with a younger helper assigned to an older kid seems to work very well, so we will be doing more of that.
The girls seems to be settling in more this week. Some of the newness is wearing off and they are seeing the routine. They are quite good at keeping their room clean. They are quite clingy when they get tired. I have spent a great deal of time learning and reading up on how to care for their hair and have spent countless hours trying new things. I am feeling more comfortable with it but it is quite time consuming. It does give me great chances to talk with the girls and connect with them one on one. They do everything together and are inseperatable. We have learned they are Very afraid of the dark and purchased more night lights to light the way to the restroom, as fear was keeping them from doing so. They have tried several tricks to manipulate situations or answers they don't like, but they are learning quickly that "this ain't our first rodeo"!
Javon, or JJ as we call him is soooo cute that he tries to charm himself out of any trouble that may find him. He is struggling with using cuss words and lying and we are working hard to help him stop both. He loves to snuggle and gives compliments on all the girl's hair or clothes and is just a charmer! He does not easily lay down for naps and has the ability to really frustrate us with this (luckily there is enough of us to take turns walking him back to bed that no one gets too angry).
Brian, he has a special place in my heart, but he is also extremely difficult to parent at times. He really struggles with self control and lies often when he even thinks he could get in trouble. Being consistent is so key with him. He takes up big chunks of time in correcting some of his poor choices. He has the kindest and sweetest heart in the world. He loves to be a helper when ever he can and is very protective of others.
They all love the pool and swimming is a daily event for us. We got swim caps for the girls to protect their hair. They all LOVE playing dress-up and that has become great fun for those rainy days. Speaking of rainy days, it is hard to keep the boys inside. They have so much energy to burn that those days when they are stuck inside are torture to us:-)
The toughest part for Bob and I right now is the lack of one on one time we have together. We go to breakfast on Friday mornings now for our weekly date and we are figuring it out.
Ya know, even at the end of a LONG day, I am still thrilled with what God is doing in our home. I love all my babies!!!
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Who's Loosing Their Marbles?
We have been thinking of ways to encourage the kids to make good choices and discourage some of the behaviors we'd like them to leave alone. What we came up with is a marble system. Each child has their name on a cup and a happy face and in the middle is a tub full of marbles with a big sad face on it. Whenever one is kind or shows obedience or makes a good choice they get a marble and if they make a bad choice or disobey they loose a happy marble to the sad bucket. At the end of the day which ever 2 kids have the most happy marbles get to pick a prize out of the prize basket. They LOVE going to the basket! Brian has had a rough couple days and is bummed he has not earned a trip to the basket of blessings. It is fun to encourage the kids to earn marbles and hopefully will help them learn some good character traits.
It rained most of the day today keeping us inside most of the day and that is super tough as these kids have more energy than FPL! They were able to swim for a couple hours tonight which helped them get to sleep. Bed time is running smoother and tonight we hit the goal of in by 8pm, yaaaaaaaa! There was much whining and tears from Brianna who didn't get to go to blessing basket tonight, but hopefully a lesson learned.
The hardest thing right now is really the noise level. These kids scream at each other and us all day. It is very trying at times. I don't understand why they yell, I mean even when they sing and pray they yell. Will need to get creative on a way to quiet them some. Maybe play a whisper game. Any ideas?
My favorite part of each day with the kids has become morning when ALL the kids that are awake pile into my bed and snuggle and love on each other. It is semi quiet as all aren't awake and all are so sweet. It is fun to watch 7 or 8 kids pack into my bed with me:-)
In the van we listen to Bible verse songs A - Z and they are doing great at memorizing God's Word. We have also spent a lot of time, especially with the girls, talking about Jesus and salvation. Briasia asked Jesus into her heart at Bash at church and Brianna has asked many questions. They are working through confusion as they have been raised Jahova's Witnesses for 1 1/2 years. Please pray for them.
So interesting watching the kids get to know each other and start to mesh into 1 family. It is going to take time for these beautiful babies to fully settle in. They still ask almost daily if, when and where we are going to drop them off. That breaks my heart. They ask why we want them or love them. I heart aches for them to fully believe I and accept our love. I am soooo stressed at some moments but I must admit, I regret nothing and love my life and this opportunity so much. It is teaching me and all of us as a family so much.
If any of you have any good creative ideas, please post them:-)
It rained most of the day today keeping us inside most of the day and that is super tough as these kids have more energy than FPL! They were able to swim for a couple hours tonight which helped them get to sleep. Bed time is running smoother and tonight we hit the goal of in by 8pm, yaaaaaaaa! There was much whining and tears from Brianna who didn't get to go to blessing basket tonight, but hopefully a lesson learned.
The hardest thing right now is really the noise level. These kids scream at each other and us all day. It is very trying at times. I don't understand why they yell, I mean even when they sing and pray they yell. Will need to get creative on a way to quiet them some. Maybe play a whisper game. Any ideas?
My favorite part of each day with the kids has become morning when ALL the kids that are awake pile into my bed and snuggle and love on each other. It is semi quiet as all aren't awake and all are so sweet. It is fun to watch 7 or 8 kids pack into my bed with me:-)
In the van we listen to Bible verse songs A - Z and they are doing great at memorizing God's Word. We have also spent a lot of time, especially with the girls, talking about Jesus and salvation. Briasia asked Jesus into her heart at Bash at church and Brianna has asked many questions. They are working through confusion as they have been raised Jahova's Witnesses for 1 1/2 years. Please pray for them.
So interesting watching the kids get to know each other and start to mesh into 1 family. It is going to take time for these beautiful babies to fully settle in. They still ask almost daily if, when and where we are going to drop them off. That breaks my heart. They ask why we want them or love them. I heart aches for them to fully believe I and accept our love. I am soooo stressed at some moments but I must admit, I regret nothing and love my life and this opportunity so much. It is teaching me and all of us as a family so much.
If any of you have any good creative ideas, please post them:-)
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