Halloween Part I

Friday night, we went to a Halloween party at one of Makenzie's "lifelong" friends. Everytime they see each other, it's like it's been ages even though they go to school together every day.

Makenzie wasn't interested in the marshmallow roasting.....

......she just wanted to eat them from the bag!
Someday, they'll be singing "Saw Varsity's horns off.."

Princesses in the kitchen.....

Popcorn in bed....

And they lived happily ever after.

Pumpkin Patch

Just Because

Just Puttin' This Out There....

....cause I could use some prayers tomorrow from about noon to 3 or 4pm central time. Sorry there aren't details to share, but I would be most appreciative if you could dirty your knees for me around that time!

Impressive

I thought this was pretty impressive for a 3 year old. She also can identify all the shapes, knows her colors all in sign language (and of course verbally too), can count and say some words in Spanish, and she's already a great artist.

Gone

We had the "worst case" scenario on Saturday involving our foster daughter and Makenzie. I won't go into details, but it resulted in us requesting her removal immediately. Fortunately, there was a CASA volunteer at our house doing a visit at the time, so she served as a witness of sorts too.

The nature of the situation required that the caseworker from our agency report the incident to the state's hotline and that she have a safety plan in place for Makenzie in case the foster child had to stay over the weekend. As details trickled out from both girls, it made it impossible for us to allow her to stay even 1 day longer. The agency has been contemplating for a while now whether she and her brother needed to be in a therapeutic home rather than a basic care home and this pretty much sealed the deal. (In addition to this incident, the boy also got in trouble Friday for stealing from kids at his after school program.)

So as quickly as they came just 1 month ago, we packed up their stuff and delivered them to their therapeutic home. I didn't make the trip, but Tim took care of the drop off. He said the kids both clung to him and cried.

I hope they get the help they need and can grow up to be functional adults, but I fear that won't happen unfortunately.

Peaceful Decision

Friday after attending the hearing and talking with the clinical director, we were so ready to let these kids go. We felt like it wasn't worth all of the risks, the time and effort or the risk of everyone's attachments growing even deeper if they are just meant to be placed with their aunt in the end.

Then I picked Makenzie up from daycare and her teacher said she feels like it's finally "settled in" for Makenzie. She talked about her brother and sister all day long at school.

Then we had a fantastic Saturday. Everyone played sweetly despite being cooped up inside due to the rain all day. There was very little bickering or tattling and Makenzie even said she wants them to stay.

We've decided that even if they are only here for another month or 3 months or 6 months or a year, we have made a commitment to them that we take very seriously. Even though it would be so much easier to ask that they be removed now, the reality is that would be selfish on our part. They have a good, stable home and both attend great schools. They are enjoying their extracurriculars, have made friends, and have settled into a soft spot that they've probably never known.

Despite the constant redirection and conflicts amongst them, they are learning interpersonal skills and relationship skills that can benefit them no matter the outcome. They are getting a taste of a good childhood that they deserve and we are serving children that belong to God. And in the end, God's will is going to be done anyway no matter what we desire.