Adventure and Attitude

Each time we have a new foster child I learn something new about my kids, people in different countries, and myself. I have learned that my kids can be very competitive when it comes to having kids around who are their age.  There is a clear pecking order in our house because of the ages of the kids.  This has been established and is set in stone.  The kids understand this order and just go with it.  When you add another one into the middle of that order things can get a little tricky.  They compete over who is loudest, who is the fastest, who can be first, who can eat the most and who can get the last helping of food.  This is exhausting to me!  Birth order is apparently a powerful thing and around here it is chaotic when it is messed up! I already knew that different cultures have different values, but sometimes I forget.  I have had to remind our new child that toilet paper does not go in the trash can.  It can in fact be flushed down the toilet.  I will confess that after chasi

Today (October 8 - told you I was behind!)  Tyce showed me his first loose tooth.  Gulp!!  How can my baby be getting adult teeth?!  And more importantly how can I act excited about it when I don't want it to happen and when it completely grosses me out as he wiggles it!  Ick!!!  Stop!  Stop it all!! Tyce just lost his second tooth a week ago.  (December) His teacher pulled it out for him and he was ecstatic!  I'm so glad that someone else could pull it out, because I can't even handle looking at it wiggle!  It is like nails on a chalkboard for me and I have no idea why! My Grandma used to tie a string on a tooth and either just pull it out or tie it to a door knob.  Once they get that loose I can't get that close to them!   Tonight (12/30) our foster son, B, pulled out his tooth.  He presented it to me with bloody fingers and a bloody mouth.  Um yup.  That's just what I wanted to see!  Gross and double gross!!   Now does anyone know if the Tooth Fairy goe

Back in September I stared exercise classes.  I am still going to classes and I am still wearing my old ribbed tank tops and not the "appropriate" work out wear, but that is ok.  I haven't run into anyone during zumba or cleared the room in a long time. Last Friday for the first time I gathered up all my courage and tried a spin class.  I'm not going to lie.  I was scared to death!  I have never really ridden on a bike for an extended amount of time.  I prefer to get off of it to push it up a hill if needed while riding with the kids.  How in the world was I going to handle riding for 45 minutes!  Plus it sounded super boring!  Sit on a bike for that long without going anywhere!  Why in the world are these classes always close to full!? I got a few pep talks from friends who are instructors and avid spinners.  Most of those talks only made me more scared as they stared throwing out vocabulary I had never associated with a stationary bike before.  In the end, I arr

It's not that life has slowed down so much and is so boring that there is nothing to tell about.  It is the extreme opposite actually!  I have been so busy traveling and keeping up with life at home that I just haven't made this (blog) a priority! I started writing this on my phone in the township office between wrapping gifts for the Santa Shop at my children's school! I'm sure I'll catch up soon, but we'll start with the present time.   We now have a 10 year old boy from Honduras  living with us.  They haven't been able to find his family yet, but it should only be a matter of time! When I told the kids he was on his way they were ecstatic!  The boys began debating who got to share their room with him!  Ryan and I began rearranging furniture so now the boys both have bunk beds in their rooms.  Lola was bummed that she couldn't share her room!   Usually the kids arrive at the airport. (You can read more about how they get to Michigan he

I may be going a little overboard on all of the pictures, but I just love pictures of all of those little faces!  Look at these children and compare them to your own.  They are soo soo tiny!!  Here are some more.... They put up a tarp to help block the sun while the kids played One of the bathrooms the kids use to get baths and toilet  The canaries.  This is the room with the babies The cribs the babies sleep in My little Mario Such a pretty girl in the mirror Mynor - he loved seeing himself in my camera This little one, Delmi, cries all day long.  This is the last day and we finally got some laughs! The clean laundry is delivered via wheelbarrow to the correct room  The toddler s all have to sit on their pots for 15 minutes at least as part of their potty training!  The pots they sit on  They are so funny to watch!  The stay on the pot, but scoot around on them in the room! Pastor Bob a