the here + now

We were going to be done. We had decided we had three placements, by the time this one is over, two years as foster parents. We realized we weren't rockstar foster parents, but we did it. We were done. But then Maybe just one more. We'll try again. This is supposed to be hard. We'll just take a break. Two weeks. All summer. A month. Two weeks. I had even planned the "we're done with foster care" post all in my head To now. Now that we are preparing for them leaving. Now it's We may or may not take a breather in between. Where we were scared and felt very raw in all our brokenness and not enough-ness to we were called to this for a reason. We never intended to walk into foster care. Or take in a teen mom. Five months ago we didn't intend to keep going. But we do. Foster parents feel all their crap deeply & know we can be the worst. But we believe. We believe through the muck we are making a difference. We believe God is doin...

I could never do that, I'd get too attached. Wait, are people able to do this and not get attached? Is that a thing? NO. It's not. At the beginning of 2014 God started doing a work in my heart. I started seeing, hearing & reading about teens aging out. I was confused at first. Why? Why was I reading these things & having a dream about fostering a teen girl. I had already scheduled a home visit to change our ages from 2-7 to 0-7. While Kristy was here Douglas got the great idea to ask if they have any children they are struggling to place. Of course, he had to ask the question. And of course the answer was a teen mom. I laughed. When she left Doug looked at me with that look. That look that I know life is about to change. I called "just to find out her info" and in my head that was it. I hung up. It took about all of FIVE minutes before I called back and said we'd like to say yes to her. Things were up and down the next 24 hours and at the last minute a...

We've all been there, us big girls. A friend, sister, stranger who is like a size 6 starts talking about some weight loss program they just got into and we're all like I'm going to stuff all the cream filled donuts in yo face. Been there. Thought that. Boom. But what about if you DO want to lose the weight. You're tired of the thighs on fire & clothes that never quite fit right & you become winded just walking up the stairs. Then friend, I want to cheer you on. You need to get ready. It's going to be hard work. How to start. That's up to you. The saying is do the workout you'll do . I fell in love with running. Running as a big girl can be quite difficult. Thighs rubbing together, the big ole butt that feels like it's atleast a mile behind your feet. Start slow. I use the  Ease Into 5k app But I don't switch it up everyday. I start and switch to the next level when I'm ready. What I've learned is running & get...

I'm so expert, I just have been a mom for 8 1/2 years so I thought I would share things I've learned along the way. 1. You are the parent. (to make it easy I'll use he) He is the child. 2. Cuddles are necessary. 3. When you're making decisions for your child you need to make sure it's actually for him & not to impress others. 4. Stick to your word. If you say "you are going to sit in time out for x,y,z" and he does x,y,z then sit that boy in time out. 5. Speaking of time outs, they're not fun and they take practice. He doesn't understand time out, so you have to teach him. It will take a lot of you being the parent and him fighting you along the way. 6. And more cuddles. 7. Bed time. Oh, it can be the absolute worst thing ever to deal with. Make sure however you make it work that it will work for the long haul. What I've seen with mine is by about 3ish they really start to understand when it's bedtime, it's bedtime. 8. Meal...