November Update

     This has been an eventful month!  We were able to have professional family photos done by Memories by Muhr.  She has a nack for capturing personality in photos!  Of course, I love fall and I love photos... ...so they had to be outside.  In the Northwest that is always risky!  It was a beautiful Sunday morning, until our 2 O'clock appointment, when the one rain cloud in the area let loose right above our park.  Thankfully, we waited it out about 20 minutes and it cleared enough for some great pictures!
     Our kids also experienced their first Northwest Youth Conference at our church!  We stayed in a hotel to help with security, this was their first time in a hotel with us.  JJ decided she is going to live in the hotel when she's an adult ( :  It was a lot of excitment for our little ones; they had fun; but perhaps not the wises choice on our part.  There were a lot of time outs.... ) :  We did get to go bowling (again, the kids first time) with Daddy.  They had a blast!  Caleb did a  "touch down dance" after knocking any pins over and Jazmyne loved the shoes and wants her own pair to wear everyday!  Saturday morning everyone was dragging... ...so I made a quick stop at Starbucks on my way into the church.  Got the kids a peppermint hot chocolate. Caleb must have enjoyed the cocoa a little too much because he guzzled it down and about ten minutes later threw it all back up, on the carpet, in the gift shop.  He then began to play tag with his sister.  Blessed with a wonderful husband, who lovingly cleaned it up.  Shortly after that, concluding they were completed exhausted, we headed home for long naps.
     Which brings us to today.  Today has been a very long day.  Jonathan is working out of town this week.  He told the kids last night at he tucked them in.  It has been a battle!  I dealt with Caleb for five hours straight this morning with obedience and attitude.  Needless to say schooling had to wait until after nap.  Then JJ started ignoring and disobeying as I had to run some unavoidable errands.  Please not 5 days of this!  Both kids ended the day going to bed early.  As I tucked Caleb in he asked me when he was going to go back and live with his previous foster parents.  I explained that they had other kids to care for now, they still love him, and they are special people in our lives, but he will not live with them again.  I illustrated it with butterflies.  When butterflies are babies, they are caterpillars, then one day they get in a cocoon and stay safe a warm their for awhile.  But one day the butterfly breaks open the cocoon and leaves.  It can never fit back in the cocoon again and it doesn't belong there.  I explained that the previous foster parents house was kind of like the the cocoon, he was kept, safe, warm, and loved there until it was time for him to fly away to our home where he will live forever.  It seemed to sooth and help at the moment though it's not the best illustration and has many flaws.  Time will tell...