"that girl with crazy hair"

Cute story:
Yesterday Dillon said "I want to play with that girl, you know, that little bitty girl with crazy hair"!  He stretched his arms out about 1 foot.  I thought for a minute and couldn't come up with anyone we know.  Then he said, "you know, like Emily."  Well, one of my sister's name is Emily and she has a 2 yr old.  So, I said "Kylie?"  No, that wasn't it.  He went on to ramble about a few different attributes, none of which made any sense to me.  We picked up Abby at school and went about our business.  About 10 minutes later, out of the blue, he says "Sissy!"
Aha, got it.  My 3yr old niece, Sissy, is little bitty and has crazy hair :)

And, in other great news, her parents are officially back on the list for another foster/adoptive placement!  I'm asking Jesus to send them a nice dark brown boy--we've got the market cornered on gorgeous fair-skinned, red-headed girls and boy, gorgeous Asians, and a gorgeous Hispanic(above).
There is just something so sweet and precious when they bring in a new foster baby at Christmas time.  Little miracles.  Speaking of little miracles, I never announced that their sweet baby C. was indeed placed within the biological family. Yes, we all loved her and prayed for her to become Brad and Melody's forever daughter.  I didn't want to post about it because my attitude stunk and I was a bit mad at the system.  Alas, Brad and Melody have a much more positive and mature outlook than I do!  So, we await their new little pumpkin pie.  Below is a glimpse of the baby C. that they loved wholeheartedly for 3 months.

Go team

Here is Dillon taking his soccer career very seriously!  No, he hasn't made a goal.  However, that doesn't matter to him.  He keeps everyone in the Upward Soccer spirit. Our church has Upward Soccer every year and it is such a sweet blessing.  Speaking of our church, Chris Clayton will be leading worship the next 2 weeks and then....Jeff Johnson on November 13!!  Whootwhooot.  The only problem is I'm working that day.  Drat, there are days I LOATHE being in healthcare.  Uhum, maybe my throat is starting to  hurt and I might be sick by then?  Just kidding....sort of.

Speaking of sick, I just paid 120.00 today to get a new hard-drive in my 8 months old laptop.  It seems, and they conveniently don't tell you this when you purchase a laptop, that they devices are super sensitive and if you move them while they are running, or if you are a bit rough setting them down, the hard-drive breaks!  Yeah, I found out the hard way.

Oh, can't end a post this weekend with out saying GO RANGERS!!!!!!  Anyone notice last night that our family hero, "number 5 Cleanser" was the MVP of the game??  My bro-in-law won tickets to Sunday's game in Arlington--soooooo excited for him.

Weekends and Homecoming

Last weekend was a fun one. It was Homecoming and Carter took a girl to the game, his first boy/girl event like that.  Miss. M is a beautiful, gracious, selfless teen who loves to sing.  I don't feel comfy putting their pic up because I don't have her mom's permission and you know--internet weirdos are lurking! They had a great time and looked awesome.  Carter didn't seem to mind that his mom and little brother drove them around all night :)  I felt completely honored to have been a part of his life. How many mom's can say they have a memory like that?
Poor Dillon, we got in after midnight(hey, you must eat pancakes at IHOP after a Homecoming football game).  He was soooo tired, but such a trooper.  Abby and Hudson spent the night with Nana.

In other news, I became a bit crafty--surprisingly enough!  I made mum hair bows for Abby and her friends.  I also made Carter's garter. And, not only that,  I copied my sisters' crafts and spray painted a pumpkin with a Texas Ranger T, along with other things.
Saturday mornings we are up early for Dillon's Upward Soccer game at our church.  So cute watching him jump up and down and cheer on his team.  Abby is playing city league volleyball again(also on Saturdays--in a town 40 minutes away from Dillon's soccer games!  Yeah, complicated).  She is becoming a really good player with a mean serve.  Cracks me up how aggressive she is on the court, but not an aggressive bone in her body otherwise.
Sorry, but my computer is jacked up and won't load pics.  I'm taking it to the shop today.  Pics to come later?  Hopefully!

And he's only 3 yrs old!

Hudson is crazy smart, verbal, and a smart alec.  Yesterday he got a hold of the garage door clicker.  I said "Hudson, don't click buttons."  I was watching him and he basically was defying me, aiming his chubby fingers to push.  I said, a bit louder I might add, "Hudson, don't push buttons."  He continued going for it.  At this point, I was mad and I said, in a loud mad-as-fire-don't-mess-with-momma voice "Hudson DONT push buttons!"

Calmly, he looked at me and informed me "It just has one button"

That kid understood the difference in single and plural.

Its a good thing he's so dang adorable!

Heart Gallery debuts tomorrow

I'm so stinkin' excited!  Last Februray, my friend and I launched Project PAPA(p-protect, a-advocate, p-provide, a-adopt), our church's ministry to orphans and at-risk children.  Friday, we set up the Heart Gallery for this area.  Basically, in Texas there are approximately 1500 kids whose parental rights have been terminated and they are legally cleared for adoption--the only trouble is--they have no forever family ready to adopt them and they wait in foster homes.  So, the Heart Gallery is 30 portraits, a small representation of those kids.  I'm praying for our church to be smacked upside the head, have their hearts broken and their spirits stirred to care for children like these!  I get to  introduce the display from the pulpit, so, while I'm getting stage and mic time, I'm wearing my 147 Million Orphans--Feed One tshirt
       Click Here to get yours
I'm so grateful that our pastor and staff are supportive and excited about this.

The yearly ARD meeting

If you have a child with special needs, you speak another language.  For instance, ARDs, IEPs, Content Mastery, Resource minutes, and such.  It stinks to know this language.  Sitting in the ARD meeting with the principal, the diagnostician, the speech-language pathologist, the special ed teacher, the general ed teacher can be overwhelming.  We are so super blessed.  The sweet little public elementary that Dillon attends is top-notch.  We are certain that the staff truly want what is best for him and they really like him!  Mr. B. told about the huge difference he has seen over the last 3 years.  The SLP has been with him for almost 5 years.  His Resource/Content Mastery teachers act like he is their child and send home pictures they take of him at school events, even gifts for him!  If you are a special ed teacher, hats off to you!!

Today we talked in depth about his apraxia.  He has made great progress, just has a long way to go still. They mentioned evaluating him for an assistive language board.  The problem with giving him the board is that we are afraid he will quite trying to communicate.  As Mr.B pointed out, you can see the wheels turning, Dillon tries so hard to form the sentences and communicate his thoughts.  Yes, he gets frustrated when the words don't come out; but when he quits getting frustrated and decides to not try anymore, that will be the real tragedy!  So, if he gets the assistive board and begins to see that it is easier to use the board than talk, our fear is that he will quit trying.  The SLP feels that there is nothing more powerful than him being able to communicate effectively with the world.
Here's the hard part...school is getting harder and harder.  The other students are reading books alone and learning about solids, liquids, and gases.  WHY is everything much harder for my son???  I'm not lamenting for us, I'm lamenting for him!  It breaks my heart to watch him, 3months shy of 9, try to tie his shoe.  He shoots baskets over and over and over, never giving up, but almost never making a basket. 
For now, he loves school, LOVES food and music, actively participates in his classroom, takes up the offering every Sunday at church, loves the Texas Rangers(especially number 5 Ian Kinsler--or as he says "Cleanser").  Dillon loves to worship, lifts his hands and sings loudly.  He is a great checkers and Connect 4 player. He has 10 sight words memorized, is doing well in math, and has a blast on his Upward Soccer team at our church.  He's a pure delight, a rare jewel of a boy who loves his family with all his being.  We are so thankful.

Affording Adoption

My mother told me about a conversation she had with a young woman at church last week.  The lady is about to get married and she and her fiance are really burdened for orphaned children in the world.  She was telling my mom about how she felt called to adopt.  Funny thing is, she didn't know that my mother has 4 grandchildren through adoption.  Of course, mom was all gung-ho and told about ours and my sister, Melody's stories.  The young woman couldn't believe we'd adopted from Korea 3 times and said "but it is so expensive, how did they do that?  Oh, I know, God provided" (don't you just love the woman's simple faith that where God guides, God provides!?).  This is the good part--my mother said "No"!  Then she said "Well, yes, God did provide, but they made it a priority, a lifestyle, and sacrificed other things to be able to adopt."  Preach it Mom!!! 

It absolutely burns me up when people act interested in adoption and then when they ask me how much the fees are, they suddenly believe they aren't called to give a home/family to a parentless child.  What I'd really like to tell them...."So, your bank account, college savings, house and decor, new cars, vacations, and basically meaningless JUNK are worth it, but the 163 million orphaned children in the world aren't?"  And, not to mention the fact that fostering costs nothing and adopting through the state has very nominal fees, and many are waived! There are 500,000 children in the US foster system.  Texas has about 3500 children with parental rights terminated, waiting for a forever family to call their own.
  In  Luke 12:33-34 Jesus says "Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also"

I love the last line.  Where your treasure is...your heart follows!  Where is your treasure?  Your heart will be there also.