Update on Hunter and Amber

I just found the above photo..I forgot about it. I had to let the back seat down to fit all their stuff in our van. When they came to our house, they had nothing but the clothes they had on. Everyone was so generous when we have them, I really bought very little for them, and they took so much stuff with them.

I forgot to blog about it b/c this all happened about 2 weeks before we moved and I was so busy. After court in February, the judge decided to let Amber and Hunter go live with their grandparents. I was surprised to hear that their grandparents lived in Maumelle all that time...I never knew! She kept them at the same daycare. I know the people that worked there thought we were all nuts! Same kids, same daycare, 3 sets of parents. I haven't heard lately how they are doing. We met their foster parents at the park the day before court, so the kids got to play, and we all got to say goodbye. That was much sadder to me than them going to live with their new foster parents. I knew this was final and I would never see them again. I pray for them often. I hope they are doing well. Jenny talked to the grandparents about a week after they went, and there were some adjustment things going on with the kids and their parents, as to be expected. I anticipate that it will probably be the hardest adjustment they have had so far. In one way, I would like to hear how they are doing, but in another, I think it is best that I just don't know. I can't do anything about them but worry. I do miss them a lot. As you know, I took a ton of pictures of them, and have a lot of video too, and I am so happy I have those photos, but it also makes me sad to look at them. That was such a hard time for me, but I loved them so much, and I gave all I had to give for them. I am happy and content with the family I have now, but I do still feel an emptyness with them gone. When I am out, I feel like I missing someone I should be keeping an eye on. (and she was one I had to keep a Really close eye on!) I really do miss their beautiful blond hair/blue eye cuteness!

Makes me smile

I have been picking my daffodils and bringing them in the house. They bring me great enjoyment looking at them in my window while I am washing dishes. I especially can't look at them outside growing in the middle of all those leaves! Have I mentioned before they are my favorite flower?? Partly, I remember a book I had as a child. I was one of those personalized books, and it was all about my birthday. My grandmother had it made for me. My birthday is this month, March 27th, and daffodils are March's flower. I am so excited to have these in our yard that I can send the kids out to pick for me. I love fresh flowers...and free fresh flowers are the best! haha

Another thing that makes me smile is my collection of sea shells. I have several various vases with them in it. This one holds the shells we collected last summer at the beach. We got very lucky last year and found some really neat ones. Everytime I look at this vase, I wish I lived near the beach. We talk about it all the time...maybe someday.

What are some things that brighten your day, or make you smile??

back to school

I am very behind on blogging our school stuff. I have a lot to catch up on. We took a 3 week break from school while we were moving, and we started back in full swing today. They were so ready! They have been so bored the last few weeks. I hope to get caught up soon.

Mr. Independent

Zachariah has been kinda slow at deciding he wants to eat baby food. I am also comparing it to my most recent eater, Hunter, who after about a week of practice, would go after more than one jar in a sitting. Zachariah would eat just a few bites, then clamp his mouth shut tight, and refuse to eat! Another thing he would do it constantly try to put his hands in it, which I know all babies try, but he would get very mad at me trying to keep his hands out of the way. Finally, I just gave in, decided I didn't care if he made a mess, and that boy started grabbing the spoon putting it in his mouth! Now he loves to eat it....and make a big mess too.

I also think he is getting used to this camera thing....he is very quick to look at the camera anytime he sees it point his way. He may become a Draper after all! haha

What time of year is it???

I tell ya, I feel like we are in the middle of fall today. The task of raking up all the leaves in our yard is very overwhelming! We decided to tackle it today....worked for a couple of hours, I have a blister even with gloves, and am exhausted, and we barely made a dent in it. Of course, the kids that were so gung ho to get out there and do it, pooped on me very quickly, as you can imagine. I am thinking we may have a few years worth of leaves in our yard!

Isn't Leah's leaf raking attire stylish!?! We have the shorts, with black boots, Noah's transformer shirt, and mismatched gloves!

This pile was only raked from a small radius, and it is up past his knees.
Baby luckly got to hang out in the house with daddy before he went to work, then watched us from the porch in his stroller.

They had to play in the leaves before we got to work, of course, and they are the ones that requested I take pictures.

All 3 are sitting there throwing leaves....can you spot them?

Do you see this muddy mess? Oh wow....and so much more to do!

Heart Gallery Photos

With the holidays, and lots of things going on, we were long overdue at taking more Heart Gallery photos. We still have a lot to do. As always, I left there with a heavy heart. Please, look at these photos, and these children, and pray for them.

She is 18, but the judge made a court order that her photo be in the Heart Gallery until she is out of the system. It would be so awesome for someone to adopt her, just so that she would have a place to spend the holidays, and somewhere to call home if she needed a support system. I can't imagine becoming a parent....a mother, without having my mom in my life. I can't tell you how many times I have heard about the parents of these children in foster care, were also in foster care. They cycle has got to be broken.

This was a sibling group of 5. The 2 above photos are their heart gallery pictures. Sadly, they aren't trying to have them adopted together. I can understand that....it would take super woman/man to adopt 5 children all at once! I could see the oldest one's love for her younger siblings too. She was really taking care of them the whole time. I had to pick the 2 middle boys up from daycare to take them....they were a hoot! Too cute! We took a group of all of them together so we could give it to them. I don't think the sister was aware of the fact that they are going to be seperated. Breaks my heart. My prayer is that they both find good families that can become friends so that the kids can still see each other.

This one is really heavy on my heart too. I took the above photo over a year and a half ago. The boys and girls were living in seperate homes, and you should have seen they joy in their eyes when they arrived and saw each other. They were even taken out of the heart gallery once b/c they thought they had a match for them, but unfortunately they didn't. Yesterday, the brought the 2 sisters to me to photograph. I was fighting back tears when I saw that. I think they may have a plan in place for the brothers.

The one below is autistic, and is the only one left of his siblings that hasn't been adopted yet. He is only 4 right now.

Check the above and below pictures out. Can you tell this is the same boy? I didn't take his first photo, but Christie and I saw him at Z's DHS Christmas party, and were amazed at the difference...almost didn't recognize him. We said, "we have got to get a new photo of him." Look at his beautiful smile....I can say beautiful even if he is 14, huh?

These boys were SO full of energy! Wheh.....but so cute and fun.

Say CHEESE!

We went to the mall last night in search of some curtains for my living room, and while walking through JC Penney's I spotted this shirt. It is perfect! Clay said no at first, and the kids and I were so excited, saying we HAD to have it for him....he finally said, "Is it just $5?....Well o.k.!"

Now, I just need me one like it to wear when I am taking pictures....or maybe I will just take him along with them. I bet he could get people to smile!