Lord, please bless them and keep them...safe!

The twins have new siblings - boy/girl twins born yesterday. They were born at a little shy of 33 weeks so they are peanuts but doing well.

I got to see them last night. So sweet and innocent. Peace to all.

My birthmother is NOT a gorilla!

Tonight we went to pick up photos to take to the twins mother. In the packet, I'd also ordered photos for G and Z's birth mothers. I was in the front of the car showing the kids the photos when I told G that we were going to mail the ones of her to T*. She smiled.

Z piped up and said that he wants to send his to (stumbles on her unique name and then gets it right) D*. He had the biggest smile on his face thinking about sending his birth mother photos of HIM. OK, so maybe it was all about him but I was happy that

1. He knew he had a birth mother.

2. He liked the idea of sending her photos.

3. He knew she'd like to see photos of him (we saw her in June and July of this year - FL and AZ)

Then, he announces D* "is a girl. She's not a gorilla."

4. I was proud that he knew she was NOT a gorilla and that in fact she was female (he has problems with male/female; he/she concepts for some reason - for example, he lives in a house with all girls and calls all of the children "he".)

You should know that he was dead serious - about her NOT being a Gorilla! This wasn't a joke to him. Serious stuff. I was cracking up. He was being serious.

I called her to tell her this. She didn't get to the phone and was freaked out that something was wrong. We followed up by email and I am just so happy to have the chance to share these little stories with her from time-to-time.

Adoption doesn't mean abandonment - when one actually selects this option and makes an adoption plan for their child. Adoption (in our family) = love. She loves her birth son. I love him. He is loved. He knows that there is another person out there who loves him and I hope that this brings comfort to him in the future.

ETA: I'm also thankful that his birth mother is NOT a gorilla. I was thinking about that - LOLOL!!

Waste or Accomplishment

Today was a BEAUTIFUL fall day in Maine. I never even went outside. Sad.


I took today off from work. The kids and I stayed inside. What is wrong with that picture?


Here is what was accomplished:

-Change of clothes from summer to fall/winter for FOUR kids. Here is the heap of clothes I took out of drawers to end the summer. Note, the twins arrived 2 months ago today and they had a lot less clothing than the other two but still. Oh, and I found more in the dryer after I took this photo. Note, these are summer clothes so there is less fabric. What about winter clothes. How big will that pile be? And, this doesn't take in all of the clothes I'd previously removed while running through daily life. They are in a different pile - same room. Mine.
-Organization of clothing for FOUR kids. Hangers (we had enough!), drawers, shelves, baskets.


-Matching of ALL Pjs before placing in drawers so my kids don't look like poor/unkept kids if we are ever rescued by the FD in the middle of the night (with the mismatched PJs they seem to wear every night).


-Division of clothing to get rid of vs. save for hand me downs. I used to save everything but now I think that my family is pretty stable and there won't likely be more kids for a while/ever (who knows!). Therefore, I feel like I should let Z-man's clothes go as well as the outgrown little girl clothing. Here is the start of the pile to purge. So much more to go. I'm proud that I have a purge pile. I am trusting in the Lord that He'll provide should this plan change.
Yes, this took ALL day along with caring for (kind of caring for) 4 preschoolers. They were fed. They were safe. They got 2 books read to them. Each was hugged multiple times. Boo-boos were handled. It was a 2 band-aid day but nothing big. Otherwise, they just played - all over the house and the mess wasn't actually that bad. We had a few meltdowns but nothing too terrible. There was probably more biting than was necessary (OK, that should be NONE but I have TWO kids who bite and one who always gets bitten - and one who never bits and rarely gets bitten).


What did this process reveal to me:
1. We are blessed. We have too much. We have too many clothes and yet on some days - not enough. Crazy. Having too many clothes can = more work for Mama. Sorting, folding, organizing, tracking them down, cleaning, etc... I'm so thankful.


2. Where do all of the socks go? I emptied EVERY laundry basket in the house, ALL laundry was clean, emptied every closet and even looked under beds (although I didn't clean them). Also, every dresser was emptied today and yet this is the pile of mismatched socks from 4 kids/1 season:

3. Where do all of the matching pieces to PJ's go? I had all of these extra bottoms and one top? Seriously, did the kids eat their shirts while sleeping this summer? No really. Where are they? There are no other hiding places in the house. Very strange.

Summary: 5 years ago I would NEVER have taken a day off from work to organize clothes. My life has changed. Thanks! I'm loving it!

Oh, and I remember complaining about it taking an hour to change out clothes when G grew from one size to another. Now it is change of seasons, change of sizes and the ever important: I wish I could change out his clothes but he never grows. That is the 3rd year in those same clothes. Thankfully he grew and his pants are too short. Why do I have a Husky, Regular, Petite and Mini-never-grows? Life is a gift. I am so blessed. Who knew I'd have so many things to think about/trust the Lord with just a few short years ago. Did I mention - I am so blessed.

Tomorrow - I actually get to "work". It'll be easier than the back breaking work of homemaker.

Oh, and I wonder how families with 10 or more kids handle the change of season/size clothing event that must happen at least twice a year. Wow!

ETA: That day was brought to us by our sponsors: paper plates, popcorn and one Thomas the Train movie.

Also, I should note that less than 24 hours later, K destroyed the organization in her room - took down over half of the clothes on hangers and took out the clothes in her drawers. Then, she felt guilty and shoved most of them into drawers - of course not organized. I was glad that my Mom was here and found this so that I could just hear about it first and then selec to ignore it at least for one day. kids. oh well, this won't matter in a year. In five years. This too shall pass.

Quotes, Bulk Cooking

Crackers Quakers have begun.
Whoever shows their teeth or lips or tongue
will have to give me their pay.
--G, 10.11.10

I spent all day yesterday afternoon/evening doing bulk cooking. This is a first for me.
I think If I'd planned ahead better I could have been much more effecient (Surprise, surprise!).

I've been cutting and saving a recipes from a variety of sources into a word file. Yesterday was the day that I made a bunch of them come alive:

Mango Chicken Vegetable Bake
Chicken Rice Pilaf
Tater Tot Casserole (X2 - can't believe I cooked that/bought those but 3 of the kids loved it!). Cheap easy but so processed.
Taco Pie
Spaghetti Pie (had this before - yum!) - X2
Chicken Enchiladas

I had enough chicken left over (did you know that my food chopper could chop boiled chicken!) that I made chicken salad for today's lunch.

Here are two sites I've used so far:
http://freezerfriendz.blogspot.com/

http://www.menus4moms.com/bulk/thriftyhomeschooler.php


On another note, "K" slept through the night last night for the first time. Well, I think she slept through the night. I never heard her scream. She's been screaming ~4 am lately instead of all night as she did before. Never heard her last night. Maybe I was just tired but I don't think so. She told me she didn't cry.

One more day off from work. Then right back at it tomorrow.

Irony (adj.)

"coincidental; unexpected: It was ironic that I was seated next to my ex-husband at the dinner." - dictionary.com

Thursday, I drove to my home town. An annual meeting is held at a resort in my home town.
The same resort was the location of my wedding reception - 15 years ago - and where my now former husband and I spent our first night as a married couple.

It's a nice place. On the water. Golf course. Beautiful.

It was fall then. It is fall now.

We are no longer married - to each other. He has since remarried a woman from my high school class. A much better match. She's a delightful person. He's a great guy. A good couple, I suspect - from afar.

She is pregnant with their first child. Due in October.

Last night as I tried to sleep, I got this sense that I needed to get up and check FB. To check their pages (I'm not friends with them on FB although I can see their info. The former husband and I do FB message occasionally about things - once you have married, you are always connected even if you didn't have kids and divorce. I needed his current mailing address last spring as I applied to foster/adopt. Hence, a FB message last spring. Anyway...)

I got up. I logged on and sure enough, their SON was born on Monday of this week, a few weeks early. They'd waited to find out the gender until his birth. I know that feeling. That was the case with G and Z.

There were 2 pics (what is wrong with people! Only 2 pics!)...one of the little guy "R" and one of the baby and his Daddy...that man to whom I was once married. It looked good. My first reaction was a big smile. No pics of Mom. I'm sure she is elated!

Things that I find ironic:

--I learn of the birth of my former husband's first child while lying in bed in the resort where we celebrated our wedding - almost exactly 15 years ago (next month). A rainy day/night. Fog horn blowing in the distance.

--Then, I realize that their wedding anniversary is 8/11 - the day the twins arrived. They'd been married 3 years EXACTLY on the day I welcomed twins into my family. And, one of the twins has THE name we'd discussed naming a daughter, if we ever had one!

--They announced the birth of their child on Tuesday of this week. I announced the twins on Wednesday. We have ~30 FB friends in common between us. I'm sure a few of them saw our posts just 1 day apart as a funny coincidence. I find it odd. I'd probably have waited to announce the twins if I'd known they'd just announced their first born the day before. Oh well.

--I remember him saying years ago that he wasn't sure he ever wanted kids. But, if he had to have one, it would be one. A girl. Before he was 30.

To summarize: it's a boy. He's a first time father at age 40. Who knows if there will be more.

Irony. Odd. Life. Never goes as you plan. So happy for them.

Wondering if it would be odd to send them a gift. I'm sooo happy for them - and his parents. Finally, a first grand child.

All the best little "R". May you be loved, give love and know Love in this world! Blessings to you, G, D and R...