Today I told Mallory she could help me make a dessert for Bible study. I had no idea what I was going to make but I didn't want to go to the store. I had apples so I pinterested a recipe for an apple cake. She was excited.
We looked at the recipe together and it was kinda fancy but I knew she could do it all by herself. So I backed out and told her I'd print it off and she could make it. Immediately she started making excuses. It was hard. She didn't understand the steps. But mostly her attitude was terrible and I got mad.
I KNEW she could do it. She likes to cook. WHAT IS THE DEAL??
Her eyes filled up with tears and she said, "I was just looking forward to doing it with you. It would be fun to do together. But now even if you did it with me, you are upset and so it won't be any fun."
I felt horrible.
LOSER MOM.
I was wanting to back out and do other things that needed doing. She just wanted to spend time me. How did I not see that?
So I apologized and hugged her and we started over. As it turned out, it was a complicated recipe that she probably couldn't have done easily without help. We enjoyed learning the steps of it together. And it turned out amazing!! But most of all I'm happy that I listened to her. I want to be better at listening and being sensitive to my kids' needs instead of focusing on my to-do list. I am a work in progress.
Tuesday, October 31, 2017
Thursday, October 26, 2017
A Little Bit Of Lately
I'm pretty sure this week goes down as Most Unproductive Ever.
We've all been down with the stomach bug. And we can never all catch it at the same time, so it makes it way slowly through each one of us....one miserable victim at a time. It's so gross. And the whole house stinks. As soon as this is over we are emptying our cans of Lysol all over the place and renting a carpet cleaner.
Today is Mallory's turn. Baby Girl is so pitiful and Laney jumped ship and is spending the night at Grandma's to avoid sleeping in the same room with her.
But I have to brag on Blue Eyes. At just 3 years old he made it to the potty 3 times at Grandma's! And this guy doesn't even have a lot of experience puking. I'm so impressed. Unfortunately he wasn't so quick at church and I'm afraid we accidentally exposed every kid in children's church.
And speaking of Blue Eyes, ADOPTION DAY is November 15th!! 2 adoptions in the same year....I just can't get over it. And with this guy, it's been a long time coming. Even though I've attempted a few unsanctioned blog pics of him, there's so many more you need to see! Just wait.
Enough puke talk.
Happy Birthday to Nana!! They came to town and we had a little party with Grandpa and Uncle Kenny. That same night we had a huge storm and most of the town lost power for about 14 hours. FOURTEEN HOURS.
The next morning we woke up to this.
Did I mention it was a huge storm? Almost everybody had trees and branches down and spent Sunday trying to get dressed in the dark and digging out the chain saws after church.
I served lunch and dinner at Grandma's. They are gone for the whole winter and had ALL THE POWER! So we used it up and didn't open our fridge or freezer.
We also have some roof damage on our rent house to deal with. Blah....
Our whole family went to ET's Heaven Or Hell drama. I love this show!!
It's so powerful and Mallory and Zeke both re-dedicated their lives to Christ that night. So precious. I love that this church puts this on every year and offers it to the community for free.
Saturday Meg is hosting the family costume party. This is our 3rd year. She makes it so fun with prizes and games and food. The challenge is to come up with a costume without spending more than $5. Tricky!! So we borrow, use coupons at the thrift store, look for sales, and rummage the house to make it work. I love the creativity my kids have with this.
Today I decided to pull out the costume boxes from the attic and get to work. It also seemed like a good idea to start pulling winter clothes. This was only a good idea in theory. It fell short in the practical application. Not only did we have dress up paraphernalia all over the place, but winter clothes of all sizes too. Big big mess.
But here's a sneak peak at the cuteness. Spiderman costume I borrowed from another foster mom.
I think he's a way better Spiderman than Peter Parker.
Spiderman Bennett got a new big boy bed and he's doing great with it. When I tucked him in last night he said, "Mom, Eat me up you love me so. " YES. Yes, I do.
We've all been down with the stomach bug. And we can never all catch it at the same time, so it makes it way slowly through each one of us....one miserable victim at a time. It's so gross. And the whole house stinks. As soon as this is over we are emptying our cans of Lysol all over the place and renting a carpet cleaner.
Today is Mallory's turn. Baby Girl is so pitiful and Laney jumped ship and is spending the night at Grandma's to avoid sleeping in the same room with her.
But I have to brag on Blue Eyes. At just 3 years old he made it to the potty 3 times at Grandma's! And this guy doesn't even have a lot of experience puking. I'm so impressed. Unfortunately he wasn't so quick at church and I'm afraid we accidentally exposed every kid in children's church.
And speaking of Blue Eyes, ADOPTION DAY is November 15th!! 2 adoptions in the same year....I just can't get over it. And with this guy, it's been a long time coming. Even though I've attempted a few unsanctioned blog pics of him, there's so many more you need to see! Just wait.
Enough puke talk.
Happy Birthday to Nana!! They came to town and we had a little party with Grandpa and Uncle Kenny. That same night we had a huge storm and most of the town lost power for about 14 hours. FOURTEEN HOURS.
The next morning we woke up to this.
Did I mention it was a huge storm? Almost everybody had trees and branches down and spent Sunday trying to get dressed in the dark and digging out the chain saws after church.
I served lunch and dinner at Grandma's. They are gone for the whole winter and had ALL THE POWER! So we used it up and didn't open our fridge or freezer.
We also have some roof damage on our rent house to deal with. Blah....
Our whole family went to ET's Heaven Or Hell drama. I love this show!!
It's so powerful and Mallory and Zeke both re-dedicated their lives to Christ that night. So precious. I love that this church puts this on every year and offers it to the community for free.
Saturday Meg is hosting the family costume party. This is our 3rd year. She makes it so fun with prizes and games and food. The challenge is to come up with a costume without spending more than $5. Tricky!! So we borrow, use coupons at the thrift store, look for sales, and rummage the house to make it work. I love the creativity my kids have with this.
Today I decided to pull out the costume boxes from the attic and get to work. It also seemed like a good idea to start pulling winter clothes. This was only a good idea in theory. It fell short in the practical application. Not only did we have dress up paraphernalia all over the place, but winter clothes of all sizes too. Big big mess.
But here's a sneak peak at the cuteness. Spiderman costume I borrowed from another foster mom.
I think he's a way better Spiderman than Peter Parker.
Thursday, October 12, 2017
My New War Room
Have you seen the War Room movie? I absolutely love it. I am a big Priscilla Shirer fan anyway and the older lady reminds me of my friend Shelley. I love the story, the ideas, the characters, and OH MY Priscilla's clothes ya'll!!
But no way can I empty a closet for a war room. I don't even have my own closet.
And if I did, I know I couldn't line it with papers everywhere because that would just look ugly and I know I would avoid it.
A couple of years ago I went to a Priscilla Shirer/Anthony Evans conference with my friends. Anthony mentioned that because he traveled a lot, his "war room" was in a folder. It wasn't the theme of his message, but I remembered it.
This week I have started my own war room folder. I've been adding prayers and Scripture in there by themes. It's super simple...notebook paper and a green folder. I'm not even using fancy pens or washi tape. Yet.
I tuck it right beside my bed and it's convenient and easy to pull out and review before I fall asleep. After a long day in the trenches of mommy-ing, wife-ing, and managing life, I can no longer think well enough to fashion any prayers of my own. So having these already written out has been awesome and easy to read over and meditate on as I'm falling asleep.
But no way can I empty a closet for a war room. I don't even have my own closet.
And if I did, I know I couldn't line it with papers everywhere because that would just look ugly and I know I would avoid it.
A couple of years ago I went to a Priscilla Shirer/Anthony Evans conference with my friends. Anthony mentioned that because he traveled a lot, his "war room" was in a folder. It wasn't the theme of his message, but I remembered it.
This week I have started my own war room folder. I've been adding prayers and Scripture in there by themes. It's super simple...notebook paper and a green folder. I'm not even using fancy pens or washi tape. Yet.
I tuck it right beside my bed and it's convenient and easy to pull out and review before I fall asleep. After a long day in the trenches of mommy-ing, wife-ing, and managing life, I can no longer think well enough to fashion any prayers of my own. So having these already written out has been awesome and easy to read over and meditate on as I'm falling asleep.
Wednesday, October 11, 2017
On A Wednesday
It's kinda my favorite day of the week. Except Friday...because that's house cleaning day and I absolutely love a clean house. It's my love language.
But Wednesday is library day and I love that too. Last week BlueEyes and QBall were terrible during story time so they will stay home this week. That means just Bennett as far as toddlers and let me just say that one toddler is easier than 3.
It also means I might have time for Olivia to teach me how to do DHS travel. For 2 1/2 years now I have not had to do my own travel. The DHS travel lady took pity on me and did it all every time. None of my foster mom friends like her and claim she's hard to deal with. But as for me....I think she's awesome. And I've always felt like the Golden One when everyone else would complain about travel. But now Travel Lady is too busy and asked if there was any way I could do it myself. My Golden Age is over.
It's also BlueEyes' therapy day. I drop him off and Mike picks him up on the way home from work. I'm using it as an errand day since I'm in town. Today's errand is just Aldi.
Bennett also has therapy today but his therapist comes to our house. He loves therapy! And it is incentive to keep the house clean on Wednesday.
The weather is chilly this morning and I'm a weather wimp and so no walking. But my friend gave us her elliptical machine and I hope to have some time to try it out. Yay for a new toy!! But chilly weather also means impending clothes exchange. I can't put it off much longer. That means I may have to sacrifice playing with my new toy this afternoon.
We only have 2 days of school this week because of Jesse's bday. (More on that later) (I hope) (I'm a terribly unfaithful blogger) Some of my kids are already finished for the week and that's super nice.
We are having trouble with our iTunes account and as of now my phone is completely shutting me out. We have reset the password multiple times and talked to customer service. My man is getting quite fed up with it.
It's baking day. Bread and pizza. And my little boys will like having a little dough ball to play with on the table. It's also an easy dinner to make ahead of time and have before church. I'm wanting my kids to work on this. I've been terrible at working on their cooking skills lately.
Church night!! I do love the Wednesdays.
But Wednesday is library day and I love that too. Last week BlueEyes and QBall were terrible during story time so they will stay home this week. That means just Bennett as far as toddlers and let me just say that one toddler is easier than 3.
It also means I might have time for Olivia to teach me how to do DHS travel. For 2 1/2 years now I have not had to do my own travel. The DHS travel lady took pity on me and did it all every time. None of my foster mom friends like her and claim she's hard to deal with. But as for me....I think she's awesome. And I've always felt like the Golden One when everyone else would complain about travel. But now Travel Lady is too busy and asked if there was any way I could do it myself. My Golden Age is over.
It's also BlueEyes' therapy day. I drop him off and Mike picks him up on the way home from work. I'm using it as an errand day since I'm in town. Today's errand is just Aldi.
Bennett also has therapy today but his therapist comes to our house. He loves therapy! And it is incentive to keep the house clean on Wednesday.
The weather is chilly this morning and I'm a weather wimp and so no walking. But my friend gave us her elliptical machine and I hope to have some time to try it out. Yay for a new toy!! But chilly weather also means impending clothes exchange. I can't put it off much longer. That means I may have to sacrifice playing with my new toy this afternoon.
We only have 2 days of school this week because of Jesse's bday. (More on that later) (I hope) (I'm a terribly unfaithful blogger) Some of my kids are already finished for the week and that's super nice.
We are having trouble with our iTunes account and as of now my phone is completely shutting me out. We have reset the password multiple times and talked to customer service. My man is getting quite fed up with it.
It's baking day. Bread and pizza. And my little boys will like having a little dough ball to play with on the table. It's also an easy dinner to make ahead of time and have before church. I'm wanting my kids to work on this. I've been terrible at working on their cooking skills lately.
Church night!! I do love the Wednesdays.
Tuesday, October 10, 2017
It's A Boy!
When we started fostering, we felt we knew what we could handle and it was ONE. One child. One day at a time. We were licensed for one and that spot was filled within 5 minutes of opening. But DHS has a way of working around your ideas.
A few weeks later we got a call for another baby. Just for the weekend. They would get us a waiver, they said. And Strawberry Princess entered our home and blessed us for 13 days.
It wasn't long before another call came. For a newborn. And really, BlueEyes was keeping us hopping and plenty busy. But a newborn?? SWOON!!! I do love itty bitties. Mike said that he wouldn't be as much work as BlueEyes except for the nights and I believed him. I didn't need much convincing.
Enter this guy!
All six pounds and 15 ounces of perfection.
He was the easiest baby..... a good eater, good sleeper, no tummy troubles, and rarely cried.
He was snuggly and precious in every single way.
But as is the way with foster care, you fall in love only to be heart broken. His young momma was doing her best to get her kids back and we jumped on board to help her. Within a few months she had completed her case plan and Little Man went to live in his new home.
Those were some HARD days. I had the privilege of working with his momma and developing a relationship with her. We missed our Little Man and I desperately wanted the best for him and that meant the best for his mom too. I was so proud of her good work and determination to get her kids back. I wanted to help in any way that would be helpful. I babysat him every weekend I could. I bought him new clothes and diapers and filled her fridge with food. I stopped by when I was in town to kiss his little face and see his smile.
But after awhile the doors closed. Without sharing the details of his first family, I'll just say there were lots of struggles and challenges and we didn't see Little Man for several weeks.
I kept his blanket at home. And diapers. And baby toys. And all the things. But one day when I was cleaning I saw his blanket and thought, "It's done. It's over. And it's likely we won't see him again." So I cried and prayed and just turned him over to God. Because what else could I do?
I was cooking dinner that same night when the phone rang. It was one of his family members telling me Little Man had been picked up again. I still remember the heart racing feeling and the shaky hands!
I called every DHS number I knew to try to find him and to secure placement after hours.
Christian was already in town on his way home and immediately went to get him.
I just love this picture. A selfie he sent home to let us know he got him and all was good.
February 22, 2016. He was back. And would never go anywhere again.
A year and a half later and lots of court cases behind us we were finally able to secure his future forever in our family.
September 28, 2017 his name was changed to Bennett Seth and he became a Taggart forever.
Bennett is a derivative of his first name and means Blessing.
Seth means Appointed or Placed.
Bennett Seth - a blessing placed in our family
Best. Day. Ever. Our friends packed out the court house and showered us with LOVE. I will never forget it ever.
I think it was a fun day for him too even though he didn't have any idea what was happening!
Me and my son.
A couple of people have asked me if I feel any different since the adoption. Does it seem more real?
And no, not really. He's been with us most of his life and doesn't remember a day that I was not his mom. But there is a difference in the fact that it's final. It's forever. I don't have to log his allergy meds or get permission to take him on vacation. There's no fear of something changing and him leaving again. He's here. He's ours. It's forever.
A few weeks later we got a call for another baby. Just for the weekend. They would get us a waiver, they said. And Strawberry Princess entered our home and blessed us for 13 days.
It wasn't long before another call came. For a newborn. And really, BlueEyes was keeping us hopping and plenty busy. But a newborn?? SWOON!!! I do love itty bitties. Mike said that he wouldn't be as much work as BlueEyes except for the nights and I believed him. I didn't need much convincing.
Enter this guy!
All six pounds and 15 ounces of perfection.
He was the easiest baby..... a good eater, good sleeper, no tummy troubles, and rarely cried.
He was snuggly and precious in every single way.
But as is the way with foster care, you fall in love only to be heart broken. His young momma was doing her best to get her kids back and we jumped on board to help her. Within a few months she had completed her case plan and Little Man went to live in his new home.
Those were some HARD days. I had the privilege of working with his momma and developing a relationship with her. We missed our Little Man and I desperately wanted the best for him and that meant the best for his mom too. I was so proud of her good work and determination to get her kids back. I wanted to help in any way that would be helpful. I babysat him every weekend I could. I bought him new clothes and diapers and filled her fridge with food. I stopped by when I was in town to kiss his little face and see his smile.
But after awhile the doors closed. Without sharing the details of his first family, I'll just say there were lots of struggles and challenges and we didn't see Little Man for several weeks.
I kept his blanket at home. And diapers. And baby toys. And all the things. But one day when I was cleaning I saw his blanket and thought, "It's done. It's over. And it's likely we won't see him again." So I cried and prayed and just turned him over to God. Because what else could I do?
I was cooking dinner that same night when the phone rang. It was one of his family members telling me Little Man had been picked up again. I still remember the heart racing feeling and the shaky hands!
I called every DHS number I knew to try to find him and to secure placement after hours.
Christian was already in town on his way home and immediately went to get him.
I just love this picture. A selfie he sent home to let us know he got him and all was good.
February 22, 2016. He was back. And would never go anywhere again.
A year and a half later and lots of court cases behind us we were finally able to secure his future forever in our family.
September 28, 2017 his name was changed to Bennett Seth and he became a Taggart forever.
Bennett is a derivative of his first name and means Blessing.
Seth means Appointed or Placed.
Bennett Seth - a blessing placed in our family
Best. Day. Ever. Our friends packed out the court house and showered us with LOVE. I will never forget it ever.
And Bennett makes TEN
We had a big party to celebrate and took lots of fun pictures.
I think it was a fun day for him too even though he didn't have any idea what was happening!
Me and my son.
A couple of people have asked me if I feel any different since the adoption. Does it seem more real?
And no, not really. He's been with us most of his life and doesn't remember a day that I was not his mom. But there is a difference in the fact that it's final. It's forever. I don't have to log his allergy meds or get permission to take him on vacation. There's no fear of something changing and him leaving again. He's here. He's ours. It's forever.
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