Mae's log - Bounce House special video!

Can I just tell you how exhausted I am? I've noticed that by and far the hours from 5-8 are my worst. The kids are cyclically tired, fussy, and constantly bickering leading up to bed time. I say cyclically because as soon as I think I can't take it anymore everyone quiets down and plays perfectly, and then just as my stress level returns to normal the air shifts and I have 4 screaming toddlers. Please somebody tell me its not just my house that gets like this! Our goal EVERY NIGHT however is to make sure that everyone goes to bed happy and remembers how much fun we had during the day. Sometimes this means 1/2 hr of wrestling and tickling the crankiest toddler until he finally relents and bursts out laughing, or reading more books than I'd like, or more recently, singing every verse of Wheels on the Bus or Mary had a Little Lamb. Then its bedtime prayers and goodnight kisses. At least I can proudly say my house goes to bed happy, even if it didn't look that way a few hours before. Anyhow, tonight Maeven is narrating her day at the Bounce House through pictures and a special video just for mommy and daddy!


Here is a special video we made for mommy and daddy!!!!

Yogurt and strawberries for breakfast. YUM!

Here I am in the Finding Nemo Bounce house.
I'm pointing to the shark teeth and saying "Sharp Teeth!"

Here Jada and I climbing up the stairs to the giant slide.

Weeeeeeeee!!!

Jada and I bouncing around.

Michael was afraid to go in the bounce house
so we got to go on the merry-go-round.

We also rode a yellow sports car!


This was a big Red Barn with animals, and slides.
I ran around with Anthony in here for a long time.

Since it was so cold out, when we came home
we made some hot cocoa with marshmallows.
Look how exhausted I am!

Mae's log - Happy, Happy, Rain or Shine!

It's been a rainy few days here in the Capital District. On one hand I'm extremely happy because I just planted some flowers in the garden and hadn't gotten around to watering them - yay mother nature! On the other hand, I love letting the kids run outside so it's been a long few days keeping them entertained indoors. We did a pretty good job improvising but I admit that when Jeremy came home from work today I tagged out and spent a nice, quiet 1/2 hr in our room, sans kids, with peace...and quiet. It was heaven :). Just what I needed before the dinner, bedtime routine. Now my house is picked up, clean, and ready for another day. Here's Mae to recount the past 2 days!

MAEVENS LOG: DAY 4+5 (Mon. and Today)

After really missing my mommy on Saturday night I was hoping for a good sleep on Sunday night - and for the most part I did great. Around 5am I woke up in complete darkness, and after wriggling around, I realized I was stuck under Jada's bed! I called out and Auntie Christi came rushing in looking all over for me. Finally she found me and after I told her I was stuck, she sorta giggled, gave me a big hug, and tucked me back into my bed. I guess it was a little funny come to think of it :) On Monday we played inside all day because it was really dark and rainy out. We did tons of stuff. We had a tea party in Jada's room, we colored, we played dress up, ran in circles round the house, built with blocks, and then more running around in circles. It wasn't all fun and games though. I've learned by now that the motto in a house full of toddlers is "survival of the fittest". Having spent the last few days getting my toys snatched from me, I've decided to snatch them back. I still give lots of hugs and kisses, but don't try to steal the pink car I'm playing with or you'll be sorry! Here's some pictures from yesterday:

Having a tea party with my backpack! We all sang Dora's backpack song running around after we put them on.

Jada and I put on pretty dresses and headbands. Here I am cleaning the windows with a toothbrush because they looked dirty.

I found this great construction hat and we all ran around in circles chasing each other and giggling.

Yep, still raining out!

Notice something out of place? I made the basket of dish rags into a bed for my baby doll and Auntie Christi found it later. She's all tucked in and ready for bed.

Last night I slept ALL NIGHT LONG! Auntie Christi woke up at 6:40am nervous because she hadn't heard a peep all night. I got up a little while later and looked outside and realized it was another rainy day. Michael starting singing a song about rain boots and that gave us all the idea to play in the rain. Besides, my mommy packed my puddle boots, so I had to wear them. By the time we got all ready to go outside it had stopped raining, but we still got to run around in the mud, pick flowers and look for worms. I ran straight to the flowering bushes to pick the pretty red blossoms and wasted no time getting my hands dirty. We also picked some lilacs, and little yellow and white flowers we found. We dug for worms, and found one! After cleaning up, we went inside, had lunch, and then set up a big play tent in Jada's room to have a tea party in. We also played with puzzles and watched Toy Story, which I took a nap during. Ah, what a fun few days we've had. I talked with my mommy, poppa AND Keller tonight after bathtime. I love hearing from them every night before bed, it helps me fall asleep. Did I tell you my favorite song to sing at bedtime is Mary had a little lamb and baa baa black sheep? I know all the verses and had to teach Auntie Christi because she didn't know them all. I mean, who doesn't know that the lamb made the children laugh and play? Oh well, now she knows :) These are from today!

This was outside today, I learned this is a flower from the bleeding heart bush.

Digging for worms!

I pulled up a handful and yelled "worms"! Turns out it was just some squishy roots.

When Auntie Christi wasn't looking I ate some dirt. It tasted "not good".

Playing with puzzles. Everyone wanted the firetruck puzzle.

"Watching" Toy Story. I guess I was tired :0)

XOXO

MAE MAE

Mae's log - I miss mommy!!!

Did I mention my purple lilacs are finally in bloom?! My bleeding heart bush has been blooming for about 2 weeks but just noticed the lilacs yesterday. If its nice out tomorrow maybe I'll take the kids out to help me pick some blossoms for the house. Nothing says Spring like LILACS! Mae, you're up.

MAEVENS LOG: DAY 3 (Sunday)

I had a hard time sleeping last night :(. I woke up several times crying for mommy because I missed her so much! Thankfully Auntie Christi came upstairs and snuggled with me so I could get some sleep, and then first thing in the morning, we called my momma and poppa and left a message for them to call when they woke up. Uncle Jeremy was out of town today, the weather was cold, and Auntie Christi didn't dare try to take us all to church - so we went to the indoor play gym that my cousins love to go to called Tumbling Tykes. I barely got my feet in the door before I kicked off my shoes and took off running! Here's what I did:

First things first. I took over this police cruiser. Michael was hogging the blue car so I was safe in here. "Weehooweehoowee."
In case you didn't know, I climb on EVERYTHING... ...and jump on everything! I loved the trampoline.

I almost gave Auntie Christi a heart attack when she caught me on top of this thing. This is me falling through the whole in the center of the top. (Seriously, how did she get up there?)Anthony took this picture of me playing in the ball pit with Jada. He didn't even give me a chance to smile!We also played dress up. How cute do I look in the green hat I picked out?
And back on the trampoline with Jada in my new outfit :)

It was hard to leave, we had so much fun. We got a special treat on the way home from McDonalds and I got to talk to my mommy and poppa on the phone too! I was so excited to hear from them in Hawaii. I also called them again at bedtime so I would sleep better. I was so excited to hear their voices that sometimes I was smiling so big I forgot to talk. After reading some books and singing songs we settled in our beds. Except that Jada and I weren't ready to sleep so we spent the next 20 minutes in our beds calling each others names, then popping our heads up, then falling back into our pillows and giggling hysterically! Auntie Christi told us to go to bed but she was also laughing so I don't think she was very upset :)
XOXO
MAE MAE

Maevens log: Day 2

I'll be playing catch up today to get up all the pictures and stories from Mae over the weekend. I am happy to say I survived hosting a jewelry party on Saturday night and Jeremy being out of town Sunday - all with 4 kids under 3! Don't be too impressed, I'm probably more insane than admirable. Here's Mae to recount her tales!

Mae's Log: Day 2 (Saturday)

I slept great last night! When we woke up we all watched Saturday morning cartoons and had blueberry pancakes and strawberry banana smoothies for breakfast - YUM. While Auntie Christi was cooking Jada and I got to eat frozen blueberries and it turned my whole mouth blue I ate so many. Bandit, the giant yellow dog, kept trying to get to my food so I had to keep telling him to go away. He finally got the hint. After breakfast we all piled in the car and headed up to Saratoga for a picnic in the park. There was a little stream, with a bridge and a playground we played on for hours. I especially liked to hang from the bar over the slide and swing back and forth. Oh, and the mud! Anthony and I walked all through the stream and let the mud squish between our toes. We also filled the buckets with mud and water and had fun dumping the water at the top of the hill and watch it run down to the stream. I got quite filthy. My motto is, if you don't go home dirty - you didn't have enough fun! On the way home we stopped for ice cream. I got a chocolate/vanilla twist with rainbow sprinkles and was the only one who finished my whole cone. When my mommy said I like to eat, she wasn't kidding :). We were all so tired when we got home that we took an early bath, and played inside until bedtime. Before bed I left my mommy and poppa another message, sang Mary had a Little Lamb and snuggled in for the night. XOXO MAE

Maeven is taking over my blog!

For so many reasons I wish I blogged more but never seem to be able to keep up. Probably my biggest obstacle is that 90% of my life involves my children and because they are still tied up in foster care I can't shamelessly promote their cuteness on open sites (boo). HOWEVER! This week while most of my immediate family is soaking up the sun in Hawaii I have the privilege of watching my 2 yr old niece Maeven! She has asked to take over my blog site for the week so her lovely parents can keep up with her. This allows me to shamelessly promote her adorableness and I couldn't be more excited. Take it away Mae Mae!

MAEVEN LOG: DAY 1

I've been excited all week to see my cousins! I was really hoping they would be as excited but for some reason when I first got here Michael, Anthony and Jada refused to share any of her toys and Jada just kept yelling whenever I touched her toys. That was a little irritating but I just ignored her and went around exploring all the things there were to play with. Eventually everyone warmed up and realized how incredibly fun I am to be around :). We especially had fun running around outside, going down the dirt hill on the cars, and pushing each other down the slide. I showed everyone how to go down face first! After lunch Jada and I went down for naps... sorta. We spent the first hour jumping on each others beds and laughing and giggling until Auntie Christi moved me to the boys room. After naps, Michael, Anthony and I planted new flowers in the front yard. I picked out my very own flower to plant that was purple and white. It was my favorite! I dug a hole all by myself with my shovel, put the flowers in, and covered them with dirt. We even found a worm! We had so much fun playing outside that we had to take a bath after dinner. Auntie Christi was so excited to brush my hair and I sat perfectly still while she braided it before bed. After brushing teeth and reading books we all settled in for the night. My bed is right next to Jada's and I couldn't help but chatter with her for a while before we finally fell asleep. Oh! I also got to call my mommy and daddy before bed and leave them a message telling them that I loved them. It was a very good first day. MISS YOU MOMMY, DADDY AND KELLER!

XO
Mae Mae

a pro valentines day reflection

Every picture tells a story. This tells of a digital camera that we once thought was cutting edge with it's amazing clarity. We used to just take close up pictures of random objects and oogle at the detail. ha. Those were the days.

This picture was also taken on my 21st birthday, a few days after Valentines day, and the first year of our marriage. I'll never forget how excited I was that first Valentines of our marriage when I woke up to breakfast in bed and a little black box with a birthstone ring from my new husband. What a catch! But that wasn't even my favorite Valentines day.

My most memorable Valentines was a few years later when we were living in Miami. Jeremy told me he had something planned that night but was top secret about it. He even made me sit in our car with my eyes closed the entire way to our destination, even as we stopped to pick up takeout at a restaurant. Finally after about 1/2 hour we arrived at Matheson Hammock Park in Coral Gables. It's right on Biscayne Bay and the beach overlooks the bay and straight across you can see the city lights of Miami. It's a gorgeous view. I assumed that we were going to the Red Fish Grill which is right on the beach but Jeremy parked a ways from the restaurant and backed our car up into a spot by the beach. He got out, opened the back hatch of our SUV, put the seats down and proceeded to pull out sleeping bags, his laptop, takeout dinner from Outback, and a bottle of red wine. Last but not least he took out "Sleepless in Seattle" and began to load the movie on his computer while preparing our seats. We had a romantic dinner in the back of our Honda on that warm night, snuggled in sleeping bags while watching Sleepless in Seattle, all the while overlooking the Miami skyline across the bay at night. Now if THAT's not romantic, I don't know what is. I mean, did he get this from a book?

Not every Valentines has been so elaborate. I think there have been a few years that we didn't even do cards for each other, we're not actually that big into even planning stuff for our anniversary. But I'm so thankful for a husband that every now and then surprises me and reminds me how much he cares for me.

So, say what you want about Valentines day, there's nothing wrong with a holiday that encourages you to take the opportunity to let your significant other feel special. I mean, really, once a year, let them know they are loved - is it really that hard?

cats, cliffs, and hope.

Jeremy and I walked into the pet store determined to adopt and bring home a kitten. We had owned cats in the past and remembering their loving and playful nature we decided it would fill our otherwise empty home with a little joy.

Two weeks earlier the three children that we had raised since birth through foster care and were hoping to adopt were returned to one of their parents. Although we had months to mentally prepare for their departure, every step through our now empty home was a reminder of the laughter and joy that echoed through its walls for the past three years. Beds were untouched and toys stood still, laundry was left undone. We tried to do everything to avoid being home; hiking in the Adirondacks, target shooting in Tennessee, visiting family in Miami, but eventually ran out of places to go. While Jeremy tried to focus on work, I spent most of my time in the family room, unable to walk throughout the house without being reminded of the children. Nights were worse. I would try to stay up as late as possible to avoid facing the sorrow that hit me while I lay in bed waiting for sleep to overtake my thoughts. We prayed alot together during this time, studied Scripture, read books, and had long discussions on how to begin our life again.

Deciding to adopt a kitten was a pleasant distraction from our quiet house and new empty routine. A cat was something I could nurture, and love, and be a mother to. We headed out to the pet shop that night, feeling hopeful of our future, and excitedly chattering about what kind of kitten we would bring home. Once there, I started to watch three kittens roll around playfully with one another while Jeremy began filling out the paperwork to adopt. We were both stupidly excited. I waited impatiently as the woman read through our papers for what seemed like forever. After conferring with a colleague, she walked over to us with an unpromising look, and told us we could not adopt a cat. The paperwork had asked if we would ever let the kitten outdoors and Jeremy had written "maybe on a leash". Despite my insistence that we would adhere to their "no outdoors" policy, it was too late. Hopes dashed, it was all I could do to drag Jeremy out of the store before I burst into tears. We had failed at adopting children, and now we couldn't even adopt a CAT!

In the car, I fiercely scolded my unsuspecting husband through a torrent of sobbing. The rejection was overwhelming. Not because of a cat, but because of what it signified - loss. Loss of children, loss of dreams, loss of hope. Jeremy was as angry as I was. We sat in the car and when I prompted him to drive, he said he was so angry he might drive off a cliff. I told him to go for it.

We sat for another 10 minutes or so in silence. Slowly we drove away, and began to piece back together our hopes and dreams. Over the next few days we reminded one another of Gods promises. Not that we will never have struggles in this life, but that He will give us the strength to walk through them. We were reminded of others throughout the world that were suffering immeasurably more than we were - families whose children had died or were dying, families dealing with chronic illness, people without so much as a home over their heads or food on their table. It opened our hearts to so many that suffer without the hope of eternity. It gave us a new perspective. A perspective that was not dependant on what we have in life, but how we respond to life.

Through nothing short of a miracle, the following week all three children returned to our care. Our home is once again filled with laughter, running, singing, bickering, diapers, sippy cups, and all the wonders three toddlers bring. I will never forget all the lessons we learned while they were gone. What was only a few weeks felt like an eternity. We don't know what the future will hold for our family - I don't think anyone ever really does. But I am thankful for the assurance that God will give us the strength to walk through it, and for every new day I have with these precious children.

And btw, a special thanks to the lady that rejected us for the cat. Three kids is enough for now :)

Doxa shirts, sunday nights, and faith.

A few things that have been going on.

1. Doxa Church is officially meeting! We've started meeting with a few other couples that are committed to seeing Doxa become a new community of believers in this area. VERY exciting. We've even got new shirts to match thanks to one awesome Doug. Can't wait to see where this all leads.

2. Sunday nights are not as stressful as they used to be. I used to dread Sunday nights because it meant a new work week. Now I'm just like "oh hey, I get to stay home tomorrow with the kids. I wonder where we can go?!" Maybe someday I'll get tired of the routine of playdates, library time, park etc. But I'm not even close!

3. Having faith. There's been a few things lately that have caused me anxiety in the midst of all the great stuff going on. Not the least of which is the future of our family. Every few weeks I agonize over the possibility that these three children that I've raised since birth in foster care may be returned to their birth parents. I have no control over the outcome of this situation and that is especially hard for me. I have to remind myself that God loves these children more than I ever could and that He is looking out for their best interests, even when the County isn't.

That's the short list!