** Noise Makers **

Fosters 2 & 3 came and went.

We had two little boys for 10 days while their foster parents took some time for respite.  We had a great, but rather LOUD time.  How can a 17 month old and a 2.5 year old make so. much. noise?!?

We had lots of play dates, park dates, and fun.  10 days of run, run, run....and when the kids went back home, we were sad to see them go, but happy to have a quiet house for a few days again. 

On to the next adventure...

Our first foster: and in a flash, he was gone!

YEA!!!!!

We finally got our first foster child.  He came to stay with us on Monday night, and went to a new foster home, in a different state, this afternoon.  "He" was a 6 month old baby with bright blue eyes, blazing red hair, and a smile that would not quit!  His name was "D."  He was super smiley and truly never cried the entire time he was with us.  He liked me, but he LOVED Dustin!  He would track him with his eyes whenever Dustin would walk into a room....and light up with a big smile the second paid him any attention at all. 

I wish I could post pictures on here but DCS has asked us not to, as a way of protecting the children in custody (not just in this case, in all cases.)  So, you will have to take my word for it that he was adorable.  And, if I see you in person, ask me and I might have my camera with me with pictures galore!  Just consider yourself warned.... 

What is most amazing to us is how much a child can become a part of your life so quickly.  Our house seems a little too empty now, a little too quiet.  But, we will pick ourselves back up and start to prepare for the next time we get to have a child (or children) in our home.  That's what its all about, isn't it!?  In the meantime, we will be praying for his safety and for good things to happen in the future for him. 

Update

Many of you are probably wondering what happened with us getting our foster care license and where our children are.  Don't worry, we are wondering that too!  We were licensed in November but have yet to have children placed in our home.  To be honest, we are more than a little bit discouraged.  BUT, oh well.  Not much we can do about it other than wait, so wait we shall.

On the plus side of things, we are going to keep two little boys for 10 days at the end of the month while their foster parents go on vacation.  We are pretty excited about this!  The boys came over yesterday for us to meet them and we all had fun playing together. 

Another plus:  after what had to of been the mildest winter in the history of Indiana, it appears that spring has officially sprung!  Enjoy the beautiful weather!

The weather man deserves a karate chop....in the throat!

This winter is irritating me to no end! 

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE winter!  I love snow!  I love the cold!  I live for that fluffy white stuff, I run out in it (in my tank tops) and dance!  Seriously! 

This winter, we have been duped!  We've been ripped off!

All summer long they warned us how this was supposed to be a horrible winter:   predicted blizzards and record amounts of snow.  Fall fell and over and over we heard about how this was to be a record breaking, horrible, terrible, no-good, very bad, winter!  The weather men were practically salivating when they warned us.  And, I was so excited! 

It's almost the end of February now and we've had not even 10 inches of snow total ALL WINTER!  In fact, I've heard on the news/farm talk shows how we are considered in a draught and need the snow soon or we will have a horrible summer for crops.  (That statement always ticks people off and makes them argue with me so before you do, just know I don't know the reason  (something about water tables and freezing) they say that, I just know I've heard it more than once.  If you have a problem with it, contact them, not me!!!) 

I feel like the promise of a bad winter was a big government conspiracy to get all us suckers to go out and buy snow blowers, ice melt, plows, big trucks, etc...  And, in my excitement, we fell for it!  We moved to a new house with a bigger drive so therefore went out and bought a new snow blower that has LITERALLY been used ONE TIME on 3 inches of snow.  SO IRRITATED! 

This is the most snow we've had on the ground at once all winter!

I'll end now but wanted to write this gripe since I spend every winter listening to most people whine and complain about the snow.  Now I get to whinge about NO snow.  Fair is fair, right?!  What's even MORE amazing to me is that I'm STILL hearing people complain about the weather!  Someone the other day said they were "just so ready for winter to be over!"  I wanted to kick them.  Or, put them next to the weather man, and karate chop them both!

****BRING ON THE SNOW!***

A House of Cards

Valentines, Schmalentines!

For those of you who know my hubby, I'm sure you are NOT surprised when I say that we do not really celebrate holidays....especially Valentines!  However, one of the best parts of our relationship is the fact that we love to laugh together and can usually find amusement in any situation.  So, let me tell you an amusing Valentines saga:

Rewind to 2007:

I went to the store, picked out a card, brought it home, and wrote my heart on the inside.  I was so excited to give him his card because I had really poured my thoughts and thankfulness into it! 

Valentines came, he opened his card, read it, threw it on the counter, and went back to watching TV.  I was crushed!  Not only did I NOT get anything, not even a card, for the day of love, but my thoughts were basically ignored.  I was hurt.  And, I figured, why should I write all these sweet thoughts every year when I can just RECYCLE this card?!  So, I did.  Into the drawer it went, to be pulled out in 2008.  And 2009.  And 2010.  You get my drift.  Each year, I would write the year on the back of the card...I was curious how many years this could go on before he noticed.

 

HE. NEVER. CAUGHT. ON.

Present day 2012:

Out comes the now infamous Valentines day card for the hubby.  I leave it sitting on the counter, propped up on the coffee pot.  I run errands in town and when I return, there on the counter sat a card for ME!  SURPRISE!

Dustin and Mandi 40 years from now?

In typical Dustin fashion, this is actually a birthday card.   But he took the time to personalize it! 

He drew pictures of our dogs and pointed out that the couple on the front is in Alaska....and that the man must surely be Dustin based on how he wears his socks!  D says this looks just like me...

He then proceeded to ask me what I meant when I wrote on Facebook about the infamous Valentines Day card.  UH OH!  The gig was up!  My card was found out! 

BUT, we laughed and laughed and laughed about it.  We laughed about how he never noticed it was the same card, we laughed about how cheap I am that I would recycle a card, we laughed about how silly the holiday is as a whole, and about his card for me!  And, after all that, I picked up the card.....................and put it back in the drawer for 2013!



Calender Cruelty

February 12.  It comes around every year.  This date on the calender that haunts me.  This is the day that kicked off 5 years of medical/infertile/marital hell!  But, we survived and are better for it.  Stronger.  More compassionate.  More flexible, loving, and thoughtful.  (I hope)

On this date, 6 years ago now, I woke up to miscarrying our child.  I'll spare you the details.  You're welcome.  :0)  This unfortunate event segued into doctors visits, blood draws, tests, ultrasounds, more tests, "by the way, you have cervical cancer", medications, surgeries, and on and on and on.  The results of that led to years of trying to get pregnant; more tests, more surgeries, more invasions of my body than I ever would of thought. 

As you all know, the end result is that at age 32, I now know that, barring some insane miraculous occurrence, I will never be a mother to a biological child (I word it that way because we still consider adoption sometimes),  And, most days, now, I'm accepting of that.  But, on today, as morbid, depressing, and macabre as it may be, I reflect on the times and life we might of had.  I'm just glad my hubster is off work and I don't have to go through it alone.  So today we will celebrate our child, our dreams, and our life.....together.

R.O.D.E.O

It's bulls and blood
It's dust and mud
It's the roar of a Sunday crowd
It's the white in the knuckles
The gold in the buckle
He'll win the next go 'round
It's boots and chaps
It's cowboy hats
It's spurs and latigo
It's the ropes and the reins
And the joy and the pain
And they call the thing rodeo

One of my favorite things to do here on a Saturday night is to go to the rodeo at Hat Creek Arena in Van Wert.  I love the sounds, the smells, the excitement.  So, if you would ever like to join me, just let me know.  Its always a good time!

(Please excuse the horrible pictures.  There's only so much you can do with a crowd and a camera phone)

The place is ALWAYS packed!  Standing room only!

One of my favorite pictures!  JD looks deep in thought....