Progress!

Hassani is wearing her new Valentines Day dress I made. Yes, she's wearing it over her pajamas. I don't question her fashion sense. I'm just happy she stood still for a picture! :)

Yes, yes, I am making progress on my blue afghan. :) But the progress I want to write about is with H! Last week we made the decision (with her therapist) to switch from every week therapy to every other week therapy. H still has plenty of issues, but no new ones are cropping up, and we know how to deal with the current ones... so it felt like time.

I was feeling a little guilty at first. I felt like, if things were calm, then maybe that meant it was really time to make a push to deal with the next issue on our list - to force H to deal with it, I mean. But our lovely therapist pointed out that it's ok to take a break and enjoy the "peace" and that H even deserved a time of rest. :) That was all I needed to throw the guilt out the window! So we're just going to live for a while, and I'm enjoying it.

T & I take turns putting H to bed each night. Her anxiety is really high at bedtime, so we've found it works much better if one of us stays with her until she falls asleep. ("it works much better" Ha! That's another way of saying "she won't stay in bed unless we're there rubbing her back") Anyway, even with our calming bedtime routine, H often (and by often I mean every night) has big issues at bedtime (and by big issues I mean she lets us know that she hates us, and that we're stupid, and occasionally enjoys letting us know she wishes we were dead). But it occurs to me this morning that the past few nights have been very peaceful! Remarkably so! It's incredible and just pastes a smile on my face that won't go away!

I know it won't last forever, and unfortunately, I know she has a lot to still work through. But for now, for a few weeks, or for however long it lasts... wow. I'm going to enjoy it!

Blue Afghan - post 1

OK, I am too excited about my newest blue afghan. Here is a picture of it.

Hassani happily posed with it to brighten it up. :) It's hard to tell from this picture, but the number of navy rows is decreasing with each stripe, and the number of varigated rows is increasing with each stripe. :) I'll update when I have more pictures - 'cause I'm already farther along!

Pictures of my projects

I finally finished the Valentine dresses for my nieces in Indiana. They turned out cuter than I pictured, and I'm very happy with them! Now I just have to box them and mail them!

T has been wearing a hat in the house in the evenings (why, yes, we do keep the heat turned down!) I decided I wanted to crochet him a hat. My first attempt was much too girly (I'm wearing it in this picture.) So I made another one for him. He's crouching down so you can't see the line up of chips and cereal on top of our pantry cupboard! :)

Here is a picture of my hat, mittens and scarf. When I was crocheting the mittens I proudly showed my first finished one to J, who asked "Is that a pot holder?" Ugh. Well, they are kind of big. But very warm!

And here is the baby blanket I've been crocheting to donate to a church auction. I think it's done. I'm going to leave it for a few days, and then look at it again to see if it needs some edging.

Yikes! A sullen 7 year old!

Wow! Zeke has had a major shift in attitude, and the normally pleasant boy (see picture above!) has been replaced by a sullen, unhappy guy! Well, unless he's playing video games, roller skating, or something equally fun. But ask him to do a chore or some homework and watch out. Ugh. I know we'll figure this out, too, but I'm not enjoying it right now! And I wish I knew where it came from? Did something happen? Is this part of growing up? He used to be all about making us happy, and he doesn't seem to care now! Boy do I miss it!

God in my life today

I had kind of a personal revelation today at church today. During the pastor's sermon I was having a hard time concentrating, so my attention was drifting in and out. We have huge projector screens in our sanctuary, so I reading along with the Bible passages. And it said something about "... and you will receive my Glory" (it was God talking). So, just that phrase sprialed me far off from the sermon, never to return, and probably forever to wonder just what risky investments have to do with me and God. But I digress...

So here's the thing. I'm supposed to be working for God's glory, to please God, to have my priorities be God's priorities. And I've been struggling so much lately with wanting to do more foster care, but having my house (and hands) so full. I daydream about remodeling so we'd have an extra bedroom... but when I really sit down and think about it, I know that the kids I have NOW need all of me NOW. And in that instant in church, I realized that I miss that glory I got from others. The cooing over the cute baby, the "I don't know how you do it!"s, the "You're wonderful!"s. I'm still working hard. God knows that! Supporting H right now... yikes! You wouldn't know it from seeing us at church or a store or whereever, but it's TOUGH, and (by golly!) we're really good at it! We were meant to do this.

It was pretty humbling to realize that all that angst I was having is rooted in me wanting glory from others, from me wanting their complements and glory. I'm disappointed in myself! But there is something about self-discovery that feels good, too. Along the lines of "Oh! So that's why I've been feeling that way! Well, that's just silly. Here, let me pause to pat myself on the back, and get on with my life." And I think that was God working in my life today, letting me get what I needed out of that scripture, out of that sermon. So thanks, Pr M, and thanks, God!

Pajama pants

Just a quick picture of Z's pajama pants, made from the old changing table cover my sister gave me. They are soft and cute and he wears them every night!

My kids are sneaky smart!

I took Z & G on my big grocery shopping run today. It was long and they were very good. By the time we were in line to check out, though, they were like two little tornados dancing around the cart. It wasn't hard to see disaster in the future, and after hissing at them to stand still a couple times, I took a deep breath and called on my higher level parenting skills.

"Z, G, why don't you go pick out a Twix for me, and then a candy bar for the two of you to share."

I thought that was clear, and I knew that it would take them a while to decide, so I figured they'd be entertained. G came back first with a Hershey bar. "We picked this one for me." "Does Z like that one, too?" "No, he's getting his own." I explain again about the sharing. Z comes back with a Twix for me (I grab it) and a Junior mints. "Does your sister like these?" "No, they're for me!" I explain about the sharing again. Finally, they come back together, each holding a Junior mints box. "No, guys, you have to share ONE, and hurry, because we're almost done here." They aren't gone long and come back to our lane, Z quickly dropping the candy on the conveyor. Just as the cashier is scanning it I see what they got - ONE KitKat - KING SIZE. Well... they certainly fulfilled the letter of the law...

Our new computer desk - my latest project

T & I recently bought a new computer desk to replace our old one. (Our old one was a combination of his college computer desk and a hollowed out console tv cabinet for extra desk space.) Anyway, we actually managed to assemble it without problems, and in one night. I wasn't too fond of the open spaces, and it occured to me that I could use some shoebox sized boxes to make drawers. I had some extra fabric, and covering them would really make it look nice. Above you can see an in progress shot. (Thanks to Amazon for some of the perfectly sized boxes! And thanks to my grandma who taught me you can never save too many boxes! :) )

Here you can see a finished box. I used the material like wrapping paper. (I suppose I could have *used* wrapping paper, but I love this material my mom and I made chair covers out of.) I used packaging tape to tape the paper down.

Here's the finished product. I hope the desk always looks this clean!! If you look close you may notice a few details:

1. In front of the monitor is a fabric covered shoe box lid where we keep our bills to be paid online.
2. In that shoebox is a pencil with a flower taped to it. (This is even better seen in the before shot.) We've had these pencils for a while, but I may go buy new flowers and tape them to pens and stick them in a vase next to the monitor. :)
3. On the wall next to the computer desk is a wall hanging made by my friend H - I have a link on the sidebar to her "NapArt" blog. She actually wrote an explanation of the wallhanging. It warms my heart, and I'm glad to find a place I'll see it every day.

I have some more pictures to take - of my mittens and some blankets I made for my niece and G. Z promptly asked for a blanket, too, so I'm crocheting one for him. I'll also post about his pj pants.

We made it!

Well, we're back from Wisconsin, and we made it just fine. Actually, it was much better than fine! The kids were extremely well behaved in the van and at my mom's. They had their typical high energy, but that was no surprise. I think we all had a great time! We went sledding almost every day we were there. We spent time with my sister and her kids as well as my grandparents. On our final day my parents had a birthday party for my grandma, with lots of extended family attending. I was worried it would be overwhelming, but it wasn't. It was actually very fun to see my kids playing with my cousins' kids, just like I'd played with my cousins. And now school is back in session and our wonderful routine! Hooray!

I did some crafting over break. I still need to take pictures of the mittens and scarf I made. I got some flannel from my sister. It used to be a changing table cover, so it is well washed and very soft. I cut it into some pajama pants for Z, who often feels left out because the girls seem to get more homemade crafts than him. I used a pair of pj pants that fit him to cut the new ones, and had them sewed up between the time I put G to bed and the time I put Z to bed. So he got to wear his new pants, but I didn't get a picture. He declared them "so soft I almost can't feel them!" and made my day. I'll get some pictures taken soon.

Right now I need to get going. Our school district has one day a month where they let the kids out of school a couple hours early so the teachers have grading/inservice time. It doesn't sound like a big deal, but it's a major routine-buster! :) Luckily, we have our neighbor boy visiting after school today, and that will bring us to an even number of kids!