Fishing Fun

My friend L just moved into a new house with a pond out back. My kids have been begging to go fishing! Saturday afternoon we finally made it work. 

Lots of kids, lots of tangled fishing lines... 

Only one fish was caught... Elizabeth is my most patient fisherman! 

The fishing was cut short by a storm! Beautiful clouds! 

Little fisherman... so cute! 

We had a fun afternoon evening! The kids fished for awhile then played in the basement until dinner! Yummy Taco Salad!

After dinner they got to play ball...
Love Saturday evenings like this! 

Mother's Day for the Single Mom

How do you celebrate Mother's Day?

For many adoptive families, Mother's Day is a bittersweet day.

Adoption allows mothers to become mothers without giving birth. It gives children loving mothers.

Adoption means mothers have lost their children, some willingly, some not. It means  children have lost mothers who wouldn't or couldn't parent.

#reallife

For us, Mother's Day represents loss and redemption. Some kids focus on the redemption, some focus on the loss...

As a single parent, Mother's Day is hard. Except that I have started celebrating myself. (I know! I know! But I do! lol ) My theory is that no one else will teach my kids to appreciate me...




So Friday at Walmart, I let them chose flowers which I then bought for myself! lol Yes, I do buy myself flowers!

Friday night Mr. H, our pastor of care brought pizza to help the kids celebrate their awesome mom. His words not mine. lol I don't compliment myself, I only buy myself flowers and gifts! ;)

Oh and Nesiah brought a cute card and flowers home from school!

What are some ways you can encourage the single mom, the adoptive mom, the mom suffering loss of a child?


For the single and/or the adoptive mom
1. bring a meal so she doesn't have to cook.
2. clean her house
3. take her kids to buy her gifts. (my best friend does this for Christmas and I think it's such a neat idea.)
4. bring her kids flowers, to give to her.
5. a gift card


For the adoptive mom:
1. offer to babysit
2. show her kids that YOU think she is a good and loving mom
3. help her kids make something to celebrate the blessing of mom
4. take a meal
5. babysit

For the mom who lost a child:
1. send flowers in memory
2. talk about the missing child
3. give an extra hug
4. send a card

Edited to add: At church this morning the kids gathered up front to tell their moms what they appreciate about them.... My son says "I am thankful my mom adopted me". #tearjerker

yard sale finds

When you are a single mom with limited childcare options, yard saling early on Saturday morning is not always possible. I try to go once a year but rarely even got that done!

This year has been a record year! I have friend who doesn't drive but loves yardsales. The more treasures we find, the more we want to go! Its like an addiction.

Clothing find of the day! $1 each for practically new kneelength shorts and aeropostle shirts! 

We had discussed going this morning, but I refuse to take the big van and Nesiah. It just doesn't work with the early Saturday morning yardsale traffic. So my friend's husband said that maybe he could watch Nesiah and one or two of the others...

 After much discussion we finally at  the decision at 9:30 last night. 6:30 am is very early when you have 6 kids to get out of the house! 

I dropped Nesiah, Elizabeth and Lee off with friend's husband. (I have never left my kids with a man before... but he is a foster father and I do trust him!)

We had no real game plan, because it was such a last minute plan.  First we hit a local church yardsale, where I found a ton of great deals! Lots of nice clothes and some homeschool books! 

I prefer for my girls to wear knee length shorts but  they can be hard to find. So when I find them, I snatch them up. I found  several sizes for now and some for next summer for all 3 my girls! 

David found a swim shirt for a $1

Science for David for next year! So tickled with this find! 

$3 snowpants for whomever is in that size next winter! NICE PANTS! 

Brand new $1 sketchers for Elizabeth for next year! (I keep a box of shoes in larger sizes in the attic, so we are rarely caught with kids needing new shoes NOW and being forced to go out and spend for new.)

A $5 practically new jacket for either Nesiah or Elizabeth for next winter! Same thing here, I keep a bag of coats in my attic for the next season! 

$1 babygate for the steps, outside by the pool

We left the first yard sale, drove for 20 minutes and did not find the yardsales we wanted! So we ended up heading to a local developement. We hit a couple on the way. We have a pretty good system by now and we work as a team! lol Stroller goes in and out of the car in developments, kids help etc.. 

                                  

laundry hampers..

 I have a new plan for laundry and these at .50 each are perfect for my plan! They are in new condition!! 

cute little riding toy for a dollar! 

Mr. Potato Head and his whole collection for a $1! 

6 books ranging from $1 to .25! 

A $2 bike helmet for sonny boy! 

I have been praying for a bike, something to go riding with the kids.

When we were all done, I brought R and the kids back home, then went back to the one yard sale with the van to pick up a bouncy horse and a trampoline that she had bought! On my way, I passed one that we had missed completely. I saw the bike. $10 bike direct answer to my prayer!

This was my DEAL OF THE DAY!!!

A $10 wet/dry vac! Just this morning as I was loading kids into my explorer, I was appalled once again by the amount of DIRT and food in my vehicle. I decided it was time to look at buying a shop vac.... And hour later, God provided one! #LOVEIT

Second deal of the day...

A free rope hammock! It is filthy and a bit tattered but this is a $100 item, that with some tlc will work perfectly out by the pool!! I don't have a pic of it!