TBT April 2008

Check out Part 1 and Part 2

I said Good by to my soul mate, my best friend and my lover on that beautiful April day.
One year later... I  traveled to Montana, Ohio, Indiana and North Carolina in that year. I  cried buckets of tears, prayed and experienced the reality of God's promises. I slowly started the grieving journey.

I  also started a new journey... the new reality, new dreams, new goals.

This is  story of God's grace, God's calling and  my obedience. God and I had become close friends. I relied on Him for every decision, every breath, and  even the ability to get out of bed in the morning.

He whispered in my heart. A cry for the orphan. for the lonely. for the broken. for the unwanted.

I stepped out in obedience. I needed a passion, something to live for.

April 10, 2008, I became a mother for the very first time, a "love mom", one who loves and nurtures temporarily. God had put the call of foster care on my heart.


This has been a blessing, a gift, a challenge and a journey that has drawn me closer to God. I considered it a privilege to be asked by God to be a mother to many different kiddoes that first summer.

But each loss, as each child moved on, was like ripping a bandage off the wound of loss.. But each one was a step in my journey.


6 months after becoming a "mom", God presented me with a special gift. A gift for my obedience.

Check back next Thursday.

Spring time...

We have so enjoyed the warm sunshiney days! The kids have been playing outside for hours and hours!

Nesiah loves being outside in her stroller!

Fayth was very happy when I found this PINK bike for her! I was happy to find a practically new bike on craigslist!! I am a huge fan of craigslist. With lots of patience and watching, I have bought many a  cheap but useful item!! 

Babysitting kiddoes need to be confined when on the driveway! Our road scares me to death! Note the gray duct tape "safety line". Cross that line and you automatically get to spend the rest of your day inside. It has really helped protect everyone. 

But with littles I needed more! So with some good helpers, we put up this baby gate on the front porch. 

It allows the littles to play outside while I am cooking abd the big kids are riding bikes or rollerblading! 

I love spring days... we have a very safe neighborhood, aside from the occasional sex offender. We have 4 neighbors within walking distance who are foster/adoptive parents. We have 2 police officers, an FBI agent, and someone that works for the DA's office. Plus we are surrounded by amish and horse and buggy mennonite neighbors.  We also have a neighbor who brings us left over garden produce and venison, but threatens trespassers with his shotgun. You gotta love it! ;)

I do not allow my kids to roam freely, but they do play in the neighbor's woods and in the meadows. They traipse around dreaming of survival camping and hunting wild animals, like cougars and wild cats. They have literally butchered the tree in our backyard, building themselves a tree house. (Mr J brings them lots of wood scraps from his cabinet shop.)

They are inventors and creators, they are confident of their skills and are not afraid to try to figure things out or try new things. (which may not always be good for my heart health) For ex... I had a daughter who broke her arm because she was "taking a nap" in the shed on a winter day. Try explaining THAT one in the ER... 

Yard Sale Treasures!

We hit the yard sales last Saturday morning! We had loads of fun! The kids got to spend some hard earned cash and momma was happy to save hard earned cash by buying brandname clothes at yard sale prices!


Yard sale prep is almost as much fun as the actual yardsale.. The night before we laid out, jackets, shoes, and cash. Plus fixed the diaper bag, made sure the stroller was in the car . Breakfast to go was ready in the fridge, the kids went to bed with clean clothes on... (we really are not morning people)


Everything was perfectly laid out. All ready to go. Babysitter for Nesiah was to come at 6 am. 

But a certain child did not cooperate. So I saw every single hour on the clock that night. By 6 am I was just frustrated...  

But we headed out....  Daylight was just breaking. 

We found many good deals... it was so worth the sitter I hired, the early morning hours and the whining tired kids. :) 

We found school books and clothes, lots of nice girl clothes. 

this was my favorite, Lands End boots for $1.50

The kids found treasures... 

This is what David bought with his hard earned cash... 

They all carried their cash in baggies. 

Sketchers for a $1!! 

These are Fayth's treasures! An Easter basket and shoes for her doll. Oh, wait I was just informed these are for teddy not the doll. 

We ended up hitting a second yardsale at a local school and scored some good things there! This has become a great tradition, as we did the same thing last year. I love love finding good bargains and nice brand name clothes for pennies.