the Emergency Shelter

I'm a little late posting, but since I was sick all last week, I had a lot of laundry and a little bit of cleaning to catch up on....not to mention go back to work! This past Saturday, Eddie and I spent some time with five foster kids that are all currently at an emergency children's shelter. If I didn't know better, I would say it's a great place to live, but I do. I know that the kids staying here have either JUST been taken from their parents (within the last 90 days), or they have currently been sent back from a foster home. I guess there could be other reasons why these kids are here, but the five kids we met on Saturday were there for those reasons.

I owe a huge thank you to the ladies running the shelter for taking us in LAST MINUTE and letting us get some of our hours. They really KNEW what they were doing, and from the looks of things, they ran a tight ship. The shelter has been up and running since the early 80's. It was started by a nurse that had been taking in foster kids when the police or CPS (did CPS even exist in the 80's??) needed an emergency placement. It was kind of cool to hear the history of the shelter. There are live-in parents that are ALWAYS at the home, and then they have other helpers and volunteers that come in throughout the week, some staying the night. We were told that they had been placed with as many as 22 children at one time. YIKES!! The home has a boys wing and a girls wing. Each room has a closet, two beds with storage, a dresser? and an adjoining jack and jill bathroom. The hallway was lined with linen/storage closets (can you say jealous?!?). There are two living/play areas with several couches and big screen tv's. SO. MANY. TOYS. The kitchen was my dream kitchen minus some of the stainless steel. They have a large eat-in area w/a table that could fit the Duggar family. :) Three industrial sized refrigerators, a walk-in freezer, a pantry the size of my closet, two side pantries in the kitchen, and tons and tons of cabinet space. Oh, and two gas stove/ovens that I now covet. The back yard is mostly concrete, which is great for playing basketball and riding bikes. They have two large, covered sand boxes, bike rack, foosball table, air hockey table, a swing set for big kids, a swing set for babies, a jungle gym w/slide, and a basketball court. Sounds like everyone's dream home, doesn't it? Everyone's dream home but these kiddos. :(

I don't really want to say much about the kids because they were great and anything other than that would be giving out too much information. They were a lot of fun to hang out with, though I missed spending time with our three kids while Daddy was off work and home for the weekend. A couple of the kids were waiting on a relative to finish up some paperwork to take custody, but a sibling group was currently in the shelter because their NINTH foster placement had just brought them back. In the time we spent with them, I could see how they could get into a lot of trouble (fought a lot, serious sibling rivalry), but really? NINE foster homes??? So sad! (Before you start thinking that, there are a lot of reasons we COULDN'T take them, none of which I'll get into!)

So, I've lost count of how many hours we have left to finish up. We have another visit scheduled with the Joneses that I am looking forward to this weekend! We still need to get our finger prints done, so that is next on the list. I've heard things about FBI finger prints from some of the docs I work for, so not looking forward to the "what if's" with that, but I'll let you know how it goes once we're done!

TO DO LIST


double locks for meds
lock for ammo box
sheets for bunk beds
FBI finger prints
MORE supervision hours
emergency kit
re-schedule 4th and FINAL! home study
(I know there has to be more, but can't think of anything right now!)

home study: take 3

Yep. You read that right. Take three, not four. We should be at the fourth and final part of our home study by now, but things came up for our agency and our home developer had to take over a class instead of complete part three of four. Sooooo we swapped Eddie's portion for the couples interview since I was home on Monday. She got to our house right at one and didn't leave until about five or close to it. Made for a long afternoon, especially since I had the WORST headache. (Sinus and allergy season are in high gear in this household, and we're all going a little crazy with the change in weather.)

The interview consisted of questions about our marriage, what makes it good, what do we fight about, what needs the most work. She didn't quite believe us when we couldn't come up with the things we fight about. She told me they weren't looking for perfect, just the truth LOL. We don't really fight. We argue sometimes, but I think the different schedules with him working nights and me working days really helps to just appreciate any time we  have together. We also made two rules when we first tied the knot: #1 NEVER go to our family with any problems we're having with one another. #2 Never go to bed angry. (This also applies to leave for work angry!) She also questioned how we discipline our kids, how age plays a role in that, and what kinds of things we like to do with our kids. Just for fun, I'll give you our answer to one of her questions. :)
*What makes our marriage good/work: We put God first, us second, kids last. We love our kids, but if we don't put our marriage first and work on any problems there, we can't be good parents. (And personally, I don't think I'd be very good at either without putting God first!) We aren't always good to remember to go out on date nights, but we do make the kids go upstairs so we can have some alone time every time we're together. Doesn't keep them from coming down to interrupt, but we'll take what we can get! 

Before and after the interview we covered a couple things that we had questions about. First of all, we have clearance to get our finger prints! Yay! I guess that means we passed our background checks. :) We can do that at any time, and they prefer we finish up by the time we've completed our supervision hours so we will be able to be licensed by the beginning of April. However, at $44 a pop, we'll do his this pay period, then mine next pay period. With some other things we are still needing to purchase, we don't want to do everything at once and break the bank. We still need to get an emergency kit together (four gallons of water, flashlights, two-way radios, spare clothes, blankets, non-perishable food, etc), need sheets for the bunk beds, two sets of finger prints, new, locking door knobs for the master bathroom, something to hold our meds and a lock to go with it, and either fix up our dining room table or buy a couple barstools/tall chairs for the kitchen counter so we can all eat as a family. We barely have room in the breakfast nook for Campbell as it is, and she will outgrow her high chair very soon, so we need to think ahead.

Eddie and the kiddos will have another quick interview in a couple weeks. By then she would like us to be almost finished with our hours, finger prints done, and we HAVE to have our meds locked up and show that this is our new method.....until then, we spend as much time with the Joneses or the shelter as possible! Pray that we get our hours in....and in a timely manner. Our schedules are a little bit crazy, and we'll take any prayers we can get through this process! :)

Supervision Hours

This weekend Eddie, the kids and I got to meet the coolest couple. We'll just call them the Joneses for privacy reasons. They are foster parents to SIX littles, ages six and under! Talk about blessed! (Not sure I want to be THAT blessed!!!) Let me tell you, this mommy  has it together. She may not feel that way, but she definitely had me fooled. I don't want to say too much about their names or ages, but they are some of the CUTEST kids I have ever met. They have two different sibling sets. One set they will be adopting in the very near future! What lucky kids to have such cool, loving parents.

The other sibling set will hopefully be reunified with their bio parent soon. I know that is the ultimate goal of foster-care, but let me tell you.....if anything goes wrong with reunification with the bio family, I would definitely want to pursue those little guys. (With Eddie's permission, of course!) They are gorgeous. One of them just kept staring at me. He had the prettiest eyes and the cutest snaggle-tooth grin! I asked Eddie if we could take them with us one day this week while I'm off so their foster-momma can have a little break (the little ones all nap!!). As fun as it would be, this has got to be a BAD idea! I want these kids to be reunited with their bio family. That is what this process is all about. But I know me, and spending more time with them would just make me want to keep them! Okay, I know what you're thinking, and your probably right. They'll place a child in our home and I'll want to keep him, even though reunification will probably be inevitable. I don't know if I'll ever get used to raising someone else's kid, falling in love, and then handing them back, knowing that their parents may very well go back to being the same person that had their child removed from their home. But I do know that God has called us to do this, and for that reason, I know he'll take care of my heart.

Back to what we learned! They had a divide and conquer plan since it was pretty windy and they have three babies that didn't need to be out in the weather. Mr. Jones and Eddie took our three kids and the Joneses three boys to the park, while I stayed home with Mrs. Jones and the babies. I say babies, but really two of the three are toddlers. They JUST started walking, so their mommy has her hands full! She showed me all the paperwork involved. Told me who to call when I needed help, how to work the computer program where I'll be documenting EVERYTHING that our foster son does in a week. You have to document every time you toss/sale an article of clothing or toy. You have to document every doctor/dentist visit. She mentioned that if we have a child that tends to lie to document, document, document. Said it comes in handy if they decide to lie about us. That way we can prove a history of lying to basically CYH (cover-your-hiney!). She showed me how they "double lock" their meds. They put a key lock on their bathroom door for lock #1, and for the double lock, they store their meds in small plastic containers that have pad locks on them. Much better than the safe or locking filing cabinet we had in mind! She also has a cool system in their kids' bathroom. They bought a locker set that has six lockers w/keys. Each child has their own space for towels, rags, shampoo, toothpaste, lotion, etc. Also, each of the kids have their own colored towels and rags. Talk about organized! I guess when you have six kids, you don't have much choice. :)

A couple things that were brought up that I had mentioned/questioned in previous posts: When the kids come to us from CPS, our county provides a duffle bag for each child with 3-4 jammies, 3-4 outfits, socks and underwear, and I think shoes. Then all we'll have to worry about is school uniforms. Also, payment is the 15th and the end of the month. She said if you have a child placed in your home on the 14th, you would be paid on the 15th of the next month for ONE day. She says it's that way because payments are a month behind. I think if we're only going to have one child in our care this won't be so bad, but can you imagine how much of a struggle it would be if we had multiple kids or babies for that matter?

Hopefully we'll be able to get in some more hours with the children's shelter nearby. Only 22 more hours to go! Maybe we'll get to hang out with the Joneses again soon.....they are a great source to have living so close by!

Our Sponsored Child

I only briefly mentioned going to see Chonda Pierce and Warren Barfield in Dallas a couple weeks back. What I didn't mention was that Warren was there to bring awareness of world hunger by supporting an organization called Food for the Hungry. He told his story of going to a third world country and seeing small children walk ALL DAY LONG looking for water. His story is his to tell....how God broke his heart for these people searching for the very thing that he had within STEPS of every room in his house. I have been wanting to sponsor a child or family for a while now, but something was holding me back. I walked past the Food for the Hungry table before the concert started and spotted this adorable little boy that looked about 8 years old. I asked a few questions, then walked away. I told God if now was the time and this was the boy, let his picture still be on the table at intermission. During intermission I walked out to the table and a lady was holding up the same picture I had been looking at earlier. I walked away, thinking it wasn't meant to be, but I turned back around when I heard that she was looking for a specific birth month (wanted the same birth month as her kids), and this child did not meet her criteria. :) I did a little "do now, ask for forgiveness later" and filled it out without talking to my husband first. I mean, really, how's he gonna argue with a God-thing? When I told him what I had done (by text, of course!), he texted me back with one word, "SUCKER." I knew what he meant. He meant I'm a sucker for a sad story with a picture of a cute kid attached! If I thought for one second he wouldn't support my decision, of course, I wouldn't have done it. (I think.) I say all this to tell you, the following Sunday our church sang a song I had never heard before. The song was tied in with the sermon, but the song had more meaning to me that day.....

The Sound

There is a sound that you are waiting to hear,
(The sound) that you will use to break your people through,
So we lift our voices in praise,
And we'll sing unto you Lord,

It's the sound that you heard at Jericho,
It's the sound that you heard in that Philippian jail, 
It's the sound that you will use to set your people free,

There is a sound that tells me what you need,
(The sound) that sound that draws me to where you are, tells me what you're ready for,
So we lift our voices in praise,
And we'll sing unto you Lord,

It's the sound that you heard at Jericho,
It's the sound that you heard in that Philippian jail,
It's the sound that you will use to set your people free,

It's the sound that you heard(when I was going through)
It's the sound that you heard(when I was crying out for you)
It's the sound that you will use to set your people free,

It's the sound of Jubilee, set your people free,
Release my destiny, I want it all back
It's the sound of Jubilee, set your people free
Release my destiny, I want it all back

Set your people free(4x's)
I want it all(4x's)
Set your people free...

Our new sponsored child is Jericho, age 9, from the Philippines. :) Told ya it was a God-thing. www.fh.org

6th times the charm...

So this is probably the SIXTH time I'll be redecorating Trey's room!! I know, I know. We've done Spiderman, his fave colors (red and blue at the time), surfer themes, skateboarder themes, etc. I acutally like the baseball/sports theme he has going on right now, so we'll keep the art on the wall, but the paint color (a dark grey-blue) has to go. He has a full sized bed right now, so with another child "on the way," we had to purchase bunk beds. Here's a preview of what the boys' new room will look like: