Serious Mommy Bragging

Cory has been having a great year in school so far. I just posted a few days ago about his report card (ahem...all A's and B's and he made the honor roll). I'd also like to mention that he recently came home with a "Hornet Pride" award. The Hornets are our mascots obviously. The award itself is for "contributions made to the school" in the areas of citizenship, academics, and athletics. And as far as athletics go? He was one of the top 5 runners on the cross country team. He made the difference between a win and a loss at one meet for them. And tonight? Well, we just got back from a school board meeting because the boys' cross country team was being recognized for being undefeated this season. I guess all in all I have a reason to brag a little lol.

God is In the LIttle Things

I've always had a pretty strong faith in God. I've seen Him act in some mighty big moments in my life (perhaps one or two of those is another blog post?). Today I saw him in the little things as the day unfolded. It was wonderful, though I can't really put into words why it meant so much to me.

To begin the day I had to get Ty to a dentist appointment 30 mins away. The morning went smoothly, including no major behaviors from Jay. We got the others to school and were on our way on time and good to go.

Yesterday I had realized, though, that Logan had a counseling appointment 15 mins away at a time near enough to Ty's dentist appointment that I didn't think we'd make it. I couldn't even cancel it because they're not open on weekends or before we had to be on the road today. I chose to let it go and try to make it. We got out of the dentist and back into town in time for me to drop Ty off at his school and go get Logan at his. The session went well according to the therapist.

After returning Logan to school I got back home just in time to get a call from my cousin asking if I wanted to meet for lunch. Fun! It was great.

After lunch I ran a few errands and got everything I had to do done. This included finding something I've been looking for/wanting for quite some time. What? Earbuds for my iPod. A little thing I know but I really enjoy my music and audiobooks. I've been looking all over town and I hadn't found what I wanted. They were either too expensive or weren't the kind I wanted. Today? I felt lead to check the Dollar General. I didn't think they'd have what I wanted but I stopped to look. Sure enough they had the kind I wanted for $4!!!! I'm sooo happy. Jay wants that kind as well and loves pink and there was even a pink pair for me to get for him for Christmas!

See? A bunch of little things working together to make a busy day that much smoother and happier!

My Mommy and Daddy

I love my mom and dad. They stopped by for a bit today and it was just really pleasant. My dad went around and put all the storm windows down. I really appreciated it, though I do just want to mention that I know how and am full capable of doing it lol. While he was doing that my mom gave the boys money for the A's on their report cards and we sat and chatted. Days like today remind me how lucky I am to have the family I have. I love them all!

Stuffed French Toast

Many of my friends and family are "foodies" and along with that, great cooks. It's been a saying in my family for as long as I can remember that "Some people eat to live, we live to eat!" So as you can imagine we exchange recipes and ideas a lot. I especially enjoy doing this with my friends Renee, Camille, and Kathy. Well, I'm a good cook but still a relative newbie as I didn't cook much until I had the boys. That means they do most of the sharing of recipes lol. Anyway, for lunch today I made a stuffed french toast that Renee told me how to make. Well, it's not so much a recipe if you already know how to make french toast as it is an idea to take it to the next level. It's actually quite easy but we all thought it was to die for!

First, make your basic egg mixture to dip the toast in. (Eggs, milk/cream, and I add in some vanilla and cinnamon.)

Take two slices of whatever bread you're using and spread cream cheese on one slice and jam on the other. Renee suggested raspberry, which I LOVE, but I used strawberry due to some pickiness here hehehe. Anyway, put the slices of bread together like you were making a sandwich.

Dip the "sandwich" in the egg mixture and heat in a pan on the stove like you would regular french toast. It all melts together and sticks in one piece like a grilled cheese. Top with syrup or powdered sugar if desired.

It was SOOOOO good and so easy. If you make this, enjoy! And thanks Renee!

Report Cards

The boys brought home report cards from the first nine weeks of school today. I'm happy. They all did pretty well. Ty's sure didn't show how smart he really is but I'm not too worried because he had a rough start at the beginning of the year. I actually feel bad because I should've picked up on the fact that his ADHD was not under control much sooner than I did. We did a mild increase in his med and it made an instant difference. I really think this next nine weeks will be much better for him. Jay does exceptionally well in Reading and had A's in Social Studlies and Science as well. Math has been a bit hard for him this year but he tries and he'll get it in the end. Logan is off to a great start. He's a bit rocky on numbers but he's already reading more than 30 words. Cory? WOW. His lowest grade was a "B." That's right! Mr. I Don't Care If I Pass 7th Grade and I Have the Grades To Prove It is ROCKING it this year. GOOOOOO Cory!

Done, Done, Done

And did I mention that I was done? LOL.

With what you ask?

Foster care! I officially mailed in my resignation letter earlier this week. Why now? I wouldn't have made the choice so quickly after finalizing the boys' adoptions except my foster care license needed to be renewed. So it was either get them in here to do it or officially resign. Pushed to make a choice I took some time to consider and pray and decided to resign.

Ok. I'm processing this still. I'm not enitrely sure how I feel about it. I guess that's to be expected. There are a lot of both good and negative feelings associated with foster care for me. That I guess should be expected too. I am so blessed to have my boys. I'm proud of the work I did when I was working with A, Ty's mom. Whatever my feelings were at the time about not wanting to lose Ty I worked hard for their reunification. On the other hand, I saw a lot of incompetence happening in Jay and Logan's case. I'm not excluding myself. I KNEW they couldn't go home but I do have regrets looking back at the over two years of the case. I never did anything unethical or illegal but I pushed too hard in some places, trusted some of the wrong people, and didn't make myself be heard when I should have. I might post more about that but I need to think about that as it is Jay and Logan's story. There's also a little bit of sadness because it feels over and final now. More on that in a minute. But there's also happiness in being able to lead a more "normal" life now. I don't have to call to ask permission to leave the county, cut the boys' hair, or take the boys to the doctor if needed. We don't have to schedule cw visits. There are no more court hearings. All very good things lol. So like I said before, mixed feelings lol.

Now. Is this resignation as a resource family permanent? I can't answer that right now. I feel like our family is complete now. I'm not sure I could give the boys all the extra support they need because of their issues if I added another child now. However, I WOULD probably be willing to foster Ty's sister should she ever come into care. And another thing...my mom says she doesn't think I'm done. But what she sees is me fostering when I'm older and the boys are grown. I can sure see that as a possibility. Well, only time and God's guidance will tell from here. Looking forward to the future!

Tired

I worked (subbing) yesterday and today. I'm tired. So? This is what you get today. Hey, it's a post, right?