We had a great weekend with the boys' cousins K and T here again!K asked if they could come because it was a 3 day weekend for them, but we really need a day to just lounge around and not have to entertain before Billy goes back to work and the kids to school...so having been here since Friday afternoon, we took them back today. The big theme when the boys are here is FOOD and GAMES. My two tiered stand got lots of face time, with the number of meals I prepared. I also made peanut butter fudge which was a homerun....thanks Bakerella.com! And brownies which were a raw disappointment. ;(
These kids are the gamiest!! We played Pacman on our TV, countless games of Sorry and Uno, Yahtzee, Scene It, Guess Who, Jenga, Perfection, War, Go Fish....it goes on.
That is was K loves to do non-stop!
They also enjoyed the Chipmunks movies we own, and Despicable Me in 3D at the dollar theater. It was their first 3D experience and they seemed to really enjoy it. Even though the boys are very polite, they are not complimentary...which can get me down sometimes as I really feed off of verbal encouragement...and go out of my way to make meals special and games fun. At one meal I joked "you know it would be nice to get a 'this is the best meal ever' or 'your fudge is amazing!' every once in awhile." All five kids did not catch on to my not-so-subtleness but T immediately said "can I have a soda?" to which Billy and I died laughing! The requests never stopped for 2 days. Good grief!! But we know that they love coming to our house and enjoy everything about it. They are 10 and 14 year old boys...I can't expect an award for making them yummy pancakes!
Despite the normal issues and discouragement that we have with them here...the fact that beds were being wet every night and nap by one or more of our boys (the smell of pee has stalked me for 3 days now!)...and Lucy tracked mud over the entire house while we were at an event Sat. night, it was a great weekend. K once again shared so much with me about J's home life and Isaac and J's birthmother...things she has done and said in her life...and various incidents that I have in CPS documentation but have not had a personal account of. It seems like K saw and was witness to everything that went on. He recalls so much! We have a whole box of avadavits from when we were petitioning the court to adopt Isaac, and K was able to fill in so many gaps for me. On that note, I have a very special thing to share that I am SO excited about!!!
A few days before K and T came, I was looking through this box of CPS documents. I haven't looked at it in years, but I always remembered there was a grainy black and white photo copy of a picture of Isaac as a baby. It was taken the day he first entered foster care, 11 months before he came to live with us. It is the only baby picture we have of him. In the picture, there is a profile of a child holding him. We of course never knew who this child was. But when I pulled it out of the box last week, I gasped! "Honey!! It's K!!" I said to Billy who was in bed. I knew by the shape of his thumb and his nose and mouth. I couldn't believe it! This missing piece is so huge to me. K confirmed when I showed it to him, that it was in fact him at 8 years old. He remembers the photo being taken and he remembers buckling my child into his little carseat right before CPS took him away from his birthfamily forever. K looked at the photo for a long time as I could see memories flooding back....some happy I am sure, many sad. He said he was always holding "the baby" and wanted to say goodbye to him. He didn't just take care of my J. He also loved on my firstborn son. For that reason and so many more, our relationship with K is so special to me.
I had to share this sweet photo with you.
It says so much.
These kids are the gamiest!! We played Pacman on our TV, countless games of Sorry and Uno, Yahtzee, Scene It, Guess Who, Jenga, Perfection, War, Go Fish....it goes on.That is was K loves to do non-stop!
They also enjoyed the Chipmunks movies we own, and Despicable Me in 3D at the dollar theater. It was their first 3D experience and they seemed to really enjoy it. Even though the boys are very polite, they are not complimentary...which can get me down sometimes as I really feed off of verbal encouragement...and go out of my way to make meals special and games fun. At one meal I joked "you know it would be nice to get a 'this is the best meal ever' or 'your fudge is amazing!' every once in awhile." All five kids did not catch on to my not-so-subtleness but T immediately said "can I have a soda?" to which Billy and I died laughing! The requests never stopped for 2 days. Good grief!! But we know that they love coming to our house and enjoy everything about it. They are 10 and 14 year old boys...I can't expect an award for making them yummy pancakes!Despite the normal issues and discouragement that we have with them here...the fact that beds were being wet every night and nap by one or more of our boys (the smell of pee has stalked me for 3 days now!)...and Lucy tracked mud over the entire house while we were at an event Sat. night, it was a great weekend. K once again shared so much with me about J's home life and Isaac and J's birthmother...things she has done and said in her life...and various incidents that I have in CPS documentation but have not had a personal account of. It seems like K saw and was witness to everything that went on. He recalls so much! We have a whole box of avadavits from when we were petitioning the court to adopt Isaac, and K was able to fill in so many gaps for me. On that note, I have a very special thing to share that I am SO excited about!!!
A few days before K and T came, I was looking through this box of CPS documents. I haven't looked at it in years, but I always remembered there was a grainy black and white photo copy of a picture of Isaac as a baby. It was taken the day he first entered foster care, 11 months before he came to live with us. It is the only baby picture we have of him. In the picture, there is a profile of a child holding him. We of course never knew who this child was. But when I pulled it out of the box last week, I gasped! "Honey!! It's K!!" I said to Billy who was in bed. I knew by the shape of his thumb and his nose and mouth. I couldn't believe it! This missing piece is so huge to me. K confirmed when I showed it to him, that it was in fact him at 8 years old. He remembers the photo being taken and he remembers buckling my child into his little carseat right before CPS took him away from his birthfamily forever. K looked at the photo for a long time as I could see memories flooding back....some happy I am sure, many sad. He said he was always holding "the baby" and wanted to say goodbye to him. He didn't just take care of my J. He also loved on my firstborn son. For that reason and so many more, our relationship with K is so special to me.
I had to share this sweet photo with you.
It says so much.
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7 friends commented!:
:) So glad you had a great weekend! I love seeing your food setups!!! You are amazing! I know that having teenage boys in the house with the background they have had has to make it hard! Hope you got some rest today!!
They'll learn appreciation from all you do for them one day.
That picture is so sweet. I know you prayed for these connections for Isaac and they're coming in such a different but wonderful way. So glad K gets to see Isaac now growing up, such a blessing for him, for them both.
That looks like it was the best meal ever! And that fudge looks amazing!
I'll give you the compliments the kids forgot, because it looks like you are doing a great job!
Oh my goodness that is absolutely a precious photo of Isaac and K.
I will add to Angela's compliments and say I want to be just like you! You remind me of my mom who always goes WAY out, and never gets the compliments she deserves either! Keep it up!
Thank you all for your kindness! This relationship (and motherhood in general!!) continues to teach me important lessons about sacrificial love and what "unconditional" looks like. It is not about the Thank you's or Praises...it is about being present with the kids and showing them what LOVE without expectations looks like. My selfish sin nature wants to take ALL the praise that God has earned and deserves!!
You deserve a millon and one praises Laurie! the food and everything looks so cool, i would love for my mom to do that, haha. And even though they are 14 and 10 that's really no exscuse cause kids that age in my school, even the not so polite ones, know to say thankyou at times like that. It's so awesome that yall are getting to have a closer relationship with them, and I'd really like to meet them soon! Maybe we can all go to the movies or something. :)
I really miss you guys a ton, it's not the same without yall.
That last picture gave me tear drops. So precious. so sweet.
I love how you are able to put some of the puzzle together with Isaacs background. What a wonderful way to bond with all the kids, being able to process the past and provide a present life that is much different.
That you god for this unexpected turn of events...for the addition of these boys and what they bring to the family.
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