Month: August 2019

Give Me a Break!!!

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B35AFC14-1751-49C1-A902-88C16249AB8DThe kids spent the night at my Mom’s house last night! Hooray! So Mauricio and I got a very much needed date night in last night. Sadly, I can’t remember the last time we had a date night. We love our kids and we ENJOY our kids and everything we do is for our kids, so don’t feel too bad for us! 6 kids is A LOT though and sometimes (a lot of the time) I wish I had more help. I wish I had the regular date nights that our friends have. But I get it. And when you have 6 kids, it’s not an easy undertaking to secure a babysitter. The logistics of 6 kids is overwhelming. And on top of the sheer number is the fact that our kids have trauma backgrounds and triggers and behaviors and while they thrive in our highly structured environment, they are master manipulators and highly skilled at taking advantage of teachers, daycare, etc… So we have to get creative about investing in time together. Sometimes it’s an early morning puzzle over coffee, or breakfast on the deck, or an hour in the hot tub after the kids are sound asleep (or at least pretending to be). Sometimes it’s playing hooky during a week day and doing brunch and a movie or adventure elsewhere. I’m so grateful, though, for this mini break. To catch up on sleep, to unwind in peace and quiet, and to get things done without “helpers”. The house is clean, the laundry is done, back to school supplies have been organized, laminating projects for the kids’ routines are completed, and now it’s oh so quiet. (I LOVE IT!!! *Insert a thousand confetti emojis*) WHAT A TREAT!!!

My mom sent this photo of the kids getting their back to school shoes. So grateful for this blessing! (And lucky for them because this Mama is more of a Walmart shopper.)

Adoption Home Study … Approved!

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Today we had the adoption home study. A home study is a written record of one’s life and ultimately qualifies them to either adopt or foster a child. In 2017 we completed a home study in order to become licensed foster parents and today’s home study was conducted for the purpose of adopting our five incredible kids. Home studies are invasive –  lots of questions, some require no thought and some require quite a bit of energy to answer (“How was your childhood?” “How is your support system?” “Have you ever been a victim of domestic violence?” “Have you ever been sexually or physically abused?” “How were you disciplined as a child?” “What is your culture?” “What is your emergency evacuation plan?” “Where does everybody sleep?” “If something happens to you or your spouse, who will help with the kids?” “What is your plan for X situation?” “Tell me how you run your home.” “How did you meet your spouse?” “How do you support each other in the home?” “Do you want to have any biological children?” Etc…). The first time around, in 2017, the personal interviews took hours. Like 2.5 hours of conversation. I remember feeling so cranky and tired afterward. I think I actually asked our licensor for a break.

This time around the entire home study took about 4 hours. Mauricio, I and all of our kids were interviewed individually by the licensor. The licensor inspected the house, walked around outside, made sure all of our meds (Ibuprofen, kids’ prescriptions, cough drops, vapor rub, tums…. everything of that sort) were locked up. She made sure we had a fire extinguisher and fire escape ladders for the top two stories (side note – my next house needs to be a rambler. I hate heights. And stairs. And mostly heights. God forbid I have to choose between climbing down a cheapie aluminum ladder from the third story of my house or dying of smoke inhalation. I can’t even get the holiday decorations down from the garage attic. Funny story – In my early twenties my first apartment was one of those super trendy tiny, less than 300 square foot lofts, where the kitchen and bathroom share a sink and maybe 4 people can fit in the apartment … if they all stand.  I spent many a night sleeping on a bean bag chair at the base of the loft ladder, scared I’d accidentally roll off the bed to my death. I only lasted 2.5 months at the “high efficiency studio.”). Anyways, today’s home study went really well. There were no issues and at the end we were both hugged, given the approval, and told by the licensor that she wishes the State “could clone you and your home.”

Our kids did great and they were really excited to know we are one step closer to adoption. After the licensor left the kids asked if they could get or make a cake to celebrate. Seeing as I’m not one to ever turn down cake and it was too late to bake anything, we obliged and took the kids to the store to pick out a cake. They asked for candles and we sang “Happy Adoption Home Study Approval” to them in the tune of “Happy Birthday.” It was hilarious. So much joy. We are blessed.

Now we wait for our social worker to let us know the next steps, and we will be contacting a lawyer to help us navigate the legalities of adopting five kids this year… stay tuned!

Homemade Playdough Recipe

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Friends, never buy playdough again. This is a recipe I love because it’s just a handful of ingredients, all stuff you probably have lying around the house. It lasts much longer than the store bought stuff, doesn’t contain any weird chemicals, and it costs just a couple of bucks to make a huge batch of it. And it takes less than 5 minutes, start to finish, to make!

Sometimes I sneak in an essential oil or two – either something calming if it’s been a stressful day for a kiddo or something with cleansing properties that supports healthy immune function if we are in flu and cold season.

Homemade Playdough Ingredients List:

  • 1 cup flour
  • 2 tsp cream of tartar
  • 1/3 cup salt
  • 1 tbsp vegetable or canola oil
  • 1 cup water
  • food coloring

Let’s Make It!

1.) Combine the flour, cream of tartar, and salt into a sauce pan (if you’re multiplying this recipe to make a big batch, okay to put all the ingredients in a stock pot).

2.) Once the dry ingredients have been mixed, add water and vegetable oil and set the stove to medium low while stirring.

3.) Cook and stir until the dough starts to become solid. Your dough may be a little lumpy.  – that’s okay. You can work those lumps out later.

4.) Once the dough is completely solid and sticking together, turn off the stove and remove the sauce pan from heat.

5.) Empty the playdough onto parchment paper to cool.

6.) Once cool enough to touch, knead and squish out any lumps. If the dough still feels sticky, add and knead in more salt until you’re satisfied with the consistency.

7.) Separate the dough into sections and add food coloring. Knead and squish in the coloring.

8.) Enjoy your playdough!

Store them in ziplock bags, Tupperware containers, or mason jars. They also make great gifts.

First Drive

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This week our amazing soon-to-be-16-year-old foster daughter got behind the wheel of a car for the first time. It took 9 months to encourage her into it. We don’t want to force her into driving, we just want her to know how to drive and to be comfortable behind the wheel. Over the last 13 months that she’s lived with us, we have had a lot of dialogue about being independent and learning new skills so that she’s never stuck.

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Insert my rose colored glasses, once again. I thought this would be easy because it was for me. I feel like when I was 16, I just got in the car and went without problem (well, my driving instructor did have to use his passenger side break pedal once when I was driving a little aggressive in class. But it was unnecessary. Scouts honor.) Growing up I had dirt bikes, mopeds, golf carts, go-carts, boats, scooters, and bikes to scoot around in. I had wanted to have a driver’s license since I was 5 years old. So by the time driving school came around for me, I was ready and confident. And I had great role models – some of them very strong, powerful, independent women. That helped.

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Like every mindful parent, I took my girl to an empty parking lot to practice driving the SUV. I’m not going to lie, it was bad. It was scary. I’d rather experience food poisoning on a rusty fair ride run by a questionable roadie than do that again.  Jesus, take the wheel! Between the sudden stops and accelerations, wheel jerks and near misses, it had me a complete ball of nerves. And then before I knew the offer had come from my mouth, she was driving us both on a city road on the way to drive school. She did better on the road and I was glad to see her confidence rising {as horns were honking, heads were shaking and fingers were flying past us, while she drove 15 mph on a 35mph road}.

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And then 2 things hit me. KARMA. And a panic attack. I am an a$$hole on the road and this is another dose of empathy. It took all the essential oils, deep breathing, calm music, and 2 hours to recover from that one! But here’s the deal – she’s worth it. She’s never had good role models or people to encourage her to learn new things or chase her dreams. So every panic attack, every white-knuckle-door-handle-grip, every time I grab the steering wheel and say “Great Job!” (in my best Kindergarten voice and even though I want to cry like I’m a passenger on a plane trying to land in a tornado), it is worth it. Because someday she’s going to look back at the risks she’s been able to take and know that we are here for her.