So much has happened

I won't go into the details right now, but our foster sons are no longer with us. There were many things that contributed to our decision, and it was such a hard decision to make.

The day after the boys left, I slept nearly all day and part of the next day. As of right now, Mike has slept 13 hours straight! To say we were exhausted is obviously putting it mildly. We didn't realize how drained we had become.

Will we continue on our foster parenting journey? That remains to be seen. If we do, we will be much more selective as to what children we agree to accept.

When we moved into this little house, we wanted our foster children to have as much space as possible, and were hoping to get our allowed number of 3 kiddos, so Mike and I took the smallest bedroom and put children in the master bedroom.  After realizing that we wouldn't be getting a 3rd child any time soon, at least until we had adopted the boys, Mike and I could stand it no longer ( we were in a bedroom that is 7.5' x 11') and decided to move the boys into a secondary bedroom and we would move to the master bedroom. We had the move planned for this weekend (even before we made the decision about the boys), and despite our tiredness, we switched rooms on Friday night. The house is still in shambles and I hope to get everything straight and put back away today.

Felicity and Gregory are much happier, now that they have Momma and Daddy back to themselves.

Two weeks ago we added two new dogs to our menagerie. They are Mike's dogs. He needed a "man's dog" to hang out with, and since all 3 of our other dogs are little dogs, he never felt like they were "his". We adopted brother puppies. They are Blue Heeler mix, we think with Bloodhound. They are great and we all love them.

We also added 7 new Seramas to our flock. They came from New York state and arrived on Thursday. They are silkied Seramas and I had never seen them before, but I LOVE them!  We plan to grow a decent size flock of Seramas, not just for pets, but for breeding and showing. The photo below is one that the previous owner sent to me showing me the birds. We have named this gorgeous fellow "Denton".

The name I have given our Serama flock is "Yellow Rose Seramas". I have started the flock blog, too. Be sure to head over there and "like" them. The plan is that all of our Seramas will be named after Texas cities, counties or well known people from Texas.


I will share photos of the new dogs and Seramas as soon as I can find my camera cable to transfer the photos to my computer.

Have a wonderful Sunday!

The cost of needing a home

The director of the adoption agency we are using posted this info on his blog quite a while ago, but I just read it today. I've been wanting to share this info, so there's no time like the present, right?

Keep in mind that we live in Texas; however many states offer similar benefits to foster to adopt families.

Here's a link to locate your own state:
Click here for states OTHER THAN Texas

For more information on Texas, click here.

Here's a copy of the post Keith did:

"Cost Associated with Foster Care Adoption

Working in the field of adoption, I often receive phone calls from individuals looking to adopt. One of the first questions asked is, "how much will this cost?" While I think most will agree adoption "cost" quite a lot in terms of love, commitment, emotions, and sacrifice, the intent of the question always seems more practical and focused on the financial aspect of adopting. When I inform the individual that they will not pay my agency one dime, they are always taken aback; likewise, they tell me that most agencies tell them adoptions range in price from $15,000-$30,000.

This is a good place to stop and clarify a few things. Most individuals who are quoting such high prices have talked with domestic private birth-mom agencies or international adoption agencies. In contrast, my agency works side by side with the State of Texas in finding "forever families" for children currently in the foster care system and legally free for adoption.

If you adopt a child from the foster care system in the State of Texas your cost to finalize that adoption will be, on average, around $1,500-$2,000. Lawyer's fees encompass the biggest part of that cost; the other part will be for certain licensing requirements such as CPR/First Aid, FBI background check, TB test, and Health/Fire Inspections completed on your place of residence. Not overly expensive right?

But, let me share some more information with you. If you adopt a child who falls under what Texas call's "Special Needs Adoptions," then there is even more assistance offered to you for that adoption. Let me explain;

In the State of Texas there are four categories of Special Needs Adoptions:

• Children over the age of 2 and of a minority race
• Children over the age of 6 and Caucasian
• Sibling groups, no matter the age
• Children with diagnosable and extensive physical, medical, and/or emotional needs.

A child just has to meet one of the above criteria for a family to be eligible for the "Adoption Assistance" program in the State of Texas.

What does this program offer? First, the family will receive a tax free monthly subsidy for that child, until the child is 18, of an amount somewhere between $400.00-$545.00. Second, the State of Texas will continue to carry that child on the state's Medicaid health insurance. Third, the state will reimburse the family up to $1,500.00 for non-recurring adoption costs (ie., attorney's fees). Lastly, if funds are available, the state will cover the tuition for that child to go to college at any State University, College, or Technical School. Pretty amazing right?

So, now can you afford adoption? There are children out there who need YOU and other loving families to step up and be their FAMILY. Give it some thought, please."

Pretty amazing, right? We honestly never thought we could "afford" to add more children to our family until we found out these facts from some local home-schooling families that are doing the same thing. Now, we have Timothy and Bradley and plan to add 2-4 more children to our family through the foster-to-adopt program.

Won't you consider giving a child a home; a good, spiritual, loving home. The kind of home they deserve?  These children need us. They didn't ask to be in the situation they've landed in.

We use Arrow Family Services as our agency. They have offices all over the United States. Click here for their website.

just WOW!

Since I last posted, there have been so many changes in our family. Positive changes, but changes all the same.

We now have Bradley in our home permanently. We will be able to adopt he and Timothy as early as March 2012! Something happened with the home he was living at while he was here visiting us, so they decided to go ahead with his placement with us and he was placed immediately!

This made for more changes in our family, of course. We definitely knew that we didn't want him in public school, but until the adoption is final, we are not allowed to homeschool the foster/adopt children.

We applied for an exception for Timothy, so that he could attend the school at STS (where Gregory attends), due to his major Asperger's Syndrome. We got approval for that last Thursday. Just in the nick of time for school to start. This school's specialty is children with special needs (autism, Aspergers, CP etc)

We decided to enroll Bradley in St. Mary's Cathedral School (the parochial school at the Catholic church where we are attend.) With this, Felicity asked if she could attend St. Mary's, too. We couldn't tell her no.

St. Mary's had two half days of school last week, but just for "getting acquainted", etc. Both kids loved it!

Today was the first day of school for everyone. It went pretty smoothly this morning getting everyone ready, especially considering we have gone from two children to four children in less than 60 days, AND getting all of them up, fed and ready for school. I prepared 5 lunches, for Mike and each of the kids. We were only 3 minutes late getting out the door. Pretty good, I say.

Since Felicity is now attending school, I have no children at home during the day. This is a complete new experience for me. No work (outside the home or my own business), no kids, no homeschooling. Very strange for me - but I know I will adjust. I will love being able to keep the house tidy and clean, the laundry caught up and have some quiet time. Volunteer time at both schools will also occupy some of my time.

I've got many things I want to share on here, just haven't had time. I will be back soon with lots of posts. Just need to get the house squared away and take a deep breath. See you soon!

And then there were three

Boys, that is.

We picked up our 2nd prospective foster-to-adopt son on Wednesday night. This will be his second extended visit with us to evaluate how all of the children do together.

I won't say that it is easy with four children, two of which are special needs; but we feel that things are going quite well. Mike and I do have our *days* but that is to be expected.

Sure, there is bickering and arguing, but it is manageable.

I will call this little guy Bradley here on the blog until the adoption is complete and I can use his real name.

Bradley, from what we can tell and know so far, is neuro-typical (non-special needs), with the exception of an ADHD diagnosis from over a year ago. He has his new psychological eval scheduled for next week, so then we will have a true and up-to-date diagnosis.

Bradley adores Felicity and she him. Bradley is patient with Gregory, but does argue and boss Timothy some (as does Felicity). Due to Timothy's Aspergers, he is definitely more annoying to the NT children (Felicity and Bradley) than is Gregory. They have a much more difficult time understanding that Timothy is not *normal* because he talks, looks like and generally behaves like a typical 7yo boy. BUT then there are the aspy traits that come out and they just don't *get it*.

Gregory gets along with everyone, so he just goes with the flow.

Mr. Quite Contrary

Mr Quite Contrary - How does your garden grow?

With crying and whining and broken rules; and consequences all in a row.

Timothy is still with us. He will be with us forever, unless there is something that changes drastically. We hope that this never happens.

I won't say that this has been a cake walk with him. It definitely has not. But we have a definite diagnosis now and are moving forward more easily with what is needed for him.

Aspergers and ADHD. Exactly as Mike and I initially concluded before ever meeting Timothy.

Now we know exactly what we are working with and where to go from here. We have asked for an exception to allow Timothy to attend Hands on Achievement where Gregory goes. CPS has told us they see no problem in getting it approved. It's what is best for him.

It's a beautiful morning

We have had many rough mornings around here for the past week. Timothy obviously isn't a morning person and throwing in an additional person to our morning mix has been a bit difficult.

Today. Today has been amazing, though! Everyone woke in a good mood. Breakfast was eaten with no issues. Mike and Gregory got out the door five minutes early! That's what I call a beautiful morning! I won't say that things have gone completely swimmingly since Timothy arrived. Of course, we are all going through an adjustment stage. There were a few really rough days the end of last week and the weekend. Yesterday, though, seemed to be a bit of a turning point. At least I hope so.

Felicity and Gregory love having Timothy here. Felicity tends to want to play the third parent in correcting Timothy, so we have to watch that and remind her that he only needs two parents. Otherwise, as usual with other kids, Felicity is wonderful with Timothy. Gregory likes having a friend around his own age, though Timothy is intellectually much closer to the correct age of 7 than is Gregory. They still do well together.  Timothy gets frustrated with Gregory because Gregory cannot pronounce Timothy's *real* name correctly yet. We continually explain to Timothy that Gregory's mouth just doesn't work exactly right and he does the best he can. Some days with that are better than others.

So we continue on. We are looking forward to our meeting with the new prospective foster-to-adopt son next week and the July 4th weekend.

All is well and a cow

While it does take adjustment having another child in the house, we are all adjusting well.  Each of us has our *moments*, but things are much better with Timothy than we anticipated, and that's a great thing!

It's so hot and dry here in Amarillo. The flower above is Lantana. It's a native Texas plant and loves the hot, dry climate. This is by far the worst summer since we  moved here five years ago.  During the heat of the day, we are stuck indoors watching TV or playing games. I just read this morning, the La Nina has moved (or dissolved?) and that leaves us open with the possibility of record rains in July and August. I'm sure there's not a person up here that would complain about record rainfall.

The chickens and goats are all doing well. The goats are absolutely wonderful to have as pets! Although it's almost like having two more children, but that live outdoors. Buddy even comes up to the back door and *knocks* with his hooves. It's really funny.  Eleanor hatched two more Serama babies last week and I'm so excited. I am working on growing a pretty large Serama flock because we love them oh so much!

We've discovered that Timothy fits right in with our family and his love of milk. We have been discussing buying a milk goat or a milk cow in the past. Now we are REALLY considering it.  While a goat is smaller than a cow and easier to handle, I can't make all of the products from goat milk that I can from cow milk. That's our big issue with making a decision. So soon, we may own one of these beauties! We are looking only at Jersey cows for milk and I've found some for sale locally.
I'm pretty excited. It's been a joke in our home for years that "we need to buy a cow" because, to begin with, Katie and I drank LOTS of milk. Then, after Mike and I married and had Felicity, she followed in our tracks and LOVES milk. So we often times have commented that we needed to buy a cow. Now toss Timothy in the mix. It looks as if we just might own a milk cow soon.

We are going in a week and a half to meet and visit with another prospective foster-to-adopt son. So exciting! I will post how it goes afterward. If it goes well, he will come and spend the 4th of July weekend with our family as a trial. I never imagined myself surrounded by male children before. It must be what God had intended for us, though.

Have a great day!

The first few days

It's been a crazy busy couple of days since Timothy arrived. It was late on Thursday evening when the case workers arrived with him. By the time we got all the paperwork done, got him bathed and in bed, it was nearly 11:00pm. Friday was a nice day. His initial doctor's visit went just fine, although he has a sinus infection. Thankfully nothing serious.

Saturday we spent the day car shopping and buying. We now are the owners of my first "Mommy-mobile". We bought a 2009 Dodge Caravan and are loving all the space! After that was all said and done, we took the kids to the park, then home for dinner that had been cooking in the crock pot all day. After baths, stories and prayers, another late night, bed at 10:00pm. We had one issue/melt-down Saturday, but it wasn't anything that we weren't prepared for and were able to handle.

Church this morning was perfect! Timothy was a perfect little guy. He did keep asking when we would be done, but he accepted "in a few minutes" and was fine. BUT after church was another story. I've learned very quickly that when Timothy is tired, he is determined to make life a living he**. He gets very irritable, fussy and nearly inconsolable. Mike and Felicity are working today at the new performing arts theater, so I am alone with Gregory and Timothy. Before Mike and Felicity were to leave, we realized quickly that I would have a miserable day at home all day with both boys. Timothy was getting very grumpy and argumentative. We decided I would go into town, too, and do something with the boys. I took them to McDonalds and that helped Timothy's demeanor a bit. I decided we would take a "Sunday drive" and I pretty much thought he would go to sleep. It worked! After an hour in the car, driving to Vega, TX and back to our house, he had taken a nap nearly an hour long and has been fine since.

We are thrilled so far, at how things are going with Timothy. Mike and I both expected far worse than we have seen with him. After reading his files and reports, we expected a child similar to Gregory, with little speech and very picky eater. He speaks very well, eats anything I put in front of him and reads far better than we anticipated. It was almost not worth reading all the reports from all the different people in his past, as it seems they are more personal opinions than facts, which stinks.

Everyone have a wonderful rest of the day!

The big day has finally arrived!

We are all so excited! Today is the day that our first foster son arrives! If all goes well (as hoped for, of course), we will adopt him in six months.

Due to privacy laws, we cannot post photos or mention his real name on the internet until the adoption is complete. Please understand this is for his protection.

For the past several days, I have felt like a mother waiting on the arrival of a baby once again. This time, no pregnancy, no hospital stay, no midnight feedings.

Everything's done

After today, everything will finally be complete for our foster-to-adopt licensing. Whew! It's been so crazy trying to get it all done, while at the same time getting unpacked and things put away from our move.

We are so excited! Our first prospective new son arrives in one week!

Baby Girl and Buddy are doing wonderfully! Mike and I are researching breeds and are considering going into breeding. Dairy goats are our main focus. Kinders (Nubian and Pygmy cross) are a new and upcoming dual purpose breed, but we keep leaning more toward the Nigerian Dwarf. Baby Girl and Buddy are Boer goats, and although they seem to be a good breed to invest in, we really want to stay with dairy breeds. We'll see.