Can you believe my little Austin will be in Kindergarten?

This week Austin went to Kindergarten Camp for 3 days.

Here he is all ready to go in the first picture. Then, in the second picture, he is waiting in the car for the carpool line to start.We were a tad bit early. Austin is very experienced in carpool since they had mandatory carpool at his Pre-K school. Then, the last picture shows him going into that big, bad world (Ok, fine, it's not that bad) to face new friends and new adventures. He really likes to make friends. And, lo and behold, would you believe that one of his friends from his Pre-K class was walking into the school with his twin brother. As luck would have it (or more like God's divine intervention), his friend was in his Kindergarten camp class.

The theme was Let's Get Buggy! They made a bumblebee craft, a butterfly craft, played in centers, ate snack in the lunchroom each day, (no lunch because it was only 3 hours each day), and visited the library. They ended the 3 day Camp with a Buzzing Around the School Day! So cute! The first day I asked Austin what he did and he said "Nothing!" LOL-Boys!!!

Can you believe he will be in Kindergarten?

4th of July 2009

So the 4th of July was fun! Well, it was actually the 3rd of July. We were able to see the fireworks at the park across the street from our back deck. We had our friends over and enjoyed the evening with some bratwursts and dogs.
Here are the boys' heads with some red and blue paint which I must say all the kids enjoyed :-)

Sammy asked Jesus into his heart!

I am so excited that my son who is now 6
has asked Jesus into his heart!!

I just wanted to share! I am so happy for him.

He just started asking questions tonight and he has been hearing about this in Sunday School and VBS, but this year has been the year he has really been asking questions about Jesus and living for him. He started asking my husband a lot of questions and asked if my husband could help him to ask Jesus to come into his heart. My husband was very careful to WAIT for him to ASK.

I was silently crying while laying on the couch nearby the whole time trying to be as inconspicuous as possible as I could sense my son was being wooed by the Holy Spirit.

Please pray for me that I make the right choices and guide him in the way he should go.

WOW! What a night!!!

P.S. This picture is Sammy telling Grandpapa that he asked Jesus into his heart. Notice the two phones he is holding - one cordless and one regular. LOL!

Two Years Ago Today....

Two years ago today we adopted Sammy and Austin. I remember the excitement and joy of that day! We were so excited!!! "Papa" went with us to the courthouse to watch us sign the papers. He wanted to be there when he became a Grandpa for the first time!!!!

I remember when we went into the judge's office, the boys were walking (I meant running) around his office and looking at everything and the judge commented on our little bundles of energy. He said "You're sure you want to do this?" and we said "Yes!" and he signed the papers.

The rest is history!

My Little Knights in Shining Armor !!!

Renaissance Festival 2009

Well, we went to the Renaissance Festival and they had a blast! Everyone (except me) wanted to see the jousting so we took them to see that. They loved it! They had a really nice play place that the boys could play in and the boys enjoyed that immensely. Sammy really liked the rock climbing wall!!!

We went to the bird show and seemed to enjoy that too! Even Grandpapa enjoyed himself and I will show you why in his pic. Check out his cheek and forehead! LOL!I really don't know how to tell you how much they enjoyed themselves so I will show you in pictures.

Our Story - Part 2

Before you read this:Read Part 1 here:
www.mommy-juice.blogspot.com/2008/11/our-story.html


.... And so the journey began. The lady and the man raised those babies the best that they could. The boys had a tough road ahead of them. They bonded, after being separated for 5 months, like they were never separated. They slept in the same room and spoke their "own" language to each other. They would "talk" and laugh and giggle and I understood not a word of it. Sammy was immediately placed in speech therapy and Austin was in occupational therapy for fine and gross motor skill development. Eventually, Austin would receive speech services also. His philosophy was "If my brother will speak for me, there is no need for me to." Such is life with an older sibling. Life went on as usual for the family. The babies went to the Mother's Morning Out three mornings a week and the man went to work. In the afternoons, the babies napped, played, and waited for Jenny to get home from school so they could play with her until dinner.

Jenny was a foster child that the couple had before the boys came. She was a beautiful, rather striking child with red hair and green eyes. She was with them until we found her adoptive parents a couple of years after the boys came to us. The length of her stay was prolonged while an exhaustive search for living relatives who were willing to adopt was conducted. She was old enough to help choose who would adopt her and although she "really liked" (her words-LOL!) the lady and the man, she wanted to be adopted by someone with either no children or children who were her age. After many twists and turns and even a school change, she met her new "Mom" at the school she was attending. The story really is quite sweet, but it is not mine to tell. The lady still loves and misses her daily but she knows those were the parents God meant for Jenny to have.

There were no visits with the biological parents for thirteen more months-for a total of 18 months- since the second week they had been in foster care. The children started to have visits with their biological mother. For the next two years, there were visits every other week with their biological mother. Around 3 years old, Sammy started saying he had two moms. I will not lie. Sometimes, it is hard to share that title with her. But the lady knew that if she had decided not to give birth to them, or, heaven forbid, abort them, they would not be here and I would not be Mommy to two precious little boys today. The lady will forever be grateful to her for this.

After three years of foster care, the birth mother relinquished all rights to her children and the lady and the man were allowed to adopt. It was not an easy decision for the birth mom. There was a mediation and it was suggested that the lady offer the birth mom an open adoption in exchange for her relinquishing her rights to the boys. If the lady had not offered this, the birth mom had the right to keep continuing to appeal for at least a year. Her friends and even extended family were quite upset with the lady for making this deal, but she made the only choice she felt she could--Get her boys out of the foster care system and FAST! The lady and the man couldn't bear another year of visits! Sammy couldn't bear another year of bi-weekly visits! He was needing stability that visits every other week could not provide for him. Austin could not care less either way. He just went along with Sammy in just about everything and took his cues from him.

When the lady and the man adopted the boys, they were so happy! The boys were then three and four years old. They had the biggest adoption party and invited all of their family and friends! Boy, did they CELEBRATE!

I will say that the open adoption has gone quite well so far. There are some snags; but overall, the birth mom and I are working through issues as they arise in a calm, clear manner. She sees them three to four times a year and they know her as "tummy mommy" and know (although I am not sure they quite understand) that she gave birth to them, but we are their parents. We have the privilege of raising these boys and being their Mommy and Daddy!!!!

I am living proof that Psalm 113:9 is true: "He has settled the barren woman in her home as a happy mother of children."