J is 7!

   Oh my goodness, how did this happen?! My baby is 7! Seriously, when they hit 5, they are still little, even when they are 6 you can convince yourself that 6 is so close to 5, BUT, when 7 happens, there is no denying, he is growing up, and WAY too quickly!
   J is still my little guy, stuck to me, and I love it. But he is still showing his independence, doing so much on his own, for himself, and to help me out (without my asking I might add.)
   He has my and his Pop-Pop's dry humor, and no filter. Growing up people didn't know how to take it, so I hope he has a better time of it than I did. But, so far he seems to have no trouble, in classwork or socially. He had 9 A's and 1 B on his report card, so all-in-all, he is ahead of the game already!
   He LOVES art. We figure he won't be into all the sports, and that is perfectly fine, but he definitely picked up the artistic gene from both sides of our families! Hopefully soon we will find an age appropriate art studio for him that doesn't only deal with clay medium!
   J no longer claims to have a favorite color, though he does like the Redskins (insert eye roll from mommy, and a high five from daddy) though now he says he is changing over to the 49ers. Maybe it's just the burgundy.
   Legos are still a favorite among any toy if given the choice, and Spongebob still takes top dollar on the TV, except if something zombie/vampire/werewolf/bigfoot is on (thanks to Uncle Tommy for introducing the scary stuff.) FaceOff is the favorite, which I think is perfect because it shows him how the characters he likes are made, that it is all make believe. And who knows, maybe he will take that love for Art and the horror characters and create his own monsters!
   J is very conscious of other family members. Even though T and Little Miss annoy him frequently, and there is an age gap between him and the 3 older kids, he still comes home with school stuff saying how he is thankful for his brothers and sisters. In fact, he told me I can't say "no" anymore, that he wants so many siblings that the wall is full of everyone's pictures. Even today, with daddy having to work, he was disappointed because he said it would have been nice to have his whole family here.
   We don't do parties, too many kids, we would wear friends and family out! So, the kids get to choose an "excursion" and J asked for the Chocolate Factory, so we decided Hershey and Chocolate World would be perfect with their holiday festivities! We are really looking forward to this!
   I have not been able to get out and do his 7 year old pics yet, but I have it all planned and I can't wait ot share once done!
   As with any year, I know each day I am blessed to be J's mom, and I say it each and every time, but I do look forward to what is to come, while still mourning the time that has passed.
   LOVE THIS GUY!

In Our Home - print

I had seen this in plaques quite frequently, but everything I have seen out is pretty country themed, so I just decided to do myself. I will have it printed as an 8x10 and then frame it myself. I'm thinking with a white matte and a black frame.

Snowman Tree

My large tree is only for family ornaments, and since each year the kids get a new personal ornament, plus a picture ornament and maybe some small ones, it is quite full. I still miss the theme trees my mom and I did together when I was older, so I have smaller trees that I do that way. This year our smallest tree is a snowman. T has watched Frosty a few too many times, because he keeps telling me it is going to start walking and give him a hug. Love that innocence!

Foster teens

   We went into foster care with the intent of taking 4-8 year olds. We already had one teenager and John at the time was working with teens in a case manager capacity, so he would have his fill that way (and he was GREAT at what he did, as I have since had many teens tell me when they have seen us out, let alone what I know he did.) We figured since we could have biological children it didn't seem fair to "request" babies and toddlers. We have had 9 kids in our home, some for only a few days or weeks, some for years, but only one has hit our age group, at 4 years old. I have had 3 teens, the rest 3 months and up. When I speak at classes for prospective foster parents, I tell them God had other plans for us, and he does know better than we do.
   What I have seen has warmed my heart! I have seen teens not just survive their circumstances, but persevere! I have seen social workers go out of their way to be there 24/7 for the kids. I try my best to do it all, but I can't, and it is wonderful to know I have other adults who have my back, and ultimately the "kids" as well. I have seen my kids break the odds. Only 50% of foster teens graduate high school! I cried when I sat between 2 workers in June for graduation of 2 of our kids!
   Kids, no matter the age, do not enter care by ANY fault of their own, EVER! Teens are going to be teens, yes, they will try you. But who of us did not do the same to our parents? They are teens afterall. I only wish I could capture an evening at my house to show you how great they are! I don't wish for anyone to feel sorry for them, I wish that so people would want to step up and help them out! Be a mentor, donate, anything!
   There is a huge out-pouring for Hurricane Sandy victims, which don't get me wrong, I think it is wonderful, but every day there is a need going on that isn't televised, that you just won't see, a need for human contact, a need to help get set up in their own home, support in school, finding a job, etc.
   I recently read that 60% of the population has thought about adoption. Those numbers would account for every waiting child in our country. I have also read that 6 in 10 people are touched by adoption. So odds are, you may already be thinking about it, odds are you may already know someone who would know where to point you to help.
   November is National Adoption Month. I know Foster Care has it's own month in May, but I think with the ultimate goal of finding children a forever family, foster kids deserve notice this month as well!
  

The boys for Halloween

J decided he wanted to be Ghost Rider for Halloween, which of course we couldn't just go out and buy the costume! Thankfully he already had the motorcycle jacket. We improvised on the flaming skull after I saw a post on Pinterest, unfortunately it didn't turn out as awesome, but quite a few people were impressed and gave him extra candy for creativity.

I had hoped to get T to be a vampire. Last year he was a skeleton, the year before that a little devil. Yes, I like to stick to themes when I can choose, J's first 3 Halloweens he was animals. But this was the year of him starting to choose his own, and he picked a sock monkey, which really went over we'll with people out and about, they loved it!

I cannot post pics of little miss, but she chose an orange and yellow butterfly and was just too darn adorable! And she knew it, which she should!

I can't wait to scrap their individual pages for their albums, and of course do my own page of them all!