It's Official...

We are now registered foster/adoptive parents in the state of Idaho.

     Until now, we haven't told very many people - just family. But since you may see us packing around another child sometime in the future, we figure it needs to be public.

     First, what does this mean? Well, it means that if there is a child between 0-2 years old that needs a foster home in our area, the Department of Health and Welfare will call us and ask if we are willing and able to take that child into our home for an undetermined amount of time. It could be anywhere from a few hours to a few years. During this time the child's case worker will try to contact family members for the child, to see if there is "next of kin" with which to place them, since with family is generally the best place for a child. (Generally. Not always.) If not, we get to care for the child while case workers work with his or her parents. If, after given an ample number of chances, the parents refuse or are unable to take the necessary steps in order to make their home safe for their child, the child will be eligible for adoption, and we will be asked if we would like to make the child a permanent member of our family.

     Why in the world are you doing this? Let me just say it's kind of an interesting story. Here is the watered down version: In October of last year Sam and I were listening to General Conference, and we were struck by this talk by Elder Dallin H. Oaks. We each, individually, felt like we needed to do something to help. After quite a bit of discussion, and even more prayer, we decided that what the Lord would have us do for now is become foster parents. So we went through a 27-hour-long training course, got fingerprinted, filled out tons of paperwork, and here we are - licensed foster parents.  

     Are you thinking of the repercussions for your own children? Of course our first concern, as parents, is about our own children. We were able to make a decision on the ages of children we will care for, and we decided on 0-2 years old (for now). We are also able to refuse any placements that we feel could potentially be harmful to our kids. 

     Do you understand all the implications that come with being a foster parent? In theory, yes. My parents were foster parents for a little while while I lived at home, and I observed much of what it takes. Like I mentioned before, we also attended a training course that informed us of many of the possible difficulties of being a foster parent. It is emotionally, mentally, and physically draining. I'm sure, even with all the things we have learned so far, that there will still be surprises. But we are ready.

     Are you doing it for the money? Absolutely not. We don't want anyone to be confused as to our motives for doing this. To be honest, when we signed up I didn't even know families were given a small compensation during the time a foster child is staying in their home. And by small compensation, I mean small. The money given is simply to help feed, clothe, and diaper the child. 

     Are you crazy? Maybe! We have wondered the same thing! But we just keep reminding ourselves that when the Lord tells you to do something, you do it. He knows what is best for us, as well as His other children, and we would be wise to listen to Him.

     It could be a long time before we get a call, but we look forward to being able to help any of God's children who are in need of a safe place, even if it is only for a little while.

     If you have any other questions, feel free to ask!

Love,     

Sam Had a Birthday!

     My handsome husband had a birthday yesterday. 27. He's an old man now.

     We celebrated with a none-too-healthy breakfast of donut holes and muffins. (it included strawberries and bananas, so that kinda makes it healthy, right?) I have to say, Ellie was not disappointed with the food. When she likes something she will put it in her mouth, close her eyes, tilt her head back, and say "mmmmmm...." It's pretty hilarious. Needless to say, she did that a few times yesterday.

     Then Sam opened presents, and we got ready for church at 1:30. Oh, and we all took a nap somewhere in there, too. That was nice.

     When we got home from church, it was dinner and cake time! Well, it's not really cake... But it's delicious. And easy. And beautiful. And it turned out much better than my last cake. Here is the recipe:

Cream Cheese Pie

1 8-oz. package cream cheese, softened

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1/3 cup lemon juice

1 tsp. vanilla

1 graham cracker pie crust

Combine cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk in a large bowl. Beat until smooth. Add lemon juice and vanilla. Pour into graham cracker pie crust. Top with cherry or blueberry pie filling.

     I'm telling you, it's delicious.

     I'm so glad he was born 27 years ago! Happy Birthday, Sam!

Awesome, Right?

Sometimes Ellie bites the end off of bright blue markers... Not cool.

My motto applies here: "at least she's cute!"

I Kinda Like My Family

     My family is pretty awesome. We haven't been up to much out of the ordinary lately, but sometimes ordinary is great. 

We went to the Nature Park to feed the ducks. Ellie was in heaven! The entire way to the park she clutched her two pieces of bread and said "Ducks huuuuuun-gryyyy!" She loves to throw the bread to the ducks, but she doesn't like them getting too close to her. I can't say I blame her for that one!

Just looking cute after getting his belly filled. (Don't mind the pink bumbo...) We officially have two food-loving kids in our family. Recently Nathan has eaten a whole jar of baby food mixed into rice cereal each morning and night. He's definitely chunking right up because of it.

Ellie and Nathan both LOVE their dad. When he comes home from work they both just light up. Ellie asks all day to either talk to dad on the phone, or when he's going to be home. He's clearly the interesting parent. :)

This little man has learned a new trick! Over the past few days he has mastered the army crawl, and he's FAST! We had to put the baby gate up, which his sister is not so happy about since she can't go up and down the stairs freely. But just today he started getting up on his hands and knees and rocking back and forth... I think full on crawling is in our near future! (I took a video, but it wouldn't let me upload it. Lame. Cause he's stinking cute.)

Ellie with a drumstick a few weeks ago. She was loving it. (In case you couldn't tell by how much she has on her face) She even ate the cone, which she doesn't normally do with ice cream. It probably had something to do with the fact that it's lined with chocolate... :)

We've been really struggling with Ellie lately with the whole "battle of wills" thing. She is a two-year-old after all... But I made this little picture chore chart for her because I noticed she does well with consistent schedules, and it has worked wonders! She knows what she has to do in the morning before she can play, and what she has to do before bed. She loves to point to each picture and tell me what they mean, hence the bent corners and finger prints. I'm not perfectly consistent with her, and I'm not saying she never throws a fit (because the would be FAR from the truth), but things are getting better.

     Not a terribly interesting post today, but I think it's good for me to keep these records, even just for myself! So there we go, another post into blog land!

Follow-up to Yesterday's Post

This happened a few weeks ago, but the picture makes me laugh every time I look at it. Love that little girl. (Even though I wasn't loving her so much at that moment in time...)

Ellie's First Haircut. And Some Other Ellie Stuff.

    This is kind of a long post... So I apologize! Ellie is just so awesome, though, that I want to remember it all!

     Ellie's hair had never been cut, and it was getting long and scraggly - it was time for a haircut! I am not confident in my hair-cutting abilities, so to the salon we went.

Waiting to get called. (Nathan was there too, but we didn't take any pictures of him so we could preserve his manliness. I'm sure he will appreciate that some day. *wink*)

Before she started cutting.

In the process of cutting. She was so funny! She was completely enamored with the whole thing. She had this face on the entire time, and all of the people in the salon fawned over how good she was. The best part for her was definitely the sucker at the end!

After.

She didn't get a ton cut off, but I think it makes a big difference.

Speaking of our Ellie, Sam took this picture of her before church on Sunday:

     It's a little blurry, but this picture completely sums up Ellie's true personality. I don't feel like very many people get to see her real personality because she screams (and I don't mean she cries, she screams - and it's not very nice!) when she is around other people. My theory is (ok, Sam noticed it, and I think it is true) that she feels threatened by other people, especially kids, and that is why she screams. When she is at home, though, boy is she sweet! She is usually so happy, and she loves to play! 

     Lately she wants me to hold her or to sit on my lap as much as she can. It's fun to have her want to snuggle, because she has never been like that in the past. She LOVES to dance. She constantly asks for music to be turned on so she can dance on the coffee table, in the car, or anywhere really. 

     Ever since her grandma gave her some little princess toys with dresses that can be changed out, she is obsessed with princesses. According to her, anyone that is dressed in a long dress is a princess, and she's definitely one too. That's actually what she is doing in that picture - twirling and saying "princess!" 

     Some of the funny things she says are "I got it!" She says that whenever she does something she is proud of - and that's pretty much everything - closing the toy box, washing her hands, going potty, putting her shoes on, etc, and it sounds like "Iga-yee!" She also says "hide!" and then runs to hide in Nathan's closet. She doesn't like to hide alone, though, so she brings me in there with her. Once we're in the closet, she'll put her finger up to her lips and say "Shhh! Daddy!" because she wants Sam to come find us. Kinda difficult when he's at work, though...

     This girl loves her daddy. All day long she puts her arms out and asks me "Daddy hone?" When she sees him pull up, she tries like crazy to get the front door open so she can go out and help him drive into the garage. I think that is probably the highlight of her day.

     She is very tender and loving, especially with her little brother. She is so willing to help with anything and everything.

     I love her funny high-pitched voice that is reserved for talking to Nathan or when she tells us "I yove you." 

     I can't get enough of her. And I can't believe how big she is getting! I love my crazy, cheerful, noisy, princess-y little girl!

A Pinterest Project Gone Horribly Wrong

For some reason I really wanted to make a beautiful cake on Sunday. So on Saturday I found the perfect recipe, made sure we had all the ingredients, and I was already excited. It was going to be awesome, and beautiful, and my husband was going to be impressed with my phenomenal baking skills. I mean, wouldn't you be impressed at a cake that looked like this?

via

After church I got busy with the cake. It sounded easy enough, but most importantly, delicious. And beautiful. 

Then I got to this step in the directions: "If using an 8x2-inch round cake pan, line the bottom with a circle of parchment paper." I didn't have parchment paper, so I thought "Meh, I'll just grease the heck out of the pan, and it will be fine."

Nope, definitely not fine.

I couldn't stop laughing when this came out of the pan.

I dressed it up with some frosting. Not sure if it looks any better?

Needless to say, it looked nothing like the picture. Oh well. At least is was delicious. Really, it was yummy. If you like dark chocolate, make it. Here is the recipe.

Moral of the story? If a recipe tells you to use parchment paper, use it.