Foster2Forever

Archives for February 2010

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SNOW – An Act of God!

What an AMAZING day of snow in Texas!
Over THREE inches! WOW!

As Texans, we become frozen with enchantment of a winter wonderland.

Schools close.
Businesses close.
Snowmen line our streets.
Snowball fights ensue.

The anomaly of snow here in Texas brings out the kid in all of us!

In Texas, any amount of snow necessitates a winter weather advisory.
But 3 inches of snow in Texas is an Act of God!

An Act of God is a legal term used in contracts & other legal documents to describe events outside of human control, such as storms & natural disasters.

Not that the 3 inches of snow here could ever be described as a disaster,
but it is an Act of God!
A blessing!

And the timing of God’s blessings can show us all that He is in control of EVERYTHING!

Psalm 107:25 – “For He commands & raises the stormy wind,
which lifts up the waves of the sea.”

We were richly blessed by the snow this week, not only for the joy it brought into our lives, but in that our custody hearing for our foster baby was postponed another week!

Another week to enjoy & love this angelic baby as part of our family!
Another week to PRAY!

Isn’t it amazing that God is in complete control of every aspect of our lives?

“And we know that all things God work together for good
to those who love God” – Romans 8:28

Have a great week enjoying the blessings in your life!

Hugs to you!
~penelope

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SNOW DAY IN TEXAS!!!!

Snow like this hasn’t happened in over 20 years here in this part of Texas!
We all had so much fun in the snow….

Playing fetch!

And it’s all fun…

Until someone gets hurt!!!

My 2-year-old’s revenge!!!

My little snowflake!

Have a great week & bundle up!
Hugs!
~penny

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My First Time!

I made CHICKEN FRIED STEAK!!!
All by myself!
From SCRATCH!!!
I have always believed that this was a dish that could only be made at a restaurant.
I didn’t think normal people could make this –
I was so intimidated & never even thought about EVER making it myself.But with a little help from The Pioneer Woman
& her new book “Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl“.

I DID IT!!! And not only was it actually edible – it actually tasted quite delicious!
(The only thing about recipes is that they always tell you to fry meat for only a few minutes –
mine is NEVER cooked inside after just a few minutes so adjust the recipe accordingly)

If you go to The Pioneer Woman’s website, be sure & read her love story & how she fell in love w/ Marlboro Man – it’s very entertaining!

I can somewhat relate since I moved from a city of 4 million to a town of 1400
after I met (reconnected) with my special man…

Oh, and guess what else – I took this picture of our meal!! Yeah, me!
With my new SLR camera – still learning how to use all these buttons –
But WOW! I amaze myself with these pictures!
Let me know of any books, websites, etc. that will help me as I learn to use this blasted thing!Have a great week doing something that you love
& don’t be afraid to try something new!

Hugs to you all!

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UPDATE on Lil Bit…Part 2 (Our Day in Court)

Foster parents usually don’t have “standing” in a custody hearing on foster children unless the child has been in the foster home for at least a year.
[“Standing mean that you have a legal case in court.
If you don’t have standing, your case is dismissed.]
Here we are about to “intervene” in the custodial placement of Lil Bit, our 6-month-old foster baby, into the home of a distant relative. A foster family “intervening” in a family placement is pretty much unheard of in our area.

However, this is an unusual case in that another family also tried to intervene in Lil Bit’s placement with the distant relative. All of Lil Bit’s 5 siblings have previously been adopted by a friend of his birth mother. This family friend also intervened and requested standing in court.

Lil Bit’s birth mother was supporting him going to live with this family and his 5 siblings (along with the many other children in the home)
instead of with her family member.

However, Children Protective Services (CPS), the baby’s ad litem attorney, the Court-Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for the baby, ALL objected to their intervention. Their case for standing was quickly dismissed with these objections and because they had not met Lil Bit.

At this point, there was no objection to our standing in this case.
(WE’RE IN!!!)

Now that the birth mother’s friend wouldn’t get Lil Bit, the mother asked her attorney to meet me. Our attorneys awkwardly agreed. When we were introduced, I gave her pictures I had taken of Lil Bit in the 2 months he had lived with us. Looking through the photos, she wiped away tears from her face. She decided to now support us instead of her family member in this custody hearing. (Strange, isn’t it? Sadly, I believe it demonstrates a deep dysfunction in the family)

Also, in our favor, there was doubt of whether Lil Bit would be able to receive government benefits in the near future since he was born in Mexico. Since we are financially able to provide for him with our income, the CASA and ad litem attorney now supported Lil Bit staying with us.

So now we are in court asking that our foster baby stay in our home and not go live with a distant relative. The baby’s mother, ad litem attorney and CASA all support Lil Bit staying with us.
Then, there is CPS policy…

The CPS policy is, if possible, children are placed with family members –
However, since CPS is the only party not supporting the baby staying with us, they had to call state headquarters to see if they could officially support the baby staying with us. If so, then there would be a consensus of all the parties that Lil Bit stay with us and we could all go home without a hearing.

So there we are in court –
waiting –
tic tock, tic tock –
$4 a minute in attorney fees…

45 minutes later we finally get the official answer from Austin.
CPS policy is always family first.

The judge then granted a continuance and our custody hearing is now set for another day.

Please pray for us – we need strength, courage and faith that “all things work together for good.”

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UPDATE on Lil Bit…Part 1

My last writing on our now 6-month old foster baby, he was in the hospital with RSV & we were to give him to a relative on the 9th. It has been a whirlwind since!!!

Lil Bit was admitted to the hospital on February 2nd – Groundhog Day, no less – for RSV. My wonderful husband and I took turns staying/spending the night at the hospital. (An adult has to stay with an infant at all times)

Already emotionally & physically exhausted, I received all the legal paperwork discussing Lil Bit, his birth family, & the home study of a family member. Instead of being placed with his 5 siblings & other children, the home study recommended that Lil Bit be placed with his great-aunt. (don’t freak out – she’s younger than us at 33 years young!) As I read the home study & how they already had a room ready for Lil Bit, I began to cry. This baby has a family that loves him & wants him! He has 12-year-old & 7-year-old cousins that are excited about having a baby in their home. Who are we to get in the way of that?

I spent Thursday night in the hospital alone with Lil Bit saying my goodbyes to the little man & sleeping very little. (Can you hear the violins softly playing in the background?)

On Friday morning, my knight in shining armor that I married 5 years ago, comes into the gloomy hospital room & tells me that he wants to meet with our attorney. “I just want to hear what the attorney has to say” were the words he repeated to me.

Later that morning, I received a conference call from the law firm – my husband & TWO attorneys. Some of the things discussed:

  • Great-aunt cannot financially take care of Lil Bit without government assistance;
  • An arrest of great-uncle for violence years ago;
  • Lil Bit has lived with only the mother & us;
  • We have had Lil Bit for 1/3 of his life;
  • We have the financial capability to take care of Lil Bit long term;
  • Final adoption of Lil Bit is uncertain – other family members may be located;
  • This may cost up to $15K in legal fees!

So much to digest in one call & a really tough, expensive decision to make!
I was both excited & shocked when my frugal knight in shining armour told me –
“LET’S GO FOR IT!!!”
….to be continued….
Hugs until then!
~penny

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All By Myself!


Stinkpot is such a strong-willed 2-year-old!
He is DETERMINED to dress himself with NO help from anyone!

Even if he winds up wearing a SKIRT with a BUSTLE!!!

Have a great week with your family! 

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YES, IT DOES GET WORSE!

What a week!

I am still very nervous about what going to happen to Lil Bit, our 5-month-old foster baby. His case worker called me last Friday to tell me that they were going to send Lil Bit to the family member that has his other 5 siblings.

Since then, I have spoken with our attorney, and it all comes down to whether we, as foster parents, have standing for a court case. Foster parents can ask a judge to be considered as an option for placement if the child has lived with them for a year. Even though Lil Bit has lived with us less than 2 months – he has lived with us for 20% of his short life. But that doesn’t hold up in court.

We will have to prove that placing Lil Bit with the family member will possibly “endanger or otherwise cause harm” to him. Did I mention that, as I understand it, this family member has 6 children of their own? I know that the State is not recommending this placement; however, the family member does have an attorney & is requesting a sibling placement. I am meeting with our attorney tomorrow.

The worst part of all this is that I took Lil Bit to the doctor on Tuesday because he was getting a cough – and, turns out he has RSV! He was admitted to the hospital & is in isolation! I’m thankful I went ahead and took him before he had gotten worse! He has been doing well in that he is still getting plenty of oxygen; however, he has been fighting a fever & severe congestion.

Please keep Lil Bit and our family in your prayers!

I’m Clever

Sway