Foster2Forever

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Being Thankful on Memorial Day

Being an “older” adoptive parent has really caught up with me. Due to lifting and carrying our 35-pound foster baby, Lil Bit, my back has given out. I can’t bend my back or right leg without incredibly sharp and shooting pain overtaking me.

Because even sitting can painful, the boys and I didn’t travel out-of-town with Foster Dad for our niece’s high school graduation.  My pain was so intense that our 3-year-old son, Stinkpot, had to dress me Saturday morning before a doctor visit.  I am still hurting, but the prescriptions are taking a little of the edge away.

Although I am in pain this Memorial Day weekend, I am thankful.
Thankful for my family that has grown through foster care adoption.
Thankful for the wonderful man I married.
Thankful for the 2 beautiful boys brought to us through the tragedy of foster care.
And today especially, thankful for our U.S. soldiers that have given their lives so that I can enjoy freedom in mine.

22-year-old U.S. Marine Lance Corporal Shawn Hefner of Hico, Texas gave his life in Operation Enduring Freedom on Friday, November 13, 2009 in Afghanistan. Please visit the website Shawn’s uncle created in his memory.  You can also send an email to Shawn’s family thanking them for his service.

This Memorial Day, please remember the U.S. soldiers who have died serving our country.

We are the Land of the Free because of the Brave!

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Entered in this week’s I Heart Faces Challenge

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Check out other great photos by clicking here

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Celebrating Cinco de Mayo: Ethnic Pride vs. Ethnic Patriotism

Today is Cinco de Mayo (Spanish for the 5th of May), a day to celebrate Mexican heritage. For this occasion, ultra-conservative FosterDad agreed to write a guest post.  As you’re reading this, remember that we live in Texas, and the controversy of illegal immigration is very heated here.  Given this, these opinions are FosterDad’s and may or may not reflect my views. {wink! wink!}

Cinco de Mayo

We are living in a day when I think people are getting a little confused in the difference between Ethnic Pride and what I call Ethnic Patriotism.  Don’t get me wrong, I am all for Ethnic Pride.  I am very proud of both my German and Irish roots.  On St. Patrick’s Day, I swell with a little Irish pride, and think of my Irish ancestors who moved to the United States during the Potato Famine in the 1850’s.  When I see German celebrations like the Wurstfest in New Braunfels, Texas, I think of my German ancestors that moved from Germany to Texas in the early 1900’s.

I believe Ethnic Pride is great!  I think we all need to know and appreciate who we are and where we came from.

But over the past several years, I have begun to see people not just celebrate their Ethnic heritage, but to demand that their ethnic heritage be a part of not only their lives, but a part of everyone’s life.  It seems that we are no longer just “Americans,” but we are fractured into different groups.  You are either an African American, White American, Hispanic American, Asian American, Jewish American and so on.

The little boy that we are in the process of adopting was born in Mexico.  I want him to be proud of his Mexican heritage.  I will gladly take him to be a part of celebrations that praise the contributions made by the Mexican culture. On “Cinco de Mayo”  I want him to remember Mexico’s  victory over the French in the French occupied territory of Mexico.  In September, he should be proud to remember the struggle Mexico went through to win their independence from Spain.  I will gladly teach him how Texas was once a part of Mexico, and that all Texans were at one time “Mexicans.”

But as important as that is, I will want him to know how lucky he is to be living in this great nation.  I want him to know that being a citizen of the United States is not just an honor,but a blessing.  Yes, I want him to swell with pride when he thinks about his Mexican heritage, but more importantly, I want to to swell with Patriotism when he thinks about the fact that he is an American!

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The Worst Home Visit Ever

Tuesday was just one of those days.  Our family was still very tired from traveling throughout the state of Texas for the Easter holiday weekend.  Last week, our foster home licensing caseworker had to reschedule her quarterly visit for this Tuesday.  When I agreed to Tuesday, I didn’t check my calendar, and the exterminator would be there too. I didn’t think too much of it since he would be doing his own thing…

However, that afternoon, I received a call from our foster baby’s caseworker, who also wanted a last visit with Lil Bit before his case was transferred to the State’s adoption unit. I told her that our caseworker was coming that afternoon. She said, “Great! I’ll see you this afternoon.”

So at 4:00 p.m., the exterminator knocks on the door. No problem….except…earlier in the day, I accidentally gave our hyperactive 3-year-old, Stinkpot, an antihistamine, which can make him a bit excitable and aggressive. OOPS!

Stinkpot was driving the “BugMan” cRaZy – following him around, asking a million questions, and talking, talking, talking. Poor man was just trying to kill a few bugs.

Then, ding! dong! 4:30 the doorbell rings and Lil Bit’s caseworker is there. As we walk in, my husband arrives in the house exhausted from TAKS testing, balancing Lil Bit in one arm and a large Diet Coke in the other. Just as our home caseworker drives up!

Wow! What was I thinking?

Stinkpot was OUT OF CONTROL! Acting out in the worst way! He hit the baby twice. At one point, he walked up to the baby and just kicked him!

I took him back in his room for a minute, while I distracted the caseworkers with the luscious chocolate-covered strawberries from Shari’s Berries that my wonderfully thoughtful husband had delivered to me as an Easter gift. {bribery?}

My husband then took Stinkpot outside to talk to the BugMan while I finished the visit with the caseworkers.

The visit itself went well.

  • Lil Bit’s case will be officially transferred to the State’s adoption unit today.
  • Since he is a citizen of Mexico, our 20-month-old, Lil Bit cannot be adopted until he is certified as a U.S. citizen.  {we are harboring an illegal immigrant}
  • He is now on the INS waiting list for a “certificate of naturalization“, in which scheduling the ceremony can take MONTHS!  So we are in another “holding pattern” before the adoption of our Lil Bit can be finalized.

What a visit!  BUT we had another visitor later that night!

photo courtesy Lisa Jane Stewart - not me!

The kids and I hunkered down in the bathroom clothes hamper until late in the evening. {FosterDad was glued to the television} I was keeping up with tornado alerts and friends through Twitter and Facebook. I admit it, I was scared!

We were all blessed by God’s protection that night! Have a blessed weekend with your family!

Hugs! ~penny

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Telling the Easter Story with Cookies

Last Easter, I found this fabulous recipe for Easter Resurrection Cookies.  By adding individual ingredients with the reading of an associated Bible verse, this simple cookie recipe tells the story of the crucifixion and resurrection that children can remember!

Our then 31-month-old, Stinkpot, had a great time beating the pecans demonstrating how Christ was beaten. (John 19:1-3)

The best part is that each child seals the tomb (oven) before bed and awakens to Easter Resurrection Cookies!

Easter Resurrection Cookies

Look! It's empty because Christ has risen!

Have a great weekend celebrating your salvation! We will be spending it with my Mom!

Happy Easter!

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Our Foster Baby is Officially an Orphan!!!

Hearts (Explored!)The birth father’s rights were terminated in court today! We will be able to adopt our 18-month-old foster baby, Lil Bit, as soon as his citizenship is certified.

My morning started with a call that my mom was in serious condition at the hospital with heart problems.  Here are my Facebook status updates:

  • On the way to termination hearing & just learned that my mom is in serious condition at the hospital 4 hrs away. #needprayer
  • Our foster baby is officially an orphan so we can finally adopt him!!!
    (After he becomes a US citizen, that is.)
  • Mom is still in the hospital with heart problems. Docs are giving shock treatments to get it beating right.
  • Mom is not getting better. Blood pressure dropped drastically today. Scheduled for heart procedure tomorrow. She doesn’t want me to go there

I am being the always defiant daughter and not minding her! I will be out-of-town for the next few days…

You can keep up on Facebook or Twitter…

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Grieving the Loss of a Family Member

This week has been rough!  We have been exhausted since our vacation and the time change.  And today, we found my dog of 13 years died after being hit by a car.  (She constantly dug out of the yard)

For 13 years, Sydney was my companion, friend, protector, and daughter.

I feel sad, guilty and totally unmotivated in my grief.

As a single girl in Houston, the love and loyalty of my dogs became the standard I held for a potential mate.

  • Happy to see me when I walked in the door no matter how long I’d been shopping
  • Look at me adoringly, waiting for my next command
  • Drink my bath water…

I was single for a very long time!!!  (I finally decided to set more reasonable standards for a husband)

This weekend is full of tasks that I hope to have the motivation to complete, including blog posts.

Right now, we are just trying to decide how to deal with her remains.

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Foster Baby Arrives! Then Adopted!

On March 4, 2008 at around 3pm, I received a call from the State for an 8-month-old baby boy that needed a foster home. “Foster only“, she repeated twice. “Sure!” was my quick response.

If you recall, that was presidential primary election day. My husband & I were planning to attend our precinct convention that evening & were excited about the possibility of attending the Texas Republican convention again, this time in a presidential election year.

However, this call from the State changed our focus from that night forward.

A State investigator from an adjacent county arrived at our home at 6:45 that Tuesday evening carrying in her arms the cutest baby boy. His bright eyes lit up as he smiled at us for the first time. His bottom 2 teeth gleaming. He was wearing an olive corduroy jacket over his navy onesie with the cutest navy & white striped pants. He was wearing navy tennis shoes! So adorable!


I can only rely on my memory as I didn’t have the foresight to grab my camera.
(A mistake I haven’t made again!)

As the State investigator began telling us the story on this baby, we were thinking “how can anybody neglect a baby that way?” He came with next to nothing & had been kept in his car seat & dirty diapers. What a horrible diaper rash he had! (This is one reason we are having such a difficult time potty-training him now!) He was 8 months old & couldn’t sit up or even roll over! He was also very sick. (Look at those poor little sick eyes!)

That first night was TORTURE! He was so congested that he could only sleep 15 minutes at a time – ALL NIGHT LONG! It was the most exhausting night of my life!

The next morning I drove 1-1/2 to pick up my mother-in-law to help me. I had no idea how to care for an infant! (When pregnant, you have nearly 8-9 months to prepare.) I was an instant Mommy!
For the next 2 weeks, we had DAILY trips to Walmart to pick up some type of baby paraphernalia that we needed. I was absolutely, totally FRAZZLED for at least 6 weeks solid – overwhelmed by the incredible responsibility of instant motherhood!
As time went on, it became more apparent that this baby wouldn’t be going back to his parents. He did have a full brother 2 years older that was living with his grandparents. The baby would have been sent to live with his grandparents, but they were already raising SIX of their other grandchildren!
Once the parental rights were terminated, the grandparents realized that we could provide more for the baby than they could & decided to allow us to adopt him.
What a handsome little man he has become!
foster infant child kid adopting adopted
As challenging as our JD has been, he has been an amazing blessing in our lives!
Have a great weekend!

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I Really Do Want to Look Like Angelina Jolie

Mr. & Mrs. Smith (Widescreen Edition)Last week, I told you about how I was struck down with the flu because I didn’t want to look like Angelina Jolie. I’m sorry, but I’m a big, fat liar!  I believe I must have some repressed, deep down desire to be like her. Face it, Angelina Jolie is:

  • beautiful,
  • married to my all-time crush, the gorgeous Brad Pitt, and
  • has an incredible heart for adoption.

That is, leaving out all the other weird stuff she’s done.

A number of things have happened since my bout with the flu. We’ve had snow in Texas! Which blew in the worst cedar, thus I’m now struck down with my winter cedar allergies. With the pollen count so high, nothing is helping. I’ve tried all the usual remedies to no avail.

I’m getting a pretty serious sinus infection. And that’s when  I saw it! The antibiotics from my last sinus infection.

However, that night after taking one dose at lunch, my lips felt chapped and my dry skin was itchy. I didn’t think much about it until I was bathing Saturday morning — I’m broke out in hives!!!

With either my early-onset Alzheimer’s or deep-seeded repressed obsession with Angelina Jolie to blame, I totally forgot – I’m allergic to the antibiotic, Bactrim!!! AHHH!!!

So here I am, with big, swollen lips, destined to look like Angelina Jolie!!!

On a worst note, our 17-month-old foster baby, Lil Bit, has had a fever for 4 days now. The doctor diagnosed him with a common cold; however, we are afraid that is moving into pneumonia….

But if you really do want to look like Angelina, check out this amazing video!

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Do I Really Want to Look Like Angelina Jolie?

I guess I’m an easy target.  I was hit on Tuesday. He came home with me and by Tuesday night, he hopped into bed with me and wouldn’t take “no” for an answer.  He had me in bed for days. I even shared him with my husband. And he’s not even my type.  He’s Type A Influenza.

No, I didn’t get the flu shot!

Last year, I did have the flu shot (as I have since 1993); however, a severe allergic reaction had me looking like a polka-dotted Angelina Jolie with a swollen lip and hives all over.

I could have gone through allergy testing this year to determine if I would be allergic to this year’s vaccine; however, a $40 co-pay and one entire morning of testing, deterred me. Plus it really scares me to think what allergic reaction could happen next time.

So I’ve inadvertently become a risk-taker and am not running very good odds.

My husband didn’t remember to get his vaccination, and we didn’t think about the kids even being old enough.  So here we are on a January Saturday afternoon when temperatures are in the mid-70s – all stuck indoors and miserable – all because I don’t want to look like Angelina Jolie…

But if you really do want to look like Angelina, check out this video. Her transformation is amazing!

I’m Clever

Sway