Yesterday was bittersweet. It was my last day of work and while I am excited to be closer to home, I am going to miss some of those kids so much. The parents were really supportive of what we are doing so that made it easier as well. However: the idea of NOT having to get up at 5:30 every morning, driving 1 1/2 hours each day (plus the cost of gas!!!), and being so far from the kids in case something happens is such a relief. I really feel like this is perfect timing and that it is the next right step in our journey.
After work, we had three awesome conferences. We did not go to Emily's "open conferences" as she is getting good grades and we had no issues. The other kids are doing awesome in school. We have truly been blessed with very smart, friendly, respectful, and wonderful kids. During Sophia's conference, her teacher (who is awesome and has had all 4 of my kids) was saying that she is going to go talk to the principal's about me subbing. I got an e-mail from her shortly after this saying that they said they are just waiting for my resume. Ironically, I have been waiting to hear back from them to know how to word my resume. Saying that my objective is to "obtain ANY SUBBING JOB POSSIBLE (including but not limited to teacher associate, office assistant, cook, server, janitor, cross walk, or even the person that scans the lunch cards)" seemed a little desperate so I was hoping to be specific. Now that I know they are waiting for it AND that I have a good "in", I am dropping off my resume Monday.
Our home study last night was AWESOME! Not only does our worker go to our church, she is part of a family that has been there for forever and it was so great to sit and talk with her. The best thing? She is so excited about us wanting to possibly adopt this specific child and made about 4 notes for the workers who do the matching (who she shares an office with) that we want this little guy!!! We had to turn in the kid's paperwork which consisted of either drawing a picture or writing a story of what they thought our family would be like when we were doing foster care. I hope these are big enough to see because they really are awesome. Matthew was stressing out about doing it and we had to reassure him several times that there was no right or wrong answer. This is what he came up with...
Sophia's... "There is Dad, Mom, Emily, Samantha (who is almost as tall as Emily because she would be 11 now), Matthew, Abigail, and me. Then I just chose a girl whose names that starts with an A but I really don't care".... (And yes, I know she spelled our last name wrong.)
And Abby... my detail-oriented child. I love it. *The specific name is "not allowed" so I blurred it out with my mad computer skills.*
I LOVE that they are so excited for this!!!
Today was my birthday. Happy birthday to me. I had an awesome day planned with my great friend, Kelly Jones, and Matthew's great friend, Leighton Jones, and Abigail and Sophia's great friends, K.C. and Jaly Jones. Yep, our families are a great combo. The kids get along great, the adults get along great and the dogs will some day get along great (as soon as Kelly sets up that appointment to have Lightning demasculinized). We were planning on going to the awesome Genoa Farms Pumpkin Farm that a friend started this year. Two problems. I woke up with a UTI and Kelly woke up with strep throat. Great. (Kelly's birthday is tomorrow and we agreed that it sucks to be sick on your birthday so we get do-overs!) So this is what we did... we went to my appt in Amana while the 7 kids played in the grass on the side of the doctor's office and waited for my prescription, then we went to the pumpkin farm and played for a while until Kelly had to go to her appointment in Marengo. What a crazy, not planned, day. But let me tell you, those kids (and myself) had a BLAST. It was awesome. (Oh, and for the "guess the weight of the pumpkin", Abby thought you were supposed to guess how many pumpkin seeds were in the pumpkin. lmbo) We spent an hour in the corn maze trying to find all the stamps to get a prize. The prize? A free ice cream cone at McDonald's. We left at about 5:00 to get Kelly's prescription before the pharmacy closed (remember we live in a tiny town where NOTHING is 24 hours). We promised the kids their ice cream as a bribe to get them to not complain about leaving. We go to the pharmacy then head to McDonald's. I have 9, yes 9, free ice cream cone coupons. I remember I also have a free medium fry coupon. It is my birthday and I think I deserve some McDonald's fries. Then all the kids are DYING of thirst, of course. We get to the speaker and here we go...
Them: Welcome to McDonald's. Can I take your order?
Me: Yeah. I'll take 9 vanilla ice cream cones and I have coupons for all of them.
Them: Okay, can I get you anything else?
Me: Yeah, I'll also take a medium fry. Which I also have a coupon for.
Them: Okay. Anything else?
Me: Yeah. Can I get 9 waters?
Poor Kelly, who couldn't talk, was slapping her knee because she was trying to not laugh because it hurt her throat. We are all cracking up because I just went through the drive-thru, got 9 cone, fries, and drinks... all for free. Anyone who knows me knows THAT was the best birthday present ever!!! (I won't even go into the guy who was giving us the cones who was totally baffled at how my mini-van had room for 9 people.)
The best birthday present until Tim got home. My dear, sweet, amazing husband got me an iPod Touch. WE agreed that we were getting a family pass to the rec center for our combined birthday gifts yet he still went out and got me this (and even went to two different stores to get the best price- I have taught him well!!!) because he knew I missed my Blackberry. The coolest thing about this is that I can face talk and "message" my wonderful sister-in-law even though she will shortly be in Germany! I am so excited I can hardly type.
Speaking of... it is time for me to set up my new fancy schmancy iPod Touch. Oh, and did I mention I have an iPod touch????
