A Truely Family Friendly Employer

Just a public thank you to my immediate boss, Mick, and our CEO, Kelly for approving my request to work from home during June, July and August while 'my girls' are out of school. This will allow me to not only be a more hands-on parent for them, but to do some of the many other mom-duties needed during the summer ("can you take us to the pool today?", "we want to go to the library!", "I don't want to ride my bike to work today..." and on and on, right?)

Thank you UTAH FOSTER CARE FOUNDATION for your flexibility with my single parenting of these great girls!

OMG- She Really Can Sing!!

The newest addition to our family is 15 yrs old. She has been in Bella Voce (an advanced choir group)at Orem Jr High (in Utah) her 9th grade year. She wanted to audition for the Advanced Women's choir at her new high school. We met the Provo High choir teacher (Mrs Garrett) at an end-of-year choir BBQ last week. Yesterday, 5-25-10 at 4:20p she auditioned and was accepted as an alto, in that Advanced Women's choir! I was so proud of her for her bravery and confidence (both of which she argues with me that she has none of...). So, less than a minute after returning to my truck as we're pulling out of the high school parking lot, she asks, "Can I call my mom?" I said, handing her my cell phone, 'of course you can!'.

Then she shared the news with her mom...she excitedly shared the play-by-play of her audition, ending with, "And she told me right there that: I'm IN!!" then she called 'grandma' (my mom), repeating almost verbatim the first story. During both calls she had a big smile on her face (which I interpreted as the praise from both of these great ladies).

I wish I had the money to rent a piano for her. She plays and writes songs besides being a singer. AND...she wants to try out for softball and volleyball next fall! Why would anyone NOT want to foster/adopt a teen??

Now I'm Having A Good Day!

It was the culmination of a season of Celebrity-Apprentice-watching with my 16 yr old. The contest ended last Sunday night with a 2 hr live showing, hosted by 'the Donald'...about 10pm. And all season we were rooting for one of 3 singer celebrities. Our man (Brett Michaels) WON! And the first words out of her mouth were: YES! (visualize a fist pump here!) Now, I'm having a good day!! And I just had to laugh to myself. We had already had a really fun Sunday...but when Brett won Celebrity Apprentice, that was the icing on her Sunday cake! Teens are awesome, aren't they?

A New Addition...

She is 15years old. She is experiencing grief and loss...as she transitions from what was promised to be an adoptive, forever family...but turned into just another pit stop on the way to my home. She is angry: she is also in an anger management group for about 6 weeks...3 days a week. I don't blame her for feeling angry...she's been rejected again. And from what she's told me, she's been in a strict living environment, run by a German grandmother, not really by the foster mom.

As I dropped her off at school one day this week, I said, 'see you at quattro!", she said, 'why do you speak spanish, you're white?!"...with a little animosity. Then later, when I was picking her up from anger mgmt group, as she got into the truck, I pointed out the sneakers of one of the girls and said, "i love those sneakers!" and she said, 'what kind of people look at other people's feet?" She is angry with the system, her caseworker, her last foster mom who wouldn't give her a forever home, and with me for offering to give her a forever home. This little gal is conflicted. I really feel for her.

It is a prayer of mine that I will be a positive influence in her life. I will be a grafted-in branch of her family tree. I will support her relationships with her siblings and her birth parents, as long as it's safe, and I can almost assure safety in any visit I am supervising. Not that I am fool-proof, but I understand that safety is relative, especially in regards to relatives.

I love teenagers! God bless teenagers! Especially the ones in my house....

A Sweet 90 minutes! (our Mother's Day visit)

A sweet 90 minutes...that's what the visit was with the birth mom of two of my girls. I went in alone at first, to remind their birth mom of appropriate behavior and conversation. Nothing inappropriate EVER came up. As soon as the girls walked in to her apartment the three of them hugged and held on to each other for about a full minute. I took a picture that I will cherish forever. I gave a copy to each of the girls and made a 5x7 which is framed in our living room. We gave their birth mom the pictures we took of all the siblings, she loves them. There was soda and treats and a balloon fight, feline games and snuggling on the couch, reminiscing. 90 minutes of sweetness. I do not regret that visit. I am proud of the girls and their mom for their open hearts. There is a love in this relationship that I will never know, a deep, loyal love that only is known and shared between by a birth parent and her children.
I am hoping I gave this family a forever memory. I want to have openness in this upcoming adoption; if it will be safe for the girls they deserve root-full connections.
May God continue to bless the Utah foster care system.