hope

you know, some days when January drags and snow piles up and routines weigh heavy, well, you just need to hear a good story...a story dripping with hope.  baby Hope, in this case...i've been following this story since it first aired on CNN.  it moved me then.  the update moved me today.  it's a beauty.  she's a beauty.  she has hope~ and best of all~ so do her birth parents!  it's a beautiful display of sacrificial love by all four parents~ filled with real, raw gripping pain and promise all on the same page.  read the article and watch the attached videos that contain the original stories and updates...

Hope

brothers

these two...even that much cuter when they sleep! :)

they play hard, they laugh, they banter and scrap~ overall they are pretty entertaining together...

the moment i walked in to see them asleep in my bed, all cozy and peaceful~ it was too good not to capture! love you Hudson and AJ~ even if many days you test my basic survival skills as your mother!  must be true love, right?

it's gotta count for something

Hudson's Christmas card for his teacher...

i thought his sentiments were sweet and a great reflection of how he cares.  hope it counts for something on those challenging days of teaching! :)

sisters

helllllllooooooo.....i'm back after a wee Christmas"break" (ahem...notice the quotations, because by break i really mean the opposite of break) to this little blog of mine~ my place of mostly sane reflection and quiet contemplation to record the highlights of this roller-coaster ride i feel i'm on.  the actual break isn't anywhere to be found yet, but i figure there will be a time and place for that sort of thing down the road...it will be grand i'm sure.

so yes, Christmas happened.  it was joyous, it was memorable, it was yummy and it was special and soooo very blessed.  Jesus coming to earth as a small newborn baby~ well, i felt the weight of that fact amidst all the trinkets and glitter and hustle and bustle.  every year the holiday season carries such a sweet Peace with it~ an indescribable Peace which is by far the best gift ever...so thankful for what that means in my own less than perfect and crazy life....

anyway, Christmas 2017 was also a little nutty.  in the best possible way, actually.  two sweet little sisters have come to share life with us since late November, and we have fallen hard for their dimples and squinty-eyed grins and silly expressions and giggles and oh sooo feisty personalities.  they are strong and resilient and protective and brave and funny, and just like little human sponges~ literally soaking up our affection and care.  all eight of us have poured out our unique offerings of fun and nurture and warmth into their beings~ and we have been sooo blessed in return by their sweet spirits and hugs and runny nose-kisses.  we are not simply foster parents, Jeff and I.  we are more accurately a whole foster family.  this is a group effort...and i know i've said this before, but our six kids do this so very well.  Joelle had only been home an hour from school and she was in there like a dirty shirt with these two cuties.  all six of them shine in this area of giving, and it's transforming two wounded and wary hearts for now, and for however long they remain with us.  we hope, we pray, that their futures will hold light and bright moments and experiences, warm days and nights, secure family connections and safe places to blossom and become the beautiful girls they were created to be...that they'd one day know the One who created them in a way that gives their earthly days hope and joy and purpose and peace.  this will be our life prayer for them...for now, we listen to them chatter away, roaming the house calling our names in the sweetest voices, sitting at the table giggling with us through dinner, and we realize this is the stuff that changes us most.  the unexpected result perhaps, but we will be forever changed by sweet E&H....