Yikes! again

Friday was my last "official" day of full time for this one family (one day/week after that). This week i still have three days, but it looks like i could be busier than usual for other reasons...

My sister is in the hospital so i've been taking care of most of her crew! And the 9mos. old has been miserable much of the time ~ i'm wondering if he needs to see a doctor?? (He was much like this Friday/Saturday as well when we had him overnight ~ along with 2 other babies and 3 older children, who all did just fine, although babies at 1mos. and 3mos. of age need night-time feedings, so i was tired after that.)

My sister... she went to emergency yesterday because of severe pain, and it appears that she'll need to have her gall bladder removed, but they're also planning to do the scope thing to figure out if there is a gall stone stuck in her liver?? Not fun! Please pray for her!

Anyway, Janique is covering for me to give me a few minutes break... i better check on them.

Yep, it was a busy one (and a personal record)

This has to be the most kids we've babysat, and with 3 of them being babies, i really appreciated the older girls who love babies! :-) Overall it went quite well. Didn't mix up any soothers, blankets, bottles, medications, etc. The babies were generally happy and content.

In all, we had 12 extra kids over (for a total of 16). It resembled a big birthday party (without the cake). The 9yr. old was at school but came before & after, and for lunch. By 4:00, half of them had gone home, the other two babies were sleeping, and it was pretty quiet in the house!

We didn't do "school" except that Brenden & I managed to get a good chunk of his program done before most of the kids got here, so that was a real plus. We could've finished up this evening, but enjoyed a game of Settlers instead. What a nice break!

The best thing about all of this is the evidence of how God has been working in my life & healing me! A few years ago it would've been WAY TOO MUCH, so i rejoice in the healing i've seen God do! (Not that i'd be asking for every day to be that busy, and i wasn't looking to break a record, but i can laugh about it when it just happens that everyone calls for the same day ~ and hey, i got a little extra tidying done in preparation, so that's a good thing!)

Yikes... i could be busy tomorrow

Besides my regular three extra kids tomorrow (the oldest will be at school most of the day), i've got another 6 planning to come, and i'm still waiting to hear back from the other family (3 kids). Good thing some of the kids are older and love babies ~ lol. Janique is very excited about the babies coming so i'm sure i can count on her help.

But seriously, the house has been a mess far too long and i need to make room for this many kids ~ lol ~ so i'm off. (Have already made some progress, but need to do more...)

It's been a while...

since i posted any updates here...

And it's been a busy few weeks again ~ but that's hardly noteworthy since it's quite normal to be busy.

Friday before last, we had a neat answer to prayer. Short version... Jonathan's van wouldn't start after work on Friday, so i drove out to "help" (as in, provide another vehicle for him to boost his battery). After a bit, he got it going, we got off the parking lot, he turned on the lights and the van died. Boosted again, i just started backing up to turn around and follow him home, and he waved me back ~ he'd turned on the heater and the van died again. Another boost... and we got going again... about up to the next driveway anyway. He had stepped on the gas a bit too hard?? and the van died again. Ugh! Yes, i had been praying, but now i prayed that the van would start and make it all the way home! (All this boosting, etc. took about 45min.). God answered prayers... the van stayed alive until Jonathan got to our street. It died as he took the corner, and was able to coast into our driveway! Lol... that van now has a new battery.

This last Friday I took the kids to the homeschool science workshop at the school division. Our wonderful homeschool facilitator does such a great job and the kids enjoy this every time. So that was our morning. (Yes, i was babysitting, so i had two extras along who also enjoyed it). From there we hurried home to have lunch and start decorating cakes for the cake auction that evening ~ at a benefit supper/auction weekend. I'll try to post some pictures later. It was a bit chaotic trying to help each of the kids with their creations while baking pumpkin pies and still babysitting, etc. but we managed to get everything done ok and on time.

So with the auction and all, it was a busy weekend. Darwin had swimming lessons Saturday morning as well, so i missed a chunk of the auction to take him. I've "stepped down" from the committee, so i felt a bit "guilty" for not helping out more, but i think i've identified the greatest source of the guilt (i can get over it) ~ and i did enjoy the auction anyway.

Friday was just too busy to do any program with Brenden ~ and i was hoping to get in at least a few "most important" activities at some point during the weekend, but it didn't happen. (My brother & sil came over for a visit/games yesterday so that was awesome). So today i'm feeling really draggy about getting back into program. It was a lovely 3 days off ~ lol. And then we were up late last night playing another game of Settlers because my brother & sil are letting us borrow their game for a bit.

Apparently this is my last week of full-time babysitting for this family. After this week it will be only one day/week.

Ok... i'm hoping the kids are nearly done breakfast so i should get going...

An interesting phone call...

I got a call today from someone at the school division ~ she's new there, and had landed on Brenden's file, and noticed he'd been referred for an assessment that was withdrawn. (This all happened quite some time ago, and i think i blogged about it ~ altho perhaps that was on an older blog?? ~ so in summary, when we heard they were only prepared to do an assessment like the one they had done previously, and we'd be no closer to a diagnosis, we said forget it). So this wonderful lady looked at his file, and wondered about all of this. She offered (only if we are still interested) to do an assessment and "possibly/hopefully" get us a diagnosis and work with us!

YES! We are interested! We had given up pursuing the diagonis (having tried the school system several times, and looking at a few other options that didn't materialize either) and were moving on ~ having decided (again) that we don't "need" a label in order to address the issues (at least not with the Hope Centre).

I'm rather surprised that someone just"landed on this file" and cared enough to take it upon herself to offer help... I think it's another God thing!

So we'll be writing up a new referral/request thing (they expire after 1yr. and that was October ~ lol). And then she'll be trying to set something up for us (and I don't think we'll have the months and months to wait ~ she knows he's waited long enough).

Wow!

Babysitting ~ i had the 5 all day (with the 6th one coming after school), and it will be a little bit of an adjustment. Janique LOVES that baby ~ lol ~ i didn't get to hold her until Janique left for clubs (she and Darwin are helping my sister with an after school Bible club program). But that'll work out ok, as she's learning to care for babies, and i'm more free to do program with Brenden. Of course Janique will still need to get her school done, but i think we'll figure out a way to make it work (lol... maybe she'll be more motivated to get her school done earlier if she has to do that before she can hold/play with the baby ~ she day dreams WAY too much while doing math). I decided this morning that i wasn't going to push for a regular school/program routine today, and just give us a bit of slack. I'm glad i did (even though i didn't get much extra work done as i hoped i would).

k, time to get supper ready...

Babysitting... as i mentioned a few weeks ago, i was expecting this job to be done (except for one day a week) by now. Last week one day she said they'll need her until the end of November, and would i be ok keeping the kids longer?? Of course! Still been wondering what to do then... if i should look for more babysitting or not (and of course, the idea of taking in foster chidren is still there somewhere in my mind).

Well, the first family i babysat for (the one that started my babysitting jobs)... she's been on sick/maternity leave since February and was planning to take the full year off... i've watched her children from time to time since then. Today she asked if i'd be interested in babysitting 3 days/week or so ~ she's planning to take a part time job. Yes! Janique is delighted about having a baby to watch, and i'm just excited at God's provisions once again. (And i think He's telling me that it's not time to take in foster children just yet).

Oh, and did i mention... (no i haven't yet)... Jonathan finally asked about his "6-month raise" that he was expecting 2mos. ago. It had been entered wrong into the computer so now he'll be getting his raise, and back pay.

Just had to share how God continues to provide.

Just an update

We signed our homestudy update/addendum on Wednesday. That was exciting! We really have a wonderful social worker ~ it was good even just to connect with her again. Not sure how long it will take to get the updated paperwork to the right people/place, but there really isn't a big hurry since there are many families ahead of us still waiting for their referrals. Our referral is still months away. The referrals do seem to be coming again, and i'm just eagerly waiting to hear of some sibling referrals. Soon, i'm so sure it'll be soon!

Babysitting... i did say it'd "probably" be slowing down, right? I stuck that "probably" in there for a good reason ~ lol. It's been like that since i started (and i think my starting dates were like that too ~ get a date, and then it changes). So now it looks like til the end of November. I'm totally OK with that. I'm happy to keep babysitting. I was wondering already what i would do til "fill that void" if this job was going to be done. I can't get fostering out of my mind, although i still don't think it's practical at this time. Kind of funny... the other day my dad suggested that Jonathan & I, together with my sister and bil who are fostering already, should do a foster care home type thing together. Funny also, Jonathan was home that day because he wasn't feeling great, (and the kids LOVED him), and I got thinking it'd be kind of nice to have him home full-time and we could do child/foster care together :-) Interesting thought, but i don't think it'll happen (at least not any time soon??). (Apparently it's not a good idea to say never because often that IS what ends up happening).

So there's a little update again, and now i better check on my kiddos... i have 5 extras at the moment, and 4 more coming later (not sure if any of these 5 will have been picked up by then, but it won't be a big overlap anyway). It's been a long time since we've had this many extras, but it's going good. The youngest this time is 3, so no babies to watch out for.