i've been tagged, our third and fourth visits, and i've found some pretty cool random stuff while cleaning out the kids bedrooms

that's likely the longest blog title ever. it matches my posts that tend to be too long. unless you really care about what's happening in our lives, then you could probably read more.

so i've been tagged. first time. thanks stephanie. i hope i get this right. i am supposed to list six weird things about me. some of you who know me well might be saying, "only six?". sorry folks. this is just a sampling.

1. i am adopting three children at once. that's not wierd to me, but i think some people think it makes me totally crazy. it is a bit overwhelming, but hey, why not jump in all the way all right off the bat.

2. i have to eat things in even numbers. this isn't everything, but little things, like m&m's, skittles, raisins, cheerios, etc. if someone gives me three m&m's, i'll put all three in my mouth, put one on one side of my mouth, one on the other side, and then split the third one to give each side one and a half. i also prefer to have an even number of colors. if you give me a green m&m and a red m&m you'll think you did it right because you gave me the even number of two. but now my colors are off so i have to split each color in two so each side of my mouth has half green and half red. weird or obsessive, not sure which.

3. i sometimes hold my arm up in the air in the middle of the night and stroke it gently. josh has caught me doing this multiple times and it totally cracks him up. sometimes one of us will catch my arm on it's way up and then we'll push it back down before i have the chance to get started. i don't think i have rubbed my arm in awhile, but since i am sleeping, i am not sure.

4. i am slightly obsessed with sara groves music. i have seen her 5 or 6 times within the past couple of years. if she's anywhere within a couple hundred mile radius, i'll likely be there. every single song she has out, has something to do with some part of my life. i swear, it's true. and a few of her songs have helped guide me through our infertility/adoption journey.

5. i am literally obsessed with 6/23. that's the day i was born. and for years i would randomly look at the clock and see 6:23. it happened so frequently and i always made a fuss over it and it started to drive people crazy. i think the fact that i used to do that still drives my husband crazy. poor guy. could be worse i guess. i could have some crazy even number/even color food obsession. oh wait, i do!

6. sometimes when my breath is stinky, josh will say, "how about if you have a piece of gum?" sometimes i'll say, "no." then josh will say, "how about if i get you some mints?" then i'll say, "i don't want any mints, i just won't talk at you."

so now i have to tag people? hmmmm...will anyone i tag actually do this? i guess i'll just have to try.

1. josh-my husband
2. derrak and melanie
3. jeff and amanda
4. becks and lee
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we had our third visit with our children on tuesday night. i feel horrible that i haven't written about it. sorry! it went very well, even though it made me very tired!

we picked the kids up a little after 5:30pm to take them to dinner/supper. we call it dinner, they call it supper. they were excited to see us and excited to ride in our van. we filed out to the van with the baby crying. he doesn't like being away from foster mom. at least not at first. once i opened his door and started putting him in his car seat, he was fine. he was even smiling. josh climbed in the back of the van with the other two kids and helped them get buckled in. what a great dad. i didn't even have to ask him to do that!

off we went into a their little town. there are only 3 or 4 restaurants. all mom and pop family diner type places. we picked one and went in. josh rounded up three boosters and we took our places. the food took a little longer to arrive than we would have liked, but we managed. the kids colored on their placemats with a couple of pens from my purse. the pens didn't survive, but the kids were happy.

all three kids ate well and behaved well. after dinner we went to a park to play. the two oldest, who are very mobile, we all over the place! they tried 3 different slides. almost 4, but one was too high. they rode the teeter toter, the merry-go-round, went swinging on the swings. we were out for a total of three hours and we were all pretty tired.

back at the foster home we read a couple of adoption stories the foster mom had gotten from the library. she had started reading some of them with the kids so they could start to get an idea about what adoption is. the oldest one is likely the only one who will kind of understand at this point, but it's good to plant the seed.

josh and i headed home, going straight to bed. we were exhausted! i didn't think i would have been that tired, after all, this is what i do for a living! but, i have been working at my nanny job for almost three years and in know how everything works with those kids. with my kids though, everything is new.

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we had our fourth visit with our kids on saturday. this was our first all day visit and actually, a whole day of firsts. we picked the kids up at 11am and brought them to our house. bringing them to our house this first time was just to let them see it and spend a little time in it so they can begin to get comfortable here. we came in and looked around and met the dog. the dog didn't go over too well with the two youngest kids. they cried, alot! so we kept her outside most of the time, but we'll keep trying with her and them. we would give her up if we absolutely have to, but we don't really want to. and, we aren't sure it's so healthy to have a fear of dogs when you haven't really been around them ever. so we'll see what happens. we ate lunch together and played a game before we left. then we were off to my parents house and josh's parents house.

everything went really with both families. the kids were shy at first, same as they were with us and that is to be expected. they adjusted quickly to their new surroundings and all of the new faces. all of our siblings got to meet the kids, except my sister who lives in NM and is 8 1/2 months pregnant. she'll be home in august with her husband and baby, and the kids will get to meet her then.

we had pie and ice cream at my parents house to celebrate my dad's birthday which was thursday. this was the first time in 35 years he didn't hear 'happy birthday dear dad', but instead heard 'happy birthday dear papa'. it was very sweet and i think very special for all of us. at josh's parents we ate dinner together, pizza and chips.

we had the kids back to their foster home by 9. we were all very tired! we have put them in their jammies for the ride down so they'd be ready for bed already. they had a snack, brushed their teeth, went potty, etc. and were off to bed.

the day went so well, the kids got along great with everyone. josh and i thouroughly enjoyed ourselves and while we could agree we are crazy for taking this all on, we wouldn't have it any other way.

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we visit with the kids again tonight. another time to eat out and just hang out. the more used to us they get the better. and then friday night they are sleeping over for the first time. three little babies in my house! sleeping! we can't wait to have them here for an overnight and though we'll really enjoy playing with them, eating with them, watching cartoons with them, etc, it will be neat to see them sleeping here, in their rooms, in their beds, in our house. i imagine the tears for josh and i will be flowing plentifully when we crawl into our bed!

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and now i leave you with this. i discovered it years ago and still have it on the original piece of paper i wrote it on. then i re-discovered it the other night while cleaning out my random stuff from our daughters room. it makes my heart smile.

"each lifetime is the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.
for some there are more pieces,
for others the puzzle is more difficult to assemble.
some seem to be born with a nearly completed puzzle,
and so it goes.
soul's going this way and that trying to assemble the myriad parts.

but know this.
no one has within themselves all the pieces to their puzzle.
everyone carries with them at least one and probably many pieces to someone else's puzzle.
sometimes they know it.
sometimes they don't.

and when you present your piece which is worthless to you,
to another, whether you know it or not,
whether they know it or not,
you are a messenger from the Most High."
--rabbi lawrence kushner