A neat way to help!

Have heard about this website a couple times now.  What a neat way to help these kids!

http://www.onesimplewish.org/

Please check it out.  :)

The Latest on the Kiddo Front

This most recent weekend went well I think.  We had spaghetti and watched "The Little Mermaid" Friday night.  During dinner I was told "we have a lot in common."  She was very matter of fact.  It was cute.  Saturday she was very happy to get to sing again with the worship team and we ran errands all over town (or what felt like all over town).  She helped me with some Christmas shopping for Nikki and Ivy.  We picked a book for her while we were at Barnes & Noble.  We ate at Wendy's.  There was a little bit of pouting when I said "no" to a movie too close to bedtime, but it didn't last long.  Oh, and we made No Bake Cookies which turned out very well.  Sunday we enjoyed church again.  She seemed to get more out of Sunday School than last time and still thinks my church is cool.  Sarah and Tegan came over for a good old-fashioned homemade lunch with Kiddo and me before her ride came.

I won't have her over Thanksgiving or this weekend, but for now the adults are planning for her to come again next weekend.  I hope these couple weeks go better for her than the last time.

I've not been able to get ahold of the caseworker yet this week.  I keep getting her voicemail.  I have a few questions for her, some more to discuss.

Today I had a great conversation with a gal in Omaha who is an "adoption recruiter" and who was one of the trainers for the foster parenting class.  She is amazing.  On her 6th adoption, she knows whereof she speaks!  She was able to give me some great advice on how to decide if I would be the best mom for this little girl and also gave me some information about a support group in Lincoln.  She also said she would pray for me and Kiddo and that she wished she was handling my case (or whatever you call it).  I wish she was, too.  It's very easy to talk to her and she is so ridiculously qualified to give advice!  Anyway, it was a very beneficial conversation and she is still a contact and I know I can talk to her or write her any time.

The conversation inspired me to talk to my boss about the potential effect on my work that this particular child could have, and she is also very, very supportive.  I am very blessed to have a great boss.

Another Weekend With Company

The same little girl from a couple weeks ago will be staying with me again this weekend.  This time she will be here from Friday night about dinnertime until Sunday early afternoon.  We will be going to a worship team rehearsal again this Saturday which I'm sure she will enjoy.  I'm not sure what we will do for the rest of the day.  I think I will try to leave work early Friday to get some errands run so I don't have to worry about them over the weekend.  Hopefully I get a chance to chat with the caseworker more before then to get a better understanding of how the kiddo has been since she was here before and if anything has changed.  I am curious to see if her behavior is different now that I am not an utter stranger.

How the Weekend Went

So Saturday and Sunday I had company.  The 11-year-old I last told you about in an earlier post spent Saturday and part of Sunday with me.  She came with me to rehearsal Saturday morning and then helped me get ready for Justin, Trisha and the girls coming for the football game.  She wore Samson out with playing fetch.  Nikki and Ivy had a lot of fun playing with their new friend.  She is great with little kids and seems to really enjoy them.  Sunday morning she sang with the worship team at 8:00 (no fear!) and then sat with Grace and her daughter Sam during the 10:30 service.  She and Sam really hit it off, too.  She said my church is "cool."  We went out to eat with Sarah, Jon, and Tegan at Village Inn after church was all done.  Sunday afternoon her foster mother met us at the church where I had choir rehearsal.  She had never been to a church service that used guitars like our contemporary service does and said she had never eaten at Village Inn before.

There were really no problems.  There was a little bit of pouting over a misunderstanding, but she got over that and it was as if nothing had even happened.  Sounds like the last couple days have not been good, however.  We won't be having another visit this weekend, but the caseworker and I are hoping to work something out for next weekend.  I want to get some more time under our belts first before I decide if this will become permanent.  The current foster mother seems to think it will be.  The caseworker is hoping so.

My heart just breaks for this little girl.  There is so much need there!  But we need to be realistic and do the proper due diligence before taking a really big step and saying "yes" - regardless of what folks around us are saying.

Choir Concert This Weekend!

It's time for the choir concerts!  Hope you can find the time for either the concert in Schuyler on Saturday at 3:00 or in Lincoln on Sunday at 3:00.  Here's a link to the concert announcement.

http://lincolnlutheranchoir.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/LLC_ShelterLord_Fall2013.pdf

It's some really neat music...including some in Russian and some in Latin!  ...Well...I think it's fun.  :)

Decided Yes

Friday afternoon I left a message for the caseworker saying I was interested in next steps regarding the little girl in Lincoln.  Today, the caseworker happened to call at probably the only time all day when I had two minutes to answer.  Next thing I know, we're scheduling for the kiddo to be dropped off at my house Saturday morning before worship team rehearsal.  We will spend the day together and she'll spend the night with me.  Someone will pick her up from my house Sunday early afternoon.
I was busy enough today that I more or less had no time for "what the *bleep* just happened" moments.  Now I am feeling a very strong urge to clean.  So far I have successfully suppressed that urge by eating dinner and watching television.  I will follow that up with going to bed.  Probably should try to succumb to that urge to clean come tomorrow night when I get home from the chiropractor.  Would be nice to have the dishes and laundry done before she comes.