Could this girl get any cuter?!?!
CUTENESS!
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Author Archives: threescurvydogs
Baseball
Living On One
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I have spent a lot of time on the blog over the last few months talking about Living on One. The film has inspired our family to do something to help raise awareness and fight global poverty.
Now you can see what all the fuss is about…for free! Just go to www.hulu.com and watch the movie this week. It is one of their featured, front page films!
If you want to read more about Carlos’ efforts (in case you’ve missed my bazillion posts). Click here for the Inside Bainbridge article or cruise back over the blog to see more.
The movie is amazing, and gives a glimpse into the daily lives of the people in a small, Mayan town in Guatemala (much like the one Carlos’ birth family is from). Go watch, you will be glad you did!
Frog Rock
Three years have passed since we first put the kids in the mouth of Frog Rock (just for grins). I think I prefer the later pic, as you truly get the drama of the situation. He is being eaten by a frog rock!!!
Live Below the Line
In our community, we make quite a bit less than the average family. With that being said, we have a LOT. Our kids aren’t hungry. We have electricity and fresh running water. They have clothes and shoes. They get to go to an amazing school. Yes, we are frugal (ok, I’ve often been called “cheap”) and very careful with the money we have and really try to make the most of what we have. We make it work. Our kids know we aren’t rich, they rarely get new clothes or new toys or go on vacations like so many of their friends, but we have a roof over our heads, food in our bellies and a little for the extras. We are blessed.
I saw this challenge posted on the Living on One blog and knew it was something I wanted us to try. We will be living on $1.50 per person for food for 5 days. We will brainstorm with the boys about what kinds of foods and how much we will need to not feel hungry. We will go to the store, price out what we can get for our money and come home and lock up the rest of our food. I imagine after day one they will be hungry, I can’t imagine how hard it is going to be to see my kids truly hungry.
In the end, my hope is that it will help us teach our boys just how fortunate we are to live where we live and be thankful for what we have. Maybe gain a sense of compassion for others who may go to bed hungry each night, maybe gain a sense of the cost of food.
They are excited to talk to their friends, excited to start the adventure and proud of what they are about to do. Me to.
Join us, push yourself, take the challenge!
Click here for more information on Live Below the Line
Flashlight Egg Hunt
One of my favorite events of the year…our annual flashlight Easter egg hunt. This year the plan was to be low key and mellow, but you know what they say about the best laid plans. As always, SUPER FUN! The kids played for awhile in the yard, we BBQed and then waited for it to get dark before we started the fun. This year we changed it up a little, the toddlers had a pre-hunt and then went to bed, the big kids each had a symbol (we had premarked 15 eggs with each symbol) to find. It wasn’t the free-for-all of years past but it was great to hear so many kids helping eachother out so that most of the eggs were found!
Another successful party in the books!
The Beach
We live in a beautiful place, the water, the beach the trees…can’t imagine anywhere I would rather be than the Northwest on a sunny spring day. Walked down the hill with the kids and soaked in the sun. The babies kept busy throwing rocks in the water, Trey and Alice found a neat fort and brought in sticks and rocks to fix it up and Abbie loved going for a swim.
Embracing Spring!
Easter 2013
Easter 2013 in pictures…can you handle the cuteness?!
Blogging as Therapy
So here it is..have been dealing with some big, nasty hurt feelings today and just have to get it out. Prepare for my blogging as therapy post (hey, works for me and it’s cheaper).
Our family is not like many others I know. We deal with issues with our kids that other families may not ever have to think about. Our kids regularly have pretty deep talks about birth family and loss, having 2 moms or dads, abuse and neglect and drugs. We are age appropriate in our discussions, but also very open and honest. Our family is different.
We are foster parents who take in kids that come from unspeakable situations and do our best to comfort them in the hardest moment of their little lives. It can be tough to answer my boy’s questions about how a tiny baby is broken or why they aren’t with their families. Many times we take in babies who don’t understand what is going on, sometimes it is a toddler who just knows that they have been taken away from their home, their parents and all that they have known. Our boys go to sleep at night and sometimes wake up to see a new face at the breakfast table. They may ask why, but they seem to be ok with it.
Dee and I know that we have a full plate with our kids and believe me, there is always some drama going on with someone in the family (with 4 kids and 3 being so close in age how could there not be?). One might say we should give up fostering and simply focus on our immediate family. In so many words, I was basically told that today. I understand it. I get where they were coming from. There is a “but” in there for me. I love my kids with ALL of my heart, I try to go above and beyond to show them that they are everything to me. Taking in foster kids doesn’t mean that I love them less. I don’t see it as taking away from them. My hope is that my children see this compassion for others and become compassionate adults. I hope that someday they can think past themselves and what might be “best” and do what is right and kind.
There is something so pure to me about giving a child a safe place to be when life is most turned upside down, to tuck them in and be able to say “tonight you are safe and loved.” Sometimes they trust you enough to hug you, sometimes there are tears. I can’t imagine being in their situation.
So, I deal with some hurt feelings, hearing from someone so dear to me that they think that us taking in a foster child is hurtful to our family, in my heart I know that the timing of it may not be perfect but it is the right thing to do. I can’t be mad, I know it came from a place of love for my boys, but it still stings.
Children
by Ina Hughes
We are responsible for children
who put chocolate fingers everywhere,
who like to be tickled,
who stomp in puddles and ruin their new pants,
who sneak popsicles before supper,
who can never find their shoes.
And we are responsible for children
who can’t bound down the street in a new pair of sneakers,
who are born in places we wouldn’t be caught dead,
who never go to the circus,
who live in an x-rated world.
We are responsible for children
who bring us sticky kisses and fistfuls of dandelions,
who sleep with the dog and bury goldfish,
who cover themselves with Band-aids and sing off key,
who squeeze toothpaste all over the sink,
who slurp their soup.
And we are responsible for children
who never get dessert,
who have no blanket to drag behind them,
who watch their parents watch them die,
who can’t find any bread to steal,
who don’t have any rooms to clean up,
whose pictures aren’t on anybody’s dresser,
whose monsters are real.
We are responsible for children
who spend all their allowance before Tuesday,
who throw tantrums in the grocery store and pick at their food,
who like ghost stories,
who shove dirty clothes under the bed and never rinse out the tub,
who get no visits from the tooth fairy,
who don’t like to be kissed in front of the carpool,
whose tears we sometimes laugh at, and
whose smiles can make us cry.
We are responsible for children
whose nightmares come in the daytime,
who will eat anything,
who have never seen a dentist,
who aren’t spoiled by anybody,
who go to bed hungry and cry themselves to sleep,
who live and move, but have no being.
We are responsible for children
who want to be carried and for those who must,
for those we never give up on and
for those who don’t get a second chance,
for those we smother, . . . and
for those who will grab the hand of anybody kind enough to
offer it.
by Ina Hughes
We are responsible for children
who put chocolate fingers everywhere,
who like to be tickled,
who stomp in puddles and ruin their new pants,
who sneak popsicles before supper,
who can never find their shoes.
And we are responsible for children
who can’t bound down the street in a new pair of sneakers,
who are born in places we wouldn’t be caught dead,
who never go to the circus,
who live in an x-rated world.
We are responsible for children
who bring us sticky kisses and fistfuls of dandelions,
who sleep with the dog and bury goldfish,
who cover themselves with Band-aids and sing off key,
who squeeze toothpaste all over the sink,
who slurp their soup.
And we are responsible for children
who never get dessert,
who have no blanket to drag behind them,
who watch their parents watch them die,
who can’t find any bread to steal,
who don’t have any rooms to clean up,
whose pictures aren’t on anybody’s dresser,
whose monsters are real.
We are responsible for children
who spend all their allowance before Tuesday,
who throw tantrums in the grocery store and pick at their food,
who like ghost stories,
who shove dirty clothes under the bed and never rinse out the tub,
who get no visits from the tooth fairy,
who don’t like to be kissed in front of the carpool,
whose tears we sometimes laugh at, and
whose smiles can make us cry.
We are responsible for children
whose nightmares come in the daytime,
who will eat anything,
who have never seen a dentist,
who aren’t spoiled by anybody,
who go to bed hungry and cry themselves to sleep,
who live and move, but have no being.
We are responsible for children
who want to be carried and for those who must,
for those we never give up on and
for those who don’t get a second chance,
for those we smother, . . . and
for those who will grab the hand of anybody kind enough to
offer it.
Check This Off the Bucket List
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I have been wanting, for many years, to get a tattoo. It’s tough to actually commit to something that will last a lifetime on you skin. I knew I wanted something to represent my kids, but I didn’t want birds or cartoon characters. I really liked the idea of the footprints.
So, off I went, just 3 days before my 41st birthday. and got my first ink. It wasn’t as painful as I thought it would be, it was really more annoying and like being scratched repeatedly for 40 minutes. As the work got closer to my wrist, the feeling changed to more of a cutting. Not fun, but I’m so happy with the end result!
There may be another in my future….
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Three Scurvy Dogs a Wee Lass (and their Mamas) 