If you were a fly on the wall in my house, here are some things you might have heard over the last five days:

“Momma, can they please stay forever?”

“I don’t want to visit my parents. I just want to stay here at your house.”

“We get to go to Atlanta with you next weekend?! I’ve never been on a vacation before!”

…washing machine….dishwasher…..constantly

lots of squeals, laughter, occassional arguments, and a baby that loves to chatter.

prayers every night as all eight of us sit on the floor of our boys’ room, read a story, and take turns saying our goodnight prayers.

….I think I’m growing to like mornings the best. The kids all wake up cheerful and eat breakfast together at the table. The school boys get dressed by themselves and baby girl somehow manages to sleep through the noise until about 8:30 every morning. When the boys go to school, I’m able to clean up the house, do a few loads of laundry…oooohh the laundry going on in this house on a daily basis is unreal…and I get to spend a few minutes on the computer.

Make-up — not happening

showers — every other day

House — cleaned every single day…apparently, since it is the one and only thing I can control at the moment, I’m able to get my house cleaned every day. It’s amazing what a clean house does for a girl’s state of mind! :)

God is SO good. He has definitely brought us to the end of ourselves and we are fully relying on Him and His strength to get us through each and every day. Yesterday was tough. Very emotional. I cried off and on ALL day and I don’t even know why. I’m better now. :) Thank you to all who are praying for us. We feel each and every prayer and all of the encouragement and support is helping carry us through this initial period of discomfort, adjustment, and emotional insanity! I love ya’ll!!

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

~audrey

Tears streamed down my cheeks as I sorted through a large pile of papers in the kitchen that have been overlooked since last Thursday. Amidst the papers, I found a letter from Jesse’s class announcing how excited they were to be performing a short play reenacting the story of the Pilgrims and Indians. Jesse was playing the part of a King.

It was two hours ago.

I missed it.

To make the matter even worse, I checked my email and found an email from a room mom letting me know that Jesse did a wonderful job this morning and I emailed her back asking what she was talking about!

I can not believe I missed it.

He was so excited about his play, but I kept telling him it wasn’t until Friday. I thought it was part of Grandparent’s Day. I was wrong.

I can just see him now, so proud in his costume and crown, looking out into the audience for Mommy, who was no where to be seen. It breaks my heart.

I can only hope my mother-in-law, who works at the school, was able to see him.

I can’t believe I missed it.

I have to get ready for a home visit in 45 minutes.

~audrey

Our first weekend went better than I could’ve ever asked or hoped for. I’m so humbled and amazed at the outpouring of encouragement, support, offers of clothing, meals, and even help for Christmas. God is so good and He continues to provide for our every need.

By the third night, all three children went to sleep with nothing but smiles. Church was fantastic yesterday morning. Everyone received our new children with open arms and lots of love. The kids seem to feel very safe and content in our home, which is exactly what we’ve prayed for.

Our kids haven’t missed a beat either. I even dared to ask Jesse this morning if he was still glad that our foster children have finally arrived. His response was, “Can they please stay forever?” What a relief.

This morning, I couldn’t go back to sleep after Josh left for work at 5:15am, so I got up and tackled the five loads of clean laundry scattered throughout my room in baskets. Done.

At six o’clock on the dot, I could hear my coffee pot calling me as the sweet, bold aroma crept under my door, as if to remind me, “it’s Monday morning, better fuel up!” Unfortunately, I am disappointed in the Hazlenut Biscotti creamer I bought at the grocery store over the weekend; it has a wierd after taste. I guess it’s back to french vanilla for now.

Which brings me to another weekend discovery. It appears, adding three children to your household, also means doubling your grocery bill. I went to Sam’s and Walmart yesterday. I was gone for three hours. I seriously only bought the necessities. Two weeks worth of meals and snacks. Six months ago, I could buy groceries for two weeks for $150. Yesterday’s grand total was $280 (including a large box of Pull-ups). Yikes!! Not to mention, I got it all home, and we didn’t even have room in our freezer. Please pray that God will provide a freezer for our garage. There is one at Sam’s for $175. I’m selling some scrap gold/jewelry at a gold party on Wednesday and I’m praying I make enough to buy the freezer.

God has already provided a dresser for baby girl’s room and Josh bought a new door last night to begin our office transformation for her. It sure is fun having a sweet little girl in our house.

The boys are doing great. Everyone plays together very well. The noise level in our house has officially gone through the roof. I had to step into the garage last night to finish a conversation on the phone!

I have to register biggest brother at his new school today. I’m praying for a godly teacher and great new friends. He’s a precious young man.

On a side note, since the kids have arrived, I have felt somewhat like the wind has been knocked out of my sails in regards to our ‘normal routine’. However, Saturday night, after all of the children were in bed, including my poor, exhausted husband, I got a second wind and was able to make four loaves of bread, clean up the kitchen, do two loads of laundry, and wax my eyebrows!

Suddenly, I felt like a new woman!

I CAN do this. I can do ALL things through Christ.

He has given me everything I need for THIS day. His grace is sufficient.

Happy Monday!

~audrey

Just when I thought things couldn’t get any crazier, we received a phone call at 6:45 last night letting us know that there had been an emergency in the other foster home and they needed to bring the children to us right away. I had less than one hour to prepare myself, my children, and my home for three new children. To say I freaked a little would be an understatement. I mean, I had a two page list of things to do on Friday to prepare for their arrival Friday night. It was not suppose to happen this way. I’m NOT a ‘fly by the seat of my pants’ kind of girl!

The children arrived at 7:30pm on the dot. I took a deep breath and opened the door. They walked right in, without hesitation, introduced themselves, and immediately began playing the boys, who also proceeded to give them a tour of the house. The baby (18 months old) took to me immediately. I was told she was a little behind developmentally. I was told she doesn’t talk, make noises, and rarely has anyone seen her smile. As I laid her down to change her diaper, I realized she had three layers of clothes on. As I unzipped her jammies and opened her diaper, a smell filled the room like nothing I had ever smelled before on a human being. There is no way she has had a bath in the last week or two. No way at all. I immediately put her in the bath and I had to dress her in Owen’s pajamas because hers were filthy.

Their belongings fit into a large trash bag and a college-like chest. Most of their belongings were shoes, which I found to be very bizarre. 90% of their clothing was either too small, for the summer, or mildewed beyond repair.

The baby ate two fruit cups and a cereal bar when she got out of the bath. I rocked her for about 15 minutes and she went to sleep in her own little bed, in her new house, without so much as a peep.

The boys were another story. They were pretty wound up and took a while just to get them into bed. The four year old cried for about an hour and a half before finally falling asleep. Once all five boys were in their beds and half of them asleep, I climbed into bed with Jesse and Owen and cried as I held Owen in my arms and thanked God for everything I could think of. I was completely overwhelmed with emotion. I felt like I could throw up at any moment. My feelings were beyond description. Was it fear? Sadness? Anxiety? Joy? I still don’t know. All I could do was cling to God’s promises as I prayed protection, peace, joy, and grace over our home and our family.

I woke up to a screaming baby at 5:00am. I was thankful that she woke me up because it allowed me to gather my thoughts and prepare for the day. I held her, changed her diaper, gave her some juice, and checked my email. The boys all woke up cheerfully, ate breakfast, and got ready without complaints.

Once the dust settled and two of the boys were off to school, baby girl began to come out of her shell. It started with smiles. She also reached for Josh to pick her up this morning. By lunch time, she was babbling, chasing the boys around the house, and giggling at all sorts of things. She’s a perfectly normal 18 month old. When Jesse is at school, the four year old plays wonderfully with Owen. When Jesse got home from school and Owen went down for a nap, the four year old played just as well with Jesse. Joshua was counting down the hours and minutes until the ten year old got home from school. It was sweet to hear him ask, “Momma, how much longer until my big brother gets home??” I keep telling him he probably shouldn’t call him his “big brother or his “foster brother”, but simply a new friend.

This morning, I went into the garage to see if I had any clothes for the four year old. I stepped over a laundry basket and my foot landed on the pac-n-play cover. My foot slipped out from under me and I fell on my right side landing on a small trash can and Josh’s guitar amp.

I closed my eyes as I forced myself to take deep breaths.

I prayed and prayed that my ribs were not broken.

I hurt all over.

I think I pulled muscles in my legs as I tried not to fall. What hurt the most was my right side near the bottom of my ribs. I finally got up off the floor.

I was ok.

I definitely did not break anything.

I’m getting more and more sore as the day wears on and I have an enormous bruise and scrape on the right side of my torso, but it certainly could have been a lot worse.

Tonight, we plan to make pizza and watch a movie as we unwind from the whirlwind of the last 24 hours.

I covet your prayers as we continue to adjust through this transition and into a whole new world for our amily.

~audrey