2014

Ugh.. ok.. probably the only post that's going to happen this year.. It has been.. hectic and emotional and all sorts of other things.. we had a placement this past spring that took a lot out of me. A little boy, T, who needed constant supervision. He had some anger control issues and, well there were issues between him and our dogs and a few other things. He was with us for about 4-5 months before we had to request he be moved elsewhere, after our littlest dog nearly died. It was a sad affair all around.
After he left, my youngest stepdaughter, M, came back up for the summer with the request of could she make this permanent this time. We, co course, had no problem with that, though there have been some issues with her mother. M was told (so we were told anyway) that it was up to her, however, when the time came for school to start, it was all a different story. M basically had to go to the airport and actually refuse to get on the plane. At this point it is wait and see until Alaska has jurisdiction again (a few more months..) and then we can request the actual change of custody.
I went back to work for the summer as well, as a little extra money when you have a teenager around is a good thing.. lol..
And then we got another placement. 2 children, MK, who just turned 7 earlier this month, and her 4 yr old brother, R. We've had them almost 2 months now. This is the first time we've had school aged children and it's a new experience.
I have learned one thing for certain. I can not "do it all." Working and trying to run the house and do things with the kids.. I just can't do it all, so we've made the decision for me to quit my job and come back home full time. So I will be doing that next month. (I _could_ have left earlier, gave notice 2 weeks ago, but one of the other employees had a vacation planned and that would leave them very short staffed, so felt it was only fair for me to stay til they came back) Just in time for Thanksgiving..
This will also be our first year with fosters in the house for the "big" holidays, so that will be interesting.
Still waiting and hoping for an adoptable placement, so please keep us in your thoughts and prayers.
We are also giving consideration again to trying to find an agency thru which we can adopt an infant, just have to find one we can afford and find the money for that. If only adoption were really as "easy, quick and cheap" as it appears on tv and in movies.. *sigh*