Off to Work I GO...

Here is Mark's work in progress. Moving a bit slow due to not feeling well.

Here is one of my works in progress. Finally got done with the patching stage, now applying the Kilz and will soon paint color.

Please view my Hope & Dreams blog for a few recent posts that will hopefully give encouragement.

A Better Day

Today was a much better day at the Little Blue Cottage. We all worked on the house together. Then in the evening we got ready to go to the family Halloween party at my brother's house and celebrate Grandpa's birthday. The boys and I got dressed up in our costumes (as seen above). I remember last year this time I was feeling so sick after the reconnection of my bowel and having had the ileus that I did not dress up or go to the party. This year I was healthy enough to have fun with my boys and for that I praise God.

The Good, Bad and the Ugly

Okay, one of the best parts of my day was meeting my new physical therapist. I really like her! She set me at ease right away and I actually feel excited about working with her. She did an evaluation today. I am going to be seeing her once a week for the next two months. I am hopeful that this will help me get past the issues I have with my tummy.

As far as our progress toward putting the house up for sale, well it was not a very good day for that, but that's okay. The boys had the day off from school. Mark decided to stay home from work to try and get some work done on the house and employ the boys in his efforts. He also was not feeling well and so was a tad grumpy. We have not been seeing eye to eye on some issues. He has put so much pressure on himself to get the house on the market. Anyway, words were said. After I made lunch for him and we prayed, he softened up a bit. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.

A Calm Day

Today I woke up with a cold so I did not do any heavy work. My cold is pretty light compared with that flu I had, even so I had to take a couple of naps. I took some pictures and thought I would share them with you all. Above is one of my kitty Dusty in our sunroom looking out at a beautiful fall day here in Southern California.

Here is my "Autumn Time" basket. I finally got it out from storage. Brandon commented how it made him feel warm and cozy.

I've been going through all our stuff here at the cottage. Years of memories. Maybe these look sort of disgusting, considering that it is very old Play-doh. These are jars that Eric made when he was little. As you might guess I am a sentimental pack rat. Oh well, one is a tomato and the other almost resembles a green pepper. I took a picture of them just in case I decide that it is time to toss them.

Feeling Topsy Turvy

Hello everyone, thank you so much for your prayers on our behalf!! I am very blessed by your caring comments.

I have been working hard the past two days, going through things, cleaning and making repairs. Also trying to keep up with the daily chores and errands. I am overwhelmed. Mark called our realtor and had him come by the house Monday night. Mark has ants in his pants and wanted to sign papers to list the house. The realtor asked how long we wanted to wait before going public with our listing. I said two weeks, but Mark said 1 week! Sigh. After the realtor left I was pretty upset, but amazingly my stomach calmed down. That sure was a welcome relief! Tonight it is back to hurting, but not as bad as it was.

This morning the termite man came by for an inspection. Thankfully, there is only a little problem and easily taken care of. Whew! Out of the blue, Mark applied for a job here in California today. He says he does not expect much to come of it. Still, he did it! Oh, and his Mom had knee replacement surgery on Monday. Mark has been worried about her.

After school today Brandon told me that his gym shorts were stolen. Sigh. Eric has come down with a cold, which Brandon and I are coming down with it tonight. I heard that it is going around at the school. If it gets bad, I would like Mark to postpone the listing going public till we get better.

I am listening to the train whistle blowing and the engine chugging along. The winds have picked up and I can hear my windchimes chiming every so often. The air is chilly tonight and I have a cup of hot tea waiting for me. I bid you a good night and blessings to all!

Been Working & Havin Tummy Aches

Hello all, went to a birthday party for my two nieces on Saturday. I do not know how my sister managed it, but both her girls were born in October. We went skating at the roller rink and then had lunch with cake afterward. Everyone had a wonderful time, but talking about our upcoming move was sad. The reality of leaving family behind is heartbreaking.

This afternoon I was reading on a website about staging a house to sell. I got some good tips. It said to disassociate myself with my house. So the Little Blue Cottage is no longer my home it is just a house. Sniff. But the Lord gave me this verse, Psalm 119:37 "Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things, and revive me in Your way." This verse really spoke to me. After all, my beloved cottage is just an earthly dwelling. The Lord is seeking to loosen my grip on earthly things causing me to grow closer to Him. Thinking on this, I realize this is a pretty awesome thing! Okay, back to the tips, I have to de-personalize, which means taking down family photos. Then I have to de-clutter to create a sense of spaciousness. We are also making some small repairs right now. Here below is a picture of my powder room this past spring and then a current one.

This is the powder room with a wallpaper border.

And this is the powder room now with the border ripped off and patching. The border was peeling away in spots. I am going to paint where the border was and then paint the base board white. I am hoping that this bit of work will help my tiny powder room feel more spacious.

I hear my wind chimes ringing; that means the Santa Ana winds are blowing. I checked the weather in Denver, Colorado; they are expecting snow showers. Having lived in California all my life I don't know what snow showers are. Will I prefer snow showers to Santa Ana Winds? Hmm. In other news my tummy has been acting up real bad. It is not fun to eat right now. I only had two meals today and they were not that big. I hate it when it gets like this! We will see what the physical therapist says this coming Friday.

My Sons

This is my favorite picture on a Christmas morning. Hello all, for some reason I feel compelled to write about my sons. I have attempted to write about parenting my boys a few times before, only to delete the post. When I could not have children of my own I turned to adoption. Mark and I prayed and we both felt strongly lead to adopt from the county Social Services Agency that I had worked for. One of my jobs was to type the roster for the children's home and I even visited it a few times. Children in the county system have issues; some are born addicted to drugs, some have behavior issues, and others have development problems, etc.

Mark and I went through training to be foster parents and waited for a match. However, nothing can fully prepare you for what you are getting in to. Our day finally came and we received two special needs children into our home. Both of our boys have RAD (Reactive Attachment Disorder) which is no piece of cake to deal with. I knew I did not have what it takes to parent these boys and told the Lord so. It was in obedience to Him that I stepped out and told the social worker I would adopt them.

The thing about RAD children is they are defiant regardless of consequences. They can easily take on the victim role. This makes parenting difficult. Have you held a small child in your arms only to have them spit in your face? Or kick you in the back of your head? Even so, the Lord blessed me and I have develop an attachment with both of my boys. My parenting is backwards from normal though. RAD children tend to be destructive to themselves. As a result I have given my children good things regardless of their behavior. I know this sounds very odd, but I tell them that I am doing it because I love them. It is based on me, not on them. I let them know they do not deserve it because of their behavior, but because I love them. This has healed some wounds.

We knew of another couple that took in a foster girl with RAD and wanted to adopt her. They loved her and worked with her. They took the opposite parenting technique from us. Discipline was heavy at their house. They said they were standing on God's principles and the child needed to conform. The girl never saw the point of it and she felt victimized and unloved. The relationship grew hostile, till one day the girl ran away. She was picked up by Social Services and she told her social worker that she did not want to return to her foster parents. She said they were mean and she hated them. The couple was heart broken. They repeatedly tried to re-establish contact with her, but the girl refused it.

My boys are good boys, they do not smoke, drink or do drugs. They do not slip out at night. We are blessed that they actually enjoy spending time with us. Often times I get discouraged, hurt, impatient, or worn down by their defiant behaviors as any normal parent does. When I do I try to think about the Lord and how He has been so loving and kind to me even when I have not responded the way I should. This helps me to continue to pursue patience with my sons. There are times when my sons do obey my direction and these are huge accomplishments, but then they backslide and ground must be regained. Some areas are untouchable it seems, behaviors are not easily parted with and remain a Rubik's cube.

When I had my near death experience in 2007, the Lord made it very clear to me that I was healed from sepsis to continue on with my work with the sons He gave me. I was impressed with the knowledge that the Lord deems my work important. So I continue to be here for my sons as the Lord has directed. Rebels that they are, I encourage them to rebel for the right reasons not the wrong ones. If you feel led of the Lord, please say a prayer for my sons, that they would give their full heart to Jesus and trust Him. Thank you!