8 Years Old / Fostering

******  The twins are 8 years old. ********

We had a surprise party early. Steve took them out in the afternoon and Bri and I quick made the cake and got supper ready. Their little friends arrived before they did and everyone met them at the door singing happy birthday. It was good. Normally we have a little family celebration... but somehow the twins never even considered that. They were inviting everybody they met on the street to their birthday party, so we went ahead and invited two brother sister sets that they are close to from church: Grace and Peyton, Jared and Joyanna. They played piggly wiggly and a dozen other games that Christina planned and guided.

It was pretty exciting to get an envelope full of cards from the cousins in Africa!

I've had a lot of emails from Bio mom the last two weeks. With the kids birthday looming up I think she was struggling to grapple with everything all over again. I really can't imagine. She would have loved to call them on their birthday... but I can't give her my phone number yet. We do the email and she emails often, often.... This past week it has been nearly every day - which is fine. I don't mind that, but we can't deal with that on the phone right now.  About once a month I send a picture, I never thought I would do that, but it's so easy on the iphone. I snap the pic with the phone and send with the phone. She bought little gifts for the kids for Christmas, but never sent them... then she planned to send them for their birthday, but still hasn't. Money is always an issue. The gifts are small, match box cars and beads. Mailing costs. None of this is in the agreement, but I have tried to put myself in her shoes and gave her our post office box address and an email address.

So, speaking of bio moms...

On the little the Buddy, you wouldn't believe how often people ask "is there any way you can keep that little guy?" Yes, he's that cute! Yes, he's that sweet, but I have to screw my jaw tight lest it fall agape in surprise. He's not mine. He's not mine to covet. He has a mommy and a daddy and a brother and a sister. They are a family struggling. I can't wish to take him away from them forever. I can do my part to help them and I can love him and give him the care he needs right now, but I don't believe it right to ever think in terms of "mine". Not unless or until the parents give up and lose hope... I truly pray that doesn't happen to them.

I bought a little notebook to keep in the diaper bag. I have been writing the cute things the Buddy does and and is learning, and anything else I think his mom and dad would like to know about him. I wrote that we were praying for the family. On his visits they can read - and I invited them to write questions or comments in it as well. We were pretty excited that his mom wrote in it yesterday. She wrote thankful words, but also had a couple of questions on his food and a concern about his diaper rash. That gives me something to respond to. I'm hoping to build a positive relationship. So far we haven't met them. We have met the other children ad the grandma. I'll have photos printed up for them this week.

The macbook is working fine... the issue was the cord. The buddy pulled on it and stuck it in his mouth... it's working now.  The pcs are dead. Even the new one, pretty much. We are leaning towards ipads for the kids. None of the printers are compatible with anything... So, no scanner and no printer here. When one is accustomed to being "set-up" it's like going back to the dark ages. Two kids in college, one high school, all of us with church offices and nothing to work with. Fun :-) I will try to find the cord to the camera to download pictures on this computer again. The card readers were on the PC equipment.