Week One.

"Week One".

That's a good title for the first week of January AND the first week with our little foster princesses.

This New Year's was nice and low-key for us. Well, as low-key as things can be when you have two guests in your house on top of the three other kids you have. ;) We don't normally do anything for New Year's Eve anyway, and since New Year's Day was a "church day" for us, we went to bed at a normal time and got a good nine hours of sleep. Some might say "boring"; we say "bliss". Going to bed early and getting a lot of sleep = bliss.

Also, this year I made NO resolutions. What's the point? I always start out with good intentions in my resolutions, but I always end up giving up (or forgetting about them) after only a month or two. In many ways, it really is just another day. But on the other hand, I also love that feeling of getting a fresh start, a do-over per say. This year I'm looking to simplify my life in many ways (don't laugh -- it really is possible to simplify even with a house full of kids), so I just decided to go with the idea of picking a word for 2012. And instead of picking a word that is a bit more me-centered like I've done in the past, this year I picked the simplest of desires of my heart, to be "willing".

No more telling God what I want, no more telling God how I think things might work the best, no more asking God for stuff. I truly just want to be "willing" -- willing to follow what He wants me to do. 2011 didn't exactly turn out the way my husband and I wanted it to (although yes, we got two added blessings in our two new sons), but despite the things we went through, we are happier folk because of what we went through. And we definitely learned that letting go of all of those things we try so hard to control in life didn't end up making us miserable like we thought it would, but instead freed us and just added to our happiness and faith in God.

So there you have it. May the year 2012 bring out my most willing heart to be a woman for Him and not for this world.

As for how "week one" has gone with the girls, things are going better than expected. Their transition was much easier than I anticipated, probably due to the fact that at this point they are used to being moved around a lot and it's kind of their reality, bless their little hearts. I found a daycare with spots for both of them and they started yesterday. For gals who'd never been to daycare previously, they did fantastic! Their teachers gushed over how sweet and polite they are, and we couldn't be more proud. And I'm not going to lie -- while I'm at work, it's so nice to have some moments of quiet and adult conversation while they are being taken care of.

Overall we're settling back into a normal routine for us, and the girls are fitting right in. I haven't really changed the way I run my household, and I think that's been the best way (at least for me) to work this out. They're quickly learning all of our "house rules", and it's just life as usual, with two extra little people.

There are times I look at them and can't imagine the day when they will more than likely be moved out of our home. There are times I think my heart will break into a million pieces if they are. And there are times where I think, no, it will all be okay, and then we'll probably get one or two more little people who need a safe place to land and we'll probably love them just as much while we have them. I guess I won't really know how heartbreaking it might be until we cross those milestones, but I guess I'm also learning with this process to simply take it one day at a time and not worry about the next day. Right now my husband and I are looking at it as kind of a "grandparent" type of thing -- you know, how grandparents get to love on them for a little while and then send them back, haha, one of the perks of being a grandparent. It's also a good lesson in patience dealing with the state, and I'm learning to be consistent (read: borderline annoying) and make things happen, you know, to be the squeaky wheel when I need to. It's not only our responsibility to take care of these little ones and shower them with love, but it is also our privilege to be an advocate for them.

So that's our first week in a nutshell. I promise to return with more crafty posts at some point. Believe it or not, I actually squeezed in quite a bit of sewing in the last two weeks, but I need to download my pictures to share.

Oh yeah, and we had a snake in our bathroom. That will make any first week of the year quite exciting, don't you think?!

In the nick of time...

I'm posting the last post of 2011.

And I know it's been a bit lame around here with the lack of posting, but it's been mainly for lack o' time.

Just to keep you updated, my latest little "surprise" with my family is the fact that we are now a foster family. And we picked up our first two little "guests" this week, so we've all been adjusting to a "new normal". They are unbelievably cute -- two sisters, one a toddler and one a preschooler. I can already tell you my heart will break into a million little pieces when they leave us, whenever that may be. But I knew this going into it -- I have to be prepared that my heart will break each and every time, but that's okay. My job is simply to love on these little people and give them a safe place to land and thrive while I have them. Our state is in desperate need of more foster families, and it breaks my heart to think of how many more there are waiting to find a safe place to call home, even if it's just for a little while.

I wish I could post pictures, but I can't show you their little faces, so you'll just have to picture two darling little girls. ;)

2011 was good to us. We went from one son to three, and now we've gone from three to five children who call us Mama and Papa. 2011 was very good for stepping out of our comfort zone, getting out of a more self-centered world into one where we are focusing much more on others. I never thought this is where I would be in life, but I also can't think of a time when I've been any happier. And I'm learning a little more every day that the more I give up to God and hand over the death grip of control I've tried to have on my life, the more He is able to show me such amazing things and allow me to be a part of what He is doing in the world.

Here's wishing you a very Happy New Year.

You need this music.

I have a very talented fellow associate who used to work at Anthropologie with me.

She's a gorgeous girl, both on the outside as well as the inside. And she just happens to be a skilled violinist that plays in the band, Gungor. Hello, they're kinda famous...

I recently found out via Facebook that she was part of a new Christmas project, another gorgeous offering from those talented Gungor folk.



There don't seem to be any videos on YouTube that I can show you, but you can click here to listen to snippets of the amazingly beautiful Christmas tunes yourself. It's almost like standing out in a beautiful field at midnight with snow falling down and songs of Jesus filling the sky. Really.

Check it.

Holiday SOS.

This isn't really an SOS.

But I kinda feel like my posts have been so sporadic that it's almost like I'm sending out an SOS now and then...

"still alive"

"send help"

"send chocolate"

You know, that sort of thing, haha.

But, of course, it's the same old shenanigans --

we're crazy busy.
It's the holidays.
I have three boys to keep up with. (Yes, sometimes that reality check still hits me like a ton of bricks!)
I'm a pianist: at Christmastime I am crazy busy with extra rehearsals and performances, pretty much every night.
Oh, and I started a new job.
I now work an average of 25-30 hours a week.
There's a big change for ya'!

I am now an "Artist in Residence" for our local public school system. (I prefer the title "Arteeeeeest" if you happen to run into me, haha.) Translation: I am a pianist for the vocal music and dance programs at a high school. I should probably clarify that this is an inner city high school. Stress on the "inner city" part of that sentence, yo'.

So far I love it. But what an eye-opener. It is as inner city as inner city gets. Let's just say I might stick out like Little Bo Peep walking the halls, and those halls are more like that Michelle Pfeiffer movie, "Dangerous Minds" (remember that one?), or that TV show on Fox several years back, "Boston Public". Yep, more like that.

But like I said, I love it. I love when they say "hey, Miz Fischer" to me in the halls, I love when they really actually try to sing and glory, hallelujah, what comes out of their mouths is nothing short of heavenly, and I love that I'm (hopefully) making a difference in their lives. Because most of us just can't imagine living in their reality, and that's the truth. Hopefully I am part of the bright spot in their days because they are becoming a part of mine.

And in the meanwhile, we have a few other tricks up our sleeve as a family that we're just waiting on. As if we need more excitement 'round these parts, right? ;)

So what's new in your neck of the woods? I hope you're enjoying a wonderful holiday season so far, and if you're like me, trying to remember to focus on the real meaning of Christmas -- the amazing gift of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Happy December!

Random awesomeness...

...so you know I'm still alive, haha.

Have you seen this?



Pure voices mixed with empty plastic containers. Awesome.

Three little spooks

Before I forget, here is a glimpse into the magical first Halloween we had together as a family of five...




I had no choice but to come up with something halfway awesome for my three Lego-loving little guys, so I made two Lego bricks and a Lego Darth Vader costume (their ideas). They were pretty excited!

*Please, if you want to borrow my image to share the awesome Lego love with others, please please ask my permission in the comments and also source it back to my blog. I'm no professional, but after hours and hours slaving away on these things, I'd say I might deserve a little credit. Thanks...

We've got it all.

I think Oklahoma needs to change it's tourism marketing plan to something like this:

We've got it all here in Oklahoma!



Blizzards? We've got 'em!

Below-zero temperatures? We've got 'em!

Tornados? We've got 'em!

Floods? We've got 'em!

Hurricanes? (technically we can get the remnants of those, too) We've got 'em!

Over 100-degree temperatures for billions of days on end? We've got 'em!

Droughts? We've got 'em!

And now add to the mix...

Scary earthquakes?

We've got 'em!

I'm just waiting for the "tsunami zone" signs to go up somewhere so we can technically say we've got all of Mother Nature's fury covered -- surely our lakes could get a small tsunami going, haha.

Sheesh.

I felt the earthquake we had last October (2010) which was a 4-point-something. I slept through the next 4-point-something that happened yesterday morning around 2am. But darn-it-all-to-heck if I wasn't WIDE AWAKE for last night's fun, a 5.6 scary ride. Our house shook for at least 20 seconds. We were laying in bed, jumped up, ran down the stairs, and when I thought it was mostly over, I sat down on the sofa only to find my sofa was still shaking for probably another 5 seconds or so. I'm pretty sure I'll be shaking for weeks.

Not cool, people, not cool. Tornados usually give a little warning, and there are places you can seek shelter. Temperatures, high or low, I can deal with. Floods again usually give a little warning so you can evacuate. But earthquakes? What the heck?! There is no warning system and not really much you can do.

And here I'm guessing most people thought Oklahoma must be a boring place to live. I personally would prefer that it be a little less exciting, please...