Picture Perfect: Adoption Day

We had so much fun on our adoption day.  We started our day off at a local bakery down the street from the court house. It was fun to have everyone join us.

 

We were quit the crazy bunch waiting outside the court room. Six kids (two of whom were out of control hyper) and eleven adults.

It was such a fun moment when the judge said, "I grant you your adoption petition, congratulations!" and all our family cheered.

We were so thankful to be surrounded by family on our day. We treasure them and how they have accepted and loved on our children.

 

On the far left is our kids GAL. Brenda had our case since the very beginning. In the past new GAL's were assigned for the adoption case but a recent change is allowing the GAL's to also participate in the adoption. This was such a sweet surprise to us. Next is our adoption worker who got to handle piles upon piles of official caseworkers.  Our caseworker in standing next to her.  She has worked with our kids for over a year and we are thankful for the many hours of work she put in.  Our lawyer is standing next to Tony. He's a great guy and we were thankful to have him next to us that day.  Also, our judge in the background is incredible.  So much rests upon your judge and we are blessed to have such an incredible one in this county.

 

Thankful to be officially and forever FAMILY!

P.S. Yes, Big Brother is only 8 and YES he is huge for his age.

Introducing...

We are excited to introduce you to all four of our amazing blessings...

 Big Brother

Our creative, goofy 8 year old.  This kid loves math and art.  He's got a sweet heart that desires to please.  Never in the big brother role before our home, he is working hard to learn what it means.  He loves to play board games and is getting interested in all things sports.

Sweet Pea

This girl is five.  She has got an incredibly tenderhearted.  She is constantly looking for ways to serve others.  She is obsessed with all things writing and is enjoying learning how to read.  She wants to be a momma when she grows up and loves practicing her skills.

Little Man:

Silly, silly, silly is how you describe this five year old.  He loves his order and structure but is always seeking a way to make others laugh.  He loves to be a helper and you often find him right by mom or dad's side working.  He always has a book in his hands.

 Baby Girl

This five year old has earned her nickname of Jumping Bean.  She is very analytical and calculating.  She is so proud of herself when she learns a new skill.  If there is music, she is dancing.  If there is a book being read, she is listening.   

Excited to Annouce....

We are EXCITED to announce that on JANUARY 5th our family will officially become a family of SIX.  Our kids will say yes to being a Snyder and we will say yes forever to them.  It has been a long journey.  We are excited to close this chapter and begin a new one!

Happy 8th Birthday Big Brother

Dear Big Brother,

Today is your big day.  It is such a joy and privilege to watch you grow up.  I'm honored that this is the 3rd birthday I get to spend with you.

You have done and overcome so much this past year.  You have learned to succeed in the classroom.  You have discovered you are quit the Mathematician.  You have taught and played many bored games with your Grandparents, us, your siblings, babysitters (just about anybody who will sit down and play with you).  You've been part of a team.  You've finished an Awana book and then finished it again.  You've made good, close friends.  We are so proud of you for all of it.

You have quit a hill to overcome.  I know it's not going to be easy but each year you climb more then the year before!  You are going to be quit an extraordinary young man.  We are blessed that we get to be the ones to watch you do it!

I know you have many questions about your birth mom.  I feel so inadequate trying to answer all of them.  I wish I could be everything you need in a mom.  I wish I could have held you as an infant and sang to you.  Or been there in your scariest, darkest moment to reassure you everything would be okay.  Even though I wasn't there for the past, I want you to know that Dad and I are going to be here for all the exciting things in the future.  We will cheer you on through many sporting events and enjoy every concert.  We will cheer as you get your drivers license and cry when you graduate from high school.  We can't wait to spend every moment of it with you as our son.

I love you.  I hope your day is a wonderful one and I hope you have a great 8th year.

Swim Lessons

One of the things we try to do for our kids each summer is swim lessons.  It's such a great way to get our kids comfortable in the water.  Our small town pool only offers one on one lessons.  It's a bit more expensive but it's worth the individual time, especially with a good guard.

This year Sweet Pea, Big Brother, and Baby Girl each took lessons.  Sweet Pea definitely made the most difference from beginning to end.  She is becoming super comfortable in the water.  Big Brother is learning some great swimming techniques and can now swim a good length of the pool.  Baby Girl has been able to concentrate on better technique, such as focused and strong kicks.

Little Man has not taken lessons because of his ASD.  However, this kid!  He's quit the little swimmer.  He especially likes to imitate Daddy.  He will be self taught in no time and probably be the best swimmer of the four.

Baseball Season

We recently finished up our first season of sports with our kids.  I've always wanted to do a Getting Real on our views of sports, but this is not that post.  Maybe someday soon I will do that.

Sweet Pea up at bat.

Big Brother and Sweet Pea played t-ball this year.  Yes, the one base, no outs type of t-ball.  It was absolutely the perfect introduction for our family into sports.  The kids had a great coach who worked hard with them.  They were on the same team, which was also fun.  The practices took place right before the games and the games were only on Saturday.  For a busy family, this was a great way to work around our schedule.

Big Brother up at bat.

Sweet Pea in particular got a lot better through out the season.  We've also seen improvement


in Big Brother.  Next year it will be a bit more competitive for him, but it was good to have a year of the basics.

Thankful for these four ant their commitment to attend games.  By the end of the season all six grandparents where able to make it to at least one game.

We are excited to possibly have all four playing next year, although we are assuming Little Man will do so with assistance from us. 

Homeschool/Public School-A Mom's Heart Part 2

If you have read the first post for this you need to do so here.

Sweet Pea loved it!  Life got even better for me when Baby Girl was given a spot (for various reasons) by the PreK teacher.  I had my afternoons all to myself.  Awesome right?  Not so much.  Addielce's excitement lasted about two weeks.  Then she started complaining of being sick, hating school, wanting to stay home.  Lots and lots of tears (by both of us).  Her teacher and Tony and I tried what we could to pull her out of it, but it never really got better.  She hated it.  I was a devastated momma who felt like a failure again.

But God did one thing in those moments....he answered the question we had asked:  Please make it clear one way or another if she should be in this program next year.

So where are we this school year:

*Public School:  Big Brother, Little Man, and Baby Girl all attend public school (BB for a whole day, the other two for a half).  They have wonderful teachers, an amazing staff, a school disctrict that cares for them deeply.  They also get the high structure they need and are able to work on socialization skills (something they all struggle with in varing ways) in a way they can't at home.

Again, this is required, but even if it wasn't.  This would still be our choice.

*Homeschool:  Sweet Pea is home with me.  I still hear complaints (can't I just build a block tower) and sometimes wishes of going to the other kids school (I really want to play on the playground again).  She still runs to hug her old teachers (isn't it amazing she has that relationship with them) and she misses her friends.  However, homeschool is going fantastic.  Our relationship is deepening.  She is bubbling with joy.  And I am enjoying teaching her.  I can't describe the smile it brings to my face, every day.  I keep repeating to Tony how much fun we are having, he's gotten to the "uh-huh" stage of listening to that statement.

And where will we be in the future:

Well, the three in public (if we adopt them) will probably stay there, as long as we are in this district.  I couldn't ask for a better environment for them.  If we were to a move to a new district I would be ok pulling them home if I needed to.  However there are some that I would pull home before others.

Sweet Pea will be a year by year decision.  Right now I would like to keep her home next year, but we will need to do a lot of praying first.  The kindergarten teachers are just top knotch, so that makes the decision so much harder.  But she is doing so well in the home environment, that I can't imagine pulling her out of it at this point. 

My hearts in both places.  My kids are in the best places they could be right now, for themselves.  They are all thriving in their current environments but probably wouldn't be in another environment.  I'm thankful that we can do what is best for all of them.

What is your schooling choice?  Why?  Is there anything that has changed your mind throughout the years?

I did not mention private school because 1. we couldn't afford that at this time and 2. we really don't have any experience with it.  We have a great private school close, but right now that isn't an option for us.

Homeschool/Public Shool-A Mom's Heart

Please note that this post is NOT meant to argue one side or the other.  It's simple to talk about our journey to our current school situation and our thoughts for the future.

We did fine in the public schools, so our kids will do just fine.  '

That was our thinking when we got married.  In fact at one point Tony was completely against homeschooling all together.  Our parents had their reasons for sending both us and our sibs to public school.  They were great reasons, and we completely agreed with them.

Then I was pregnant or had just had Sweet Pea (I think pregnant) and I spent an evening at a godly couples house working on a project for Orphan Sunday.  She talked about her choices for school for her three girls, how her thoughts had been the same as ours.  She shared how her oldest went to Kindergarten and suddenly their world changed, they didn't like what their child was learning at school.  Their children experienced a number of different schooling options, and now they are amazing young ladies on fire for the Lord.  I wanted my kids to be like them!  The  more I read for homeschooling families, the more I liked many of the common themes (a togetherness as family, a control of teaching, more time home and less time being "busy" at school)

Fast forward to the summer before Sweet Pea would traditionally enter a Preschool (and by traditionally I mean by today's standards, the rates at which our kids go to Preschool are incredibly high compared to what they were when I was a kiddo).  We had ordered a homeschool material and were thrilled.  Soon we got a call to take in three kiddos, two would be home while I was trying to teach Sweet Pea.  This didn't phase us and we pushed forward with our plan to homeschool.

The school year rolled around and I was more then ready.  The five (turned six) year old we had taken into our home....well, he needed more structure then our everyday environment could give him.  Suddenly this homeschooling convert was begging for the school system to take her child.  PLEASE!  I felt like a complete failure.  

Side Note: We are required to send our foster kids to the public school, we have no choice.  We are also STRONGLY encouraged to send preschoolers to some sort of schooling or structured daycare.  However, even if I could have homeschooled I wouldn't have...I NEEDED him to go. 

In October Little Man entered the ECSE (Early Childhood Special Ed) program with an IEP.  In March we got asked a question I never expected: "Sweet Pea is next on our list to start PreK, talk and pray about it, let us know."  Hard question.  See in the months that had passed homeschooling was not what I expected.  Having a three year old that is all artsy, a curriculum that was so NOT, and a high needs little girl who was emotionally not handling things well...life had pretty much become a night mare.  I knew that the PreK program was creative based ant the teachers....well, let's just say we couldn't of found better ones if we have searched for them ourselves.  They were incredible!

So we said yes.  Good bye homeschooling.....find out the rest of the story next week.

Being Thankful

We are doing Awana at Home with our kids this summer and into the school year.  We absolutely love it.  There is no planning involved, very little supplies, and our kids have so much fun.  One night we talk about God is the Creator.  We talked about what we were thankful for that God made.  Then we went outside and drew it on the side walk.  I loved to see what my kids came up with.

Picture Perfect: Swim Lessons

Big Brother and Sweet Pea just recently completed swim lessons.  We are SO proud of them.  They did great and improved SO MUCH!

Picture Perfect: Snow Day

Our boys had a snow day recently.  One of our kids don't handle changes like that well.  The new schedule throws them for a complete loop.  So I decided to meet the problem head on.  I took floor tape my parents had given us and made a "town" for their cars, Little People, and buildings.  It was pretty successful.  They played for 2 1/2 hours straight, which is pretty incredible.  It didn't take away the struggle from the one child but put a cushion between them and their siblings so I could deal with it.

Keeping It Straight

Parenting kids from hard places means remember "triggers" or things that set these kids off.  We've go three kids to not only figure out but keep straight.  I know that every child is different and has different personalities but this can go much deeper then for these kids....

*Little Man needs his food cut up into little pieces in order for him to be able to handle it

BUT

*Little Man does not like things like crackers, granola bars, or banana's broken in half.

If either is done wrong then we have problems.

*Big Brother doesn't like milk......most of the time.
*Little Man likes milk....sometimes....AND when he does he gulps it.....BUT he will ask for it either way.
*Baby girl loves milk but takes forever to drink it....or anything.

*Little Man sometimes really really likes to dress himself.....BUT most days if you hand him clothes and ask him to do it sets him off and his communication plumits.

*Baby Girl is stubborn.....if you try to FORCE her into ANYTHING you will get a major fit.

*Big Brother wants to try nothing and hates you to push him but is often thrilled when he can do something on his own.

*Baby Girl HATES dresses....even if she is the one who chose to wear it.  HOWEVER, if she chooses a dress and you say no....there is a problem.  BUT if you put a dress on her that she chose she will probably have an aweful day b/c she doesn't truly want the dress....just the control.

*Big Brother can handle no more than 1 step directions.  If you try to give him more you overload him and he gets an attitude and can do NOTHING.

*Little Man is a big big helper and loves it....UNLESS you hand him something and expect him to do it on his own (rather then being YOUR helper).  Suddenly he doesn't know how to do anything.

Got it? 

GREAT.

Now can you teach me?????? 

And that's just a small glimpse into our daily lives.

Picture Perfect: A Walk

This is how we roll......

Sorry it's so blurry.  You ask the kids to look at you and they refuse and you ask them not too and they refuse.

Picture Perfect: School

Last Wednesday we sent Big Brother off to school.  He seems to be doing really well with it.

Happy Birthday

Sometimes I wait for the "perfect" picture to write a post and never get it.  Add to it the fact that most of us where sick last week and the fact that adding pictures of our foster kids that are with in guidelines is really hard.  That is why this post is SO late. 

Last Thursday we have the privilege of becoming parents (for the first time ever) to a six year old.  Big Brother turned six in our care.  We invited the grandparents to a local splash pad/park to celebrate on Saturday.  It was incredible feeling to know that they cared enough to make that long trip and give up another Saturday two weekends in a row. 

There is a sweet quirkiness to this little boy.  He was thrust into being a Big Brother and over all is handling it really well.  He is super excited about school and has a desire to learn.

Every Morning

This is what we do every morning.....run out to the porch and give Daddy a BIG send off!  We all love it.

God Made EVERYTHING!

I got to have a fun conversation with Big Brother today....

BB: "Did God REALLY make _______?"
Me: "Yes He did."
BB: "And ______?"
Me: "Yes He did."
BB: "Did He make EVERYTHING?"
Me: Yes He did!!"

CRAZY

In today's society families of six reach the "WOW" level.  Four kids within 3 years....well, that's a bit overboard.  And taking on 3 extra children at once....CRAZY. 

Are we crazy?  I know a lot of people think we are.  We've even been told that "we DID pray for this....and you're going to get what you prayed for."

Yes, we are crazy.  Life is crazy.  But we are NOT sorry for it.  Jesus was considered radical by the Jews.  It was blasphemy to claim to be the Son of God.  Obedience to God often calls for us as believers to be RADICAL. 

Yes, we did pray for this.  Yes, we did want this.  Let me set the record straight right now......NO we do not regret this.  NO we are not wishing we wouldn't of said yes.  When we agreed to take a license of three it is because we felt God wanted us to take three....and we wanted it because God wanted it.

I look at these three kids and I think "which one do people want me to give up and give back?"  We already said no to other siblings.  We would have either of taken the twins or taken Big Brother.  Big Brother would not be doing well on his own.  Addilece would not be doing well with just the twins.  These kids NEED each other.

When you are standing in the center of God's will crazy doesn't matter.  God has filled our hearts with a deep joy.  We get up smiling every morning and go to bed thinking, why God did you choose us to love these children.  It is such a PRIVILEGE! 

We don't mind being the crazy family.  We don't mind that God chose to shower us with exactly what we asked for.  We are filled with Him and that is all that matters!

Update

I just want to let everyone know that yes, we are still alive.  Yes, we are surviving (barely).  And yes, our house is still standing (but rather MESSY). 

There are a million stories I want to tell.  But I can't.  These kids need their privicacy and the government demands confidentiality. 

Not a day goes by that my heart doesn't break into a million and one pieces for these kids, such as today when Big Brother got his first page of pj's.....ever.  They've had a tough life.

We get to take a front row seat to watch God work miracles.  And miracles are happening.  It's incredible.

I'm tired, my body hurts, toys are being broken, I LONG for bed time each day....but my heart is filled with deep joy, knowing that I am right were God wants me .....WE are right were God wants us!!!

Hello, Goodbye

On the 4th we said "Goodbye" to our guy.  Everybody was a bit suprised he went home SO soon. 

We know why he did though......

Because we needed to say, "Hello" to three littles. 

On the 9th or 10th around midnight we opened up our home to three beautiful and amazing children.  They are also FULL and overflowing with ENERGY.  When people ask how I'm doing I typically respond, "I'm alive and my house is still standing."  (We weren't quit sure that the house would make it through the first day.)

So we are now the parents of a 5 year old (Big Brother), our little 2 year old Sweat Pea (Addilece), and twin 2 year olds (Little Man and Baby Girl).  By October we will have a 6 year old and three 3 year olds.  We are ready for a WILD ride!!!