Fun at the zoo!

Painting faces for Awana night

The finished product

She lookes cute even with a mustache and beard

Wow! Where does the time go? I can’t believe it’s been so very long since I’ve added anything here. Sebastian is finished with speech at the hospital and the speech therapist stated she has never seen a child improve so fast. We are so thankful for that. He still has a hard time with his “s” sound (uses “f” instead) but I’ve been told that the “s” sound is usually the last sound to come. So now he receives speech at school. The start to kindergarten was interesting. The first day I took him he told me “you can go now Amy”. I was crushed (but very relieved at the same time). The next day I saw the Sebastian I know: he cried and clung to me. It took a few minutes but I walked away. The following two weeks were tough as well but he stopped crying and just acted shy and clung to me. Then, two weeks ago, we started having breakfast at the school (the kids get free breakfast and lunch at school since they are state children). Now our routine is we get up at 8am, are out the door by 8:25, breakfast from 8:30 to 8:55 (I stay and visit with them), and then Sierra and I walk Sebastian to class (I help him hang his backpack and he walks in the classroom with a wave), and lastly I walk Sierra to class and leave for work. Mornings are now not so crazy, praise God!

Sierra has been doing well with counseling. She is working on verbalizing her feelings and using words instead of actions to express herself. Her norm is when she is angry, instead of saying “I’m angry at you” she does something to hurt you or make you equally angry. So… the battle continues. She is also learning that she can love Uncle Ernest without betraying her Daddy. She was quite confused on that aspect.

Another hurdle has been during visitations with Mommy and Daddy. Both children had been watching scary movies that would scare even an adult (she started talking about chainsaws cutting off heads after a visit one day). We talked to the social worker and she’s taking care of that one.

Well, we’ve been on a few adventures but I’ll have to report on it another day (with pictures!). Until then, keep praying!

Amazingly enough things are going pretty well. Sebastian started speech lessons at the hospital to help him speak better. Sierra starts counseling this week to help her deal with her anxiety/grief/confusion. Ernest and I have not had a chance to connect as husband and wife in a while since bedtime has been rough with the kids and we really have not had a break in a while. But we'll get through this I'm sure. Sierra is also in summer school to help her iwth her reading. That has been very convenient as I take her to school right before work and my dad picks her up and drops her off at my place where the babysitter watches Sebastian in the mornings. So he only ends up babysitting both for one hour.
Yesterday we took the kids to Northwest Trek. It's 400+ acres of open range for animals. They have a tram that takes one for an hour showing of the animals out in the open. The kids loved it! Then, they has some animals in cages, like a zoo, to look at. It was a long drive to get there, but very rewarding. We hope to return to Seattle in a couple weeks to go to the zoo and aquarium and possibly the science center.

I once again have gone a long time without visiting my blog. However if you knew how crazy life was for me you'd be sympathetic. Let's start here:
My job at Childcare has become quite stressful but rewarding at the same time. However I find myself hearing God's call to another season in life and am winding myself down at this organization. I plan to give my notice tomorrow (or this week sometime) and agree to stay until a new person trained. I now understand that God called me there for a short time to organize the position and bring sanity to it. I will leave with a feeling of accomplishment. And to think all that I brought to that position is a result of what I learned at Olympic. Scary, yet true ;o)
Real estate business has not picked up much, but the demands of the business I do have are quite overwhelming at this point (not only because of working two jobs, but because of the below as well). I have a house listed in Ferndale that just isn't moving at all. Hopefully soon???
Sierra and Sebastian (niece and nephew) have come to live with us for the forseeable future. My sister is heavily on drugs and desperately needs prayer support to get her back to sanity again. Being instant parents to someone else's children is so very stressful. I just hope we are making some impact in their lives.
And with so much going on, our marriage is okay but not great. I suppose that happens when children come into the picture. And when I say it isn't great, I mean we don't get very much time to talk during the week or spend time together unless we are fortunate enough to have an evening when the kids go to bed early.

With all that said, your prayer support is very much appreciated. Also advise on marriage with kids and raising kids. Email me if you have any.

Another two months has gone by and I’m finally updating this website. I can’t say much excitement has happened to report on until yesterday. Actually, until this week. First of all, the real estate business is taking off so I asked my boss at Childcare to reduce my hours. Keep in mind that I’m officially “part-time, on call” so this should not have been a problem. Well, she really does not seem to want this to be a long-term thing. In fact she was hoping I would give up my real estate business that I’ve spent a year pouring over state exams and several thousand of dollars into making happen. I informed her there was no way I was giving that up, and if anything it would be my job at Childcare since it’s a filler job anyway. I think she finally understands where my devotion lies. And actually, to tell you the truth, I wouldn’t be so opposed to leaving Childcare right now. My reasons are too long for this one blog right now, but perhaps another time. Don’t get me wrong, I really like my job still, but life is getting crazy again. Last night the kids were taken away from my sister because she was doing drugs again with the kids in the house. Ernest and I are attempting to clear out the computer room so we can have the kids here while she’s gone to drug rehab again. We’ll see how that works! We will be acting-parents. I’m sure more blogs are to come as this episode continues…

The verdict is in: I got the job! Here is how it came about:

I was leaving the Family Christian Store and decided to avoid busy Meridian Street by driving in the back past some warehouse buildings and office buildings. I noticed a sign on a corner office that read "Childcare Worldwide". That name sounded so familiar but I couldn't place it. So I thought to look it up online later. Only I forgot to look it up until two days later. I was searching on Careerbuilder.com for a networking job for Ernest when I came across a part time administrative assistant position with Childcare. I checked out their website and found they do the same kind of work that World Vision does (and I love the ministry World Vision does!). I started to get very excited that something like this existed in Bellingham. To think I could be a part in helping orphans and hungry children around the world! I pulled my resume together, wrote a cover letter (took only 1/2 an hour versus the many hours it usually takes me) and sent it off. All this couldn't be a coinsidence. A few days later I received a call for an interview. I put my very first portfolio together and went for an hour long interview. I came out of it feeling very good and still in awe that God would still direct my life in such a way even after having such a dry spell in our relationship. Yesterday (couple days after interview) I had a message on my phone to call the interviewer back. When I did this morning she offered me the job. I had been praying that God would close the door very obviously or keep it open by me getting the job according to HIS will. I can scarcely believe this is His will. What will happen next??

No word on the job yet. Had an hour interview. While I'm waiting, here's a weird picture from Christmas vacation.