I attended the funeral of my very last great-uncle. He is the last of the generation on both of my parent's sides.
He lived a full, rich, vibrant life. He was the life of the party, he loved the Lord, his grandson wrote a beautiful letter of eulogy to him, and truly, truly.... is there anything more precious than a life well lived?
Randell Drake officiated his funeral, (and though he will forever be "Randy" to me) he brought us so much comfort with his words.
As he spoke today, I envisioned the homecoming waiting for me, when I finally take my last breath on this earth.... so MANY people I loved have gone home, and for me, what a day of beautiful homecoming it will be.
My dad, waiting there with Laynie. My grandma and grandpa standing there with big ole smiles on their faces..... and my Austin...no doubt jacking with Junior, who is there with them today.
I do not fear death, whatsoever. I know my future, I know my Jesus, I know my hope.
Can you say that?
Do you have a relationship with Jesus? Do you count on Him and lean on Him, and have a fluid, ongoing relationship?
If I didn't have that relationship, there is NO WAY I could do what I am doing now.
I drove up today, BEAUTIFUL DAY outside and my mamas in the houses across the street were outside visiting with a million kids running at their feet. I drove in, walked in the house and closed the garage door. I WAS FULLY INTENDING to go out the front door and go out and talk to them, and they LET ME HAVE IT, because you DO NOT disrepect the mamas in the yard by driving by....and to prove the point, a mom drove up, put it in park, walked to the yard and proceeded to talk us up.
I AM IN LOVE WITH THIS PLACE. The parent support, the crazy, dorky kids......it all works.
Kristan, my across the street neighbor, is about to burst with her second bio baby. She will be delivering by c-section on Monday. Not only has she got one other kid of her own, she has like 6 more (boys and 1 baby girl) she has adopted with her even crazier husband, Drew. I told her in her baby shower card, that I am the "Baby Whisperer" and she is so lucky she has me across the street, because she better be having me on speed dial to come over and help her, because that is MY JAM.
Besides the TWO NEW KIDS I am getting Monday should be good and fitting in by WED of next week when she gets home. :)
Yep, 2 more. A boy 8 years and a girl, 7 years. They are Blindian, which will go great with my lil Blasians.
Siblings. Be in prayer.
So, that's what I'm doing with my dash. It's full of community, and laughter, and kids and heartache, and honesty and weirdness and seriously, I don't think I would want it any other way.
I adore these folks out here, and I am sincerely, truly part of a community of weirdos, JUST LIKE ME.
I Am Loving My Dash.
Love Your dash. Don't sprint with laser focus to the next thing coming without regard for the day you are in.
Be thankful in all things. SLOW DOWN. REALLY BREATHE ....
After the debacle that was Friday, it was very quiet at the ranch on the weekend. Princess was on house arrest, and that didn't set well with her.
Attitude worsened over the weekend, compounded with multiple lies and various drama episodes.
Come to find out, everything I blogged about last time was total fodder. Total made up fodder. I found out the real reason for in school suspension, and seriously, it made me so sick, I'm not even going to share it.
I'm not going to lie, last night I was about to pack all our stuff and move straight back to Norman.
But, with the advent of a new day, and a quick call to the caseworker, things are going to turn around.
After much consideration, "Annie" is leaving our care.
Some kids are too wounded, too hardened, too far gone to receive care. I remember the kid's big sister and remember how she had "seen the world" and no amount of care or help would sway her to change her ways.
Same sad scenario here.
So tonight, we are sitting in the house, her stuff packed, waiting on her social worker to get here to take her to her next destination.
Praying she will find peace somewhere.
I have three vietnamese children that carry my name, that are my top priority, and an entire ranch of kids that come first in my mind. When the ecosystem goes to tilting, it's time to find out what has changed to cause the tilt.
Yeah, I watched the Magic School Bus with Deaton on Saturday and that was the message.
I'm cool that way.
So, I'm at peace, the kids are at peace, and hopefully this little girl will find the peace she is seeking.
I remember Pastor Craig's sermon about when you are trying to do the right thing, how the enemy will do EVERYTHING in his power to seek out and destroy your intentions.
Predictable resistance.
I'm in the middle of a crap storm full of it.
First of all, I know WITHOUT a shadow of a DOUBT I am suppose to be here. Every door opened, my heart is in it, it's all good.
THE ONLY and I repeat ONLY thing that gave me heartburn about moving, was leaving my mom. The stubborn turd will not budge from her little nest in Norman, and no amount of wheedling, cajoling and downright meanness is going to move her. And it's not like I moved her over there and abandoned her, but man the enemy knows my heart and is using everything to make me feel like crap.
First off, she got sick. Not a tiny bit sick, but a full blown sick as a mule, sick. Then she fell. Then her eardrum burst. Then her heart had arrhythmia. This all couldn't happen during the 10 years we were neighbors....it all had to happen the WEEK I moved an hour away.
So there's that.
Then my job is at it's all time slowest E V E R. No sales AT ALL. Anywhere. Everything fell through like dominos this month.
But I had to come to terms with my financial situation A LONG time ago.. (feast or famine) and I know, I know, I know that God will provide our needs. I KNOW and believe. (In showing me, he sent me a new fridge and a friend that bought our groceries) It's just humbling to see. So even in saying all that.....I will NOT worry.
But that devil.
If that's not enough, he's attacking my newest kid. She's been in his pocket for her whole life. No boundaries, no rules, no adults telling her what to do, her just running her own little one woman show.
So imagine my surprise, when after driving the boys to Norman for various doc appointments, and scheduling Annie a dental appointment so CLOSE, that the whole morning had me cursing my scheduling technique, feeling pretty happy I had a whole 3 minutes to spare getting Annie and heading her to dentist, when in talking with the counselor and setting an appointment to talk with her next week about the newest princess and her learning prowess, the secretary gives me the "side eye" and says, "Oh I believe your kid is the one that was in the "infraction" this morning."
Oh, really.
Well, three minutes clearly isn't going to be enough time for this.
My phone buzzes in my hand AT THAT VERY SECOND with a phone call from the vice principal.
Seems like my perfect angel called a big bully a f'ing fatty, and didn't take his crap. Made him cry. Teacher told her it was the first time anyone has stood up to him, but ........geez......did it have to be you, shortcake?
So, 3 days in school suspension later....we are heading to dentist.
Now I'm sitting in the car with my Juvenile Delinquent, who is chatting me up, thinking she has missed a bullet?
I'm pretty sure, she didn't know what hit her. This mama ain't playing.
No one puts me in the principal's office.
Ever.
So, we have a new understanding, and a new respect for rules. And choices. And what it's going to take to hang with the vietnamese and their mama.
I was cleaning the kitchen after supper, and Steven saw me in there and I guess I looked like I had to shoot my best horse, because he came up and said, with his arms open wide, "Bring it in Lolly, get you some Asian love" and proceeded to hug the crap out of me.
You win, You lose.
I guess upside is it took 5 whole days before we got in school suspension.
The first few days of fostering are an emotional rollercoaster.
Wins and losses.
You know what you have to offer the new kid, staring at you, the stranger.
They've never known peace, security, home... in their lives.
They rule in chaos. They thrive in chaos. They live in chaos.
So when you dump them out of the chaos, into a .....boring....quiet....life....their chaos nature rears it's ugly head and demands they cause some chaos.
They don't even know they are doing it, it is just second nature to them.
The balancing act for a foster parent is setting the guidelines, laying down the law, but doing it in a way that it doesn't feel like a hard ass.
You may not know this about me, but I'm typically a hard ass.
However, this is a new balancing act for me. I need this kid to like me and want to be here. There is no way to exact change in her life without some trust built in me.
I got trust from Gina day 2 when I delivered Steven to her. The trust started building then and I got some equity immediately.
This kid doesn't know me from Adam. She knows I make a mean spaghetti, drive too fast and multi task like a beast. That's all she's seen.
I need prayers for her heart, and her choices and her peace.
They call the first weeks of foster care a "Honeymoon" period. Kids on best behavior, everything new, fresh, exciting.
When "Annie" came home with me on Friday, totally on a "Trial Run" situation, we had driven about 10 minutes and she informed me that she was "ok with staying with me". I was very cool, shook my head "Sure" at her, and told her, "Let's see how you like my kids and the ranch".
Duh, No brainer.
She and Gina bonded like glue.
Steven and Zachary love her because she is as short as they are.
Our vietnamese household just got invaded by a WHITE GIRL.
This little lady is something else. Not "Lovely" caliber something else, (Ooh those first days!!) but a smart talking, busy little bee. She hung with us yesterday, as we met Bill Junk at Lowe's and picked out our fridge, then ran Gina all over Norman, getting ready for her semi and look how gorgeous she looked
Just slap my face and call me Liza. When did this little girl bloom into this beautifulness???
Anyway, it was a FULL day of running and meeting grammie, and watching basketball and hanging with the vietnamese and their lols.
As we were driving home, she asked me, "How long does it take to get home?" and I told her, and then she said under her breath, "Wow, I've never been able to say that before".
Well just slap my face and call me Shirley.
This kid has basically couch surfed her whole life. She doesn't know movies, homecooked food, veggin' in front of the tv or trusting an adult whatsoever.
Her hair was pretty tragic (she's been in the shelter since end of October, mind you...it's tough to place teens), so one of the moms out here at the ranch (Memory, how I adore this crazy lady already) is a barber, and she hooked my little gal up with a brand new do.
Her case worker called her on our walk back from Memory's house post haircut, and before her worker could get a word out, she blurted, "Can you bring my stuff, because I'm going to stay here" and handed me the phone and ran for the kids, playing basketball down the street.
Here we go, friends. Gina sat her down this evening, and told her "Since you are staying, just know that ALL the boys on the ranch are your BROTHERS, and NOT your boyfriends, and that when people offer you WEED at school, you tell them to go take a hike and find some Jesus".
OMG I love that kid.
I told "Annie" that she was standing at a crossroads today. She could continue the path she was on, and pick bad friends, and make bad decisions, or she could lean into this new path being given to her. She can start fresh, and be whoever she wants to be. She's not a label, she can start fresh and she will have a support team in her corner. She sat by me in church today, and laid her head on my shoulder (She may have been sleeping, but I prefer to think she was trying to bond), and I feel very hopeful for this little gal.
Just keep praying for us, because it's going to be an interesting week.
Oh my goodness, the things I'm still learning.....
She is 13 yrs old. Street smart as HECK. And white as the driven snow.
When I asked the caseworker what race she was, she replied, "White?!" to my, "Ooh, I don't know if I can handle a white girl."
She stared at me for about 4.5 seconds and just bust out laughing.
"Didn't you raise like 3 of them??"
Oh, yeah.
So, they are in the front room. I think all sitting on the couch together. Bundled up in blankets, scrolling through Netflix, arguing over movies.
She was only supposed to come over and see if she liked us.
10 minutes in, on the drive home, she said, "I think I'm going to want to stay"... I'm all (shaking inside), "Cool." (I'm such the wordsmith)
I told her, "Let's go home and see how you like it".
10 minutes after meeting the kids, "Do you think you could call my caseworker and have her bring me the rest of my stuff?"
Sure, hot stuff. Life's about to be a WHOLE lot different for you.
We are pumped.
But let's back up to earlier in the day.
I have a friend from HS that heads a foundation and he's been following me for awhile. He emailed me a bit back and said, "Send me a list of some things you need". I put some serious thought into it, and said, "Like lamps and stuff?" His reply, "Seriously, what do you need?"
So today I shot off an email with a wish list of three items. All different prices, different levels, so he could choose ONE.
I told him that I knew zero crap about riding lawnmowers, but I was pretty sure I was going to have to have one, because this yard is freak big. Then I told him about my 15 year old crap refrigerator, and how Lowe's has them 30% off now. Lastly, I threw out a play set in the backyard for the kids in the lower region of $, because I'm all about the "Budget" in this house.
About 15 minutes after he received the email, he gives me a call and proceeds to tell me to head to
Lowe's and get a fridge and a mower, and that he will send me a walmart gift card for the other things.
Well slap my face and call me Shirley.
I told him I DIDN"T ASK FOR THREE THINGS TO GET THREE THINGS and he was all nonchalant, "Well that's why you are getting them".
WHAT? ! THE! ? WHAT ! ? A HUGE, overwhelming and FALL ON THE FLOOR thank you to Bill Junk at the United Methodist Foundation for this beyond amazing gift. Methodists have just taken a lead as my most favorite church. :)
So, that happened today.
God.
Never.
Fails.
Ever.
Thankful for my squad. Your prayers and faith in me, make all this stuff possible.
I do believe they are the only Asian children in the school system, due to all the other kids mistaking them for
-Indian (hmmm) or even better
-Mexican. (do what?)
Gina thinks it's funny and Steven wants to change his name to Jose Jackson and just roll with it.
Anyhoo, we are adapting. I still haven't slept a full night's sleep because of all my anxiety (self induced, for sure). Sales at work, would be nice this month (very slow in coming, but I have 8 more selling days and one good one can change the tide) and when I sell my house, I won't have double bills and that will be nice.
But mainly, I'm praying and anticipating my new kids.
We are having our first overnight guest this weekend to let HER (A GIRL, WHAT?) decide if we will work for her. :)
I've been praying for this little girl since before Christmas. I didn't have a bed and in the middle of the move, I didn't want to disrupt her apple cart anymore than it already was, so she is coming on Friday and spending the weekend. If we pass her test, she will probably just be here with us, until it's time for her next chapter.
Since I can't call her by her real name, I'm going to call her "Annie" not that's she's an Orphan, but I just like it because of Anne with an E on Netflix. :) I'm weird that way...because "Lovely and LB and BB" are forever taken.
So I would ask for prayers....mainly for me to have some good sales by the end of the month, and that Annie could see herself hanging out with us, and learning, with time, that childhood should be a sacred, magical time, and that she finds some of that magic, here on the ranch with me and my mexican vietnamese.
I got the privilege of going to California this past weekend and spent some excellent, quality time with Kip and Brandon (and Brielle!).
The Hall's gave her a baby shower in Paradise (if I ever live anywhere else, how about PARADISE?, I mean can I get a solid AMEN?).
Truth was, I was so slammed over the christmas break when she was here, I didn't get to spend but the drive from the airport and to the airport with just THEM, so this was a needed down time for ole mom and her kids that live WAY too far away from me.
Brandon and Brielle picked me up in Sacramento, and I had the pleasure of traveling with my very large Grand Daug, and very fun son in law, on the 2 hour drive from Sac to Redding.
It was glorious.
Brandon brought me a large Sonic Sweet tea to sip on the way home, and I have to tell you, I used that insulated cup ALL WEEKEND LONG. This guy GETS his mom-in-law.
I'm so proud of the life they have in California. They both work ridiculously hard, and Brandon keeps the house and the cars in mint condition and it's all very exciting. He has a 74
Ford Bronco that he is restoring, and I just am in love with it. It should be done in 3-4 years (laughing here) since Baby Hall is taking precedence over all things recreational these days. :)
It's going to be gorgeous when it's done! I just love the color! The bronco isn't the only thing getting a makeover, they found a sweet little dresser on facebook marketplace and bought it and finished restoring it this past weekend. It's just adorable. They are quite the team.
The baby shower was tons of fun. Kip's sister in law, Brooke and her mom in law, Pam, threw the shower for her and tons of people came. The Hall's are "Kind of a Big Deal" in Paradise.
Brooke's baby, Rhett made me mildly obsessed, but since I had a pretty gross cough, I kept my distance.
Nothing about that was easy because he is my favorite age, and a living DOLL and was more interested in his tiny fishing pole than anything all the ladies were doing.
Which consisted of trying to figure out what kind of candy were in these amazingly realistic looking poop diapers.
I think the lady that won, actually ended up tasting the diapers, because she got all 5 right. Either that, or the chick knows her candy. If it had been cheetos and peach gummies, I would have gotten all of them right, too.
Then we drew Kip's baby on a piece of paper on our foreheads, and...well... I hope my grandson looks better than the drawing I created. I gave him dimples and they weren't even on his face.
Then we had a fill in the blank game, and it was BRANDON's answers for the blanks. My favorite answer was NURSING _______. My son in law said "Tarp, you know those things ladies use to cover up".
I ended up with 4 right, even though it should have been 5 because to me a Wash _____ ...CLOTH is the same as a RAG, or at least it is in Oklahoma.....but we ended up with a tie, which led us to have to race across the room with a potato wedged in our nether regions (as not to BREAK OUR WATER) and drop said potato into a rather small bucket.
I did great until the drop in the bucket shot and overshot my "Water" on the lady sitting on the couch. Oopsy.
All great fun. But the best part was watching my sweet daughter open all the cute little gifts. And she made a stinking haul! This baby will be well dressed!!
She tried on her "baby wrap" and tucked a small deal of diapers and the cute hat a mom knitted for her, and we decided she looks like a natural.
I tell you what. This baby has been highly anticipated.
Very few people know, but Kip and Brandon tried for a couple of years before finally getting pregnant. It was month after month of let downs, and I just want people to know that, God IS faithful and it's seriously ALL IN HIS TIME. When you are in the middle of the disappointment and heartache of the WANTING and WAITING, it's hard to be patient and faithful. Very HARD. What was so special, they had decided to go ahead and do the fertility stuff, and the VERY MONTH they were getting geared up to start....guess who ended KNOCKED UP? And then DIDN'T tell her mother for THREE weeks, mind you.
But those of you that know the airport story and saw the videos and the Hallie videos, now know why there were so many happy tears. For many months we had prayed and longed for this miracle, and now he is heading this way.
And he LOOKS JUST LIKE HIS STINKING DADDY! (which isn't a bad thing, because his dad is pretty darn cute)
Anyhow, ole Lols had a great time in California. We spent most of Sunday going through the Loot and getting her organized.
All I know is that God is forever faithful, and You just have to let HIM have control, and trust and believe and all "God may count you worthy of the calling, and may fulfill all the good pleasure of goodness, and the work of the faith in power".
Those words mean so much more to me now. Kip will even tell you now that the timing is "Absolutely perfect" and how much more Ready and content she is for this adventure.
Never doubt God's plan for you. It is perfect, and the fullness of it will be revealed.
Just sit in that boat and weather that storm. Sunshine....it's a coming.
Christmas 2017 was a whirlwind. Hallie arrived home (first time since June, when she stepped on the plane to head to West Point), on the 21st, followed in short order by Kip and Brandon, who flew in on Christmas Day.
It was loud, fun and rushing here and there, trying to see everyone in a few days. During all this visiting chaos, I was readying to move to the ranch in Guthrie.
The plan had been to wait until Saturday, so I could have several men help me move. When the temps threatened (and DID) drop into the single digits on Saturday, I hurried to move it up on Friday. My Friday help was AMAZING (Johnelle, Trent and Alli Evans saved my butt), while Steven's friend, Nathan Wilson, brought his mom, Melissa, who was a cleaning, packing machine.
Every time Kip came over to my house during the week, she asked me, "Aren't you moving, don't you need to pack?"
Well, yes, but you and Hallie wanted me to live here while you were home, so NO, I'm not packed on the things we need.
So Friday I basically threw everything that wasn't tied down in a trash bag and moved it. It's been SUPER fun unpacking.
Jon Evans joined us for the unpacking portion of the trip, and all of Hallie's former Peak volleyball players came over and helped unload, so it was much easier to take it off the truck than load it on.
We couldn't get the fridge on the Uhaul, so one quick call to my friend, David Woodward, and he supplied the guys and vehicle and bailed my butt out on that deal, and had it set up in Guthrie 3 hours after I called him. Now that's some support.
Hallie's sister, Sammi, got married on New Years Eve, so Hallie was having fun with her through most of the unpacking process. Also, Tyler had helped me move some beds up the weekend before, and in one smooth move from me, I managed to give him a concussion and break my left thumb, so his eye would start to twitch if I even mentioned the word "move" to him.
Lacey, DD and Serenity (their foster 17 year old) came up on Saturday and bless Lacey's heart, she tried as hard as she could to get me organized. She hung a few pictures and took over my pantry.
But the excitement started shortly after we lay DD down for his 1st nap at Lolly's house.
I was cooking us some food and all the smoke detectors went off. I thought, Glory be to God, welcome to the ranch. We opened all the doors, immediately making the house a tundra (4 degrees outside), because this is what worked in the house in Norman when I cooked bacon and set off the alarms. Didn't work. Meanwhile, all 7 alarms are singing their songs. Top volume, no stopping them. You have to understand the two in the front room are about 14 feet in the air on the vaulted ceiling. I run to my neighbors house, and she tells me hers went off at 4 am in the morning, handed me a long pole and told me to "Hit on the alarm".
"Hit on the alarm".
Somehow Gina aims true and stops the errant alarm and all is silent. DD has ventured into the front room with wide eyes and wonders "What is happening with the Kalarms?" and "Is the firetruck coming"?
I call the executive director and question her and she tells me one probably needs a battery, that they are all hard wired, meaning if one goes off, the all do (Sheep on a cliff, people) and to use compressed air to clean the eye of the alarm.
Compressed air. I can't even find forks at this point, and I need compressed air. And 9 volt batteries. IN large supply, which EVEN in the best of organized times, I had none.
So 5 minutes later, when we heard the dreaded "CHiRp" and knew we had about 60 seconds before chaos rang it's lovely chimes again, I grabbed my keys and headed for the car to go buy batteries.
Where as I used to sit in 7-11's back door in Norman, OK(not kidding), I now live at least 25 minutes from a store with 9 volt batteries, that is 50 glorious minutes of "Kalarms" ringing in my house. I head to the closest gas/snack station. I buy all 7 of their 9 volts for the bargain basement price of $40 and head back to the ranch, about 20 minutes have elapsed. I walk in to quiet. Lacey said they are like a dance troupe now, the minute they hear the chirp, they all run to their "Posts" with their "Poles" and start the beating dance on the reset button.
I gather my courage and get my ladder and climb up the ladder to the top rung, where I periously hang for my life while figuring out how to open the perpetrator and take out it's internal power. It miraculously falls in my hand, and I am able to change the batteries in the front room quickly. Followed shortly by all 5 of the rest of the loud, obnoxious beasts. One dares beep at me when I change it, as if to say, "Welcome to the neighborhood, sucker".
Peace reigns in the home over the evening, as we play Giant Uno and eat our weight in chips. Tyler has joined us now, after getting his Saturday duties done at church. Hallie is due in from the wedding after midnight, so we have said Happy new Year and headed to bed.
A bit after 3 am, after I hear Hallie crawl in bed, I hear...."Chirp.....Chirp"....I am HORRIFIED and race to the front room, just in time to see Lacey and Tyler come racing in, with DD on their heels, "LOLS?" he says..."LOLS?" As if I have some magical power surging out of my grandma body to make these beasts from hell stop their beeping.
Tyler is the man, and grabs the ladder and unplugs the blaring psychopaths from their holders. They are still going off! I feel like Pheobe from friends, and I find myself yelling, "Let's throw them outside", but once the batteries are removed from their warm place of hiding inside of the traitors, they start to wind down, and then, blessed silence.
They remain on the counter, disabled, as Tyler says, "Anyone smells smoke, Grab a buddy and head outside" and we all crawl to bed, exhausted, but victorious over machine.
Next day, DD is still having PTSD over the fun of the day before, and we have the traitorous bastards lined up on the counter with their batteries in trying to locate the perpetrator, when we hear CHIRP coming not from one of them, but two. EVEN WITH new batteries. and clean lenses. It's a conspiracy.
Come to find out, this happens to most everyone. Several of the houses, have experienced this same dilemma. And everyone has figured out how to conquer the beast.
All great fun.
I forgot to mention that we were welcomed with a Christmas basket full of towels, movies, popcorn, games, candy....and then Saturday morning our Executive Director popped over (falling getting out her truck, slipping on the icy sidewalks)....bringing us two baskets FULL of food, fun and fabulousness from the neighbors at the ranch. Then later that afternoon my neighbors on the right brought us pasta and pizza and ANOTHER laundry basket full of goodies, welcoming us! It was overwhelming and wonderful.
First day of school went great. Steven said everyone stared at him all day (I'm the only Asian kid in the school), but no one was mean and everyone wanted him to sit with them, and Zachary made "4, no 5" friends. but Gina had the topper. She told me, "A boy came up and asked me if I liked to smoke weed. I stared at him a minute, and said, "No! Do you like to go to church? You should". Then she dug out her "I am A Christian" tshirt and said "I'm wearing this next week". Gina suffers No fools, that is for sure. She calls it like she sees it, and has a pretty amazing discerning eye for a kid of 17.
I woke up to take Hallie to the airport at 2:30 am on the 4th (the same as the kid's first day of school) and drove her two hours to Tulsa, and then drove back two hours, in time to wake up the Vietnamese and get them ready for school. Took them and got them settled and then worked all day. By the time I got home and fed them dinner (the minute they walked in from school at 4pm) I was TOAST. I was in my pjs in bed, watching netflix on my ipad, when the door knocked and in walked a girl for Gina, and a boy for Steven. FRIENDS, IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD. IT's a Christmas miracle.
Their mom text me shortly and said, "I have bigs at your house, hope it's ok" to which I replied, "Do you have an 8 year old boy?" and she said, 'Coming your way". Two minutes later, knock knock knock. It's kid heaven in this neighborhood.
It's the community my kids have never had, since living with me. I am SO thrilled to be able to give that to them.
We are settling into a routine. I have to sell my house in Norman (anyone know anyone that needs a good deal on a house in Norman?) and we will be set.
God is oh so Good, people. Even in blaring Kalarm situations....All the time.
