The next weeks

Over the next weeks things calmed down. After the boys went home I was able to move the 4yr old into her own room. This helped quiet a bit. The hardest part for me was being so black and white with the rules. Its been sooo easy over the last years with Maya Rae that we have really loosened up. These 3 munchkins really forced me to tighten the reins. It was beyond shocking to see how much distress these ladies had, how they played off each other and what that triggered in me.

We were looking at 2 months of summer...with little to do. This is the hardest part of the year for many families, let alone ones in transition. The bigger girls went to summer rec, we went on a few field trips, we did projects and 'lived' at the beach. Thank goodness for the free beach where we ate dinner nearly every night all summer until it was too cool to do it.

They started out sick and unhappy and by the end of August they had made major strides!

The two older girls went home to dad and the little one is still here with us. Though they are sisters, they are on different legal tracks. The day I sent the big girls home I waved goodbye as we watched they drove away and then went inside and sobbed!

Foster care/ adoption is the hardest thing in the world I think. You have to be kinda loosely invested. Its much like a job...you have a boss overlooking and you have 'clients' but because you are human- you fall head over heals for the very people you are supposed to let go.

Its an amazing adventure. It forces you to grow or die.

So- we are adopting the youngest as she came to use Free for adoption.

In Feb I will be able to post pics of her adorable little face :)

This will be Norton #8. (kids that is)