The Maas Family

2011-08-18T09:23:00.002-04:00

Never in my life have I ever believed that I would have a house full of kids. As a matter of fact, there was a time when I said I would never have ANY!! I was the oldest and spent more time than I wanted watching my 3 siblings. Now we have seven. It's been trying at times, but then someone smiles or does something funny and I'm reminded that they are such blessings to me. They have been given to me, even if for a short time, to allow me to bless them, which in return blesses me.

So much emotion and change has gone through our home in the last year. We built a house, decided to adopt, take on 3 more kids! I have a feeling this is not the end of the changes. I definitely have a stronger faith in my GOD! I am depending on HIM to get me through each day and guide me through all the decisions that I need to make!!

JESUS BRING THE RAIN

2011-02-07T15:26:00.000-05:00

This song keeps running through my mind!! I picked up 3 little precious ones last week. That brings the total children in our house to 7!! We have two of our own (ages 11 and 9), two we are in the process of adopting (5 and 3) and now 3 more foster kids (2, 1, & 1). The situation with our new additions is very personal. They are my nieces and nephew. I’m asking for prayers for them, their two older brothers who are staying w/ my dad and pray their mom (my sister). She really needs to be able to clear her mind and focus on helping herself so she can finish raising her children to be the adults they are meant to be.

I also found out that my aunt passed away last night. Please pray her husband and children to find peace with this!

I can count a million times
People asking me how I
Can praise You with all that I've gone through
The question just amazes me
Can circumstances possibly
Change who I forever am in You
Maybe since my life was changed
Long before these rainy days
It's never really ever crossed my mind
To turn my back on you, oh Lord
My only shelter from the storm
But instead I draw closer through these times
So I pray

Bring me joy, bring me peace
Bring the chance to be free
Bring me anything that brings You glory
And I know there'll be days
When this life brings me pain
But if that's what it takes to praise You
Jesus, bring the rain

I am Yours regardless of
The dark clouds that may loom above
Because You are much greater than my pain
You who made a way for me
By suffering Your destiny
So tell me what's a little rain
So I pray

Holy, holy, holy
Is the Lord God Almighty

2011-01-12T19:57:00.003-05:00

I can't believe I have been away from this blog for soooo long. I can't even begin to update everyone on the many changes our family has been through. I'm just going to post a copy of our Christmas letter and hopefully that covers everything!

I hope that everyone has had a blessed 2010. This year has brought so much to our family. I’m not even sure where to begin. I always go back to read the last couple Christmas letters to see how far we’ve come. It’s funny to me how some things turned out just as we imagined they would. However, I really love to see how some things are so different than we had planned, but exactly how God had it planned.

It’s amazing to me how God planted an idea in my head and my first interpretation of what He was asking has turned into so much more. Little by little we have received clear direction on what decisions we needed to make. Most of you know that a little over a year ago we had two little boys placed with us through foster care. In last year’s letter we told everyone that it was planned to reunite them with one of their biological parents. We honestly believed that would happen. Well, they are staying with us. We get to adopt them! It should be final some time in 2011.

I struggled so much with this decision. Not because we don’t love these boys, but because I wasn’t sure what we could handle. Keeping a foster child for a year or so is difficult, but parenting them for the rest of our lives scared me. I just wasn’t sure we were up for that kind of commitment. After all, it was not part of OUR plan. I had a hard time trying to figure out what God was placing before us. I was talking to my brother in law on the phone one day about the situation (Darren, you didn’t know you played a part in this, did you?). I said that I wanted God to send a stranger to me to tell me what to do so I would know the answer was coming from him and not me. After our conversation, I was encouraged to stop trying to figure out what God wanted and ask Him to clearily show me in a big way!

With in a few days, I received a phone call from someone at church I hadn’t heard from in almost a year. She invited me to a bible study and said that she felt I would be blessed from it. The first day of the study the speaker made a comment that changed our life. She talked about making decisions based on what God can do, not what you can do. My whole fear with deciding to adopt was all about me and what my family could handle. I think this was God telling me that all would be OK and we needed to do this. So, this time next year, we will legally have four kids instead of just two. What a blessing we have received!

More blessings this year: We built a house and moved in November. We love it. We have a ton more space! We have been waiting to build this house for 12 years. We bought this lot right before we got pregnant with Mason and have just been waiting for the right time. Mason and Madisyn started their new school right after Thanksgiving and seem to like it.

Mason played baseball again, but that was his last year. He decided against playing in 2011. He started playing the clarinet and his band teacher said he’s a natural. We are in the beginning of basketball season. Mason was able to play for Newark even though we moved out of the district. Darrell is not coaching this year because he has so much going on around home. Mason is now a green belt in karate, but is taking a break until after the first of the year.

Madisyn is still playing soccer and is great at it. She has so much energy! This is definitely her thing! She is such a help with the boys. Madisyn loves to help take care of little ones. She’s helped me a few times in the nursery at church too.

Austin and Alex fit right in our family. They are great with our busy schedule. They love to be on the go, which is good, because that’s usually how it is around here. Both are doing well at preschool and are taking swimming and gymnastics at the YMCA.

Darrell and I are both still working at the same places. Darrell spent all of the summer and most of the fall at our new house while it was being built. I spent most of the summer running kids around and taking care of things at home! We are really looking forward to a little down time. We are on the list to take another foster child, so who knows how much down time we will get! It all depends on what God has in store for us! We are excited to see where he takes us in 2011.

Everyone, please, have a Blessed Christmas and a Happy, Healthy New Year!

Love and Blessings,
The Maas Family,
Darrell, Angel, Mason,
Madisyn, Austin and Alex

2010-06-04T20:51:00.002-04:00

So much has been happening here!! We finally have a scheduled ground breaking to begin construction on our house!! We should be starting this Thursday. We are praying for the weather to cooperate. There have been lots of storms and rain here over the last week. A temporary construction driveway has to be installed before we dig and if the rain doesn't let up, we may miss our date.

Bigger news: we are asking for anyone who reads this blog to pray that God will guide us in a very important decision we are facing. We have had two foster sons for almost a year now. "Our" plan was not to adopt, but to be a safe place for kids to stay until they were able to go back home with their parents. Nothing about this placement (which is our first) has been the textbook example. We brought the boys home, there was really not an adjustment period. Except for the fact that they didn't sleep much, they are very "normal" boys. No emotional, physical or academic issues. They are super smart kids.

Anyway, we really had high hopes for their parents. They both were doing so well at first and I thought for sure that the boys would end up back home. Unfortunately, the state has filed for permanent custody. We have some time to figure out what to do, but we have to start thinking about a decision. I can think of very logical reasons that are for and against adopting. I just want to make sure we are following God's plan, not ours. Please, please, please, pray for God to make His decision so clear to us that we cannot deny that it's His decision, not ours.

Thanks and many blessings to all,

Angel

Easter Egg Hunt

2010-04-03T13:51:00.003-04:00

We had a great time at an Easter Egg Hunt today at church. A few weeks ago we were asked to pray about invited someone to church and instantly my boy's birth parents came to mind. I knew it would be an awkward situation and kind of hesitated on it, but I also knew I needed to do it. I talked to our SW and she said it would be OK to ask them. I called and invited them to the egg hunt and to church tonight (We've been going to our new Saturday service). They both showed up and we had a great time.

They said they may not be able to make it to church tonight because of gas prices and they just don't have much money. I am really debating on calling back and offering to give them a gas card. I know it was stressed in our classes to not offer money because it opens the doors up to be taken advantage of, so I'm struggling with what to do. I don't have a whole lot of time to think about it.

I really think that they are both very nice people, they just have to learn to deal with life. I'm really praying for them to make it!! I'm hoping that we can involve them more and more in what we do with the boys. I think this will help everyone when they get to go home, including me. I think if I can see how much they love the boys and how much they are trying, it will help me let the little ones go when it's time. I felt my heart soften a little today!!

Blessings,
Angel

2010-03-30T22:18:00.002-04:00

Things are moving right along with the house. We are hoping to break ground mid May and be moved in before Christmas. We are so excited to have more space. We also made a big decision and told our social worker that we are willing to take another child. While we are here, we can only take a baby because of space issues, but once we move into our new house, we will take an older child, or two, who knows what God has planned for us.

I have really been thinking about our little one's parents. We were asked to really pray about inviting someone to church at our service a few weeks ago. Instantly their mom and dad came to mind. So, I asked the social worker about it and she seemed to think it would be OK. I called mom today. She said she would go. We have an egg hunt at church and we invited her and she was very interested. I'm a little afraid because I know it's going to awkward, but I think it's a step we need to make. We will invite her every Saturday or Sunday and even if she is only coming to see the boys, I hope she will really hear what's being spoken.

Please be in prayer for her.

Blessings,
Angel

2010-02-28T14:15:00.002-05:00

I feel like I have neglected this blog, not that I have many followers, but still. I have been using Facebook more to keep in touch with family and friends. It's a lot easier to jot something down, a thought here, a thought there.

Sometimes I just want to write w/out everyone I know reading it, so here are my thoughts: I have had a stirring inside me for a few weeks now. I'm not sure what it is. I have a feeling that God is preparing me for something and it scares me because I'm not sure what it is. I feel a strong desire to seek him, but I'm not sure what I need. Please pray for knowledge!! I hate the unknown!!

Many Blessings,
Angel

2010-02-01T19:06:00.002-05:00

I found out today that my little boys will be seeing mom and dad together tomorrow. They have only seen her a few time since they were placed with us back in July, but have been seeing dad on a regular basis for awhile now. Mom has decided that she has to get it together for her little ones. I've been praying for this and I'm supposed to be happy about it, right??? Then why did my stomach dropped while reading the email from the CW?

My head and my heart are fighting right now.

Claiming a Foster Child on Tax Return

2010-01-16T19:28:00.002-05:00

Has anyone else had issues w/ this?? My two FSs were placed w/ me in July!! I just miss claiming them by a few weeks. Even though they still are living with me now. They have only seen BM twice since they have been with me. Even though I have been paying a portion of daycare for most of the year, I still can't even claim that because I cannot claim them as a dependent!!! I'm frustrated!! The sad thing is I don't think either parent had a job during 2009, so they will probably not be claiming them either.

Pictures from October

2010-01-06T14:08:00.005-05:00

I think I'm allowed to post these because it doesn't show their faces.
Mason and Madisyn posing on a pumpkin
Big A playing in the corn box
Little A playing in the corn box

LET THE GAMES BEGIN!!

2010-01-05T11:25:00.002-05:00

I hope everyone had a great CHRISTmas. We did. It was tiring, but we enjoyed visiting with family and friends. Mason and Madisyn are not so happy that school is back in session though. Our little foster boys had a great time. They fit right in at all four Christmas get togethers. It was probably a little overwhelming for them, but I think they still had a great time.

Now we have to begin our home building process. I still have mixed feelings about it. I will be so glad to get out of our tiny house and have room to move, but at the same time, I know that it will be a long stressful process.

I emailed our sales rep over the weekend to let her know that we are ready to get things rolling and didn't get the quick response that she had been giving me. I called yesterday and found out that she is no longer there. This new person is the 3rd rep that we've had in about a year. It makes me a little nervous. I don't know if this is normal or not for that industry. It sure is frustrating though.

Don't forget to visit my AVON site. The link is on the right side of this blog. And remember, 50% of all profits made from online orders will be donated to help a friend with an international adoption!!!

Many Blessings to all,
Angel

Fundraiser for a Friend

2009-12-17T21:42:00.002-05:00

Hello everyone.

Some of you may know that I have started selling AVON to earn a little extra money to help with the big cost of building a new home. I have also decided to help a family in need at the same time. I have been following the Blog of someone for quite sometime and her writings have been a blessing to me. She is in the process of adopting a child from Ethiopia and needs to raise money to help pay for the huge cost. I am willing to donate 50% of all of my profits from internet orders to her. Please read her story at www.overthemoonwithjoy.blogspot.com, then consider making a purchase on my website at www.youravon.com/angelmaas. There is also a link on the right side of my blog. We have been blessed in so many ways over the years, it's our turn to give back.

Blessing,
Angel

2009-11-27T21:44:00.002-05:00

I hope everyone had a very blessed Thanksgiving. Ours was pretty uneventful. With all of our family out of town, we just have a little dinner here at home. Mason was probably the most excited about a Turkey dinner. Unfortunately, Wednesday night he started throwing up and did all night until about 7:30 Thursday morning. Poor kid. He was so tired after all that, he slept until almost 3 in the afternoon.

I scrubbed the bathroom and washed sheets until dinner was ready. What fun that always is. We put up our second set of bunk beds and moved bedrooms around so we have 2 kids in each instead of 3 and 1. I think it will work out better and it's just until we get our house built next year.

We went around the table and said what we were Thankful for. All of us are most Thankful for God and our family. Our 3 1/2 year old FS was most Thankful for marshmallows though. He cracks me up.

I was up bright and early this morning and braved the crazy crowds at the stores. I think I have all my shopping done. I did it all today. I went to 6 different stores and still managed to get home a little after lunch time.

Enjoy this Thanksgiving break giving praise to God for all your blessings and enjoy this time with your family.

Blessings to all,
Angel

Christmas with a capital C

2009-11-19T21:40:00.000-05:00

Michigan Game

2009-11-16T18:42:00.002-05:00

Darrell and Mason went to the Michigan vs Purdue game w/ Darrell's older brother. They had the best time ever. I'm sad to say that, yes, they are Michigan fans (GO BUCKS!!:) Here are a few pics from the game.

2009-10-21T21:08:00.002-04:00

WooHoo!! Mom showed up for the visit today. I guess it went well. How many of you wish that you could watch the visits from behind a two way mirror? I just wonder how the little ones interact with her and how she interacts w/ them.

I dropped them off today and felt like I was dropping off my kids. I felt a little overprotective. It was an odd feeling for me, because I've been saying out loud for a long time that they are not mine, I am just a safe place for them until their parents heal. I have to keep telling myself that, because I know their parents love them and want them back. They just have a long hard road ahead of them. I'll continue to pray that the outcome of this will be that mom and dad will heal and be able to love and care for the little ones in a way that they deserve.

We were also told that their dad has just been approved for visits and that will also start this week. Luckily they will eventually be on the same day as visits w/ mom. They do them one right after the other so the kids will only have to go once and it saves on drive time for me as well.

I'm off to bed. It's been a long day.

Blessings to all,
Angel

Officially Renters

2009-10-19T21:40:00.002-04:00

We closed on our house today. It's so strange because we still get to stay here until our house it built. We had our closing and then met w/ our buyer after to sign lease documents. Everything has really gone so smooth that I'm waiting for the ball to drop. Now we have to focus on our house plans. I am not looking forward to that process. I'm praying it goes as smooth as everything else has.

My little ones have a visit scheduled w/ mom this week. We adjusted the time, hoping that she will be more likely to make the visits. They have been with us since July and have only seen her once.

They are really fitting in great now. We have our routine down and behaviors and sleeping have really improved. We took all the kids to the pumpkin patch yesterday and had a great time. I appreciate the help from Mason & Madisyn. They were great at helping w/ the little ones. I'll post pics this week sometime. I think I took a few w/ out the little ones. I hate that I can't post pics of them too!!

Blessings,
Angel

2009-10-12T21:20:00.002-04:00

I saw this video on another blog. A very powerful minute and 31 seconds. I know it makes me think of how some of my actions or attitudes may have affected my children. I pray for continued improvement on my character!!!

Strange Happening

2009-10-05T21:31:00.002-04:00

The strangest thing has happened to us. A little background info first: Our house has been for sale for awhile now. It's also been in contract practically since we listed it. It was a first rights contract and we have been waiting for the buyer to sell her house so we can move forward. Well, about a month ago, we got another offer and accepted it. We have had land to build on that we purchased over 10 years ago and are anxious to get into a bigger house. We have our bio family of four and our recently added 2 foster sons in a house of a little less than 1200 sq feet.

So, since the offer, we have had to search for a rental home to live in while we build on our lot. Unfortunately, the house we found that was affordable and in a decent area, is even smaller than what we have now. YIKES!!!

Now to the strange part. Yesterday a man stopped by our house and introduced himself as the guy buying our house. Usually, if you have a realtor you don't meet your buyer until closing. He just wanted to show his sister the yard. No big deal. We talked to him a bit and thought he was a good guy and we were thankful that this house was going to bless him.

Tonight, the doorbell rang and it was him again. The first thought that came to mind is that this is getting strange w/ him stopping by twice now. Anyway, we invited him in and he had the best offer for us. He asked us if we would just be interested in staying in our house after the closing and renting from him. He's out of town a lot w/ work and said it would work out great for him to rent to us until we build. And, he would charge us less rent than the other house would cost us.

We have always prayed for this exact situation, but really thought it was a long shot. However, we serve a big GOD that can make anything possible. Our buyer is going to make sure it will all work on his end and let us know Friday. Please be in prayer that this works out. If it doesn't then we will know God has other plans, but we are really hoping it does. The only bad thing about the situation is we have half of the house packed. There are so many good things about this though. Our kids would not have to go through two moves, we get to stay w/ our neighbors for an extra year and we are close to the school and would not have to put anything in storage. We are very excited!!!

Blessings to all,
Angel

2009-09-26T22:48:00.004-04:00

I can't believe it's been well over a month since my last post. Time flies when you're keeping busy.

We still have our two little ones. Mom has only shown up for one visit. The oldest will mention her now and then, but not that often. The agency took pics of them together at their one and only visit, so I get those out for the boys to look at ever so often. It's just so sad. We have a good routine down now and they are fitting in great.

More news....We finally sold our house. If all goes well, we will have to move out of here by the end of October. We found a small house to rent for about a year and then hopefully we'll be moving into the house we build by the end of 2010. It will be so nice to have more space. We have a long road ahead of us though. I'm just praying all will go smooth.

I'll try to post more soon. Enjoy some pics until then....

Finally Settling Down

2009-07-27T21:52:00.003-04:00

I think things are finally calming down. During the summer, we keep two of our nieces for a week and then my two go to their house for a week. Of course the week we have them, we get the call for our first placement. It was crazy at our house last week. I went from two to six kids in two days. I wasn't really stressed, but I felt a little out of my element. Yesterday Darrell took our two plus our nieces and met my sister in law 1/2 way to take the 4 back home with her.

It was a big adjustment taking the two little ones. They are 1 1/2 and 3 1/2. It's been a while since I've had to chase a toddler. They have not been sleeping well. I put them down and they go to bed fine, but they were up two mornings at 4:30 AM. I am not a morning person!!! They were up for the day too. I think they both fell back to sleep on the couch about 7:00. I really hope they adjust to a schedule and that sleep habit doesn't last long. They slept until 6:30 this morning, much better than the day before.

They are really good kids except for the sleeping thing. We are very blessed that that's the only issue we are struggling with. They both seem to be above average developmentally. Really smart boys.

Any suggestions to get them to stay in bed a little longer would be great!! I'll post more later. I have to get some sleep. Please keep us in your prayers.

Blessings,
Angel

Camping Trip

2009-07-23T20:29:00.003-04:00

2009-07-21T14:24:00.001-04:00

We are picking up two little boys today!!! Keep us in your prayers. I'll post more when I get a sec. I'm a little nervous. I hope the exchange goes well.

Blessings,
Angel

Baseball pictures

2009-07-14T21:43:00.002-04:00

Here are a few pics from our baseball season.

Enjoy,
Angel

2009-07-08T11:59:00.000-04:00

Well, we did not get the little boy we were planning on getting. A plan was worked out so that he is able to stay with family members. I’m a little disappointed, but I’m happy for him. Family is always the best place for kids as long as it’s possible to keep them safe.

Update on our summer…

We had a great 4th of July. The place that shoots fireworks off has a bike path that runs right through it. We were able to pick up the bike path and ride our bikes to the closest spot we have ever been during a fireworks display. We were only about 100 yards from the launch pad. We brought a blanket and just lay on the grass and looked straight up. They were right over us. Mason was a little worried at first. He thought that maybe the sparks would fall on us, but he quickly got over that. It was awesome. The best part is we got right back on the bike path after the fireworks and didn’t have any traffic to deal with.

Baseball is finally over. We lost our second tournament game, so we are officially finished, with summer baseball at least. At the awards ceremony, each player received a participation metal and one player from each team was picked to receive a sportsmanship award. Mason was picked for his team!!! We were very proud of him. He’s such a laid back kid and just wants to play. Winning is not that important to him. I’ll post a picture soon. I think he wants to play fall ball this year. It will start up around the time school starts.

Both the kids went to vacation bible school this summer too. I am lucky enough to work right near our church, so I was able take them and pick them up this year. They had a blast. Madisyn met a new friend and had a play date one day at the little girl’s house. Of course she loved that.

I can’t believe summer is half way over already. We still have a few things planned. The kids are at the YMCA camp this week. Mason is going to Art camp and Madisyn is in Bowling Camp. They are so happy to be there because they get to see a lot of their friends from school. They take field trips 3 of the five days. Mason is going to the Works museum and Madisyn get to go bowling all three days. They both get to do 2 more camps before summer is over. Mason will go to Olympics and Fishing and Madisyn picked Gymnastics and Art.

We have a weekend of camping planned with cousins, then having them stay with us for a week and then my two will go there for a week. I’m taking Madisyn to see Taylor Swift (with the cousins). The girls are very excited for that day. Madisyn has been listening to her CD to get ready for the concert. I don’t think Mason has been too happy with that. He’s asked me several times to make her stop singing. LOL.

I have been crazy busy at work. I was almost caught up and then we took our vacation, month end was here, we got a new system, …. and I’ve been trying to get caught up since. It seems like it’s always something. I try hard to not put in a lot of OT because it takes away from our family time in the evening, so it’s tough to stay on track. I’m getting close to being caught up though.

Darrell’s just been working and hanging out with us. Since we are trying to sell the house, no new major projects have been started. We’ve just been playing outside and doing some biking in the evenings.

So, that’s what we’ve been up to. Hopefully everyone is having just as much fun.

Blessings,
Angel

Our First Placement

2009-07-01T22:23:00.003-04:00

We may have our first placement on Monday. We got the call today. A two year old little boy. He is staying w/ family for the weekend, but we were asked to take him on Monday. Of course this could all change in the blink of an eye and his relatives may decide to keep him longer. Keep him in your prayers. We are excited and nervous at the same time. It's been awhile since we've had a two year old in the house. We'll probably get a few things this weekend like sippy cups and two year old friendly toys.

I don't think the situation with my family is as bad as it first seemed. Hopefully they get everything straightened out and it will be OK. Please continue to pray for them as well.

Blessings,
Angel

Prayer Request

2009-06-30T07:40:00.002-04:00

Hi Everyone - I've had a few things happen in my family the last couple days, but I can't post the story. I'm still asking for prayer requests. God knows our needs. Please pray for guidance, patience, healing and safety for all involved. Thank you.

Love and Blessings,
Angel

2009-06-28T13:17:00.002-04:00

Happy Birthday Darrell!! We will have to celebrate another day. We have baseball all day today. We love you.

Back from the Beach

2009-06-25T20:29:00.003-04:00

We are back from vacation!! Here's the view from our Beach House. This was the first time our kids have been to the beach. They loved it. They love spending time w/ their cousins, aunts and uncles and Grandma and Grandpa too. We had a big 3 story house about a block from the beach. We had it filled with 20 people!!! Now we are back and anxiously waiting for our first foster child.

Good News!!

2009-05-22T14:15:00.003-04:00

I just got an email from our Foster Care Coodinator. We've been approved for Foster Care and our license is on it's way!!! Praise God!! We're looking forward to our first placement.

The Twins

2009-05-17T22:22:00.003-04:00

Here are a few pics of my sister's twins, Joshua and Julia. They are both home now and doing great. Thanks for all the prayers.

2009-04-25T16:21:00.002-04:00

My sister had her babies. Both are healthy, but very small. They have to be fed by a feeding tube, but they are breathing on their own. She had to have a c-section because the little girl was breach. All are doing well. PRAISE GOD!! Please continue to pray for them, they will have to be in the hospital for a while.

Karate

2009-04-23T22:24:00.003-04:00

Mason & Darrell participated in a Karate tournament back in March. Mason got 3rd place in sparring and Darrell got 2nd place in his division. They were both very happy. Everyone in their Karate class received a trophy or two!!! Great job guys.

2009-04-10T23:02:00.003-04:00

Hi everyone. I really wish I had the time to sit down and post a blog worth reading more often. Lately, at the end of the day, I'm more interested in reading other blogs than making my brain think about something to post on mine.

We're staying busy!!! We had to let two of the four people go in my department at work, so it's been very stressful there. Not to mention we are still in the homestudy process and still trying to sell our house.

We had an offer (Praise GOD), but we have to wait for our buyer to sell her house before we can close on ours. We have been meeting with our builder in order to have things ready to roll once it's possible to close.

We had a great blessing. Our daughter, Madisyn, was baptized today. It was a great service. Twenty five people were baptized. We are very proud of her.

My sister went into preterm labor a few days ago. She's pregnant w/ twins and isn't due until the beginning of June. Thank you GOD that they were able to stop it. She will probably be on bed rest now until she has the babies. Please pray her and the babies.

I hope to post a few updated pics soon.

Blessings,
Angel

2009-03-17T23:01:00.006-04:00

We finished our classes. YEAH!!!! They were so informative and interesting. We have our first meeting with our foster care coordinator in a couple days to go over paperwork and the whole next process.

We have our house up for sale officially now. We are praying that God sells it so we can begin building a bigger house for his children. We are really cramped in our house now with only two kids. Our plan is to foster two at a time, however, God's plan could always be different!!! It almost always is. We'll just try our best to follow Him and do what He wants.

We couldn't get the owner of the house we liked to go down in price, which ends up being a blessing (again: God's plan is always better. We decided that we can build on the land we've owned for years cheaper than buying a 10 year old house. It's exciting, but scary at the same time. The hard part will be finding a place to live during the in between phase. God will provide though. As always, we ask for prayers.

Blessings,
Angel

Update on Life

2009-02-16T22:11:00.002-05:00

Hello all,

I haven't updated my blog in over a month!!! We have just been so busy. Our foster parenting classes have been taking up our Monday and Wednesday nights. Tuesday's I have been going to a Bible study while the rest of the family are in Karate class. Thurday Madisyn has Sylvan and we're spending the little time we have preparing our house to sell. Thank God Basketball is over. That took up our Friday nights and Saturday day's. But, Mason is starting indoor baseball this coming Tuesday. It may replace Karate for a month.

The Foster classes have been great. Our instructor is awesome. She's been fostering for about 15 years and has a lot of awesome advice. Some of the classes have been very emotional and a little frightening at times. The fact that we haven't hit the door running scared, just reassures me that this is part of God's plan for our life. We're actually excited to get our first placement.

We've decided to put our house up for sale and look for a bigger house. We really want a 4th bedroom. We found the perfect house, but the owner did not accept our offer. We're still hoping he has a change of heart, but if he doesn't, we know that God is in control and our house is out there. We're just trusting in HIM.

We hope all of our friends and family are doing well and ask for your continued prayers.

Blessings,
Angel

So Many Changes

2009-01-15T21:56:00.003-05:00

We got another puppy!!! His name is Snickers. He a tiny little one.

Pepper and Snickers have become best buds. They love to play and wrestle and entertain us.

We also started our Foster parenting classes. We had the first one on Monday. The second one was supposed to be on Wednesday, but we got snow dumped on us so it was cancelled. Anyway, the first class was great. We have an awesome instructor. She's full of energy and I can tell she loves the kids. I'm really looking forward to our exciting and emotional journey.

We have also decided to start looking for a place that is a little bigger. We are really trying to listen to God in this situation. We just don't know what to do. We have a 2 acre lot that was always in our future plans to build a house on. We're struggle with whether to hang on for a few more years or to buy something bigger now that will save us money overall. We would just like to have a little more space. Especially if we will be adding to our family.

Please keep us in your prayers.

Blessings,
Angel

Merry CHRISTmas!!!

2008-12-25T21:09:00.003-05:00

I hope everyone had a very Merry and Blessed Christmas. I know that we did. We woke up this morning to smiling kids. They were excited that Santa had visited and filled their stockings. We prayed and read the Christmas Story from the bible before they dug into their presents. Later we went to the movies and came home for Christmas dinner. It's been a great day and I'm so thankful for the chance to spend it with the family I love so much. Praise GOD!!

Last weekend we spent time with family in Toledo and celebrated with them. We had a great time. It's so nice to get together with everyone. Everything was great except the weather. It was so cold!!! The pictures above are from up north.

Love and blessings!!
Angel

Our New Addition

2008-12-17T21:47:00.002-05:00

We got an early Christmas Gift last week. He's about 11 weeks old now and weighs about 4 pounds. His name is Pepper. He's a good dog except for the fact that he pees way too much!!! We all love him!!!

Pics at Cherry Valley Lodge

2008-12-04T21:58:00.003-05:00

Here are a few pictures I took of the kids at The Lodge. We have it decorated for Christmas now. It's beautiful inside.

Pictures to Share

2008-12-04T21:30:00.001-05:00

Here is a slide show of our trip to Kentucky to see Darren & Rebecca & family for Gabriel's 2nd birthday.

Hello All!!!

2008-10-13T21:12:00.002-04:00

Hi Everyone. Just a little update on what's been going on here. We've decided to get extra help for Madisyn to get her up to speed with reading. We had her tested at Sylvan over the weekend and met with them today to get a plan in motion. She is really behind. One good thing is that she is caught up in Math now. She stuggled with that last year. The director of Sylvan urged us to try her at 6 hours a week!!! That seems like a lot to me, but the way she explained it made sense. She said that it will be easier to go down in hours if she's moving along well, but it could hurt her feelings if we start low and need to increase. Madisyn could start feeling that she's not good enough. So, because of scheduling, we are starting with 5 hrs a week. No more days free of running kids. This will pretty much keep us busy every night except for Sundays. I'm sure it will be worth it.

I'm asking for prayers that Madisyn will have the strength and energy to deal with all this and that it will be a positive thing for her. Also that we have the patience and strength to deal with this schedule. I have to trust the center, especially since they are supposed to be pros at this.

To help with some of the costs, I put in an application to help students with math. I don't know if I'll get it, but I'm going to try. I think that school is so important to kids, and these days, it just doesn't seem like enough gets done. I would love to make a difference in a young person's life, so I think it will be a great blessing for me to help.

I'll keep everyone updated. If you have any info on Sylvan that you would like to share, I'd love to hear it.

GOD Bless,
Angel

Another Song

2008-10-04T21:47:00.002-04:00

This video cracks me up whenever I watch it. Silly kids.

2008-09-20T18:54:00.001-04:00

Here are a few pics from Mason's b-day party. I think everyone had a great time.

Diet Update

2008-09-17T22:06:00.003-04:00

Well, during phase 1 of South Beach, I have lost 4.5 lbs. Not too bad. I would have liked to lost more, but I have to keep remembering that I didn't put it on overnight. I should just be glad that I don't feel like I'm suffering or starving. It really is a change of lifestyle more so than a diet. I'm not big on all the veggies, but that's OK. It's not a huge deal. I still have to work in exercise. That seems to be the hardest to do between work and the kid's activities.

I'll chat with you all later.
God Bless,
Angel

Wind Storm Damage

2008-09-16T21:21:00.003-04:00

I never would have thought that we would get such bad weather from a hurricane in Ohio. We had horrible winds, up to 75mph gusts, on Sunday. I guess it was from Hurrican Ike. There was a lot of damage and a lot of people without power. They are comparing is to our ice storm of 2005. We were out of power then for almost 8 days over Christmas that year. Thank GOD, we did not lose our power this time. We have friends that are still waiting for their power to be fixed. They are saying is could be this Sunday before all power is restored. There are more people out this time than there was in that December storm. School is cancelled again tomorrow for the 3rd day. We'll probably be making up school days on Satudays this year. The kids hate that!!! We're praying for all the people that have had damage done to their property and for those without power.

God Bless,
Angel

2008-09-10T22:23:00.004-04:00

Here's a video of Madisyn singing about Jesus.

2008-09-06T08:44:00.002-04:00

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL PICS

2008-09-03T21:30:00.002-04:00

Here are a few pictures of Mason & Madisyn's first day of school. Mason started 4th grade this year and Madisyn started 2nd. Both of them like their teachers and enjoy walking home with friends.

Dieting AGAIN!!!

2008-08-30T20:31:00.002-04:00

OK. I'm starting South Beach Diet again. I'm hoping to stick with it this time. I did well about a year ago, but I've been gaining it all back. So, starting Labor Day, I'm back on. It's probably a bad time to start since I'm in accounting and it's going to be busy wrapping up month end. Oh well, I have to learn to suffer through times of pressure anyway. I may as well start off with a bang!!! Pray it goes well. I have about 30 lbs loose as my goal, but I'd really like to loose 40. I'll keep everyone informed. I think by logging my progress it will help me.

Talk to everyone soon!!!
Angel

Slide show of our Family Vacation

2008-08-29T22:36:00.001-04:00

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