Girls' Day Out!

This weekend is the one year anniversary of our newly expanded family!  After a long, soul-searching week it was great to get away for a day.  I am so proud of the girls.  Today consisted of an early morning, a very long car ride, a walk-a-thon with lots of people, a newspaper photographer that had to be told in front of the girls that he couldn't take their picture because they were foster kids, a two mile walk; followed by another long car ride home!  Talk about triggers, today was full of them.  C had one minor melt down, right before the walk that was most definitely and 'age appropriate' moment.  B did awesome; right up until the last five minutes of the car ride when she realized that today had gone well!  She has a built-in self destruct button that at a certain level of happiness kick in and she totally unravels. 

All in all, a great day.  We have come a long way!  My prayer for the beginning of our second year together is that we have more days that are normal, regular days.  That the girls might now the gift of those days without worry, fear, unhappiness, pain, sadness, hurt, confusion.  With the turmoil of this week and what it may or may not bring I remind myself that it is not my plan, but His. 

Thank God It's Friday!

Wow, has it been a long week of adjustments.  We made it through the first week of school, barely!
My tired brain still needs to process so I thought I would share to 'pins' that are helping me recharge for week #2!

So, let's bring on the weekend!

How do you spell devotion? G-U-S!

I started this blog declaring that my role model was our rogue sheep, Zoe.  That was then, this is now.  If you are not an animal lover, this post may make no sense to you at all.  I am sure that God provides us with role models when they are needed most.  Some of my most influential role models have been of the fleecy, furry kind!  Zoe was such a blessing, I hope that she is bouncing through fields chasing our Molly & Bear with my Mom laughing at the sight.  We still have her sister, Clara who has taken up the sassy where her sister left off.  Zoe would be most proud!  I took the strength of her individuality and sass and it helped me become stronger at a time in my life that I was starting to doubt myself, my path, and general goodness of the world and I am forever grateful for those lessons.

Today, we are on an entirely different adventure of fostering to adopt two other sisters; they are two-legged this time!  B is 8 and C is almost 4.  They came to us last September and it has been a year full of adventure, growth, laughter, wonder and God's grace!  I am blessed with a role model that exudes unconditional love; Gus is one hundred pounds of pure devotion.  Certainly, there is no mistake that dog is God spelled backwards.  It took me over twenty years and lots of 'daddy' issues to truly understand the depth of my Father's love for me, that unconditional (Really!) love that can never be broken.  Just in case I might forget, Gus entered our world.  He was almost one when the girls came to live with us and it took a lot of time for him to figure out that the girls would like him much better if he didn't knock them over!  A year into the experiment he helps B regulate her body, with a physical representation of Gus will have a calm body if you have a calm body.  He teaches the girls they must take turns~he returns the tennis ball to whoever needs the next turn, no one left out of Gus' games.  Most importantly, he reminds me to take time to relax or exercise (his favorite is when I throw his tennis ball over and over until he drops) and recharge.

I would not trade the adventure that is B & C for the world, but it comes with a large amount of obstacles (built-in and thrown in) that we have had to overcome.  How comforting after hours of comforting a crying child that has been through so much in her short life; to open her door and to stumble on a warm, curled-up, patient Gus.  Devotion.  We are extremely lucky that Gus has chewed/destroyed very little, especially for a lab!  However, we have a gate at the top of our stairs, with a very small landing on the top of the stairs before that gate that Gus can squeeze himself into.  It started with Gus content to lay his head on the gate and wait, then he started nibbling on one spindle.  Next thing we know, he managed to chew through the spindle.  Some how, that very large dog can get his entire body through an eight-inch opening so that he is not separated from his Mom and girls-amazing!  I will have to post a picture of the very small opening with a very large Gus on the other side.  I would not say that Gus is graceful in his attempt to get through the gate, but so far he has managed to slither through each time.  Lucky for us, he has finally stopped growing ( I think) and we shouldn't have to cut him out of the gate in a failed attempt.  Something tells me that Gus would not let anything get between him and me, or him and his girls.  No one explained this adventure to Gus or what his 'job' would be, but he has certainly shown that he is up for the adventure and the dog to help us all stay sane (or mostly) through this adoption adventure!

Gus says it does have it's rewards!

He really does move some times, too!  As you can see, he is a great teacher!  We have to run, nap time is almost over which means Gus will have to get off the couch where he is sleeping in the sun and get to work!