What We've Been Up To

Thursday, Friday, and Saturday were filled with the first three of five foster parent classes. We have been learning a lot about the foster care system and the kiddos that come through that system. This class is one of the biggest steps in getting liscenced and on our way to finding the child that God wants as part of our family. It is exciting and a bit overwhelming at the same time. Our book (in the picture) is SO big and heavy, it seems that it should take more than the 27 hours of class time that we will end up with. There are about 40 people in our class and it seems that a lot are also looking to go the foster-adopt route like us. There are also others who already have specific children in mind which are usually family. Having Toni and Jason (Dean's sister and brother-in-law) in the same class has been such a blessing. I am excited to see where God is taking all of us in this journey.

As far as our "process" goes. We have two more classes, Friday night and all day Saturday. We are about ready to mail in our application. All that is left on that is to photocopy a few things, sign it, and mail it. Then we will need to get fingerprints done, first aid/cpr classes and have our homestudy and home inspection done. We do need to get a few little things done around the house before the inspection but they are small and easy so I am not that worried about those. They say that it takes about 90 days to get your liscence so we could be official foster parents at the beginning of 2009! Tonight at diiner we were talking to the boys about what they thought about getting a little sister. They all said, "NO! Another brother!!!!" So I told them that if we got another boy that I would have to start dressing them in pretty pink dresses and that they would be getting lots and lots of dolls and Barbies for their birthdays and Christmas. They all groaned and shouted, "NO WAY!!!" They crack me up sometimes. Austin was very cute and chimed in saying, "I know why you want a girl mom. So you aren't outnumbered anymore." What a cute and thoughtful boy he is. (I might let him off the pink dress hook. hehehe)

School Jog-a-thon

It was the annual jog-a-thon today at the elementary school. This is the only fundraiser for the year where the kids gather pledges. Both Jacob and Austin LOVE this day. They were both looking forward to being able to run around for a half an hour and see how many laps they could get. Jacob ended up with 19 and Austin got 22. They are a little behind on the pledges (they never really talked to anyone... grandmas and grandpas you may be getting a call in the next day or two.) This picture above was taken by a friend of mine, Heather Stevenson. I love how focused Austin looks in it. I almost did a bad mom thing yesterday though. I needed to schedule a doctors appointment for Austin to have his eye looked at and originally got one at 10:30 today, right when it was their classes turn for the jog-a-thon. Thankfully, I realized my mistake early yesterday and got it changed to this afternoon.

I can't remember if I mentioned it or not but Austin has been dealing with the effects of a tick bite. A little over three weeks ago (the day after the "wedding in the woods") we noticed a red spot in his left eyebrow. I figured he had bumped his head. A while later, Dean noticed it and thought that it was dirt or something except when he went to rub it off it wiggled. (I still shudder at the thought) Dean did his best to get it out but it broke off so we took him into the doctor to have the rest removed. Austin was a trooper, not a peep out of him while people were digging to get every last speck of the tick out. Well, last week he was still complaining that it hurt to have his "tick" touched. (it was kind of cute to hear him say, "He bumped my tick" or "My tick still hurts" like it was still there and his pet or something). So in we went again and got some antibiotic cream. Well, in the week since then, nothing much changed so we went back again today. The doctor rooted around a bit to make sure all of it was really out (which it was) and now Aussie has oral meds to take. Thankfully there really isn't any infection (the meds are more of a precaution since it is taking awhile to heal). This being my first experience with a tick I am learning new things. This fun event will be well documented too, as school pictures where last week and Austin's lovely red bump is pretty visible. Anyway, my quick little update got a little long winded. I am hoping to do some fun posts soon as a big anniversary is coming. I am trying to find the pictures I need. Stay tuned!

Our Weekend (a liitle late)

We had a pretty low key weekend. The weather was beautiful and we spent quite a bit of time outside. I did have to keep reminding the boys that we needed to be out in the sun as much as possible because we would soon be in the months of rain. Griffen and Austin created a great new game in Dean's truck. They would perch themselves on the edge of the bed by the cab and watch for cars coming up the road. When one would appear, they would jump down and hide from it. They must have played this game for at least a half an hour if not more and where a little disappointed when I said it was time to go inside and get ready for dinner.

Striking a pose for the camera.

1..2..3..JUMP!!

This was my project on Sunday. I call this the little finger garden (it kind of looks like an index finger that's bent) Anyway, it is small but was overtaken by buttercup since I had ignored it for the most part this year. I ended up digging almost everything up and now need to find replacements. It looks soooooooo much better though. I also need to remember to spray more deer repellent though because the deer have been using our flowers for their buffet. I got up the other morning and almost every pretty little flower in one of the pots on the deck had been bitten off. This last picture is of the lasst of the hydrangeas. They bloomed so well this year. It is a little sad to see them start to turn brown.

In other exciting news..... I am helping a friend of mine open a house where foster children can have their supervised visitations with their biological family. This last spring, (mid-April) my friend Andrea mailed off our application for nonprofit status. Well, last Wednesday, Andrea called to see if I could come up to help open a letter from the IRS. Our small group was just arriving so she came down to our house instead. She wasn't sure she wanted to open the letter so I grabbed it and opened it. It said that she had forgotten to sign one of the papers (I know, that's a little anticlimatic). We faxed off the newly signed paper on Thursday. Friday morning my phone rang (8:05am) and it was Andrea saying that they had called and said that they actually didn't need that paper and that WE WERE APPROVED!!!!! The House Of Rubies is now a nonprofit!! Next stop... a contract with the state that we are getting closer to signing.

Speaking of foster kids. Dean and I also went to an orientation meeting for foster/adoption throught the state. We are signed up for the foster parent training classes the next two weeks. Dean's sister Toni and her husband Jason are also taking these classes so it will be fun to do this with them. We are a little overwhelmed with all of the paperwork and information we got at this 4 hour meeting today but are excited to see what God has planned for us. We know that God will bring us the child that is supposed to be a part of our family. Please pray for us as we start all this work and that our direction will be clear. Thanks!! I will try to be good about keeping you all updated as we go along this path toward adopting.

Applesauce

Griffen and I made applesauce today. I have never done it before but I found a very easy recipe for a small batch. Actually all of the recipes I found seemed pretty simple but the one we used only called for 3 apples not 8 or more. Griffen was a "great putter inner" as he called himself. He was in charge of putting the apple slices into the pan after I cut and peeled them.

After they were done cooking, Griffen got to squish them. He was a little concerned about how warm it was so he only squished them a couple of times.

Whew, that was hard work. Griffen taking a water break.

The finished product. We had it with dinner tonight. It tasted pretty good if I do say so myself.

Church Picnic

This last Sunday we went to our church picnic out at Lake Padden. It has been a few years since our church has had a big picnic and I am so gald that we are doing it again. It was a very fun afternoon of eating lunch, playing at the playground, and watching some curch family members get baptized in the lake. It was fun to tell the boys about how Dean was baptized in the same lake about ten years ago. We also got some yummy ice cream, the adoption group was selling it to raise money to help families pay for adoptions.

Austin had a great time playing with his friends at the playground area. He even became quite the daredevil climbing up the outside of the playstructure. It made me a little nervous but dad was close by making sure he was available if Austin needed help.

Griffen also spent most of the time at the playground with friends though he took a more low key approach. We also were blessed with a very beautiful day.

Jacob did play at the playground but also jumped in for a little basketball shooting. He is getting so big and is looking for bigger activities to do. We all had a great time relaxing in the sun and getting to spend some time with a large group of our church family. I am looking forward for this to become a yearly thing for our church.

Soccer

Well, our Saturdays are now being spent out at the soccer fields. Austin is once again playing this year and is excited about it. His team is smaller this year (8 boys instead of I think 15 last spring) but they are no longer being split into two teams for games. The last two years they played four 15 minute games on tiny fields. There would only be 3-4 players playing at a time. This year they have graduated to the bigger (still not biggest) field and are now playing with goalies. They also are only going to play one team each week (yeah, no more moving from field to field every 15 minutes) and they are actually keeping score now too. Today being the first day, they played three shortened games (jamboree style) and now the league will look at how each team did, rank them and then set the schedule for the rest of the season. The boys did well today, winning 2 out of 3 but boy did they look wiped out during the third game. they were definately running(?) slower.
Austin did well today. During the first game he was right in the middle of the action going after the ball. As the games went on he really slowed down and wasn't chasing the ball as much. In this picture below, Austin is on the other side of number 7 and has just kicked the ball. That was great to see him go after it like that since in the last two years he hasn't been the most aggressive player. We are looking forward to the rest of the season (hoping for no rain during games too) as we get to hang out with some fun families.

Griffen was also practicing his moves today. He was really trying to get the drop kick down today. He tried so hard but wasn't quite able to get the idea of just dropping the ball and then kicking it. Most of the time he would kick his leg as he threw the ball way to far in front of himself. He got a bit frustrated at times and then decided to just kick it from the ground. We will keep you posted on our soccers stars and their progress learning the game.

First Day of School

So the boys have started school. Jacob and Austin started on Tuesday and Griffen started (kind of) today. We are now getting used to our school schedule again. Austin isn't so excited about the need to do homework each night but is getting it done.

Ok, so I have to be totally honest and tell you that these two pictures were actually taken today, the second day of school, I forgot to do it yesterday. They wore their new clothes yesterday but quickly chose older ones today. They both really like their sweatpants.

Griffen was SOOOOOOO excited about school today. As soon as the other two got their backpacks on and headed to the door, Griff started asking, "When are we going mom?" The half an hour he had to wait was an eternity to him. He used up his time getting his backpack and telling me he needed his lunch box too. He settled for a little snack put into his pack. Then we headed for Love to Learn Preschool. Today was a "mini day" which meant that it was only one hour and parents stayed and helped the kiddos get aquainted with the room. Griffen LOVED it and is looking forward to next week when "real" school begins.
I actually got a little teary when I looked at him this morning in his new outfit with his backpack on. He is getting so big so fast.

Letterboxing

Well it was the last day of summer at the Hendrickson house. It was also dad and kids day. Dean and the boys spent the day with Uncle Jason and Jordan and Caleb. (I stayed home and got some much needed housework done without any interuption). The dads and kids ventured out on their first letterboxing trip. What is letterboxing? Well awhile ago, I saw an article in Family Fun magazine. People all over the world have hidden boxes and then leave clues on the internet site (http://www.letterboxing.org/) about how to find them. Aunt Toni found clues to a few boxes hidden in our area so the adventure started today. Inside each box there is usually a rubber stamp and a notebook. When you find a box, you stamp your own notebook with the stamp from the box and then you can leave your stamp and a note in their notebook. Then you bury the box again for the next person to find. Anyway, the kids LOVED this activity and they ended up finding three boxes today. Dean said that the stamps they found looked like whoever put them there probably made them. Unfortuately, the last stamp was missing from its box so Dean took a picture of a picture of it stamped in its own book (see below)

They also spent some time skipping rocks at Larrabee State Park and then the tried to go bowling but went for ice cream at a local favorite, Mallard's, instead when the bowling alley wasn't going to be open until much later. It was a fun filled day for them and they are now sleeping peacefully getting ready for their first day of school tomorrow.

Crazy Couple of Weeks

Wow, this last two weeks has flown by. I have been meaning to post sooner but things got really busy and I also didn't have my camera with me most of the time. Anyway, our household has been gearing up for back to school. I was able to take Jacob and Austin out seperately for school shopping. We bought them both new clothes and their needed supplies though I still have a few things to get since a lot of stores where out of some basics like 48 count crayons and glue sticks.



This last Friday and Saturday I was kept VERY busy coordinating a "wedding in the woods". The couple who got married had great ideas about how they wanted their wedding to look and even when faced with many skeptics they pushed forward and it ended up being one of the most beautiful wedding I have seen. I really wish I had pictures to show you but you will just have to trust me, IT WAS GORGEOUS! The guests were ready for their adventure and came with their blankets or camping chairs to find a spot on the hillside in the woods to witness the ceremony. After the ceremony, the bride and groom lead their guests down a trail that lead to the groom's parents house where the reception was held with yummy food and an amazing view.



When I got home (at 10:30pm) Dean told me about a very cute (and funny) thing that Austin did. Austin ran downstairs and got a piece of paper and started writing on it. When Dean asked what he was doing Austin answered, "I'm making a sign. I am going to sell my ships." Sure enough, Austin had his lego ships lined up on the floor and his sign next to them, "Ten Dollars Only". Then he proceeded to sit and wait for customers. He is trying to earn money to buy a new game for the Wii.