It's Still Winter

I look at the previous post and have to laugh because not much has changed in three months. We are still in the midst of a hard winter. The hardest that I can remember. We are still in single digits for the high temps for the day. It has made everything harder, chores, going out, even getting out of bed becomes difficult. Usually by this time of the year we have ordered chicks, planted seeds and started cleaning up the yard. I haven't even opened up the seed catalog this year because I am just not in the mood.

This face has brought some sunshine to our winter. Meet Willow the Wonder Pup! The newest addition to the farm. Our lab has had a rough winter and it has taken a toll on the poor dog. Friends of ours had a batch of border collies and we decided to bite the bullet and get her.

We are still in the midst of doing foster care. We have had four children in our home in the last year. We have a 2 year old with us now. Three have come and gone. It is an emotionally exhausting business. The things these kids have been through and seen is overwhelming for my adult mind to wrap around. Our little girl with us now is in therapy...at two. We don't know what the future holds for us. Our original thought was we would do this for the next 10 years or more, until Hubby was ready to retire. Now we aren't so sure. The system is broken, families are broken, and the kids are the ones who are stuck in the middle. If it were up to me, we would adopt every child that walks through the door. Hubby keeps me in check and the goal of reunification puts most of these kids back in the homes, good or bad.

A new adventure has come out of this though. We are in the process of starting an in home daycare. Being in the system we are amazed at how many foster parents are both working outside the home. Which means having to find daycare for a child that you may have just pick up at the hospital in the middle of the night. Foster kids sometimes have their own quirks that need to be addressed and we are hopeful that we can provide that for a few kids. We are looking at this as a ministry opportunity for our family. I have two older kids getting ready to graduate in the next year and are in need of a job, so they are wanting to help me out and make some money in the process.