I mentioned in my Cuddle Time blog yesterday, how well Hannah has been progressing. It truly is amazing.

Kids give away a lot of things in their eyes. Hannah and Sammy are no exception. Sammy’s eyes were a gradual progress that I didn’t notice until much later. When he joined our family, he had the deepest, darkest, chocolate brown eyes. The first photo of Sammy was taken right after he moved in with us. Today his eyes have a light ring of brown around the pupils,... more

I received the most wonderful e-mail from my best friend in Houston yesterday.

Here it is.

I want to be like you – A well-watered garden whose fragrance causes all around to breathe in…deeply. Kimber Annie Engstrom

A mother laughs our laughs, sheds our tears, returns our love, fears our fears. She lives our joys, cares our cares, and all our hopes and dreams she shares. Julia Summers

No language can express the power and beauty and heroism and majesty of a mother`s love. It shrinks not where... more

On Saturday our church is hosting a Ladies and Little Ladies Tea Party. I am the coordinator, and we are expecting about 50 people from all age ranges, so the last week has been very hectic for me.

Hannah has been looking forward to this, and is counting down the days. Yesterday I discovered that there will be other foster children attending. Since most people in my church know that I am involved in foster care and adoption, they know they can speak to me about questions they have.

There are two new foster daughters... more

If you’re a parent, you’ve probably already heard of Flat Stanley, but in case you haven’t, I’ll explain.

Flat Stanley is a paper doll. The premise is that Stanley was flattened by a bulletin board in the classroom. Now that he is flat, he can be put in an envelope, and easily travel wherever he wants to go. Children send Flat Stanley to friends and they journal what they do with Stanley, then return him, at which point he is shipped off to another location. The project is to encourage children with letter writing, and learn... more

My grandfather will celebrate his 89th birthday on Saturday, and my grandmother, her 85th just two weeks later.

I am so proud of my grandfather. He owns the largest company in our town. It is family owned, and has been for the past 89 years. The company was started by my great-grandfather two weeks after my grandfather was born.

Almost every child and grandchild has worked in the company in some capacity, but we didn’t start with easy jobs. We started with the minimum wage, get your hands dirty jobs, just like everyone... more

This seems like a strange title for a Love Thursday article, but after the story I read I can’t think of anything that shows love more than this.

I read an article in the April 17, 2007 issue of Woman’s Day magazine. It was about a woman named Haneefah Harris who gave her son one of her kidneys. Not an every day occurrence, but not terribly unusual.

The amazing part is that this is the son that she adopted from foster care! She took him in as a baby knowing that... more

This was not the blog I had planned, but given the circumstances listed in my previous blog, I felt it was fitting.

In addition to the house fire that our area battled with last night, a few hours before that, there was a barn fire in an area not too far away.

In addition to leaving their families, and warm comfortable beds, these men and women fought these fires during several waves of thunder, lightning and rain that rolled through our area last night.

The dedicated men and women who do this on a strictly volunteer... more

This photo of Sammy and Hannah was taken Sunday afternoon shortly before we concluded our visit at Sammy’s RTC. If you could see the photo taken when he found out the visit was almost over, you’d see the same hurt wounded child as he was when he came 8 years ago.

This is the Sammy and Hannah I see when they are together. I love this photo, and it is my desktop screen on my computer. They both adore each other. You can see in Hannah’s face and eyes, and the tight grip she has on her brother’s neck, that she knows she is safe with him.

Moments... more

I have the neatest dog. Sorry Nancy. She doesn't do tricks, except for shake and smile, and isn't a purebred or anything special.

She is a Chow Chow and German Shepherd mix. We got her from the pound when she was 8 weeks old. She only weighed about 8 pounds. Now she’s a solid 50 pounds, and a sweet, wonderful dog.

She is my buddy, and is a big “Mama Baby”. If I am in the bathroom, she lays outside the door and waits for me. If I am going down the stairs, she waits at the top of the stairs until I get there, and will not proceed... more