Meanwhile, back at the ranch

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You know those old shows where exciting things were happening then in various locations and then the announcer would say “meanwhile, back at the ranch” and cut to the ranch scene.  To be honest, I never cared too much about the exciting things…highly overrated! I loved the part “meanwhile, back at the ranch“.  I love the simple everyday stuff that happens in a life.

So here are some simple everyday stuff that’s been happening back at this ranch:

  • Hubs and I sat outside last night and enjoyed the full moon.  It was beautiful!
  • We had dinner last night with some friends.  A rare treat!
  • Still no paperwork from Oregon’s court system.
  • Went to a new Sunday school class yesterday.  We are going to be working through the book “The Prodigal God” by Timothy Keller.  Anyone read it?
  • Went thrift storing with my mom yesterday.  Found a nice jean jacket for Sissy – and a hand-knit sweater.  I know I should knit her one, but I really don’t have the time.
  • I also found some more yarn.  Hopefully that will help me with some Christmas gifts I’m planning.
  • Saturday we did boring things like pay bills and clean the house.  But when that was over we went to Sacramento for our nephew’s birthday party.
  • We watched “Return to Witch Mountain” with the kids on Friday night – I really enjoyed it.  Yes, I was surprised!

Today is also filled with uneventful things that are necessary:  grocery shopping, working, homeschooling, etc.  But the truly exciting part is that Julie will come at 3pm and whisk the boys away for a few hours.  Two hours of just me and (hopefully sleeping but I’m not counting on it) Sissy!  My prayer is that I’m caught up enough on the necessaries that I can read my Bible and then knit until they get home!  Throw in a cup of tea (My mom brought me 6 different herbal teas to try) and it sounds pretty darn perfect to me!!

What’s been happening at our house

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Many of you know that our children are all adopted (with the exception of Joshua) and were all born addicted to Meth & Lord only knows what else.  A few weeks ago I was interviewed for a foster parenting podcast as our children were in foster care before we adopted them.  I spoke in there about what I learned about drug exposure in eutro.  Well, someone commented on their site that I was making too light of FAE – Fetal Alcohol Effects (commonly referred to now as FASD – Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder).  When I read their comment I thought, well, it’s only been mentioned once and in relation to the kid that has given me the LEAST of problems over the years.

But then Saturday night we had to bring home one of our son’s early from his sleepover because in helping his brother’s change the sheets in their room we found that he had stolen some things from me and was hiding them in his bed.  This is an ongoing problem that we’ve been facing (along with others).  We’ve been seeing a therapist for months now – he’s gone individually for a few months and finally Eric & I have been going too.  We’ve come up with plans and replanned and regrouped and so on.  We figured out that this last offense happened just an hour or so after our last therapy appt.  It sort of brought home that this isn’t working.

And, his response to being found out?  No remorse.  No guilt.  No.  He’s angry at us.  He rages.  He’s defiant.  He’s yelling and using bad language.

So, that night – I stayed up very late praying.  I felt like everything we were doing was a joke.  I asked God for direction and wisdom.  And I remembered that commenter’s mention of FAE.  So I turned on my laptop and did some research.  And it really seems that this might be what we are dealing with.  And, it means that we need more serious help.  So after visiting his pediatrician yesterday and talking to his therapist, we are calling a psychiatrist today to get some more serious help.

Please pray for us.  Please pray we can help him understand what is happening and why.  Please pray for us as we look at our other 3 children and wonder about how this affects them too.  Please pray for us to have strength, wisdom and patience.

And please praise the Lord for his comfort and grace and that we are NOT alone!  Sunday in church I was able to connect with another mom who has dealt with this but now her daughter is grown up.  Julie was such a blessing in that moment and has committed to coming to my house once a week to take the kids for a few hours to give me a chance to be refreshed.  Even typing this up now makes me tear up that she would help in such a way.  I pray that I can bless someone similarly when I am in that Season.

I think the hardest part for me right now is not knowing exactly how our lives will change…but knowing that it must and that it HAS to get better.  It’s sort of scary right now.

“Her skin is falling off?!?!”

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I was getting Sissy ready for her nap when I noticed something weird on her arm.  Her SKIN was FALLING off!  My heart started racing and I started to breath shallow! I was freaked out.  I started to call Eric in to tell me what to do about it, when I remember……

….she’d used Elmer’s glue in Sunday School.

At this rate, I may never survive parenthood.