Obituary for Anson Martin

Anson Martin's obituary can be found here.  God bless him and his family. I hope to go to the public viewing on my lunch break on Friday.

Hump Day

Last week we got news of a possible placement. It was an emergency request for a home for a 9 month old baby girl.  After not hearing anything all weekend, I finally found out that they had found a home for her in California.  So, we'll wait.  We're at the top of the list for the little kids, though.

This Saturday is the foster parent picnic which we will attend.  It will be nice to meet some of the other foster parents whom I've seen at meetings.  Don't know if Little Man will be there because his foster mom has a cold.

In other news, we're back to working on our bathroom.  This project was started last year, and time and money (or lackthereof) stalled us.  I never did post the 'after' photos.  We just painted the walls white till we saved up for the rest of the project.

The 'remodeling' will include new flooring, paint, wainscoting, sink, toilet seat, shelving, lighting, decor, and towels.  Thanks to our tax return, we can get this done. Actually, we have things priced out so that it will not be expensive at all, and we will pay cash. The bathroom will look completely different and hopefully, lovely.

Anson Martin

A young husband and father by the name of Anson Martin passed away on Memorial Day, yesterday.  He had valiantly and courageously fought Stage IV colon cancer for a year and beat the survival odds given to him by his doctors. 

Anson was a soldier who served in Iraq.  The fact that he went to be with the Father on Memorial Day has such a deep meaning.

Please pray for his wife Laurie and their three young children.  His funeral will be held next week in Port Orchard, WA.

Rest in peace.

Vaya con Dios

Little Man and I will drive to meet his mother and foster mother for the transistion this afternoon.  I'm glad to have a good relationship with his first foster mom.  When I told her to forgive me when I cried, because I know that I will, she understood. She has been through this before. 

There are unknowns about his future back in his mother's home country and the knowns leave me little hope. But he is in His hands.  The words that are in my mind today are these:

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat (or drink), or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?


Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are not you more important than they?


Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span?
Why are you anxious about clothes? Learn from the way the wild flowers grow. They do not work or spin.
But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was clothed like one of them.


 If God so clothes the grass of the field, which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow, will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith?


So do not worry and say, 'What are we to eat?' or 'What are we to drink?' or 'What are we to wear?'


All these things the pagans seek. Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.

Please pray for us and especially for Little Man and his mother.

Nervous

We'll find out today what the longterm plan is for Little Man. Your prayers are appreciated. Would you also pray for a baby we got a call about? Don't know if she'll stay with us or if we'll have mom and Little Man with us. Who knows.

Someone I know has a sign in her kitchen that says, "God bless my whatever." That 'whatever' is my mantra nowadays. :)

Wild Wednesday

Nothing much new here with the Misters and me and Jilly. Although, John is learning massage in his modalities class, and I am selflessly helping him get some practice time in. His teacher was a massage therapist for 14 years before becoming a PT. In fact, two of John's classmates were massage therapists. They learned some Swedish massage techniques, so last night, my sore legs got some much kneaded (yuk, yuk, get it?) help. The night before I had done some heavy weight lifting for my hamstrings and quads, so the massage helped a lot.

Wednesdays are busy for me because I leave work early to drive to Tacoma to pick up Little Man from his visit. Besides falling behind on the house, I do not have dinner planned. Thankfully, the dinner fairy (aka my mom/Mimi to Little Man) is bringing us Papa Murphy's tonight!

John has a patient evalulation today, so this is a busy/stressful day for him. It is really cool to hear him talk about what he's learning and how he interacts with the patients. I'm so proud of him.

My goal tonight (after meeting up with two friends at this great coffee place) is to get both bathrooms cleaned and lunches made. Accomplishing little goals has become a goal in itself.

Blessings

This past weekend gave me an insight into how much has changed and has been going on since Little Man arrived a month ago. He has really settled in and so have we. For the first couple of weeks, I was a little overwhelmed with things as far his crying and tantrums were concerned. Now, (thanks in part to “The Happiest Toddler on the Block”) I am learning to speak his language and not take the outbursts and hitting personally. He is blossoming and soaking up so much—songs, ABCs, sounds, words. He has been part of our little family for a month, but also a large extended family with two sets of grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins who care about him.

After Mass on Sunday, we went downstairs for a breakfast benefitting the Cub Scout pack in the parish. Two of our nephews along with their parents were working the breakfast. The three younger kids came over to our table to say hi. All of them were so sweet to Little Man and our nephew D said, “Hola, ‘A’!” And when we were leaving, he said, “Adios, ‘A’.” D’s effort to speak to the the little one in his own language was sweet. After he finished his breakfast, he, “Pepe” (John’s dad) and I sang “Froggy Went a Courtin’,” which is one of Little Man’s favorite songs. He comes in with “Ahh-HUHHH!” He sounds like a little donkey. :0) This little boy has so many people who care for him and for this temporary time, has a full family. It made me realize how lucky I was to grow up having my parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.

Yesterday when I was talking to my sister, she said that her daughter who is nearly four wanted to ask me about our little boy. She got on the phone and said, “Hi, Aunty Lou. Can you tell me about the little boy?” It was so sweet . I hope that someday, God willing, they can meet.

Last night I mentioned to John’s mom that we are stretched pretty thin as far as time goes, but so far, we’re not feeling overwhelmed. This is thanks to our family and friends who have helped us out so much: my mom and dad made us a meal last week; people are praying; people have graciously given advice and help; another friend offered her running stroller to us! (shortly before she called, John and I had JUST talked about looking on Craigslist for one). It is also due to John cleaning up the kitchen and taking care of Little Man so much.

In a nutshell, this month has taught me at least one thing---family and friends are the best.

Enjoy this photo of Mr. Hollywood and a (very patient and sweet)dog.