Friday, August 03, 2012

Back to the core...

#9 & #10 went home this morning. They were supposed to be picked up at 9 in order to get them to their mom at 10. At 8:15 I got a call from the transporter who was at their school (with a bit of a 'tude, I might add) wondering where they were. I explained I had the agreement to come to my house at 9 in writing and she agreed to wait a few minutes before coming over.

 As a side note, caseworkers always seem to be late when it comes to everyday stuff but without fail when it comes to sending them home they are always early. What's that about?

We quickly wrapped things up, took our last picture together as a family, and walked them to the door when she arrived. She insisted we let her take them outside instead of us helping her get them to the car - this really upset mie, not because I needed to help her in the car but we ALWAYS stand together as a family on the porch and wave goodbye to the kids as they leave. ALWAYS. Frankly she couldn't really tell mie I couldn't do that in my own house but I wasn't up for a fight so we said goodbye and closed the door.

That's always a surreal moment. At one minute we have 4 kids. The next we have 2. One minute they're our family, the next we might never see them again.

My daughter asked repeatedly where the kids went and when they were coming back. Since then it's been a melancholy day. My son kept asking where everyone is, meaning the people who were supposed to be here (not the kids who left). Eventually we figured it was just so much more quiet than we're used to.

So we went to Chick-fil-A for lunch. It's not quiet there.

 Then we went to Target and bought this:

We set this up in the 105 degree heat.  As we did we watched as a summer storm was developing and inching closer, threatening to ruin or at least delay our plans to enjoy this thing.  Eventually we decided it was ok to go ahead and let the kids play, my daughter and son and my nephews, since there was no lightening in the immediate area.

I sat here on the porch, enjoying sitting with my mom who was in town, watching the kids just play and play and giggle and have a bunch of fun.  No chaos.  No screaming.  No little tiny kiddos I had to sit with in the water or help up and down the slide.  Just them having fun and mie sitting back watching.

See mie watching?


(See the unlocked can of mosquito spray?  The joys of an "empty" home.  I should have put it on too because I got a dozen bites that afternoon and I'm highly allergic.)

It took forever for mie to figure out how to take this picture with the iPad.  It's not mine - unless you consider that everything that is my husband's is mine too.  

It took even longer for mie to get this picture on this post - 2 weeks to be exact.  Apparently you can't just take pictures from the iPad and post using blogger...

2 weeks.  We took a week off before going back on the list.  We enjoyed every minute of it (and tried to clean some too).  Another week has passed.  No calls.  No new family members. 

Just us, enjoying our core family.  As always we could get a call any minute to take in some new kiddos.  We'd probably say yes.  But for now, we're happily living as a family of 4.  It's easier that way.  

But easy isn't always best.  Here's to enjoying a break and preparing for the foster care circle o' chaos that ensues with a new placement. 

You know...things like putting away that can.  I promise I'll put it away before I get a placement.  

2 comments:

Joy said...

Enjoy yor break!

Vertical Mom said...

"It's easier that way...but easy isn't always best." This is why I love you, Mie.