Plague #2

The Virus has subsided, it seems. I'm not casting any bets, but it appears that we are now free from The Virus.

But now, Plague #2 has begun, and it's a dandy. We have a bat problem. Okay, I'm not sure how big of a problem it is, but we have had three visitors in the last week. Ella is absolutely loving it. She seems to want to keep one as a pet. We tried to explain that some bats can make you sick, but she thinks that all of our new friends are healthy, nice bats.

So there you go.

The silver lining is listening to three squeeling girls talk about bats and how to rid our home of them.
Ella: "When bats come in, people go, 'AHHHHHHHHHH!' They fly around like this (hand movements of flying) and people run away!"

DeLaynie: "I know! We should put on bat costumes! Bat costumes will get rid of the bats!"

Foster daughter: "No. That won't work. That will make the bats want to come in. Unless we go outside in the costumes and then run back inside when they go out! Your house is spooky. No, not spooky. Your house is evil."

With these great words of wisdom, I think that our future is looking bright. The leaders of tomorrow are living in the Attaway abode today, I tell you.

The Virus

It began with the baby. He was whiny and cranky, but babies are supposed to be whiny and cranky sometimes. Then came the bodily expulsions. Seemingly unending bodily expulsions. Before he could conquer The Virus, the next oldest child was whiny and cranky, a sure sign of The Virus. As it progressed through his system, the three year-old began to be cranky... another victim. It seemed unending, unrelenting, devoid of mercy, completely unstoppable through modern medicine.

The adults seemed okay from the outside, but lack of sleep was eating away at their minds, even as the incessant whining tore away at their souls. Zombies! Will it ever end? Will this plague ever be defeated? Will The Virus bring life as we know it to an end? Stay tuned for more from...

The Virus

How Things are Going

We are about to head into Sunday, the most challenging day of the week, now made more challenging by the five little ones we have in tow. I'm thinking through the Sunday School lesson for tomorrow while I type this blog (subconscious writing is my thing). I have the kids' clothes picked out.

The little ones are in bed after a torturous experience trying to get DeLaynie and Ella bathed before the boys' bedtime. Ella fell asleep on the couch right before, so I had to wake her up to wash her hair. I'm pretty sure that I have solidified my future in a cheap nursing home. While I was trying to get the girls settled into the tub as quickly as possible, our foster daughter alerted me to the fact that the boys had pulled up a chair to the kitchen sink and were playing in the dirty dishes, which included knives. I decided that their bedtime could overlap with the girls' bath time.

I washed Ella's hair at a disturbingly rapid pace and took her downstairs so that I could get the boys to bed. After getting them settled, I came downstairs to the wet, naked Ella I had left behind, crying in the dining room. I brushed her hair (that nursing home will probably have a policy against pain medication, if Ella has her way), and threw on some pajamas. I took her upstairs and went to the baby's room to plug in the iPod that I left downstairs. He went to sleep almost immediately after I pressed, "play". She was crying in her bed when I arrived because she thought that I had forgotten her story. I excused myself to make sure that DeLaynie was good to go. She was in fish-heaven. I read Ella's story, which was only interrupted once for an excursion downstairs to let the dog inside so that her barking wouldn't wake the boys. Meanwhile, our foster daughter decided that she should watch "Jersey Shore," which I am pretty sure isn't intended for six year-olds. I changed the channel to Nick Jr. Once Ella was settled and her teeth were brushed, I washed DeLaynie's hair and got her out of the tub.

These were the busiest moments of what has been the most relaxing day we've had with five children. Everything's more work. Everything's more chaotic. Everything's more exhausting. There's more laundry, more cooking, and immeasurably more cleaning. But we're alive. The kids (all five) are happy and clean for the most part. Things get better day-by-day, with only a few exceptions. None of this is to our credit, of course. We're receiving, not giving.

Things are going well. We're grateful for our time with these precious ones, made in the image of the Majestic Glory. We hope that these months will have eternal impact, something that we are incapable of generating, but ready and willing to accept. Such a gift can only come from the hands of the One who made them and made us, who longs to see His people transformed into the image of His Son, usually by way of fire. So we'll let the fire to its task and won't run from its heat. When things are harder than we imagined (usually around five o'clock), we'll strive to remain in the Vine and receive our power from the Living Source. We'll fail. We 'll get emotional bumps and bruises whose only rivals will be the physical ones that the boys can't seem to go a day without acquiring. It's what we're made for, and it's the only possible way to be who we're meant to be and do what we're meant to do.

Here We Go!

We welcomed our first foster children into our home on Tuesday. We got a shipment of two toddler boys and a 6 (almost 7) year-old girl. We will not be taking any further deliveries for a while. We weren't planning on accepting any children older than Ella, but because of a glorious miscommunication between my sweet husband and myself, here we are!

I would like to say that the transition has been completely smooth, but it seems that instantly increasing your family's size by 75% is a wee-bit challenging. Of course, I knew that it would be, but knowing and experiencing are two different things.

It hasn't been bad, but it has been a whole new kind of difficult. Here are a few things that I have learned in the last 2 days:

• Boys are different. I don't care how progressive you are, gender matters! Climbing, bumping, running, colliding, pulling, and breaking are just a few of the special gifts that these little fellas have in abundance.
• Parenting a child who has been in a different home for the first year, two years, or 6 years is a whole different ball game from starting from the beginning.
• Sorry to be so shallow, but cute really helps.
• This is going to take more ability than I have, more patience than I can muster, and more love than I have to offer, so it's a really good thing that it isn't about me. My God has all that Edwin and I need, all that the foster kids need, and all that the girls need. And He's really good at sharing, which is good because no one else seems to be.

Movin' On Up!

DeLaynie's Moving Up Day was last Thursday. We celebrated an accomplished year of preschool and looked ahead to the first year of kindergarten. It was an adorable little ceremony, and DeLaynie did a fabulous job. Ella had a pretty good time watching, too.

The kids sang some songs, told a poem, and showed off some enviable fashions.

DeLaynie then received her "diploma" and a great, big hug from her wonderful teacher.

And Ella's still a happy spectator.

It was a great day celebrating a great year.



End of the School-Year Busy-ness

There's been a lot going on around here. So much, in fact, that Ella has been taking mid-afternoon naps much more frequently, and often to her own surprise.

She was very excited, though, when I told her about DeLaynie's spring concert. I promised that she would be in the spring concert not too many years from now, but she thought that I meant that she would go on stage right after DeLaynie. This is a picture of her with Daddy before coming to realize that she has to wait at least two more years before her musical debut.

We were pretty worried about DeLaynie's emotional state on stage, especially after Edwin said that she had absolutely NO DESIRE to go into the music room. We prayed from our seats, and the Lord heard our cries, as evidenced below:

Her favorite part was the bowing. The children were instructed to bow after the last song, but it was all DeLaynie could do to refrain from bowing for the whole song, every song. We were pretty impressed by her self-restraint since she bowed and called out, "Thank you! Thank you!" after each 30 second ditty.

Since there's nothing else to do (okay, there may be a few hundred things that are still categorized as "To-Do", like Vacation Bible School prep and DeLaynie's Pre-K graduation), one of my favorite people and I went to Deeper Still... in Louisville, Kentucky. And, no, we are not anywhere near Louisville. And, yes, we did drive the ridiculously long 14 hour drive there and the equally ridiculously long 14 hour drive back within the span of four days, with a 30 hour reprieve for spiritual growth.

All the while, our two wonderful husbands cared for the (drum roll, please)... 6 little girls that we left in their capable hands. I must admit, I did not do my share to contribute to the grand total of children. We have a meager 2 girls, but they have out-done themselves with 4 girls between the ages of 5 and 13!



In case you don't know, Deeper Still is a Christian women's conference featuring three of my favorite Bible teachers: Kay Arthur, Beth Moore, and Priscilla Shirer. LifeWay has been putting these events together for five years, and I've said that it's my dream conference, but didn't think I'd ever be able to make it. Then they announced that this was their FINAL conference. Then it just so happened that my sweet buddy said, "We should do an overnight girls' trip." I pounced immediately, and our overnight turned into a three-night, four-day road trip extravaganza. After deliberating we have decided that it was worth the time, money, and energy. We have also decided that LifeWay needs to start hosting some events for us Northern chicks.

Tomorrow is preschool graduation, and I have a preschooler in the tub, getting ready for the celebration to come. I can't believe that my baby is going to real, live kindergarten next year, despite the fact that I've had five years to prepare. Let me go rinse her hair with my tears... Okay, maybe not.

Ham and Cheese

Two weeks ago, our church held the closing ceremony for its AWANA program.

At least one little Cubbie was excited...

We learned a little something about  our children: they're both hams.

 DeLaynie especially enjoyed watching the video of herself and her classmate on the big wall...while everyone watched her watch the video of herself and her classmate on the big wall.

Ella, never one to be out-done, answered every question three times while gaining a wee bit of air time.

 As for the cheese...

Edwin bought a Wiffle Ball set on Memorial Day, so he and our friends could play. (I was team photographer.) Ella joined in the fun, while wearing a Cinderella costume.

She may have gotten a strike on her first try,

but with Daddy's help, she regained her composure and was able to get quite the hit. 



And there you have it: ham and cheese.