Summer 2012

Summer is winding down here at the Peters household, but it has  beenquite a whirlwind!!  After 15 plus phone calls from our foster care agency (most of which we said yes to, but were passed by for other reasons), we now have 3 foster children under the age of 5!  They have been with us for 3 weeks now and so far, so good.  We can't post pictures or reveal names via social media, but we can tell you: L - is a 4.5 yr-old girl who is full of energy, protective of her brothers, loves princesses and started pre-school 2 days ago!  J -  is a 2.5 yr-old boy who is a great actor, loves to do puzzles, copies his sister and eats REALLY well.  A - is a 1 yr-old boy who is content, smiley, sleeps well, eats REALLY well, and just began taking his first steps. He's also into everything BESIDES the great toys we have. 
We have all done some adjusting, however things have been going pretty well.  We went from 2 of us to five of us overnight, so our household looks a little different here's how: Dinner-time (sure, we have chicken ground into the carpet and we probably won't have a chance to vacuum), but hearing L lead us in "open shut them" prayer before each meal is fairly priceless.  Who knew there was an amazing weight-loss plan in which all you do is eat in between feeding someone else?! We also seem to eat dinner at the "nursing home hour" of 4:30pm, but that means more time to digest.   Bathtime (we pretend it's raining in the tub, just to get shampoo rinsed out of hair or pretend to sneeze while throwing a cup of water on the suds), TV shows (I'm pretty sure we quote Dora the Explorer in our heads during the day and there's a certain Veggietales episode we've seen 20x's).  Bedtime (I feel like a we've never watched the clock so closely and got so excited to have our own time in the evening and usually we are both profusely sweating after running up and down the stairs a few times and chasing little ones around just to get them into a diaper and pj's). Riding in the car (frequently asking everyone to "keep your hands to yourself" or trying to answer the age-old question "what's that?" a million times, but what oh what fun it is to sing Old McDonald or VBS songs while moving along).  Diapers (who knew #1 and #2 could consume so much of your day. We are thankful for the great gifts of diapers since 2 kids are wearing them. However, currently J is being potty trained and we've only been peed on twice (I think...maybe I lost count?)
Monica is now working only 2 days a week while Daryl plays "Mr. Mom. Daryl then works the other days; fortunately his schedule is very flexible when needed.  We have a great amount of responsibilities as foster parents including providing a ministry to these children and to their birth parents (the case is confidential and we are unable to discuss the few details we know). Some days are harder then others, but we keep reminding ourselves that we are "the hands and feet of Jesus". 
We are so incredibly grateful for our dear friends and family because without your help and support we would not be able to do what we need to do!! Thank you from the bottom of our exhausted, excited, drained, and humbled hearts!!!