gratitude

Written on Our Hearts: Parting with a Foster Child

~ Stacy ~ 10 Comments

In March of last year, my dear friend and fellow foster mama left me a voicemail one evening explaining that she had a new placement and was wondering if I could care for the child for a few hours the next day while she was at work. I called her back and accepted with a flutter of excitement and nervousness in my belly, then I lay awake into the night anticipating meeting this baby in the morning.

My husband and I were new foster parents; we were just licensed the month before and had not yet had any placement requests. Despite our training, we had little idea how the system worked or what to really expect as we became involved with caring for foster children. Continue reading →

Flesh from Bone

~ Stacy ~ 10 Comments

Yesterday, I roasted a chicken for the first time in months.

We’ve been ill. We’ve been distracted. We’ve been in perpetual motion.

Last week, I said enough already and promised myself I’d make my way back to the kitchen – I’d make space for food that demands forethought and time.

We called Dottie from the farm up the road and ordered eggs, bacon, and a chicken.

***

Continue reading →

On Houseflies and Humanity

~ Stacy ~ 8 Comments

The first thing I did this morning was turn the calendar to February.

January was a bit of a doozy. We rang in the month with pukers, and rang it out with more of the same. That’s parenting, right? Don’t plan anything in the months between Christmas and Easter…

This round of sickness hit our house on Thursday morning. I’ll spare you the dirtiest of details, but let me just tell you that we’ve gone through a 12-pack of toilet paper in three days, and at the end of the day yesterday, there were nine pairs of underwear soaking in the sink.  I broke out the dusty jug of Clorox, and if you know me, you know it takes a public health crisis for me to reach for the bleach.

Continue reading →

First Morning

~ Stacy ~ 12 Comments

We closed on our new home in early August, moved our stuff in, then turned around and went on two long-before-scheduled camping trips with friends and a road trip to the Minneapolis area to visit my family.

Uff da.

We are so DONE, guys. Done with summer travel. Done with DVDs in the car and graham crackers on the floorboards.

I’m even done with s’mores. Continue reading →