Turkey Day 2013

12/02/2013

We hosted Thanksgiving dinner at our house this year which actually worked out pretty well because everyone else brought the majority of the food, we just did the turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole and lots of dishes.

Turkey #1:

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Turkey #2:

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‘Twas a beautiful day.

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I asked Ali if she would take a picture of Jason and me before anyone else arrived. She’s getting pretty good with my iPhone!

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Ali with my parents, Grandma and Grandpa:

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Ali with Jason’s parents, Nana and Papa:

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Mmm… Jason did an awesome job with the turkey and stuffing. It was delicious.

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I didn’t get too many pictures of the actual dinner party but suffice it to say, it was a great day. These two little ladies laughed and played and ate too much dessert. Thanksgiving is one of my very favorite days of the year. I have so much to be thankful for. God is good!


Phone Photo Friday

11/15/2013

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See, this one knows about ease and refreshment.

Most of my Phone Photo Friday pictures are from my Instagram feed. Follow me @mahlbrandt if you’d like!


Phone Photo Friday

11/08/2013

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I’m participating in a photo-a-day on Instagram called #knittogetherbyadoption. Yesterday’s prompt was “unknowns.” This is what I shared:

I am currently facing a ton of unknowns…who, what, where, when, why, how? When will the call come and who will our next child be? Why is he or she coming into#fostercare? Where is our next child right now and what is he or she going through? How will it all play out? Reunification or #adoption or some other path we haven’t walked yet? How long will he or she be with us? How will our household dynamic change? | Despite all of the unknowns, I have much more peace and patience this (4th) time around. I trust in God’s timing. I trust Him to match the child to our family that we’re best able to serve. As much as I like to plan, I also love surprises. #expecting #duedateunknown

Most of my Phone Photo Friday pictures are from my Instagram feed. Follow me @mahlbrandt if you’d like!


Foster Care Ch. 4 Prep: Looking Forward, Looking Back

11/06/2013

As I spent the month of October preparing for our fourth child, I thought a lot about our first three. I’ve had this idea for a while but finally did it: an 8×10 photo, an initial and a shadow box of significant items for each child. It’s the start of our hallway gallery wall that might one day be full of difference faces and memories.

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I also make a necklace in honor of my motherhood to these three sweethearts.

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I made a CD of my “songs for the foster mama’s heart.”

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I got our next kid’s room ready, including setting up the pack n play in case we get a baby. (And if we do, I’ll probably end up buying a second crib because Ali is still using hers.)

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Lots of time was spent reading and praying, usually right in this spot on the couch in the morning before anyone else is up.

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I spent half of a Saturday cooking several gallons of soup and stocking it in the freezer.

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Sometimes I feel like the house is ready and other times I feel like I need a day to clean and organize. I know it’s ready enough and we have everything childproofed to DCS standards but I guess it’s just a nesting thing.

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Then I rearranged the next kid’s room a little bit. This bed seems to only work in this one spot in this room and it kind of drives me nuts. I’m thinking I’ll eventually move it into Ali’s room and get some regular bunk beds that can be switched into twin beds for maximum flexibility.

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Then more time has been spent resting, waiting, preparing, breathing deep in the now. A cup of tea on a sunny afternoon is balm to my soul.

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It’s November and I’m Back

11/04/2013

I’m back to blogging. I think. Taking a month off has forced me to reevaluate my frequency of blogging and realizing I could take some pressure off of myself. For years I’ve pushed myself to post 5x a week. I really enjoy blogging but at the end of the day after working full time, being a wife and mom, fostering (again soon), doing freelance…sometimes it starts to feel like another chore to tick off my to do list.

Reflecting on my most recent post, we haven’t sold our old car yet, we didn’t end up doing respite (only had one request and Jason was out of town), and I’m still not sure what I want to do with the rest of my life. However we did take Alianna to Dollywood and it was a blast. The month of October also included a lot of rest, prayer, preparations to our next foster kid’s bedroom, meals cooked and stocked in the freezer, reading, and time well spent with friends and family. I’ll be posting some pictures of specific adventures from October but for now, here is a little photo summary.

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In foster care news, we’ve started receiving calls for placement #4 and by “calls” I mean we got one call last Tuesday for a teenager. I said no. We had planned to wait to reopen our home until Buzz is officially out of state care but our worker said we needed to open sooner because they have a shortage of homes. I’m kind of surprised we haven’t had more calls but I’m honestly in no hurry. Life is easy, sweet and comfortable right now. I trust in God’s timing and I know He has something specific planned for us, and a specific child He wants us to open our home and hearts to next. Buzz’s exit hearing was moved back to mid-November but everything is still looking great for him to be officially back in his mom’s custody, where he’s been living since he left our home at the beginning of August. I’m so happy that we’ve been able to stay in touch and stay friends. We text back and forth often and have gotten together twice so far. We’re planning a celebratory dinner the night after his exit hearing.


Phone Photo Friday

09/27/2013

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We had a babysitter so that means its a date night, right? Required biannual 4 hr CPR class…with free snacks

Most of my Phone Photo Friday pictures are from my Instagram feed. Follow me @mahlbrandt if you’d like!


Last Chance to Preorder Christmas Classics

09/25/2013

Jason’s Kickstarter campaign for his Christmas Classics album ends tomorrow just after midnight. Last chance to preorder a CD and help fund this project. Thanks for considering.

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Phone Photo Friday

09/20/2013

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Most of my Phone Photo Friday pictures are from my Instagram feed. Follow me @mahlbrandt if you’d like!


Phone Photo Friday

09/13/2013

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I got a wake up call from DCS placement yesterday morning. Ugh. These decisions are hard! We’re on hold status so they must be desperate. It’s good to make decisions and set boundaries when you have a sound mind and not in the heat of the moment when a worker is describing a specific kid(s) and situation and your heart is breaking. I think we’re going to stick with our original decision to not accept any new placements until the beginning of November. (Previous kids or bio fam would be an exception.) Heart is still broken either way.

Most of my Phone Photo Friday pictures are from my Instagram feed. Follow me @mahlbrandt if you’d like!


Merry Christmas!

09/10/2013

I know, I know…It’s only September. I used to work at a Michael’s craft store and I was always amazed when the boxes (and boxes and boxes) of Christmas decorations would arrive the first week of October…three weeks before Halloween. It just felt wrong. But I have a very good reason for bringing up Christmas in September. For several years my husband Jason has been dreaming and planning on recording a Christmas album. If you’ve been a blog reader for a while you probably remember when he released a lullabies album in February 2012 called Acoustic Lullabies. He’s had the idea for a Christmas album well before that but put it on hold to create a CD of beautiful guitar music dedicated to our daughter Ali, and the sales of that album helped fund her private adoption. Well, he’s finally finished with the long-awaited Christmas album. I’m so excited about it! It’s really wonderful. I’ve seriously had to resist the urge to set up the Christmas tree because overhearing some of the recording process and then listening to the almost-finished product has really brought on the Christmas spirit at our house. In September. Jason’s not just any average guitar player—he’s been obsessed with the six-stringed instrument for 20 years. He is trained and seasoned in classical, jazz, rock, country, finger-style guitar and you’ll hear all those influences on this album. I’m a big fan.

So anyway… producing an album is an investment. There is an initial expense and then money is gradually recouped through sales. His lullabies album was successful and worth the risk but we despise debt. We decided to try something different this time. Jason set up a Kickstarter campaign to fund the initial expense for mixing and duplication (recording is already complete) through pledges for pre-orders of the album. At the base level a $15 pledge results in Christmas Classics shipped to you when it releases in October. Higher pledges have various rewards like autographed or gift wrapped CDs and bulk discounts. If he doesn’t reach his goal (which covers the cost of mixing and a minimum initial order of 1000 CDs), he doesn’t get any money and the pledges are all voided. It’s an all or none situation. Would you consider pledging money to pre-order this CD? I guarantee you’ll love it. You’ll love it so much that you’ll want to give copies to your kids’ teachers and soccer coaches, your best friend, your hard-to-buy-for-music-loving brother, your chiropractor, your insurance agent, etc.

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On Jason’s Kickstarter page, you can also watch the silly video we made to promote the project, and hear one of the songs. It was late at night and we may have thought it was a little funnier than it actually is…but all is redeemed by Ali’s incredible sweetness at the end.

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Merry Christmas!

Thanks for your consideration.