A Quick Hello

Hey, it’s been a while! I’ve been meaning to write but we’ve been swept away with the usual summer business and all of our “free time” has been devoted to prepping the house for our home study and completing our training (13 hours down and 25+ to go). Also, the computer is broken – I’m actually typing this on my phone right now.
So far the training has been a breeze and we’re falling more and more in love with this agency as we move along. We’ve been bouncing back and forth between excitement and fear, but overall I think this is going to be a wonderful experience for our family.
I’d love to write more but I hate doing this on my phone and I’m actually on my way to a training session right now, so I’ll have to write a more in depth update later.
Cheers!

The Foster Parent Survival Guide

Last weekend we went to our first workshop through Satori. We haven’t even officially started our application, but we didn’t want to miss it.
They brought in Landy Anderson, author of The Foster Parent Survival Guide. It’s funny because Landy says not to give the book to new foster parents because it will scare them away, but Satori makes a point of having all their new foster parents read the book before they have their first placement.
Nothing Landy said was really a surprise, although she did have some pretty extreme stories. If anything, I just found it comforting to know that we’re going into this with our eyes open.
We’ve scheduled all our training August and have our list of documents to obtain, so we’re well on our way. Exciting!

Revamped Occasional Table

We grabbed this table off the side of the road last week, a little banged up but structurally sound. Honestly, I don’t understand the things that people throw away. It’s ridiculous!

I had some time this week, so I decided to give it a few coats of paint with this gorgeous seafoam colour that we grabbed from the mis-tint table at Home Depot. It used such a small amount of paint, I’d say our total investment in this piece was $1.

I love the way it came out, and so did everyone else apparently because it sold within half an hour of listing and led to 3 new custom orders! I’m working on one today, a nightstand in the same colour fora little girl’s room.

Taking the Next Step

After years of talking about it, and months of planning and debating, Grace and I have finally decided to take the next step towards becoming foster parents. We attended an info night at a private agency last night and left excited and nervous and ready to take the plunge. We sat up late in bed filling out the first round of paperwork, a mentally and emotionally exhausting task, and we’re attending our first event in just over a week.
I won’t lie: I’m terrified. I’ve always known that I would be a foster parent at some point in my life, it’s just always been on my heart, but there’s a big difference between someday and today. That being said, I’m also just so excited! This is going to be such a challenging and beautiful experience for our family and I can’t wait.
Going with a smaller private agency means that things move a lot faster, so the average length of time between application and approval is only about 12 weeks, depending how easily you can fit the training into your schedule. We could have our first placement before Christmas!
For now, we’ll keep working on the house and enjoying the summer – our family is in for some big changes!

Children’s Art Wall

This is a project that’s been on the to do list for 3 years, and I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out. Also, I did it all for free, which makes it that much sweeter! Remember last week when I found that spray paint on the side of the road? Well it got put to use. And the frames got pulled out of a free bin at the secondhand store I volunteer at a while ago.

Of course I forgot to take a picture before I started painting, but they’re all cheesy wood look plastic frames from the 80s – use your imagination. I have then all a quick coat of white, let them dry and then hung them in the dining room.

The kids love the idea of hanging their art in a “gallery” and I love the idea of their being only so many spots to fill.

Although, it’s so darn cute that I might add a couple more…

Little Footsteps

The house was quiet today; too quiet. We drove the kids home yesterday, but when I woke this morning I was still expecting them to come running in.
I miss the sound of their little feet running around, their laughter and their screams, the sound of them playing in the living room. I even miss their constant questions. Having those kids here, it made our house feel like a home.
It’s hard not knowing when/if Grace and I will ever have kids of our own. It’s hard not hearing those little footsteps.

[this moment]

A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Inspired by SouleMama

Canada Day!

Yesterday was Canada Day, and we celebrated with a pool party/potluck at a friend’s house and then fireworks. The kids had a blast…and so did Grace and I. Honestly, I love Canada day. It’s privacy my favourite holiday after Christmas and Thanksgiving. There’s so much about my country and it’s founding that are horrible and disgusting and break my heart, but I am still so proud of my home and the people who make it what it is. Plus, fireworks make me cry (in a good way).   They’re just so pretty!
The kids and I are heading off to the woods for some rock skipping and leaf collecting, so I’m just going to dump some photos from yesterday. Already looking forward to next year!

A Hell Of A Deal

Anyone who knows me knows that there’s nothing I love more than a good deal, and to me that means free. I’m constantly scanning the free section of Kijiji, getting alerts from various Facebook groups and, I’m not ashamed to say, watching the side the of the road. That’s right, I’m a “garbage picker”. I know a lot of people find this practice unsavoury, but what’s better than getting things that you want/need for free and diverting waste from the landfill? In my books, nothing.
Some of my favourite pieces around our home have come from the garbage, and whatever we don’t keep we fix up and sell.
Sunday night was one of the best finds I’ve had, simply because it was so ridiculous. I saw a pile of wood from across the intersection, always good for our fire pit, if nothing else, SSSI we decided to stop. The wood turned out to be an old dresser that wasn’t worth salvaging, but inside one of the drawers I find this haul.

Two unopened cans of white spray paint, a brand new package of glitter glue, and a clean, seamed ziploc bag of felt and yarn! All brand new!
The spray paint alone saves me about $20! I have an endless list of projects I can use them for – I basically want to paint everything in the house white; it’s kind of a problem.
Anyway, it’s Canada day and I’m late for a pool party. Ciao!

A Morning Adventure

Our niece and nephew, Teaghan and Liam, are staying with us while their mom is moving up north to her new country home. Grace starts work later on Mondays and Tuesdays, so we decided we had time for a little trip. We made some pancakes, loaded the car and drove over to our local university to the Earth Sciences Museum.

We’re so lucky to live in an area with not one, but two universities – there are so many great resources made available to the public, and the Earth Sciences Museum is probably our favourite. It hosts some great rock and mineral samples, castings of dinosaur and ice age mammal bones, various other plant and animal fossils and a replica silver mine.

Liam is really into dinosaurs, and has been for about 4 years now. The kid is a wealth of knowledge. Seriously, ask him anything.

We were only there for half an hour, but the kids loved it.

Of course it doesn’t matter how many interesting exhibits there were, the kids just wanted to play with the water fountain. It’s going to be a crazy week!