Lemonade and Gingerbread

Update on My Mom

2012-05-25T16:51:00.001-07:00

Met with doctor's today. Our home hospital says no heart attack or congestive heart failure. This is so what I prayed for. It was just the infection causing the problems.

She is still some what altered mentally but that is most likely from the infection as well. Just praying that she continues to improve on this front and that she will be home soon.

Thanks

Sandra

Prayers please

2012-05-23T19:05:00.001-07:00

This is not how I planned on restarting my blog but we need prayers. My mom is in the hospital with an infection, congestive heart failure, and possible heart attack. Can I ask for you to pray for her. They are transferring her to another hospital tonight so hopefully they will have a better picture of what is going on.

Starting Again

2012-05-21T12:14:00.000-07:00

Let's see this is probably the fifth time I've said this here at Lemonade and Gingerbread in the last year. So what is different this time. Well I am. This past year as put me on a weird path - sort of like a treadmill that I couldn't get off of. We've had financial, parental, and emotional issues to deal with as well as a faith crisis. How was I to write anything worthwhile during that time so I didn't.

However, with the new Spring came a lot of changes. A refocus back to homesteading and all that goes with it. Some clarification in our foster situation, and not to mention a new church. I'll be sharing on all these items in the near future. For now I just wanted to ask those of you who are still following me to start reading again. I have big plans for Lemonade and Gingerbread. I'll be sharing more ideas on how we farm in the city, why I think being a SAHM is important, how until I reach that point, I manage working and homesteading, money saving ideas - including a weekly feature on Wednesdays title Waste Not Want Not Wednesdays, and much more.

Again, I hope if you've enjoyed following me in the past that you will continue to do so in the future.

God Bless

Sandra

My New Favorite Song

2012-04-16T11:46:00.000-07:00

I had to share with you the lyrics to my new favorite song. Free by Ginny Owens.

Turnin' molehills into mountains
Makin' big deals out of small ones
Bearing gifts as if they're burdens
This is how it's been
Afraid of coming out of my shell
Too many things I can't do too well
Afraid I'll try real hard
And I'll fail
This is how it's been
Till the day You pounded on my heart's door
And You shouted joyfully
You're not a slave anymore!

CHORUS:
You're free to dance
Forget about your two left feet
And you're free to sing
Even joyful noise is music to Me
You're free to love
'Cause I've given you My love
And it's made you free
I have set you free!

My mind finds hard to believe
That You became humanity and
Changed the course of history
Because You loved us so
And my heart cannot understand
How You accept me as I am
But You say You've always had a plan
And that's all I need to know
So when I am consumed
With what the world will say
Then You're singing to me, as You remove
my chains
Free from worry
Free from envy and denial
Free to live, free to give, free to smile

That first paragraph is something I'm real good at but am trying to let go. The Chorus and second part are just beautiful.

Have a Blessed Day

Sandra

That Time of Year in The Garden

2012-04-12T11:39:00.003-07:00

Here in Southern California it is that time of year when we pick the last of the winter greens in prep to plant to summer garden.

This year is we tried a new green, to us any way, kale. We really liked it and I was surprised at how many uses it has. It can even be used in place of cabbage in stuffed cabbage. We haven't had much success with cabbage in past years so the kale was nice. The basket below is what I picked this weekend. It is the end of the kale for this year. This basket full is already cleaned from the stems. I don't cut it up before processing it in case I want to use it for something that doesn't need it cut. By the way, I love these big square baskets. They are great for everything from laundry and kids toys to picking veggies from the garden. I bought several of them on cheap sale at Michael's years ago.

For our purposes I found that the best thing to do this year is to freeze the kale. I have read about canning it, but since I'm short on time as a working mom blanching and freezing it is easiest.

First, I washed and drained the kale.

Next, I blanch the kale in boiling water for 2-3 minutes.

Lastly, I drain it and put it into a cold water bath. Once it is cool, I packed it in quart size Ziploc bags and stuck them in the freezer. I got six 8oz. bags.

It is a really simple process and I do the same for things like spinach and Swiss chard. Next year I hope to can such greens instead - to save room in the freezer.

Here are a couple links to some of my favorite kale soup recipes we discovered this year. A note on the White Bean and Kale Soup. I did not put the Parmesan rind in the soup. Instead I sprinkled grated Parmesan on the soup before serving.

Creamy Kale and Potato Soup

White Bean and Kale Soup

We also enjoy it sauteed with olive oil and garlic and little balsamic vinegar splashed on top.

Enjoy

Sandra

Still Here

2012-04-10T14:26:00.001-07:00

Not sure if anyone else is but I am. It has just been a crazy year for us with all the foster care drama. The children are still with us and things should soon be settled. We go to court next Wednesday for a final decision on the issue of reunification, hopefully. I can't get too much into it but it looks like we'll have an answer. The birth mom has not seen the children in almost 4 weeks (her choice). But who knows anything could happen in this process - we just give it to God.

Gil is still not working, but it has been a blessing in disguise. We have been able to qualify for a few financial programs, such as a loan re-modification, to get out of debt that we would probably not been able to do if he had been working. Also, he has been able to handle all the foster visits with the children over the last few months - which were a lot considering at one point the children were transitioning back to mom.

There are a lot of changes going on around our homestead. We have expanded our garden and we are changing the way we eat/cook. Truly it is just getting back to the way we use to do things for a few years before the children came and I just got too busy to do things. But I now realize we need to eat that way - I felt healthier when we did and more energetic - which with a toddler and a preschooler energy is important.

Will be sharing photos of our garden over the next few weeks. We are also going to adapt the ideas from Back to Eden in our garden this year. I called today to get a delivery of free wood mulch delivered. It should be exciting this year in the garden. I started all of our tomato plants from seed and somehow we ended up with 82 plants. I put two or three in each pot because the seed was a couple years old and I wasn't sure they would germinate. We will give about half of them away to family and friends.

We also still have the plan for me to start staying home after the summer. With all we've been able to accomplish financially this year it is looking like it will happen. We have a few more credit accounts to deal with but we are almost to the point where it will only be our mortgage, my student loan, and utilities. By the end of the summer that should be doable. I'm already starting to figure out how I want to start teaching B for preschool come fall. It will be great because my neighbor and dear friend also homeschools so to think we are both homeschooling across the street from each other is exciting.

There is one more change happening in my life. It's not something I'm ready to talk about but if you've been reading my blog for a while you might be able to pick up on it from reading my profile description.

Blessings to All

And I promise to be more consistent in blogging.

Sandra

Update

2012-01-19T11:40:00.000-08:00

Yes I've been MIA again. It's been a rough two months as we continue on the foster care roller coaster. Things keep going back and forth between are they going or are they staying. One month they are staying the next time they are going and now we don't know.

I really don't know what to make of all this except I have to believe God has a plan here. And we have to except that our part in the plan may be coming to an end. My only prayer is that if they do return that God keep them safe.

We did have the blessing of spending Christmas with the children and that was nice.

On top of it there have been issues with unemployment, sick parents, and just the every day craziness of raising two children that has stopped me from blogging like I wanted to.

In the meantime this has made us refocus our priorities and look back to our desire for a simple life. We keep doing this thing were we fall back into old habits and give up on our homesteading plans. No more, we are recommitted more than ever to that way of life. It's just a matter of getting there.

The last two weeks we've worked a lot on some homesteading items and are refocused on where we are going next. Because of that I want to pick up the blog again. I have so much to share and so enjoy learning from all of you as well.

Blessings

Sandra

Saving Money in a Child's Room

2011-10-19T12:00:00.000-07:00

In this next installment on saving money I thought I would write about things we did in our children's room to save money in decorating.

These plastic bins make great toy boxes. I actually now have two and the toys are divided between them. I only put one in their room at a time. More on that in a later post.

These are pieces of art work that our daughter did - I thought it would be a good idea to use them as free art work in their room. Since taking this picture, the wall is a lot more full of art. By the way, if you look close at these pics you might see something I'm not allowed to say ;0)

Speaking of art work, these are two postcard size pictures that came in a DVD. I took them and framed them with dollar store frames - makes great art as well. The same is true of the Nemo pictures below - except they are bigger. They were a free with purchase item from Disney Store.

Hand me downs painted white are great! This dresser was actually mine as a child so it was already white. But any old dresser painted white looks great in a child's room.

This one might be hard to see but the cost of crib sheet/comforter sets are crazy. So what I did here is buy a toddler comforter/sheet set - I got it on sale for $15 at target. The sheet fits the crib mattress as this crib converts into a toddler bed eventually. And the comforter I just fold in half when I make the bed. Newborns and infants shouldn't sleep with the comforters on any way, so why spend the money. And this set will transition with them into their toddler bed.

Lastly, here is a little tip for closet organization. The green shelves you see on the left is actually an adult size shoe caddy. I use it to keep the children's shoes, bibs, burp cloths, and extra wipes. I picked it up at Big Lots for $3. I'm thinking it would be great in other areas as well. Maybe a linen closet for small things like napkins.

New Laundry Soap Recipe I'm Using

2011-10-17T11:28:00.000-07:00

I've made my own laundry soap for several years now but recently, I decided to change out the recipe I use.

I just finished reading The Duggar's first book and in reading it I found I liked the sound of the recipe they use. You can find it here. I really like this one it is less concentrated so it comes out of the bottle easier and because you are using more ingredients in the beginning you make more in each batch.

Less work is always better.

By the way, if you haven't read either of their books, I highly recommend them. I'm half way through the second book and loving it.

Happy Laundering

Sandy

Steps We’ve Taken to Reduce Spending – Part I

2011-10-15T09:54:00.000-07:00

One of the first things I mention in my blog welcome is that I am a working mom with aspirations of staying home. Well Gil and I know that can't happen unless we payoff our debt or find an alternative from home income to make up for my salary.

So our first step is to cut anything we can do without. I wanted to start sharing what we are doing to reduce our spending in order to pay off debt. Here is a list of a few things we’ve done away with over the last two years. Mainly this post deals with utilities, services, and such.

Cable Television – We had DirecTV and it was costing us about $75 per month. That adds up to $900 per year. When we decided to do this, we bought a new HDTV and an antenna. Now we have a bunch of free stations we like and occasionally we have subscribed to Netflix directly to our TV. Even if we kept Netflix all the time we would still save over $65 per month ($780 annually)

Telephone – in two words – MAGIC JACK!!! Our phone bill was about $80 per month without any phone calls. This did include internet and international calling plan. Now we pay $14.99 per month for our internet (was able to get a locked in deal with ATT) and $19.99 a year for the Magic Jack and then we add $20 at a time for international calls – which usually lasts us about 2months. Calculate that up and we are spending $36 a month for phone/internet. Which means we save a minimum of $44 a month ($528 annually).

Cell Phone – okay I admit this one I didn’t follow through with. When Gil was laid off last October I got rid of my I-Phone and got a pre-paid phone. The problem was I didn’t think it through in selecting my pre-paid phone. I got the cheapest I could get and it just doesn’t work for me – I guess I rely on texting and internet on my I-Phone more than I thought. Once Gil was back to working I reconnected my I-Phone. I do have plans to make a change to pre-paid again – but I need to research and find the right phone for me. Stay tuned and I will let you know.

Gardening Services – This probably sounds odd, but here in Los Angeles, most people have gardeners. When we moved into our current home we decided to retain the gardener that was working for the previous owner until we finished some remodeling projects. We were paying $75 a month for this service ($900). My point here is look at anything you pay someone else to do - can you do without it or do it yourself?

Extra Capacity Garbage – Not sure everyone has this, but in Los Angeles, you get one garbage can, one recycle bin, and one yard waste can. If you need more than one of any of them you must pay an extra $28 each per month per extra can. We have such a large property that we had an extra yard waste can. Not any more – we are composting more and if we have too much large debris we set it to the side and put it out the following week – for a savings of $336 annually.

Isn’t it something that with these four simple steps we are saving $2500 a year! Now I need to get going on the Cell Phone.

Happy Savings

Sandra

First Day of School

2011-09-06T16:50:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd share a picture with you today. It was my daughter's first day of the new school year - if we can call it that in daycare. But her daycare is set up more like a preschool. In fact they also have a preschool and a kindergarten there.

Any way, here she is on her way to the car with her Hello Kitty backpack. She wanted to put it on her back even though it's almost as big as her. This picture symbolizes my hope that this is the last first day of school she has to leave the house to attend. God willing we will be homeschooling her next September for her first year of preschool.

Blessings

Sandra

These are the moments

2011-08-28T06:52:00.000-07:00

I don't usually blog on Sunday's but I just had to share a beautiful moment real quick. I'm snuggled in with my two babies. That is a moment to cherish. The only thing better would be if Gil was here too - but alas he got called out on a plumbing emergency at one of the properties his company manages.

Have a beautiful Sunday.

Forks in the Road, Detours, and a U-Turn,

2011-05-19T12:48:00.000-07:00

How is that for a post title? Those of you who still follow me have probably noticed how I barely post any more. I get started and then I stop. Well there are a lot of reasons for this start, stop, start again situation.

Mostly, our life is just a bunch of confusion right now that I don't know what to blog about. I feel like we are in a holding pattern at a fork in the road and we have to wait to see what permission will be granted before we can decide which fork we will move down. We still don't know what the out come will be in relation to the children and that has a lot to do with which path we will go down. And we've had a few setbacks that will postpone a final decision by about 6 months.

The last time I blogged I was getting ready to stay home due to being laid off. Well I was given another job in my company and now will be staying for the time being. If I would have chosen to leave - I would have essentially been quiting which meant no severance, no unemployment. Therefore, the SAHM/homeschooling I was planning on will have to wait until if/when we adopt, as will blogging about the experience. Sadly, we've opted to put the children in day-care as our caregiver found another job. We found really great places but still it is hard for me to leave them each morning.

As for the detour, I had hoped to blog about our experience as foster parents but I now realize that due to regulations on us, I really can't. Some day when we adopt, I will sit down and write a series on our experience as foster to adopt parents but until then yet another detour on what to blog about.

Therefore, while we wait for the forks and detours to work themselves out, I've decided to take a U-Turn with Lemonade and Gingerbread. I love blogging, love writing period, and I'm going back to what I passionately wrote about before here and at my previous blog Simply Suburban. That is simple living and it will also include the new challenge of doing it while being a working mother. It is not easy, to say the least, but I feel even more compelled to live simply as a working mom. There are so many stresses upon our family right now and eating wholesome meals is so important to keep us healthy. Also, if Gil and I are ever to reach our goal of me staying home after we adopt then making simple changes in our lives that help us pay off our debt and save money is more important than ever.

Therefore, please join me as I refocus Lemonade and Gingerbread on the simple things in life.

Sandra

He Is Risen

2011-04-24T04:42:00.000-07:00

Wishing you and your family a Happy Easter from the Lemonade and Gingerbread family.

Remember in Him anything is possible.

Sandra

What do the other 20% think?

2011-04-20T11:02:00.000-07:00

I read a startling statistic this weekend in woman's day. 80 percent of moms say they are happy when back-to-school time rolls around. This according to a survey conducted by the Marketing to Moms Coalition.

Now granted there is room for error and it depends on whom they polled.

But 80%? And would I be safe in thinking the majority of the mom's who said this, said it because it means the children are out of the house or they have free babysitting services again?

Or maybe they were all homeschool mom's and they are happy to get teaching again. I hope for the second reason but I think it's more the first reason sadly enough.

I hope and pray I never become a mom that is glad to see her children go back to school in that way. That is why I am so encouraged by all the homeschool or SAHM blogs I read. To know that women are embracing their duty as mom and educator. And maybe one day that number will go down.

Sandra

Can You See the Quack Quack???

2011-04-18T16:03:00.000-07:00

Do you see a duck in this picture below?

My daughter does. Every time I hang clothes out she takes my clothespins and starts dancing around saying quack quack quack. Ah to be two again. She also thinks my calculator is a phone and a remote control in one.

It does get me thinking though. How is it that we lose that ability to see ducks in the clothespins. I know some of you probably still have this ability and I applaud you. But truly most of us, myself included have lost that innocense along the way. I really want to get back to that - to seeing the creative side of things. To learning to pretend a little bit some times. Or at the very least imagine the possibilities. It is my hope that coming home will allow me the ability to recapture that imagination. It seems that for so long I have just been going through the motions, but God willing no more.

Sandra

Attention Homeschoolers

2011-04-11T22:18:00.000-07:00

Now that I am going to be staying home, I want to start thinking of activities to do with our 2 1/2 old daughter.

Any Ideas? I know she is only 2 1/2 but she loves to learn and read. I do have the idea that we will learn something about something different each week or month maybe. I'll probably start getting books from the library too based on subjects that pertain to that time of year. And probably incorporate some fun activity into it as well. This week we're going to decorate for Easter and plant some strawberries.

Here is a cute story for you. This morning she was trying to teach her 11 month old brother to say Grandma. She kept saying, "r, say grandma".

Would love to hear your thoughts on the subject of homeschooling.

Letting go of the ifs, ands, or buts

2011-04-11T21:57:00.000-07:00

As I approach a new chapter in my life, that of SAHM/Homeschooler, I'm trying not to look at the ifs, ands, or buts. And it occurs to me how hard it truly is to let go sometimes. I think even the most faithful Christian is faced with the task of not controlling their own destiny shall we call it.

Personally, I don't like to fly and the reason is that it is one time I know I'm not in control. I find this follows me many time in other areas of my life and even though I've learned to let go over the last year through cancer and joblessness it is still hard to push the doubt back.

- What IF they return to children to their previous care giver.
- BUT we can't live on one salary.
- AND there will be a lot of things we'll have to give up.
- What IF I'm no good as a homeschooler
- BUT my kids will be different
- AND they are the first children in our family to be homeschooled.

My answers?

- IF they do, then I'll be home and we can try again.
- BUT we can - if we really try.
- AND do we really need those things!
- IF I am not then we will look at alternatives.
- BUT that's not a bad thing necessarily.
- AND maybe we'll encourage others in our family to homeschool.

There, when you look at it that way it's not so bad. When I was first diagnosed with cancer a dear friend of mine told me that sometimes we stand in the way of what God is trying to do in our lives. We just need to step aside and let him work. I think that is very wise. Right now I could be pushing back and trying everything I could to not be the SAHM I feel him calling me to be. I could let the doubt set in and get derailed from the path he has set before me. But this time, I've decided to step aside and let him work.

Just a few thoughts I felt like sharing.

Blessings

Sandra

Gingerbread Muffins

2011-04-05T09:45:00.000-07:00

While I have posted a recipe for lemonade before, I haven't yet posted one for gingerbread. I therefore, thought I would post this great muffin recipe. They are probably one of Gil's favorites.

The recipe comes from one of my favorite muffin cook books. I picked it up from Costco for $8.00 and it really has some great recipes.

What makes these muffins really good is the candied ginger. When you are eating the muffin all of a sudden you'll hit a piece of ginger and yum!!

Moist Gingerbread Muffins

- oil or melted butter, for greasing (if using)

- 2 cups all-purpose flour

- 1 tbsp baking powder

- 4 tsp ground ginger

- 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

- 1/8 tsp salt

- heaping 1/2 cup light brown sugar

- 3 pieces candied ginger finely chopped

- 2 large eggs

- 3/4 cup milk

- 6 tbsp oil or melted butter

- 4 tbsp dark corn syrup (I switched it to molasses)

Preaheat oven to 400. Grease a 12-cup muffin pan or line with paper liners. Sift together the flour, baking powder, ground ginger, cinnamon, and salt into a large bowl. Stir in the sugar and preserved ginger.

Lightly beat the eggs in a large pitcher or bowl, then beat in the milk, oil, and corn syrup(molasses). Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the beaten liquid ingredients. Stir gently until just combined do not overmix.

Spoon batter into the prepared muffin pan. Bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes, until well risen, golden brown, and firm to the touch.

Let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then serve warm or transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

They truly are wonderful and they make the house smell good too.

Lastly, I fully recommend this Muffin cookbook. It has so many different and yummy muffins.

Update

2011-04-04T17:16:00.000-07:00

Where does the time go. I just haven't been able to make to my blog lately, but it is my promise to myself at the beginning of April that I'm going to blog a few days a week at least. Let's call it my April resolution. I also discontinued the Adoption Blog - it is just too much to do two blogs. And also, there is so much that I'm not allowed to share about this process. Maybe after we've adopted I can open up and share our experience in more detail and then I will write a blog of notes on it. So here you will find me for now.

So where are we. Well we are still foster parents, and while I can't talk about specifics I will say that we are still waiting to find out what will happen. April 26th is the next court date for the previous caregiver and we are praying we will have resolution one way or the other there on that day. It keeps getting postponed and extended. And then on May 31st we are scheduled for the parental rights termination hearing - provided they don't return them to their previous caregiver before then.

We are optimistic that we will still adopt them as that is the recommendation by county. However, we know that nothing is for sure in this path. Our prayer is that God provide the best life possible for these little cherubs. We hope He will feel that is us, but we will wait to see.

Beyond that, I was scheduled to be laid off on April 29th, but I have been provided with another opportunity at my current employer. I'm just waiting to see what will happen. Truthfully, if the court decides not to return them on April 26th, I wouldn't mind being laid off on April 29th. I feel if they don't return them to previous caregiver then we will most likely adopt and being laid off would be a nice transition into SAHM. And if we ended up not adopting them later down the line for some reason it wouldn't be the end of the world to stay home - would give me time to take them to visits etc.

I truly feel that I've turned this all over to God. I feel he has a plan and I'm not going to stand in his way.

On other notes, the garden is coming together. We planted our tomatoes on Saturday and are planning on putting in a few seeds in the next few days. I'm trying to get back to more baking/cooking from scratch as well. I really got out of it when the children came but want to move toward that again. And we continue to try and get out of debt. It seems the last few months we've taken a few steps back in that we had many expenses with the children coming into our home but we are back on the track to being debt free.

Until Soon

Sandra

De Ja Vu - It happened again

2011-03-03T12:16:00.000-08:00

Well I can't believe it but I'm getting laid off from my job Again!!!! It's sort of weird for me and the timing is odd too. April 29th will be my last day unless they find me something else. Which they are saying they will, but part of me doesn't want anything else.

I've been saying that I want to be a SAHM and maybe the timing is finally right. I'm struck by the way everything will play out. April 29th is my last day and I'll get 4 weeks severance which takes me to end of May. Oddly enough the hearing to terminate parental rights of our foster children is on 5/31. If that happens it means they will become adoptable. That was the moment I was waiting for to make the decision to stay at home.

I feel like I have so many opportunities in front of me and I just need to figure out where God is leading us. The first thing I'm going to be doing is blogging more, and I need to get back into my simple ways of life. It's time to get the garden up and going and I'm going to be taking some time off to do just that. Gil and I have been debating whether or not to enlarge our garden and maybe now is the time.

Any way, I just had to write something about it to help me process the whole thing.

Sandra

Picking Up Where I Left Off

2011-02-16T08:38:00.000-08:00

Now that I've adjusted as much as I can to being a mom it is time to restart Lemonade and Gingerbread. Being a mom to these two little souls is so rewarding. I hope and pray that I get to be their mommy forever, but I'm enjoying every moment with them for now.

The first two weeks were merely survival on my part - adjusting to sleeplessness and increased activity level. Oh and I've lost about 16lbs since the babies arrived. It also meant that unfortunately I got away from our homestead ways. I actually resorted to buying prepackaged food and such - but no more. I'm so ready to embrace all my homestead activities again.

Little Miss Independent and I planted onions yesterday. It was so much fun - we are converting our garden boxes from wood to cement blocks which gives us a little wall to sit on. I thought she would play with her ball or something while I planted but no - she was right there along side me on the wall. Using the little digger and handing me the onion bulbs. What a great feeling to have her interested in the garden.

Today it is raining and I will be catching up on cleaning and laundry. I'm glad we don't need to go anywhere today. Tomorrow our social worker will come for her visit and we also have to take the children to a county mandated physical at Children's Hospital. Thankfully, Gil is taking the day off to go with me.

I will return to work after next week - so next week I hope to make up some lunch items for the freezer for our babysitter to give to the children and for me to take to work. We do have a few appointments next week but the rest of the time will be spent catching up. I also want to make up a batch of orange marmalade. We have tons of ripe oranges on our tree right now.

In the weeks to come, I'm going to be setting up an Etsy store. I want to look to the future and ways to make income from home. God willing when we adopt I will stay home with the children - as I feel that is where God is leading us if I can just trust in the decision and make the leap.

Blessings

Sandra

They're Here

2011-01-13T11:13:00.000-08:00

We were blessed with two little angels on Tuesday evening. I can't go in to all the details but we are so happy. A little girl age 2 and a little boy age 8 months. Bio bro/sis.

I won't be posting much over the next few weeks as I adjust to being a mom to two children. Can you believe it -- two.

Merry Christmas To All !!!!!!

2010-12-22T12:24:00.002-08:00

Just wanted to stop in and say Merry Christmas to everyone. I won't be blogging until after the first of the year.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas filled with blessings and family. Also, wishing everyone a Happy New Year as well.

2010 has not been a good year for many and I for one am ready to close the book on it. I have many plans for changes in 2011 including some changes here at Lemonade and Gingerbread.

If you are stop in over the next week or so and things look odd that is just me making some changes in preparation for the new year.

Again may the blessings of Christmas be upon you and your family.

Sandra

They called, They actually called

2010-12-12T07:46:00.002-08:00

This past Thursday I missed a call from our home study social worker. We played phone tag Friday morning until we reached each other. And guess what -- she was calling to offer us a placement. I was so confused when she said it because I thought she was calling with more questions or something - I had to make her back up a minute so I could wrap my head around it.

We've been praying and talking about it all weekend and we've decided this placing is not for us. First we aren't completely ready because we were still waiting for them to give the official word. And secondly this is a risky case in that the child will most likely be reunified with his birth mother. He has been in foster care a year and the judge is already allowing unsupervised overnight visitations. Also the birth mother has a newborn that she was allowed to keep - indicating that the judge/system feels she is in a more stable place than she was with her first child.

Had we been more prepared we would have offered to care for him until his return or had it not been as risky we would have hurried up to prepare.

But the point is they called! Although I must admit that this makes me very nervous now because we will actually have a child placed with us soon and now that my life long dream is coming close to being fulfilled I'm starting to panic.

Well I'm off to church and later we will be baking and tree decorating with our niece and nephew.

Blessing for a Wonderful Sunday

Sandy