Good Bye Reb!

**If you read over on our Family Blog this will be a repeat post for you... sorry!*

Not long ago (or maybe longer than I want to admit ago...) we had our last contact with Reb.

Reb has been on our team for over a year, and he was really the leader of the pack. He was more mature than the rest of the team, and really able to keep his "cool as a cucumber" type demeanor NO MATTER WHAT, which with Nathaniel can be VERY challenging at times. Whenever Reb was on shift, I knew I didn't have to worry about anything Nat might throw at us, and therefore Reb ended up going to lots of events with us. (Events bring out a unique side of Nathaniel).

Nathaniel LOVED Reb too!

Reb had endless stamina for all things sports, which delighted Nathaniel.

So for our closing contact we headed to one of our favorite parks with a picnic dinner and all things sports.

Audrey LOVES this park for all of it;s cool climbing things, but this night she was totally into this huge rock...

Silly Girl!

After dinner and a round of baseball, we broke out the bubbles for an activity Audrey would enjoy.

Surprisingly Nathaniel got into the bubbles too!

Which gave me lots of time to take pictures :)

After a bit Nathaniel just wanted to sit on Reb (why is it kids always want to sit ON people, not NEXT to them??)

Then we were off to more baseball...

Would you please check out that baseball fashion!

Jeans under the dress (because she was cold), jacket over the whole thing, and then cowgirl boots for the finishing touch... interesting sports attire!

We ended the out outing with me TRYING to get a picture of these three silly folks....

At least they were all being silly the same way in this one!

All in all it was a great closing contact and we all miss Reb (and his phone!) very much!

Reb, the Soares family wishes you well in the next chapters of your life and will remember you fondly!

 Take Care!

Goodbye Jenny!

It was a crafty kind of day around here on Thursday...

Kinda in a good way,

Kinda in a REALLY HARD way too!

I made this simple and fun card.

Loved making the card, hated having to write it!

You see, we are in the final stages of transitioning the agency staff we have had in our house for the last year out, and completely to our own staff. I am super excited about our own staff (even though it is TONS more work for me!) but we all ADORE the staff we are loosing.* So it was very hard to write the words in this card to this sweet and wonderful young lady, who's last night was Thursday. She will be greatly missed in our home.

Jenny and I also worked together to come up with a craft to do with the kids on their final night together. We wanted something that they could work on together to create a lasting piece that each would have to remember the other. We decided on decorating picture frames, and then framing a picture of them all together. I am REALLY HAPPY with how well this project came out!

(don't forget, you can click on the picture to see them bigger if you would like)

This is the frame Audrey made. I am not surprised that she did such a great job, she is my little artist! Audrey painted and decorated the frame. Jenny wrote on the mating special words to Audrey, and I took, edited and printed the picture. Team effort!

This is Nathaniel's project, and the one that really surprised me! Nat is not usually so into art projects, but he REALLY concentrated on painting his frame so nicely, and he planned out where all the stickers went instead of just putting them on top of each other (his usual mode). Nathaniel did a GREAT job of making a very nice frame, Jenny again wrote words of encouragement and memories to Nat on the mat, and I added the picture. Another team effort!

And Jenny... oh Jenny cracked me up! I learned something new about her that night.... when it come to crafts she is a PERFECTIONIST!!! It was so cute. So Jenny created the PERFECT frame, the kids had written words on her mat earlier in the day (and did a great job of NICE handwriting too!) as a surprise to her, and again I added the picture. Team effort number 3.

All of the frames came out so cute and are reflective of the one who made them. The kids have them right by their beds to have in the coming days when they miss Jenny. (Nat actually slept WITH his the first night, crying for HOURS after she left.... it was so sad, but I am glad he has something to hold onto when he misses her!)

This is the super cute picture of the kids and Jenny that we used.

I am glad that this project came out so cute. And I am glad that we have that good bye behind us, because it was HARD. But I am NOT glad that we have one more to go tonight! I wonder what we should do with Mr. Reb tonight....... any ideas???

*Little explanation from above.... we were using staff from an agency, who was in our home for a finite period of time. We LOVE our In Home Workers, but they must stay with the agency that they work for, and we have new workers that are taking over all of the shifts. It's just one of those life things, but we do have to play by the agency rules, which say no contact after said workers are out of our home. Boo Hiss....

Two Former Team Members

 Before I introduce you to our current (HUGE) team, I wanted to take a moment to introduce two team members that left us not long ago and whom we greatly miss!

Jean was one of our original team members and we ADORED him so. He got along great with the kids and they really liked his calm manner. I greatly valued his calm problem solving skills and his quick thinking in the heat of the moment! Jean was a great asset to our team and we were all sad when he announced he was moving back to where his family lived. I know it was a great move for him, but it was a huge loss for us! Where ever Jean is working now, I KNOW those people are being blessed with his presence!

Veronica came onto our team late, and left early, but sometimes that is the way life happens! We enjoyed her while she was here and I think she made a lasting impact on the kids :) One of the things that I really valued about Veronica was that she NEVER let me get in a "I feel sorry for myself" place. If I was down or moody, she looked around, found what needed done, and was the task master about getting it done! I always felt so much better after we finished even though I was saying not nice things to her in my mind when we started! Veronica too left our team to move back to be with her family, and I pray that she is doing well where she is!

Watch out...

Because soon we are going to be introducing you to our current team!