Fundraiser for a Friend

Hello everyone.

Some of you may know that I have started selling AVON to earn a little extra money to help with the big cost of building a new home. I have also decided to help a family in need at the same time. I have been following the Blog of someone for quite sometime and her writings have been a blessing to me. She is in the process of adopting a child from Ethiopia and needs to raise money to help pay for the huge cost. I am willing to donate 50% of all of my profits from internet orders to her. Please read her story at www.overthemoonwithjoy.blogspot.com, then consider making a purchase on my website at www.youravon.com/angelmaas. There is also a link on the right side of my blog. We have been blessed in so many ways over the years, it's our turn to give back.

Blessing,
Angel

I hope everyone had a very blessed Thanksgiving. Ours was pretty uneventful. With all of our family out of town, we just have a little dinner here at home. Mason was probably the most excited about a Turkey dinner. Unfortunately, Wednesday night he started throwing up and did all night until about 7:30 Thursday morning. Poor kid. He was so tired after all that, he slept until almost 3 in the afternoon.

I scrubbed the bathroom and washed sheets until dinner was ready. What fun that always is. We put up our second set of bunk beds and moved bedrooms around so we have 2 kids in each instead of 3 and 1. I think it will work out better and it's just until we get our house built next year.

We went around the table and said what we were Thankful for. All of us are most Thankful for God and our family. Our 3 1/2 year old FS was most Thankful for marshmallows though. He cracks me up.

I was up bright and early this morning and braved the crazy crowds at the stores. I think I have all my shopping done. I did it all today. I went to 6 different stores and still managed to get home a little after lunch time.

Enjoy this Thanksgiving break giving praise to God for all your blessings and enjoy this time with your family.

Blessings to all,
Angel

Christmas with a capital C

Michigan Game

Darrell and Mason went to the Michigan vs Purdue game w/ Darrell's older brother. They had the best time ever. I'm sad to say that, yes, they are Michigan fans (GO BUCKS!!:) Here are a few pics from the game.

WooHoo!! Mom showed up for the visit today. I guess it went well. How many of you wish that you could watch the visits from behind a two way mirror? I just wonder how the little ones interact with her and how she interacts w/ them.

I dropped them off today and felt like I was dropping off my kids. I felt a little overprotective. It was an odd feeling for me, because I've been saying out loud for a long time that they are not mine, I am just a safe place for them until their parents heal. I have to keep telling myself that, because I know their parents love them and want them back. They just have a long hard road ahead of them. I'll continue to pray that the outcome of this will be that mom and dad will heal and be able to love and care for the little ones in a way that they deserve.

We were also told that their dad has just been approved for visits and that will also start this week. Luckily they will eventually be on the same day as visits w/ mom. They do them one right after the other so the kids will only have to go once and it saves on drive time for me as well.

I'm off to bed. It's been a long day.

Blessings to all,
Angel

Officially Renters

We closed on our house today. It's so strange because we still get to stay here until our house it built. We had our closing and then met w/ our buyer after to sign lease documents. Everything has really gone so smooth that I'm waiting for the ball to drop. Now we have to focus on our house plans. I am not looking forward to that process. I'm praying it goes as smooth as everything else has.

My little ones have a visit scheduled w/ mom this week. We adjusted the time, hoping that she will be more likely to make the visits. They have been with us since July and have only seen her once.

They are really fitting in great now. We have our routine down and behaviors and sleeping have really improved. We took all the kids to the pumpkin patch yesterday and had a great time. I appreciate the help from Mason & Madisyn. They were great at helping w/ the little ones. I'll post pics this week sometime. I think I took a few w/ out the little ones. I hate that I can't post pics of them too!!

Blessings,
Angel

I saw this video on another blog. A very powerful minute and 31 seconds. I know it makes me think of how some of my actions or attitudes may have affected my children. I pray for continued improvement on my character!!!

Strange Happening

The strangest thing has happened to us. A little background info first: Our house has been for sale for awhile now. It's also been in contract practically since we listed it. It was a first rights contract and we have been waiting for the buyer to sell her house so we can move forward. Well, about a month ago, we got another offer and accepted it. We have had land to build on that we purchased over 10 years ago and are anxious to get into a bigger house. We have our bio family of four and our recently added 2 foster sons in a house of a little less than 1200 sq feet.

So, since the offer, we have had to search for a rental home to live in while we build on our lot. Unfortunately, the house we found that was affordable and in a decent area, is even smaller than what we have now. YIKES!!!

Now to the strange part. Yesterday a man stopped by our house and introduced himself as the guy buying our house. Usually, if you have a realtor you don't meet your buyer until closing. He just wanted to show his sister the yard. No big deal. We talked to him a bit and thought he was a good guy and we were thankful that this house was going to bless him.

Tonight, the doorbell rang and it was him again. The first thought that came to mind is that this is getting strange w/ him stopping by twice now. Anyway, we invited him in and he had the best offer for us. He asked us if we would just be interested in staying in our house after the closing and renting from him. He's out of town a lot w/ work and said it would work out great for him to rent to us until we build. And, he would charge us less rent than the other house would cost us.

We have always prayed for this exact situation, but really thought it was a long shot. However, we serve a big GOD that can make anything possible. Our buyer is going to make sure it will all work on his end and let us know Friday. Please be in prayer that this works out. If it doesn't then we will know God has other plans, but we are really hoping it does. The only bad thing about the situation is we have half of the house packed. There are so many good things about this though. Our kids would not have to go through two moves, we get to stay w/ our neighbors for an extra year and we are close to the school and would not have to put anything in storage. We are very excited!!!

Blessings to all,
Angel

I can't believe it's been well over a month since my last post. Time flies when you're keeping busy.

We still have our two little ones. Mom has only shown up for one visit. The oldest will mention her now and then, but not that often. The agency took pics of them together at their one and only visit, so I get those out for the boys to look at ever so often. It's just so sad. We have a good routine down now and they are fitting in great.

More news....We finally sold our house. If all goes well, we will have to move out of here by the end of October. We found a small house to rent for about a year and then hopefully we'll be moving into the house we build by the end of 2010. It will be so nice to have more space. We have a long road ahead of us though. I'm just praying all will go smooth.

I'll try to post more soon. Enjoy some pics until then....

Finally Settling Down

I think things are finally calming down. During the summer, we keep two of our nieces for a week and then my two go to their house for a week. Of course the week we have them, we get the call for our first placement. It was crazy at our house last week. I went from two to six kids in two days. I wasn't really stressed, but I felt a little out of my element. Yesterday Darrell took our two plus our nieces and met my sister in law 1/2 way to take the 4 back home with her.

It was a big adjustment taking the two little ones. They are 1 1/2 and 3 1/2. It's been a while since I've had to chase a toddler. They have not been sleeping well. I put them down and they go to bed fine, but they were up two mornings at 4:30 AM. I am not a morning person!!! They were up for the day too. I think they both fell back to sleep on the couch about 7:00. I really hope they adjust to a schedule and that sleep habit doesn't last long. They slept until 6:30 this morning, much better than the day before.

They are really good kids except for the sleeping thing. We are very blessed that that's the only issue we are struggling with. They both seem to be above average developmentally. Really smart boys.

Any suggestions to get them to stay in bed a little longer would be great!! I'll post more later. I have to get some sleep. Please keep us in your prayers.

Blessings,
Angel

Camping Trip

We are picking up two little boys today!!! Keep us in your prayers. I'll post more when I get a sec. I'm a little nervous. I hope the exchange goes well.

Blessings,
Angel

Baseball pictures

Here are a few pics from our baseball season.

Enjoy,
Angel

Well, we did not get the little boy we were planning on getting. A plan was worked out so that he is able to stay with family members. I’m a little disappointed, but I’m happy for him. Family is always the best place for kids as long as it’s possible to keep them safe.

Update on our summer…

We had a great 4th of July. The place that shoots fireworks off has a bike path that runs right through it. We were able to pick up the bike path and ride our bikes to the closest spot we have ever been during a fireworks display. We were only about 100 yards from the launch pad. We brought a blanket and just lay on the grass and looked straight up. They were right over us. Mason was a little worried at first. He thought that maybe the sparks would fall on us, but he quickly got over that. It was awesome. The best part is we got right back on the bike path after the fireworks and didn’t have any traffic to deal with.

Baseball is finally over. We lost our second tournament game, so we are officially finished, with summer baseball at least. At the awards ceremony, each player received a participation metal and one player from each team was picked to receive a sportsmanship award. Mason was picked for his team!!! We were very proud of him. He’s such a laid back kid and just wants to play. Winning is not that important to him. I’ll post a picture soon. I think he wants to play fall ball this year. It will start up around the time school starts.

Both the kids went to vacation bible school this summer too. I am lucky enough to work right near our church, so I was able take them and pick them up this year. They had a blast. Madisyn met a new friend and had a play date one day at the little girl’s house. Of course she loved that.

I can’t believe summer is half way over already. We still have a few things planned. The kids are at the YMCA camp this week. Mason is going to Art camp and Madisyn is in Bowling Camp. They are so happy to be there because they get to see a lot of their friends from school. They take field trips 3 of the five days. Mason is going to the Works museum and Madisyn get to go bowling all three days. They both get to do 2 more camps before summer is over. Mason will go to Olympics and Fishing and Madisyn picked Gymnastics and Art.

We have a weekend of camping planned with cousins, then having them stay with us for a week and then my two will go there for a week. I’m taking Madisyn to see Taylor Swift (with the cousins). The girls are very excited for that day. Madisyn has been listening to her CD to get ready for the concert. I don’t think Mason has been too happy with that. He’s asked me several times to make her stop singing. LOL.

I have been crazy busy at work. I was almost caught up and then we took our vacation, month end was here, we got a new system, …. and I’ve been trying to get caught up since. It seems like it’s always something. I try hard to not put in a lot of OT because it takes away from our family time in the evening, so it’s tough to stay on track. I’m getting close to being caught up though.

Darrell’s just been working and hanging out with us. Since we are trying to sell the house, no new major projects have been started. We’ve just been playing outside and doing some biking in the evenings.

So, that’s what we’ve been up to. Hopefully everyone is having just as much fun.

Blessings,
Angel

Our First Placement

We may have our first placement on Monday. We got the call today. A two year old little boy. He is staying w/ family for the weekend, but we were asked to take him on Monday. Of course this could all change in the blink of an eye and his relatives may decide to keep him longer. Keep him in your prayers. We are excited and nervous at the same time. It's been awhile since we've had a two year old in the house. We'll probably get a few things this weekend like sippy cups and two year old friendly toys.

I don't think the situation with my family is as bad as it first seemed. Hopefully they get everything straightened out and it will be OK. Please continue to pray for them as well.

Blessings,
Angel

Prayer Request

Hi Everyone - I've had a few things happen in my family the last couple days, but I can't post the story. I'm still asking for prayer requests. God knows our needs. Please pray for guidance, patience, healing and safety for all involved. Thank you.

Love and Blessings,
Angel

Happy Birthday Darrell!! We will have to celebrate another day. We have baseball all day today. We love you.

Back from the Beach

We are back from vacation!! Here's the view from our Beach House. This was the first time our kids have been to the beach. They loved it. They love spending time w/ their cousins, aunts and uncles and Grandma and Grandpa too. We had a big 3 story house about a block from the beach. We had it filled with 20 people!!! Now we are back and anxiously waiting for our first foster child.

Good News!!

I just got an email from our Foster Care Coodinator. We've been approved for Foster Care and our license is on it's way!!! Praise God!! We're looking forward to our first placement.

The Twins

Here are a few pics of my sister's twins, Joshua and Julia. They are both home now and doing great. Thanks for all the prayers.

My sister had her babies. Both are healthy, but very small. They have to be fed by a feeding tube, but they are breathing on their own. She had to have a c-section because the little girl was breach. All are doing well. PRAISE GOD!! Please continue to pray for them, they will have to be in the hospital for a while.

Karate

Mason & Darrell participated in a Karate tournament back in March. Mason got 3rd place in sparring and Darrell got 2nd place in his division. They were both very happy. Everyone in their Karate class received a trophy or two!!! Great job guys.

Hi everyone. I really wish I had the time to sit down and post a blog worth reading more often. Lately, at the end of the day, I'm more interested in reading other blogs than making my brain think about something to post on mine.

We're staying busy!!! We had to let two of the four people go in my department at work, so it's been very stressful there. Not to mention we are still in the homestudy process and still trying to sell our house.

We had an offer (Praise GOD), but we have to wait for our buyer to sell her house before we can close on ours. We have been meeting with our builder in order to have things ready to roll once it's possible to close.

We had a great blessing. Our daughter, Madisyn, was baptized today. It was a great service. Twenty five people were baptized. We are very proud of her.

My sister went into preterm labor a few days ago. She's pregnant w/ twins and isn't due until the beginning of June. Thank you GOD that they were able to stop it. She will probably be on bed rest now until she has the babies. Please pray her and the babies.

I hope to post a few updated pics soon.

Blessings,
Angel

We finished our classes. YEAH!!!! They were so informative and interesting. We have our first meeting with our foster care coordinator in a couple days to go over paperwork and the whole next process.

We have our house up for sale officially now. We are praying that God sells it so we can begin building a bigger house for his children. We are really cramped in our house now with only two kids. Our plan is to foster two at a time, however, God's plan could always be different!!! It almost always is. We'll just try our best to follow Him and do what He wants.

We couldn't get the owner of the house we liked to go down in price, which ends up being a blessing (again: God's plan is always better. We decided that we can build on the land we've owned for years cheaper than buying a 10 year old house. It's exciting, but scary at the same time. The hard part will be finding a place to live during the in between phase. God will provide though. As always, we ask for prayers.

Blessings,
Angel

Update on Life

Hello all,

I haven't updated my blog in over a month!!! We have just been so busy. Our foster parenting classes have been taking up our Monday and Wednesday nights. Tuesday's I have been going to a Bible study while the rest of the family are in Karate class. Thurday Madisyn has Sylvan and we're spending the little time we have preparing our house to sell. Thank God Basketball is over. That took up our Friday nights and Saturday day's. But, Mason is starting indoor baseball this coming Tuesday. It may replace Karate for a month.

The Foster classes have been great. Our instructor is awesome. She's been fostering for about 15 years and has a lot of awesome advice. Some of the classes have been very emotional and a little frightening at times. The fact that we haven't hit the door running scared, just reassures me that this is part of God's plan for our life. We're actually excited to get our first placement.

We've decided to put our house up for sale and look for a bigger house. We really want a 4th bedroom. We found the perfect house, but the owner did not accept our offer. We're still hoping he has a change of heart, but if he doesn't, we know that God is in control and our house is out there. We're just trusting in HIM.

We hope all of our friends and family are doing well and ask for your continued prayers.

Blessings,
Angel

So Many Changes

We got another puppy!!! His name is Snickers. He a tiny little one.




Pepper and Snickers have become best buds. They love to play and wrestle and entertain us.

We also started our Foster parenting classes. We had the first one on Monday. The second one was supposed to be on Wednesday, but we got snow dumped on us so it was cancelled. Anyway, the first class was great. We have an awesome instructor. She's full of energy and I can tell she loves the kids. I'm really looking forward to our exciting and emotional journey.

We have also decided to start looking for a place that is a little bigger. We are really trying to listen to God in this situation. We just don't know what to do. We have a 2 acre lot that was always in our future plans to build a house on. We're struggle with whether to hang on for a few more years or to buy something bigger now that will save us money overall. We would just like to have a little more space. Especially if we will be adding to our family.

Please keep us in your prayers.

Blessings,
Angel