Fallow

When a good friend says, "How are you guys doing?" these days, I can honestly answer "Great!". It's weird.

Our world is always full of things to be thankful for but for the last 7 years, there's been a lot of unrest. A lot of risks. A lot of adventures. A lot of hard decisions. A lot of hard conversations. We've had successful adoptions, unsuccessful adoptions, offers that never panned out, a return into infertility, starting jobs, ending jobs, moved back into the city, planted a church, switched to a different church, had close friends move away, started and ended bands and businesses. So...yeah, a lot of unrest.

Within the last year we finalized Dez's adoption, Eliot's IEP was set and he is killing first grade, and Russ was offered his dream job.

We've lived with huge question marks overarching our lives for so long that it feels unfamiliar to have them all answered.

When I taught 4th grade we spent 30 seconds of one social studies unit talking about farming practices in the middle ages (my class was nothing but gripping, I tell you. Edge of your seat kinda stuff.) That was the first time I'd ever heard of fallow fields. We didn't have a lot of those in the 'burbs of Detroit. If you look at the handy graphic I stole from the Internets, you'll see a visual on what I mean. Farmers would leave a designated section of their land unseeded or dormant between planting seasons. That allowed the soil to regenerate its mineral base, keeping the soil healthy and ready for the next planting season.

True story. Bet you didn't know you'd get an agricultural lesson outta me today, huh?



That's where we are. After the last 7 years (number of completion, anyone?) we're set in a fallow season as a family. It feels unfamiliar. The temptation is to stir something up. I hear stories of people fostering. Of people adopting. Of people starting businesses or buying new homes. We feel weird not doing anything risky or uncomfortable. We're not "in the game". We're on the bench.

Being in this season is giving us (me) a chance to catch up on things I've been attempting to fit in to the rest of our crazy life. It's given us a chance to start tying some loose ends that have just dangled for years. Things on the back burner are now actually receiving some attention.

I'm trying to be a good steward of this time so that when it's over, we are healthy and ready for the next planting season. Cuz, I mean, there's still room on our couch...

Storage Wars

My apologies to anyone who receives a foster girl...you're on your own. For those who get boy placements, give me a call!

*insert awkward emoticon*


Some details now that this thing is taking off:

*Two families have already taken advantage of our stash! Woot!

*We are now offering donation letters for people to keep for tax records! Woot! #givemeyourstuff

*Eight families have already donated! Woot! Woot!

*Another family has generously offered to build more shelves! Yip yip woot!



What we're taking:

*Clothes! Girl clothes especially! Baby, toddler, kid sizes all welcome!

*Shoes!

*Target or Home Depot gift cards to pay for more tubs! (our basement is gross.)



What we're not taking:

*Toys/books/games/puzzles. Feel free to start that ministry in your own basement.

*Large items like cribs, exersaucers, high chairs, etc.

*Underwear (really?)


Also, if you're in the STL, spread the word to families fostering/adoption or involved in Safe Families. This is open to all, not just Journey Church folks. Otherwise I'm just a fancy hoarder.

Hoarding vs. helping?

If you didn't happen to see it, "Clean basement/create foster resource" was listed on my resolutions for '13.

Here's the thing: we've lived in this apartment for over 4 years and instead of going through the items in the basement and being intentional with them, we've just sort of spread ourselves out and added more crap.

Our basement has lots of space. Our basement has lots of crap.

Or it did, I should say. I've been working a few hours a week down there. Throwing stuff away, adding to the very large donation pile in the corner, selling stuff on Craigslist, giving other stuff away.

I've had this on my to-do list for 4 years. But now I'm actually doing something about it. (that doesn't include throwing a lit match down there and running for it.)

One day it clicked. I could actually use my basement for good (a foster resource) instead of evil (hoarding).

Our church has a growing orphan care ministry that I'm blessed to be apart of. While we don't feel like we're supposed to foster in this season of life, we want to support those that can. Over the last few months I've encouraged moms of young kids to keep their stuff they would normally sell or give away and wait for someone to need it, thinking "If only we had a space we could house and organize it all..."

Captain Obvious reporting for duty!

That's been the magic motivation I needed. I've got plans. I've got dreams. Maybe this is my Space Jam...

NOW!

Here's where I help you, help me, help them!

I need your stuff! Have you and your fam decided you were "done"? Still have boxes of baby clothes?

I'll never forget January of 2011 when we were suddenly readying to adopt a newborn and didn't have anything for him. You guys rallied like no other. I still remember sitting in the nursery going through bags and bags of stuff people gave us and crying. (not because it was ugly, but because everyone was so generous. Just needed to clarify...)

This will *hopefully* be an on-going ministry. So, keep us in mind as you pack up stuff your kids are growing out of. Fo real.

What's your Space Jam?

If you haven't watched KidPresident before, it's time. This is a great one to start with and then I recommend his talk on diabetes.


And more Dez faces!

It was sweet of Sasha and Malia to rock the Dez!

Check 1/12!

Russ asked me what I wanted for my birthday and I knew immediately. INK!

So, why "story"?

I've had that word bouncing around in my head for months.

Whether it's how Russ and I met, got engaged, taught several years, maneuvered Eliot's international adoption, experienced foster care, started businesses, started bands, experienced the rise and fall of domestic adoption or the constant awkward interactions with people in public, there's always a story being told. There's always a story to choose.

Lisa and I were talking about the fact that the kids in their freshman year of college are exactly half a lifetime younger than us. It got me thinking about 18year old Katie.

(Let's go with "ahead of her time")

18 year old me was shocked at herself for leaving the comfort of home to go away to college. 18 year old me was full of entitlement, uncertainty and a whole lot of fear. I didn't even want to cut my hair. All my "what if"s led to my demise.

At 36, my world is full of "what if's" but they all lead to some pretty exciting results. Maybe. Maybe not. The last 18 years have been hard but they've shaped who I am at 36. They are my story.

And if you haven't read my post over on Wynnes blog and you still don't get why I would put this word on my body for the rest of my life, head over there now. It's linked here.

I know our story isn't done. I know there are going to be hard roads ahead and seasons that will be more simple. For now, in this moment, I'm thankful for my story.

Gotcha Day! (Dez edition. or would it be addition?)

This happened a year ago.

A year ago.

To read about that day, click here.

A year ago.

It's the whole, "Days go by slowly but the years, quickly" thing.

Couldn't be more thankful for this addition to our fam.

Love you, Desmond Mohr.

Story.

Remember Wynne? and her cute babies? She asked me to share on her blog yesterday for her series called "Anybody." Click here to check it out and then if you're not already following her blog, add it to your reader. Trust me. Good people and good stuff. Go.

Do The Desmond!

So...Dez makes this face a lot:

So I posted this:

And then this happened all over my Facebook wall...

I have funny friends.

The Switch Out.

We live in a great apartment. It's not too small for 4 peeps. Until you add all the stuff . All the stuff we decided we needed along the way. Half of it we don't even remember we own, honestly. It's overwhelming at times and I'm sure overstimulating to the boys. Not to mention, the kids play with the top layer of all of the toy baskets mostly. The bottom ones seem to be perpetually benched.

I'm not sure where I first heard this idea but we're trying it out. We're calling it The Switch Out. The last few days we've started filling boxes with half of the toys/books/puzzles/games. (Because the majority of our space is filled with kid clutter.) The plan is to put those boxes in the basement for a few months, then switch out the first set with the second set. Essentially rotating two sets of toys/books into circulation.

So far the kids haven't asked for anything that's already packed up. It feels more simple, less chaotic. Makes me a little giddy. I'm also looking forward to the boys seeing their packed toys in a few months! It'll feel like Christmas!

After we'd already started this, a friend sent me this article on Apartment Therapy. Good stuff if you're needing some guidance on how to get through it all.

Now, to help Dez and his spoon hoarding issue...

I Instagram so I'll remember.

I have a terrible memory.

My brother will bring up some story from our childhood and I have absolutely no recollection of any part of it. I recently posted a pic of my 6th grade class on Facebook and most of us were tagged in it and started sharing memories. I didn't remember even half of them.

It's terrible. I'm the best person to confide secrets to since I won't remember them long enough to gossip them.

I sometimes worry (People Pleaser alert!) that I overwhelm people on my Instagram, Facebook or blog feeds with pics and stories of my kids. (I obviously don't care enough to slow down.)

Yes, I'm obsessed with my family but I also want to remember every single detail. I know they're growing up crazy fast and even though I'm excited for the stages to come, I want to remember how obsessed Dez was with spoons for a month straight, and how SERIOUS Eliot's face gets when he plays noise on guitar (we're not calling it music quite yet...).

My average follower (that sounds super weird) looks at them for a second and then moves on. I look at them constantly. Over and over. I sometimes go back and read my blog from this month 5 years ago, just to remember Eliot at the stage Dez is in. I don't blog/IG/FB for my peeps. I do it for me. I'd rather have too many to look back on than not enough.

I also kinda consider myself our historian. I want the boys to be able to look back and enjoy seeing pics of everyday life, as much as they want to. I want them to see themselves at every stage. I want them to see Russ and I dating each other and taking silly pics with them.

I want my posts to fill in the blanks of their stories as best they can.