I just had a nice blog entry all typed out and had to take a break to get lunch for the kids and guess what happened?  I lost it!  Grrrrrrr!  So here's my abbreviated version!

We have a new foster placement that has a very high likelihood of going to adoption.  Bio parents have just had parental rights terminated this past summer on a two year old sibling.  Psych evaluation deems mom incapable of parenting and we'll find out what a psych evaluation on dad says, but most like he'll be deemed incapable of parenting as well.  According to state law the bio parents still have to be given a chance to reunify, so although it looks like we'll be able to adopt baby "A" we'll have to go through the process.  Anyway, she's a delight and we're so happy to have her.  Prior to coming to us she had be living at the crisis nursery and brought all sorts of little sickies with her when she arrived in our home.  We're all sick with nasty colds and an even nastier stomach virus.  I'm quite ready to have everyone well again.

So, the kiddo count in our home is as follows:

Jenna - 16

Cameron - 14

Delaine - 14

Hannah - 2 (27 months to be exact)

Stephen - 21 months

Baby "N" foster daughter - 14 months

Baby "A" foster daughter - 5 months

It looks like Baby "N" will very possibly be reunified with her birth mom.  We should know more about that this summer.

Our house is overflowing with babies and toddlers, which is going to require me to live a more disciplined life.  Structure and organization are a top priority to me.  Another top priority is making sure I'm able to spend time with the Lord daily.  I really need this.  I feel like I've hit a dry spot spiritually and really desire to be more faithful in this area.

So, here is the beginning of a list of things I want to accomplish from the mundane to the significant!

• Time with the Lord daily (I'd like this to include some sort of formal Bible study i.e. a Kay Arthur study or something of that nature)
• Creating a list of books to read for myself and the children
• Creating a menu and grocery list for at least two weeks
• Creating a flexible daily schedule
• Plan for homeschooling for the next year
• Pray and seek the Lord's guidance on which curriculum to use
• Declutter and organize the schoolroom
• Declutter and organize the playroom
• Organize my sewing cabinet
• Find a place to set up my sewing machine, so I can access is easily
• Clean my refrigerator! (Desperately needed!)
• Follow MrsCatherine's plans for organizing and decluttering the home
• Try to blog at least twice a week!

I could add so much more, but this is a good start.  I'm going to try to track my progress in my blog. (No guarantees though!)

I mentioned MrsCatherine's website in my to do list and if you have a chance to check it out try to do so.  It's really a charming site.  I've also found another site that I'm looking forward to exploring that is worth mentioning here.  I believe there is a Homemaking 101 course of sorts there that will be helpful for me. 

I'm really not "homemaking challenged," but I'm certainly open to suggestions on how to be more efficient in this area.

Time to go sip some tea!