Christine asked for an update on The Eleven Oreos. I'm afraid we haven't been too exciting this year, but for what it's worth...and thank you, Christine(!), for praying for us.

Tim just got home from a 6 week class he had to attend in Alabama. He went back into the Air Force last year...the Guard...as a chaplain's assistant.  He's been considering getting his master's degree in theology since that is what it takes in the Air Force to be a chaplain. But I'm thinking he is in exactly the right position. He has the strongest affect on people when he is just "one of the guys".

His 6 weeks away was challenging, to say the least. I don't know how you single moms do it! The authority as head of household just about crushed me! After the first 2 weeks, we quit doing school. Something had to give.

Tim has been back a week now. We just started up school again last Monday, to Jacob's (13) relief. Jacob loves school. He likes *doing* school. He studies constantly on his own, but doesn't consider that "school".

"You are such a nerd," I say to him.

"I know," he says with a big grin. "So is Indiana Jones. Just don't call me a nerdy twit."

"Why not?" I ask.

"Because if you mix the letters up, it says trendy wit, and I'm not a trendy anything" he said.

Groan.

His favorite cartoon character is Jason from Foxtrot.

My oldest son and his family were getting ready to move into another place, and I asked them if they could stay with me while Tim was gone. So Joshua and his wife and his three children moved into our very large family room. The two girls slept in the girls room, and all five girls had a 6 week long slumber party.

Joshua's youngest, Noah, is the same age as my Abraham. Two. The two boys tore my house apart. My carpet will never be the same. I loved it.

I miss them.

But I'm glad to have Tim home.

We are all looking forward to what we hope is a "normal" and restful year now.  Last year was so dark. Molly said she hoped this summer it wouldn't rain so much.

"It didn't rain that much last year," I said.

"It felt like it," she said. "Everything felt dark and damp."

We can use some sunshine in this house.

I cannot use the name of our son here anymore. I've written about him too personally, and we do not legally have the right to any part of his life, so from here on out, I'll have to refer to him as Jumoke. I'm not sure I've changed his name in other places on this blog, so I'll have to go back and do so.

[For those of you not familiar with this part of our story, we adopted two boys from Liberia five years ago. One of them would not bond with us, and as he grew older, he became a stressor...and my husband felt, a danger...to our other children, and we had to dissolve the adoption last year. He came to us at 4 years of age, and left our home last May 24 at 8 years of age. It was very very trying on all of us. As far as we know, he's never really asked after or about any of us except for our baby (now toddler), Abraham. It seems he was glad to move on, which in a strange way, gives my heart some solace.]

We don't know how he is doing. Since he was adopted by another family, we have lost all rights to know anything. We are assuming that the adoption agency, just out of compassion, will let us know if they find another home for him. As far as we know, he is still in the foster home that he was placed in after the adoption failed.

Things have been a bit better since Christmas. I still have "bad Jumoke days". Some of the children try to forget he ever lived here, because remembering still makes them cry. But overall, we are healing up. Solomon is doing best of all. He has bonded to us so deeply that I no longer feel like an adoptive mom at all. When someone asks me about adoption, I can't answer. I feel like a fake. I'm just a regular mom who had one very big baby.

And Solomon has slowly come to the place where he has shared more and more about the "prison" he was in while Jumoke was here. He thinks someone told him to take care of Jumoke when they left Liberia. He definitely felt totally responsible for Jumoke's actions. The freedom from the care of Jumoke at first crippled him and grieved him tremendously. But after time, he was able to breathe freely and just live...for the first time since he was 7 years old. Solomon is finally getting his memories of Liberia back that we thought he had lost completely. I think the situation with Jumoke was hardest on Sol.

Other than my older at-home children beginning to enter into the puberty years...which is huge news if you live here because WOW! does it get heated some days(and smelly...should boys of that age share a room and combine that smell?)...other than that, we are still very much the same as we were a year ago. Which I suppose we should really be grateful for. The Father has held us together during a very difficult time and we have come out whole...and maybe a bit better because our love for the Father has increased.

Thank you for praying for us, those of you who did. It's a great delight being on the other side of last year. We...especially me...still have a way to go, but I'm suspecting there are some wounds that never heal this side of heaven.