Birthdays

This Sunday, my "grandson" celebrates his 9th birthday. It always seems odd to me to have a grandson (and almost 6 month old granddaughter) because 10 years ago (at 37) I was single and had no hopes of even being married! No, my husband was never married before and had no children either. After trying a few years for kids of our own, we took MAPP classes to either adopt or become foster parents. We did both. The first foster child to live with us was a teenage boy. Long story verrrrrry short, we adopted him and his brother a year later. They have an older sister (about 10 years older than they are) and she now has two kids. Since we "unofficially" adopted her also, we "unofficially" have two grandkids! She is married to a wonderful guy that takes care of her well. We have fun "complaining" and laughing at the little things that our husbands do that drive us nuts, but are easy to put up with just because we love them so much. I can't really write any of these in the blog--my hubby may read it! And in reality, I know I have many things that drive him nuts that he puts up with because for some incredible reason, he actually loves me back.

Back to the grandson...he is doing so well in school! He did start off his year of 1st grade being a little slow in reading, but now he is on a third grade level and the majority of things he wants for his birthday are books! (Something about a Magic Tree House?) He also passed up many things and asked if he & mom could go back to the Dollar Tree to pick up some more army men...I love kids that are low maintenance!

We have had lots of fun with him over the last few years. In a way, I feel blessed that I missed the fun of potty training and many other things with kids. In other ways, I missed having my own baby to hold and care for. I wish we had all three of these kids when they were little or could wipe away the horrible childhood they had. There is so much potential in all of them, but not easy to convince them to do things (like one of the boys to finish high school!). Actually both boys have come to us in the past month and apologized for all they put us through while they were living with us. (Another very long story that isn't quite done yet.)

I know I am rambling on...Hopefully make some sense! I do know I am looking forward to the birthday party Sunday for my grandson... Grandson. It's a wonderful word for a wonderful boy. And to think I thought I'd never have the pleasure! God is so good!