Where to begin???

WOW! Can you say, blog neglector? I can't believe it has been 7 months since I updated my blog! Our family has had some changes, both good and harder to deal with ones but we are still going strong.
To start with, in September, we opened our home to a young lady (12 year old, yikes, preteen!) who needed a new home to flourish in. She blended in right from the start and all our family quickly fall in love with her. The boys adjusted well to having a big sister around. The three kids played (and fought) like siblings. We didn't know what the plan for this young lady was but we just cherished all the time she was with us. In January, she went back to live with her biological family. It was the hardest time for me. I felt like I had been kicked in the stomach. But the wise words of Kyle (our 8 year old) helped ease a bit of the pain. He said he was excited for her to leave because that meant she got to go back to be with her family. We feel very lucky to have been able to welcome her into our family for a few short months. We just hope and pray she continues to go down the right path and stays that great person she was when she was here!

We spent a few months on a rough road with Kyle. It seemed like everything we did or said, more specifically everything I did or said, to him, he had to argue with us. Kyle came to us with a diagnosis of biopolar disorder and reactive attachment disorder. Kyle had a rough go before he went into foster care. He has a lot of "baggage" to deal with. We started family counseling in October. I think it has been a bigger help for Billy and I then for Kyle but it has been a good experience. Billy and I have been able to get validate in what we have done to help Kyle and we have learned some new ideas to help with the meltdowns and agreements. We continue to work through some issues and seem to be on an upswing at home!

Some other highlights of the past 7 months:
The boys have played soccer and basketball this year. We participate in Upwards Sports, which a great Christian based sports program. Billy coached Jacob's soccer team and I am coaching his basketball team with Billy's assistance.
The boys are both doing wonderfully in school. Kyle continues to work so hard and loves school. His teacher is awesome. She has a lot of patience for his talking and has helped him work on learning when it is okay to ask questions and when he needs to keep quiet! Jacob loves preschool! He has started to read sight word books. His teacher is also awesome. She is working on getting him ready for kindergarten! YIKES!!!

I am sure that there are so many other things that I should share but 7 months is a long time to remember stuff! I need to work harder on keeping this updated!