Reality Check

Well, we've had a really nice couple of weeks. The kids are full swing into their sports:

Cecil scored a touchdown his first game:

Daisy had 2 cancelled games and finally got to play on Saturday:

Cecianna is totally enjoying her gymnastics:

Clara thinks there is no one better than Aunt Sarah to teach her, but she is still loving swimming:

We got a tutor for two days a week for Cecianna starting this week, which has been great. She goes to our church and is getting her master's degree in education from UT, and she is giving us a great deal! Cecianna is really liking this set-up because, as my brilliant sister-in-law Sheila said, I can be her mom and she can turn to me when she's had a rough day, versus being an extension of what is stressing her out a bit.

The kids decided to treat Brent and I to a "restaurant" the other night where they set up the table, a menu, etc. So sweet!

Then, certain realities of the situation hit you. First, we went to a drum show (someone gave the whole family free tickets!) at the new Long Center, and we ran into their paternal grandfather's wife. We'd never met her or known much about her, but living in the same city, things like this happened. She was really nice, and it didn't turn out to be problematic for us, the kids, or her.

Then, tonight, Cecil needed a baby picture for school, so we went to their Grandma's house to get one. I had asked her a while back to gather some pics of the kids if she could, and told her it was fine if their parents were in some of the pics, because I thought they should have pictures of them in the long run.

Well, she handed us a large sheet of paper with pictures copied onto both sides, with pictures of them as babies, toddlers, etc. It also had pics of their siblings (there are actually quite a few older half siblings - one of which lived with them up until they moved out of their home - she was too old to be removed) and their dad (none of their mom), and at first they were excited to look at them and talk about all of the people in them. Then Cecianna burst into tears and cried the rest of the way home, saying she wanted to see her sister and her dad (maybe she was trying to spare me by not mentioning her mom, because she did come home and grab a card her mom had given her and take it into bed with her). Cecil can't remember his dad, but when Cecianna cried, he cried, and said he wanted his mom.

It turned out to be quite an emotional night, and we did a lot of comforting and telling them how special they were to us. But, it sure does hit home that they've had to go through way too much at young ages, and that it's still really raw. I asked Cecianna if she thought we should put the pictures away for a while, and she fully agreed. I wanted to let them be able to be sad and cry it out, because it is hard. But, please pray for them as I hope they don't experience extended sad feelings, and can go on being happy kiddos.