blogging

Cheers to 12 years!

March 14, 2017March 14, 2017by Sheridan Johnson2 Comments

-Cheers to 12 years`.jpg

Ok, so I just made the realization that I am 28, and we have been dating/together for almost half of my life! haha That is insane to think that we were literally children we got together, and now we have been through hell and back, and are still together as adults!

I cannot believe that 12 years have passed by, 3 biological children , and 5 foster children have been given for to the both of us to love, guide, and support throughout these 12 years. When I was first meeting him at 16 and telling literally everyone ( that would listen) that I was going to marry Shane, and start a family at 25, I didn’t know that it would truly happen. We were young and had that same mind-set about goals in life, faith, and our future.

Looking back at all of our struggles and triumphs that we have had to go through, with even the loss of our own children, have brought us so much closer as a couple than we ever could have imagined. Our commitment to our wedding vows and our relationship with God has gotten us through the darkest moments of our relationship together. In 3 years we are planning on doing a wedding vow renewal for our 10 year wedding anniversary, so that will be so fun to see that come to pass! It’s not often that you get to grow up with your significant other and see the many struggles that happens in early adulthood with change in friendships, college graduation, jobs, and buying your first house.

This year we wanted to do something a little different for our anniversary and celebrated by driving to Austin, going to out to dinner with our friends at this amazing Sushi restaurant (and we even got to eat at the Hibachi grill) and then going bowling and having a couple of drinks with our friends/family! I can’t believe that we got a night off parenting and just got to be us!

I have truly cherished all the many friends that remain so close and loyal to the both of us, to the family that have picked us up when we were down, and to everyone who has helped us get to where we are in life. I thank you all, so very much!

Cheers to 12 more years of fun, adventures, and living life to the fullest!

Adoption, foster, parenting, Pictures

Tag, you’re IT!

March 12, 2017by Sheridan Johnson4 Comments

tag

So as a parent of 5 (I am still amazed when I see that number), I see myself needing to plan a lot further in advance, but sometimes it just feels like the day-to-day activities are going so fast that you are literally tag-teaming with your partner (mine is Shane) to getting stuff done.

I literally try to not rush in life, and I usually get everywhere we need to be early (just in case an emergency occurs), but having two kids with baseball practice at the same exact times on the same exact days (twice a week), church twice a week, and my job every other weekend, I find myself playing tag with Shane now more than ever.

But even though it feels like life is so busy and is so overwhelming right now, and the only time we have to catch up on life is after all kids to bed at 8:30pm, we still try to make that time for each other and not lose site of each other in the midst of all of this chaos .

We might be playing tag for quite a few years(or until they are all 18, lol!) but we know that if we put God first in our life and our marriage, that things will always work out!

Do any of y’all ever feel like you are playing “tag” with your significant other to get a LOT of tasks done? Especially those of you who have multiple kids?

(BTW Shane and I just celebrated our 12 year anniversary this past weekend and it was SO fun–looks for details in a couple of days)

Adoption, foster

Life lately

February 14, 2017February 15, 2017by Sheridan Johnson2 Comments

life

I cannot believe it’s been 10 days since my last post!

As I was talking to my best friend earlier today, I realized that I have been so busy, that just the thought of blogging, wore me out! So I wanted to give you all (amazing followers) a little update on what’s been going on with my crazy life (as I am writing this it is midnight and I am already counting down the hours until all my kids will be up in the morning, lol)!

-I am still working every other weekend, and every time I go into work it seems like so much has changed/happened and I know a lot more changes will be soon taking place, so that will be interesting to see how that turns out!

-I recently purchased the $199 all access challenge pack with BeachBody and have loved all the workouts I have access to, and best of all I can do it all in the comforts of my home!

-Shane and I get to go on a “date” tomorrow night, which will be our first date in a lonnnng time!

-Baby girls legal worker is trying to extend the visits with the parents to two hours each week, instead on one and is basically saying that even though it doesn’t work with my schedule with my other kids, I have to agree to it. We are fighting hard against this agreement, and we will see what will happen in the long run! Driving 200+ miles every Tuesday is getting to be a bit ridiculous (and yes he is refusing to meet halfway, or even just 30 mins. closer to me at this time).

-My 3 boys legal team is saying that their biological parents will continue to get visits (unless they test positive during a random drug test) until the next Trial takes place (which is scheduled for March 28th I believe).

-I am setting up a 504 (which is basically is for children who needs a little extra help, or help with any kind of learning disability or just children who are behind in school and are needing to catch up) for my 8 year old foster son, because of his reading comprehension test scores being so low.

**if you have any advice at all to help, I am all ears! I will do anything to help.

-Enrolling my kids in sports is a whole different level! Different practice days, different game times, and having to bring snack for the whole team during our game day is definitely exhausting but I am so glad to see how much my children have grown and matured since the start of the season.

-I made it a point last week, to call at least one of my best friends each day, and it was a success! I talked to them all, and I am so happy to hear what all is going on in each of their lives!

I think that is about all the major things in my life happening right now, and I would love to hear what all you have been up to as well!♥♥ (please leave a comment and I will definitely respond back)

Prayer for myself, my husband, and each one of our precious kiddos would be greatly appreciated!

–

Adoption, dance, foster, parenting

Anticipated

November 19, 2016November 19, 2016by Sheridan Johnson3 Comments

November 7th, was the day we were waiting for, when we agreed to foster-to-adopt our 3 precious boys. It was the day the court was going to terminate the rights of mom and dad, and start our 6 month adoption process…

Or so we thought.

You see, everyone showed, the lawyers for each of the boys, and the lawyers of the parents, the CPS workers, the CASA workers, my caseworker, many other individuals that have been involved in their 1 year foster care process, and my mom and I. The thing that amazes me is that everyone took time out of their day to show up.. everyone except for the parents (the mom and dad of the boys).

It was VERY frustrating to us and many others. The parents called their lawyers about 5 minutes before the Trial started and told them that they weren’t able to make it due to “car trouble in Houston” and they had no way to make it there. Well, they have been knowing about this date since the boys first hearing after they were removed, so this was a MAJOR day in their court case.

The Judge did not want to continue on without the parents at the hearing, in person, and decided to open the case and suspend it for another five weeks, until Dec. 13th to give the parents another chance to show up in attendance so their cases could be presented to the Judge.

The parents requested an extra visit with the boys this last Friday, since they felt they deserved another visit before the next Trial is set, and so CPS granted it. Except for the small fact, that their mom cancelled the visit the morning of, and I had to pick up the boys from school Friday (on early release) and tell them that they don’t get to go see their mom because of cancellation issues. It hurt my heart, to see their hearts hurting.

They won’t willingly relinquish their rights, so we are having to go this route of courts, hearings, trials, and many loopholes in between.

God brought us to this, and He will bring us through this. We know these boys are placed in our lives for a reason, and we cannot wait to see them grow, mature, and flourish in the near future! They have so much ahead of them!

If the Judge decides to give the boys back to their mom and dad (which is a VERY small chance), we know it’s all in Gods plan. Please keeping praying for us and our sweet family♥