It was BEAUTIFUL...

Our weekend was simply wonderful! The weather was GREAT! It was mild and sunny with no humidity. It's the weather that people who live in Florida brag about at this time of year.

Beyond the weather, though, it was a great time for our family.

Friday, DS 1 came home. It's so nice to see him and spend time visiting with him. He and his brother (my DS 2) played in a Ultimate Frisbee tournament on Saturday.

Saturday morning I took LG to an appt. with a new counselor. They use play therapy to help work out thoughts, ideas, feelings, and experiences. The counselor gave LG the option to have me in the session or not. She asked me to come.

While watching them work together, I was once again amazed at the power of play! I've seen this sort of session before when we had other foster children. But I just love watching it. These counselors use toys and conversation to help kids get into their own heads.

For example, LG was playing at a sand table. The counselor told her it was a story table where she could make her own story. Then she opened this drawer with a ton of toys inside...animals, trees, people, and other things. She watched LG arrange them in the sand and listened to her words. Every so often she'd ask probing questions about the characters, setting, or problem of the scene. Through these questions, the counselor (and even I) was able to get a glimpse into LG and her thought process. Fascinating.

Saturday afternoon we had our church's Fallfest. It was a free outreach event for the community. We had food, games, prizes, and inflatables. It was great fun. Here are a couple of pictures of that event:

The picture above is DS 4 trying out my "fall scene" for photos.

Here's LG giving it a try.

And DS 3 is dreaming of being in the sky rather than at the festival!

I have to tell you when my team leads these things I always worry. What if no one shows up? I mean that's a little scary! I explained to the team that it didn't matter if ONE person showed up, it was about being a presence on the corner where we are located. It was as much about the perception of the cars driving by. And it was a good time to minister to a few people and get to know our own church family.

It wasn't an overwhelming attendance, but it was a constant flow.

The thing that was so exciting was to see just how many people showed up for the church service yesterday! This is not the total purpose of the event, but it's nice to know that it was an entry ramp for some people.

The rest of Sunday was spent cleaning and digging out in some of the rooms in our house. (We steam cleaned the carpets in two bedrooms. It was quite productive.

So, there you have it, a glimpse into our weekend! I hope yours was just as lovely.