So Much To Say, But So Little Time To Say It

We picked up the girls Friday morning at 8am. Their foster mom had them packed and ready to go. There were only a couple of small bags because we took most of it Wednesday night. On the way out the door, Foster Mom warned me that both the kids had LICE. Oops! So I knew that a trip by the grocery store would be warranted that day. I wasn't too upset, because I've dealt with it before when my older kids were in daycare, it's just been a long time.

We went home and unpacked the van and introduced the girls to the cats. They love the cats. They have each claimed an outside cat as their own. This is when we found out we have a picky eater. I offered cereal to the girls, and D3 said yes but D2 said no. Shortly after this, we took D1 to school. On the way there, we saw a sign in town that had been painted just for us! (We live in a small town). It said "Congrats Lastnames" and had a picture painted of two little girls. On the other side it said "Welcome Home D2 & D3". Four of my friends had gone at 11pm the night before and painted it for us. It was so sweet, and we stopped and took pictures with the whole family beside it.

After we dropped D1 off at school, we went to Albertson's for mayonnaise and to CVS for a special comb. Both the girls and Son got a new blanket that Albertson's had on sale. We went back home and all had a sandwich together. My picky eater, D2, wanted to peel her crust off. We got out the veggie tray, and D2 wanted tomatoes but D3 wanted none of it. We took Son to school (late) and then took the girls to be enrolled in their new elementary school. We had been told that D3 would have to attend a different elementary because the first grade was experiencing overflow, but when we got there we found out a first grader had left just last week! There was only one spot and D3 got it! Huge sigh of relief all around. Then it was straight back home to roll up my sleeves and get to work! There won't be any lice problems in my house! D2 went first, and D3 went outside to watch Daddy work on the van. (He's installing a trailer hitch.) I told D2 to bathe thoroughly, and then I washed her hair and treated it with lots of mayonnaise. I'll spare you the details, but let me just say she had a BAD case of lice. I'm shocked that Foster Mom let it get so bad. However, we had noticed on our visits that our new daughters had strong body odor that had been camouflaged with perfume. So maybe I shouldn't have been surprised. It's just that our agency had always talked about Foster Mom in such glowing colors. And I think she did do a good job with them behaviorally, just not hygenically. Also, D2 told me that Foster Mom's daughter S had advised her and D3 "not to scratch too much or they might send you back". Ugh! I reassured D2 that I would never send her back, and that we would take care of the lice, and it wasn't her fault she had it. After D2 was fresh and clean, it was D3's turn. I instructed her on how and where to wash her body so she would smell sweet. She told me that she was going to miss her friends at school. Then she told me that some of her friends told her that she stinks, and she didn't understand that because she wears perfume! I told her that at our house we would bathe a lot and she would never have to worry about stinking again. Both girls seemed to really enjoy getting a bath. I asked D2 how often FM bathed them and washed their hair and her answer was "not very often". I don't know what that means to an 8 year old, but it didn't sound good. Five to six hours later, the girls were clean and sweet smelling and lice free, and my back felt like it was about to break in two. D1 came home from school and helped us hang up some of the girls' clothes. After that we had supper with leftover sandwiches from lunch, sweet potatoes, crackers and veggie tray. It's what we usually call a "free-for-all". D3 absolutely loved the sweet potatoes and was willing to try some things on the veggie tray. D2 wouldn't eat the sweet potato at all. After dinner everyone except Son (who was at a birthday party) sat down together to watch "Winnie the Pooh and Christmas too". We have a large collection of children's movies since it hasn't been that long since our kids were little. Both girls snuggled on the couch between DH & me with their new blankets, and D1 sat on the loveseat. D3 was insistent that D1 sit with us too, but it would have been very squished and D1 wasn't interested. Finally, D3 went to sit with D1 for a while. She seems to be a sweet child who is concerned about others' feelings. Son finally got home. We waited for him so we could all have Oreos together before bed. It was a good first day. I'll try to blog later about Saturday and Sunday..