The Fey Family

There are days when everything feels right. And then, there those kind of days. You know the ones I mean: The days that you find yourself questioning every decision you’ve made in the past week, or even year; the days where you feel tired, the kind of tired that makes you want to hibernate in your bed; the days where your current situation feels both overwhelming and underwhelming at the same time. You’re not sure how that is even possible, but you feel it just the same. You try to put your finger on the reason why you are having such an off day or string of days. Maybe you’ve been a bit under the weather, from all of the cold and flu stuff going around this time of year. Perhaps you and your spouse aren’t really connecting on any level that feels meaningful. If you’re a woman, it could just be that time of the month (in the words of Jori “that’s an absolute fact”). Maybe your kids are misbehaving, your coworkers have been extra irritating, or your friends haven’t seemed very fr...

It is Thursday night, just after 8. Darin is on his way to Pretoria to pick up a new auntie, which will bring our total to three volunteers. We are really looking forward to the extra set of hands and hoping that we can make a bit more time for our smaller family unit during the week. Speaking of our smaller family unit, we are all doing well. Darin has been really busy with filter stuff lately. I know I refer to it as “stuff”, but I’m not trying to downplay what he is doing. He just has so much going on that calling it “stuff” is just easier. All that to say that Darin is one busy guy. I think he thrives on so much activity, but personally, I prefer the weeks when he is more available for me and the (many) kids. Tyson and Jori seem to be finding their stride at school. They’ve been managing to get most of their homework finished at school before Darin picks them up, which helps all of us to have a better afternoon/evening. They are having a hard time settling down to sleep at ni...

This morning I almost swallowed a fly. I took a gulp of coffee, felt something other than liquid in my mouth, and spit the whole lot back into the mug. When I dumped it into the sink, out came a drowned fly. I don’t know how long it was in my coffee. Maybe it flew into the grounds and drowned when I poured the water in, or maybe it had only just landed on my cup and I somehow swallowed it (ew). Not the best way to start out a morning, but not the worst way either. Sunday afternoon, a 2 year old girl was placed with us. This little one has cerebral palsy and her mom is having her temporarily placed in our care so that she can finish her schooling, get a job, and provide a better life for her daughter. She is also caring for her 3 siblings (10-16 years old) and just has a lot on her plate. I think it is such a courageous and brave thing for her to hand her child over to strangers (us!) so that she can take care of the things she needs to do right now. We hope that she will visit of...

It is Sunday, January 6. Darin and Tyson are at church and Jori and I are hanging out at home. Jori was sick yesterday, throwing up and just feeling pretty miserable. Thankfully she seems to be almost back to normal now and no one else seems to have been affected! These last couple weeks have been busy ones.  On the 17 th The Van Gilders came to hang out. They brought a huge plate of Christmas cookies, which were devoured by the following day. Tyson and Jori had fun swimming with their friends and Darin and I enjoyed having some more adults to hang out with. Then on the 19 th the Warrens and their extended family came and decorated Christmas cookies with the kids. We also packed into 2 vehicles and headed out to Jubilee Mall with the older kids. While our family of 4 picked up some groceries, Uncle Lonnie, Auntie Debbie and the rest of the gang went and did a little Christmas shopping to pick up some presents for Mama Joye, Darin and myself. Then it was time to have some ic...