catching up

We have officially had the foster boys for 6 months (on Feb 8th).  In some ways it seems like it has flown by, but in other ways...not so much.  It's hard to explain really.  They have learned so much in such a short time.  I remember how shocked we were 6 months ago that they didn't know their colors, numbers, animals, animal sounds, etc.  But just by being exposed daily to it, they have learned so much.  We're still not sure they will be completely ready for kindergarten but they'll be much more ready than they would have been.  There are days when I'm so encouraged at the changes in their behavior.  For instance, when they first came to live with us, we took them to the children's museum.  It was an absolute nightmare.  I thought I was going to cry from embarrassment in the first 5 minutes because they were so wild.  But, just last weekend we took them again.  Comparatively, they were perfect angels!  Ok, angels isn't exactly the right word but they were way easier to control and it was actually fun for Chris and me.  We have tried so hard to "undo" the past 4 years of bad behavior (which I know we can't do and really shouldn't be our goal) and sometimes it gets overwhelming.  There are moments that I have cried because I can't believe a 4 year old is talking to me "like that".  But, hopefully those moments will begin to get fewer and farther between.  On a more humorous note, we have been really trying to instill manners into them- please, thank you, etc.  So this morning, I asked one of them to get dressed (always a battle in the morning).  He looked at me with an adorable little smile on his face and said "no, thank you!".  Haha, ok teaching them manners backfired!  It was all I could do not to laugh.  I looked at him and said "Well, thank you for your good manners but you still need to put your clothes on."  But, all in all, I think we're making good progress with them and it's getting easier.  Everyday I pray that we are making some sort of lasting Godly impact on them.  Who knows where they will be in another 6 months to a year but I certainly do hope that what we have tried so hard to teach, sticks with them!