5 ordinary people doing extraordinary things

As I mentioned in my last post, as a condition of accepting the Versatile Blog Award, I agreed to nominate 5 blogs that I thought were also worthy of an award. I have met some extraordinary women on twitter who are fostering and/or adopting and doing an incredible job. Some of these are the women to whom I was referring when I talked about being "in awe." Knowing them, even if it is only through following them and interacting with them on twitter has been an incredible experience. They are rare gems and people that I would like to introduce to you.

1. Sheeps Eating Me: As her twitter profile says, she is a "queer, transracial, feminist, adoptive mama and wife, parent to 2 kids with special needs and foodie, kayaker and bookworm." I hope this is not too un-politically correct to say, but I think that gay couples are one of the best things to happen to children in foster care. Gay couples, now in 2012, are more commonly and openly finding ways to build families, many via adoption. If you weren't aware, the foster care system is not allowed to discriminate based on sexual orientation (though of course, people in the system still do). So, get to know her whether it is through her blog or by following her on twitter.

2.Tubaville: "Tiruba Tuba" has adopted 3 children who are now ages 16, 9 and 9. All three have special needs, two of them have special needs that are quite extensive. Her 16 year old daughter was told, to her face, that she was "unadoptable." Tiruba and her husband proved everyone wrong. Tiruba is so real, she speaks the truth about her struggles as well as her joys. You can get to know her on her blog or also, by following her on twitter. Her retweets and responses to celebrities on twitter are hysterical and not to be missed!

3. Motherissues: "Thorn's" twitter profile describes her as a "lesbian, atheist pacifist, fostering/adopting from foster care." She and her wife Lee have adopted their little girl Mara, have two boys who remain in their lives though no longer in their homes and are currently fostering two young children. Just like the others I have already described, she too is very real. She shares both the joys and challenges of fostering and I was so glad to know her on the day the adoption of Mara became official. She is another person worth knowing whether through her blog or by following her on twitter.

4. Foster Adoption: Much newer to me but an extraordinary find (also via twitter) is this married mom of 5 biological children. She is in the process of adopting a sibling group from foster care and is considering adopting a second sibling group which would result in 10 children in total! She is a passionate and compassionate woman who is currently counting down the days "until forever" when her two new children make the full transitions from their current caregivers to her family, their forever family.

5. Fostering Thrifty Families: "Tee" and her partner are on a track to adopt their two foster children, brothers who are a teen and a toddler. Her blog focuses on learning to live on a budget so that they could ultimately achieve their goal of having one parent able to be a full time stay at home parent. I have gotten to know her offline and she is an exceptional person to know. Her blog is a fun place to read about great deals that could be useful for any parent, not just those who are fostering or adopting.