FOSTER CARE & HOW WE DEALT W/ FOOD ISSUES 🥰🥰 

She is so SMART. It's not about her. It's all about the children.❤️❤️❤️

Do I have any ability to be a foster parent?! No... Did I watch this entire video?! Yesssss!!! Thank you so much for this. I think your wisdom applies to everyone, not just children who live in different homes. You are so wise and have such a great way of explaining things... Never stop being you!!!

Food insecurity is a huge problem with foster children! Thankfully, kind people such as your family eased their anxiety. God bless you!

Don't ever be sorry for loving these children . They need you to love them like this .

Best foster mom ever honestly I was in foster care for 9 years. (12-21 I'm 25 now) and I honestly would have moved countrys to have someone like you as a foster mom, mine was the complete opposite of you and seeing how good you are with these kids makes me so happy that not everyone is going through what I had to.

The sandwich story got me... bless these children and protect them

The foster system needs more parents like this. 👍

Your family works because you're a real mom! Not a RU-vid mom!❤️

My grandmother was a foster mom. The first thing she did was take them shopping for new clothes. Sneakers and dress shoes, everything, underwear and socks, dresses, outfits winter coats because they came with a black garbage bag of ill fitting and sometimes just full of holes and stains. She gave them choices, and they got to pick them out depending on their ages. They had chores and responsibilities. We always called them our cousins. We caught fish, and she would clean them and cook them over an open fire pit. We were so proud of the bass and cat fish we caught. We all shared everything. I keep in touch with a few, and I have the best memories. ❤❤❤❤

I’m over here laying in bed watching this entire thing, crying right along with you, and I’m not a foster parent or parent at all! I just appreciate how much you care and how you truly see these kids for who they are as humans. You’re an incredible person and I’m grateful for everything that you’re doing for them. This is a special household. I don’t know you or your family, but I can tell there’s real love there. You can just feel it. You are so appreciated for all that you do, even by strangers on the Internet ❤️🤗

I literally cry everytime mama bell talks about foster care I really pray that I could have half of her wisdom and be able to be a foster mom someday when my kids are older and I have a larger home.

I’m 64 years old and a former foster child and cried many tears watching this. I’m amazed by your understanding of foster kids and want you to know it makes a difference.I remember living in a place that my sister and I were not allowed to talk about our parents because it was their fault we were in a foster home!Also not being allowed to get food when we wanted it.Despite it all I consider myself lucky that I wasn’t physically or sexually abused.Mental abuse that’s another story and of course you carry it with you all of your life.Thank you for making a difference in your foster kids lives!

Heather thank you so much for talking about this. Food was a serious issue with our daughter, she went through hell before coming into our home. She was only two but would start to panic when she could smell food cooking and I would give her a cheese stick to reassure her. I truly believe that if you have gone hungry that wound reaches into your soul.

I’m crying with you.. I cry for all the children in the world living in despair, hungry, scared. Children are innocent angels that need so much… To be honest I’ve never cried so much in my life than I have these past two months. Your videos bring so much light in my life. Watching you being you is healing.

This is so good. Redirect and guide. Include them in meal planning and cooking. ❤

Yes I used to dread going to my cousins for a sleepover because my aunt would serve dinner and never offer seconds, have the cabinets locked at night to keep us from getting snacks or having certain snacks way up high so we couldn’t reach. She did it because my cousin struggled with her weight as a child so my aunt had the intention to have her lose weight, but it only created eating disorders and for my cousin to get bigger in weight.

I don't think I will ever understand how a person can choose to foster and NOT give kids the proper care?? It is a choice to BE a parental figure to them. A loving, patient, kind individual who they can put their trust in. How in the world can someone take in a child from a bad situation...and put them in a bad or worse situation than they came from? Much much love to those who truly care, you are special people.💕 Thank you Heather and Luke fir being those people.

Can I just say that I ADORE YOU. This world is a better place with people like you and your husband. Thank you so much for your amazing kindness! ❤

Crying!! I was in a foster home for two weeks as a child. The ONLY thing that I really remember was the padlock on fridge and Foster Mom and her bio kid eating their meals separately from the fosters. Bless you!!

Heather and Luke, the impact you've made on those children is something so incredibly special. The sandwich story is so touching and is such a good example of how much importance is nestled in those small moments. Moments that can sometimes cause us to want to pull out our hair, but also cherished moments that we'd have missed if we blinked. Thank you for sharing your perspective on food and messy kitchens. ♥️ I couldn't agree more! It's worth it. I'm not a mother, but I've been a care provider for children with traumatic backgrounds and there's nothing more precious than seeing that anxiety melt away as a smile spreads across their face! 😁

You are so wise Heather. I absolutely love you. You have me bawling here right now.

I am so happy these kids ended up with you as their Mom! I was adopted @ 3mths & there were so many times it was thrown in my face that I wasn't one of them! I'm 59 now, & there is still something inside me that's missing! I would have been blessed if I had you, Heather, as a Mom! You are the sweetest & most compassionate person I've come across. I'm so happy I found your channel! I am BLESSED! ❤️🙏💚🙏❤️🙏💚🙏❤️

This woman is changing my life!!! Seriously love her so much!!!

We’ve started the process of foster care because of your Pinterest videos… I also made your chocolate chip cookie recipe a while back. Heather, it’s the BEST recipe I’ve ever had. I wrote it in my recipe book. I was dying for a good recipe and finally found the perfect one. Your Pinterest videos have been such a blessing to me.. I was so happy to see you on RU-vid

You and your husband are an inspiration

Momma Bell I’m 40 and seriously thinking about putting myself up for adoption 😂 Kidding aside, you and Luke are a true inspiration - keep on keepin’ on ❤ thanks for all you do.

Ignore the negative comments... If you are not held as a shining example and such a fantastic inspiration to all.

I want you to know that yes these children will remember . Maybe not everything. But they will remember another. Over the years we've had so many different children come to our home. Not as foster children but just kids we've met. Some of them had a parent who spent the weekend drinking and running around. One group of 3 the mother didn't have any idea that her children spent the weekend at our home. We just took care of them fed them and made sure they were safe. We weren't asked to do it. Or paid to. Over the years we've had some look us up they remember we kept them safe and well fed. They were very grateful. Thanks for all you do. Children need more people to care.

I was more than a foster child i was a ward of the state.. but i was truly blessed to have amazing foster parents....they wanted to adopt me but i said no (not for them but for other reasons) butthey are still mom and dad to me and im 41

You are an example to all of us! God bless you and your family!

You may be far from perfect but you. We're perfect for these children. Don't ever forget that God put you in their lives and you acknowledge Him. That is why you're so blessed. Stay just the way you are. Love you so much.

Thank you for this video, Heather. I’m not a foster parent, but your inspiration and encouragement is helpful for all parents 💕

This is a beautiful family channel. Changing the game. Thank you for teaching. Sharing and caring. ❤ love is enough ❤

You hit me pretty hard! Because I was raised in foster home since newborn to 12 years ago old. Yes I do see my biological parents once awhile. BUT I feel a lot of absence from that and being an only child. Pretty rough childhood I had. BUT I’m glad I founded YOU! Exactly what’s I looked for and who I can talk TO! By the way I’m deaf myself and I’m really thankful have you as that. greeting from Minnesota! 😊

I am so glad that I found your site. My gosh. After being incredibly disheartened by watching other family vlogs, you...are absolutely, love.

Mrs Bell there truly is a special place for you and your husband. I was watching this and cried like a baby.the world needs more people like you and your husband ❤️ ♥️

Im 27 and still struggle with fear that there is not gonna be food. In my childhood we didn't always have enough food. That's one of the reasons why I hoarded food when I moved to my my own appartment

You are doing a wonderful job Mrs. Bell. I pray all foster homes learn from you. You are a blessing to these children!

You inspire me! We have 3 bio kids and then adopted a little girl through the state foster care in march of 2020 when she was 4. Both my husband and I felt the Lord was asking us to open our home to adopt a little girl. But you don’t know what your in for until your in it. That was the hardest thing we have ever done! 2 1/2 years in its night and day different with her, but still there are hard things to deal with. The Lord has been with us every step of the way and blew us away with our youngest daughter who was 3 at the time accepting her and loving her and they have been best buddies since day 1. When I watch you and see how amazing you are with 7 foster kids you adopted I am blown away and you inspire me to do and be better. There I times I look back in the day and go why did I need to to fight that battle?! Thank you for the encouragement and the realness! I have always looked forward to the teenage stage with our 4 kids and people sometimes look at me like I am crazy when I say that, but seeing you with your teens and 20 something’s makes me look forward to it even more. God bless you Bell family!!!

Your story with the little boy and his sandwich brought me to tears. You're an amazing mother.

It is so nice to see a hardworking, common sense family on You Tube You are a joy, and a bundle of energy Heather. Thank you for putting out such great , relatable content. Continued success with your family businesses, keep on cooking those yummy meals and treats, and thank you for your positive messages. Your practical and no nonsense ways are much needed in this world, as are your traditions and love of family .

Ms. bell I’m 24 years old and I wish you were my foster parent even at this age lol. Loved hearing these stories and your approach to the psychology behind the food rather than just calories in vs calories out. God bless you and your family!

You have a heart of gold. 💛

Such emotional intelligence ❤️ brilliant info & understanding here, from a former foster food hoarder ❤️

I deal with a lot of depression, but knowing that there are people like this in the world is so uplifting. To realise that if kids go through a tough time like a broken family and have a place like your home to go where they and their biological families are cherished, educated and respected is a real anti-depressant. Thank you for your strength, organization, good & loving nature, and humility.

Preach! You are so on point! Excellent lessons for new families and all families’ ❤

You’re an inspiration, Heather ❤ My four children were adopted as infants and your words are still very helpful

Amen. I had foster children that had food fixations. Nobody ever warned us of that. Heartbreaking.

Not a foster parent and never will be but I love you and your family!! 😁 The best parenting advice I ever got was don't do food battles with my children. I don't force them to eat anything that they truly detested and never forced them to clean their plates. I never cooked a separate meal, and they ate what I put in front of them, or they didn't. It wasn't a big deal. I didn't force them to clean their plate but if they didn't eat what they had, they didn't get anything else. Best advice ever.

Words of wisdom! We all need a reminder! Thank you! :)

This women is the absolute best

I loved being a foster parent before our adoption. Food insecurity and coping was one of the biggest challenges. I did the same with fruits and snacks. 9 times out of 10 the food hoarding was about a trigger that day, and I loved that it was an opportunity to talk about the root issue and open dialogue. Thank you for sharing.

Thank you so much for sharing the motto,"Pick your battles!"

You are so wise with a great loving heart! ❤️ God Bless You!! Showing Christs ❤️ 🥰💕

After watching this, I will forever ask my children, I have 2, to help me cook, and let them do it their way. You’re amazing. Mine are 7 and almost 5, it’s not too late, but it’s something I’ve always done… but it changes tonight, with tacos ❤

The idea of having your kids help you cook is smart, when I would babysit my 5 year old niece enjoyed helping in cooking. It was honestly a win-win, she enjoyed it and it was one less task for me to do and also she enjoyed the food more.

Your such a beautiful vessel of God ❣️Thank you😘

Great job you did amazing explaining forster kids and food .. we sisters in christ and in forster ministry ❤✝️📖

When I was a kid my own biological dad and stepmom would hide food on me and my step sister. We were two kids teenagers either way I was at least 4 years older than her but nonetheless we both were growing girls. And both me and her I guess would drink more than our fair share and milk so my father and stepmother would hide food even got a mini refrigerator in the room to hide food. Even though we weren't gorging on it or going crazy. it's just really awesome to see parents that care and empathize and try to understand their children. Just because a child is trying to eat more than another child or more than you think they are going to does not mean that they are just trying to gorge on it or anything like that. They could have food issues because of other reasons like you were saying as well as everybody's different. Love watching your videos, just started like a day ago but watch quite a few already LOL then binging them. Really loving them. Loving your tough love as well as the way your family communicates and gets along and enjoys each other's company. The family I've always wanted. Not perfect but loving and wonderful and selfless all the same

So much respect for what you are doing

You are a great mom. God bless u for doing this.

Heather you need to write a book on Foster care. You are amazing

I loved this video. Thanks Heather! So informative!

God Bless you & your husband. I love your videos.

Thank you for sharing your experience and insights. ❤

You are so informative. Hope this encourages more people to foster God bless you

Heather you and Luke are great parents. And I love seeing the kids in the kitchen cooking with you..your page is great and I love watching your videos. Thank you the opening your home to all us...

I am so glad that you agree I hate the term"STEALING FOOD: Because, in my experience, when you tell a child to figure out something fade in the middle of the night so hungry. And I'm going to wait to ask and they grab it. Eat it or if they're home and you're not. You come home like rodeco or I? Ate? Then you use that terminology of stealing what I have seen is kids afraid to even go to the kitchen to get anything? Or sometimes there hasn't been to even ask for anything because of that, so to me. Anytime, I've heard that praise or seen. It used or heard it used or whatever the outcome is not good.

As an early childhood educat or i admire your take on food and foster care i agree that it is important to provide or teach food security.like you said sometimes school is the only time to eat.,i also agree there are no differences between adult food and kid food

Thanks for sharing your wisdom, you have such a lovely family.

I enjoy your honesty and love for your family. It is clear you have a beautiful and healthy family.

Awesome family and mother 🎉🎉🎉🎉

I love you! Bless you and your husband, till no end. you are doing God's work. ❤❤

I like that your core is based on dignity without judgement. There are so many things children experience going through the process and there are not many who are focused on restoring dignity without judgement. I think when you look at their needs while learning to understand their situation, you become their best advocate. These children have taught you well, thank goodness that you remained present in the moment so you could learn from them!

Hello i was in foster homes . i had a lot of people making funny of me . but at the age of 7 1/2 years old i got adopt.. And yes i know my real mother but she dose not care for me anymore.Im glad I found your video's ...Keep up the Great Work you are doing ....

Thank you for sharing your knowledge! We are almost finished with our foster care training and will have new children come into our home starting in April. These videos you do are very helpful!

Dear Heater, I too am sitting here in tears and I too grew up in a very dysfunctional home, so I have a big request for you: Please tell more about your experiences! 🙏🏼Your knowledge is too diverse and so valuable that you should not put your energy into too much shopping hauls and other stuff that only takes away time and energy. The content behind it is too valuable for that. Of course you should continue to produce the content you enjoy, but your real "brand core" is your warmth and your incredibly deep knowledge. I have been observing for a long time that we older affected people often look at such family blogs, because these pictures and the everyday family life bring quasi retrospective healing. It works like a correction. After your report about the sandwich, I made myself a sandwich today and was also proud of it for the first time. 😢 I have almost ten years of eating disorders behind me and I almost died from it. Every time I make a sandwich now I will think of you. You work. 💫 But tips like this are certainly groundbreaking for other parents/adoptive parents as well, since you often seem to make parenting decisions with a lot of empathy and intuition. Therefore: If you can and like, I would encourage you to produce more videos on this level, because you really have something to tell. 🙏🏼 All the best and warmest Christmas greetings to you and your family. 🎄

I love how informative you are! I really enjoy learing more about this. Thank you for what you do!

I don't know why but this made me cry tears of joy and respect ❤

Good evening! I was given my grandkids through foster care system and I've now had them for three years. And it's been a struggle but I will always be there for them. Thanks for sharing your views. Hafa adai and love from the island of Guam 🌴💕🌴

So sensible and fair. Everything within reason x

Thank you for being You and Everthing u do, being you. Much Respect and Love

You're such a wonderful person. The world is a better place with you in it. God bless you and your family.

Terrific mum

You are such an amazing mom!!! Your are so fun and caring ❤

I have just found your channel and am loving your content and learning a lot. I work in Disability Accomodation Adults but am taking on a new role in Child and Youth Accomodation. Thanks for the tips in regards to food challenges

Well Said!

This video is everything! I am in love with you!

Thank you for this video! I am not a foster parent. I am a mom of kids with food sensitivities. I grew up with so many food issues that I didn't want to pass sit in to my kids. I have learned how to work with them and make things that work for our family. There are some foods that I have made up to make sure everyone gets something that they like and will eat for dinner. Thank you for sharing your experiences.

🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉 you are so sweeeettttt the best mama

Heather, you are the SWEETEST! ❤️🎄🎉💚🙏🎊🧑🏻‍🎄🎅🏻❤️🛍🫶💗🌟

I have always told my kids and their friends that " this is what I need for dinner so please don't eat that... However, if you're taking the last one or it's getting low so I can replace it".

Growing up if we didn’t like what was for dinner, we simply didn’t eat or just order something for us with our money, mom always said “we’ll go get your own food with your OWN money”

You are amazing ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤ literally amazing and intelligent

So many kids really do go without !!! God , please be with the innocent .. babies , kids abuse nd neglect .. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻 Thank u for stepping in to help and love them

Your solutions to help kids sound really good to me👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

You are such a great mama!

The sandwich part with the lil foster kid 😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢 how sweet how so freaking precious

Thank you, good advice 😘

Idk about anyone else but id love to hear more sad & happy stories! 😊