Finally...home study approved!

Woo..hoo!!! Our home study has finally been approved! We are fit to be parents...funny, if you think about it that way. The whole purpose of the home study is to find out if you are fit to be parents (not to mention that we've got 11 years of parenting practice on our oldest, 9 years on our middle one and 4 years on our youngest). I guess I could have saved them all the trouble of all that paperwork, if the entire crew of people that looked over our case would have just come over to our house. Sure, you'll see a mess in the playroom, clean clothes that need to be folded or school books all over the house. But if you listen real close you'll also hear this...down-right hearty laughter coming from the kids, music playing somewhere in the house and you'll feel all the love right straight through to your bones. I wonder if that could be translated in the Ethiopian language.

You know you're a home school mom when...

I love home schooling...everything about it. I came across this list on someones blog and I found it very funny. My kids laughed out loud at several of them. We hope you enjoy it too!

You Know You're A Home school Mom When...
-You get to change more than diapers, you get to change their minds.
-When a child busts a lip, and after seeing she's okay, you round up some scotch tape to capture some blood and look at it under the microscope!
-Your children never ever leave the "why?" stage.
-When your teenager decides to take one community college course, and comes home and asks you why the teacher wrote "At" on his paper. (A+)
-Your kids think reading history is best accomplished while lying on the floor with their head resting on the side of their patient dog.
-Your husband can walk in at the end of a long day and tell how the science experiment went just by looking at the house.
-You never have to drive your child's forgotten lunch to school.
-The only debate about the school lunch program is whose turn it is to cook.
-If your child gets drugs at school, it's probably Tylenol.
-Your neighbors think you are insane.
-You have meal worms growing in a container....on purpose.
-If you get caught talking to yourself, you can claim you're having a PTA meeting.
-You take off for a teacher in-service day because the principal needs clean underwear.
-You can't make it through a movie without pointing out the historical inaccuracies.
-If your child claims that the dog ate his homework, you can ask the dog.
-You can't make it through the grocery produce department without asking your preschooler the name and color of every vegetable.
-You can't put your produce in your cart without asking your older student to estimate it's weight and verify accuracy.
-You try to (quickly) capture the huge bee that was knocked unconscious as it accidentally flew into your car window, so the kids can classify and inspect it.
-The walls of your dining room are decorated with posters of the US Presidents, Periodic Table of Elements, Map of the Moon, Spanish Conjugation Chart and a copy of the Declaration of Independence, not to mention a poster of the Ten Commandments since no one can tell you not to!
-You have children draped all over the furniture....and they're reading...for the FUN of it!
-Your children actually enjoy spending time with their family, even their siblings!
-Your children aren't embarrassed to be seen playing with someone younger than they are!
-You are on a first name basis with the majority of local librarians.
-You've laughed out loud when someone asked you "What about socialization?"

Preparing for rain...

I saw a movie this weekend that really touched my heart in a special way. It's called "Facing the Giants". It's not a new movie and it has a predictable ending, but the message is outstanding. In a part of the movie, the football coach and a man are talking about two farmers who both needed and prayed for rain. The man tells the coach that only one of the men received the rain even though they both prayed for rain. He asked the coach who he thought received the rain. The coach answered "the one who went out and prepared his fields to receive it". The pastor asked him "which one are you?"



This past week was discouraging for us in many ways. We have told our adoption agency that we very much wanted twins or a younger siblings group. Our agency told us it is rare for twins as well as younger siblings group and that we needed to be open for the fact that we would probably receive a single child. As we are very open for just one child, I cannot help the fact that God has really laid two Ethiopian children upon my heart. This movie reminded me not to lose faith in God's will, no matter what the "giants" may say to you. I serve a bigger God than any man and if it is his will for us to have two children than we will. So for now, I am stepping out in faith and praising God in whatever he chooses for us. I'm going to "prepare my fields for rain".