"Mom, are you going to sew today?", my little one said with pleading eyes. I knew immediately what she wanted me to do. She was holding three of her stuffed animals. My kids love to play with their beanies. They line them up, tote them around everywhere and love on them until inevitably they get a hole somewhere on it. Lately, it seems to be a daily occurrence for me to "open up the Beanie Doctor Office" and put the fluff back in some type of animal, stitch it up and then send it back home. It's just too bad that all this "doctor" experience can't be put on a resume, cause I'm getting pretty good at saying...
...the doctor is in now
About Me
- From our family to yours
- Married twenty-five years to my wonderful husband and best friend. We have 3 "home-grown" kids and 1 hand-picked by God from Africa. Our life is blessed. We are a close knit family with strong Christian beliefs. Come along with us on our journey…you might have a great laugh or two.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Friday, August 7, 2009
We got our referral!!!
Yesterday was an absolute crazy day...the day we had been waiting for, for so many months. Here's a sneak peek as to what happened...
The kids and I had been out at the grocery (where else do you go...) when we walked into the door and there it was...the blinking message light. With an armload of groceries, and three kids scrambling to "get through the door first", I didn't even have time to push the message button by the time the phone was ringing again. Now, our answering machine talks...goofy, I know...but I don't have to go the phone to see who it is...it talks to me and tells me. So when our adoption agency name was stated, you've never seen a crazy mom drop everything and "plow" through the kids to answer that phone. That would have been reality TV at it's best. Needless to say, the breathless "hello" probably didn't sound to good, but I'm sure they loved the "Woo-hooing" after they told us of our referral. Yep, you don't have to be a kid in this family to jump up and down screaming "it's a boy!...it's a boy!". I didn't care...we got our referral and it was a boy!!! I scrambled to find my husband's work number and called it three times (he has lots of meetings you know...) before he calmly said "hello". After that, I'm really not sure if I put a coherent sentence together, but I did get out that it was a boy and he was healthy. From that, my husband got the jest.
For now, we have more waiting to bring him home. We have to be assigned a court date and then more paperwork has to be filed. To us, he's already ours and a part of our family. He's healthy, but small (almost all children are due to malnutrition) and he has big brown eyes. Our favorite part was that in his referral picture they dressed him all in pink...he'll love that part later in life. I so wish we could post a picture of him, but our agency has asked us not to until we bring in home. So now, we are back to waiting and praying for more paperwork to hurry itself along so we can go to Ethiopia and bring our baby boy home.
A beautiful baby boy... we have been blessed yet again.
The kids and I had been out at the grocery (where else do you go...) when we walked into the door and there it was...the blinking message light. With an armload of groceries, and three kids scrambling to "get through the door first", I didn't even have time to push the message button by the time the phone was ringing again. Now, our answering machine talks...goofy, I know...but I don't have to go the phone to see who it is...it talks to me and tells me. So when our adoption agency name was stated, you've never seen a crazy mom drop everything and "plow" through the kids to answer that phone. That would have been reality TV at it's best. Needless to say, the breathless "hello" probably didn't sound to good, but I'm sure they loved the "Woo-hooing" after they told us of our referral. Yep, you don't have to be a kid in this family to jump up and down screaming "it's a boy!...it's a boy!". I didn't care...we got our referral and it was a boy!!! I scrambled to find my husband's work number and called it three times (he has lots of meetings you know...) before he calmly said "hello". After that, I'm really not sure if I put a coherent sentence together, but I did get out that it was a boy and he was healthy. From that, my husband got the jest.
For now, we have more waiting to bring him home. We have to be assigned a court date and then more paperwork has to be filed. To us, he's already ours and a part of our family. He's healthy, but small (almost all children are due to malnutrition) and he has big brown eyes. Our favorite part was that in his referral picture they dressed him all in pink...he'll love that part later in life. I so wish we could post a picture of him, but our agency has asked us not to until we bring in home. So now, we are back to waiting and praying for more paperwork to hurry itself along so we can go to Ethiopia and bring our baby boy home.
A beautiful baby boy... we have been blessed yet again.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
As small as a mustard seed...
"...I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." Matthew 17:20
This is by far one of my favorite verses in the Bible. I have been thinking a lot about faith this week. You know, the faith like Peter had when he stepped out of that boat and walked on water. Faith like the wind, you can't see it but you can feel it straight down to your bones.
As we are just days away from getting a referral, I keep thinking back to the very beginning when it all began. Our story is a simple one. Years before we had my son, God planted the adoption seed in our hearts. We wanted to be parents...and it didn't matter to us where the children came from...we knew we could love them no matter what. Fast forward a few years and we were blessed with our son. Our middle daughter followed shortly thereafter...but the seed never left. Finally, we were yet again very blessed to have our smallest. Now, the seed was ready...ready to plant. So we decided to adopt and step out of the boat, step out in faith and again let God choose our child. So you see, our story didn't happen overnight and it didn't happen on a whim. It happened because it's all part of God's plan.
We may not be able to change the world, but we can change the life of one child. And it's all because of faith...as small as a mustard seed.
This is by far one of my favorite verses in the Bible. I have been thinking a lot about faith this week. You know, the faith like Peter had when he stepped out of that boat and walked on water. Faith like the wind, you can't see it but you can feel it straight down to your bones.
As we are just days away from getting a referral, I keep thinking back to the very beginning when it all began. Our story is a simple one. Years before we had my son, God planted the adoption seed in our hearts. We wanted to be parents...and it didn't matter to us where the children came from...we knew we could love them no matter what. Fast forward a few years and we were blessed with our son. Our middle daughter followed shortly thereafter...but the seed never left. Finally, we were yet again very blessed to have our smallest. Now, the seed was ready...ready to plant. So we decided to adopt and step out of the boat, step out in faith and again let God choose our child. So you see, our story didn't happen overnight and it didn't happen on a whim. It happened because it's all part of God's plan.
We may not be able to change the world, but we can change the life of one child. And it's all because of faith...as small as a mustard seed.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Box Day has arrived...
Well, "box day" came to our house early this morning (8:25 a.m.). Not familiar with box day??? In the home school world, it's when your entire curriculum (or whatever you ordered for the upcoming year) arrives packed in boxes. It's a lot like Christmas. My kids LOVE box day. I ordered everything we needed for this year late this past Sunday night and couldn't believe it when it arrived early on Wednesday morning. We have used Sonlight curriculum for 5 years and just adore it.
This morning was extra special for my 5 year old because for the first time it was her turn to have "school" delivered (her Kindergarten curriculum, that is) and she just couldn't believe how big her pile of books were. My older two just kept holding up one book after another and asking..."is it o.k. if I read this today?"
Ahh...music to my ears...it's going to be another great school year!
Monday, August 3, 2009
What if we all lived like this...
"Set God-sized goals. Pursue God-ordained passions. Go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention. Keep asking questions. Keep making mistakes. Keep seeking God. Stop pointing out problems and become part of the solution. Stop repeating the past and start creating the future. Stop playing it safe and start taking risks. Expand your horizons. Accumulate experiences. Consider the lilies. Enjoy the journey. Find every excuse you can to celebrate everything you can. Live like today is the first day and last day of your life. Don't let what's wrong with you keep you from worshiping what's right with God. Burn sinful bridges. Blaze a new trail. Criticize by creating. Worry less about what people think and more about what God thinks. Don't try to be who you're not. Be yourself. Laugh at yourself. Quit holding out. Quit holding back. Quit running away. Chase the lion!"
from "In a Pit With a Lion on a Snowy Day" by Mark Batterson
from "In a Pit With a Lion on a Snowy Day" by Mark Batterson
Sunday, August 2, 2009
You eat it...no, you eat it
Today I tried my hand at canning salsa. With 13 tomato plants, we have more tomatoes than we know what to do with. So I researched "canning" on the Internet, printed off directions and began the process. Now being this is my first attempt at canning, I tell you guys this so that come this winter, when we open the salsa to eat it, if we don't blog for a couple of days, it might be botulism....so please call 911
Saturday, August 1, 2009
17 years ago today...
17 years ago today I married the one person who can make me laugh in any situation. The one person who still makes my heart flutter when he comes through the door. The one person who listens to me and calms me down when things are going wrong. The one person who loves me so much that he's willing to give up everything for his family. The one person who has given me three beautiful children. The one person who has committed to spending the rest of his life...with only me.
17 years ago today I married my best friend...my husband. Here's to you babe...and the many more wonderful years we are going to have together. I loved you then, I love you now and I will always love you.
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