Tick #2

Ky said to me, " have something in my belly button."

My reply: It is probably dirt.

Ky: But it has legs!

And yet my day gets better. I just removed this small tick from Ky's bellybutton. Very hard to get into a belly button! Again - it was alive and wiggling, but since I already did vomit this morning, what's a little tick? All I have so say is that mothers need far more than one day a year to celebrate all that we do!!!!

When I took it off I put it on the kitchen window seal...this is how small it was!

Good mornings :-)

Well, I don't know how your morning started, but here is mine:

7:03 Ky woke me up crying...why? Because apparently she threw up last night, and didn't want to tell me, so went back to sleep. So, me, not being a very good morning person, had to figure out how to clean it all up. OH...did I mention that Ky sleeps on the TOP bunk? Needless to say the mess was...hummmm...explosive? Fun times.

These are the mornings that I wish that I could call and my hubby would appear and do all the work that I don't want to do...or don't feel like doing! He did offer to clean it when he got home, but there was no way I could leave it there that long!

These are also the days I would prefer to do the outside work!!!

Catching up!

This is a picture of the two girls in their lapas that I had made for them in Kp home country!


All I have to say is poor Kb. Kd has his own bed, but nightly falls out into Kb bed and Kb just adapts. This one is particularly cute because my mom was watching the kids and put them to bed and apparently Kd, at some point, got out of bed to put scooby-do slippers on??? I have no clue how he found them in the back of his closet...in the dark!

A Sad Day...

From our family to theirs, with love...

We all knew that this day would come, the day that we would have to say good-bye to Sa. The 3 families that cared for him the past few months came together with his new family and we had a small (last minute) send off party for him. I think that it was good for him to see all of us working together as a team on his behalf. His new family fit right in, it was like they were always here - funny how God works like that. I had been asked a few times if I felt that this was the best for him, and I truly did think that...and now I know that it is the best for him after meeting his new family. Don't get me wrong, I offered to hid him in my basement and tell people he ran away...he considered it, but ended up deciding to go with his new family.

It was really hard to let him go! I am just glad we said our goodbyes on Saturday night, not Sunday morning...that would've been too much. We all held it together (for Sa's sake)...that is until little Ky said goodbye and began whimpering. I think I would've rather the all out crying to the whimpering. It was just a sad little face with quite tears rolling down her cheeks and every now and again her shoulders would shrug. Well, that was enough to get all the adults in the room going. Once we got her into the car, she just kept saying, "I don't want Sa to leave." We agreed but explained that sometimes we have to follow God's plan even if we don't agree. A hard lesson for one so young to learn.

I know that we were only with Sa a few months, but he had a huge impact on our family. We all bonded with him, and I think once you bond, it really doesn't matter how long you were together, it still really hurts. Ky and Kd have really never lost anyone before, so this is also really hard on them. In addition to processing my own grief, I have to help explain it to them why Sa had to go. Kb and Kp need us in a totally different way. I need to reassure them that they will not be going anywhere, that we are their forever family. All of these are so hard for them to understand. I heard it said that our grief cannot compare to others...well, maybe not, but we loved him dearly and had to let him go. So maybe ours cannot compare, but I would like to see them explain that to my children. To put some perspective on it: Kp and Kb have only been with us one more month than Sa, and I cannot imagine giving them up at this point...that is how much it hurts to see him go, although he is going to live with a wonderful family :-)

There are so many things that we will miss about Sa...most of all his beautiful smile (which he dutifully maintains with thorough brushing with clean toothbrushes :-) )

Thankfully I do inside work

We have this unwritten agreement in our house: I do inside stuff and Brian does the outside stuff. Never was I more thankful for this agreement than today. Apparently last night we had a bear. The garbage (that we forgot to put out last week, so there is 2 weeks worth in the cans) was sprawled out everywhere...stinky. Then there were huge tracks leading up to a huge pile of...POO! Thankfully, it is outside, and therefore in Brian's jurisdiction! Yes!

Side note:
Kd is obsessed with doorbells. He loves to ring them where ever we go. He has decided that Kb belly button (which is a typical African "outtie") is a doorbell and "dings" it every time he goes past! Brotherly love!

Odds and Ends

This is when I love Kd the most. He is so lovable just sleeping away, not hurting anyone or breaking anything!

Janelle graduated this weekend. The overachiever of the family has finally graduated from college. I am so glad we were too many years apart in school to be compared! She ended up graduating with a 4.0 from the Honor's College and a BS in International Business! Her graduation was a full day without the kiddos - we have the worlds best baby sitter! A full day to be an adult with other adults! A refreshing day of celebrating!

The kids had their final check up with Dr.Springer. She is in a wonderful practice of pediatricians. I wished that we lived closer. They are so thorough with their exams, I don't mind paying the co-pay! The kids are both doing great. They are both gaining inches and pounds! The only bad news is that because Kb's "goings" still aren't normal, they want to recheck him to see if maybe they missed something. What does that mean for me? More poo. Great. If I were to write an autobiography it would have to be call the What All I learned from Poo! Other than that they are perfect! What a blessing...so many prayers answered!

Everything else is going well. I wanted to get all caught up on my blogging. I really want to blog more regularly, but don't!

PS: Fred is here to stay. Won't go away. Going to try some "alternative treatments" soon :-)

Why do I bother???

I just got back from swimming lessons. 5 kids in 3 different classes...only one really knows how to swim (or lack of better words - she can get herself to the edge if she goes in). Mass chaos. Everyone seems to notice when I come in the door...or maybe it is that Kd announces our presence everywhere we go in a LOUD voice. Needless to say, we don't sneak in anywhere!

Ok - when it was just Kd and Ky, I took them to swimming lessons at Place A. I took lessons from this instructor when I was their age. She is great, wonderful and the kids learn and they are safe. But with 4 (or 5) of them swimming, I cannot afford to send all of them. We belong to Place B, and I thought that the kids could take lessons and I could work out. I was wrong. Place B does good, but because they don't belt the smaller kids, I don't feel safe. And with good reason. Kb has no fear at all. So here is today's class:

Ky wasn't supposed to swim due to behavior issues, but as the day progressed, I just needed a break - so into the pool she went. We made a grand entrance as usual into the Place B. We had 5 minutes for everyone to use the bathroom (although we just went before we left) - only to find that 2 of the 4 stalls were out of order due to overflow issue (again me and bathrooms) and it reeked of urine. Me, being the strict mommy that I am, made everyone put their shoes back on before the used the restroom.

Into the pool area...got shoes off, cover ups off, goggles on and hair/head cap thingy on. Good to go. Then I noticed Kp kept putting her goggles on top of her cap. When I asked her, she said she was wearing them there. In haste - because the class was beginning, I took them off and said, "ok, go swim if you don't need the goggles!" Apparently she took major offense to what I said and started wailing. Great - as if I don't draw enough attention. So after another brief "chat," the goggles went back on. Whew - all were in the pool - all was good for about 10 minutes. Then remember how I said Kb has no fear? He generally spends the entire swimming class bobbing his head under the water. Which is not a big deal - until he lets go of the wall. Remember when I said they don't belt up the kids either? Well under he went. And as all good mommies - I went charging to the water. So much for looking presentable at WalMart after classes! Wet from foot to knee. Shoes totally sloshy. I got him and he was ticked that I made him sit on the wall when it wasn't his turn (not because he was afraid). Again, me in the middle of a scene! I made out ok, the other mom did a seal dive to the edge of the water to retrieve her little girl about 10 minutes after my "show." The front of her was totally soaked. Hummmmm, maybe they will start belting the little ones????

And my trip to WalMart was uneventful (yet wet)...Yeah!

The Zoo

All of us at the Pittsburgh Zoo. We all took turns counting to 16, which was the magic number of the day. The kids did great and had a wonderful time at the zoo. Sa kept asking over and over why can't we buy the animals? After about the 2nd time of really trying to give a good answer, I gave up and just said, "You can buy them, but they are too expensive for you to buy!" When I asked Kb what his favorite animal was, he said "orange...ehhhh...blue?" These are the things that make me so tired...where do you begin?

This is typical Kd, if there is a nose (any nose), he will try to pick it! So gross!
The gang of trouble makers
My friend, Melissa, brought a sling for me because I knew Kb wouldn't last walking. His legs are just too small to keep up with all of us. He actually preferred to be in the sling. Maybe he liked to be babied a little!

The girls acting like the polar bears!
Sa and one of his good friends!

We went to Sa's Spring Concert. They did really well. On the way home, I commented to Sa about the one boy in his group that was blind and we had a great conversation about Braille. He didn't even know such a thing existed. It was great!

Obedience

We have been talking a lot about obedience in our house lately. With 5 kids, really how can it not come up hourly? And so I have been doing a lot of thinking about obedience. Do you ever have those things that come out of your mouth and you say them to your kids...then later in the day/week/year...you hear God speaking to you through yoru own words? Over the past year, God has been speaking loudly to me about obedience.


In any typical day, I will say no less than 100 times, "You need to obey Mommy," or "I know you don't want to but obeying is not about what you want - it is doing what I asked despite what you want." And the kicker is, "It is not obeying if you are whining about it." I have had endless conversations with my kids about what obeying is and most importantly, what it is not. To give a simple illustration: Giving your kids ice cream to eat and telling them to eat it. Great! They obey because it is something that they want to do. Put a plate of broccoli down at the table and see if you get the same reaction. I don't. BUT obeying is giving the same reaction whether or not you like the circumstance. This is a lesson that will never be done being taught because even as adults, we only like to obey when it is what we want. We also get better at justifying why it is not God's will for our life when it doesn't align with what we want.


Over the past year, I have had to obey God and put aside my will and follow His will for my life. The first few trials, I will admit, were done so with kicking and screaming. There were many days of, "this is not what I want," and "I don't want to do it this way (or at all for that matter)!" I recently heard someone state, "I keep asking myself if I'm really supposed to sacrifice myself for ________?" I have been there, I have asked God "how much more am I to take?" And even like a little child, I have politely refused (as if that matters), and said, "No thank" you to God. Do you see how many "I"s were in those past few sentences? I was to focused on me, and not focused enough on God because if I was, I would have known that He gives no more to us than we can handle, so I must be able to handle the portion and the cup that He has given to me. He has even pushed me far beyond what I believe that I could handle, just to show me that it is He who handles it, and I need to put my trust in Him.


A lot of the times that God has asked me to follow His will (to obey Him), they have been life altering things. Things that forever would change my life, things that I didn't necessarily want to do, things that forced me entirely out of my comfort zone...BUT had I not done what God asked me to do, I would've miss out on so many of his wonderful blessings. And example that I can share would be when we went to Africa. I was NOT going. Didn't want to go...had a million reasons why I couldn't go, but God's voice was still there saying "Go". I tried to quiet this voice, but couldn't. I could have chosen not to go, ignore God. If I would have, I would have miss out on some truly amazing blessings, and some truly amazing life lessons that can only be learned by submit to God's will. It was not the easiest trip for me for so many reasons, but I knew going into it that if God asked me to go, He will give me peace while there. And He did...He didn't put me in a bubble and make everything easy, but He did protect my heart from sinful worry and anxiety. The flight was long, and bumpy, there was a man killed at the end of our street, the driving was insanely unsafe, we got misquito bites, were a little hungry...real fears were all around us, but there was a peace that I had (not because things were going smoothly or easily) because I knew that this is where God wanted me.


I was plagued again last night and early this morning about things that I would like to have differently in my life. I didn't feel like going to worship because of some current situations. I wanted to go to be refreshed by God and because He has asked us to go, but in one of the very few times in my life, I just didn't want to go. Then a line of a song came to me, and reminded me all of this is for HIM not me...


It's all about You, Jesus
And all this is for You, for Your glory and Your fame
It's not about me
As if You should do things my way
You alone are God and I surrender, To Your ways.


And God gave me peace. I had peace that all this is for Him and His glory. Funny how you can have peace, not getting your own way. Only God can do that. God can use many methods to make us more like Him. Those of you who know me can understand how He usually has to use the "refining fire" instead of the gentle whispers to get me to obey Him.


So in the next 5 or so minutes, when one of my kids disobeys Mommy, I will try to remind them that it glorifies God when they obey Mommy (think that will work for the veggies too?). It will also remind me why I must obey God, not because His will aligns with what I want, but because it brings Him glory.

Stress brings "Fred" back (that ones for you, Danielle:-) )