Monday

Updates:

Nothing is every easy. This pediatric dermatologists office was on the other side of Pittsburgh, but the direct road was under construction and the detour was not well marked. SO they took us a round about way...yeah, it took almost 2 hours to get to Pittsburgh! At one point I think we were closer to Ohio than anything else!

We did make it there on time, and did not have to wait hours (like the receptionist originally said when I tried to set up the appointments). The doctors were both very nice. The first one came in and took a sample to make sure it wasn't scabies. Apparently she was the best at identifying them. Well, from what I know of the little buggers, there is NO way that just two of the six of us would end up with scabies. So, with scabies ruled out, the next doctor came in to assess their bumps. He said it wasn't River Blindness (which was a relief), but it was due to dry skin. Hummmm, not until I left the office, did my argumentative thoughts kick in. I moisturize them with heavy cream twice a day, and their hands are never even ashy, and they never are scratching at them...??? BUT, I will get the Rx filled and try it out. We have a follow up in two months. If the cream works, great, but if not, I am coming prepared next time.

Since getting up so early, the kids were hungry at 10:30am, so we went to the drive through at Burger King. Not until after they finished their egg croissant, did I remember why I don't feed the Africans greasy food in the car. (Pause, I should back up a few...I was going from the doctor's office to the zoo where my sister in law had my other two kids, and I was using the directions I got from mapquest. Don't use mapquest. I was looking for roads that didn't exist. Trying all the while to figure out the difference between slight right, right, and hard right.)

In the middle of being lost somewhere in Pittsburgh, I hear, "Mommy, I gotta poop." When I look back, this child's butt cheeks are squeezed together and their bum was several inches off the booster. Not good. (What goes in, must come out?) With our new ones, they haven't quite learned that we can't just poop anywhere we feel like going. It has been very hard, especially in the car, to get them to give us a "warning call." AND there was nothing I could do. We were on a two land road, the guy in front of us was trying to make a left turn, and the on coming traffic was a funeral procession (he wasn't going to be turning for a while). So in my sternest voice, I say, "You many not poop in your pants for any reason. Squeeze harder!" (Totally laughing inside) Finally, we found a gas station, got directions and a bathroom. Just in time I might add...and as luck would have it, as soon as the one was finished, the other one had to "go." That is just my life...

The directions from mapquest put the zoo somewhere within a 1.2 mile radius of the gas station. WRONG! It was like 10 miles away, over some bridge! We finally arrived, and had a great time at the zoo...And as luck would have it, I had to go over with Kp why we can't buy animals at the zoo. It brought back fond memories of Saah at the zoo...as did the piranhas tank when we went round upon round with him about obeying rules!

(the snaggle tooth on Kp finally came out last night! yeah!!!)

The baby elephants were soooooo cute!

Out of all the animals in the whole zoo, the boys liked the goldfish the best...go figure!

Little L did not like the elephants up close.

Again, more interested in the coins in the pond, than the fish or any other animals!

Kd loves to follow the map!

PS: In case you caught on, yes, my girls wore those shirts the last time we went to the zoo! Oops!

Things I Love, but Others Wish I Didn't

• Garlic - I love garlic, but it simply does not like me. I am one of those people that sweat it out of my pores. My sister-in-law LOVES me when I eat garlic.
• Ponytail holders - These are the best thing that was ever created. No need to do my hair! I love it! Others (especially Mom) have been on me all the time about why I never "do" my hair/look presentable! The comment has also been made about my need to wear pigtails at my age? Oh, well two is better than one!
• Sweatpants and free T-shirts - What a marvelous combination! I think that is a totally acceptable outfit to wear out. Others, specifically the two mentioned in the ponytail item, do not think so. The first day after getting home from my honeymoon, Hubby and I fought was about what I was wearing to class/work. He came home that night with 8 new shirts. Nice. He didn't like my style! Then I worked at a lab - that was a free for all as far as clothes were concerned! No one could see me anyway! And now? I only get dressed when I go out...forewarning in case you ever thought of "popping in."
• General Hospital - yeah, yeah. I have heard it all. No need to jump on the band wagon of how bad they are. I got addicted to them with my friend, Liz in high school. We would go to her house after school, make rice krispy treats with chocolate and watch the latest episode! Jax, Carly, Sonny, Jason...need I say more???
• Epidemiology - No one likes to hear what I know...and no one likes my germophobic tendencies! For my college writing class, I wrote an entire paper about why you shouldn't keep your toothbrushes anywhere near the toilet. Not too many people found humor in that!

I am sure I can come up with more, but that's all my brain can handle tonight!

More braids

Start to finish: almost 3 hours...not my fastest braiding time!

The above is Kp's favorite braid. Why? Because I can do it in less than an hour!

Trying to keep up with my braiding journal. The bottom two are from yesterday, all dressed up and now nowhere to go :-(

I will post more about why our trip was detained, but as of now, I am tired of retelling the story!

2 Corinthians 12:8-10

Sometimes in trials, it's hard to see the way.

Sometimes it is hard to pray.

What little I have learned, sometimes it's good to pray verses back to God. Paul pleaded with the Lord three times about changing something in his life - to remove the thorn in his side. And the Lord's response was that His grace is sufficient, and so my prayer:

Lord-
You have said, "My grace is sufficient for you for my power is made perfect in weakness." Help me to boast more gladly of my weaknesses so that your power might rest upon me. For your sake, make me content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. Help me to see that when I am weak, then I am strong. Teach me how to make your grace sufficient for me.
Amen

Wake up calls

I must get a better wake up call. This one just isn't working,

"MOMMY, I.........NEED.......WIPED! MOMMYYYYYYYYYYYY"

7:04am....aggggghhhhh (really unless you've been where I have, you just can't appreciate that smell that early in the morning!?!)


Or this one whispered at 7:18am,

"Mommy, I peed."

Then the all important question, back to bed for 10 more minutes of sleep, or coffee? Tough call. I went with the coffee.

to Tressa...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

(although it is one day late, it is not because i forgot, it's cause i ran out of time!)

"Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep." Romans 12:15

so as i look back over the years, we have done a lot of rejoicing and a lot of weeping. we have shared many a burdens together.

i remember being at work getting the call you went into labor(rejoicing), then the trial that followed (weeping). i remember coming over to help you with little emily, who would scream at age 3 months if her 8 oz. bottle was empty!

then the trials of illness and recovery...man, was there much rejoicing and much weeping! (and more rejoicing then more weeping, and more rejoicing then more...well, you were there!) emotional roller coaster, yes, but through it all our friendship has grown...so much so i don't know what i'd do without you! i hope i am as much of a friend to you as you have been to me! (ps: you do owe me a bathroom cleaning!)

i can't believe that you've made it to another birthday...and i am ready for this next year of roller coasters rides with you, you up for it???

and my prayer for you,
that God will shower you (more than ever) with His goodness, His kindness and especially His grace.

So...why?

Ok, WHY is there that one hair that grows out of my chin?

Why is it 10 times darker and thicker than all other hair on my body?

Any why does it keep growing unchecked?

AND why don't you all tell me about it when you see it???

And for confidentiality sake, I won't say who, but there is one person who has asked me if she was ever in a coma to make sure I pluck that hair on her chin...please, someone do the same for me!

Ahhh, hahahaha :-)

Pointless Survey

My friend, Tressa, sent this to me and I am going to pass it along this way...no one ever answers them back anyway, so here it goes!

YOU CAN ONLY TYPE ONE WORD! Not as easy as you might think. Now copy or forward,change the answers to suit you and pass it on. It's really hard to only use one word answers.Be sure to send back to the person you received it from!

1. Where is your cell phone? close
2. Your significant other? work
3. Your hair? ponytail
4. Your mother? Philly
5. Your father? challenging
6. Your favorite thing? grace
7. Your dream last night? calming
8. Your favorite drink? coffee
9. Your dream/goal? survival
10. The room you're in? front
11. Your hobby? planning
12. Your fear? planes
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? happy
14. Where were you last night? home
15. What you're not? quiet
16. Muffins? Chocolate
17. One of your wish list items? eraser
18. Where you grew up? Indiana
19. The last thing you did? taught
20. What are you wearing? clothes
21. Your TV? color
22. Your pets? Goldengirl
23. Your computer? on
24. Your life? complicated
25. Your mood? bouncy(?)
26. Missing someone? deeply
27. Your car? unlocked
28. Something you're not wearing? crown
29. Favorite store? Gap
30. Your summer? gone.
31. Like someone? always
32. Your favorite color? purple
33. When is the last time you laughed? lunch
34. Last time you cried? yesterday
35. Who will resend this? zilch

Life lessons

Let me first set the stage:

When we were in Africa picking up the kids, we met our friend D and R. Through the many hot days of being in Africa we talked about everything. One day, while sitting on the steps of the church, we got into a conversation about what we thought each others' houses were decorated like (we were a little bored). When we told how our living room was decorated in eclectic stuff and lots of wooden masks, D strongly cautioned us against keeping them up. She tried to explain the implications of the masks and tried to get us to understand that our kids have seen more than we would ever want them to see. NOT that we did believe her, but we were adopting a 5 and 3 year old (or so we thought), how much would've they really seen? But we wanted to do the right thing and had my sister take them all down.

Fast forward:

The girls room is always such a mess. They mess up their room so much that they can't play there or even see the floor. Then they go to the playroom and do the same, then to the living room...etc. I decided to pack up all the girls toys in their room and they could play with one thing at a time. In order to do this, I had to make room in my closet...where the masks were. I took them out of the closet and stacked them up to take them down to the building. Of course, that all didn't happen the same day. When B got up to leave the next morning, he knocked into the masks and they went everywhere. Needless to say when the kids got up and saw them, they were the new "toy of the day."

Later that day, Kp was talking freely about the masks and what they meant to her. Listening to her talk about it deeply saddened me, and truly understood what D told us. I don't know if I could even do justice repeating the stories she told. If you could, imagine your sweet little 3-4 year old girl relaying to you that these masks are scary to her because people put them on and eat other people. She has a fearful response to these masks. We asked her who taught her about them, and she said that her Mama did. I can't imagine a mom teaching a small child about these things let alone having her witness them first hand. According to her, people wear these masks to eat other people. Daily I am thankful for many things...getting the kids as quickly as we did, is always one of them.

Those who say "(African country our kiddos came from) isn't all that bad." They are right. It's actually worse. And until my dying breath no one will be able to convince me otherwise, or convince me that children are ok there...

Happy Birthday Maddie :-)

Happy 8th Birthday Maddie! I remember the day you were born. You were the first "little person" in my life! My first niece. One thing I remember is that I don't think you were ever left alone. You were held...every minute...of everyday. We would all fight over who got to hold you! We would sit around the table in your old house and play cards, and just pass you around from person to person.
I don't know where the 8 years went to, but now you are like a little woman! You are in second grade!!! When you were born, we said, "Can you imagine little Maddie at 10 years old?" Picturing you at age ten, seemed to be years away...and now it is just around the corner. I think that before I blink again, you will be off to college! And I will be...old.
You are one of the sweetest little girls I know, and I hope you always stay that way, and live a life full of grace and glorifying to God. Blessings, Maddie, on your birthday :-)

PS: Because this day also honors your mom, I didn't show a picture of you and her minutes after birth :-)

Juggling

I know that I haven't blogged for a while. It seems like there are so many things going on, I don't know where to start.

Right now, my life feels like I am a juggler, and have all my juggling balls in the air, and the guy on the side keeps throwing me more, and more and more. What should I do? I should be like those duel jugglers and pass them onto God, but for some reason I am holding on to them. Silly isn't it?

And one of the biggest juggling balls I am tossing, is something I can't freely discuss. It is just one of those things in your life that so much emotion is weaved into it, it is hard to see God's path. In this particular thing, I know what I want to do...but there is just not that peace of God that I wish was there. One of those, "but WHY, God?" So here I learn patience, to sit back and let God work out his plan...'cause he doesn't need me to complete it, I just think he does sometimes!

OK - other than that...

The girls had their first day of Friday Classes (our churches co-op for homeschoolers - you know, so their not "backwards"). The girls had a great time! For show and tell, Kp brought pictures of her family from Africa and Ky brought a "button collection." I let Ky go, figured that's what she wanted to bring, so...oh, well! The girls have also started their dance classes, and they both love them! They come home dancing and twirling around...thus, a no dancing in the kitchen rule...it was getting dangerous!

The boys are doing great as well...getting along in a true boy fashion. They punch each other, make up, play and then start the cycle again! It is wearing, but I have come to think that is "guy love."

Lessons II

I learned a very important lesson today...I have to either:

A. Park in the same place every time I go to certain stores, OR

B. Not talk on the phone when I am parking, OR

C. Get a bright yellow vehicle

I left the mall today and walked into the parking lot...then it hit me. I had absolutely no idea where I parked my car. I was on the phone with my sister in law, and was paying not attention. So there I am, in the middle of the parking lot, with that deer in the headlights look. I decided to "play it cool" and slowly walk down the middle of the lot keeping my eyes open. Luckily I found my car without having to walk back down another aisle! (I always chuckle to myself when I see other people doing that - not to make fun, but because I've been there!) And I had to be thankful that this time it didn't happen at Wal-Mart! I have done that before...you can't even try setting you car alarm off there to find your car (cause there are usually several going off anyway)!

Sometimes I am truly amazed that the DMV gave me a license!

Lessons

So after endless hours of homeschooling, there is a light!

One of my children (you'll figure out who by the end of the story) was in a lot of trouble for lying. After a long time of talking about lying (about 30 min) and about sin...

The question was, "What did you learn today?"

Answer: "Ummmm, laaaa, ummmm...the capital E?"

I, being in the background, was jumping for joy! What I taught that day sunk in! Yeah. Not real happy that this child was lying about everything, but that they did learn the lesson that day!!!

Snow White...

Hi-Ho

Hi-Ho

It's off to the ER

We go!

With a ha ha ha and a ho ho ho....

Ahhh, yes...Kd went down the slide in the new tree house and split his lip on a piece of Plexiglas's at the bottom.

Back to the ER!

**************

Home from the ER with a few stitches:

Seriously, I was totally embarrassed. I felt so sorry for Kd that we quickly took him to the ER. He had been playing outside all day, and when the kids play outside, I don't care what they wear. We have a big bin of "outside" clothes. Well apparently today, Kd picked out size 18mos. sweatpants and a random shirt. See how tight and short they are on him??? Then move to his feet! He was probably the dirtiest kid there! So embarassed!!!

PS: He refused to stand normal for any of the pictures...that was the most normal of them all!