Bon Voyage!

We are out!

PRAY for me...review other earlier posts on my "love" of flying....argghhhh...

Hope to post when we are away, but if not, will post pics when we get home!

Such a Trooper!

Micro-braid initiation! Poor Kp!!!

4 hours 30 min, 4 hands...

This "do" is supposed to last several weeks...it better!

Many thanks to T!!!!

Choices

You give and take away

You give and take away

My heart will choose to say

"Lord blessed be your name."

Life seems to be all about making choices, some you just don't want to make. I am having to hourly choose to give praise to God in the middle of my storms and I am having to choose to lay my worries at His cross. There are some of you who know what we have gone through with a certain young man, S. I don't believe that it was God's will to have him in our lives permanently right now...my head gets that, but those words are not as comforting to my heart. My desire and my will is to go and rescue him. My desire is to let him get a real chance at life, but that only seems to be my heart talking, not God's will. So my choice comes in to praise God anyway, and leave it at the Cross.

My heart is beyond hurting. We had him in our home for over 2 months, and we did see many sides of him. Although many thought that we didn't see it, we chose to approach him with grace. And that's what's hard, I feel like God filled my heart with grace for him, but didn't give me him. Because I was with him more, I had the most interaction with him. And we did go head-to-head a few times. He pushed and I pushed back...to what extent? Only our family will know. I heard it said recently, "Even his friend D**** told me he is full of sin." (Hummmm...who isn't?) And in reality, he was no worse than any other teenage boy that I knew. And actually, for all that he has been through, I expected much worse.

I believed he would be cared for; I believe that he would get the help he needed (and was promised); I believed in people's word too much. I put my hope in the wrong thing. People fail. But God doesn't.

So my heart is constantly being challenged right now, but I am choosing to believe that this is God's will for his life. S often told me, and quoted Josephs life...Genesis 50:20, "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done..." I know God will protect him as no other can (not even me). I don't know where he is now, or where he will go...and so I choose to believe in truth.

One other thing that has helped is something a friend once said. Her family had gone through trial after trial with children/adoptions. She once said to me...something to the effect of, "I can't wait for heaven. Then I will truly be with all those children I carry in my heart." S is my child in my heart, and if it takes until we reach heaven to be that "family" I guess I can wait.

Procrastinating....

There are just some people that I meet, that no matter how hard they try, I can still see right through them. I met such a person recently. Try as they may to hide their feelings, I could tell they were against the international adoption I had just done.

It usually starts with "Well, God bless you." And there is usually a "you've done a really good thing." And ends somewhere with "I don't think I could've ever..." My reply (only in my head) is don't.

I hear these phrases from people so much that I can truly tell when people are being sincere or if they are just placating me in their head. I am sure they think I can't tell...but I can. Usually at that point, they ask some pointless question, in which I give some candy coated answer...and we both move on.

I have entertained the thought of educating them...but somewhere after they tell me how their 2 year old is learning a second language from a private tutor - I assume they are just not going to care and just not going to "get it." Maybe it is the wrong thought, but...

There are so many children in the world who need homes. AND I am not in agreement that everyone is capable of adoption. Quite the contrary, I think only a select few are genuinely motivated (maybe that is why those few have so many???).

Sorry...venting my frustrations of being placated...AND procrastinating...

Panic!!!

As I sat down today to start my day, I looked over my calendar. And I have realized that between now and when we leave on our trip, I have Sunday afternoon to: pack, shop for all the additional stuff we need, clean the house (yes, I like to leave my house clean), and find my flying pills (can't find those either...which in itself elicits panic). All other days are filled with other obligations. But maybe the craziness is a good thing...keeps my mind off the flight itself?

Then I realized that I also have to braid Miss Kp's hair! Which now will be tricky because even as I type this my left thumb is killing me...must've hit it the wrong way in volleyball last night and the whole muscle of my thumb is busied! Let me tell you...I am tough...a thumb bruise! How am I going to braid??? I considered doing it in stages, but Kp has a doctor's appointment one day and school the next! No time!!! AND I have to do a "good one" cause we are going to be gone for a week!

Tomorrow I am going to take both Kp and Kb to the opthamologist (and by the way, that word is not in blogger's spell check list...but i did spell it right!) for the first time. They loved the dentist...I don't think they are going to like this doctor though. I don't disagree with the dermatologist, but I don't agree with him either about the bumps. I am hoping that the opthamologist will see nothing abnormal and be able to totally rule out anything serious with these bumps! And on a more basic level, be able to tell us the kids eyes are in perfect working order! And my final prayer request is that I can handle both kids there, and that neither of them will have any of their famous "melt-downs" at the doctor's office!

(Kd just yelled, "Fire in the whole!" And then started peeing!!! Boys!)

And, I wanted to add that the wallet that I lost...well, I still can't find it, but Hubby decided to bless me yesterday (although I was really cranky) with buying me a new one... so thoughtful!

Ok - back to work!

Lost and Found

(LOST) I absolutely hate loosing things. Unfortunately, I loose an amazing amount of things. This time it was my wallet. Not the one I was currently using, but the one I really liked. (It perfectly matched my purse that I want to now use.) I have turned the house upside-down looking for it...no where to be found. SO, in the meantime, I actually cleaned up my room...and several other rooms, but no wallet. I am at a loss...and very sad.

(AND FOUND) In preparation for the wallet/purse switch, I was cleaning out my current wallet...and lo and behold I found....a squished spider. YEP - was totally in my purse like I thought, but somewhere along the way it got squished in my wallet. I don't know how and don't particularly care when, just glad it is dead and not in my car somewhere!

I wanted to also share one of my homeschooling highlights...me at my finest hour...

Scene: Bible Drill (Sin)
-I read a short section to the kids about the current topic, this week is sin, and ask them questions about what I read, hence, Bible Drills...

Me: What is sin? (All hands raised, and I pick Kd)
Kd: Blood.
Me: Ummm, not quite (Go for the sure answer and pick Ky)
Ky: All the bad things we do.
Me: Great! Next question, What is an example of sin? (Again, all hands raised, since you can't really get this one wrong, I go with Kb)
Kb: Ummmm, laaaaaa, laaaaaaa, Ummmmmmmm, when you pinch someone???
Me: (FINALLY!) Yes, anyone else?
(Everyone's hand is raised and we go through the whole category of what you are not allowed to do to each other...Kd's answer is still blood)
Me: OK, Who sins? (Everyone's hand is up, and it is another easy one, so I pick Kp)
Kp: Everyone!
Me: Great!!! Ok, IF everyone sins, does Ky sin? (Ky shakes head yes)
Does Kp sin? (Kp thinks and shakes head yes too)
Does Kd sin? (Everyone shouts yes)
Does Kb sin? (Kb yells yes)
Well what about Grandma, does Grandma sin? (Hands raised, pick Ky)
Ky: No.
Me: Does Pa sin?
Kp: No.
Me: Does Mommy sin?
ALL in unison: YES!!! (huh, guess they are aware Mommy sins!)
Me: Well, the Bible says that everyone sins, SO does Grandma sin? Does Pa sin?
(We actually went downstairs to ask Grandma because they didn't believe me at first that Grandma sinned...but I finally got the point across. I should've just stuck with, Does Mommy sin? they totally got that one!)

They always seem to have a question in every section to try to trick the kids. The last section was, "Is all the Bible true?" I can now ask that question every which way, and the kids finally will answer, "YES!" That's why we spend at least one week per drill. It takes them that long to "get" each question!

Countdown to my panic: 8 days...planes. Oh, well - at least I know my companion, Fred, will be with me!!! Ahhhh, hahahaha!

Spiders are not Friends

My super heroes showing off their muscles: Notice how tight Kd's shirt is...it's a size 6 (stuffed sausage)!

Remember a while back, I did a post on things I wish that I liked? Well I want to add another: Spiders. I hate the 8 legged, creepy, crawly things, that just jump out at you. Every time I pick up clothes they scamper out of them. Hate them.

I was driving to my mom's house Sunday, and this ginormous spider comes down from the ceiling of the van right in front of my face. I freaked and almost wrecked. I managed to grab the web thingy and move it away...all the way...into my purse. I called and had my brother (who is also not fond of spiders) come and look in my purse to remove the spider. He found no spider. Which means....it is still in the van. Great. Wondering if bug-bombing the van is "over-the-top?"

Anyways...

Kp's new do, that my friend, T, helped put the beads in...now just to train someone to plait!

Happy Birthday Kp!

I didn't forget it was Kp's birthday, just haven't had time to sit at the computer to get it written!

She had such a wonderful day. All she wanted was for the people to come, balloons and party hats. Such simple requests! I tried to get her to tell me what she wanted to eat for her birthday. Her list included: Chicken w/bones, pizza, chicken nuggets, and breakfast croissants from Burger King! I ended up choosing the chicken w/bones (fried chicken)!

Kp has had such a gentle spirit since we met her. We have often wondered if this is her true personality or is this just one put on to please us. As the months have gone by, we have seen more and more of her true self and really think that this gentle spirit is her. Ky and her rarely (if ever) fight. And the reason being is that Kp doesn't react to Ky...ever. She just goes about her business as if Ky is always kind. Then with her birthday...she let the kids play with all her new toys right away. She didn't hoard them and say they were hers (like my others do for about a week), but she let them all look over and play with her new stuff.

So many have said that we have done such a wonderful thing for her, but truly we feel that she has blessed us and our family in so many ways. It's true that I have a heart for adoption, but it was only God moving that could've brought these two into our family...the perfect match.

This was Kd, when he dropped his chip dip on the table and didn't want it to go to waste, so he ate it off the table!

Preparing for Travel

There are so many questions posted on a forum I belong to about, "Hey, we got the call - what do we need in order to travel?" I too, posted that post before we traveled to get our kids. Many people gave helpful, serious advice. I decided to bring some humor into it...SO to D, R and T (if you read this)...I hope you enjoy! I am sure there could be so many added to the list, but my eyes are crossing, so off to bed I go!

How can I prepare to travel to...(the country we went to)?

1. Sit in the a/c for 8 hours, having it blow right into your face. All the while have your shower running full blast with only hot water, door closed. At the end of 8 hours, run directly to your bathroom, close the door behind you and turn the hair dryer on full blast/full heat and aim directly at you face. That's what it feels like walking off the plane.

2. Rent the video game Frogger. You'll need the skill if you hope to cross any street.

3. Let raw meat and onions fester in a garbage bag for a month. Open bag and breath deeply w/o throwing up. Repeat often to build up tolerance.

4. Go to a hotel, practice asking the "neighbors" to borrow their showers cause yours doesn't work. And shower without getting any water in your mouth or eyes.

5. Shower with your legs 3 feet apart. Pretending that there is a hole in the middle of the shower's floor that is draining all your water into the room below. (oh, wait - was that one true??)

6. Replace your shower head with your kitchen sprayer.

7. Take a shower, once your hair is fully lathered, have someone turn off your electricity for the rest of the night. Good luck getting the shampoo out without water.

8. Ever time you need water to wash your hands, look for a random person to bring it to you.

9. Go on an eating extravaganza for a month. Eat every meal til you puke. Then eat nothing for a week. At the hottest time of the day, on the 8th day, make a meal of rice, the hottest peppers you've ever tasted and mix in some small bones for flavor...enjoy. At first you will convince yourself that it tastes really good. By day 5, you'll be lucky to get it down. By day 9, you'll be lucky if it stays down.

10. Start organizing your lunches by color: green, red or brown. All is spicy, all has bones.

11. The next time your kids have the "runny tummy" shut off your water, remove all disinfectants and have fun cleaning it up!

12. Take your clothes (even the under ones) to the nearest muddy creek. Drop clothes into water, beat them off a jagged rock and rinse in same water. Really stretch them out. Hang to dry in a very public place.

13. Take yours and your 3 closest neighbors clothes and redistribute them between the three of you, make a game out of who's clothes belong to whom.

14. Go to a tiny sauna, and crank up the steam. When someone comes in, sit right next to them - so you're sitting right on top of them. Enjoy sharing each other's sweat.

15. Get 15 of your closest friends, no make that total strangers you met on the bus today, pile them all into an old station wagon that runs on diesel. Then take the exhaust from the diesel pipe and run it directly into the car. Now go sit in rush hour traffic in NYC. It only truly works if you have small children who then have to pee.

16. Shove cotton balls in your ears and have conversations with people. It will give you the feel of know that people are speaking the same language as you, but having absolutely no clue what they are saying! This also humbles you to have to ask people to repeat themselves again and again...until the inevitable, "I said....."

17. Go to the inner city, randomly pick a health clinic from the phone book. Find it by only asking people where it is (remember #16). Once you finally find the clinic, get blood drawn by the guy w/o gloves.

18. Pretend to be a ghost. Because you are white, that's what people think you are. Get used to screaming babies...they'll be terrified of you!

19. Drink a gallon of water and hold it. Condition your bladder to hold an amazing amount of water for a long time. OR your other option is to practice relieving yourself in very public places...your choice.

20. Tape an index card on your head that reads, "answer all my questions with the phrase, 'soon.'" Then go around asking people really serious questions, enjoy their response. It's the only one you'll get over there.

21. While in the inner city, walk down a street of the city where no one else looks like you...try to blend in and not look conspicuous. And if you are really brave, take 2 others that look like you with a child that looks like everyone else - practice blending!

22. Practice sleeping in the heat of the summer with a/c off and windows closed with the covers on to shield you from the bugs.

23. Gather mosquitoes and other biting bus, put them in a bag, tie it around your food. Now start praying for protection, because it is only God that can save you from all the "things" that can kill you!

24. Just in case you get malaria and need treatment, go to the local livestock suppliers and buy a needle that they use to inject medicines into animals. Use these to administer medication to yourself. You'll need the practice so that you don't bleed all over the place when the size of these needles are driven into your body to save your life.

25. Shut off all electricity. Set your alarm to go off at 7pm. When this goes off, turn on the electricity and start the countdown to an unspecified time. RUN back to your room...plug in your phone, computer, and iPod to charge. Jump into the shower of choice - bathe, bathe the kids, and jump out (who really even needs hot water). Who knows how long the electricity will stay on this time!

26. Every time you get an unusual bump, ask the person beside you, "is this scabies?" Get used to the sheer terror of their response. Then start comparing bumps.

27. Find creative ways to prepare random animal parts. That way you're not so grossed out when they are served for dinner.

28. Ask your neighbor to not change their sheets for 3 weeks, after the 3 weeks, neatly put them on your bed as if they were freshly washed.

29. Find a pasture that is full of cow patties. Close your eyes and spin in a circle 10 times. Open your eyes and start walking. Avoid stepping in anything squishy. This will prepare you to walk on the streets and on the beach.

30. Wearing flip-flops walk through a land fill.

31. Practice squatting inconspicuously, just in case of emergencies - never know where you'll be when the gurgling begins and you might be thanking yourself that you built up those muscles before hand.

32. Dunk 1/2 of each roll of TP in brown water. When using it to wipe, avoid using anything brown. Go on a "square by square basis."

33. Don't use TP anywhere but at home. Instead, work on shaking or becoming really good at digging in a backpack while on your back while squatting for a tissue of some sort.

34. Half way through every meal, go to the bathroom with a child with a "runny tummy." You might want that bag from #3 so you can have the full smell effect too. Repeating all the while, "they must've swallowed the rice whole." (I won't further explain why you should do that one) Then resume your meal as if nothing happened.


The bottom line is, you can never be fully prepared to enter a 3rd world country. I was terrified. Everyone who knows me, knew that I was beyond terrified to go. BUT God, gave me peace that surpassed all understanding. And I actually enjoyed my experience. I would even go back. So take my hints lightheartedly...I love to look back and laugh at what God challenged me to do!

Saturday Fun

I decided to cram an entire months worth of fun activities into one day - just to get them all over with??? We went to the Homecoming Parade, Pumpkin Patch and had a bonfire...

Kd (and all the others) were jumping off the haystacks into piles of hay...they were having tons of fun!
So "picking pumpkins" at this place is going on a hayride to this patch of dirt where they have strategically placed pumpkins everywhere! The kids had a blast, but I told them that they could only pick pumpkins that they could carry...thus, the small pumpkins! And until they get older, I don't "do" carving...just let them paint their pumpkins in stead!
The whole group...14 in all (2 infants)....

All I wanted was ONE good picture of the kids. I almost posted all the other ones I took, but this posting was already a little too picture happy...


In the following pictures, my kids all look like they are not very put together...I am refraining from using derogatory terms, so, Mom, don't freak out that this is what my kids look like in public! It is just outside clothes!

Again, just wanted one picture with the kids, not happening though....


Ky and S'mores, or s'mores with any of the kiddos ended up being a big sticky mess!In case you were wondering, that is ME in the back!



Our boys (I have to clarify because the girls were caught doing this as well), when they are outside, are allowed to pee (ONLY #1, we've caught a few #2's too) on the trees. I saw Kb, and this picture was too funny! Notice the hoodie, sweatpants 3 sizes too small, and the girls knee pads!

The gym.

I chose to go today because I had a horrible dream last night - which got me motivated to take care of myself, so off I went!

-I tried to lock my car with my iPod, and wondered why it wouldn't lock.

-The lady on the treadmill beside me (remember I always get the weird ones) was doing some sort of weird exercise thing with her arms. At one point she looked like one of those DJ's spinning (?) records...so started my uncontrollable giggling. Not good. I can barely stay on the stupid treadmill as it is, then add in giggling - and the kind of giggling that you don't want anyone to see. I didn't want her to know I was laughing at her...but I just couldn't stop. Then she started this weird chicken dance sort of movement and I lost it! I tried to cover it up by coughing, but I think she (maybe) knew I was laughing at her exercises...Oops.

I also managed to set the oven on fire. The stromboli's mess that I made last night (that maybe spilled all over the oven) was still all through the oven. When I turned it on today, I thought that the smoke pouring out was just from the grease from yesterday. I was a little wrong. Something in the base part was actually on fire. Even when I turned off the oven, it still continued to burn. SO, as I stood there with the baking soda in hand, my thoughts are, "IF I throw this in the oven, it will put out the fire, but it will also make a huge mess for me to have to clean up." I opted to watch and wait. It went out. Then the next thought was, "Ok, it's out, so do I start up the oven again, cause clearly it burnt itself out, OR do I clean it first?" Then I looked in the oven and realized that the bottom tray is screwed into the base. I was going to just turn it on and see, then better judgement set in and I cleaned it out first! Works great.