FAITH, FAMILY, FUTURE

Sorry Blogger

2010-10-29T01:26:00.001-04:00

I know I promised blogging but there are just not enough hours in every day it seems right now!! Honestly I have been blogging on another blog but it is a private blog for at least a while. If you would like an invitation just send me an email and I will pass it on your way!! Maybe soon I will pick this up again regularly!! Right now I am just one busy momma!! :)

Still Alive!!

2010-06-19T00:44:00.006-04:00

Yes we are all still here and kicking right along. It is my goal to start blogging again in my spare time. I can't believe it has almost been 2 years since Robbie finally made it home. In many ways it has flown by, in others not so fast. He is still doing amazing, better than we ever dreamed. He loved school this year and caught up to the rest of his classmates around Christmas. He is a very intelligent young man. Everyone is growing like weeds and life is always fast paced but we love it and are blesssed still beyond words.

I am probably going to move to our other blog Lessons Learned through Love. There is a link on the right of this page. Would love to hear from you all and catch up so please leave me a message and any new contact info. Much love and prayers!!!

So much catching up to do!!!!

2009-07-09T20:04:00.004-04:00

A couple of my dear friends have encouraged me to catch this blog up to date. I have to admit it has been harder than I thought to get back into the blogging mind set after the two year battle to get Robbie home. Many reasons are just logistical ones with the business of our family but most have been unknown to me until the past week. I have finally realized that I have struggled with catching up because we have never been very public with our family. We share many things with those closest to us but never before has it been like the past few years while attempting to complete Robbie and Gabriela's adoptions. I wouldn't trade the new life long friends that we have made through blogging and support forums. The support, help, and mutual respect that has developed is overwhelming. Once in a lifetime relationships that our family will treasure forever and even in eternity~~~

But for the reasons above I haven't found the energy to truly catch up. Privacy is the most important thing to my family but especially my husband. While he is just as thankful for the many people that have come into our lives through this process, he absolutely hates the Internet and anything that takes time away from individual face to face relationships and time. He is so funny.....his newest thing(joke) is that the Antichrist will make an appearance on Facebook/Myspace and then everyone will spread the news through Twitter and texting to the rest of the world!! We all laugh at him and the kids do that funny sounding "DAD????" with heavy sighs.

The truth is I am beginning to see the point he has been trying to make for so long. I have never disagreed with his assessment of this technology. It isn't actually the technology that is the problem.....it is us humans using the technology. He has said for probably 12 years now that the decline of relationships would come from the constant use of all of these things. What I am seeing in my own family is not only the lack of respect for others in these things but the ability to say things that wouldn't have been said face to face. We have started limiting our entire families time on all of these things as well as monitoring the activity on them. The result has been wonderful. Not only have we had more time together as a family and individually but the respect level for each other and others around us has risen tremendously. We have been doing this for a few months and I can say for our crew, especially the adults and teenagers, it has made us realize how much it was affecting our entire family and truly taking away the things that were most important to us.

The other issue is.... oh wait I already said it....Privacy!! Lots has transpired since coming home with our newest, most precious little guy. Most of it amazing and good. Those things I will certainly post in weeks to come. He is doing so well. Language came quickly with all the other kids around. He is fitting in remarkably but still maintaining his individuality which is important in a family our size. He loves outdoors, anything boys love.......dirt, bikes, swimming, chasing his little sister around with things that terrify her, annoying his older siblings like little ones do, etc.....The thing we were concerned about him being too neat with his stuff----GONE, out the window, totally disappeared. Now we have to search for all of his things. LOL!!! It really is good to see him be a little boy and not be so concerned(to an extreme) with adult issues.

The biggest issues are ones I am not sure I am ready to share. Don't know if I ever will for his sake. There are a lot of them. Nothing life changing or earth shaking in most people's eyes but common for older adopted children. We are working on lots of them but they take every moment, every thought, every emotion from both Stokes and I. In quiet times it is intense to think of all he has endured and the affects that are showing in his personality, life, and now in our family. In frustrating times it is easy to forget that he is a child and we have to maintain as much understanding as possible.....even when there really is no way for any of us to truly understand what he has experienced.

There are days I have the passing thought, in my mind and flesh, that he needs to get it together and understand this isn't how things are done here!!! Then I stop and remember that I am the adult, he is the child and I am the one who needs to get it together and stop setting those completely unreachable expectations for him.

It is totally ignorant of me or anyone else to think that he(or any other child in his situation) should have it together or even know how to get it together for that matter. He is the child who has been abandoned and lost 3 families that he trusted and loved.(2 of which totally would take him back in a flat minute:) We are the ones who have the "so-called" good life but somehow in our inability to stay focused on the one who matters the most we start looking at our selfish thoughts and needs, setting expectations for a child who has never had stability and unconditional love to use as a standard. This isn't a concept he can understand in a few months or even years for that matter. It isn't a concept he has ever been taught or experienced, how can he get it together?????

We have found wonderful counselors who are willing to teach us all how to help him through these things but the most important thing I can say we have learned or would tell anyone else who has or is considering older child adoption is this~~~~~there are boundaries that have to be set for house rules, school, and general manners, etc..... but there is no way to set emotional expectations on any child who has experienced abandonment until you have established a long, trusting, intimate relationship with that child.

There is also no way to set demands expecting them to accept or show affection in the way we see fit!! There is no time table for these children. Each of them reach these steps to grow in their own time. Also there are many things that can set them back. Things I never dreamed of.....the obvious are thoughts, pictures, conversations, places but we have found that smells, taste, colors, seeing certain foods, hearing certain words are more likely to set off memories than anything for Robbie right now. These are his triggers to places and memories that he just can't wrap himself around yet.

It is exhausting to be completely honest because we never know what will bring him to this place and the reaction that we have all come to know. Sadly, the hardest one for me is that I can be a trigger for him. I am a trigger that does not have much of an explanation behind it other than I am "MOM". For him sometimes it is just too painful of a reminder. It isn't a particular time or situation and usually it is never the same. For me, it is a heart break that I can't put into words at all. I am not sure for anyone who hasn't walked this path with an older adopted child it can be understood. It doesn't seem to be anything specific, just being MOM. I am so thankful though that when this seems to scare him the most he has a loving, warm, compassionate father to help him walk through the painful emotions, the heartbreak. Stokes always, always prays with him and always in time he and I grow a little closer, a little stronger. We have a very long road ahead, one that I think could take years to walk because of his pain.

The tears I shed over him are still just as many, if not more, then before he came home but for different reasons. My passion for orphans........I have to laugh......I don't know if there is a stronger word to use than passion. I only thought I had passion for this calling after our first two adoptions. God has given me something I can't even explain for children like Robbie. Something I could have never understood before I had physically lived the past 10 months with him. There is just something about walking it 24/7 that changes your view, ideas, opinions.....it changes your EVERYTHING!! You hear and see things that no one could have explained or made you understand before you lived it firsthand. I tried, believe me. I constantly talked and listened and watched and became a part of life with families that adopted older children for over 5 years. I wanted to understand all of this, I wanted to be prepared before we brought an older child home. But sometimes there is just nothing anyone can say or share with you that make you understand things the way that living it does. It didn't happen with my children that came home as infants because they hadn't experienced life any other way. We were all they knew, well all they remember.

Now this older child(who has a past, memories, feelings) talks and tries to explain things he doesn't always have words for and can't understand. Sometimes he doesn't or won't talk but he looks into your eyes trying to trust you but just can't.......his eyes cry out with looks of pain and yet hope. Inside it seems he is yelling "PLEASE HELP ME UNDERSTAND, PLEASE SAVE ME FROM THIS HURT." He tries to hold back the tears that he so desperately needs to cry but won't because he has to protect himself and be strong. He completely needs to fit in yet he wants to stand out so that he can make sure that you will never be disappointed and maybe love him less or worse leave him because he didn't measure up to your standards. He constantly prepares himself for the worst, for you to not accept or love him, for the disappointment. He would rather pull away and be wrong than allow himself to be vulnerable and possibly be hurt. Then he waits for your response to his choice/his behavior......he waits to see if you will tell him you will never stop loving him and you will wait for him to be ready to love back or if you will walk away like everyone else in his life so far. He is waiting, looking for true unconditional love not a love that says I will love you and accept you if you do this, or act like this, or make me feel like this!! He is looking for you to love him just as he is but yet he doesn't know if that is really possible. So much for him hinges on our responses to every situation.

What God has given us is a true, real life look inside an orphans heart by walking with him everyday. When you watch them fall completely apart for what seems like no reason at all, then you get the honor of accepting, loving them and helping them walk through steps of healing, understanding, and they begin to be able to see a light and express something to you they never understood before. That is healing for everyone. It is never about us but for some reason we get the blessing of changing and growing with them through it all. Some days we only take baby steps, others we step backwards and on the great ones we get to LEAP!! Sometimes it maddening(ok lots of times) and exhausting emotionally but at the end of the day we get to kiss him goodnight, tell him we will love him forever and that we will see him in the morning!! And then we get to get up the next morning to his sweet face.....each day hopefully another reminder that we will never leave him.

So now that my short, promise to catch up post has grown tremendously!! I hope that you will keep us in your prayers as we walk through the next amazing stage of this life God has blessed us so deeply with. I do have many pictures, stories, and funny things to catch up on. We have had two more birthdays, graduation, dance recital, swimming lessons, lots of softball, 1 car accident, 2 septic tank explosions, a leak that flooded our downstairs, remodeling, and well you get the idea!!!

So sorry for the long absence but life happens around our house and most of the time it actually just takes over completely. I can't promise weekly updates but I can promise I will try harder to stay blogging. I certainly don't always handle things the best way, never claimed to be anywhere near perfect(very far from it) but I am a very happy, blessed, and thankfully a forgiven woman!! Much love to you all.

Dawn and Julie....I really do not know what I would do without the two of you. From the bottom of my heart, I love you and am truly blessed by you daily. Thank you for everything.

To the rest of the gals who have adopted older children(you know who you are) and have been willing to share your wisdom, love, and allow us to become a part of your family for the past 5 years, we owe you more than we can ever repay. Thank you for truly opening the deepest part of your hearts and also your struggles. Love and Blessings to each of you.

We are here!!

2009-04-23T10:33:00.002-04:00

Just a quick post to say that YES......we are here, we are all okay, but it is softball season in our home and that means we are NEVER HOME!!!!!!! It will continue to be this way until around the first of August. Not quite as bad when school is out because we will have the mornings to be home!!

I promise to catch up in a few weeks. We have more birthday pictures, Easter pictures, and many other interesting events to share.

Love to everyone and praising God for the beautiful weather!!

EASTER

2009-04-09T12:45:00.005-04:00

I pray that each of you are filled with the blessings of our Lord during this precious time as we celebrate the gift of His life. Easter has always been my favorite "holiday". I love this time to concentrate on and Praise Him for the most important gift we can ever receive, the sacrifice, the love, the passion He has for each of us. Blessings and prayers that you experience His love and grace this Easter season.(Remember to pause the radio on the lower right before watching the video)

WHEW!!!!

2009-03-22T22:57:00.002-04:00

I have so much to post to catch up from the past three or four weeks. We had a wonderful spring break as well as birthday parties, welcome home parties, softball, etc. We have been on the go as we always are in the spring time. So the following post are all to catch up a little. Not much to say just lots of pictures. ENJOY!!!!!!!!!!!!

Spring Break

2009-03-22T22:08:00.010-04:00

We stayed home for spring break but had a wonderful week. We went everyday......to the movies, to eat, bowling, to Coolidge Park. It was a great week. The kids loved bowling and the movies but I think the best time was at Coolidge Park. It is downtown Chattanooga on the river. Huge open park with lots of room to play. We went with several families from school and the kids played kickball, soccer, and football. It was a perfect day with lots of sunshine and a great breeze. Very relaxing and loads of fun.

Here are a few pics from bowling and the park.

Coolidge Park

Various Pics from March!!

2009-03-22T21:19:00.008-04:00

Amanda and Kara at SOCON basketball tournament.

She is in HEAVEN on the field.

Cutie Pie.

What a grin!

My sweet angel.

This is why I can't blog much about Ben.....he hates me taking pictures.

Jammin with Za.

Jonathan has been working nonstop so I don't have many current pics of him :-(

Robbie's Birthday(Maybe????)

2009-03-22T20:29:00.010-04:00

We celebrated Robbie's birthday and had a wonderful time. At first we thought we were going to have a HUGE Guatemalan birthday with all the food being made by our precious friend Pasquel and his family but Robbie decided he wanted Pizza. Why am I not surprised????

Then he decided he didn't want to have a party. After letting him think about it for a few weeks he decided he wanted to go to the park with some friends so I decided to book the party room our wonderful little town has beside the beautiful park.(Just in case we had bad weather!!)

So we had pizza, chips, veggies/dip, chicken salad, pimento cheese and crackers. Add in 8 cakes, a pinata, a ring toss game and pin the tail on the donkey and we had a fantastic birthday party!! Robbie had a blast with all of his precious friends.

We had decided several weeks ago to celebrate with cakes for each birthday we missed. It was so much fun planning and cooking them. He picked out all the flavors and colors. We also ordered a sports themed cake to match his birthday party.

The interesting thing is a few days before his party all of his original papers came from INS. We were thrilled to get all of these because they give us a deeper look into his life in Guatemala as well as a connection to his birth family.

What we didn't expect was to find major confusion surrounding his birth date!!! To long of a story to tell but lets just say that we aren't sure how old he is right now. It seems the birth date we have had all along is one that was just grabbed out of thin air by a stranger who registered his birth for the adoption(WHY DOES THIS NOT SURPRISE ME??) and the one stated by his family isn't anywhere near the one we thought was his birthday. Evidently the Guatemalan officials as well as the US Embassy accepted this date. His birth family gave a date in the original two documents that make him much younger than we thought. We are having our contacts in Guatemala contact his birth family to make sure we at least know the correct year for many obvious reasons like school and later for drivers license etc.

The new date makes much more sense as to what we are seeing with his actions/maturity. It also makes sense with the memories and stories he has shared with us. This date also will make school and what grade to start in much easier for him. We can change his birth date easily with a judge here in the US at his readoption so that is really not a concern. Our biggest concern is knowing how old he really is in order to make solid decisions for his future.

Anyway, always an interesting story with his adoption....we went ahead and celebrated as planned. We just decided to make it a celebration of all the birthdays we missed with him. We talked with him and he understands as much as possible. So celebrate we did as we know we have missed at least 6 birthdays with him. He loved all the cakes with the numbers and it seems to have made him happy that we were making up for all those birthdays!

Making party bags for his friends.

Making up for missed birthdays!!

Blowing out lots of candles, we didn't even count them!!

What a handsome boy!!

We are so blessed with many precious angels from Guatemala.

Beautiful McKenna

Sweet Jose

Adorable Gracie

Precious Cintia

Emma and Angelina(my Russian princess)

Isaiah's Birthday Pics!!

2009-03-22T20:00:00.005-04:00

Isaiah's beautiful smile!! He had a great birthday.

All my beautiful children.

Isaiah's Lightening McQueam cake!! HEHEHE.

The balloons are his absolute favorite part of his birthday.

So excited!!

Trying to blow out his candles.

My own MICKEY from my Kim!!

Birthday kisses from Jonathan.

Robbie's Welcome Home Fiesta!!!

2009-03-22T19:22:00.004-04:00

Our adoption fellowship group gave Robbie a wonderful welcome home fiesta. We had a great time celebrating with all of the families who have walked through adoption but also who held us up in prayer throughout Robbie's process. We are so blessed to have so many families who have adopted in our church.

Some of the amazing children we love so much!!!!

Robbie and sweet Gracie. Both from Guatemala.

A NEW NAME!!!

Catching Up!!

2009-03-11T12:45:00.011-04:00

It seems since Christmas I have not been able to really blog at all about all of the events in our house. I have gotten a few things up to date but not nearly everything. The main reason is I am just beginning to settle in, find my place, recover, let go of, etc, etc, etc the past two years of pure, unreal wars that we have lived in during Robbie's adoption. I honestly just wanted to not speak of it, think of it, or deal with it for months. Not that I was trying to forget it or not deal with all the feelings, emotions, and legalities but because I had nothing left. So in order to preserve my mind, heart, family, etc I needed to just NOT GO THERE!!!!!! And let me tell you, it is the only way that my precious hubby and I have literally survived post adoption.

There is really no way to put in words where and how we have lived since Nov 06. It has been an incredible walk in many ways. A walk that God took us on and He carried us every step of the way thankfully. We endured many mountains and valleys filled with battles that I can't describe. It has been one of those places that you can never describe to someone who hasn't walked there before. It was never a normal Guatemalan adoption. I have been blessed to make many friends that did experience a good walk through their adoptions from Guatemala. I have also met many people who walked the path we did filled with lies, fraud, extortion, threats, and literally hate. Would we do it again? ABSOLUTELY for our son and for our God.

I watched this process turn peoples lives, family, personalities upside down and backwards. I have seen adoptive families turn on each other in horrific ways, I have seen people have to make gut wrenching decisions in order to protect a child that is being used as a pawn for money, I have been lied to more times than I can count by many people, I have seen gov't officials choose not to help because it might hurt their career, I have seen attorneys steal money, documents, time and lives of children/families all in the name of making a profit. The most horrific thing to watch and experience is watching people lose children they adore, both biological families and adoptive families. Because of the evil intentions and choices of some, I have seen many suffer loss and pain in the most unimaginable ways.

For our family, we lost a lot of things. Time, sleep, emotional stability, energy, memories, and money. The most important thing we lost was Gabriela. The agency still holds almost $20,000 of our money for Gabriela's adoption, which they refuse to refund. To them it is all about business. To us, we lost our precious little angel baby. Our children hurt in ways too difficult to explain but she is never far from their minds. Our conversations still include her and the younger ones still ask when she is coming home. There are no words to begin to explain that loss, I can't even try. Now we are left to continue to fight legally to get our money back. Because of their business practices, they left us with no way to fight for that babies life. We have contact with her birth mom, she begs us to take her but our hands are tied because of the fact that the agency did NOTHING on her adoption in the many months that they were continually stealing our money, they filed no paperwork, no court appearances, nothing at all. Nothing to give that precious child a chance at being adopted and lying to us the entire time telling us of things that were being done. We have our PreApproval from the US Embassy on her adoption and her first DNA test. That is all and the new CNA will not hear our case with that. I still lose sleep over her, praying for her safety and health. She is left with her birth mother who openly tells us and our attorney that she doesn't and has never wanted her. My heart breaks constantly. Her face is etched in my heart and will be forever.

In all of this, the most important people who have been hurt were the precious children. The children lost so much, some losses we may never be able understand. They were separated from their biological families, placed in homes where they knew no one with people who were suppose to care for them. Some of these children were abused physically and suffered injuries as well as malnutrition. Others suffered emotionally and mentally. I have sat and read of children being rushed to the hospital with life threatening injuries from the hand of their care givers, too many children suffered nutrition issues because the foster families were not getting paid the money to care for them or were simply not using it to care for the children properly. These are not just random articles I am talking about. These are all families that were adopting through the same agency/facilitator that we were using. These were people that we had become friends with and knew their families and how they were hurting.

For us personally, we chose to stop sharing the details of where we walked for many reasons. Some of which I will never share as they are to personal for our family and more importantly for Robbie. The most important reason was for our son's safety, for his life to be protected. We literally had to move him from his precious foster family with only a 2 hour notice because of a death threat. Thankfully we were with him and could oversee his transition personally. He was with us and we were preparing him to return to his foster family and within minutes everything changed. He had to leave with people he had never met or seen before. This was truly the most gut wrenching day of my life as once again his whole world was pulled out from under him thanks to people who cared nothing about him as a person but only the money that would come from his adoption. He clung to my body in a way I can't describe. It took 3 people to peel him away as he and I both wept in a way I can't explain. At that moment, I felt as though my heart was literally being torn out of my body as he was being torn out of my arms. I had no clue if I would ever see him again or if he would live. I know that sounds extreme but it is true. We experienced too many other children leave their adoptive families never to be seen again. This one event damaged our son more than I can explain. His trust for me disappeared instantly. He already struggled with trusting me because he had lost his birth mother, grandmother, now he was losing his foster mother whom he adored, and not only was I leaving him again but I was betraying his trust by letting them take him away from me. All of this was happening to a precious 6 yr old little boy. He was experiencing more pain than he already had and that was too much pain for such a short little life.

For me, I was literally dying. Physically and emotionally dying. I sunk into a depression like I have never seen and I was angry at everyone. First and foremost the agency/facilitator who caused every bit of this because of their ignorance, selfishness, need for money(even if it was illegal) and lack of being human beings, secondly the people in this entire process who could not do anything right and in a timely manner, anyone and everyone who came into my path that couldn't understand that this was a child's life we were talking about, myself for not handling certain issues and choices in different ways(2nd thoughts that I could have done something different and made this all turn out better) and eventually I was angry with God.

I yelled at God, I questioned God, I wrestled with God in ways that I still can't completely comprehend. All I can say is that is was deeper than I had ever been with Him. Today I still am wrestling with Him in an attempt to heal and understand. The difference is, this time it isn't for me. I am wrestling to understand and know what I need to in order to be the mother that Robbie needs, to rebuild the trust that was destroyed, to love him unconditionally when honestly I am not sure that I am accepting him unconditionally. I am wrestling to let go of the hurt and anger, mostly the anger. I can honestly tell you it is now a righteous anger at the big picture....the people who still don't get it, those in the US and in Guatemala. It is an anger for the 1000's of children who are left with nothing because of the evil doings of people who wanted to prosper from the life of a child. It is an anger at the Guatemalan govt who can't seem to get it together and get their country's system back up and running for the sake of children who have no families, no food, no life, no orphanage to even be taken to for food and care.

For our family personally we see that it may take a lifetime to restore and heal. Robbie may never experience that completely. It is different for him having experienced this as a 5-7 yr old. He wasn't an infant or even a toddler who needed love, food, and shelter. I am not saying that it is easy for the younger children at all. Please do not misunderstand. But as a 5-7yr old, he already had established his relationships with his family. He had the trust and love that comes from that family being all that you know. He has memories of his family,memories of his hurt and fear, memories of the long days and nights he spent wondering if we were abandoning him too yet waiting and longing for us to bring him home.

He has now been removed from 3 families all of which adored him and families that he loved. He also experienced three trips of us coming into his life as his "new" family and then leaving him with only words of "we will be back soon" only for that "soon" to turn into 2 yrs and for a small child who has already lost so much, he began to lose hope and lose trust in us as well as anyone involved with his adoption.

As crazy as this may sound to some, I am thankful that through all of this our relationship with Christ only strengthened. We know that even through all of the battles, wars, evil and horrific events He is the only reason Robbie is home. HE was the victorious one and we believe with all the hope in our souls that he will restore and heal each of us but specifically Robbie. He brought him here for His purpose and He will keep Robbie in His hand and fulfill His plan for Robbie's life.

This is not the end of my sharing but just all I have the energy to go through at this point. I do want to share the miracles that occurred while I lived in Guatemala with Robbie completing his adoption. It was a tough time but God was faithful every step of the way in ways that were too BIG not to share. This is a process of baby steps for all of us. Even as adults we are having to take this in very small portions. Today has been healing for me to share. It has taken a lot for me to even type this much.

We are so thankful for Robbie being home. He is an amazing, loving, sweet hearted child. Even through all he has experienced, his personality is incredibly loving and kind. He has grieved some!! Not nearly what he will eventually grieve but I can tell you it is a grief like we have never seen before. From his gut, so deep I don't think he even understands when it happens. It takes over completely. It can be from a thought, a sight, or even a smell. It is like it comes from the innermost part of his being and it is intense yet quiet. We are learning daily how to help him work through it. We want him to know that this kind of grief is good and that he is safe here to experience that grief.

Please keep us all in your prayers. The recovery for our entire family will be long, intense, but well worth every minute in the end and in eternity. Please do not worry or feel sorry for us for one second, that is not why we share. As difficult as this is, it is what God created us and called us to do and what we are passionate about because we know it is our life, our gift from God. We would not want it any other way.

A GREAT DAY!!!!

2009-03-10T10:45:00.011-04:00

Monday was absolutely amazing. The weather was perfectly beautiful and 75 degrees. I never heard a final count but the opening ceremony and games were fantastic. We had people from the mayor's office, city council members, and the christian radio did a live feed from the fields. The simple girl in me is wondering why but I know it was important to a lot of people and we are thankful and blessed for their help and involvement!! Please understand I am just a simple mom who loves to watch my girl play softball.

The softball team lost 6-3 and of course, the girls were disappointed but it was such an amazing day and everyone there was so amazed at how God has blessed our school. We won the baseball and soccer teams won!! YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now we move on to regular season and I have to say that as amazing as yesterday was I am ready for the "regular" games to begin today. I know, I know this is soooooooooo selfish but most of the softball families were talking about how overwhelming the day was and if we felt that way, the girls must have been incredibly nervous??? There were just so many people at the fields yesterday it felt like the fences were closing in. And that was from the outside. I was so glad to hear I wasn't the only "selfish" parent there. LOL!!! There were no seats, you could not see the plays or hear any of the calls, and people were EVERYWHERE constantly talking. Not long after the softball game began, the announcements started from the baseball field and soccer field. The fields are very close so it was just an incredibly hectic process.

I really am not trying to complain because it is just such a major blessing to have all of these fields but if you have ever been to a high school softball game you know the atmosphere is anything but hectic. Amanda plays tournament softball all year and it is always loud with LOTS of games going on at the same time and so many people you can't move, so I am usually used to that atmosphere. BUT, that is why I truly LOVE her school ball season. It is more laid back, quiet, and definitely enjoyable.

We really couldn't watch the game at all yesterday. And as totally ugly as this is going to sound, us moms were laughing and saying one of us should just stand up on the top of the bleachers and yell something like "HEY, COULD YOU ALL PLEASE BE QUIET, WE ARE TRYING TO PLAY A SOFTBALL GAME HERE!!" HEHEHEHE. Needless to say we didn't but we are some softball lovin momma's and those are our babies on the field so I guess we are just a little biased when it comes to watching them play.

So I have already posted about Amanda being competitive so we weren't surprised at her disappointment last night. She was so mad at herself because she missed a pop fly, it got lost in the sun and she went blind on it. She also didn't hit as well as she wanted to. If you know my girl or have watched her play, you know she is ALL BALL on that field and she takes major responsibility in playing her best for her team and her favorite, most wonderful coach in the world.

She came down stairs late last night to review the game with me and her dad. This is a ritual in our house during ball season. She started doing this when she was very young, about 6 yrs old. She waits until all the other kids go to bed and then comes down, climbs in our bed and talks to us about everything that happened. I think it her way to decompress, review, deal with frustrations, learn from mistakes, laugh at the funny things and celebrate the good ones. She is a "PERFECTIONIST" and gives 110% on the field, so sometimes it is difficult for her to understand why everyone doesn't do the same thing. Her dad and I look so forward to this time with her. She is such a teachable young woman. We listen to her and allow her to express whatever she is feeling, even the hard feelings. We want her to realize that she isn't perfect and is going to have frustrating, angry, exciting, wonderful feelings all at the same time and that this is a safe place to express those feelings and deal with them. After she goes through her feelings, we are able to talk to her about the possibilities of the things she didn't see or could have done/handled differently. We don't talk a lot but make small suggestions. The neat thing is she is such a mature young woman that she understands the whys and hows to a lot of things but is always wanting to learn more. She also sees that she may have been caught up in the moment during the game and not able to truly decipher each aspect. She really is a wonderful person and we are so humbled to be her parents.

She did tell us that the whole team was overwhelmed by the noise that was coming out of the crowd, the other fields and also the pressure to win their first game on the new field. She normally isn't bothered by things like this but for some reason( I think the excitement and emotions of it all) they were stressed by the expectations. I think they were expectations they put on themselves but none the less, tough to deal with. I also think that being a young team, mostly freshman and sophomores, the idea of playing in front of about 1000 people probably made them just a little nervous??? I know it would have freaked me out at 15 or 16 yrs old.

So today we start the regular games. It is a tough one against a team that have always beaten us, but we love playing softball and the challenges that come with the game. So off we go to the ball field!! Here are a few pics from yesterday. My camera went color crazy on me so they aren't the best pics???

The Team

Girls always wanting to have fun!!

Getting a pregame kiss from her #1 man/#1 fan!!
The National Anthem

Come on peps lets play ball!!

FUNNY MONDAY

2009-03-09T00:27:00.010-04:00

I know today is going to be insane and I am still up at 12:30 a.m. So I decided to go ahead and write todays Funny Monday post so I wouldn't forget.

This Funny Monday story happened several years ago but it is toooooooo good not to share. It is an Emma Funny Monday.

When Emma came home at 5 weeks, she came with the inability to sleep. It wasn't your normal newborn getting days and nights mixed up, it was a total fearful do not leave me alone kind of not sleeping. She would be sound asleep, in a deep sleep, and the minute we would put her down she would go immediately into horrific terrifying screams. Now I know you are thinking that she was just spoiled!!

So were we, so we tried letting her cry it out, moving her immediately out of our room, rocking her until she was completely sound asleep, lying down with her in another room until she fell asleep, and so on, and so on, etc. We talked to counselors, our pediatrician, our pastor......you name them, we talked to them.

What we finally began to realize after 18 months and doing extensive reading/research, was that she has major abandonment issues that went directly back to her birth.

Attachment wasn't an issue. Believe me, she was attached to me and my hip for almost 3 solid years. Attached to her Daddy and siblings 100% but would not let another soul touch her. Then after 3 yrs, it just simply stopped!! She loved other people. Begged to go into Sunday School, Cubbies at Awanas, to play with friends. She did a complete turn around within weeks but the sleep was still a major issue.

She went from waking up and running to our room (if we left her alone) to complete, horrific, heart wrenching night terrors. All of which were solely based on the fear that we would not be there for her when she woke up. Now most of you know that we celebrated a few weeks ago because Emma has worked so hard to fall asleep on her own and stay in her room all night. She is still doing great but the info I just shared is a must for this funny story.

I know, I am incredibly long winded here but what I needed you to understand is that for the past 5 years I have been totally sleep deprived because at night she would only let me calm her down and hold her. So needless to say, I hadn't had a good nights sleep in a LONG TIME!!!

OK here is where this gets funny. I always slept with Emma when she napped during the day because it was the only way I could get any rest in order to keep going. One day, while we were napping, Emma(who was @2 1/2 at the time) woke up before I did. This was usually not a problem because she would never get up alone much less wander around the house. She always woke me up and told me she needed something to drink or needed to potty. Not this particular day. I also must have been catching up on that much needed sleep because I never heard her or felt the bed move.

She got up out of my Rice Bed(which is about 30 inches off the ground), went into the kitchen, pushed a chair from the table to the counter, climbed into the chair and onto the counter in order to reach the SCISSORS(yes that is what you just read) that were stored on top of the refrigerator. She then proceeded to climb down back off the counter with the scissors in her hand and into the chair, came back to my room, climbed back into the bed(still dont know how), and gently,ever so sweetly pick up small pieces of my hair and CUT THEM!!!!

Yes,my friends, my 2 1/2 yr old precious, angelic daughter cut my hair while I was sleeping. Now the funniest thing is I never felt it or knew anything was going on until she cut a piece right over my ear and I heard the scissors!!! The sound woke me up, thankful I still have my left ear. I turned over to see this sweet, beautiful little toddler smiling at me with her hands behind her back.

I very sleepily said "Emma, what was that sound" She responded "I not know Mommy?" I then said "Emma, what is behind your back?" and she ever so gently pulled out the scissors. It immediately hit me what the sound was and why I heard it so close to my ear. I was scared to look in the mirror so I just reached up and ran my hands through my hair. To my horror, I found handfuls of hair coming down in my hand. I immediately screamed " OH NO EMMA,WHAT DID YOU DO?" and ran towards the bathroom completely expecting to find myself with a new DO. It was like slow motion in my brain. I expected to find that 80's haircut, you know, the slanted one where one side of the hair is just under your ear and the other side was much longer!!

I stood at the bathroom door for what seemed forever because I just didn't want to really see what she had done. The entire time she was crying sitting on my bed saying "I just wanted to make you look beautiful mommy!!" with huge alligator tears rolling down her face.

The bad news was that by the time I finished brushing and getting all the cut hair out to see the real damage, I had an entire quart size ziploc bag stuffed full of my hair. OH YEA I KEPT IT, I wanted my hair stylist and Emma's Daddy to see how much she had cut. I then immediately picked up the phone and called 911. Well, not really, but my 911 number for hair. I immediately told the girl at the front desk I needed to talk to Laura and she said I am sorry but Laura is with a client. I spoke very loudly and said.....I DONT CARE WHO SHE IS WITH THIS IS AN EMERGENCY!!

Needless to say Laura was on the phone shortly and I began weeping uncontrollably trying to tell her what had happened. I think it went something like this, "LAURA, ITS TAMMY SHHHHHEEEEE CCCCUUUUTTT MMMMYYYYYYY HHHHAAAIIIIRRRR!!!" All of this was through lots of my tears and sniffling. Laura said very gently "Tammy calm down, who cut your hair?" I replied "TTTTTTHHHHHEEEEE BBBBAAABBBYYY" She said "Emma cut your hair?" I said "YYYYEEESSS CCCCAANNNN IIIII PPPPPLLLEEEEAAASSSEEE CCCCOOOOMMMMMMEEEE IIIIINNNN?" She immediatly said "Of Course come right on over" Now being the good friend and hair stylist that she is, she didn't dare try to get too many details on the phone from a hysterical person who now had to try and drive herself (and the child that did the damage) to the hair salon but she was quite nervous as to what she was going to find when I arrived.

After I got there and everyone in the salon gathered around Laura's station to see the damage and the amount of hair that was missing, we were all a little relieved at what we found.

The good news is that being the sweet little dainty girl that Emma is, she had only picked up one very small piece of hair at a time. So she had basically given me a very thorough thinning and layering haircut. Now don't get me wrong......the left side of my hair was definitely in bad shape but because of the way she had cut it, my dear friend was able to layer the rest of my hair some, cut off a few inches from the back and right side in order to get me through several months until my hair grew back even. Thankfully that did happen in about 4-5 months.

Another blessing is that I have always had A LOT OF HAIR. At the time of this incident, it was long and very thick without any layers. So even though it felt like I had no hair, it really didn't look that bad, just shorter and thinner. Laura said if it had been anyone else she knew this would have been catastrophic.

I ended up with a new stylish haircut that my husband actually loved!! When we came home and talked with Emma about why she did this, she told us a sweet little story about watching Mommy cutting Daddy's hair the night before and telling Daddy how handsome he looked when it was finished. She said she just wanted to help Mommy look beautiful the same way she had helped Daddy!!!!!! UGH!!!!!!!

Yep this actually took place. I had cut Stokes hair the night before and she sat there and watched the whole thing. When we were done he kissed me and said thank you. I told him he looked very handsome! Emma saw, heard, and remember the entire thing. What she saw was something being done in love. How do you get angry with that?

As much as we understood why she did this, she still got in trouble for climbing, walking and using the scissors because she knew she wasn't suppose to do that without someones help. She also got a long talk about never cutting others hair but it was truly difficult because she wanted to do something for me like I had done for her Daddy!!

I was so thankful to God for His protection of our little angel. Anything could have happened to her with the scissors. I am also thankful that I didn't scream and yell at her in a demeaning way out of anger/fear. Believe me that was God restraining my tongue not any self control.

We have laughed so much since this happened about my reaction, fears, and phone calls that took place right after I discovered my little hair stylist. It truly is a FUNNY STORY!!

So I learned many lessons through this funny little story.
1.Never sleep while your children sleep. LOL!!
2.Don't think that a refrigerator is high enough to keep a 2 yr old from getting to something they want.
3.(Most Important)Don't let yourself become so vain that you truly can't laugh at a situation like this. It was just hair and it would grow back. It wasn't something that affected eternity for me but my reaction could have destroyed my little girls heart and affected her for eternity.

I am so thankful because just a few years before this I would have never reacted the same way. Thank you Father for changing my heart and making me aware of my childrens hearts.

1 MORE DAY!!!!!!!

2009-03-08T15:52:00.007-04:00

We are still counting down. Jonathan has been fighting the flu. Isaiah and Mom are now feeling very yucky but we are resting because we absolutely CAN NOT MISS TOMORROW!!!!

It all starts at 3:30 with the Opening Ceremony of the new fields. The softball game is at 4:00, baseball game is at 5:00 and soccer game at 6:00. It is going to be such a fun evening. They are expecting about 1000 people to come. It is so amazing to see so many people from our church and community that are coming together to see what God has done. So many of these people don't even have children in our school but they have spent many hours, days, months and years in prayer even before the school opened over 10 years ago. Here are a few pics from the weeks leading up to the opening tomorrow.

Two weeks ago

Last week

The Baseball field

The softball field score keeper/announcer box.

Softball field dugouts.

The Dugout Logo.

She is sooooo ready to get on this field!!

God has been so good!! We are blessed and ready to PLAY BALL!!

IT'S ALMOST TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-03-04T19:23:00.006-05:00

We have started the final countdown 10, 9, 8,7, 6, and today is 5 more days until it all starts.
The anticipation is building, the excitement is so contagious through our house. We have waited since last summer as Amanda decided to sit out volleyball and basketball this year to heal and be ready for the BIG DAY!!!!!!
MONDAY is the DAY.......ITS SOFTBALL SEASON!!!
Spring is the greatest time around here because we all love to watch Amanda play ball.

This year is incredibly special as our cool little school has been blessed beyond measure to finally have our own "home field". And I mean BLESSED!!! God has been so good to our school this year with the opening of a beautiful sports facility that now is the home of our new Football, Soccer, Baseball and Softball fields. The softball and baseball fields are so nice with underground dugouts and awesome designed fields. I will try and take some pictures and post them tomorrow.

Monday there will be an opening ceremony for the softball, baseball, and soccer teams. Their first games of the season will be played on their new fields. I will absolutely post pictures of the games.

Saying we are excited is really an understatement. We feel so blessed to be a part of such a wonderful school where are children are loved beyond belief and taught daily not only academically but spiritually. It is a wonderful place.

Cant wait to share it with you guys. 5 MORE DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Here is a crazy pictures of the team from last year to get us started.

FUNNY MONDAY

2009-03-02T09:55:00.008-05:00

Just a note to clarify that all of my kids are incredibly funny most of the time but for some reason Isaiah keeps winning out on being the funniest, which means his stories end up on the blog more than anyone else's. While the bigger kids really do not mind that I don't share all of their info publically, I just wanted to clarify that I adore all of my kids but the youngest is by far the family clown!!

OK so I haven't posted since the last FUNNY MONDAY. There is a reason. I have been in bed for the past 6 days with my blood pressure sky high. While I have had BP issues on and off since delivering our second child, my BP has been stable for almost 2 yrs now. So no clue why it jumped up. No changes to meds, no major events, etc, etc, etc. Anyway the doc said," Go to bed and stay there until it comes down" Since it was running around 160/110 and my head felt like it was going to explode, I thought it might be a good idea to listen.

So in bed I went. Now what the doc doesn't seem to take into account is the 7, 5, and 3 yr old that are at home with me daily!! I would get up fix breakfast, let them play for a while and then turn on a movie. Go back and lie down while the movie was playing, get up to fix lunch and then nap with Isaiah. Emma and Robbie are incredibly good kiddos and they would practice writing their numbers, letters and making me 10000000 get well cards while we napped!! Sweet Babies.

Now on Friday I was feeling incredibly horrible and needed to lie down more often than normal. Robbie and Emma went upstairs to play on the Playstation and Isaiah asked to watch a Mickey Mouse Movie. I gladly allowed and since our bedroom is next to the family room decided I needed to rest while he was still and quiet. MISTAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In all of about 10 minutes, I obviously dosed off or went into a delirious state, or Isaiah became incredibly quiet(which is never good with any 3 yr old) All I know is that Emma came downstairs to get a drink of water and the next thing I heard was "ISAIAH SAMUEL NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"

Ok you know when your 5 yr old uses the 3 yr olds entire name something is really bad. So up I jump and run into the living room. To find this adorable little face...............

Somehow my precious little angel and very LOUD child, became very quiet and sneaky!!! He made his way into the kitchen, opened my purse to find my make up. He decided he liked the 2 different color lipsticks he found and proceed to paint the table and chair with the beautiful bright pink and coral lipstick.

Then for some reason he decided that it would be great to paint his hands and face. So my beautiful little brown faced angel painted his gorgeous face with a hot pink and coral color lipstick which somehow turned out purple!!!!!!!!!! Then he obviously decided to paint the back door, TV stand, door frames, etc. You get the idea!!

So after a few pictures, some makeup remover wipes for him and clorox wipes for the house, all children, furniture, house were all clean. You may ask, "Did the little guy get in trouble?" Well, a little conversation of "dont you ever do that again" did take place but after his little bottom lip sticks out, his chin quivers, tears well up in those gorgeous eyes and he says "I sorry mommy, I not do it ever again" That was about the extent of it.

Again, I ask you how do you get mad at this little face???? Even if it is purple!! Sorry the pics are blurry but I grabbed my cell phone because it was in my purse.

FUNNY MONDAY-A long story.

2009-02-24T07:48:00.012-05:00

I couldn't get this posted until this morning because it actually took place last night and I was just too tired to blog when I came home. In order to tell this little funny story(and it actually be funny), I have to give you the long background!!

So for anyone who doesn't know me up close and personal, let me just say that I am incredibly competitive when it comes to sports. OK that is an understatement. My picture is beside the word in the dictionary!! I don't know why or how it all started. Maybe because I was the baby of a LARGE family always going to my siblings sporting events. I played basketball for years but my first love was cheering and it wasn't the cut throat competitive cheering that exist today. It was just the fun, spirit leading cheering for the football and basketball team in high school. So I am not sure when it all got so incredibly deep for me but it did.

Now my husband loves the fact that I am passionate about college and pro football. We love watching games on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. He too is competitive but not as much as I am. Even so he tells me he was in heaven when we got married because his wife spent the weekends with him watching all his favorite games. Our plans have always revolved around our favorite teams schedules.

Now that passionate spark of competitiveness skipped our oldest son and went directly, like a blood transfusion, into our daughters veins!!! AMANDA CAME OUT COMPETITIVE AND TOUGH. When I was 8 months pregnant with her I had bronchitis and had a bad coughing episode that evidently annoyed or disturbed her and she began to kick profusely. She literally succeeded in breaking one of my ribs!!! I am telling the honest truth. I spent the night in the emergency room with all the doctors laughing and telling me that we had one little tough girl in there. That also was a HUGE understatement.

After 2 years of her kicking and screaming not to go into dance, we realized she loved to be outside and with her brother. So one day she announced, at 4 yrs old, that she wanted to play baseball just like Jonathan. So baseball it was!!! At her first game, we both sat with our mouths wide open asking each other, "Did you teach her to do that?" She was so amazingly talented that her first year of baseball(with all the boys), she was chosen to play on the boys All Star team at the end of the summer. She used to say on the way home that she had gotten dirtier than any other boy on the field!! LOL. It was the funniest sight because she was incredibly shy and quiet. She never talked to any of the other kids, she just played ball. At first sight, you would see this shy, blond headed, blue eyed angel sitting by herself being perfectly good and the next moment she was like a bull dozer on the field making catches, hitting the ball like crazy and dirty as she could be. Then as soon as the game was over, she was quietly smiling because she had gotten to play ball!!

Now she is an amazingly beautiful, almost 16 yr old, who is still somewhat quiet and too herself until you get close to her. She has a drive that I admire and never was able to find in my teenage years. She is sure of what is right and good but doesn't need to impress anyone with her knowledge or be boastful in any way. She doesn't look for or need anyones approval for any reason. She strives to be her best and please only One, her Lord. But put her on any field or court and you will see a different human being, but in a good way. She can shut out everything and everyone around her to focus on the task at hand.......................... WINNING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And win she does, not always by the score at the end of a game. But in her heart winning is giving it 110% and trying her hardest to do the absolute best that she can for whatever team she is playing with. I could share many stories that illustrate this but the one that stands out most is from her school softball season last year. Softball is The BOMB, THE BEST, HER PASSION!! She plays 12 months a year but squeezes in volleyball and sometimes basketball when she can. Oh and I won't even get started with powder puff football. Lets just say the football coach asked if she would ever consider playing. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In the district softball championship game last May, Amanda was playing third base. In a totally freak event, she got hit in the side of the head by the ball. It knocked her out immediately. She fell to the ground but came to quickly. She was in a tremendous amount of pain and the game was stopped for 25 minutes. She refused to come off the field. After the coach made me go onto the field to talk with her and look myself, we agreed that she was communicating well and seemed to be fine even though her ear was about 3 times the normal size and bruised tremendously. I still didn't want her on the field with an injury like that but she is stubborn. So after walking the chalk line straight and making a few throws the game started. She made several amazing plays afterward and finished playing. She then wanted to go to support the baseball team in their district game. I only agreed (and her father allowed it) because the game was taking place directly across the street from the hospital. It didn't take long at the baseball game for her to begin to stumble and slur her words. We were heading to the ER!!! After a few hours, a CT scan, a MRI, and several doctors in/out of the room........she was diagnosed with a massive concussion and amnesia!!!! The ER doctor went ballistic when she found out that Amanda refused to come out of the game and continued to play. Needless to say mom felt 2 inches tall and her coach (who adores her) felt the same. They said that had it hit an inch above, beside or below her ear we would have had a life threatening emergency,her ear had cushioned her head from the full blow!! We were praising God for His protection. It was so bad that she had to be excused from all of her final exams and wasn't able to go on her softball mission trip to the Dominican Republic as well as not playing ball for 2 months!!!!! OOPS is an understatement but it truly is how tough she is!!

OK so you get the picture by now of the competitiveness of our family. The positive side of this story is we never take anything serious for long. We are usually laughing about most of it within minutes of being totally enthralled by a competitive mind. So we try to remember constantly that it is all just games and full of fun.

For the past week our bball teams have been in their district tournaments. Amanda isn't playing this year but we love to support our school teams. So she and I have had some fun times going to watch the games and supporting her friends. We are blessed to have two families that have girls Amanda's age that are her close friends as well as their moms are very dear friends of mine. We all love sports and travel together to the girls games. So we have all been at the basketball games this year having a blast.

Last night was the finals of the district and during our girls game, one of our players set for a block and took a HARD HIT, knocking her flat. It was a good play on her part but the refs had been horrible all night. The whistle blew and the ref pointed his arm at our player lying on the ground!!!!! WHAT????????? ARE YOU KIDDING ME, SHE WAS SET LIKE A STATUE. We were sitting right in front of the play and everyone in our little area went insane. Yelling and saying things like, "YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME", "YOU CAN'T GET ANYMORE SET THAN THAT REF", "THAT IS THE WORST CALL EVER", ETC, ETC. Now we are a christian school and literally do try to live what we believe so that was the extent of the comments although we did continue to let the refs know how we felt the entire time he was walking across the court to the table. And let me just say that we were LOUD with our passion and competitiveness!! We noticed the other refs looking at us strangely but being in the heat of the moment didn't let it deter us from the task at hand.......letting the other ref know how bad of a call it was. It wasn't until they began lining our girls up at the free throw line that our small, insignificant, little group of 6-8 realized that he had called the foul on the other team just as it should have been!!!!!!! He pointed at our player to show that she was the one to shoot the foul shots. That would be why the other refs were looking at us with great confusion as well as the rest of our side of the stands, ok well so was the WHOLE ENTIRE GYM??????? Looking, wondering, why on earth we were giving this poor referee a horrific time for calling a foul ON THE OTHER TEAM?????????? LOL!!!!!!!!!!

So at this point all that was left to do was LAUGH.......and we did hysterically for a long time afterward. And then on and off through the boys game, someone would start laughing and the rest of us would join in because we knew exactly what they were thinking about. We laughed until we cried at how crazy we sounded, how funny everyone was looking at us, how stupid we must have looked and how much fun we were having.

We laughed all the home. We laughed until it hurt, we laughed telling Stokes and the boys what had happened. I know you know the kind of laugh I am talking about???? The kind that just starts with a thought, no one has to say anything....and everyone who was there knows what you are laughing at even though you haven't spoken a word. If you have never experienced that kind of laugh, I am so sorry. It is wonderful. We laughed at ourselves forever.

That is what I love about my daughter. She finds the humor in everything. As serious and competitive as she is.....she takes nothing too seriously. Over the years she is the one who has taught me about laughing at myself and how wonderful life is when you find the humor in things. I love how she plays with and teaches the other children to laugh. She loves to have fun with them. I love how she has changed me....starting in the womb!!! Breaking my ribs.....I remember thinking how horribly it hurt and how miserable I was for weeks but how funny it was and how much it hurt to laugh that my sweet baby girl inside my belly, literally broke my ribs!!! I love this girl and everything she is and has been from the beginning.

This is her first home run ball from her softball team at school.

These two pics are from her first mission trip to the Domincan Republic.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ISAIAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-02-21T11:19:00.008-05:00

Three years ago today we were sitting in the waiting room (for 10 hours) waiting for this little angel to make his entrance. It was a day filled with lots of excitement, anxiety, and some fear that we wouldn't bring him home but after all was completed his beautiful birthmother decided it was the decision that she wanted to make for him. We love her tremendously and pray for her today as we know he isn't far from her mind or heart right now.

Our Heavenly Father is always so faithful to give us His word to get through difficult times. During the wait for Isaiah and the decisions that were being made for him, He reminded us of the scripture "Be still and know that I am God". Over and over that day as the enemy rared his head and fought to keep Isaiah away from God's plan for his life, these were the words that our Abba Father kept in our hearts and heads. BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD!!!!! He was God then, He is God Now and Forever. We praise Him for all of His wonderful blessings.

OOPS....forgot to add a note to remind everyone to pause the radio below on the sidebar before you play the video!!

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

My Baby is Turning 3!!!!

2009-02-19T11:53:00.010-05:00

This is Isaiah's week!! He turns 3 on Saturday.

I have posted several funny things about him for the past week but today I just thought I would post some of my favorite pictures. He brings so much joy into our family. Sometimes, but rarely, he can be a stinker!! Usually his stinker moments are just plain funny so everyone enjoys those moments as well. He is a fantastic conversationalist and his favorite things in the world right now are going outside, jumping, running, hiding, chasing, anything to do with tools and flashlights, The Little Einsteins, Lighting McQueam(as he says), and laughing as much as possible every single day!!

I have, after 3 years, finally finished his video from his first year. I will post it this weekend. For now here is my precious little baby boy.

There truly are no words to express how much this child means to us and the depth of our love for him. He is "The Best!!!" Just asked any of the kids and that is what they will tell you!!

Funny Monday on Tuesday?????

2009-02-17T13:13:00.024-05:00

I know, I know.....I forgot Funny Monday. My days have been all turned around because of being a nurse for 10 days, the lack of sleep and the holiday. So here is my Funny Monday story on Tuesday.

Last week we lost the remote control for our TV in the Family Room. That is a regular occurrence around here. We were all looking for it. Our sofa is a reclining sofa at both ends so Stokes and Amanda had lifted the foot rest to look under in the endless abyss of the sofa hopefully to find the remote. They were using flashlights but still couldn't see all the way in the middle/back. Isaiah is involved anytime there is flashlights, tools and especially climbing over, in and under things. A few weeks ago I couldn't find him. I had been calling, looking and was beginning to panic a little. I sat down on the sofa to think about where he could be and noticed something moving through the glass doors of our TV stand. YEP, there he was.... lying on the bottom shelf with the doors closed. Thank God for glass doors or I would have had a heart attack because he wasn't coming out. OK I DIGRESS>>>>>>

So Isaiah decided that it would be fun to climb under one end and into the middle of the sofa. Being so small he fit perfectly. So Daddy and sis decided to try and give him a flashlight to look. He scoots back out just a little in order to get the flashlight and in the most serious(deep) voice and eyebrows lifted he says,
"Sis, this is FREAKIN ME OUT"
A big thanks to my friend Vanessa for letting me know I didn't finish this story. So even being freaked out he headed back under the sofa to find the long lost remote. My brave little man!!!

LOL, yes my 2 yr old says Freakin Me Out.(Definately has older siblings) He, of course, loved the response that the entire family began to give him with loads of laughter. So he files away that little incident. I am sure we will hear that one again sometime soon. This little one is full of funny stories and I am sure they are not going to stop anytime soon.

Update on Isaiah

2009-02-16T19:34:00.004-05:00

Thanks so much for all of your prayers, emails and phone calls. Isaiah finally took a turn for the better Sunday afternoon. He is still coughing but not nearly as much as he was and we can hear it breaking up in his lungs, Praise the Lord!!

He actually slept for 7 hours last night which has been the longest night in over a week.(Mom and Dad needed and enjoyed that solid sleep) Prayerfully he will be back to his normal, happy, busy self in another few days.

His birthday is this weekend so we are praying he will feel good enough for a little family party. I will be posting some "Zaia"(as he is affectionately known at home) post this week. So check back for some hysterical stories and pictures as the week progresses.

Thanks again for all of your prayers. They mean so much to us and we are constantly blessed to know that so many are lifting us up to our Heavenly Father.

MY BABY IS SO SICK!!!!

2009-02-12T14:35:00.004-05:00

Please add Isaiah to your prayers and pass his name onto anyone you know who will pray. He has walking pneumonia!! He has gotten so much worse in the past 24 hours and that was while on all sorts of medications.

He has a long history of respiratory problems and so when he was not any better this morning we headed back to the doctor. She heard him coughing from her office and said it was incredibly bad.(We had just seen the PA on Tuesday but our pediatrician knows how quickly this happens with him)

So we are now on a different antibiotic, 4 breathing treatments a day and a multitude of decongestants, cough suppressants, etc!!! Isaiah goes from bad to horrific in a matter of hours when it comes to breathing issues. He has had croup 17 times and been hospitalized a number of those times.

Please keep him in your prayers.

Conversation with Isaiah!!

2009-02-11T17:30:00.009-05:00

My little man is usually full of conversation. He had always been incredibly verbal. His motor skills were slower to develop, as we think he was premature, but he makes up for it in conversation.

Well, he has had bronchitis this week and not feeling so good. He is coughing like crazy and doesn't feel like eating at all. So his conversation has been short to the point and only expressing his needs!!

Today I was lying down with him for his nap just to snuggle some since he is sick. As we were snuggling this was our conversation:

Mom: Isaiah, I love you so much.
Isaiah:HEHEHEHE
Mom: You are the best.
Isaiah: I'm the best?
Mom: Yes, you are the best little boy.
Isaiah: I'm the best!!!!
Mom: Yep.
Isaiah: Mom, your crazy.
Mom: Yes Isaiah, I am more crazy than you will ever know but mostly
crazy over you.
Isaiah: Mom I love you too!!

I so love these mommy moments. They make all the craziness of life just seem so insignificant.

FUNNY MONDAY

2009-02-09T12:08:00.013-05:00

OK so my Funny Monday stories aren't coming every Monday only because I can't seem to find the time to stop and post them. I promise I will try to do better as I LOVE TO LAUGH. It lightens my load and helps me to remember that I will miss all of the fun, amazing little things if I continue to be weighted by the business of everyday life.

So this Funny Monday Story took place a couple of weeks ago on Sunday. We went to lunch after church at a small, home cookin' restaurant. Usually filled with older couples and I must say people who can't always seem to grasp our family dynamics!! Sometimes our meals are accompanied by strange looks and whispering!!! LOL, if they only knew how much we really see and hear.

OK so after we finish eating and attempt to leave, Isaiah(2yrs old) decides he isn't quite finished and wants to stay. Since his plate was empty and he was just playing my precious hubby picks him up out of his highchair and proceeds to leave. Now we are sitting in the very back corner of the restaurant and have to walk all the way to the front in order to pay.

Isaiah being 2, also having a very LOUD and DEEP voice, begins to cry and scream out loud "SOMEBODY HELP ME, SOMEBODY HELP ME PLEASE!!" Now the other 5 children are laughing their little bodies into tears as they think this is the funniest thing ever. Everyone in the place is looking at us, a "very white" couple walking out with a "black" baby screaming for help. Isaiah then begins to swing his arm trying to get loose from his very embarrassed father. Daddy gently begins holding his arm so no one else gets hit. This only brings on more screams of "NO DON'T BREAK IT" This is a saying that has only recently entered his vocabulary because of Robbie breaking his arm!!

So now we are walking out with a toddler screaming for help and for his father to not break his arm, and I might remind you that another one of our children is wearing a cast. Therefore we would not have been surprised if someone had attempted to stop us or if the police came into the parking lot as we attempted to load all of our crew.

When we finally got out of the building, and that seemed to take a lifetime of slow motion, we all began to laugh hysterically which is probably the only thing that kept Isaiah from getting a royal little spanking. Thankfully no police or even good samaritans attempted to stop us from leaving. They were probably all so thankful to go back to their meals in peace.

Now let me ask you, how on earth could we ever get embarrassed or upset with cute, sweet, adorable little man???? I can tell you it doesn't happen that often as Mr. Personality has the wiggle ability. He can use his quickness and LONG eyelashes combined with his beautiful smile and wiggle out of most of his little mischievous doings.

MY HEART ACHES

2009-02-06T10:01:00.001-05:00

http://www.jcics.org/Guatemala.pdf

"As recently published by Nuestro Diario, a leading Guatemalan newspaper, children are being abandoned to the streets at an alarming rate. With few government institutions to provide care and the closure of many private institutions, some birthmothers are simply leaving their newly born children in trash dumps. Nuestro Diario reports that in Guatemala City alone, 91 children were found abandoned with 70 being new born infants. Twenty abandoned children in Guatemala City were found after they had already perished. What is being done to build a social service system which not only protects children from corruption but also from a tragic death?"

I must admit, my heart eagerly awaits with hope the day Guatemala resumes adoptions and allows for these children to have an opportunity to find their forever family.

I borrowed this from my friend Joanna. We have the same passion and hope for Guatemala's abandoned children.

CELEBRATE!!!!!!!!Edited to add more pics.

2009-02-05T09:52:00.005-05:00

We are celebrating a milestone at our house today!!! It may seem very small to many people but it has been a long hard journey for us.

EMMA HAS SLEPT IN HER BED ALL NIGHT FOR AN ENTIRE WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For those of you who don't know we adopted Emma at 5 weeks. Since the day we brought this angel home, sleep has been incredibly difficult for her. There are many reasons why but I won't go into to them now. We are so proud of her as this has been a difficult journey filled with many trials and MUCH PRAYER!!!

For the past 7 nights she has worked hard going to bed by herself, falling asleep, and staying asleep. Today mom and Emma are headed out for a very special lunch with Daddy and then a trip to wherever she chooses to find that special gift for such a brave girl.

EDITED: Today we had so much fun together. We ate lunch with Daddy and then headed to Toys R Us and the mall. She passed on everything we saw at Toys R Us and kept saying she wanted to go "real shopping". Soooooo to the mall we went.
The pictures below are the results of todays little shopping spree. She is simply too cute and totally stylin!!! She picked out the hat, scarf, and purse. Mom found the new sunglasses, rings, and bracelets!! Then we went to Daddy's office to show her off. All the ladies thought she was a doll and made her feel like a princess. Daddy had to have some pictures so here she is.........

Commercial Worth Watching

2009-02-03T18:02:00.004-05:00

I borrowed this from my friends blog. I can't state it any better than she did. Thank you Mamita!!

Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. John 8:32

I'm not Catholic, nor did I vote for President Obama, but this video is a powerful reminder of all that has been lost since 1973. (Roe v Wade) NBC was too queasy to play it during the Superbowl - stating that it was "too political". This commercial does not explicitly state an opinion on political matters at all. It merely displays the truth, with some thought-provoking dialogue displayed on the screen. But where it leads is troublesome for many.

President Obama was once a fetus.

I am so thankful that a black man could be elected president in our country. I believe this breakthrough will bring about significant cultural change and racial reconcilliation.

What tears me apart is that we finally have elected a president who understands that people have been crushed and oppressed by the cruelty of slavery -- one people group holding absolute power over another people group. He was once weak and fatherless...and yet, he refuses to defend the weak and fatherless, now that he is in power.

Please join me in praying for our president.

PTL.......No Surgery needed!!

2009-01-30T11:50:00.007-05:00

We finally got in to see the Orthopedic doc yesterday. The best news is that he doesn't see any reason for Robbie to have surgery. We are so thankful and praising God for that news. He does however have a tremendous amount of fluid and blood that has built up around the elbow. The bone is still sitting an inch or so out of the socket. Therefore his arm is still swollen about three times its normal size.

They put on a hard cast almost to his shoulder and told us to come back in three weeks. They will cut this cast off, do another set of xrays and decide if he needs another cast for a few weeks.

We are so thankful for the good results from yesterdays appt.

On another note, we are seeing how God has taken something painful and is using it to build and for our good. Robbie now has to completely depend on us for pretty much everything. Daddy has to bathe him, we have to help him dress, go to the restroom, and also help him eat. While this is all difficult for him to allow us to do, we see that this is forming a trust that we haven't built yet. The rest of our children have been with us from birth, it was just a normal process that they trusted that we would care for their needs. Robbie obviously has not built that yet. While we are certainly heart broken that he has broken his arm and experienced so much pain, we do see that the Lord has given us this opportunity to help Robbie see and understand that we will care for him in anyway and forever.

Again, it has been so difficult to watch him in pain but we are seeing that the Lord is bringing good from a difficult situation. Please keep Robbie in your prayers for his healing but also for his accepting and understanding that our love for him is total unconditional and life long.

Sam and Esther

2009-01-27T13:15:00.003-05:00

We have been through so much as God brought us to this place of having a passion for orphans but after watching this I pray I will live minute by minute never forgetting that there are children like this all over the world. God help me to never forget these children and to never become so consumed with what we here in America think are hard times.

Have tissues close. I am still crying.

Family Photo and a Broken Arm

2009-01-24T21:46:00.005-05:00

Well today started out as a wonderful day. We headed to a playdate with several other families who have adopted from Guatemala. It was so exciting for Robbie to be meeting and playing with other children from his birth country.

After playing we were going to have our first professional family photo since Robbie made it home. We had scheduled it for last Monday but had to cancel due to my hubby and oldest son's schedules. So today was the day, everyones clothes picked out, hair cuts and styles. I couldn't wait to see the pics with all of our children finally together.

BUT>>>>>>>>>>>>>>there was one moment that changed everything. While at the playdate, I was sitting talking to the other moms and Robbie came up to me crying very hard. I knew immediately something was horribly wrong as he rarely cries. He just kept saying over and over again "Mommy help me please, it hurts" My heart hurt so much to hear those words and I kept assuring him I would help him and take care of him.

My friends helped as I took his arm out of his shirt to see his elbow swelling and beginning to bruise. I ran to the dollar store next to the Playworld and bought bandages to wrap his arm and a scarf to hold it up. Ran back, wrapped his arm and my hubby came.

We went to Children's Hospital and the ER doc told us no doubt it was broken and probably needed surgery. After the XRays confirmed breaks in two places: one on the large bone right at the elbow and a second on the smaller bone!!! Surgery needed.

About 30 minutes later, 2 orthopedic residents came down, looked at the XRays and said they wanted to email them to the Head Ortho Doc. They all agreed that the break on his elbow did not look displaced but clean and that surgery wasn't needed!! THANK YOU LORD.

They had to give him two doses of morphine to stop the pain. He is one tough little guy. He cried but not nearly as much as he probably should or could have. Breaking your elbow is INCREDIBLY painful. Been there, done that myself 5 years ago. Give me childbirth any day compared to that pain. So I totally understand how my baby was hurting and was amazed at his strength. He cried the hardest when they did the XRay. They had to twist and pull his arm, it hurt very badly, and that was with one large dose of morphine in his system. That is when they decided to give him a second dose. It finally helped him relax and rest a little.

So they finally wrapped him in a soft cast and allowed us to come home. We have to call on Monday to get an appt with our ortho. doctor. They will redo the XRays and determine more about surgery. If no surgery is needed they will put him in a hard cast!!

Oh there is always something interesting happening at our house!!! Please pray for Robbie. The morphine has worn off and his pain is still BIG. Also please pray that no surgery will be needed and that his breaks will heal clean and quickly.

Here is a pic that his daddy took after the morphine kicked in a little but before the XRays. Also a couple of pics after the soft cast was on. He finally said "no more photos poppa" and then it became "STOP IT DADDY!!"

Here he is begging to have the IV out but he is smiling!!!

A Day at the Farm

2009-01-18T16:25:00.009-05:00

Yesterday we traveled our adopted grandparents, Grandma Sandy and Papa Sam's farm. They live about an hour away on the top of a beautiful mountain and have a great little farm.

The kids love visiting them and playing at the farm. Isaiah, Robbie, Dad, and Papa Sam all braved the freezing temps to go see the animals and gather eggs. This was Robbie's first time to visit the farm and he loved it.

They have chickens, turkeys, donkeys,horses, dogs and goats. It was a wonderful day with our precious family. After lunch, Grandma Sandy showed the kids how to test the eggs to see if they were good and also how to clean them. We brought home a dozen fresh eggs that were gathered, tested and cleaned by our little ones. Papa Sam entertained Isaiah, as eggs and Isaiah just wouldn't be a good mix, especially for Grandma Sandy's floor!!!

Grandma Sandy and Papa Sam have a very precious friend, Pasquel. He works for their son David and lives very close to them. He is from Guatemala and came to the US when he was 13 yrs old. He is now 21 yrs and is a precious young man who loves the Lord. He and Robbie clicked quickly and it was obvious what a neat person he is by the time he took playing with all of the kids and also taking the time to talk to Robbie and get to know him. He told us how much it means to him to have Sandy and Sam's family investing into his life. He also asked if he could spend time with Robbie. After coming to the US as a young teenager he realizes the adjustments that Robbie is going through and wants to invest in his life and be there to help. He told us all about his life in Guatemala and here. It was so interesting to talk to him and learn much more information about Robbie's birth country and culture.

He and his family are going to help us with Robbie's birthday party this year. Robbie wants tamales, tortillas and queso, frioles, and pastel(cake). Pasquel's sister in law is going to help me with the food and Pasquel said he would help me with a pinata. I am so thrilled and happy to have them in our lives and their willingness to teach us about Guatemalan food and culture.

We are also overwhelmed with his genuine desire to help our precious son through this time of adjusting in a new home, family, and country. We know how proud Robbie is to be from Guatemala and his heritage. We are so thankful to the Lord and to Grandma Sandy and Papa Sam for bringing us together with Pasquel. They are so special to us and honestly God sent into our lives and family. We love them so much for their precious hearts and how they wrapped their hearts around our entire family and allowed us to be a part of their family. There is a post on Robbie's adoption blog about them, it is titled Robbie's praying amigos. Check it out when you get a chance.

Ok so now for some pictures........

Speechless

2009-01-17T18:16:00.001-05:00

NEW LOOK

2009-01-16T10:40:00.003-05:00

Once again my precious, talented friend Jaimee has kept my blog lookin' good and in style.

I love it Jaimee thanks for giving us this new look.

I also want to take this post to thank Jaimee for her friendship and support as an adoptive mom. Jaimee is the person who put me in contact with the person who was our contact and ultimately helped us finish Robbie's adoption and get him home. For the last 19 months of Robbie's adoption we had the best contact and help anyone could have asked for.

Jaimee I still can't believe it has been almost 2 yrs since we met but I just want you to know that I thank God everyday for bringing you into my life and also for you being so willing to help in anyway possible. You are definately one of the reasons Robbie is finally home. THANK YOU and I LOVE YA!!!

Funny Monday

2009-01-12T23:08:00.011-05:00

OK so my Mondays are usually very long, busy and usually end up being either very frustrating or very funny. I choose the latter. The one thing I have learned so well by being a mother, and especially a mother of many children, is that someone is always going to find something you do incredibly funny.

Anyway, Mondays are my main day for banking, running errands, grocery store, try to schedule other appts on Mondays and sometimes work with my hubby.

So a long time ago I realized that there is absolutely no way to hide the dumb things I sometimes do. I have six pair of beautiful eyes fixed on me making sure I know when I have done something either incredibly crazy, embarrassing, or just plain out hysterical. So I learned that it is just easier and a lot more fun to tell them what dumb things I have done that day and enjoy a good laugh with them. At least they won't grow up thinking anyone is perfect!!!

Ok so this funny Monday is actually from last Monday. My older kids did not go back to school until Wednesday so they had the choice of either staying at home to babysit the younger ones or come along for a fun filled day of appts, paying bills, and running lots of mommy kind of errands.

First I overslept, which honestly happens a lot these days(months later and I still haven't recovered from Guat time) . So I jump up running, throw my clothes on, get the three youngest dressed and fly out the door in order to pick up the oldest at a friends house so he can sit in the car with the four youngest while I go to the doctor to have blood drawn. Seeing that I am running late I call him only to wake him up and have his friend meet us at that exit so I can at least get there remotely close to my appt time.

WHEW!!! I get there RUN INSIDE for the blood work, need to talk to doctor about additional things,stop by hubbys practice RUN INSIDE to pick up a deposit, RUN INSIDE the bank to make the deposit, RUN INSIDE the store and pick up a few items before running back home to pick up child #2 who is returning from friends house. On the way to the house I call child #2 and give the choice again to stay home with the younger ones or continue on another few hours of driving around and sitting in the car. This time they choose to stay home.

I decide to RUN INSIDE the house for a potty break and to get a bottle of water. Child #2 arrives home and both older ones get a run through of what chores needed to be finished before playing could proceed.

This is when it happened........I looked down and literally fell on the floor in the kitchen laughing my tail off. My oldest two children proceeded to look at me as if I had totally lost my mind completely this time.(They are used to this kind of thing now!!) When I finally catch my breath, I swing my legs around to show them what I had discovered................................................

Yes my friends look close.....I have on two different colored shoes!!! Now in my own defense, they are the same exact shoe only different colors.....and because I was in such a huge hurry to get to my appt I never turned on the light in my closet. I just ran in put them on and ran out!!!

So all of the RUNNING INSIDE that I had already done at the Dr. office, my husbands office, the bank, and the grocery store was done wearing two different colored shoes. I would like to think that anyone who noticed would have been able to think "poor woman, she has 6 children to take care of bless her heart it is a wonder that her shoes are the only thing that don't match!!!" But of course I had NO CHILDREN with me inside any of these places so I just looked totally stupid!!!!!!!! HEHEHEHE.

After all of my kiddos had a GREAT laugh at my expense, I did change one of my shoes and headed back out the door to finish my crazy, funny Monday.

PLEASE tell me you all have done something like this at one time or another?????

Precious Abby

2009-01-12T13:11:00.006-05:00

Please continue to pray for Abby. The doctors have said that the next 60 days will be the hardest. Here is a quote from Abby's family blog....“Hell”… that is the word Abby’s doctor used to describe the 60 days of treatment that starts on Wednesday.

If you would please keep her and her family in your prayers. God can heal this beautiful little one if it is His perfect plan for her. If you would like to keep track of her progress here is their blog link. http://www.riggsfamilyblog.com/

God Bless.

A Blessed Day

2009-01-07T16:55:00.016-05:00

Today was a special day. Robbie, Emma, and I were invited to one of the Christian schools here to share the story about Robbie's adoption and our family during chapel. Many of the kids have been praying diligently for Robbie to come home.

I was able to share the whole story of our family and how we came to adoption as well as the road God took us on to prepare us for the fight we would face in Robbie's adoption. These middle school students prayed daily and waited anxiously for updates and reports of how things were progressing. Today we were able to share in detail how their prayers were heard and how important they were to our entire family.

We also put a slide show together for them to see the entire family. It was an amazing time for us and especially for me to personally meet and thank so many of these young people. It was so hard to try and express the gratitude we have for their unselfish prayers and I pray they understood at least a little how thankful we are for each of them. We also are praying for God to return that blessing to them over and over throughout their lives.

I will attached the video.(Be sure and pause the radio below) The pictures span from 2003-2009 throughout each of our adoptions. I hope you enjoy them and check back soon as I finally have a completely healed computer and all of my pictures were saved, THANK YOU LORD. I am hoping to finish two videos I had started for Robbie. I will post them on Robbie's adoption blog and after that I will be posting only on this blog to make things a little easier for me.

Edited: Video moved to the bottom of the page.

CHRISTMAS DAY

2008-12-28T18:30:00.013-05:00

There is no room left on our floor after Santa visits!!

Guess it is time for a bigger living room?

Dad being his usually goofy, fun self.

The boys enthralled by their new Nintendo DS's.

Emma staying in style!
My big kids still love Christmas morning and all the surprises they find.

Isaiah and his favorite toy this year. Once he opened Rocket, it was all over.

Robbie loved opening every single gift.

Loving and thanking Daddy for their gifts.
These two were made to be brothers, they are just alike!!

Emma and I had a blast making these. It was her first real attempt at baking.
Totally worn out but still hanging on to Rocket.

We had a wonderful day with our family. We are also looking forward to a wonderful New Year filled with many blessings and new things for our family.

God Bless.

CHRISTMAS EVE

2008-12-28T17:39:00.011-05:00

Candlelight Service

Christmas Eve dinner

Opening our traditional Christmas pajamas.

After taking so many pictures, we have to end with one silly photo!!!

Cooking Together

2008-12-28T17:19:00.010-05:00

I think they wore more of the cookies than they made!!!

The final product!!!

ROCK CITY GARDEN OF LIGHTS

2008-12-28T16:52:00.012-05:00

THE CREW!!!
Brother and Sister Eskimos

Jonathan and his sweetheart!!

Jonathan, Cassie, and Emma

Amanda, Kara, and Krista

Finally one pic with Santa and no one is crying!!

Please momma, no more pictures!

PRE CHRISTMAS

2008-12-28T16:15:00.011-05:00

Jonathan playing at our church for the Youth Christmas party

Isaiah singing to Robbie

Isaiah seeing Santa....not going so well!!

OK we finally got a fist pound for Santa but that was as close as he got!!!

Emma telling Santa all she wanted???

Robbie was not in a good place and did not want to see Santa.

We do have another hysterical picture of all three of them with Santa but I can't find it, will try and post it later.

Ben, Robbie and Emma at Ben's school Christmas program.

Catching Up......Our Christmas Season

2008-12-28T15:05:00.008-05:00

We had an amazing Christmas time in our home. We enjoyed every single minute with all of the kids and watching Robbie experience Christmas here for the first time. He loved making cookies for Santa, going to Rock City, our Christmas Eve services and spending that evening with our precious friends the Smith's.

We always enjoy our Christmas Eve candlelight service at church and it was incredibly special with Robbie finally being with us. Then we enjoy a fun time of fellowship and good food with our friends, the Smiths.

Christmas morning Robbie came down stairs and said, "Oh my goodness, oh my goodness!!" He stood in shock for a minute but it didn't take long for him to jump right in and open his presents. I thought it might be overwhelming but he handled it very well and enjoyed every minute. The kids all had a fantastic morning and played all afternoon. We had our Christmas meal that night and a family competition on Rock Band. Mom and Dad stink at it but the kids all had a good laugh.

Obviously this was a very special time after fighting for 2 years to bring Robbie home. There are not enough words to express how relieved, excited, and at peace all of us have been celebrating this special holiday of our Saviors birth with all of our family in the same country and home.

Hoping each of you had a blessed Christmas and are looking forward to a wonderful New Year filled with many new adventures!!

OK now lots of pictures!!

Update

2008-12-22T02:07:00.003-05:00

Sorry guys but keeping up with my blogs has not been easy. I have updated on Robbie's blog so check it out when you get a minute. I will be condensing to one blog after the holidays so it will be easier to keep up with.

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and very Happy New Year filled with many blessings.

Overwhelmed with Grief

2008-12-06T18:47:00.006-05:00

Please lift my sweet friend, Carla, and her entire family in prayer. They received the devastating news that Josi, their precious 5 yr old daughter in Guatemala, lost her life in a home invasion along with some of her foster family.

There are no words to express their loss, shock and grief. Josi was within just a few weeks of coming home.

Please remember them as often as possible in your prayers.

Sweet Ballerina Josi-Dancing with Jesus!!!

ITS UNANIMOUS!!!!!!!

2008-12-06T02:15:00.006-05:00

EVERYONE AGREED..................THE #1 THING OUR ENTIRE FAMILY IS THANKFUL FOR THIS YEAR...

ROBBIE IS FINALLY HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry we didn't post sooner. He has been home a while!!! But we needed some private, recovery time after the past two years. Come on over to our adoption blog.....we finally have been able to start using it again. You can read about his homecoming and see some pics. We still haven't finished our "PROJECT" but it will come soon I promise. http://ourguatemalanblessings.blogspot.com

Boy this shirt says it all, he is amazing and is worth every single second of what it took to bring him home.

Bad Blogger Once Again!!!

2008-12-02T22:02:00.004-05:00

OK I admit it I am a bad blogger!!!!!! I didn't come back and post all that we are thankful for??? We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and we have so much to be thankful for in our family. I promise I will post it but we have decided to do it in a different way so be sure and check back later this week to see our little "THANKFUL" project. Even if it is a week late, we are still thankful 365 days a year!!

Now we are on our way to Christmas. Finally have our trees and decorations up and lights outside. We had a little snow yesterday which was wonderful even though it didn't stay. The kids loved seeing it and it was beautiful. HUGE flakes pouring down for several hours. The ground was too wet to accumulate.

I love Christmas, the shopping, the music, the lights, just the Christmas spirit. Most of all what the holiday is truly about, the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. I pray this will be a wonderful Christmas season for each of your families.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

2008-11-26T10:14:00.006-05:00

I love Thanksgiving. Mostly the time of year....the weather, the time with our family all together and truly focusing on what we are thankful for and how blessed we really are. I have asked the kids to write down what they are thankful for and I will be posting that later today. For me, I am thankful for the family God has so richly blessed me with. My husband and children are my life. All I ever wanted to be as a child was a wife and mother. That was my dream and passion and I pray I never take it for granted.

I am also thankful for the lessons God continues to teach me about focusing on the good/positive things in life. Now don't misunderstand what I am saying, I DO NOT always do that but it has been my prayer for many years to overcome focusing on the negative. It is a daily battle but the older I get the more I see why the important things are the positive ones,especially where my family is involved. It is much easier to see the wrong, hard, negative things in life because that is the type of world we live in. It is much easier as a wife and mother to focus on all the short comings and things that I disagree with where my husband and children are concerned. And believe me I am sure that they could find much discontent with me in most areas because of ALL of my faults. And believe me, there are MANY!!!!!

About 12 years ago, a dear friend helped me see that the only issues that truly matter and are worth spending time focusing on are issues that are eternal. The things that will have an affect on someones eternal life or those that will actually exist in eternity. I have had to learn that lesson a little bit each day over the years and I am not there completely but it has been the single most important realization I have learned in my life so far. Those are not the only issues that get my attention but they are the ones that I focus on more diligently especially when other peoples lives are involved. I pray that I can continue to learn more and focus on the postive of each event of every day in my life.

My tradition for Thanksgiving is to have a very nice meal in a very laid back comfortable atmosphere. That means paper products are involved~~~~So I cook most of the day on Wednesday so that Thanksgiving Day we can all just eat and relax, then eat some more. It is just our immediate family so sometimes we eat our meal at lunch other times in the evenings. We also attempt to fit in a movie on Thanksgiving night. Sometimes it is actually at the theatre others it is a DVD. Not sure what this year will hold but we are so looking forward to a fun time of food, family, and being totally relaxed.

Over the weekend we decorate for Christmas. I just have never been able to put up my Christmas decor before Thanksgiving is complete. I guess because I want to enjoy each holiday to the fullest!!!

Praying you all have a fantastic Thanksgiving. May God send you many blessings this Thanksgiving season.

TOO LONG!!!!!

2008-11-18T00:27:00.009-05:00

Sorry once again. Blogging has just taken a back seat to LIFE~~~

But I will try and catch up. Mainly we are just getting through each week the best way possible and keeping everyone happy and healthy. No pictures from our Fall Carnival yet. Sorry will post them later. Had to have a friend take some for me and I keep forgetting to get them from her. Like everything else these days.....I will get them on here but obviously a little late!!

My dearest one is busy as ever. He just finished designing and opening the optical the practice he joined this summer. It is absolutley beautiful and is doing great. The docs are glad to have an optical in the practice instead of sending all of their prescriptions out. After looking through professional magazines he decided it was too expensive and designed it himself. A friend of ours did the construction and it turned out better than the ones in the magazines. I am so proud of all of his hard work and I know he is glad it is finally finished. He loves his new practice and has been able to keep a few nursing homes. He loves going into the homes and seeing patients. He has a great way about him that reaches out and loves on people who don't have anyone to love them. He listens to all their wonderful stories and spends time with them. He is a great doctor, a wonderful person and I happen to think he is the best husband/father ever!!!!

All the kids are busy with school and extra curricular activities. A's softball team won the Dr. Dot Richardson softball tournament. She had a great weekend with a killer batting average and really enjoyed playing even though the weather was a little cold! J took his ACT for the first time and did great. His scores are high enough for scholarships but he is going to take it again and try for higher. The rest of the kids are growing like weeds and I don't like it one bit. Just kidding. It is so fun to watch them growing and becoming individual's.

I am so proud and blessed to be their mom. Just a few pics for now!!

For those of you who haven't heard we lost any chance of finishing Gabriela's adoption when PGN in Guatemala stopped doing birthmother interviews. We were waiting on her birthmom to bring some papers but realized that her case was never actually filed in Family Court, like we were told had been done, leaving no chance of getting the new Central Authority to hear our case on her. We actually have gotten her case file and it was a joke. There was no "file" and our dossier, which has been in Guatemala since May 07 was never even translated into Spanish. That is the first thing that should have been done on her case. Therefore you can guess accurately that absolutely nothing we had been told about her case was true. She never had a chance to make it here because nothing was ever started on her adoption.

We are still grieving over losing her permanently but now we must keep her lifted in prayers. It has taken us several months to try and pick up the pieces of our hearts. I don't know if that ever completely happen when you lose someone in that way. Especially when her future is going to be so incredibly hard and the reality is she never had a chance to actually be adopted because of the situation and people involved.

So please keep her in your prayers. She is a beautiful little girl who needs prayers of protection and hope for the rest of her life.

For Today!!

2008-10-26T20:19:00.003-04:00

I pray this will bless you in whatever battle or storm you are facing today. A special friend sent this to me Friday and I am so thankful for her wisdom and the way she blessed me.

One day soon I will explain why this was so important last week!! Until then, I am passing it on and hoping it will do the same for someone else.

Exodus 14:10-31
10 As Pharaoh approached, the people of Israel looked up and panicked when they saw the Egyptians overtaking them. They cried out to the Lord, 11 and they said to Moses, “Why did you bring us out here to die in the wilderness? Weren’t there enough graves for us in Egypt? What have you done to us? Why did you make us leave Egypt? 12 Didn’t we tell you this would happen while we were still in Egypt? We said, ‘Leave us alone! Let us be slaves to the Egyptians. It’s better to be a slave in Egypt than a corpse in the wilderness!’”

13 But Moses told the people, “Don’t be afraid. Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today. The Egyptians you see today will never be seen again. 14 The Lord himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.” (this is your word for the day...)
Escape through the Red Sea

15 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the people to get moving! 16 Pick up your staff and raise your hand over the sea. Divide the water so the Israelites can walk through the middle of the sea on dry ground. 17 And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they will charge in after the Israelites. My great glory will be displayed through Pharaoh and his troops, his chariots, and his charioteers. 18 When my glory is displayed through them, all Egypt will see my glory and know that I am the Lord!”

19 Then the angel of God, who had been leading the people of Israel, moved to the rear of the camp. The pillar of cloud also moved from the front and stood behind them. 20 The cloud settled between the Egyptian and Israelite camps. As darkness fell, the cloud turned to fire, lighting up the night. But the Egyptians and Israelites did not approach each other all night.

21 Then Moses raised his hand over the sea, and the Lord opened up a path through the water with a strong east wind. The wind blew all that night, turning the seabed into dry land. 22 So the people of Israel walked through the middle of the sea on dry ground, with walls of water on each side!

23 Then the Egyptians—all of Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and charioteers—chased them into the middle of the sea. 24 But just before dawn the Lord looked down on the Egyptian army from the pillar of fire and cloud, and he threw their forces into total confusion. 25 He twisted[b] their chariot wheels, making their chariots difficult to drive. “Let’s get out of here—away from these Israelites!” the Egyptians shouted. “The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt!”

26 When all the Israelites had reached the other side, the Lord said to Moses, “Raise your hand over the sea again. Then the waters will rush back and cover the Egyptians and their chariots and charioteers.” 27 So as the sun began to rise, Moses raised his hand over the sea, and the water rushed back into its usual place. The Egyptians tried to escape, but the Lord swept them into the sea. 28 Then the waters returned and covered all the chariots and charioteers—the entire army of Pharaoh. Of all the Egyptians who had chased the Israelites into the sea, not a single one survived.

29 But the people of Israel had walked through the middle of the sea on dry ground, as the water stood up like a wall on both sides. 30 That is how the Lord rescued Israel from the hand of the Egyptians that day. And the Israelites saw the bodies of the Egyptians washed up on the seashore. 31 When the people of Israel saw the mighty power that the Lord had unleashed against the Egyptians, they were filled with awe before him. They put their faith in the Lord and in his servant Moses.

Prayers and Help Needed.

2008-10-11T00:50:00.005-04:00

Please add this precious little angel to your prayer list. Her name is Abby. She is 3 yrs old and an absolute princess from top to bottom!!!

She was adopted from Guatemala by a wonderful, loving family. Abby has been diagnosed with Leukemia. Please link to the blog below and read more about her story and how we all can help this precious princess through the battle she is fighting.

http://thevoiceofadventure.blogspot.com/2008/10/operation-princess-hair-begins.html

Abby's families blog:
http://www.riggsfamilyblog.com/

MORE MS. E

2008-10-03T17:33:00.010-04:00

My All Time Favorite Picture of My Angel!!!!

I am very behind on my post but life here has been like a race. We have had two more birthdays since E's but I still have pics to post for her. And on top of it the other birthdays are just mom and dad's so we don't really need to go there anymore???

So here are some pictures of our princess over the past five years. Our precious little angel has definately turned into a princess and is growing up. Enjoy!!!

ADOPTION DAY!!! Courthouse and Party

This was her present from R. It absolutely made her birthday and got the biggest smile all day!!

FINALLY:The video!!!

2008-09-30T17:12:00.005-04:00

Sorry this took so incredibly long. Be sure and pause the music on the sidebar before you click the play button on the video.

THIS WEEK IS ALL ABOUT E !!!!!

2008-09-25T23:58:00.010-04:00

Yes another birthday!! This week is E's birthday. She is turning 5 yrs old. Why does the time have to pass so incredibly fast. November will be our 5th Gotcha Day!!! WOW.

I remember everyday waiting and praying for the phone to ring telling us we had been chosen by a birthmom. It felt like an eternity at the time.........HEHEHEHE!!!!! I can only laugh when thinking about the six months of waiting for her and put it into context now after the past 2 years!!! But still it felt like forever until they placed this beautiful angel in my arms. Three weeks we waited to pick her up. I thought I would not make it!!!

She was more beautiful than I could have ever imagined. The love I felt instantly was overwhelming, literally it overwhelmed me to tears and to my knees holding my precious new daughter.

There were no words. I was blessed to be the mother of three beautiful, healthy, amazing biological children but it was at the very moment they placed E into my arms that I truly understood my Heavenly Father's love for me. Although I had been a Christian since I was 12, I really was able to wrap my heart and head around the love of the Father for me as His adopted daughter. As I knelt weeping, He spoke to my heart saying, "This is how I love you!!" Unconditional,unending, uncomprehendable, worth dying for.

It still brings tears to my eyes still as I relive that moment. It was life changing in more ways than I can share. There really are no words that do it justice so I will just put her video on here for you to see.

WARNING-----Have tissue handy!!! Pause the radio on the sidebar to hear the video.

UGH!!!!!!! Ok not working I will have to add it later so I will just have to add a couple of pics for now of our beautiful little princess. Check back in a few days for the video!!

Homecoming

2008-09-20T23:57:00.007-04:00

We had a wonderful Friday night celebrating homecoming at our kids school. It was the opening of a brand new sports facility for our academy. God has truly blessed the school and church with an amazing facility that now holds an beautiful football stadium and eventually baseball and softball fields, tennis courts, a field house, and a huge amount of much needed parking. We are so thankful for God's hand being on the whole design and financial end of the additions.

The new football field was opened with a ribbon cutting ceremony and then we wrapped the field with all of the families and our pastor prayed the dedication of the entire facility to the Lord. It was truly a wonderful time. There were so many people attending that you couldn't move. It was a bit crazy but good.

The homecoming ceremony was so much fun and I was so honored to get to escort my son onto the field. We laughed and joked the entire time. A great memory for all of us.

At the beginning of the game the cheerleaders unveiled a beautiful sign for our team to run through. It was painted by some very talented people. It read "To God be the Glory Great Things He Has Done" It is truly amazing as God has brought all of the money into our church and school through donations and gifts to build these facilities.

We are so very thankful for the school that our children attend. It is a blessing in more ways than we can share.

If you haven't read the post below, please do and add our precious friend Chip Liner to your prayers. He is doing well but has a long recovery ahead of him. He truly is one of the most amazing people I have ever known and the impact he has had on our daughter's life has been life changing(as it has in 100's of girls lives that he has coached over the past 30 years). He loves our precious girl just like we do but he also loves our family(almost as much as we love him) and has been such an amazing support over the past 5 years. He is just one of those friends who comes into your life and it is as if they have always been there, they are just part of the family. Please remember him and his family over the next several weeks and months.

Special Prayer Request/UPDATED

2008-09-20T12:10:00.010-04:00

I know I can count on all of my friends to pray!! Last night during our children's homecoming game, a dear friend and A's softball coach began experiencing chest pains. After most of the night in the emergency room they discovered he has a tear in the inner wall of the aorta. He is in surgery right now and it will last for about 6 hours. The recovery will also be very long. Please keep Coach Liner and his family in your prayers.

Thanks so much. I will update when I can.

UPDATE: Coach Liner is out of surgery and Praise the Lord they were able to repair the tears in his heart. He is stable and the doctor thinks everything went well. Please continue to pray as he recovers. Thanks again.

He is so going to kill me for posting this but I can't find any of my other pics. I just wanted you to know who you are praying for:::::: This picture is from a mission trip to the Dominican Republic. He and A were jumping off the boat to swim and my hubby got these picture!!! Oh wait, I did find some.....adding those too but I will leave the others. Even if I get in trouble!!!!

Love you bunches Chip~~~~~

Family, Passions, Talent!!!

2008-09-19T00:00:00.012-04:00

Passions/Talent=Missions, Music and People!!!

Honduras

Youth Praise and Worship Band

Family

Friday night is Homecoming at the kids school. Jonathan was honored to be elected to the homecoming court. I will post pictures of that tomorrow!!!

THROUGH THE YEARS

2008-09-18T00:06:00.023-04:00

These are through age 15!!

Holding his baby sister for the first time!!

OK More Pictures

2008-09-18T00:06:00.019-04:00

Here are a few more years in pictures!!! We are getting there.....these are from 3 yrs -11 yrs!!!

You can see much of his love showing through in so many of the pictures with his little brother and sister. HMMM, thinking I need to show them all these loving pics this week. Just a reminder of sorts of loving each other!!!!!!!

This week is all about J !!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-09-17T01:42:00.011-04:00

On September 21, at 7:40 p.m HE TURNS 18 yrs old!!!!!!!

I am not believing it, don't want to even think about it but it is here now and I have to face reality. I have a child that is turning 18!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I actually am taking him next Monday to register to vote. UGH!!

I just don't know how it happened. I honest to goodness feel like I blinked or just fell asleep and here he is turning 18. An adult as he likes to remind us daily. We informed him this weekend not to take that too seriously or too far just yet, as he is still a senior in high school and living at home!! HEHE> So that adulthood comes with boundaries still but also many freedoms to reach out and start making those important decisions.

But really he is such a great kid, oops, I mean adult. We are seeing him growing and maturing so much as he prepares to make decisions and steps that will lead him into the world, out of our home, into his life and wherever God is taking him and will use him. What an awesome thought and exciting time in his life!!

I see God in him in so many ways. I have known since he was a small child that music and ministry would be his passion. He has always been so talented with music and singing. He has ALWAYS loved people. Now he has a passion to use both together and for his Lord. While it makes my heart hurt a little to think of him leaving soon and heading out into this world, it excites me so much more to see where the Lord will lead him and use him.

We are excited and scared. Happy and sad!!!!!!!! But this week we celebrate all that he is to us, our family, friends, and mostly to God.

To our precious first born son,

You are amazing, talented, soft hearted, hard headed(LOL), funny, care free, full of passion for others, full of passion for life and incredibly loving. You were the beginning of our dreams and passions coming true, to be parents!!!

You were the "perfect" baby and toddler. Happy and loving all the time. I remember when you were 3 and a little boy in our neighborhood was being ugly to another child, you explained to him what it was to have a heart like God and how God loves everyone. I sat at the window and listened and cried, what a lesson out of the mouth of a baby!! Since that time and in so many ways, you have continued to teach us so much about God in your innocent and loving ways.

One of the most important times God used you in our lives came as we were searching for God's will and answer about adopting your little sister and others kept telling us no it couldn't work, it wouldn't be right, and that we shouldn't do it.

At 13 yrs old you asked us if we believed that God created us all in His image. We said yes, and you responded,"then whats the problem? Every child deserves a family to love them regardless of the color of their skin!!" We had our answer and you were so right. Look at where God has brought our family since that time!! THANK YOU, for always listening to Him and being bold and loving enough to question what is truly from Him and not just human thoughts or emotions.

Your strength and knowledge of God's word amazes me daily and I know I can count on you to help all of us find that perfect word in His word when we are looking for answers. I also know that you are not too prideful to ask for help when you are struggling and looking for answers. And yet you can still challenge me by a simple, "show me in the word!!" I absolutely love that about you.

You are made in His image. You are the apple of His(and our)eye!! You are perfect just as you are because you are HIS.

We love you with all our hearts and souls. We are so incredibly proud of who you are and who you are becoming. Thank you for being our precious son. We are so thankful to be a part of your life and to watch you grow into the man that God has called you to be.

We love you son!!

PS-Now I am going to post pictures of you whether you like it or not!!! That is what mother's do.....

Here he is....my precious little boy, 18 yrs ago(almost)!!!!!!!

STAY TUNED>>>MORE PICS TO COME!! That was just a few from the first two years!!!!

Better Late than Never

2008-09-12T08:55:00.015-04:00

I am totally falling down on the job. But I need to post some pics of my sweet little princess at her dance recital back in May. Since dance has already started again for this year, I thought I might need to get this post completed.

E was the picture of beauty and confidence. Not scared a bit and loved every minute of being on stage with everyone looking at her. OH MY, we have a STAR~~~~ Daddy realized real fast that we have created a monster when E stated afterwards that she wasn't scared or nervous and loved that everyone was watching her??????????

She is a scream but enough of the small talk here are the pictures of our beautiful little princess.

We are blessed with the most amazing friends!!! Just one day before her recital, mom realizes that my make up will not work!! Just not her shade and I have NO IDEA where to start. So my precious dear friend Susan steps in and saves the day!! She is the most amazing woman and loves my babies so much. THANKS SO MUCH

MS SUSAN, YOU ARE A BLESSING!!

All beautiful and ready for the stage.

She Arrives!!!!!

Her Theatre............
On her way to the top.

Pictures with her fans!

The Performance

Our pediatrician helping with a touch up between numbers.

Waiting patiently for the next number

BRAVO,BRAVO!! Flowers for the Star.

I owe it all to my wonderful dance teacher!!

More pictures with fans.

One final photo shoot.

The Princess has left the building!!!!!!!

Stressful Week

2008-09-10T13:51:00.005-04:00

Last week was one of those stressful weeks in our house. You know the ones that just seem like they will never end and also the ones where you don't dare say"what else could happen"!!

We started off with a very nice case of bronchitis for A,she missed the whole week of school and then J got it. The littest man in the house was so grumpy we thought he must be teething but NO, it was a horrible ulcer on his bottom gum. Boy did that hurt, he wouldn't eat, sleep, and he said "Momma" 50,000 times a day. Sweet baby, he just needed mommy to hold him and make him feel better. Needless to say I didn't get much done but I did have some amazing snuggle and quiet time with my baby. You know nothing else matters when you can just stop and hold your baby. The clothes and dishes will be there tomorrow, but that time will never come back around.

J's car was painted by some "friends" at school with some very interesting sayings. Especially given that our kids go to our church school and these kids all voice to be christians. Although the paint was washable, the hurt to J and our family could not be washed away that easily.

E is struggling "majorly" for the first time in her life. She has always been clingy to me but lately her fear of being abandoned is overwhelming. I have always thought so much of what she goes through is because of lack of attachment in the beginning of her life. Now I am sure of it. I have been reading an amazing book that a friend suggested. I started it because of R but boy have I learned so much that is helping me with E. I have always been a strong believer in the bonding process but since we brought her home so early and she bonded so quickly to me, it never really sunk in that this all goes back to those first months. We are making steps but it isn't easy by any means. It takes every ounce of energy I have in my body to stay focused on her and handling things the right way. My heart and wanting to give in to my own emotions of frustration and exhaustion take over still too many times. I am having to retrain my emotions and brain to react in the way that is best for her not in the way my flesh wants to react. We keep learning and focusing on what is right and what will get us through. It will be an on going lesson for both of us. God is showing me so many things on a daily basis through her and I know that it is also some of the same things I will face with R. WOW, not sure how I am going to have the energy to do it for two, but I know where my strength is and only HE can walk all of us through this and hold us up.

OK, so then the "WHAT ELSE COULD HAPPEN" comment actually slipped out of someones mouth!!!!!!!!!!!! GASP, OH NO!!! And what else happened on Wednesday night.

J's truck is in the shop, so he drove Dad's truck home after church. We were already home and heard him come in and hit the lock button. Dad's truck has an horrifically loud horn when you lock it. J was sick on Thursday and when Dad came home from work, he went out to get his two guitars out of the truck.

Major Problem: NO GUITARS!!!!!!!! GONE!!!!!!

He thought we were playing a joke on him, then he realized we were serious when we told him we didn't touch them. Dad then remembered when he got in the truck that morning, his console was open and all the contents were laying on his seat. He thought J had done it looking for something.

NOPE, truck broken into. $1200 worth of guitars GONE!!!!!! Guitar strap still sitting on back seat but no guitars.

Here is the interesting part. The truck was locked and there was no damage. How you ask? Someone was able to get the code from the keyless remote when J hit the lock button. I had just read this on the internet a few weeks ago but snopes.com said it was false.

NOT FALSE......the sheriff's deputy who came out to take a report told us we were the 4th call he had been on that night for the same thing. All the cars were locked, no damage at all but things had been stolen. So please be careful using your keyless remotes to lock your vehicles.

Thankfully, our homeowners insurance is covering this and J will be able to get new guitars. Also, the sheriffs dept took the serial numbers on his guitars and is putting out reports looking for them in pawn shops.

This week has started off much better and since we are already to Wed. with no major events, we are thinking this will be a much better week!!!

And on a funny note, I's new saying is "calm down". Yesterday, I looked at him and said "I love you" he looked back and said "Momma, calm down!" HEHEHE.....note to self.....be careful what you say with the repeater around.

Praying everyone has a terrific week.

Military Wives

2008-09-03T01:06:00.015-04:00

This post may seem strange to some of you but I miss the days when we were in the military. It is hard to explain but it is a family. It is hard and sometimes lonely but I wouldn't trade anything in the world for the precious, life long friends that we have been blessed with through our time in the military.

I found this post on another blog and wanted to post it in honor of all the wonderful military wives I know. It is an amazing job and one that was an honor to have for so many years. I will treasure it always, as I treasure each of you. I MISS YOU SO MUCH.

"What is a MILITARY Wife?

A Military wife can be tough to describe.She is a southern belle, a northeastern mets fan, a California 3rd generation recycler, a Pacific Islander.

She is short or tall, a tomboy, a fashion diva, a physician's assistant, a Republican, a Democrat.A Military Wife is a career gal, a home-schooler, a scrapbooker, an accomplished cellist, an auto mechanic.

What is a MILITARY Wife?

They may look different and each is wonderfully unique, but this they have in common...Lots of moving~ moving, moving, moving, far from home. Moving two cars, three kids and one dog (all riding with HER of course!) Moving sofas to basements because they won't go in THIS house, moving curtains that won't fit, moving jobs and certifications and professional development hours, moving away from friends, moving toward new friends, moving her most important luggage; her trunk full of memories.

Often waiting~ waiting, waiting, waiting. Waiting for housing, waiting for orders, waiting for deployment, waiting for reunion, waiting for phones calls or emails, waiting for the new curtains to arrive, waiting for him to come home for dinner. LATE AGAIN!

They call her "military dependent", but she knows better. She can balance a checkbook, handle the yard work, fix a noisy toilet. She is intimately familiar with drywall, anchors, and toggle bolts. She can file the taxes, sell a house, buy a car, or set up a move~ all with ONE Power of Attorney.

She welcomes neighbors that don't welcome her, reinvents her career with every PCS, locates a house in the desert, the arctic, or the deep south and learns to call them all "home". She MAKES them all home.

She is fiercely IN-dependent! Military Wives are somewhat hasty. They leap into decorating, leadership, volunteering, career alternatives, churches and friendships. They don't have 15 years to get to know people.Their roots are short but flexible.They plant annuals for themselves and perennials for those who come after them.

Military Wives quickly learn to value each other. They connect over coffee, rely on the spouse-network and accept offers of friendship and favors and record addresses in pencil. Military Wives have a common bond.

The Military Wife has a husband unlike other husbands. His commitment is unique. He doesn't have a job, he has a "mission". He can't just decide to quit, he's on-call for his country 24/7, but for you, he's the most Unreliable guy in town!

His language is foreign~ TDY, PCS, OPR, ACC, BDU And so, a Military Wife is a translator for her family and his. She is the long-distance link to keep them informed, the glue that holds them together.

A Military Wife has her moments...She wants to wring his neck, dye his uniform pink, and refuse to move to Siberia.

But she pulls herself together. Give her a few days, a travel brochure, a long hot bath, a pledge to the flag, and a wedding picture. And she goes. She packs. She moves. She follows.

Why? What for? How come?You may think it is because she has lost her mind. But actually, it is because she has lost her heart. It was stolen from her by a man who puts duty first, who longs to deploy, who salutes the flag, and whose boots in the doorway remind her that as long as he is her Military husband, She will remain his Military wife."

BEAUTIFUL NEW BLOG

2008-08-30T01:50:00.011-04:00

Thanks so much to my dear friend Jaimee for designing this new blog for our family. We will continue to update our adoption blog as we can but wanted another place to be able to post things about the whole family while saving all the information on the adoptions for our children as that is their story.

Isn't it beautiful. Jaimee is so talented and I had a blast looking at all the wonderful choices on how to get this thing up and going. I told her I must have been her most difficult customer but she was a doll and did everything I wanted plus much more. She has been helping me for a while now trying to decide what design and colors to go with!!!

We are in the process of changing the look of our other blog and will be opening it back up pretty soon, hopefully with more information and updates on our children.

So I hope you all will join us now and then, on both blogs, to see what is happening with our ever growing family.

PS- And let me add in here before anyone starts trying to guess about R's picture above. There is nothing new in that area!!! Sorry just didn't want to get anyone's interest peaked to thinking that it meant something that it doesn't!!!!! And we all know that happens easily around the blogging world.