Wordless Wednesday- The love of a family

Vitamins

I have been suffering, or should I say Dan has been suffering, with symptoms of PMDD for a while now. Most recently, I have been plagued with yeast infections and a few other biggies. This past week was the "last straw" and so I went out and spent around $40 on the recommended vitamins...a small price to pay to get back to myself again. Oh, and the chocolate syrup in the background is all part of my plan too. ;-) Bring on the vitamin burps.

Malaria

We sponsor a child. We have sponsored her for 6 years now through World Vision. We got the newest issue of the World Vision magazine today in the mail. The highlight was Malaria in Africa and the tangible way we can help: mosquito nets. Zambia, Mozambique, Mali, and Kenya are the hardest hit. Every 40 seconds, a child dies of malaria. The nets are $3 each. Go to www.worldvision.org/ReadandRespond to give online. Please consider donating!

Impressive

Here's my almost two year old (a week and a half away from his 2nd birthday) , riding a big boy bike! I am so proud of him!!

He's proud of himself too!

He's getting so good, he can actually ride around the houses and stay on the sidewalk now!

The Countdown!

A lot of people don't realize that about 98 percent of the running I put in is anything but glamorous:

2 percent joyful participation,

98 percent dedication!

It's a tough formula.

Getting out in the forest in the biting cold and the flattening heat,

and putting in kilometer after kilometer.

~Rob de Castella

The countdown is on! One month until The CRIM. Some days I am so excited and can't wait to get out there. Other days I am sick to my stomach at the very thought of running this race again.

This year, I will have my girls on either side. My sister is running this year, which I am so excited about and it's a dream come true! Then my running buddy and my very best friend, who is as crazy as I am, has signed up for the pain another year. I will need my girls to get through the race this year (since I won't have Hollie's husband to tell us to suck it up and keep going).

So, here's to one more month of training. Another month of not so pretty runs, failed runs, runs that make me feel like a winner, runs where I feel like I can go on forever. Here's to the pain! Bring it on!

Everyone in life is looking for a certain rush. Racing is where I get mine.

~John Trautmann

Family Fun Night

I tried to get a nice picture before we left, but the sun was too bright and Collin was screaming because he saw a few bees in the bushes.

It would be nice to get away, but it's just not possible. So spontaneously, last night, we packed up the kids and headed over to a mini golf place nearby. It was our first time mini golfing as a family. It was the perfect time to go with three little ones because we had the whole place to ourselves. We had a good time and the kids were free!

Landon's first swing ever.

Kaitlyn's first swing ever.


My princess posing. She was a cautious player. She was more into looking at the scenery than playing. At one point, she was playing her club as a guitar and rocking out while the rest of us were mini golfing.

Landon picked it up right away and actually got a hole in one! He is a natural, but gets a little carried away and plenty of his balls ended up off the course. I think Dan is going to have a golfing buddy soon.

I like this picture. Not the look I have on my face but because Dan looks so incredibly happy. He's messing with me in the picture.

Dan retrieving one of Landon's balls...oops!

Collin was getting in to it toward the end. He did well for not even being two yet. He would set it up next to the hole, putt it in, and then jump up and down and cheer for himself.

Landon riding like a real cowboy.

Dan took Landon on his first go kart ride. He was too little (9 months old) when we did them in Gatlinburg. After he got off, he informed me that he thought he could drive the big car now. Uh-oh!

Kaitlyn took her second ride. Her first was just after she had turned two when we were in Gatlinburg. She loves them. Dan said that the whole time she was just cracking up laughing. This girl has the need for speed.

We topped off the night with a trip to Dairy Queen where Kaitlyn spooned the ice cream out of her cone, Landon took a few sips of his icee and decided Dan's looked better, and Collin ate the paper off of his cone without it even phasing him. I sat and took it all in, thankful for the time we were able to go out and have fun together. We are blessed.

Remember These?

Well, I loved them! Both books were great and I would highly recommend them.

I especially loved Adopted for Life: The Priority of Adoption for Christian Families & Churches. It had me in tears some of the time. This book ties the adoption of children together with our adoption as Christians in a beautiful way. Here is something that jumped out at me:

Our adoption remember, conforms us to Christ's image. So we'll walk this path to maturity too, the path Jesus walked before us. "For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear," Paul tells the church at Rome, "but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons" (Romans 8:15). That has to be said. It's not obvious. It's hard to believe there's a kingdom waiting for us.

We don't fully believe that our new Father will feed us, so we hang on to our scraps and long for the regimented schedules of the orphanage from which we've come. And when our Father pushes us along to new tastes, we pout that he's not good to us. But he's readying us for glory, preparing us to take our place on thrones as heirs.

The Author, Russell Moore, writes about his adoption of their two sons from an orphanage over seas. He talks about the eerie silence of it...babies lined up, alone in cribs, and none of them making a sound because they have learned that their cries go unanswered. He talks about driving away from that terrible place with his two sons and seeing them shake and reach back for the orphanage. Heartbreaking. He goes on to talk about other aspects, things to consider, the process, and how to encourage and support others that are adopting.

I will end with something else from the book that jumped out at me:

It's true that adoption isn't "natural." We have adoptions because we live in a world groaning under the curse of sin and death. Fathers abandon mothers. Mothers get pregnant without marriage. Parents are killed. Diseases ravage villages. It was not so from the beginning. The hard question about adoption -- and the easy ones too -- are only with us because something's gone wrong with the world.

Adoption is modeled after the natural family. But the biological family is also modeled after something -- the kingdom of God in Christ. King Jesus tells us his reign is hidden from "the wise and understanding" but is revealed to "little children" (Matt. 11:25).

The childlike kingdom we've come into is filled with transracial adoptees like you and me. It's made up of the "special-needs" orphans like us. Sometimes adoptions turn out with families that look remarkable similar - almost "natural," you might say. But let's not fall for the carnality that values boys over girls, that pits ethnicities against on another, or that is repulsed by physical or emotional weakness. Let's be the people of Christ, and, like him, let's teach ourselves to welcome children into our homes, even those our culture tells us we're not supposed to want.

Say What?

After Landon hit his sister and she went running to her room crying and slammed the door, I had a talk with him. After I was done talking to him, I told him to go and knock on her door and tell her that he was sorry for hitting her. He walked down the hall and knocked on her door. Kaitlyn yelled, "Who is it?" Landon replied, "It's Wangon (it's how he says his name), and Mommy told me to come tell you sorry, so sorr - ry!" It was quite funny, but I then had to have another talk with him about how we say we're sorry.

*********

While putting Kaitlyn to bed the other night, she looked up at me and asked, "Are you Daddy's maid?" I chuckled a little bit, because, it's probably just what it seems like because it's definitely how it feels sometimes. I said, "No Kaitlyn, why?" She said, "You're always picking up after him and cleaning things for him and doing his laundry. What does he ever do for you anyway?" I answered back (with a smirk on my face), "That's a good question. You should ask Daddy when you see him in the morning."

My kids are so funny!

Fun Feet Friday

Where's your treasure?

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

~Matthew 6:19-21

Wordless Wednesday

Hiding the Popsicles

Do you remember what it felt like as a kid when your parents told you that you couldn't snack before dinner but you watched them taste test dinner or even slip a little snack in when they thought you weren't looking? I am sure that's exactly what Landon felt like.

He's pretty nosey...all of my kids are really...maybe a better word would be curious. They like going through my drawers, cupboards, closet and pulling things out to ask what they are, where they came from, what I use it for. Well, Landon found my box of tampons in my bathroom. He pulled one out, looked at me, and asked :

"Mommy, why do you have popsicles in your bathroom?"

as if I was hiding my own stash of them or something. Doesn't he know that Mommy only hides the chocolate?

I was ready to see him secretly sneak one away and try putting it in his mouth.

Do you think it would scar him for life?

For the Love of Tomatoes

There were two vegetables (well, I guess one is considered a fruit, but really, come on) that I would not eat : tomatoes and celery. I despised tomatoes. Go figure, I *love* ketchup. I eat it on grilled cheese, potato chips, eggs, meats, and on occasion I just eat spoon fulls when I have a craving.

About three weeks ago, while grocery shopping, I decided that I was going to buy eight tomatoes and make myself eat them and possibly like them. Eight in a week seemed reasonable...not too many that it was impossible for me to accomplish, but just enough to make it seem like a challenge.

The first day I ate three slices on a sandwich and was literally fighting the urge to throw up in my mouth and practicing my deep breathing I used while in labor with my three children...it was bad. It was some sight, I am sure. The first day, I choked down two tomatoes.

Each day it got a little easier and by the end of the week, I had a whole tomato diced up and rolled into a wrap. No choking, no deep breathing...actually somewhat enjoyable. So much so that this past Friday, I went grocery shopping again and picked up eight more.

I wouldn't say that I am passionate about them as I am about broccoli, cucumbers, carrots, or green peppers...but maybe with some time, tomatoes will join the ranks of veggies that I can eat raw by themselves...maybe a lot of time...okay, I would be happy just to be able to have them dipped in a little ranch.

Just the basics...

Keep falsehood and lies far from me;

give me neither poverty nor riches,

but give me only my daily bread.

Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you

and say, 'Who is the LORD ?'

Or I may become poor and steal,

and so dishonor the name of my God.

Proverbs 30:8-9

Let the Reading Begin

Our books came yesterday!

After looking around, asking opinions, reading reviews, I decided on these two.

I started both of them right away and they are great so far.

I am sure I will share more later...

Wordless Wednesday

Remodeled

My princess turned three less than three months before my third child was born.

I had given birth to three kids in three years.

It's very likely that I could have been crazy back then.

I have never been one to sit still for very long.

So, we got the having kids thing over with as quickly as we could.



It's been a crazy six years.

We got married, I moved, we moved, and we moved again.

We had a baby, and another, lost a baby, and then had another.

We went through some rough marriage stuff.

We bought a house.

We bought a car, and another, wrecked a car, and bought another.

We found a cat, picked out a dog, and killed two dozen fish.



Pause and take a breath.



Somewhere along the way, down this crazy road, we lost eachother.

Impossible, some may think, especially since we all reside in the same house.

Actually, it's rather easy.

It's rather easy to wake up everyday and have the usual not phase you one bit, because afterall it's just a same ole, same ole day.

It's rather easy to think that we'll always have tomorrow and today is just another day.

It's rather easy to overlook the little things that are sometimes the biggest blessings.



We have been doing some family building...or maybe it would be considered remodeling.

It was rather hard in the beginning.

Who likes to rethink things when it's been the norm for five or so years.

The norm wasn't quite working for us anymore.



If you would have asked me a year ago if I would have chosen my husband over my kids, I would have either said yes and been lying or said no under my breath and looked around to see if anyone heard me. My kids would have won, hands down.



My husband was someone who worked hard all day so we could have all the "stuff" and have fun during the day while he was gone. He would come home in the evenings and be so exhausted that he would either fall asleep on the couch or sit back and watch us play family and be such a zombie that he couldn't enjoy it...and then get up at 3:30 AM and do it all over again. I ran the house, did everything for the kids, and felt guilty if I left them with Daddy for more than two hours for fear that something would go terribly wrong. I love him and appreciated him...maybe just not as much as I should have.



So, take away the job and you have some tough questions there...some of them which have been asked out loud. On the other side, I would choose Dan. God has been working on remodeling our marriage and our family...I kinda have an inkling why...and we are doing all we can while we wait for the pieces to come together.



Yeah, a lot has changed in these past ten months!



We have always been a family...we are just better now...

(Thanks, Andrea, for taking our pic!)

Beautiful, Merciful, Glorious

I have been singing this song all weekend...and was pleasantly surprised to be singing it during worship yesterday...love it!

Happy 4th of July!

From pillowcase to dress...

I had a little time at work to surf the web the past two days. Mix that with a sudden urge to be creative and this is what I ended up with:

It's a pillow case dress (this was one of the tutorials I liked the best...there are many though) for my princess! It was super easy to make. I had everything on hand here at home, but my next one I would like to try some embellishing and dress it up a bit. I hope to perfect it and maybe make a couple to give away. Super cute and super cool for summer.

Ten Months and Still Waiting

I can't help but think back to ten months ago and part of me sometimes wish for those times back...the part of me that hates the painful process of growth and change.

Ten whole months ago, my husband lost his job. Here we are, still sitting, waiting...we've been waiting for ten whole months.

This is the most difficult road I have ever walked in my life.

I have days when I am so thankful for God's provision and feel like I could face anything. I also have days when I feel like I want to dig myself a ten foot hole and jump in to it and hope that the dirt crumbles in over me.

I have days when I swear that I feel like the job God has for my husband is just around the corner and that I can keep walking just a few more steps. Then there are days when I feel like I cannot even take one more step and there is no light at the end of this tunnel.

Through this all though, I do know one thing. If I stop, reflect, and take a look back down the path that I have already walked, crawled, or been carried, I see that God is preparing me, molding me, building me. He is strengthening me for something greater and has gradually been showing Dan and I what He wants from us.

If any of you have read the book Hermie, you will know what I am talking about...if you haven't read it, you should. It's about an "ordinary" caterpillar. Hermie takes a look around and every one else, all the other bugs and sees the different traits they have that are certainly better than plain old Hermie. He doesn't have stripes, spots, he isn't strong, and he doesn't have a residence that he can carry around on his back. Throughout the book, God is whispering to Hermie and telling him not to worry, that He is not finished with him yet. God has a plan for him. At the end of the book, Hermie is transformed in to a beautiful butterfly. Well, I have kinda felt like Hermie for quite a long time. It's only been recently that I feel like God is revealing my purpose. I am okay with being ordinary but I would at least like to have a little bit of extraordinary that I can use for Him.

So, time is running out and we will soon be without our cushion (i.e. unemployment) which is a scary thing. I don't know what God has for us in the next two months. Please pray that Dan would finally have a job that would provide for our family. Also, that whatever is in store for us, job or no job, that we would continue to trust in God's goodness and faithfulness. He has us in the palm of his hand.

Wordless Wednesday - "Let me take your picture."