Comings and Goings

Which way is UP???

It's weeks like this that my calendar is connected to my hip!

I check it every morning or else I'm LOST.

Here is my week:

Lindsey left for Africa a few weeks ago.

Bob left for Ontario, Canada on Monday.

I picked up Baby R for her LAST weekend with us on Wednesday.

Bob came home from Canada late Wednesday night, technically the wee hours of Thursday morning.

Bob and Erik leave on a Junior High Youth Group trip for the weekend Friday afternoon.

Lindsey comes home from Africa on late Friday night.

Bob and Erik come home on Sunday and then we leave to take Baby R home for good. We like to do that as a family.

Lindsey returns to college.

Whew! And regular life of classes, laundry, work schedules, and fun goes on.

My mantra?


Better to busy than bored.

God is good, all the time.

CAVEAT

We are MATCHED with our little China guy through the AGENCY.

NOT with CHINA yet.

Doing paperwork now.

Please pray for favor from China.

Lots of stories to tell.

So excited.

Coming Soon

I am gathering my thoughts about:

1) The Nemesis of Change

2) Sending Them Home

3) Warfare Surrounding Adoption and Large Families

We have a wee bit going on around here.

Look for these posts soon.

Jennifer

Flying Solo

Flying solo this week.
My date tonight will be my laptop and a decadent chocolate bar.
Not going to keep me all that warm.
Hopefully the cat will sleep on my feet.

What a day. It started out in the wee hours with a toddler at my bedside. "Mommy, my nose hurts." Sure, go back to sleep. Uh-oh, the telltale choke/cough and the flood...in my bed. I told Bob that I was so glad he was home or I would have cried. Clean up the bed, the floor, the bathroom, the kid. Bob calculates the short amount of time before he has to get up and go on a business trip. Of course, as toddlers do, he woke up good as new and was running around the house like nothing ever happened. How do they do that?

It was too cold for outside time. Never got above 10 degrees. Oh boy, I am thinking of going down to the basement and finding the mini-trampoline. Need something for all these active kids who are going to start bouncing off the walls.

Erika loves to take pictures of silliness.



Thanks for checking in on my "boring' life.

I Never Knew

I NEVER thought I would adopt a child from China.

I never considered adoption.

I never thought about having a trans-racial family.

I never imagined that I would be a mother of many.

I never knew the joy that would come from following God's call.

Isaiah 30:21

Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”

I know that if God wants us to adopt this boy who has captured our hearts, then He will go before us.

I know that we are VERY excited.

I know that we are cautiously optimistic because there are many hills to climb and mountains to conquer.

I know where I want to go for my 25th wedding anniversary.

CHINA!

Truth or Consequence

I can deal with the sin, really I can.

I cannot tolerate lying.

Even if it is about the sin.

Double sin, if there is such a thing.

She had my calculator.

I did not care about that but I needed my calculator for something.

RIGHT NOW.

She thought I would care that my calculator was in use.

She lied about having it.

I almost got sucked in but resisted because I knew it to be true.

Later, amidst still constant protests that she didn't have it, I asked her to write a letter of apology. I said she could use the calculator. I told her she cannot lie.

Here is the letter:


Dear Mom,
I lied to you because I didn't want you to be angry at me.
I wanted to be truthful but I could in my mind but not on the outside.
I didn't want the boy and girls to make fun of me as usual.
Love,
PS I am stupid not to tell the truth.
PPS I am sorry will you forgive me.

Couldn't you just cry?

This girl came from a very hard place.

I am amazed at the depth of her understanding.

I didn't know that she had come this far.

Thrilled that we can communicate.

What changed?

One thing is time. Lots of time.

Time to prove that we mean what we say.

Time to show that we will not give up on her (like everyone else in her life).

Time to heal and learn how to trust.

Time together in the rocking chair.

Five years in and time is making a difference.

Whatever it takes. She's worth it.

Matched

There is a little boy in China whose has "MATCHED" above his picture on a website.

That's us. We are the match.

It is about obedience.

A leap of faith.

Someone was bold enough to put his picture on the sidebar of their blog.

For some "reason", I went to that blog and saw the picture.

God has laid the groundwork for months.

With our hearts, our finances, our family.

I couldn't even begin to tell about the miracles that have already happened.

I could tell you about the obstacles being thrown at us.

Can you pray?

For this little boy to come home.

To have a forever family who will love him unconditionally.

To know Jesus.

Can you?

2-4-6-8 Who do they appreciate?

2:00 am - Micah makes appearance bedside. He wants a drink of water. His nose is stuffy and he can only breathe through his mouth. OK.

4:00 am - Trey has to go potty. He is staying dry most nights. Impressive. OK.
.
6:00 am - Jerrod is at my door. A hoarse whisper pierces the air, "Mom, can you write a check for lunch money." My fault. I forgot. Honestly, I wasn't sure if he had school or not. OK.

8:00 am - I woke up for the final time when two cheerful monkeys came to my bedside with morning greetings.

Job security? Yeah, I'm good.

Sunday Afternoon

How we spent our Sunday afternoon.

Outside in the sunshine.

Thanks to good friends for hosting a relaxing family afternoon
complete with sledding, hot dogs, and hot chocolate.

Kitchen crew.

Snowmobile rides up the long hill.

Trey was very brave.

Micah would have preferred to be napping.
He was kind of out of it.

View from the top of the hill.

Doubling up.

After a wipe-out.

Anytime we can all go do something
together as a family is wonderful.
To be joined by like-minded families for
fellowship and fun was icing on the cake.

The Lion Sleeps Tonight

Thursday was quite a day.
We brought Baby R for her weekend home.
Then we dropped Lindsey off for her trip to Africa.
She went on a Medical Mission International trip with Keith and a wonderful group of Christians dedicated to serving Muslims in Mali. Kristel, Keith's wife, is taking her own trip to Scotland and then finagled a way to fly home with them at the end of their trip. So fun!
Seriously, I have to rethink my stand on IPODS seeing as Lindsey can easily communicate from the compound with hers. So far she has posted a few pictures on Facebook. Looks like they are traveling to a remote location for the clinic this week.
However, she still found cows. Even in Africa...
We are praying a hedge of protection around Lindsey and the whole team serving Christ in Mali, Africa, that hearts are changed, and Jesus is seen and made known through his willing workers.

Shenanigans

We have had a lot of coming and going this week. Baby R is now with us less than half time and will go home soon. It is an incredible blessing to be part of putting a family back together. We have a great relationship with the parents and will hopefully continue to be a part of her life on a regular basis. At the same time we have to deal with our grief over a major change in our family. Some of us have better coping skills than others. Some of the kids have gone back to some old behaviors that are not fun. Anyway, while she is home, I am there for her. She has handled the transition magnificently. We have been treasuring our snuggles and kisses.

I end up on the floor quite often.
The boys were cooking up some interesting soup.

Trey had car soup and Micah had animals. Yummy!

Silliness follows.

Sweetness.

After bath antics.

3 - 2 - 1!

I am going to miss these moments of togetherness.

Aren't these friends so precious?

Yeah? Well, look where they are!

Shenanigans! The big kids can't imagine life without the littles. Bob and I knowingly nod. We trust God to plan our family. Only He could come up with this crazy mob of life loving people!

Cow Wrestlin'

Lindsey came home yesterday and said a bull kicked the snot
out of her.

Hazards of the job.

And she has the bruise to prove it.

Impressive!

Do inquiring minds want to know what she was doing to said bull?

Crimping.

I don't think he liked it.

Bookaholic

I know I have a problem.
They keep coming.
And yes, I do go to the library, a lot!

These are the books that arrived on my doorstep courtesy of Amazon,
just this week.

Suggested by Ann at Holy Experience.
I am impressed with this book.
My Lutheran upbringing felt at home in these pages.

I'm not kidding.
Even Jerrod wanted to look at it.
We got half a cow.
I had no clue how to fill out the butcher sheet.
Now I will know.

Obviously relevant.
Having adopted a two and three year old recently.
Besides it was less than a buck.

Completely off topic.
Someday I will learn how to use my camera better.
We were impressed with the swirl of activity out our window
during math and grammar this morning.

Monday Monday

Back to real life.

Jerrod on the bus at 6:20.

Bob off to work.

Kitchen table school.

And then RECESS.

Scaling the mountain.

It's a big hill when you're three.

Trying out the cross country skis.

What big brothers and sisters are for.
Sled rides.

Bible Challenge: Day 3 and I'm on track. I chose the Chronological Bible this time. Genesis never gets old.


Rockin' Mama Challenge: Kloey got her fifteen minutes and Trey lasted for five.

Untypical Sunday

Only one of us went to church.
8 down and 3 to go. The three littles are the only ones who haven't thrown up or felt very sick for a day. Praise God. That is the worst to clean up and hardest on my momma heart.
So today is a fairly laid back day. One in bed, one at church, the rest milling around. Couldn't find anything but gloom and doom preachers on TV. The girls have done a great job feeding and mothering the little boys.
We pick up R this afternoon. Kind of glad she wasn't here when I was so sick yesterday. That would have been harder on her. Thank you to Farmor for these very cool socks that came in threes.

Random, I know.

QVC got the better of me too.

Oh dear.

Somewhere Between Aloof and Cling-On

Another A-word that has been rolling around in my head is attachment.

Inevitable in the adoption realm, it is a reality of life around here.

Between aloof and cling-on. That is where I want my kids to be.

We have some that are aloof on most days.

We have one that is a cling-on most days.

Lisa, at A Bushel and A Peck, has issued the Rockin' Mama Challenge.

I have taken her up on the challenge to sit in the rocking chair with my child for 15 minutes each day with no distractions.

Just me and Kloey.

Or me and Cora.

Or me and Trey.

Or me and Micah.

Or me and Erika.

Or even me and Erik. (He already asked.)

I am going to be rocking a lot.

They are so excited to have one on one time with Mom.

How did I miss that?

Perhaps 3 babies in 3 years has fogged up my brain.

My wonderful husband got me a rocker recliner and I have put it in my room. The only place that I can be alone with one other person.
This will be the place of re-connection, of connection, of knitting hearts together.

Moving from aloof to loving and open.

Moving from cling-on to respectful and loving.

No laptop, no tv, no distractions.

I wanted to start today. Happy New Year and all but...

I got a day off.

Here is where I spent the entire day.
Not sure what good the flu shot was.

6 out of 11 of us have succumbed so far to this 1 day thing, ONE AT A TIME.

Oh well, it was nice to have a day off. I can be grateful for that. No cooking, cleaning, or laundry, just blissful drifting around la-la-land.

Tomorrow, I will start rocking. Kloey is my aim for 28 days straight. Others will benefit but I want to connect with her at a deeper level. I want her to know reciprocal love. It is going to be quite a challenge loving up on my "hard" kids but I'm up for it.