This Is How I Know

This is how I know God is working.

I am stunned when I think that in the myriad of decisions that have been made in the lives of these children, just one person making a different decision would have meant that we might have missed out on this amazing God-filled moment.

The sibling bond is not meant to be broken.

Blessed be the tie that binds.

Hair Equals Time

I knew for sure that God had a sense of humor when he gave me all this hair. I spent awhile this morning working on hair and it struck me again that I love it. Not because my hands get super mosturized or my arms get (sore) a workout but because it gives me time with my girls. Real time for them to talk and for me to listen. When you have this much hair it takes forever to comb it out and style it, so we talk.

We make these special one on one times count!

I love these girls AND their hair!

A First For Me

Look what I got to do today.

This ranks pretty high on the

list of amazing.

Combined weight was a few ounces less than my second son.

One year ago exactly we were at this same hospital,

same room, same people.

I've only been to the hospital a few times to visit new babies.

What a privilege to welcome new life into this world.

Bless your little lives.

I am incredibly thankful to have been able to visit

these precious souls at just a few hours old.

God be praised.

Loving other people's children is what taught me how to love like God loves!

Hippity Hop

The bunny care is going well. Kloey is diligent about making sure there is food and water. Right now that means going out in the dark to cover the cage at night. Not always so fun especially when it is in the 30's in the morning. I am very proud of her. We got a $10 gift certificate from Tractor Supply in the mail so we went and got rabbit vests for basically free. What fun! And I don't feel so bad about them being cooped up in a cage all day when I see them zipping around the yard with kids in tow since I told them not to yank on the leash. So far, this impulsive decision has been a good one. :)

Don't Want the Kids to be Happy!

A friend sent me a link to a post about happiness and children.

It is awesome.

Check THIS out!

On the subject of college,

it is possible to go to college,

and not have any debt,

without help from the folks.

If you work your BUTT off,

AND

are lucky enough to be in a family who has a gazillion exemptions.

Another post for another day is how our life choices have affected our kids.

I think I will ask them.

Ode to the Laptop.

My laptop was arcing and then black smoke and then...a smell of burnage.....Yikes.

Well, the mac-fixer informed that she is running for office and would have more time after Tuesday.

It took a few minutes for me to put two and two together.

I was near tears.

I wasn't sure I was gonna live.

This means my laptop is in never never land for "I don't know how long."

It will get fixed and she does a great job for a great price....someday.

I should be grateful that I have a mac-fixer in this part of the country. Closest Apple store is 60 miles plus.

I am grateful. I just miss my baby.

Gratefulness comes in the form of this old and slow (i.e. decrepit and cumbersome) laptop from my hubby's work.

Otherwise, I would be dead in the water.

What would I do with all my "free" time?

Time spent pouring over other people's blogs,

paying bills,

perusing blogs,

researching curriculum,

reading blogs,

looking up stuff on Wikipedia,

commenting on blogs,

online classes,

blog, blog, blog.

I think I might have a problem.

God might be trying to tell me something.

I think I better listen up.

Miracle Man

Five weeks old.

Such a somber little man.

Halfway to now.

He is my miracle man.

I sneezed.

He said, "Bless you."

My eyes got teary.

He responded.

Appropriately.

He knew what to do.

And what to say.

His beginnings were tough.

A lot to overcome.

No eye contact for months.

Slow healing on the inside.

I got my first real hug just a few months ago.

Developmental testing today.

We have come so far and still have a ways to go.

But God does miracles.

And he is one.

Toilet Tales - The Final Chapter?

Is this the end of saga?

I cannot say.

Now we have THREE new toilets.

Two are the same and one is different.

Aren't they beautiful?

Due the unfortunate demise of the plunging commode, and after the first plugging, my wonderful husband sat around with his coffee buddy and actually calculated the amount of water we would save PER FLUSH with a new throne! When you have 11 people, I believe that is significant. Besides, he opened the water bill and was surprised. We will wait with baited breath for the arrival of the next water bill in about three months.

Cora's Turn

I suppose everyone should get a birthday or adoption day post. I am a little behind. They just seem to happen all the time, birthdays I mean. Cora turned 9 in September. It also happened to be the one year anniversary of Micah's adoption. Yes, all on the same day. It was special! This year, it was a great discussion point with Trey who insisted that he was adopted and we gently explained that he was not adopted, YET! So now that he is a little older, he seems to sort of grasp the concept, but not really. I was wondering how that would go with the little ones since they have always been here, yet have contact with their birthmother. Each of their stories is so different, yet the same. Honestly, so many are adopted now that it is a fact of life around here.

Back to Cora's birthday:
She had that smile on her face!

She and Grace decorated the cake!

Micah seems to like hats, but that's another post.
Micah, you have been a Peterson for a whole year!

I think it is so funny that they are mesmerized by the fire.

Happy birthday girl!

Blow, baby, blow!

Waiting for cake and ice cream.

The balloon dance.

Another wonderful celebration.

Can't I Be Normal?

Sometimes I just want to be normal.

What in the world do I mean when I use that word "normal"?

Accepted?

Like everyone else?

Kids in public school?

Two kids, a house, and a dog?

Having friends with kids the same ages?


Sometimes life is just plain hard. Very hard.

Being normal would mean:

Not listening to the "call".

Turning away from mega-mom-hood!

Not growing in Christ through the hard times.

Missing out on the multitude of blessings that God has planned for us.

Being oblivious to the pain and suffering in our community and our world.

As hard as life is, normal would be harder because then I would not be storing up treasures in heaven.

And you know what? In spite of me, my kids are happy. They truly are. They are learning to be secure and loved and cherished. They are learning boundaries and building relationships.

It is pictures and days like these that make me smile, that give me hope, that help me through the sometimes lonely and often times hard places.

Children are a gift from the Lord, no doubt about it.

Playing prairie girls and building forts.

Erika's fort in the woods.

Very creative and self-made.

Welcome to the Kloey and Cora's domain.

They build with what they find using nails and rocks for hammers.

They have quite a compound.

Cora made this horse.

Kloey has her own horse.

Micah is allowed to visit.

Three Things:

1) I am blessed.

2) My kids know how to play!

3) I probably wouldn't like "normal" anyway.