Connect The Dots

Created for Care

2012-01-25T21:19:00.001-08:00

Tomorrow, thanks to a willing daddy, a helpful grandma (the twins) and a fun aunt (big sister) . . .I'll be heading to spend my weekend at the Created for Care retreat (child free! : ) ).

Created for care is a retreat inspired by adoptive moms for adoptive and foster care moms, mom-to-be and orphan advocates. It was created to provide a place of rest and refreshment for the adoptive and foster care communities amidst what is often an emotional, exhausting, and long! journey.

I'll be honest . .. when I first signed up for it last september, part of me wondered about it. I wondered if I should go with this long of a wait still ahead of us. I was going alone . . .and I wondered how that would go. Yet I really felt like it was important for the time and with God filling in the details, signed up.

Yet while we're being honest?

It's been a hard few weeks at our house. Mommy has been tired. Children have been stretching. Life's had a few curve balls. And our wait? That seems to be growing longer at times more often than growing shorter.

I love to look back to september and believe that God knew all of that.

He knew how much I'd need a weekend of rest. He knew I needed a perspective shift. He knew I needed to step away from me and closer to Him.

If there is one thing I have learned about this adoption journey?

It's that it is really easy for my world to become small. When there isn't much news, when there isn't much movement, and when life just seems hard, our natural inclination is to focus on waiting for that "something" new.

Like any waiting stage in life, it's easy to want to focus on that "someday."

Yet God has clearly said that "someday" is not now.

So what I love about the heart of Created to Care is that even while it's for the adoptive community, it is about bringing the heart of a mommy back to the Creator. It's remembering the bigger picture. . . .and while we do that, helping equip and strengthen momma's to mother our children where ever they may be today.

I've commented before that there are moments the reality of how long we still have to wait that totally catch me by surprise and take my breath away. That's true.

We started this process a year ago this past november fully thinking there was a chance we might welcome our child home this year.

But God.

Several have asked me lately and I'm preparing my heart to wait as much as another two years. I pray it's less but have to trust God to write this journey and that it will be right.

I'm seeing the wisdom in His timing, even when it's hard sometimes. I'm learning the stretching and at time, painful molding that waiting is and the beauty in finding my satisfaction in Him.

Learning.

In BSF this year, we've been studying Acts.

One of the real truths that has been hammered home is that as we respond to God's call on our lives, we need to be prepared for tribulation and trial as satan attacks that call on our life.

I'd love to live a life that with every time I responded "yes" to God, the path was clear sailing and His favor was poured on to my life.

It's easy to ask for that, look for that and desire for that if I'm being honest.

But God's shown me how much that is a lie from satan . . .that I have believed it more often than I care to admit. Yet it isn't biblical.

His eternal reward is promised.

Yet a smooth life as a Christian? That is not.

The book of Acts is such a testimony of that.

As the apostles responded to God's call to spread the gospel, they encountered so much suffering, so many obstacles and seemingly setbacks.

Yet they did not question if they should continue. They did not ask if it was worthy it (they knew it was!).

I love the results.

Time and time again, because of the persecution, supposed setbacks and change of routes, God was glorified and the gospel was spread as a result.

People found Jesus as they saw a God who was bigger than circumstances.

God has shown me that I can not allow satan to discourage me with doubts about our journey or how it's going to work out. In fact, He's showing me that I need to take the offense and equip myself with His strength and His word.

That's a huge prayer of mine as this journey stretches out in front of us and that's definitely a prayer request of mine that I can be prepared to stand strong against the discouragement in our journey still ahead.

I want to continue to look up and out instead of in.

That is going to only get harder.

Yet as I've studied this in BSF, I have to admit, I've often thought about the slow downs that have happened within the Ethiopia adoption program and seen parallels.

At times, it seems like for every two steps forwards the program makes, there is one step back.

Children are waiting, momma's are hurting, and there seems to be this gap between the two.

None of it seems to makes sense.

Yet amidst it all?

Families are changing too.

Moms are being refined.

Children are growing and parameters are being changed so that more special needs children are finding families and more older children are finding families.

Families in the adoption process are praying for the Ethiopia program like I believe it's never been prayed for before.

Families are becoming advocates for other adoptive communities.

Families already paper ready are available for other waiting children that may need a home with simple modifications (well as simple as adoption paperwork ever is).

And dare I even say that even occasionally, birth families are being reunited as real life circumstances change?

Through it all, God's faithfulness is being shared with every trial, roadblock and extra days encountered.

His name is being spread and we learning He is enough.

It's easy to look at the apostle's journeys in Acts and so clearly see God moving amidst trials. I have to believe satan attacked them in the same ways. Yet they continued to respond to God's call on their lives regardless.

So that's my prayer for this weekend and in the months (or years!) ahead.

That despite the incredible women and friends I may encounter this weekend. . .

Regardless of the things I learn, speakers I hear or lessons taught. . .

That I can turn my eyes back to my Creator and find that rest in Him.

And call me crazy?

But I don't even think my kids will miss me while I'm gone. : )

two more . . .

2012-01-20T11:24:00.000-08:00

Ordinary Hero added two more items today to their store . . .

Military Hat

and Black Baseball Hat

New Ordinary Hero Items!

2012-01-20T08:37:00.000-08:00

Ordinary Hero has added a bunch of really neat new items to their store. . .just in time for Valentine's Day!

My absolutely new kid favorite (the twin's birthdays are in march . . just saying : ) )

Kids Royal Blue Zip Hoodie

Super comfy and super cute

(does run a size small they're saying)

Unisex White Basic Tee

(they added it in Mocha too)

This red slouchy pullover (a lightweight sweatshirt) is my valentine's day present. : )

SUPER soft and love the more relaxed fit and lighter weight. Order this a size up as well. Mine even stays on my shoulders for the same price. Who knew?! : )

Gray Pullover Hoodie

Super soft and with a great fit (or so they say : ) )

and comes in red too!

They've added the option of donating a donkey or half a donkey for children in Africa. They actually take the food donations themselves on one of their many mission trips to Ethiopia each year. Pretty neat.

They've also added these super cute long sleeved "I'm gonna change the world" shirts in both red and black for either kids or toddlers.

Ordinary Hero will donate 40% of your purchase to our adoption (straight to our agency!) when you select my name under affiliates!

It's SNOWING!

2012-01-17T13:31:00.001-08:00

To say that our girls were excited for the first good layer of snow around here to play in?

Might be an understatement!

bowling

2012-01-17T13:25:00.000-08:00

Last week I got to go with Ava on a field trip to watch her bowl for the first time. It's so funny so watch a class of 4 and 5 year olds hang out in this way . .. and to see the sad reality that 90% of them could tie or beat me (although for the record, I don't use bumpers). : ) Not to mention watching them throw a bowling ball down a lane that is half as big as them.

Ready to go!

Let's just say there weren't any awards given for how fast the balls rolled down the lanes. But fun was had by all. : )

Not too shabby for beginning . . .

my favorite 3

2012-01-14T19:52:00.001-08:00

The other night, Ryan was working late. I had put the girls to bed and was relaxing downstairs. Ava had come down having troubles going to sleep and I'd given her permission to go read books in our bed as that will often relax her faster. The house was quiet (or so I thought).

All of a sudden, close to 30 - 40 minutes later, I heard a girl yell, "all done!" I was surprised but figured one of the twins hadn't been able to sleep, used the bathroom and need my help. As I headed upstairs and back to the bathroom, I glanced into our room and did a double take. A grinning Olivia smiled back at me, snuggled up next to Ava in our bed and reading books. Kate ran back there as soon as I was one helping her. I have no idea how long they had all been in there.

The three girls proceeded to lay in bed and quietly giggle in between Ava sweetly reading them books. It was one of those moments as a mom you can block out all those crazy and hairy moments that motherhood can often be (especially this time of year!). It was so fun just to listen to my girls enjoy their time together and thank God for the gift He's given me in them.

They were still awake in our bed when Ryan walked in the door much later that night. We finally kicked them out of our room to get ready for bed ourselves but because they had continued to love their time together so much, told them they could all have a sleep over in Ava's room if they settled down and went to sleep. When I finally went to check on them as I headed to bed, I found Olivia and Ava fast asleep in Ava's bed. Kate? Had walked herself back to her own room and her own bed. : )

Now if all moments in our house could be so sweet . . . : )

"Happy Birthday!"

2012-01-14T19:45:00.000-08:00

The other day the girls were busy playing downstairs as I set off on a cleaning frenzy upstairs. I came down to get the sweeper and mentioned in passing what a mess our basement was. I went back to work upstairs and didn't think anything of it.

About 20+ so minutes later, Ava came bounding upstairs telling me they had a surprise for me and I had to close my eyes and come downstairs to see. As I came down the stairs, they were waiting for me like this and gleefully singing, "Happy Birthday!"

The surprise?

A spotless basement. Mommy was more than thrilled it didn't matter it wasn't my birthday!

Now if only I could figure out a way to keep this game fun . . .

Michigan - part 1

2012-01-14T19:30:00.000-08:00

We headed up to Michigan to spend New Year's with my family. Ava has told me different times she would like to see my wedding dress. My sisters and I got talking and we all went back and put on our dresses to surprise our kids. It was pretty funny to see the older girls reactions to styles and how they've changed in a "few" years. : ) Auburn and Sophie put on old bridesmaid dresses from their mom's wedding to then.

Ava (wearing my veil) and Mommy

Then Auburn went and put on my mom's wedding dress. We won't make too many comments on how she thought her grandma's wedding dress . . .was cuter than her mom's. : )

Ava had a lot of fun with it all. : )

The next morning, we celebrated our family's christmas.

Alisa and her family

Our little family for now.

Amy & her fam

Gpa and Gma

All the grandkids - feel like these all were just babies. Does that make me old?

Reading the Christmas Story - can you tell my girls were excited to be with their cousins?

In each of our stockings, my mom had given us girls copies of some of my grandma's old recipes. Those will be special to have and make with my own kids.

Brynne gave Ava her own "manicure" kit. To say it has been loved and used seems like an understatement. . . .as Ava now tells me I have to pay "real money" to have her paint my nails.

Addy got Olivia a new play doh set!

It didn't take long for a nail salon to be set up. : )

Michigan - part 2

2012-01-14T19:06:00.000-08:00

After waiting and waiting for some snow, the girls were thrilled to see some snow at my parents when we got there. It wasn't much but it was enough to get them down the hill. They suited up on afternoon quick to get some fun in - it was a good thing we did! A day later, it rained and all the snow was gone.

Can you tell Olivia was excited?!

3 girls bundled up and ready to go!

Olivia and Kate heading down the hill

"Cheese!"

My sisters and I all worked as waitresses at a local restaurant. It closed just this last weekend so we all headed in for one last meal at "The Family Buggy." I can't begin to count the number of meals our family ate there growing up between all of us girls working there (mom and dad used to joke they had to go eat there to see me between sports, working and homework). It was so packed with others coming in that we had to split up to eat.

The boys plus Olivia. She had a ball!

The rest of the girls

Cousins!

My girls get wired when with people they love. Add the hour time difference and my girls were up late far too many nights. Aunt Amy went in and snuggled and read books one night.

On New Year's Eve, a big group of us headed out to go ice skating. Last year when we went, Ava was not a fan. However, she was super excited to go this year and we decided to see how it would go.

Our little girl LOVED it. She was such a trooper, kept such a good attitude even when she slipped and by the end of the hour, even was skating little bits by herself without the walker (those things are great!!). She was so proud of herself and it was fun to watch.

Ava and Daddy after skating . ...

It was a super fun hour of skating . . .until in the last 5 minutes, my mom decided to go around one more time with Ava and Ryan. I was skating right in front of them watching and before I could say anything, another lady and her little girl bumped into my mom just right into the back of knee and totally threw her off balance. Long story short? My mom spent part of her new year's eve in the er and a fractured ankle. Thankfully she's doing well and healing.

Later that night we celebrated a couple big birthdays (literally, ha ha)

My brother-in-law, Ken, turned 40 this month.

And my Dad turned 60.

Cole bringing out the cake

Ava helping Grandpa blow it out

Every one else had to head home sunday and we were staying until monday. So Ava soaked in having Grandpa all to herself to play LOTS of horses, rodeo and farm.

Yet one of many late night snacks of cereal at Grandma's house.

The crutches were bothering my mom so they brought up a wheelchair from the basement just to help her move around the house a little better. Kate and Olivia thought it was great.

Ava and Grandma snuggling and reading books.

Doesn't this just look like trouble?

"Christmas" with Grandma-Great

2012-01-14T14:03:00.000-08:00

Since we were heading up to michigan when the rest of Ryan's family was celebrating Christmas, we stopped by Ryan's Grandma's home to have our own little "Christmas." The girls enjoyed getting to eat pizza and cookies, opening presents, playing Uno and spending time with them. We miss them when they head back to Florida!

Grandma Great and Papa Mel

This is one way to make sure you don't miss a minute of "Little House on the Prairie!" : )

Our family christmas!

2012-01-14T13:36:00.000-08:00

It was super fun to get to get to enjoy Christmas Day at home this year. While it felt so sad not to get to be with our own church family at all on christmas (we were worried Olivia and Ava were about to get strep too since Kate had just gotten sick the day before), we got to celebrate the birth of Jesus in the quiet at home.

The girls and Daddy singing "Away in the manger"

Singing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus.

Ready to open stockings!

Daddy had a present Ava picked out just for him in his stocking: a little ornament that said, "World's best Dad" : )

These two just make me smile: in case you didn't notice, they may have gotten some gum in their stocking (amazing what half a day on medicine can do - huh?!)

Ava had made a present and card for Ryan and I at preschool and insisted it stay under the tree until Christmas.

The beautiful christmas decoration she made for us!

Olivia and Kate got a toy washing machine

Ava was quite excited with her kitty shirt she got

And Ava got our other black friday buy: a leapster!

Me trying on my cozy new fleece from Ryan. Will LOVE this for winter trips to the gym.

We had one extra special present under the tree this year: a present for our baby. I love the words of this book and how it address the waiting and hoping for our child.

Daddy showing off a new sweater

Ava coloring from her new art pad

Waiting for christmas dinner: the family chose homemade calzones with PINK lemonade. Not too hard to please! : )

Ava checking out her leapster. Kate was a little intrigued. : )

"Cheese!"

Love these two.

Ava and Daddy made and put on a puppet (and Ariel) show for us. It was "Little Red Riding Hood." Fitting, don't you think?

Ready for Cheetos and a movie!

Christmas #2!

2012-01-14T13:21:00.000-08:00

Right before Christmas, we headed back up to Ryan's parent's to celebrate just with the immediate family. Despite Kate coming down with strep (yuck), it was a fun time getting to just relax and be together.

Waiting for mom to finish the delicious prime rib we had!!

1, 2, 3, 4 . .. Ready or not! Can you find Olivia? : )

Ava took a turn hiding.

We were all spending the night so we decided to open up stockings that evening.

Our only family shot

Everyone ready "christmas morning" to open presents

Grandpa and Grandma and the girls

This year, Grandpa started something new. He came down and took each girl out by herself to pick out their present. The girls had such a fun time getting to spend the one on one time with Grandpa and loved getting to open their presents.

Here's Olivia with one of her picks, a new elephant!

Kate opened up some of hers . . .a new moose : )

and some horses of her own!

Ava was thrilled with her new horses (AND a unicorn too)

Aunt Callie surprised the girls each with their own princess dolls. They've been loved and played with LOTS since then.

Ava and Ariel

Olivia and her sleeping beauty

Kate with her beloved Belle. Thanks Aunt Callie!

Then Kate and Olivia got another surprise, a barn for their horses (this was all a big deal since up until now, Ava has "owned" all the horses in our house). Kate was starting to feel too crummy at this point, but Ava was quite thrilled with their gift too. : )

Speaking of my Kate . . . .poor girl. No fun being sick at Christmas but it seems at the ages of our kids, almost always one is anymore! I was thankful the other girls didn't get it.

Ava and Olivia having fun playing with the new kitchen appliances from Uncle David and Aunt Tara.

and with that we headed home to get ready for our own little family christmas.

Grandpa and Grandma's House!

2012-01-14T13:15:00.000-08:00

The girls got to go spend the afternoon and night at Grandpa and Grandma's house as mommy got ready for a progressive dinner at our house. As always, they had such a fun time. We're blessed to have a grandpa's and grandma's that are such a blessing in our girls' lives . .. and ours!

Fun coloring and creating

Ava's snowmen

Hmm . . .

Eating their yummy snowflake snacks they made with Grandma

They were excited to open up some new cozy jammies a little early!

Getting ready to sleep down by the christmas tree with Grandma!

Christmas #1

2012-01-14T13:07:00.001-08:00

Ready for massive blog catch up?! : )

We celebrated our first christmas of the season a little early with Ryan's extended family. It was great to be with them and especially good to be able to spend some time with Ryan's, "Grandpa Jack" as our girls call him.

Kate was Grandpa Jack's buddy for quite a while during lunch!

Ava and Olivia busy playing bingo

Gift time!

Olivia and Grandpa checking our her new puppy purse - it's been a huge hit!

Ava had fun playing with Tiger for a bit when he came to peek at all the activity through the sliding door.

Kate called in her winning lottery ticket. : ) Not really . . .

In MY stocking, I got this little loufa and bath soap. Well, every time we've been at the store for about a solid month, Ava kept asking me to buy her one. So when mommy saw these in her stocking, I had to give them to my delighted little girl. She was quite pleased!!

Kate and Olivia both LOVE their cousin Zach. Here's Kate getting a horsey ride.

Olivia and Annika protecting the penny stash for bingo.

Merry Christmas!!!

2011-12-25T06:36:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas from our house to yours!

(can you tell which 1 of my 3 is sick?! )

We came home Christmas Eve to one of the best kind of Christmas Presents we could receive this year (besides that first one years ago), december numbers!! I was so surprised as I had expected to have to wait until next week.

So what a fun day to share with all of you - especially since there has been forward movement AND that I know these numbers are already out of date due to a couple of referrals that went out the end of last week. We love to get out of date numbers. :)

Girl: 104

Boy: 80.

Right on the verge of moving out of two numbers I'm ready to put behind us: the 100's and the 80's! : )

I love being able to celebrate Christmas this year knowing that while I can thank God for the family He has already placed in my life, I can thank Him for orchestrating the story of our family still to come. We have so much to thank Him for.

“Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:10-11

Because sometimes, it's the memory . . .

2011-12-24T21:08:00.000-08:00

Our Christmas Program at church was this past sunday. Ava was super excited for it and did such a great job. I sent Ryan downstairs sunday morning to snap a few pictures quick of the girls in their christmas dresses. Let's just say . . .sometimes, it's the memory that counts, right?

So for your viewing pleasure . . .

Merry Christmas! : )

You know it's time for snow when . . .

2011-12-24T12:01:00.000-08:00

When on their own, your kids find their snow gear and start pretend sledding inside for hours.

Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow!!!!

Art Time

2011-12-23T12:49:00.000-08:00

Ava LOVES to paint. Any art project is fun but painting is always a big hit. My mom had found a kit with two horses to paint so I waited for a quiet afternoon with the twins both napping (ie, it took a few weeks : ) ) to surprise Ava with this fun activity just for her. She was thrilled. We promised Grandma pictures so here they are!

Thanks for the fun project Grandma!

Christmas Candy

2011-12-23T12:37:00.000-08:00

The girls love to help me make Christmas candies to give as gifts and this year was no exception. Was is exceptional is to think that my girls unwrapped 4 bags of rolos with only eating 1 each! : )

A Kate grin

My sweet Olivia

One tray almost ready for the oven . . .

I don't have a picture of the finished products but this very kid friendly (and yummy!) recipe can be found in this Taste of Heaven Cookbook that benefits Lifesong for Orphans!

Swimming Lessons!

2011-12-23T12:27:00.000-08:00

Ava had her last lesson with our favorite swim teacher a couple weeks ago. She has been such a blessing to us - walked Ava through a very long road with swimming. It's been incredible too see Ava blossom in the water these last few months and just take off. I was thankful that this last time was no different and my girl got to just enjoy her hard fought confidence in the water.

Swimming under water!

One last jump in!

Kate and Olivia got to take their first lessons on their own during this session too. It was only a short session, but good to start getting them comfortable in the water too.

Taking a ride on the "boat"

Olivia practicing her kicks

Kate's turn kicking

Girl Night Out

2011-12-22T20:03:00.000-08:00

For a special Christmas outing, I took Ava to a local Christmas show here in town. It was a fun excuse for her to wear a "fancy dress" and for us to have some fun together.

All dressed up and ready to go!

One of the show's leads was this adorable little girl who I would guess to be around 5 years old. She did such a great job and was just too cute. Ava made sure we took a picture of her to show Daddy.

The annual "daddy/daughter" dance they do. Ryan hasn't offered to do this with Ava yet?!

One of my favorite parts? Their nativity scene. They sang one of my favorite Christmas songs this year, Hallelujah (Light has Come). The words of this song are so beautiful. You can listen to it here.

Intermission

Even Dan Brady made a guest appearance. : )

This little girl number was too cute - Ava really liked their outfits : )

Dancing Dolls

And the end number!

Always love the chance for one on one time with my girls!

Christmas Cookies!

2011-12-22T20:02:00.000-08:00

The girls were super excited to head to Grandma's to make Christmas Cookies this year. It was a tradition I grew up having with my own Grandma and it was one of my favorite days each year. It's fun to think of having that for our own girls to grow up with.

Grandma and Kate rolling out some dough

Ava was my handy helper

Olivia's turn

Ready to bake!

Grandma's helpers?!

Don't you want her in your kitchen?! : )

I really had thought the frosting would be my girls favorite part. And while Kate and Olivia both loved diligently frosting one cookie, that was enough for them and they were off to play. Cutting the cookies out was by far their favorite part.

Kate frosting her cookie

Ava, on the other hand, LOVED decorating her cookies (I think she just liked it all).

The proud artist

And her finished cookies

Grandpa came home from work and was an instant hit when he had the kids help him set up the train around the Christmas Tree.

Braden was with us for the day. Both Olivia and he were hilarious plugging their ears for much of the play. Kate was just having fun.

Buddies!

A chocolate covered pretzel makes for a happy little guy.

November Numbers REALLY Late .. .

2011-12-22T15:55:00.000-08:00

While we didn't get our November numbers until the end of last month - I just never got around to taking a picture and posting it. For our November numbers, we knew from the little movement that had happened that we wouldn't see much movement that month. I'll try to describe a little how the "list" works.

The list you'll see us post numbers for is slightly inflated at this point. For ahead of us are all the people who completed their paperwork before us. Say, for instance, a family is open to bringing home a child between the ages of 0 - 5 of either gender. So they will be put on the list for both boys and girls. If they receive the referral of a 3 yr old boy, they come off of both the boy and girl list and we would move a spot forward on each list. So while we're at the back of the list, we often move places forward for children that wouldn't be referred to us.

For instance, we currently are only approved for a child between 0 and 12 months. So once we're at the top of the list (say, #3), most likely, the people in front of us are waiting for the same parameter of child we are and our number wouldn't change with the referral of a 3 yr old boy (as it would be someone with larger parameters behind us). I'm not sure if that makes sense at all . . .but hopefully it helps a little to make sense of it all.

So right now, there are "bubbles" in the list in front of us as families are on multiple lists (like us!). As referrals go out, those "bubbles" begin to disappear and movement usually will happen slower.

However, over the past couple of months, referrals have slowed down for a number of reasons.

The first is the most obvious: that Ethiopia has slowed down dramatically the number of cases they are processing a day. But there's been other factors.

Court shuts down in Ethiopia for an entire month each fall. So during that month, cases can not continue to be processed. We usually anticipate a couple slower months as the court reopens and starts to catch up on cases that have been on pause.

In addition, there were several cases within our agency that went through several months of upheaval and our agency, appropriately so, invested much of their time to making sure those 6 children who were already referred were able to move forward and be united with their families. Praise God, the last of those families are in Ethiopia right now bringing their children home for Christmas.

All of these details impact our agency's ability to prepare the necessary paperwork for new referrals (which involves a lot of due diligence and time on their part). Again, all appropriately so!

But there are other instances that affect our numbers as well.

There obviously are families ahead of us on each list with their own set of parameters. While in the waiting stage, families can choose to modify their parameters.

So say a couple previously was only on boys list, and after much prayer, decide they no longer want to specify gender and want to be open to bringing home a girl as well. When this change has been made to their home study, they will be added to the girls list according to the date they first completed their dossier. If this was before we completed our dossier, it will bump us back a spot. This is happening every month and usually there are enough referrals that we still only know forward progress.

The last reason we might move back a spot happens very rarely: if a family loses a referral for any reason. Again, this is a rare occurrence and always heart breaking when it does happen. However, there was a family from our agency that experienced this last month.

So to try and make a VERY long story shorter? All those factors occurring in one month made for a disappointing month for many. Our girl number didn't change at all and our boy number actually moved back a spot.

However, I loved how our case worker encouraged us in her email last month with these words:

"It is my hope that even when these numbers do not change as you might hope, you are able to see that you are still progressing, moving one day closer to your child. "

There's a lot of truth to her words.

The numbers really don't change how fast our child is joining our family. They're a helpful way of knowing where we are in our journey and anticipating (but not predicting) how much longer we have to wait.

It sure is fun when we know big steps forward as I'd be lying if I didn't say that the reality of our waiting and how long we still have has really been hitting home lately.

But the step backwards doesn't change God's plan for our family.

The step backwards doesn't change the fact that it is He that has brought us here and who will continue to bring our child to us at just the right time.

So without further ado . . .here were our November numbers (with hopes that I'll be posting our December numbers VERY soon):

Girl: 108

Boy: 83.

some food for thought . . .

2011-12-17T18:07:00.000-08:00

Going into sunday and Christmas week, I loved this post:

http://www.babeofmyheart.com/joseph-is-broken/

Preschool Program

2011-12-16T12:41:00.000-08:00

Ava had her christmas program for her preschool the other week. She was super excited for it coming up but we had wondered how our often shy child would do. For other programs, once on stage, nervousness has set in and singing becomes hard even though it's something she loves to do. So Ryan and I had just prayed for courage and that she could enjoy doing something that she loves. . . then waited to see what the day would hold.

My little girl totally surprised and impressed me. She happily waved walking in, got up on stage without hesitation and very sweetly and willingly sang and said every word. I was so proud of her. It was neat as a mom just to see her enjoy it and not be so overwhelming by event.

Singing with the 3 yr old class

Then it was time for just her class to sing

Sneaking a look at Daddy

Singing her songs

A very proud little girl afterwards

Then she began directing the shots : )

Our family - I wasn't prepared for how old all the girls look in this shot. Growing up!

Ava was thrilled that Gpa and Gma P got to come watch too. Gpa even made the drive from work. Thanks for making the effort!

And the fun surprise was that Grandma Great was back from Florida and got to come as well.

4 generations - pretty special.

mommy and Ava

Then one last shot with her fabulous teachers

Our Christmas Tree

2011-12-16T12:24:00.000-08:00

I still can hardly believe I'm writing this . . .but we got a fake tree this year.

Ryan was the one who introduced me to a real Christmas tree and I admit he had kind of won me over to the smell and experience of it. I had long come to the conclusion that it was something we would always do.

Well my man is just always full of surprises. And surprise me he did when he told me he thought we should go get a fake one this year.

It made sense, a one time cost, no sweeping up needles and one less errand during the holiday season.

So I was surprised when I got a little sad to miss out on picking it out and the aroma filling my home.

But the practicality quickly won out, and I woke up black friday morning and got a great deal on a tree we loved before blissfully climbing back into bed to sleep some more (in a kid free home!).

Then I happily plugged my scentsy "wintertime" scent into my kitchen outlet and we started decorating. Ahh, simplicity.

I like it. : )

Kate hanging ornaments

Olivia's turn. Tell me I'm not the only mom who had to bite her tongue at her overloaded, kid-reachable, front of the tree!? : ) Such fun memories.

Ava and Daddy hard at work

The finished tree with my 3 favorite girls.

And with that, I'm finally done with November. . . on December 13th. Kind of late . . .but the right choice for last month. : ) Now on to December fun!

Thanksgiving "staycation"

2011-12-15T12:37:00.000-08:00

Warning: long post ahead. I probably should have split it up but didn't feel like taking the time. : )

Over thanksgiving, we got to enjoy a little two day "staycation." We had already planned to use a free night at a local hotel with the girls. But my parents were able to come join us for 2 days - and it turned into a fun-filled two days.

My parents actually took the girls with them to the hotel thanksgiving evening. So what did Ryan and I do with a rare and blissful night on our own without a single plan or place to be? Ventured out for our first ever "black friday sale!"

I was a little unprepared for the reality of black friday shopping. I knew it would be busy - but really had no idea. We went to toys r us and I quickly found out I hadn't adequately dressed to stand in line behind the store for an hour. But motherhood is all about improvising -right? No socks? No problem! Just use your gloves. : ) We had gone for one specific item (funny enough, for a BIRTHDAY present for the twins : ) ) and then a few extra bonuses for the girls (crayola was buy one, get TWO free. Hello stocking stuffers for my coloring obsessed little girls). So we were able to get in and out of the crazy. It was fun to do once but I could not fathom doing it "just to shop" or all night. We were exhausted by one trip and still were home and warm before 11. : )

Every year my girls build gingerbread houses with my parents. They love to do it and it's fun to see them get more detailed every year.

Grandpa and Ava

Olivia busy working

Kate roofing her house

Ta daa!!

Olivia's finished house

And last but not least, Ava's!

Then we headed out to join them the second night at the hotel. We walked to our restaurant and walked around the circle a little bit. It was a cool but clear night.

Ava and Daddy

Gpa and Gma and the girls

Ava wanted a sister shot

Ava and her beloved "trees" (story to follow)

And what better to eat on a cold night than frozen yogurt?! : )

Then it was back to the hotel for a movie and popcorn (speaking of, if any one is looking for a fun family movie to watch and has little girls, the "Eloise at Christmastime" movie is super cute)

Snuggles with Daddy

So I mentioned a story coming?

Well my girls LOVE them a hotel stay. As in, get so excited, stay up 'til midnight, excited. The first night at the hotel, I had warned my parents of this. The twins managed to drift off around 11:30 if I remember right but Ava was still going strong. Mom and Dad were lying in bed and Ava in hers and they thought things were finally settling down for the night. Right around midnight, all of a sudden, Ava drew back the curtain by her bed and gasped with delight as she discovered she had the perfect view of the lit up circle of trees. It was a little girl's dream come true and she was convinced, I think, they were there just for her. : )

Brushing teeth

Ava and Olivia

My Kate

the girls!

Hmm, kind of works for a family shot I guess.

Then it was off to the museum.

Pizza time!

Ordering from the menu

future waitress?

Painting "on grandma"

Some Olivia cheese

A Puppet Show

Then the real show began as Olivia took the mike

sisterly duet

Kate was the percussion

and then she decided to join the fun too

Then on to a little farm work

It flew by but was such a fun break before the business of life began again.

School Time!

2011-12-14T12:24:00.000-08:00

Just a peek into the classroom . . .

and it's dutiful students. : )

christmas lights

2011-12-14T12:16:00.000-08:00

Ryan came to me this year and said he wanted to outline the front of our house in lights. It's something we've often commented in passing each year that it would be so neat to do but I never considered it that big of a deal since our roofline goes a little high. So when Ryan brought it up, I told him, "go for it . . .but please don't hurt yourself trying."

So one afternoon he set out to begin. After realizing the man was trying to put up lights, up the ladder, on his own, I headed out to hold the ladder for him. I'd like to keep him around. Plus I'm just nice like that. : )

But as the reality of the height starting sinking in, he decided I wasn't quite going to cut it. So reinforcements were called in.

The girls were quite happy with Daddy's decision.

It meant Grandpa showed up to save the day!

I'm still trying to decide if he's half crazy or just amazing. Maybe a bit of both? : ) I kept telling him everyone was probably driving by thinking, "that poor man whose wife has him up there putting up all those lights." I considered putting up a big sign that said, "this was HIS idea." : )

However, the end results were pretty fun. He did a great job!

Thanks for your hard work Hun (grandpa too)!!

Any offers to come help him take them down?!? . . . : )

Breakfast with Santa

2011-12-13T12:04:00.000-08:00

Last month, we got to go eat "Breakfast with Santa" at our area Festival of Trees to support a great children's agency in our area.

While all my girls will quickly tell you "santa is pretend" they still love the fun of it and were super excited to go and spend the morning with him.

It was a fun morning as a family. Here is Santa and Mrs. Claus reading a story to everyone.

Kate and Daddy listening closely.

Ava was more excited about something else, though, than santa.

A local ballet company danced some excepts from "The Nutcracker." My little girl was blissfully happy to see ballerinas dancing around the stage and kept telling me, "take a picture of HER mom!"

and Her!

AND HER!!! (I'll stop here to spare you : ) )

Then we got to spend some time enjoying the rest of the festival. Always a favorite? Face painting. Although this was the first time Kate and Olivia wanted their whole face done.

Ava and Daddy

Before we left, we got to visit Santa and Mrs. Clause ourselves. Olivia was not too sure. . .

Ava and her "prince charming"

Balloon Animals - our 2 horses

and "my monkey"

the last time?

2011-12-13T11:00:00.000-08:00

The other night I had one of those moments as a mom you just want to capture for fear you'll miss it forever.

Ava had been "scared" that night, and so we told her she could fall asleep in our bed. As I came upstairs to move her to her bedroom, I just had to stop and pause. Carebear was tucked in beside her; beaten up, loved on and frayed, but still there. He's been a faithful companion for 4 years.

Sometimes Care Bear slips to the side.

He isn't quite so necessary.

If he's forgotten while we're gone overnight, his companion sleeps ok with out him.

He spends more time by himself during the days and waits contently to be found and snuggled once more.

And yet? He keeps hanging in the picture; a comfort with anything new, unknown or "just cause."

But what about this all made me stop to catch my breath?

It was the thought that one of these days, it's going to be her last snuggle with Carebear . . .and I probably won't know.

One of my favorite children's books is by Karen Kingsbury and it's called "Let me hold you longer." I don't even own it - yet from reading it one time, I fell in love with it.

In it, the author encourages parents not to just savor the firsts, but savor the many "lasts" that we often don't even realize until they are gone.

The truth is?

Time keeps marching on. . .and my baby girl is growing.

and that fact is enough to take my breath away every single time.

My Kate

2011-12-12T17:42:00.000-08:00

My Kate is a one of a kind.

Deliberate, stubborn and decisive on some things. Laid back and easy about others. Not always predictable which one she will be. : )

But boring? That she is NOT.

My Kate loves clothes.

She loves to CHANGE clothes. OFTEN.

Anytime we go somewhere, if I'm not watching, as soon as we are home she'll be halfway up the stairs telling herself, "I have to go change!"

If she ever disappears while playing, I can almost always assume she's busy finding a new outfit upstairs.

Nap time? Doesn't happen so much anymore. She's too busy coming up with a variety of clothing combinations while her sister often sleeps.

We've gone out in some more than interesting combinations.

I've just keep claiming that "mismatch" is really in these days anyways!

As much as it may exasperate me at time with the laundry and clothes out of the dresser, I have to admit, I kind of look forward to seeing what new combination her latest outfit will be. Yes, one thing is for sure. . .

Life with this little girl?

Never boring.

(and fittingly enough, yes, her t-shirt reads, "Being cute gets me out of trouble")

one more party

2011-12-12T17:37:00.000-08:00

While we did celebrate Ryan's 30th a little belated with his family . . .it wasn't THIS belated. : ) I've just been to busy to stop and upload photos. : ) It was a fun night with family.

Ryan's aunt made Ryan a rice krispie "treat" molded into the number 30. Then she had thirty, one dollar bills, stuck into it as a little birthday surprise. It was so thoughtful and a fun surprise.

Happy 30th Babe!

Ava and Daddy

lazy days at home

2011-12-12T17:25:00.000-08:00

Every so often our family grows by one when a family friend, Braden joins us for the day. Braden has become one of the fam and our girls can't wait until it's a "Braden day!" It's been fun to have a little boy around here every so often too.

We love the excuse to stick around home more, play more and just to slow down on those days. Fair warning? If you surprise us with a visit on those days before lunch, you may be welcomed by us still in pj's. : )

Having fun painting

Drawing one of her many "princesses"

Cheese!

Dance party!

We're just glad there are finally boys at our balls

And a favorite game for all? Church!!

Singing . . .

Why is this girl seem so happy you ask?

Wouldn't you, too, if you had 3 faithful followers play according to your bidding?! I think I've already decided that one of her spiritual gifts may very well be administration.

FInally the winners. . .and some fun finds

2011-12-10T13:40:00.001-08:00

Did you think I wouldn't ever announce the winners from my Lifesong giveaway?!?

Yet I have them and I know you're dying to find out who won what. : )

But I had to share some fun recent finds of items Ordinary Hero has updated their store with (along with all their fun stuff already).

You might to read through them to find my winners. I'm sneaky like that. : )

Ordinary Hero has added this great 8 x 10 canvas. Seriously, I'm trying to find a way to justify it, as a spot in my office wall is calling out for this one. : ) Is it too early to buy myself an early mother's day present!? So far I've resisted but we shall have to see. Love. it.

This neat camera strap for my photo taking friends (they have a similar style crayon roll as well)

OK. So first winner of a copy of Kisses from Katie?

Sarah F!!!

Loved the red color of this tumbler .

Winner of the second Kisses From Katie book?

Lori S!

Ordinary Hero just added this charcoal burnout hoodie. I've heard raves about how comfy the ivory one was - now you can have the charcoal one too!

Winner of the 3rd Kisses from Katie book?

Lori S. again!(now you can gift one yourself : ))

Loved this drink tumbler

Not to leave the kids out. They added new toddler/youth shirts as well.

Winner of the 4th copy of Kisses from Katie?

Mindy A!

While they have several different necklace options (made by women in ethiopia!), I thought this one was so pretty.

Here's one of the two very fun picture frames they are currently selling

And now that I've made you look at all the new Ordinary Hero items?!?! : )

The winner of an Ordinary Hero item of choice is . . . .

Sarah F!!!

Just pop an email once you've made your choice (it doesn't have to be one of the new items) and I'll have it sent your way! : )

Thanks for being such a blessing to others and for helping support such a great ministry!!

**if you choose to make your own purchase from Ordinary Hero, please remember to select our name under "affiliate" for us to receive 40% of your purchase amount towards our own adoption costs. Thanks so much!

I haven't forgotten you . .

2011-12-09T05:57:00.001-08:00

But to say it's been a busy week is putting it mildly.

And today?

It's Christmas Cookie time.

And that beats blogging. : )

For the record?

While making your cookie dough, don't spill your container of sugar on your freshly scrubbed kitchen floor.

Just saying . . .

I'm full of helpful tips like that.

I promise to post winners this weekend!

My part: Lifesong Ethiopia

2011-11-29T13:30:00.000-08:00

Maybe one day I'll find a chunk of time big enough to catch up on all of our photos . . .but until then I've had an idea brewing in my mind and had to finally bring it to life.

For a while now, I've been brainstorming how to combine two of my favorite things:

and

Many of you are already familiar with Lifesong for Orphans. We love this ministry that not only has been a huge blessing to us in our own adoption journey but helps countless other adoptive families with their own financial hurdles to adopt. More importantly, they serve orphans all across the world with many incredible programs in numerous different countries

One program, Lifesong Ethiopia, is special to us for obvious reasons. Here's a little explanation, taken from Lifesong's website, that describes their program there.

"In Ziway, Ethiopia, children need an education to break free from gripping poverty. Public schools are lacking, so kids are left behind without the hope of an education or a future. Our current Lifesong School is not only giving hope, but also feeding 350 hungry children two meals each day. We have a critical need to build a 12 room expansion to the school. Please join with us to make a difference in a child’s life."

Here's the incredible part!

Lifesong has been offered a matching grant UP TO $130,000 from now through December 31st. This incredibly generous donation will help Lifesong expand their program to help meet the needs of even more children. I've seen what a blessing Lifesong is to so many and learned about many of their programs more specifically. I can't say enough about how deserving they are of our support.

Lifesong is offering a fabulous way to gift the teachers in your lives this year that I jumped at for our own family. How many Christmas mugs can they really use?! : )

Yes, I've now told every one of our teachers what they can expect for Christmas now.

You can read more about it here.

But I wanted to find a way to help spread the word.

So here's what I'm going to do (and we're operating on an honor system here : ) ).

I'm offering a few incentives to help YOU spread the word so Lifesong can try to maximize the full matching grant. There's no "minimum" amount - every dollar becomes TWO so every little bit helps. All you have to do is visit here to see how to make a donation. Just a reminder, if you're wanting to gift a teacher, they do request a minimum $10 donation.

For every donation you tell me you have made, I'll put your name in my "grand prize" drawing. That's one entry for each of you already! : ) You don't have to tell me how much and it can be $1, $20, a $1000 or more! : ) Every little bit helps.

For sharing about this opportunity on facebook, you get 2 entries.

For sharing about this opportunity on your own blog with a link, you get 3 entries.

For having someone else come to my blog and telling me they donated after hearing about this from you? You EACH get an entry. : )

Hopefully that all made sense!

Here's what I'm offering up:

4 copies of the book "Kisses from Katie." It's the story of a young girl who obeyed Jesus until it hurt and the people who were blessed as a result. Read it yourself and be changed. .. or give it away and impact the heart of someone you love. This book convicted, challenged and inspired me. Now THERE'S a good teacher's present: a donation card from Lifesong Ethiopia AND the book Kisses from Katie.

One item of your choice from the Ordinary Hero Store

What I love is that my giveaways each help support a great cause all of their own!

But here's my final commitment: for every single entry I get, I will donate my own additional dollar to Lifesong. It may be a lot or a little but I love that every dollar becomes two.

You have until midnight on Dec. 6th - one week!

So surprise me. . . : )

watch out Disney . . .

2011-11-16T21:20:00.001-08:00

These girls are already well practiced at posing with adoring fans.

The "big" reveal!

2011-11-04T06:30:00.000-07:00

So I suppose I should put Grandmas out of their misery? : )

You may remember I sweetly left you hanging with this photo?

One last reminder of Ava's long locks!

No more pony tail! Finishing the cut.

Mommy wasn't prepared for how grown up this little girl would look with short hair.

A back shot

So proud of her and how she chose to bless someone else (and I may admit that combing it has been MUCH more pleasant these last few days).

Now if mommy only handles it this well when it's HER turn.

Haicuts!

2011-11-03T11:02:00.000-07:00

We took all of girls to get hair cuts this past tuesday night. It was Kate and Olivia's first "salon" haircut and other than being very serious while their hair was being done, they did really well.

Olivia getting her trim

Kate's turn!

For Ava? Well let's just say we went in with more than just a trim in mind.

After talking for many months, Ava had decided she wanted to give her hair to "another little girl." She's been super excited to do it - here's one last picture of her long locks!

I wasn't sure what to expect when we actually went to do it. But my little girl amazed me. She popped right up into the chair, was answering the lady's questions and was calm as all get out.

About to say good bye to a good eight inches . . .

So do I have you wondering yet how it all turned out?!?!? : )

Come back tomorrow! (insert giggle on my part)

Trick or Treat!

2011-11-02T23:25:00.000-07:00

The girls were pretty excited by the time trick or treating rolled around!

One of the fun parts for Ava was that I bought her some makeup she could wear with her costume. She often begs to wear it and with the exception of a bit of blush or sparkles for a really special occasion, I always tell her she has to wait until she's big.

So I had talked to Ryan and decided to surprise her with this exception - she was so excited she slept with it the night before. We had a strict conversation that only mommy can put it on . .. and that Kate and Olivia are still too little. . . and that so is she for other days. So far, it's worked as I heard her echo it to Kate and Olivia herself. : )

Hitting our first house!

Kate and Olivia had no problems figuring out how this whole thing worked - they charmed our neighbors to the best of their abilities. : )

Me and my girls

Gpa and Gma stopped by to see the princesses and brought their own bag of treats. . .including an individual bag of Cheetos for each of the girls. A HUGE hit.

Happy Halloween!

Gpa and Olivia

Then Ava took up her post as "official" candy giver outer (is that an official term?!)

She stayed faithfully there the entire night, doling out the right amount of candy to each kid that came by. : )

Uncle David and Aunt Tara stopped by to see the girls too - I teased David if he had just come from work but I'll go ahead and say he may have modified the outfit a bit to emphasize the actuary part. : )

Beware the Cheetos monsters . . .it's a serious addiction around our house

Daddy and his girls . . .and their stashes

A happy Kate and her candy

Ava back at her post - she decided to sit inside for the last official 30 minutes.

Olivia shows up her stash

And with that, we were candied out until next year!

October Numbers!

2011-11-02T14:30:00.000-07:00

We were excited to start our weekend, this past friday with our updated numbers for the month of October! I had prepared just the place to share them:

That's 82 for the boys list and 108 for the girls list.

I was pleasantly surprised by our movement this past month. While our numbers are always fun to get, it's just always good for me to remember that while they help give us an idea of our timeframe, they definitely don't predict our timeframe. We'll be thankful for each step closer we find ourselves at though! Thanks for your continued prayers.

Happy Halloween - part 1

2011-11-02T09:47:00.000-07:00

It was a princess extravaganza at our house this Halloween - we figured with 3 girls, we had to do it at least one year before they outgrew it all! : )

Ava was SUPER excited about her costume this year - Ariel. They had a parade at preschool (without accessories I thought) - here she is, all ready to go!

Waiting with her class at drop-off

Class shot - notice Mary Poppins on the bottom? My favorite of the bunch!

Walking in the "parade"

Ava's cheering section

Then we ALL (well the girls ; ) ) got dressed up to go visit Daddy at work!

Princesses Belle, Ariel and Rapunzel

In Daddy's office

Trick or treat!

the rest of Daddy's birthday

2011-11-01T21:39:00.000-07:00

For the rest of Ryan's birthday, we enjoyed a fun evening at home with just the 5 of us.

Ava and Daddy with his card from the girls

They picked out Toy Story cupcakes for him : )

Then it was time to paint pumpkins - a favorite each year!

Kate and her finished product (she drew a horse on it if you were wondering)

Olivia and her pumpkin (please notice the dripping paint : ) )

And our resident artist still hard at work . . .

Ava took a picture of all the pumpkins for me - Carebear and all

Daddy's Birthday, by Ava

2011-10-26T12:20:00.001-07:00

You have to love how kids always manage to make birthdays exciting. The girls were super excited about Ryan's birthday and our birthday party at home - Ava especially.

While the twins were still napping, she helped me get ready and dictate what we should do next. She asked to take a few pictures and I let her . . .but somehow, she managed to sneak away while I was making dinner. When I uploaded our camera? I found a LONG array of pictures - I weaned them down lots . . .but then kind of had fun looking at life through her eyes.

The streamers in the kitchen

She told me to pose by Daddy's birthday balloons and present

her present for daddy

Me cooking

One of her preschool pictures on the fridge

One guess why I like this pix : )

Had to include gpa and gma's in the photo journey

Ava insisted Daddy needed streamers on his door like we do for their birthdays

Ava has built a full stable in her bedroom she plays faithfully with each day

Ahh, some parts of real life aren't as pretty but I had to include it. Kate and Olivia have this wonderful tradition that they need to change clothes multiple times a day, especially before naps. And their way of looking is emptying out their dresser. So no matter how often I pick it up, this awaits me fairly quickly again. This is actually a pretty mild version.

A shot of Kate and Olivia's doll house

Applesauce Day!

2011-10-25T18:40:00.000-07:00

My mom came down a couple weeks ago and helped me make our applesauce to enjoy this coming year. The girls got right to work . . .

playing.

Kate having fun coloring her box

Ava showing off her box

Ahh, the joys of being a kid. Coloring and watching a movie : )

But once we got to the actual making of the sauce, the girls totally surprised and impressed me

Kate took a turn

Then Olivia

Ava worked really hard and would always remind me, "tell me when it's ready mom!!"

Kate and Olivia took a little break

Before heading hard back to work!

Yum.

one last jump in the leaves

2011-10-23T21:05:00.000-07:00

Before all the rain and cold weather came, the girls and Daddy did one last "leaf fest" on a beautiful evening.

This momma's not quite ready for winter . . .

First Fieldtrip!

2011-10-22T20:57:00.000-07:00

I was able to join Ava on her first field trip the other week! It was such a fun time with my girl and watching her take it all in. We got to go see a puppet show (that doesn't do it justice though!) of Runaway Bunny and Goodnight Moon. I was totally impressed. Ava loved it - and mommy was impressed how well she paid attention.

Waiting for the show to start

Ava insisted on a picture of mommy . . .

and then of course we had to take a shot of her.

After it all was done, the puppeteers (is that what I should call them?) came out and let the kids ask them questions about how they made things work.

The cow "jumping over the moon"

Fun in leaves!

2011-10-20T20:37:00.000-07:00

On one of those beautiful days we had this month, we got to out and for a full morning playing in the leaves. It was a super fun morning and even more fun because we had a friend to share it with us.

My happy girl

love this photo - it feels like a captured moment

Olivia having fun

Kate's turn!

a sister shot

leaf war!

friends - it's fun watching these two grow up together

Something Green

2011-10-20T20:20:00.001-07:00

30 Day Photography Challenge: Day 4

I'm no photographer like my talented friend Tami . .. but after viewing all of her fun photos she's been posting as a way to celebrate her own 30th birthday, I had to join. I can't promise I'll make every day, but I'll try . . .

Today's Challenge? Something green.

I wasn't sure at all what to photograph and I kind of even wandered around my first floor looking for something, anything inspiring. But I wasn't finding it.

Then my eyes smiled on the little bit of reality in my life:

Giant Tinkerbell Coloring Pad (earned as a reward for good behavior)? Check.

Clean clothes and underwear (emphasis clean : ) ), waiting to be folded? Check.

And what is more green than a 2 yr old getting possessive?

TWO 2 yr old's.

Trust me, buried beneath that cuteness I'm sure there is a shade of green somewhere. : )

My man is 30!!!!

2011-10-19T06:58:00.000-07:00

***Just had to come say "THANKS" for helping making Ryan's birthday so fun. It was really neat for both of us to read what you all shared . . .I joked to Ryan that I may need to come share a few fun stories just to balance everything out! : ) But thanks for sharing!!!!

Today is Ryan's 30th Birthday.

No big party is planned - last weekend we got together with a few friends for dinner and dessert and had a fun laidback evening. Ryan wasn't excited by the idea of doing anything big.

Tonight we're celebrating as our little family with home made pizzas and pumpkin painting.

We do things big around here like that. : )

But I thought it wouldn't seem right if we didn't at least acknowledge my man's growth in "wisdom." : ) And so an idea crossed my mind . . .

I would love if those of you who are Ryan's family and friends each made a comment on this post sharing something you appreciate about him. Just a small way of making this a neat day for him - because I firmly believe there is something to be celebrated with each new year, regardless of the number.

We'll go first:

What do you love about Daddy?

Olivia: "KISSES! and Uncle David. (whoops, off point . . . or I suppose Uncle David is in her life because of Daddy so I guess we'll let it count).

Kate: "French Fries. and Chicken Nuggets!!! Uncle David and Aunt Callie (I'm detecting a theme). . .and playing on the slide."

Ava: Because he gives me hugs and kisses. He goes on dates with me and gets me flowers. He gives me juice and m & m's every day . . . " (Hmmm, I'm learning things. I may have to investigate that one further).

For me?

I kind of had to think, looking at our family picture that I posted, how often I thank God for the father Ryan is to our girls.

I can remember falling in love with him in college for lots of reasons (good looks, strong faith and character, quiet confidence, sense of humor . . .ok, I'll stop before this gets too gaggy). But I also distinctly remember observing him on numerous occasions thinking he is going to make one amazing dad some day.

Today? I still observe him with our girls and think he's as good a dad as I ever thought he'd be.

I'm so thankful for his interaction with our girls and how much he lets them know their daddy loves them.

I'm thankful for the many times he has stepped in when his wife is at her end (yes, me) and supported me as a mom . . .and encouraged me to take time for me.

I'm thankful that even as a mom, he has never let me forget I am his wife. . .and let our girls know that as well.

I'll stop and let the rest of you share. . . .

Happy 30th Birthday Babe!

Wisconsin Dells - Part III

2011-10-19T06:25:00.000-07:00

Our last day in Wisconsin, we headed to a nearby state park. It was a gorgeous day and the park was beautiful. We got this really cute picture of the twins - and then Ryan realized he still had the "fishbowl" effect turned on with the camera. : ) Good thing we caught it before the rest of the day!

Sisters!

We hiked around the edge of the lake a little bit

Ava and Mommy

On the side of the trail were huge piles of rocks our girls had a ball climbing up

A family shot

Proud of their climbing

The view from our perch on the rocks - you can see Aunt Callie and Grandma on the trail

the girls and Aunt Callie

Love the fall colors on the trees - I told Ryan that I couldn't imagine how pretty it would have to be even just one week after we were there.

Another family shot - can you tell Kate and Olivia were getting a little tired of the camera?

Ava started getting really adventurous and had me help her climb out to this rock by the water.

Love this girl!

I guess they still classify as the "newlyweds?" : )

Grandpa and Grandma and the girls

love this shot of the two of them

Before we headed all the way back, I had promised Ava that I would climb "really high" with her up the rocks one last time

Our far away shot - see us? : )

Olivia just had fun cheering us on

Daddy and Olivia

Ava "needed" one more shot

Thanks for a great vacation Grandpa and Grandma!

Wisconsin Dells - Part II

2011-10-18T14:41:00.000-07:00

Olivia enjoying the water

Ava and Daddy spent LOTS of the second day floating in the wave pool

waiting for the waves to start

Here they go!

Kate and Olivia thought the idea of solid ground was much more fun

That is until the waves would stop - they they loved pushing tubes around and swimming themselves

Kate and Grandma

Mommy and Ava

Ava wanted me to take a picture of just her

Kate having fun with David & Tara

Ava got a little braver and tacked the waves without a tube

Kate was still holding down the fort : )

Olivia, Mommy and Kate

Having fun by themselves

Game time!

Kate was quite proud to how off the picture she drew at dinner. Truly.

The pull of two worlds

2011-10-17T21:30:00.000-07:00

I read a blog post tonight that makes my heart ache in a place that physically hurts.

I told Ryan as we headed upstairs for bed that I can hardly swallow the injustice of how extravagantly blessed I am.

Tonight as my children ran in the door and told me they were hungry, I watched them all eat heaping bowls of cereal before heading up to bed.

Before climbing in my own bed, I checked on each girl, pulled a warm blanket around their shoulders, smiled at carefree memories of our day and thanked God that I get to be their mommy.

I'm still utterly blown away by that gift too often to count.

I got to kiss my husband good night before laying my head on my comfortable mattress and rest in the relative security of my warm home.

My heart grieves for the utter need I can't fathom. The hurt I can't understand. . . and at times am ashamed to admit that I have pleaded not to have to.

I think of it so often as I tuck my girls in at night and wonder and pray about our own baby yet to come. . .. and all of the babies (big and little), both here and there, that don't have a mommy to make sure they are covered, kissed and safe for the night.

Some nights I can hardly let my mind go there.

It's those moments, like tonight, that the reality of our fallen and hurting world take my breath away and I can hardly breathe but to pray "Jesus."

And then my heart grieved a little further as I lay in my comfortable bed, praying for a woman and her children across the ocean, that I've never met, and physically hurting for them . . .as I realized how quickly I somehow transitioned to wondering when we'll be able to afford to put in the tile back splash I would love to have for our kitchen but have needed to wait.

A fallen world indeed.

It's not that the back splash is "ungodly" or "wrong" (although I don't suppose I could also claim it "godly" or "right" either).

The reality is, like Andrea shared in her post, that just handing that money over isn't necessarily going to solve the problem. It helps ...but we want more than the quick fix.

And Jesus.

But it's just one more reminder that I don't want to be so tied to this world and its "details."

That my soul is so often, too often, at war with the two worlds I find myself between.

It made me think of a quote I underlined in my BSF notes this past week.

"Although we may not be persecuted, we must recognize that the desire for eternal fruit and an expanded ministry involves choosing to die (with Christ by the power of the Cross) to everything except the work of God in our life. Jesus has promised that such a decision will result in a fruitful life."

May it be so . . .

Wisconsin Dells

2011-10-17T06:50:00.000-07:00

We got to spend the beginning of October with Ryan's family at the Wisconsin Dells. It was great to be with them!

The first morning the girls were thrilled to head to the first pool of the day

However, once we got there, they got totally overwhelmed (not to mention Olivia was feeling under the weather). After wondering if it was going to be a long few days of girls not liking the water parks, we found something they were excited about - bumper boats!

Olivia and Uncle David

Ava and Daddy

Grandpa and Kate

Ava refused to ride any slides the entire day (well, I take that back, I made her ride one in the morning and she wasn't happy with me). Ryan and I had ridden one we knew she would love and at the end of the day, took her up with us for one ride down.

After she came down (head buried in my lap), she half cried, "I want to go AGAIN." And we proceeded to happily ride it over and over until the slide shut down for the night. : )

Then even Olivia joined in for a ride that night . . .

Kate absolutely refused. : )

Snuggling before bed

Ava and Grandma played more than few games of old maid

"cheese"

The next morning we started a little less overwhelming and went to a quieter park - a much better move.

Enjoying the kids area

Kate decided this slide was worth a ride

Ava and Olivia having fun

Grandpa and Kate playing

a challenging but great post

2011-10-14T08:07:00.000-07:00

http://www.russellmoore.com/2011/10/12/dont-adopt/?mid=4

For any ordinary hero fans out there . . .

2011-10-14T07:02:00.000-07:00

Because I know some of you love your ordinary hero items you've boughten or received, I wanted to let you know about some neat new items they've added to their store in recent months (and some are currently reduced in price). : )

Their new unisex baseball tee - perfect for this fall weather

Their new stainless tumbler - coffee anyone (Gobena coffee anyone?!?!)

They've added some really neat donation pieces as well. Ordinary Hero does so much work on the ground in Ethiopia (something I love about their organization).

You can donate half a donkey (or a whole!)

They have an assortment of handmade african flip flops

and my current favorite?

You can donate an Amharic Children's bible

As always, if you decide to purchase, by choosing our name under affiliates during check out, we receive 40% of your purchase towards helping with our adoption costs.

a trip to the circus

2011-10-13T06:26:00.000-07:00

Ava got to go to the circus with Grandpa and Grandma. My girl loves herself some quality time with the people she loves so she was in her glory having them all to herself.

She is her Daddy's daughter too . . .loves herself some chips and cheese.

Do elephants ever stop being cool? I think they're the most amazing animal.

Totally can do that - you can't?! : )

Love her expression here - totally mesmerized

Thanks for such a fun treat Gpa and Gma!

Uno!

2011-10-12T08:23:00.000-07:00

One evening a couple weeks ago we introduced the girls to "uno." I knew Ava would love it but thought Kate and Olivia would get easily distracted. They totally impressed me. It was a fun time as a family and watching our girls have fun playing.

Kate our card shark. It was funny because she actually won twice and Olivia won the other game. Ava was a really good sport - I was proud of her.

Ready for another game!

roses for Ava

2011-10-12T08:16:00.000-07:00

Ava LOVES roses - flowers of any kind really but especially roses. She'll remind Ryan periodically if he hasn't brought her home one recently and of times he has given them to her in the past. . .and then in case he forgot, she'll remind him how much she loves them (we'll have to cue her husband in someday : ) ). Every time we're at the store she asks if she can get flowers and if I respond "no," she'll quickly try her next favorite thing: to give someone else flowers.

One afternoon after church I ran into Aldi's with the twins to grab a couple groceries. They saw the flowers and wanted to bring them home to Ava and that day I let them. She was SO thrilled, it was pretty cute. She kept crouching down to them and very sweetly thanking them for bringing her flowers.

We had to take a picture of just her roses too.

Love moments like this!

Daddy's helpers . . .

2011-10-11T08:10:00.000-07:00

Kate decided she should help Daddy mow the other weekend

Daddy's helper

Olivia wanted a picture too : )

A Kate Date!

2011-10-10T07:42:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago Kate and I got to go have some one on one time. We went on a bike ride in the bike trailer and she got to go into a store and pick out whatever treat she wanted.

She was so funny to watch pick out her treats. She knew exactly what she wanted and didn't: a sucker and juice (plus a pack of gum to share with her sisters). It was fun to watch her soak in the alone time too - as I buckled her back into the trailer to head home she look at me and said, "Not Daddy. Not Ava. Not Olivia - just me!"

Isn't the cheese face hilarious!

Home after our fun - Love this little girl!

My helper!

2011-10-07T07:35:00.000-07:00

The girls love to help me fold laundry so I told Ryan to grab the camera one day to help capture the memory - got to love all the individually folded socks and rolled up washcloths! : )

Olivia hard at work!

Michigan - part two

2011-10-06T18:47:00.001-07:00

Kate was quite proud when she worked up the courage to pet the goat

Then we got on the wagon ride to go pick some apples

Mommy and Olivia

Our family

This is when we're glad for a tall daddy!!

The first apple

Kate LOVES apples and was in her glory. She ate 3 whole apples before I cut her off

Olivia just liked supervising the bag

Mommy and Ava

Grandpa and Olivia

Most of the good apples were all at the tops of tree. Mommy and Grandma were worthless except for moral support. Good thing Grandpa and Daddy were around!

Kate reaches for a good one.

The prize

All of our apples

Can't believe it's almost been 7 years!

Kate and Olivia loving on each other

Kate's "cheese"

Then came the best part - the donuts!!!

These are seriously the best donuts I've ever had anywhere . . .and I don't even like donuts that much. They beat any cider mill in the area and are worth every calorie laden bite. I kind of want one right now. . .hint, hint anyone? : )

Kate is smiling in this picture believe it or not. It's her latest camera face and we're not sure where it came from. : )

The girls were super pumped to jump in the castle

Having fun

Another afternoon, my mom and I went shopping a little bit and took Ava.

While we were looking at shoes, Ava found a pair for me she thought I needed to have and were "BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!!"

The twins snuggling grandpa

An even bigger bonus of the weekend?

Auburn and Braden came into town for saturday night with some friends. Ava was thrilled to see one of her favorite people.

She thought she was pretty neat to hang out with the big kids

Around 11:00, Kate and Olivia came trotting out and thought they needed to join the fun too. I let them have 5 minutes of fun before shuffling them back to bed. : )

Auburn has been such a blessing in my life and my girls. I'm so thankful to be her aunt! It was fun to get some time with her too.

Whew . . .with that I'm done for this time. : )

Michigan - part 1

2011-10-06T10:43:00.000-07:00

In the middle of september, we headed up to my parents for a class reunion of mine. The girls loved the extra days of fun with grandpa and grandma. And I always love an excuse to spend part of fall in michigan!

Ava reading books with Grandpa before bed

We went a few days ahead of Daddy. He had a little something for all his girls waiting. : )

It's been so fun to watch the girls live some of my old memories as they grow up. They had a ball playing school in the basement - of course Ava was the teacher

Class in session!

Ava started driving the gator for the first time. I don't know WHY I expected her to start off cautious - after all, she has been the rider for her cousins for years who prefer to "off road it." She was a little speed driver - it was hilarious to watch.

The happy driver

Olivia woke up early that afternoon and had a ball being Ava's passenger

Playing on the swingset

Olivia's turn at the wheel - after a short spell she decided she liked cheering Ava on more

On saturday, we had a gorgeous day to spend at my favorite cidar mill and apple orchard

Ava happily climbing the hay bales

Daddy and Ava

Ava and Grandma

Mommy and Olivia

Feeding the goats

my ballerinas

2011-10-05T20:42:00.000-07:00

when life isn't planned

2011-10-05T19:35:00.003-07:00

Sorry for the blog absence.

Life has been busy to say the least.

Between travels, preschool, 3 busy girls and a mommy trying to be more productive around the home, blogging has often gone.

Then in the midst of planned weeks, vacations, preschool, 3 busy girls and a mommy trying to be productive . . .we said good bye to a man who blessed my life in more ways than I can share.

My Grandpa M. went home to be with Jesus on the 24th and life shifted a little bit.

God was merciful and allowed what could have been a long and hard journey with bone and spine cancer be a short one home.

It seems unreal to me to think that both my Grandpa and Grandma are gone. I don't think I could pick two people who have impacted my life more. And somehow, Grandpa being gone emphasized Grandma's absence as well. They were an amazing pair; so it seems impossible to remember one without remembering the other.

They were intentionally and enthusiastically a part of my life, my family's life, until their last days.

I told Ryan, how many 91 yr old Grandfathers still would randomly calling their granddaughter (one of 21) to let her know he was just praying for her adoption and wanting to know if she had any updates.

He was so excited for our adoption and was constantly encouraging us and praying for us in it.

He'd ask about the girls, about Ryan, about me. I never doubted that me, and my family, were a daily part of his prayers. So many were . . .and we'll never really know the extent of it.

My Grandma did the same. Amidst a full life and a full family, my grandparents were intentional. They prayed, they supported, they called, they laughed and they loved. . . even through the hard.

I don't grieve for them.

I can't.

They both wanted nothing more than to be where they are.

But selfishly?

Oh how I will miss all the ways they were an active part of my life.

The countless prayers I know they were praying for me.

The love they delighted to show my girls.

The endless reels of memories I can play in my mind of so many meals, laughs, vacations, games and swims.

So much of who I am was because of who they were.

To say I miss them?

An understatement.

But I can't wait to see them again . . .

September Numbers!

2011-09-10T06:21:00.000-07:00

Our weekend began with some fun news: our new waitlist numbers!

Boy: 88

Girl: 116

Have a great weekend everyone!

Labor Day!

2011-09-09T11:41:00.000-07:00

We had a slow Labor Day (why does that seem like an oxymoron?! : )). It was great. We had time to get lots of stuff done, time to be lazy and just time to enjoy our little family. Sunday and sunday night, we did an intentional "staycation." A relaxing day together as family with time to worship and time to play.

Sunday evening we headed out on one of the girls' favorite things to do: family back rides in the bike trailors. We love an open evening we can just go off and have fun in them (although I think they get harder to pull by the month - but that may just be a weak mommy talking). We rode up to eat out and then around town. It was a cooler night but the girls had covers and didn't complain a bit.

Ready to go!

We had talked about setting up our tent and camping in the backyard, but decided the night was too cool. So we "camped out" in our basement. Popcorn was popped and the girls got to watch TWO movies (that was big deal).

Daddy, Kate and Ava ready to go!

Olivia staked out her sleeping bag right away

Ava thought we needed a picture of the movie and took it herself

Ready for bed!

Olivia wasn't sure she wanted to stop watching the end of the movie for a picture

Kate cheeses for mommy

I couldn't have Daddy and me miss out on the documentation!

nature vs. nurture

2011-09-09T08:13:00.000-07:00

Oh there are so many comments I could make about this one . . .

lets just say this they didn't learn this from me . . . : )

First day of school part II!

2011-09-08T13:29:00.000-07:00

Today the twins FINALLY got to join Ava and go to preschool themselves. I have to laugh at this statement. Because, if we're being totally honest here, if someone had suggested sending Ava at 2 1/2 to preschool 1 day a week I would have been horrified at the thought of sending her so young. And yet here we are, all pretty excited about the prospect. : )

A local church in the area has a great ministry for moms where you can send your kids up to two days a week for a morning and they play, teach and learn memory verses and have a really neat program for them. We had put them on the wait list last spring, just talking through it, and when it opened up, God provided a way, and it felt like a good thing for all.

They have been hilarious about it. . .as in SO excited. It was a bit painful for them to see Ava start and not get to go themselves. I have a feeling it's going to be hard again as they learn they don't go as often as Ava. This morning the first day finally came. They skipped their way through getting dressed and were pretty proud to go out on the front step and take their own "first day of school" photos. I know I should have weeded through more pictures, but they were too funny, I couldn't. : )

Proudly posing with their "dora" backpacks

This shot is such a classical "Kate" expression

Hugging sister

"Cheese!!!!

They were feeling quite photogenic : )

Of course, big sister had to join in. Ava was hilarious all morning . . .trying to prepare them. There was an open house a week ago where we all got to go and stay and play. Ava kept telling them, "You have to go by yourselves today. Mommy isn't staying with you." They just looked at her like, "Yeah? So?"

Walking in. Can you tell they aren't too nervous about me leaving?

Holding hands and ready to go!

Kate quickly found the phone. She's probably calling her friends to tell them how annoyed she is her mom won't just up and leave already.

Olivia with the kitchen. Doesn't this shot scream, "You can go now mom . . ."

And with a kiss from each I was off. You can tell my girls process new situations differently. When I went to pick Ava up this morning before we picked Kate and Olivia up, Ava asked me, "Were Kate and Olivia scared to go by themselves mom?" I think the answer could clearly be "not at all." : )

So end results? Girls had fun and mommy ended up with sparkling bathrooms that she was able to clean in peace. Success for all. : )

First day of school!

2011-09-08T12:56:00.000-07:00

Ava started preschool last week and it's a been a huge success. She loves going, loves her teachers and loves her friends. Thankfully, the transitions have been MUCh better than last year - crazy how much they grow up in a year. I've stopped asking who she played with each day . . .as I always get the same exasperated response, "I played with LOTS of kids today mom."

First day smiles (in her new "school" shirt she bought with Gma P)

Kate and Olivia had to get in the picture too

Her first day was just an hour and I got to go with her. She wanted to be able to show Kate and Olivia some of the stuff at her preschool.

The kitchen

The reading loft

Super fun - friends at sunday school and preschool

Checking out the classroom's fish with one of her teachers

Then she started directing the shots - a picture outside

Can't believe how fast my firstborn is growing up

And what makes a great day even more fun? Coming home to Aunt Tara and getting some quality play time in before she had to leave

Here's to a fun year of learning!

a day with Aunt Tara

2011-08-31T08:12:00.000-07:00

Earlier this summer, Aunt Tara offered to spend a fun day with just Ava before she had to head back to school. She sweetly agreed to work it out to take her while I was potty training. Ava was thrilled to go spend the day with one of her favorite people and I was thrilled to not deal with sisters fighting while trying to potty train. : )

They started their day off at the zoo

Ava with the wallaby (it is there)

Ava's favorite - the sea lions. She loved watching them get fed.

Still LOVES the carousel

snack time!

Having fun with one of her favorite people - she always points out proudly that "I have curly hair like Aunt Tara!" (although she'll often then say, "I wish had REALLY curly hair like Aunt Tara.") : )

Being silly at the gift shop

After the zoo, they headed back to Aunt Tara's for lunch and more fun

Making Marshmallow treats

Eating lunch!

Chalk fun

The finished art work

She was quite excited to take her journal and show Aunt Tara how she's working on her letters - she thinks it's SO cool her aunt is a teacher.

Thanks for making it such a special day for Ava, Tara!

It's a little obvious why didn't she didn't want the day to end. : )

One of the reasons it's so fun to visit Grandpa Jack?

2011-08-30T10:11:00.000-07:00

Morning Donuts!!!