Galatians 5:13~

Thank you all for the prayers and thoughts.  Our Little Guy did wonderfully through his surgery.  He had a long morning /afternoon and was so very brave.  He wants everyone to know..." He never even cried once." (A direct quote).  He is feeling pretty "ouchy" and is getting a lot of rest.

 We had our Friday Night Pizza night tonight as is our usual tradition.  Each Friday Night we make six homemade pizzas.   The older children all pitch in and it is great fun.  Tonight Sweet Pea wanted a turn to make some pizza.  We had had a a full school day (and with a trip to the hospital) I was busy playing catch up with laundry and tidying.  I really did not want to make more dough and suggested she play play-doh instead.  The older children quickly offered some of their dough and she happily made a pizza and for her Wee Boy.

My children teach me so much with their generous hearts.  It blessed me so much to see them want to include their sister and in turn how she she wanted to bless her brother.

It's so easy for me to forget that the laundry will always be there.  Even before we had children there was always some laundry to do and always some housekeeping to be done.  When all of our children are grown there will still be laundry beckoning me.  However, I only have a few precious years to live and laugh and love my children.    I am so thankful the Lord used my little ones to prompt me to stop and enjoy them this evening.  I could have easily missed these moments..

Sweet Pea showing Wee Boy her pizza surprise!

 

His heartfelt reaction..

 

For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. Galatians 5:13~

Today after our book work was done we headed to the Beach for a Field Trip.  We have been studying oceans and we needed to gather some seashells, seaweed, and salt water for observation and a few experiments.

We had recently studied waves and the students were eager to throw themselves into their work.

It was a beautiful day.  We had studied dolphins yesterday and we were so blessed that a pod of dolphins decided to feed right in front of us.  God's creations are so amazing! We were so blessed that He gave us an up close view of His amazing dolphins.

Collecting ocean water.  (It's an old pitcher we used to make Homemade Clorox Wipes in).

In other news.... first thing tomorrow my Sweet Little Cowboy is going in for a hernia repair.  Bless his heart,  he is *so* excited.

It reminds me of when I had tubes put into my ears when I was his age.  I thought it was going to be so fun.  I wore my best dress.  I'll never forget the nurse who drew my blood.  She assured me it wasn't going to hurt a bit and then she stuck the needle in my arm.  I was more hurt that she lied than anything.  I wasn't so excited after that!

 Tonight our little guy layed out his favorite Gator football jersey , his blue jeans, and his Superman Crocs. He  is eager to go and "get his belly button."    The rest of us are praying for a quick and painless procedure for our funny little man, so he can come home to us......right where he belongs.

John 13:34

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another." John 13:34~

Isaiah 28:10~

For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little: Isaiah 28:10~

Lisa over at A Bushel and a Peck has "Educating your Newly Adopted Older Child" as her Tuesday Topic this week. Each week Lisa takes a topic and opens it for discussion among her readers. It's always fascinating to read the replies.

I have been asked by a few about our experiences in homeschooling our older adopted children. I don't believe there is any right or wrong way to school your child. I believe each family should follow God's plan for their family. We are so blessed to have so many choices!

We brought our sons home from Ghana in January of 2008.

We have homeschooled them since their homecoming. All of our children have been homeschooled and our main reason for homeschooling is discipleship and relationships. Of course, a quality education which is suited to that child's needs is also of great concern and an integral part of homeschooling.

In many ways hsing our boys has been the easiest thing ever. They are truly wonderful children and it has enabled us to get to know each other and bond with each other. They were eager to "do school" along with their siblings. Initially, we did a combination of learning worksheets, educational computer games (like Starfall.com and Funbrain.com), and some hands on science experiments ( an all time favorite). We spent many hours baking and preparing meals together (This was so enjoyable for them and a wonderful reinforcement that food was plentiful. Children who have experienced true hunger need to know this in their hearts as well as their heads.). We also spent hours outdoors riding bikes, learning to rollerblade, sccoter, etc. Things that are good for boys' minds and energetic bodies!

I can not even describe the amount of new information our children were taking in and learning during this time. Talk about the ultimate field trip! I thought I understood this before but coming up on our 2 year anniversary I am still continually stunned by the changes in their lives from when they lived in Ghana until now. They are always sharing things that make me realize they have been through an incredible adjustment.

One of the things they had to learn was to live in a family...in our family. Being older they remembered their birth mother, but the way they were parented there and here are vastly different. I am not saying our way is good or their way is better. It is what it is... but it *is* different. They had to learn what is what to have a Dad, to have an older brother, and older sister. Even their relationship with each other had changed. They were no longer in a care taker older brother with younger brother relying on him. It was all so different.

They learned what it was to live in a home with running water, electricity, a million gadgets that were new to them. They had to get used to a host of new foods and activities. They had rules that were different than they had known and freedoms that were different. Every aspect of their lives encompassed new and learning experiences.

Our boys are so bright came home with some wonderful skills. They knew how to butcher and prepare chickens. They could hunt small animals for food. They could cook over fire and were basically self sufficient. They knew how to sell goods and were very savvy in caring for themselves without much adult supervision.

These things were wonderful and served them so well in Ghana. They don't translate very well in American Suburbia however..

Our older son had spent several years in school while in Ghana. The good from this is he has beautiful handwriting, he knew how to read some words, he knew how to do copy work, and he knew some math facts.


There were down sides to his education in Ghana too. In his school in Ghana they "Caned/Beat" the children. The Cane was not reserved for only those who misbehaved but also for missing math problems, missing spelling words, not having a neat uniform, and sometimes they would cane the whole class if they did poorly on an exam.

As you can imagine this affects one's view of learning. Our son has struggled with getting answers wrong. He freezes when being introduced to a new concept. There is a fear in him of not being perfect in his schoolwork even today...almost 2 years later.

A favorite quote of mine is

“Education is not filling a bucket, but lighting a fire.”

Well, we had a son whose wood was wet. It has taken me sometime and fine tuning to figure out how to light his fire and encourage him that learning can be a good and sometimes even fun thing. I am thankful he is home and we are working through this together.

This year we are doing Unit Studies and are loving school. We still have math to do and reading and dictation, grammar, and narration, Spanish, typing and so on (which are not quite as fun) but we have made great strides. I am so amazed and challenged by our sons' spirits. It has been a blessing to be both Mama and Teacher to them.

Wordless Wednesday~

Monsters don't live in Big Sisters' closets :o)

While we were on vacation Joel turned 9! Oh he was so happy to finally have his Birthday. We have a run of birthdays from January to July and September seemed so far away for poor Joel.

It's funny I have a friend who when asked which kids of hers were adopted and which are biological says, "I don't remember.." One day Joel was lamenting about not having a Birthday earlier in the year and I said, "Oh I'm sorry honey I should have had you earlier..." I totally forgot I hadn't given birth to him :o).

He is such a sweet boy. He is always smiling and has the kindest heart.

Yesterday he feasted on his meal of choice . Those of you who know Joel know that means meat, meat, meat, rice and hot sauce.

After Sunday Evening Service we donned our jammies and chowed down on the sweet stuff.

So Happy Birthday Sweet Boy! You are a blessing!

And obviously as nutty as the rest of us.

1 Corinthians 13:7~

Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 1 Corinthians 13:7~

Psalm 34:8~

O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him. Psalm 34:8





~Sat Night here is when we get ready for Sunday. Homemade granola for the morning and desert for our weekly Sunday Night Desert Night.

~Sweet helpers in the kitchen and sweet little ones to love on.

~It doesn't get any better than that :o)
Have a Blessed Lord's Day!

She's got people...

The days follwing our vacation have been filled with fevers, aches, coughing, breathing treatments, and fever reducers. Poor Sweet Pea has been one of the sicker ones.

One night she was up in the middle of the night with a high fever and a hacking cough. I was laying with her and poor sweet girl was just crying from misery. This is how our conversation went..

Sweet Pea: " Wee Boy. I want my Wee Boy."

Me: "He's sleeping sweetie, you can't have him now."

Sweet Pea: "Big Kids. I want my Big Kids."

Me: " They're sleeping honey. You can't have them now."

Sweet Pea: " Guys (this would be the little boys). I want my Guys."

Me: "Oh honey, they're sleeping too!"

Poor girl would just sob the cry of the broken hearted. She wanted her people. She always uses "My" when she talks about her brothers and sisters . She loves them so much. They are her people.

That is the wonderful thing about family. Your family are your people. For every "He's touching me..", "I had it first!", "He took the last piece of candy!" moment there are 10 moments of racing down the street on your bikes, making pizzas together, watching movies and laughing until your sides hurt. These are the things that bonds family together. The good and the bad.

I am so thankful for my people. My parents, my brothers, my cousins who were there for all the good and the bad as I was growing up. We are all busy with our lives and scattered but one phone call or visit and we are as tight as ever. We are each other's people.

Matthew 6:11~

And give us this day our daily bread..Matthew 6:11~

The Disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray and He showed them by giving them the Lord's Prayer. When we ask Jesus to give us each day our daily bread we are asking Him to meet our most basic needs. Like the Israelites in the desert we rely on Him to provide for us each day and each moment ... for without Him we have nothing. He promises to supply us with all of our needs and to do so abundantly. How wonderful! How comforting!

God is such a good and gracious Father. He not only gives to us for our needs but bestows gifts on us which bring us pleasure. The smell of a flower, the song of a bird, the sunset, the skin of a baby are all things which we enjoy for God created them for us to enjoy. He could have made our lives bland but instead to fill our world with wonder and awe and joy.

We have been so blessed as God has met our needs time and again and it never ceases to amaze me how He gives us things that are wants just because He can.

We were so blessed through the efforts of our friends and family to win a contest where the prize was 20 tickets to Disney's Night of Joy! It was such a wonderful time and a true blessing for our family. We heard wonderful Christian Artists and rode fun and thrilling rides at Disney's Hollywood Studios. We were also blessed to spend time at Mimi's House and a hotel! It was an amaZing gift. Our dear friends and my cousin and her husband and my Mom all came too!

We are giving a BIG Thank you to our Heavenly Father and all of you who blessed us with your votes so we could have this time together. It was amazing (Did I use that word enough?)!


Headed out for VACATION!!!!!!

The Tram Ride! The kids thought this was so cool. We could've just rode the parking lot all night and they would have been so happy!
Chris Tomlin!!!! His concert was just incredible. So many people worshipping the Lord. I can't even imagine how wonderful heaven will be. It was the highlight of the night for me.

My dear friend Melissa agreed to ride the Tower of Terror with me! I love her!
Going to see some Muppets in 3D!!
Some of our kids and our friends. My poor Cheeky Boy has this look on his face in each Disney pic! He had a BLAST and can't wait to go back. He talks about how fun it was!??!! Silly boy ~
This was THE favorite ride..the Toy Story Ride. You compete against others in a shooting game while you ride. These guys are in the ZONE and ready to win.

The Little Fella had fun. As long as he has me and my arm to suck on life is good :o)
We are so blessed :o)

I'm putting him in the freezer..

This evening as our 5 year old son was getting ready for bed he says to me..

"Mama, you sure are pretty. And smart. You are smart too. Do you know EVERYTHING?"

Sigh..pure sweetness..

Not even an hour later 8 year old son picks up a bottle of my make-up and says, "I know why you wear this stuff. It's because you want to look like those people on TV. It doesn't really work though."

Sigh..pure honesty..

Finally hubby Jim comes in the door and says, "Whoa..what's up with you? You look like a disheveled housewife?" (I had just realized I accidentally used salt in place of sugar in the 4 coffee cakes I had just made. Appparently I was looking as frazzled as I felt)

Just..Sigh..

I'm putting the 5 year old in the freezer lest he grow up :o)







.

Philippians 3:14~

Today we attended the funeral of a wonderful man who was an integral part of our church family. Brother Neil passed away very suddenly Tuesday Morning. When we received word Tuesday morning we were in shock. We had just seen him Sunday evening and it was just so unexpected.

We know that he is now with Jesus yet our hearts break for his sweet wife and family. His Homegoing service today was amazing. The church was filled with people whose lives were touched by him. We then listened as one by one people stood up to share how Brother Neil had mentored them or taught them or had spoken truth and encouragement into their lives. An incredibly poignant moment was when Brother Neil's grandson spoke about his Grandfather had invested in his life and how he loved and worshipped Jesus because of all his Grandfather had taught him.

There has been a lot of talk this summer in the media as famous people have passed on about "Legacy". The world would have us believe that our legacy is something tangible..a song, a dance, a piece of legislation, etc. Today as I sat there I thought about what a real legacy is and that is passing on your faith and investing yourself in the lives of the people God has placed into your life. It's not something that exalts man but exalts Jesus. I doubt Brother Neil ever considered that he was leaving a legacy. He was just a man who let Jesus be the Lord of His life and let Jesus work through him. One of the last things he ever did on this earth was to speak with 3 men whom he was discipling. He was busy. He was investing. He was encouraging and he was exhorting.

I am so challenged and inspired by all the God brought to light today. God has placed people in all of our lives for a reason. Our children, our friends, the people who live near us, the clerk at the store are all brought into our lives for a reson. Perhaps it is just for us to give someone a kind word as they struggle going about their day. Perhaps it is to share God's truth with them. Perhaps it is just to walk beside them.

Every day we have a chance to invest in things of eternal value and not temporal. I pray that I will be found faithful doing just that."I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus " -- Philippians 3:14

“The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination.” Albert Einstein~

Random Pics and Misc Things~

Awhile ago my friend Kay asked me to post pics of our two eldest next to me to see how they have grown. Our 15 yo has totally passed me up! It still is a little shocking to look up to HIM ...Our Sweet 13 yo dd is just short of me.

This is a totally random post. We are finishing up our second week of Homeschooling. It has kept me a little busier than our laid back summer where my deepest thoughts were whether to head to the pool or the beach.

I often think of Blog Posts I would like to do but by the time I sit down at night my mind is mush.

We have had a really great two weeks. I am doing something I swore I would never do in our homeschool and that is... UNIT STUDIES. We are all loving them! Well, our 2 eldest are doing something different, but I have noticed when they are done with their school they are hanging in the kitchen with us ;o) We are all learning so much and having fun together.

My main motivation in using them this year was to create a love of learning in our older children who came to us through adoption. I could do a whole post on the blessings and challenges that encompasses and maybe I will.

Sometimes I feel badly that my Blog is not totally focused.. I wander from Big Family Issues to Adoption Issues to Homeschooling and so on..

However, that is our life. :o)

Is everyone Back to school?

I hope you are having a Blessed Day!

One day we were playing at the beach when I saw this written in the sand. It says "I love my Family". I thought it was so sweet and it became even sweeter when I learned it was written by one of my dear children.

Family is an amazing thing. Incorporating older children who were not born to us into our family has given us an opportunity to see all of our children learn to love and give of themselves as they become brothers and sisters of the heart.

Every moment has not been perfect or all sunshine and smiles of course, but it is so clear that God has knit our family together in a way only He can.





I am so excited to share with you about a wonderful family and a truly incredible fundraiser. I am so blessed to hear of children who are so excited about their family expanding through adoption and the great lengths they go through to help bring their new siblings home.

Lauren is the oldest of six and this week her parents were blessed by the Ethiopian Courts and were allowed to be the parents of 5 MORE children!!!! They have adopted a precious sibling group of 5. What a gift for these children to be able to be kept together.

Lauren is a gifted artist and is using the proceeds of all of her art work for airfare for her new siblings to come home! Her heart is so pure and beautiful as she yearns for her siblings to come home and share in her family's love.

Her artwork is simply lovely. I would truly love to have any one of her pices in my home. Please go and look and say a prayer that God will supply all of this family's needs as He brings them together.


Lauren's Site~

Her 5x7 prints are available for only $5.50!

Thank you for thinking of this family.

Wordless Wednesday~

While Mama's Away...

Luke and Lea come out and play.

Jim posted this last night on his Facebook. Apparently this is what they do while I'm away...

The funniest part is yesterday these two were begging to play with their brothers' light sabers. I told them no as I didn't want them to get hurt. Evidently I didn't realize they had been fully trained in Jedi Warfare. The Mama is always the last to know.

People often ask Jim and I how we "do it all". The truth is we don't do it all. We are blessed with a small army of helpers.


Our kiddies love brunch so yesterday they asked if they could make it. They are all awesome helpers in the kitchen. I love, love, love working with them. We turn up the music and talk and laugh.
The boys were working the stove..

I had to laugh when I came in the kitchen and saw the boys having a push up contest in between stirring. I could be in such good shape if I lived my life like a little boy.
Our resident baker! She is such a help!
These girls were busy straightening the downstairs and playing with little ones..
These guys mowed and edged the lawn..
It truly is..

a very
wonderful life..

Ephesians 3:14-21~

For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory,



to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man,

that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith;

that you, being rooted and grounded in love,

may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—
to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:14-21~

Alligator, Bear, Shark...

Warning :Yucky snake pics below.............





















Snake...

Oh My. Growing up my Mommom would never let us say the word hate. She said it was a bad word.

So...I am sorry Mr. Snake (who was on our front doorstep the other day) but I think I really don't like you to the point of hate.

Seriously.

We are really enjoying summer. In fact, I think I am enjoying it more than a Homeschool Mama should ;o).. How can you not love days like these?


Just hanging out with your favorite Peeps..
And swimming, eating, swimming, eating..swimming.... Wow, my "Peeps" really love to swim. They are like little (and not so little) fish.
I especially love to watch this guy swim. He likes to pretend that his hands are shark fins. It's the cutest thing. His brothers are quite perplexed over his swim style as they feel he should use his arms for speed. However, he is all shark. He maneuvers around the whole pool only lifting his head to gnash his teeth at us.

Speaking of boys and sharks we had a long discussion at lunchtime today. If a shark, an alligator, and a bear got into a fight, who would win? Sadly, this Homeschool Mama did not have the answer. What do Ya'll think? I'm afraid my critical thinking skills have been seriously depleted by too much chlorine.

HOME!~

Words can't express the joy. Thank you Jesus! \o/

A time to rejoice!~

To God be the GLORY!~

Abby Riggs needs our fervent prayers tonight .



For those of you who may not know Abby you can read her story here..
Please pray for her and her wonderful family.

A year ago we were just learning about this Sweet Little Fella being knit by God in secret. It's amazing to think of all he has brought into our lives, our family, and our home. Children are such a blessing! Oohhh have we love this precious boy!

A few people have asked about the "Hot Pocket" recipe..

I used the Breadbecker's 5 loaf bread recipe

5 cups of hot water
1 and 1/4 cup of olive oil
3/4 cup of honey
2 tbsp yeast
1 tbsp gluten
1tbsp lechitin
5 tsp salt
13 cups of flour

Put into mixer until well kneaded

I then rolled the dough thinly onto a floured surface, sliced dough w/ a pizza cutter into rectangles, and filled with toppings of choice . Then I rolled them up and pinched the ends. I placed them on a cookie sheet seam side down and then brushed the tops with olive oil and sprinkled lightly with garlic, salt, and Italian seasoning. I baked them in the oven at 375 for 20 minutes or until browned on top.

You can freeze them in individual plastic bags with a paper towel. To reheat place in microwave for 3-4 minutes or until heated through.

Have a Blessed Day!~

Testing, testing...

1. New recipes to simplify mornings once we are back in full swing for school. These muffins were an "ehh"... I made homemade Hot Pockets and they were a bigger hit. I didn't take a picture though because the kids told me taking pics of food is weird. I think they just wanted to eat.




2. New "Centers" for the Littles school time . This little sand toy (which is on clearance at Target right now because as Ya'll probably know..... summer is over... according to the retail world eventhough we haven't even hit August yet) has been the biggest hit.

The older kids above are mixing colors with water and food coloring. This is definitely a center that will need a helper with the under 5 crowd but they liked it.




3. Our older kiddies had a big TKD pre-test last night (which they did great in so now they can go on to the Big test-woo-hoo!) and they have been practicing up a storm. I saw The Wee Boy and Sweet Pea doing their own version of TKD and thought it was too cute. You can see a little bit of what a character the Wee Boy is when he gets his groove on.

I Hope Y'all are having a Blessed Day!

Yee~Haw!!!!!

(click above)



Hee, hee.. I actually said that when my Cousin Travis called to tell me the news. I don't know that I have ever Yee-Hawed in my life but this is definitely Yee-Haw worthy.. Praise God from whom all blessings flow :o)

Lately Eben has become fascinated by expiration dates on food and labels on food packaging. It is pretty funny and I joke with him that he is the family's "Quality Control Agent". He will tell me when anything in the pantry of fridge is nearing it's expiration date and takes it very seriously if we are past that date and the food is "expired". He also likes to tell us how much fat, calories, sugar, etc is in any given food.

The other day he noticed some labels on different products around the house. He wanted to know why they had them. I never realized what a label happy country America is but we seriously have labels for everything. We were discussing the silly things labels sometimes say and how companies have to go to extremes because some people are all too happy to sue.

So, today when I found this sign or should I say label on Jim's guitar (which is hanging on the wall) I just cracked up...



It says "Waring (Warning) Do not sit under Dad's guitar." and has little drawing of someone getting boinked in the head with a falling guitar. So CUTE.

Nobody in this house is going to get food poisoning or hurt while Eben's on the case.

I sure do love this child and I am so thankful God let me be his Mama!

Update HERE-It was a no go. The kidney was damaged. Praying for God's perfect timing and for a perfect kidney for Eric.


Wow! I just read Anita's Blog .

.Anita is Adoption Advocates International 's Ghana Program Coordinater who helped us with Eben and Joel's adoptions and was just the best source of help and encouragement along the way. She understands so well how hard the adoption process is because she is also an adoptive mother and we couldn't have had a greater helper/advocate/friend than we had in Anita.

Anita's hubby Eric is right now undergoing a kidney transplant TONIGHT. Eric has been on dialysis for 2 years while waiting for a kidney. Please pray for Eric, Anita, their sweet children, the medical staff, and for the donor's family. Anita and Eric have 4 children and this is an amazing miracle for them all.

Not your average princess...

I just love this little girl.