Memories...

I recently moved A into his 18 month clothes. Today, I pulled this outfit out of his drawer, and couldn't help but think of many of you! In fact one of you likely gave it to me, I just can't seem to remember who (*sorry*). Can you guess why?

Maybe this view will help....

For those of you who still can't figure it out, here you go!

Ok, to clarify, I am NOT a sports fan, and, in fact, really don't know the difference between FlS and U of F. But, just the wording reminded me of lots of friends and family.

A Busy Weekend

Sorry for the delay in posting. It has been a very busy weekend! S was off work Friday, so we decided to drive a bit to some sand dunes we had heard about. There is literally this sand basin, right in the middle of a valley surrounded by mountains. While it is an explainable natural phenomenon, it really looks out of place. The highest dunes are over 600 feet tall.

Looking down at the dunes in the valley.

Will (the dog), me with N in the wrap, and JR after hiking up a small dune.

Hey, S, I dare you to flip off this steep hill! --Wait, I was kidding!!!

Never fear, the kids will come down and rescue you!

Just one problem with that idea....what goes down, must come back up! And that dune was as steep as it looks!

JR, me, M, and Will in a dune valley.

Even A tried to get in on the action, and after eating his fill of dirt, proceeded to try to slide feet first down the hill.

Our ever-faithful guardian supervising us.

On Valentine's morning, I awoke to find a dozen roses and a very touching card.

Aren't they beautiful?!

Then we proceeded to use S's Valentine's gift--a hand-held GPS--to go geocaching. We first heard about this sport a year ago, and it has since rapidly gained in popularity. This game is designed for outdoor enthusiasts, and is used for many reasons. Basically, it is a treasure hunt, where someone hides a "cache" (the treasure). It could be any size, and contain anything from a finder's log (the minimum) to a huge stash of collector's geo-coins, trackable items, dog treats, fast-food toys, etc. Someone (anyone) hides the cache, records its GPS location, logs it onto the geocache website, and waits to see who can find it. It is a way to draw people to an out-of-the-way trail, provide a fun challenge for city-dwellers, or just turn an otherwise average family hike into a cache-hunting race. When you find a cache, you sign the log, take anything you want out of it (as long as you replace it with something else), and move on to the next. There are literally hundreds of thousands of these caches stashed all over the world! There is a good chance you live within a mile of several!

S holding one of his cache finds, while A (in the back carrier sitting on the ground) looks on.

Then we returned home to take a quick rest.

OK, so for some, it was a more lengthy rest!

We then had our first post-placement adoption visit with our social worker. After he left, we loaded up the family, and drove to see some dear friends several hours away. We spent the night, attended their church the next day, enjoyed some good homemade southern food for lunch, visited more friends down the road, and returned home Sunday night.

JR, "Pa-paw", N, M, "Ma-maw", and A.

Our first photo as a family of 6!

We are now home, recuperating as best we can, and still recovering from colds. I am putting the finishing touches on a new family schedule and chore system, and am looking forward to testing it out this week. I'll let you know how it works out!

Sick Day

The last few days, we have had some type of cold going through the family. I can't complain really, as, ever since we started drinking raw milk, our family really hasn't gotten sick. Even JR, who used to catch everything and then passed it on to me, rarely slows down anymore. In fact, as best I can recall, since we started raw milk about 6 months ago, we have not had anything worse than sniffles, and even then, it only lasted about a day or two.

So this go around, JR came down with sniffles and a mild fever, but he seemed fine within 24 hours. Then M got the sniffles and a bit of a cough, but all in all, she is doing OK. Then A caught it 2 days ago. His raw milk is limited at this point, so he is generally fussy and wanting to be held a lot. Unfortunately, since I have been away from home, I had no raw milk and limited organic foods for about 2 weeks, which I think weakened my immune system. So, this morning, I woke up feeling horrible!! But, it still isn't nearly as bad as the colds I used to get. Nonetheless, today, this TV-hating mommy has already popped in 2 different Disney movies for JR and M, and has Veggie-tales on standby! And when I am not blowing my nose, testing my blood sugar (illness wreaks havoc on a diabetic!), or washing my hands in an attempt to keep little N healthy, my limited energy is focused on A.


I certainly don't enjoy my little boy being sick, but I have to admit it has its perks. I love holding a sleeping baby. They seem so peaceful!

Despite how bad I may feel, I am also reminded how blessed we truly are. I spent a few minutes this morning sorting and de-tagging gifts from a baby-shower last night. A few weeks before N was born, a friend called and asked if she could throw me one. I love baby showers, but felt almost awkward since this was, after all, baby #4. She insisted though, and I was truly blessed by the ladies who came, to show their support for our adoption and for little N himself. I had a couple ladies take pictures for me, so I can put them in N's scrapbook. In the event he ever wonders, I can show him that he was loved and celebrated by many. Thank you so much ladies for the blessing you are!

Fruitopia

This beautiful edible fruit arrangement, complete with a baby boy balloon and a baby boy ceramic music box base mysteriously arrived at my door today. The only hint we got as to who it was from was "your friends in the P." Thank you all. It was a wonderful surprise, and in fact couldn't have come at a better time. Today, my 2 older children woke up coughing and not feeling well, A was incredibly clingy and cried everytime I set him down today, and poor little N had another doc appt. today to have the big "C" done. Needless to say, he has been really sore and fussing all afternoon. It was somewhat of a mentally taxing afternoon, and then this showed up and totally encouraged me. I have to say JR probably enjoyed it more than anyone though, as he went to town on that arrangement! I had to force him to stop so his dad could actually have some when he got home from work! Our family absolutely loves fresh produce, so the gift was just perfect for us. So once again, thank you very much!

Lemonade Award

Well, I just received a very kind thought from a regular blog-reader, Gina. My first blog award. I don't know much about these things, so Gina, if you'd care to explain, I would greatly appreciate it. Then I will know more about how to pass it on!

Thanks so much!! I really appreciate it!

And, in keeping the spirit, I am passing it along to:

--Renee

I have greatly admired several things about her since I became a reader, to include the fact she makes it work (seemingly well!) with 13 children, all being homeschooled, and many of whom are adopted. Plus, as she has endured over 65 hours of dental work this year, which included organizing childcare, rearranging child schedules, etc., she has always had the best spirit and attitude. Thanks Renee!

Morning #2 and #3

I am still working on my new goal of rising early. Saturday morning, I woke up at 6:40. I was, for once, refreshed and awake. I looked over at the unusual sight of my wonderful hubby still in bed beside me. Mind you, this is VERY unusual. He is naturally an early riser (around 6 am on most weekends), and during the weekdays, he is often up around 4:30 due to his work schedule. So waking up with him beside me is a rare treat indeed. But, I digress. So, assuming he must be very tired and not wanting to disturb him, I told Will (the dog) to "stay" (normally he follows me downstairs), slipped out of bed, quietly put my robe on, and went downstairs. I picked up my Bible and began a wonderful quiet time with the Lord. Around 6:55, a very dreary-eyed S came downstairs, took one look at me, and asked, "Who are you, and what did you do with my wife?" It was classic. It was then I realized I hadn't mentioned my new goal to him. Oh well!

This morning, I am proud to report, that, with a little encouragement from S, I was up at 6:15. I managed to take a shower, get dressed, and take care of several things before the kids came down. I'm getting closer! I can do this!

Snow Day!

We decided to take a drive up into the mountains today and take the kids sledding for the first time. We borrowed a few things, got a sitter for A, and off we went. We found a perfect little area, just off the road with some great hills and good powder.


We all had a blast. It has been years for us big folks, and the kids, though scared at first, were sledding on their own after a few runs.


The kids kept losing their gloves. I think we spent almost as much time redressing everyone as sledding.

When it was time to go, the kids laid down in the snow and said they were comfy and liked it there. It didn't matter to them that JR had a scratched up face from an OOPS that resulted in him going airborn and landing on his face, or that M had so much snow on her face and in her hat and gloves from mom's steering us into fresh powder on one run. Oh well, we consider it jumping in with both feet (or face!). We just want them to have the full experience, right?! Then we proceeded to return to the van, change clothes, and load up. It was a perfect day, until.......

M decided to get her finger caught in the van door! OUCH! Poor kid! I think anyone in the hills heard her screaming! We though we were going to have to make a trip to the ER, but by the time we drove back into the city, she was using the finger, the swelling had stopped, and she wasn't complaining too much. We are going to keep an eye on it for now and see what happens. I will have to watch that more closely!

New Furniture!

You know how God is soooo incredibly good, at times when we least expect it? Well, long story short, we have had some situations that left us wanting/needing a few items around the house. One was a little table for the kids. S has had a beautiful scrap piece of oak for several years that was plenty big enough to make one, but we had no way to cut it. Recently, he was given a table saw. So here was his first project:

We just had to buy the legs and stain it. It is pretty simple, but it serves its purpose perfectly, the kids love it, and I love not having toys and school stuff all over my dining table all the time now.

Then, another long story short, I have wanted a living room suit for years, but couldn't justify buying one due to our frequent moving and the fact we had what we NEEDED. We have been using a futon and a recliner. We always keep an eye out at yard sales, but most of what we find is either way too big to practically move around the country, or old and ready to fall apart. We were at a friend's house recently for our weekly small-group worship, and wound up with a new couch and loveseat...FREE. It is in great shape and has a nice country look to it (which we want for our future farm house). Funny thing is, we have around 20-30 people coming to our house for weekly worship this weekend, and we actually have a way to seat them all now! Not sure what we will do with futon and recliner if our next house is smaller. We want it for the farm, but we have a few years before we get there. I'm sure we will work it out though.

I may have to change the curtains out to match a bit better, but the cats approve (one is ours, and the other we are petsitting)!

Holiday Hiking Trip

One of the gifts we received from friends this Christmas was a terrific book about the hiking trails in the area. We haven't done a lot of hiking since all the kids came along because we just weren't properly outfitted to carry the gear we needed. As we have learned, when you have 3 children under 4, a 2 hour hike can be a pretty big deal! One of things we lacked was a good day-pack that would be a good size for me to help carry gear. Well, unexpectedly, the day after Christmas, we came across a perfect backpack--sized for a woman, a good brand, and just like new. It was a steal! S snatched it up immediately, so on Saturday, we decided to use the new pack and our new book and go on a hike. We decided that we needed to find an easy, low-altitude trail so the kids wouldn't get too tired, and so I could use it as training. We found the perfect hike--an old railroad that has been converted. We were even able to take the jogging stroller for the kids. Although I didn't need the pack for this hike, we decided I would take the opportunity to stuff it and train with it a bit before we do anything longer. Here are a few pics from our adventure.

The new pack is just big enough for JR to fit into! Who needs those fancy kid-backpacks?

There are several tunnels along this hike. It looks small, but it is big enough for a train to fit through. If you look closely, you can see a person standing on the other side.

A family photo just inside one tunnel. Little A is fast asleep beside M in the stroller.

Another family photo-op moment in front of beautiful lake view.

S thought this would be a cool shot of us walking out of a tunnel. Nice to see he still has the eye for good photos!

The hike was several miles, so we were all pretty tired when we got home. I am little sore, and obviously out of shape. Need to do more training hikes I guess--all for the kids of course!! There are few things that make me feel closer to God then being out in nature, where you are just surrounded by his beautiful, perfect creation.

Merry Christmas!

We had a wonderful family Christmas. It started at 6:30 this morning with some Christmas music, and the Christmas story from Luke 2. Here are just a few pictures from the morning:

We tried to take a pic of the kids by the tree, but JR disappeared to get dressed (and came down looking like a cross between Steve Urkel and Farmer Brown), and after reading the Bible story, M decided she was the Mother Mary (yes, that is her gown that has been pulled up over her head). We decided that trying to round-up excited children for a picture on Christmas morning was futal.

JR doing a little jig after opening one of his gifts.

JR receiving his 2nd annual collector's nutcracker...or "peanut cracker" as he calls it. This is something special between him and Grandma, who got him hooked on the Christmas ballet "The Nutcracker."

A few of M's gifts were a new robe, new slippers, and

a collection of Bible story books.

She got a princess dress-up set from Nana and Grandpa. So now she can really lay
claim to being "Daddy's Little Princess!"

And her new bike almost brought tears she was so excited!

A had way more fun playing with the paper than with his gifts.

The kids each had several other gifts, some of which I will show in the coming days. I gave S a long-desired self-teach piano instruction manual and a good set of bicycling gloves for those cold morning trips to work. I got a GPS navigation system....something I have missed terribly since we sold our Prius. I get lost in my own backyard without a good map, as I have NO sense of direction! Thank you so very much, honey!! We also got some very nice items from friends and family, so thank you all very much as well!

A quick spin on the new bike before the rain came.

I spent the morning preparing a yummy Christmas lunch. I totally failed in both the organic and health departments today, as my desire for some good Southern-style cookin' overcame my desire for healthy. I will have to come up with some new recipes that are at least more organic. Nonetheless, we enjoyed a lunch of honey glazed ham, homemade french bread, sweet potato souffle', green beans, and my first ever pecan pie.

Hope your day was as Merry as ours!

Dear Santa....

I have been a really good girl this year. Of course, I have had my faults, but who doesn't, right? I mean, I try really hard to behave, be a good wife, and a good mom.

Can we just forget the time that my dear husband tried to help my morning by pre-filling the baby bottle with water, and I dumped it thinking it was just soaking?

Or his favorite chair that I promised to sew a seat for 7 months ago, and have yet to do.

And the time I laughed at my 4 year old who, while relieving himself, kindly shouted a warning, "Mom, I'm sorry if the kitchen stinks, but the smell goes out the space under the door, and I can't help it!"

Or the way I have taught my children to recycle to the point that my 4 year old asks, "Mom, if we die, and we leave our skin, and God makes new people who need skin, then why doesn't God just use our skin instead of making more?"

I mean, my kids love going to church, at least...even if JR only goes to watch the drummer, and M only goes to see what yummy snack they are having that day.

It can't be all that bad that my 2 year old honestly thinks the technical name for hiccups is either "hic-em-ups" or "hiccup-a-potamus?"

And let's not even bring up the REALLY bad mommy-moment when I was a new mom-of-3, and I loaded all the kids in their carseats, and started backing out of the driveway, when JR suddenly stated, "MOM! You forgot A!" Sure enough, there was little A, securely fastened into his carseat, sitting happily in the middle of the kitchen floor. But, I have learned to do in-car headcounts now!

OK, ok, I guess I can resign myself to a bag of coal this year. Maybe it will actually inspire me to plan a camping trip when the weather warms up.

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

Exciting Week!

We have had a terrific week so far, with lots of adventures. It all started with a trip out of town to visit friends at our old church and attend their Christmas concert. We returned home on Sunday, and picked up Grandma from the airport.

Between playing with the kids, seeing the sites around here, and participating in our unexpected final adoption homestudy, she stayed pretty busy for the few short days she was here.

As if we didn't have enough to be excited about with Grandma here, on Wednesday it started SNOWING!! OK, so a little snow is no big deal in the northern states. In fact, our lowest temp only got to about 30 degrees. Nonetheless, in the actual area that we live, snow only happens about every 2-4 years is my understanding. JR has seen it before, but was too young to remember. Oh, was it beautiful! I love snow (at least for a short period of time), and particularly around Christmas! We got about 2-3 inches, and it stuck around through the next day. We were all so excited!

This is the street in front of our house. Palm trees really are not crazy about snow. They all looked so depressed after a few hours!

JR refused his hat and gloves, because he wanted to "feel" the snow. He lasted about 15 mnintues like this, then came in to get some on.

M didn't know what to think, period!

Daddy taught JR how to build his first snowman!

After all the excitement over the snow settled, we decided to have a little early Christmas and open Grandma's presents while she was with us.

We had a lovely time together and look forward to Grandma's next visit!

More Recent Happenings

We had a bit going on over the last couple of weeks, so I have tried to divide it into several posts tonight. Here are a few other miscellaneous occurrences:

M got her first haircut. Her hair was constantly in her face, and it appears as though she is cursed with my cowlicks, so I thought I would give her a trim. She felt so special. I only slightly trimmed up the back, but I actually cut the front and created bangs for her. They turned out a little shorter than I had planned, but not too bad.

Before

After

We spent some time this past weekend assembling a Christmas train Nana and Grandpa sent for the kids. There was only one problem. The kids past experience involved edible gingerbread houses and candy, so they were convinced that this foam train was edible as well. A left lovely little chew marks all over several of the wheels (guess he thought they were some kind of biscuit). Later, the little white "chimney" (I have no clue what it's called) that goes on the front of the train came up missing. We soon discovered it in M's mouth...she was convinced it was a marshmallow, and she was doing her dead-level best to chew the thing. It still has molar prints all over it, but it was pretty durable, and we were still able to use it.

Notice that I am blessed to have a man who actually reads directions!

The finished product

The following are just some miscellaneous shots from the last couple of weeks:

In related news, A is finally learning to crawl! He is so much happier now! He gets up on all 4's and bounces, he can use his legs to lunge himself forward, and he can pull himself along with his arms. Now he just has to coordinate all those motions to get the crawl down. He is so happy now, that I have let him go to only 2 naps a day (from his previous 3). I think we have also FINALLY managed to shift his schedule ever so slightly so he gets up with the older kids, still naps around the same time as them, and goes to bed shortly before them. It seems to be working well. Another milestone!