Little Lessons

I'm feeling very convicted by the verse that the children copied during their copy work time this morning. Jonah 4:4, "And the Lord said, 'do you do well to be angry?'" I feel God asking me that question so very often during the day. And I have to admit that more often than not, I'm angry over something much smaller than a worm-eaten vine.

Paging JeffCo Red Cross....

Jared spoke with our social worker on Monday. She said that the only hold-up on our home study is Jared's CPR card. He took the class 2 wks before I did! DHR has requested a copy of his card three times, & each time Red Cross has sent a copy of mine. Tara now has 3 copies of my card and none of his! How frustrating!
He did receive a bit of encouraging news. We don't have to have our official license from Montgomery before learning more about the children we've submitted inquiries on. As soon as Tara's supervisor signs off on our home study, we are good to go! Yay! One less governmental process to wait on!

Wanting More

I sat down to read for 5 minutes, just 5 minutes. Trouble is, the book I sat down with was Kisses from Katie. I was (am) just blown away by the amazing things God has done and is doing through this young lady's life. Reading her story makes me want to fill our house with children. Jared said, "maybe I should read it too." My response to him was, "oh you should definitely read it. Just be ready."

The waiting is extremely hard today...extremely hard and extremely frustrating because Jared and I can't do anything more at this point. The process is out of our hands; we are at the mercy, so to speak, of our county social workers. It's not a fun place to be. However, I need to preach to myself this truth: Underneath those small hands of DHR are the mighty hands of our loving heavenly Father. He alone is sovereign. He alone is orchestrating every step in this adoption process for our good and His glory. "Lord I believe, help my unbelief."

More Adoption News

Wow the waiting....it is so very hard. I'm becoming discouraged by our inability to get in touch with our social worker easily. It took 5 days of repeated phone calls, voicemails, and emails before Jared finally caught up with her this afternoon. She has completed our home study and passed it to her supervisor for approval. However, she as well as her supervisor have been out of the office for various reasons over the past several days and won't be back in the office until after the holidays now. SO frustrating. Now we're thinking that we won't be officially licensed until mid-January. I know that God has not forgotten us and that all these speed bumps are His good and loving and sovereign will for us. These things I know, yet must continually remind myself of, especially when my first response is that of impatient grumbling.

And now we wait...

It's been a good little hike down this trail so far, and now we've come to the hardest part of this adoption journey for me....the waiting. We have completed:
*our GPS (group placement & selection) classes, 
*our physicals, 
*our First Aid/CPR certification, 
*our two home visits,
*our mountain (and I do mean mountain) of paperwork. 
Now, we are simply waiting to be matched with the little girl whom God has purposed for our family from before time. (Thank you Peggy for the reminder!)

Don't Waste Your Potty Training

(I hope John Piper fans will appreciate the title!)

Isaac started his second round of potty training this week. We had tried back in the summer but had to give it up when he came down with an ear infection. This time around, however, there is no turning back, even though he has caught a cold. We've had more failures than successes thus far which for me is quite frustrating and disheartening. I realize that potty training, in the grand scheme of things, doesn't seem like a great need, but it is at this moment for me. And I guess instead of praying simply that Isaac "gets it" quickly so that I no longer have to clean up all the messes and wash underwear every day, my prayer should go beyond these temporal circumstances. This potty training is like a mirror for my soul that is exposing sin crusting on my heart, sin like impatience and discontentment. Lord please help me not waste this time in grumbling and complaining.

Psalm 141:3 "Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth. Keep watch over the door of my lips."

Birthday Week 2010

Once again I uploaded the pictures in the wrong order. Oh well. Anyway, since Jared's & my birthdays are only 4 days apart, we celebrate them for a whole week. Here's some pics from it..

Jared always takes a day off around my birthday to stay home with the kiddos so I can have a day all to myself. SO nice! This yr, I spent some of my bday money buying the pattern and fabric to make this dress for Rach...

As well as this one...

On my actual birthday, my mom, Rach, and I all went to lunch and to have our nails done. It was Rachie's first time and she had a blast....
Jared got this for me and I absolutely love it! Its like having my very own Starbucks in my kitchen. And it makes hot chocolate too!
We had a birthday dinner here for Jared, Matthew, & me.
We kicked off (no pun intended) birthday week by going to the AU/Arkansas game. What a fun day! Uncle Kyle & Aunt Natalie were so gracious to keep the kids for us so we could have an all-day date.

Updates, Updates, Updates

*School*

We're a little over 2 months in to our first official year of homeschooling now and things are going well. Its not exactly what I had envisioned, but somehow we're managing. Our days are looking like this:

B'fast

Chores

TV time

Snack & Bible story

Centers (They choose from Puzzles, Books, LeapPad, Blocks, Art, & Build-a-Word)

Circle time (This wk we're learning about letter D and continuing with our Fall theme, focusing on birthdays in spanish since Jared & my birthdays are this week)

Room time

Lunch

Story & Naptime for the boys (We're reading The Boxcar Children)

Book work for Rach (She's taking a break from the Bob books and working thru Dick & Jane; We went with the Kindergarten LifePac Math b/c the Mathusee Alpha seemed a bit over her head. She also does handwriting in her journal during this time)

Afternoon snack & Book basket turnover

Free time til Daddy gets home

I've actually learned (or started to learn) to give myself permission to not have the perfect day everyday and there is so much freedom in that!

*Baby #4*

I'm just over 14 wks along and so very glad to be in my 2nd trimester. This pregnancy has been the hardest of the 4 by far. I haven't been sick really, more just exhausted and uber-emotional. Headaches have been a big problem as well. We find out what we're having next month!

And so it finally begins...

The "it" here would be our official homeschooling journey. Technically, our journey began several years ago when we became parents. But little missy will enter kindergarten this fall, so to most of the parenting world, this would be the official beginning. I'm excited and scared all at the same time. We've been preparing for this moment for a long while, and now its finally here. The school room is set up for the most part, and Jared and I are meeting with the administrator of our prospective cover school, Heritage Academy, next week.

It still seems unreal to me that Rach will start kindergarten in a few short weeks. Since I'm her teacher, I figure I can set her schedule, so we're starting the day after Labor Day. I think its crazy that kids are going back to school this week. This is way too early for school to start.

I'm still working out our daily school schedule, but I have decided on what we'll be using as our curricula.

How to teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons and the Bob books.

Math U See Primer

Five in a Row

Espanol para los chiquitos

I'm hoping I'm not being too ambitious here. I'm also hoping that I can remind myself to take time to enjoy this journey and not get so bogged down by all the details.

just a simple Q & A, right?

Jared is so faithful to lead family worship time for us each night. He's walking thru the Bible with the kids. After the Bible time, they recite verses, and then we all sing together. Anyway, after Jared tells the Bible story, he asks the children if they have any questions. Some nights they have a hard time sticking to the topic, but other nights their questions spark some amazing conversation. Here's a sampling of the things we try to tackle:

Rach: "Some times we do bad things and some times we do good things, so I was wondering , are we going to go to heaven or to hell?"

Rach: "How was Jesus able to do miracles when He wasn't even there, like when the soldier's little boy was sick?"

Noah: "How many more prays do we have before God puts a baby in your tummy, mommy?"

"What do you want to be when you grow up?"

I posed the question to Rach & Noah during supper tonight. They both have some pretty interesting career plans...

Rach: "mmm, I want to be a cheerleader."

Me: "for who?"

Rach: "mmm, for Auburn."

Me: "what do you want to do after that?"

Rach: "I want to be a doctor."

Guess we better start saving now for her med school.

Noah: "I want to be a football player for Auburn!"

Me: "What do you want to do when you get finished playing football?"

Noah: "What?"

Jared: "You can only play football for Auburn for 4 years. What do you want to do after that?"

Noah: "ummm, I'll be a soccer player!"

Rach: "And I can be a cheerleader for his soccer team."

Me: "So, you're going to be a doctor and a cheerleader?"

Rach: "yes."

Happy Birthday Noah!

Just a few of the best pictures from Noah's birthday party. They're definitely out of order, but I have yet to figure out how to do a good job posting pictures on blogger. Oh well..

Jared and I used some of the boxes we had already packed to make a treasure ship. I think it turned out pretty well.

See, even big boys love playing pirates!

Uncle Thias as the Dread Pirate Roberts handing out treasure rocks to all the kiddos. I got the idea for the treasure rocks from Family Fun magazine, which is a wonderful idea storehouse. The rocks are made with used coffee grounds, flour, salt, sand, & water. I just picked up a bunch of party favors from Party City and 'buried' them in the rocks. The kids had a great time breaking up the rocks, and we of course had a great time watching them.
The Dread Pirate Roberts! (Yes, we are huge fans of the Princess Bride.) Uncle Thias was such a good sport to dress up for the kids. He did a great job!

He was the cutest big boy pirate ever! And yes, I am biased. What a great and wonderful day!

A huge shout out to Publix for the yummy cake. My plan had been to make his cake, and I found a great one in Family Fun magazine. It was a cute and seemingly simple pirate hat cake. Well, it completely fell apart last night as I was trying to frost it. Let me just say that I had a bit of a come apart. Rach & I went scrambling to Publix this morning before 8 to beg the sweet ladies in the bakery for anything they could come up with. They were so incredibly gracious, and we were able to pick up Noah's cake in plenty of time for his party!

Here we go again...

So, we found out today that little man Noah is to have yet another surgery. Next Thursday, he'll have his adenoids removed as well as another set of tubes put in his ears. I understand that both of those procedures are routine and that Noah will be fine. As an aside, whenever a doctor or nurse uses the term, routine, I always think in my mind, "routine for who exactly?" I know I certainly don't deal with surgery every day. Am I the only person who wonders this? Sometimes I wonder if its the irrational mommy in me. Anyway, back to Noah. Dr. Goodson, an ENT at Brookwood, wanted to do a round of meds with Noah first before going the surgery route. Jared and I agreed until I talked with the pharmacist at Wal-Greens and found that these meds would cost over $200. Our outpatient surgery co-pay is only $150. Jared and I found ourselves in a bit of a quandry at that point. Dr. Goodson didn't seem to have a ton of confidence that the meds would work. Plus, Noah has been dealing with his hearing issues for several months already. We definitely didn't want there to be any permanent damage. And too, Dr. Goodson had said that the surgery would produce immediate results. We're opting to go on ahead with the surgery. I know I'll always second-guess myself but it is what it is at this point.

Poor guy! Noah is such a trooper though. God certainly blessed him with an incredibly contented heart. He has been through so much in his short little life already, but you would never know it to meet him. He is always just as happy and playful and loves life so much. I could learn a great deal from him.

Prayers for Haiti

Jared and I watched a couple of hours of CNN's coverage of the earthquake in Haiti the other night after the kids were in bed. I don't remember what our original purpose was in turning the TV on, probably to find a basketball game. But we flipped to CNN and were just silenced by the pictures and video of the utter devastation. There just are no words to describe what has happened to those people. I remember trying to pray and not being able to say more than, "Lord have mercy" over and over again. I didn't want to not be affected by what we were seeing and hearing. I also had this overwhelming desire to do something to help. So, I continued to pray for the lost (physically & spiritually) there in Haiti and also for opportunities to help. I saw in the paper over the next two days, two places here locally providing aid. Flipflops and whatnots in Cahaba Heights is collecting shoes and the Wesley Foundation at UAB is collecting items for Health Kits (uabwesley.org) Anyone know of any more?

Its nothing personal; its just football.

I love football, every level of football. I can't remember a time in my life when watching football didn't encompass the majority of my fall weekends. Growing up, my parents would take my brother and me to the local high school's games every Friday night. Saturdays were spent watching college football, and NFL games claimed our attention on Sundays. Recently, high school football has taken a backseat to the other two, but football is still very much a part of my life.

One of my favorite things about football is the rivalries. And there isn't a better rivalry in all of college football than the one found here in the state of Alabama. There are very few more emotionally charged moments than the last seconds just before kickoff in the Iron Bowl. Half of the fans clad in their burnt orange and navy blue, the other half clad in their crimson and white and houndstooth, all holding their breath, their eyes focused on the 22 college kids lined up on the field. It gives me chills just to think about it. For most folks in this state, this is the pinnacle of the entire football season. And regrettably, for some, the pinnacle of life.

I've spent my falls cheering for Auburn and jeering the Tide. My parents are the ones responsible for starting that trend. My mom is an Auburn alum, my dad a lifelong fan. They tell me that a friend of my dad once told me to say "those" words to my mom when I was 4 years old. Not knowing any better, I walked proudly up to my mom, bore a huge smile, and said...'Roll Tide.' A dark cloud passed over her face and she threatened to wash my mouth out with soap. Now, I had not a clue as to what those words meant, but I saw immediately that anything having to do with them must be very, very bad. To this day, I don't believe I've ever said those words aloud again. A lot has happened in the past 30 years, I've grown up, graduated from Auburn, gotten married, had 3 children, but my feelings toward that other school pretty much remain the same.

If pushed to give a reason for my disdain, I suppose that I could list one or two that might have some validity, such as any success for them hurts our efforts in recruiting. But if I'm going to be completely honest, the reason I don't like Alabama is simply because I love Auburn. The one naturally follows the other. It's a phenomenon that is admittedly impossible to explain to the casual sports fan or even to the rabid sports fan that is unfamiliar with life down here. But for me, it just is what it is.

So, this past week has left a horrid taste in my mouth sportswise. (It'd be nice to be able to lessen the pain through enjoying my Redskins, but alas, they're horrible.) I've had to watch as the University of Alabama claimed their "13th" national title. Several of my friends who are Alabama fans couldn't understand why I wouldn't "cheer for the SEC" or "support my state." But for me, when I see the University of Alabama, I don't see a fellow conference member or a neighboring school, I only see a bitter rival. Call it insane fanaticism if you will.

Fortunately its only football.

On the Streets of Philadelphia, pt 2

Does anyone else have a horrible time posting pictures on here? I can never get the spacing right for some reason, so vexing. Anyway, so there may or may not be more pictures of the trip. They are all up on Facebook though. Back to the trip highlights...

If you've ever driven for any length of time with young children in the car, you can just imagine what life was like for us during the 32 hours total we were on the road. We finally got the DVD player installed in working order while we were in Philly, so we had a movie marathon on the way home. Cinderella, Jungle Book, Winnie-the-Pooh, Shreks 1 & 2, and part of the Gospel of John got us to Chattanooga. The next day, Emperor's New Groove and most of the Pixar short films got us home. We made the trip up all in one day, and it truly was not as horrid an experience as one might think, even without a working DVD player. The one meltdown came from Isaac about 3 hrs outside Philly at 10-ish. I finally just had to take him out of the car seat and let him ride in my lap the rest of the way. He fell asleep as soon as I put him in my lap, and I was riding in the back seat.

Uncle Mike & Aunt Lynne were incredibly gracious to host us for a week. The children loved their little dog Jake, perhaps a little more than Jake wanted to be loved. We also spent a lot of time in the city with Nate & Hannah. We didn't do a whole lot of touristy things this trip, just an afternoon at the Franklin Institute. Mainly we spent our time hanging out with family and doing local Philadelphia stuff. I did have two delicious cheesesteaks while we were there, yum!

On the Streets of Philadelphia

Jared & I, along with Uncle Teve, took the kids up to Philadelphia for Thanksgiving. We left Birmingham the Friday before at 615 am, and after a "brief" layover in Knoxville to try and correct some Best Buy issues and various other pitstops, we arrived in Philly at 1-ish on Saturday morning. It was a wonderful time full of family, games, movies, junk food, walking, playing, and just about any other enjoyable thing you can think of.

Probably the most satisfying part of the trip to me was watching the children enjoy their cousins. As Nate mentioned at Thanksgiving dinner, its just wonderful to see another generation of family love each other. They had the best time!

Rachie celebrated her 5th birthday while we were up there. We all went ice skating during the day and then had dinner and her party that night. Aunt Lynne made her yummy Santa Fe soup, and we all had bday cookie afterwards. There were pink ballons, princess rings, pretty necklaces, and of course party blowers! Big fun for everyone!

A little perspective

Noah told me to put my iphone down the other day while we were in his room playing cars. Kyle & Natalie will undoubtedly get a big laugh out of that, but in my defense, I was planning a playdate for later in the day. Noah's request, or demand, did give me pause however and made me think how often the "most pressing" usurps the "most important." I thought about how often I make decisions without taking a step back to consider the big picture, how often I focus on the here and now without taking the time to consider the future. I began to ask myself some uncomfortable questions and found myself struggling with the answers. And yes, all this while racing matchbox cars and building lincoln log cabins for Polly Pockets. Just a sampling...

*Do I really have to say no when the children ask for one more story or when they ask if we can play car wash on the deck? Granted there are times when things such as those are just not feasible, but not often. They're young, and my time with them is limited. It shouldn't always matter whether I want to play or not. I imagine that the day will come years from now when I'll wish Noah would ask me to play football while I'm loading the dishwasher or Rach would want me to read a chapter book while I'm making supper.

*Is it really that big of a deal if Rach wants to wear her princess dress to basketball? Again there are times when its important to dress appropriate for the occasion, but not as often as we like to think. We're just heading to the gym to watch Jared play basketball with some guys from church. Does it really matter that my daughter is dressed as Cinderella? Or would it be better for me to let her enjoy picking out her clothes and getting ready all by herself?

*Am I going to remember a slightly offensive statement in 5 yrs? I can barely remember everything a friend and I talked about two nights ago, much less 5 years ago. And I'm pretty sure that my memory will get worse as I get older and not better. Wouldn't it just be better for me to go ahead and forget that that comment ticked me off now?

*Will it really bother me years from now that Jared didn't pick up his socks last night? Sure it frustrated the crap out of me this morning, but if something were to happen to him, would I care two straws about the stupid socks?

*Is that apology that I think I'm owed more important than that relationship? Again, if something were to happen to this person, would I honestly be still wanting an apology at their funeral? Wouldn't I much rather just be wronged and move on instead of letting a relationship be put on hold indefinitely?

*Do I know what kind of day the lady at the drive-thru had? Do I know all she has been through in her life? Regardless of that, am I even truly entitled to a polite greeting just because I decide I 'need' a frappachino?

*What will matter in the light of eternity?

Perspective is a very humbling, sobering thing. At least it is for me. I need those random reminders, such as a request to put my iphone down, to bring me back to that which is truly reality. So often I allow myself to become distracted with stuff that just does not matter. Lord, help me to see life, all of life, even the mundane everyday, thru the light of the cross.

Its that time of year again!

We took the big kids down to AU for the first game of the season! Big Thanks to Joe & Jennifer for watching Isaac for us! And Big Thanks to Kyle's mom's boss for the free tickets! And Big Thanks to the two unknown Tiger fans who handed free tickets to Rach (story to follow)! 

This might sound like a 'Duh!' statement, but experiencing an AU football game as a parent with small children is very different from experiencing an AU football game as a student or even as an alum without children. For me, this trip was quite nostalgic. It was almost surreal to walk through campus holding my daughter's hand...the whole time, my mind was rewinding back a few years to my days as a student. I found myself saying things like, 'your daddy and I had classes in this building' and 'I used to walk on the concourse every day' and 'there used to be a big eagle's cage right here.' 

Funny story ~ Before the game, we ate lunch at Chick-Fil-A on Magnolia. As we were leaving, three big guys were walking up the steps, and one of them had painted his chest orange. Noah zoned in on him and watched him walk all the way up the stairs. He was fascinated. As the guy walked by, Noah looked up at Jared and said, "Daddy, is that man wearing a shirt?"

"No, Buddy. He painted himself orange."

"He painted himself?"

"Yes, Buddy."

"Daddy, when I grow up, can I paint myself too?" We all thought that was too cute. Even the 'painted man' laughed and laughed.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the day....

Rach practicing her 'I need tickets' pose. It worked! Jared put her up on his shoulders and within five minutes, two different fans handed an extra ticket to her. Yay Rachie!
Rach and her new doll, Auburn.

Look at me, Mommy!

Isaac has found some new favorite things to do ~ take a look...

Climbing up on the steps...

and pushing his airplane around the house...
and drinking out of a big boy sippy cup...
and riding around on his airplane...
and climbing into Noah's dump truck to wait for one of his siblings to push him across the floor.