"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

Friday, January 30, 2009

This just in...

This is the conversation JUST now overheard in the kitchen- just a small glimpse of our life.
Tom walks through the kitchen with the vacuum extension pole. Yordi is running (squealing like a kid on Christmas morning) behind him shouting at me. "Mom come quick. What's dad got? Somesings wrong with the goat. He's gonna slap him and then we get to eat him." HUH???????
Sorry Yordi- dad is just going to vacuum. It's just pizza for dinner.

I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried...

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Love this song.

The video doesn't match what I see in my mind when I hear the song. I think of all the kiddos stuck in ET due to all the funk the courts/paper snafu's have caused. I think of the kids and families waiting. I will continue to see their faces and pray.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Instead of cleaning house...




This is what I did today. Sure, there were floors to mop, carpets to vacuum, laundry to do...
But, it snowed outside, I had a warm cup of tea, and my sewing machine and yards of old fabric scraps calling to me even in the middle of the night. Didn't they turn out cute????

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Photos from the day









Well, the cassirating went well. Pretty cool in fact. We were the first ones up at Kerri's farm. The girls had not slept in the barn. We were greeting by Kerri's hubby who told us to head to the barn. Shortly afterward everyone got there. 23 babies- 11 boys- 3 mama sows. Kerri had already marked all boys with a large blue sharpie. She had to capture them and take them away from the wolverine mothers. Man they are protective things!!!!! As she handed them out to us, we then marked on them which mother they belonged to. All baby boys into the playpen. We decided that since the mommas were climbing the walls (literally) to rescue their screaming babies we would take them to the other barn. The whole process was pretty cool. The boys in the club did a great job of holding babies. None of the kids wanted to do the actual cutting (it was kinda scary) but they were all involved in helping out. Kerri's dad did a great job and let the kids do as much as they wanted. What amazed me was that there was NO blood. Really thought there would be. No, none!!! The kids did great, the babies did great, a couple of bags of souvenirs went home with dreams of a frying pan... none to our house. We get to pick out the babies in less than 4 weeks and Kerri is going have each kid vaccinate their own pig. Addie has fallen in love- one little gilt that runs over and nips her on the hand whenever she bends down.

Molly was a bit concerned when it was all over- looking around at all the people. She quietly asks if just animals have to do this or people too?

I told her just boy animals.

Well, why?

Cause they have boy parts.

Oh, so we aren't going to do this to Noah?

Oh heavens NO!

Whew! I still am glad I'm not a boy.

Fast forward to today... I explained that Dad will be picking up from school tomorrow. Noah has a dr appt. Molly is crying... I thought you said we weren't taking his boy parts!!!!!!!!!

Can you say scarred for life?????

Saturday, January 24, 2009

big happenings today!!

There is big stuff going on around here today. Pictures will be coming later. I can hear Rebecca already... I know. But please understand- we live on a farm... in the country. This is just a part of life...

The conversation over the last couple of days goes something like this: (it started when the littles overheard me talking about getting a babysitter)...

Molly: Mom NO you cant leave us behind... I wanta "cassirate" pigs too!!! It's not fair. Addie says I'm old enough to scoop poop this year and if I'm old enough for that I can handle "cassirating" pigs too.

Yordi: I wanta do what Molly do too... I do pigs. They no smello so goood, but I like them piggies.

Mom: I don't know guys- there will be some blood, and baby pigs screaming for their mommies, and mommy pigs that are mad and want their babies... maybe you would be better off at home.

Molly: Good grief mom, you think we don't like blood or screaming? Yordi's nose bleeds all the time and that doesn't bother us. Besides my ears are plugged and I cant hear anything.

Yordi: I ready for screaming...

So yes, we will all be heading to some friends house to "cassirate" pigs. Addie has been there since yesterday "preparing" and if I know those girls there is a good chance they slept in the pig barn. What an awesome experience. These are the kids fair pigs for this year. They have been part of the entire process. We hauled the momma home from the fair (she was still a little pig)- the kids have seen the babies shortly after birth. Today, they get to be hands on. Addie has graduated Molly to "poop scooper" this year at the fair. Life is good. (if it could just warm up a bit... a 38* barn isn't fun for very long).

Pictures after the events of the day...

Friday, January 23, 2009

Sunday, January 18, 2009

UH OH!!!!!

Oh Man!!!! The tooth fairy forgot!!!!!! Not forgot really, just got sidetracked, delayed. Settled down and getting ready for bed- phone call from failed sleepover (again) for Noah. Poor kid was having tummy issues. After we got him home, cleaned up, settled on our floor to sleep, well... I just turned out the light and went to bed. Shoot...

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Random pictures

Here are a few random Christmas pictures that I have never gotten around to posting... wonder why I never have time... hmm...













Monkey See Monkey Do






This is what happens when you have multiples... no one can do anything without the others wanting to join in. Yordi is losing his teeth due to poor nutrition. Molly is on track at age 5 and she ran into a wall today... guess the tooth fairy better start digging for loose change...

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Just a mom...

I have had to sub a couple of days this week for our school district. We left early in order to take the boys to Grandma and Grandpa's for a couple of hours before their preschool starts. As we are driving Molly says: When I grow up, I want to be:

a cash register girl
a car driver
a cooker
a sick animal fixer
a naughty animal fixer
a naughty kid fixer
a sick kid fixer
a cleaner...
I don't know how I can pick just one...

Noah pipes up-"you know if you are a mom you can do all of those and you won't have to pick just one".

Molly: "yep, I guess I will just be a mom"

Monday, January 12, 2009

playing house...

I was wrestling sheets up on the top bunk in the boys room when I overhear a conversation coming from Molly's room.

Bis: Molly, want to play mom and dad?
Molly: Sure- are we going to have 2 dads and 1 mom?
Bis: No, 1 dad leaves the baby, so 1 dad stays, 1 mom, 1 baby
Molly: Oh, yeah. Is the first dad gonna leave the baby in a box?
Bis: No, he just puts the baby in a car and they take it away.
Molly: Ohhhh.... hey, you want to play horses instead?

Some conversations I will just never get used to.

Good grief!!!

At some point during the middle of the night, when sane people sleep, I rolled over and instantly woke up remembering that I have never gotten the boys their social security number. And, in order to file our taxes, I NEED this!!! I had a million other things on my list to do today, but instead we trekked to town to our SS office. I wait in line, where some creepy guy took it upon himself to sit down between my boys and start chatting away with them. Molly would have run screaming, Noah would have freaked and been instantly by my side, and Addie, well I don't think he would have messed with Addie. But the boys... well, they are used to strangers. Heck, they went willingly with a bunch of strangers whom they knew for little over an hour, who came to their orphanage and said "we are your new family, lets go". How do you teach "stranger" when EVERYONE is a stranger and that it is ok to not be polite and answer questions being asked of you from someone you don't know??? I am trying to figure that out.

Anyhow, we get called up to the window (the boys are now sitting at my feet) and I tell the lady that I am there to get each of my boys a social security number. She asks me for ID for them. I pull out my case- and ask "which" document she wants- ET birth cert, ET passport, or adoption decree. She then says that they aren't allowed a social security number without a US birth certificate. I pointed out that they don't have one, they were born in ET, adopted by us, and only here for a short period of time. Nope, can't be done. WHAT????? It can be done- Molly has a social security number without a US birth certificate. Luckily, I had gone on the website for social security and had made a copy of how to get a social security number for a child foreignely adopted (been there, done that before). She thanks me for my help and informs me I should have them in hand in less than 2 weeks. Good grief!

Friday, January 9, 2009

Our NEW plan

Thank you all who posted kind support over our church dilemma. I did want to say though that this isn't a "new" happening. We left shortly after the boys came home. It is that it just rears its ugly head sometimes. This was one of those times. And there are times I just sigh and know that we "wont make sense" to everyone, but we didn't grow our family through adoption for popularity either. :) And, I do have to say that there were many wonderful people that we left at this church, unfortunately the ugly were louder and more demanding of getting in the last word and having their opinions heard. We still have friend there, we just now associate outside of those walls.

But we have a new plan. Addie has really been wanting to attend the youth program at the church we are now attending. She didn't want to cause us extra work driving to a different town in order to attend youth ... we are going to do this. It is important.

Noah- well, is Noah and if he never had to leave our house he wouldn't. He is autistic- he doesn't do new and exciting...

The littles? well they would want to go, but they are too young to know...

Sooo... new plan...
Sunday evening is devo night- as a family. Age appropriate- to challenge the older kids and help us as we teach some concepts to the littles. Our boys knew of God- there was a very large picture of Jesus in their birthfamily's home. This is a great start. There will be a weekly helper- in birth order each week...

Wed night will be "family" night. 5 different categories and a revolving weekly helper (same helper as Sunday) . We will have : game night, cooking night, 4H night, individual project night, and family project. Each week we will tailor it to the different age levels. 4H night for example- Addie and Noah can be working on their swine advancements while the littles are working on learning the parts of a duck. Some weeks it may be an outing. We brainstormed ideas last night and the kids are excited. We have put these times on the calendar... Addie is up first- she drew cooking. She is busy planning a cooking project to involve everyone. Sunday we begin... Maybe the fruits of the spirit... maybe lying... haven't decided. May depend on the "issues" of the week! :) We'll keep you posted.

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

pondering....

I don't like conflict. My hubby doesn't like conflict. We seldom argue because we don't do conflict. I am torn- the little church in the town we live is beginning an Awana program for kids tonight. All of our kids are old enough to go. Their friends are going. We no longer attend church there... for many reasons, but mainly due to some pretty terribly hurtful things said to and of our "new" family. I guess I am old-fashioned. I always believed ""church" was the 1 place where people were loved and accepted. Didn't matter what they looked like or where they came from. We didn't want to force people to accept us or, as was happening, have our children hear these things being said about them and so chose to quietly leave. So the answer should be clear cut... No Awana for our children. Yet, ... there is part of me that says THIS IS SO WRONG!!! HOW DARE YOU NOT ACCEPT LITTLE CHILDREN!!!!!!! Part of me wants to walk all 5 of my beautiful children through those doors and just tell people to grow up and deal with it. I'm just not sure...