An overdue update on life

Lots of happenings at our house.

In March our business was so slow that we questioned if we should continue or not. We prayed that God would make it clear to us and show us what we needed to do. In the weeks that followed, we got back on Dave Ramsey's plan of using cash only and have been watching every dime. We are tying to be better stewards of what God has provided. God has answered our prayer quickly by bringing more extra work in the last few weeks than we had all last year!! It is clear that this business is where we should be for now.

We have also decided to try to sell our house. We love where we live and we LOVE our neighbors but the reality is that the driving is affecting our joy as a family. We don't want our kids to miss out on things or feel like they are burdening us because everything is so far away. We also want to be more involved in our church. So the house is going on the market!

We are wrapping up the school year in the next two weeks. This is such a bittersweet time for me. This year has been such a change and next year will continue to be as well. Our girls all have their own interests and we are being pulled in different directions for activities and fun. Mackenzie has done phenomenal in school this year as well as really enjoying chorus and volleyball. Madison is finishing up Kindergarten and learning karate. Leah will be coninuing in dance and heading to school for the first time. In the fall, Vivian will be at home with mommy alone for the first time in her life. Where did the time go?

As I am reflecting on this school year, I am humbled by what God has done for us. He made it possible for us to send our children to a wonderful school whose focus is our Lord. This is the first year that I have looked back and been truly happy with what we have accomplished as a family in regards to schooling. We are blessed beyond measure.

Which leads into my next update. We have decided to actively pursue adoption. We have been praying through this for years and have never seen exactly how we could begin. Our heart has always been to adopt internationally from a hispanic country. But God has another plan for now. We have recently been made aware of a great need right here in our own country. Due to many factors, we have decided to pursue domestic African American adoption. Our paperwork is in the mail, so we are expecting to have a baby boy in about 6 months or so! God has placed a desire in us to open our family to a child who doesn't have one and may never hear the Gospel. We know that this will not be easy. But few things that are eternally rewarding are easy. There will be things that we must learn in adopting interracially and we are praparing for that. We are coveting your prayers through this journey.

Just doing a little shaving.....

I was getting ready to leave the other day for a busy afternoon of a birthday party, soccer practice, dinner with friends, a lock-in for Mackenzie, etc and I had told Leah and Vivian to brush their teeth.

Here's where a clone of myself might actually be a nice idea. Will that be covered under the new plan? haha

I had laid clothes out for them to put on after they brushed their teeth. Meanwhile, I am making 27 trips out to the van trying to pack up anything and everything we might need for an 8 hour excursion with kids and the dog. So I call up to the girls to find out the status, and Vivian says, "I am bleeding." I am stricken with how calm she sounds since usually any sight of blood will immediately present the need to scream so loudly that they neighbors down the road can hear. I run up the steps and sure enough, her face is bleeding. So I ask, "What happened to your face?" "We were cutting." Ummmm, Ok. With what and where is the other part of the "we?" As she showed me the cutting instrument, the other half of "we" appears and is also CALMLY bleeding from the face.

BUSTED

Leah had decided it seemed like a good idea to shave her face with her teenage sisters razor that shouldn't have been accessible in the first place. And if that wasn't bad enough, then handed it to Vivian so she could have a turn. WHAT?!?!?!??!?!?

At this point, I have gone from mildly irritated to irate, in a matter of seconds. Mad at myself for leaving them in the bathroom unattended for 2.5 min, mad at Leah for not protecting her sister from this pain, mad at the oldest for not obeying by leaving the razor out and mad at Tim for raising such people.

Wait a min, how did he get into this? He wasn't even home.

Exactly. Isn't it amazing how quickly that flesh rises up and creates havoc in our hearts?

A very humbling day in the life of this mama.

And a couple of pics of the job. It's been a few days now so the wounds have healed some.

Happy Birthday Jacob!

Jacob

2/17/03-2/18/03

To our sweet baby boy:

Mommy and daddy love and miss you so much. We will never forget you. Our hearts ache without you but we are comforted by our all powerful and gracious Father.

A sweet giveaway

Check out a new ~~BLOG~~ that I stumbled across tonight.

I am so thankful...

for the sweet teacher that Madison has at school. This has been an amazing year of growth for Madison. This is the note I received today...

Madison is doing great. She is such a hard worker and puts forth her best effort in all she does. She is kind to everyone. I have yet to hear her utter a harsh word to anyone. She is a great help to me in the afternoon.

Thank you Lord for such a wonderful school. It's so awesome to know that the teachers put such love into our children's hearts.

2010 is off to a germy start

Well, we are starting 2010 off with a bang. Just about our whole family has had some sort of flu-like virus. It took us a week to recuperate and a couple of us are still feeling tired from it.

We just watched Food Inc. the other night and if you haven't watched it, I suggest you RUN to blockbuster and get it. It was very eye-opening. The sad part is that we knew most of the info already but still have gotten so slack around here. It was just the push we needed to get us back on the healthy living track.

Thank you for your prayers

The surgeries went well. God is so faithful and helped me to be able to go in with Vivian until she fell asleep. My fears instantly vanished. And she hopped up on the table no problem. Tim decided to go in with Leah because she was having a rough time with fear. It turned out to be a great decision since they had to restrain her and he does so much better with those types of situations. The surgeries were quick, each one only lasting about 20-30 min. The staff was AWESOME and came and got us as soon as Vivian was awake. She had a really tough time with the anesthesia. She was very combative and screaming. :( Before we could even really think about it, Leah was coming in, popsicle in hand. She did better with the anesthesia but did have a couple of bouts with stomach upset. We were able to go home within an hour or so of Leah being done. The recovery has been much harder for Vivian but still not even as bad as we were anticipating.

And I got the most wonderful anniversary present ever!! Tim got up with the girls and let me sleep. I love this man!!