Can Things Get Any Crazier?? :/

This is the last picture of Sarah in her cast. She had it removed at the Dr. yesterday
and now she has a brace that looks like this:


This morning was rather eventful.....
It started out normal. Girlies playing backgammon with daddy while I made breakfast. Anna was still asleep, which is unusual, as she is usually the first one up! I went ahead and served breakfast thinking, she must need some extra sleep. After breakfast, Erika asked if she could take a shower in our shower. I always let her because she can walk in and back out pretty well by herself. So while she was getting ready to shower, I ran out to let the goats and turkeys out since Anna was still asleep. Sarah was soaking her arm and getting ready for therapy which consists of 2 exercises 3 x's a day.
As I was headed back in from letting the goats out, I could hear a whimper coming from the bathroom. So I RAN.... when I got to the bathroom, daddy had Erika wrapped in a towel and she was crying. She spilled shampoo on the floor of the shower and then slipped in it. She banged the bone of her leg on the shower wall and banged her cheek too. So she has a pretty good bruise on her face and a sore foot.. DANG! Like she needs any more pain in her life. :( I'm so glad daddy was there. I put Arnica ointment on her bruise; we'll see if it works, and comforted her. She hadn't finished washing her hair so a very kind daddy, all ready for work set up a bean bag up to the shower, got IN the shower all dressed, shoes and all and unhooked the sprayer and gave her a shampoo! We teased daddy that he needed a new spa job giving hair washes. :)
Here is Erika all prettied up:



I ran back to Sarah who was still soaking and did her exercises with her and then Anna finally woke up. She said, Erika woke her up when she heard her cry out.

It is 9:30 and I feel like I have lived a week! I'm so thankful for my coffee pot. :)

I am also so thankful for my sweet husband who calmly finished taking care of Erika so I could finish up with Sarah. Erika was able to get herself dressed.

First thing on my list of things to do today:

FIND A SAFE SHOWER CHAIR! The ones I have seen don't look stable and I felt because she doesn't bend well, she might fall over backwards on one, but I really need to look now so this doesn't EVER happen again.

However, as with arthrogryposis, so comes falling. She is very stable and it doesn't happen that often. In fact, the last time she fell and actually got a bruise was at Christmas time last year at Toys R US.

So, as of this writing: Sarah is clean, Anna is cleaning out her fish tank so the fish can be clean, Erika is clean, I'm cleaning laundry, daddy is out to work, the goats are happy, the turkey's are happy and I'm dreaming of "Calgon Take Me Away Commercials." :)
But that can't happen until after the breakfast dishes, the laundry, school, cleaning and....... who knows what else.

So for now, it is coffee.
I'm empowered. yea.

Sarah The Dancing Wonder

You Still Fit in That?

Somehow, the girlies haven't figured out that mommy's wear the same clothes, season after season and year after year. I was asked, "Do you STILL fit into that mommy?" Yes, I do. Are you going to grow out of it? I HOPE NOT! :)

A Fun Visit

Guess who came to Gramma's house to visit today?

WILLS DID! And his mama Ivy too. :)
We were very happy to see them both. Will had a good time and we enjoyed seeing him in his new Ukrainian hat. The ear flaps remind me of little puppy dog ears. :)
Here are a few pictures of our day.

Holiday Season is Upon Us.....

Here it is again. That time of year where you get all the bills for house and school taxes in the mail, house insurance AND you get to start thinking about plans for the Holidays.

Shopping this year was rather easy. I just LOVE computer point and click and your all done shopping. I never had to leave the chair. LOL

So, starting Friday night, our first exciting event will take place. We are going to the Annual Reformation Party! I cannot believe it is the 28th party. We haven't attended 28 years, but we have attended at least 1/2 of those. What a joy to see family and friends and everybody's new grand kids all crammed into the Ritchie home for another year of celebration and reflection and honoring the Reformers.
Martin Luther nailed the 95 thesis on the Door of Wittenburg on October 31. I'm so glad we have an alternative celebration to Halloween. The kids have a great time and love the Pinata with all the candy.

Next will be Thanksgiving. We are staying home this year. The girls aren't in any condition for travel, so Michigan will have to wait again. :( BUT... guess who's coming to dinner? UNCLE BOB! :) We are very happy about that. He is always a treat to have around. Anybody else coming for dinner? Let me know.....We'll kill a Turkey for you.:)

Next will be Christmas. Christmas is one of my favorite Holidays. It is so fun with lights and crowds and visitors and decorations and the smells of holiday cheer. Another time of reflection, another time of cherished memories and to count our blessings. I love seeing all the kids and grandkids, it is so very special. We will be home for Christmas too. We hope to see everybody and I'm not sure yet who is coming or not. But our home is open for one and all. :) No guilt.

After that.... the New Year. CHILI NIGHT and card games and this year, we will introduce the girls to : "The Minister's Cat". A word game that lasts until... MIDNIGHT!
You start with A and say, "The Minister's Cat was an ..... cat."
The adjective has to start with A.
(angelic, awful, alabaster,archaic,arthritic,antagonistic,argumentative,angry,aggravating, When you finish that round you go to B. The more people the better.
The girlies are old enough to play now, so it should be quite entertaining.

I need to start on gluten free recipes. We have our gluten free turkey running around outside. Eat turkey, eat! I have a great recipe for gluten free pancackes with Lingonberries. I have a friend with a great Pumpkin Bread recipe that is gluten free.
I am also planning on a sausage and wild rice stuffing with corn. (should be interesting)
And who could have turkey without cranberry shaped like the can? Not me.
We also plan a gluten free cheese cake. That is an easy one. The crust is going to be made from gluten free shortbread cookies crushed up.

If anybody has a great idea, let me know.

The biggest thing I need to do is CLEAN and BABY PROOF. I'll feel great with the "clean part". Hopefully there will be a paint part in there too, but that is another post. :)

Ivy Has a Blog

Ivy Has a Blog!!!

I posted a link under fellow family bloggers. Now I get to see pics of Will and Marc and Ivy ALL the time. Thanks Ivy!

Trying To Make Things Work

Anna's birthday is coming up and she is trying to make this stroller work. It is a little small and she has way to many children now! She has requested a new stroller.
I wonder if they make bigger ones for bigger girls? Maybe a real one would be cheaper. :)


Now we are back to leg central. What do you do with a leg that seems to keep appearing on counters and tables?

Foster Care Fallout

There are a few things that really get my blood boiling, and one is the way kids
are treated in the Foster Care System.

Yesterday, H, the foster child our kids have had for the past 6 months was whisked back to her family. When I say "whisked", that is exactly what I mean.

This isn't the fault of the foster family, the real family or the child. It is the fault of a cold legal system that treats a child like paperwork.

It isn't the fault of the actual decision either. It is a good thing to be back with your family, but what it is the fault of is the lack of visualizing that there is a scared little person involved, who may have possibly made friends, connections and relationships, and she was given ZERO time to say her goodbyes or even get used to leaving. She was picked up from school early and that was it.

Bye, have a nice life.

They came in and disrupted her life, and now they have done it again.
We were able to see her for about 5 minutes before she left and she had been crying and crying because of the sheer shock of having to leave so abruptly. No time to really prepare her.

For those who work in this system, can we not pass the word that kids are people too?
How would you like it if you walked into work and they gave you a pink slip and escorted you out the door? Don't forget, you don't get to say goodbye, you don't get to take your things, or just what you can pack, you don't know what tomorrow will hold. Left your favorite thing... to bad, it is gone forever. Didn't get to say goodbye to your best friend? Too bad, you can never talk to her again.
This is what happens to kids everyday!

I was watching our girls faces as they said a shocking brief goodbye to H yesterday. They were silly and then when she walked out, very serious. I worried how this would effect our Anna, who had this very thing happen often in her first 5 years of life.
I had hoped it wouldn't effect her, but how could it not? We saw some behaviors show up that had all but disappeared, but not for long thank goodness. We had a good talk this a.m. about how she came to live with us and how shocked she was when she came home to a room all packed up. She was worried if Santa Clause would be able to find her new house, and she didn't get to say goodbye to her friends. Nothing. Just whisked away and gone.

The way the system works really sucks dirt.

The kids are supposed to be represented in court. Why can't the CASA worker ask them, "Do you want to know ahead of time? Do you want to be prepared?" If the answer is yes, can they ask the judge for a 36 hour warning so they can get things settled in their mind? Each way this is handled should be up to the child's wishes and in the BEST INTEREST OF THE CHILD. It doesn't take but 5 extra seconds for a judge to say, in 36 hours you will be moved, instead of go get her from school she will be leaving in 3 hours. duh.

I'm glad we were able to work through and have some good discussion with the girls.
Sarah piped in and said when she first saw me she was afraid of my moles. (gee thanks Sarah) :) She said, quote, "When W said, 'this is your new mother', I was like WHAT the woman with all those moles???" I'm not sure if I should laugh, seek counseling or go to a dermatologist.... :/
I'm glad the girls saw the process apart from themselves, as issues that were there came up and we could clarify things to them now that they are older, that we couldn't before.
What a mess of a system.

I think I Can Fly! And other Miscellaneous Ideas

Sarah is feeling especially good! I am so happy about that. We are at the no more itching stage AND no more pain stage. Now, we wait!
Here she is with Daddy trying to touch the ceiling!


Anna decided she needed to wear MY favorite PJ's. tonight. She likes to wear my things and have my favorite blanket. So tonight she will cuddle up in my favorite pj's and it will be the next best thing to sleeping with mama, without really being there. :)


If I said it once, I 've said it 1,000 times! Please don't put your feet on the kitchen counter! However, nobody was there to listen, and I really need to blame Daddy this time. He is the one tinkering with Erika's leg. She has outgrown it and for now is "Footless and fancy free."

Of Kitties and Fair Maidens

Our kids have always had favorite loved stuffed Animals. Chuck's favorite was Doogan, a large stuffed dog. I never realized how much he was attached to Doogan until we moved and left him behind. It took Chuck a long time to get to sleep without him, and was so happy when he was reunited.

All of the kids have had various stuffed animals that they have adored over the years, and some I still have, some I don't.

Marcus's Blue Bear, which we now call Franken Bear, because the dog ate him once while he was at scout camp, is on the shelf in the living room.


Doogan is at Tim's house now, and Joe's My Buddy doll is long gone.

But now, we have a new set of animals. One stands out, that I'd like to share, as this one is about to turn 5. This animal's worn look shows that the owner has truly loved her and still does. This is one that will probably go to college and beyond. :)
Here is a picture of Anna's famous "Kitty".

Our First Cold Mornng

We woke up this a.m. to brrrrrr.....cold inside the house. Some would question if it was really cold, but Dallasites find that in Fall and Winter, anything below 80 is cold and in Spring and Summer anything above 70 is hot.
So, at 66 inside the house this a.m., we considered it cold.

Soooo, that means we got to try out the wood stove. It is the only heat source we use so we started getting it cleaned out, making sure the chimney was clean etc. over the weekend.

So here are the morning cuddle pics.

Sarah and her Casts

Sarah was feeling good enough to get her picture taken today. AND, mommy has new batteries in the camera, so today was a good day. :) I have to say. I am so proud of what a good sport Sarah is being. She hasn't complained abit, other than saying something itches now and then. She is homebound until the 29th and her arm cast can come off. She has been so creative in her play and spent time writing letters to all of us, and to her friends.
Sarah's favorite stuffed animal also went into surgery with her, and she came out.... just like Sarah!

I'm Old... BUT NOT THAT OLD!

Today we were studying history. I mentioned to the girls that mommy was alive when one of our presidents was shot. Anna went on to tell her sisters about Abraham Lincoln being shot in the theatre!

TIME FOR SCIENCE~!

A Milestone Birthday for Chuck

Yep, today our oldest baby, turned 30. Wow. It just doesn't seem that long ago that they brought him to me in the hospital all wrapped in a blanket, lustily screaming for food. He then proceeded to attach himself to my arm and sucked a big blood blister right onto my ARM! Did that ever make me rethink breastfeeding, for a minute. :)

And now, he is a family man. All settled with a beautiful wife, 2 children, and a dog.
What more could a man want; well, besides a lucrative record contract, endless offers to play his music and continual free flowing ideas for new material?

My life changed when Chuck came into my life. I never knew I could love a little person so much, that I would be so proud of him, that I would be his mother when he was 30!
I was 20 when he was born! I remember when the boys were babies, figuring out how old everybody would be when I was a certain age. I never went past 35. LOL Time flies.

Happy Birthday dear son. Welcome to the 30's. I pray that you will continue to seek truth, and that the Peace and Happiness of the Lord will surround you.

I love you,
Mom

Sleeping All Night Again! No Feet but Still Walking!

I wasn't sure what to title this, so I picked both.

I am pleased to announce that Sarah slept ALL night last night without the need for pain medication! YEA! That means mama got to sleep all night too. :) She is doing great and made a real turnaround in the pain department yesterday afternoon. She still hasn't asked for her pain medication this afternoon, so I think I will switch her from the Lortab to just advil, and then give the Lortab at night tonight, and then maybe wean her off tomorrow altogether.

Erika, who has been running around with no legs, since she rapidly outgrew her other ones, returned from the Dr. today, legless. She is doing well running around without and I am thankful for that. She is very difficult to fit, and they are trying to "think outside the box" to make a new pair of legs that she can function in. So I am praying for them, that a great idea will come up and she will get her legs before Thanksgiving. :)
Now that would be something to be thankful for!

Anna, was not pleased last night when she learned I was not going to take her with me to the Dr. this a.m. She really wanted to go, but that would have been too hard, as Erika has no feet on right now. So, she was a bit pouty when she went to bed, but woke up happy this a.m. and ready to stay home with daddy. :)
And for THAT, I was thankful~!

There IS No Place Like Home

Melissa wrote, "There is no place like home!" She is so right.
Sarah did great last night. She only woke once, at 4:00 a.m. I gave her pain meds and she went right back to sleep. She is sleeping now on the couch all propped up. :)

I'm so glad she is doing well. I was a little concerned things wouldn't have been this smooth, but am thankful for the break!

Now, when I get my bearings back, I'm going to try and figure out how 1 load of laundry turned into about 6 in 2 days, with 2 people gone from home. :)
This is very suspicious!

And it is soooo true that "There's No Place Like HOME!"

Things We Say

Last night when Sarah was perfectly miserable, a well meaning nurse came into the room and asked her, "Are you your mama's baby?"

Sarah looked up at her and said, "What?"

The nurse asked again, "Are you your mama's baby?"

Sarah answered, "No, I was adopted another mama had me as a baby".
She then said, "I really don't want to talk about that".

I knew what the Nurse meant. She saw that Sarah responded well to comfort from me, and that she sought me out to make sure where I was in the room when she was so upset. She doesn't understand all those things we say in english to communicate something as simple as "It looks like you and Mama love each other."

I was proud of Sarah to shut the conversation down she wasn't comfortable with, but a little sad that she thought the nurse was asking such a personal question.

It is puzzling, because at home she always says she wants to be my baby. And I often call her my sweet baby.

It is just a reminder to me of how our language and words matter so very much.

This same nurse, who was from India and had a difficult accent to understand also told Sarah, "if you do not pee, I will have to catheterize you, so you need to use the bedside commode." Sarah was like, "WHAT?" What is that, I don't know what you want me to do. This is one of the reasons it is so good to be able to stay with our children when they are hospitalized. Sometimes interpretation is needed.
"Sweetie, you need to try to pee." That was good enough. She did try in a diaper, but the nurse wanted more, so they moved our pain riddled little one onto the bedside toilet. She screamed in pain, but she peed. I think she will do much better at home tonight in the comfort of her own bed, with her sisters by her side.

She also had a difficult time telling the nurse that she didn't like graham crackers.
The nurse didn't understand and kept trying to make her eat them, in the form of graham crackers, then teddy grahams, then grham cookies of some bizarre type, to the point, we had projectile vomiting. (that was probably more info than you needed)

I have never been so glad for a shift to change! The day nurse if fantastic and while I am typing this, Sarah is sleeping away comfortably.

I'll cut this short, as I could really use an IV of coffee! :)

We are at the Hospital

THe child life room is a wonderful place. There are games and arts and crafts and access to computers! So while I am typing this, Sarah is sitting next to me blogging her heart out. :)

Surgery will be tomorrow a.m. at around 10:00. We have a bit of a surprise body cast coming. I wasn't quite expecting it, but it makes sense, so we may be back to bed pans for about 6-8 weeks.

Mike and girlies left at home have plenty to do, as I left a list for them.
I'm sure they will be fine for a few days.

So far, Sarah is enjoying her day now that all the waiting is over. We saw numerous doctors and therapists this a.m.

I'll type more later.....

Surgery For Sarah

Our little Sarah will be having Surgery on Tuesday. The bone in her leg is growing again and will need to be trimmed back. During that surgery, they will also be tightening the ligaments that hold her knee in place which will help her to have a more stable leg. Sometimes, he knee just goes out and she falls down. She will also be having the tendon from her forearm connected to her wrist so she can use her hand better. Right now it is very weak and she cannot lift up. She has use of the hand, but without the tendon connected she has no wrist action. ALL this will be on the left side of her body, so needless to say, she will be in a wheel chair for a while. This does not suit her very well, so if you think about her, please send up a prayer for her to be patient while she mends. :)

Dark Days of Long Ago

It isn't often that I go back to my past, or discuss the dark days of long ago. But yesterday, it came up due to a discussion on homeless and the profoundly lost of our society.

When I think about my earlier years as a young wife and mother, it comes with some joyous stories of our boys, but also with profound sadness, grief and loss.

It was a time of confusion, pouring my heart out to my Lord, misunderstanding, anger, frustration, misguidance, and hope.

Did I say hope? Yes I DID! Because, had I not had the hope of my Lord and Savior, I do not know that I would have made it through the difficulties of the days.

Very few people know my story, and I will not share it, even on my blog, as the details do not matter. All I know is, that the Lord saw fit for me to go through many things, in order to break me, teach me, and make me dependent upon him. He weakened me, so that I could be strong. He humbled me, to bring Glory to Himself. He taught me to cling to His every word, so that I could become wise. Wise not in my own eyes, but wisdom from above. Have I arrived, no. Do I know all. No. But at the same time, the only TRUE wisdom comes from HIM and HIM alone!

As we were in Ukraine, I was struck by the awesome responsibility of bringing the Good news of Jesus Christ to those who hadn't heard. Where do you begin?
How do you tell a poor homeless, parentless child that he has a heavenly father who loves him? How do you tell that child living in abject poverty that God CARES and SEES and is with him? How do you explain to that child that the children on the other side of the world who are more interested in the next "event" to attend, who have all the food they want, who have parents and schools, and clothes, and everything they need materially are no more important than them in the eyes of GOD; yet they sit and ROT in a TB Sanitarium while the other child is at Disneyworld?

It became profoundly evident to me for one of the first times in my life that I actually had more in common with some of these kids than I realized. The profound grief, the rejection, the loss of hope, the despair, the unknown; I have truly felt those things profoundly and deeply. The questions, "If God loves me AND I love him, why am I sitting here rotting like this?" That was a question I once asked.

BUT GOD....
In His infinite wisdom KNOWS what is best for His children. I am so thankful for those experiences now. I understand NOW more why they were important in my life to go through. Had I not been there, I would never be able to minister, even to my own children, as the Lord has made possible because of what my experiences were in my past.

I praise Him for HIS MERCY and WISDOM and LOVE.

And yes, I knew, even in times of despair, that He was carrying me through. There is HOPE in Christ. The TRUE Gospel does not offer the riches of this world. It does not guarantee the successes of Wall Street, (as we can see in the news today) Riches are like the chaff of a tree that blows away in in the Wind. But the Riches of Christ are not blown away, they are real and tangible and they do not wither.
The Riches of Christ can be had by all....

Isaiah 55 says "Come, EVERYONE who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come and buy and eat! Come buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread and your labor for that wich does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear to me, hear that your sould may live; ............. Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near, let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thorughts, let him return to the Lord that He may have compassion on him and to our God for He will ABUNANTLY pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts either are your ways, my ways declares the Lord. ..........

Metamorphasis

We were learning about the life cycle of the insect. The stages they go through to turn into a butterfly or moth, and we even went out and found a chrysalis to put in a jar and watch it turn into a butterfly.

So the girls are doing their comprehension questions. Sarah blurts out, "I can't find anywhere in my book where it says insects go through menopause!" LOL

We Are ALL Home Now

Last night at about 11:00 our luggage arrived safely at the front door courtesy of KLM-NW Airlines. THANKYOU. :)

The girlies were quite excited about opening that bag, because inside they just knew we had brought them a gift. :)

I went to the post office today to collect the mail. That is the worst part of getting back from somewhere. All that MAIL! Ok, I guess laundry is worse, but it is next to worse.

I saw this note and I assume it was for Dear Becca:

It read as the following:

Dear Mam,
I heard you weren't feeling well. Is that true? If it is, then I have a good idea. You need to take medisane each day. And you need to have a rub on your back, feet, hands and face. I know it sounds crazzy, but it feels good!
Love,
A Friend who can help you......

I'd say Becca was in good hands with the author, whoever it was. :)

We are HOME mostly!

Learning a new song at the TB Sanitarium



We are home and so glad to be here. We will be quite happy when our luggage joins us.:)
Apparently it didn't make it on the plane change in Amsterdam, but the good news is they plan to deliver!

That is REALLY good news, since this a.m. we went to take Becca to the Airport and when I got there I had a flat tire. Soooo, I had to call poor jet lagged Mike and get him to come and rescue me and Erika. He showed up with a happy attitude and 2 sleepy girlies that were fairly decently dressed, so we decided to head to church after changing the tire. We were late but made it to 2nd service. Bob was GREAT today, as my jet lagged body stayed awake during the sermon. :)

As soon as I feel more normal, I'll post some pictures and video. We really had a blessed time and so much happened. Right now all I can think about is how thankful I am that I don't have to shoe horn my body into the metro every day to go somewhere.
I honestly didn't know what really crowded was until the metro pulled up and I was thinking, "this one is full, we'll have to wait for the next one, only to be pushed in by the crowd behind and holding on to perfect strangers for dear life. Then, the "take off" like a bullet out of a shot gun and the sudden stops reminded me of why the girlies would not have been able to live and walk the streets in Ukraine, and it made me feel for the elderly and those who are less fortunate.

It was also great to see a smiling face when we arrived at the airport. We are blessed in America and don't realize HOW blessed we truly are. While we our nation is in flux and has its positives and negatives, one of the positives is the influence of Christianity, that effects MANY areas of life that we do not even understand.

Well, this jet lagged, body needs to get some much needed rest, and I must say before I go, THANKYOU ALL for your wonderful prayer support. We could sense your prayers and we KNOW that the Lord did some awesome things. We so much appreciate the day in and day out work that Papa Dima does every moment he can, and to God be the Glory.

good night... or day, or ..... see you next Thursday. :)


I'll sign off with this photo of a Praying Mantis, I thought he was a really cool guy!

We Were Able To Call The Girlies!

We just finished talking to the girlies a few minutes ago. (or I should say, I did) Mike is still talking to them right now. It was great to hear everybody's voices.
We understand that Anna wants us to bring home a alligator or snake stuffed animal, Erika wants a horse stuffed Animal and Sarah wants a glass doll.

We are so happy to hear that Becca is fairing well! Great Job Becca! I had to laugh talking with her and hearing her say she was tired. :) I know EXACTLY what she is talking about. :)

I am so thankful that she is there with the girls. It sounds like everybody is doing well.

Girlies, we are on the home run stretch! We will be home on Saturday afternoon!
We cannot wait to see you. We miss you so very much.

Love,
Dad and Mom

Hello From Kharkov

We are happy to report that we are alive and well! We got to see the Russian Border yesterday. It looks like any other border that is heavily guarded. :)

The soldier walked up to our van and said, "What do you want?" "To see the border".
He said, "You have seen, now go!" Ok, no problem! :)

SO we saw. :)

I have so much to say but it is swimming in my head and stuck there.
Just know that we love you all and care for you. I'm so glad you are all doing well and obeying Becca.

We will see you soon! SATURDAY!

BTW- how are we getting home? LOL

Hello Little Girlies

Mommy and Daddy made it safe to Ukraine! It SMELLS like Ukraine. :) It is cool here and beautiful. We miss you and think about you. We are going to leave on the train in a couple of hours. We are looking forward to seeing everybody!

More later
Love,
Mom

Science 101

I girlies are loving thier new science book.

Yesterday during our lesson, the subject of "Field Guides" to help us learn about a specific topic came up. I thought I was doing a great job explaining "field guides", that is, until I asked "Can somebody tell me what a "Field Guide" is?

All hands went up immediatly!

Erika: A field guide, is a guy standing in a field!

Sarah: No Erika! A field guide is a guy taking people in a field and telling them
what is there. Like, "guiding them!"

Anna: It is some kind of book.


:?

Becca, I hope you do a better job of teaching science!

Last Day Trip Message

We are leaving for Ukraine tomorrow. I have a minute after finishing packing to tell all of you that we love you so very much. We have asked the Lord to bless this trip and keep us in His perfect will.

To Becca, Sam and the Girlies that we leave behind at the house:

Have a wonderful bonding time together. Make sure that you season each day with joyfulness, help Becca with the chores and help her to take care of baby Sam. We will write to you as we can when we get to an internet cafe'. MOST OF ALL, do everything to serve Jesus. He is all that is most important in life. Serving Him, in chores, work, play, family fun and all we do can make our lives full of true Joy and Peace.
Rest in the thought that Jesus has EVERYTHING under control. We do not have to worry about one little thing. (except mommy was a little worried because I have misplaced the zoo card) :(
Becca, hopefully Hurricane Ike wasn't the "calm before the storm". :P

Be GOOD GIRLS for Big Sister Becca, and we also want you EACH to know that we are so very proud of you. We are proud of your brothers and sisters who don't live at home too, and Katie, Lilly, Sam and Will.

BIG HUGS AND KISSES TO ALL, and you can only get in our bed if Becca says it is ok!


Love,
Daddy and Mommy

James 1:27

Our Parents

Our parents celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary in July. But the Party is Today.
How poetic that a Hurricane is blowing through at the same time. They have withstood many Hurricanes in their lives. But they didn't budge. We will not be at their party today, but our hearts will be there.

The first time I met Ed and Lois, I was a little scared. Especially since I was abit of a package deal. I came with 4 grandkids in tow.:)

I quickly found out that they were accepting of all of us and 4 more was no big deal.
What WAS a big deal was that I didn't know how to play spades.

I thought Ed was being nice to me when he gave me Jim for my partner and he took Mike.
He was really taking advantage of a chance to BEAT Jim at cards! :)
Jim nearly pulled all his hair out trying to teach me to play, but I finally learned, and Jim forgave me.

I was looking at old pictures of Ed and Lois and the time has FLOWN by. I can't believe how YOUNG they looked 20 years ago. :)

We love our parents, and pray that they have a wonderful Party with friends and family.
As of this writing, the winds are really blowing and it is raining and we did make the right decision to stay home, though we really are feeling sad that we missed such a big celebration.

Happy 50th Dad and Mom!

You Mean He Doesn't Know About......

SEX? :)

This was Erika's question after she and I saw a news clip about Teen Pregnancy in the Dallas area being out of control. I do allow the girls to see these types of broadcasts in order to teach them. So, we watched, and after the clip was over, the News Anchor said, "I have NO IDEA how this is happening!"

Erika's eyes got kind of big and she said, "What does he mean he has no idea? You mean
he doesn't know about sex?" I was trying to keep from laughing.

As you can see, we have had the "talk". And NOW, she KNOWS and was shocked somebody that old didn't know! :)

Marcus, Ivy and Will

This is a picture of Emily, Marcus, Tim and Ivy.... From Last Christmas. Emily and Tim are married, and Marcus and Ivy are married. Emily and Ivy are sisters too.
I sure do love our family. :)

This is Will with Marcus. Our littlest missionary. :)

Marcus, Ivy and Will are now in the friendly skies to Mexico for a short term missions trip. When you think about them, send up a prayer their way. They are very excited about ministering to the people there.

Hurricanes and Parties Don't Mix

It was our intention to head out to Oklahoma tomorrow afternoon and spend a quick day with our relatives to celebrate Mike's parents 50th wedding anniversary.

But it appears those plans will not take place due to a Hurricane named "Ike".
It appears we are in the direct path for this storm and it has plans to go all the way through Oklahoma as well.

We need to come back to Church for Sunday before leaving for our trip to Ukraine on Tuesday, and that would cause us to have to drive BACK to Texas while the, then tropical storm will be headed the other way. Not a good mix for late night driving.

So, unfortunately, they will have to celebrate without us.

There will be other times to be together, and we do cherish those times.
It just couldn't be this time. :(

Fun Times

We were all having breakfast and Anna was complaining she was cold. I was hot, and the jokes started coming....

Anna says, "That was a rude compliment!" :)

Dad says, "And I'm boiling cold, or am I freezing hot?"

Extra Sweetness Coming Our Way

You know, as a parent, many times you feel inadequate, ill-equipped, inept, fill in the blank. When those feelings come, it puts you on your knees, and strikes fear inside of you.

For the life of me, I don't know why I doubt the Lord, but many times I do.
Especially when a little bump comes our way. I am then quickly reminded of God's grace.

Our Anna became afraid after hearing about a little girl removed from her home. She became sullen, grouchy and down right difficult, for about an evening. :)
I KNEW in my heart that she was afraid.

Imagine if you had been removed from your home again and again, and then felt safe, only to hear about somebody you KNOW being removed from their home! It truly struck fear into her.

Last night, I watched her toss and turn and get up for another hug and another kiss and another trip to the bathroom. I had to remind myself that she was struggling.

But, when she awoke this a.m. I expected the same as the day before and instead, we got big hugs, REAL big hugs and lots of I Love You's, and Loads of smiles ALL DAY~!

I think in her heart she knows she is ours and we are hers and we will never leave her. But there is that "fear factor" that sometimes pops out. It is fading more and more each year, and I am so pleased that this VERY REAL, UPFRONT IN YOUR FACE experience did not cause more than just a little bump in her life.

It just made my day today when she woke up and was so happy to be HOME! FOREVER HOME!

Cable TV, Good or NOT!???

Ok, last week we got an offer that was a little too good to pass up. With a slight differene in our bill, we now can get FIOS internet, which we already have, Fios phone and FIOS TV.

We have NEVER had cable television, let alone Fiber Optic anything, other than internet. So, we decided to take the plunge, after all, there will be no channels around here in February unless we convert to some sort of signal box anyway, so why not?

Now, after watching PART of just one news show, I find this on our Bulletin Board!


The POWER of TELEVISION~!

I have to say, I am a little annoyed with the regular TV stations. If you have cable, you can get any news and hear anything, but we were unable to hear the John McCain speech on the same channel that fully covered the DNC.... I cannot help but think that is planned. No matter your political conviction, people need to be able to have access to BOTH camps and that was not provided for the regular guy who cannot afford special programming or cable.
And THAT is politics.

My Friend Michelle

I am pleased to report that my friend Michelle is in Ukraine right now, and they have met their new daughter which she reported that they are totally in love with. :)

This is a miracle. Things are not happening in Ukraine very easily, and I am so happy for them. Can't wait to see PICTURES and possibly MEET her!

We will be in Ukraine at the same time and plan to hook up with them.

Shopping

Most of ya'll know I am not a big shopper. Once a year maybe, for enjoyment to see the crowds at Thanksgiving, and then after that, only what is needed.

Well, I NEEDED to get a few things for Ukraine. So for a couple of days, Sarah the first day, then all of them again, have done a little "shopping".

Sarah LOVES shopping. She longs to walk the corridors of a mall or shopping center.
She gets all dressed up and has a wonderful time.

Anna and Erika are more subtle. They enjoy going, but I think Anna would prefer to stay home and take care of animals and Erika would MUCH rather clean tools for dad.
(but dad is out on business)

So, we all went. It is so funny watching the girls interact in a store vs. the experiences with the boys at the same ages.

The girls get all thrilled when walking past the clothing sections, the bra section,
and toys. The boys, turned their heads at the bra section in horror, they hated clothes, toys were common but much preferred the check out counter where the baseball and playing cards were kept.

They never really pretended to talk with friends that weren't there, bring fake cell phones, speak in british accents or be happy that I was trying on jeans.

The girls do all of that, and insist I show them the jeans I tried on before I take them off.

"Oh motha, you look just lovely!"
Why thank you Sarah. I never felt so lovely in a simple pair of jeans. :)

The guys, if I dared take them with me, when we would pass through a clothing section would get on either side of me and say, "Dad said don't spend any money." They were all in Jr. High and High school at the time and it would crack me up that they would want to protect me from myself. :)

I really didn't need any protecting, but they were so funny to try and help.

My Daughters in Law do enjoy shopping.
I am considering asking them if they would love to take Sarah out for a day of hit the mall all day shopping. She would LOVE it.

Me, I think I'm more like Anna. I'd prefer to stay home and take care of animals.
It's a zoo out there in those shopping centers!

Girl Conversation

Oh my, I wonder where they come up with this stuff!

I took the girlies to the store with me to get a few things for Ukraine. As we were on our way home, they whipped out their pretend cell phones to have a conversation.

It went something like this: Speaking in their best British Accents

Sarah- Hello
Anna- Oh you must know, I'm engaged!
Sarah- Engaged! What IS his name?
Anna- His name is Kevin.
Sarah- Oh what a beautiful, lovely name.
I'm engaged too!
Anna- How old is he?
Sarah- 23!
Anna- That's a MAN!
Sarah- How old is your fiance'
Anna- 18
Sarah- that is awfully young, don't you think so?
Anna- well as my mother always says, "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree!"

(she knows I married at 18)
To which I said, ok, girls lets be quiet now. Inside I was dying laughing. :)

A Glimpse into School Life

We had a variety pack of personalities with our boys, and it seems that we have the same with our girls. :)

Now that the newness of school is worn off, they are off to a good start. At least from how it looks BEFORE grading papers.

Today, we continued our trip around the world with Israel and the girls learned about Golda Maier. They learned snippets of World war 1 and 2 and what it meant to be Prime Minister of such a small country in a hostile environment. They also learned that important people, as with King David, can many times have tragic family lives. Such is the life of many rulers.

Then we moved on to Spelling. Erika, who typically keeps a very neat desk, and keeps very good track of her posessions, seems to have misplaced her spelling workbook. AHHH.
She is only on chapter 2. We have searched High and Low and so far, no spelling book. If we HAD a dog, it would be his fault, but since we don't, it's "not me's" fault and "I don't know" has it.

So then we move on to math. Anna finishes suspiciously fast. She prefers that I don't grade her paper. Hmmmm..... Oh my she is doing REVIEW. 454-267. She would have to carry over, but she doesn't like subtraction, so she invented a new way to do math.
Reverse. 7-4 is 3, 6-5 is 1, and 4-2 is 2. So her answer was 312???????
When I asked her about it, she said, she thought that was a fine way to do math so what is the problem? LOL

She is now working on redoing her entire lesson, hopefully before dinner.

Then there is Sarah who zooms through everything, gets it right, and asks, "Can I read on the porch? I'm finished." She took her practice spelling test and got everything correct. But for some reason she can't spell on her blog. LOL

So, during this typing, Anna is almost finished with her math, correctly this time and Erika just located her spelling book. It was on the couch under the pillow. Apparently she didn't look "that hard". :)

I wonder if I could lose the washing machine?

Practical Sarah

The Girls have been taking care of the animals next door while the neighbors went on a weekend getaway. One of the joys of this job was being able to play with 4 puppies that are about 4 weeks old. They are really cute, but if anybody has ever raised puppies, when they first start learning to eat on their own, they can get really STINKY!
This was Sarah's solution:

Erika's Baptism

Today our precious Erika was baptized. She gave her speech and Daddy baptized her.
As soon as I figure out how to get a picture out of my camera, I'll post it! :)

God is Soverign

Thank you so much for those who are praying. The Lord has answered our prayers, and we trust that His will has been accomplished.

The outcome was not what we had expected, and those little surprises and bumps help us to trust Him more.

We are confident that He has used us in a way we do not know or understand, and in that we will rest. :)

Exciting Times

The air is full of excitement around here. I cannot wait until I can tell you why, but right now, let's just say the girlies are bouncing off the walls with excitement.

They are making plans, cleaning up, and making more plans......

Mike and I are so excited too. We are waiting on the Lord, and when you do that, no matter the outcome, you are in HIS will. We have been praying and meditating on HIM most of today, and also waiting for important phone calls.

Those calls have come and gone and now we wait for a final call.

But when that call comes, it will all make sense. Why has the Lord put certain things on our hearts lately? Why have we been talking with the girlies about certain things?
And then it seems to become crystal clear.

Right now, it is clear, I'll wait for that final call before I say "crystal clear". :)

Praying to be in the Center of HIS will.

URGENT PRAYER REQUEST

If you are a praying believer, please pray for us. There is something going on in our family that I cannot disclose, but know the Lord wants us to commit it to prayer.

I cannot share more right now, but it is a good thing! :)

So, if you can, please pray for the Lord's will in our lives, for the Lord's will in the life of another and that all will work out to His Glory!

Thanks so much

Baptism Revisited Again

A decision was made for Erika to be baptized on Sunday. I am really thankful that there were those that saw she was truly ready and didn't make her wait any longer.
She was willing to wait however long she was told.... after all she waited all that time before she had a family.:)

Here is her speech before daddy baptizes her: (spelling errors and all)

Hello my name is Erika Minich I am from Ukraine, Before I was adopted I started to learn about Jesus, how he died for me and you. I am a sinner because Adam and Eve sinned. Jesus Christ is my savior. Jesus loves me this I now for the bible tells me so. He died for my sins, I trusted him. I have a clean hurt but I am still a sinner. I want to be baptized because I want people to understand that Jesus died for my sins and that He is my Savior and I want to serve him for the rest of my life.

Mike's Adventure

Mike has been wanting to get into electric cars for a long time. Last night was his first call to go and pick up and electric car for repair. He has the trailer now, and took off in his pickup truck to go and get the vehicle.

It was in Commerce about an hour away. On his way home, he got a bit turned around and wound up in FROGNOT TEXAS. Where is that? I don't know, but then, his transmission in his truck blew and filled the cab with smoke, so there he was in the middle of Frognot Texas with a broken down gas hog towing a broken down electric vehicle.

The tow trucks came and got him home and the adventure continues.

He took it all in stride. The girls however were TERRIBLY worried about daddy being stranded on the road and every 2 minutes came to ask, "Is he ok? Did he call?" They couldn't sleep until he got home which was around 10:30 last night.

Poor guy.

Tattle Tale Blues

We've got the Tattle Tale Tattle Tale Blues!

It seems that we are competing today for a gold medal in the category of Tattle Tale.
So, I solved the matter.


Anna won.

She won the right to clean the bedroom alone, since she seemed to be so skilled at giving a moment by moment blow by blow account of everything possible that could go wrong in that room.....

Ahhhh, it is quiet and the other girls are folding clothes. :)

I just love motherhood.

The Early Morning Events

We started off with an event filled morning. First off I had a great night's sleep due to a new mattress cover we just purchased for my back. It is 4 inches of foam part regular foam, part memory foam and it was VERY helpful. Now, this a.m. we felt like we had to climb out of bed, as it is pretty soft, but ahhhh, not having to toss and turn all night with terrible back pain was really a pleasure.....

So, first thing, darling Erika gets up early while Mike and I are having our morning coffee and our new little "bra wearer" says, "Mother, you need to put on a bra!"
Hmmm....
"Erika, don't you know that your mom is a card carrying member of the national burn your bra society????"

She says, "Yes, now go put on your bra mother!" LOL

Well, Yes Maam!!!....


This is Sarah's Pirate Look! AYE!
How's that for a challenging look to a good game of backgammon?


Guess who won?


And by 1 move!!!!!




All the while, Anna was quietly reading her new favorite book on the couch.



I love it when kids start to read for pleasure. Marcus and Tim used to LOVE Calvin and Hobbs.

Our Anniversary Date

Pictures the girlies took on our date: We had our own personal camera crew.
It is good for kids to see mom and dad admire each other.




Anniversaries are always fun. They give time for reflection and future plans. It is funny how different each anniversary is. I remember when our guys were little, we'd get out a table cloth and candlelight and make a quiet dinner with nice quiet music while the boys sat at the top of the stairs and giggled. "GO TO BED!" OK.......

Then there were a few years where we went to a nice dinner alone.

Then, the girls came. To be honest, my memory of the last 5 years is nearly a blurr!
But I know we went swimming one time, we were home from the hospital another time, once we went to a movie, and then this time crept up on us. With all our plans for the next few weeks, school starting etc. here it was, and the day before we were talking saying, "What should we do for this anniversary?" Hmmmm.... There were no movies playing, and it is a Tuesday night. So, we decided on dinner. The girls got real excited and we then decided to make it a family dinner since we are leaving for our Ukrainian missions trip in less than 3 weeks. (that is our real anniversary plan :) )

So they all got dressed up and we took them to "On the Border". Then, they said, "Can we sleep in YOUR room tonight and fall asleep to a movie? It IS your anniversary and it would be so special!" (NOT) LOL

Mike was so funny..."Yes it is OUR anniversary, NO, you can't!" LOL

They were all looking at us like WE were being selfish, ruining their special day of enjoying our anniversary. "You always want to be alone and you don't let us sleep in your room!" Sarah pouted....
Yes, that is right. Moms and dads have rooms and kids have rooms. That is the way that it is! :)

I just love childhood innocence.



Here are our 3 little stowaways. :) They had a great time on our date.

My Life

Sarah was just pretending to be me.

She said, "Quick somebody get me some water, I think I'm having a hot flash!" :)


The truth can really make you, uhhhhh, S-W-E-A-T !

Speaking of Anniversaries

There are many anniversaries in our lives, some good and some not so good. Children who have faced trauma in their lives have many anniversaries. It might be the anniversary that you were taken away from your parent, or the time you were moved from one foster home to another or when you were moved to your adoptive home or when you went to court etc. etc.

Children, though many times quite young when this stuff happens, have some sort of 6th sense when anniversary time comes around. We have always noticed that there are two specific times of year when our Anna has relived past trauma. One of those times is now, and the other is during the holidays.

Every year, things have gotten better and we are going on year 5. Anna came to us on about her 5th birthday. That is around holiday times.

However, the first year we had her, we were abit perplexed at her behavior in August.
She had been doing great and then all of a a sudden WHAMO, from out of no where these traumatic behaviors showed up.
We headed straight for the rocking chair and she'd just pour her little heart out. Memory after memory.

When we finally got her adoption paperwork in the mail which didn't happen until after that first August, I was flabbergasted to see that her dramatic removal from her mother occurred in August and then there was yet another removal at the end of August from one foster home to another! So August was a FULL month of trauma for her.

So Mike and I were all geared up for this month, expecting to see some difficulties, though not the ones we have seen before. And, pretty much, not a lot happened.... then a few weeks ago, there was a little blip, like with any NORMAL child, and then the events of yesterday and today.....


HERE IS WHAT HAPPENED!

Yesterday, Erika wanted to write about her life. She started to write and started reading out loud her story about being in the orphanage. Anna later came over to me and started to cry. She said, mama, I'm not the same person you think I am. I am not the same girl. I am a new girl. I have been reborn. I was a little puzzled at first but kept listening to her. I rocked her and soothed her and talked to her. In the back of my mind I was trying to figure out what she was saying and honestly, I wasn't sure, but didn't want to suggest anything, so I just listened. (learned that from Mike, he is so great at this)

So then, last night, when Mike and I were going to bed, we noticed that Sarah had climbed onto the top bunk with Anna and they were laying there talking. I sensed it wasn't a time to tell them to stop talking and go to sleep, even though I was tempted as it was 11:30. Anna NEVER stays awake much after her had hits the pillow! So something was on her heart.

Then today, She handed me this: (she used part of a poem and changed words in it, but it is how she feels, and I think she did a pretty good job!)

My Life is Like a Poem


About the story:
Anna is the baby
The two good people are mom and dad
The child is me, Anna.



In Threads of Magic
So its told
A young child was born like gold

To shine for Dad and gracious mom
The small baby did so beam
Two good people smiled
Brought song and beauty to this child.

Link Button for Dennis

If you scroll down my side bar, you may come to a link button that says,
"Remember to Pray for Dennis". Dennis is the New son of a fellow blogger.
I have her listed under adoption blogs, "Christine's blog, and Christine's other blog".
Dennis's story starts on Christine's other blog, but now that he is a member in the family, he is on the regular blog. :)

He is fixin' to have some major surgery and many tests coming up. So, his mama has asked us to put his picture on our blogs so anybody who stops by, can pray for him.
He is a real sweety of a little guy. So, if you scroll down and see him, throw up a prayer or two and ask for prayer for him in your prayer groups. He has a long road ahead.

But it is BRIGHT! He is a very fortunate little guy to have such a special family, and his family is very fortunate to have such a wonderful little guy to be the baby in the family.

That Crazy Man I Love

Today is our Anniversary. We still haven't decided what we are going to do. Most likely we are going to take the girls out. LOL Because our REAL anniversary present is coming up in a few weeks when we will whisk ourselves away to Ukraine for almost 2 weeks and leave our girlies behind, yet in very capable hands.

The Lord has been so good to me. In spite of my failures, my sin, I have been blessed beyond measure. The Lord has blessed both Mike and I and we praise Him for his working in our lives.

We have only been married 19 years. But we sure do look older than the day we married.
I am so thankful for the brave man who entered my life and took on an army of kids, along with an eccentric, hippie throwback wife, having never been married himself or having never been a father; AND he was a YANKEE! I was a California transplant, but we fell in love in Dallas.

So Happy Anniversary dearest.
For 19 years I have not called you Mike, but "MY MIKE". :)

Rhythmic Gymnastics

Well, today's Gymnastics made a hit with Anna. She loved the drama and the swirly things. She and Sarah made sticks with streamers (strings) and have been jumping around the house twirling. Here are 2 of Anna's dramatic poses!

Off To A Great Start!

We finished our first 2 days of school and we are off to a great start. The girls are loving their desks, and it seems that they have retained all that they learned last year.

I was worried about taking 5 weeks off, but you know what? I needed that 5 weeks, and so did they. They swam, and swam and played and pretended and went shopping and went to the zoo, and played some more. It was a great rest time.

Then, when it was time to start, they were really ready. It seems that we have turned a corner in reading for everybody and they are reading for enjoyment.

We are off to a good start in History, taking our virtual "Trip Around The World". :)

I'm so glad we are able to do what we do, and I pray that the year continues to go well for them.

I also found these really cool math cubes that explain fractions and decimals. They are kind of like the addition blocks, but they are written in fractions and decimals.
The one thing our oldest son had trouble with was fractions. He couldn't understand how a bigger number was a smaller amount. These cubes help you to SEE that.

Now I gotta go clean house...... :)

How Do I Say No To the Limbless?

On a good note, this was an article about a Prosthetist who makes limbs for those who don't have them, in Mexico.

What a wonderful ministry.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/wayoflife/08/22/heroes.puckett/index.html

I often think of where our girls would be were it not for the caring people who make their legs, and have changed their lives. I give glory and praise to the Lord for moving on the hearts of people who care so very much.

THANK YOU LORD, for changing our lives, giving Erika independence more than we had ever dreamed, and for letting us get to know some very special people, whom we would have never met, had there not been hardship in our lives.

Organic Foods Article

There is an article this a.m. at CNN.Com about a study that concluded that "organic foods are not more nutritional, than non organic."
As if a person would think that if they ate an organic apple it might contain more vitamins than a non organic one?

That has NEVER been the issue for me in buying organic foods. The issue for me is the pesticides and poisoning of the environment. The foods that are raised conventionally contain dangerous pesticides. I remember in the 1980's one of the studies on childhood leukemia linked the disease to polished apples. In organics, you don't polish apples.

HERE: is the kicker of the study:

This study -- published in the latest edition of the Society of Chemical Industry's (SCI) "Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture" -- is the first to assess the nutritional value of organic fruit and vegetables. It should be noted that the study does not make conclusions about the comparative levels of pesticides or chemicals in conventionally and organically grown food or the health effects of consuming such chemicals.

NOTE: The study is done by the "CHEMICAL INDUSTRY". LOL


So, if a person is to skim this article, they might MISS the log floating in the stream of bologana! The chemical industry didn't say anything about how chemicals remain in the food and are harmful to your body. Oops, we were only speaking of the nutritional value of a carrot vs. a carrot. duh......

Not to mention the poisoning of the water, soil, etc.

Organic farming is good for the environment, good for the soil, causing it to help the environment.... (this shows up later in the rebuttal section of th article.

But really, how does anything like this make the news other than for a teaser to make a person mad?
It is also so harmful, because many people will read a headline and then think conventionally grown foods are just as SAFE as organics. That is not the case. Organic food farmers go through rigorous regulation to get excellent, non poisonous foods to our tables and we need to support their efforts.

The First Day of School

Well, we had a great start to a great year. We covered all of our subjects today, except for art, unless you count making an Israeli Flag for History "Art". :)

For history this year, we are taking a virtual, "Trip Around The World". We actually started at the end of last school year, and plan to continue until we cover every continent and important country.

So here are the girlies doing Spelling.... guess which girlie was abit overwhelemed with doing "Just cursive????". Yep, from now on..... :)

The Girls Have Their OWN BLOG

The Girls have a new blog. We will be using this to teach typing skills, computer skills, and creative writing skills. I will leave the mistakes as they are, unless they ask for help in spelling. :)

Their address is:

http://thenoelles.blogspot.com/

Here It Is

The Lonesome Pine Ranch School Room:

God Cares About The Little Things

I have written before about the requests the girls had for a great start to a great school year. They wanted a desk, a bell and a chalk board.

Well, we have a bell. I checked around on Craig's List to see about Chalk Boards and desks. I found a great deal from a nursing school going out of business. When I got there, they had just 2 desks and a chalk board. I was able to get them for 25.00 for all.

Anna didn't care for the desks and asked if she could get one that looked a little different. We still needed one, so she started looking on the computer and found the color and style she liked. The problem is, it was over 100.00 if you purchased it new!

I was ready to settle on another desk that looked like her sisters, but the drive was too far and it would have cost more in gas than for the desk itself.

Daddy said, "Let's wait and see what God provides, give HIM a chance to work!"

So we waited a day or two and went back onto Craig's list. There was a description of the exact desk that Anna wanted for 15.00! We thought, ok, this is His provision and the desk was located close by our church. I called the number and it turns out, it was a long time aquaintence from our home school group that was selling the desk. I told her I'd call at a certain time, but when I did, she didn't answer. So we went ahead and started home from church. When we were almost home, she called and said her phone was on silent and she forgot to change it, but they were home and we could come.

So after we got home, I headed out to get the desk. About 3 minutes after I left, Mike called and said, WAIT! Another friend called and said she had a desk she was giving away. He said, go ahead and go look at it. They just live 5 doors down! So I turned around and drove over to her house. And guess what? It was the EXACT desk, even EXACT COLOR Anna had wanted. And it was FREE. :) My friend and I had a good laugh at the way God works in our lives. I called the other lady back to share the story, and it turns out she knows my neighbor! Isn't that funny? :)

Anna is so pleased with her new desk. And now, after I decorate the wall with a map or two, and some pin ups, we will be set for school to start on Thursday! :)

What a great lesson for the girls.

More Understanding .....

Erika has been speaking English now for almost 2 years. I have to be really careful to remember that she doesn't always understand the things she has heard. She might understand the individual word, but our words can have many meanings.

So, we were watching the Olympics. Everybody was busy and Erika was watching alone. She came in and said, "Somebody smashed Michael Phelp's goggles, and he came in 2nd place because of it!" I was shocked! Who could do something like that!???? So I'm looking all over for news about the event and there is nothing.

Then I sit down with her and they use the word, "smash" and "leaky goggles" again.
She said, SEE! They SMASHED his goggles and now they are leaky and he came in 2nd!"

I said, NO, his goggles were "leaky" and he SMASHED the World Record anyway! He came in second in a different "practice race". She was so confused. What is a "World Record" that can be SMASHED? SMASHED means broken, crushed, but it is tangeable, breaking something you can touch and feel. She didn't understand until now that that green line across the swimming pool wasn't really there but was showing us where a swimmer from another race swam before, and now the swimmers swimming now are ahead of that and they are now the fastest! They are the fastest in the world, and when that time is written down, it is a "record". It is recorded, or written down so everybody knows what the fastest time is.

I'm exhausted just typing that. :)

BUT.... now she understands and is very happy that Micahel Phelps was not the victim of "bad worldly goggle smashers!

Gymnastics Craze

Watching Olympic Gymnastics has got Sarah going Topsy Turvy!

Play List is gone now

I took the play list feature off the blog because it takes too long to load. I like the feature, and I liked the music, but it was a little too "busy" and bogged down the blog.