Our New President

I didn't vote for either of the main candidates. I voted my conscience.
Yet, I know that whoever makes it into the highest office of our country will be there for a purpose because GOD has allowed him to be there. I wonder what the future will hold for America. I wonder what our country will look like in 4 years. Will we be better off? Worse off? Will we be a strong world power or lose our status and fade away?

In the grande scheme of things, eternally, it is but a blip on the radar screen. But that blip, is a blip where I exist and have knowledge! I am curious as to what will happen.

My biggest concern honestly: The Unborn; the protection of those whose lives are potentially terminated, and then, if they survive; murdered.

I pray that the Lord's will in our lives will be done. And I pray that those who oppose abortion will put their actions where their mouths are and ADOPT or support somebody to help themselves should they choose to keep their baby.

Election Day Comic Relief

Courtesy of the girls at various times this year: I wish I had written everything down. Some of the newest ones (the last 2 months I didn't post here)

Enjoy:

Erika was asking about having babies today. I told her when her brothers were born, the doctor held them up and said, "It's a boy!" She said, "how do you know if a baby is a boy or a girl?"
Anna piped up from the other room and said, "girls have hair and boys are bald!"


Sarah was looking on the Calendar and noticed it is "Ash Wednesday". She asked what it was. After the explanation about what Lent is, and people "give up" certain things during this season and focus on Easter.... she said,
"I know, I'll give up school!

Today we were starting Language Arts. We were having our oral lesson and I asked "How do you look up a word in the Dictionary"?
Sarah piped up, "That's easy! You just open it up! It is full of words! :-)

The other day, Gramma sent them each a Valentine's Day Card and it was signed....
"God Loves You",
Love, Gramma and Grampa

(Erika has overheard gramma now and then say, we are all god or I am god)
Erika looked at that and said, "If Gramma thinks she is god, then why didn't she just sign it "I Love You".


My dd just walked in and said, "mama, you know what my life motto is"?
No, what?
She said, "Never take anything for granite because that is what tomb stones
are made of." :-)


Yesterday we went to the hospital for checkups.
Sarah has grown and we had to take her leg down stairs to add some height to her prosthetic leg. She has grown over an inch!
After she put it back on, the dr. asked, "How do you feel?" She said, "I feel like a grown up woman!"


The girlies were watching "The 10 Commandments".
The intermission section showed up and our dd Anna said, "Oh, that is so all the actors and actresses can go to the bathroom!" LOL

Our newest neighbor was born 2 days ago.(a cow)
I took this photo of him yesterday.
The girls PROUDLY said, they could tell he was a boy!
"Because of that THING!


We have been studying ancient Egypt. Today we had a creative writing assignment where the girls had to pretend they at one time lived in ancient Egypt.
Anna's started with:

I helped to bury King Tut... I put him in a Jackyl jar. I put him in a Falcon jar. I put him in a Baboon Jar. etc...........I was laughing so hard I couldn't finish grading her paper.


I threw my back out once again, so I asked the girls if they wanted to play Cinderella. They said yes! So I had them clean the floor with wash cloths and Murphy's OIL soap. It didn't take but 10 minutes.
After they were done, I said, "Thank you so much my sweet princesses!" Sarah piped up and said, "I don't want to be the kind of princess who scrubs floors, I want to be the kind that wears pretty dresses and doesn't do any work!"


Our son and daughter in law stopped by with our one year old grandson. It was time of a diaper change so I asked Ivy if the girls could watch. DS says, "Is this some sort of science lesson?" (he knows me)
Of course it is. So Ivy says, "come on girls, let's change Will's diaper."
She took his diaper off and Sarah said, "Oh MY! I think I'm simply going to faint!


Anna was cleaning out her fish tank today. I overheard her tell her fish rather matter of factly, "If you don't swim into my hand right now, I'm going to have to ground you and take some of your pretty rocks away!"

I asked her, "Are you talking to your fish?"
Yes, mom, the net has a hole in it.

When Does Life Begin?

My friend had this article posted on her blog, and I felt it was well written enough to spread it. :)

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MDRhMjcwNjkxOTQ4ZGQ4YjM0YTE4OGU5N2M1MDcwMDQ=

Organized Anna and Sarah the Comic Relief

Like I said, Anna thrives on organization. She announced this a.m. that Therron's Birthday is coming up.

Therron is Mike's helper at the business. He is going to be 55.

She said, "It is time to get Therron's birthday present!" I have all his sizes right here!LOL
Apparently she got his shoe size,(12) sock size,(12) pant size and shirt size. Of course we will have trouble finding pants since they are a 34x302! And, we are to be sure to get a shirt with a pocket. :)


At School the other day, we were talking about the Reformation and its impact upon Christendom. We have been learning about Martin Luther and they watched a video about him. So a few days have passed and I asked the girls..."Who was Martin Luther?" I got stares, like the Mayflower Compact Stares.... Then Sarah raised her hand, excitedly she said, "He was a German! A German! A German Shepherd?"
LOL

But That Way Is Too Hard!

I was correcting a math paper today. When I came to hundreds column addition, I figured it wouldn't be any big deal. After all this is review. They are working on fractions, multiplication and division.
So when I was grading Anna's paper, ALL the problems were WRONG! I called her over and asked her, "How can you come up with 41 to an addition problem of 824,236 and 79? She said, simple, I added it.

HUH???? Show me how you added it. 8+2+4+2+3+6+7+9...... :)

Uhh, why did you add it that way?

"Because the other way is too hard and takes too long!" LOL

I guess she was doing "creative math".

So, she is doing it the old fashioned hard way now.

Back to Church ..... Comments About Family Life

Sarah was able to attend church again yesterday for the first time since surgery, which means I was able to attend church again for the first time since Sarah had surgery.
It was nice to be back!

Bob Deffinbaugh spoke yesterday on Hebrews 7, but it was his last part of his sermon that stuck in my mind so very well, and I am thankful that he spoke it, as they are words of wisdom.

Here is the female regurgitated version of what he said:

Be cautious that you do not look to a shepherd, an accountability group, a mentor a trusted friend or counselor and replace them with being accountable to Christ, to looking to Christ and having them be your intermediary instead of trusting your Christ and your relationship with him, depending upon personal prayer and the word.

Excellent advice. He was not saying that mentors are bad or seeking wisdom from a trusted counselor is bad. What he was saying was be careful not to replace them with seeking God directly.


Now, about Family life Comments.

I have had several people ask me how Anna is taking being a sister to special needs sisters. They have made comments like, "The other girls have all these needs and get special attention and then she is just there", or "she doesn't get the attention they do."

I wish these types of comments didn't bother me, but honestly, they do. Not because I am blinded and cannot see the girls individually, or because I think Anna has no needs, but because it is implied that Anna is being ignored. She isn't.

I am so thankful that we have already done this before with our boys. Our lives were different than many families because we had a child with special needs. But you know what? Different is just that... DIFFERENT. It isn't less than, it is different. Anna's life just as her brother's lives were not "less than" or defined by things we did not do. In my opinion, all of our lives have been made richer and broader and fuller and raw and real. We have had opportunities we would have never known. We would have never met the wonderful people we have met over the years. We would never have had opportunity to minister to other's needs and hurts like we have been able to BECAUSE of "special needs".
"Special Needs" are also not limited to physical needs. Anna has special needs too, which are not visible to the human eye. She has every bit as many "needs" as her sisters do, and we are very aware of the specialness of our daughter. Unfortunately, her needs many times are looked over by others outside of our family. They can be misinterperated and misunderstood.
I am so thankful for a Heavenly Father that I can look to for wisdom and understanding in dealing with each of our children's individual needs. Anna does not feel the least bit "slided" by her family life. She is every bit a center part of it and loves being a helper. She is REALLY enjoying taking care of the animals herself right now and not having to share the "chore" of taking care of them with Sarah. :)

Sarah and Erika are both accountable themselves to be helpers in the home, with casts and without feet. They are both capable girls and we do not let them get away with being dependent when they don't need to be.

Each of our girls gets special time with mom and dad. We take them out alone at different times during the month and treat each of them individually and take that time to listen to them and have fun and enjoy them.

I have watched a few shows about people who have had special needs siblings and how much they resented it. I think the shows were slanted and slighted towards abortion.
I think they were grossly missing the point that ALL Humans have value and selfishness is not to be condoned but put aside and risen above. Selfishness is sin. To put yourself more important than another is wrong. There are just as many selfish people who resent even having a healthy sibling. :)

The way parents raise their children to view siblings is oh so important. We try to help our children to view their siblings as very special people whom they will have relationship longer than they will with us. Thus, those relationships are special relationships given to them from God.

Each one of our children is a blessing to us from the Lord. Each of them teaches us to be dependent upon the Lord for our very breath. Each of them bring us utmost joy.

We do not take those relationships lightly, nor do we ignore one for another. Sometimes we have to take more time with one, but that does not diminish our love for the others. Each person is of utmost value to us. I also do not feel guilt about needing to spend extra time with one than another. It all works itself out in due time. And... As I have told each of our children. God placed you here for a reason, in the order he placed you and in the body He gave you. IF you are the oldest, he must have thought you could handle it. If you are footless, he knew you didn't need feet to survive. If you are the youngest, he must have known you needed to be and could put up with a whole lot of bosses. :)

We put our trust and rest in the Lord, and we place our family in His Hands.

When Past Crosses Present

Past vs. Present, Present vs. Past
Sin nature or Trauma
Attachment Issues or Sin Nature
Nature vs. Nurture
Inherited traits vs. Learned Behaviors

These have all been on my mind as of late and especially this a.m.
This is that time of year for Past to Cross Present. It is that time of year
that reminds A of where she came from, and how far she has come.

Today started out as a bit of disaster, but has turned out quite well.
I need to remember that GOD is ultimately in control and when things are out of whack
He is still working on our hearts.

A needs to have consistency in her life. She THRIVES with a secure schedule. She THRIVES with everything planned ahead and with no changes being made, but that is not necessarily the real world. It is something we try to make sure happens as it helps life go smoother, but it doesn't always work. So when it doesn't we try to help her through things smoothly. Sometimes it is great and she does fine, other times there are mornings like this morning.

Maybe we should call it our own personal "Black Sunday".

Things have been a bit chaotic around here due to extenuating circumstances. Not really anybody's fault. So A has had alot to deal with all month. She did great until.... today.
Combining the events of the last 6 weeks, with her anniversary for coming to live with us, AND of all things her growing out of her pre planned Sunday School dress and not being able to find her favorite shoes, it was a recipe for "all chaos and no order makes A a grouchy girl!"

And GROUCHY she was.

Daddy and I swiftly decided that we were not going to give way to a "Pity Party", so we headed her off at the pass. She was warned and then the boom was lowered.
Her reaction?
"What about time out, you didn't try a time out!" LOL

We do not negotiate with terrorists~! (I didn't say that to her, but I sure did think it!)

I am so thankful for God's mercy and grace in my own life, and am thankful seeing it unfold in her little life.
A consider's her 5th year anniversary to be on her Birthday, which will be Thanksgiving Day. Funny, her 5th birthday was also on Thanksgiving Day.
We have seen so many changes in her since that day 5 years ago when she came to stay with us. And we are so thankful to have her in our lives.

Sometimes it is hard to define when something is bothering her what the root cause is.
But ultimately it doesn't matter. God Knows and as she yields her life over to Him, no matter what the source, He is the complete answer. :)

A gave me permission to post this, as long as I used A and not her full name. :)

DON'T FORGET TO TUNE IN ON.... AND

AMERICA'S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEOS tomorrow night November 2nd at 6:00 central time. Marcus and Ivy are finalists with their Missed Kiss wedding video clip. :)

It is also DABBA's BIRTHDAY! YEA! She has made it to 88! And she is BEAUTIFUL! I can't wait to get a new picture! Hint. Hint...... :)

My Dabba


This is Dabba and Joe last year.

I just wanted to share a few things about my Dabba. I have not physically seen Dabba since the boys were much younger. She came to Dallas one last time to visit, and we had a WONDERFUL time. She met Mike for the first time and accepted him with open arms.
After that, she went on to Israel and lived in Jerusalem taking care of handicapped children in an orphanage and working at Bridges for Peace. She survived the first Gulf War when Saddam Hussein was sending Scud Missiles into Israel. She said, "we would have to carry all the children down to the shelter, by the time we got down there the all clear siren would go off, we would get them all back to bed and then before we knew it, the siren would go off again and we would repeat the entire process." This is a woman who had suffered a broken hip a few years before. But she LOVED every minute of it. Ok, not the bomb shelters, but she loved what she was doing.
During a time of relative peace, right before the Infantada, our son Chuck went to visit Dabba in Israel. He was 15 and what a trip he had. I don't think he will ever forget that experience.

Dabba and I share funny stories of life from long ago and we share the ones of today.
Some of our funniest stories seem to stem from Aunt Lee Lee and Joseph. I do remember when Dabba broke her hip, we didn't know it was broken yet. I had to go to work and she was caring for the boys. It was a Saturday and she was resting a very sore hip. Apparently she was dozing in the recliner and Joseph had moved in to stare at her rather closely. His breathing startled her and she startled him when she opened her eyes with his eyes meeting hers. I believe there were screams from both parties. I'm not describing it too well, but let's just say, 5 year old Joseph for some reason thought she was laying awfully still so she must have passed away. :) LOL
To his shock, she was alive! I think he was abit relieved too.

I have so very much missed having Dabba close by. I love her deeply and miss her.
I am ever so thankful that she has email and a computer. We are so blessed to be able to communicate this way. I don't know many 88 year olds who get on computers. She is a "Happenin' Woman!"

Joe and Becca were able to visit her in Idaho with Sam not too long ago and I truly hope the other boys are able to see her soon. I know she is not able to travel anymore.

I am so thankful for her being a wonderful Gramma in the life of our boys through a very difficult situation, and now she is truly a gramma to our girlies. She has never met them in person but she keeps up with everything they are doing and I know she loves them.

Dabba was widowed at a young age with 6 children. She has LIVED Christ ever since she met him at the age of 44. She started Family Mission with her Secretary's salary and has done more for the hungry, the homeless, the orphan, the widow, the down trodden, the mentally ill, the wounded, than any one person I have ever personally known.
She paid to have an orphanage started for the handicapped in Timothy's name when he was little. She supported World Vision and they knew her well. I still have vivid memories of the pictures of orphans and children who needed food she supported, and I remember her famous map with all the little pins in it. Those pins represented children, orphans, orphanages, etc. of places she was helping with. This didn't include the immense giving and help she was for her own children. She even took a second job at McDonalds on Saturdays and a 3rd one working in a church Nursery on Sundays.
If I'm making her sound amazing. I'm not touching the surface of what she means to me personally.
I have never had anybody make more of an impact on my life than her. We have laughed together, cried together, resided together, prayed together, taken care of kids together and lived life to the fullest together in the midst of awful circumstances.
I am forever greatful to her and not worthy of her love and devotion.

BUT to her I am forever thankful, forever greatful, forever in love with a person I am proud to call my mom.

I love you Mom!
Happy 88th Birthday! :)

Celebrations

Last night, October 31, most people celebrate as Halloween. There are the costumes, the candy, the parties, the excitement.... and then there is the "scare factor", the celebration of things that are evil and dead.

Why is this something to celebrate? We do not participate in Halloween and many people just don't get why. They do not see the harm in dressing up and going to get candy.
And you know, for little kids who don't know any better, there probably isn't any big deal to it. BUT.....

In my mind, it teaches that Halloween is good. It teaches that Halloween is about Candy and not about what it really celebrates. As a Christian I cannot celebrate ghouls and demons, murderers, death and violence and in between a cute little fairy.

Yesterday when Mike was volunteering, one of the staff workers mentioned that "Conservative Families never let their kids have any fun"..... ARGHHHH....And the typical uneducated mentality of "that is why when they grow up they will rebell and go crazy"..AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!
I can't tell you how many times we have heard this. It doesn't matter that our grown kids are responsible, married, tax paying citizens who are parents themselves and didn't go crazy. It doesn't matter that our little girls are sweet kids and are well behaved and kind. Nope, they will all go crazy. :)LOL

He is much more patient than I am on this stuff. I honestly don't know what his reaction was well enough to blog it, but I know what I would have said.... :)

Anyhoo...
This really, REALLY bothers me. We are not at home with our drapes shut hiding in fear waiting for the evil trick or treaters to pass by. Nor are we hiding from life, protecting our kids from the "real world". The Scripture clearly states to Being in the World but not be OF the World. Our girlies and our boy's were educated about the world. How can they not be? They live here!:) Some of our kids have experienced more of the REAL world than many adults in America. We see our job as parents is to EQUIP our children to LIVE successfully in a difficult world. Just like you wouldn't send a soldier out into battle without teaching him how to prepare himself and use his head, we see this as an opportunity to prepare our children for what is to come, both POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE.
They are not at all kept away from worldly ideas. In fact last night at our party which I am about to talk about, Anna came home and told us about a little girl who was telling her all about going on the computer to places her parents don't know she goes and writing inappropriate things. All about "gays", all about "sex", all about boyfriends etc and the very worst thing, something she was very upset about, "she talked about periods". LOL I asked her about the other things and it was abit over her head. We asked her, "do you think we should let her parents know what is going on and her reaction was, "I don't want to get her into trouble". But I wanted you to know. We thanked her for telling us, and then we talked about honesty and integrity on computers. We also talked to her about not needing to listen to conversations that are inappropriate and thankfully she shared with us that she and her friend Mary Grace left the conversation when they realized it was inappropriate. They obviously had an ear full before hand though. We also let her know that as time goes on and she gets older, unfortunately she will run into situations like this more and more often and will need to learn to control her own actions and reactions. THIS IS ALL PART OF BEING PREPARED FOR THE REAL WORLD. IT is NOT hiding our heads in the sand. Ok, I'm off that soapbox.

Anyhoo again: What We DO Celebrate:

We celebrate what REALLY TRULY happened on the VERY DAY of October 31.
Martin Luther nailed the 95 Thesis to the Wall in Whittenburg, thus beginning the Reformation, where many of our present day churches come from. We CELEBRATED with some very excited girlies at a friend's house with MANY MANY other families of like mind. There were games and food and a Pinata with CANDY and more kids playing.
We have done this same celebration with our same friends since our first set of children were young. They have grown, our friends kids have grown and we all have more. There are over 100 people who attend and converge on this house and there is a tribute each year to one of the Reformers.
Our girls were so excited that they had the Timer on the oven set for the countdown before it was time to leave. Teenagers carried Sarah and Erika around the house and played with them, and Anna held hands and ran around with her best friend Mary Grace. They were both very excited to see each other. They didn't know they had been invited to the same party!

I didn't take pictures of last night. Forgot the camera. But just wanted to say for those who think we don't enjoy ourselves at this time of year; think again. We had a wonderful evening and the kids didn't miss out on anything. AND... we don't have all that excess candy to worry about. :)

The Thrill of Victory and the Agony of Defeat

This morning I lost a killer backgammon game to Sarah. So, she challenged me to a game of Chess afterwards. She always beats me at chess too, but I was willing to play. It was my motherly duty to bring her satisfaction and joy, especially since I taught her to play both games and had my fill of wins.
Her little kitty was SHOCKED by the outcome of this game!


Can you tell who won based upon these pictures?





Ahhh, the thrill of Victory and the Agony of Defeat!

REMATCH!!!!! :) No way, not until a picture. :)

In all fairness, I owe her a rematch. She was having a discussion with daddy about Evolution while playing the game.

Custom Calendars

I have been looking at Custom Calendar making. I found the best price on Shutterfly!
They have several types to choose from. This should be fun!

http://www.shutterfly.com

The Miracle of Coffee

Many years ago, when Joe was little, the Doctor suggested I give him some coffee before bedtime to help him sleep. You may be thinking WHAT? Coffee to SLEEP?
Yes.
Joseph was hyperactive and had a difficult time going to sleep. He also only slept about 5 or 6 hours at night and then it was full tilt all day long! Sometimes I could get a nap out of him, but usually only if he spent a huge amount of energy in a tantrum and then fell asleep.
The coffee worked like a dream. It calmed him down.

Many people do not know that ADHD drugs like Ritalin, are actually forms of stimulants like speed. They have an opposite effect in those that TRULY need them. They calm them down and help them to concentrate.

Fast forward to Sarah. She too is hyperactive, and there are times I give her a little coffee to settle her, which works great.

Well, today, it dawned on me that Anna might benefit from a small amount of coffee too.
It is worth a try. After yesterday's inability to concentrate and get her work done, I needed to try something! She definitely fits into the ADD category, if there ever was one.
I gave her 1/3 c of coffee this a.m. and guess what.... I don't know if it is placebo or not, but she was able to concentrate much better. I am going to try it for a few days next week and if it works, we will try it for 2 weeks. If it works, we will use it during school days and not on weekends. This is soooo much better and easier than using medications that have terrible side effects.

Hopefully she will outgrow her ADD; we will see. I don't think I have ever outgrown mine. :/

Todays coffee was Organic Free Trade Bolivian. Wow... excellent and only 4.99 lb at Sprouts!

Simplifying

I have come to a crossroads in computer meets Christie. I have decided to simplify things, as I have too many projects going on and I am not finishing them. I need to use my time more wisely, and some things are just distractions. Sort of like, "mind candy". Sometimes you can read what is going on and it will dwell on your mind and then you can't concentrate on the project you are trying to work on.
So I am no longer participating in FRUA a website I have frequented for a few years, and Facebook, a website I have a difficult time navigating anyway. :)

I will miss the FRUA website, but I think it is for the best.

Now, to get to my projects!
After laundry of course! :)

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.