A Little Comic Relief : Thank You Girlies

 Here are some things I have recorded over the last year or two:


We were talking about some church issues with the girlies.
We attend a Reformed Church, so one thing I asked the girls:

"What does reformed mean?"

Sarah, as always, excited to answer: "It means like, everybody there has problems!" Like, we go to "Reform Church"....

So trying to keep a straight face I ask, "So what is your problem?"

Sarah said, " HELLO! Like I have a wooden leg!



Many of you know that Erika is a double amputee and wears prosthetic legs:
This is what she said this a.m.

This a.m., DH and I were talking about a decision we needed to make. Erika was listening in and then said, "I'd hate to be in your feet!" LOL






I told the girlies on Friday I think it would be fun to introduce them to "Arachniphobia".....

Anna says, "Mommy, I don't think Sarah would like it....
"why not"?

She is afraid of muslim terrorists!

LOL

At first I didn't get it.... then she says

Iraq, HELLO! LOL




I took the girls out shopping to find some simple items we needed. It turned into one of those go to a million stores events.

When we got home, Erika was hugging her daddy and said, "We are EXHAUSTED Daddy!"

His very correct reply was, "You should have let your fingers do the walking and then you wouldn't be so tired!"

She drolly rolled her eyes and looked at me and said, "Really mother, how do you put up with such a man?"


TEACHING MATH TO SARAH

Ok, so I'm teaching common denominators. She knows how it works, but can't seem to understand why it works.
So I drew some pies on the board. 1/2 and 2/16.
I showed her the difference on the pies and then asked, "So would you rather have 1/2 (8/16) of a pie, or 2/16 of a pie?
She sheepishly said, "2/16?"
I asked her "why 2/16?"

She said, "Because I don't really like pie!"

I guess she understands!




This a.m. I was cooking breakfast and talking to the kids, and talking to my dh all at the same time. Typical a.m. events.

Our dd Anna was on the computer establishing a name for LegoLand. I noticed she put the wrong birth year and corrected it.

She said, "Oh, man I'm so stupid".... which I didn't hear... so I didn't respond.

About 2 minutes later she came over and said, "Oh mother! You are SUPPOSED to correct me!"
"Correct you for what?"

I said "I'm stupid".....

"Well, you know you're not!"

Yea, but you're supposed to tell me that. LOL

Ok, "you're not stupid."

Then I got a big hug.

---

This a.m. Anna had SUCCESS! We have had a chicken escape artist that was going to meet its doom if we couldn't keep it fenced.

She came in doing a happy dance this A.M. singing:

"block the hole, keep in the chicken"
"block the hole keep the chicken in the fence"
"Block the hole keep in the chicken"
"Light a candle everything's all right!"

(to the tune of shut de' door keep out de devil)
an old song


We went to the zoo yesterday and checked out the Reptile Pavillion. There were some very active snakes, and some had been shedding skin.

This a.m. Sarah came to me with a little skin peeling off her nose from our lake adventure on Sunday afternoon.

She said, "Mommy, if my nose is peeling, does that mean I'm growing?" LOL


Today Sarah started working on her knitting. After about 30 minutes she said, "I can't wait till this grows up to be a blanket!"


Sarah has this habit of pretending her fake leg is real, so if it gets bumped or I step on her toes on her fake leg, she says OUCH!

The other day, she said, "there's a staple in my foot!" So I said, "well, pull it out". She did and said, OWWWW THAT HURT! I looked down and the staple was in her real foot. oops. LOL


Yesterday it stopped raining hard and Sarah was dying to go outside. She looked out the window and said, "Its not raining hard mama, its just drippling!"


Well it is official.... One of our girls turned into a woman today.

She was so embarrassed not wanting anybody to know. At bath time, I had to explain to Sarah what happened and why Anna was being so secretive.

Sarah burst into tears, "Why do girls have to turn into women!Now Anna can't play!" WHAAAA!!!!

So I explained she isn't a grown up, she is just growing up.....

So to cheer Anna up when she came out of the shower, Sarah said, "Now that you are a woman, you can be the mother when we play house!"

To which Anna burst into tears! "I don't want to be a woman!"


This a.m. I was snuggling with Anna.

She said, "Mama, do you want to see me get my cereal in less than a minute without using my hands?"

I was up for the challenge, so I said, "Sure!"

She said, "Mama, get me some cereal QUICK!"




"If somebody strikes you, turn the other cheek!" This was part of our little talk this a.m. along with Love your Neighbor as yourself......

So I say, you would never want somebody to strike you, so you should never strike anybody else.

Sarah says,"Oh, I thought turn the other cheek meant, if somebody hits you on the cheek you turn and hit their cheek right back!"


Studying The Bill of Rights:
We were getting ready to study the Bill of Rights. When we were going over them, the right to bear arms came up.

I asked the girlies: What does it mean, "You have the right to own, keep and bear arms?"

The answers:

You have the right to have babies with arms! (bear)
You have the right to keep your arms. Nobody can take them away.
If somebody cuts your arms off, you can own them by keeping them.
If your arms don't have hair; it is ok, you can keep them.

Here are a few more rights:

The right to petition for grievances in Fair and Honest Judgement:
"To tell the judge what you think of him."
It means you can go to the judge and they will be unjust.

The right to privacy in homes:
The condition of being out of the sight and hearing of all other people.
IT means that you want to be left alone.

The right to free speech and press:
You can say what you want to say
It means the right to speak free without getting pressed.

The right to freedom from arbitrary government regulation and control:
You can do whatever you want.


The right to bargain for goods and services in a free market:
To be able to get what you want at the store.

The right to trial by jury and innocent until proven guilty means:
You get together with them and tell them if you are guilty or not.


This was a really fun school day for mom.


We were studying Proverbs 2 last night and Daddy asked the girlies. "Why does the book of Proverbs refer to "wisdom" as "she"? Anna raised her hand and said, "Because Girls are wiser than boys!"


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!"
We were having science today and the discussion was about the use of "field guides".

So I ask...

What is a Field Guide?

Erika- a guy standing in a field.
Sarah- a guide that walks you through a field.
Anna- a book about something..... (close anna)

help


Yesterday on the evening news there was a story on teen pregnancy.
Erika was sitting next to me and I left it on, and figured I'd see what she "gleaned".
After the story was over, the news Anchor said, "We have NO IDEA why this is happening!"

Erika looked at me with a shocked look and said, "Does that man not know about sex?"


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.


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!"


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!"

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 Jakcyl 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.




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


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!"


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


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!

We had been talking about dogs and the different kinds there are.  The next day we were waiting in the car while daddy went in to get donuts.   I saw a man walking his dog and said, "Look, there is an Australian Shepherd!"  Erika said, "Yes, and he has a dog too!"

We attended a wedding and the usher stuck his arm out. Anna took his arm and we walked behind.  When we sat down, Sarah said, "Well, I will wait to take a man's arm until I'm grown up!  I asked her, "and when will that be?"  She said, "I'll wait until I'm 10!"

We attended another wedding and when the groom came out, he had several piercings with rings in them.  Sarah said, "When I grow up, do I have to get married?  I said, no, you don't have to! "She said, if you and daddy find a husband for me, can you make sure he doesn't look like that!" LOL

Counting Our Blessings

 Since it is so close to Thanksgiving, I just wanted to share the blessings in my life.
We have the most awesome friends and family. I have never seen people pull together like they have over this past week. 

We have had people praying for us from coast to coast, an AWESOME social worker to worked feverishly over the weekend to actually FINISH our home study  in record time!  (and now we are waiting to hear any news!)
Even the FBI got involved.  We are both FBI approved after just 5 days! :) 

Our children, Tim and Emily will be going to court on Saturday, National Adoption Day, to finalize the adoption of our 2 grandsons, Joey and Christopher.
Our friend will also be adopting a young man (15 year old) who is the former foster son of Tim and Em.  WOW!  Isn't that just the coolest!

The Lord has been so good to us this year.  Last year at this time my shoulder was frozen. I was in such terrible pain I could barely stand it.  We thought I had a torn rotator cuff, and it turned out to be my brain. :)  The shoulder was frozen, but the nerve pain was over the top and Christmas and Thanksgiving last year are just a blurr. 

This year, I can move my arm over my head and I am doing so well! 
God has been faithful!

The girlies are doing so well in their studies and they are so excited about our upcoming events.
I love it that Sarah blogged about her favorite Christmas things.  She loves the Christmas music. :)

I am also so very thankful for the bloggy support from all over. Some of you I have met on the phone, and one person IN person, and other than that, it is just bloggy world support. :) 
You all mean a great deal to me.  Thank you for sharing your hearts, and inviting folks to read.
It really blesses us to be a part of your lives and to have you to be a a part of our lives.

I am so thankful for our Church family.  They are so awesome. We have been told "just ask, anything we can do to help, we will!"  They have supported us in prayer and we have felt their prayers.
They are amazing AND just 4 minutes away! :)

Our neighbors also are so neat. They have just been such a blessing.   We are truly blessed.

We are so ready to share good news! But we are doing the DORI swim thing...... "just keep waiting, just keep waiting, just keep waiting"..... our social worker told me to laugh a lot and bake some gluten free cookies. :)
Love that lady.

What are you Thankful for?

Posting and Purchasing

I removed a few things until we know more. :) I don't want to be presumptuous about outcome.  Please Keep us in your Prayers!  We want what is right before the Lord.   The Lord knows. :)  But we are moving Full Steam Ahead!

In the mean time, we had a wonderful day yesterday! The girlies went to Hobby Lobby and picked out their annual Christmas Ornament.  This tradition is one that I thoroughly enjoy. I love seeing them study and study and finally decide!
Of course Anna, could not decide. She had 2 kitten ornaments picked but she could only pick one.
She was really stressed about which one would fit "clow paw's personality".  She asked all of us our opinion,  and we told her both ornaments were wonderful, but she would need to decide.  She put them both back and said, "I can't decide!"
I told her, now sweetie, not deciding is deciding!  So, after a few encouragements, she finally decided!
You know what she decided?

She DECIDED that BUY ONE and let me get the other! LOL  Hey, I thought that was a good decision. They were 50% off. :)

Sarah picked a Ballerina, that is just adorable.

Erika picked a girl on a horse going around a barrell.
 For me, I picked a chicken sitting on a nest. :)

I think everything will fit onto the tree in a lovely way, and there will be one more hole cemented  letting the girls embrace once again the  solidity of permanence while celebrating the entire Thanksgiving and Christmas season.
This is Anna's 8th time to get an ornament.  It is Sarah's 6th, and Erika's 5th. (I think) LOL
They love getting the old ornaments out and looking at them... I love hearing them say, there it is! That is the one I picked!   Making those memories for them has replaced many bad memories that were there before.   It gives me hope for any children that may come into our family that they too will be able to make new memories that will last them for a life time. :)

We will make some ornaments this year too, to add to our tree.  I retired several very old things last year, it sorta made me sad..... but they really were falling apart. My boys are getting old! LOL
I still have some of what they made.   There was this Angel that Marcus made in 1st grade.  It finally fell apart, but NOT before I took a picture of it. :)  I need to scan the pic so I can show you his precious angel and hung on the wall every year. When he was in high school he said, "Mom, do you still have to hang that?" LOL   My answer was, "Yes!" YOU made it! :)

What plans do you have that are unique to your family that you repeat each year for your children to make memories?  Have they begun to connect Christmas or Thanksgiving with their new memories?

My Giant

UGH.....  I don't know if anybody else is like me and has a GIANT in their way..... but I have this terrible fear of dealing with financial things.  I HATE it.  Yet, God continually places me in position to FACE my fears and trust him.

I have a son who is an accountant. I do not understand how he could look forward to going to work every day dealing with finances, but he does and loves it.

There are always these deadlines, and then balancing things, and making sure everything gets to where it is supposed to go on time, and then interest rates and what is owed, and savings, and retirement,  and insurance, and budgeting, and it goes on and on.....
Then, there is checking of the bills to make sure they are correct and the online stuff to make sure it is correct and before I know it, I can't think. 

The weird thing is I KNOW a good deal about HOW to manage things, but I am not a good manager.
I guess that means I am also not a good steward.  Yikes, that makes me sad.  

It seems that by my AGE, I should have a good handle on this stuff, or at least not want to run and hide from it; but I don't.  But why, when I am making a simple phone call to find out something simple like a balance on a mortgage do I feel like I'm in the Principal's office.... and I've never been sent to the principal's office! LOL

So I'm not waiting for the New Year to make yet another resolution..... I'm going to start today.
Mike has wanted me to use a certain system which seems so daunting to me.  He told me the other day, if I would just DO it, I will see that it will make my tasks much easier.  He is probably right.
NO! He IS right.  So, here I go, facing a Giant in my life. I know the Lord will help me and my sweet husband has offered to help me too.  I know he needs me to manage this area better.  He manages the business side of things..... So, here I go...... GIANT BE GONE! :)

Olive Oyl Anybody?

The girlies were redoing a scene from the Popeye Movie.......

Another Great Post

I was just over at Sally Clarkson's blog "I Take Joy" and read this.  Pearls of Wisdom. :)
I am still having trouble with my link in my side bar to the I Take Joy blog, but you can manually type it in at... www.itakejoy.com

Saddled With Burdens Too Heavy To Bear

Why are there those who burden parents with the idea that if they do not do everything in a certain way, their children will be doomed?  The way is usaually the way the Author of the book, or the speaker of the conference tell you you should raise your children.

"You must use this method!" "You must use these steps!"  and..... when you look into scripture, it isn't there.

RUN! From these kinds of teachings!  FLEE into truth!  These "Law Driven" teachers who insist you must Punish for every simple infraction, and then punish if the child doesn't respond to your liking about being punished are just plain DANGEROUS!
If you read a book that says if you follow their method and your kids will  follow God, throw it out!

Scripture says in Matthew that the pharisees placed heavy burdens on the people and did nothing to help them.  He said that the Pharisees shut the kingdom of heaven in people's faces .... "You neither enter yourselves, nor allow those who would enter to go in. Woe to you hypocrites! For you travel arcoss sea and land to make a single proselyte and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as you. You blind guides!....... Woe to you, you are like whitewashed tombs which outwardly "appear" beautiful, but inside you are full of dead mens bones and all uncleanness.
(This is in Matthew 23)

Why do I mention this in a post on parenting?  Because there are those who saddle burdens on people telling them that their children's salvation is up to THEM!  That is a lie from the pit!

Now, I am not saying, to let your children run amock and not to teach them or correct them.  Of course we are to teach truth to our children. But the burden of their salvation is not one for me to bear.  The Holy Spirit is the one who draws, not me.   I can lead by example, with humility and meekness, showing my kids that even good words can come out of a donkey.  :)  I can lead them and teach them, but the ultimate response is theirs and between them and God.

The very best way, I find in teaching the gospel to my children, is by living it.  God has forgiven me, and I forgive them.  God Loves Me, and I love them.  God is patient and kind and long suffering with me, and I in turn am to be patient and kind and long suffering with them.  All the while, teaching them treasures of the Gospel truth.

It makes no sense to hold them to law, punishing for each infraction, or for their inherent imperfections,  when I myself hold to grace and mercy for my own imperfections.   As I have said before.... "Why do we insist on grace and mercy for ourselves, yet hold to LAW for our children?"  How does this teach the gospel to them?
To be clear, Jesus did not take away from the law.  We do believe that the Law is good. It is a tutor. It is perfect and pure.  We teach our children this very thing.  But we cannot "discipline the law into them."

One of the dangers of "law based parenting", is that you may wind up with a bunch of mini pharisees!
They know how to follow the law externally, but inside they are dead.
They may know how to externally  play the game....quote the verses, answer the questions and have the cathechism memorized, but it does not save the soul.  We come to Salvation through Faith ALONE through GRACE Alone! Through Christ ALONE!

Another thing I have noticed is what "fruit inspectors" we are.   Our children tell us they have trusted Christ as Savior.  I believe them.  We have actually had people say something like, "Are you sure?"
"Do you think they should be taking communion? How do you know they are saved?"    Honestly, these questions shock me.

Why would I question my child's simple faith?  Why would I not let them take communion?  A believer is supposed to take communion!   What message do we send our believing children if we refuse to allow them to participate in the very practice of the believer?  What does that tell them?
That their faith isn't good enough? That they have to "prove it" to me, in order to pass?
This isn't in scripture either.

What IS in scripture is that the Gospel is simple enough for a Child to understand.
And whoever trusts Christ, will never be cast out.

Romans 8:31-37

No More Facebook

I have permanently removed our account from Facebook.  The reason is, that no matter how many times we have set our privacy to the most private, it changes without us knowing.  This time, I posted a link from CNN only to find my facebook name saying that I posted it on Facebook.  I really don't want that information out there. I have PURPOSELY not connected my facebook account to CNN, and have reset it more than once, only to find it there again. 

I give up.  I do not find facebook to be a safe place.  I am really not happy that I can't read something or link something, without it being announced to the world.

Breakfast Anyone?

I always like to cook breakfast for everybody and I think they mostly look forward to my creations. :)

This morning, I surprised Sarah by saying, "Sarah, come and eat your pig and chicken!"  She said, "Oh I know what it is! Sausage and Eggs!  I said, "No, it is a pig and a chicken!"   And to her surprise, it WAS! :)

It's Adoption Sunday!

 Steve over at Loved Already put this together awhile back.  The very last picture is of him and his son leaving the orphanage.  Thanks Steve for making this!

I CAN'T WAIT TO HUG THESE GUYS!

I can't wait to hug them all at Thanksgiving!

 Mr. Sam and Mr. Truman are coming to town! :)

 Sam and Trumy

Sam and Trumy

Park Adventures

Apparently the girls took these while I was busy reading my book! Now, How Erika got to the top of a slide I have no idea.... I'm afraid to ask!  Glad I was READING! LOL

So here she is going down the slide.....UPSIDEDOWN! (sarah said to make sure my readers know she was UPSIDEDOWN!)

Apparently, after getting all the wood chips out of her hair, she actually thought falling on her head was fun! LOL

Home School Soccer and Library Days

Fridays are busy days. The girls really enjoy playing soccer. I am a terrible picture taker. All of them kicked the ball today and I missed it! :)
Library day is very important.  They always come home with great books to read for the week.

This Is Amazing!

This video is about new ways to diagnose brain disorders.  There are many children mis dagnosed in our country and simply medicated or deemed autistic.  I found this to be quite an interesting piece and it seems very logical.  I wonder why this hasn't been done in the past, or if it COULDn't be done before and it is new technology?
It is nothing short of amazing.

My Favorite Cup

The girls are at bible study, so I decided to have a Tea Party with just me and my favorite cup!
Do you have a favorite cup?

Holiday Spice Cookies

****This Recipe is Not Gluten Free YET...*****


             Holiday Spice Cookies
A kind of sugar cookie with some punch!

1 cup of butter softened (2 sticks)
1 cup of sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup on honey
2 TLB of white vinegar
2 eggs
1TLB vanilla extract

2 3/4 - 3  c flour
1/4 tsp finely ground pepper
1/4 tsp ground cloves
2 TSP ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp baking soda
1/s tsp salt

Combine all ingredients except flour and spices
mix until creamy

add flour and spices.
mix together thoroughly

Divide dough in 1/2 and shape like log wrapping in waxed paper.
Refrigerate for at least 2 hours

On well floured surface, take dough out a little at a time and roll flat to 1/4 inch or less
dip cookie cutters in flour and cut out cookie shapes

Place on cookie sheet. 
If making ornaments for tree, place hooks in tops of cookies and make sure the dough is pressed in around the hook
OR make a circular hole in top to put ribbon through. Make sure it is big enough that cookie doesn't close over hole while baking.

Bake in oven at 350º for about 10 minutes.  Cookies will be starting to brown. 

Cool on wire racks.


For ICING:

1 package of powdered sugar, powdered vanilla or vanilla extract
milk or water, food coloring

divide sugar into bowls, add small amount of vanilla, add a very small amount of milk or water
and stir. Do not get it too thin. If it is too thin, just add more sugar.  Stir until there are no lumps
add food coloring of your choice.

Decorate cookies  and if you like, add sprinkles

We like to use chocolate sprinkles, green, red, and multi colored ......

Place cookies back on racks to dry..... they should be dry within a few hours.

Then, you can hang them on the tree, or just eat them. :)

In Honor of Dabba

This is Leesia.

Our mom turned 90 yesterday!!!!!  WOW! Isn't that great!  She has been a huge advocate for adoption, for caring for the poor, widowed and orphaned for most of her life.  On a nurses salary, after her husband had died in a tragic accident, she raised her 6 children, and also managed to donate nearly all of her money to Charity.  She even went over and lived in Israel after she retired and worked in a Special Needs Orphanage.  She has supported countless children through World Vision International and even helped start an orphanage for Special Needs boys in India.  She collected food and medicine to send to Africa.

She has LIVED James 1:27.  I love her so very much, and am sad that we are separated by such a long distance, but there is not a day that goes by that I don't thank the Lord for her being in my life.

In her honor, we have donated to Reece's Rainbow Angel Tree Project.  And now, one more little girl, Leesia, will have support, and possibly find a family.

Adoption Awareness Part 2

 As you know, November is Adoption Awareness Month.  I blogged about it here already. 
Reece's Rainbow, a group that helps find homes for special needs kids, has started an Angel Tree Project to help with the adoption costs for families interested in bringing home a little one.

Because of many simple donations from every day people, there are two families I know of, who have either brought home, or are going to bring home a very special child.

As Julia pointed out on her blog, many of the pictures of these kids aren't the best.  In fact, the only picture we saw of Erika was a 9 month old screaming baby!  Not very flattering! LOL

These children are in GREAT need. Many will die if they do not find homes.  Many will literally be left to rot. That was the bleak future of 2 of our girls, had the Lord not intervened in their lives and ours to bring us together.  I still feel like I am living an incredible dream! May I never wake up!

God Bless you, as you help to bring a child home either through Donation or through Adoption.

You can honor somebody's birthday by giving! You can honor somebody at Christmas by giving..... after all, who REALLY needs another pair of gloves or slippers or another cup for coffee?
Those simple amounts of 5 dollars or 10 dollars make a HUGE difference when added up.
It may be the difference between life or death for some of these kids.

Unfortunately Adoption is EXPENSIVE.  It shouldn't be, but it is, and many times, it is the WALL between children and parents becoming families.  I know for us, it made all the difference in the world.
And for Erika, it meant life.

Creating Lasting Holiday Memories

What are some of the things ya'll do every year that make new, positive and lasting memories for your children?

Many years ago, when we were very poor, we couldn't afford Christmas Ornaments, so I had this bright Idea to bake cookies with hooks in them to decorate our tree.  I had to fabulous Dutch Christmas Cookie Recipe, and hooks were cheap! 
Our tree was so pretty with all those cookies. But our baby Marcus, found out that they ornaments tasted WONDERFUL.  I caught him licking them, and  then, I saw ANTS! Apparently the ants thought they tasted good too! I think we were the only family on the block that had an ant poison jar under our tree. LOL
Over the years, we kept up that tradition, and we do it to this day, 30 plus years later.   We have always had assembly line cookie decorating day, and the cookies get put on the tree and then disappear with just hooks left. :)  It really is fun, and I have wonderful memories of this practice. 
It is something we all look forward to.

7 years ago, we started decorating Ginger Bread Houses.  It is now a tradition. Our grand girls have always come over to help, and this year, sadly (sniff) they won't be here, as they moved to Albuquerque.... but I'm sure they will do their own, and we can share pictures. :)

This year I bought two sets because the grandsons will be here to decorate.  I'm hope to have one for the girls and one for the boys.  I can't wait to see them get all messy and see those little smiles. :)

Here is a post from last year's decorating.

We love to make our own ornaments and we add to the tree each year.  For many years, most everything on our tree was home made.  Now it is a combo of purchased ornaments and home made.

The girl's tradition has been to buy a new ornament from Hobby Lobby each year. They get to pick one.  This has really, REALLY helped them in transitioning bad memories to good memories.  It is funny how little things like this done repeatedly, reboot the brain and teach us different responses over time, replacing our traumatic memory with good memories.  It does take time, but it happens!

I think keeping busy with planned activity is a good way to get through the season.  We like to sing Christmas music and the girls as well as the boys love to put on skits.  We have a big celebration at Church and this year we will all be participating. 

We try not to emphasize too much in the gift department, although we do give gifts.  We also like to do angel tree, or find a family in need and the children get to shoppe for that family.  It really is enjoyable to see them give.

Cooking is a big deal....and trying out recipes make for great bonding time in the kitchen.  This is something that is different with our girls. Our guys were great taste testers, but not that interested in Food Science. The girls however, love to cook. :)

I am really thrilled to see my girlies facing the Holiday season with excitement.  It is catchy, ya know. :)

LISTS ALREADY!

These girls are so funny.  Anna's birthday is coming up the day after Thanksgiving, so we were talking cake, and favorite movie.....

It is the first day we have really had a good, dreary, Fall like type day that makes it feel "Holidayish". :)

I got out of the shower to some little list makers. :)  Yep, they are thinking about Christmas already! LOL
Makes me want to put Holiday music on. :)

I  love it that they are making lists.

I remember not long ago when the idea of a gift was so foreign. After much thought, Erika asked for a comb.  She has become too smart. One of the things on her list was for me to do her chores! LOL

Sometimes The Boom Has To Be Lowered

I was pretty sad tonight when Sarah and Erika decided to keep goofing off in bed.  They were teasing each other and laughing and having a good time.  I gave the warning blow..... "Please be quiet and go to sleep!"  Five minutes later, they were back at it.....

So, I sent Erika to the guest room to sleep.  (Anna is supposed to be sleeping in there, but she misses her sisters, and sleeps in the other room)

Then, I hear these loud sobs coming from Sarah.   "Sarah, did I not tell you to go to sleep quietly?"
"YES"!  But I CAN'T SLEEP BY MYSELF!!!! Sob Sob.....
I NEED ERIKA!!!!

"Well you should have thought of that before you disobeyed!"
"I KNOW!" sob sob.....

Poor baby.....
I was nearly ready to bring Erika back in the room and then I heard......."NOTHING!"
SILENCE!!!!!!

They are all asleep. :)

I think they finally used all their words for the day. :)
I just love those little girlies. :)

Our Time Line

 We made our Timeline today.  I have been wanting to do this, and today we got the gumption. :)
I love the idea of a visible time line, so when you study History, Art, Music, Science, Exploration, or any subject really, you can put a picture in your mind of where that occurred in History.

We plan to fill our time line with information over the next year as we study our lessons.
The girlies had a good time decorating the Time Periods. We didn't have room for a modern days one, but we'll get there.... it isn't that important right now, as we are not studying modern days. :)

Forgive the mess..... If you double click on the pictures, you can see the time line above the themes.
That is where we will be putting stickers, dates, events etc.

I hope to have it decorated with all sorts of things we have studied.

November is Adoption Awareness Month

There are thousands of Children who are in Foster Care in Texas alone, who are also available for adoption!  There are over hundreds of thousands of orphans world wide.   Each of them have a name, a story, a life to live.

Many of us sit in our homes, filled with rooms of unused furniture, unstained carpets and silence.
Why do we do that?

Our lives are not our own. They belong to God, if we will let Him lead.

Nobody ever said adoption was easy.  It is exciting and challenging and life changing. 
Adoption makes us very aware of our own sinfulness and selfishness, and in the process
allows us to truly open ourselves before the Lord to change our stone filled hearts.

Adoption awareness month should also remind us of our OWN adoption in Christ. We are adopted sons and daughters of the Most High!  What an awesome thing to own.  We can call the creator of the Universe, the one who hung the moon and stars and knows every part of us.... Abba, or Daddy.

Happy Adoption Awareness Month

My Amazingly Perfect Taco

YUMMMM!
2 Corn tortillas cooked until crisp in a little oil
Head Country Salsa
Chicken Fajita Meat
Avocado Slices
Mexican Cheese
ALL GLUTEN FREE!

Erika's New Doo

One lesson I learned.  When cutting hair, never say, "oops".... made my poor baby cry. LOL  I fixed the oops.... it was just a teeny oops... and we all recovered.  :)

Here is our "blooper picture".... I told Sarah, this should be titled, "Erika and Cousin It". :)

Our New Little Grand Guys!

I am so excited. Adoption papers have been signed for Joseph and Christoper!  We can now post pictures of our new grand sons. :)

Joseph, is the oldest. He is 4.  Christopher is 3.   Tim and Em are so blessed to have these little guys in their lives and so are we!  They are doing AWESOME!  The first weekend home, I remember Tim showing me his bruises from 2 very terrified little guys. He took it all in stride and they worked through it.  The boys have come so far! They are so sweet.
What an amazing blessing Adoption is in our family.  I am thrilled beyond words.

Congratulations Tim, Em, Joey and Bam-Bam!

 notice bam bam's stick. :)

such little cutie pies. :)