School or School? That is the Question

Here is a picture of Erika and I on a field trip. We took Papa Dima to take a Hospital Tour. I think Erika LOVES her teacher. :)



My life sometimes seems like a whirlwind of activity.

I have been homeschooling kids since Marcus was in 2nd grade for the 2nd time. :)
I believe it was 1992 when we embarked on our Homeschooling Adventure, and it didn't end until Marcus went to college.

Then, came Anna. She was so needy and so fragile I didn't even consider school for her.
The same with Sarah, and the same with Erika. Homeschooling has worked out very well for them, and they are all at their grade level in most subjects. Probably in all subjects, but I don't know that for sure. :)

The truth is, however, I am tired. Very tired. The girls have all settled in, they all know English well, they are all reading and doing math and most importantly, they are all attached to us and know that we love them with our whole hearts.

I am considering checking out the local schools in our area. Schools in our area are rated quite well and we are supposedly in a top school district. I think they would all do well, and I am considering trying out the school waters for them.
I will be going on an information mission first.

The biggest thing is, I want to do what is best for them. It might be good for them to see what public school is like; what it is like to ride the school bus and have homework and what it is like to get up at 5:30 to catch the bus by 7:00.

IF, and I do mean IF we choose to do this, I will work in the office with Mike again and work on my writing projects.

What do ya'll think?

Girl Time

Our precious grand daughter Katie, now known as Kate, is visiting for a couple of days.

We started our Kid day on Sunday with a visit to Cheddars and the local water park.

Boy those places can be hard on a mom. There are so many themes I could write about I wouldn't know where to start.

I'll start with.... I just LOVE my grand daughter. She didn't come into our family until she was 5. She came with a fantastic mommy who is now my daughter.

The first time Katie spent the night, I had this great idea to buy her an outfit.
I did. I just didn't realize at that time that little girls had taste in clothing at such a young age, and my taste was definitely NOT hers. I had her try on my prized outfit to which she said, "GRAMMM! I LOOK LIKE A CLOWN!" dang..... I told her to go show grampa to which he sympathetically said, "honey, she does kind of look like a clown." To which my first gramma outfit feelings were hurt, but I bucked up and dealt with it. She wore her jeans to church. :)

So here we are, 4 weddings and 3 adoptions later and she still loves me. I haven't purchased ANYTHING for her to wear unless she gives the green light. I guess I've improved because she usually does. :) What a good sport.

So, back to yesterday.....

She was so great at the waterpark. 2 of the girls cannot wear their legs at the park so they either have to hop (sarah) or be carried (erika). Katie generously gave Sarah piggy pack rides all afternoon. Erika and I hung out most of the time in the wading pool or lazy river while Dad, and the other girls climbed all those stairs to the water slides.

I am so amazed that Sarah could hop with a big inner tube, drag that thing up all those stairs slide down and have the energy to do it all over again!

I liked the Lazy river. :)

Erika started her afternoon hoping that I would drag her up those stairs, but I just couldn't. If I had been younger, or had a different body, I probably would have tried, but that isn't my or her reality. I simply said, "some things we are going to have to accept that we cannot do, and we need to be joyful for others who CAN do it, and cheer them on!" So, her sisters and daddy and Katie thought of her often when they were at the tops of those towers, always looking down to wave and catch her eye so she could see how high they were, to which I would say, "aren't you glad you didn't have to climb that?" and she'd grin.....

She liked the lazy river too.

One great thing about their ages, is we can let them go in a certain area and give directions to where we are seated and they can meet us back after a few times on a slide. This was the first time we had done this and it worked out great.

Instead of taking Kate back home last night, she and the girls schemed for her to spend the night. I wanted her to anyhoo, all along really.... so she got permission and is here today. I have had a pedicure and manicure, a nap, and the girls have cleaned their room. Then they decided they will be putting on a play tonight and right now they are playing store. They also painted some cool pictures.

I just love having them in our lives.

Thanks Chuck and Jodie for sharing Kate with us. :)

I have pictures of today, but we forgot the camera at the waterpark.... dang.:(

Sisterly Love

This morning Anna and Sarah went out to take care of the animals and didn't come in for a while. I glanced out the window, and saw them sitting on Mount Baldy. (that is our hill in the front yard that never grows grass on top) I went out and took a few pictures. They were digging for treasure and enjoying each others company.







And so where is Erika? She is getting her beauty sleep of course. :)

Reality

I had to take Erika to the Doctor today as her right leg was giving her trouble. She was having so much pain we couldn't get her legs on the other day. I found the "spot" that was giving her trouble, and then made the appointment. Today, some reality set in.
She isn't going to be able to be as active as she wants to be. Not without paying a price anyway. We probably didn't NEED the appointment. She she just needed to rest because of so much activity last week.
When we do alot, she pays the price in pain. I had to turn down a really nice invitation to go to the Arboretum this week because I knew she wouldn't be able to walk that much without more issues.

This brings me back to memories with our Tim. I think we might be needing to invest in a wheel chair. I hate that. I don't know why, other than it seems like a "failure" to me. A failure on my part to fix the problem to the point she doesn't need one. But the truth is, she most likely DOES need one, at least part of the time. When we go places, shopping etc. She probably would do best to have a wheelchair.

Why am I so bothered by that? I don't really know. Maybe because it seems like "giving up?" It says, "I'm not like everybody else."

Well, the truth is: She isn't like everybody else. She is a HARD worker, but she is limited by her condition. And mama needs to "deal with it." :)

My beautiful, energetic, delightful daughter cannot do all she likes, and cannot keep up. She has special needs for rest and she can't over do it.

Lessons, lessons and more lessons.

Can I Inherit This?

That was the question of the day yesterday. "Mama, Can I inherit this?" I turned around to see what treasure Erika was speaking of, and this is what I saw....



It is actually a .99 cent deviled egg plastic dish that I found at Walmart. I had gotten it out for the girls to use with water color paints... it makes a great pallet!

Then, came that simple question when we were cleaning up.

I told Erika, if it is still around when you are grown, you can "inherit it". LOL

But my mind got to thinking about our REAL inheritance. Many times I hear people speak of that "mansion on a hilltop in that fair place where we'll never grow old".... and it is always far off, sort of "untouchable" and distant... but here, we just sadly wait.. and wait... and WAIT......
not knowing or understanding that our INHERITANCE is CHRIST! It is NOW! Our life is NOW! It has already begun. Many times we don't see the riches and treasures we have in this life, because our minds are on the material and not on what is important.

We settle in our minds that our inheritance is far off, and then we settle in our minds for that cheap egg dish. When, in reality, the riches of Christ are not those kinds of things but the things we cannot fathom or touch.

We have a RICH inheritance that we can partake in NOW. It is there for the taking or should I say, receiving.

And it is a RICH inheritance, not a cheap walmart egg dish. :)

Will

And here is a little guy who LOVES his mommy! Look at that adoring look he is giving her. :)

Joe and Sam

Isn't this a sweet picture? :) Daddy and Son sleeping away......

Hair Dresser

Now here is something I never saw the guys do!

Blending

No, this isn't about "blending things", but about blending families. Actually, blending the same family, but we are all spread out! We are spread out in age, situation, circumstance, and even in the churches we attend.

When we adopted our Anna, 3 out of 4 of our children were married. Our youngest son Marcus had moved home in order to save money for his upcoming marriage too. So Marcus is the only one of the 4 oldest kids who was living at home when we had a little girl in the house.

I remember him talking about cringing under the blankets early in the morning when he would hear her little foot steps headed for his room to wake him up. MAUCUS! (she couldn't pronounce her R's yet... and she was so funny. "Caful, I bwuise wike a gwape!" (that one was my favowite)

Pretty soon, Marcus married and moved out and then Sarah came, and then Erika came and then there were the surgeries, and more surgeries, and more surgeries, and locations changed and before we knew it, the girls were getting bigger and we had 4 grandchildren, 2 foster grand children, and it goes on and on and on!

I have more gray hairs than I can count now, and more lost socks.....

I have unending guilt about not spending enough time with the older kids and grand kids and being a good gramma. Yet, I'm still a mama, and can't get away very often.

Yesterday we were housebound all day because Erika's legs were sore and she couldn't walk. Today she is fine, but I wouldn't dare chance taking her out anywhere as when ever pain strikes, that is it, and I would have to carry her to the car. :)

So, trying to blend everybody together as brothers and sisters is no small feat.
I get the feeling, in reality, we are raising 2 separate families and that is how it is.

I think everybody cares very much for each other, but they are not all the same ages.
It is more like having uncles, aunts, nieces and nephews instead of brothers and sisters.

I know the guys are close and I know the girls are close, and it may be that they won't be as close with each other because they don't have the same life experiences together. They just share the same parents. And even then maybe not... the guys got the younger version of what the girls have. :)

I wonder if this is just part of having a large family.

My Mike

You know, I have always called Mike, (since we were married) My Mike.
I told him one time, now I won't call you "Mike, but "My Mike".

And he is..... :)

I just wanted to say how very much I love him. He is a wonderful, husband and father.
Tonight, he took Anna with him to a distant part of Texas to get a trailer. Then, he took her to dinner. She was so excited to spend "alone time" with dad. :)

I love to spend "alone time " with dad, which is rare, but we savor the times we do have.

Our anniversary is coming up, and we have a kid volunteer to babysit; one of the older kids... and I am going to take them up on it for sure.

Now, to think... What should we do?
Our real celebration will come in September when we leave on our missions trip.
But, on our anniversary weekend..... we will take advantage of the generous invitation to go out on a REAL date. :)

Chuck the Famous Babysitter

Chuck and Jodie came over on Saturday and Babysat for us while we went to a wedding.
They had 6 kids for about 5 hours. :) We all had a great time knowing they were in good hands.

THANKS Chuck and Jodie....

Here is a picture I got of the grand girls, our girls, Rebecca and Chuck....
hopefully this experience has given him more writing material for his music. :)

"Won't you PLEASE PLEASE help me, help ME HELP ME!!!!....." :P

Sam and Will about a year later :)

Sam and Will had a great first visit yesterday. I got to be at Marc and Ivy's for phone time and bath time. :)

They are so fun. Their Daddy's are Joe and Marc and it is funny to me how Joe's son Sam is much like him, and Marc's son Will, is much like him too. So, it was like remembering many years back, the antics and playing of two little guys very close in age. :) Sam and Will are 1 month apart.

Wacky Gramma's and Sweet Baby Toes

Aren't these the cutest toes! :)



And here is Sam looking at crazy gramma under the table. What is with her anyway????

Reminders

This picture reminds me of how far we have come as a family. Just a natural shot that I caught..When I said, "where's Sarah, she popped out from behind with that huge smile.

The Real Life Baby Doll

Sarah loves to play babies. This time, she has a real one in her stroller! Sam is our 16 month only grandson. He is such a little ham. :)

Schedules, Schedules and More Schedules

Our little girls thrive best when they are on a schedule. Not a feeding schedule like for a baby, but a planned out day that incudes work, play and food.

To leave them to their own devices with too much time on their hands, can wreak all kinds of Havoc on the Minich home, so we have decided to do a summer schedule.

They were all excited about that this a.m. when I announced to them that we would be making a summer schedule. They were especially excited when it included painting and a trip to the Lake.

Now, if we can all be disciplined enough to stay on task and keep it! :)

Opening Night

Last night, we were treated to "Opening Night" of the new movie, Kit Kittridge,An American Girl".
The movie was pretty good! A good clean movie with loads of life lessons from yesteryear. It let the children see how the "Great Depression" effected people all over the Country, and how people are more important than things. And the biggest lesson? NEVER GIVE UP!


Wanna see how excited the girlies when they found out where we were going?
How's this for excitement?



We arrived just a bit early, so we had time to look at some video games.
The girlies liked the car racing kind. Should I be worried about "driving?"


It was time to get Popcorn, Candy and Drinks. YUM......



A few minutes later we were sitting outside the theatre until they finished cleaning....So here are a few pictures with Daddy and all his Little Women.





Here they are in the Theatre....

When Tragedy Strikes

Today, I was getting ready for our kids to come home, and stopped by a friend's house to get some extra eggs. She told me that a mutual friend of ours, who had moved about 2 hours away a few years ago, had a tragedy happen in her family.

The boy involved, isn't a boy anymore, but the last time I talked to his mom, he was 17. This year, he turned 26.

Unfortunately, he will not turn 27 or 28...., because last week, he was murdered.
He was murdered not far from where we live, leaving a Christian Recording Studio with the owner, who was his friend.
Why? For a cheap car.
He probably would have given the car to the thieves, but they didn't ask. They not only took his life, but the life of his friend, leaving behind a wife and baby.

The sad part is, when I heard about this last week on the news, I didn't even pay attention to the names. I didn't pay attention because in my mind I had a preconceived notion that people out late at night, being shot in the head in an alley are usually up to no good. The preconceived idea that it was probably a drug deal gone bad. The preconceived idea that, "It happens all the time." And then I didn't think that much about it.

How terrible of me to assume. How sad that we have been desensitized to crime to the point that it is a passing moment of shock to hear in the headlines and then we go on, as if nothing happened.

2 people's lives swept away, and we treat it like a giant ant colony that takes out their dead, and goes back into the mound and continues as if nothing happened.

I'm ashamed of that.

Every life is precious. Every person is born with a precious gift, and we each have a story. We each have written upon us years of expereinces and relationships.
One of the memories I have of Stevie, was when our children did 4H club together and they had to come up with a safety project. He demonstrated what to do if you get burned.
He and a friend had a fake stove and then he pretended to get burned, "ow, it is hot".
(in this very monotone voice) we all started laughing because it was so funny).

I'm sad that 2 people snuffed the lives away from precious family members. That Stevies mother is suffering the grief of losing her son. His father has lost his first born child. His brother and sister have lost a precious sibling.

I didn't know Stevie as an adult, and I'm sure he probably wouldn't appreciate me calling him Stevie still, but that is how I remember him; but I do know that in Christ, there is always a plan, even when things don't make any sense. This doesn't make any sense to me.

It also saddens me that 3 people 18 and 19 are sitting in a jail cell charged with Capital Murder, and may face the death penalty. It saddens me that they have thrown their gift of life away.
They have a tapestry woven of their life also. Who is woven into their lives? Do they have mother's and father's who are weeping for them? Do they care what they did?
What causes somebody to become so callous that they would murder for no reason.

If you think about the Swan family this week, please hold them up in your prayers.

Update on Mamajeanne and the Reeds

Mamajeanne and her new kiddos are back home and getting to know each other.
Christine and her husband John are still in Ukraine. They had Court Today and they have a new son... Dennis Jack Reed. Isn't that a GREAT NAME?
They were hoping to have the 10 days waived, but no... it wasn't allowed. So, now, they may need to leave Dennis in Ukraine, come home to the other kids and then go back in 2 weeks to pick him up. They don't quite know yet. So pray for them for wisdom as they are torn in deciding what to do.

Dennis is a little sweet heart. You can follow their story in "Christine's other Blog" in my adoption blog sidebar.

The Yankees are a Comin'!

And we are so glad they are! Joe, Becca and Sam are arriving around noon from Maryland. We are so excited to see them! This is an extra special trip because a childhood friend of Joe's is getting married.

Our dear friend's only son is getting married, and just a few months ago his life was hanging on a thread between life and death thanks to a car and a tree!

So tomorrow, their family and our family will all converge back together and see each other as "whole" families, which hasn't happened in years. I cherish those times because change is inevitable and when we are able to be together, it is so fun.

So today, is cleaning day, getting ready for Joe and Becca and Sam.

Happy 4th of July to all.

Laundry Woes

Today was one of those laundry night mare days I don't like to remember.
I woke up at 6 to get things in the dryer from the night before, then had to get another load going to catch up and then get another one... etc.

One of the things that I thought would never be repeated in history, not in this family anyway, was washing clothes, folding them, turning them over to the kids, only to find them in the laundry again. Unworn!

It is a case of the "too lazy to put it away syndrome".

So today, I folded my least favorite wash. The WHITE clothes, which includes nightgowns, only to find Erika taking the nightgown I just folded 1/2 hour before and placing it in the dirty clothes.

I told her, "that is not dirty, I just washed it." Her answer?

A. I'm sorry
B. Yes mam, I'll put it away.
C. Oh, my mistake, so sorry, I'll put it away right now....

or
D. You didn't wash it, I wore it last night!

Unfortunately, the answer was D.

So then I continued, "Yes, I did wash it, this morning!" Please put it away.
So did she stop and put it away?
Nooooo

"No, mom, you didn't wash it!", and so on!

So, I made it very clear that I was unhappy with her D answer and the one that followed, to which she burst into tears.

So I said, "do you not beleive that mother washed your nightgown?"
Her answer, "I don't know....

Meaning, :She didn't want to be wrong....

I felt like I was dealing with the FONZ from Happy Days.

I asked her, "Why are you crying?"
Because you hurt my feelings..... hmmm.....

Do you want to know why your feelings are hurt?

NO, if you tell me it will just hurt my feelings more. LOL

Oh, so you don't want me to tell you you were wrong?

I DIDN"T SAY THAT! WHAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!

females..... hmmmm..... never thought it COULD be that, but it just might.
I think I'm going to need a pent house apartment with a white linen couch
to recline on during these "special times", that are coming up.

argh......... and the times are a commin' I can feel it. :)

3 puberty stricken girls and a menopausal mother.
Poor Mike.

Today is Marcus's Birthday!

Happy Birthday our dear Marcus.

25 years..... wow. 25 years ago, I was 24. Marcus was baby boy number 4 and when he was born with ease. That is, minus the part that he wasn't ready to be born.
He had been trying for a couple of months, which caused me to be hospitalized, and it was a huge group effort to keep him in the oven long enough to be able to live.

Finally, his day came and I was allowed to look at him and then they whisked him off to neo natal intensive care. This was our 3rd preemie baby but each one is as different as they are in personality. Marcus almost died. Had it not been for some VERY skilled nurses and doctors, he would not be here today.

The respirator was not getting enough oxygen to him and he was not even attempting to breathe on his own. This greatly concerned the doctors. So they removed the ventilator and hand bagged him for 24 hours straight. That meant a nurse sat with a breathing pump and pressed it over and over in shifts. He finally started to help, and then they were able to hook him back up to a ventilator.

Then, something else happened. I'm not sure, but I think he realized he wanted to live.
He reached up and pulled the ventilator out! ALL the way out! His alarms went off and scared everybody and they had to put it back in. 24 hours later, he reached up and pulled it out again! They reinserted it again, taped it to his face pretty good, and then guess what?
He did it again.... The 3rd time,the doctor said, I don't think he likes that.
Let's try just oxygen, as he was helping himself pretty good by then. He did great.
I was able to nurse him and hold him, and about 2 weeks later, he was home.

Marcus has been a delight in our lives since the day he was born. We are so proud of him. Everything he does, he does with his whole heart.

Favorite memory:
Playing gas station at 4 years old and filling up the neighbors gas tank with a water hose.
(along with neighbor's son)

Winning the Lego contest at Walmart and buying baseball equipment for the Ritchies and the Minichs to have regular baseball games.

Dancing with Joe, (can't remember who's boutineer pin pierced the skin)

Piano practice

Love of dogs, especially Butch...

Boy Scouts

Awana

College

Marriage to Ivy

Will....... :)


Happy Birthday dear son. :)

5 More kids coming home

You know, sometimes you meet somebody online, and your lives just "click".
To some of you that might sound very strange, but for others, you get it.
You don't have to see somebody face to face to get to know them or understand them.
Letters can be powerful forces.

That is how I feel about Mama Jeane. We are kindred spirits of a sort. :)
She and her precious husband have 5 more children added to their home as of yesterday.
They are still in Ukraine finishing up the grueling paperwork, so if you think about it, pray for them.

There is the "romantic" side to adpoption, then there is the reality of mounds of paperwork. Paperwork is my own personal enemy. You could tell that if you could see
my desk! One of the other benefits of long distance relationships is YOU CAN'T see my desk. :)

Praise be to the Lord for His infinite goodness in bringing this family together.
May He grant ease of transition into life here in America for the new kids who range in age of 11-16.

God Bless Mamajeanne!

The Reeds are In Ukraine

Some of our computer friends are in Ukraine right now adopting their 11th child,
Dennis. If you want to follow their journey, just click on the link. :)

http://theukrainetrain.blogspot.com/


I also have this under adoption related blogs: Christine's OTHER blog

Family Funnies

Last night, during Family Worship, daddy got out Fox's Book of Martyrs.
The title is, "Foxe's Christian Heroes and Martyr's of the World.
He showed the book to the girlies and asked "What do you think this book is about?"

Sarah very proudly said, "It is about Foxes, Christians, Heroes and Martyrs.


This a.m., Anna was Cleaning Ruby Carole's Fish tank. I overheard her very calmly telling Ruby the fish, "if you don't swim into my hand right now, I'm going to have to ground you and take away some of your pretty rocks!" LOL


Erika just woke up. She is being nicknamed "Sleeping Beauty". Yesterday she slept till 11:00! So today, when she finally awoke at 9:30 she said, "I'm trying to get up early."

Anna, Packing Bags, Memories, Triumph

Anna has been with us for nearly 1/2 of her life. 4 and a half years. She is 9 and a half now. When her birthday comes in November, it will be exactly 1/2 of her life.

It doesn't seem possible,as life has been a flurry of events in the last 4 plus years. :)

Anna reminds me sometimes of a kitten that has been tossed into the water. When you pick them up they are frightened and the claws are extended, like "what just happened to me?"

This is how she is inside when we start to pack our bags for vacation, or for a short trip. As I was packing for us to go to Oklahoma, I could feel that she was uneasy.

If I recognize her uneasiness and stop and rock her, and talk to her, typically, she gets back in normal rhythm. If I don't, her claws might come out and she gets grumpy or whiny or sassy or all of the above.

She still gets afraid. Memories come back and when bags are packed that reminds her of moving from foster home to foster home and she is right back there.

It doesn't help when we are packing to go to Oklahoma, where she spent most of her foster care experience.


We kind of joked in the morning when she was curled up on the couch with "Kitty", her sleeping buddy watching the action of the day take place, that she was curling up and hiding so we couldn't see her. "Common' we gotta get moving so we can leave on time!" She didn't want any part of it. But after recognizing the "look", I had to stop, rock and talk. After our talk, and our rock, she was more relaxed and even participated in the packing.

Once we got on the road and to our destination, she did great. When we got home, she was exhuberant... "We're home! We're Home!" She talked about getting home, and then we were there. She ran next door to get her fish and turtle and check on her animals and was one busy bee; and then she slept. She slept calmly and contentedly in her forever bed, in her forever room, in her forever home, and in the morning, she was relaxed.

The Voice of the Martyr's Conference

We attended "The Voice of the Martyr's Conference" for the first time last weekend.
I have always wanted to attend this conference and this was the year to do it.

I was taken away by the Spirit of love that permeated the entire conference. Everybody there was so sweet and polite and seemed to just ooze the Love of Christ. We attended with a few other families from our church and got to know some of them a little better too. :)

If you aren't familiar with "The Voice of the Martyr's", it was founded by Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand. They were Romanian Christians. They survived world war 2, and then the communists took over Romania. Pastor Wurmbrand was a popular speaker and writer at that time. All the pastors were asked to attend a mandatory meeting and then told they would need to embrace communism and cease the teachings of Christ. Pastor Wurmbrand was one who stood up and said no, knowing that he would be arrested. Several days later, he was. He and Sabina were imprisoned for years, leaving their son to fend for himself on the streets. That is another story in itself.

Richard Wurmbrand wrote his first book "Tortured for Christ" many years ago. I was introduced to the book and heard of Richard Wurmbrand from my science teacher. I read it when I was in 7th grade and it changed my life. It opened my eyes to what life was like for the devoted Christian in an unchristian, unprotected,world.
It made me be bold for my faith and gave me courage, especially the next year when I attended a different school.

This year, the countries represented were, Iraq, Iran, Israel(bethlehem), Bangladesh, Columbia, China, North Korea, Romania, and the Philippines.

Gracia Burnham spoke and that was amazing.

One of the more touching moments for me personally, was having a Palestinian Christian Pastor from Bethlehem, lead in the communion service, and all of the speakers, served communion. That was so touching, and really put meaning to the Body of Christ for me personally.

Each of them spoke of how important it is for us to pray for them and that in their worst moments, they could feel our prayers.

That is also something that Richard Wurmbrand wrote about in his book. He thought western christians were praying for him in prison, and was so sad when he found out, nobody in the west even knew who he was or that he was in prison.

That is why he founded Voice of the Martrys. So people would be made aware of brothers and sisters in Chains around the world.

This is a very worth while organization and if you haven't heard of them, I recommend you check them out. They have a news letter than they send out free once a month, and many materials. They have a children's newsletter also called, "Kids of Courage" which our girls receive.

The children's conference was wonderful too, and our girls came back rejoicing over what they had heard. Tonight during our worship time they prayed for those who suffer for Jesus Christ.

During the question and answer session, a question was posed and Mihai Wurmbrand answered it...

The question was: "What about the children of Christians... if we were to be persecuted,here, would our children turn away from their faith?

Mihai answered that so very well. He said usually persecution causes children of believers to cling to their faith.

One woman put it so well. I cannot turn away from what is true.

I do not have any pictures of the conference because, it was important not to take pictures. Many people who came are in danger in their own countries and having their faces exposed even on a limited blog like this could put them in danger.

Please remember our brothers and sisters in Christ who suffer for their faith, all over the world, and if you can, check out the Voice of the Martyr's web site.
They do much for helping families of imprisoned believers.
www.vom.org

So What IS Home Really?

A friend wrote in an email that he was asked, "Do you feel like you are back at home?"
His family lives all over the world, literally. He and his wife are missionaries.
They live in one of the most dangerous parts of the world that there is today.
They have lived elsewhere, and their children, all grown now, have lived in the U.S., in the middle east, in missionary schools, and now reside with their individual families.

I was thinking about "What is Home really?"

Home is where you hang your hat, and even your hat is a rental......

It is important to remember that WHERE we live, geographically, is not important. It is HOW we live that is important. You can be at "home" anywhere. But, to really be "home", is to be in the presence of the Lord. I'm not talking just "future" either.
We can be in the presence of the Lord, right now, here, there, anywhere, as long as we are in His presence.

While we are glad our friends are visiting, we know they know where their real home is.

The Label Thingy

I just figured out the labeling thing. I had to go to the blog and look something up and it was a terrible thing to try to find! Then, I saw, "labels"!
I'm in the middle of labeling the posts. This may take some time! :)

The Red Eared Slider Turtle

Introducing our newest Family member:

Tom the Turtle. Our resident zoo keeper loves him dearly. She found him in the yard on Sunday afternoon. Since then she has been "googling" how to take care of a red eared slider turtle. I have no idea how he got near our water faucet outside, but I'm glad he is here. Isn't he cute? It looks like he is smiling for the camera. Or maybe he is smiling because he is being LOVED by a little girl who wants to be a zoo keeper someday. Or maybe he is smiling because he thinks she will actually GET him the designer home for 1,000.00 she googled on the internet; Not on his little red eared slider turtle life!

THINGS YOU SHOULD NEVER DO!

1. Paint your sister's eyelashes with nail polish while she is sleeping!

2. When mother inquires as to WHY sister has woken up crying, "my eye,my EYE"!
You stand and look unaware of WHY her eye MIGHT be burning......

3. When sister says, "she got nail polish in my eye, you say, "Not IN your eye, just on
your eye lashes!"

3. When mother sends you to daddy to get the emergency eye wash, you go ask daddy
"Do you have any eye drops?" rather calmly!.....

Yep, this was the scenario at our house this a.m.

Sarah decided Erika would look pretty with Purple Eyelashes.

Daddy handled Sarah so very well. She was hiding out in her room feeling terrible.
It wasn't her intent to harm her sister. She was shocked when sister started crying.
Even more shocked when I grabbed sister from bed and started pouring water on her eyes and then said, GO GET DADDY NOW! Tell him we need the eye drops FAST!
(He has an emergency eye wash kit due to chemicals he uses regularly, including acetone, which is what nail polish contains)
So daddy pulled Sarah to his lap and she was crying. Then she was getting mad because she didn't want to be held right then, she wanted to run and hide in shame.
Daddy so wisely said, "I love you, even when you do things that are foolish." "I love you, even when you are mad." "What you do, doesn't change how I feel about you."
She melted.

The victim,Erika, is fine. Her eye was washed out with a special solution for about 15 minutes and then we put in a lubricant.

All is back to normal, what ever that is..... and, we have new knowledge about nail polish. It is for FINGERNAILS ONLY!

One of the things we easily forget with our girls and are reminded of regularly, is that they are not their "age", in knowledge or emotion. They are much younger.
Sarah just turned 9, and did something that a toddler might do. She missed being taught about "nail polish". Her response was also younger than her age.
Jumping from, "big girls" "tween girls" to "toddler girls" isn't always easy and is sometimes a maze to get through. Some behaviors can be puzzling.

We will get there with each of them. The journey to adulthood with any child can be harrowing. :)

This journey is so rewarding and scary and fun and crazy and we are the luckiest parents on earth. :)

And we are very glad that Erika can see. :)

The Birthday Events!

The Birthday Girlies:







Sarah, Present Hunting:


There is always time to dance inbetween looking for presents....


Every year, we have a hide and go seek present event! Here is Erika finding her present....


Erika received a watch from Gramma and Grampa. She loves her watch because this year she learned how to tell time!




Sarah Loved getting a new Ring for her birthday!



This is the "CAKE" Sarah Requested. No cake, just Chocolate and Strawberries with Candles.... It tasted WONDERFUL!

Water Gun Fight With Grampa

This Is What It Looks Like To Be 9 All At The Same Time!

Father's Day

Father's day has come once again, and it was a wonderful time of visiting with Mike's mom and dad, going out for BBQ and just enjoying each other's company.

Father's are so important in the lives of children. In our society, a father's role is underestimated.

I am so thankful for Mike as a father. I would not be able to fulfill what I do as a mother, without his willingness to be the father that he is to our girls.

Our girls grew up without a father (or a mother) for many years. It has been fun to see the relationship between them and Mike develop. He is an awesome father to them and they love him and shower him with kisses and hugs....

Today was also special, in that , PAPA DIMA was able to speak at our church about his ministry to orphans in Ukraine. What a wonderful time for his visit. He is the "Papa" to countless orphans and hospitalized children, and he was able to come to America and be here on "Father's Day". They do not celebrate Father's day in Ukraine.
His message how the Lord has made his ministry possible, and the evident love and care for the orphans was an inspiration for All of us who attended.

Finally, even those of us who will never have an "earthly" father, yet have trusted in Christ for life, can celebrate their Heavenly Father. We are ALL adopted son's and daughters in Christ Jesus. Our heavenly father, nurtures and cares for us and watches over us, and is such a wonderful example for ALL fathers to follow.

Do I dare?

OF course I do! :)

Jumproping Anna

Jumproping Sarah

Anna

"Here mama, can you keep these?"

They were the pictures of her bio mom.

"You are the best mama I have ever had, so I really don't need these any more."

:)

We repeat this process about every 6 mos. Anna's pictures of her bio mom stay on her shelf, she looks at them, then she turns them to face the wall, then she put them in a drawer, then she returns them to me to put in my drawer, and then in a few months, it won't surprise me if she says, "Mom, you know those pictures of T, is it ok if I look at them?"

I smile and give them back. :)

THIS time, however, is the first time she ever said, "You are the best mama I have ever had."

It must be odd having had so many mamas. I'm so thankful to be her forever mama,
and not just one in a long list of "mamas".

On her birthday in November, she will have spent exactly 1/2 of her life with us, and that is a significant milestone that she is very aware of.
It is important to her that she has been here a long time, and even the "longest".

I have overheard her saying, "You're the oldest, but I've been here the longest!" :)

It is such a joy watching them grow.

Sarah at the Doctor Again.....

Periodically, Sarah's leg gets sore. 2 x's in the last 3 years she has required surgery because the bone in her leg grows and tries to keep on going, even though there is no leg there to grow into....

Well, it appears that it is happening again. When she keeps taking her leg off, I know that something isn't quite right. They are going to try and hold surgery off. They did this by grinding out a place in her prosthetic leg so she has more cushion.

Because she is having surgery on her hand in September, they are going to try and coordinate surgery on her leg at the same time. They are also going to operate on her knee on that same leg, as the knee cap keeps popping out and she falls to the ground unexpectedly.

And guess what? ALL this is going to take place on September 5th! This means, she will have a cast on her leg that wraps around her waist, AND a cast on her arm. Remember that picture I posted of the little girl who didn't like her dress?
Ummmmm..... I get the feeling, we'll have that face to deal with because she won't like her cast, and will be bound to a wheel chair for at least 6-8 weeks.

Please pray for her as she has apprehension about surgery. She said, "I don't want to have surgery, but I do want to have surgery?" Explain please?

"I like going to the hospital and playing games and I can watch the TV in bed etc.
But I don't like the pain."

I can understand that. :)

There is a chance by grinding out the prosthetic leg, it could cause things to get better and that surgery might be cancelled, and then they would wait on the knee surgery. If that happens, we will just go as planned with the hand surgery.

Something else we also noticed just yesterday, is that there is beginning to be a significant difference in the size of Sarah's right forearm, vs. her left forearm.
I'm not sure the cause or if we should bring that up to her doc's for advice?

God Knows her body better than any of us.

I'm just happy to be her mama. :)

A Successful Catch!!!!

I wrote about a mouse invasion a few posts ago. We have successfully eliminated most of those little buggers, and things are very quiet around here! YEA!

But then, there was a ruckus in the kitchen, I heard some noise and ran to see what it was:

I had caught Erika. :)

Sarah and the Doctor

Sarah went to the Doctor yesterday. This wasn't the doctor she usually goes to, but our regular Family Doctor. He has seen everybody in the family at least once, except for Sarah.
Both times I scheduled her for well checks, we had to cancel because of surgery coming up.

So this time, we decided while nothing is happening, lets go have a well check.
I have had this terrible fear in my mind about her past TB; that it might come back.
She had a chest Xray last month and the results were sent to the doctor. ALL is well!
She is doing great.

I knew she was, but it is always good to hear it from the guy who listens to the heartbeat and reads the chest Xrays. :)

Gramma And Grampa Are Coming To Town!

Our mom and dad are coming down from Tulsa Oklahoma. What makes this visit special?
All visits are special, but they are bringing their new baby with them too. Grampa just bought a new Nissan that is a hybrid. I don't know the name of it, but it looks really cool. So, the trip down to Texas shouldn't be cost prohibitive like it would be if he were still driving his Buick.

We are excited to have them come, and they plan to stay the weekend. Papa Dima will be at our church on Sunday, so they will be coming to hear him speak and then stay for a reception that evening.

The girls are going to be soooo excited. :)

I know we are.

Of Mice and Not so Fair Maidens

Ok, we have mice, once again! Living in the country invites critters to see the inside of your house sometimes. Our cat is just NOT doing his job right now! We have several acres behind our property that is not developed. When mice discover our home, they try to invade! Normally, we might see one or two, and then after they are caught, NOTHING, for a LONG time.... but I get the feeling, somebody had babies and we are seeing brothers and sisters! So, I have been on the attack! I caught 2 mice TONIGHT while writing my previous post! I am determined they will not move into my house! Mi casa is NOT sue Casa! (though it appears they have determined it to be so!)

I'm ready for an indoor cat! Now to convince Mike. :)

I have no plans of being nice to mice!

Visiting Thoughts

I'm sitting here tonight; late tonight.... unable to sleep quite yet.
We have had lots of excitement around here, lots of memories brought back up, and lots of time to reminisce.

I'm sitting here with tears in my eyes, because I can't believe how the Lord saw fit to use us... who are we? Nobodies. We are "Mechanic Mike and Farmer "wannabe" Christie".
Yet, in God's infinite plan, he chose us for his purposes. Doesn't that just blow your mind?

As we were talking to Papa Dima, so much information that we did not have about our little girls was coming out.
He talked about the first time he met our Sarah as an 18 month old child. He said, "she was like a wild animal in a cage". The doctor told him, "don't pay attention to that one"; like she was a hopeless case. She recoiled in fear at somebody coming near her crib. Now, just look at her... she is funny and smart and amazing and loving and kind and sweet, and she is our little girl.

In Erika's case: Our paperwork arrived at the orphanage on the very day she was to be sent away to a mental institution forever. I didn't know that. I knew she was leaving soon, but didn't know her bags were packed and she was an hour away from leaving.
THAT is how she knew something was happening.... because she didn't leave.....

Isn't our Lord INCREDIBLE? Isn't it amazing how he uses us to bring glory to himself?
You always look at it as "somebody else", they have an amazing relationship with God, and exciting life, and God works in their lives in a mighty way... you never look at it as you....

Yet, here we are, and God has worked in OUR lives, and we continue to Marvel at the process....
We are not special. We are not spectacular... We are just servants.

My heart sings with Joy to the Lord for HIS marvelous and wondrous works are many.
My faith is increased at the testimony of His love and faithfulness.

I continue to be amazed as the haze wears off and I see clearly the HAND of GOD in our lives, orchestrating every step in the way HE did, where there was no CHANCE at ALL for any question of "who was in charge". GOD was in Charge. He IS in charge, and we happily give him the steering wheel of our lives because, when HE drives, we get to take some very exciting and unexpected journeys.

Praise the Lord for his loving kindess and mercy and grace that gets us through each and every day.