Carr Family Leg Drive

Meet the Carr Family
Is having AN EXTREME HOME MAKEOVER! :)
We are happy for them. We enjoy seeing them at camp, and various activities at Scottish Rite Hospital for Children. Well, this time, they were in Hawaii, while we all went to the hospital for a leg drive. Ryanne wanted to donate legs for children who don't have any in Haiti. She is such a sweet little girl with an infectious smile. A foundation is taking the legs to Haiti for all of the new amputees over there.
The girls brought legs they had outgrown, and we all got to meet Paige, and the film crew
who were filming the show. They interviewed the kids and showed everybody signing up and yelling HELLO from TEXAS....
It was a lot of fun! The Carrs will be back from Hawaii on Thursday. We may drive out there to see them MOVE THAT BUS~! How fun. :)

Guess Who's Been Watching Ice Dancing!

Anna and Sarah just broke into spontaneous dance. :) It is supposed to be on ice, so the kitchen floor sufficed. I thought they did pretty good!

We're Gonna Be Grandparents Again!

This is what Sam's little sibling looks like at 8 weeks.... :)
According to Sam, the baby is very small and growing slowly in Mommy's tummy! :)
Our children that live in Maryland, are expecting a new bundle of joy, and I am so thrilled for them.
Sam has been a temendous blessing to everybody he meets, and I just know this new little baby will also be a blessing.
We don't know if it is a boy or a girl right now, so for now, we will refer to this one as "Baby Grape"..... :)
I am always amazed, that by the time you find out you are pregnant, the baby already has formed arms and legs, a beating heart with it's own circulatory system.
This baby already has a personality, and features, and a soul. WOW.... that always amazes me.

King David in the book of Psalms 139:13 "You formed my inward parts" "You wove me in my mother's womb" Psalms 139:14 "I am fearfully and wonderfully made, my soul knows it very well. "

God doesn't make mistakes... EVER.... in his wisdom, love and compassion, He gives us what is best. Sometimes, that is an imperfect body. Sometimes it is a handicap, sometimes it is a special gift.... in all cases, each person, in personal worship, in total dependence upon the ONE AND ONLY, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, brings GLORY to GOD which is our highest purpose.
God knows us, very well. He knows what we need, and he knows what our parents need. Romans 8:28, says, "He causes ALL things, to work out for the good, for those who love him, and are called according to His purposes.

This little baby grape, can already, in his or her soul, bring glory to the Creator who has made him. As his inward parts are formed, as he is knit in Becca's womb, I pray that this little one will know that he is called to please the Lord and Bring Glory to Him.

I am excited for this future little Minich.... and for his big brother and mom and dad too. :)

The Chicken and the Cat

I'm tellin' ya, Anna the Animal Whisperer, has these animals totally tamed, even with each other!
Bob RARELY gets canned cat food. Usually on Christmas day, is the only time he has a delicious canned meal.
But today was different. He had a can of food. He was enjoying it, when the lonely chicken showed up.
They eyed each other.

He showed her his can of chicken cat food.
and she ate it.
What a cannibal!

Discovery Channel Show

At Summer Camp last year, the discovery channel people were there to film a segment of their show called "Life Without Arms". Because we don't have cable television, we were never able to actually view the show.

A friend called on the night of the show and said, "I saw Erika on TV!" I told her we hadn't seen the show but were curious how it came out.

At our camp, there are children with multiple limb loss or limb difference. It featured one of our campers who's name is Nadia. She is an adorable little girl who was born with no arms.

Well, when Mike came back from camp, we had a video recording of the show so we could watch it, thanks to Erika's friend Brittany. :) Thanks Brittany!

I was so impressed with how this show was handled. It featured a man who had no arms and was a professional musician and single father. It featured a girl with no arms who was flying a plane by herself. It featured Nadia too.

What a blessing to watch each of these precious people say, that living with limb loss is just no big deal. The biggest thing was that THEY viewed themselves as normal and as children, just didn't get what all the fuss was about. :)

That is EXACTLY what it is like for our girls who have limb loss, and our son who has cerebral palsy. If you don't know any different, it just is, what it is....
There are times when it hits you that you are different. But unlike an adult who loses a limb due to illness or accident, it just isn't a tragedy. As Nadia's mom says, "they are just comfortable in their skin."
And I am SO GLAD!
I'm really glad we got to see the show, and I even saw myself too. LOL

Erika and Daddy

Ever since Erika and Daddy set eyes on each other, it has been one of those sweet, sweet stories of a daughter and her daddy.

It is hard to put into words how special they are to me, and to each other.
There is really something special about the unconditional love that Mike showers on each of the girls, that makes him so very special. He has taught me a lot in the area of just accepting how things are and working with each child in a different way.

This weekend is family camp reunion from Summer camp. Usually up to 5 people can attend, but this year the maximum was 4, which would have left one of the girls out. We didn't want to do that, so we decided that it would be great for Erika and Dad to go together, and I would stay home with the girlies and do something else special.

Mike has a busy day every day running an auto shoppe, and it is really hard for him to get away, but he made it! He and Erika took off yesterday afternoon. They share the same likes in Christian Music, so as they were leaving , Erika shouted out the window, "We are going to rock and roll all the way to camp!" LOL

The one question I had this a.m. when he called was, "Did the morning ritual take place?"
It did. :)
The morning ritual is that Erika puts on her legs, gets the straps nice and tight, and then comes out for breakfast and asks daddy to tighten them because he is the only one who can get them just right. :)
It is an early morning "I love you" ritual.

What thrills my heart most, is that these little times are memory makers for our children that they will carry with them the rest of their lives.
I'm so glad they got this time together. :)

Daddy And Erika Went To Winter Camp

Soooo, Mommy, Anna and Sarah went out on the town!
We went Ice Skating. (correction, THEY went Ice skating)
They did so great for their very first time! After that, we went to Chuckie Cheese
and tomorrow we are going to a gymnastics class to try it out!
We took Katie along with us, and we all had a blast! I'm sure Erika and Daddy are having
a great time too. :)

The Star Spangled Banner

These little girls are amazing! They are 6, 7 and 8. My friend and co mother to our son and daughter, :) posted this on facebook. Thanks Susan! :)

Moving On From Loss

This has been a tough week.

We have had a lot of loss, but we trust that the Lord is Good.
We had two baby goats born a few days ago, and both of them died not long after birth.
It was so very sad. The mama would not care for them, and we tried, but there was definitely something wrong.
Then, our little kitty, (I have known she was having either kidney or liver problems)
was just not growing. She stayed the same as a two week old, and last night, she died.
There have been questions about kittens and heaven.
Are there animals in heaven? I believe there are. (so there is my picture of kitty in heaven)
What a LOT to deal with!
The girls have shed their tears, and I was most concerned about Sarah. She tends to just brush things off. Not this time. She really cried, and was comforted by our talks and snuggles.

We found out yesterday, that all of our neighbors lost baby goats and adult goats over the last 2 weeks. One neighbor lost 15 babies and some adults. The other neighbor lost all her adult goats.
We are not sure what caused it, but it was very swift.

I was talking to the girls about disaster striking and how many times people blame God, not seeing the blessings before them, or the peaceful blessings from the past. People tend to forget to thank Him for the many wonderful things he provides for our lives. So we thanked Him for the goats we still have, and that we are all healthy and have a home to live in.

We also talked about what we can do to get prepared for our next step in animal adventures.
We will be waiting for a while, and investigating different "hearty" breeds of dog.
Some time in the next few months, there may be a picture of a puppy around here. :)

The Old House

The girlies and I went to the old house with Mike, to fix it up for selling. There is still much to do, and not much I can do but be a good conversationalist and sweep things. :)
My body is not ready for hard work, but my heart is there. Does that count?
Anyhoo, Mike likes the company. :) And the girls loved the idea of stopping at Chick Filla on the way.
Mike and I bought that house the year after we married. We leased it the first year, and in fact, we got married in the den. I moved in 6 weeks before we got married, and he just visited for dinner. :)
We raised all of the boys there, we have good memories of that old house. As I was walking through, all these memories flooded in, and while a white tile floor may not mean anything but extra mopping to one person, it means more to me. My husband layed that floor. Our friend Chris and he grouted it. He handmade the wooden countertops in the bathrooms, and his dad and he put in the front door and shower.
I think that is part of the reason it has been hard for him to let go. We have wanted, or I should say, NEEDED to sell for a long time.
But now, the time has finally come.

It was funny watching the girlies run through there and see how really small that house is compared to where we are today. (1,300 sq. ft. compared to 1900 sq. ft.)
They were saying, "Wow, I can't believe all of you lived in such a small house!" I never thought our house was small. Actually, I like SMALLER to LARGER.... it is much easier to live simply, and not collect "stuff".
The home we have now is larger, which means more stuff can fit in. :)
Smaller is easier to keep clean! I could not imagine having to clean a larger house.
I can barely keep up with what I have now!

I always have this secret IKEA dream of a way to live in smaller sq. footage and be clever about where everything is placed. :) I love their 500 sq. ft. apartment displays. :)

Anyway, we are finally going to let the old house go. I say goodbye to that old house with fond memories and pray that the next people who live there, will love and care for it as we did when we were there, and that there will be laughter and love throughout that home.

It is time to move on. :)

(the picture is not our old house, but the one 5 doors down that looks similar. I don't have a pic of ours)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentines Day Ya'll!

Erika is Getting More Mature

My sweet Angel is getting more and more mature, right before my eyes!
She and I had a wonderful afternoon together. We went out for a lunch and then shopping at Target.
While we were out, I asked her, "Is there anything you want to talk about?"
Boy was there!

She asked me to tell her every single thing I knew about her Birth mother without holding anything back! Whew.

The truth is, I don't know too much, but I did know some.
So I told her everything I knew.
I finished with letting her know how scary it is to find out a child is handicapped. I was scared when Tim had his brain hemorrage. I was scared when I heard the word Cerebral Palsy.
And I bet her mom and dad were scared too. Things are different in Ukraine. It is very hard to live there.... it would be terribly hard for her to live there now.

After that, there was a pause. I asked if she was OK, and she said yes.

She then went on to ask about her early years and what we know. It isn't much.
She has a vague memory of being in stocking and laying in a crib and having her diaper changed.
She said she was very little. This must have been in a laying room.

She then has many memories of the orphanage and how much she didn't like it there. She talked happily about the day we came and how surprised she was to see us.

I turned the conversation back to God's plan for our lives, and how suffering and sorrow, play a role in life.
I let her know that we can allow suffering to make us angry and bitter, OR, it can be used as a chistleing tool to mold and shape us into pure GOLD~!
We talked about the refiner's fire, and how gold is made.
And then talked about how the Lord brought her HERE for a purpose!
She had a smile on her precious little face, and seemed very satisfied that the sting of rejection, only serves in her life to cause her to trust Christ more. She is an amazing little girl.
She understands complex things way beyond her years, and I just know the Lord has much to teach us, through her little life. :)

There are Little Elves Living Among Us

The Most Snow Since The 1800's!

Adorable Sleepers

I just love capturing pictures of them when they are asleep.
They will awake to a new winter wonderland, as the snow is still falling and we are now at record snowfall. Yea!

More Snow

The grand girls came over to play! It is still snowing. It hasn't stopped yet.
I know some of you are sick of snow, but we get it so rarely, that it is a real treat.
Tonight, everything will have a hard freeze, so I don't think much will be open tomorrow in the A.M.
Lilly couldn't stop saying "SNOW! SNOW!" I think she was tasting it.

Charlie's First Snow

Isn't he just adorable? :)

Creative Kids

Anna read in a book about "Ice Cream" and how to make it. So it was a very handy thing that it snowed today. :)
She took a little heavy whipping cream, a little sugar, a tsp of vanilla extract and SNOW....
She mixed it up, and it was really delicious! Of course, we made sure she picked her snow from a good place where no cat or goat had been. :)
She now understands what "Don't eat yellow snow" means.

I think she is proud of her creation!

Giving Erika a taste.... she just woke up. :)I think she likes it!
Now it is Sarah's turn.
The ice cream gets a Thumbs up! :)

Thanks Anna, we all enjoyed your creation!

SNOW!

My Very First Award

Thanks Diana :)