Miscellany Monday, September 28, 2015: Fall, Baby A, and Deja Vu

Fall is officially here, and it has been feeling GREAT outside!

Our morning "P.E." time has been looking like this:

I am always so ready - and so thankful - for each new season as it rolls around again!


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With it being so Fall-ish outside, Noah was ready to get our (little bit of) Fall decorations out - he even got in the attic himself to retrieve the bin.

Mrs. Lynn gave this arrangement to me six years ago when I had surgery...and I think about her (and thank her!) every fall when we get it back out!

Daniel is in charge of keeping these mums watered - and they should be extremely thankful that I am not in charge of that!

Happy Fall, Y'all!!

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Elisabeth's mentor Mrs. Marissa gave birth to their first baby.  

Baby A was born about 15-20 feet from here, in a wondrous home birth.

Elisabeth and I took the adults something to eat, and then we were extremely honored to get to "babysit" Baby A while Marissa got her first shower.

Elisabeth and I (mostly) played nice about taking turns holding this precious girl!

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Elisabeth has recently begun taking cotillion classes...and she is loving it. 

That previous sentence doesn't properly convey Elisabeth's true feelings:  SHE IS LOVING IT!!!

The next three younger children do NOT share Elisabeth's enthusiasm for things like this....

...so we have told them that if they listen up and learn what Elisabeth is so eager to share with us when she gets home from her once-a-month classes, then they won't have to attend themselves!

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I haven't done this particular style on A in several weeks, so I was shocked to find that her "bangs" area is now long enough for the flat-twist-into-a-regular-twist to make it back into one of her puffs.  

So cute!  The only problem is that it makes her look older.

waaaaaa!

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When the six of us were loading up to head to Wally, we heard very loud "BOOM...BOOM"s!    

And it was like "Deja vu all over again!"

Turns out that the power line in the pecan orchard across the street busted. Again.

We got to see the electricity arcing between the lines (scary enough that I called 9-1-1), and finally blowing the electricity, as the two sides of the line fell to the ground.  

Thankfully it was raining at the time, so this time it didn't start a fire (like it did last time):

We had fun watching the trailer bring a "Mighty Machine" to clean up some of the resulting mess...

parked in our yard, and left big marks, thankyouverymuch

Thankfully our electricity was only out for about 1.5 hours....

...and then our rural electric company came to the rescue!

The hero in the cherry-picker made quick work of the repair.

It amazes me how much I take for granted, and how quickly things (like NO electricity!) can throw a monkey wrench in my nice, comfortable life!

Miscellany Monday: November 17, 2014

Saturday morning was the last soccer game of the season.

I have a love/hate thing going with soccer.  (This applies to any outside activities, actually.)

I love that my kiddos love it.  I love that they are learning new things - physical and mental - through their involvement with it.  I love the friends that we've made through soccer, that we never would have met otherwise.

I love that my kiddos all love the same activity, and that (by bumping LK and D up an age bracket) they are all on the same team.

I LOVE that Jas was their head coach this season.

I don't love running around...and time away from home.

And since the "loves" far outweigh the "don't loves"...we'll continue to play soccer.



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The eight of us hit the stores this week.  The children each had a "shoe box" to fill for Operation Christmas Child.





This has become a wonderful tradition for us every November, and I love how much the children love to participate.


As the children have gotten older, they are much more involved in picking out the items...and packing them.  We had quite the packing party last night!

D is smiling like this on purpose....where does G get his weird smiles from?

We pray that the Lord would use each of these boxes to bring light and joy into the the life of a child...

....and use this small gift in a powerful way, as only He can.



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Yesterday our church celebrated Orphan Awareness Sunday.  Jas and I were were blessed to be asked to be on a panel to discuss Orphans and Adoption.

We jumped at the chance.   They were able to drag us up there because we were going to be able to talk about our precious kiddos...and brag on our amazing God.

G and A got to come up with us during the first service, since there is no child care available in that service.
G wanted to get his hot little hands on the microphone SO BAD!

I checked with the older children before we agreed, to see how they felt about us talking about them and their adoptions...wanting to always be sensitive to their feelings.  They told us to go for it.

It was a neat panel discussion, in that 4 different households were represented, who have responded to the orphan epidemic in different ways...from mission trips to adoption.


Lord, I pray that we would each be sensitive to your leading, and obedient to be Your hands and Your feet in whatever unique way You have planned for each of us.  Amen

Miscellany Monday: March 3, 2014 - NaiNai's visit...and what Jas and I Did

As I type, NaiNai is on her way back to Colorado.  We couldn't talk her into staying...and we're all very sad.

NaiNai, on the other hand, may be very glad to get back home...to rest.  We kept her busy, and she was right in the thick of it playing with the kiddos.


We introduced her to Four Square...

....and she did really good!

And NaiNai brought puzzles for the children (puzzles also happen to be one of Jason's favorite activities, but don't ask the last time he was able to do one)....

 ...and they all had fun spending time in the school room, where we devoted that table to puzzles.

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While we always love NaiNai to come visit, Jas and I actually had an ulterior motive for having her come out this time:  We got to sneak away to a marriage conference.  It was a great conference put on by FamilyLife.  When I realized there would be one relatively close to us ("relatively close" meaning 5 hours away), I mentioned to Jas that I would love for us to be able to go.

Talk about Mr. Git 'R Done: Within 24 hours of mentioning it to him a couple months ago, Jas had it all arranged and tickets purchased for his mom!

We were gone for two nights....almost exactly 48 hours.  We had a wonderful time!  Wow, it sure is nice to go to a marriage conference not in a crisis...but just because we know there is always room to learn and improve.

While we were at the conference, I bought The Language of Love & Respect by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs, a book on applying God's wisdom in Ephesians 5:33, which simply says, "Each one of you also must love his wife...and the wife must respect her husband."

I've only just begun reading it...and I can't wait to dig in more.

BTW - I have absolutely no pictures of us alone together, because - of course - I forgot the camera.

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I'm getting close to being halfway done with the mini lessons I've been getting in my inbox every day from this free e-course.  (Just click on that link if you'd like to get your own lessons in your inbox...and trust me, you do!)

My favorite topics that Robin hit on during this past week were this post about 3 "Health" Foods to Avoid (I've gone on rants about one of these before)...and this post about "Margarine vs. Butter."  (Guess which is better for you?  AND tastes better too?  I love the way God works!)

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While Jas and I were out of town we darted into a Hobby Lobby that we spotted.

I want to pause for a moment of silence here...to dwell on how lovely, and wonderful is Hobby Lobby.   
We do not have a Hobby Lobby anywhere near us.  This is one of the saddest parts of my life.

I had a very specific item I needed to go with our plan for Lent...and - of course - Hobby Lobby had precisely what I was looking for:

And now?  I'm ready for Lent to start on Wednesday.  

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Our next-door neighbor brought these beautiful flowers over a few days ago....

...and every time I see them...I smile.


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While NaiNai was here alone with the children, as they were outside playing one time, she spotted some (LOTS!) of smoke coming over the pine trees to the west of our house.  Lots!

I've mentioned that NaiNai lives in Colorado, and - as we've likely all seen on the national news - she is used to this protocol:  If you see lots of smoke, you start evacuating.

Her first thought:  "If I need to evacuate with these five children...I need to get started now!"


We had discussed who she could call in case of emergency, and thankfully she reached (ultimately) not just one (who didn't answer at first) but two helpful people.

It ended up being some controlled burning...and normally I would say "all's well that ends well"...but I'm afraid the whole episode took about 10 years off NaiNai's life!

Sorry about that, NaiNai...but thank you for taking such conscientious care of our precious babies!

Miscellany Monday : February 24, 2014 (One Day Late...Because that's how I roll lately)

I started this Miscellany Monday post on Monday...does that count?

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Nai Nai is coming to visit tomorrow, and we are all so excited!

(shhh...we may not let her leave come Monday.)

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My right elbow has been hurting - worse and worse - over the past couple of months.  I couldn't figure out what I'd done, or been doing differently, to cause it.  The children and I went to our regular monthly chiropractor appointment.   I honestly don't know that I would have remembered to say anything about my elbow if Elisabeth hadn't reminded me to.  I had still been thinking that chiropractic care is focused solely on the spine.  Duh.  Well, Dr. Kathy, our beloved chiropractor-come-friend, knew immediately what my problem was. 

Lateral epicondylitis

I was not familiar with that term.  "Tennis elbow" - on the other hand - I'd definitely heard before.

Turns out that most people who develop "tennis elbow" haven't even been playing tennis.    Repetitive motions are the cause.  And what I'm realizing is that - being right-handed - my right arm/hand/elbow see the vast majority of the action during my daily tasks.  

Like...lifting a 28-lb bundle of love approximately one million times a day.

Or...washing approximately one million dishes and pots a day.

Or...lifting one million pieces of wet (heavy!) laundry out of the washing machine per day.  

Or...well, you get the idea.

It was very sore to the touch as Dr. Kathy poked and prodded my elbow to figure out what was wrong.  But after she made the diagnosis, she adjusted my elbow (and the wrist on the same side)...and it **instantly** felt so much better.  No more tender-to-the-touch.  I was amazed.  Chiropractic care continues to amaze me!

Then Kathy put this bandage on my arm:  

It was the weirdest looking thing...and didn't even cover the elbow itself.  But - WOW - my elbow felt so much better while this was on!  It stayed on for about three days, before starting to peel off.  

Kathy (who has dealt with lateral epicondylitis herself) told me that it would take quite a while for my elbow to heal.  Months, even.  I believe her.  

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(I am intentionally not including graphic pictures with this next section.  But, if you don't like to even read anything graphic...you may want to skip this.)

I mentioned a couple weeks ago that our sweet dog BeBe had been attacked.  After talking with our neighbors we thought it was likely coyotes. And it may have been.  It may also have been some bad dogs in the area.  We just don't know.  

Today marks two weeks since we first found BeBe injured and took her to Dr. H.  She is getting better now, but she had to get worse before she began getting better.  When H mentioned "debridement" to me, I should have realized that she would be worse before she got better...but I didn't at that point.  We had to take her back to Dr. H two more times for him to "debride."  

It got so bad that I simply **could not** handle bandage changes for several days there.  Jas had to take over. I've walked with my children through 14 surgeries...including open-heart surgery that included some pretty impressive tubes/wounds/bandages.  But that was nothing like this.  (Amazingly (and much to my admiration) E and LK still stuck it out and continued being right there to help Jas with all of it. ) 

BeBe ended up with an open wound about the diameter of a tennis ball.   It was too big to be stitched up.  There was no hair.  No skin.  Just open wound.  Noah described it as looking "like a brain."  He - unfortunately - was right on the money.  

We've had to put a cone (aka "lamp shade") on our girl at times because she began to scratch.  

BeBe is decidedly an outdoor dog.  Any question I may have entertained in my mind about changing that has been pushed aside this last week.  She is going stir crazy in here.  She has actually "escaped" a a couple of times when we'd take her out to use the bathroom.  She shows back up later, happily wagging her tail...with her bandage rolled down and grass in her wound.  Ugghhhh.

Here BeBe is fetching a magnolia pod I threw for her.  Buying balls that she almost immediately ends up (inadvertently) tearing up got old.  So we now throw her magnolia pods, which we have in abundance around here!

Just as of yesterday, her wound is starting to look smaller, thankfully...and you can tell she is feeling better and has more energy.  We've been getting her outside some to play fetch...her favorite game evAH!  We're glad our girl is feeling better!

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I have been thoroughly enjoying the mini lessons I've been getting in my inbox every day from this free e-course I mentioned last week.  It's not too late if you're interested in participating.  

I have gone on rants here on occasion about how fat is NOT bad for you, as "they" claim.    Good fat, that is.  There are some kinds of fat that are bad for you.  Vegetable fats, for instance.  Fats that have been tampered with by man.  Fats that have been ultra processed so they look prettier...and they're shelf-stable.  Traditional fats, the kinds that have been around for thousands of years (think olive oil, lard, tallow, etc.) are NOT bad for you...and are - on the contrary - essential to your health and well-being.  

Imagine my delight when Robin hit on this topic a couple days ago.  Read about the history behind fat-phobia HERE....and learn why your body NEEDS fat and the best kinds of fat for optimal health HERE.

Miscellany Monday: March 12, 2012

I've got about 20 posts floating around in my head right now - things I want to record. I just don't have the time to record it all!

Gabriel's been home 7 weeks now. Something magical seemed to happen at about the 6 weekmark. I think I saw the heavens part. Nah! But - WOW - things have seemed to really start to fall into place. Figuring out a newborn and his schedule. Figuring out breastfeeding. Figuring out how to function on 6-7 hours of sleep (someties 4-5 hours). Figuring out how to work out our homeschooling schedule. Figuring out LIFE as a family of seven! All of this seemed to click into place much better at about the 6-week mark. Not that things were horrible for the first 6 weeks (o.k. maybe there was more than one day that I spent much of the day in weary tears). I'm very thankful for where we are now...

In slower times (but who likes slower times, anyway??? way over-rated!), each of these topics would likely each merit their own post...but one big 'ol random topic post will have to suffice!

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We got our tax return. Yes, our NEXT tax return. Within two weeks of having (finally!) received our last tax return...we received our current return. Sorry, no picture of us doing the happy dance this time...we only do that when we've been waiting 12 months!

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I have now officially lost 5 pounds since I began nursing Gabriel. Nothing to cheer about, except I haven't overtly done a thing to help that number, and it has still gone down.

I haven't stepped foot on the treadmill one time since Mr. G came home (re-read the part up top where I talk about getting 6-7 hours of sleep, and sometimes 4-5, if you want to know WHY I haven't been getting up at 5 a.m. to do my treadmill like I used to!)

And quite the opposite of restricting what I'm eating to help lose weight...I have been eating more than ever before because I. am. ravenous. Case in point: our weekly pizza night on Friday night. I normally eat 2, maybe 3, pieces of pizza...on Friday night I ate FIVE pieces of pizza! Ravenous, I tell ya...

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Gabriel's hair and skin. It is different than my hair and skin. It is different than my Chinese children's hair and skin.

As with any new topic that I want to learn about, I'm throwing myself into learning all I can about it.

I have started following a new blog (you can find it over on my sidebar): Chocolate Hair/Vanilla Care. Wow, I've had a good time reading back through some of the archives. And - wow - I've got a lot to learn.

I have e-mailed and talked in person with other parents. From one of these parents I got the recipe for Body Butter that I recently mixed up and having been using on Gabriel. Equal parts Shea Butter, Mango Butter and Coconut Oil. With some Orange essential oil thrown in, just so he will smell yummy. He does!

I have joined a Yahoo e-mail group: "Adoption Hair and Skin Care", whose purpose is to educate clueless parents like myself!

And I am SO buying this e-book I just found, put together by a mom of two Haitian princesses, trying to fundraise for her next adoption!

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Mr. Daniel achieved a big milestone in school this morning.



He is DONE with all of his guided readers.



He will now graduate to reading "real library" books (as he refers to them).

He's just a little excited.


In fact, when we got some of the "real" books down to look at a few that he'll be reading soon, he wanted to start one today...

...and just skip his last lesson in the reader. (We didn't skip it, btw!)

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Speaking of reading, I've been doing some of that lately too.

I mentioned here on January 17th what I was currently reading.

And then...Gabriel was born on January 20th. And all that reading of those books came to a screeching halt!

Well, I limped through the remainder of my James bible study...but the rest of the books have been put aside.

I have strictly been reading books on my Ipod Touch. Why? Because it is SO easy to carry around. And the only time I'm reading lately is when I'm nursing Gabriel...and I need something small and easy to hold onto, since I'm multi-tasking. Right now Gabriel is eating 6 times a day. Each feeding session takes a minimum of 30-40 minutes, sometimes longer. When the other children are awake, I just feed Gabriel (using My Brest Friend, which actually is a nursing mom's Best Friend!) wherever we are and in the middle of whatever we're doing (eating breakfast, doing school with the children, etc.). But I still get quite a bit of reading time in every day....

Over the past 7 weeks I've...

Finished Jane Eyre.

Read Treasure Island.

Read the Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. Seriously. It was already on my device, so I thought I might as well give it a shot. It was SO interesting! He was so interesting! He was one very intelligent, very multi-talented guy!

And now I'm reading the Count of Monte Cristo. This is a lonnnngggg book. But I'm really enjoying it. And like with all books that I enjoy reading, I really don't want it to end!

Miscellany Monday: January 16, 2012

On Thursday night Amy, Kami, Chris and I headed down to the airport. The newest precious adopted child, Lizzie, was arriving back home and we weren't going to miss it...even though they were getting in at almost midnight!

But that little time matter was precisely why my children didn't come with me...MUCH to their chagrin!

But Lizzie's new big brother did get to meet her at the airport...no matter that it was almost midnight:
Big brother Grant getting ready to meet his new little sister Lizzie

My friend Leah holding that precious 22-month old bundle of love....

...but that bundle-of-love wasn't too sure about all the hoopla. Who can blame her after she'd been traveling for about 30 hours at that point?

Like I mentioned, I rode down to the airport with Chris and Kami (who have adopted), and Amy (who is getting ready to travel to China in about 3 months to bring home her 2 cuties). We had a great time riding back and forth together (about 3 hours)...and had a fun time talking about how we'd be making this trip again very soon to meet Amy and her kiddos at the same airport!

We didn't get home until almost 2 a.m. Guess who called me at 8 a.m.?

Leah.

She had some questions and needed me to stop by and show her how to use something. Could I stop by in the next few days?

MUCH to my children's delight, we were there in an hour and a half. Yes, I didn't want Leah to have to wait for me to show her what she needed help with...BUT also, truthfully, my children were dying to meet Miss Lizzie!

I wish I'd caught a picture of Miss Lizzie smiling. Because after approximately 4 hours of sleep, Miss Lizzie was feeling much better than she had at the airport. She was smiling and dancing around, and she played peek-a-boo with Elisabeth. Welcome home, S Family!

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We have been so blessed by the welcomes we have received upon arriving home with all four of our adoptions, and we wanted to pay that forward. So, we snuck into the S family's house on Thursday to leave a few things for them (one thing I love about living in a small town...you know all your friends' parents, too - and they can help you sneak in!).

One of the things we left for them was some Chicken Noodle soup. It would be more correctly named Very Simple Chicken Noodle Soup.

My children love, love, LOVE this soup. And I love that it is better for them than the Ramen Noodle Soup they love, love, LOVE (I do let them have Ramen once or twice a month, though).

I was hoping Miss Lizzie would find this soup reminded her of food she loved in her first home. (It can be very challenging to find foods adopted children will eat when they first arrive home!)

I originally found this recipe here on Heavenly Homemakers...but I changed it a tad to fit my family's preferences:

Chicken Noodle Soup

12 cups chicken broth (I use Better than Bouillon)

1 box of pasta, preferrably whole wheat (we used fettucine and really liked it)

3 carrots, sliced

2 cups cooked chicken

Combine broth and carrots in a pot. Bring to a boil, and boil for about five minutes. Add noodles and chicken. Place a lid on the pot and turn the burner down to simmer for about 15 minutes or until the noodles are done cooking.

SO easy! So yummy!

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Random Complaint: We. still. have. not. received. our. tax. return.

Yes, it is almost time to file our next return.

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We do not have a pet...much to our children's chagrin. Maybe that will change one day (but I seriously doubt it, actually).

But, much to my children's delight...a cat has adopted us.

I just found these pictures on my point-and-shoot, where Elisabeth snapped away several weeks ago. We've been getting semi-regular visits from this cat for weeks now. He will stay out there with the children for hours...for as long as they're outside.

They've named the cat Spirit. He looks a lot like a cat we had when E and N first came home named Tieg. They called this cat "Max" at first, but then decided he looked more like a "Spirit."

Spirit snuck into our house one time.

Spirit likes to chase jump ropes.

And toy cars.

And likes to sit in the children's laps.


The children are smitten.

Jas is not. The END.

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We had our precious "Walker Boys" over to eat on Saturday night.

My children had so much fun with Eli, Seth and Riley...

...and Jas and I had so much fun visiting with Phillip.

But...

But as I stood in the kitchen working on something during the evening (while everyone else was still outside) I almost broke down.

We'd never done this without Kris. WHY is Kris not here? Lord, this is hard!

Our Walker Boys are forging their way into lots of "new normals" these days. Oh, Lord, we pray for our precious Walkers...and thank you that You are right there with them every step of the way. Amen.