Some of my favorite families...

I always thought computers were from the devil until I discovered the wonder of "Yahoo Groups". There is a little Yahoo group called Reece's Rainbow, a group of families who have adopted, are considering adopting, or are in the process of adopting a child or children with Down Syndrome and other special needs. I LOVE THIS GROUP! (I wish someone could invent a way to get us all together for a cup of coffee too). Some of these moms I just know by name, and some by their pictures and names, and I have a feeling one day soon I will get to meet a couple of them in person. It is through the courage of these moms, some of whom have multiple children with DS, that our family has been inspired to adopt a child with special needs. These are just a few of the families that I have pictures of. There are many more in the group. Aren't they beautiful?

Here is a link with pictures of other children and families who have recently adopted or been adopted. These pictures always bring tears to my eyes, considering the would-have-been fate for many orphans with disabilities in other countries. These kids have families now! Forever families! So take a look and enjoy these sweet pictures as I have many, many times. I like to imagine what our "Family Homecoming Picture" will look like on this very link in just a few short months!

Thus saith....Hope

Hope has picked up on my tricks. When I need her to do something, say brush her teeth for example, I'll say, "The dentist said that the moms have to brush the toddlers' teeth for them." When buckling her in the car and she doesn't want to sit in her seat, I blame it on the policemen. At the grocery store I blame the Walmart lady, and most everything else....Jesus. :)

So last night when I was tucking her into bed, telling her she is going to sleep ALL night in her own bed, like all the animals do, she said, "But Mom, the dentist said that Moms and Dads need to let their toddlers get in their beds."

Pretty clever! Reminded me of the time 4 yr. old Simeon opened the Bible, pointed to the page, and said, "Look Mom. The Bible says: 'Moms and Dads, let your boys play in the mud.' "

I have tried using prizes to get Hope to stay in her bed. Her favorite, lipgloss. I promised her pink lipgloss if she slept in her own bed all night. She was so excited, she said she PROMISED she would sleep in her own bed all night. About 3 am (I guess I was too out of it), John said she climbed up in bed, kissed me on the cheek, went to the kitchen and got a drink, and then came to inform me that she didn't care about the lipgloss anymore. She preferred sleeping with ME over having her very own tube of lipgloss. Imagine that. I am loved.

Oh well, I have to admit she IS pretty sweet and snuggly, and she doesn't snore, so I'm not sure why I'm complaining. Like they say, I'm sure when she's 13 we won't be having this "problem" anymore.

Buddy Walk

There are many things I never knew before becoming the soon-to-be-mother of a daughter with Down Syndrome. One of those things is that the month of October is National Down Syndrome Awareness month. There are many ways people celebrate National DS awareness Month, and one of those ways is the Buddy Walk. The Buddy Walk helps to promote the acceptance and inclusion of people with DS, and helps to raise funds for education, research and advocacy programs for people with DS.

So our family participated in our first Buddy Walk today. What a beautiful celebration it was! We only wished that our "buddy" was there to walk with us (I wish she could walk, for that matter!). We pinned Ava's picture to our shirts, and had some opportunities to pass out Reeces Rainbow cards.

In honor of Down Syndrome Awareness month, I am posting links to two businesses that are operated by young people with Down Syndrome. One is a company that makes quilts and blankets, the other sells individual packages of ready-to-make homemade cookies. We have hope for Ava's future when we hear stories like this. Please take a look:

Simply Adorable Blankets

and

Creekside Cookies and More

Maybe you can think of some Christmas presents to order from one of these great businesses!!

An actual conversation with my son (age 9)

Son: "Mom, do I have a bruise on my back?"
Mom: "Yes. Why, what happened?"
Son: "Noah threw a rock at me."
Mom: "Why did he throw a rock at you?"
Son: "Because I threw a rock at him."
Mom: "Why did you throw a rock at him?"
Son: "Because it's fun! It was a rock-throwing contest. We were trying to see who could throw the hardest."

(I will never, ever EVER understand what could possibly be "fun" about a rock-throwing contest. I guess that's why I'm a girl.)

A joke that Liesel (age 7) made up

What do you call a mystery that a bed needs to solve?

-A pillow "case"

HA HA HA HA HA! I don't care who you are, THAT was funny!

You might be a redneck if.....

Your kids drag a mattress from the garage to the front yard to do flips on for Fall Break entertainment....then chase Walmart bags around after letting them go into the wind.

GOOD NEWS-Dossier on its way overseas!

Our checklist for adoption:

1. Choose child-DONE
2. Get passports-DONE
3. Complete I-600A (orphan petition through Immigration)- DONE
4. Complete home study- DONE
5. Federal fingerprints- DONE
6. Complete dossier (all the collected forms and paperwork, plus official application to the foreign government)-DONE
7. INS approval received-DONE (This means we have passed the test, and we have been approved to adopt internationally)
8. Apostille (fancy term for official certification) dossier, and mail overseas-DONE
9. Wait for in-country appointment date
10. Travel to meet our Ava!

Another special girl

When we asked for donations for our adoption fundraiser garage sale, people were so generous! We made over $2,000 in one Saturday! I am attaching a couple of pictures from our garage sale, so you can both laugh, AND rejoice with us for God's blessings. We also had a couple of people, including neighbors, who gave us monetary donations, even though we had said all along we would trust God for the finances WITHOUT asking our friends for money! And, out of the blue one day we received an email from some people we did not know, nor had we even heard of them before. They had heard about our plans to adopt a child with special needs even though we had none of our own. This couple felt led to bless a christian family who was taking a step of faith in the area of adoption, and donated $4,000 towards our adoption!!! Talk about answers to our prayers. We really had thought we would have to sell a vehicle, or downsize our house, or have John pick up some extra hours, but none of those were the case. We were so blown away!

I said all of that to say this....I have heard several people comment that they have considered adoption, but "couldn't afford it". We have witnessed firsthand that when you do take that step of faith, even though you have NO idea where the money is going to come from, but you take the first step, KNOWING God will provide....HE WILL. Every day since we have said 'yes' to this wild adventure He offered us, called adoption, we have sensed His goodness, His pleasure, His guidance, His peace, and His provision...and we have never been more fulfilled. We truly believe with all our hearts that He wants His followers to care for His sheep (Remember, Jesus repeated Himself three times to Peter?), and I believe orphans are a large majority of those sheep. If you can't adopt or don't feel "called" to adopt, at least consider helping another family who is. Adoption can be messy, and expensive and frankly downright hard, and what better way to cheer someone on than to support them with your finances.

To the upper right there is a "button" with a little white and grey monkey on it. Another family in the adoption realm that I have gotten acquainted with (via world-wide-web) is in the process of adopting a little girl from the same country where we are adopting from. The Cornishes are a beautiful little family with two children, the younger of whom has Down Syndrome. They are in the process of adding their third child through adoption. Her name is Aleksa, she is 5, and she has Down Syndrome as well. (If you scroll way down to the bottom of their site you can see her). If you spend any time on their blog, their love for Jesus is evident, and their joy in being obedient to Him. Please take a look and purchase one of these adorable monkeys.

Maybe I shouldn't mention that I have entered a contest to win one of these darling little monkeys for Ava (of course she'll want the cute little pink one to go with her pink headbands). I don't know how Meredith is picking her winner (Pick me! Pick me!), but help the Cornishes, and help Ava's chances...by buying one!!

I love pink!

As soon as I can get my hands on that girl, she'll be out of that red and black boy's jumper and covered in pink from head to toe. Does anyone know how to make pretty head bands and hair bows? Some instructions please? At least until she grows some hair on that pretty little head of hers!

The art of being content

Today we have been talking to the kids about learning to be content. We have pointed out all of our many blessings, and tried to drill in the fact that we don't have to have 24 Webkinz just because somebody at school does. We can gladly share our stuff, because stuff isn't that important to us. And if a sibling gets candy at church, we don't need to ask if we can have some too. We can rejoice when others have something to rejoice over. And we can express gratitude even when the outcome isn't exactly what we expect.

We had a late lunch today, so dinner was just a simple meal of green chili and tomato quesadillas. John's prayer for the meal was especially long, as he was trying to prove the point we had been driving in all day about having gratitude. He expressed his gratitude for his wife who prepared the meal, and prayed for Ava and the other kids at the orphanage who were probably eating mush for dinner tonight, and he thanked the Lord for the farmers who work hard and risk losing their fingers when they harvest the wheat and the corn, and the tomatoes, and green chilies that we were about to partake of. And of course, thanked the Lord for the dairy farmer who provided the delicious cheese. And he thanked God for such a beautiful day with his family today, at the zoo, and the sweet lady who we visit at the nursing home every Sunday. When he finished and said, "Amen", and everybody opened their eyes, Jude said.....

"Is this all there is to eat tonight?!"

John and I cracked up. Strangely enough, nobody else at the table got the joke!

Footprints on the ceiling

Someone asked for photos of the completed fort beds...Here they are. The whole reason this project started was because one of the boy's bed frames broke and I had been trying to find some bunk beds at garage sales. When I couldn't find any I liked, John suggested he make them. I hate to say that I wasn't too confident at first in his ability to "make" a set of bunk beds, but I think I am married to a genius of a man to come up with this design in his head and put it together from scratch!

Fort beds have been so fun! There are advantages and disadvantages of fort beds, though.

Advantages
-No more clutter hiding under the bed
-Easy to vacuum the room
-No more stubbing toes on the metal frame
-FUN!
-More space to play
-Great space for reading under the bed
-Cool to show to the neighbor kids
-A fun project for dad and sons

Disadvantages
-Footprints on the ceiling
-Harder to make beds (but who cares, you can't see them anyway)
-A lot of thumping feet in the middle of the night
-Hard to carry a sleeping 6-yr. old from the couch to his bed
-Hard to tell when the sheets are dirty and need to be washed (Is that an advantage or a disadvantage?)
-Contrary to what we thought, it doesn't keep kids from crawling in bed with mom and dad early in the morning :)

Reece's Rainbow

Boys......Will be Boys

Hope's prayer

Every day this is Hope's prayer:

Thank you Jesus for Mommy, Daddy, Simeon, Jude, Liesel, Hope, Ava, and Bliss. Help Ava to have a nice mommy and daddy and help Ava to have a great trip on the airplane.

In Jesus name, Amen.

Ecosystems

I thought this was funny. I was looking over Simeon's homework papers. He missed 3 problems. One of the ones he missed was:

Question: What would you like to learn about ecosystems?

His answer: I don't really want to learn anything about ecosystems.

(Shouldn't he at least get half credit for being honest?)

More Urban fun

I love this picture...

One of the things I love about having both boys and girls, is watching the creative play that comes about from the influence of having opposite gendered siblings. A few examples that come to mind:

1. Liesel, when she was 3, pretending to "nurse" Spiderman. Simeon hollered, "Liesel, Spidey does NOT nurse!"

2. Jude at age 3, dressed from head to toe as Snow White (even with high heels), playing outside in the mud with trucks..Now that was a funny picture, I wish I could find that one!

3. Simeon playing tea party with Hope.

4. The boys building a princess castle for the girls out of giant Legos.

5. Liesel making a frog kingdom, complete with bride frog and groom frog, and a "Just Married" sign.

6. This picture of Hope dressed as a princess looking through camouflage binoculars.

Boots

I hit the jackpot at the Goodwill and Salvation Army yesterday and today, on winter boots for everyone in the family. Everything was half off, and I got the greatest pair of long white snow boots for myself. I just know they will come in handy VERY SOON when we travel to meet our Ava!

Fishing and a Rainstorm, cont'd

Fishing and a Rainstorm

(I don't think this man fishing off the dock was very happy to see us)

It was a beautiful day for fishing. I haven't decided whether I love fishing or hate it! I decided today that I hate the actual act OF fishing, but love watching my husband and kids loving the actual act of fishing. I was not the least bit disappointed to find out that my fishing license has expired, so it would be illegal for me to hold a pole in the water. I was more than happy to get out of the job of baiting minnows on the hook, or helping reel lines in. But when faced with the choice between staying home and doing laundry, and going fishing.....Fishing it was!

Thankfully each kid caught something, although little, except for Hope. But she doesn't know the difference anyway. She pulled a minnow out of the minnow bucket and ran over to me and said, "Mommy, look what I caught!" I took a picture of her "catch", the same as everybody else's. And she took the little minnow and pretended that it had been separated from its father, the crappie. The minnow was kissing the crappie, and saying, "Oh, Daddy, Daddy, I missed you."

We watched geese, ducks and gulls, fed them Pringles and animal crackers, heard thunder and watched a storm roll our way. I enjoyed hearing the squeals of excitement at the prospect of a "bite" and watching the grins as they reeled in their bass, crappie and perch. We watched the sun set, and people on jet skis. And I went a little camera crazy, I think. And then we got to drive home in the pouring rain, all of us drenched.

So, yes, I think I have decided I like fishing, as long as it is with the people that I love the most. The only thing that would have made it a better day, is if Ava had been with us.