Monday, August 31, 2009

Otro dia, otra aventura

Otro dia, otra aventura...translations: "Another day, another adventure." I like this!
What a day...started early with two in the dentist office for a total of 5
cavities. And we have several appointments next week for more cavities. I find time and time again that my children who did not have a healthy diet before they came home seem to have more teeth problems. We are blessed by a dentist office that helps us in any way they can to fix all these little teeth.
Then, I was blessed to meet with a friend that we have known for many years at our park "out east". Amy and her husband have adopted 6 children, and they welcomed home a new little "home-grown" baby boy 6 months ago. What fun to watch all of her little ones growing under the love of a father and mother. One of her little ones has had such a hard start in life...almost close to death before he came home...please pray for complete healing for this little man from Liberia (Amy, I hope you don't mind that I just wrote that???) Sorry, I didn't get good pictures...I was busy catching up with Amy, and then the weather quickly turned bad.


I found out quickly that Alia is going to be a great mother's helper when Keshawn comes home...and Amy gracely tried to explain "mommy's milk" to Alia, who kept looking for a bottle to feed the baby (thank you Amy!)
Also, this precious family blessed us with money to help bring Keshawn home! I called my parents to tell them this good news...and they said, "isn't God amazing to provide through our bothers and sisters!"
Thank you, Tracy family, for helping us once again, to bring home a little one!
Thank you all for your prayers and support of friendship as we bring home little Keshawn. We received another video of him today...and what can I say...
I AM IN LOVE!

Saturday, August 29, 2009

The Challenge

Amy has written some wonderful articles about a "Pass it Forward Adoption Fund" - for someone elses adoption.
Steve read several of the things that she has written also.
Below is her challenge...
"The month of September (we are not starting now because we are using up our groceries) our family is committing to eating beans and rice every night for dinner to save on our grocery bill so that we can put what we saved off our grocery bill in our pickle jar for someone else’s adoption. Are we going to get sick of beans and rice? You better believe it. Will it be fun? Um, NO. But children living on the streets would be thankful for beans and rice- so who are we to sit down to steak and potatoes when we could be giving it up to GIVE MORE? Our kids also wanted to be a part of this- and what an great way to teach them to give of themselves for someone else. Can you image what God will be able to do through them one day when they 'get' this?

So my challenge is for you to ask yourself-How bad do you want make a difference? What are you willing to give up to GET a child home?
You CAN do it.

DO NOT GIVE UP.

It’s not a question of 'can we?'- it’s a question of will we?"

After Steve read her post, he and I felt that this was something that we really wanted to do with our family also. Saving on our budget with a simplified menu for a month is a "doable" thing for us. Besides the beans and rice, we are also simplifying on other things that we might normally buy.
Steve and I also see this as an amazing teaching opportunity for our family...to give up what we want to help someone else; to realize that we can live simply and die to some of our selfish desires; to gain a better understanding for how others live in different parts of the world; and to become more thankful with what we are blessed with...
I'm sure that it is going to be hard, for all of us...one part of me knows that this isn't something that "I want to do". Another part of me realizes the opportunity to humble myself before the LORD, and let Him teach me somethings also.
So, for the month of September, I will journal some of the things we are learning, as well as some of the ups and downs that are sure to come.
May the LORD be glorified....
Landon, has an ear infection, and I find my thoughts "scattered". I feel that my writing is dull and that I'm having a hard time "saying" what is in my heart.
So, I'm off to make some garlic oil for Landon's ear.

Friday, August 28, 2009

Playsilks

Thank you all for your comments about the play silks. Jill, thank you for your great suggestions for popular colors. Steve and I decided last night that this would be a helpful thing to raise money to bring Keshawn home. And with his court date on Oct. 19th, we don't have much time.
As Angel mentioned, they would also make great Christmas gifts.

Jill said that at her house "They are great for everything - blankets for babies, hats, pretending they are old bible characters, Kings, Queens, Peasants, you name it and they can find a creative way to play with these."

Melodie mentioned that she would wear them as scarves.
The girls were doing that yesterday and it was so pretty in the fluffy African hair.

Laurel asked where to buy the silk. I bought them at Dharma Traading Co.
The scarf size is 33 X 35, which is the size that I will be making to sell.
I will also be offering a "tent" size 55 X 108.

Laurel also asked what all do the children use them for. Besides what Jill wrote, they use them for capes (so I will sell boy colors...my boys love them!), pretend play of all sorts, to "keep warm" at nap time...it seems everyday, I see the scarves used for different things.

By the way, I was really laughing at the clean stove comments. My dad can tell you that a clean kitchen is a "biggie" with me! LOL

So, I will list colors later (basic red, blue, green, pink, purple, etc.), or, if you would like a color, let me know. I will be using the professional dyes, (unless, you are really attached to Kool-aid - LOL). I still need to try a tri-colored one and will let you know later about those. The cost will be,
35 x 35 size - $9.00
55 x 108 tent size - $35.00
We haven't figured out S & H, so that price isn't included.
So, let the orders pour in. Ha-ha.
No, really, thank you all, and please let me know if you would like to order some. Also please share this with friends and family who might like to help us bring our little guy home!

Thursday, August 27, 2009

What Do You Think?

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I have always loved the pretty colored play silks that I have seen in children's toy magazines, however, they are VERY expensive, so I have never bought any. Recently, I found this silk dying project at another blog and decided to give it a try.
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Kool-aid ready...silks in hot water...

and ready to dye.
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Here are the children with their hand dyed playsilks.

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They LOVE them!
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The two below I dyed in professional dye...such beautiful and vibrant colors. I'm going to try to dye a silk today with a variation of these two colors...we'll see what happens.
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So, here is my question to you...do you think I would be able to sell some of these to raise funds to bring Keshawn home?
What do you think?

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Lots of Pictures-cuz I love pictures

We had such a wonderful weekend camping in the glorious Colorado Mountains.
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We found a beautiful place that was perfect and beautiful!

There was a river right beside our camping spot that the children had so much fun in.
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Kalyn fell in the mud 1st thing out. But with her normal good humor, she laughed and slowly eased down into the freezing snow-melted waters to rinse off.
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While Steve rested and played with the little ones, Kalyn, Caresse, Kiana and I headed out to four-wheel in the Bronco. This was the first time I have got to four-wheel for 10 years. When I first moved to Colorado, I had a 4x4 truck and loved to get up into the mountains when ever I could. Then when Steve and I married we bought our 1st Bronco and 4 wheeling was one of our favorite things to do. As our family grew we had to get larger cars that couldn't 4x4. I have so missed it. So you can see why I teasingly call the Bronco my "baby".
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And guess what we found!
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YES, RIVERS TO DRIVE THROUGH...NOT ONE, BUT TWO! I know, you probably think I'm crazy, but I love to drive through rivers.

We also found an old mine. Kalyn thought she had died and gone to heaven! She loves that kind of stuff (so do I!!)
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We took Steve and the other children to the old mine the next day, and we drove further up the road and had a picnic at over 12,000 feet...It was amazing.
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Of course there were fires, and games, and
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and more river playing! No, Caresse isn't being baptized, remember...COLORADO COLD river water...it's a little hard to put your whole body in all at once. And I had to show you how stinkin' strong Aiden is...it really is crazy.
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Our last day turned out perfect. The weather turned cooler and there was a soft rain all day. We were planning to go to a near by hot springs. After changing a flat tire on the trailer we headed to this beautiful spot. If you have never enjoyed hot springs on a cool, drizzly day, well...you must try it sometime.
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There are pockets of hot water down by the river too. I really do love this place. Doesn't it look fun!
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As we were leaving, the clouds began to part, and settle down on the mountains...of course, I had to pull over and take one last picture.
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I can't wait to go back. There is always so much that is beautiful to see and enjoy and getting to do it with my family is the greatest thing of all!

(Whew! This was a hard post...I am still trying to figure out Flickr and erased all my pictures by accident! What a mess! So hopefully this works and I can triumphantly say I am learning - though by trial and error and with several screaming children in the background, I AM LEARNING.)

Monday, August 24, 2009

Know What I Heard?

Oh My Gosh, to be so in LOVE with someone you can't hold yet! I am dying to show you pictures of our sweet Keshawn, but I want to be respective of country rules. However, do those hands and lips not make you drool with mother love?!!!
And we found out that our COURT DATE is October 19th.
We were REALLY needing a little money (OK, a few thousand) to keep up with the next cost of this adoption and we had not raised it so far, however my husband is a firm believer that the LORD said to bring "em home" and so we stepped out in faith.
We have just enjoyed an amazing family time in the mountains and Steve was talking about how we have to raise a certain amount of money within the next 7 days.
We have felt challenged by a blog friend (I will give details later, because I have to get to bed), and decided this weekend that we were going to make a major change in our diet for the next four weeks to raise money for another family's adoption.
So, we have been in the mountains for the last few days (I can't wait to show you pictures!!!), and guess what was in the mail............................


You probably guessed.....money to help bring Keshawn home!!!!
And I'm going to brag (because it is my blog space...)
but first, we have had several friends, old and new, who helped us bring our children home and I am always so thank for that....
but the cool thing is...
my parents kept asking us if we were OK financially for this adoption (I know I am blessed, because my parents are amazing....)
and I kept saying that we were fine...
it really is up to the LORD to make this work.
However, within the next 7 days we needed several thousand to pay our agency, and we didn't have it.
And over the last few days, Steve and I have make a commitment to change our evening meals for 4 weeks to raise money to "pass it on" for another adoptive family.
So what was in the mail?
Just what we needed to pay what we have to pay for now...
and do you know who helped us? I know I am so blessed... my parents.
BUT THE REAL BEAUTY IS ... because they have helped us, we can help each of you. It may only be $40.00 here and there, but we so much want to help other families that are working through the cost of adoptions to bring their little ones home.
MOM AND DAD, THANK YOU FOR YOUR LOVE, YOUR SUPPORT AND YOUR UNFAILING DEVOTION TO OUR FAMILY, EVEN WHEN IT DIDN'T ALWAYS MAKE SENSE, YOU KNEW THAT A CHILD IS ALWAYS "WORTH IT".
THANK YOU FROM OUR HEARTS AND FROM THE HEARTS OF SO MANY LITTLE ONES THAT NEVER HAD A "GOMMY OR DANDY"! I LOVE YOU TO THE MOON AND BACK!

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Grateful/Thankful Thursday

The below two quotes are from two blog posts at Building The Blocks...

"We can’t further His kingdom when all we care about is ours. We need to be willing to invest ourselves and our lives into others whether Gods asks us to do that through prayers, words of support, giving of our time, or financially."
You can read the rest of this post here .

"By teaching our children to serve and to put others needs first-we are giving them the tools of success- as parents, as spouses, as citizens and as employees. Yet even more importantly- we are teaching our children to appreciate what they have instead of constantly longing for more. Children who are starving in 3rd world countries would consider themselves blessed to be served a warm diet of beans and rice daily- and these children are just as important to God as we are. There are so many ways we can teach our children to give of themselves- and to make this world a better place because they are in it.

"Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it." (Proverbs 22:6)"
The rest of this post is here.

PLEASE, PLEASE take the time to read them both. Amy's passion is contagious.
Why am I putting her post here on my Grateful/Thankful Thursday post?
I have been blessed to have grown up in a family that was passionate for the LORD, missions and a desire for others to hear about the precious love of the LORD.
My parents and other family members have always supported us with their love and help as we have journeyed to each of our children. I have always been so thankful for them! (THANK YOU MOM AND DAD...YOU REALLY ARE MORE PRECIOUS THAN I CAN SAY).
However, as Steve and I grew more passionate for orphans and felt that the LORD was telling us to bring another little one home, we seemed to loose friends. Not intentionally really...it's just that we were getting a little to "different".
So, today, I am grateful for this funny little world of blogging where I have found kindred spirits, made friends that "get" me and share my "radical" ideas. I am grateful to have "met" so many of you who challenge me, inspire me, accept me, and encourage me. I'm grateful to have found others who are living lives of love, dedicated to their families and to God's leading.
I love you all and am so glad that God brought you each into my life! Thank you!!!

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Better and Peaches

Thank you so much for all the cute and sweet comments on my post from yesterday. Ya'll are so funny, cute and thoughtful. I love you all!
The children were much better today and I even had time to work on our favorite winter desert. Peach with LOTS of yummy sugar syrup! MMMMMM

When the Colorado peaches are ready I buy several boxes and beat the children away from them. I let them sit for a few days till the skin is soft enough to pull off easily.Oh, so perfect....
Cut them up (8 cups worth), mix with a cup of sugar and 2 T spoons of Fruitfresh, seal and freeze.

And because I was in the mood, I even made two easy Country Peach Tarts. They freeze so easily, though I am sure that we will eat them before I need to freeze them.I "forced" the children to play outside while I finished up these peaches. They rewarded this (the four youngest) by playing in the mud hole down the road. My solution...stay outside till daddy gets home.
He just walked in...and I am a firm believer in sharing the fun! That's OK, after a long day at work he finds it refreshing to "get his hands dirty". Works for us!
LOL

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Honestly


I love my children...I really do...
having said that, I am going to be a little real...because in the "blog world", I think it is sometimes helpful to encourage each other with the "realness" of raising our children. Regardless of the size of our families, I'm sure most of us have those moments.
I feel that the mission of motherhood is above all others. But, missions aren't always glamorous and full of adventure.
So, here is a real moment from this day. I have 4 children under 5 years of age...the boys tease the girls and the girls tattle tale on everyone in the family. Our day started out with screaming and tattling. Several children spent a great part of their day in "time in" beside me...or, to be honest, when my nerves couldn't take it, they have to go to another part of the house to continue their fussing. Now, I know that I am really getting personal here, and questions could arise about my parenting style...so I'll post on that another day. Let's just assume that I was disciplining, and some times little ones still screamed and threw fits. My point, the noise (not happy noise) starts to get to me.
Finally, nap time and some quietness. Breath!
But, nap time does end and two of the little ones decided to start where they LEFT OFF with their screaming fits. Discipline and training following ... I should be getting supper ready, but I have now been interrupted by a dozen childhood problems. Steve doesn't come home tonight because it is his night to minister, so I'm on my own. One child spends over an hour crying in his room because I poured the tea in a sippy cup instead of a big boy cup. Another is in what I call "eternal timeout" (that means I have had it...and you get out of your timeout when I AM HAPPY AGAIN). ONE HOUR later, I still don't have the noodles in the water and I'm thinking "forget supper, let's go to bed!" But, I do finally get supper ready only to again fight the one that started this day off bad single handedly. More discipline, cold food, another child fussing that she/he doesn't like supper (what's not to like about chicken and fettucine noodles?) Teasing, fighting, playing at the table while I am trying to deal with another problem...and I am thinking the only logical answer ...
"I am OUT NUMBERED and they know it!!!!"
So I have shared the above picture of Aiden crying because,
well,
I don't want to show you a picture of me crying!
I feel better now! Thank you for listening.
On a happy note, I received more pictures of our sweet Keshawn in Ethiopia and it was a precious reminder of "why" I do what I do...they are worth it...just some days, the motherhood job pushes the best of us!
Garett just showed me a robot that he made that is called a "labor saving device"...I'm hiring it tomorrow, no matter what it costs!

MckLinky Blog Hop-Favoritie Recipe

I love a good slow-cooker recipe and so I wanted to share one of our favorites with you all.
Beef Stroganoff
1-1/2 - 2lbs. of round steak
1/2 t salt
1/8 t pepper
1 onion, sliced or chopped
1/4 t garlic salt
1 Tbl Worcestershire sauce
1/2 t paprika
1 (10 1/2 oz) can condensed beef broth
1 Tbl ketchup
2 Tbl dry red wine (or red cooking wine)
1/4 lb. fresh mushrooms, sliced or chopped (I like to saute these and the onions in olive oil sometimes before I add them; it gives theme a wonderful flavor)
3 Tbl cornstarch
1/4 water
1 cup sour cream
cooked rice or noodles

Cut up the steak into 1/4 inch strips (sometimes I have cooked hamburger and used that in place of the steak; also I have used cut chunks of stew meat, and elk and deer that our neighbor gave us. All these meats turned out wonderful in this recipe. Of course, because the hamburger was cooked 1st, it didn't need to slow cook as long...)
Season with salt and pepper. Place steak and onion in a slow cooker. Mix garlic salt, Worcestershire sauce, paprika, broth and ketchup in a bowl. . Pour mixture over steak. Cover and cook on LOW 6 to 7 hours or until steak is tender. Turn control to HIGH. Add wine and mushrooms. Dissolve cornstarch in water in a small bowl. Add to meat mixture, stirring until blended. Cover and cook on HIGH 15 minutes or until sightly thickened. Stir in sour cream; turn off heat. Serve over rice or noodles.
My family really loves this meal. Hope you do to!


MckLinky Blog Hop

Monday, August 17, 2009

Testing Flickr and Thoughts on a Child's Talents

joeliana-firefly park

OK, so I'm trying to learn some new things in the amazing and confusing world of computers, and I can tell you, there is a thin line between "I get it" and "I don't get it". I learned how to get a larger picture by uploading to flickr from this wonderful blog by Brent Riggs. I don't get how to do this on my Photoshop Elements and get it to blog...
None the less, I am happy that I learned something new today.
And this picture just seems perfect for a quote that I love from A Charlotte Mason Companion. "We never know just where a child's talents lie, until we give him a variety of opportunities and a wide curriculum. The child is eclectic; he may choose this or that; therefore, in the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thy hand, for thou knowest not which shall prosper."
I have seen this in our children's education. I really try to "present" and "let" the children learn from many different experiences. A wonderful article on Scraps of Starlight present a beautiful picture of letting a children interact with the world around him.
Then, at some point, usually after age 7 (could be sooner, depends on the child...), I begin to notice what a child is really interested in. Our oldest son, Jace, was naturally drawn to world wars, politics, world event, etc....so I did my best to suppliment his ecucation with books, and other information in these areas of interest. Today he is studying History and Political Science in College. See, it's part of "who he is"; the natural gifts that the LORD created in him.
Our second child, Kalyn, has said since she was 5 that she wants to be involved in missions. So, much of her education has nurtured that natural desire in her, and we have used every opportunity we could to send her on short term missions, interacting with missionaries, as well as teaching her here in our home from various sources.
Our third child, Caresse, began to show a natural interest in herbs for both medical use and for food. She also is a natural in gardens and cooking. So we have supplimented her education with books and other teaching material that feeds this natural learning opportunity. Today, most of our familiy goes to her to get treatment for their different ailements, including, she is my number 1 helper when Corban is fighting asthma.
My others are still young enough, that I am "watching" for direction from the LORD, for their natural learning desires.
Now, you have probably noticed that I used one word in this post several time...
did you notice?


The word is "natural". Whether our children are home schooled or in a different educational opportunity (public or private), we, as the parents, have the insight to look for, notice and feed those "natural", God-given, hungry little mind-appetites.

Are you seeing any natural learning opportunities in your children? How do you nurture that?

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Eyes To See

From a little book called What Jesus Means to Me, by H. W. Gockel, "He (Christ) is the power of heaven. Once a man has found his salvation in the blood of Jesus Christ, he will find the power of Christ expelling the evil from his heart and impelling him to deeds of Christian love and virtue. The power to fight sin and the power to do right are gifts which Christ bestows on all believers."
As Jesus said in John 15:1 "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing."
My little book goes on to say, "Only he who clings to Christ by a living faith will have the power to resist sin, to overcome temptation, and the lead a life of Christian goodness."


"Father God, please forgive me for thinking that I can LIVE in any way on my own power. I have no ability or power away from You and I am thankful for that because this weakness reminds me time and time again, that when I fail, don't feel sorry for myself, but repent, and realize that I was not abiding in YOU. I want to abide in you, and it is my very weakness that I can joyfully embrace as it leads me to You and You alone for all I need. By the way LORD, I pray for patience and kindness today as we can beans, clean house and get our family ready for Sunday. I Pray for Eyes to See Your Power, Your Love, and Your Kindness. In Jesus Name, Amen"
Thank you for letting me share my heart and my prayer with you this morning. Have a great weekend!

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Grateful/Thankful Thursday

We met some new friends when we went to our favorite park to play today....
I'm thankful that the LORD puts us mothers together to encourage and enjoy each other...and it was so fun watching all of our children do what children will do in water (I forgot the swimsuits, oh well).
I'm grateful for the wonders of children...
can you guess what they found?
I'm so thankful for their curiosity that keeps my life fun.
The delights...
of being a child....
I am so grateful to the LORD for giving me this gift of motherhood!

Hair Style and Other Fun




Joeliana's hair has been so dry, so I mixed up something I had heard of...I mixed together some coconut oil and Shea Butter together. When I braided her hair I put lots of the mixture in her hair. Unfortunately, I was out of my styling cream, so I don't expect this style to last very long. Still it is better to keep her hair braided while I am trying to get it healthier and longer.


Joeliana and Alia love when their hair had beads in it. I always have several helpers loading the beader for me when it is time.





I always tell the girls how beautiful their hair is and every time I get a style finished Landon and Garett tell them how beautiful they are. It is so cute watching them walk around with their little heads held high.



Beautiful storm clouds heading out east.







God makes some amazing artwork!






My precious Alia Marie turned 5 this week. What a blessing she is in my life...my little princess.
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