More pictures of the birthday princesses

The girls loved their presents, their giant butterfly wings, coloring books, wands & of course their baby dolls, what Emma didn't love however, was them singing Happy Birthday...go figure!

Happy Birthday Princesses

Last night we celebrated our princesses birthdays. This was Georgia's first one with us. I have to say, it was great fun, the girls had a fantastic time eating TONS of sugar, opening presents & just running around like houligans. I loved it all. If you weren't here, here is what you missed...

I forgot to show you all my birthday present!!

A truly wonderful birthday mixes things you love with things that are special. Mine was the perfect mix of both. For those of you who did not hear what we did, we went to Port Huron, MI (LOVE going to places I have never been) to visit Georgia's birth cousin Libby. First of all, you may remember the little girl who was being adopted at the same time with Georgia & the birth aunt came & stole her for a day & there was much prayer going out from all of you, well, this is the girl. It was great to see her happy & healthy! She is wild & fun & perfect for this family she was adopted in to. In addition to visiting her & her great family (there is 8 of them total so there for the weekend in one house there was 14!) the other families who had adopted from WACSN were getting together for a reunion! I adored seeing all of these beautiful families SO perfect for each other, all of these kids getting along so well, it was awesome! For any of you who know me well you know how much I love adoption ( we are all adopted after all if we are in Christ's family) so I was on cloud nine. The night got better for me though, when Maria Luyken (who started this orphanage just a few short years ago) spoke wisdom & encouragement & THEN... I met Heidi! We were given the amazing & rare privilege of choosing our child to adopt & as you may remember we struggled with whom to choose. There were a couple of little girls in particular that we prayed & prayed over before we choose Georgia. One was Georgia's cousin Libby (cool huh?) one was Georgia, one was Tayah (you may remember that name) who I heard is doing great with her family & then there was Fatu. Fatu had a small medical condition & was the only child crying in their picture. My heart was broken for her & I feared a family may not choose her because of the medical issue. Then I sat down next to this sweet little girl in a pink plaid dress, identical to her sisters & began talking to her mom. I could tell Heidi was not a her african name(duh) so I asked her mom her african name & about fell over when she told me that this tall, beautiful, healthy child was Fatu. I never expected to see her again, oh how it filled my heart with peace & joy! So here are some pictures, enjoy!

Other pictures here are CeCe, Heidi & Georgia giving hugs & posing, then Emma joined in on the fun! On the bottom, it is Georgia, Libby & Emilie Grace patiently listening as Toby tells them a bed time story, then one of my favorite shots, the bell choir! Austin (in red) & Georgia (at the bottom in white overall ) participated in the cutest bell choir you have ever seen! Georgia absolutely LOVED it!

Halloween!

My 4 children's costumes couldn't be a better example of their personalitites!!!! Now, they are all sweet and wonderful children. They all have their own quirks, etc. But as I sit and look at these pictures I realize Aus would very much LOVE to be one who helps people all the time AND he's a dare devil who would love nothing more than to fly around!! Caleb loves to be devious & wild just like the green goblin! Georgia loves "can-nee" & lots of it, she's as sweet as chocolate too! And Emilie Grace...is there any question she thinks she's a princess?? At any rate, we had a great time at the harvest party at our church, there were hay rides, games & face painting, all which terrified Georgia! Emilie Grace thought it was spectacular though & asked for days after to go "trick or treating". We couldn't seem to help her understand that it only comes once a year. It is now 9 days until Emmi's 4 th birthday. We are very excited. We are also setting up some christmas stuff since we will be in Tennessee the day after Thanksgiving. Toby is preparing the fire place for a nice fire. I think he'll eventually get to the fire, he is currently picking out the remains of an old Larry boy toy that spoke his last electronic words in that fire place. We still remember the eerie sound of "I am that ..." "I am that ..." then in this pitiful way you'd hear the word"hero..." finally there was a bang & a spark & that was it until tonight when Toby picked his remains out of our iron curtain protecting the fire place. Ahh memories!

Long time no post

Awwww! As ornery as a child can sometimes be, not much can beat the sweet snuggle you recieve from a little pumpkin who falls asleep on your lap.

Georgia Faith & her new best friend. I cannot tell you how much my girls love this scrappy little dog. He is a sweet pup but there have been many times I have wanted to let him bless another home after he has left the puppy nuggets that he seems to produce in endless supply! HOWEVER, I could not do that to my girls. The funny thing is we got him for our boys, who are fair weather friends to poor Tanner. Not our girls though, they sneak him treats, pet his belly anytime he wants, & let him drag them around our yard to his hearts delight.

Can I tell you how amazed I am at Caleb? I came home tonight to find C teaching Georgia how to use the mouse pad on our lap top. I myself have been unsuccessful at this but caleb somehow was able to teach her & she was so excited everytime she moved something on the Nickjr website she stopped to clap & Caleb just beemed with pride.

Now this one I must explain. The boys were learning about hibernation & we thought it would be fun to practice some hibernation ourselves. So, what do you need to hibernate? Shelter? Grab the blankets, food? Marshmallows & celery with pb! Bedding? Whatever we can find in the bathroom?! They "hibernated" for about 2 hours! If your kids are making you nuts try this one at home!

And last but not least, introducing the "World's Youngest Backseat Driver" - I took this while driving (don't worry mom I DID NOT look before I took , I could just hear the directions from the back & knew what to do). She yells out "Mommy the red button... STOP!" Or "It's the yellow button...SLOW DOWN!" And as often the light changes so do her commands. I have to say the funniest thing is the way she leans over to keep an eye on the traffic even if we are on a long trip.

Hope you are all enjoying fall as much as we are. We have done every "fall thing" imaginable. Please post in & let us know what all you all are up to. We miss you all!!!! S, T, C, A, E, & G

A September to remember...so far

Hey all!!!! September is here and it has been good to our family! These pictures tell just a portion of all that has happened event wise. I may have to post twice,hmmm. Anyway,

the first images you see are of our oldest turning 8. He decided he was probably too old for a themed party so we decided to just invite 3 boys over for a sleepover & video games. He had many choices being blessed here with tons of good friends, but I forced him to choose only 3 (adding in my 2 boys & my 2 girls, the excitement of a party, lots of sugar, no bedtime...you get the drift) & believe it or not they were all Caleb's but one! So after we passed out nicknames for the evening the boys got busy playing & they had an awesome night. One Caleb's parents brought over 2 game systems & another Kaleb's parents brought an extra TV & we let the boys stink up, I mean play hard in our playroom until about 11pm. He had a fantastic time & I have to say I LOVE watching my kids get older. It doesmake me wonder how my parents let us have SEVEN kids sleepover for our birthdays each year, and if that doesn't sound crazy enough they upheld that rule even when 2 of my brothers (who happen to share the same birthday) birthdays came around. We would have 16 boys in the house. I am now wondering if they stayed the whole time...you think maybe they snuck out for awhile to escape for a bit? If not, they are better parents than me!! Anyway, the other shots you see her are one of Caleb & Aus at Lowe's making a pirate ship with Toby. If you have never done the Build & Grow thing at Lowe's or Home Depot you REALLY should. It is so great for the kiddos! The last one I loaded is Caleb today at his first flag football game. He rocked I was soo proud of him.

ALLELUIA!!!! THE DIAPERS ARE ON THE WAY OUT!!!

Georgia faith is doing the potty dance!
My crazy friend Mandy suggested she was ready for training & I shouold "not miss my window". However, I was a bit chicken at the prospect, especially since we are currently (supposedly) house training a dog. But as usual, my friend Mandy was right. Yesterday the score was accidents-2 , successes-7. Today looks just as bright. And as you can see we are all thrilled!
Emma Grace spells JOE. As most of you may already know, our oldest daughter is obsessed with letters & reading. We have seen it as a very cute & slightly odd interest for our 3 & a half year old, but ya know every kid is different. Anyway, she mostly spends her time saying the letters, drawing the letters, reciting the sounds & forcing us to practice our letters as well. I was however, amazed to see her actually spelling words. Here is a picture of her at rest time writing the word JOE. She has added a few more words to her mix & I am guessing if she keeps this up, I won't be able to teach And her past kindergarten, she'll be too smart for me;)
And speaking of smart kids (I wish I had a shot of Caleb in this! He's so awesome!) here is Austin & his neighbor & fellow homeschooler Issac. Issac's mom, Tasha has taken it upon herself to fuel their curiosity of taking things apart & has made Friday's into FANTASTIC FRIDAYS by letting them spend the morning taking apart computers & whatever else she can find & they love it! Here they are with their own set of screwdrivers. They spent more than 2 hours taking this computer completely apart & had many hypothesis afterward.


Anyway, that is it for now. Caleb & Austin are doing scouts this year & Caleb is also beginning his first year of flag football so we will have more pics to come. We love you all out there, & when you visit our blog, let us know with a comment, our boys chekc the blog often!

God's Provision

As many of you know, we didn't know how God was going to provide everything we would need as we moved back to Marion. This post is a testimony to His faithfulness to us in even the small things in life. For those who may be wondering about His provision for you, I hope you find this encouraging. Keep seeking the Lord, and know that where His heart is, His provision will be.

Below are a few examples, but it's certainly not all. There have been some major blessings in following the Lord's leading back to Marion that we've been asked to keep to ourselves. To honor those who gave, we will...so you may just have to trust us...there's some BIG stuff left off the list.


1. The computer we use to update this blog was a provision of God to us at no cost...though we tried to pay for it. Unbelievable!






2. We have a friend that decided this...even though we didn't come to a church position and receive a "traditional" pounding (giving gifts of groceries and supplies), she would take it upon herself to do it for us. WHOA!!!




3. We have received enough beans and potatoes to last several, several meals...along with soup from a friend...another meal provided.





4. We were given about $350 worth of school supplies and curriculum from a friend. Here's the kicker...when she used it, she photocopied the books...so, they have no writing in them! They look brand new!





5. Susan and the kids were given the opportunity to go pick sweet corn from a friend's field for free. We brought home enough corn to last through the spring.






6. Last, but certainly not least, coffee. A friend who works at Starbucks has graciously given us two pounds of our favorite coffee at a time when we couldn't have bought generic, nasty, used oil coffee. (This doesn't include the pound of coffee given to us by a random Starbucks employee that we don't know.)


We cannot write thank you cards fast enough to get ahead of the curve of giving to us. We are humbled and amazed by God's gracious provision of these things...some needs, some not-so-needs. Be encouraged...God has not forgotten you or your needs. At just the right time, His provision will be there.

Would you like to see the rest of our house?

Here's the bedrooms & our crazy red kitchen. I had a wild hair to paint the cabinets red a few years back. I have to say...it looks much better in person. The bedrooms, well you can figure out which one is which. The picture of the girls room doesn't do it justice to how girly I made it. I have waited a long time to make a room girly & I had a blast. I took this as the girls were supposed to be going to bed. They look really sleepy don't they?

****** I wish I could have fit one more picture to show the front of our house ( I will next time) but here is our wonderful front yard. Isn't it great? Austin has already mastered climbing the crab apple tree in it & has been working on the giant oak in the back yard. Anyways, this completes our virtual tour please come visit us in person. To all of our friends & family far away I can say with all sincerity, we miss you. Marion would be perfect if YOU lived here. Our children definitely miss your children & their grandparents. We love you all!

Would You Like to See Our House?

Everyone has been asking about the house so I thought I'd walk around with my camera & try to "show you around" a bit. I started in the back of the house with some of my favorite spaces. The first area you see is where we will school, it is the front part of the playroom which is the middle picture here. I also left my laundry door open, because I LOVE my large laundry room. The picture on the right is our shed in our backyard. One side is for tools but the other side the kids have claimed as a club house. We even let them spray paint some of the walls in it.

Next you see a room that looks nicer & that is on purpose. Since we now have a playroom, our living room with the fire place is mostly for adults. The kids do quite activities in there which is fine cause quite is usually clean. This is the front of the house & the dining area that you see connects the front & back living rooms. I will post the kitchen, bedrooms & our marvelous front yard next. We truly love our home & so do the kids.

Our Very Nostalgic Fourth of July

There are so many reasons I love small town living. I love that my friend invited me & the kiddos into her family corn field next week to pick & shuck corn. I love that if I can't remember if the door is locked I don't feel too worried & I love that my neighbor invited us to the home town parade where she & her boys would be walking in cause they were in the "Reading Bug" club at the library. So... we grabbed our buckets to catch candy & our lawn chairs & headed out to the parade.















Later that night we had some friends over for some grillin' & chillin' at the house. We had such a good time & the kids just ran loose. If you are reading this & your kids aren't quite old enough to "run loose" yet, you surely have something to look forward to. The big ones kept up the the little ones in the yard with the dads & the moms hung close to the dessert;). This was also Toby's very first opportunity to buy fire works just as our parents did & light them in the drive way. The kids loved it but probably not as much as Toby. It's funny too how no one has to tell you how to act exactly like your mother when you see your sweet husband with explosives he bought in a big tent & is now lighting ten feet from your offspring. You just know to get the giant water bucket & to keep telling your kids, "Now scoot back, ok everyone...stay back."