A few more hours!

In a few hours I will announce the winner of the book & DVD combo of A Place at the Table: 40 days of Solidarity with the Poor. Even if you are not able to commit to eating like the poor but you would like to read the book and pray for the less fortunate, please leave a comment here or email me at bradandjj at yahoo.com. We have chosen to eat Ethiopian style. We need more injera but I have learned how to make a few of the dishes. It should be eye opening for sure.

UPDATE on give away!

I am experiencing som issues with my comment button. Please send me an email at bradandjj at yahoo.com instead of commenting to fulfill to requirements to be entered into the drawing. I am extending it until Monday.

1st EVER blog GIVE AWAY!!!!

Yes, I am still alive! Sorry it's been so long. But, I have something great I want to offer to you guys. I subscribe to Lysa Terkeurst's daily devotions (which I highly recommend) and today she talked about Chris Seay's new book called 40 Days of Solidarity With The Poor. There's also a DVD that goes with it. You can check it out here: www.chrisseay.net SOOOOOO, since I am so excited about this and I will be participating in this for Lent, I thought I would do my first EVER blog give away. That's right. I am going to give away a book AND DVD of this. I will try to get it to you in time for Ash Wednesday. It's going to all depend on when it arrives at my front porch of course. So here's what you need to do, leave a comment explaining WHY you want to read this book AND after watching these 2 YouTube videos, tell me what country you are going to eat like. Got it? I will put all the names in a hat and draw it randomly on Sunday. Feel free to spread the word.
Ok, the 2 YouTube videos are listed on Lysa's website which is here:
www.lysaterkeurst.com Part 2 is listed first so just scroll down and watch part 1 first and then watch part 2. Read the devotion called "Why I dumped my mealtime prayer". It's great.

Peace even in the crazy times

It's been forever since I've posted. It's been crazy and chaotic since I've posted. Yet it's been peaceful since I've posted. Why? Well, we still have 5 kids. We are still an active duty family and daddy is still gone a lot. He actually was home for 1.5 weeks during Thanksgiving which was AWESOME. Of course it wasn't relaxing and time to sit on the couch and eat bon-bons time. We got a lot done. Things that I can't do by myself with 5 kids (like painting a bedroom that's been waiting to be painted for almost a year now). Before we had 5 kids painting a bedroom by myself wasn't such a big deal but having a 3 year old and a 15 month old changes things a bit. And there's still meals to make, homework to do, schooling (for the ones that are homeschooled, etc you get the picture. Tag teaming is great. I got to help out in Beau's classroom for a little bit on day. Preston, Kalayna, and I also went and volunteered in my uncle's classroom. He's a teacher at an inner city school. He's only 7 years older than me so he's more like a brother than an uncle. It was awesome and Preston and Kalayna had a great time. They played wonderfully with the kids and we can't wait to go back and do it again. It's great to be able to be an extra set of hands for someone. I know how thankful I am when I have an extra set of hands.
So even though nothing has changed with our family make-up, how do we have peace you may ask? Especially during the holidays? The holidays are super crazy trying to find the perfect gift, not spending too much, or spending too much and then not having enough money for necessities,etc. Well this year we are completely focusing on THE GIFT of our Savior. This life is not all about us and yet the ways of the world totally make it seem like it is. We have to remember God's command about "keeping oneself from being polluted by the world." For us, that means we need to stay focused on Him and what Christmas really is and was meant to be. Not what the world has turned it into. I am not saying that the way you do it is wrong. I am saying what works for us and what is helping us to follow God's commands. Some people that don't believe in this thinking sometimes get offended and think they can't buy our kids gifts or mention the word santa. That's not it. WE are not spending $1000 for each kids, WE are not focusing on santa, OUR house is focusing on the BIRTH OF THE SAVIOR. If you want to buy our kids a gift, that is fine. It's not going to be the focus of their day and our kids are not gift motivated. It doesn't prove anything to them and it doesn't buy happiness or love. That's not how our family works. Kalayna also asked if we could start out our Christmas morning by giving to other first. Um, absolutely! So it will be a surprise to them, but we are going to start out by buying a lamb (or 2 as Brad suggested) for a village in Ethiopia. They will get to choose whether to by some shoes for children in Uganda, some chickens for children in varying countries in S. America, etc. There are many options out there from different organizations we trust. Kalayna also has made a bag labeled "donations" on it for kids locally. I am guessing we will have to wait until the day after Christmas to drop those off. Another exciting thing happening is that I am helping to coordinate some "faith in action" mission activities with our church. We'll be doing a feeding of a meal in January in an inner city. We'll also be sending home 2 non-perishable meals home with each family. I'm so excited to be helping with this. Then we're also working a mission trip to S. America somewhere. Can't quite release details, but it's super exciting. I love being the hands and feet of Jesus.
I just can't describe the amount of peace that overcomes me as we strive to be like Jesus more and more every day. Don't get me wrong, my attempts are miserable failures most days but every morning we start again fresh and need to try harder. I learn so much from my kids and I love the term "a childlike faith". A child's faith is so pure. I love it. If I don't get to post again before CHRISTMAS, from our family to yours- MERRY CHRISTMAS! Keep the focus! Keep your eyes and heart on Him, the babe in the manger. Find true peace.

A moving post...

I just read this blog post from a fellow blogger. They are using the same agency that we used. I just had to share:

When Princess was six months old, I attended a Women of Faith conference on an anonymous donor's dime. I'd signed up to go not knowing how I would pay for it since we hadn't had an income for a full year. When it came time to pay for it, I was told someone had not only paid for my admission, they'd also sprung for the box lunch.

I worried what people would think that I was eating that $10 lunch when it was well known around my circle that we couldn't afford....well....anything.

And then they did their World Vision sponsorship push that they do. And God said, "Go." So, I excused myself to go to the bathroom. And look the long way. And stood ten feet away from the table. When I finally mosied my way close enough to the table covered in children's pictures, there she was.

Almnesh.

I refused to pick her up. I chit-chatted with the lady who was saying things like, "You usually know right away who it is. Blah, blah, blah." And I was saying things like, "Yeah, no income for a year. No way. Just thought I'd check it out."

Walked away.

Came back.

Walked away.

Took the long way round.

Came back.

She was still there. And God said, "Jamie, you need to know someone has it worse off than you."

Jamie: Roof over her head. Haven't missed a meal. Has a back-up plan if evicted. Loving husband. Great kids. Exhausted, yes. Broke, yes. Blessed, yes.
Almnesh: too thin, carries water, can't afford school, yup, she wins.

So I went home and told my husband, with hanging head. And HE said, "Well, I won't argue with God."

We've sponsored Almnesh for ten years now. And it started when we had no idea HOW we would find the money to do so. I was worried that whoever paid for me to be at WoF would see me signing up to sponsor a child and think, "Well, sheesh, she's not as bad off as I thought." I was afraid of what my parents would say if they found out. I feared what Brent's parents would say if they found out. I feared anyone knowing. It was a terrifying act of obedience.

The next month we received the first paycheck we'd seen in 13 months. We spent the next I don't even know how long, clawing and scratching and digging ourselves out of $25,000 of credit card debt we'd racked up in the preceding year. More babies came. Hard times came and went and we paid those off, too.

And now I find myself on the flip side. We have reached a level of comfort that feels incredibly.....uncomfortable.

I am completely undone.

I find that my thoughts are consumed with ending poverty and injustice. I'm constantly sharing stuff on Facebook and here on my blog about places to give and things to do and books to read. I spend too much time on blogs of people serving selflessly. I'm reading Mother Teresa and Katie Davis. And my heart cries, "Not enough. We aren't doing enough."

And I worry what people think. I'm afraid that someone will see me in the park with my Kindle (an unasked for gift) and judge me for the post I made earlier in the day regarding "necessity." And I'm afraid of what people will say when they see me eating at the local Mexican restaurant after I've made a comment about starving children. And I'm afraid of what people think when they see me snap at one of my children right after I tell them I'm adopting another.

And yet, I find myself angry with people for not getting it. For not seeing how good we ALL have it.

And I picture them thinking about me Yeah, you're one to talk. You have something to give away. I've seen your house.


And they are right. And I'm unhinged. I'm sick of the extravagance. Because I can hold bead parties (and will) and I can sell goods crafted by women in vocational training (and will) and I can sponsor children and I can give to my church and I can adopt a child (and get all sorts of wild accolades about my selflessness) and I can donate to the local food bank and I can volunteer at the meat cannery and I can boycott stinking Hershey for their child labor practices (and Pepsi for their fetal testing--knife to the heart--fire your PR guy) and it's NOT ENOUGH.

Because there are still children going to bed tonight that won't wake up tomorrow. Malaria is still rampant when all it takes to slow it down is a $18 mosquito net. Women are still selling themselves to feed their children and ending up with AIDS so they leave them as orphans anyway.

Oh Dear God when will we wake up and see that this life we have in America is so crazy extravagant and DO SOMETHING so that babies don't have to starve and their mothers have no choice but to let them be raised by strangers or watch them die?

A dear woman in my life gave me a t-shirt the other day that says "ordinary hero." She gave it to me with the sentence, "I'm not doing anything heroic." And the unsaid sentence was, "Like you." Which is bogus. I think I know her heart well enough to believe that she IS an ordinary hero. And I'm still sane enough to believe that adopting one child only makes me a hero in the eyes of people who can't fathom it. But what no one seems to understand is that the thing that would make me a hero today is if I could find a way for her to stay with her mother. If I could turn back time and get her daddy the medicines that would keep him alive and providing for them. If I could come up with a crop that would withstand drought.

I'm hoping ripples count for something.

And as I've said a lot lately, I have a lot of questions and not a lot of answers. But I'm stinking tired of not speaking up because I'm afraid of what people are thinking. If I can convince the people around me to be an ordinary hero: sponsor a child, donate to the food bank, volunteer, serve, love, give....if I can do that, maybe I can deserve the title on my tee. And until that time, I'll still wear it because it says, "I heart Africa." And my daughter is there.


END OF BLOG POST!!!

That's where my heart is. And I think that's where a lot of fellow adoptive parents' hearts are. But how do we get other people to feel and see the same things? I struggle daily with this, all while kids die. Simply because they don't have food. And mothers have to give their children away because they have no resources to care for them. At what point will people realize that the money that "they earn" at their job is not really theirs? It's God's. He has commanded, get that COMMANDED us to care for widows, orphans, and the fatherless over 40 times in the bible. Not everyone is called to adopt, but EVERYONE is called to care for them in some way. What are you doing? Sponsor a child, volunteer at a food shelter, donate to a local food bank, etc. And is a 1 time donation enough? Do more! Give until it hurts, because I guarantee they are hurting more.

From the Steven Curtis Chapman concert

I know I haven't said much about the concert accept for the fact that we went. Well, words really can't describe it. You see, we got to meet Steven Curtis Chapman. We had no clue this was going to happen. It was completely orchestrated by God. He then took us out on stage. I am still just so thankful that I did not have to say anything because I was crying, no it was sobbing, the whole time. All I could say was "thank you, thank you, thank you." You see, we got a grant from his organization, Show Hope when we were in the process to adopt Beau and Amaya. Check out their website at www.showhope.org Truly amazing! He is so down to earth and humble. He was saying thank you to us. I mean, seriously. Wow!
Anyways, not only was Steven Curtis Chapman there but so was Josh Wilson and Andrew Peterson. Honestly, before that night I didn't know a whole lot about either one of those other 2 guys. I sure do now. We are just in love with their music. I just found this on YouTube of Josh Wilson playing Amazing Grace at the concert. It's definitely not your ordinary Amazing Grace. All 3 of them are just amazing musicians.

How do I fix my comment button?

I've had several people tell me that they tried to comment on my blog and they couldn't. I am not computer savvy at all and so I have no clue how to fix this issue. Can you help? Obviously you won't be able to leave a comment so would you do me a favor and send me an email at bradandjj at yahoo dot com ?

We did it! Africa Hope Run results!

The Africa Hope Run was a success! Preston finished about 5 minutes ahead of Beau, Kalayna, Amaya, Mehret,and I but we all "did it for the glory of God" and finished strong. It was a bit chilly this morning, only in the 40s but once we got going we warmed up fast. It was amazing to see over 1000 (I am guessing anyways) people show up to raise money for the people of Malawi. And what was EXTRA special for us was that many of our family and friends stepped up and sponsored us and helped reach Preston's goal of $200 per mile. So far we raised $610. WOW!!!! We still have a few checks that are waiting to show up and so we will send the rest of the money in once it all gets here. Praise be to God! It was SO exciting to be able to give all that extra money to the kids in Malawi.


(And as we neared the finish line I let Amaya get out of the stroller so she could run a bit of the race too. Well she decided she was going to be out of control and look behind her and be all crazy so she fell 2 times. She started to throw a MAJOR temper tantrum and so back in the stroller she went. The temper tantrum continued for 20 minutes. YES! 20 minutes. I tell ya what! This girl is strong willed. But, not stronger willed than her momma and daddy. Sorry honey, we're serious about this parenting stuff and you're not going to get away with acting like that. 3 year olds don't rule our house. So as the rest of us were having our bagel, cookie, or whatever we chose after the race, Amaya sat and watched. After her 20 minute tantrum she said, "I'm all done with my sassies, can I have a treat now?" Ah, I busted out laughing so hard I almost fell on the ground. Are you kidding me? A cookie after that drama. Um, sorry honey. That would be a no. And when I say no, I mean no. Maybe next time. One of these days it's going to sink it that temper tantrums are no fun, especially when everyone else gets a treat and she doesn't. It's not being mean, it's parenting. She will learn. I keep telling myself, she will learn. In the mean time, it's hard doing fun things like this when she acts this way. Everyone stares. Wonders what is wrong with her, or me. Why aren't you doing anything? You don't understand. She WILL NOT listen. There is no consoling her, calming her down. Yes, I am sure a cookie would have shut her up. But she is not getting rewarded after acting that way. So we stood off to the side and waited for her to get it all out of her system. I wasn't going to just leave and ruin it for the rest of the kids who had just done an amazing job. And Brad was on duty and so it's not like one of us could take her to the van. Joy. Yes, joy. Just being real with you people. Life is grand sometimes but it's real hard sometimes too. I just always say that it brings me closer to Jesus. So this is Amaya after the race. Isn't she beautiful?

An exciting Run/Walk that benefits Malawi THIS SATURDAY!

This morning I was watching our local news and I saw a pastor from an area church talking about a run/walk that they are having this saturday called Africa Hope Run. Watch this video to learn more.

2nd annual Africa Hope Run: fox11online.com

Right away I wanted to show the kids so I hit rewind (so thankful for technology sometimes). Kalayna instantly started saying, "I want to do it, I want to do it." Then I showed Preston the video online. He really wants to do it. I talked to him about the idea of asking people to sponsor us so that we could show up with more than just our registration fees (and it allows people to contribute who won't be able to attend the race). He was really excited. I gave him an example of "like maybe instead of just saying, here's our $30 for mommy and $20 for each of the kids we could say here's also some money that friends and family members gave. Maybe we could give like $200." His eyes got really big. And then I explained that sometimes people will sponsor you mile for mile, like $1 for every mile you run or something. So Preston said, wouldn't that be awesome if we could get $200 for every mile we run? And then doubt started filling his head. Instantly I said, let's post this to my blog and see what God does. How awesome would that be to be able to show up with a couple of hundred dollars? He's beyond thrilled at even the possibility of it. Will you sponsor us? We will be doing the 5k on saturday. Brad is on duty so the 5 kids and I will be doing the run/walk together. 6 of us x 3.1 miles. Mile per mile? A set amount? Anything will help these amazing kids in Malawi.
(And let's get that doubt out of Preston's head.)
I've created a ChipIn Account where you contribute through PayPal right away. If you'd rather send a check you can email me at bradandjj at yahoo dot com to get our address. I think something might be wrong with the comment tool on this blog but I have no clue how to fix it. You can also try that but check and make sure that the comment went through after you post it.

We are off to see Steven Curtis Chapman tonight!!!!

We are so beyond excited to be going to the Steven Curtis Chapman tonight. We were blessed during our adoption process to receive a grant from Show Hope and so we got an email about a month or so ago asking if we would like to volunteer at his concert. I replied INSTANTLY to say "YES" we would all be there. ALL 7 OF US!! We would love to serve in any way possible. I found out we will be advocating for the orphans and talking about child sponsorship. How perfect. We just can never say thank you enough to Show Hope and Steven Curtis Chapman for the amazing gift they gave us. Are any of you going to be there? If so, leave a comment so I know to look for you.
Oh, and if you haven't watched the video that I posted on the last post, GO WATCH IT!!! Please!!

My heart is breaking today!

After having a conversation with a fellow adoptive mom this morning, my heart is breaking even more than it has been lately. I know I have said this many times but Ethiopia has changed me, for the better. My heart aches for the people of Africa. I cry out for people to have their eyes opened and DO SOMETHING to help those in NEED. I was doing some research today about Orphan Sunday so I could present it to my church and I came across this video. It about knocked me off my seat. I beg you to please watch it and share it. It's amazing. We can not ignore this CRISIS that is going on.

True Religion from Christian Alliance for Orphans on Vimeo.

I am constantly asking God how we can help more. Yes we have adopted 2 kids and we sponsor 1 child, but we can always do more. I am dying to go on a mission trip but funding is short. Are there people willing to donate funds to those willing to go on mission trips? I'm even afraid to ask because I see the results we got when we were in the adoption process. Just because I am a stay at home mom does not mean I am not called to care for the orphans, widows, and the fatherless. I am. We all are. I am going to attend the Created for Care adoption mom retreat in Georgia in March to find out how I can be a better advocate for orphans. How can we get "Christians" involved more? I've got to do something with this torn apart heart that God has given to me. It's about to kill me, really.
So much has happened in the past month and half since I've posted that I didn't even get time to post. Mehret turned 1 but she had the chicken pox so her birthday party consisted of just us. Oh well, short and sweet is always good too. Then my mom had to have surgery on her pancreas because she found out she had insulinoma. Then 4 days after that while she was still in the hospital Brad's dad passed away in AL so we packed things up as fast as we could and drove down to AL. He had about 4 days off when we got back and then he had to get back to work. Then Beau turned 9. We kept it small again due to the chaotic nature of our month. We did go see the movie Dolphin Tale though so even though we didn't have an actual birthday party, we went to the movie theatre which is something we only do about 1 time a year because it's just so expensive. (I have a huge issue with spending $50+ for a movie when you can wait a few months and pay $1 at redbox. The other $49 can go to orphan care.) So here we are about the middle of October already finally getting to get our roof and siding taken care of after a hail storm that happened the end of May. It's really just been THAT crazy. Oh and somebody side swiped our van and took off and I really didn't care about the cosmetics of it accept that the van door wouldn't open sometimes. I would be fine with the automatic door not working too but it wouldn't open at all. So, we had to take that in to get fixed. We were hoping to get carpet in the lower level finally since our lower level is actually the other half of our living space but I just can't bring myself to spend $3000 on carpet when there are children dying of starvation. I mean seriously. The carpet that is down there is just fine even though it's not officially laid down. It will be fine for a little while longer. This stuff just really eats at my heart. Ok, I am starting to just ramble now. Hopefully it won't be another month before I post again. Enjoy the video.

Have you experienced this, I need advice

I need some advice. I wasn't even sure if I should even post anything about it on here but I figured I would put it out there and see if anyone has experience with this sort of thing. We adopted Beau and Amaya Feb. 2010. So they've been home for over 1.5 years. One of the issues we are having is that Beau still has food issues. He can rarely ever tell if he is full. He will just eat and eat and eat. The little bit of college education I have is in Pediatric and Prenatal Nutrition. I have done a TON of research about this already but nothing seems to be helping. We still need to tell him when he needs to be done. He also does have cognitive disabilities that I am guessing are part of his eating issues but I just don't know. It is so challenging to go anywhere or do anything where there is food. ANYTIME someone asks him if wants something he ALWAYS says, "yes". There is no such thing as just "snacking" or "having a few" around Beau. I always give him the biggest portion out of all the kids and he ALWAYS asks for more. So I give him a 2nd serving. He used to always ask for a 3rd serving until Brad and I talked about it and just decided this was not healthy and 2 servings at every meal is plenty. He eats more than me at pretty much every meal. The thing is, he is super skinny. He is hyper. He wears it off. But eating so much it not healthy. I am NOT going to just do what the average American child does these days and snack and eat constantly. Just because his bodies naturally stays skinny does not mean he can eat and eat and eat all day long. If he still feels hungry (if he even knows what that means) I tell him that he can have a piece of fruit. He ALWAYS does. I have done countless research online and some people have suggested putting snacks in ziploc bags and putting them in a drawer where he can go get one when he is hungry. He would eat them non stop all day. He has no control. He gets grumpy when we tell him he is full and he needs to be done. This is very frustrating. I feel that just because Beau has eating/food issues that our other children shouldn't have to get punished for it. Going to a buffet is not even an practical option right now. Eating at people's houses is king of embarrassing. I pretty much tell people up front that either Brad or I will get Beau's plate. Normally you'd think nothing of the host asking your kids if they want more. They usually can tell them if they want more. Preston, Kalayna, and Amaya will tell them if they do or don't want more. Beau will ALWAYS say yes. And he will say yes to a 3rd serving, and a 4th serving, and a 5th serving....... At school they laugh and say "he is such a good eater. I wish I could get my kids to eat like that." They don't get it. There's such a deeper issue. I feel like such a mean person all the time but he can't make smart choices on his own and so many people don't "get it". Especially when most of America just eats and eats and the food choices are ridiculous and childhood obesity is OUT OF CONTROL. Even if he was eating fruit and veggies all day long, there is an issue when he can't walk away and recognize that he's full. He likes everything. Every commercial on TV that he sees that deals with food he says, "mmmmm, that looks good. Yum, I want to go there." Honestly, it gets really really annoying. Last night Preston and I mentioned something about ice cream (even though we rarely have any at home- it's a treat that we have when we are out occasionally.) and there came Beau running in to see what we were talking about. Seriously, we can not mention anything about food without him stalking us. If he hears the pantry door open, there he is. The whole time I am preparing lunch or dinner, he sits on the chaise lounge and watches me. It's annoying, tiring. I know I am complaining but after more than 1.5 years of this I don't know what to do. I need advice, help. He needs help. I worry about him as an adult. I am starting to hate food and eating. I dread meals. It doesn't have to be this way. It's tiring. He gets very grumpy if Preston or Kalayna happens to get more than him at a meal. The thing is, they know when their belly is full. They know when to say they've had enough. I don't feel that I need to put the same restrictions on them just because he has an eating disorder. Do you have a book recommendation? Experience with this same sort of issue? Please, comment and let me know. If you don't have something nice to say, you can keep that to yourself. Thanks!

Barely time to even sit down

Well we are on a 34 days stretch of having daddy gone. He's at training in another state right now. I was going to do a blog post before he left and well, I didn't have too much to say besides I DREAD THE NEXT 34 DAYS so I didn't post anything at all. I can officially say we are half way through it and I'd like to say it hasn't been too bad, but, yes there is a BUT. Beau got shingles 3 days after he left. I got mastitis 4 days after he left. Then things cleared up, or so it seemed. We took a last minute trip to IL to see the amazing Block Family do a presentation on missions and adoption. It took us about 6 hours to get there and it was oh so worth it. Please pray for this awesome family as they move their beautiful family to Guatemala in a few days. You can follow their journey at www.buildingtheblocks.blogspot.com

We got home Sunday night and packed up so that we could go camping from Monday to Wednesday with 2 other adoptive families. They are 2 very special families to us. They are the ones God used to inspire us to adopt. He had always had adoption on our hearts but we always kept making excuses like "we can't afford it", "maybe when Brad is done in the Coast Guard", etc etc blah blah blah. Well, as soon as we met these kids, it was TOTALLY obvious that God was telling us STOP MAKING EXCUSES. The time is right now. And man oh man was he serious. Our adoption process was complete in 9 months, start to finish. Keep in mind, we didn't even have a savings account. Only God could do something that amazing. Only God. He provided every last penny. He moved every last mountain to get our kids home. So spending time with these gems from Ethiopia is just priceless to us.




Beau loved exploring nature. There was an injured baby bird so he "built a bird house" for it. It was so cute.

They went swimming- for hours at a time and came back with purplish blue lips cause they were so cold.

We've discovered that a hammock is close to being a necessity at our house. All the kids LOVED it.

Mehret was pretty much attached to me the whole time but I did catch her being happy without me for a while. Our friend's son was trying so hard to get her to like him and she finally let him give her some of her "puffs" (dissolvable baby food). She is completely in the "stranger anxiety" stage right now.


We got home Wednesday and did a bunch of laundry and got packed up again so that we could head out to Minneapolis on Thursday morning to visit a friend until Saturday. We got to do lots of super fun things while we were there. I got to go to IKEA, we went to the Mall of America and each kid got to pick 2 rides to go on. It gets really pricey if they just go on all the rides they want to. With 4 kids riding, we had to set a limit.




The Nickelodeon Scream Team (I think that is what they are called anyways, I am not sure because we don't get all the extra channels on TV like Nickelodeon) came around and "collected screams" and then did a few dances. Of course my kids (any my friend's kids) participated. It was so fun.





After that we went to Sea Life which is also inside the Mall of America. It was awesome. Since we've lived in Hawaii twice, we are very used to sea life like this but Beau and Amaya have never seen this up close and personal. It was so awesome to have them see it in real life. I kept sending Brad texts with pictures the whole time we were there. I hate that he missed it all.




Saturday we went to an Ethiopian Restaurant in St. Paul. I didn't take my camera in with me but it was great and the people were so nice. After that we went to the Como Zoo. It started to down poor right as we got there and got out of the van. It only lasted about 10 minutes but long enough to get us soaking wet. The sun came back out though and we enjoyed some time looking at all the animals.




We got home Saturday night about midnight. I got all the kids in bed and the van unloaded. Then Sunday morning Kalayna woke up with an itchy bug bite. About an hour later she had another bug bite. Did she have bugs in her bed? Nope, she has chicken pox. Later in the day Amaya started breaking out. I was dreading this since Beau got shingles. I did not vaccinate my kids against chicken pox because that vaccine was created for the convenience of working mothers. I don't work outside the home. It doesn't make sense for my kids to get those chemicals injected in their bodies for my convenience. But really, do they need to get the chicken pox while Brad is gone for 34 days? Kalayna doesn't have them too bad but Amaya's are pretty bad. She's pretty fussy about it. I found some Benadryl spray. I don't usually like using anything with chemicals or medicines. I prefer natural remedies but I saw this spray and thought I would give it a try. Every 10 minutes or so Amaya asks for some. Right now that stuff is priceless. It keeps her happy, well as happy as she can be with chicken pox.



That's it for now. Hopefully it won't be another 5 weeks until I get a chance to post again. One thing's for sure, it's bedtime right now.

Summer is going way too fast

I absolutely can not believe that it is July already. We have been so busy but yet it seems as though I haven't gotten anything accomplished. Maybe that's because I'm constantly running around doing things for the kids and not doing much to actually cross off things on my own "to do" list. The 3 oldest took a theatre class the month of June that was mon-thurs for 2 hours a day. Their performance was on the 30th. They LOVED it. Preston did great keeping Beau near him and reminding him what to do. I wasn't sure if I should even sign Beau up for it but I figured I would let him try. He for sure needs someone like Preston to be by him reminding him constantly what to do. Preston and Kalayna did great and remembered their lines. It was a first for everyone.
Preston has been playing baseball since late April. I love watching my kids play sports. It's just so exciting. Beau is playing baseball too. He plays for the Miracle League which is for children with physical or mental disablilities. He loves it.


He has had 2 games canceled due to weather and it completely BUMS HIM OUT when that happens. They can pick what kind of bat they want to use and of course, he chooses the short chubby bat that you'd normally have your 2 or 3 year old use when they first start experimenting with a baseball and whiffel ball. Beau is 8 years old but still no where near that age socially, academically, or mentally. We still don't have a diagnosis of any sorts besides "cognitive disibility". Since he is missing his hand and he is almost blind in his right eye I am guessing it's all related. It's really just a mystery. Beau and Kalayna play soccer through the rec department once a week. Preston was too old for the rec department this year so hopefully in the fall it will be his turn for soccer.
Amaya is riding her bike really good now. Of course it still has training wheels but she has it figured out finally and her legs can reach.
Mehret had her first bike ride on Monday and loved it. I am sure there will be many more to come.



Amaya LOVES getting sprayed with the hose. I was watering the garden the other day and she came over and kept saying, "get me mommy, get me." So I did and she just LOVES it.



Preston has continued to be such a big helper. He LOVES Mehret and can't stand to hear her cry. She doesn't cry very much at all but if she does he will scoop her up and make her happy. I found him reading her a book one day. Melt my heart!

Mehret loves to chew on watermelon. She isn't into baby food a whole lot yet. She still gags sometimes. She is a breastfeeding baby, that's for sure. And that is ok with me. She is growing great and I don't need to go anywhere without my precious love.


There are some very special kids that were adopted from Ethiopia about 4 years. They were the ones that God used to help us realize that we needed to stop making excuses about why it was not the right time to adopt (money, or lack of I should say). Helen just got confirmed and we were there to witness it. Helen is also Amaya's godmother. She is one AMAZING girl. We love her to pieces.


We also got to witness another AMAZING event. We have been blessed with some more amazing friends who have recently adopted from Ethiopia. He has been home since March. He was baptized in May. They had a party to celebrate afterwards. We're so blessed to have such amazing friends.


We've gotten together with several friends that have adopted. It's such awesome therapy to be able to talk with fellow CHRISTIAN adoptive mommas. I love it.
I think that's all I got for now. Hopefully it won't be so long until my next post. Have a great July!

2 very belated birthdays and a few thoughts!

I have been very bad at posting anything on this blog. I wanted to get the series done before posting anything that didn't have to do with the series and then well, I got out of the habit of posting. I want to make sure that I post pictures of Kalayna's birthday from way back in March (the 23rd to be exact) and Amaya's birthday on May 3rd. Kalayna had a barbie cake and so of course Amaya wanted something just like her big sister but we switched it up a little bit and made it a Strawberry Shortcake cake. She loves Strawberry Shortcake.
Kalayna's birthday:


Amaya's birthday:


Amaya sang to herself while we all sang to her. It was so cute. This was her 2nd birthday that she celebrated here in America with us but this year she really understood what was going on. She was SOOOO excited in the month leading up to it. First she wanted a Barbie cake (because Everything and I mean EVERYTHING she does is just like her big sister), then she said Strawberry Shortcake, then she said Blues Clues, then she said Strawberry Shortcake again. She just couldn't decide. We don't do a whole lot for birthdays. We make them feel extra special on their day. They get to pick what they want to eat. They get a few presents (nothing big or expensive). We have a few people over for cake (usually Grandma and Grandpa and the next door neighbors). We used to make birthdays bigger but now that we have 5 kids, man oh man it just really adds up financially.
I know I have said this a couple times before but ever since we have been to Ethiopia, we see things in a different way. Life isn't really all about us. We don't want our kids growing up thinking life is all about them either. Because it's not. It's all about God. Yes we make them feel special and it's fine to spoil them a bit on their birthdays but to spend hundreds of dollars for just 1 day? Not our cup of tea. How about send that money to a child in true NEED? Give a child an education, food every day, medical care, and God's Word for an entire year. That's how we roll anyways. We really don't NEED anything more. Our physical needs are more than met. Our bellies are MORE than full (too often). Let's share the love and blessings from God. Just our thoughts and ideas. Everyone can do their own thing.
Have a great Memorial Day weekend. The older I get the more I realize it's more than just a fun 3 day weekend. It has so much meaning. Take time this weekend to think about all those who have put given their life for our freedom. The ultimate sacrifice.