It’s a Boy!

Yes!!!  We got “the call”!  And, I was just sitting at my desk (not in the bathroom).  I’ll post more about it later.  I’m really scatterbrained right now! :)

UNO!

I had just settled in, content at number four.  I totally expected to just sit there for a while.  And, I was okay with that.  Things have moved so fast with referrals for little boys that I guess I feel like it’s okay to have to wait a while longer.  I like things to be fair and I want everyone to be happy.  I would love to see the girls’ referrals start up and get moving.  Especially for Kristi, who lost her referral for a sweet girl and has been waiting for weeks to see the face of her baby girl!  and, Tisha on the siblings list!

Of course, we are thrilled with the idea of seeing who our little pumpkin is very soon!  I wouldn’t want the boy referrals to stop – that would be crazy!  While we were sitting at four, it felt unreal that we would get our call anytime soon.  Now, it’s a whole ‘nuther story!  I have gotten so excited for everyone as they land at number one.  That has to be an awesome feeling knowing you can get “the call”, as it is referred to, at any moment.  ANY MOMENT!!!  Like, while I’m at the grocery store, doing school with the kids, relaxing with a good book (ha!).  I’m positive I'll get it while I’m in the bathroom!  The phone cannot ring all day long, and an important call always comes in right when I go to the bathroom.  Why?

Hopefully, we will see lots of movement next week.  On aaalll the lists.  That way we can see happiness across the board and all celebrate together.  I love the families from All God’s Children!  I see families from all over the country and different backgrounds supporting each other and cheering each other on.  We pray for each other through our excitement and also our breaking hearts – the ups and downs of adoption.  I would love to get a chance to meet all of these families personally.

I also love AGCI!  I have such a peace knowing they care so much about these kids.  They are covering each of our children in their prayers and love.  I feel confident our little man will feel so loved while he is at Hannah’s Hope.  I can’t wait to get there and meet Almaz and the other ladies and men that work there and make a home for our children.

So, I will bust out a new post as soon as we get our call.  After I wash my hands, of course! 

Relaxing in Alabama

We had such a nice time in Alabama.  We were able to visit with family and spend some time relaxing.  The kids all talk about how much they love going to visit Alabama.  I thought I would share a few reasons they love it.

Feeding the donkey with Pap.

Playing a little basketball.

Playing in the rocks.

Playing a little soccer in the front yard. 

Going out in the pasture on the 4 wheeler.   

Sweet new twin calves.

Fishing at the pond.

Looking for cool rocks.  

Tate was the 4 wheeler chauffeur.  

Bear had Daddy and a lollipop.  What more could she ask for?

Scoot cow!

Sweet moments when Car just leans down to hug on Bear while she’s playing in the dirt.  Yes, that’s a cow patty in my picture.  Touching.

 

Sharing the love back.

Time to go home.

The End.

A Little R&R

We took off for a little break last week.  We went to visit my family in Alabama.  They live in the northwest corner and it really is a beautiful place to visit.  We stopped in Natchez, Mississippi (that’s hard to type!) and spent the night.  Of course, that was a highlight of the trip because we stayed in a hotel.  Bear says she wishes she could live there.  I agree.  I could live anywhere that someone else does all of the housekeeping and cooking! 

Before we left Natchez, we stopped off at a museum and learned a little about the Natchez Indians.  The Touch Table was great.  We had a little corn grinding and tomahawk action going on.  Fortunately, all scalps remained intact!

 

Tate thought it was pretty gross they used intestines as ties. 

 

 

Then, we ventured into the misty weather to see the ceremonial mounds and pole and mud huts they lived in.  Here, the kids are on top of one serious mound where past Indian chiefs’ huts were built. 

 

 

Home Sweet Home 

 

I think it was great getting to go inside and experience this house.  We have looked at the pictures of this type of house when studying Indians before, but we never realized just how musty it smelled and how much we would not like to live in that house.  It made us appreciate our home.  Except Bear made herself at home on the dirt floor.  That girl loves her mud!  Yes, the same girl who wanted to live at the hotel because the beds were so comfy and they served eggs like she saw on tv.  Famous eggs, as she called them.

 

And, I can’t forget to add that we are now unofficially #4!!!  Thankfully, I have stopped obsessing over watching the numbers go down.  But, I still do a little happy dance every time I see another baby boy referral go out. 

The Incredible Edible…

Egg!!!

Way to go Fluff!  We knew you had it in you!

Maybe I have farming in my blood afterall.  I was beginning to wonder.  The other night morning, I was up at 4am making sure the baby chicks were warm enough.  When I came back to bed, I told Tony I would never make it as a farmer’s wife because I really don’t like getting up when it’s still dark and cold to take care of the animals.  He told me that he would make an even worse farmer because he was wishing I would stop making the alarm chimes ring going in and out the doors.

Yeah.  We’re that bad.

Wordless Wednesday

 

 

Clothespin Dolls

I’m obsessed with clothespin dolls.  They are so inexpensive and there is no end to what clothes you choose for them, not to mention hairstyles and accessories!  This will entertain kids for hours.  All you need are clothespins (not the springy kind), yarn, ribbons, and scraps of fabric.  Oh, and Aleene’s Tacky glue is the best!  If you want to get fancy, you can find the babies in the little bags of wood section of the craft store.  I’ll post some tips when I have time later, if you want. 

Successful Weekend

 I love every stage of my kids’ growth.  It’s fun to watch them as they tackle new challenges and then see them succeed.  Tate worked on the brooder box for our chicks and did a great job.  Tony guided him, but Tate did everything by himself.  In the end, he had something he could be very proud of. 

Speaking of Tony guiding Tate – Our church offered up a Passport to Purity weekend for father/sons and mother/daughters.  I highly recommend this resource to anyone training their pre-teens.  Passport to Purity is a curriculum for parent/child, but our church decided to offer it as a group.  They took off to a Christian camp about 1 1/2 hours away.  The topics were introduced to the group and then there were lots of parent/child breakout sessions.  One of the object lessons Tate kept talking about was when there was a maze of set mousetraps and the kids had to ask their parents to guide them through the maze while the kids were blindfolded and barefoot!  The point was that parents can see things that the kids will not always be able to see.  We are here to guide them and they need to come to us for help. 

That same weekend, I went to Dallas with some friends to go to Sally Clarkson’s Wholehearted Mothers conference.  That was so nice getting away with friends.  I think the biggest thing I took away from the conference was to stop doing things by Flesh and Formula and start doing things by Faith.  I am always trying to just do it all by my own strength (my Flesh) and feeling like a failure when I can’t.  And, I’m always looking for the perfect meal plan, cleaning schedule, curriculum, etc. to have the perfect Formula.  Instead, I need to just trust that God will guide me and provide me with everything I need to get what He wants me to get done.  This has come up so many times in my head since returning from that conference and has really helped me.  Hopefully, it will help you to. :)

The other kids were able to stay with my parents while we were away and they had a great time (of course!)