Out of duty

Because I love reading everyone else's blogs, I have a debt to the blog readers everywhere to update this blog sometime. It WAS Daddy's blog, but someone has to do it. As for pictures, my camera is broken and Daddy's has too much memory - we have no recent photos uploaded.

We're enjoying the swimming pool and visiting family. Mommy and Daddy wish there was more time to visit friends, but right now we're busy enough with family visits. We are looking forward to seeing some CWA Ethiopia families in August (I am REALLY excited).

We are sending the children to school next year. Daddy has always promised several things about educating our children

1. They would spend at least one year in a brick and mortar school.
2. They would never attend a public middle or high school.
3. They would never ride the school bus.

So, Princess and Mr. Clean are attending the public school. The principal told Daddy that it was ILLEGAL for children to walk to school in Virginia. I've looked but not found this "law" and I'm curious what it really says. Daddy is reconsidering point 3, because there is all that excitement about getting on that big yellow bus which drives by the house every day, and how much corruption can a child soak up in that one minute drive to the school. More research will be done.

Her Regal Highness's application went off today for a University Model School where we are planning on her going. All 3 children really value "school" although by April the girls understood a little about why homeschooling was a good thing. She'll have to take placement tests, but then I'll teach her M,W,F at home and she'll attend there Tu, Th. Hopefully that way it won't be too frustrating for her and we are still the major influence in her life time-wise.

And the hope of Daddy is that Mommy can be a better influence. Mommy has had a short temper of late and he is tired of Mommy needing to defuse the stresses of the day. He'd like some days for Mommy not to be fuming when he comes home. So, 3 days a week with only 2 children at home for several hours, and the better ability to defuse situations (1 to 4 you are so very outnumbered, especially when they are learning your standards of behavior). Then 3 days a week there will only be Little at home, and we're hoping he can destress (google says it isn't a word, but I know that unstress isn't either, and calm down isn't right either, because he's a boy and he's 3 1/2 ... calm down won't happen for what... another 30 years?).

We're also hoping that some time apart can change some less desired family dynamics between the kids and make the times they are together happier - they may enjoy each others' company when they don't have to be in it so much.

Pray for the transition to school. Pray for them to have the right teachers who can meet their needs. Pray for Mommy and Daddy to know the best way to support them and make choices for their education.

Mommy

God provides

Hey everyone! How are you all doing? Sorry we're not too good at the updating thing, finding computer time is challenging at times for me.

Today, however, I'm catching up. Because my kids are, as much as I loathe it, having a television marathon.

Why? Because I'm trying to keep my foot elevated and I want to keep my hopping around the house to a minimum.

Yesterday I stepped on a stair that wasn't there. When all of my pounds came down on the foot 2 steps farther down... there was a problem.

But God provided. God is good all the time, and some of you will be challenged in this being provision, but hear me out. That morning I actually HAD quiet time. I asked God to order my day and to guide the timin gof my husband's special mission (which I didn't want him to go on....)

Well, he was home to switch cars and hadn't left yet when I fell. He was able to help me get ice - a mission that I don't think would've been successful with just my kids.... I would've gotten lots of hugs, worried looks, and people tripping over me, as well as anxiety and frustration. Yes, praise the Father above, He gave me someone who spoke English and could carry out the task requested (Little would have understood but been unable to carry out the task, I would've probably had a flavor-ice or frozen chicken to put on my foot)

Daddy took 2 children with him on his mission, leaving me with just 2 - to take on an errand and then decide that my foot hurt A LOT and that I'd go to the doctor.

He took an xray and nothing's broken, gave me a prescription for naproxen sodium and a pain killer and told me to keep it elevated and iced.

It feels fine if I don't put any weight on it, or if the cat doesn't think I have it sticking out for rubbing against - there have been several yelps from that cause today that have sent children into a panic.

Speaking of cats - did you know that we have a 4th cat? He's 26 pounds and can walk on his hind legs when he chooses. He also likes to put marbles and erasers in his mouth. Little enjoys being petted behind his ears and along his chin, and even purrs when he is happy - it's quite convincing. So convincing that he wanted to understand what the cat was doing that made Mommy yelp and wanted to try it too - he wants to have the cat thing down.

What else did I want to say? My children are beautiful. I wish we could communicate better. Homeschooling is going fairly well, except today when Little wasn't being a cat he was misbehaving and needed intervention. So we aborted school early. We're doing Math U See for all 3 - Princess (#2) moved into Beta this week, Her Regal Highness (#1) is jealous and trying to finish up Delta and Mr. Clean (I have a 6 yo boy who initiates a bath almost daily and changes his underwear twice a day.... ) is behaving his age.... he'll do it if he thinks it's fun and fight it if it isn't. We bought the A Beka 1st grade Health and Social Studies, and Her Highness is reading them for reading time - a good fit I think - more practical and enjoyable than some of the other things we tried.

That's all for now....

Mommy

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Happy Easter

Since we all know that Easter is about dying eggs and wearing new (or barely worn in the case where some of us can't afford to buy 6 new sets) clothing, here are some pictures to commemorate:





I tried to get some egg models and was about 50% successful:

Another Picture

Here's a family picture:

Hi everyone!

I haven't written here for a while - I've just been too busy!

I'm not going to write tonight either, but here are some pictures - these are mostly what what was included in our 3 month report for Ethiopia.

The Mommy voice

Well, I finally read what Daddy posted, and I want to tell you my side, because my perspective is different. I am responsible for just this post ;)

I wasn't surprised by Addis Ababa. I've spent the last year reading adoptive parent blogs, and blogs of people living and working in the city. It was pretty much exactly what I expected, in fact, I was surprised I didn't see MORE street people and beggars, but if we had gone out more or to different places that probably would have been different.

I really enjoyed the trip and plan to go back, and plan to travel to Wolaita when we do. There were times that were very tired or exasperating, and this experience definitely has taken me to the end of myself.

That beginning was typed the day Desi emailed me that I needed to post. It's taken me over a week to finish, here's the rest for now.

In a way, I feel incredibly humbled that God loves me so much that he wants to purify me so specifically. These kids really bring me to the bottom of what I have and now that they're repeating me, I know have a synopsis of what my parenting sounds like, which is.... educational.

Your devotional thought for the day:

Before the children came home we had an assortment of clothing of different sizes, some given as gifts/donations, some hand me downs, some we bought. We didn't know how big the kids would be (and I'm still a bit vague on one of them... but I'm narrowing it down). So their drawers had a variety of clothing in them.

After coming home Daddy received more girl clothing from a friend at work. I wanted to go through it and get the clothing that didn't fit out of their dressers and give them clothing that did fit.

I could NOT get the girls to give up anything in their dresser, and in fact I had to reconfiscate clothing they had plundered from the bag for our goddaughter. Clothing for a 6 year old in the dresser for an 8 and 12 year old, and I have clothing that will FIT them and they won't let me take out the clothing that doesn't for the clothing that does.

Matthew 7:9-11
"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

This verse and this experience are profound in their truth. And it brings to me an incredible Bible study lesson that God gave to Elaine Snow. I won't do it justice, but it is the one lesson from Ladies' Bible study at Mount Oak that I remember vividly. She gave all the ladies a lovely carnation. It was beautiful. But at the end, she had roses. But we had to give up the carnation at the altar to receive the rose. So often in our spiritual life we hold onto the good thing, or the thing that looks beautiful to us, or the thing we are familiar with. We are scared to let go of that thing even with the promise that God holds something better for us.

I was one of the last people to go up to the altar to let go of my carnation and I had to spend a lot of time there weeping, repenting and comprehending before I could give it up, because this lesson was so true to me. I don't want to let go of what I have (we have a storage unit to prove it). I know in my head that if God says to let go that He has something better but everything else in me wants to hold onto the good thing instead of letting go in faith for the better thing. I am so scared to lose what I have.

1 John 4:18-19
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because He first loved us.

I need to work on learning that perfect love. All of us do to one extent or another because we first learn about love from imperfect humans. And no matter how lovely the people around us are, every one of us has reasons in us to not trust perfectly which we carry into our relationship with God.

Praying that we can all open our hands and let God take what He needs to out of our sweaty grasp. When you're wrestling with God over something that you think is important, I want you to think about my daughter, insisting that she'll keep the skirt with a 4 inch hole in it for wearing around the house when I have brand new skirts from my family for her instead. Think about my twelve year old daughter begging for the green skirt that won't even hit the knees of a 6 year old when I have at least 3 30 gallon garbage bags worth of clothing that would fit her in my room waiting to be sorted.

Yeah - the skirt may be glittery, green may be a color you love - but is that a reason to hold onto something and prevent you from the "good gifts" that your Father wants to give to you?

Love you all,
Mommy