Blessed By A Child

Just cuz they are so cute...

2012-01-31T08:25:00.000-05:00

Alot of my pictures of Kloe have Mya in them. With each one of MK and Keith's babies one of the kids sort of "takes" over. I think Miss Kloe will be Mya's baby :) She walks her, gets her up, changes her diapers and will be right my MK's side when she gives her a bath. I love this maternal stuff....

Tebow time in the Briggs family :)

2012-01-29T14:10:00.000-05:00

We have a family that loves to watch football...mom not included ( well not to much). The kids all have heard about Tim Tebow and his amazing way that he honors God. So we had a bit of fun Saturday...We were also cutting the boys hair and so Isaiah got a T for Tebow :) Even little Mady got into it. We as a family love how you believe and how you express your thanks and love for the Lord. Great role model for the many watching you.

This leads to this...which leads to the last 3 :)

2012-01-28T12:04:00.000-05:00

Snow and more snow and the kids start to beg, "Can we go outside ?"

Then it is total chaos but in the end they are dressed and they stay outside literally for hours :) So it is worth it. Fortunately many people over the yrs have shared boots, and snowpants so we have enough for everyone to stay dry and warm...again the Lord has provided and we are thankful.

Some have asked how the new kids from Ghana like the snow....See for yourself

2012-01-28T11:49:00.000-05:00

They love it ! There was no adjustment problems with the cold at all. Which when you think about it and where they came from- Ghana which is hot all year - Pretty amazing ! but they are :)

More snow joy...

2012-01-28T11:41:00.000-05:00

We had snow over a week ago...and the kids took full advantage of it.

Even Andrew got in on the fun....

They stayed out for hours....

And of course you have to drink hot chocolate afterwards :)

Praise God once again for His provision.....11 of us needed fingerprints for our I600a

2012-01-26T12:21:00.001-05:00

These are the 11 of us who are 18 and over still at home...I call them our "Briggs team". Or the A team of caregivers and they are super! They also are required for our adoption to all be fingerprinted at a USCIS facility for our I600a approval. In almost all of our adoption journeys I have stressed about this part. Now since the girls all turned 18 last year you would think , " How do they coordinate getting everyone to get their fingerprints ? " 11 is alot to get together and our fingerprint appt. are in Baltimore which is a 2 hr drive. They have jobs, school including college schedules and our own childcare. I don't why I always stress but it might be do to the "personality" of the USCIS. ( If you have ever adopted you understand my comment). In the past they have not been my favorite authority to deal with....However for both of our Ghana adoptions- the previous one and this one now we have been amazed at how wonderful our communications have been and their willingness to work with our unique family. We received Paul's and mine appt. notices to get our fingerprints last wknd...but not the 9 others because they are not the petitioners and the system usually assigns an officer who then looks at your homestudy and then sees you need other people fingerprinted and so it looked like it was going to be a long , drawn out process just to get us all there. Also for our earlier adoptions ( 9 and 10 yrs ago) we could go to a closer facility. ( They actually recognize there because of how many times we have done this). We also ask but no one ever has let us go there. Until this time. Paul called and got a personal phone number from the I600 unit that the applications are all mailed to and has been communicating with them. This am an officer called us and said that she called the closer facilty herself ( she did not have to) and they agreed to accomadate all of us when we come in. Even though we only have 2 letters for Paul and me. Also we can go anytime now even though our date was for Feb. 14....So most of us will be going down to get this down Friday...and we are praising God today because we know that it was Him who set this all up....When we are obedient to His will than He puts His plan in place- and we are always amazed at how He does this. As much as I love adoption and growing our family , it is the best thing ever to be apart of what the Lord is doing...and to watch His plan unfold. Thank you Jesus for your provision once again ! I can't wait for the next part....eagerly waiting and praising Him for allowing us to be apart of this journey.

I am adding this info...because you asked. The biometric fee for one set of fingerprints is 85. So multiply that times11 plus the application fee for the I 600a and we paid $1655.00 just for one of the steps to adopt our 3 from Ghana...I did share before that the Lord met that need...It was the stress of getting us all there and hoping to use the closer facility that was met this am.. :)

Birthday wishes for Caleb ( 13) and Abraham ( 29)

2012-01-25T16:43:00.000-05:00

Of course their choice of dessert was our ever famous, Dirt Dessert :)

Caleb never wants to smile so the small squeaks of a smile is all we got Sat. during his celebration. He and Abraham chose to celebrate on the same day this year. Abraham is getting to be an old man now :) and Caleb just stepped into the teen world. Happy b-day guys !

My "grand" babies are the grandest.....and a blessing to us

2012-01-23T17:26:00.000-05:00

This is how Kloe is wrapped and so the other 2 girls ( Mady and Ava) wanted us to wrap them. We have lots of fun with them...and thankfully they live so close we see them lots.

This was taken last week when I went down for the consignment sale. Zoe is 5 months now and so cute. She has the biggest eyes and funniest expressions with her mouth.

These were taken at the Mexican restaurant...they love Mexican.

I grabbed these off of Jenn's bloghttp://www.thehambrickfamily.blogspot.com/

Oh how I wish the NC grandbabies lived closer...I miss them and have to settle for long distance loving on them.

I also have 2 grandsons ( Laura Jeane and Brian's) , Tyler and Drew who live closer to us but we do not get to see them often. They are very busy and we are not to much into their lives- Not at all our choosing but their parents. It is just as painful to be close but not "close"...I do thank the Lord for the gifts of my children and the blessings of grand children.

A Saturday am tradition is being passed on....

2012-01-22T21:53:00.002-05:00

Paul has been the pancake maker here in our family. He makes them quite often on Saturday or if we have company. The older girls request it. The past 2 Saturdays Paul has been teaching the team who cooks breakfast how to do it...and then some of the younger ones wanted to try their hand at flipping them...So Anna was teaching Mya. Funny what the kids think is something " fun" to do. We even make 2 pots of coffee and enjoy our Saturday am together and yes Daddy puts chocolate chips and butterscotch chips in some of the pancakes....

Who says girls don't need their daddy when they get older....Or to be rocked

2012-01-21T10:26:00.000-05:00

Leah on daddy's lap just chatting. I know of some people who would argue that the older teens or even adult age kid's of theirs don't appreciate the hugs or affection. Mine all love it and so does Momma and daddy love giving them. I have lots of rocking chairs inside and outside our home that get used and used until some have been broken- We are waiting on ball bearings to repair one that is in the big girl's room :)

I might even say ," Who says that mommies and daddies don't need those hugs and affection too ?" :)

MIA - in NC :) How the Lord Provides

2012-01-20T12:11:00.000-05:00

It was the biannual consignment sale in NC time this week. So Mary Kate, Cate, Joseph and I traveled down to Jenn's Wed. ( after my post op - which I hope to share soon about). Since Jenn's family has had strep and she ran Ezra to the doctor and he was positive for it on Tuesday ...We decided not to stay at Jenn's house - since I "pick" it up so easily...We rented a hotel room and just went to see their new home and love on the "grand" babies for just a little bit. Actually this trip is always a fast one and the intent is not for playing with the grandkids...So hard not to do because they are so darn cute :) Especially Zoe...pictures to follow tonite. Anyway we got in early this am 1:30am - exhausted but not disappointed. I tell you if you live anywhere near the Raleigh/Durham area it is worth a visit to this sale held on the fair grounds. Today thru Sunday it is free. We got to go in yesterday because Jenn consigned . We make it a day there and I feel like a kid in a candy store....I came home with so much for so little. This time I even attempted some clothes buying. ( I get too overwhelmed with as many kids as we have now- 30) . So I narrow it down to a few things...This time it was for dresses for my little girls and some summer outfits. I also got Andrew many toys to encourage him to the next level..Things that require him to pull, push or interact to get the desired activity that he loves. Honestly who needs to purchase expensive assistive toys...Just use your head a bit you can come up with lots of ideas for way less. At least it has worked well for our family and helping our kiddos who need toys to encourage their developement.

We do this 2 times a year and each time we look forward to it. I see it as a way the Lord provides for our family. I have shared how I have no doubt of his blessings when we have stepped out in obedience to His will for us. As we stepped into yet another adoption with our 3 blessings from Ghana I have been amazed at how the Lord once again is providing for us to be able to bring home 3 sweet children...and what a special time for our daughter, Selah who will be reunited with her twin sister and twin younger brothers.

Compassion is often caught here...not just taught.

2012-01-17T22:50:00.000-05:00

Getting my feet rubbed when I sat down to do Bible. My littles were not even asked they just came over- first Gracie and then the others. They know I love to have my feet rubbed and they were more than happy to make me feel better. I love their hearts and ability to "read" each other including me like this.

Mya loves to take care of Kloe...actually this tme she can help alot. She is 10 but still tiny and sometimes off balance because of her l leg...but that does not stop her from even changing diapers. She asks to do and take care of her niece all the time.

This am Mady was fussy. She needed lots of us cuddling her and even rocking her. She did not seem sick but fussy. So Josiah was more than happy to hold his little niece and rock her...and she loved it as you can see. Perfectly happy to receive the loving embrace and shoulder of her Uncle Josiah :)

Do you know what is so neat about this picture ?

2012-01-16T14:56:00.000-05:00

Gracie is playing in the same pretend play the rest were. She often plays by herself but we have seen her attempt and do more play with the rest of the kids. This day they were all pretending to be dogs...Here they were lying down on the pillows just like our dogs do :) She did everything like the rest of them...even making barking noises....Gracie way to go girl. When you are ready you continue to amaze us with what," You can do" and we are loving watching you discover your world.

We had an evaluation at our child psychologist last week for Gracie. There were no surprises and we all decided to try her on some ADHD medicine. She has been on it for less than a week and we see so much improvement in her ability to focus and stay on task. She does her school work so much better and she seems to be wanting to be included in what others are doing.

We usually do not try any meds for at least 2 yrs with our adopted kids when we suspect they might be helped by them even. We want to see just what healthy nutritious food, love and other behavior modications will do. We waited as long as we could before we put Andrew on some meds. to help with his behaviors and sleep and he is doing much better. Since we felt a good connection with our child psychologist ( we really do trust her and like her) we decided it was time to have Gracie evaluated. We had both Andrew and Gracie evaluated some with the school child psychologist and we also had some opinions ourselves about what was going on with them. We have had no surprises other than positive ones with them being on the medicine which has been a good thing. I am not one who likes to jump to this as the solution until we have tried lots of other methods . I always give the child more time than most with diff. ways to help control inappropriate behaviors but I knew the time was right and I am so glad we did . I also know you do have to trust and value the doctor that you choose. We have disagreed many times in the past with some child psychologist about our children and always we were correct...So I encourage parents to go with their gut about things and don't be afraid of medicine if it is needed. If the meds. help Gracie or Andrew have a more "normal" life than they are worth it- especially since we have had no side effects at all.

This guy is just so darn easy to love....I know I have said it before

2012-01-15T15:49:00.000-05:00

Here is Isaiah all dressed for church. What a handsome guy and his heart is matches his smile.

He loves football and fits right in with the kids here about that. His team the Ravens are playing today. We were watching when the Raven player intercepted the ball- His reaction was priceless and he knew just what that meant for his team to. I love it.

She did it....

2012-01-14T16:22:00.000-05:00

After one week of keeping her "pampers" dry she is now totally in underwear. Yeah Lila ! We are very proud of her. When she first came home she was almost there but regressed some. She was just 2 yrs and she had lots of new things to get used to. So that was not a big deal. However, knowing we are bringing home 2 more younger ones who will be in diapers and Andrew that is a lot of extra money to our already expensive budget :) So we helped her and she did it...She now has some brand new undies and lots of positive encouragement from everyone. She would use the peeing as a control or power struggle...When she would get mad or upset for things like having to go to bed she would pee...sometimes she would pull her pampers down and pee on the bed even :( Eventually working thru the struggle and assigning Lily to be her bathroom partner ( who gave her m and m's when she successfully went to the tolite)...This partner method has worked well for many of our child training issues. Lily was super at it too and we recognized her efforts for always having a happy and willing heart to serve her little sister in such a way. Great job to Lily. We also moved rooms around to accomadate a better sense of security for Lila when she did go to bed. She moved in with Leah and Leah took charge of her at nite or getting her ready for bed and in the am...Leah also has done a great job at helping Lila be more positive about control issues and we are seeing it in how well Lila uses the bathroom now and she is very proud of her own efforts for this too. Way to go girls !

Do you know why Selah is smiling ?

2012-01-12T15:07:00.003-05:00

I have been waiting for some time now to announce this ....It is with great joy I share with you all our 3 new children who just today have the Briggs name ! When we adopted Selah last year we knew that her mom had given birth to 3 sets of twins. Selah had a twin sister- Rita and the youngest 2 brothers who are 2 were not available. Her 4 yr old brothers were adopted and came home the same time we brought our 3 home in June :) We told Kofi we would love to adopt them if they ever did become available. When he told us we got our dossier together and today we had court and passed. We are praising God again for 3 more blessings. I have known about this for months and was about to bust.

I am also home from the hospital and doing very well....The Lord has given me the best medicine ever today with the addition of these 3. There names for know are Samuel, Sampson and Rita BRIGGS. Of course the last name is what matters the most :)

The top picture was taken of Selah when we told her we were adopting them- after we asked her if she wanted us to. The next 3 are the pictures taken outside of the court today. The last 3 are the "referral" pictures. We met them on our pick up trip in June and now feel so blessed to be their momma and daddy.

I have a prayer request and hopefully Thursday a big praise to share :)

2012-01-10T22:57:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow I am having surgery...I am not going to share yet about this but I would certainly covet your prayers ( I HATE any attention drawn to me ) ...Then on Thursday I hope to share a huge praise and announcement...So if you can please cover our family with your prayers. The two are not related either .
Sorry for being so secretive ...It is not my intent to draw you in with promises of giving information...I detest that sort of blog...I just am not able to share yet but I really want your prayers to cover both situations. I have been busting to share now for months....Autumn :) You can email me privately if you like ;)

Bananas dipped in chocolate- yum !

2012-01-10T20:23:00.001-05:00

Joseph took Paul and I out to dinner with Ben here... to The Melting Pot. Our daughter Jenn and her husband, Jeremiah went to this for their anniversary and shared with us about it. It sounded like a fun place to go and Joseph loves to eat out. The closest one was a good hr drive away. We had reservations for a late dinner 8 pm.. We chose the 4 course meal - which started with a cheese fondue / apples, bread and veggies. They place the fondue pot on the middle of the table where there is a built in heating element. Everyone at the table is given the fondue forks and you all share the pot. After this you choose your salad from 4 choices and eat that. For the main entree you all have to decide which style you want the food to be cooked in...the whole table has to choose the same method. Then they bring in a very small amount of meats and veggies to be cooked by us at the table
:( . Then the dessert is many diff. chocolates and fruits, cakes, cheesecake, rice krispie treat that you dip into the melting chocolate mixture your table picked. It is a very expensive meal and was fun to do once...but I did not appreciate paying so much for so little and then having to cook it myself :) :) You place your veggies in first and then skewer the meat on the forks and place them in the boiling fondue...Most of the time we had to recook ours because it was not getting cooked and I am not the biggest fan of "boiled" meat. However with this all said my favorite was the dessert- especially the melted chocolate with the bananas and strawberries...I so enjoyed that part that I have continued to eat the bananas and share my love of this with the kiddos at home :)

We think we got the first smile from her today....

2012-01-09T16:32:00.000-05:00

Mary Kate was holding Kloe this am and she was trying to smile :) We are sure of it... She is now 4 plus wks old. She goes to the doctor on Thursday and we will find out how much she weighs but she has grown...She is filling out her newborn outfits.

Happy Birthday Paul! - from alot of people who love you dearly

2012-01-08T14:29:00.000-05:00

It is certain that at every life celebration in our family you will have 2 things...a cake or dessert and lots of cards with heartfelt expressions of love :) Paul had plenty on his b-day...when he got home from celebrating his day of birth - Jan. 5 with Ava, and Mya at Chuckie Cheese. We have been doing this for 3 yrs now...You gotta love a man who chooses to celebrate his b-day at Chuckie Cheeses because that is where his daughter and grandaughter want to.

Here we go...January 5th birthday at Chuckie Cheese

2012-01-06T19:33:00.000-05:00

Another great birthday celebration at Chuckie Cheese for Ava, Paul and Mya...This is our yearly tradition. Everyone had a great time and even Kloe was a good girl...asleep in our arms the whole time.

We were popping them pop rocks the other nite

2012-01-05T08:26:00.000-05:00

These pop rocks always are fun. Since we were having a "Tinkerbell Party" we added these special, magical rocks that Tink had left at our party. What fun they were too.

Mady was daddy's helper

2012-01-03T21:55:00.000-05:00

Keith was putting together Ava's scooter for her and Mady sat by him and helped . She would hand him tools and suck on the plastic covers and wait until it was done...and then she got to ride it. Ava was great at sharing it with her little sister too.

Everybody loves to hold the baby....

2012-01-03T21:50:00.002-05:00

Happy Birthday to 2 of my favorite 5 and 10 yr old girls...Ava and Mya

2012-01-02T21:54:00.001-05:00

We tied a string to a present and then hid it. The girls had diff. colored strings .

Both of them were very thankful...

Today was Mya's 10th b-day and Thursday will be Ava's 5th. We did a party here for them tonite...as well as lunch at Olive Gardens. Tomorrow Joseph takes them out to breakfast at IHOP - Isn't he a wonderful big brother ? He never forgets a b-day and always celebrates it. Then on Thursday we go to Chuckie Cheese to celebrate Paw Paw/daddy's and Ava's b-day. Isn't Paw Paw/ daddy nice to want to celebrate that way too :) Mya is spending the nite with Ava tonite and we did not get any pics of her big present today...She got her ears pierced but we will share tomorrow. Happy Birthday to some of my favorite girls !

Congratulations to our friend Dustin !

2012-01-01T21:35:00.000-05:00

Dustin is a dear friend who we were able to help celebrate his earning his "wings". He is now a pilot . His family gave him a party to celebrate this accomplishment and we got to come. He is a friend and "son" to all of us. He is one of the most humble and unassuming young men. We love when he just stops by....His party was Friday nite and he came over to say his goodbye to us on Saturday. He leaves Monday for his next level of training that once done he will be able to fly commercial flights....We are proud of this guy ! He is a yg. man whom we love to just spend time with...It does not matter what we do...His presence and His relationship with the Lord is a welcome blessing when he comes.

Here are the kids surrounding Dustin just as he walked into our local airport hanger where the party was...We love you Dustin and are praying for you.

We had a wedding today :)

2011-12-30T21:57:00.000-05:00

" Michael"- Isaiah got married to "Rose"- Selah this afternoon. Mya officiated and Ava " Clare" was the mom of the bride :)

These were some of the decorations....

This was their fort ...because you know you need a fort at every wedding....

And a tea party....

This was Gracie's part to wear this head piece and smile .

I just love the imaginations of kids. They played all afternoon like this.

I just love this guy...

2011-12-29T22:39:00.001-05:00

Keith

He is such a great daddy, and husband and son. He was holding Kloe and then gets goofy on us...Actually that is alot of his personality- teasing and fooling around. You can just see it in the second picture and the last one...A very unassuming and passive humor that you are never sure about...yep that is him. He sure loves his girls :)

Andrew and Gracie just make me smile sometimes...

2011-12-28T22:45:00.000-05:00

Do you see how thick and chunky his food is? When we brought him home he was on a bottle of thin like milk with little food added in. We gradually added a healthy diet and calories and he is healthy now . He gave up the bottle in Oct. 2010- home 10 months. He was spoon fed until recently and now is beginning to eat more solid food and to feed himself...

Gracie got her Winnie the Pooh and she saw her sisters from Ghana carrying their babies this way....

These last 2 pics are so significant for Andrew. This is where he usually eats ...around 5 pm he will walk to this table and sit down and he makes noises to let us know he is there...He is telling us," I am hungry and want to eat now." I love it :)

Day after Christmas we had company....

2011-12-27T22:46:00.000-05:00

My brother, Johnny and his son, John came up for the afternoon. It was very good to spend time with them...The kids all loved it. They live about 2 hrs away so we don't get to see them as much as we would like. When we do we enjoy it. Uncle Johnny got to meet his grand niece, Kloe....

Isaiah has such a pure heart...I watched him give Uncle Johnny many hugs.

Lila, Selah and Ava playing with their new gifts from Uncle Johnny.

Christmas ....smiles, joy, noise, , celebrating together and never ending play...and even a nap

2011-12-26T22:48:00.000-05:00

I always take a shot of the kids waiting to come downstairs...waiting- being patient :)

Going thru their stockings- 25 hanging on our fireplace in the dining area.

Before they were unrwrapped....

Ogainized chaos :)

Surprises and figuring out ,"How you work this thing."

Naptime

Andrew loved his trampoline that he can use inside.

This was the nite sky and it was very strange with a covering of clouds and I guess a front coming thru....But a peaceful end to a very busy day of lots of energy.

We welcomed a child into our family...actually 2 on this exact nite - 2 yrs ago

2011-12-24T23:01:00.000-05:00

For some reason our kids remember more the day they come home and enter the US as their "gottcha day". The day they actually met the rest of their huge, mega family :) I remember our Christmas Eve. 2 yrs ago when we flew home and landed in Dulles, Va. at just about this time 10:30 pm.. I was exhausted but so glad to be home with them....

Bringing a child home on Christmas Eve was very special but actually it always is very special....It is like giving birth but almost better. You don't have the physical part of the birth to heal from but sometimes you have the emotional transitional time that you go thru....However it is an experience that brings me great joy.

Tonite as I remember where these 2 precious children ( Andrew and Gracie) have come from to what they are it is a journey we are still on but it is amazing to have seen them change....Actually to see a new life in them emerge from ashes of neglect and lack of love. I feel so blessed tonite as I reflect on all of my children.

In my thoughts though I know that if I had not given my life to a child that was born on this nite over 2,000 yrs ago ( Jesus) none of these children would be here tonite. I welcomed Him into my heart when I was 12 and I have never looked back ....I have been on a journey with my Lord and Savior and I could share many things but the one I am most grateful for tonite is the love He gave me by forgiving me and placing His love for orphans and children in my heart . I hope you know my savior personally. It has been an amazing journey and one that continues...I am busting to share some news soon :)

Merry Christmas from the Briggs family.......

Baby Kloe is a hit and a keeper around here :)

2011-12-23T23:34:00.000-05:00

Here she is almost 2 weeks old .

Out like a light...eats, sleeps and excretes mostly :)

Everyone here is enamored with this little one. Gracie was always rubbing MK's belly when she was pregnant and she loves the new baby as you can see. It is pure delight to have a baby around again...even Mady has been great. Although what you do to Kloe usually gets asked by Mady...even checking and changing her diaper- silly girl.

2011-12-22T22:20:00.000-05:00

Just some Bible quotes from my devotional that I wanted to share. This was the evening sky tonite and I think it fit with these verses.

Seek the Lord and his strength ; seek his presence continually. Psalm 105: 4

The Lord is good, a strong refuge when trouble comes . He is close to those who trust in him. Nahum 1:7

Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. 1 Peter 5:7

My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. John 14:27

There is not a shy one in the bunch...and I am so proud of them

2011-12-21T22:50:00.000-05:00

Lila loves music and she loves to perform...so perfect thing for her to do - A Christmas Program :)

Ava and Isaiah were great....

Luke , Selah, Mya and even Gracie were in it.

Can you tell how proud I am of my little ones....they did so well on Sunday- Beautiful spirits singing about their Jesus !

Some days around here...we all take naps

2011-12-21T15:05:00.000-05:00

After lunch some days we all take a nap...Sometimes they even fall asleep but it is usually for 2 hrs ish. Then it is quiet and peaceful and time to regroup for all of us. The days we need it go better and the days we don't when we need it well there is always the next day....I always say to anyone who comes over to be prepared for lots of activity and noise because with at least 25 of us in the home there just is lots of movement and talking and life being lived. These quiet times are precious to when things here settle down for awhile :) Can you imagine what it is like Christmas morning ?

35 yrs ago today Paul and I were married.....Pics from the past

2011-12-19T23:20:00.000-05:00

Rev. Dick Thompson married us. We were the last couple he married at St. Pauls before he left. He and his wife, Molly were both very influential to our faith as teens in church.

My family- brothers , Johnny and Bill and my parents.

Paul's family- sister, Wendy, brothers Tommy and David and his parents.

It was a beautiful day - cool but not cold and we rode home to the reception ( held at my parents home) in a horse and buggy. There was a long line of cars following us and on the way we spotted a red tail hawk - which for my naturalist husband was a treat. My gown was crochet by a friend and since I have always loved being a bit different and we were getting married in Dec. it was perfect. We actually celebrated last Friday/Sat. but I brought out our albums over the wknd. and thought I would share them....the kids were so funny looking at us. I really can't believe it has been 35 yrs and 40 since we started to date... :)

My Cookie Elves

2011-12-18T22:04:00.000-05:00

These were my cookie elves today. After church and our dinner they got right to work baking and making cookies and they even put together a gingerbread house with the littles...All while I was napping and holding Kloe ( so Mary Kate and Keith could sleep with out worries ). We had a fire in the fireplace and it was a cozy, quiet afternoon with the sweet smells of Christmas baking and rocking dear, sweet Kloe....The elves even cleaned up the kitchen and we all ate cookies for supper.

35 Years and counting.... to my sweet husband Paul- " God loves you, Jesus loves you and I love you. "

2011-12-17T22:31:00.000-05:00

Gazebo at Western Maryland College where we met.

Sycamore tree where he kissed me the first time :) and he says , " I have been kissing her every nite since ."

This is the chapel at the college where part of the weeks events were to see the live production of Jesus Christ SuperStar.....We met on June 21, 1971 at this campus . I was 14 and he was 16. We were youth leaders in the Washington West District of the United Methodist Church and we were attending a youth training conference for a week. We both were in the same workshop and have been together ever since. He lived in Silver Springs, Maryland and I lived 45 minutes away in Laytonsville . After we left this conference our first "date" was a babysitting job and afterwards dinner at my house. I was testing him to see if he was good with kids...Because I knew I wanted to do something with lots of children someday :) As I have shared before...He passed and the rest is history. I have more to share but as part of our celebration we went back in time these past few days and visited some of our old places in our past...Which if you do the addition was 40 yrs ago...Wow, that sounds old to me but I just don't feel like it has been that long. God has been with us all of these years and it was thru Him we met and our commitment to Him when we married that has brought us to 35 yrs of marriage. We have a quilt hanging made by my maid of honor, Marissa that says, " God loves you, Jesus loves you and I love you. " It was what we would say to each other and she made a quilt for us with it on it.

Tomorrow more pics of our trip .....

A blog worth reading....

2011-12-16T09:39:00.000-05:00

Here is the link to my friend's blog . The one that has made Paul and I think alot about the way we celebrate Christmas....I would encourage you to visit it.

http://communionscribe.blogspot.com/

Another great change for Andrew....

2011-12-15T22:58:00.000-05:00

Andrew is continuing to change and it is such a joy to watch him. When we brought him home it was a very difficult time but things have changed so much thru all the hard times with him and he has taught us all many things. Seeing him have more happy and peaceful times has been wonderful. We have been working with a wonderful child psychologist who is very caring and she has helped us to understand him and she has prescribed some medicines that have changed his life. He is much happier and content with things since he has been on the risperdone. I think we have the right dose for him now. We are still tweeking the trazadone for sleep and just tonite we upped it. Also I went to IKEA today to buy a bunk bed set for the girls and I found a low crib for him. I think it will keep him in and tonite he has been sound asleep for hours...Hopefully he will stay asleep and not wake at 3 am till 6 am....He also had his sedated CT scan last Monday 12/5 and then Dr. K did the balloon procedure on his pyloric valve with success. He has had a bad cold but has not been to irritable. We are hoping this procedure did the trick. The doctor also repeated all of his biopsy studies and they all came back normal for a second time- Praise God ! Can't you tell in his pics above how much more settled he is ?

Jesus vs Santa

2011-12-14T22:50:00.002-05:00

I borrowed this list from a friend. She has a really meaningful blog on many things. I loved this list and her thoughts about Jesus and Santa....

#1 Jesus is real! Santa is pretend!

#2 Jesus existed before man was created! Santa was created by man.

#3 Jesus gives you Himself, all you need! Santa gives you stuff you don't need.

#4 Jesus' gift last forever (even after you die). Santa gifts are only temporary.

#5 Jesus fulfills all your needs and wants. Santa leaves you wanting more.

#6 Jesus provokes selflessness. Santa provokes selfishness.

#7 Jesus gives you true lasting JOY. Santa gives you only passing happiness.

#8 Jesus' miracles are real. Santa miracles aren't real.

#9 Jesus is truth. Santa is a lie.

#10 Jesus is worthy of our attention, affection, and awe. Santa... well.... "he" is not.

So I don't ask my kids what they "want for Christmas?" the very question makes no since. We already received all we could ever want or need on that Christmas long ago.

Psalm 23:1 "The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want."

I ask them how they would like to show God's love this Christmas to the world. And what things would they would like to do that would bring pleasure to their Creator God.

This all may sound crazy to some... I hope not to offend you Santa lovers out there... but this season exists to remind us to give Jesus the honor due and He is worthy of all!

_______________________

Now I am not as developed in my opinion about this issue at Christmas as she is . We have always been gift giving. We have not emphasized Santa . We have I hope emphasized Jesus in the way we celebrate. I do think she brought up some good reasons to not be Santa oriented and to be less materialistic at Christmas...I know Paul and I have struggled with this issue and I think each year we change it more to emphasize what she expresses but I know we are not at the same place as she is but I do appreciate her perspective.

How about you all ? How do you celebrate the birth of Jesus in your home ?

Sometimes they need a little help remembering...

2011-12-13T22:16:00.001-05:00

Caleb and Josiah were playing out front this afternoon. They had been playing a game of football and when it dispursed they were throwing the ball around. I was watching them and I saw what looked like Caleb "jumping" Josiah and then they were fighting. It was all I could do to get out front and boy was I mad as a wet hen when I did. Long and short was they were fighting and they got in trouble for handling their frustrations with each other in this manner. Caleb was more responsible but both owned a part of it. So as part of their teaching or practicing being brothers who show affection and concern for each other they had to hold hands for the nite until bedtime....The pictures show how wonderful they felt or liked being that close to each other but by the end of the nite things were ok...

Celebrating coming home....Connecting to the new life in the family is precious

2011-12-12T22:50:00.000-05:00

Mady did much better tonite ...Of course you see she had cupcakes tonite ( compliments of Uncle Joseph - He did not know how to spell Kloe's name when he ordered the cupcake cake :) They are all doing well but Mady and Ava are spending at least one more nite with Paw Paw and Nana ...Yipee !

It takes time to adjust to a "new normal" I think. Even when you adopt and bring your child into your family this way. For me it is usually about 6 weeks to remember life before the new life. The first week is the hardest but it does get easier...and then one day you just can't remember your life before.

Mady meets Kloe :)

2011-12-11T21:00:00.000-05:00

I love these pics of Mady because you get a sense of how she is reacting to sharing mommy and daddy . She did amazingly well for an almost 18 month old. Lots of energy in this tiny little room and she seemed interested in Kloe for a spit second :) and then she was off to the next thing that captured her attention....and when she need a little bit of help to overcome her hurt feelings ... well then a piece of chocolate helped her get thru that moment :) I loved how cuddly she was tonite in my arms when I rocked her before laying her down....She is not usually put to bed that way but she let me and I loved it.

She is here

2011-12-10T22:53:00.000-05:00

Kloe Grace

Leaving their home this am

Born at 6:25pm- 8lbs. 1 oz.

Pure sweetness for Paw Paw , Grampy and Grammy

Big sister, Ava is pretty cool with it too.

Uncle Joe Joe is all smiles too.

Saturday is Baby day !!!!

2011-12-09T21:36:00.000-05:00

I will be with my daughter, Mary Kate and her husband, Keith tomorrow to help welcome their daughter, Kloe. This is one of my favorite parts of being a Nana....I love being there when they are born. It is such a awesome feeling watching your own child give birth to her child. So be ready for Nana overload pictures...

Chocolate :) Vanilla

2011-12-09T21:29:00.000-05:00

Tonite we had brownies with ice cream and chocolate sauce for dessert. During the time we were eating Isaiah was sitting with Leah. She was only eating the vanilla ice cream and she said, " I don't really like chocolate." Isaiah piped up with, "You do like your chocolate boy !" He just beamed ( nothing sweeter than this little guy's smile) . I asked ,"If I lick you will you taste like chocolate and if you lick me will I taste like vanilla ?" He laughed and said, " Of course." Nothing cutier than a child's perspective. My oh my he sure is so easy to love.

Looking for the stars....

2011-12-09T09:18:00.000-05:00

Isaac and Caleb were outside and ( it was very cold) searching the skies over us for a couple of hours for " things". They called me when they got the moon's craters in site. I love this self entertainment for hours by the kids...and they even were learning while having a great time.

We made it home

2011-12-07T21:14:00.000-05:00

I am exhausted and so is Andrew but we made it home....ah Home. He did great and the doctor was able to open up the pyloric valve. He was very sleepy and took awhile to wake up but soon we were on our way. He did great thru the evening. It was so cute as soon as we got him home...he walked right over to his seat at the table - telling us," I am hungry and you can feed me now." :)

Prayers for our family....and others

2011-12-06T22:50:00.000-05:00

One day there was this rainbow and then later doves ( You know how we always spot doves here ) for a reason....Well this week has already been full of surprises and I am exhausted and it is only Tuesday. Some of the things I am bursting to share but can't just yet :) and some have just been draining emotionally and physically. We were at Johns Hopkins all day Monday with Andrew...He had to have a CT scan and he had to be sedated under general anethesia . The nite before he woke up at 2 am with croup something he never has had before...So we wrapped him in a blanket and sat outside on the deck for about 20 minutes on the swing. He was able to breath better and then he was awake for hours... I called early Mon. to let them know and they said it would not be a show stopper...He did great but just to cover things I had a prescription filled for prednisone in case the intubation irrated his throat more...Fortunately it did not. Then this am Paul went to have a tooth pulled ...I went to the doctors with Joseph for a few things ( all related to what I can't share just yet ) and the doctor heard a clicking sound in Joseph's heart so he is having an echo done and some blood work. While I was there Dr. K our GI specialist called to let us know the results of the CT scan- all normal so he scheduled Andrew for a endoscopic balloon procedure to open up his pyloric valve tomorrow at Johns Hopkins in the am...again he will be under general anesthesia ...This Sat. is also the day Mary Kate will be induced if she does not have the baby before :) :) I also have a medical issue that I am dealing with ( will share more later not related to the other thing I can't share yet). Just today I also heard about a friend whose twin baby boy died...

I did not get home until 8 tonite and last nite was late as well and it is looking like Wed. and Thursday will be the same...I ate dinner at 9:30 both nites- I hate eating late like this but lunch was eaten at 3:30 both days because of all that was going on :( I would covet your prayers very much for our family this week. We have several of the kids with colds as well . I go to bed and wonder what surprises will there be tomorrow....I posted a picture of the rainbow and the doves because I know that the Lord is present in my days even in the surprises and in the fullness of what is happening...I am just tired tonite and need lots more energy for tomorrow.

But you know when I put into perspective my issues or even exhaustion it is so minor compared to the heart ache my friend feels tonite and also what the family of a little boy, named Oliver who has cancer is dealing with...So if you have only a minute to pray - pray for them because they have real issues and heart aches.

Exercising Mady style :)

2011-12-06T21:41:00.002-05:00

On a rainy day we often put this exercise video on for the kids to move some and use up some of their energy in a positive way....None yesterday were moving quite as much as Mady though :)

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

6 years ago today.....The US welcomed 3 wonderful new citizens

2011-12-05T21:59:00.001-05:00

Here is our Christmas pic from 2005 - just after they came home :)

Every December 5 these 3 celebrate the day we flew home and landed on US soil. It was the day they became US citizens . We had spent 6 weeks in Ukraine. The whole month of November and part of Dec.. It was a tough month at home. Two church members died unexpectantly while we were there. Our daughter, Jenn gave birth unexpectantly to our first grand daughter, Ella and we missed her birth and then she was readmitted 3 days later with what they thought might have been menigitus ...all we could do was pray . I say that having learned how important our prayers really are and I don't really mean " all " we could do .

Joseph was 15 almost 16 , Cate turned 13 while we were there and Leah was 11. They were our oldest children at the time of adoption. There transition into the family added lots of energy, and volume :) Cate and Joseph have very loud voices and at times sound like they are yelling. They both have very strong personalities that can rub each other. Matter of fact the director of the orphanage really did not want us to adopt both of them because of their personalities being so strong...but you know her prediction was way wrong. They are extremely close and deeply care about each other and their family. Together they can accomplish lots and are definite leaders in our family. Leah is the quiet one with so much creativity and ability to make something out of nothing. She has never looked back to her previous life and is very satisfied and content being in America. She too is fiercely attached to her family and all 3 have been a blessing way more than we ever could have thought. Watching them "bloom" where they were planted in our family has been a treasure to be a part of. I am always amazed at how well the Lord knew just what children to give us and also how perfectly their needs are being met in their family.

So tonite we celebrate once again the gift of adoption and the gift of their US citizenship. They are thankful to be in their new country and love the USA .

NaNa's Mady- there is nothing better

2011-12-04T21:15:00.000-05:00

Here she is trying to help feed her "Uncle" Andrew....

Hanging with momma

She is just part of the "bunch"

I love this 17 month old and I love her sense of
wonder about life.....

She loved helping decorate our tree....

And then looking at it all lit up... She will turn 18 months of Christmas day...She will also be a big sister by then. Not to sure how she will like the big sister role yet :) She loves what she loves and is not to interested in sharing them ...especially with a baby. So we maybe having lots of Mady time here for awhile :)

My day started with this child.....

2011-12-02T22:02:00.000-05:00

This is Josiah...to say that our life is certainly interesting with his many antics but today he shared finally with me yet another one of his mishaps....Tuesday am Josiah was complaining to me his ear hurt. I gave him some medicine and felt his head. He had no fever and was better . Lily said he had been shaking his head like you do when you have water after swimming....He came into my room this am saying again it hurt. So I asked him if he put anything in his ear. His reply was, " I must have had it on my hand while I was sleeping and when I put my hand up to my ear this fell in." Hum...yeah right Josiah. Anyway the truth finally came out that he put it in early in the week. Luke even was a part of it but never shared ....So I called our doctor and we went in and fortunately he was able to distract it with tweezers and the otoscope or else we would have visited the ENT. Thankfully our doctor was able to. I want an otoscope for Christmas now. I could have done this with the aid of that . I can't tell you how many times having an otoscope would have saved us a trip to the doctors....Oh well it could have been worse. It was a nut just under 1 half an inch that he shoved in his ear. I asked where he got it and he said from his collection. I asked him what else he collects. He said he had some nails in there...At least it was not one of those :)

Paul is out of town visiting our daughter in NC...They left last nite. I had a full day planned for us at home and it did not include running to the doctors...I went to Sams Club this am for my usual weekly shopping there and Cate drove another car and took all the groceries home and Josiah and I went on the doctors. The boys had a birthday party to attend at 1 about 30 minutes away...We got back from the doctor at 12:15 and then my plan was to pile into the 15 passenger with those at home ( minus Cate who was watching Andrew, Mady and Lila for naps and she was picking up Jacob from work at 4:30 ) . After dropping the boys off the rest of us were going Christmas shopping until we had to pick them up....When I got home some gift cards I ordered for presents were delivered by Fed Ex but they had been tampered with. The cardboard envelope had been ripped open and retaped and the free 30.00 vouchers were gone and my gift cards had been used up...So I had to deal with this before we left and then the whole time I was out I got phone calls from the corporate office and the shipping company...finally at 5 tonite they are reissuing me the gift cards and vouchers and mailing them direct from the corporate office...It was 180.00 worth in value. This was my first time ordering online and it was not to pleasant. We will see if if I get them tomorrow ( overnite ) as promised...If not my visa card will stop payment....Way too much time spent today on the unexpected...........

We had to say goodbye for now to our 3 "grand elves"...

2011-12-01T21:46:00.000-05:00

This was our table of littles all week...We actually now have 4 tables but this one was where they ate most of the time.

I will miss their smiles...

And their view of everything...

We had lots of help decorating our "fresh-real" tree.

We had a fun week but now they are headed back to their new home tonite. Paul and Joseph are driving them. It is quieter around here but I sure do wish we were not so far away from each other. The energy and joy they bring is so much fun....

Celebrating Cate turning 19

2011-11-30T22:41:00.000-05:00

Everyone loves Cate....

Letting Ezra help blow out her candles on her cheesecake bites which are a favorite.

Always helping wherever needed and without being asked.

She always has room for a brother or sister or 2.... on her lap.

She deeply and passionately loves her family...especially her little brother, Andrew. He knows this too and responds the most for her. I have learned alot by watching her.....

This is our Cate...always willing to be there with me. She is a second momma, she is able to manage the family when I am gone, cooking for the bunch, orgainizing the day or activity like I would :) She is a gift and a pure servant. I am so happy to be celebrating this daughter of mine's 19th b-day. Her mom was only 13 when she had Cate...In our country she may have been aborted by such a yg. mom. She was placed in the orphanage and lived there until we adopted her at the age of 13. She surprises me with little gifts of love - like yesterday am when I came down to the kitchen I had a plate of eggs, tomatoes, cottage cheese, toast and sparkling cider to drink fixed by her. She has a gift of serving and she is a precious daughter and friend to me. Happy Birthday Cate !

Our Annual Christmas Tree Hunt for The Perfect Tree....

2011-11-29T22:51:00.000-05:00

And we were off....

Even Andrew walked the whole way...

"Daddy and his girls"

We finally found a tree after we walked and walked...The weather was unseasonably warm so the kids did not even need jackets and the farm we go to is a beautiful peaceful place to walk in. It was a great time. afterwards we landed at Burger King . We used to do this all the time with our original 6 so that is what we did this year. Now how many families can fill the entire playarea seating ? :)

This was my best "Black Friday" find :)

2011-11-27T21:52:00.000-05:00

I never go out to shop on Black Friday...I am a huge people watcher and enjoy going out at a more sane time to just meander around a store or two...Just for fun. I found this huge box of chocolates and it was cheap...so I bought it. The best part was seeing the kids eyes get as big as saucers when they first saw it...And it did not take us long to empty it :)

Guess whose coming for dinner times 6 ?

2011-11-26T09:59:00.000-05:00

This coming week ends a time for Jenn and Jeremiah of quite a year of changes. Jeremiah has moved on to a new church plant http://www.thecreekchurch.org/ in Cary , NC. If you live in that area go and visit them but make sure you give them a hug from us when you do...since we don't see them as often as we would like to. Eli had his skull surgery, Jenn went thru a difficult pregnancy and then we were blessed in August with their daughter, Zoe. They have bought a home and will be moving next week and that means we get to love on the 3 older "grand" kids again- without the parents and are we looking forward to it...Let the fun begin !

They have a story to tell.....

2011-11-25T17:12:00.001-05:00

I am finally beginning to write a book that I have wanted to for a long time. Actually since 1990 when I felt the Lord gave me a call to. Last week for school the kids worked on a writing project and that was all they did for school besides their reading. I never thought it would be as special to them as it turned out to be. They had to write their stories...starting from the beginning of their lives. They looked thru some memory books we had made and some of their court documents. Many had tears and some even shared how they felt the Lord was making it very special...like while they were writing it a song came on the radio that ministered deeply to their hearts...It was called , How Great Is Our God- The World Edition with Chris Tomlin. It was a very positive experience and not one I could have planned for it to be... I plan on posting each story here and then it will be a part of the book I am writing. So stay tuned for some special blessings and to hear how the Lord was a part of each one of their lives.

I am Thankful ....

2011-11-24T20:59:00.000-05:00

Waiting to eat our brunch...Thankful we have food to eat and loved ones around us to enjoy it together.

Cuddling with Mady...Thankful for the life in our family..."grand" ones and adopted ones and bio. ones and their families.....

The family sitting down after filling their plates...others are still doing that and they are not in the picture. Thankful for such a large family....and the ability to take care of them all...Plenty of love to go around and then some.....

Praise God from whom all blessings flow.....

I am thankful for our home...and for our electricity

2011-11-23T22:38:00.000-05:00

We have added on 4 additions and we use them . I never thought we would ever have been able to do this but it has been amazing to see our needs met by the Lord. Tonite we hosted some friends of ours who are in the young adult group at church . Funny though about 5 pm just after I got our dinner fixed...we lost our electricity :) . We managed but in 2 hrs we were expecting around 20 some yg adults... Allegany Electric estimated it would be back on in a few hours...We decided to go ahead anyway . We lit lots of candles and our little kids went home with Mary Kate and Keith to watch the movie. We had the group over in the dark- with lots of candles and it was fun. About 3 plus hours it came back on....but only ours did on the whole street...and the funny thing was the group had prayed for it to and just as they did the lights were on :) Our next door neighbor called about 20 minutes later when she noticed ours were on and not hers. I told her I would send the group over to pray :) Actually we enjoyed the time with no electricity - other than I could not bake the snacks until later when it came on.

The bottom pic is Abraham and his girlfriend, Deanna :)

Sadie , Emma and Willie are certainly some of our best therapists.....

2011-11-22T23:27:00.000-05:00

Willie- He is the old man now. He turns 11 in January.

Emma ( she was the runt) and she is still the smaller one of the two puppies...

Sadie was the biggest in the litter. We were only going to bring home one puppy for the kids last Christmas but when Emma came running out of the pen and you could see how small she was I knew we would be coming home with 2.

We all love our dogs...and they are such a big part of the family. They help the kids learn so much and give unconditional love....

Celebrating the holidays thru the eyes of our new children- Joy

2011-11-21T10:05:00.001-05:00

One of our best or most memorable times with our adoptions has been to watch the child discover the holidays as we celebrate them. Most of them had no celebrations to just a shoebox from Operation Shoebox with Franklin Graham's organization. There was sometimes a party with the caregivers getting drunk and candy given to the kids but really most of them when they have come home have little memories or very negative ones of the holidays. So it has been very touching to me to see them start building some positive memories with us . One of them is to look thru the catelogs and dream...I did this too as a child and I now love looking thru garden catelogs in January. I "caught" them going thru this one this am on the island and then they moved to the green room. I love hearing them exclaim to each other the diff. things they like or would enjoy...or "wonder what this does?" Life for them before was not filled with dreams or hopes of many things like we have or do...their bellies may have been hungry, their bodies not clean and their toys were trash that they found around but not anymore...they have a family who loves them, who shares their life and cares that they are bathed, fed healthy food and given opportunities to be all that the Lord desires... and yes to learn about why we celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Even Mady loves to watch football with her uncles and some talk of turkey....

2011-11-20T14:30:00.000-05:00

Mady just backed up into the left arm of Josiah...She plopped herself down and watched the game :)
Then in our preparations for Thanksgiving today we took out our turkeys from the freezer...We added up the amount of turkey- 60.5 lbs in all. I hope I get at least one turkey sandwich the day after. Usually I don't because the eat it up Thanksgiving. They just opened up a new Food Lion and on the first day the 2 cheaper turkeys were only 13 cents/lb...They were like 6 and 7 something. Our Butterball was regular price and that will be our main one. We start looking for the biggest one we can find whenever they put them out...Uusally we only buy a turkey if it is over 22 lbs and we buy two for us ...but this time we added the 3d since it was so cheap...thanking the Lord for His provision. Also someone we met at Sam's Club has offered a whole deer to us. Since we are not hunters I am not sure what this means but I have tasted venision and I am sure the kids will like it. Again I love watching how He does provide for us and we are grateful for this.

We could not wait any longer....

2011-11-19T22:21:00.000-05:00

We decided to decorate today for the holidays. Well at least some of us did. We decorated our house inside and out...Except for the live Christmas tree we go out to cut as a family next weekend we are done. The reaction from our Ghana kiddos was precious. We have lots of artificial trees and when they saw them they asked, " What is that ?" The kids are excited and so am I. We are off from school this week and the celebration of Christ's birth has begun....

Today while some decorated the others played outside. It has been cold the last few days but the kids still play outside. We are the only family in the area we ever see outside...It is really odd and it does not matter what the weather...no one is outside much around here...but us. There are plenty of us for all to have a good time.

Look how far he has come ....

2011-11-18T19:40:00.002-05:00

The picture on top is how Andrew was fed for the first 6 yrs of his life. This video was taken today...He is beginning to feed himself at the age of 7. You are awesome Andrew...and you continue to amaze us.

Learning how to be a princess...Is ok for the boys too :)

2011-11-17T14:16:00.000-05:00

One of the little girls favorite videos is by Barbie, Island Princess - How to be a Princess. They change into fancy dresses or dress ups and watch and do all the things it teaches... Even Mady got in on it.The funny thing is watching the younger boys ( Luke and Isaiah) doing it too :) Apparently for Luke and Isaiah it is ok to watch the princess video...but it looks like I "caught" Luke here practicing. I just love these boys.

Celebrating 15 yrs. of our Tia's life......

2011-11-16T20:02:00.000-05:00

And she was all smiles.....happy birthday sweetheart.

We are all loving our new, cuddly, happy Andrew....

2011-11-15T22:12:00.000-05:00

Andrew has been on the Risperdone now for little over 2 weeks now and we have seen a huge improvement in his behavior. He was not sleeping all thru the nite but I had to follow up with our peds. psychologist Monday by phone to give her an update and she agreed with us to up his dose...We did and today he has been a delight. Last week he started being more verbal than he ever has and now we are beginning to teach him to feed himself :) He was very compliant with our efforts and I know soon we will have him doing this on his own....He is also very cuddly as you can see with Joseph and Mya ( She can hardly hold him but don't tell her that ).

They are staying home.... and we couldn't be happier

2011-11-14T22:03:00.001-05:00

Well some of you know we have been trying to figure out if we could get Gracie and Andrew better services or help them by placing them in public school here. We started in late August by contacting the school authorities here about what is available to them. They have come to our home, and observed and evaluated both of them. Today we had a mtg. at the school setting they were considering for their placement. We had a very positive 2 hr mtg....Paul and I liked all the personnel that was involved and we were ready to make a decision about them coming to this placement...until we walked to the actual classroom and we were very discouraged to say the least. The classroom teacher had been a part of our mtg. so we had already met her. There are presently only 3 students in this class and we met them.... and they were very sweet kids. It was just seeing the environment and lack of stimulation, colors and even organization in the classroom. it did not look very welcoming to us and we came away with the same reaction....We are giving them way more than this setting could. We have 20 some people who constantly interact , stimulate and love on them...Actually there have been a few times in our lives with kids that we have felt so encouraged by what we are doing with the kids...Sure at times we wonder are we doing the best we could for them....After today there was no doubt how well we do manage and teach and provide a stimulating environment for our kids. It is not even a " pat on our back" kind of realization it was more like a light bulb of knowledge that we have seen huge changes for the positive, we have watched both of them grow, overcome significant abuse and neglect and there really is no better setting for them than to be home for thier education. We have such a peace about this and are glad we went thru the last few months to reach this conclusion. I have no doubt that if they go to school they will not do as well, they may even regress . So as tempting as it was to consider we are home...coming up with inventive ways to make assistive learning devices like we always have.

I shared the pic of Graice taken last week at her first dentist appt.. We waited almost 2 yrs to take her to the dentist because of her sensory issues. She had to have 2 small cavities filled and she did wonderful . Just to show you how far she has come along...and then the picture of Andrew is one of my favorites...He is just hanging around daddy like any of the kids would....It feels so peaceful in my heart to have come to this decision.

Ever since I saw there faces my heart was gone....

2011-11-14T21:19:00.000-05:00

Actually both of their faces melt my heart...Isaiah and Mya just have that smile that radiates joy. Both are fun to be around and you never want to discipline them :) because they are so darn cute. When they do get in trouble they react deeply to any words that show they did not make you happy....people pleasers.

Our weekend was full....

2011-11-13T22:10:00.000-05:00

Of a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Friday Paul took me out for my b-day present - ( Around here the wknd starts on Fridays :) Early in the am Sat. thru the whole day Paul and the kids got the outside ready for winter. MK , Keith and I went to IKEA for some last minute baby items ( remember she could have our precious Kloe any time)....They did an awesome job outside and all were really tired Sat. nite. Sunday it was my turn to stay home with Andrew...a quiet morning at home was nice. Then the kids played some football, and we watched some football . I took some of the girls out to shop for Tia's b-day and some of them needed new shoes. Selah has gotten taller so I had to buy her some new long pants. We usually eat our dinner at lunch and eat whatever you want in the evenings on Sunday...It was a little bit of leftovers and a lot of junk food tonite :( but the kids loved it.

Who said kids need toys...just give them a box

2011-11-12T21:53:00.000-05:00

This is the box our new recliner came in...it has been played with, colored on and disguised as many things...even Sadie ( one of our dogs wanted in on the play). I think that even some took a nap in the box.

This is the Main Street where Paul and I went to college....and where he

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asked me to marry him :) This was my birthday present today...just a little late but we both had a great time remembering and the drive here was beautiful.We went to Frostburg State College for our first 2 yrs...We had dated 5 yrs before that- childhood sweethearts . Paul was a semester ahead of me and I followed him to college. He left to attend WVU's Forestry program after I was there 3 semesters . He would drive down from WVU on weekends and it was on one of those trips that he proposed to me.

Today we drove around and then went to Grantsville to the Penn Alps Restaurant. There is an artisan Village on the same property that we have visited before. The last time was 10 yrs ago...There is a potter, Lynn Lais whom we met. He was there today and it was good to reconnect. We bought 2 pieces of his pottery to remember our day. It was a special day spent with my favorite guy.

We had to say good bye tonite...and it was tough

2011-11-10T22:47:00.000-05:00

This is one of the reasons I love my husband of 35 yrs so much. Paul and I have a deep love for dogs. We always have connected that way...We would help- adopt strays when we were first married. Even one time in college a state trooper brought 2 pups he found and we took them and found homes- one of which was Paul's family. They were days old and we bottle fed them. We have always shared a love for our dogs. They are a part of the family. They live in the house with all the rest of us. I can't tell you how many times my sweet dog has laid their head on my lap when I was upset. I am sure for many of you the feeling is the same for your special pet.

Tonite we had to make the decision to put our Katy down. She was almost 15 yrs old. Which for a dog especially her size is a long life. Even the vet was surprised at her age...Paul said, " Lots of good exercise and plenty of kids to love on her." Her death is especially sad for Paul and I since she is the last remnanat of our first family. We have essentially raised two families...Our original group of kids are grown adults now with their own families...Katy was an integral part of their lives. She has been loved by all 27 of our children and tonite Paul and I had to tell her goodbye. We will miss you Katy girl and thanks for some special memories. Of all the dogs we have had she was without a doubt the most obedient one. She loved to ride in a car and we could take her with us. She would even walk without a leash and listen to us...Always ready to play even in the end.

It was empty until we came....

2011-11-09T07:53:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was gorgeous so we went to Ft. Frederick for a field trip. It is a beautiful fort only 25 minutes from us. There was no one there until we showed up. History is a favorite subject for our family and we live in a very important historical area. Field trips are one of my favorite parts of our homeschool. This one was free and not crowded too.

Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow.....

2011-11-07T19:34:00.000-05:00

I can't share our praise today and not sure when I can but we are praising God for a special blessing today ! I don't want this day to end without giving Him all the credit and glory...Amen !

How do we get some things done :)

2011-11-06T14:21:00.001-05:00

Socks are an issue always here. I just bought 6 groups of as different as I can find pairs of socks for 6 of the little ones. We have clothes folders who fold all of our laundry each day of the week...and many times they don't do the socks correctly or they give clothes to the wrong person...but we work thru this eventually. You are not suppose to put away in your drawers any clothes that don't belong to you in theory at least :)

Leah was the meat carver Friday nite when we had rotisserie chicken...I never make the meals by myself...We all pitch in and help . Some have chores to do that help us to "get it done"...Here is Paul with his computer program that helps him to organize the chores for the new month of November. They are given for a week at a time. We post the chore chart in the kitchen for all to see. There are no arguments about what has to be done...because it is on the chart.

Now those of you with kids will relate and especially those of you with a large family will and then you will totally understand if you have special needs children---Ones who have trouble holding still or focusing for any amount of time :) what it is like to take a group picture. Today at church they were doing this for the new church directory. So I handed the camera to the photographer to take one for us on my camera too ? It worked and was fast too...They actually took a picture of the whole church after church today...It sort of felt like us taking pictures of our family but on a grander scale :)

I just saw this on another blog.....National Adoption Month

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Since it is National Adoption Month and I know there are lots of children who need families I wanted to share this. Not that I am trying to take away from a man's life...I just want to encourage someone to save a life...Maybe you can help.

They love looking at these ....

2011-11-04T19:52:00.000-04:00

After dinner, Gracie and Lila were looking at the toy catalogs from Kmart, Walmart and Toys R Us. I catch the kids going thru them all the time this time of the year. Sometimes toys will be circled to give hints....I remember my older kids doing the same thing....dreaming of all the toys in these catalogs.

Soon there will be 3....

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And we can't wait....I love my "grand babies". These 2 just happen to live only 3 miles from us. Jenn's family lives 6 hrs away and we do the best we can to see them often but never enough. Laura Jeane's boys live 30 minutes away but we don't see them very often - It's a private reason ( someday I will post about it) but we just aren't allowed to very often...but we are so glad to have Mady, Ava and soon Kloe minutes away :) They sure brighten our day almost every day :)

One of the many issues that Andrew has is solved ?

2011-11-02T20:44:00.000-04:00

I heard from the GI specialist tonite about the results of his endoscope. He is Negative for H. Pyloria- PTL. So what has caused his vomiting since that was cured ? I have to be honest until his endoscope last week I would not have thought this but ever since he had it done we have not had any vomiting. The doctor shared with us that when she did the scope she could not get thru the pyloric valve

with the normal tubing scope for his size. She had to switch to a much smaller one because it was very constricted and tight. So tight that she felt he was not able to empty the contents of his stomach normally because of all the scar tissue from the H. Pyloria and the acid reflux damage. She thought that he might need a procedure to open it up. Well every since they did the scope he has not vomited at all. It has been 6 days now and he has not thrown up . I shared this with them tonite and she agreed that the valve was the issue. They were going to schedule him for a gastric emptying procedure next but feel now that is not necessary. We will hope and pray that the scope did it :) If it returns than we would go ahead with it but now it is not necessary....I was so glad to hear this.

On another update we saw a child psychologist for an evaluation for his sleep issues last Friday. I really liked her and felt she was sincere and really cared about Andrew. She felt he would benefit with what I had already researched and talked with our pediatrician about. We started him on Risperidone and we have already seen some positives to his sleep issues as well as his negative styming behaviors. The full benefit of this medicine takes a month but we are so far happy with his reaction to it. He seems happier and more content...more later on this.

He did get a bad cold over the weekend and having the intubation tube down his throat did not help . I took him to the pediatrician and she has him on an antibiotic and prednisone because she felt his throat was very swollen..He is better tonite but even with all of this he has been happier about things than he was :)

Mady was really not sure of a baby....

2011-11-01T20:04:00.000-04:00

Well to say that Mady was over joyed with sharing Nana , Pawpaw or her own momma and daddy with Jenn's little one, Zoe is a big stretch of the imagination. Even after they left she would sit in the rocker that Zoe was in and would rock her own baby....She will have to adjust to the new little sister when she comes...and it is getting very close to the time too :)

All dressed up and lots of places to go.....

2011-10-31T20:49:00.000-04:00

We always make carmel apples - 30 this year.

Keith and Paul took the little ones trick or treating and they loved it.

Gracie and Lila were sick today...both have ear infections and chest colds so they had to stay home. Can you tell they were not happy but we had fun at home with those who were here.

Apparently having 2 brothers who are blind is cool or....

2011-10-30T21:08:00.000-04:00

they were doing sensitivity training :) I came outside last week to check on the kids and this is what I found...They were pretending one of them was blind and the other one was leading them around. They had been doing this for some time. I love how they are so natural with each others disabilities...they really don't see them as "dis" abilities but as ways to overcome and shine. They encourage each other and won't let the one who struggles even think it is a weakness....I love , love this about them.

They watched and waited for these words," You can go outside"

2011-10-29T20:56:00.000-04:00

First snow ever for our 3 children from Ghana and they loved it :) It is so exciting to watch them as they discover a new thing. Can you imgine Christmas ? Lila has a cold and she was not allowed to play outside but when she first saw it she just stood at the window and kept saying over and over, " It is so beautiful. "

Mya and her brother, Andrew loved for who he is......

2011-10-28T23:39:00.000-04:00

She will lie down with him and just be with him.

The other day during school Andrew decided he wanted to be up with ...ah on Mya :) He is funny that way. So he climbed up on top of her and was perfectly happy to perch on top of her while she did school.

She was just as content with him on her. I love the heart of my kids for each other. Andrew sometimes throws up. He drools and can be very determined to get his way but his siblings always put up with this and even more they just love him the way he is.

Praising God for being with our son Jacob this am when he totalled his car

2011-10-27T23:23:00.001-04:00

In my previous post today I spoke about how intense our life is. When I posted it this accident had already happened. Jacob was late going to work and was driving too fast . He lost control of his car spun twice, hit a telephone pole and cracked it in half and the car landed on its side. He had to climb out of the back window. Fortunately there was no one coming in the on coming lane ( a miracle here because it is a crowded area). No one was hurt...he says he is OK just has a headache. Thankfully it worked out the way it did but he has no car now...His was totalled .

The bottom pic is Andrew today in post op. He was so sweet and unusually cuddly...but tonite while I was out to dinner and Christmas shopping with Mary Kate they called to say he was running a fever of 103. I ran home to check and I called the on call doctor...He is not concerned yet but I am exhausted and I am waiting to give him a dose of ibuprophen at midnite. We gave him tylenol at 10 but had to see from the doctor about the ibuprophen ...you are not suppose to give ibuprophen after this procedure. Dr. said it was fine since it is a better fever reducer so I am up waiting to give him that because with a bath , and took off his blanket sleeper and tylenol it has not changed in 1hr. and 15 min.....

Now this day may seem a bit full for some people but to be honest many of our days are filled with huge events like this....Praise God for meeting us and providing in all areas of our life. It is intense and full all the time but I would not have it any other way.

Really who has a calendar by their toilet ?

2011-10-27T17:52:00.000-04:00

My days , my weeks and my months of the year are filled with appointments. Since we have adopted so many special needs children seeing specialists, therapists, having surgeries ( at least 94 in 8 yrs) for our children my life is often ruled by my calendar. I am ocd orgainizer...so I have to admit it is me who has placed a calendar by our toilet :) as well as there is one in the kitchen and this smaller one in my purse ( suitcase :) Actually as I have shared before our life is best described by the word intense. We never do something that is normal or above the top ....This past week I have had at least 2 appt.s every day or today I was at Hopkins most of the day with Andrew's procedure. This week we had some very significant appts. and I am anxious to get the results of today's biopsies and some of the evaluations that were done. The week that was more blank was the week my "grand" babies from NC came and of course Nana cleared her calendar for my sweethearts . I once had a doctor who saw my calendar suggest an electronic app. for my phone....Unfortunately I am more of a paper person...I like a paper calendar in my hands ....I just need to see my goings and comings when I start my day and when I end it upstairs in the bathroom :)

Please pray for this greasy little guy tomorrow

2011-10-26T22:11:00.001-04:00

This is how we found Andrew this morning.....There was Eucerin cream everywhere :) He found the tub of it and decided to smear it all over himself, the bed, the wall , his toys and I am sure he tasted it as well....My oh my little guy what are we going to do ? He loved it though. Tomorrow he is having an endoscopic study done at Johns Hopkins with our new GI specialist we have been using since August. He will be put to sleep and he did great the last time in January..... He is still vomiting . I requested it and have a feeling about what it might be. We also have again tried gluten free and dairy free diets but there was no change in his vomiting. His abdominal sonogram report was normal ...even though the tech. as she was doing it stated she could not get a good picture of his pancreas because he had lots of gas. His vomiting usually comes with a burp. Any guess as to what might be causing it ? I will share mine tomorrow after we are home. I am sure if he did not eat Eucerin cream that might help him too :)

Two of some of my favorite gifts ....

2011-10-26T20:11:00.000-04:00

These flags represent the countries where our children were born in....all 27 children- from l to r they are Russia, Mexico, USA, Ukraine, Ghana, and Bulgaria.

This is a sign with a saying that I think shares about the ability of our family to "Get things done" and we hope we give God the glory. Cate got the flags for me and Jonas made the sign.

Just because ......

2011-10-25T23:18:00.000-04:00

it was a gorgeous evening tonite we ate outside and had a "fire camp".

Then Abraham got his guitar and we listened to him play and sing and we sang along. My family can put away some marshmellows too.

She thought my pumpkins needed to be rearranged....

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She is so much fun...and has so much attitude...mmmm I can just squish those cheeks. Love Love Love her.

A lovely afternoon at the park with some of my favorite people......

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I LOVE the smile of a child........

The Boys.....Ezra and Eli

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Ezra spent most of his time drawing or getting someone else to draw a truck. It was a good thing I had lots of paper :)

After his nap he was my buddy...for the rest of the nite. He had to sit by me at dinner and wanted me to do everything for him...Of course Nana was more than happy with this. Especially since they live in NC and I don't get the chance as often as I would like to cuddle with him.

You can imagine what Ezra's comment was about his tootise roll :)

Then there is Eli...gets along with all the kids but he especially loves his cousin, Ava...actually more like a crush on her.

Last nite Eli went to a Mexican restaurant with Uncle Joseph and Ben...and he loved it. Ezra was invited but chose to stay with Nana......

First time no training wheels

2011-10-21T22:28:00.002-04:00

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
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For mommy and daddy....

2011-10-21T21:40:00.001-04:00

Ella riding her bike for the first time with no training wheels and look at her roller blade

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
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Ella learning to ride her bike with no training wheels and to roller blade :)

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She did it....