Happy Birthday Andrew

Happy Birthday Andrew Happy Birthday Andrew Happy Birthday Andrew

   He turns 8 today and I feel like celebrating …more later.

Happy birthday to Anna was celebrated lots thru her dessert

Mady wanted to help Nana make "dirt dessert" for Anna's b-day. 

Well…sort of help- Really she wanted to lick those beaters :)

Then daddy showed up - " Should I or shouldn't I "

Everyone was happy that Anna chose dirt dessert. Happy 17th b-day . We loved celebrating your life and you are an amazing young lady and the best giver of a massage :)

And sometime there will be 2 more :)

   
Now there are 5 Johnsons but soon there will be 7. This is our adoption news….Our daughter, Mary Kate and her husband, Keith are adopting 2 precious children. These 2 children will make 11 "grand" babies for us. Laura Jeane and Brian - Tyler and Drew, Jenn and Jeremiah- Ella, Eli, Ezra and Zoe ( Eli was our first adopted grand child), and Mary Kate and Keith - Ava, Mady, Kloe and their 2 new ones. I can't share the details yet but when I can I will. We praise the Lord for the blessing of children. It is very special to watch your own children follow in your footsteps towards something you feel very passionate about.

It was a " banana split nite" for the littles here

 Since the older kids went to church tonite we decided to have banana splits for fun. They were yummy.

 

We were asked to be on the show Wipe Out ...not sure that we will...but Jacob bought the Wii game Wipe Out. We also watched the tv show over the wknd...the kids laughed and laughed ( It is not my kind of humor) but it was fun watching the kids laugh...and tonite it was the same watching them play the game. Let's just say we know who would not be participating in the real Wipe Out if we do it ( Cate- the one on the right :)

Ask them about Christopher Columbus

 

I have been able to teach this year using my favorite method- unit studies. I have tried to share some of our ideas . Since yesterday was Columbus Day we just did our hour of math and I tied in the rest of our school to learning about Christopher Columbus. These were some of the worksheets we did as a group and individually. I also found a really good video on Discovery Education ( free) that the kids watched. I joined Enchanted Learning for another year and they had some great resources as well to help. Last nite we all watched one of my favorite movies Master and Commander with Russell Crowe. It shows well the life of sailing and living on a ship besides alot of other great character buidling traits.

Anyone else care to share any educational sites they use for their teaching that would be great. I can spend my whole nite or wknds...planning.

Don't you love pinterest ?

 

This is just one of the recent pins I made from Pinterest... Apple Dumplings. I have made several recipes from Pinterest and everyone of them has been very delicious and amazingly simple to make. These apple dumplings were shared first to me by my friend, Shelly on her blog for foods that are easy for kids to make. These would be a fun and simple dish for children to make.

Ingredients-

2 whole granny smith apples ( any tart kind would do)
2 cans of crescent rolls
2 sticks of butter
1 and 1half cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
cinnamon to taste
1 can Mountain Dew

Prepareation-

Peel and core apples
Cut each apple into 8 slices each
Roll each apple slice in a crescent roll and place in a buttered pan
Melt the butter and pour over apples
Pour Mt. Dew ( 12oz. can) around the edges of the pan
Sprinkle with cinnamon
Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes
Serve with ice cream- spoon some of the sweet sauces from the pan over the top

I tell you they were " out of site" in no time...yummy.

Please share any recipes your family likes.....

The Price of A Child is Costly- " Thank you for wanting me"

 

We watched the movie, October Baby last week. It was a good movie and one that even made me reflect deep into my heart and soul about my children.....especially the very last sentence spoken by the woman to her adopted father- " Thank you for wanting me." After the movie was over I watched as each child of mine still at home passed by me and gave me a hug good nite. I looked more deeply into their eyes and I wondered...did they to feel that no one wanted them? More importantly do they know how deep was our desire to love them as our son or daughter? Did they know how special and precious was the day we heard their new last name as Briggs ? To be able to say to them, " You are my son/daughter today. I am your momma or dad" was as life changing for us as it was for them. It was the same as I gave birth to my bio. children. I have been thinking of many thoughts I've wanted to share here and I hope it comes together like my thoughts are in my head and my feelings are in my heart.

 

We have some adoption news to share but can't just yet.I have heard about the conversations surrounding a family's decision to adopt. Often adoption is not well received by the ones who are closest to us...at least not always at first. Some comments are said that can really hurt the family who have stepped into the journey of adoption. Many times these comments are said in innocence but often they are not. We have heard very few of them if you can believe that...maybe people think them but don't share but, I am aware of others who have and it hurts me. It hurts because the children who are birthed thru adoption are no less a child in the momma's heart. To hear comments that reflect this hurt. I think all children are a blessing and deserve to be celebrated for the new life God has given to the family. Comments surounding the cost of the adoption can also be insensitive...like, " It's your money you can spend it how you want. " cut deep to the core of a momma's heart. It sounds almost like they are comparing the adoption of a child to the adoption of a dog, buying a car, or spending money on a vacation when it is said like that. Adopting a child is costly. It is costly in more ways than just money. The process of adoption is very emotional with all the ups and downs of the legal process...We have experienced many times the joy of getting a referral to the deep pain of losing the child we had already begun to bond with in our heart. I also have experienced the loss of a baby during my pregnancy and the pain of a miscarriage and loss of the opportunity to adopt a specific child are a similar pain. I have also invested much in the lives of my children and have had some lost to my life by their own choice and walk. They are always in my heart but not in my daily life . I miss them but understand their choice. It still is a cost paid for deeply in my heart. Life can be challenging to adopt 25 children ( many with special needs) and to have given birth to 5 bio. children ....but when I look in the eyes of my child I know that they were wanted. I know how deep I ached to hold them in my arms. I remember my tears of joy and pain as I have watched them struggle to overcome a past that I had no part of...but I am encouraged by the child that is before me for I know they are given to Paul and I as a blessing...and I would hope I would never think of them as any less than this. Yes, the price of a child is costly but the joy of knowing that they know they all were wanted ( bio. and adopted) is worth all the cost and pain.

 

We often get asked, " How do you do it?" Our response is from 2 Corinthians 5:14....for Christ's love compels us. Are you feeling the love of Christ in your life ? What might he be challenging you to ? What is so convicting to your soul that you can too say, " for Christ's love compels us."