Sweet Friends and Burgers, Burgers, Burgers....

You may remember me posting about our sweet friends Roxanne, Terry and little Eric. They had a referral for a beautiful little 5 year old girl from Ethiopia and just before their court date officials from her region came to the transition home and took her away. It is a long and complicated story, but to make it short, they will not be getting their little girl. Recently, they have gone back on the wait list for another child and although their hearts are broken they are healing. Sometimes dealing with foreign governments can be very difficult. For now though, look at the sweet addition they just made to their family.

Friends of ours had some puppies and what better way to mend a broken heart than a sweet little puppy like this?  They came down last weekend and picked her up.  She is named Lucy and is just the cutest thing.  She is a Bechon/Maltese mix and they have fallen in love. That makes me so happy:)

Today we went on a field trip to In N' Out Burger.  The kids got to go behind the counter and learn how to make all the food.  They then fed us at the end.  Wonderful! Levi has decided it is not cool to smile for pictures anymore.  He has a girl he has a crush on and he was more interested in impressing her:) Garrett had a great time teasing him the entire time.  Great brotherly love going on there. 

My friend, Lisa, sent me this picture she found on her phone of Amelia and Paige on Halloween.  Amelia was a ballerina and she was upset that her orange candy bag did not match her outfit.  Love that girl, she makes me smile every. single. day.  They both look like they are having a very serious conversation, probably trying to decide how they can sneak another piece of candy. Little stinkers:)

In other news, can you please pray for our family?  We have a very important decision to make by tomorrow and we want to make sure we are walking in God's will for our families lives.  I will explain more later, but if you are a prayer warrior, a few sent our families way would be greatly appreciated.

I am off to change my clothes.  Hubby and I are off on a date this evening.  Yippee!!

Grandpa's 86th Birthday

We celebrated my Dad's birthday yesterday. His first without my mom. He usually doesn't want any "fuss" over his birthday and rarely let us celebrate it throughout the years. However, this year he told the grandkids they could give him a little party.

He asked us not to buy him any gifts, but what is a birthday party without gifts?  The grandkids got him something small, he let Paige and Amelia open it.

A dozen of his favorite donuts.

That brought a smile to his face:)

Blowing out the candles with the grandkids looking on.  They really do love their grandpa so much!

Just hanging out listening to Grandpa tell his stories.

Grandpa with 9 of his grandchildren.  My Dad hates having his picture taken.  He refused to look up and smile.  This must be where Tyler gets it, although, he did smile for this picture. 

Grandpa brought over his favorite World War 2 movie, Battleground, and he and all the grandkids watched it together.  He gave them a history lesson on the uniforms the men were wearing and told them stories of how he used to be a drill Sargent and how that worked.  He says this is the most authentic movie made about World War 2.  I didn't get to watch it (I was busy making our spaghetti dinner), but all the kids seemed to enjoy it.  All I know is that it had seem really loud battle scenes:)

My Dad is settling into his new normal after the death of my mom last June.  He has had some anxiety issues, which I think is to be expected when you lose your wife of over 50 years.  He did have a small heart attack a few months after mom died, but he is fine now.  The doctor says it was small and did not do any real damage to his heart.  He told the kids and I that he is going to look for a dance partner so he can start swing dancing again.  He would prefer that she was married, he doesn't have time for any of that romantic stuff, he says.  Yes....I think Dad will be just fine:)

A Day At The Zoo

The Los Angeles Zoo has a great family pass. We purchased one for $60.00 last summer. It includes the whole family so it is a great bargain for Large Families.

We met some friends there from our school group.

Here is Amelia and a few of her little friends goofing around while we waited for the bird show to start.  Aren't they all so cute?

Here are the flamingo's that are right when you walk in.  I have fond memories of sitting on the steps in front of them with my mom as a young girl:)

Paige loved all the animals.  She would just stand in front of them all day long and watch if the other kids would let her.  She really liked this elephant.

Here is our beautiful Samantha in front of one of the painted Elephants.  These were really pretty but some of them had strange images on them.  One had a Chihuahua  painted on it.  What does that have to do with a zoo?

Dave and Paige in front of the giraffe's.  They were so cute!

This picture cracks me up.  That is Paige's "I really don't want to smile for you" face.  Levi looks really tired at this point in the day.  We were on our way to the car.  It was in the high 80's today, a little warmer than I had hoped for all that walking.

Paige watching the ape on the top of the rocks.

This orangutan had just had a baby.  She was nursing him, and let me just tell you that when she was done I was shocked at her breastage.  Oh my, that girl had some milk.  It was like watching a naked woman walk around.  I had to giggle that the kids were so busy admiring the baby they didn't notice.  I was thankful for that:)  I didn't want to have to answer any questions right then and there. Ha.

Right before going home Garrett and a friend went and got some shaved ice.  The guy running the cart was just closing up so he made them each a gigantic one with all his left over ice.  Really nice, but can you see how huge these things were.  Unfortunately, most of it ended up falling to the ground.  The boys thought it was awesome though!

Walking up our last hill to get out of the zoo.  Man that place is hilly.  They are doing remodeling so the trams weren't running.  We must have literally walked 10 miles.

We rented a stroller.  Even the big kids had fun hanging out in it:)

They have a great playground at this zoo.  We tried to take a picture of the three youngest children on the little elephant but Levi was in a funk. I call this his Ethiopian pout. 

When we were getting ready to leave he wanted an ice cream. I told him that I would love one also but they were $3.50 a piece and I didn't want to pay $25.00 for us each to have one plain ice cream cone.

He got mad.

The kids then wanted to hit the gift shop on the way out of the zoo.  I told each of them that they could have $3.00 for a little treat but anything they wanted that cost more than that they would have to make up the difference.  Everyone was fine with that except Levi.  He wanted a snake that cost $10.00 but didn't want to pay the difference himself.

It really wasn't about the money.  We learned from our older kids that many times the kids want these little toys, that cost so much, but then discard them as soon as we get home.  We're trying to teach them about making money choices early in life.  

Paige and Amelia both picked these cute animal bubbles.  Levi was standing firm.  I showed him some cool pens, candy, etc..  But he didn't want that.  Dave told him he had two minutes to decide and when he didn't we left without him getting anything.  That might sound mean but life is all about making choices.  It's better he learns that now rather than later.

When we were walking to the car he grumbled to me that I could have helped him find something.  I tried to.  He then said that we never buy him anything.  Oh my, that sent me over the edge.  You see, our boy loves baseball.  He wanted a new catchers mitt, practice pants (which he didn't need) and catchers gear.  He has received all of these things recently.  Oh yeah, I forgot the new bat.  If your child plays sports you know how much all of this costs.  His sisters NEVER ask for anything.  I reminded him of all of this.  He seemed sorry and walked to the car.

On the way home we went through McDonald's and got everyone a soft serve cone for a total of under $5.00.  That brightened his mood and helped him understand about money choices.  He quickly figured out how much money we had saved on that choice.  A lesson learned:)

He was perfectly happy by the time we got home and the girls shared their bubbles with him.

Another great day in the life of our family:)

Completely Broken

I went on Reece's Rainbow tonight to look at the waiting children's pages.  When I do this my body screams out.  Noooo! Don't do it! Because it knows my heart is broken in two for many days after.

So many beautiful children.  Many with large grants.  When I look into their faces I know that they have little time.  The children will be transferred to mental institutions if they are not adopted by the age of 4-6.  It doesn't matter that they only have down syndrome, are HIV positive or maybe have Hep C.  They will be sent.  There they will most likely die from neglect.  The truth hurts and when I look into their eyes I want to save them all. 

This little girl reminds me so much of our Paige.  Our Paige, who if she had been born in the Ukraine, would most likely now be in an institution due to her delays.  I go back and look at this little girl all the time. There are so many others on this site that I have watched wondering why no one will adopt them, and then I realize, how can I wonder that when I am not willing to go.

Not willing is probably to strong of a word.  I would say afraid is more appropriate.  Where would we get the money? How would it affect our families life to bring a child with special needs into our family.  Would God really provide for all of our needs? Why is my faith so weak?

Today I read this in Proverbs 24.

By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures.  24:3

When I look at the pictures of the children on Reece's Rainbow I see that they are all rare and beautiful treasures made for a loving home, not the walls of an institution. Oh how our God's heart must break for these children.  Why doesn't the church wake up and advocate for these children all over the world?

Today when Dave got home I had rearranged the furniture in the family room.  I told him I was trying to make the room work better so we could fit more people into the room.  "Are we adding more people" he asked with a look that said he knows his wife all to well.

We are all busy.  We are comfortable in our own little worlds.  To be honest it is only in the last six months I have felt like our family has settled in as a family of 9.  Levi was so terrified if I left the room, let alone the house, for the first year he was home I didn't go anywhere.  We were permanently attached for that time.  He trusts Dave and I now and knows we are not going anywhere.  Life is good, do I really want to rock the boat?

But then....her face comes to me in my dreams.  I pray for wisdom every day.  God is showing me things.  We will see what the future holds.

There is a situation that has been brought to our families attention about a young Ethiopian girl who's adoptive family has requested a disruption.  Her story is heartbreaking.  She is in a respite home now and is safe.  Now we are trying to find a home for her.  It is not clear if our home would be a good match for her or not, something that is being prayed about and the social worker is trying to determine.  This 15 year old girl needs a family.  For now that is my priority.  If not ours, than another.

I will leave with these words that God spoke to me recently from Proverbs 24 again,

Rescue those being led away to death, hold back those staggering toward slaughter.  If you say "But we knew nothing about this." does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay each person according to what he has done?  24:11-12 

 My eyes have definitely been open and I can't say I know nothing about the orphan crisis in our world.  He spoke these words to me when I was convicted to help H find a new home.  My only question to Him is "What else do you want our family to do?" God is always surprising me with his plans, I only pray our family has the faith and courage to follow where he calls.


Goodnight friends.

Read this post from Amy right after I published this.  God definitely isn't letting me off the hook this time:) Please go read it, you will be blessed!

Food Fight!

Fluffy, the rabbit, came in to play for a while and the girls gave him some food.  Our little dog Jo Jo did not like this very much and kept trying to eat out of the bunnies bowl.  The girls sat there and protected him from our ferocious 5 pound Maltese.  Just kidding, the bunny and the dogs actually get along really well.  Jo Jo always wants the other animals foods.  She is quite the piggy.

Here is Jo Jo trying to get Tyler to give her some scraps while he is helping me cook dinner.  The girls are still guarding the bunny.  No one is getting through them:)

Finally someone gave Jo Jo a little treat so she wouldn't feel like they loved the bunny more than her:)

Here she is getting a little attention from Amelia.  The bunny is still eating.  I guess she was REALLY hungry. Paige will sit there and pet the bunny for hours.  She LOVES all of our pets.  She is such a sweet little girl.

Here's what we were cooking up for dinner.  This is Dave's favorite dinner.  Grilled chicken tenders, grilled vegetables (we had asparagus,  mushrooms and red onion tonight), rice and some fresh cut up pineapple.  Yummy!

Snuggle Time

I caught Tyler in his room doing his homework.  He had a desk full of snacks and his rabbit on his lap.

He got his rabbit five years ago and that rabbit loves him.  Tyler will be a really good Daddy some day if how he takes care of his rabbit is any indication:)

After I took these pictures I told him to clean up his room and get to work.  I think the boys room could have mildew clinging to the walls and they would still think it was fine.  Some times I run out of cups in the cupboard because the boys take water into there rooms and never bring the cups back out.  We have some new rules about that now. 

We watched Gulliver's Travels with Jack Black tonight with the kids.  It was better than I thought it would be, I really enjoy Jack Black.  Now the older kids are watching Facing The Giants for the 4th or 5th time.  That is such a good Christian movie.

The Belated Valentines Day Party

We were supposed to host an early Valentine's Day party for friends this past Monday, but on Sunday I started to come down with a cold, by Monday I was down for the count.

So, instead of missing all the fun we rescheduled the party for today and the kids all had a great time with their friends.

Paige (in the middle) had a great time decorating cookies with her friends Syleha and Sydney.

Of course, the Let's Dance game was brought out to play.  The kids made all the mom's play against each other and I am proud to say that I won:) There is video of this but I have told Samantha that if it happens to show up on Facebook or this blog she will be grounded for LIFE!

I love that all the boys dance as well.

Here's my friend Shelly helping the girls with their cookies.

Here is Levi with some of his buddies.  He is looking a little guilty here, I wonder what they were up to?

More dancing.

Amelia had a great time with the sprinkles and frosting. We also found her and her little friend Paige out front riding in the little jeep.  Amelia had decided to teach herself to drive the power wheels herself, informing me that she was a big girl now.  Oh boy!  That girl has spunk, that's for sure.  We were all amazed at how well she drove:)

In other big news, Amelia is now potty trained. Peer pressure finally won out and she is a "big girl" now.  I am happy to say that my potty training days are now over, as that is one of my least favorite things to do.  Yay Mia!  We are very proud of you!

I hope you all had a wonderful Valentines Day this week.  My hubby ordered take out (I was sick) for the family, and bought me a beautiful bottle of perfume.  Thanks Honey, your the best!!!!

Lets Turn Those Frowns Upside Down

Baseball season has begun. Both Levi and Garrett had practices today. When Dave left with them my little girls were a little sad. Then there big sister left for a birthday party, and the two older boys were off doing there own thing.

The girls cried. Why did everyone leave us?

Well, I'm still here, I told them. Do you want to make cookies?

Yes, they did!

And as you can see there smiles returned.

We had a good time together, and the other kids were all VERY HAPPY to return home to find warm chocolate chip cookies waiting for them.  A win/win for everyone:)

The Candy Grams

The co-op the children attend on Thursdays has an ASB for 7-12th grade. Guess who is their advisor? Yep. Me and another mom took it on this year. We have had a lot of fun. The students decided to sell Valentine's Day candy grams at school to raise money for a Barn Dance we are having later in the year.

One of the moms told me we would be lucky to sell 20. She didn't think the idea would be very popular.

We sold 100. The kids loved getting them from their parents and each other. We raised $100.00.

The candy gram consisted of a blow pop, ring pop, and tootsie roll pop, with ribbon and a cute card attached.

The student council delivered the candy grams this past Thursday to the classrooms, and all the students were so excited to get them from their friends. We had a lot of fun, and the kids raised some money. A win, win:)

In other news, Tyler, finally went and took his drivers test today. He has had no interest in driving. His brother couldn't wait and Samantha already is counting down the days. Funny how all the kids are so different. Well, he passed! Yes! Now I have two teens to run errands for me:) Congratulations Tyler! Now you just need to get a job to help pay for your insurance.

The Student Driver

I took Samantha to the orthodontist yesterday. She came out in tears. It seems the technician told her to wear her bands incorrectly last month and her teeth had shifted in the wrong direction.

She got her braces in the 4th grade. She is now in the 10th. She is ready to be done. The doctor assured her that next month all should be well and she could "most likely" get them off.

Our family has a very small jaw which makes it hard to get the teeth perfectly straight. Our orthodontist teaches at a very prestigious school in the area. He uses my kids x-rays as examples of real problem cases. We joke that our family has single handidly paid for his swimming pool. It is probably true.

She was so sad that I just had to do something to cheer her up.

"Do you want to go and have your first driving lesson right now", I asked. Yes! She didn't even have to think about it.

She got her permit two months ago but we have been so busy I haven't taken her out to drive yet. We usually start in the Church parking lot.

I thought it would be easy to teach my daughter to drive after teaching the two boys first. Oh boy, was I wrong. This girl has a lead foot and she can't seem to remember to keep her foot on the brake when we are stopped. Oh my!

I let her drive later in the day on an actual street and she did much better, although, she still had a little trouble with the brake thing.

If you see me around town and notice I have a few more gray hairs on the top of my head you will know why. To think I still have to do this 4 more times. I think Dave should take the next child:)

She is looking pretty proud of herself here.

She put her hair in front of her face so I couldn't take a picture with my phone.  She said she looked awful from crying.  I didn't care.  I told her that I had taken a picture of all the kids the first time they drove and she was no exception.  She just rolled her eyes and ignored me.

I really am looking forward to Samantha getting her license.  Zachary used to run a lot of my errands but now he is off at college.  Once she is driving it will be a huge help.  I just think a lot more practice will be needed before her 16th birthday in two months.  Good thing she has always been a quick learner:)

They Need A Family!

I saw these cute kiddo's on the California Kids Connection website about six months ago. 

I keep going back to see if they have been removed.  I am always so sad when I see that they are still there. I pray that a family will come forward to be their forever family.

I even emailed their social worker to ask about them, and to my surprise she sent me their file.  Perhaps people have looked at these six sweet kids and felt overwhelmed with the idea of taking on so much.  Maybe she had never had an inquiry before.  Breaks my heart.

We would never be approved to adopt them.  We don't have enough bedrooms.  To the state we are out of space.  Maybe someone you know would be interested?  Wouldn't it be fabulous to find these kids a home?

You can email me with questions and I will try and answer them for you if you or someone you know may be interested.  I will continue to pray for these sweet kiddo's.  For some reason God has placed them heavily upon my heart:)

Snacks Anyone?

The family is enjoying snacking and watching the Super Bowl. I, on the other hand, have a stomach bug.

Although the cheese dip Tyler just made is calling to me, I think I will pass. At least this stomach bug has saved me from gaining 10 pounds today:(