Mess of the day

The littlest (adorable!) boy found an unopened, sealed, new jar of molasses and got it open....a nice sticky puddle on the kitchen floor....

Random

Random thoughts/events since the last time I posted:

• When making a casserole with little boys playing on the floor in the kitchen, if one of them would completely clean out the bottom shelf in the cupboard, I would highly recommend that one takes the vinegar from them before said child can pop the lid off and spill it. As I buy vinegar by the gallon, spill may be significant. The kitchen (last night) smelled strongly of vinegar....but that spot on the floor is quite clean! :-)
• I have officially started potty training Zach. He is certainly capable and uses the potty at his desire for the past 6 months or more. I was hoping he would eventually just choose to use it more often than not. As that is not the case, I have now instituted a "wearing undies" policy when we're at home (other then bed/naps/playing in the snow). It was met with great resistance upon introduction, but has now met full acceptance...at least for the moment. Yes, we're on undies #?? already (I lost count).
• I have no words of wisdom on potty training. This is child #4. The other 3 managed, I assume this one will too. 2 more to go after this....
• I have piles of laundry to wash, fold, and put away as I chose not to do any yesterday or Tuesday. It's about half washed and 1/3 folded and 1/100th put away. :-)
• We still have a bit of snow on the ground and the kids have been enjoying it. Today, though, is the first day this week that they are spending more time indoors then out.

2010...

...is fast coming to an end.

This morning I read a reflection (in the book "Morning and Evening" by Charles Spurgeon) on 1 Samuel 7:12 which reads "Thus far has the LORD helped us." It seems quite an appropriate verse for the end of another year. As He's helped us in the past year and all the years before....so I can trust Him to help us throughout the rest of our lives, no matter how brief or long, how traumatic or peaceful, to be with us to the end.

Perhaps sometime soon I'll reflect on the past year....we'll see if I feel inspired to a year end post. :-)

And now...the photos!

Starting with Christmas Eve....just a few since I try not to publicize other people without permission... Zach opening his present....but everyone wants to see!

Mark with his "name gift"

**quick note** most of these photos centered on gifts...we really did enjoy other things as well...reading the real Christmas story, eating lots of great food, simply being together...




Janae



Christmas Morning:

Come on, Dad, quit stalling!

Autumn received a new suitcase (mommy really likes the local JCPenney outlet...)

Each of the little boys received their own "Build-A-Bear"

Zach with his B-A-Bear...and holding Mark's toy drill. The little boys all like to play with each other's toys. Amazingly, this caused minimal problems since they each wanted the other's item for the most part.

Janae (& Autumn) received PJs for their B-A-Bs

Janae with her Lego set from Grammy...yeah, it's kind of hard to see it on that paper...but it's a pig farm.

Josiah with his legos.

**each of the kids got a set of Legos (or Duplo for the younger 3). I'm a huge fan of legos!

And Autumn with her set...a cool "City" house.

Playing Hockey (sorry, this photo blurred).

Sunday's Gathering with Randy's family.

The sweet 2 year old peering out between the stockings which hang on the banister.

The kids (minus baby) waiting to receive their stockings. (Yes, not sure why I was holding the camera crooked...maybe I had a baby in the other hand??)

Opening the gifts in the stockings....notice the kids even decorated the wall in the garage!

The girls singing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas"

Zach

Josiah, Autumn, and Janae got fishing rods.

Mark

And that's all....a smattering of the photos I took over the weekend....and I probably should have broken this into multiple posts as I think it's a bit lengthy. That being said, I'm not about to change it now. :-)

Enjoy your last week of 2010!

Christmas 2010

Thursday night the kids (Josiah, Autumn, Janae, & Zachary) joined Grandma & Grandpa and their cousins to decorate the garage for our family get together.

Friday morning we went out for breakfast at a restaurant (an extremely rare treat...and if I do say so, not nearly as good as what Daddy makes us....but so nice not to have to clean up!) and then to the mall to do some last minute shopping. Since we left promptly in the morning, we were back home around 9:30.

No pictures of aforementioned items. And I think I'll do photos in a separate post...

Friday night (Christmas Eve) we spent at my parent's house with my family.

Saturday morning we opened gifts and spent the day at home. The current header picture shows Randy and some of the kids playing street hockey (Josiah got 2 new sticks Friday night + we gave him 1 Saturday morning). Randy did cut some firewood as well and I baked a delicious cream puff dessert (imagine cream puffs in bar form) and some french bread.

Sunday we went to church, then spent the rest of the day with Randy's family at his parents house. It started snowing after lunch so the kids all enjoyed being out in the snow some of the day.

We had a lovely weekend. We still have a few extended family gatherings....2 in January, 1 in March, and 1 next November (that one was skipped this year due to the death of Randy's grandmother). I'm quite thankful that we (1) live close enough to attend these gatherings without stressful travel and (2) have families to gather with. Our extended gatherings range from 40 people to 100 people (give or take).

It's Tuesday...

...and things are back to normal around here....well, kind of. Randy went back to work today but the kids are home from school so that changes the dynamics a bit (I do love having them home). Zach finally napped today, the first day he's fallen asleep during his nap since they started their Christmas break last Thursday. He still needs a nap, but it's hard for him to fall asleep if he knows that the older kids are up and around somewhere, whether he can hear them or not. I was also pleased that Micah finally napped well today. He's been taking very brief naps which leaves me minimal time to do those things that get done quickest when all the little boys are in their beds.

The children have been having a blast in the snow that we got over the weekend. We got several inches (enough to plow) on Sunday/Sunday night. We just caught the edge of the storm as south and east of us got hardly any snow. There is a very slight hill in between 2 of the neighbors houses and the kids sled/snowboard and enjoy it immensely. It has been very windy which makes it feel much colder. Today was finally a bit warmer. I love that they can go out....but the in and out and dressing and undressing can be a bit tedious. Zach kept coming to the door complaining that there was "sand" in his boots and wanting me to dump it out. I finally ended up just putting his sneakers on him.

Tomorrow I'm scheduled to go for a physical to update our homestudy for adoption. Autumn & Zach were supposed to get ones today, but the office called and rescheduled them for later in the week. We need to do those and I need to find one form, and then I think our end of the paperwork is done for the home study. Next week the 30 days will be up, and then we should hopefully soon be able to start the legal end....getting there....

Back to Christmas....no...I think I'll make that a different post....this one's long enough.

Monday

Well, we survived the Christmas weekend...and had a lovely time! It is freezing cold around here now, snowy (although we only got a few inches) and blowing. Windchill of -3 according to accuweather....

Today I'm doing lots of laundry and probably a bit of organizing. I'm looking forward to catching up on reading blogs and doing some blogging myself at some point this week. The kids are off all week for their Christmas break.

Christmas Morning

It is 6:25 a.m. I've been enjoying a nice cup of Twinnings Christmas Tree, reading about the birth of Christ, the little lights, and reading some blogs/facebook. :-) The sticky buns are warming in the oven. I expect the children to be up soon....

We've had a lovely time the past few days which I will blog about sometime....

I am now going to go read Christmas stories to myself until the kids appear. :-)

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

I doubt I'll be on my computer much in the next few days....although we're home all day Saturday so who knows. ;-)

Anyway, Merry Christmas to all!

Micah's Birthday

Earlier this month our sweet boy turned 1! The cake was not terribly creative this year...

He enjoyed his "3-wheeler"....big smiles! Yes, we already have 2 of them (and had 2 others that we've worn out already). I love this toys and the boys will have such fun this summer!

And those are the only pictures I can show you for now....

Additional Christmas Traditions

Every year we do an advent calendar - sometimes bought, sometimes--like this year--homemade...but never the ones with chocolate in them. ;-) I am not particularly crafty or creative, but the kids like it anyway...when one of them gets old enough to complain, I will designate the task to them! This year I added an initial to each block so I can keep track of whose turn it is.

The ornaments on our tree continue to migrate "north"!

We hang the photo cards we receive on the fridge. After Christmas I put them in a scrapbook...

This year we were having issues with little people wanting to pull the lower ones off the fridge so we moved some to the patio door.

Three days until Christmas...

This morning after getting the kids off to school and starting the laundry I decided to do some baking. I mixed up a batch of sticky bun dough (it is now rising) so we can have them on Christmas morning.
Then I found a recipe in this book and decided to try that as well...

Pecan Apple Kringle batter - it is now in the fridge for "2 hours or overnight."

Now I need to tackle this pile....

This little boy could qualify as "Rudolph" with his bruised nose right now. He fell yesterday against the fire place hearth.

Janae loves to play "build-a-bearville" on the computer.

And then there is this mess that I also need to deal with....evidently some little boys thought their clothing should be gone through! Unfortunately, they had just done the same thing 2 days ago and everything was nicely organized again...this time they cleared out Mark & Micah's things though. Last time was just Mark's.

But with the smell of yeast doughs in the house, the messes should get taken care of quickly. :-)

Today

was a much better day then yesterday!

We had a lovely time together at play group...4 moms and 9 kids this time. While my friend was here cleaning, Micah & I sneaked out for a quick trip to the grocery store. I was amazed at how quickly I could get my list taken care of with only 1 child and 1 cart. :-) Then I came back and made soup (a new recipe...wild rice & ham) and mixed up a batch of easy (no knead) rolls. I put the soup in the crock pot so it would be ready when Randy was home and I wouldn't have any last minute fuss. The kids were relatively calm most of the day...still loud at times but at least they were not destructive! The soup was declared a "keeper" by the family. The rolls were a nice addition. Yes, altogether much better then yesterday!

Before playgroup I stopped at the post office to get our mail and found several more Christmas cards/photos (I love Christmas mail)...and the last present for Randy came as well. Well, if I get to a real store there is one other thing I wanted to get him...we'll see. I do have enough....

Not sure what I'll do tomorrow....laundry for sure...and we'll take it from there!

New every morning

Today was a day I have no desire to repeat

• from the early morning (2:00ish) wanderings of a little boy
• to the messy diaper that leaked on the carpet
• to the very energetic little boys who pulled all the clothes out of Mark's cupboard
• Sorting of an Avon order that arrived and now needs distributed.
• Then there was the sudden addition of the adoption caseworker's walkthrough which I scheduled with 2 hours notice when I found out Randy was coming home early.
• this led to a whirlwind of straightening up the house, doing dishes, sweeping floors
• Only to have a baby who only slept for 45 minutes
• And discovering that SOMEONE or ones? had dumped almost every single toy container all over the basement floor!
• Did I mention she was doing a WALKTHROUGH so would need to see the whole house, not just the kitchen/living room.
• And I was scrambling to try to get more of the paperwork together for her for our home study.

Anyway, it was a crazy kind of day. Our county caseworker also came out but that was on my calendar and I was expecting her...and she does not do a walkthrough! :-)

We survived the day. the piles of laundry. the cleaning & straightening up. the kids that are into everything (did you know that a 3 year old can reach the back of the counter when standing on tiptoes and a 2 year old the front...nothing is safe anymore!). the back-to-back caseworker visits. The Walkthrough (2 minor issues need taken care of). The receipt of more info from each caseworker (now on a pile). the house is cleaned up again (except for the basement).

The verse that comes to mind...I can't remember the reference..."His mercies are new every morning, great is Thy faithfulness, O God." I'm so thankful that tomorrow is a new day. Hopefully we will continue to be well because tomorrow is PLAYGROUP! What a welcome break after today's craziness!

Not sure what the rest of the week holds...but I know it includes going to the grocery store at some point...

Now I'm off to pack Randy's lunch and head to bed....

The Weekend before Christmas

We did get to the kids program. They did a great job! Janae was an adorable little dove. I missed the other 2 songs her class sang as I needed to go change a diaper....I could hear them though, even if I didn't see them. It's so neat to see all the classes sing. By the time they get to Jr. High they are singing beautiful 3 or 4 part harmony.

Saturday we did odds and ends around home. Randy & Josiah cut firewood. In the evening we watched "The Grinch that stole Christmas" (Jim Carrey version). Randy & Josiah can quote it. Janae plays in the living room during the "scary" parts.

Sunday morning was our church program. Autumn played piano during the prelude (along with lots of other little girls and other people doing musical numbers). She also sang with the girls the song "Carol of the Bells". A bunch of people shared Christmas memories. My favorite part is when anyone who wishes can join together for an informal singing of the Hallelujah Chorus. Lots of fun! Afterwards we got the traditional oranges & candy canes.

Later in the afternoon we joined others from church to carol for some folks in our town. That was fun too. Usually I stay home with the little ones but this year we all went. Afterwards we enjoyed a light supper (with lots of cookies) at church.

I noticed last night that it was full moon (or nearly or just passed...didn't check the actual date...close enough!). Anyway, the boys are crazy this morning...loud and into everything. I have now sorted through Mark's clothing since they were all over the floor...this was a good thing as I discovered he's short on shirts but has tons of pants. Anyway....I'm sure this week will be loud and crazy around here simply with the excitement of Christmas in the air...gotta go see what they're into now...

Holding my breath...

No one is currently sick...although we do have some nasty sounding coughs/head colds. Those are manageable!

So this morning after the older kids went to school we headed out to do some long overdue errands. We dropped by my mom's to drop off some stuff and she was baking! I hadn't checked if she would be home so it was quite a nice surprise...and delicious! :-)

Micah was up at 5:30 this morning...back to sleep at 6:30...up again at 7:00. He fell asleep on the way home from our errands...and then woke up when Janae & Zach got a bit to loud in the living room. Maybe he'll nap again later...maybe. Mark also fell asleep on the way home. He's still sleeping. Zach is "resting." Now that he's healthy again he's only sleeping every other day or so.

It is rather frigid outside...but quite cozy in our house. I love our woodstove!

I had wanted to finish wrapping gifts while the kids napped...but it looks like that's not going to happen since we don't have simultaneous naps today.

Tonight is the kids' school Christmas program. I always enjoy hearing it...but it's always kind of stressful with the little ones. Janae is going to be a dove when they sing "The Friendly Beasts." I will take a big bag of animal crackers along and hopefully it will keep the kids occupied. Last year (I think), Zach's diaper leaked all over Grammy and he ended up pantsless for the rest of the evening...it was really cold then to so we had to bundle his coat around him and run to the van. Another year I spent most of the time chasing a little one (Janae, I think!) around the halls of the school where they hold the program. The music director always does a great job and the kids sound fantastic. I'm so glad we are healthy again and can go!

Christmas Traditions

Yes, we do stockings on the mantle (such fun!). No, we do not do "Santa Claus." Yes, I try to teach the kids that it is not their job to ruin Santa for the neighbors whose families play that game...Oops...I forgot to have that conversation this year and had the kids at the bus stop arguing over whether Santa was real or not.

Yes, as previously posted about, we enjoy decorating a Christmas tree. We also get a new "Christmas" book each year so have a collection of those to enjoy. During devotional/snack times in the evening this December we are reading through many of them. They include board books and stories geared for all ages that may be over the little ones heads. I particularly like the book "When Christmas Came" by Barbara Rainey. I've also been collecting Christmas DVD's (adding one each year like the books). This year we added "A Charlie Brown Christmas." I also found a CD/DVD pack of Christmas Veggie Tales stories/songs so we added that to our collection this year as well. We also have a variety of CDs....ranging from Chris Tomlin to Veggie Tales to Legacy Five to Handel's Messiah that we enjoy throughout December as well.

I love to make lots of Christmas cookies and have actually managed to make more this year then I expected to make. They are safely ensconced in the freezer...and I am rationing them out. :-)

I do not make many Christmas candies as they tend to take a lot of time. I do make the ones where you use a small pretzel, top with an unwrapped hershey kiss. Melt in oven for 2-3 minutes. Press m&m in center. I love the salty/sweet combo. We also made butter mints. I make the ones that do not call for cream cheese. Sometimes I make chocolate/peanut butter fudge...but I haven't done that yet. All of these candies are easy for the kids to help with.

Yes, we enjoy family gatherings! (When we're healthy...seems like we do frequently miss some). We are blessed to live in the same area with so much family and can enjoy these gatherings without much travel.

Yes, we enjoy exchanging presents. I love to buy presents. :-)

I enjoy decorating the house to reflect the season as well.

With our church we enjoy a Christmas program. We also go Christmas caroling. The kids' school has a Christmas program as well.

And that's all I can think of at the moment. :-)

Merry Christmas!

Full Night's Rest

I woke up this morning so excited that everyone had slept all night long and no one else had gotten sick. :-) Today we will continue to recuperate.... Hopefully Josiah & Autumn are well rested. They were so tired yesterday as a result of being continually disturbed by the other kids being sick and the washer running much of the night. I think, though, that they will continue to sleep on the floor for the rest of the week. I don't appreciate cleaning up after someone is sick in a top bunk!

I am enjoying a cup of Twinnings Christmas Tea this morning. Sometime I need to get to the store as well as I need to send garlic bread in to school tomorrow for a special lunch. I should get to the post office as well as our box tends to fill up quickly this time of year and I haven't been there since Friday.

***
They are now all up. Josiah stayed home as he was restless all night with stomach cramps. Autumn seemed fine and went to school. Janae & Zach & Micah are recovering nicely but I kept Janae home today yet for a bit more rest. Mark was quite lethargic this morning and has "the runs"...after 2 cups of gatorade he has now perked up a bit.

More illness

Shortly after I posted last night, Janae woke up quite sick. Then an hour or 2 later, Mark also. So, 4 down, 2 to go (+mom & dad). On the plus side, this should be out of this house by Christmas.

Today we plan to watch lots of DVDs, do lots of laundry, and attempt to keep little boys from eating things before their stomach can handle them. Oh yes, and change lots of diapers as I have it from others who've had this that it switches to the other end before it's over...

Illness

The verdict is in...Micah definitely had a virus (as I suspected) and not a reaction to milk. Zach is now bedded down on the floor of the living room after being rather sick in his bed. I am sitting up, waiting for the washer to be finished washing all the bedding so I can put it in the dryer. I want to have the washer available in case anyone else needs it.... I am using my extra long extra rinse cycle with hot water. :-)

Tomorrow's plans have been changed to clearing my schedule for the rest of the week. There is nothing planned that cannot be rescheduled and it seems prudent to do so. No use exposing babysitters to this right before Christmas. I was hoping for 1 more day before anyone else got sick so I could do some errands...I guess they'll have to wait! I may have to do some very last minute Christmas shopping next week. Hopefully a few of us manage to escape this. At an every-other-night rate the last one would have it on Christmas. I'm hoping it's all over and done by then!

Normally I check in on the computer while the kids are still in bed in the morning....with Zach on the living room floor that will not happen tomorrow (don't want to wake him). Well, the washer stopped. I'm off to switch it to the dryer and then to bed....I wonder if I'll get through the night without him (or someone else) waking me up....

"...he heals all my diseases." Psalm 103:? I'm so thankful God created our bodies with disease fighting mechanisms for healing!

I guess I'll make jello tomorrow too....

Sunday

I stayed home from church again this morning with Mark & Micah. Micah seems to have caught some sort of stomach virus. It's been going around in this area. Hopefully it will get through our family before the Christmas festivities....but I'd better make sure I have things as well in case we're stuck at home. The other possibility is that it's a reaction to milk since I've been switching him to milk now that he's 1....but I think it's a virus since he's had milk before without an issue. Now I am going to restrict what the kids have in their beds (extra blankets, books, toys) for a week just in case.

This coming week has minimal outings which is good if the kids end up getting sick...

The Twelve Days of a Large Family Christmas

A friend told me about this and I loved it. We've heard it all too! Well, maybe not the one about being catholic since we're obviously mennonite. Amazingly enough I've even gotten the twins one...and none of our kids are the same size! Oh yes, we haven't heard the "do you know what causes it" either...but we've heard variations and/or had it implied.

Very Random

• I recently read "Hard Times" by Charles Dickens. Well...I'd have to say it's just rather depressing! Definitely hard times.
• I'm drinking Twinnings Christmas tea and eating Oatmeal Cinnamon Bread right now.
• I made the bread the other day (new recipe) and it is so delicious...except that half of my family didn't even try it...I guess if it doesn't look like my normal homemade bread they are not interested. (They don't know what they're missing!) More for me, I guess!
• Two of my friends are coming today for a bit of a visit. I'm very excited!
• We are finally healthy...relatively that is. Still have lots of runny noses.
• I took Mark for his well-child check yesterday. And it was good...I discovered he was missing 3 immunizations...or else they were done and never written down?? Perhaps somewhere with switching doctors they fell in the cracks. Anyway, that's up to date now...he was not impressed! This doctor also listened and addressed some of my concerns for him which was nice after the last doctor I saw just shrugged me off.
• I am experimenting with new cleaning products. A lady from "Shaklee" had told me about their products and that they are supposed to be much healthier for people and the environment not to mention concentrated so you save packaging and don't pay for water. When I had Zach to the doctor recently for eczema, she recommended using free & clear products. So I am trying these. I'm afraid that generally I'm rather skeptical about direct sale items and claims...it is more expensive so we'll see if I continue, even if I like it! I've always wondered if they really work as well as the things I like (that contain those toxins). So far they seem to be working just as well, but I (and my cleaning friend) haven't used them long yet.
• I can't remember if I blogged about Josiah & Autumn's dental issues. Josiah's permanent teeth were coming in above the baby teeth...and some of the baby teeth are not falling out. Autumn's jaw is to small for all the teeth. Anyway, in November Josiah got 3 teeth extracted and Autumn got 4 extracted. Their mouths look better already. Josiah also got an item called a "lip wedge". It's a bit painful yet as he developed some ulcers. They say his mouth will develop calluses and then it will be better. They did great with all the extractions!
• I got Micah a 3-wheeler for this birthday...and finally assembled it last night. I wonder how long I'll be able to take the 3 little boys fighting over it in my kitchen this morning before I banish it to the garage until spring?! We now have 3 of these wonderful items so they really will all be able to ride together. Our garage is getting rather full, though, of bikes and scooters and riding toys!
• I would like to bake some more Christmas cookies at some point.
• I think I am done shopping with the exception of a few things for the "family baskets" we're doing with Randy's family and something for someone in my family.
• Yesterday my sister & I and our kids (ages 6, 3, 2, 2, 1, and 1) went shopping together. Very interesting! Then we went to McDonald's for lunch where mommy spilled her sweet tea all over everything. :-( We did have a fun time though!
• Well, the little boys are stirring right on schedule....Have a lovely day!

Happy Birthday

Happy 1st Birthday to our sweet Micah...whose face I can't show you all yet....

One year ago today we said "yes" to you joining our family. Two days later we brought you home from the hospital. Your older siblings (foster & biological) all dote on you. We've enjoyed having you in our home this past year and look forward to becoming your "forever family".

We also think of your birth mother on this day who is probably thinking of you as well. We're so glad she gave you life! We enjoyed the time we shared with her as well.

"The Lord gives....blessed be the name of the Lord." Job 1:21

Monday

Well, it is evening now and Janae is much better...I can tell because it is hard for her to fall asleep. :-) She is coughing now though.

The termination of parental rights hearing for Matt's case was today and all went well. 30 days to wait. My goal is to have all of my paperwork done before the 30 days are complete. And now we can officially call him by his new name....which I can tell you as it isn't his current name and gives you no identifying information. :-) Anyway, his name will be Micah. His current first name (not Matt) will become his middle name in honor of his birth mom.

Today we baked "Chocolate Crinkles" and "Pecan Tassies" and "Oatmeal Cinnamon Bread." Now I need to go clean up the kitchen and head for bed. Janae was up at 4:00 or so again this morning and I'm ready for everyone to be sleeping through the night again.

Zach's having trouble falling asleep and Janae keeps coming out for some reason so between the 2 of them they are keeping everyone else awake.

Tuesday's plans - we'll see...I need to wrap a little boys birthday presents at some point...

Sunday Morning

And I am home from church today. Randy took Josiah, Autumn, and Zach. Janae has been quite sick all weekend (fever, headache, sore throat). Matt has been quite congested. Mark gets to stay home because he's only 2. :-) He's also rather snotty but unfortunately that's a rather normal condition for him. Mark & Matt are also teething. They are currently playing nicely so I should get something started and in the crockpot for lunch. Janae is laying on the sofa with lemon tea & honey & ice and listening to an NRG Christmas cd.

Last night the youth group babysat at church. Randy and some friends played games here. Janae stayed here and watched DVDs. I took Matt and went shopping with a friend. I was quite happy to stock up on a bunch of stuff I needed plus get some more Christmas shopping done. Only a few more things to get.

Friday I ran into Penneys and picked up Matt's 1 year photos. They are super! In the afternoon Josiah & Autumn went to the dentist to get their teeth cleaned. By the time we got back I could tell Janae was coming down with something. Between Janae and Matt the nights have been rather rough so hopefully they sleep better tonight.

I have a bunch of stuff planned this week, but at this point I'm holding it lightly as I don't know if we'll be healthy enough for any of it.

If you live in our area, tonight at the Adamstown Grove (on the hill up from the pool) is a treelighting and live nativity as well as santa, carolers, brass, cookies, hot chocolate, etc. www.adamstowncommunitydays.org. I had thought it would be fun...but we'll be staying home.

Have a lovely Sunday!

Adoption

This afternoon I met with our adoption caseworker from the agency that will handle Matt's adoption. So now I have the list of what we need to do to update the homestudy.

The "termination of parental rights" hearing is scheduled for next week. Then there is a 30 day waiting period for the biological parents to appeal the decision. If there is no appeal, and as soon as our paperwork is in order, then the adoption can be scheduled.

Yeah...I'm very excited! Hard to believe it's finally happening....

Christmas Cookies

Book Recommendations

1. The Amish Wedding and other special occasions of the old order communities by Stephen Scott (People's Place Booklet No. 8). This was an interesting read.
2. Whatever happened to Dinner? by Melodie M. Davis with Jodi Nisly Hertzler and Carmen Wyse. Subtitle - Recipes and Reflections for Family Mealtime....it's exactly that! This was from our church library but I should copy out some recipes before returning it.
3. Let the Children Come by Jeanette Harder. The subtitle of this book is "Preparing Faith Communities to End Child Abuse and Neglect". I enjoyed this book and the varied angles it dealt with (ending abuse, types of abuse, dealing with offenders, dispelling myths, etc.). This book should be read by all in church leadership who wish to address this problem. The appendix contains lots of helpful resources including sample documents for a church to use. The only thing I thought of as missing was under physical abuse where it neglected to note that some apparent "bruises" may be something called mongolian spots which are common in some ethnic groups. One of our sons has these so I'm kind of sensitive about that... I also really appreciated the point that the church needs to work with local professionals to deal with issues of abuse and not try to deal with it on it's own. Anyway, before this gets to detailed, let me just recommend that you read the book and/or give the book to your church leadership/children's education leadership!
4. Now Go Forward by J. David Eshleman. This book is on "reaching out to grow your congregation". I just started this one and am really enjoying it.