Wednesday - lunch

I have a "love-hate" relationship with eating outside. It's fun...but the kids get rather distracted and don't eat much when they are not inside and at a table. But sometimes I give in and we do it anyway. :-)

Janae - and yes, that's my little man's elbow.

Zach and Mark (before everything got spilled on the deck).

Outside at our home - Wednesday evening

Spring has come!

Reflections

The sky over our house last evening. I am so thankful that we just got some thunderstorms out of it. Randy is north of the border right now and having trouble getting back since a lot of the bridges are closed because of the high winds.

Janae was petrified to go to sleep last night since it was mentioned that there was a tornado warning.

It was quite windy and stormy this morning...but now it is bright (not sunny...but bright) and I can hear the birds chirping.

I was reflecting on endings today (perhaps I should read "Necessary Endings" by Dr. Cloud again). Anyway, I am facing some endings in May:

• The end of foster parenting
• Our final adoption (yes, I know, never say never, but at least for the immediate future)
• The end of my several years as an "Avon Independent Consultant" (business, same as usual, but no longer fun...just an added chore since we added 3 children since I started).
• And even the end of another school year.

All of which are exciting endings!

And yet, there is a tinge of bittersweetness in my soul as I reflect on them.

And then I read THIS blog...and it was just what I needed to read today.

I'm thankful for the opportunities I've had these past 4 years in all of the above mentioned areas...for the friends I made among other foster parents, the great caseworkers I worked with, the blessing of adding 3 children to our home, getting to know some of my neighbors better through the Avon business, and the opportunities for our children to learn at a local, Christian school.

Now, it is time to move on....seeing what God has in store for us next.

Painting Easter Eggs

We have a tradition of painting hard-boiled eggs on Good Friday. Usually some cousins join us...but since we were sick all week, we painted alone this time.

The End Result

Mark

Zach

Janae

Autumn

I also have a photo of Micah painting eggs...which I will show you shortly. :-) I've been making some posts and scheduling them to post on the days following his adoption...speaking of which, I hear him babbling in his crib (so nice when they wake up happy!) so I need to go get him...

A new favorite verse

We have a broad doorway between our kitchen and the rest of the house. The kitchen also has a cathedral ceiling. I have long thought (like, since we built the addition) that it would be neat to have a Bible verse painted above that doorway. Now I have discovered "Uppercase Living" and they do custom stuff. Or my sister-in-law could do something for me with her Cricut. Anyway, the bigger challenge has been....what verse??

This one is currently tops on my list:

"The LORD your God is with you,

he is mighty to save.

He will take great delight in you,

he will quiet you with his love,

he will rejoice over you with singing."

Zephaniah 3:17

This Week

Monday I had a "no computer day" which meant turning the computer off all day. I did check my messages once in the morning and once at bedtime..but very quickly, no reading the news feed on facebook or pondering meaningless junk email. It was a lovely day. I think that over summer I will try to do so once a week. Most days if I think of something I was going to ask someone, I immediately send a message...Monday I needed to write it down and wait until Tuesday. Of course, I did forget then on Tuesday to send in my Avon order that was due by noon. Oops! Some of my kids have been known to "check the weather" multiple times a day. Is this really necessary? Stick your head out the window! :-) And of course I need to be careful not to get pulled in to checking facebook once an hour or blog hopping for a long time after the kids are in bed.

One nice benefit was during nap time. For a change, the boys all slept. Frequently Zach will need me every 2-5 minutes or so and if he does fall asleep it's only about 5 minutes before someone else wakes up. I guess he was worn out on Monday. I enjoyed having a couple of hours of all 3 boys sleeping simultaneously! And much more got accomplished. I even took a half hour to peruse a home/garden magazine and drink a cup of tea. I told myself that when the dryer stopped I needed to get up and get back to the laundry (there was a TON!) and I did. I felt rejuvenated and encouraged by having that time to myself and all the time to do some work around here. Usually during nap time I can do one or the other but not both since I rarely have that long of a period of time. Theoretically, we have quiet time from 12:00/12:30 to 1:30/2:00....but with the interruptions from Zach, it is hard to actually accomplish much. He gets away with more because his brothers are sleeping and I'd rather go and deal with him then have all 3 up and cranky! His older siblings had to just lay there and cry/scream and learned to stay in bed.

In the morning we walked to the post office. The sun was shining...but we still got rained on anyway. Zach was so funny. He kept saying "this is a long journey". :-) I used to walk to the post office all the time when the older kids were little but I got out of the habit. It was fun to do it again.

After all the rain we've been having, we've been thoroughly enjoying this week. Lots of time to play outside...but not much done inside since the boys need constant supervision. Thankfully inside is also less messy since we're outside most of the day...but the laundry and meals still need taken care of.

Tuesday morning Zach had his second occupational therapy session. Each time so far he's been worse the morning afterwards...we'll see if this is a pattern or just coincidence. In the evening Randy got home in time to see the kids briefly before they went to bed. They were excited to see Daddy.

This morning the younger 4 and I went grocery shopping. This afternoon I was working on some paperwork for Randy's trucking...tax forms that are due this week.

Wednesday

We've been outside most of the week (it's finally warm...and the boys escape outside all the time which requires my presence). More updates when I'm inside for a bit longer.... :-)

He is Risen!

You're Invited!

For my local readers,

Our church is having an Easter Program on Sunday morning. Church will start at 9:30. There will not be any Sunday School classes prior to that. I'd recommend coming around 9:15 if you want a seat in the back. :-) There are always plenty of seats up front!

This Week

The truck - all ready to go. Randy took this photo before he left at the beginning of the week.

It's been a long week with the illness...but everyone finally seems to be better.

This morning we painted Easter Eggs....photos coming whenever I upload them. It was quite the experience. This was the first time we painted eggs without another adult to help me. Micah kept wanting to crawl on the table and Mark just wanted to chew on the Q-tips. I was rather amazed though that when Micah did paint he held the q-tip properly. It was fun to see Zach this year...he actually was painting and understood what to do. We paint the eggs with paints and also dip them in dye (made from food color, vinegar, and boiling water).

Micah was very cranky through the night so now I'm sleepy. Hope his teeth come through soon!

I'm reading (again) the book "The Case for Faith" by Lee Strobel. I really enjoy his books...his style of writing.

I need to clean up the kitchen and fold laundry this afternoon.

For some reason neither Zach nor Mark is going to sleep this afternoon....very strange! Not unusual for Zach, but Mark "always" falls asleep within 15 minutes of being put to bed...I guess now I need to change that to "almost always"....

Anniversary Flowers

Reflections on Easter

Not the greatest video...but one of my favorite songs.

Other reflections...

Our anniversary forever shares the date of the burial of a friend from church. 3 years ago she (her name was the same as mine) died on April 15...and we spent our anniversary at her funeral. A year and a half later another friend from church died the day before Zach and Mark's adoption.

This song has meant so much to me in the past 3 years. I also nearly wore out a CD titled "A Tribute to Roger Bennett" during the time when both friends were ill...

That CD included this song:

Passion Week

Christians refer to this week as "Passion Week"...the week leading up to the death and resurrection of Christ...so I was taking some time to reflect and to watch/listen to some YouTube videos of some of my favorite songs about Christ.

Usually I read "He Chose the Nails" by Max Lucado this week as well.

Our church has a special service on "Maundy Thursday"...the day/evening that Christ celebrated the Passover with his disciples before being betrayed by Judas on the Mount of Olives.

Oh yes, and I'm posting some videos of songs this week...but personally, I don't really watch them, I just listen to them while I'm doing other stuff.

Our Anniversary

14 years ago today we got married. It was a cold windy day. Beautiful and simple.

With my family - 1997. The girls' dresses were actually more of a bright pink (what was I thinking?!) but they show up red in this photo.

May 2010

This afternoon our friend the florist brought me a beautiful arrangement of flowers....and the next time I load photos onto the computer I will show them to you. :-)

Today

is our anniversary!

We got a great gift in the mail....a letter from our attorney with an adoption date for Micah! Very excited! May 11.

More Random

• Saturday evening we went to Randy's High School's 50th Anniversary FFA banquet & awards ceremony. We had a fun time and saw a lot of people we knew. (We also left before the awards part...)
• Talking about the banquet the next day reminded us that this would be an option for Josiah for high school...he's interested in hands on types of stuff.
• The khaki pants I ordered for the boys to wear to the adoption came today....now hopefully they will still fit by the time the adoption happens.
• It should happen sometime in May....we think... (of course, we thought this every month since February so we'll see).
• Randy is back on the road. His new truck is running nicely and he's getting increased fuel mileage as he had hoped.
• The official color of Randy's truck: Autumn Sunset Metallic. Autumn is pleased. :-)
• Mark's speech (& developmental) evaluation is schedule for May.

And that wraps up this evening's random segment! Out to enjoy the beautiful, though cloudy, evening with the kids.

Sick again

The stomach virus has reappeared. Micah had it on Thursday. Janae got sick at church yesterday. 3 more got sick during the night. So that leaves Mark yet...and me (but hopefully not!) On the plus side, we should all be done with this by Easter.

Micah is still rather cranky and fussy and miserable. Hopefully this all clears up soon...

Random

When Randy was in Kentucky, he bought sweatshirts for me & him, t-shirts for the older 4, and little 4-wheelers for the 2 youngest.

Me with my sweatshirt. (Note to self...pictures taken by little people come from a different angle..)

Josiah's shirt...front...and back.
below the picture it says "chillin'"

Janae. Autumn and Zach were not wearing there shirts that day but I'll try to get a photo of them sometime as well.

Thursday night my sweet husband stayed home with the kids while I went to a "Ladies Night Out" at Woodcrest Retreat. We enjoyed dinner, fun & fellowship, music, and a message by Anita Keagy of Joyshop Ministries. Anita had written a book (The File) about her life experience as a "birth mom" and being reunited with her daughter whom she had placed for adoption. She spoke on how God's word is like the file of letters to her daughter. She couldn't make her daughter read the letters she wrote. God can't "make" us read his letter (the Bible) to us. To know Anita, her daughter needed to read the letters. To know God, we need to read his letters (the Bible) to us. She gave each of us a bookmark with steps to take to start "meeting with God". She also gave each of us a copy of the Gospel of John. John has 21 chapters and she challenged us to read 1 chapter a day for 21 days and each day ask the question..."Jesus, what do you want me to know about you?"

It is raining again today...more mud. Our yard is already a swamp. And our garden is so wet it will be a while until we are able to plant this year. We usually plant between the middle of March and the middle of April....not this year. But for us, this is just a small garden. For many local farmers I imagine they're praying for some dry weather!

This week I was also testing some recipes for a new cookbook that Good Books will be publishing. Delicious recipes! Today I tested a peanut butter cup recipe...scrumptious!

I finished reading "The Lord of the Ring" trilogy this morning. Micah hasn't been feeling well this week so I've had more time to rock him and read. Next...well, maybe I'll read through the Chronicles of Narnia again...we'll see.

Well...the dishes aren't doing themselves....so I should go tend to them. :-)

Have a lovely weekend!

Shed

Saturday morning some of my family came over and helped us build a shed. When we built our addition we had gotten rid of our tiny tin shed and were storing everything in the garage. But then our family got larger and the bikes were getting bigger and it was time to have a bit more space then the garage.

Now sometime we need to paint it and landscape around it. We are thrilled with the space. And so thankful for our skilled family members and their help!

Rain and Mud

Lots of that around here this spring! We had a lovely (hot & humid, actually) day on Monday but since then it's been quite wet and the mud is back. Our yard is completely saturated.

To entertain ourselves recently we are playing a new game (I think I read about it on someone's blog perhaps?? can't remember..). Anyway, it's called "log roll". First, clear the floor. Second wrap child in blanket (arms down). Then lay them on the floor and have them roll across the room. Great fun! :-) I had to experiment a bit to figure out which way for them to roll without the blanket unrolling from around them. While they love it, mommy can only take the wrapping and unwrapping for about 10 minutes at a time. :-) We are also playing with Lego Duplo and pushing chairs around the kitchen (child pushes chair to counter & climbs up to get mommy's stuff...mommy puts child on floor and pushes chair back to table....repeat).

I started reading The Lord of the Ring trilogy again (starting with The Hobbit actually).

Randy is off all week getting stuff ready with his new truck. He should go back to work on Monday. It's been nice having him home every night. :-) He has lots of maintenance stuff and truck stuff to do during the day.

Well, I should go fold laundry and do dishes....

Checking Out the Truck

As I mentioned, late Friday afternoon we hurried back to the shop so we all could see Randy's truck.This photo really doesn't do it justice. I'm anxious to get a nice photo outside.

Zach loved it...very excited! :-)

Josiah, Janae, Autumn, and Mark checking out the top bunk.

Randy & Josiah

Daddy's Truck

Friday, after dropping the chicks off at Julie's, we went to see Daddy's new truck. The color is more orangy..but looks kind of red under the florescent lights. I'm anxious to see it in natural lights. It was quite a soggy day so everyone took off their shoes before climbing inside to inspect it.

Chicks

Autumn's class incubated eggs. She got to bring home 2 chicks! We are keeping them at Aunt Julie's house so Friday afternoon we took them there. Autumn named them Ashley and Kate.

Here Autumn is holding "Ashley".

"Kate" is the yellow one, "Ashley" has some brown stripes.

A glimpse...

Friday morning I got this text from Randy:

Later in the afternoon we went and saw it in person. :-)

Zach

As I mentioned previously, we are starting Zach with some occupational therapy to help with some sensory issues. I just read THIS article explaining sensory perception disorder/sensory integration disorder which explains it all well. Zach is not extreme...but he certainly reacts differently then many children in similar situations.

Trucking

When we started dating, Randy was driving for a local company hauling produce to Virginia several times a week. He arranged to use the truck he drove to take us from the wedding to the reception.
Around the time of our wedding he ended up switching jobs to work for a local company hauling shingles on a straight truck. The produce company graciously still allowed us to use the truck for the wedding.

I do not have any photos of the shingle truck. It had an elevator on it and he would need to hoist all the bundles of shingles onto the elevator which would take them up to the roof for the roofers to unload. After about 8 months or so he had some health issues and ended up needing to get off the truck for awhile. He worked in the lumber yard pulling orders and such for awhile, then transfered to the company's other yard.

May 1999 - He purchased his first truck - a used 1996 Peterbilt, and leased to a local company pulling flatbed....hauling mostly brick but varying other things as well.

In 2003 he upgraded to a 2003 Peterbilt.

Then in 2008 he purchased this Freightliner. In 2008 he also got his own operating authority. He now pulls a "walking floor" trailer and hauls a variety of dry bulk stuff.

Now he has ordered another Freightliner. As I mentioned, this one will be more aerodynamic for (hopefully) better fuel mileage so it will look different from the above classic style trucks. The new truck arrived at the dealer today. We're anxious to take ownership and see if it looks like the picture in our heads. :-)

Various Family Updates

Randy - is on his last trip with this truck. The new truck should be in on Friday...and he should get it sometime next week. Very exciting. Different though, because this time when he ordered it he ordered it purely for aerodynamic/fuel mileage reasons....which certainly changes the look. I'm anxious to see it!

Autumn will be baptized sometime this spring.

Zachary will be starting occupational therapy next week. Not sure if this is the direction we should be taking or not...but for now this is what we're doing.

Mark - I left a message with our early intervention about speech therapy. Haven't heard back yet. His speech is better....but probably only to me. :-)

Micah - Randy & I will sign the papers this weekend and then an adoption date can be scheduled. Very exciting! He is also on ear infection #3 since the end of January...or more likely, 1 really long ear infection. He is starting antibiotic #3 today. If it doesn't clear up, we will be referred to an ear-nose-throat specialist to talk about tubes.

This morning I had Micah at the doctor. Then I babysat my niece and cousin's child for the rest of the school day. Next we took a meal to a friend, returned something, and went to the discount grocery store. I learned that (1) the store is much emptier at 4:30 then I thought it would be and (2) shopping when hungry is probably not the greatest (okay, I already knew that!). We did the awful thing of going through the McD's drive-thru on the way home....the kids were quite grateful. :-) Since we get fast food so rarely it is quite a treat. Josiah scarfed up everything anyone else didn't want. Now they are playing outside (to cold for me). But I soon need to end their fun so that everyone can get baths/showers....

Today

This morning I set the time for 1 hour, 15 minutes and told the boys that mommy had some work to do but when the timer beeped we would go outside and walk around the block. In hind site, I probably should've waited until I could set the timer for only 15 minutes. It seemed like a long time to wait. :-)

We walked around the block, stopping to jump on the neighbor's trampoline which they graciously allow us to use when they're not around. Then we came home and played on our swing set for awhile longer. One neighbor and her sons joined us on the trampoline, another neighbor and her sons joined us in the backyard. I love when it's warm enough to be outside.

It is a very grey day here. And when it's grey out, I like to let in as much light as possible. When I opened the front door to let the light come in through the storm door, there was a bag of Bachman popcorn. Our one neighbor frequently brings treats for the kids. Usually it's candy and/or packaged cookies but this bag of popcorn was labeled gluten and cassein free and includes plenty of fiber so with the exception of the salt, it's probably a more decent snack for the kids. Now that the kids are tucked in bed, I am sampling it along with my cup of Twinnings Irish Breakfast tea.

Next I want to call Early Intervention about getting Mark some help with his speech. I've been letting it go....and it's better....but I'm probably the only one who can decipher even a fraction of it... Not sure how I'm going to manage this since Zach will be going to OT once a week starting next week...but I guess we'll see. Mark has a severe under bite which probably does not help his speech issues. He also frequently talks with his tongue up against the roof of his mouth.

Well, off to make phone calls and fold laundry....

Mid American Truck Show

Last Wednesday Randy and 3 friends drove to Louisville, KY to the Mid American Truck Show (MATS). MATS is held in a huge convention center and features many, many vendors and items pertaining to the trucking industry. There are also show trucks there as well as new trucks to look at. They had a great trip and got home through the night Friday. A friend of ours was also there and has some nice photos on her blog.