Let's try one more time!

Beach Vacation Fall 2011









For some reason, I can't get into the groove of this blogging thing. I have good intentions but life kind of gets in the way! That's ok, life is what it's all about:) My children are growing up so much, they are such blessings to me and my husband. They fill our days with joy and laughter. God has richly blessed us! I was looking through some old journals the other day and it was so neat to read all the things my teenage self wrote down. The things that were important to me then are interesting to read about now. I see how God has had his hand in my life. In the middle of all my teen angst, God was right there! I'm hoping to give this blog another go round. I want to capture our life for my family to see. What are our days like? What do we do? What is our homeschool like? What do we do for fun? How do we eat? What do we do in our spare time? A favorite blog of mine is here. I love her heart and how she runs her house!






My daughter looking for pirate ships!













Two peas in a pod!

Life's about changes...Nothing ever stays the same!

I used to love this song growing up. It's never been more true than right now in our lives. A month ago my parents house caught on fire and the kitchen was destroyed and the rest of the house was smoked up. We had to pull everything out and basically remodel the whole house. It was such a mess! We are slowly working on getting mom and dad back in their house. They have been living with us for a month. It has been a big change, but I have to say, it's not been a bad change. You really can live with your parents peacefully after you have grown up and moved away from home:) I always thought it would be awful because my teen years were so hard living with my dad. But it has been a wonderful blessing! God knows what He is doing and our family bond is so much stronger now because of this fire. My children have loved having their mammy and poppy with them. They have very willingly gave up their bedrooms and have loved "camping" out in our bedroom in their sleeping bags.

I have been canning a few things and working diligently in my garden. I have cucumbers and squash galore and in a few weeks I will have tomatoes coming out of my ears! I plan on making spaghetti sauce, tomato juice, diced tomatoes, squash relish, pickles, canned banana peppers, freezer corn, frozen berries, jams and anything else I can get my hands on to can. There is nothing better than opening up a jar of something you have grown with your hands and God's earth and eating it! My children love working in the garden. In fact, my son loves picking my cucumbers but he accidentally picked the whole vine, roots and all, and now I have dead cucumbers. He was quite upset when he realized he killed the cucumbers. He is more careful now! We are going to plant more seeds today.

What Adoption means to me

When I look at my kids, I don't have the privilege of seeing my color in their eyes. I don't see my grandma's hands which are like my mom's which are like mine. I don't get to compare baby photos and see who looks like me or my husband. I don't get to say, "Well she acts just like I did when I was little." Does that bother me? Sometimes. Do I dwell on it? Absolutely not! What ultimately makes a family? I've had someone ask me, "Are you their real mother?" Well if you want to get technical, did I have the joy of feeling their growth inside me, pour my love into their well being and get the distinct honor of being there for the delivery? No I didn't, but I can most assuredly say, YES, I am their real mother. What makes a mother? Blood? Ask all the kids abandoned on the street, thrown in the dumpster, aborted before they even have a chance. Does the person that carried them get that title because of a blood relation?

To me a mother is someone who will rock you at night when she is so exhausted and only wants to go to sleep but will rock you anyway because you matter more. A mother will go to ends of the earth to pay a lawyer and fight for the right to keep you, raise you and love you. A mother will look you in the eye and tell you the truth about your past, even if that past is hurtful and hard to hear. A mother will encourage you to succeed, celebrate and motivate you every day. A mother is a personal cheerleader. Someone who will stand strong and be a voice for you when you are too small to have a voice. We have an adoption poem in our family and it goes like this:


Adoption is love
Love is family
Family is forever

I wasn't there in the beginning but God said I get to be there in the end! He chose my children for me. It's a great honor to be an adoptive parent and it's one I don't take lightly. I love that I get to be there for all of my children's needs. Please don't think our life is picture perfect. It is far from it! But we love each other, stick up for each other and want each other to succeed! How much more real can it get?

Thankful

My blog today is about things I am thankful for. It's so easy in today's world to get down and out when things are not going how we want. Financial stress, debt, worrying about my husband getting work, my health, problems in my family and just general evil in this world can really get me down! But I am so thankful that there is a simple solution. One word: God. He can take all of that stress today, tomorrow, forever just by me simply being humble, obedient and submissive to His will. When I align myself to God's will, no matter what is happening around me, I have peace within. That is a good feeling. I can count on the Lord. I am truly thankful for that.

I am thankful for my husband. What a good man he is. He loves me and the children and is not afraid to get up every day and work for us so that I have the privilege to stay home and homeschool the children. Something that bothers me sometimes about people's view of our life is when I hear people say, "Well, if you went back to teaching, you could eliminate the stress on his shoulders, have health insurance, yadda yadda yadda....". Well that would be easier, but not necessarily better. You see what they don't realize is that I have to stand before the Lord one day and give an account to how I obeyed His call on my life. And I can honestly say that for us, homeschooling is a calling. It's hard and exhausting, but the rewards of seeing the children grow and learn are worth the sacrifice.

I am thankful for my children. What a joy they are to me! Because we spend so much time together, I really know them. When we first adopted them, I didn't know them. My daughter was (and still is) a drama queen and at 3 would throw awful fits. It was puzzling to us because we were so inexperienced as parents and we didn't know how to handle a moody toddler. My son at 2 would hit, punch, bite us when angry or upset. Again with no previous experience, it was a lot of parenting trial and error learning just what makes these kiddos tick. When I look at them now and see how happy they are, how well-adjusted they are (and believe me if you are an adoptive parent, well-adjusted is a good thing) I am thankful. God has been good to us.

I am thankful for my family. My sisters are precious to me and my parents are the rock in our family. They are so supportive of my homeschooling ventures and encourage me to succeed. As Easter approaches, I am most thankful for my salvation. Because God sent His precious Son to die for me, I get the pleasure of an eternal relationship with Him! Thank You Lord!

What are you thankful for?

Vacation Time!

We are currently on vacation at an indoor water park and it is a ball! I think what is so exciting is the fact that we can swim and be warm in the middle of February! That is truly exciting! It is freezing here in Tennessee. Winters are usually mild, but for some reason this year is reminding me of my childhood. Lovely snow every few weeks and lots of soups and inside time. It's also a really hard time for me mentally. Being a homeschool mom, this is a month where we are usually starting to climb the walls for some outside time. I am so thankful for this break this week! I told my husband that weekly dates were mandatory this month for my sanity. Momma needs some alone time with her honey :0) And you know that golden rule about momma being happy, well....it's true!!!!

Here are some pictures of our trip. The kids had a blast!



Our condo was gorgeous and amazing! We were able to go with our friends and we had a great time. This dining room table will fit 10 people easy! It was the play area for the children.

My roles defined!

I was recently reading a friends blog and she issued a challenge: What are your roles? So I thought for my post today and to start off my new year, that I would get my roles out there, write about them, think about them, dwell on them.

What are my roles?

First and foremost I am a Christian. My first obligation is to God. I would be nowhere with out His amazing grace! I have desired a deeper relationship with my Heavenly Father this year, like never before. I want people to see the love of God on my face, in my actions. It doesn't always work out that way, but I am trying.

Wife: I love being a wife to Frankie. He is my best friend. He is so funny and such a good provider. Now before you think he's perfect, he has flaws too! He loses his temper way too quickly and easily and is not patient. But my job is to be the best wife and helpmate I can be for him. Sometimes I feel like when he comes home, he gets the worst of me, because I am so exhausted. So I am going to work on that this year. He deserves better!

Mother/Homeschool Teacher: This is a job I take seriously. I love my children to the ends of the earth. They were given to me by God to love, nurture and cherish and I try to do my best. I am also their teacher. I am responsible for their learning. It's important to me that they learn, but that they also have a heart for God and people. I always tell them I don't care what they grow up to be, as long as it honors God and that they serve Him gladly. It's a tall order, but I will do my best. The bible says, Train up a child in the way they should go and when they are old, they will not depart from it. I am holding on to that promise.

Sister/Daughter: In my family, we are close. I have three sisters and I love them all dearly. I have a blessed mother whom I thank God for. My father has always provided for us and I admire him greatly. It's important to me that I focus on being the sister and daughter they need. I want the love of God to shine on my face for them to see. We have been through a lot over the past few years and nothing matters more than family. I didn't get to choose my family, God did, and I reckon He knows best!

Family Chef: I am the only cook in our family. Frankie can boil water, cook hamburger meat and peel a potato. It's up to me to do the rest. I love to cook, I don't like to shop for food. But I will do it because it's my job. This year, I want to incorporate more fresh healthy meals and get away from the same old, same old stuff. I do have picky eaters, but they are just going to have to get over themselves already:)

Some things I have given up: employment: I was employed by the YMCA for two years. I just gave that up last week. Was it hard? Yes and no. I love all the people I worked with, but I didn't enjoy the job. I think for me, the fact that I homeschool, I am with my children all day and I was going to work with tons of children and never getting a break from children! It stressed me out to work there. So now, I am going to take one of the evenings that I would normally work and go grocery shopping and have an evening to myself. I need this mental break from my children for my sanity and health!

Some things I hope to gain this year: My health: it's really fallen by the wayside. I don't take care of myself like I should. I don't want to be selfish and hog all the spare time for myself, but 30 minutes to an hour each day is not too much to ask to exercise, read, pray, blog, cry, whatever it is I need to do. I am overweight. I am not proud of that. How much overweight, you say? Well, let's just say I would qualify for The Biggest Loser! I have been pondering on joining Weight Watchers. I think I would benefit from the group atmosphere and interaction. I'm still pondering on it. I know that I want to honor God by honoring my body and what I put in it. I haven't been doing that and I'm ashamed of how unhealthy and heavy I am. But God has never left nor forsaken me and I know that He won't now.

So as you read this blog, what is your role? What defines you as a woman, mother, wife, sister, friend and christian? Happy New Year!