Enjoying the Springtime weather

God's mercy and provision

Just thought you might want to see "Cat" out of Ri's hands. See.. she really does survive the "love" they give her.

The kids love the trampoline


Wow- have you checked out the bar to the left and seen Sam and Jacob's tickers rising? God has been so merciful and gracious in his provision to the boys. I asked Jacob if he is learning anything as he watches it increase weekly. His answer was a resonding yes! I asked him what he has learned. He told me this "That every penny counts and every penny adds up".

You see, in the beginning, Jacob was so discouraged when his sister offered him $5.00/week if he cleaned out her car everyday. Our little mathmetician first stopped and figured it all out in his head. His thought was simply that it was less then a dollar a day. He felt the work was too hard for such "little" pay. Mark and I jumped all over him. He is so accustomed to being paid so generously from his Mamaw for very little work that when he actually was going to have to work hard for a small amount, it didn't seem worth it to him.

Then we reminded him of a few verses from the Bible. THe one that came to our mind first was this:
The Widow's Offering
41Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. 42But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins,[j]worth only a fraction of a penny.[k]
43Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on."

You see, Emily wanted to help Jacob. For her, $5.00/week was a ton of money. It crushed Mark and I to see his response, at the same time, we were blessed by Emily's willingness to sacrifice and help her brother.

It took Jacob a while to understand. He saw $2295.00 as a mountain so steep that it would be impossible to climb. He compared the $5.00 to the $2295.00 he needed and felt nothing but an impossible task.

But... as time passed, Jacob began to understand how every penny counted. He began to be willing to do any job for whatever the pay was. He got excited about earning even just a couple of dollars. As he hs watched the ticker, he has realized that pennies add up. He has learned that it doesn't matter what the pay is, that God will provide...even if it is a "widow's mite". He is sincerely as thankful for the mite as he is for "overpay" of his grandparents! It has been neat to watch him with the concession stand. When I shared with him the amount the first day ($27.00), I was expecting him to moan... but NO! He was ecstatic. And when he worked, he was diligent, did not whine, but worked hard. Last week, he had to work the concession all by himself. I was on one field and he was at another field all together. Sam was suppose to work my concession stand, but the YMCA was short referrees, so SAm filled in. THat meant I could not help Jacob. I expected him to be unsure and nervous and really beg for me to be with him. But no! He stepped up to the plate and did it all himself. In the end, we only brought in $94.00 (2 stands - and we still haven't gotten out of the red).... I expected complete disappointment from Jacob. But.. he surprised me and lit up with excitement. Yes, I do believe that our son is finally understanding the truth in what is meant by saving every penny. He also is beginning to understand how hard work pays off. Better yet, he is learning what hard work is.

So, I praise God for what he is doing in our son's lives. Sam is just as excited. He is taking every opportunity he has to earn money. He has the opportunity to ref a traveling game and then reffed all day at the Y. He is reffing Erin's game tonight and then possibly a game on Saturday (as well as the Y). He is getting closer and closer to his goal. We will have to buy the ticket this week or next, so we will know a little more on what he needs to really bring in.

Saturday, the boys received an incredible gift in the mail. A precious family that we have come to know through the adoption of Elizbeth sent an encouraging note to the boys. Jacob opened it up and read the note and then opened the check that they had sent to the boys. He just about fell over. I won't share the amount, but the gift was far beyond generous. The boys both jumped up and squealed and then just look at me in awe. I reminded them that God is at work and this gift was truly from the Hand of God. We were blessed (and blown away) by the love that they have for the boys and for us.

The journey that God has taken us on through the adoption of our children continues to amaze us. We have developed friendships that are so deep with families that we have only actually spent time with for 2 & 3 weeks. But despite the short amount of time we have ever been together, the bond is deep and unbreakable. It amazes me, the love we all have for each other. I praise God for that special friendship and gift.

We've had some beautiful spring days lately. The kids and i took advantage of them and went for several walks. They LOVE looking for bugs and salamanders. They turn over everything possible to see what bugs are under it. We found some pretty cool looking ones (some I didn't want to touch! - but that did not stop them from begging to hold it). On the way home from our walk, Elizabeth was going through a list of things for me to "remember". She would say "mom, "member" the bug with lots of legs?" or "mom, "member" heavens and earth?" (we are memorizing the first verse of the bible: "In the beginning, God created the Heavens and Earth". Well.. as usual,. Ri had to jump in the the "member" comments. He pipes up this: "member, I love Jesus?". It was adorable!!!

Along that same line, Elizabeth saw some cracks in the sidewalk (just where the blocks separate) and noticed that it looked like a cross. She stops me and points down and says "Jesus died on the cross". Very cool!!! (but.. .in her little mind, she was convinced it was that cross).

Last night was a precious night for me. Clay and Renee Cross were at a church just 32 minutes from our home! I asked Mark if he would mind if I went to see them. They have a wonderful ministry called Holy Homes. Clay sings for a little bit before they give a talk on how to make your home a holy home. I have not seen them since we separated in China when we adopted Elizabeth. They have become very precious to me. There is special bond between Renee and I; maybe because we have experienced the adoption of 2 of our children at the same time, first our girls shared the same orphanage and then we both adopted sons. They actually were leaving China with their 7 year old son the day we were arriving in China to bring Ri home.

Anyways, last night, Emily, Elizabeth nd Ri and I went to the church. We had a cherished time of reunion before Clay performed. It was a long time, but precious none the less. We then got to hear Clay sing and then listen to both Clay and Renee share their testimony and what God has done in their life. It was a wonderful evening. As we said our goodbyes, Ri went right up to Renee and gave her a hug. Then we told him to give Clay one. Clay was in the middle of talking with someone and Ri went straight up to him and held on to his leg. It was very, very sweet. THen after Clay hugged him, Ri headed to the guy who Clay was talking to and grabbed onto his leg as well. Too cute.

A sweet poem

My very dear friend, who is blessed with 4 beautiful children, put this on her site the other day. It really rang true to me. There is nothing that we have in this world that we take with us to the other side. All the riches we gather during this lifetime are really meaningless. Oh, there isn't anything wrong with gathering riches, it's what you do with the riches God has blessed you with. But ultimately, the only true purpose is to further His kingdom, and to provide us with the necessities of life. Unfortunately, all too often, I find things I believe are necessities that truly are not. Recently, I have been quite convicted of the things I buy simply because they are a good deal or because I "believe" my kids need it. They don't, but far too often I find myself conforming to the world and trying to give my kids everything I can and trying to "keep up" with the things their peers have. Truly, the only thing they need in life is a real relationship with Jesus Christ. And if they trust Jesus Christ as their personal Savior, then in a sense, I will be taking them to heaven with me. :)


"I Would Gather Children"

Some would gather money
Along the path of life,
Some would gather roses
And rest from worldy strife.

But I would gather children
From among the thorns of sin,
I would seek a golden curl,
And a freckled toothless grin.

For money can not enter,
In that land of endless day,
And roses that are gathered,
Soon will wilt along the way.

But oh, the laughing children,
As I cross the sunset sea,
And the gates swing wide to heaven,
I can take them in with me.



Going right along with me theme... we planted seeds this morning. I reminded the kids that God plants the seeds. He uses some to plant, some to water and some to harvest. ... Here we are planting some tomato seeds:






Today, we spent the morning working on the Letter E. Off and on I have been trying to work on letter recognition; but my attempts have been quite fleeting and not regular enough for them to grasp the concept. We decided to make a book for each letter. Here they are coloring the cover to our Letter E book.

Do you remember the Letter People. My 4 older kids all had the letter people in Kindergarten. I am in the process of making a book for the little ones with the ABC's. I found a wonderful kindergarten teacher online who has the letter people for her kids to see. SHe was a great help to me in getting a picture of each of the letter people.


Here is Ms. E - Exercise Energy





This morning, we decided to make a fun snack. THese funny faces are the result:


Yesterday was a beautiful spring day, so we decided to take the kids scooters to the bike trail. THey loved it. The only problem was that their one leg got tired very quickly.

Giggles

Everytime I watch this, when it gets to Ri... I can't help but laugh right along. THis is SOOO cute! His giggle is ADORABLE!

Elizabeth and Ri are the best of friends; but, Ri tends to be very, very ornery and LOVES to tease. Elizabeth is so excited that she can sing the entire ABC song, so I decided to video her. She just finally mastered it (kind of). Ri isn't too far behind. He loves singing it with his little sister. But..... he just can't seem to help himself...

A few days ago, I shared with you the artistic talent of Erin Michal. I get so excited to see her draw. I truly love what she can do. One year, for mothers day, she drew me a vase with flowers. I still have it framed and on my wall. I treasure it.

Today, Jacob was given a writing assignment witha simple prompt. He came home somewhat discouraged because everyone was getting cool assignments like: "Your trapped overnight in the mall", "Your science experiment has gone totally wrong".. and so on. His assignment? I giggle about it.... "You are a housefly on the wall and you witness 2 siblings fighting". Well, his reaction? "Houseflies are the boringest things ever... and siblings fighting? ..come on!"

Me? I giggled. Lately, Jacob has been having some issues with siblings and we have had several discussions about them. I think the subject is a good one... but he does not! So, he sat and shared with me that even though houseflies were boring, he was going to make this story exciting.......

And here is just the beginning. I couldn't help but burst out laughing. He is so gifted with his writing. One day, we are all convinced, that he will be an author of his own book... no... series! The only problem is, as he has already informed us, someone 60 years ago stole his idea! He had already had his book written in his head; plot and all. Lo and behold, he discovered that there was a book with the exact same plot; right down to the very beginning shot.

But... on with my little man's story.....

To begin, my name is Boz and I am a musca domestica, or a common housefly. I don’t particularly like siblings, I never have. You see I have over 5,000 of them and if I thought I couldn’t get more annoyed at the principal of siblings, I was wrong. It just so happens that the story I am about to tell you proves to anyone the vital importance of a healthy relationship between two brothers, and if you have problems with your brother or sister, you might want to think about solving them, because you definitely don’t want to end up like the twisted family I am about to share with you.
Like I had said earlier, when I was born I already had thousands of siblings. With all of these children and only one mother, I began to feel excluded. I eventually decided to move out of my comfortable middle-class house. I left on my 17th birthday (17 days) to begin the journey of a lifetime (about 35-days for houseflies). I smiled. It had been a long hard way to spend a childhood, but I was finally free. I was ready to see the world, or as much of it as possible for a fly, with 18 days left in my life-expectancy.



Is this a cliff hanger? Yep... he has just begun the story. I am anxious to hear the "rest of the story". I just wanted to give you all a "flavor" for Jacob's mind.

Aunt Betty -- this pictures just for you! The kids love their sweat suits. Ri finally fits in his just perfectly :).





Face your fears.... UGH!!! We went to COSI during break. This is an exhibit to help people face their fears. Check out the spider in the cage. The guy at the display was holding a centipede that was about an inch thick and 7-9 inches long. OOOOOOHHHHH YUCK.



Elizabeth spent a great deal of time "doctoring" at the clinic at COSI. Ri, on the other hand, spent the ENTIRE time rounding up racquet balls and placing them in a wheelbarrel in order to push them down a track made for the balls. He was quite the little scooper, often getting mad at other kids who beat him to the balls. I was constantly going from one end of the kids play area to the other to check on each kid. I found myself standing smack in the middle of the 2, not able to see either one, but knowing I could catch one when they came my way.


Well one of our kids is always saying they are being picked on all the time.... I think they are right... Here is Emily, caught in the act!

Jacob... waiting for customers for his first day of concession stand. The running total of the day: $27.00. It is a rough start, but we are confident that business will pick up once people know the kids are there.





I think our biggest customers were the littles ones... and the kids youth pastor. Here Erin is helping Elizabeth with a ring pop.

I love sharing some of the talents that the kids have. This weekend, Erin picked up a charcoal pencil and began drawing again. She does such an excellent job; I just had to put her on display! She has never taken lessons, just the basic art classes in elementary and middle school. She is learning most of it on her own.

A Walk in the Woods and a surprise pirate visit