2 days ago, Erin and Jacob decided to ride their bikes to their Mamaw's house. By car, it takes 30 minutes to get there. They had to go back roads, so the trip was a little longer in miilage then if we traveled by car. I wish I had measured it. The kicker was, it was raining the entire trip. I found them wondering in a small town. The road I had told them to take was not marked, so both they and I missed it. When I found them, I anticipated putting them in the van and taking them to Mamaw's. THey were drenched... in every way possible. But they both were smiling ear to ear. They knew they had missed the road and were heading back to get it. I figured out an easier way for them to go and went on ahead, waiting for a phone to call to come get them. Nope! They made the entire trip on bikes. We were so proud of them. It took them 2 1/2 hours.


Ri's first experience with a sparkler. The expression on his face tells it all. Elizabeth, on the other hand, doesn't care too much for them. She is hiding behind my back right now.

Now this is a priceless picture. We were picking berries and I heard Ri say I have to give mom a flower. He marched to where I was.. on a mission. He had picked this flower and insisted on handing it to me. So sweet!


We have been going through a ton of things looking for items for the kids to sell at a garage sale. Amidst the stuff, Erin found a cow outfit that Mamaw had made Emily when Emily was Elizabeth's age. It was precious to see Elizabeth walking around in it. It brought back a flood of memories.


Our double fisted "berry beast".....
Who can't get enough!!

Emily and I have been playing around with senior picture ideas. The first one, Emily likes the most. I am looking forward to trying lots of different places to take the pictures. I am getting tired of the same spots/poses. I loved the flower idea. She came up with that one.



Sometimes, I am not so sure what gets into me. LAtely, I have been very convicted about my responses to my wonderful son, Jacob. His summer has been a little harder then the other kids. He has no camps to go to, no friends he really hangs out with to invite over, a broken arm, a brother who has left him for a month, and older sisters who don't think he is as cool as the little ones. He is kind of on his own. And, lately, my responses to him have been with frustration, anger, and exasperation. I have had little patience and have taken little time out to really realize or even try to realize what he is feeling. Before we adopted Elizabeth and Ri, I was always there for Jacob. I knew him like the back of my hand. When he needed my attention, he got it. It seems like ever since we brought two little ones into our lives, Jacob's attention has been squeezed out. It breaks my heart. Right now is probably the time he needs me even more.

So.. with that said, yesterday he mentioned that he thought Dad might be wrong about how long it would take to get to Grandma's house if we walked. He then preceeded to tell me he thought it would only take 2 hours. You see, Grandma's house is 9 miles from ours. I don't know what came over me, but I looked at him and told him I thought he was right and then asked him if he wanted to try to walk there. Ok... I really hadn't thought much about having two 3 year olds at that moment. But he lit up and said yes. So, I woke Erin up, told her we were walking to Grandma's. She got up, we got the little ones ready and headed out the door. It was an incredible walk. (in MANY ways!). Jacob was off a little on his first estimation. It took us 4 hours to get there. But we had a great deal of un on the way. We all agreed it had been a good idea. The little ones rode in their strollers most of the way. There is a stretch of about 5 miles where cars go by us at 55-60 miles an hour... but there aren't that many that travel the road. I would say maybe 40-50 cars passed us. Once we got on a safer part of the walk, Ri decided he wanted to walk some. Erin, Jacob and I were playing a game with the soccer ball and having so much fun. He decided he wanted to jump in. It amazes me how wonderful he does dribbling!

Once we made it into town, we stopped at McDonalds and enjoyed a treat. What fun we had! I think we'll have to try it again another day.... once my legs recouperate!



Last night, when we got home, we grabbed a few jars and the little ones squealed as Jacob, Daddy and I caught lightening bugs for them. They went to bed with their jars glowing beside them. Once they fell asleep, I let the bugs go. Tonight, we'll catch some more. What a fun day we had!






For those of you following Sam's journey in Poland, here is his schedule for the next few days. It made me very sad. I'm not sad because he is doing this, in fact, I am thrilled that he has an opportunity to visit Auschwitz. I am sad because I will not hear from him in ANY way until they get back from this particular visit. That means it will be 4 days. That makes my heart ache. I have not had a chance to IM him for 2 days as it is. So, this morning, when I missed him again on IM, my heart began to ache deeply. I was thankful for the email he sent me. I had asked him several questions. He took the time to respond to them (he is such a good boy- thinking of his mama!). If you have been praying for him and for the Perry's, please continue to pray. This will give you a better idea of his next few days.

Thursday - 3:11 pm - Train departs for Krakow (4-hour ride). We are making the kids leave laptops & PSP's behind so they will talk, play cards, & look at the Polish countryside.

Thursday - 7:00 pm - Arrive in Krakow, where we will be staying at a hostel near downtown (not staying at the university because it was full). This will be a new experience.

Friday - 9:00 am - Train departs for Auschwitz (1:45 ride). Sherri, Ben, Irmina, Luke & Sam will go to Auschwitz while the rest of the kids & Dave tour Krakow.

Friday - 6:00 pm - Train arrives back in Krakow from Auschwitz. We will spend the evening in Krakow

Saturday - Tour Krakow during the day

Saturday evening- Train arrives back in Radom

Sunday - Church in the morning, lunch with Mikolaj's family, and dinner in the country with Tytus & some of his friends. These friends have teens who study abroad, and they want to meet our family.

Sunday - Late night - Ben, Joe & Jim will say goodbye to all of their friends here.

Monday - early morning - Drive the boys to the airport in Warsaw. Their flight leaves at 12:10 pm Warsaw time (6:10 am Ohio time)

My sweet, sweet Sam.... you are missed. We are praying for you and for the Perry's. It is such fun to watch the blog and see pictures of you. I put this video up just for you. I thought maybe you would enjoy hearing your little sister's sweet voice and see her tell a story. I think that if you were here, she would have patted the seat beside her and asked you if you wanted to hear a story. When Daddy got home from work, she asked him if he wanted to hear a story. She sat down on the couch, patted the seat beside her and told him to sit down. She then proceeded to tell him the story of the Three Little Pigs. She was so excited with her story that she called for Emily, Jacob and Erin, asked them if they wanted to hear a story, patted the seat beside her for them to sit down and then began her story. It was adorable! She patiently waited until I got the video camera so that I could capture her performance. Too cute! I realize that many of you haven't quite learned "Elizabethian" language yet. So, there is a little interpretation of her story underneath the video. Enjoy!



The three little piggies….and and and the bad wolf tried to blow the house down . And and and he went the first house. (nodding her head yes) the first house. And the big bad wolf tried to chase him and eat him. And he went his brothers house ….. Cause he blow the house down. And a huff and a huff and blow the house down. (then showing the kids how he blew) he did that. (Emily says wow). Blow the house down. (Emily asks what happened next) he ran and ran and he try chase him. And he went brothers house. And them ran away and them try get Jesus. And Jesus try to save him. (Emily asks if he saved them). Umm No (wrinkled up nose) But theres not Jesus, but hims upside. And 3 little piggies tried to ran. And blow the house down and there’s flowers on the house. But NOW there’s no flowers on the house. And the big bad wolf tried to blow the flowers off. And he tried tried to blow the flower down. (Emily asks something) Yeah, blow the house down. Yeah, and he blow the flowers down. Yeah, he blew them down. And and he blow a house down. And and he run away. The End.

Jacob took both of these pictures for me. He was playing with the kids. When they both put sunglasses on, he thought it was so cute that he grabbed the camera and started shooting. I thought he captured a couple of really good ones!



Elizabeth and I went to Bowling Green to pick Erin up from camp. When Ri is not around, she is ALL charm. She was being so sweet. I loved this picture.


Sherri posted these pictures of Sam on her blog. I grabbed them. I guess the boys are eating Kebabs. They are very similar to gyros.

Wow - if Sam can do his laundry this way, I guess I can expect that when he gets back, he will be perfectly happy to help me with his laundry!



Erin went to an elite soccer camp through Midwest Soccer Academy. It was her first residential camp. She has dreamed of attending a good camp for a very long time. Her goal was to go during the summer before her junior year. She saved all her money and paid for the camp herself. We were very proud of her! She enjoyed it because she finally got an idea at what level she can play. The coaching was excellent and she met some wonderful new friends. She was all smiles when I picked her up.

During the awards ceremony, she recieved to great honors. First, 4 kids were awarded champions of the 4V4 games. She was one of them. Then, the highest honor a child can recieve at camp is the award for the soccer player with the most promise. She recieved it for her age group. It was thrilling to hear. The coach she had was very excited about her abilities and talked to her a great deal about her future goals.

On another note, I am missing my son, but am very confident that he is enjoying every minute of his time in Poland. Please pray for them this week as they are helping with a VBS.

Here are some pictures of Sam that have been posted on our friends website.

Evidently, he is in a frieght elevator. He looks quite happy, doesn't he?
Jim and Sam attempted to cook chicken on the grill. The coals just didn't get hot enough, so they resorted to frying it in a pan. Love to see his cullinary skills :)

Having pizza with his new friends.

She is such a ham at times...... ... and quickly turns to serious or thoughful.....
... and then there is my silly boy, who loves doing anything that makes me smile.
well.. maybe not anything. Here he is mad at me. At this point, I did not give him his turn because he refused to go get the ball. There were playing "tennis". It was his turn to go get the ball. Since he refused, he missed his turn. As a result, he fell flat on the ground and laid there, still as could be. I told him that he needed to get the ball. He realized that I wasn't going to respond to his laying, so he kicked his shoes off. I still didn't respond, so he took each sock and threw them. I just cracked up. His little "temper tamtrums" don't really last long. But seeing him fall on the ground flat on his back is quite comical.

Ri loves swinging ... anything in his hands!

Doesn't this make a very nice seat?

I couldn't resist this one, he has such a sweet face!

Elizabeth's facial expressions are often so gentle and serious.

He's off again! This time, my little HOBO is on a mission with his precious balls (some of his favorite toys)

I can't remember if I posted anything about the blog that our friends are psoting to, but if you are intersted in seeing some of Sam's adventures in Poland, the blog site is: www.friendsofradom.blogspot.com

I shot these pictures last night with the little ones. We havent been outside much lately due to the sickness that has been lingering around our home. I think it has gone through everyone except for Ri. Funny how are "sickest" member is really our healthiest :)

Speaking of that, I don't think that I shared the details of his last visit to the cardiologist. Last year, when we visited him, Ri cried so hard when I sat him on the table for his ultrasound that the nurse refused to even attempt one. She looked at me after 30 seconds and said that Ri was uncooperative and we couldn't do it. Needless to say, I was not impressed with this nurse! This year, Ri was absolutely a gem! So, with an actual US to read, the doctor was able to give us more information. He does have some pulmonary stenosis and a small VSD as well as a couple arteries that are too narrow and one that it too large. He looked at Ri and told me that there was no way he would do anything with a child that looked as good as he does. He just doens't want to mess with things. Unless he begins to experience several pneumonia / bronchitis bouts, then we are fine to kepe things as they are until his body gets much bigger. Ideally, he would like to wait to do anything until he is big enough to be able to place adult size stints (not sure how to spell those)in him. He will need them, but the doctor would rather wait so that he does not need multiple surgeries for it.

So, eventually he will need some more repair. Until then, his activity level is fine. He will probably become winded much quicker then most (he does), and he probably won't ever be a marathon runner (we knew that already - and face it, how many of us are?)... but he can still participate in everything anyone else can. We are praising God for our healthy little boy!

Our friends who went to Poland brought over some "gifts" for us to play with while they were away. This 4-wheeler brought a few sparkles to our kids eyes. They are enjoying having it for a month. Thanks Dave!






I dropped Erin off at her soccer camp yesterday. Please pray for the weather. It appears to be thunderstorms all week. That would not be the best weather for a soccer camp. I would hate for her to spend all her money on camp and then not get much out of it because of the weather. I spoke to her last night and she seemed pretty pumped after their first game sessions.

Sam is really doing well. He IM'd me this morning at 5:30. It was so wonderful to "talk" with him. He had a rough first few nights of sleep, but thanks to his new mom - he slept better last night. SHe was able to give him something to sleep. He says that he has done a TON of walking. He likes Poland. His biggest concerns were wanting to bring home something special for each of his siblings. It was so sweet. He has 3 1/2 more weeks, and he is already thinking of gifts for them. Dave wrote yesterday and filled me in a little more.

Here is his note:
We had a very full day today with church, a big pot luck (they call it an Agape dinner), a soccer game of our friend Simon, the semi-pro soccer player (he scored the first 2 goals), went out for genuine Italian pizza, and then walked to an outdoor live screening on a giant screen of the Euro-cup. Church was awesome and I asked Sam specifically about his impression of Poland so far. He said that the people at church are very happy, really happy. We discussed how this is so eventhough they, about 35 people, worship in a room, in an old industrial building, on the 4th floor (ride a frieght elevator to get there) and the room is smaller than most Sunday school rooms at Faith Baptist.

Here is the note from Sherri:
We have had a full day so far. Four hours at
church (two hours of service, and two hours of agape meal -- like potluck). Remember that when we go to church, it is a 30 minute walk one way. Thankfully, Sam, Luke & Levi got a ride back home! Now we are going to walk again .... to watch Szymon's soccer team play in a scrimmage. Then we are going out for pizza. Mmm... something
'American' for our stomachs. All of the walking is good for us -- builds strong legs and creates many opportunities to talk.

On the way back from church, Dave and Mikolaj helped a young man who was hungry and asking for money. They took him to a store and bought him food. They also witnessed to him.

Sam was brave and tried a lot of Polish food today at the potluck. He actually liked it, which is more than I can say for myself! Tomorrow, the teens here have invited the boys to play soccer. That should be a fun time.

Before today, I thought, 'This might be a LONG month!' But my heart was renewed at church when we talked with people. My heart remembered why we came here, and how wonderful the people are.

Marek (youth pastor) has a two-day trip planned for the youth next week. The boys will go too (along with Ben & Joe are). They will go to another city and spend time with another youth group.


BUT... this one is my favorite part of all.... :)
I asked him today if he misses his brothers & sisters, etc. He misses
his mom the most :-) Just thought you might want to know.

Please pray for this trip and this family. What a joy it is to read what they are doing.

I can't believe that they start so early in life. Start? Start what, you might ask! Well... start being a typical man. Well, I guess I might be stereotyping men. So, I am sorry for that. I am confident that there are men who really enjoy sharing details about their life. Maybe there are men who like taking the time to write and share things. Unfortunatley, it is my experience that most men are short and to the point. They are motivated to get to the point and do it quickly. Conversation is just not many men's strong point. So why, you might ask, that I say I can't believe that they start so early in life? Because Sam landed in Poland, in another country, thousands of miles from his mom. He flew overnight in a plane and experienced many things (I think) already today. And...though I really wasn't expecting to hear from my boy at all, he wrote the following note by email:
Hey mom this is sam. just checking in. how is it over there? Has Elizabeth gotten better? well e-mail soon!

lots of love
sam

It cracked me up! I am thankful for even that much, though! Just hearing from him made me light up. Then a an hour or so later, he IM'd me. That was pretty cool. We "chatted" for a minute or two. I really don't know what he has done or what he thinks of Poland, but I know that he slept 8 hours on the plane. And thus, he was not tired at 1:00am their time when he was sending me an instant message.

His new "mom" emailed us and shared that the place they are staying in is wonderful. She said that the whole trip time was 24 hours. They are glad to have arrived safely. Here is a portion of the note she sent us:

Our accommodations are excellent. We are on the 3rd floor of a newly
renovated building, which is being used as a Christian Center. It is
spacious and clean. It is right beside the bus line, grocery store,
Obi (Lowes type store), mini mall, a few restaurants, and the open
market. Dennis, this is an EXCELLENT place for future groups. Plenty
of bathrooms & accommodations. Currently, we are the only ones staying
in the building. Even if others were staying here, we would have
complete privacy. This internet access is available in our building.
Plus there is a water filter that treats the entire building's supply
of water. So we can drink freely!

Tomorrow we will rest, go to the grocery, get acclamated to the area,
visit with friends, and visit downtown Radom. We really could not ask
to be more centrally located, and the facilities here are better than
we've experienced on any other trip.

My precious Sam, if you are reading this, know that we love you and are praying for all of you. I think Jacob is missing you the most... or at least he is definitely anticipating missing you.

Last night, I got a message from our precious friends who are taking Sam to Poland. They were sitting on the plane getting ready to take off. So, this morning, around 4:00am, they should have landed. My son is now in another country wihtout us :(. But, I am very, very excited for him. Please keep them in prayer as they embark on the journey God has called them to.

I was awake when they landed, I had been for a good hour or so. I was praying for them. But it wasn't because of their flight that I was awake. Elizabeth has been sick for a few days. 2 days ago, she was running a fever of 101.5. I don't like fevers...at least not with her. Jacob always ran high fevers, even up to 105 and 106 without any major problems. When Sam hits that high, he haluciates big time. I don't like them with him. Emily and Erin rarely get that high and if they do, there isn't problems. Elizabeth? Well, she has feveral seizures. I HATE THEM!! SHe hasn't had one for over a year. I really had hoped she had outgrew them. But, no, I guess she hadn't, When she ahd the temp of 101.5, I gave her medicine. I was carrying her on my back in my ergo because she just wanted held. All of a sudden she felt very funny. I turned to try to look at her and she wasn't shaking and had her eyes open, but she wasn't responding to my questions. I quickly took her off, thinking she might be in a seizure. She was stiff and staring. She had a cup in her hand, I had to pry her fingers off it. I knew she was having a seizure, but it was different then the other 3 she has had. She laid in my arms staring and stiff as could be. Every muscle was tense and she didn't respond at all; just a blank stare. THat went on for 10 minutes. Then she started gagging as if she wasn't going to be able to get air. Since it had all been different, I picked up the phone and called 911 simply to talk through it and in case she stopped breathing. She proceeded to throw up profusely. I kept her on her side in my arms. The operator wanted to call a squad. I told her 3 times that I didn't think we needed one, but she felt better sending one. It took at least 10 minutes for hte squad to get here. When they got here, she wasn't moving much, but she was beginning to look around. She turned and stared at the paramedics and then back at me. The paramedics took her out of my arms so that I could get our dog inside. Elizabeth just looked at the paramedic and then at me....NEVER whimpering, crying, screaming...NOTHING! It was then that I knew for sure that she was not back with us yet. We sat in the squad for a few minutes before she started beginning to act like she might respond to things. Her Oxygen stats were a little low, but they felt it might be their equipment since it was an adult monitor. THey gave her oxygen anyways. We denied a trip to the hospital. WE had her checked out by our doctor just to make sure she didn't have pneumonia or something like that. He figured she just has a virus. Well, yesterday and last night, her fevers are spiking at 103. She hasn't siezured anymore, praise God!

So, that is why I was up. On another note, Emily is home from Florida. THat is a whole different issue, one I will share at another time. The brief story: she was stranded there. She and her cousins were suppose to fly here on the 11th. The airlines would not let the cousins fly the last flight of the night. So we ended up having to cancel everything. She was then stuck there until my brother came home from Italy. She loved taking care of her cousins, but was thrilled to be home. Erin's U19 soccer team won in the Jarosi Tournament. That was exciting. She heads to soccer camp on Sunday. She is thrilled and can't wait.

Well, hello again! I have been off for so long. Time is flying by. I seem to be swamped with things to do and I have so much to say that I just haven't taken time. Today is no different. I go to pick Sam up in 45 minutes. He is at Summer Gym. But after I pick him up, I am taking him to the airport so that he can fly to Poland. I can't believe today is the day. Please pray for him and for the family who has been so gracious as to include Sam. They fly out of Chicago at 10:30 this evening and will arrive in Poland at 4:00am our time. My heart aches to know he will be gone for a month. It aches not for him, but for me. I will miss my boy! But I am so excited for him! I can not begin to explain how excited I truly am. I pray God will do mighty things in Poland... both for those who live there and for Sam and his new "family for a month".

Here is a picture of our celebrating Sam's last night with us before flying off. We had promised him a drive in movie, but Elizabeth had a fever and had another seizure in the morning. With that in mind, we did not want to go to the drive in. So...we made our own on our deck. It was very fun.