OUR LAST WEEK

Girls with the girls, boys with the boys

Last Friday we took the kids out on "dates".
Daddy and Andrew had a special morning and the girls and I had a special morning...since I had the camera, there are no pics of the boys' time -but I can tell you they had a FABULOUS time together. John took Andrew out to breakfast, then to do go-karts and air hockey, and then home to play the Wii.

The girls and I started our day out getting our hands and feet done, then out to a "girly" lunch, then to the local mall's pet store to look at the puppies and kittens (Becca is SUCH an animal lover!).

I think all 5 of us really enjoyed our time!!


Here are a few pics from our girly day.

above -the girls showing off their fingernails, and below -their precious piggy toes

on Saturday, after Andrew's soccer game, we released our butterflies.
For Andrew's b-day, my mom gave him a gift certificate for caterpillars from InsectLore (all you moms -go check it out!). We had little caterpillars delivered about 3 weeks ago...each day they were visibly bigger and bigger...then a week later they made their way to the top of their jar and formed chrysalids -it was SO cool to watch.

About a week later, our 5 chrysalids turned out 5 beautiful butterflies!
We kept them for 2 days in the little habitat above...and then released them on Saturday.

As each one would fly out, the kids would yell out "good bye butterfly! we love you!"

and this was my little missy last night. I've posted her crazy sleep positions before -this girl wiggles around!

Yesterday was our 2nd "skip nap day" in a row so she was awfully tired.

I put the kids to bed and about 7 minutes after walking out of the room I heard a thump or thud -thinking the girls were up playing I hustled to the room to find Elizabeth like this.....just minutes afer I had put her down. I have no idea how she got there SO quickly.

~after snapping the pic I did turn her the "right" way in bed so she could be more comfortable!~

SCARLET THREADS GIVE-AWAY!

Isn't this the cutest apron?!

It's the "Phoebe Apron"...and you can win it!!!

There are several other aprons you can purchase as well.

Where might you ask?

Go check out Scarlet Threads ~ www.scarletthreads.org/index.html for the whole line-up. Scarlet Threads is "a compassionate boutique, specializing in unique aprons designed and produced by talented seamstresses in rural Asia."

If you want to enter the Give-Away-go to the blog post ~ http://blog.scarletthreads.org/2009/11/get-excited.html


**again, sorry for the long links to things...can't figure out why all of a sudden we can't copy/paste into blogger!**

HE HAS A FAMILY!! BUT FUNDRAISING IS STILL GOING ON.

this is Duncan..last week I blogged about him. My friend is his Christmas Warrior and took on the charge to try to raise a $1000 grant for his adoption ALONG WITH spreading the word that he desperately needs a family.

A family has stepped forward for him!! How fantastic is that?!

The fundraising is still going on along with a fantastic give-away.

Hop on over to http://www.arewethereyetla5.blogspot.com/ to see the rules and enter!!!

AFTERNOON AT THE DAIRY

there is a local dairy that has a "free" day every year...this year's free day was today. :)

it's really not much...a few games like toss a ball in a tractor tire, a hay maze, etc...but the kids LOVED it.

you can take a little hay ride and they take you around the dairy -point out where the milking house is, who is in what pen (the dry pen with cows 7-8.5 mo. pregnant, the "about to deliver" pen w/cows in the last 2 wks of pregnancy, etc), a basis synopsis of how the dairy operates, etc.

it was a great way to spend a 2 hours of our afternoon-and really educational for the kids

above and below are the cows in the milking area -above, I believe they've already been milked and are waiting to head back to their pen.

Below-cows being milked as we watched. :)

we spent ALOT of time at the "cows about to deliver" pen. :)

these were all mama cows that were to deliver in the next 2 weeks.
this dairy has 4-6 calves born a day right now.

we saw 4 brand new babies today and 1-2 cows in labor.

we were told this one was in labor. she got up not long after I took this shot so it's not like she was writhing in pain. :) but the kids did keep asking me "mama -is she dead?!"

can you see the little one just above the 2nd yellow bar?

this one HAD TO have been brand new. it's hair was still kinda fuzzy and it's legs were SOOOO wobbly.
poor baby just stood there trembling for the longest time. it was clearly afraid to move lest it just collapse -it was just precious!

I don't know if you can see it in the above pic -you may need to click on it to enlarge it -but you can still see the umbilical cord hanging down on the calf above

this calf is, I believe, the same one as a few pics above -the one we saw that was just trembling as it stood for the first time.....when we walked by this 2nd time, you could hear it moo-ing just a bit...then it walked a few steps, collapsed, and just laid on the ground resting....hard work for a newborn!

mamas licking their newborns

and just as we were leaving, my sister and her kids were coming in. the kids got a big kick out of seeing their cousins so we had to take a group shot.

CAN YOU HELP? even a little bit?! PLEASE! :)

Operation Giggle (http://www.operationgiggle.blogspot.com/) is doing a few things I'm REALLY excited about AND there is an urgency to this need.

Operation Giggle has partnered with our placing agency, YWAM, to provide Christmas for the widows and orphans in their current homes as well as for 25 street boys in Gimbie. You can read about these precious boys here : http://thatwemightbeadopted.blogspot.com/2009/09/street-kids-part-2.html

I DARE YOU TO READ ABOUT THEM!! their stories are heartbreaking.


**I can no longer copy/paste links into blogger! sorry for the long and messy links! have no idea what happened..and, since John is my computer guru and is out of town for the weekend, we'll have to live with it. :) **

anyway -12 of these boys still need to be sponsored for a 1 time gift of $25. If you can't afford $25, could you afford $5 or $10? any little bit you could help with would go towards giving these boys an actual Christmas....they will know they are loved and prayed for by people who don't even know them. Can you imagine what a gift that would be to children who have no-one to love on them???!!!!

The $$ for these boys needs to be received by this coming Friday, the 13th -so there is much urgency to get these boys sponsored.

please consider helping these precious boys out.

Operation Giggle is also partnering with New Day Foster Home in China! If you'd rather give to help get Christmas gifts to China, please consider donating to Operation Giggle's New Day drive. I believe there is a raffle going on for adorable gifts too. :)

and this is Duncan.

My dear friend Sarah is his Christmas Warrior thru Reece's Rainbow.
Sarah is trying to find a family for precious Duncan AND help to raise an adoption grant for him.

Please visit her site at: http://arewethereyetla5.blogspot.com/ to see the rules and specifications of her give-away to help find a family for Duncan AND to help raise an adoption grant for him.

Again, every little bit you could do -donate, tell others, whatever...is 1 step closer to Duncan finding a family instead of being put into a mental institution for the rest of his life.

IT'S ELIZABETH DAY!!

November 4, 2007 we walked into a business room in a hotel in Fujian, China.

With butterflies in my stomach and my heart in my throat, I walked off the elevator, turned the corner and saw my little girl standing with her traveling nanny/nurse at the couch.

The little girl God had placed in our hearts in November of 2005 when we began our process to China was now standing before us.

our first introduction

1st "family" photo

1 scared little girl whose world had just been rocked.


Fast forward 2 years and you have this.

1 happy little girl who is VERY proud to be from China, but who is also securely a part of our family and very happy to be here.

I never know if we should celebrate "Gotcha Day" -Nov. 4th, or Nov. 5th -the day we officially adopted her. This year it's today the 5th. :)

a couple pics of Ellie-bellie with her favorite friends in the whole-wide world. :)

This last year has been SO much better than the first. We are thriving as a family, not just surviving. I think alot of that is due to the fact we were able to identify Elizabeth's issues as attachment related and deal with them head-on.

We are making great strides with Elizabeth. Her episodes of insecurity are definitely fewer, shorter, and further in between than they used to be. Oh -for sure we still deal with stuff daily....but I finally feel like we're able to deal with them properly and thus help Elizabeth heal.


She has come a long way this year in just about everything.

She is best "buddies" with her brother and sister.

She doesn't just play with toys, but also play imaginative things.

She LOVES to draw, color and do crafty things.

Her English has exploded! She is speaking much better now. True, sometimes she is difficult to understand and she doesn't pronounce all her words correctly -but she is getting there.

She LOVES to be outside and we are finding is quite adept at sports related things..swimming and riding her bike are 2 things she has excelled at!

She LOVES to be held and snuggled. :)

Elizabeth -

sometimes the moments in China seems so far away ~ the moment I first saw you, the moment I held you and cried with you, the moment I noticed you asleep on my shoulder...and sometimes they seem like just yesterday.

sometimes I take a step back from our whole situation and am amazed at how scary those first few weeks with us must have been....but how brave you were to come to us and trust us.

sometimes I get frustrated that you still haven't come to the point of fully trusting us and our love for you...but then I am reminded of how much hurt and confusion and sadness you experienced before coming to us. it makes me so sad that even after 2 years, there is still a part of you that you keep at a distance from us.

Elizabeth, we love you.
We love ALL of you -your silly part, your sad part, your mad part, and your happy part. You can try to push us away, but we're not going anywhere! My hope and prayer is that sometime soon, you will be able to fully love us and let us fully love you.....that God will fully heal your heart.

I love you Ellie-bellie.

love -mommy

ANDREW'S 6TH B-DAY -BELATED POST

My baby boy turned 6 on October 14th.

I can't believe he's getting so old! :)

We had a little party for him at home with just us on the 14th, and then the following Sunday we had grandma & grandpa and auntie, tio, and the cousins over.

pics from his actual birthday

getting a kids' pitching machine from John's mom

blowing out his candles



pics from his "big" birthday party

he wanted a "bak*ugan" birthday so he received a few bak*ugans and then I put them on his cake.

the boys found one of Andrew's light sabers. :) Josiah loved it...see the expression on Jeremiah's face? I don't think he was too thrilled his brother had it!

my sister had done french braids in her little girls' hair so while she was here, she did Becca's and Elizabeth's hair the same way. It was TOO cute!

I know this is late, but didn't want Andrew and his birthday left out. :)

Andrew-bug,

I love you so much. You are such a sweet little boy.

I love how much you love your sisters...and how you are always playing with them....even if it's "mommy's and daddy" and not "boy" things.

I love how much you love learning.
You really are a smart little guy and I love seeing you "get" what you are being taught.

Most of all, I love seeing your understanding and love for God grow.

I pray that you will continue to fall in love with your Savior and that you will follow hard after Him ~that you will be a light.

I love you son.

love-

mommy