Merry Christmas!

This past year has quickly flown by in the slowest way possible. It seems like yesterday that I was writing last year's Christmas letter; it seems like it was years ago at the very same time.

In January, we found out that I was pregnant!  Our family was excited and happy, and discovered something together:  We are not a patient group of people!  For the next 9 months, we were often learning about Peanut's growth and talking about what we were looking forward to.  Compared to adopting kids, this process of adding a child to our family seemed painfully slow!

February went by in a whirlwind of nausea.  I'm not entirely sure what else happened that month, besides the fact that we ate an exorbitant amount of take out in effort to avoid cooking smells!

March came, and with it came Andy's 10th birthday.  Double digits for my boy!  Hard to believe, and we celebrated with a giant Angry Birds cake and a basketball game/concert combo featuring Jason Gray.

In April, we went on a family vacation to Philadelphia, New York, and Washington DC. We toured Independence Hall, saw Carpenter's Hall, went through museums, saw the Statue of Liberty, ate ice cream cones on the famous steps of the New York Library, ate pizza at the first pizza restaurant in the USA, saw the New York skyline from the Top of the Rock, napped in Central Park, mastered public subway systems with children in tow (totally different than just having to fend for yourself!), looked at the Declaration of Independence, went through George Washington's home, watched the Changing of the Guard at Arlington Cemetery, and looked at the White House.  Are you tired yet?  We were.  But we had so much fun, and many family memories were made.

May brought Isaac's birthday, and he turned 8!  His love for Star Wars continues to grow,
and so we celebrated 8 years of existence with a Lego-Mini-figure Luke Skywalker cake.

June and July were filled with many fun summer activities, and Dave continued to work at finishing our basement.  We went swimming, played at parks, took a road trip to Kansas City, and enjoyed time together.

By August, it was time to start school!  We are homeschooling again this year, and started early so we would be able to take some time off when Peanut joined our family.

Andy is in fourth grade this year, and doing well.  He has really had a chance to develop his own interests in reading, and has learned a lot through all the biographies he's read!

Isaac is in third grade this year, and his favorite subject is math.  He is blessed to be very talented in this area of study.

September rolled around, and I was ready to have Peanut by the first week of the month.  However, he tends to have his own schedule, and didn't arrive until September 25th! He has been worth every bit of the wait.

October was filled with sleepless nights that come with that newborn fog, but we enjoyed being a family of 5 as we made it to the apple orchard, watched football, and spent time with each other.

November and December have been a fun time of holidays and celebration, and a reminder to be thankful for all the ways in which God has blessed us.  I hope you have time this holiday season to reflect on the birth of Christ and find awe and wonder at the hope that tiny little baby brought to this earth on that night so long ago.

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Naps and such.

Occasionally, a giant ellipses is needed to sort of catch up on life.  Consider this post to be such.

On my last post, we were just starting school, and I was extremely pregnant.

...

And so our life as a family of five has been wild and fun.  My two older boys have become wonderful big brothers, and my littlest one's smiles makes all the exhaustion worth it.  Seriously, I can't even remember what a full night's sleep is like. 

One of the cruel tricks of life is the imbalance of sleep and the desire for sleep.  Right now, for example, I'd do about anything for the opportunity to nap.  Such opportunities are completely wasted on this little one. Just wait, kid, someday you'll miss these chances.

Just the other day, I tried to put him down for a nap.  I tried to tell him it was nap time.

"Wait, you want me to do what?"

"You say you want me to SLEEP?"

"Haha, that's funny."

"Oh man......Can't.Stop.Laughing!"

"Ok, I give up........."

Our (not so) quiet morning

This morning, I was working on making a few things for our Easter dinner.  It was quiet and peaceful, until the kids came thundering down the stairs.

"Happy Easter!" 
"Yeah!  Happy Easter Mom!"

They were exuberant, and joy-filled.  They were loud and noisy and fun and excited to celebrate the day.  Almost immediately, they started talking about the importance of Easter, and what makes it a big deal.

"Mom, Jesus GOT BACK UP FROM BEING DEAD."

"And he was different than that other dead guy who was raised again in the Bible, because Jesus could be the payment for our sins, Mom."

"Yeah, because he hadn't done anything wrong at all, then they killed him.  But he GOT BACK UP!"

The wonder and awe in their voice was beyond priceless.

They then proceeded to pretend to make a video (for their TV show, obviously) explaining to other kids (their "viewers" who might not go to church) why Easter was a big deal.  It was full of many interruptions about the food I was making, since they got very distracted by the giant ham I was working on, but they still got the main points in.  I was impressed. 

They talked about how Jesus came to earth, fully God, and fully man.  They discussed how He lived a perfect life, but people crucified him anyway - and He let them, because it was part of His plan.

And then, they discussed with triumph that their Savior rose from the grave.

They talked about it all with such conviction and sincerity.  They were funny and said some of the words and phrases wrong - which tells me they're not just mimicking the proper stories they've been told - this was coming out in their own precious words.

Child like faith nearly moved me to tears this morning.

It wasn't until we were at church that I realized something amazing:  They were so excited about the real reason of Easter, and I hadn't even heard them mention a peep (pun intended) about Easter baskets or chocolate or what they might get.

I'm sure they were excited about what might be coming (they were not disappointed).  But on our loud, funny, wonderful Easter morning, my boys exuberantly spent time reveling in the sacrifice of their Savior.

And it was amazing.

God still does miracles!

Awhile ago, I met with my surgeon for a regular follow up visit, and while there, discussed the possibility of trying one more time to get pregnant.   Before cancer, we had tried for quite awhile, and that didn't do much of anything except break our hearts.   But still, though I outwardly wrote it off, there was a small lingering hope in the back of my mind that one day, God would choose to bless us with a baby.

Don't get me wrong.  I meant every word I said about adoption being Plan A for our family.  If I could birth all the babies I could ever want, I would still want adoption to be a huge part of God's plan for our family.  I hope that God brings more kids to our family through adoption.  Lots of them.  Adoption is firmly embedded in the deepest parts of my heart.  But I still had a desire to experience the blessing of pregnancy.

So back to my discussion with my surgeon.  When I asked him what he thought, we looked through my charts, and while I'll spare you the medical details that we discussed, he at last told me that while a pregnancy would be a viable option for me in terms of medical safety in regards to my history of cancer, that it would still take a miracle from God for me to become pregnant when considering our medical history in regards to fertility issues.

You see, all the fertility drugs are hormone-based.  And, since the cancer I had was estrogen-positive, going back to fertility drugs would like sending an engraved invitation for the cancer to come back.

No thank you.

So, Dave and I did what we have done since the beginning of our marriage:  We trusted God to bring each of our children to us in His perfect timing, and in His perfect way.

With that in mind, I am delighted to tell you that we serve a God who still does miracles, because I am pregnant! 

In man's eyes, this was nearly impossible, but with God, all things are possible.

God is good, no matter what.  Even if I never experienced the blessings of pregnancy, He would still be good.  But I am in awe of His great gift to our family.  I'm indescribably thankful for His goodness to me.  That he has chosen to allow this in our lives is yet another sign showing that God dearly loves to shower good things upon His children.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights... James 1:17

Merry Christmas, from our family to yours!

 It's been a busy year for us!  So much has happened, and time has flown.  It really does seem like this season of life contains the longest days, but the shortest years.  I have to say that it sure doesn't feel like 2012 should be nearly over, but here we are.  Here are a few highlights of our year.



In January, we were still reveling in the fact that we had just been able to adopt Andy at the end of the December 2011.  It was a month of adjustment and time spent together.



In February, we decided that a mini-van would both be spacious since we all agreed that more kids would be welcome.  Though I inwardly groaned at the idea of having a van (and outwardly a few times, too), we found a van we liked in Chicago (I use "like" loosely) and fun when we spent some time there as a family.  We got to see the Bean downtown, and Navy Pier, and eat Garrett's popcorn and Giordano's pizza.  Yum!



In March, Andy turned 9, and we celebrated with lots of fun and a massive Cars 2 cake made by mom.



In April, Schoney Piano Studio hosted the last piano recital, and closed for good.  I really miss teaching, but it took a lot of pressure off of our family for me to be more available.



May brought Isaac's birthday, and my brother's college graduation from ISU.  Between the two occasions, we did lots of celebrating!



June was a whirlwind of weddings.  It was so much fun to watch my best friend marry the man of her dreams, and it was fun to be a part of it.

My little brother got married a week later, and I'm thankful for my new sister in law and the way she compliments my brother.  It was also a really fun time for the kids to meet more of their extended family, which they enjoyed a lot.



In July, we went to Illinois to spend time with Dave's side of the family.   We spent time out at the family farm, followed by time in Chicago visiting museums and, of course, eating more pizza and popcorn.



Before we realized it, it was time to go back to school, or in our case, head to the kitchen table.  We started homeschooling in August, and it has been quite an adventure, to say the least!

We've gone on field trips, done science experiments and art projects, and read lots of books.  We're thankful for the option of homeschooling.

September, October, and November flew by exceptionally fast.  We enjoyed lots of football - watching Iowa State beat Iowa, watching the Bears play, and cheering Isaac on at his flag football games.

We spent the fall enjoying time together at the Apple Orchard, picking pumpkins, learning about the elections, and spending time together.

Many people continue to ask how I'm doing health-wise, and I am always touched that people remember, and feel blessed by their caring.  I'm happy to report that despite a recent scare this fall, I am completely cancer-free still, and will pass my 3-year mark of surviving cancer in just a few weeks!

We are truly enjoying spending time together during the Christmas season this December, and treasuring our reason for celebrating.

One of my kids told me a couple of weeks ago, "Mom, this will be the best Christmas ever, because it'll be my very first Christmas as a Christian!  Now I'm really excited about the baby in the manger!"

It was amazing to hear his wonder and awe as he spoke of Christmas.  And truly, we have an incredible  reason to celebrate:

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May you feel child-like delight when you think of the Baby in the Manger this season!

30 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 22

Today I'm thankful for my in-laws.  I'm blessed to have in-laws that I enjoy, and I'm blessed to be able to miss them on a day like today!  When we're spread out over 3 countries and 2 continents, it's hard to get together on all the major holidays, but the times we have, it's been a lot of fun. 

They are kind and caring, and put a lot of effort into staying in touch across the miles.  I'm thankful for the way that they have been so supportive of the way God chose to grow our family - it came easily to them because of their character, but I know that not every family who adopts has that same experience. 

I'm thankful for them because out of that family came the best husband I've ever had, and could ever want, and it's a privilege to share the Schoney name with them!

The Thanksgiving Trees

I wanted to do a craft with the boys to help decorate for Thanksgiving.  I wanted it to incorporate thankfulness, be fall-colored, be cheap, and preferably create very little mess.

I often see snippets of Pinterest Moms' work on Facebook.  It's adorable.  Everything looks perfectly crafty, thoughtful, well-done,  and....frankly,  like it took hours of work.

So, as I was trying to think of something cute and crafty, I briefly considered perusing Pinterest, but, who are we kidding - I do not have the time.  So, instead, I went to my favorite place - the Target dollar spot (though it is getting pricey there too! Stuff as high as $3!).  I found Thanksgiving trees for $1 each, and we made a couple of them.

Decorative? Check.

Incorporate thankfulness? Check.

Cheap? Crafty? Little mess?
Check, Check, Check.

The tree was pretty simple to put together, and we all took turns filling up the leaves with things we are thankful for.  We had 12 leaves, and I wondered at first if the boys would be able to fill them easily, or if Dave and I would need to help fill in a lot.  I was so wrong!  They not only filled in the 12 leaves, but also filled the backsides.

The list ranges from lighthearted and fun to ones that required depth of thought and caring, and the boys came up with almost every one.  Among the ideas they thought of:

Family
Football
Water
Yarbo
God's Grace
Jesus

We don't often sit around together thinking of things we're thankful for, but perhaps we should do so more often.  It was a blessing to get a peek into their hearts and see what they were thankful for, and we had fun decorating our Thanksgiving Trees with our Thankful Leaves.

Maybe someday I'll get everything pulled together for Pinterest-level craftiness, but thankfully, the boys don't know what they're missing on Pinterest, and I've already purchased my $1 crafts for Christmas.  I think they'll enjoy them just as much as the trees!

Face it, kid...

Yesterday was a long day.  Not a bad one, just a busy one.  We had appointments, meetings, and school to do in the middle of it all.  So by early evening, Dave and I wanted a couple of minutes to rest, and sat on the couch together. 

We may not definitely do not have as much time with just the two of us as we used to, and I think that makes those moments just that much more precious.  So we closed our eyes and rested for a few minutes together on the couch, Dave with his arm around me, and me just happy to be sitting next to him. 

I thought I heard a groan, and I opened my eyes to find Andy in front of us, head in his hands, muttering, "Why do they do this....."

So I replied, "Face it, kid, you have parents who love each other."

"Yeah, but I still don't want to see it."

"Turn around, and you won't," was Dave's empathetic reply.

"But...Mom....Dad....never mind."

He kept muttering and moaning things, but even as he went back to the table, I saw a little contented smile sneak across his face.

Face it, kid.  You LIKE having parents who love each other, and deep down, you're glad that the Fellowship of Our Rings is alive and well.

30 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 4

Today I'm thankful for laughter.  Laughter is good for the soul and refreshing to the spirit.  It's a wonderful gift to share with family and friends, and I'm thankful for it.

Our Photographer

And when it's captured in photos, so much the better!

 

Longest days, shortest years...

Is it really close to the end of October? 

That's what the calendar is telling me.  I've heard that parenting years are full of the longest days, and the shortest years, and I'm here to say that I'm feeling that a lot lately.

There are days where I look forward to bedtime, and wonder if I'll make it.  Then, when those little angels (ahem) are asleep, I'll glace at the calendar, and wonder who pushed the fast forward button on life, and how it's almost November. 

I've been thinking about a few different series, and am hoping to get back to blogging more regularly again.  But the last month or so has been extremely full with one of my top priorities: parenting my beautiful, challenging, wonderful, exhausting children.

There have been many giggles, and tears as well.  But that's for another post.  In the meantime, here is a photo of our little family at a local Halloween event.  It was freezing, and you can't see Isaac's costume very well under Dave's coat (he's a surgeon), but we had a great time.

Even on those long days, I love being a Mama. 

Tasty Challenges

We have been working hard at being a healthier household.  At the same time, we want our kids to see making healthy choices as a fun, natural part of life, not something forced on them by goal-oriented parents.

Football season is in full swing at our house, and in the past, that's always meant lots of snacks and fun foods.  I wanted this year to be just as fun, but with a change in the food, and I decided that the best way to pull that off would be to involve the kids in the snack selection.

I chose a big game - the ISU v. Iowa game - and challenged the kids to think of different kinds of foods that were red and yellow.  I was surprised with how much we came up with!

We decided that everything should be in Cyclone colors, and the kids did a great job!  Our healthy snacks included:

Red apples with yellow bananas

Babybel individual cheeses, white cheddar (yellow) and regular red wheels

Freeze-dried pineapple and strawberries

Red sugar-free Jello jigglers

Crunchy and tasty - with no sugar added!

I'm a big fan of cheese in moderation - 75 calories/piece, and you get protein! 

And, of course, we had some junk food too.  Our kids eat healthy meals and snacks on a regular basis, and we try to make sure that we let them have junk food on occasion, and in moderation.   It's my opinion that when they are allowed to experience the difference between junk foods and healthy foods, they start learning how to make the choices on their own, and we're hoping the healthy habits stick!

We had chips and salsa, red and yellow filled Twizzlers (SO yummy!), and my favorite, a giant iced cookie that we all split.

It was so soft and delicious!

I was really impressed with how well the kids did.  We made choosing the healthy red and yellow snacks into a game, and we all had fun.

And, after all the carefully selected snacks were laid out on the table, we turned on the TV (rare for the kids!) and watched our beloved Cyclones beat the Hawks.

So, healthy eating - score!
Cyclone win - score!

That's what I like to think of as a win-win kind of situation.

How do I love thee? Let me count the miles...

It's not possible (in my opinion) to go through what my kids have gone through and not have some feelings about it.

And sometimes the feelings get to be a lot.

And I really mean a lot.

But boys are just so different than girls.  They apparently have limits on how much they really want to talk things out (why is that??  Talking things out is just wonderful....). But, whether or not I fully understand why they work that way, it's part of how they're wired, and I can choose to work with it or fight against it.

So, when the emotions get to be too much, we get physical at our house.  We work at punching the air or a pile of pillows, we have the kids jump on the mini-trampoline, we kick a soccer ball around, we hit the trails (after checking the weather now...), we just try to get moving.

Today, one of the kids was having a pretty rough day and feeling pretty angry.  So, the whole family went for a 3 mile walk.

Wasn't enough.

So the Angry Kid and I went for another 3 mile walk.  That's right, I walked 6 miles tonight to help the Angry Kid work out all those feelings.

I should also add that I had already worked out this morning.

Oh my word, my legs hurt tonight.  But it was such a good time of getting emotions out.  It was a good time of bonding.  And I'm glad we did it.

We started mile 1 with an angry, angry kid, with everything boiling just below the surface, about to erupt.  By mile 5, he had cooled down enough that he picked flowers for me.

He's never done that before.

I was so touched, that he wanted to pick another one for me.   But, by that time, we had passed the field where he found the first flower, and all that he could find is the weed on the left, but he gave it to me so proudly, and about beamed when I put them in my hair.

 So, mile by mile, we're walking out the feelings.  And even though it's not nearly as convenient or understandable to me as talking endlessly, I wouldn't trade the time together, or the precious weed bouquet for anything.

One whole year as a Schoney.

One year ago today, I was in a courthouse, standing before a judge, promising to do my best to be a good mother.

It's hard to believe it's already been a year, and yet in other ways, it's hard to believe it's only been a year. Life has changed so much!

In the last year, Isaac has grown and changed at an incredible rate.  I can think of a million ways to brag about him, but my favorite is the way his heart is tender toward the things of God.  We have always made it clear that our love is unconditional regardless of our kid's choices in this area, but Isaac has shown such a hunger to learn what God has to say about life.  He is quick to learn about the Bible, and I love how he is "storing up his treasures in heaven," even at such a young age.

A few of my favorite posts about the day:

Isaac's Adoption Day Video

Adoption Day: The Details

Your Honor (a short video in which Isaac up-stages the lawyer!)

Last year, July 15th was a life-altering day.  And I'd do it all over again.  We love you Isaac!

The real answer to the "why's"

At the risk of sounding like a mean mom, I am going to admit that we are extremely blunt with our kids.  Not for the purpose of being mean, but for the purpose of being trustworthy.

They have had experience with adults who tell them things that aren't really true, and they are ridiculously smart.  So, sugar-coating things or being less than completely honest with what we think of their behavior does one of 2 things:  It either makes them think we aren't trustworthy, since they can figure out the real answers anyway, or it makes us look like people who can easily be duped, since we apparently don't know the truth.

For example, the other day, Thing 1 and I were talking, and he brought up the fact that he had made a lot of poor choices that day (totally true, he had).

I had to agree.  "Yep," I said kindly, "You behaved pretty badly."

Now, if I had tried to reassure him that he hadn't been that bad, we both would have known I was lying.  And if I lie about that, then in their minds, what else might I lie about?  That I love them?

Or, If I had tried to minimize it, I think I would have sent the message that I would settle for that behavior.  That I could be swayed from what I said.

I could tell he was upset about something, but couldn't tell what, exactly.  Finally, it came up with a heartbreaking question.  "I know I've made a ton of poor choices today," he started, "and I'm guessing this will be my last day here."

I thought about his question.  I knew he could trust me to be honest, since I had admitted that his behavior was bad that day.  And I knew my answer had to be completely trustworthy to help him work through his fears.

"Well," I slowly replied, "I'm not planning on you going anywhere.  But it's not because of you or how  I feel about you."

I watched the surprise register on his face, followed with a questioning look.

"I love you a lot." I continued, "and that really won't ever change."
"But who do Dad and I always tell you we love the most?" I asked. 

"God," he replied, without hesitation.

"Right," I agreed.  "And that's the reason you never have to worry about leaving our family.  We didn't adopt you because of our love for you, we adopted you because of God's love for us.  He is the one who created love, and who teaches how to love.  And because we committed to God - who never changes - to love you and care for you and to be your parents, your actions don't change our promise to God."

"In fact," I continued, "Every promise we ever make to you in secondary to the promises we make to God.  You may behave badly, but we still love you because Christ first loved us, and we keep you in our family because God taught us what being adopted looks like - God's adoption of us is eternal."

"What do you think of that?"

"I feel better," he said.  "You wouldn't break your promise to God."

We always want our kids to see how much they matter in our eyes and God's, but without the pressure of thinking their future all depends on them.  It just doesn't work that way, and they are too young to bear such a burden.

On one hand, we are responsible for our actions.  But we have also been offered grace we can't deserve and that we can't repay.

God never minimizes our sin.  He says that the wages of sin is death.  Talk about not sugar coating things!

But then, he gives us reassurance.  "But the gift of God is eternal Life, through Jesus Christ."  If it were up to me and my actions, I wouldn't ever make the cut.  But I'm thankful that my eternity doesn't depend on me. It depends on my acceptance of salvation freely offered to me.

Adoption on earth is just a small shadow reflection of how God's adoption of us when we accept his gift of grace, but I want our kids to understand that their acceptance into our family does not depend on their ability to behave well, but is freely offered.  It's not something that has to be earned.

Acceptance into the Schoney family is freely given.

Thankful for my "unusual" family.

It has been over a year ago, when we had a social worker sitting down with us at our kitchen table, finishing our homestudy, but there is a part of the conversation that I still haven't forgotten.

"So, you said you have a large family," she said, nodding towards me.  "How many of them will be accepting of children that you plan to adopt?" 

I didn't understand the question, at first. 

"Accepting?" 

"Right, accepting," she said.  "Like, will they be included with other kids in the family by many  people, or will that be hard?"  

I was floored. Of all the intensely-personal, did-you-really-just-go-there kind of questions we had gone through, I had not expected that. 

"All of my family, and Dave's, will be accepting of our kids.  Why wouldn't they be??" I said.

"ALL of your family?" she replied, somewhat incredulous. 

"Yes, all," I said, somewhat indignantly, and repeated my question.  "Why wouldn't they be?" 

"Well, what if they're of a different race," she tentatively asked. 

"I don't understand what difference that would make," I replied.

Then she said something that surprised, and saddened me. 

"If all that's really true," she said, "then you have a very unusual family."

And sadly, we've had several similar conversations with social workers since then.

This past weekend, we got a chance to not only celebrate my little brother's wedding, but we also got to see lots and lots of family, some of whom had never met Isaac, and many of whom had not yet met Andy.

Andy very clearly wasn't sure what to do with himself at first.  Despite our previous conversations, and even all of his experiences with extended family so far, this was still a lot of people, and he wasn't sure how he would feel about it.

First, he met my Uncles Duane and Ed, along with their wives, and within minutes, Andy and Isaac were giggling uncontrollably - and it just kept getting better.

All weekend long, my kids were showered with love from all of our family members.   They loved being surrounded by aunts, uncles, cousins, Gramps, Grams (my parents), great-grandmas.  I can never remember what my cousins are to them (first cousins once removed?  Second cousins?), and I guess the aunts and uncles (with the exception of my brother and Katie) were great uncles and aunts (in both senses of the word!).  But the point is, it never mattered.  Family is family.  

What has truly touched my heart is the way Andy still talks about it.  The boys both loved all the people from this weekend, but Andy sometimes has a hard time letting go of the fear of rejection, and really joining in mentally.  But I could tell he really felt the love this weekend, because he doesn't talk about "Mom's family" anymore.  Instead, he rehashes stories from this weekend with possessive pronouns.

"Remember this weekend, Mom?" he'll say. "Remember when my Uncle Duane flipped me over and did the torpedo?  That was awesome."

He doesn't call my cousins "Mom's cousin's anymore, either. "Remember, Mom?  Remember when my cousin Michael put on glasses so that he and Isaac and I would all have glasses?  Did you get a picture? Did you, Mom?"

"And Mom, I want to see the picture of me and GG" (formerly known as Mom's Grams). 

I wish all families were as great as ours.  Later this summer, we will be spending more time with Dave's side of the family, and I anticipate their reactions to our kids to be much the same, and every bit as loving.

I'm sad that our family and friends are so very strange, but I am indescribably thankful for our "unusual" family.

How Isaac reminded me to persevere through waterfalls

This past week has just not been a normal week.  Truly, it hasn't, and I'm thankful, because if every week were like last week.....Well, I would just lose my mind.

Last week we discovered ants.  In our room, the boy's room, in the piano room.....We are not dirty people.  It's true that the house is a bit messier right now than I prefer, but having ants just makes me feel gross.  And a bit jittery at night.

Then the fridge broke.  And while I'm very willing to see the silver lining, let's face it - in the middle of that silver lining was a great big cloud.  And I didn't like it very much.

Also, my washer and dryer have been out of commission for over a week.  A week.  And while our neighbor has been kind enough to let me use his, it has been majorly inconvenient.  I used to use laundromats on a regular basis, but with laundry piling up in a family of four, I'm just not prepared for that.  However, one thing I always insist upon is that every member of the family have lots and lots of underwear, because I worry about having laundry emergencies.  I wish I were joking...but at least we have no shortage in that area.  (ha! The worrying paid off!  Because I needed more reasons to fuel that fire...)

Then on Saturday, we came home from eating pizza after a long day of being super productive, and something felt damp about the air.  We didn't pay much attention to it, though, and got a movie out for family movie night (Veggie Tale's "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything - jealous, aren't you!).  I went to make popcorn, when all the sudden I turned around, and saw that there was a waterfall coming out of our light fixture.

I wanted to cry.  Then I decided to take pictures instead (because that makes sense, in an emergency situation, right?).  We all jumped into action, and started getting towels to soak up some of it, and buckets to catch the rest of it.  It was awful - it kept spilling over and splashing me in the face as I tried to get things under control, and the water just kept pouring out.

Things were getting pretty frantic - we were not panicking, mind you, just frantically taking action, and Dave ran down to the basement to get more old towels.  I heart a lot of shouting, and found out we had a small lake in the basement.

For the love.

Ants in the house.  Fridge on the fritz. Washer and dryer out of commission.  A waterfall from my light fixture and now a lake in my basement?

For those of you who had a very boring week, let me just take a moment to say how very, very jealous I am of you right now.

Anyway, I just wanted to stop and cry.  It all seemed a bit ridiculous, and a lot to figure out in a very short period of time.

Backing up a little, on Friday night, we went on a walk and the kids rode their bike.  Isaac hadn't had a lot of experience riding bikes prior to being our son, so he's still learning, but really likes it.  At the beginning, everyone was really excited to be out, and ready to run - particularly Yarbo.

It's fun at the beginning, when everything is going well.  It's fun to have that burst of energy, when all you feel like doing is going forward and moving further down the path.

We went for about a mile and a half, and everything was going smoothly and we were having fun.  Then, we hit a big curve in the sidewalk while going downhill, and Isaac went flying off of his bike and laid on the sidewalk all crumpled up.

I found out how fast I could run.

Once I picked him up, he just started screaming.  He was scared, and had the wind knocked out of him (well, all the wind except what it took to scream), and then saw his palms and a few of his knuckles were scraped up, and a few places were bleeding, and just lost it.

Once he calmed down, though, we talked about the difference between something being scary, and things being ok.  It was ok that he was scared, but now we could see that he was ok, even though his hands stung.

I asked him what he was going to do next, and he looked at me, and said, "Well, I'm going to get back on my bike! It's the only thing to do!"

And he rode the last mile and a half home. He took the hills a bit more slowly, but he made it, and I was so proud.


I am so very tempted to allow myself to feel overwhelmed by the past week or so.  And there have been moments where I have given in.  This past week has felt like a big curve in the path, and I've felt frustrated.

But then I remember Isaac jumping back on that bike, and I am reminded to persevere.  To thank God for the trials because we thank him in every situation, and to have joy as we walk through these kinds of times.

Fast forwarding a bit, we will be fine.  I don't like all this stuff going on, but as I told Isaac, you can not like things, and still be ok.


We got the lake mostly mopped up, all the buckets of water taken care of, and we bailed out the water in our basement.  My best friend and her fiance happened to be in town, and instead of helping them like I had planned, they instead came over with her parents and helped us figure out the problem and get a temporary solution.

Turns out we had a hole in our roof, and sub-par drainage had been installed in our window well.  Oy.

But my friend's dad even came back today and fixed our roof, because he is just amazing like that.

Tonight, as I was putting the kids to bed, we were talking about what an unusual week it had been, and how so many things had been different than the norm.  I asked them if they could think of one thing that had been the same, though, and it was a sweet time together as we talked about how even though things had felt kind of crazy, we figured it out together -as a family.

It was a lovely note on which to end a somewhat-awful week.  I am thankful to God for sweet moments like that, and will be trusting Him to continue on in persevering through figuring out the rest of the details this week.

"Taste and see that the Lord is good;

blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!"

Happy Easter from our family to yours!

Just a few months ago, we celebrated the birth of a baby. And now, we celebrate that baby, grown to be a man, who died on the cross and rose three days later to demonstrate his great love for us.

From Luke 24:
1 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5 In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7 ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” 8 Then they remembered his words.

In the middle of chocolate bunnies and Easter egg hunts, I would encourage you to take a moment to reflect on the amazing story of Easter. It doesn't get better than this!

They get it.

For awhile, I've been praying that if God intends for us to have a big family, he would give us kids who are excited about having more kids join our family.

I've also been praying that they would understand that adoption is truly God's "plan A" for our family.  Dave and I have been praying since the beginning of our marriage that he would give us kids in his timing, and in his way.

As for God, his way is perfect:
The LORD’s word is flawless;
he shields all who take refuge in him.
     Psalm 18:30

We have celebrated adoption in our family, and have talked with the kids about it quite a bit.  At the same time, I always wonder how much of it sinks in, all the way to their heart.

The other night, we had a family movie night, and one of the kids started talking about having more kids in our family.  It's a popular subject at our house; they often ask when we'll have more kids, and put in their "requests" for the specifics (some days it's a kindergartner, sometimes they want it to be a girl so that I'm not the only girl in the house...it varies!).

At any rate, one of the boys turned to me and said, "So Mom, since we all want more kids in our family, how come you're not pregnant?"  

My mind started spinning with how exactly to answer that seemingly complicated and tricky question, when my other child turned to him and said, "Well because!  That's not how God wants to add kids to our family!  God decided our family should get bigger by adopting kids, and we like to do things God's way, right Mom?"

Faith like a child is a beautiful thing.  And it was an incredible blessing to my heart to realize that my kids get it.  That answer was enough for them, and it was so simple - it's because that's not God's plan!  

It also tells me that they understand that their adoption into our family was also part of God's plan.  And not just some contingency plan.  It was his "Plan A."   I don't think a day goes by that I don't give thanks to God for my kids (even last night, when one of them was driving me c.r.a.z.y!!).  They are two of the biggest blessings of my life, and it's amazing that God saw fit to entrust them to Dave and I to parent and raise to follow Him.

If God gives us more kids to love, I'll thank Him for them as well, but for today, it's enough for my heart to know that my kids that I already have really do get it. 

Adoption Day - The details!

I gave a little preview of Andy's adoption a few days ago, but for those of you who'd like more, here it is!

His adoption was scheduled for 2pm, which meant we had plenty of time to get ready to go.  When we got to the courtroom, we waited for just a few minutes, then were told it was time to go in!

The judge came in, we rose when asked, then sat down.  After preliminary introductions, I was asked to take the stand, and for the second time in my life, went to the stand and was sworn in.

It was a little nerve-wracking to be up there, answering questions and hoping that I said everything right, but I made it through.

When the judge asked me if there was anything else I thought the court should know, I looked down over the table, and saw Andy sitting there with his adoption dog, and the only thing I could get out was how thankful I was that he was of our family. 

Dave was called to the stand next, and I felt my eyes filling with happy tears and he testified about how proud he was to call Andy his son.  It was a reminder that he is the perfect dad, chosen by God, for our children, and it was a precious moment for me as I thought about God's provision of Dave in the lives of our children.

The judge and our lawyer went through most of the details after that, then the judge asked Andy if he'd like to say something.  He was very nervous, but I went up with him, and he answered the judge's questions about whether he felt loved in our family with a "yes."  He told the judge about his first Christmas with our family, and told her that he wanted to be adopted.

After Andy was done, the judge asked Isaac if he'd like to say something, and Isaac all but ran up to the witness stand.  Never short of something to say, he proceeded to tell the courtroom about how he wanted Andy as his brother, and also that he would like to show everyone the new sound chip in his build-a-bear, but couldn't because he had been told not to unless asked.

Then, both Dave's and my dads spoke on our behalf, affirming their support of our family, and it was time to pound the gavel and make it official!

The judge let Andy pound the gavel, which was quite a thrill.  He pounded the gavel so many times that I'm quite sure he must have issued several extra decrees by mistake, but the judge was so friendly and nice through it all.  She even let Isaac pound it too!  (Now they both want their own gavels, and are often heard through the house saying, "I pounded the decree, so now, fill-in-the-blank-with-whatever-they're-arguing-about  is official!)

We then went to a place that I will no longer call by name in happy posts to celebrate the new adoption.  That may be another post for another day, but despite ridiculously awful treatment and abismal levels of customer service by the owners of the establishment (one of the least of the problems was that I was snapped at for not bringing my own silverware, cups, plates, and napkins. To their restaurant....), we managed to have a lovely time celebrating a wonderful occasion.

Due to the chaos caused by the mean people at the unmentionable place, I forgot to tell Dave that I wanted a photo of us with the cake, so this is a picture with most of the cake and us.

In case you can't see it in the photo (which you probably can't), Andy is holding the piece with the his adoption date, 12.28.11.

Proud Grandparents!

A fun picture with a fun Uncle and Aunt-to-be!

Our little family

We ended the day with just the four of us.  Andy chose to go to dinner at Fuddruckers, and afterwards we went to the Holly Jolly Light display, which the boys loved.  

It was a wonderful, celebration-filled day, and it was so wonderful to be surrounded by dear friends and family.  We are blessed beyond measure, and give thanks to God every day for bringing Andy home to us!