Whew! What a Weekend!

From start to finish, this was a doozy of a weekend! We had a wedding shower/dinner out in the country on Friday evening, and we didn't get home until late. Saturday morning, Mason had another belt test for Taekwondo. I wanted to go since I missed the last one. It started at 9:30, and I was expecting to be there for maybe an hour. Two and 1/2 hours later, the belt test wasn't over - aaaaghh! I had told a new mother in our church that I would bring her lunch at 11:30 - I didn't make it until almost 12:30. Then it was a quick afternoon of naps, baths, and church fun.

My sweet, sweet quilting friends came over to my house on Sunday morning for a brunch, and we had lots of fun. I shooed them out of the house, we all piled into the surburban and headed down the road to Randy's brother's house for another Memaw birthday lunch complete with cousins, grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts and uncles. Madelyn and Mason loved the brown horse and cowboy hat. Don't they look like real Texans?

Several hours later we were home exhausted and needing another weekend to recover from this one! It was a busy weekend, but it was also time with family and friends. We are blessed!

A Milking We Will Go!

We belong to a wonderful, wonderful international adoption group. In our little part of Texas, there are probably 40 or 50 families who have adopted or are in the process. We try to get together often, and last night our group traveled to a small town dairy.

I had already planned to host bunco at our home last night, so Randy and the little ones loaded up the suburban and headed down the road to meet the rest of the group. Randy did a great job "herding" children and taking pictures and videos.

This dairy is fairly large, and there was a lot to see. The Wertz family even prepared a big barbeque for the families to eat - thank you Wertz family! There were big stinky cows, little baby cows, stinky food for the cows, and KITTENS! Of course, at the dairy, the cats were the main attraction :0) Unfortunately, our little Molly is allergic to cats, and by the time Randy loaded everyone up in the car to come home, her eyes were almost swollen shut. Her sweet daddy stopped at the store for Benadryl, and all was well.

My darlin's came home very late, very tired, smelling like cows, and excited about their evening. Isn't life good!

A Special Birthday

Last night, we all celebrated Randy's mother's birthday. The three little ones begged to skip naptime because they were sooooooo busy making birthday cards for their Memaw. Against my better judgement, I gave in only to have 3 tired and crankly darlin's later in the day. About 5 minutes before the party began, Madelyn climbed into Michael's lap and immediately fell asleep. Molly saw a great photo op and decided to "fall asleep" too :0)

Missy helped the little ones bake yummy birthday cupcakes, and we all had a wonderful evening. Happy birthday sweet Memaw!

We tried to take a great picture of Granddaddy, Meemaw and some of their sweet grandchildren, but taking a "great" picture of 7 people is hard to do!

Back to the Zoo

We are blessed with a small (and free!) zoo in our city. My little ones have been there so often that Molly thinks she is a zoo tour guide. Our oldest son, Michael, has been home for a few days, and is so sweet about taking the younger three to the zoo and to the local museum. I am sure that he wishes he had a nickel for everytime he has been to the zoo since Molly's adoption :0)

Missy went along and was the official photographer with her new camera. The picture with the longhorn is a family tradition (started by Michael). Many in our family have gone to Texas Tech. Not a lot of love for the University of Texas around here :) Michael has taught the little ones to say "Stinky Longhorn" and "Horns down!" when they pass by the longhorn pen. The last time they went to the zoo, an entire family of UT fans (judging from the many orange t-shirts) was standing by the longhorn pen when Molly and Madelyn started the longhorn comments - oops! Fortunately, most UT alumni are very sweet and good-natured :0)

Family is such a blessing to me, and I love most the times when we are all together. Matt, we have missed you terribly this week!

I had put off several social obligations until the house remodel was finished. Now, I have my bunco group coming over on Thursday night, and my quilting group coming this weeked. I better start cooking. Randy's mother's birthday is this week, and they are coming for dinner tomorrow night - I better start cleaning too!!!!!

Have a blessed week with people you love.

Sorry about the sideways pictures! - I forgot to flip them around before I downloaded them. Oh well - it has been a sideways day around here.

The Joy of the Morning

Yesterday we had an exciting afternoon. When we built the new walk-in pantry, I realized it would make a great tornado shelter. Well....we actually got to try it out! I was on the phone with a friend when the sirens began to wail. Molly and Mason were at the deaf church for their weekly summer fun day. I checked the radar on my computer, realized we weren't in immediate danger, hopped in the car and drove to get my darlin's.

It was disconcerting to drive through town with the sirens going and the sky looking very ominous. M & M were sooooo happy to see their mommy! We checked the radar again, listened to the weather report and then drove home to wait it out. A tornado touched down very briefly several miles from our home, but most of the storm was off to the east - thankfully! Very little damage and no one hurt. All we got was a wonderful rain.

This morning, everything looks beautiful. Dew on the ground, a happy garden, the sun is shining, and birds are singing. What a difference a few hours make.

I know that life is the same way. One minute the clouds are swirling and the calm is broken by trauma or fear. Then God steps in and restores and renews. The morning breaks new, calm and beautiful again. We are loved and so there is always a bright morning on the way!

Pictures of our very first garden!

Would You Like Fries With That?

An obvious sign that life has been busy and home-cooked lunches have slipped - Madelyn dressed up like a McDonalds employee and brought us food today. Even with a peanut butter face, she is a doll.

I have struggled today with contentment. I think that contentment and peace are never stagnate - you have to search daily for them. I had decided that with gas prices past the "insane" mark, that living in the country was out of reach for us. I gave up the dream of chickens, goats, a clothesline, and a quiet life. I started to look for a new house in the city limits, but could never find just the right one. Yesterday, I saw my country dream house for sale on-line, and the old desires were rekindled.

I immediately began to think of ways to save on gas if we moved 30 miles from Randy's office, thought of ways to lease out the extra land around the house, thought about....... I became discontented and distracted because of a house. Today we are driving out to see my dream house, and my prayer is that if it is not the best place for us to be, that it won't be appealing to either of us.

The truth is, I love to move every two years and start again with a home that needs a little (or a lot) of love. But....every time I start looking for new houses, I begin to focus on houses and not my current home. I can't serve both. This is a big test for me - can I look for something new and still be happy, focused, and content with what I have? I have a lot of praying to do in the days to come. I want that meek and humble spirit to shine through regardless of what is swirling around me. The good news is that God wants the same thing.

I'll keep you posted on how I do.

A Perfect Saturday

Today we took the little ones fishing at a small lake near our house. The weather was beautiful, the fish loved our worms, and the hot dogs were.......well, they were hot dogs. I think our Mason had done a little fishing in China. He intently watched the bobbers, looking for any sign of fish. He caught several, Molly caught 2, and Madelyn accidentally caught one. The worms were a big attraction, and the girls were more than a little bothered by the fact that the fish were eating them. All of the fish were safely released back into the lake - much to the relief of this non-fish-cooking mom. It was an absolutely perfect morning - full of sweet memories.

We Love Birthdays

Molly's big birthday celebration was today even though her birthday isn't until tomorrow. Her grandparents and big sister were able to come to dinner this evening, and Molly was the star! I think 6 may be the most magical age of all. She is old enough to love the anticipation and still young enough to be excited about every little detail.

Madelyn gave Molly a makeup set, Mason gave her a new stamp pad and stamps, and Michael, Matt and Missy gave her a big new art set. Tomorrow she will go to the toy store with her Meemaw and spend the rest of her birthday money. Our children are very blessed to still have all of their grandparents. Randy's parents live only a few blocks away, and they are very involved in the lives all of our children.

I need a nap after all of the hubbub of the day. It takes work to make a day special for those we love. I know that we don't need cake, balloons, ice cream and gifts, but once a year they are wonderful!

Happy birthday my sweet Molly. You make every day special for me. You are dearly loved little one.

Molly's Big Day

Our sweet Molly will be 6 years old on Friday. This birthday really snuck up on us - June is flying by! We have a birthday cake tradition with the little ones. The week before their birthday, we go to the most wonderful bakery in town, and the birthday girl or boy gets to order just what they want for their special day. The precious owner of the bakery loves our children, and she will spend a long time with each of them making sure each cake is perfect.

After our visit to the bakery, I took my sweet almost 6 year old to the toy store and she chose two lovely stuffed horses. You can tell by the picture that she is very happy that it is almost her birthday. You can tell by the other picture that the baby princess is NOT happy that her birthday is a couple of months away :0) We spent a lot of time today talking and signing about birthdays. It is hard to watch your brother or sister have a fun week knowing that your day is a looooong way off.

We will post more birthday pictures in a couple of days.

Messing Up

I think a lot about Heaven - not in a morbid way, but in an excited, can't-wait-to be-there kind of way. One of the things I look forward to there is perfection. I really desire to do what pleases God here on this earth, but I mess up everyday - aaaaggh! I don't want to be the person I was few years ago (or last week). I want a gentler spirit, a more compassionate heart, deeper wisdom, and greater love.

This morning I yelled at the dog (for tracking mud on the NEW carpet!), was impatient with Madelyn about her shoes (or lack of), and was just a little grumpy about everything. I would love to blame it on the weather, but the truth is that I had a messed up morning.

In Heaven, I won't mess up, but here on Earth I still do. The good news is that God has begun a good work in me, and He will be faithful to complete it. More good news - when I recognize an ungodly behavior, I can choose to change. The same free will that gets me into trouble occasionally can also choose to do what is right and pleasing to God. I don't have to be stuck in my sinful condition. There is new hope every morning (or afternoon).

I am going to read my Bible, take a nap, and eat some candy. I feel better already!

The Joy of Simplicity

Yesterday we were supposed to do a little math, reading and handwriting. Instead we opened our new boxes of 99 cent watercolor paints and made new "finished work" folders for school. The reason we never got to our other work is because the little ones painted for over an hour. As they painted, they told (or signed) wonderful stories to go with their art. It was a joyous morning for us.

I made Randy's favorite bread and was going to take pictures, but..... one loaf was wrapped and sent to friends. The second loaf was devoured by "starving" children who had not had homemade bread in 4 weeks. I am going to include the recipe in this post, but pictures will have to wait for another day.

I finished an "Itty Bitty Baby Dress" to take to the new mom and dad (who also got the bread and a meal). I am trying to make little shoes to go with it, but they are VERY tiny and making me insane. Little Maggie Izabella may have to go shoeless :0) I don't know how to do links in this blog to other sites, but the pattern is free - yes free! Just Google the name of the dress and it should pop up. So easy and fun to make.

Here is the bread recipe. The loaves aren't particularly beautiful, but they taste heavenly and are fast and easy to make. The best part is that you get sourdough bread without messing with a starter. The longer you leave the first 4 ingredients out on the counter, the more of a sourdough taste the bread will have.

RANDY'S FAVORITE BREAD

1 pkg. dry active yeast

4 T potato flakes

1 cup warm water

3/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 cups water

1/2 cup oil

1 T salt

6 cups bread flour

Mix the first 4 ingredients together and wait 30 minutes or more (up to 48 hours). Add the next 4 ingredients and knead 5 minutes (this is a sticky dough). Place in 2 greased bread pans and let rise in a cold oven with the oven light on. Let dough rise until it has reached the top of the pans (usually about 1-2 hours). DON'T remove the dough from the oven - turn the oven to 350 degrees and bake for 25 minutes. Now cover the tops with foil and bake for 10 more minutes.

Have a wonderful weekend with people you love.

Mary

Sweet Day at Home

Our home was in remodeling turmoil for so long. I so love walking through our house now enjoying the soft new carpet and clean tile floors. There is a great peace that come with knowing there is nothing left for me to paint. Our oldest son called tonight for painting advice because he is painting a bedroom in his new house. I was happy to help him, but in the back of my mind I kept thinking, "I am soooooo glad that HE is painting and not me!".

Homeschooling has been fun this week. I have spent hours printing off new lap books for us to make in the weeks to come. Molly has become a great reader, Mason loves to do math, and Madelyn loves to draw pictures of herself to give to me. What a team!

Tomorrow is laundry and bread-making day. If everything goes as planned, I won't even need to leave my house at all. Now that will be a sweet day!

The Princess and the Hula Girl

My sweet parents are in town for a couple of days - so much fun for all of us. Molly and Madelyn decided that Nana and Papaw needed to watch a beautiful dance routine. Something about my parents makes my children want to drag out all of their dress-up clothes. Here is a video of the dress rehearsal for everyone to enjoy :0)

Homeschooling Central

The last boxes are unpacked, the bookcases are FULL, and we are ready to start school again tomorrow! Here are some pictures of the new school area we set up in our den. How wonderful to have everything in one place.

The three little ones played in the pool all afternoon. Mason did so many belly-busters that his tummy was red and sore tonight. He is all boy :0)

Randy worked non-stop today finishing up all of the little remodeling things that I don't like to do. He changed out switch plate covers, put up new lights, hung shutters, trimmed trees, helped our widowed neighbor with her sprinkler system and then worked on our own. He is such a love.

Our family is looking forward to lots of fun, popsicles, and reading this week. I hope you have a precious week with people you love.