The Young Family Farm »

And this is how we roll…

{our weekend in pictures}

Friday night girls slumber party at our house. No pics for proof…but we did watch KungFu Panda too–which I may have embarrassed Laney during because I boohooed at the end. Such a BEAUTIFUL ending…to a really hard adoption story. I’ve never held my breath so much during a animated movie. It will be much different watching it with ITY one day and any of our other adopted children–but I thought it was well done. The only part I didn’t embrace was the theme that the past doesn’t matter–because it really does…and I want to be able to go there with my little ones and give them the freedom to retrace whatever we can or they need to as they grow.

Ok–so all that being said–slumber party on Friday night at our house:) THEN…on Saturday morning bright and early it was time for some…

It was a close game. And while I want to SAY we play to have fun–I’m a mom of 3 boys..and I’ll be honest…we also want to win. Just being honest. They played hard…so hard–that Parker didn’t even realize they didn’t win. Then we scooted over to the soccer game. And that wasn’t such a big game either. After watching 2 games…it was time for some GIRL time.

Loo spotted these lovely clip-ons at “A Classy Clutter” downtown. (Can I just say how much I love having a girl!)

We spotted these on Saturday–and although they were JUST $12–we didn’t buy them. HOWEVER–her daddy went back on Monday on his way home from work and brought them home. She’s so proud of them:). She asked to get her ears pierced once, and I told her she had to be 13…just because 6 sounds too young…and well–aren’t clip-ons way cuter;)?

After trying on clip-on earrings we went by Gluten Free Cutie for a little treat together! (I mean–the boys were at home doing yard work…and we really didn’t want to get in their way;) YUM!

Gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, dye-free…YUM!

We had to race home from cupcakes to welcome our 50 friends over for a fun African American Fellowship potluck! Rico Suave smoked chicken and everyone brought side dishes…and we let the kids run wild. LOVE THESE FAMILIES!

Our group is usually much bigger than this..so this was actually a quieter and calmer night together…if you can have that with 30 kids running around hitting balls, swinging, playing chase…some how we managed to catch up with one another!

Here’s ITY with his side kick!

LOVE that these boys were crib mates at Hannah’s Hope and our families didn’t even live in the same state when we got their referrals. AND NOW we live around the corner from each other and they are growing up together!!! They have a special bond, and it’s so sweet watching them together.

I told ITY to “look up” for the picture–as in LOOK AT THE CAMERA BECAUSE HE WAS LOOKING AT MY KNEES…you get what you ask for…

LOVE my Bible study girls! We are all in a couples Bible study (our kids come along too)…pictured below me, Angie, Laura and Kimberly…

Can you tell we spend too much time together???

On Sunday–you get NO pictures of me…as I woke up…and had hit a wall from all the Friday and Saturday action. No rest for this mom leads to big swollen eyes and inflammation in this mom. So I got everyone ready for church…me included…and half way to church Rico Suave turned around and brought me home. Momma rested up…and had bedside Baptist. It was a much needed morning of rest.

And then at 3:30pm…it was off to the races. Parker, Laney and Frank raced in the town bike race…we joined the Dentons and the Carley crew. Here are the kiddos with their prized medals at the end! (AND while Angie and I waited for them at the finish line–she taught me how to use Instagram. HENCE…if you are my friend on Instagram you now know why I never posted pictures before until Sunday:)

ITY waiting with us at the finish line with Sam

Showing off the medals (where everyone is a winner;)…

Really–this is more like it…

AND after the race…Angie’s crew headed on over for dinner before starting our week ahead! I love a table full of kids!

AND THAT was our weekend in pictures:)

Hope you all had a great one!!! We rested up…and got up bright and early for a little P.E. fun…our weekly Monday swim lesson!

Frank is OFFICIALLY swimming!!! So excited to just have 1 that needs to learn now…this will definitely make our summer swim fun more relaxing! Alright–so that’s a wrap for my documenting our crazy. I really do have to order the blog-to-book so my kids can see how we spent our days one day!!!

Blessings to you all!!!

XOXO!

Andrea

We’ve gotta BIG day tomorrow–so this will be SHORT an sweet–but this miracle MUST be documented. First–I want to thank you guys who have already started praying for the sweet 15 year old who is coming to the Young house this summer. Second–if you shared my blog about New Horizons with others–thank you. I have to share with you that within the last 24 hours–T’s travel is 100% covered! While we were absolutely ready to cover this expense–others have come around us (even some I don’t even KNOW!) and join us by donating to New Horizons for Tetyana’s travel! Can you BELIEVE it is fully covered!!??? Wow!!!

If you are reading this and you prayed for us or you joined us by giving to New Horizons, THANK YOU. I have no idea what this summer holds–but thank you for stepping out in faith with us. We are honored, humbled and excited. And…I am still speechless. Like really–I’m speechless.

And because I’m speechless–the rest of this blog will be short and sweet. That HAD to be documented!

I also have to confess something. Someone sent me a link to a YouTube video this morning. The song was about our not having to do ANYTHING–that He has already done everything. I sat there listening…and honestly…I was discouraged. Discouraged at my stinkin’ right eye blurred vision, discouraged that I’m still trying to figure out what in the world is up with this momma, discouraged we just discovered allergic to my kids dog…I know all very trivial things–but to my heart it just felt big this morning. I had to turn the video off–because…honestly I just wasn’t there.

I told the Lord I really want to trust Him. And then I asked Him…Will you help me trust You?

I feel like my faith can be so small. I wasn’t ready to sing that yet…instead it was more like that old Rich Mullins song Hold Me Jesus:

Well, sometimes my life just don’t make sense at all
When the mountains look so big
And my faith just seems so small

So hold me Jesus, ’cause I’m shaking like a leaf
You have been King of my glory
Won’t You be my Prince of Peace

And I wake up in the night and feel the dark
It’s so hot inside my soul
I swear there must be blisters on my heart

So hold me Jesus, ’cause I’m shaking like a leaf
You have been King of my glory
Won’t You be my Prince of Peace

Surrender don’t come natural to me
I’d rather fight You for something I don’t really want
Than to take what You give that I need
And I’ve beat my head against so many walls
Now I’m falling down, I’m falling on my knees

And this Salvation Army band is playing this hymn
And Your grace rings out so deep
It makes my resistance seem so thin

I’m singing hold me Jesus, ’cause I’m shaking like a leaf
You have been King of my glory
Won’t You be my Prince of Peace

Yep.

That’s what my heart really felt this morning.

About…a lot of things.

Last week I was praying specifically for what the Lord might want to do with our time with “T” this summer. I was praying over the provision of her trip–I was brainstorming THIS and THAT I could do to help offset the travel costs…and I just sensed the Lord asking me to trust in His provision. That HE already had this. Then in 24 hours from my typing this–her trip has been fully funded. I’m so thankful, humbled and speechless that He is over this summer. NOT TO SAY I’m not scared or still “shaking like a leaf” as this is new to me–but I can trust Him BEFORE His provision–I can trust Him always.

And you can too.

Isn’t that amazing???

And something else that is amazing about this weekend is…

1. My sister had the bright idea to exchange my niece for THESE TWO…

…for my niece! Can you tell by the 2nd picture that someone is 2 years old at our house:). Not sure about my sister’s house–but mine is pretty quite tonight:)

2. We are hosting the fantabulous African American Family Fellowship tomorrow night at our house!!! VERY excited to pack out the house with lots of local adoption families!!! I’m sure we’ll have pictures to follow:)

…and…

3. Aunt Reid (Richard’s sister–Ann Reid…but we call her Aunt Reid b/c Aunt Ann Reid is TOO hard to say) came to get Rosie tonight…JUST FOR THE WEEKEND. It will give this mom time to see if there is a difference not having a dog in the house or not for her allergy symptoms. I called and booked my first shot appointment–just not sure we can part with her. One crazy day at a time over here!

Now…off to rest for the big soccer and baseball game tomorrow!

You never see a pic of Rico Suave and I together do you??? We grabbed this last week at our little town’s festival while watching the kids play…

Y’all have a GREAT weekend!!!

Homeschool happened on the go today–and we started off with a field trip to the ENT for a checkout for Isaac. Poor guy had untreated ear infections for who knows how long in Ethiopia–so we had some mountains to climb once home. He immediately was given tubes after his ear infections wouldn’t clear about a year and a half ago. (We waited until he was home a few months before getting tubes). We went in today to get the tubes checked and his hearing again–as he hasn’t quite passed a hearing test just yet–or at least hit the spectrum of normal/average.

SO–today we began our school day with an audiogram (performed by an audiologist in a sound proof room)…and then a tempanometry test (measures pressure in middle ear, detects fluid and problems with middle ear) and lots of fun games in the sound proof room. We discovered today that Isaac is a ROCKSTAR lip reader because I really thought his hearing HAD IMPROVED..but not so much. The audiologist was quite impressed with his lip reading skills and even his vocabulary–and crazy sentence structure and words…despite having trouble hearing he is a SMART BOY! (And now I feel really badly for all the times during correction when I have continued to say, “Look at mommy’s EYES when I talk to you–NO…that’s mommy’s mouth–look in my eyes…” Poor guy–he was just trying to listen well!

His last set of tubes is no longer in–so the doc wants to put more in…EEK. We’re scheduled for a pre-op for June 7th–but IF the fluid surrounding his ears is gone and we score better on a test…then the pre-op on June 7th will just be a checkup. We are going to pray for fluid to be gone and hearing to be restored.

THEN…it was momma’s turn…and this news is MORE THAN BUMMER!

Getting really tired of having blurred vision in my right eye–and thinking about WHEN these problems started…I just HAD to wonder if something that was in our lives NOW more than BEFORE (before last January) might be adding to my junk. SO–I scheduled an allergy test and got the results today from the allergy doc.

I have seasonal allergies pretty badly (most all the trees my skin reacted pretty strongly to), ragweed, grass, etc—BUT I showed extreme allergies to…

Rosie:(

What does one do when they discover the little boy they love so much has a best friend in the thing that you are allergic too??SERIOUSLY?!

SO FAR–I’ve vacuumed the house REALLY GOOD–and mopped. THEN Rico Suave jetted out to PetSmart to buy allergy shampoo (thanks for the suggestion Tracie W!) Rosie has stayed outside all day and is sleeping in the garage tonight…while we figure out the best solution. Oh…what to do?! I know for those of you who don’t have dogs it might seem like a no-brainer–but my 8 year old has loved this dog to no end…and the other children too…not sure we could part!!! Seriously–this is a tough one for me! (Not sure what all is in allergy shots preservative wise–BUT the allergist did say if we kept Rosie that I’d need to do weekly shots). Does anyone have pet allergies that has an outside dog??? Does that help???

On a much more fun side note–THANK YOU FRIENDS for your suggestions on restaurants!!!! Now on my list for date nights are these…
1. Greenwoods (Staci–Richard will thank you!)
2. Plum Street Cafe (Carrie–we need to have lunch there some time:)
3. Farm Burger (Lyndie-I just love the sound of that!)
4. Thai (yes–I bet you are right Sandi!)
5. Z Pizza (Leesa–you have me craving this now!!! We should grab an organic gluten free pizza there some time together!)
6. Flying Biscuit (Staci and Shelly–can you believe I have NEVER been!)

…and Katie…I didn’t realize Moes was organic…and kids eat free on Sunday?! Sweet:)!

Thanks y’all for the insight! I have the organic eating down to a science *IN* our home–so having these suggestions for dinners out…I’m glad to have! Y’all rock. (And April McA.–I like your idea about a picnic date!)

Blessings to y’all!

Andrea

So–momma has been trying this crazy new food plan to help boost the immune system which requires eating organic. We went to dinner tonight at Macaroni Grill–and the only thing organic on their menu was the bottled water…I kid you not–I asked the owner:). He gave me a list what comes to in their meat–and those preservatives and such are not on the plan:) Just for fun–you should try this some time when you are eating out. You might be surprised what they serve in restaurants. SO–momma is on a mission to find restaurants that serve healthy food. I would LOVE to know YOUR favorite restaurants that serve organic dishes! So please do share!

I started antibiotics 2 weeks ago to see if that would help with my crazy right eye vision problem…connected to who knows what–maybe Lyme, maybe Sjogrens…maybe I’m getting old fast;). The antibiotics haven’t done anything other than made my eye “appear” clearer on the outside but my vision is actually worse. And this momma likes her vision and has a new appreciation for being to see. So I decided to start this diet today (that is a bit crazy–but since I scored a 3 out of max 4 on a recent candida albicans test–and although I don’t have any outward symptoms I have read enough to know this can cause blurred vision–so the diet is worth a try) and give it 4 weeks. I’ve already dropped the lbs…SO I’m going to be downing the avocados and nuts (hence my making almond butter and downing it by the spoonfuls:).

In funnier news–I thought it would be ambitious (since I was told not to exercise and rest) to sign up for the Peachtree Road Race on July 4th that takes place in Hot-lanta. Lots of runners want to run it–so they choose runners by a lottery. I prayed that I would be symptom free by then and in condition to run…so I signed up and assumed I wouldn’t be chosen. BUT I won a spot:) It’s a 6.2 mile race–and I get winded running to the driveway to check the mail…so either Tetyana will want to run it for me OR I’ll be miraculously in a place to run it OR I’ll throw up after mile 2 and make my family laugh trying:). We’re taking a field trip to the allergy doc tomorrow to see if this mom has developed new allergies in all this craziness because holding a conversation with my allergies is quite entertaining to my kids right now. I have all sorts of problems don’t I;). BUT the Lord does give strength. He sustains and He guides. And He always provides just what you need when you need it.

Alrighty–so now I need a list of your favorite organic places to eat! The Chipotle staff is getting to know me well I’m afraid.

Blessings!

Andrea

Sooo…my little sister just left today. She was in town visiting from Asheville, NC–and she is Miss Organic…so she was quite impressed I’d say with my almond butter skills;). Seriously–she left one night and had a date with herself at Wholefoods swooning over the size of the store up the street. She returned with a big container of almond butter–she was super impressed with the nut pressing machine there. I told her that was NOTHING…and her big sister could take the machine on and would top their almond butter;). She put me to the test–and I was crackin’ her up–so she got out the video and entertained me with a little infomercial on how to make it. SO enjoyed your visit KT!!!

Here’s her video of me making almond butter–with no makeup…hair slicked back…ready to get the job done on a Sunday night way, way too late to be doing such a workout:)

If you want to try this at home–you just need a churn or sorts. I bought mine in Zambia Africa while hanging out with Wiphan. You just spread out your nuts on a cookie sheet (almonds, peanuts, cashew–whatever…you can even combine nuts to make a yummy cashew almond butter) and roast on 350 degrees for about 15 minutes. You can grind up in a food processor OR if you want to be old school like me (because it’s way more fun–AND a better workout) you can put them in a churn and go to town. I keep mine plain, but if you like you can add vanilla, honey, salt, agave nectar…experiment and have fun!

ENJOY!

Wanted to give a shout out THANKS to Jen Pighini, Bobbi Wilson, Kathey Beymer and Molly Hellmuth for their contributions toward Tetyana’s travel from the Ukraine! THANK YOU! Thank you for being a part of the ministry at New Horizons and joining us in loving orphans in Ukraine! With the 31 Gifts Fundraiser my friend Tammy hosted added in–we have almost $350 toward her travel!!! We’ll be making the final payments in a few weeks for her travel–and we are very excited to open our hearts and home this summer to this precious 15 year old girl! You can read more about this on a post from last week! Thank you Jen, Bobbi, Kathey and Molly for joining us…you ladies are now a part of this special journey and we are so thankful to have others walking this with us and praying along side us!