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SOooo…we think Isaac is SO funny in the morning–he starts FULL speed ahead…so I grabbed my Flip to capture his energy and the big kids and I put them in a movie having a little fun with sound effects and such! SO…if you were a fly on our wall in the morning…this is what you’d get:) Is he a happy boy or WHAT?! (p.s. turn off music up top so you can get the full effect on our funny sounds effects through iMovie:) Y’all have a great day!!!! Andrea Isn’t it funny how when you sit down and reflect on your day as a mommy all the funny and sweet things you remember?! Here are a few from JUST TODAY that I always want to remember (this is for my blog to book for me to read later…when they’re all grown:)… A new nickname… Isaac called Frank his nickname that he has given ALL day. It drove Frank CRAZY! Isaac would follow Frank around the house saying, “Ya-ya. Come Ya-ya. I wuv you Ya-ya.” And Frank would reply EVERY time, “I-ack! I NOT Ya-ya. I Frank!” Again and again, “Ya-ya! Want milky Ya-ya?? Want blankie Ya-ya??” “I-ack!!! I NOT Ya-ya! I Frank!” By the end of the day though…after about a week of him being called Ya-ya…he gave in. Frank is now responding to Isaac calling him Ya-ya. Looks like Frankie baby has a new nick-name ’round here:) Her heart for the world… I told the princess to please help mommy clean up. I went to her room to find her toys lining the wall with pieces of paper torn in tiny pieces around them–and she was busily taping papers on each of them with numbers on the. “What in the WORLD are you doing Loo?” “Sellin’ my toys mommy. I’m gonna set up shop on the street and sell all of these for the kids in Africa.” “Laney, you can’t sell all your toys.” (Um…did I just say that? I mean–I think she is teaching me here…) “Mom, it’s for the kids in Africa. I don’t need these.” Heart of gold. Love my girl. My 2 year old genius… Don’t roll your eyes or argue that my Isaac isn’t a genius…he totally is:) Because WHAT 2 year old can answer THIS question so well at his brother and sister’s soccer practice? Lady: Hey Isaac! How are you??? You look so cute! Isaac: YES! Lady: You have gotten to be SUCH a big boy!!! Isaac: YES! Lady: Is YES your favorite word??? Isaac: YES! Lady: Does he say anything else??? Isaac: I want ice cream. Supa-man kind. She asked:) Please tell me you know what Superman ice-cream is:) YUM. The boy is smart I tell you:)  And we had a sweet and powerful talk this morning as we huddled up for our Bible lesson this morning. I can’t say ENOUGH about the Betty Lukens Bible story manual. It is THE best devotional for children that I have EVER seen. EVERY family who does Bible devotions needs this!!!! You can buy one here. It takes you through the beginning to the end–and there’s no fluff, yet–appropriate and kid-friendly…and I LOVE the applications in it. I also bought the felt set to go with it. One of THE best investments I’ve ever made…hands down. The lesson today was SO good. They learned about Noah. How God asked him to get on the ship SEVEN days before the rain started. How God sealed the door SHUT once he was on. The door was closed–there was no leaving the ark at that boat. I’m sure by day 5 with no rain…he thought maybe he was nuts. Noah had ALREADY spent his entire life building the ark…and now, “Is it really gonna happen Lord?” How many times have you felt in your heart God ask you to do something–the world looked at you like you were nuts…and then nothing seemed to happen. So, you second guessed what you heard. You felt stuck. And some times unsure. BUT HE IS ALWAYS FAITHFUL. The rain started…and for 40 days and 40 nights it poured. My kids thought after 40 days they got to get off the boat. BUT no sir. For a lunar year they remained on that boat waiting to see land. After the rain stopped…non-stop 40 days of rain…then they had 150 days of gushing winds (doesn’t that make you want to hug a toilet on the swaying ark?!)…and then on the 224th day the top of a mountain could be seen. Man…a YEAR on the arc. (And who said they went by 2 by 2 anyway??? Only the unclean pigs, camels, rock badgers, hares and other unclean animals such went 2 by 2…all the animals considered “clean” went 7 by 7. SOOOO…the sheep, goats, deer, antelopes, buffalo, cattle, moose, elks, caribou and other “clean” animals went 7 by 7 (funny that most of the clean animals are BIG TOO!!!) We had such a good talk about what life was probably like on the ark…and how the world thought their family was a little crazy–but how the Lord always has good plans and purposes for His children who follow and trust Him. And these are the things I want to remember:) Can’t wait for a new day tomorrow… Hope y’all have a good week!!! XOXO, Andrea I learn something new everyday…7 by 7, huh? Interesting!! I think I’m going to order that. Our small group does adult studies on Wednesday nights and then on Sunday nights we have Family Worship night where we sing songs together and have lessons more geared toward the kids all together…this sounds perfect for that. (Sorry I didn’t get to call you AGAIN last night, I really DO want to talk!!!) my boys loved superman ice cream when they were littles!! they are now big boys and have moved on to mint chocolate chip. 🙂 the weird thing about superman though, is the amount of dye in it makes their #2’s green! was the funniest thing the first time my son ate it. the next day he said “Momma, i think you better come look in the toilet.” Yesss superman ice cream ahhh Isacc & I have something in common. And LOL, I mean literally, laughing out loud with this ya ya stuff. Hilarious!!!! Like, how on earth did he come up with that?? So random– and hilarious! And Frank’s reaction i mean lolllllllll I’m visiting soon. Just cleaned out Loo-bears closet. I gave away ALL Laney’s clothes up to age 3…back in the days when I thought we were done growing. Now, each time I clean out her closet…I oh so carefully fold each sweet dress–knowing the next time I open this bin, she’ll be home…  Rich walked in while I was tucking these things away, and I couldn’t help but ask, “So, how many things do we still have left on our checklist???” He is doing an AMAZING job getting it done this time!!! We just have a few more things!!! I couldn’t help but turn to him holding up all the sweet little dresses with “L” monogrammed on them. I had to ask…what if we named her ____. (A name I’ve had tucked away in my heart since I lived in China over 10 years ago…). He looked at me and said, “I’ve always loved that name.” (My heart danced!!! OF COURSE we’ll wait to see how old she is because if she’s older we will probably consider keeping her Chinese name…but many times even older children want an American name…but I’m excited to have this name in our hearts as we pray for her!!!) Have I told you that Laney does NOT sleep her in princess room??? Nope. She is waiting for her sister to come home in hopes they can share a room together! (Hate to break it to our older princess–but she may be in mommy and daddy’s room for awhile or all THREE of us princesses may be in the princess room until she’s comfortable or old enough to be in a big girl room:) SOOOO…while Laney refuses to sleep in her room until her sister comes home, her princess room is anything BUT a princess room right now. It’s mommy’s laundry room. And I stink at laundry so it usually looks like this…  We all woke up this morning and in honor of September 11th–we wore red, white and blue to church this morning. They had such an honoring service for those who died on that day and all those who have fought to protect our country. Frankie baby wanted to be like his daddy today and wear a tie. Doesn’t our 2 year old look ALL GROWN UP?!?!? (He is already wearing 4T!!!)  I have some REALLY, SUPER FUN, EXCITING Created for Care news hopefully ready to share THIS WEEK…so hang on for some really fun news up ahead!!! SO excited…and so thankful to get to work with SO MANY AMAZING MOMS with a heart for adoption!!! Hope you all have a blessed weekend!!! XOXO, Andrea I LOVE figuring out the name!!!! It makes it soo much more real. Praying as she is out there…….somewhere….. Glad to know I’m not the only one who stinks at laundry 🙂 ahhh Frank DOES look grown up! this post has me so excited for you all 🙂 When I was at my grandmother’s house for a reunion 2 weeks ago, the camera in my camera broke–so I’ve shipped ‘er off to Canon–hence, no exciting pictures on my blog as of late. Being a photographer mommy, I can’t stand not having a camera to document my littles–and although the quality isn’t great I’ve been snagging a few moments here and there with my iPhone. Hope I’ll get my “real” camera back soon, but for now at least these hold some memories:) I’m not sure about you–but my iPhone always seems to grab the “real life” memories. I guess cause I don’t always take my “real” camera every where with me. Sooo…thought I’d give you a sneak beak in ‘real life’ from my iPhone–a few memories captured in the last week or so:) A few must share moments… a few pictures from grandmother’s just after my camera went kaput. Here’s 4 generations…my momma, Frank, me and my grandmother. (Isn’t my grandmother beautiful??!!) had to smile when i was leaving grandmother’s church…love their sign:) for the first time in NINE years–i’ve joined a gym!!! now…don’t think i’m getting all buff on y’all or anything. it’s far from that! homeschooling has made momma have an increased need for P.E. class for my kids and for me–SO…found a gym that has cool activities for the kids to do while momma “works out” (i’ve yet to break a sweat people–although i’m tempted to join the older folks in water aerobics…so i guess if i broke a sweat there i’d never know it. HOWEVER…my kids ARE working out:) here’s ONE of the activities loo-bear and p-man do when we go… I’ve been going to doctor’s appointments going through all the drills for our next adoption…and in the process–I’ve discovered some things. Like–I had no idea I couldn’t see. I got glasses:) However–I just need them for distances, driving at night and such. I meet on Monday nights with Amy Levy and Heath DuPree…and when I got my glasses last Monday they took a supportive mommy picture with me with their glasses too:) Gotta love mommy friends… Homeschool is rollin’ and we have been studying Ancient Egypt. We made a Rosetta Stone with ancient Greek letters… THEN…you won’t believe what we discovered buried in our backyard!!! Miniature mummies just like in Ancient Egypt! We became archeologists and carefully chipped and brushed the ground surrounded the mummies so we could piece them back together again… THEN…our FUN field trip of the week to the RADIO station!!! We were asked to come in and share with 104.7 the Fish our adoption story as they partner with the James Fund THIS coming Wednesday to raise awareness for orphans, adoption and the James Fund ministry. 6 families in our area were interviewed–and we were excited to be able to help in this way!!! The babies had preschool…so just Loo-bear and P-man went with us! Laney lost her FIRST TOOTH the night before…she made the decision after going back and forth and back and forth that she could NOT part with it. She told me that it was her FIRST tooth and she’d had it like since she was a baby and she just wasn’t ready to part with it. She was all smiles to get to keep it AND STILL get a pretty sweet note from the tooth fairy too:) She writes miniature notes that only a fairy could write:) Here’s Laney before our turn to share…
Here’s Dan Ratcliff about to take Parker and Laney into the live studio… They gave the kids a full tour of the station…and they had fun listening in our mommy and daddy’s interview too! The James Fund interviews will be airing throughout the day Wednesday, September 15th–so tune in if you live in Georgia! LAST BUT NOT LEAST…the latest of the latest… P and L have started their extra curricula activities:) Parker is playing soccer and doing gymnastics…Loo-bear is playing soccer, gymnastics and ballet. We always have done ONE sport–but we need daily P.E. activities so we added a few things during the day since we often wrap up school early:) While Parker and Laney go to gymnastics–me and the babies are stuck at the gym for ONE HOUR…1 hour with 2 two year olds?!?! Soooo…we go for lots of walks around the building. Last week we parked it at the pond. You have to hear this story… Now–the geese at the pond will chase you. SO…when one goose saw Frank and Isaac running toward the pond–he started running toward Isaac. Completely freaked me out so I was chasing Isaac trying to get him because Frank went the other direction but I think Isaac thought they were friends and wanted to hug him. Isaac was running toward him screaming, “DONALD! DONALD!!! DONALD!!!!” I scooped Isaac up and said, “WHAT are you saying to that goose??? Are you saying DONALD?!” He said, “YES! YES! Donald! Donald! Donald DUCK!” I couldn’t stop laughing because he doesn’t watch cartoons so I’m not sure where in the world he picked that up. WHICH MEANS–Isaac is a genius!!! Don’t you think;)!? He was so excited to see what he thought was a DUCK and he just KNEW his name MUST be Donald! I’m just thankful I got to him before Donald did!!!!! I later went back and tried to get a picture of him with Donald in the background to remember this funny moment!!! (Trust me–I was NOT taking pictures when he was almost flogged by Donald! Isaac had NO idea what that goose was up too! He just wanted to give Donald a hug!) THEN…we walk around the pond and look for tadpoles:) Can you see them?? We do this for about an hour every week!!! Exciting huh?! I must be weird–because I actually LOVE doing this with the boys!!!! WISH I had some pictures from Parker and Laney’s first soccer game of the season. BUT unfortunately–the only picture I have is the one I didn’t even know I had on my phone from today until I downloaded the pics from my phone tonight. Loo bear took this during Parker’s game of what I am really doing during the games this season! Getting balls out of the parking lot that my the babies are kicking and also chasing them!!!! I hope grandparents can come to at least a couple of games to help me so I can actually WATCH A GAME!!!! That’s a little real life for ya. This weekend we are taking it easy. Richard’s grandmother is not doing well–and we think her time is very close. Rich spent the day at the hospital after the soccer games while I stayed with the little ones that can’t really go to the hospital. She has lived a good life…but letting go from this side is always hard to do. Please say a prayer for his grandmother that she would be out of pain and in peace in her last days. Thank you. Hope y’all have a good weekend. XOXO! Andrea P.S. SOOO THANKFUL for friends who take their camera and grab a few pictures of your kids for you!!! ESPECIALLY when it was our princess’s VERY FIRST SOCCER GAME EVER!!!!!!!!! Sooo…here’s what just showed up in my inbox!!!! She is a ballerina through and through–but she definitely might have a little soccer in her too;) All that back yard soccer playing with her brother might be paying off:) You have to steer clear of those Disney characters! They will ATTACK! !) I think this is for me…but I’m gonna blog it…just in case this might be for you too. As of late–I feel as if there have been a lot of voices coming my way. And–being a people pleaser (by the way–you can go HERE to read through the 21 Steps to recovery from your people pleasing problems if you are as bad as me on this!)…I just have something within me that wants to make sure everyone is happy and saying NO isn’t in my vocabulary (although I’m working on that–and I’m getting better at it…”Just Say No” is what Rico Suave repeats in our home;). And low and behold–don’t make me even describe what happens within me–when I realize I may have disappointed someone! I can even see how I struggle with this even with my own CHILDREN. Yes, it’s true! I can’t stand it when I think I may have disappointed a CHILD even!!! And maybe–that is even harder for me!!! (But isn’t this a good thing for our children to learn??!! Because *I* will disappoint them!) Tonight, I was praying through this. Cause momma has A LOT on her plate right now–and my top priority through it all is my personal walk with the Lord and my sweet family. THIS is my first calling. All others–fall into place after. Wiphan, Created for Care, emails from strangers, emails from friends, phone calls throughout the day…daily compete for my time–which with 4 little ones and homeschooling is just so limited–and I have to listen to Him on how I need to spend almost each and ever moment. So many of you–your plates are full too. And a full plate + people pleasing personality can often = disaster…or the very least a very overwhelmed spirit. It’s good to daily–DAILY–remember the order of our callings. What is your first calling? Who is it to?? Does your daily life reflect and show evidence of that?? If not, what are some things you could change to regroup? Some times it’s hard to hear His voice among all the noise on our full plates…yet when we SLOW down to hear His voice–the people pleasing problems all of the sudden…start to fade away…and it’s His voice we can then hear. It is not man I want to please, but my Savior. And as long as you are in this world there will be LOTS and LOTS of things and people that appear good, but if they keep you from your first focus…time to regroup…an maybe push a few peas or even a much bigger helping off your plate. My problem is this–I often say yes and then have to push off the plate instead of listening to Him in the beginning and saying to the server “Oh that looks DELISH–I’m going to pass this time, but I might try that next time if it’s served again!” Hard to often do…yes easier said that done–but who do I want to please? Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ. Galations 1:10 Because I’m serving God and not man–man will not always approve or love the way I do things. And…DEEP BREATH…COME ON ANDREA…YOU CAN SAY IT;). AND…that is okay. Really, I’m okay with that. One of my favorite devotionals of all time is “The Imitation of Christ” by Thomas Kempis. It was written in the 1400s–and it’s simply food for my soul. In reading his chapter Spiritual Life these are some things that stuck out to me… What’s the most profound, and yet the most practical, lesson you can learn? That you look like an ant! What’s the deepest wisdom and yet the highest perfection? That you ARE an ant! Have no illusions about yourself–that’s what Paul laid upon the Romans (11:20). Hold high opinions only about others. Now…that little tidbit might not mean much to you–but marinate on it a bit. Compared to the greatness of my God…I’m an ant–probably much less actually. In this BIG, HUGE world–problems that come my way…really, if I’m ant size–aren’t they also ant-size? Can’t I trust HIM to take care of them?? And when it comes to others–who am *I* to form opinions or judge or do anything other than SIMPLY LOVE?!!?? Just love. And because we are human–and our flesh…can be yucky–let’s remember that we are ants–and ANTS–well, they really aren’t that great. In fact, they bug the stew out of me some times. And I bet I bug the stew out of some people some times too. Humbling to think about. And thinking about that sure makes me want to just SIMPLY LOVE. Now, I might update my blog and post pretty pictures–but really–I’m no different than you. Well, actually…I probably mess up more than you…have a messier house than you…feel like I’m gonna lose it more than you…and often feel a whole lot more tired that you. I just don’t always blog about the messes, the losing it or the tired. Momma likes to focus on the “high lights” as she processes her day;) Hold high opinions only about others. I love what he said again in this chapter here… Endless lectures, pointless tomes, majuscule, minuscule, my poor head splits, and yet all I want and desire is You. Learned doctors may giggle, dumb creatures may gaggle, and yet in all the babel Yours is the only voice I hear. First–lemme say if you read that and thought I’m smart…think again people;) Thomas Kempis wrote this book (not me), and he wrote it in the 1400s. And I hadn’t a clue what tomes, majuscule or minuscule were or how to properly use those in sentences until I looked them up, but I can read between the lines and get his point. (By the way–for those of who stink at vocabulary like me–I looked those up so we could have a little educational moment…:) [tomes – a large book, especially one volume of a multi-volume scholarly work; majuscule – one of the large alphabetic characters used as the first letter in writing or printing proper names and sometimes for emphasis; minuscule – tiny]. Okay–now I have to share it again now that I’m learned;) I feel like I’m homeschooling:) Only–you probably knew what those words meant already! Endless lectures, pointless tomes, majuscule, minuscule, my poor head splits, and yet all I want and desire is You. Learned doctors may giggle, dumb creatures may gaggle, and yet in all the babel Yours is the only voice I hear. Ever feel like that? There’s things coming at you in ALL directions. You are living day by day…because each day right now in your life REALLY does have enough of it’s own. Lots of things going on. Lots of un-done on your to-do list. Opinions. Advice. Chatter. And some days like your head might split?! YET. In all the babel–YOURS INS THE ONLY VOICE I HEAR. AND…His voice is enough. It is the only voice I need to hear. He. Is. Enough. And through the babel–who will I choose to please? Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ. Galations 1:10 Everything we do won’t make sense to the world–and others may often even get frustrated when we aren’t on their time table or when we can’t do it all or when we say no or when our people pleasing nature slowly fades away. Often, I think we make life so much more complicated than it really should be. Life truly isn’t that complicated…although we often make it that. It truly should be simple. Shouldn’t it be that way for an ant??? Just wanted to encourage many of you who feel the pressures of this world–and to encourage you to consistently evaluate your full-plates…entrusting each thing on them to the Lord–and listening for His voice among the noise of this world. Take some time this weekend to really listen. Not sure about you–but this little ant is excited about spending her weekend with her family, friends and cheering for 2 of her little ants at their soccer games tomorrow. I’ll leave y’all with this song that ministered to me tonight in a refreshing way….I was singing it and just quiet…and listening…for His voice… Wow – THANK YOU for this post. It is JUST what my heart needed to hear tonight. I’m feeling so completely overwhelmed with day-to-day life and struggling to do devotions and find time for just me…and then I have people with requests. Requests I want to help with, but I think I need to take care of my family first. And figure out what normal is in all this change. …and…you probably didn’t need all that either =) But it feels good to get out! Blessings to you friend! Good stuff! Thanks for sharing your heart. I have “been there, done that” and it’s totally okay to say “no” and let whoever you have to say it to deal with their feelings about it. It’s their feelings, you are not responsible for them, you are responsible for yourself and your own choices, responses and reactions. Learned that from “Boundaries…” I am also currently re-reading Lysa Terkeurst’s book “Becoming More Than a Good Bible Study Girl” which is awesome and right along the same line with what you wrote here. Oh girl, this hit home with me too. I am also a people pleaser, and just yesterday as God showed me something to give up that was only good for a season and that season is over, I worried about what someone would think about me leaving. Also, I sat here this morning trying to get everything ready for my daughter’s princess party and to do a neat little talk to the little girls with visuals helping them see the ways God shows us that we are His princesses, I was reminded to slow down and digest these verses for myself. What a relational God we serve who hears us and speaks to us when we are willing to listen! Have a great weekend, my friend! Another people pleaser checking in, Andrea! It’s so hard to turn that tendency off, but I believe God is doing that through our adoption. We are taking the “road less traveled” in our circle of influence and so many don’t understand why. When it comes to my kids, their opinions and suggestions are not important, especially the negative ones, LOL! Thanks for the reminder to inject this to other areas of my life as well:) As a new bride my aunt gave me a book by Donna Otto, I read it and thought it was good but it didn’t really apply yet. Fastforward 17 years and the pages are falling out of said book. I too am a people pleaser. My dear friend/mentor calls it “a servants heart” either way I have trouble saying no!! The golden nugget from that book I’ve learned is . . . only I can be my hubby’s wife, only I can be my kiddo’s mom and only I can be my heavenly Father’s daughter. All those other things I’m asked to do, and struggle saying no to, CAN be done by someone else. Thank you for your words! I needed to read them and be reminded. Have a blessed weekend with your family. : ] *ps as I listened to the song my hubby and kiddos one by one wandered in and we were all singing. It’s going to be a great weekend!!! Thanks for this reminder, Andrea! I am always working on seeking God’s voice for the things I should say yes or no to. I have a history of being a “yes” person to everything, and then being way too busy. Thankfully, God is changing me and showing me how to invest my time in the things of Him…the things that truly matter! Yep, I’m one of those “yes” gals too. I have to admit, with having 3 little ones in less than 4 years and then a husband spending 15 months in Afghanistan, I had to learn to say “no”. And worse, I had to actually ASK for HELP from others, gasp! It was hard, but God taught me a valuable lesson through it all. Once I stared “Yes” to the best things and “no” to some good things, I reaped the benefits of it and then it became easier to say “no”. I even watched as someone else was asked to do what I said “no” to, and see how they flourished because it was right for them, and not for me. SO, just take baby steps and listen to Rico Suave and “just say no”! Another especially good post! Thanks for sharing your heart and God’s faithful transforming work within it! Thank you for challenging us to evaluate where our priorities are! I learned long ago to “use the 14th and 15th letters of the alphabet” from our wise pastor! And, I also learned to be “jealous FOR” things at a Beth Moore conference one time! Jealous for my marriage, my family, my ministry! 🙂 It is GOOD for you to do this!!! And, if you need help planning the next C4C…let me know! !) |
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OH MY GOODNESS! That is so cute! Especially to actually hear Frank say “I’m not ya-ya, I”m Frank.” What a sweet brotherhood! Those baby smiles just cheered up my day like you wouldn’t believe!
That was soooo sweet =) Thank you for sharing!
That was AWESOME, Andrea!!! Loved the entire cast and crew!! What a joyous home you have. =)
Oh how precious! My 2 year old was glued to the screen during this. He was really excited about Frank’s paci. 😉 And I had to laugh at Laney letting Isaac know what to pick. My girly does the same thing! 🙂
Oh my, he is just precious!!
OH MY GAAASHHHH i don’t even have words. LOVE.
Andrea, I was just totally overwhelmed with what a miracle Isaac is while watching that video! Seeing him jump and run and be a sweet crazy toddler just made me praise our father! What a little treasure he is!
Seriously, that is the cutest thing I have ever seen! Adorable!