Updates

Many, many updates! I haven't been writing much lately. Life has been a slow blur lately.
1) Yesterday was Monday and we made a HUGE batch of burritos again. Rice, corn, beef, 2 kinds of beans, peppers, tomatoes, cilantro, etc. Yummy! We freeze them individually for lunches. I think there were about 20. Today we made peanut butter oatmeal cookies! In the process I discovered we are out of honey, brown sugar and peanut butter. We're almost out of whole wheat flour. I can't remember the last time I ran out of baking supplies! No that doesn't mean I buy in bulk. It means I rarely bake! But that's been beginning to change. The last store bought cookies we had were from a certain group of girls who are famous for cookies. Before that, I don't even remember. So I think that's a good sign =)
2) The interviews w/the county social worker went well. Pretty basic. Checking to see if we are normal...which we are I guess. The SW was nice, young, like us. She explained things well and seemed to want to help us speed things along. We got fingerprinted and set a date for the home visit. FINALLY! That will be an exciting day...May 9. Please pray. I'm sure I'll be a nervous wreck that whole week...slightly distracted and anxious! I'll be scrubbing everything down and hiding junk! No hopefully I can try to relax and be myself a little. I'll still clean, don't worry, Mom, but she'll be making surprise visits in the future so she might as well see a little of how we are...
3) Once again a situation has come up where we know someone who might not want her baby. Again, I'm asking for your prayers. Every fiber of my being says "Yes! Yes, we'll take the baby! We'll figure out all that legal stuff later..." But common sense says to pray and seek God's will again. The circumstances are not the best. We don't know how to legally do this or if it will be worth the effort. Most likely we will continue gathering information, but at this point it seems the only one able to answer our questions would be an adoption lawyer. I'll keep you updated. Mostly I don't want to talk or think about it until it is for real. But then I get all control-freak again and I know I'd be so-o-o mad hurt if the baby went to someone else just b/c I wouldn't talk about it.
4) Dave visited his new job sites. He seems a little more upbeat about it. The one that worried him the most actually seems better than the other. People have been more friendly and helpful. I'm hoping that he will get a big surprise from the fact that he finds himself enjoying it =)
PHEW - what else...?
5) We're both teaching summer school. Dave will only be teaching half the summer b/c he is staying home the first 2 weeks to watch our friends' son and daughter. They're foster kids, but they hope to have successfully adopted them by that time. Anyway, Dave will be home w/3 kids under the age of 3! I teased and told him I expected the laundry and dishes done when I get home. That and lunch already on the table! Think he can do it? I do!
Well, that's all I can think of. Sorry I've been slacking on the posts. Now there's plenty to read!

Questions and answers

Question: Why are we teaching him a skill that he will someday use to leave us?

Question: Why does he always slide knees down on the grass when retrieving the frisbee?
Question: What will I do when he stops taking an afternoon nap?

Answer: We prayed for a son. He's a child of God and we've been given the job of taking care of him, for how ever long is necessary. That means teaching him to ride a bike, catching him when he falls, playing frisbee, scrubbing and washing his jeans, entertaining him, teaching him to play on his own and teaching him skills to complete simple chores around the house. Even though my mind is full of questions, I know that God has answered our prayer!

So true...

Just flipping by a program on PBS and the guy said something like, "Here we have invented a material that lasts forever (plastic) and we're using it on products we use for seconds." He was holding up a small juice box that found it's way into a river. Stuff like that makes me think. It makes me think about avoiding plastic in our lives. We've already begun to do that but it's hard. For those of you doing the same, know that what you are doing makes a difference!

Work it! But wear a helmet.

This morning Mo and I needed to go to church, but Dave had the van. (He had his interview w/the county social worker! More on that later...) So we biked! It's only .93 miles according to Mapquest, but whoo! I forgot what it was like to bike w/that trailer attached. Plus, Mo is getting bigger and I'm out of shape. Anyway, I had to go to church again tonight and the boys needed the van, so I biked!! Let's see...that's .93 x 4...equals 3.72 miles!! It felt good! I'm going to add the .28 to the first ride b/c of the trailer. Yeah, I worked that much harder, so I biked 4 miles today! Can you hear the sound of my own hand slapping my own back? I've got pics, but I'll have to add them tomorrow. W/gas prices getting so high, I hope to save a few pennies this summer by biking. How are you planning to save money on gas?

I don't deserve this!

The son who sings church songs at the top of his lungs. "I LOVE YOU LORD!!"
The husband who catches a ride to work most days so I can have the freedom of the van.
The friend who hauls a bunch of kids to the park so we can have some time together, even if we are wrangling the kids and don't feel like going out.
The friend who thinks a lot like me, who may be willing to step out and lead so I can follow for once.
The friend who has ideas to help us save money and make life easier.
The son who runs off to bed obediently but stops on the way to slowly blow me a serious kiss.
The husband who works so I can stay at home and write a blog, read a lot of blogs and learn to cook.
The church family who prays for us, with us and for our family and friends, too.
The relatively big house w/lots of room for other kids.
The mom who models Christ-like care and concern for those close to her.
The dad who would do anything to make the good life possible for his kids and grandkids.
The God who would offer me grace and love after all I've done.

This is the short list. I would be bawling if I tried to write the long one! It's a very humbling experience. Days like this I feel sad, but I am bursting w/joy, all at the same time.

Is there something like this in your life?

Need a Hug?

The other day Mo was really clingy. He wanted to be held while I wanted to hang wash! It was such a beautiful day and I thought he'd enjoy going out to play again. (He's since shown evidence of a cold...) When he just wanted to be held, I remembered this guy's blog I stumbled on. He takes his baby girl everywhere in a backpack and calls himself Backpacking Dad. We have one of those things and I suggested to Mo that we try that. He was pretty excited, especially since it's something he does w/Daddy! Anyway, here we are! We did it! I actually got off the ground w/this 30lb toddler on my back. Yes, I am crazy. If you didn't realize that yet, you need to read more past posts! Anyway, I started to hang the wash. After 5 shirts or something, I realized I would probably pass out and that wouldn't be good. So I convinced him to go make me some sandbox lunch. Now we can say we tried that...

Later Mo decided that the neighbor's Mary statue needed a hug! I had scolded him earlier about the plants so after the hug-fest, he showed me how he got in and out of the flowerbed w/o stepping on the plants! Phew! I guess if your mom's too busy or WEAK to hold you, the lesson here is to go seek out a neighborhood Mary!

I love a man who cleans!

You should really get one...
(btw - no I am not trying to set the record for most blog entries in a day. I just happen to have a toddler who is involved in something else right now and I keep thinking of other things I wanted to say. Like this...)
...this past weekend Dave helped me clean the basement! We got sooooo much done. We took two huge bins to the thrift store. Yesterday I was gone and he cooked some Beef for dinner and cleaned the living room. I mean, he dusted (?!) the piano and wiped down the NASTY ceiling fan. He vacuumed the floor. He put away clean dishes. He is always helpful, but this was pretty cool b/c I didn't ask for him to do anything but put away dishes! I think that is my favorite thing - when he does it w/o asking. You're awesome honey! I'm bragging about you!

Yipee!!!

Just got an email from the social worker (she was on maternity leave!)!! We're working on scheduling individual interviews...PRAY that we can get them both done this week! ASAP!!!

Finally...

We had a glorious day outside!! I hung wash and scoped out all the flowers popping up. We washed coats and Mo wanted to wear this adorable fleece! He was so happy to finally lift the lid on the sand box and the first thing he did was make me some lunch.

Then he wanted to take some pics of me...he's getting pretty good! I have to remember to keep reminding him to look for me on the screen in the back. He giggles when he finally sees me so I quick tell him to push the button! We were both laughing and we laughed even more when I saw the pictures...

We ROCK!

Spring is in the air and we don't have time for anything but goofing off!

Scratch it

I've been itching to blog about something but nothing is really going on...we had a great day at the zoo the other day =) I'm putting this pic up b/c you can check out my new 'do, but really all the pics were kinda boring. I already talked about all the food we made and now we made a double batch of sneaky chef cookies. Um, Mo has decided that he loves stamping. We have all these stamped pieces of art everywhere...what else? Netting was on sale at the craft store so I got more. The last time I was at the grocery store I lost one bag, and it was the color I liked too. So now Mo picked out the color of the next couple. RED! I guess I'll be working on that tonight...after we go the the YMCA's free night. We plan to swim, play basketball and try out some of the tumbling class/climbing activities. I think the theme for the rest of the weekend is to tackle some projects around the house. Little plants are peeking out in the flower beds but we'll have to wait until next week to get out there - it's still supposed to snow this weekend! It'll be good to get some of the indoor stuff done.
I guess right now we've been feeling a little blah. W/Dave's news about the job situation going around, people are talking about it more and I can tell that's been bumming him out. I don't know what to do to make that better, so I just try to trudge along. People have been asking me about the foster care adoption stuff and there's just nothing to say. We seem to be stuck in neutral again. I am getting excited for a bunch of friends who are having babies soon! There's always going to be a small sense of jealousy, but I am excited for them. It's just fun to have babies around...and awesome to see our friends happy and feeling blessed. I just wish sometimes we had news. Of any kind! Overall things in our house are getting better, we just need to remember that and keep our spirits up. I heard there might be a 60* day or two next week, so that'll help! Maybe we can get the bikes out...

Consider it...

Do you really need a paper version of the phone book? We get 2 from diff companies!! I just signed us up to not get this one...I figure w/the Internet and the other one coming, do I really need a phone book? Click on the icon about, take a look at the site and decide for yourself.

Got receipts?

We were challenged. And so far the only thing I have bought were 2 soap holders. They were 20 cents each! That doesn't excuse them...but...I figure if you're going to break the buy nothing new challenge, at least make it cheap!!

No diapers were harmed in the making of this waste product!

WOW!! I think we're really getting the hang of this potty training thing. We've had fewer and fewer code browns and Mo is really agreeable to do business in the bathroom! Our sucker supply is diminishing...man, I can't wait to be officially off the diaper wagon! Does that cliche work for stuff like this? I think off the wagon is actually a bad thing. Whatever! You know what I mean. I have pics to add, but need to make dinner first - lasagna! We already made more WWF pumpkin chocolate chip muffins, this time w/honey instead of sugar. A friend said you can't tell the difference...unfortunately our comparison is a little off. First of all, my honey was crystalized. I put in in warm water but after 30 minutes got impatient and used it anyway. Second of all, we had less pumpkin, so the muffins were a little more WWflour-ey. But I guess I didn't notice much of a diff in the sweet flavor =) (Sorry for the rambling post...I need to stick to the topic! I just remembered it was Monday and I needed to post about something I made. So now I did...and you should go make something and leave a comment!)

Mo's first post

Cheese!
Mom's gettin' veggies.

I got a cart.
Dad's got the camera.
Cheese!