Looks like santa was here....

Merry Christmas!                                                                                      

Looks like  not  having  a chimney didnt  stop Santa 

HOwever, my  kids are terrified at  the idea of  santa  coming  in our  house

STANDING IN AWE *updated*

I literally have no words and for those of you who know me, know that doesn't happen often (or ever) :) I stand in awe of our God, the Father to the Fatherless. I stand in awe of my church family & other wonderful friends. I stand in awe of some of you that I have NEVER MET who would give to a child that you have NEVER SEEN! Truly God is good. In 2 short days, YOU have raised that money to help Ella get a set of hearing aids. Because of your generosity and the generosity of people stepping out in faith by presenting Ella's needs, sticking their neck out to get discounts & giving their time, ELLA WILL HEAR. She will hear laughter, she will hear her friends, and more importantly I pray she will one day be able to hear the Gospel of Christ.!

I rejoice today friends!  In the tough times we live in with all of the bad news in the world, Goodwill towards men is not gone!! God has not forgotten the plight of the orphan. Thank you all for partnering with me to help this precious child! Visit my friend Nikki's blog @ www.bringinghomezeke.blogspot.com to see more of these precious children and maybe help support this family and their care of the orphan.

I will update you on the progress of her hearing aids. Hopefully, they will be hand delivered to her orphanage in mid January!! WHAT AN AWESOME CHRISTMAS PRESENT YOU HAVE GIVEN HER! God bless you!

Exceedingly Abundantly....

THANK YOU to everyone who has donated to Ella. Praying blessings on you! You want to hear how our God cares for the orphan? You want to be blown away?
This afternoon  the wonderful lady who is helping us to get Ella's hearing aids contacted me. Another generous lady just walked in her office and handed her a hearing aid.. Yes, you read that correctly.Her daughter had a spare hearing aid and wanted to know if there were someone who needed one!! We are now only having to raise $400 for 1 hearing aid. Praise our great God!!!
 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us...Eph. 3:20

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. "James 1:27

WILL YOU HELP?

I'm coming to you totally out of my element here. I have friends and family that can move people to action by writing eloquent words. I have no such words. However, I can share my heart with you.

This is "Ella" (name changed for protection). Ella is an orphan in the Philippines. My friend Nikki and her family are ministering to visually impaired orphans (www.bringinghomezeke.blogspot.com) and the orphanage staff brought this beautiful 5 yr. old girl to them and begged them to find her some hearing aids. Ella is very hearing impaired but her testing  has shown that hearing aids will help her. 

Now here is where you & I come in. They have no hearing aids. They are way too expensive! BUT GOD!!!!! Through some wonderful people who have helped my daughter Laurel hear, they are able to help me get a set of hearing aids for $800. My friends apart from them being free (that would be nice too) :) that is amazing. Hearing aids are well over $4000! Amazing? Yes! Do I believe all this is of God? YES!! I very clearly received a nudging from Him that I was to advocate to make this child's life better. You see, to be an orphan is tough enough. They have very little prospect for the future with no money, no life skills, no family and little education but can you imagine all of this stacked against you AND YOU CAN'T HEAR??

After seeing how much hearing aids helped our daughter and seeing her blossom and be able to carry on meaningful relationships I cannot imagine denying another child this.

Will YOU help? I know it's the worst possible season to ask for money! Believe me, I get it. But I do feel I must ask. All money raised will go directly into a paypal account created for Ella. I have created a Chip In on the side of this blog. You can donate very easily that way, or, if you'd rather, and you know me personally, you can give the money to me and it will be deposited to the account. The money is not tax deductable. The money will go DIRECTLY to the organization that will order the hearing aids.

What a great Christmas present for a child who deserves a chance at life. Will you help?

THANK YOU AND MAY GOD BLESS YOU!

To Decorate..

My FAVORITE ornament. Mike made this years ago for me as a joke...... "Satan Claus" I had a teacher in high school that really called Santa this!

Have I mentioned I LOVE having a fireplace?

The yearly tradition of the making of the Gingerbread Train

Noah's newest "thing". He goes to bed in a different hat every night :)

Glad I don't believe in Omen's. This was outside my door today!

Merry Christmas! We are all decorated but haven't finished shopping. Being sick for a week really through a kink in things! However, we've been having a wonderful time doing some fun things with the babies & reading Christmas books every night. Laurel plays with her manger scene everyday and sings "Away in a Manger" while she does it. I'm so amazed to watch her go from a little child who knew nothing (and heard nothing) to a little girl who loves Jesus and knows what Christmas is all about!
Noah is looking forward to having a break from school. Thursday he had a mini meltdown because he couldn't write the word "beef". He put his head on the desk and cried... "Oh No, now I'll NEVER be the President"! :)
Gee I sure hope not... I can think of no worse job :)

Anyway, more to come when I can get to my other computer for pictures. Enjoy your children!

Kids say the funniest things...

So as I stated in the post below, we have the flu, or some semblance of something that makes you want to lie down and die. Except for Laurel, who with her Ukrainian genes of iron never gets sick and never slows down. Makes for a fun weekend :)

Anyway, as I was puking my guts up I looked up and heard "Well, that was worth the price of admission".... Noah was standing there with a huge grin on his face watching Mommy hurl. I have to admit it did make me smile through it all.....and then worry that maybe we've watched Madagascar 3 a few times to many this weekend.

This makes me laugh... :)

Anyone who has ever had a cat totally gets this! :)

Randomness.

TAKEN BY NOAH OF HIMSELF

Noah fell asleep looking @ all the trains he wants Santa to bring him :)

This is how Laurel sleeps

I have so many cool pictures I'd love to share with you all from what we've been doing the last few weeks but I fear the Flu has found us! Mike came down with it yesterday and spent all day in bed. This morning, Noah awoke to throwing up & a high fever. Laurel & I are the last hold outs.....and I'm feeling a bit weird. Oh well.

Noah & Laurel were both in Christmas play last weekend. It was fabulous and the kids were adorable (of course) :)
We then went to the Christmas train close to where my Grandma lives. Love Love Love it! They make it truly about the birth of Christ and it is simple yet beautiful. Great pictures! 

However, until we can surface from the sickness I won't be able to download all my pics. Hopefully in a few days.

God is good! He is in control of even the yuckiest of times! Praise Him!

Know what I want for Thanksgiving?

               Poppy 49K





Girl, born December 2010
Blue eyes
Blond hair
Spina Bifida
Poppy is a beautiful, intelligent, inquisitive girl. Understands and follows simple instructions, and she tries to speak. With strangers she can be frightened, but quickly settles down to interact. Poppy knows her own and others. In communicating, she is emotionally responsive, very affectionate, loves adults and caring hands. She plays well, and educators say that she is very active. She has a slight lag of development. The girl has spent part of her life in the hospital.

Poppy really needs a caring, patient and loving mother.

$59.00 is available towards the cost of my adoption!

I want this little girl to find a family. She's a beauty and her name "Poppy" really seems to fit her. During this Thanksgiving Season, let's thank the Lord for what we do have and look less on what we don't & want! Thank you Lord for family.

For more info on Poppy go to www.reecesrainbow.org. You can also make a tax deductable donation into her account to allow help another family afford the adoption expenses.


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Fall Glorious Fall!!

Luigi & Luigi

They've begged for weeks for enough leaves to play in!

Learning to skip rocks

Watching the boat Mike carved for him

It's FALL! I love fall. It's become my favorite season. Noah is studying leaves this week in school & we've had a lot of fun finding all different types. Sunday after church we explored a large park we hadn't been to before and hiked a bit. Mike carved Noah a boat out of tree bark which they sailed. Laurel attempted skipping rocks.... our lives were in danger :)

The Election is over. The results stink but I fear we are at a tipping point in this country. When more than 40% of people are on some sort of Government assistance they aren't going to want to cut the Government down to size. However, like I told Noah so he wouldn't spin out into space when his candidate lost, "It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to put our trust in Man". He then told his Nana that we need to pray for our President so he would become a better leader. Amen. He gets it. Instead of whining & worrying, we should be praying.

Funny thing happened today.... Noah clearly provoked Laurel into a fight and boy did she react. Badly. I had to deal with her right away but then had to deal with him & talk to him about what provoking someone to anger was. He said he was sorry. Then he said that he knew one of the Fruits of the Spirit was Self Control & he needed that. I said yes it was and how did he know that? He said " Oh,  it's on the poster on wall in the ladies bathroom @ church that I read when I'm on the potty! " :)  He makes me laugh.

Tonight I got am email from a Reeces Rainbow friend who's adopting 2 children from Laurel's former orphanage. We printed up a book of pictures of Laurel and a note for the orphanage director. She just told me that she gave it to the director who loved it and went through every picture with tears in her eyes! Praise God! Our prayer is that Laurel's successful adoption will pave the way for more adoptions there and for the director to be open to some humanitarian aid. How awesome is our God!

Circle M City & Scotty McCreery

Birthday Boy (6) & Birthday Girl (5)

Birthday Friends (minus Aubrey & Jacob)

Sheriff Marsh doing rope tricks around Noah

Watching the Sheriff make our Circle M brands

Wagon Ride

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY SWEET BABIES!

Waiting for Scotty McCreery to sign our cd!

Signing the cd

Soo.... both my babies have October birthdays...YAY! We celebrate together so this year we went to the Circle M City Western Town in Sanford. OH MY GOODNESS. We had so much fun. Tim & Michelle Marsh put on an awesome show being the Sheriff & "Crazy Kate". He did a rope show, Bullwhip, Gun tricks, Wagon Ride, Branding Activity. Crazy Kate was a crowd favorite! If you are looking for any event for any age person we highly recommend this place! They have Bluegrass on Monday nights, will do church functions etc... So reasonably priced and so neat. The kids had a blast! Their party was in the Saloon! More info? www.circlemcity.com

Also, Noah has always loved Scotty McCreery since he was on American Idol (me too) ;). Nana heard he was going to be at a signing nearby & guess who got to meet him? Oh yes, Noah did! Scotty was SO super nice & warm to everyone he meet. Very nice guy. Since it was Noah's birthday, he personalized his signature to say "Happy Birthday Noah". Noah was thrilled.

Big weekend! Fun time & memories. Thanks to all who made it happen! We are so grateful.

Another one bites the dust! **warning-graphic hunting photo**



It's killin' season

So, first hunting outing.....yielded a pesky female coyote.
They have a great story of how they got it. John's been wanting these coyotes off the farm b/c they kill the calves & they got one. To say they were excited would be an understament of the universe.



5!

My Sweet 5 Year Olds

Laurels Edible Arrangement that Nana & Poppy sent to her on her birthday....... let's just say it was ALL gone

She wanted a strawberry cake with marshmallows & sprinkles. She got her wish.

I got to bring cupcakes to her preschool class

Laurel just had her 5th birthday! Since both of my kids have their birthdays in October, we are having a bigger combined party later in the month but we still had a cake  & some presents for Miss Lucy Loo on her birthday. I got to take cupcakes to her preschool class and celebrate there. They were so good to her. When I got there she had an apron & a crown!! She was pretty happy but did get embarrassed when everyone sang to her. She was pretty specific about her cake so she and I made her pink birthday cake with marshmallows & sprinkles. She is getting so big & I'm so proud of her. Her birthday brought some pretty deep questions from her such as "what does a birthday mean" and some others about her heritage so we went through them the best we could. She's a smart little thing and we can't imagine life w/out her!!!

So, for a few weeks I have 2 Five Years Olds. My sister and I are also 11 1/2 months apart and it used to be this was with us as well. I remember telling my mother that she was crazy for  having us that close together. HAAAAHHAAAA!!  I'm convinced the Lord has a sense of humor. I wouldn't trade it for the world!

Mental Health Day

Baby Duncan can make anyone smile :)

How do you like Laurel's interpretation of an Amish horse & Buggy? I was pretty impressed!

Nothing like the comfort of Cookies & Hot Chocolate

Never underestimate the  power of a Mental Health Day. I had already made the decision to have one after the business of this past week. Hard things, mentally exhausting things, serious sicknesses, a death in the family,  ( you know.... things that everyone is going through) but God threw in some wonderful nuggets!! One of my best friends who has been gone gone for several years is moving home!!! God may have answered another "desire of my heart". etc. etc.  Mike & I had the privilege to teach the teen class at our church Sunday. It was on divorce and how it affects the kids. HEAVY STUFF. These kids were open and honest and once again it was the exact lesson that was needed that week. God refreshed me with the praise & worship as well. How wonderful it is to me to think that one day we get to sing to Him forever! I'm so looking forward to that. He is so good to us. He does want us to praise Him during these storms of our lives. He promises he does care. He says He is near to the brokenhearted! Those are promises we can bank on!

On another note: Good thing I'd "penciled in" a mental health day b/c both babies woke up sick :) Oh well.

South Cackylacky

Noah, Laurel & Grandat

Love this picture....she's holding on to him b/c she's afraid he'll fall in!

I wish I could sleep like that

Family Resemblance?

Michelle, Nait, Dusie&Grandat,Mike,Martha, Noah & Laurel oh and don't forget AJ (dog)!

The scariest ropes course ever!!! But we did it!

Out of Africa she's not

We had a wonderful trip this past weekend to SC to see Grandat & Dusie. It had been a while since we saw them and it was nice to catch up. I'm sorry NC, but SC has you beat HANDS DOWN in BBQ!! So yummy! While there, we visited the Columbia Zoo. If you are ever in that area don't miss it. Everything is so close and nice and the kids LOVE it. We also did a really scary ropes course (all but the highest level). For some reason it was much scarier than ziplining! Thanks Grandat & Dusie for a great time.

Been a bit of an emotional rollercoaster here the last week. As I put in a previous post, a dear church friend found out she had probably stage 3 lung cancer. The prognosis was not good. However, we are praising God tonight because it is NOT lung cancer but reacurring breast cancer which has a much more straightforward treatment and a much better prognosis! Praising our great God. Please pray also for their son Brian who has found out he most likely has Thyroid Cancer and will have it out in October. On another note, my Aunt has found out that her cancer has spread to her brain. She is undergoing radiation to attempt to shrink it. She did tell me yesterday that "It is well with my soul" but oh so hard to watch!! 
All of this heartache has driven me to the Scriptures and especially the Psalms which are always a comfort to me. 
Psalm 90:10 - "Seventy years are given to us! Some even live to eighty. But even the best years are filled with pain and trouble; soon they disappear,and we fly away!"
12:  Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom.

Psalm 112:7  They do not fear bad news; they confidently trust the Lord to care for them.

Oh that is my prayer!! I do not want to fear what's around the corner for myself and those I love. I want to truly understand how Paul could say "To live is Christ and to die is GAIN!" I'm not there yet, but I want to be. I praise the Lord that He "keeps me from all harm and watches over my life". He keeps watch over me as I come and go, both now and forever." Psalm 121:7-8

He gives and takes away. My heart will CHOOSE to say..... Blessed be the Name of the Lord.