Going Green

Ha Ha Ha Ha.......did you really think I meant organic save the earth kind of green??  DO YOU KNOW ME.....I bet my sister didn't think it:)  Ok.....I DO recycle all my plastic grocery bags.....does that count?  I would single handed fill every landfill in the county if I didn't....and my conscience just won't allow that much plastic to sit under ground.......like forever....we need a grocery cart to haul them all in to the store, and then fill the entire recycle box in one fell swoop!!!! .Hats off to all you organized moms that can actually pull off training your children to sort their trash!!!!  I'm happy if they put it in the one trash can in the kitchen......and not on the floor, or stuffed in the couch cushions or under the chairs.......but I really meant it's another color day at preschool.  They are learning their colors....today is Green.  This is all we could come up with....It seems our wardrobe is a little heavy on the pink!

 She leaned against the door here and it flew open.....she thought it was so funny!

 Just riding the trike is NEVER exciting enough for this girl....she's tying a rope to it........ 

 ...with this attached.....nicely loaded with all the naked children.

 Iley waiting till she gets every thing situated JUST right.

 You know....maybe it's just me......but I think this job would be easier if the proper footwear was worn.....or at least on the right feet!  But you know a girls got to look good:)

 Iley helping push.....whew this is hard work! (Check out the observer on the picnic table! Iley still won't pet either dog, but at least she doesn't screech on sight anymore!  He IS one ugly mutt!)

 Those shoes REALLY need to go!  They are making me think of a foundered horse!

Ok, enough of that!  I'm riding!

 This was how they ate their supper!  It's about as close to a picnic on the patio as we were going to get today!  It was raining.....they had just all 4 been huddled under this very umbrella out on the trampoline.  Can you picture Harrison, Sherman and 2 peanuts huddled under this umbrella??? Some one is going to get mostly wet!

 eeewwww.......pardon the green gunky noses!  They were not a planned  part of the green day!

Before you adopt.......

OH SO TRUE!!!  I did NOT write this.....but I could have......if of course I could write this well!  If you are thinking of adopting....in the process of adopting.... or have just adopted......READ EVERY WORD!  I added pictures:) they weren't in the original post.  To read more from this author click on the title below.

 Before you adopt....

....you should really read this. Because I promise
you won't find this in the 10 hours of Hague adoption
paperwork.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Before you adopt, you are required to participate in 

so many hours of pre-adoption training,

read books, go to seminars,

and fill out Q & A's.

And you think that all of this work

would prepare you for this sweet child

you have prayed and longed for.

 

But it doesn't.

Truth is, you really need to get knee deep
 in someone's life who has adopted,
 ask hard questions, listen to their experiences
and then find another adoptive family and do it again.

Many, MANY of my friends have had the same

initial experiences with their new child.

The problem for pre-adoptive parents

is that not many post-adoptive parents 

talk about how incredibly hard it is

in the beginning.

And you are thrown for a loop when your
child comes to you.

How this sweet baby doesn't smell like yours.

Or feel like yours,

Or that for some, there is not an attachment

 like you thought there should be.

Or how you really don't feel like you love this child

like you thought you would,

Or you may feel like you are babysitting a 

cute baby/toddler/child who definitely is not yours.

I  know so many mommas who have felt this way

AND

felt that they were doing something wrong 

because NO ONE talks about these feelings.

They isolated themselves and ultimately 

became very depressed.

Because we don't want to be seen as not loving this 

sweet munchkin.

Because we don't want all of our hard work to be pointless.

I mean WE filled out all that paperwork, fundraised,
and flew to bring our child home.

We should be ecstatic! 

And we aren't.

And we are left wondering why this isn't
working out like we thought.

Or perhaps you have had people telling you
from the beginning of your adoption
that this is a bad idea.

You most definitely do not want to prove them right,

right?

As long as you are worrying about
what other people are thinking,

 you are NEVER going to have the right perspective.

This isn't about what they think,
it's about God and the way he choose to work in our lives.

"“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways,” 
declares the Lord.
 “As the heavens are higher than the earth, 
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts."

Isaiah 55: 8-9

God has plans.

Plans for your sweet child.

Plans for you.

And in the midst of all of these difficult, unexpected

plans, He is doing a work in YOU.

Changing YOU, molding YOU,

whispering to YOU, loving YOU....

in the most difficult, unexpected, lonely,

uncomfortable, disappointing moments of your dreams and plans.

YOU are being changed and you are learning

to love your child like Christ loves you already.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  

 Love that is not dependent on how well you love back

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For any momma's out there feeling like they are doing 

something wrong, you are most definitely not.

It takes time to fall in love with your new child 

(at least for a lot of families it does)

and one day you will. 

And remember, your child is a gift, even if  they don't come packaged just how you expected.

Even if they are this adorable.......IT. IS. HARD.  BUT....oh how God is changing us:) Praise His Holy name!

Knock Knock...

Whose there?
Orange.
Orange who?
Orange you glad you didn't have to come up with 2 orange outfits for your girls today!!! 

Our wardrobe is sadly lacking in the color orange.......as seen in the next series of pictures!  You have to use your imagination, and KNOW the theme, to be able to guess what the color of the day is! 

 Smile Iley!

 Like this mom?

 Here....let me show you how it's done.

 Iley carries her book bag out every morning......and doesn't get to go.  When will she get it???

 This was actually before school.....they were looking at their picture albums from China.  I have NO idea why they were out in the utility room???   Dontcha love the football cleats and the princess shoes:)

Yellow Day

Today was Yellow Day at preschool.....we are some what yellow wardrobe challenged! This is all the yellow I could come up with.  I love their cute little brown legs!:)  But I DO wish they would dress those poor dolls!

 Wren is ready for her teacher to pick her up....Iley is always ready too...and then has to wait:(

Kyndahl comes home and shows the boys her new tennis shoes for work.....Sherman says "you bought those? I thought you said Harrisons are tacky?"

Harrison says he needs new jeans cause his legs are too white to wear shorts.  He says it looks dumb to have white legs in shorts.
Sherman says who cares?!  Just wear what you want.
Harrison says..yeah but you don't care what you look like, you just put on clothes and hope they fit!

Snack time....thanks for the fruit snacks Aunt Gwen......I had to divide them four ways.....everyone wanted some!

The driver........

 

The passenger........and the nearly blind...and deaf....truck driver!

 She is normally a pretty good driver but the eye patch was throwing her off big time!  Look at Iley's face!LOL! Sherman said Wren was all over the place with her driving.

 Iley looks a bit worried.....she finally signed "finished!" Ha Ha.

 The next time they came by, they looked like this!

 The truck!!!!  SAVE the TRUCK!!!

 .....the poor truck!!!  I think the weight limit has been exceeded!!!