Walking for Sanity

Sounds like a new cause.......well it could be......one for mothers of children on Spring Break.  No comments from home schoolers please.....I know I'm a wimp! LOL!

Warning!  There are TONS of pictures!  Grmpa and Grma's request.....blame them. 

The girls REALLY love going on these walks!

Glad I had the  camera here and not them!  See Wren laughing....I had just demonstrated how the cows eat out of this trough:)  She was quite amused!

Pretending to be cows going down the shoot.

Wren wore this blanket around her neck the whole time!  I wish she could tell me what it represented to her!

Out in one of the empty pens.   They thought it was so fun to run across this piece of tin, it made a lovely racket.  Wren stepped onto it and stopped and shrieked and signed "hear". 

These guys on the other side of the fence weren't sure what to think of them.

Checking out an empty shelter.....I think they would have moved in.  Look there's even a sky light!  Up town I tell ya.

Wrens pointing at the bin at the end down there.  She wanted to go look in it next.

But we had to stop and watch and listen to the train going past on the way.

I told them to peek out the door......Iley was like "it's too sunny, I can't see"

 

We had to walk through every feed trough available......way too boring to walk around.

  

They both got caught on the barbed wire fence while crawling through.

 

 Through the fence, and headed to the in ground silo.  This is where the boys like to ride dirt bikes.....they can get some "serious air" down here.  I remember the first time I saw the "jumps" they kept talking about.  I hadn't worried before, picturing a little pile of dirt or something.  

They ran up and down and all around this thing!

struggling up the slope......

This part was too steep so they slid down on their backsides.

Throwing a dried cow patty frisbee off the ledge!  Now that is entertainment at it's most sophisticated! It's organic fun!! LOL.

They were so sweet helping each other through the fence:)......mom couldn't hold the fence apart...take their picture....AND help them....so they had to lend a hand.......of course I could have put the camera down...

Next stop....the bales!  We found them:)  not sure how we missed them before??  We started at the other end and jumped our way clear over here.  Mom holding each ones hand....counting...1, 2, 3.....JUMP.  I spent a lot of time doing this when I was young.  They aren't very brave yet, but give em time:)

Walked a dusty path between them.....

.......over to another set of bales.  They did a little better on these, they actually step across a small crack unassisted!

........well sort of crawled/stepped!

 

They spied this truck while on top of the bales and wanted to go there next.

I told them to sit here so I could take their picture......wonder woman posed on her own.

This made me laugh out loud!!  She made this MAD face and signed "mad, or grouchy"........then.....

acted like she was taking a deep calming breath!.............and then..........

.......blew it out! Ha Ha.........I think they've been working on feelings, and coping methods at school!  I think she at least sort of gets the idea!!!

So then Iley tries it............

......but that's too boring for the Drama Queen!.........

.........I'm sure I'd feel better if I just SCREAM instead of exhale!.........and what's a sister for if not to have someone to scream with!  Then they went off into a fit of giggles!

Climbing a dusty pile of silage.......good way to test for allergies!.......they don't have any.

Tonka the mutt...failed?cross between a schnauzer and a brussels griffon(he is one funny looking, good natured pooch)......went sprinting up to the top to check out what was so interesting, found nothing, licked their faces, and charged down again.

They remembered jumping on this the last time, so had to do that again.

Then we followed the cow path out to the pond again.....there is just something so fun about throwing things into bodies of water.

On the way they started collecting shot gun shells again, but their pockets wouldn't hold them all......so we turned the "cape" into a bag.....corners pinned with the safety pin.........and they loaded it up.

The loot spread on the ground ready to throw.

Pardon Wren's britches!  We cannot keep her bottoms up! skirts, shorts, pj's, jeans....they all fall down!  How can you not FEEL the cool breeze???  We are constantly telling her "pull up your skirt/pants"

Wren saw this gully and wanted to explore it.  I said go for it.....then ran around up on top to take pictures from above.

Love this picture of Wren!:)

These were some serious roots!  I don't think I'd want to try to pull the grass out here.

Our super hero climbing up into the light.......

Ready to save the world!

Scanning the horizon for danger........

........off to conquer.

Lending a helping hand like any good hero would........

Heading over to the windmill to see if there is any water in the tank..........Kicking up as much dust as they can on the way.

No water.....but they found a bunch more shot gun shells to pick up.......Antlers??  WISH she could tell me!

We pinned the blanket into a bag again.

Checking out an airplane going over.

 

Back to the pond to throw in the shells.

I MADE IT INTO THE WATER!

Loading up.......

She's gonna lose those britches!  good grief.

So cool.....they float!

Cape back on......scanning the horizon for possible threats..........

Weary travelers headed back to the house for a BATH!

 As I sit here typing this Iley is poking my arm saying   "I want to do walk again"   "mommy, I want to go walk"  "mommy...........ok ok......!! 

 

 

 

Adoption is not for the faint of heart

 Disclaimer!!  I did NOT write this!~  I just read it and loved it!  It is so true, anyone who is considering adoption, read it!  The link to the blog of the author is listed below.

  http://mommymomentsandgodwinks.blogspot.com/2013/03/adoption-is-not-for-faint-of-heart.html

 

Adoption is not for the faint of heart.....

Recently I was contacted by a set of parents who needed new info for their referred child.....they had less than 24 hours to make their decision.  The file was over a year old and they had a couple of photos of her.  She was institutionalized since birth and is currently 26 months old.  Her special need was "autistic features"

These parents were not scared of the autistic diagnosis...they just wanted to see where she was on the spectrum of severity.  However, I heard fear in their questions...  why is her head flat?  Why does she have a red mark around her arm like she was tied?  The other comment...."I have no idea how parents do THIS more than once... Adoption is hard"

I told them... Adoption is not for the faint of heart.

My main point of this e-mail is to say that adoption comes with many unknowns.  The unknown of timing, the unknown of cost, the unknown of what child you will make a part of your family, and the unknown of the extent of special needs your child will have.

I have brought home 8 children from China who were listed as waiting children.  Each time our family stepped forward in faith, we knew the medical file we received may or may not be valid.  We only once had a video of a child and even it was deceiving. There are always holes in the information and  the information you receive is usually very general (like the developmental milestone page)

On his gotcha day, I was given my son, Jonathan, along with an echocardiogram and told...He has a heart defect "Do you still want him" 

 On gotcha day, I met my 11 year old daughter, Piper, and as we left the 2nd floor of the civil affairs building, I was told, "She cannot do steps"  I carried her two flights of steps on my back to just get out of the building. We lived in a split foyer home and in her file "can do steps" was checked.

On gotcha day, my husband met our 6 yr old son, Elijah, and realized he cannot form words correctly and cannot be understood when he speaks.  The box marked "can speak 2-3 word sentences" was checked.

On gotcha day, my son, Joseph, was brought to me barely alive. The child I received photo of was at the BOTTOM of a slide, was pictured standing in the middle of a playground, and was pink.

Joseph was the picture of death-- purple and gasping for each breath.         

I have wondered recently.... why?  This is the age of digital cameras...this is the age of computers.  WHY are these files so empty and WHY are we not getting the full "picture" of our child to be?  Sometimes I think the files are worded and purposely left empty to help the child get a family.  Sometimes I feel the file is filled out by someone who really doesn't know the correct diagnosis but fills in a blank with a guess.  Sometimes I think they are filled out correctly and then the "higher ups" remove needs that could potentially be hidden until the child is being parented.

Adoption is not for the faint of heart. Adoption is a gamble.  Adoption has many unknowns and you have to be willing to accept it.  I don't feel it should be this way but, frankly, we enter into adoption knowing it will happen this way.

When you are adopting think of these few things....

--I will love my child not matter what.  

--I realize there may be many more issues to handle than what is in the file

--I realize these children did nothing to make them the way they are...they were born into an unfortunate situation and given less than they deserved for whatever period of time they were without a family.

--You cannot control many of the unknowns of adoption.

--You can prepare yourself as much as possible by educating yourself about the effects of being in an institution.

--Your child is not cured just because they have had surgery.

--You can prepare yourself by realizing that bringing a child into your family through adoption will be very very hard.  It is not rescuing the child and making everything ok.  It is taking them from everything they know and removing them from what they feel is security and home. It will take along time for them to acclimate to your home, family, and our country.

--Your family may go through come rough times and it affects the other children in the home as well.

-- Your trip to get your child will be exhausting and full of difficult times.  It is not a vacation.

Once you can wrap your brain around all of this... 

Strap your big girl panties on and stand tall....

--- YOU are about to do one of the hardest things in your life with the BIGGEST blessing on the other side. 

--- YOU are about to be the hands and feet of Christ to a child.

---  YOU are about to show others the possibilities of infinite love for a child even if they are not "yours"

---YOU are about to show others in your family, church, and community what unconditional love is.

Loaves and Fishes

Sunday for lunch we had a small crowd.  It's so fun to have all these big kids and to see them enjoying each other.  It was a little like the loaves and fishes dinner though........I had fixed lunch  more or less for our family of 6.......and then had to stretch it for 13!  I prayed for inspiration.....and added beans and crm of chkn. soup to my burrito mixture....made fresh salsa.......and rice krispie treats......and had some left over:)  God is Good:)

Wren has another loose tooth on the bottom that she's been worrying and wiggling for 2 days now.  Every time it gets a little looser, she has to run to the mirror and check it out, and show us......we are all ready for it to just go ahead and fall out!

 Thatcher and Kyndahl

Ash and Ella

Micah and Carrie

 

 Harrison finally says "MOM STOP taking pictures and let them eat!"  I said....they're eating just fine what do you mean?  He says "yeah, but you're making them uncomfortable."  I didn't think they looked too uncomfortable did you?  Sorry, I need blog material......and you are all cute subjects......and that's the price for your dinner:)

 Wren loved watching the popcorn pop!  Every time one would pop she would squeal...then they all started going and she was like AHHHHHH and backed up:)

Okay....these next ones are hot off the press so to speak.  This morning at breakfast Iley wanted her hair tucked behind her ears cause it kept getting in her cereal.  It kept falling out though so I got these head bands for them.  They look okay from the front, but if you saw the back of their hair in the morning...oh my!  It looks like it's got a life of it's own.

 Loving their bubble bath....which is where they still are.....getting prune like while mom blogs.....I've heard several tsunami like sounds.....but I'm frantically typing away......and since I don't see any water coming out from under the door yet........I will deal with it later.

This was their own idea...they think it is so funny and are trying not to laugh and get the bubbles in their mouth.  They look like cute little old China men don't they!

kid stuff

Iley comes up to me with a handful of Kleenex's and wants me to help her blow.  I dutifully hold each side of her nose while she puffs a little moisture out.  I ask her "better?" "ok now?"  she shakes her head and is still snuffing like something is in there.  I ask her if there's something in her nose?  "uh huh"  what's in there?

 "a nackin....upstairs"  I asked her "did you put it in there?"......"uh huh"   Oh boy. I'm envisioning her wrapped like a mummy....screaming....... in the emergency room as a doctor pries it out with forceps..... So I said ok, BLOW REALLY HARD!!  I held the other nostril shut and she huffed and she puffed and she blew out a very slimy ball of ......napkin....just like she said.  WHY do they do it?? WHY?

Wren has an obsession of tying....she ties everything to any thing!  No joke! I find this rope tied  door knob to door knob....cabinet pull to chair, chair to chair.....our house is booby trapped!!  Robbers beware!!  Here are just a few of the ones I snapped in the past week.

 ... nice chunk of multi-colored playdoh stuck on the floor! 

 

 This was from a few weeks ago......there are daily occurrences!!  I just don't always remember to snap them.

 I think if you asked her "why?".....she would answer..."because it was there."

 

The girl's got skill.....maybe she'll be a surgeon some day. 

I went upstairs to find them.....and found this giant mess.  They had emptied the entire contents of 3 toy bins...all over their room.  Wren had raided the closet for hangers to hang up all her dress up dresses.  Two days ago it was the entire top shelf of the book case unloaded onto the floor (no small feat!)....with books in heaps and they were walking on them.  In so many ways they are more like 3 yr olds than 6yrs.  Or do any of your 6 yr. olds still do this??

  

 I thought they had picked up the toys down stairs.....till I looked in the play house!

 This little girl is the same age as my girls but I think she thought she was much older.  She was definitely the ring leader:)  But the girls didn't seem to mind.  She came with my friend Carol who's daughter was babysitting her.  They had so much fun, and were so sad when she had to leave.

 This was hilarious!  She's not that much bigger than Iley!  We watched her get down on her hands and knees, and then try to stand up!  She almost went over with Iley on top of her.....but then the next time she held onto the stroller handles and made it up.  I grabbed my camera and ran out to snap the picture, and save them both!  She said her neck was really starting to hurt, and I don't think Iley felt very safe.  Crazy girls:)

 Iley was all propped up talking to Aunt Gwen on the phone.....feet crossed and chatting away....I don't think Aunt understood much of it, but she felt important.

 She has the cutest little legs and feet!!

 Wren has the prettiest hands....they are very dainty looking.....but boy are they capable of huge messes!!

 They were out here today eating their snack.....not sure what they were doing but they were gesturing to beat the band and Iley was chatting away to her.  They are LOVING this warm weather!  And so is mom!

..... except for the fact that......we had 3 pants wettings today!!?? Not all by the same person...... Good grief....just stop and get the job done instead of dancing around until it's waaaay too late.