random family fun

can you guess who?

and can you guess what {Aidan made}?

pretty as a picture

{from Viktoriya's last visit mid-march}

boy's camping {bed}room

I loved the boys room when it was finally "done", 3 years after we moved in! I took pics thankfully because Chad has since added a tortoise cage and two geckos in a tank and it's not so cute anymore. But the boys love it, it's functional and that's what matters, right??? {that's Tennyson's crate under the captains bed}

Random Picture Challenge

Hope at nearly 1 year. Precious girl.

APRIL 2008

or 13th folder

42nd picture

join in here!

{Mini-} Farm Life Fun

So much fun.

Don't get mad Chad. They didn't ruin the bushes!

I like how this video shows Hope and Halle's personalities.

Hope chases the bunny trying to "ole you" {hold you} and Halle wants me to hold her because she's afraid of "King Chubby"!

Ethan shows he's in charge of the animals.
Well, second in charge anyway.

Look who has grown!

at nearly 2...
oh so very attached to mama
halle will not be left anywhere w/o tears &
20 mins of mama playing first
our girls show such empathy, tenderness
opinions galore, regarding everything ;o)
favorite foods are ALL berries, yogurt, broccoli,
chicken, rice, & tea w/honey
size 5 shoes now for hope, 6 for halle,
both in 2t, beginning to potty train
know how to count to 3, love to help me clean,
pick up after their brothers
halle says "owwwfff" when hurt,
hope's fave word "ny ny" for blanket
point to the pink rocker/glider and say "wok"
before I lay them down at night
hope still rocks out when any music is played,
both love worship time at church
adore coloring; they'll sit at the table for 20 minutes
several times a day

happy, contented, smart

best friends

A lesson learned {for GOOD this time}...

I don't know what is wrong with me sometimes. How do I, a Believer, keen to the Evil One's schemes, fall right into his hands, his plan to distract? I know how he uses things, materialism and selfishness, commercialism, to take the focus off the Lord, and yet, another holiday has passed with me playing right into it.

Do you ever do something even though you know you shouldn't and even worse, you know deep down you don't really want to!?! Yet you do it anyway? No? Oh. Well, I do that. Too often. And truly I don't know why. I am a sinner. But an aware sinner, one who knows better!

I guess it could be that my childhood left something to be desired , I try to make up for it by making sure my kids have everything, and more. Yet I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that it's not going matter. They don't need it, what's worse, it's BAD for them. Still, off to Target I go, joining the masses, scooping up the .99 Easter baskets, the soft stuffed chicks and bunnies. I buy plastic eggs, fill them with candy. I stay up late filling them to hide the next day.

Then Sunday morning do I rise early to spend time with my Savior, thanking Him in quietness of heart before the days activities begin? No, and I don't sleep in either, I get up and perfectly arrange 6 Easter baskets, making pretty tags with ribbon and stickers. All for what? To show my kids what matters.

Yes, we do focus on the true meaning of Easter. We ask our children, "What is Easter really about kids?" "Is it important whether or not we wake to Easter baskets or not?" Yet, here they are...And I was so excited to see their faces when they found the little things I'd bought them. I know that it's fluff and that they would fight over the toys later (and they DID!) and I know that they would have sugar highs and later plummet (and they DID!) and saddest of all I know that we would be wasting time focusing on what the world focuses on instead of what matters.

Of couse we prayed and thanked God for allowing Jesus to come to earth and die for our sins. We praised Him for raising Jesus from the dead 3 days later. They did appreciate their gifts and especially loved their wooden crosses to paint. We spoke of why Jesus is not on the cross.

But we still had boys focusing on their new legos throughout the day; and fighting about whether they would get more of their candy now or after dinner. At Charity's mom's house, the selfishness continued and it was torture to stop playing with toys long enough to let me take a picture. My heart was very heavy.

You know what's {almost} funny? Chad, the wise-one, told me so sweetly "Do they really need baskets this year?" "But it's Annah's first Easter with us. And it's just good fun isn't it?" "But do we need to spend the money filling them with so much?" "Yes, honey, I know I go overboard. I'm working on it, I promise." "Okay." I stink. {A side note, a friend once told me, after my boys were mis-behaving and going overboard with decorating my backside with hearts and glue, "It's hard to see our our shortcomings in our kids isn't it?" Yes, it is. And I'm ready to do something about it!}

I really have learned my lesson this time. I am done with spoiling my kids to make them happy and ending up with selfishness instead. Wasted money, wasted time. It's not going to happen again. Check in next year, you'll see!

Just a quick update....

On Monday April 6th, Hope & Halle's adoption was FINALIZED!!! Praise God!!!

It was a really neat experience. We had a great lawyer, really cool judge, and so much support from family\friends.

Pics to come :)

Here are the pictures as promised...

Reptiles....

We took in a new reptile the other day. A person was giving away a Russian Tortoise to the first person who could prove they knew how to care for one properly and would provide a good home. I've owned box turtles and water turtles in the past, but never a tortoise. But I've always liked them. A little googling and I figured out the care requirements pretty quick. Proper heat, UVB lighting, diet, enclosure, etc. The nice thing about them is that they LOVE dandilions. And I happen to have PLENTY of those annoying weeds... :) They are actually very healthy for them, and they cost me nothing to feed. And I already had the plastic tub and other supplies.

Anyway, meet Timmy, the Russian Tortoise:

The boys enjoy these non-standard pets. They come very handy when homeschooling, too. We get to teach them many lessons related to them: where are they from? What is it like there? Can we find that on the map? What is their life cycle like? How do you care for them and why do they need the things I give them? Why is specific food good or bad for them? Why do they need UVB and what is it? They really help to make learning fun. And it also gives them a chance to start taking on responsiblity with our pets. Daily care and maintance, chores, etc. All good things for kids.
Here are a couple other pets of ours. These are Water Dragons:

Adoption update

I'm doing a terrible job of keeping this blog going while Becca takes a break...

Well, the adoption will be FINAL next Monday. Less than a week away!! We will take pics of course :)

We'll have friends\family join us and all the kids will be there. We'll sign the papers, have names officially changed over, and then breath a big sigh of relief. We are sooo thankful for these sweet little blessings in our lives!

The girls are growing so fast too. Talking and running around. Being silly. The other day I came in the house after getting home from work and I had Hope sprint to me yelling "DADDEEEEEEE!!!" and running right into my arms as I bent down to hug her. Then right behind her was Halle "DADAAAAAAAA", running and squealing with glee. The Ryalnd, Ethan, and Aidan - all calling out to me and piling up for a big welcome home hug! Usually I get one or 2 at time, but it was great to have them all at once :)

Our mini-farm progress!

So now we have 5 rabbits that will be bred. These are our 'pets'. Their offspring will not be so lucky... But that is farm life...

After 'chicken little' died (the stunted runt of the flock), we are down to 13 chicks. We have 3 ducklings and the 2 Pilgrim goslings will arrive at the end of the April. The are a med sized breed that are very docile compared to other goose breeds. But hopefully they will be big enough and fiesty enough to keep the raccoons away this year. I've had it with those raccoons, and the gloves come off this round...

Anyway, the ducks, chickens, and geese will give us plenty of fresh eggs. Soon I'll be able to tell who the roosters are in the bunch. Roosters turn into roasters. Yep, farm life...

Then last week we picked up our little goats. Emily and Ashtyn. They are super cute! We have to bottle feed them. Emily was a week old and Ashytn was 4 days old when we got them. Ashtyn had been having some trouble taking the bottle, so we were a little anxious... It is hard to believe that they will be bred this fall and have kids of their own next year, and be milking for us so quickly! We are considering getting an adult milker soon so we don't have to wait a year + for our milk. Raw goat milk is SOOO much better for you than store bought, homogenized, pasturized, commercial grown milk...

The goats love chasing the boys around the yard. They are so fun to watch - playing with each other and the boys. Discoving the ducks and chicks. Tenyson, the big 100+ lb puppy really wants to play with them, but he'd accidently kill one for sure!

We have a section of yard fenced in with chick\rabbit proof fence. We had a blast the other day with chicks, ducks, baby goats, bunnies, and the boys out playing. The boys thought it was so great having a farm\zoo in their own backyard!