Hazards of the Newcomer

Do not open car doors when the car is moving Model Magic is not food Stay clear of swings

Catching fireflies...

Last night I was sitting on the bridge. Little girl was catching fireflies. FarmBoy was fishing. The big kids were swimming and eating watermelon. Seemed like the perfect place for our new kids to be. The blackberries are almost gone. Sure would like to share a bowl full with my waiting trio. Looks like their first fireflies will be next season...Wishing you were here on the bridge, on my lap with the weight of you grinding my ankle bones into thr concrete bridge rather than sitting here with the wait of you grinding into our hearts. If you are ok, then I can be ok. I wont know if you were ok for such a long time...praying for you always...

Carrying Eachothers Burdens

It took me quite a few years to get smart about the little purses ans other trinkets my oldest liked to bring with her on outings. "Can you hold this, mom?"I and then you've.the one ealking around at a party with Betsy-Wets-and-Pees, a silly puttu egg with six pennies in it and a half chewed but very special curly straw. Useless burdens, right? Distractiins. Annoyances. Almost like black flies, really. Pretty soon you really meamn it when you say "Leave Betsy here or carry her yourself. "I a" How about that big plate of food at the party? You were distracted ...talking...and your four year old has two drumsticks, 85 cheese puffs, 6 chocolate cookies and gobs of red jello with fruit cocktail sticking to his fingers, the side of his face and he's coming towards you in your cute white capris. You takethe the plate, right? Cause it's one of those stupid paper plates that you really need ten of, but he only took one cause he listened to that part and he was rying to be really big and get his own stuff. Besides you were talking again. Now he has more than he can handle and you take the plate, right? You wouldn't consider making him carry this teetering pile of goo. You sacrifice your cute white capris. You cut your conversation off. You find a place for him to sit. You stand. You try to get that jello off your pants with a babywipe. See, you're distracted again. Some kids are like this. Some of them carry big messy plates and we would never consider making them carry that plate alone. What if you took the same kid with you to the post office at Christmas time. He's 4coming years old. Your car is full of the bocce sets you are mailing to your nieces and nephews. He hasn't eaten. You're on the phone. You tell him to get out of the van and carry those packages for mommy. You get out, keep talking and roll your eyes that he's walking. So slow. You wouldn't do that!! Maybe he could carry one ball. You'd never expext more. You'd carry the rest. Even if it took several trips. Maybe you'd even ask for help. If you could see that floppy plate. If you could feel the weight of that bocce set, you'd never want him to carry even a tenth of what tou are. But he is. And you've gotten distracted and you've forgotten what it feels like to be a kid with baggage. Dear God, help me to love the jello stains. Help me to not buy those white capris. Help me to always see those burdens.

Now would be...

...a good time for a panic attack...if I had TIME!! Did I mention that we are in the middle of a musical that I am not sure we have advertised enough for ALL the kid while we will be bringing our three beautul new children home...soon...

It's a Boy!...and a Girl!...and another Boy!!!

Can you believe it??? We get to have more kids! Yeah!!!!!

A lamb is in my kitchen...

...because you only live once. And because you only live once, I said "yes" to Farm Boy when he asked if the lamb could sleep in his room tonight! My aunt emailed me at 2am that she had found a lamb on craigslist. I promised her I would not name it after her. Since it won't be Nadine, it sounds like it could be: Oatmeal, Skater or Cardigan. By afternoon we had worked out a trade: lamb for goat and drove out to make the trade. It is a cute little thing. I can hear the kids in the kitchen. They have the food scale out and are measuring and weighing formula for dinner in the lamb's bottle. This evening The Hero and I took a drive in the country and ate an early dinner at a country pub. He talked about his dahlia garden and his plans for some rock work around our place. That and a lamb in our kitchen are music to my ears . That means we are getting back to normal around here! We have weathered the storm and come out to singing! Constantly. I can hear four simultaneous songs and a lamb baaing right now: I'm a Believer (we are all so sad about Jones), Gloria, Theme from Aladdin. And On My Own...

for the past month...

...we have been praying over our adoption situation. We prayed at home and adoration and read books about aligning our will with God's Will. We are changing scenery here...new country, same need! God is holding the compass!!