A Night To Remember...

A few weeks ago, we had the privilege of attending the Watoto Children's Choir Concert in a nearby city with the Kachs( the Diaz family and Stephen B joined us as well!) If you have the opportunity to go see them, you will be grateful you did. Click here to check out their tour schedule. We had to cancel the week before due to sickness so the kiddos were holding onto hope that we would actually get to attend this week. As it turned out, the concert was held in a small inner city black church which was a great cultural experience in itself!

Two years ago we saw this choir perform (different children but same organization). We went with the Kachs then too and I so remember the ache in our hearts as we went without our African children. When we put the date on the calendar in 2006 we fully expected our children to be home with us but that was not part of the Lord's perfect timing. My heart was so full to be able to enjoy this night with them joining us in 2008. We have been listening and watching the video of the choir for 2 years so Mercy and Odesco were very excited to be going.
The evening was extra special with a meal shared before hand at the Kachs...after the performance we stopped at Mcd's for a snack and then the kiddos began scheming. Before we knew it, Jenkins and Stephen B were sleeping over at our house and Mercy and G were invited to spend the nite' at the Kachs. In the end, G decided to stay home with us and had some special time staying up late with Mommy making pancakes to fill hungry bellies effortlessly the next morning. This was a first for Mercy and I think G regretted her decision to stay back but we were able to have some special 1:1 time baking pumpkin bread on Saturday morning which took the edge off :) Mercy had a ball with J and Felicia and Jenkins and our boys did quite well too.

We hope to make the Watoto outing an annual event (as long as their schedule continues to bring them to our part of the country on a regular basis.)
Enjoy the pictures~
Love,
MamaB

Miss Felicia was preparing a feast as her mom was busy working in the kitchen. Mercy and G, seeing Felicia's love for cooking (and hearing how she carries her box of kitchen stuff to this spot every nite' while mommy cooks) , were thrilled to give Felicia their bin of goodies to add to her supplies! Sigh-they're growing up and no longer play with their toy kitchen.

The boys just love getting together... here they are in a calm moment! Typically they are chasing each other around with weapons or wrestling like bear cubs!

When I called the church hosting the Watoto Children's Choir for directions, I spoke to the women organizing this event and she told me her Liberian friend would be attending. Mercy was thrilled to meet her and her eyes got really big when her new Liberian friend told her she had lived in Monrovia, the city where Mercy was born.
Mercy before the choir performance..the mural behind her is the way I picture life in Liberia. Mercy often talks about toting things on her head - like the woman portrayed behind her~


Felicia, Jenkins and Odesco before the performance. All 3 are wearing the new necklaces purchased for them here. I especially liked the African mural behind them.

These kids were one blur of movement as you can see above...I had to turn off my flash and the pictures are all blurry --but I still wanted to post them. They all had an amazing testimony of God turning their sorrows into joy!

If you have the privilege of seeing this group in concert make sure you bring tissues...

It is definitely overwhelming to see how the Lord has moved upon their hearts ~that in the midst of heartbreak they joyfully declare the mercies of God !

These men are some of the adults who travel with the choir and played one of the songs with the kids...I just love the expression of sheer joy on all of their faces as they perform.

Singing praise to their King!

Sweet kiddos! Definitely a night to remember!!

Merry Christmas!!

Every year I am overwhelmed with emotion to read the prophet's words of a king yet to come*...and then to see how Jesus perfectly fulfills every single one of those prophecies. The birth of Christ is rooted in history...it is not a myth or simply a feel good story...as a Christian, it is my heritage. The birth of Christ is my story of redemption...God sent His son to die for me!
In humility,Jesus left the glory of heaven to be born in a simple stable ... he grew and experienced every temptation yet was perfect and without sin...his sole purpose was fulfilled while he is still a young 30 year old man...he was born to die--to free his people from their sins...Emmanuel, God with us.
Hallelujah, what a Savior!!
*seeMichah 5:2, Isaiah 7:14,9:6,7
Merry CHRISTmas!
Love,
MamaB for all 8 of us

What we've been up to....

It's hard to believe Christmas is only 2 days away. Life has been full in our home as I'm sure it is in most every household. We have slowed down our homeschooling which is always such a great relief for all of us. We have time to bake, make our annual picture ornament, visit with friends, watch silly Christmas videos, read our ample supply of Christmas books, and most importantly, prepare our hearts with advent activities such as the Noel Calendar and for the first time this year, Adorenaments. My wise friend,Kim recommended taking a full break from school during this time before Christmas and this has really been such a gift to us these past 2 years. In previous years I would try to do all of the above AND continue schooling...not a wise idea!! I am finally learning my limitations :)!!
I have loads of pictures to share...Enjoy!
Love,
MamaB for all 8 of us~
PS: My cyber boy was itching to make a few changes to the blog... He added links to my favorite blogs and a little area for you to subscribe so that you will receive a link (for example: through your my yahoo or google page) whenever I write a new post .Oh, the wonders of this technological age :) Just look to the right side of this post~

It was cold outside but the wood burning stove made the room nice and toasty...I thought it was cute how 3 of the 4 boys were snoozing together for a Sunday afternoon nap :)

Another snapshot of grace....I came in one morning from my jog and found these 2 working on this book together in our still dark and quiet house ~

Mimi and Pop Pop came over for Mimi's birthday dinner and in spite of it being 'her' day, she made the day extra special for all the kids. She helped them make and decorate Gingerbread houses...a tradition we have skipped for the past 2 years. Mercy and Odesco were thrilled with this new Christmas tradition and I was brought to a new awareness of how much the others missed it!!

P and C's masterpiece...notice the Phillies "P"?! A definite theme this year as you will see when you scroll down and look at the ornaments some of the boys made!

Hard at work!!!

G's turn...same house, different angle :)

Silly boys!! They do everything with zest and zeal and lots of noise!!

No visit with Pop-Pop is complete without game playing...

... a crossword puzzle!

...or just being a good sport as the younger crowd climb all over him!

For a family nite' we played Journey to Bethlehem...you can read about it here.. In case you're wondering, L is a shepherd ( with the towel on his head)...the socks on the hands were another prompt in this silly family game!

Goofing around...

Just a random picture..I never know who is going to show up at our table for school--this day it was Bibleman....

...a few days later, the Lone Ranger showed up for breakfast!!

One COLD Saturday night, we joined many families from church to go Christmas caroling in nearby neighborhoods. We handed out boxes of candy to those who opened their doors and the residents were then assured we were not looking to invite them to church or receive anything in return...we just wanted to bless them this Christmas season. When we decided it was time to thaw out, we headed back to a central indoor location to meet the other carolers for hot cocoa, homemade cookies, and a few fun Christmas games!

In mid December, L was thrilled to be invited to A's(on the far right) birthday party-- this was one of his buddies from soccer who we have not seen since October. After the party , we set up a playdate and we invited the Kachs to join us since they have known this sweet family for a few years. Between the 3 families we had 16 kiddos....fun, fun, fun!!

Boy power!!

The girls were a little more subdued during their visit!

Mercy made a new friend!

Ornament time...this year I could not find any of the premade oval or square paper mache ornaments with a hole cut out for a picture so we had to get a bit more creative...I just bought plain wood ovals for the boys and hearts for the girls...they all did a great job :) This is one of my favorite Christmas treasures...I love looking at the line of pictures on the tree for each child and seeing how much they have each grown and changed over the years...a bit bittersweet for this sentimental mama. It's fun also to see their personality emerge in their artwork...

Artists at work...

Voila!! As you can see, the Phillies theme was big amongst the boys...except for L who insisted on a Star Wars ornament...like I said, their personalities certainly emerge during this activity!! If you click on the picture you can see them close up :)

A glimpse of our picture laden tree!

Before church on Sunday...Miss Mercy decided to help G blow dry and style her hair...future calling, perhaps?! I always tell Mercy I think she will have a hair salon called "Mercy Me--from Messes to Miracles"--We'll see what the Lord has in store for her :)

G was my baking helper for the day... every year we make Grandmom B's famous pumpkin bread in mini loaves...I lost count but I think we made about 60 loaves over 3 baking sessions.

Celebrating 2 years ...

Let them thank the Lord for His steadfast love, for His wondrous works to the children of men! For He satisfies the longing soul and the hungry soul He fills with good things. Psalm 107:8,9

It's hard to believe 2 years have passed since Mercy and Odesco's homecoming!! With the passage of time, they are continuing to be woven into the fabric of our family. Over the past few days,we have been unpacking the myriad of boxes containing our Christmas treasures. This will be Mercy and Odesco's 3rd Christmas with us...a fact Mercy can't quite wrap her brain around since we are just celebrating the 2 year anniversary of their Homecoming today . She especially is finding great joy as we unwrap ornaments,unpack decorations, and peruse our wide assortment of Christmas story books. She has 2 years of Christmas memories tied to many of the items we are taking out. I am seeing how these traditions are helping her to sink her roots deeply into the life of our family.

Mercy asked yesterday if I was excited the night before she and Odesco flew in to JFK airport. She has heard the stories of how Luke slept in a box with blanket and pillow on the family room floor (the box to Odesco's car seat!), and how the other kids slept on the couch the night before their homecoming because they were so excited to meet their new Liberian siblings. I truthfully assured her that, yes, it was just as exciting as our time in the hospital awaiting the birth of her 4 siblings. This morning she asked to watch the video of her and Odesco's homecoming. They thoroughly enjoy seeing the video of us anxiously awaiting their arrival and then of course the big moment when we saw them for the very first time. We continued watching the footage of their first week home. After the video was over, Mercy then began to lament the fact that she no longer remembered a few of the songs she had sung on tape that she had learned at the orphanage. I called her over to me and asked if that made her sad...then I asked her if anything else was making her sad and the floodgates opened as she climbed into my lap for a good cry over missing her Liberian Ma. G came over to offer support and patted her back~ and as quickly as this emotion erupted, it was gone again with Mercy asking," Where does the salt from my tears come from?"

This is the sad and unavoidable side of adoption... while our adopted children have been removed from a life of poverty, disease, and hunger, they( primarily Mercy so far) understandably mourn and grieve over what(and of course, who) was left behind. I am grateful that Mercy especially is beginning to appropriately express her sadness. A few weeks ago we had another breakthrough similar in nature to what I described above...another step in healing and another step in her adjustment to life here.
I often use the illustration of a sunflower (her favorite flower) with Mercy. I tell her the Lord scooped her out of the soil of Liberia and planted her here in America. In order for her to grow strong, she needs to allow her roots to grow deeply by receiving the love of her family and friends, by responding to biblical instruction, and by believing that this is part of God's wise and perfect plan for her life. During her first summer here, Mercy planted a sunflower seed...we were so excited to see it growing when a summer storm blew in one afternoon and pummeled that poor sunflower until it was horizontal on the ground. The shallow roots had been ripped right out of the soil. Mercy was so sad that day about her flower and so was I, as it represented another loss for her. That pathetic flower has provided a vivid illustration to Mercy of what will happen if she does not allow her roots to grow deeply where the Lord in His goodness has now planted her.

This morning to celebrate their homecoming, I gave Mercy and Odesco African ornaments to hang on the tree. Seeing them delight in the traditions surrounding Christmas has helped me to recognize that these indeed help to anchor their roots into their life here. Listening to Mercy express her fond memories of the past 2 Christmas seasons (thankfully none of them had to do with gifts but with things we do around this special time of year) makes my mommy heart glad knowing that she is feeling like a 'belonger' and identifying more and more with being an integral member of our family. These 2 years have been intense with transition and at times a bit tumultuous but I stand amazed at all the Lord has done in such a brief time. He is indeed at work and it is good for me to stand back and consider the great things He has done-To God be the glory!!!

~Thanking Him today for adding these 2 precious children to our family and for granting us abundant grace in the midst of it all !!
Love,MamaB

Mercy and Odesco celebrating Homecoming Day 2008!!

A close up of their African ornaments...the material on these is quite similar to the pattern on their Liberian outfits that they have both since outgrown!

Although we did not get out for Liberian food today, they did get to eat Thanksgiving leftovers and boy were they pleased to get 'the bone'!! No meat goes to waste with these 2!

Last night we took the kids to see a local (tacky!!) Christmas display...Odesco declared,"That was the boringest place I've ever been!" He certainly brightened up when we pulled out the McD's coupons from Mrs. Di---Thanks, Mrs. Di--you saved the evening!!

Hands on History

I am very behind in blogging events...life has been a whirlwind! Homeschooling this year has been a bit of a challenge to keep up with -hence the lag in blog posts! On November 8th, we held a Civil War Day for the homeschoolers in our church and a few other families from area support groups joined us as well. It was a memorable day! Even in the midst of the rain, the Lord was so kind to send mild temperatures ....in spite of the unfavorable weather, the kids had a blast. L has not stopped talking about it and laments the fact that we will not be studying the Civil War again for several years . He and Odesco saved their birthday money and purchased new Civil War guns for the big event. L has been toting his around ever since! It was great fun making another memory with our children and other families...Enjoy the pictures!
MamaB
P.S. For those interested, visit www.historicalhappenings.com for more information about hosting an event like this :)

The Matson family, from Historical Happenings, on Friday after 'setting up shop' in the barn on the property we were using.

Mrs. McG with G...she graciously allowed us to use her property for the day's events :) Here she is protecting G's eardrums from the boys and their newly purchased cap guns! This was taken Friday after setting up.

CIVIL WAR DAY: Mercy, G, Odesco, L and P with some of our friends. C was off in the woods!
Once again, Mimi came to the rescue and helped with the costumes :)

The S family joined us from their new home, out of state--it was great to have them with us...here Natalie is wearing a dress she designed and sewed herself! Impressive :)!! She decided to be a Southern Belle~

The Confederate and Union forces are receiving instruction from Isaac...he works with his parents in their family owned company "Historical Happenings" to put on these day long events. They traveled all the way from Mass. to hold this event!

These boys were serious soldiers!

Odesco in a contemplative moment~

Union soldier Daddy during target practice...don't worry, these are just 'official' cap guns!

P practicing before the rains hit...

L enjoyed the grub...corn bread and baked beans cooked over an open fire~

Earlier in the day, the soldiers also received a ration of hard tack and beef jerky!

My handsome hubby waiting his turn in the grub line~

G, Odesco, C

A very wet and cold G !!

Mercy keeping warm and dry in a poncho made by Mimi~

Mrs. Matson from Historical Happenings, giving the 'nurses' their instruction prior to the first battle~

The Union forces engaged in battle! Can you find L,C, and Odesco??

Here the Union forces (with P in the lead carrying the flag) march 'in formation' to meet the Confederates after the day of battles. Each individual battle was scored (based on a number of critereia including the # of soldiers 'wounded' and 'killed', trivia questions answered correctly in the medic tent, and dramatic performances by the soldiers and nurses) After this, the winning team was announced...

The Confederates won... not true to history but still a memorable day filled with learning!! The Union then lay their arms down and presented their flag to the Confederate Captain.

The whole gang of participants!

This is one tired soldier!! After arriving home, we all changed out of our wet and muddy clothes. The kids were exhausted...L fell asleep on the couch and the girls tried to get him upstairs...this is as far as he made it--he slept on these steps for over an hour before Daddy scooped him up to bed!

Sleep, soundly little soldier!!