All 8 of Us

Catching up,really...

2011-12-26T17:48:00.036-08:00

How can I possibly catch up on the past 6 months or so of our full and busy life?? I admit that I have succumbed to posting pictures on Facebook(I know Aunt Sharon, shame on me!) and because I keep in touch with many via that venue, I have neglected this blog which had become a chronicle of God's faithfulness to us over the years. Now that we have celebrated Christmas and I have a bit of 'down time' from homeschooling, I am feeling motivated to play catch up through pictures....we were just looking at old photos today and commenting about how quickly the kids are growing up...it is bittersweet to see them transforming before our eyes and I am suddenly compelled to get this post done!

I have searched my computer and sadly can not find any pictures from P,C, and L's May birthdays :( P turned 16 and prior to our trip out west, he had his official 6 hours of driving instruction. He now has his permit and has been driving both our vehicles for practice...it is indeed strange to be sitting in the passenger seat!! Another reminder of how quickly they grow up!

I can't believe I never posted a picture last spring of Odesco and L enjoying their 1st season of Little League!! It was fun watching these 2 work together 'for the team'!

Before our big trip out West, Aunt Sharon and Uncle Bill joined us for dinner and baseball...in prior years they came to watch big brother,C play ball...now it's the little guys' turn :)
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In early August we sadly said goodbye to my Aunt Margie...she will forever be in our hearts. What a comfort it is to be able to grieve with hope,knowing her suffering is now over.Because she placed her faith in Jesus, we know she will spend eternity in heaven with Him and as Believers, we also have the blessed hope and promise of seeing her again...

Mimi,Pop-Pop, me, and the 4 youngest kiddos made the trek to Massachusetts for the funeral. We had sweet times with cousins...It was Mercy and Odesco's first time meeting Emma and Grace~

My brother and cousin also had some time together after many years( 17 years or so) of not seeing one another.

It was wonderful to reconnect with my 1st cousins too... We hope to have a reunion with our spouses and all our children on the East Coast in the near future...
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My sweet friend, Kari has been a huge blessing to our family helping me take care of Mercy and Odesco's unique hair needs... on this day, she gave Odesco some team spirit as she crafted a Phillies P in his hair!! It was the only way I could get him to agree to a haircut!!

Thanks, Kari :)
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Later in the month, while the older boys and Daddy were away at youth camp, the younger crew and I took a trip to Mimi and Pop-Pop's where we had loads of fun~

We love their new place and the scenic walks we can take there...

It is so peaceful and beautiful...

And there's nothing like special time with such special people!
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In September, Odesco celebrated his 8th birthday...we finally made it to Mimi's in October ... and after enjoying this homemade Phillies creation, we headed outside.

The fall foliage was just beginning to peak so we took a walk to enjoy God's colorful palette~

...Unfortunately, 'someone' managed to wind up in the mud...too bad we didn't bring any spare clothes...thankfully Mimi's shower, washing machine, and some spare adult sized clean clothes were readily available while we waited for 'someone's' clothes to dry!! This same 'someone' had previously declared,"Wherever I go, trouble is sure to find me!"...this curiously sounds like a classic line from 'someones' favorite series, "Anne of Green Gables"...
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Fall Saturdays at home were spent raking leaves galore...here the kids and our neighbor friend created a 'leaf fort' which stayed intact until it was raked to the curb for removal by the township.

L neck deep in his 'thinking spot' :)

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Our sweet and spicy girl turned 10 on November 9th...Daddy gave her sunflowers...her favorite! We had both sets of grandparents over for a celebration:) How loved she is!!

I will end this post here. As always, I am so very grateful for the loving kindness and sustaining grace of the Lord. He has been so good!

Where have we been???

2011-07-01T10:56:00.002-07:00

I know I have been quite delinquent with blog posts...again!! We actually just returned from a whirlwind tour out west. We went with our dear friends, the K's (who adopted from AOH at the same time as us) . We were gone for nearly 3 weeks and had quite an adventure.The picture below was taken at Yellowstone and yes, it was snowing in June!!! To quote mamaK," Nothing like 3 weeks of camping to make coming home seem like a vacation!" I would add that it will seem like a vacation once the mountain of laundry and clean up is completed :) Cyberboy set up a separate blog for our trip and if you would like the link to it, please leave me your email in the comments section and I will send it to you.

It is so good to be home but I am so grateful for the many wonders of God's creation that we were privileged to experience!

G is 11!!

2011-05-25T21:08:00.007-07:00

I can hardly believe that our little girl is 11?!!! I still remember the raw emotion of hearing the doctor say,"It's a girl" and the utter joy to be experiencing pink bows and lace in the midst of our Tonka trucks and mud!! G is becoming a young lady and I feel so blessed to be her mom. We hosted a "Minute to Win It" themed party for G---what a blast it was! Mimi also hosted a gathering at her home and Grandmom and Pop-Pop B joined us...what a fun day we had together. So thankful to be a mom to this brood :)

G with her 2 sets of godly grandparents...how blessed we are!

Mimi and G with her piano cake creation~

G had such fun picking out party favors, and Mimi surprised her with handmade 'snap purses' for each of the girls

Dizzy Mummy game~The girls had to wrap themselves in a roll of toilet paper without ripping it...harder than it sounds!

"Face the Cookie" This game is a hoot...the girls have to get the cookie to their mouth without use of any other body parts...they have to move their heads and facial muscles to get the cookie into their mouth...some girls got close but no one was quite able to do it ...the best part? eating the cookie of course!

"Junk in the trunk"--the girls had to bounce 8 ping pong balls out of the tissue box attached to their waist.

"Hanky Panky" Each girl had to empty a tissue box as fast as they could with one hand...the dust was amazing especially when after the boxes were emptied, they tossed the mess of tissues into the air!

It killed me to waste all these tissues so I saved them in a trash bag and have been shoving handfuls of mangled tissues in our tissue boxes around the house for over a month now with no end in sight! My wise hubby told me to put the bag in the garage...he'll use them for clean up with oil changes. We are all relieved to have neat tissue boxes again :)

It was a fun night...I'm so grateful G is growing up with so many sweet friends!

Just after this picture was taken, the majority of the girls piled into our huge van and I taxied them all home...believe me the party continued until the last girl was dropped home!

Celebrating Daddy's birthday

2011-05-24T17:20:00.009-07:00

In March we celebrated my hubby's birthday with a visit from Grandmom and Pop-Pop B. I am so grateful for my husband's diligent example in our home, for how faithfully provides for us, and for his commitment to raising our children in godliness. I am a blessed woman!

Everyone got in on the preparations...peeling 10# of potatoes...to go along with the meatloaf I prepared and froze earlier in the month....the meatloaf that I thought was fully defrosted but took hours to cook all the way through! Thankfully, I have understanding inlaws who don't judge me by my cooking blunders ...it tasted great-finally!

The floor and cabinets were covered in potato peels but these guys were a huge help in getting the job done!!

Pop Pop has taught Odesco how to play a mean game of checkers.... they always have a match during their visits and Pop-Pop usually wins:)

Mercy had the grand idea to get Daddy a new shredder-yeah, I know, sort of like getting a vacuum as an anniversary gift BUT, my hubby truly appreciates these kinds of gifts...we use shredded paper to start our wood burning stove and our old one bit the dust. She was so proud of her practical and useful gift idea!

Mercy and Odesco in their glory... singing "The Red River Valley" as G accompanied on the piano...

Even Pop-Pop got into the song...it was hysterical listening to them all!

Let's just say, they (Mercy and Odesco) could use a little practice--Daddy and Pop-Pop sounded pretty good! :) P and C seriously wear these headphones throughout the day in order to get their schoolwork done in peace (well, maybe not peace but at least the decibel level is dimmed a bit! )

The gang :)

Catching up...

2011-05-24T16:45:00.008-07:00

We have been changing things around on our computer and until yesterday, I was unable to access any of my photos. Since this is a family archive that I hope to print out for everyone one day (in my spare time :), I need to play catch up and post a ton of happenings. These are a conglomeration of pictures taken at various times...

PEACE :)
We were studying the 60's movement and I convinced some of the kiddos to dress up for a coop I was teaching to the older students. Mercy certainly looked authentic, don't you think? They came into the class handing out flowers and peace necklaces ...

G actually made this skirt with Mimi...cool, huh?

Mod Squad flashbacks?

Odesco sure looks like a cool dude...but he bailed on me at the last minute and did not dress up for the class~ I can't blame him...there were other kids there playing ball outside!

Then there was the bin of costumes loaned to us for our annual Summation event...can you guess who Scooby Doo is??

These 2 were hysterical in these costumes!

The theme for this year's Summation/youth-parent banquet was Disney...
C is surely secure in his manliness and came as Piglet!!

Hundred Acre Wood Buddies....Mimi rescued us once again with costume help after we hit the thriftstores!

My handsome man in the mirror!

Mimi created my costume as well!

Totally unplanned, my old college buddy showed up as the evil witch!
I was awed at the creativity displayed at this event...the decorations, the themed food, the creative skits and the costumes were just amazing!!

Thanks for checking in on this very delinquent blogger!!!

Love,
Mama B

And God is Able...

2011-03-31T19:49:00.002-07:00

The other morning when I went for my morning run I was on my porch stretching and inwardly lamenting that winter had returned after a few 'teaser' days. It was freezing again. My thoughts were interrupted by the beautiful trills of a songbird accompanied by the background chirping and peeps of many other feathered friends. I was thinking,"Don't these birds realize spring is gone?...it's winter again!" As I ran, I felt the Lord instructing my heart. There was a lesson in this for me. Surely those birds could feel the frigid temperature yet they continued to sing on.

It made me think: how often am I more affected by the 'climate' around me than trusting in the promises of God? In a given day, there always seem to be someone who is 'off'(often it is my heart that needs major adjusting!) Sometimes two are off simultaneously...a few minutes later, it could be a different combination altogether...add into this homeschool lessons, chores, meal prep, doctors appointments, choosing curriculum for next year, and my heart can be so tempted to unbelief, anger, discouragement, and weariness. Yet this is what rang out in my mind as I continued to think on this even today...Lord what is it you are trying to say?
And God is able...
He reminded me of one of my favorite 'medicine for the soul verses'
1 Corinthians 9:8
And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.

So He has promised that He is able to make His grace abound in me...I have all I need to do the job He has called me to. What a comfort!

Oh, how I long to be more like that songbird singing forth praise when the climate around me is less than spring like. When I am tempted to be discouraged by character issues in my heart or in one of our children or when I am tempted to fret due to an unending 'to do' list... let me sing on knowing that God is able.

Fifth and Final Florida Post....the trek home:)

2011-03-16T13:07:00.018-07:00

The trek home was actually another adventure. Mimi and Pop-Pop purchased auto-train tickets for the kids' birthday and Christmas gifts this year. It was so nice knowing at the end of our Florida trip we did not have to endure another 19 hour car ride through the night :) We arrived early at the loading station in Sanford, Florida so we headed to the local mall for a meal in the food court. That in itself was an event as we rarely eat out and here each person could choose whatever meal suited their fancy! Then we headed over to the station to line up for check in on the train. Once checked in, we waited in the station (which is under construction) and then boarded the train. We all settled in to our seats and were blessed to be in an almost empty car so we were able to each take up 2 seats if we wanted to stretch out. We had dinner and breakfast on the train....there's even a snack car with tables for playing games, reading etc. The kids thought it was such fun to be able to move around the train while we were traveling across the country. They thought the bathroom was pretty cool too! We slept in our seats...and arrived in Maryland on Sunday morning. We were amazed at how quickly they unloaded the vehicles- it was a huge train with 2 decks of cars, vans, and motorcycles...I can't find the pictures I took of that:( It was a great way to end a great trip!!

Waiting in the make shift station for boarding time....

The kiddos and the Amtrak mascot~

All Aboard....we can never 'travel light'

Hanging out in the snack car before the train left the station...we were trying to check emails to no avail...and I could hardly believe they were eating again!!!

G settling in for the long trip home....

The boys kill some time catching a movie on Mimi's personal DVD player...

C chilling with Pop-Pop

Dinner in the Dining Car...

Breakfast...doesn't look like Odesco woke up yet!

To put the van on the train we had to remove the soft luggage carrier... Daddy was having a challenging time getting everything to fit again!

So grateful for God's kindness in allowing us to take this trip!!!

Florida: Part 4-Downtown Disney-

2011-03-04T16:29:00.000-08:00

We spent a few hours in "Downtown Disney"... a fun place to people watch and window shop. This was one of the highlights for L and Odesco because it is home to the Lego Store...what fun they had there. Before we left for vacation, a very thoughtful friend brought an envelope over for each of the kiddos with $10 of spending money. I was so touched by her generosity and thoughtfulness! The girls and older boys each chose a shirt or hat as a memento but our little guys spent their money in the Lego store...so many choices...they were almost paralyzed with indecision but finally made their purchases!

We spent quite a bit of time watching this "Red Man" and the crowd he drew. Believe it or not, this is not a statue but a living ,breathing man. It is a riot to watch him because unsuspecting tourists stand next to him for a picture and all of a sudden he very quietly moves. The responses were a hoot to watch. The wild thing is it does not even look as if his eyes are open, yet he is watching the people who come close to him~I can not imagine how he does this for hours on end in the heat and barely moving a muscle...very intriguing!

Mercy is bold but keeping her distance, just in case :)

Later in the evening, P got brave and moved close to him for this pose...watch what Mr. Red Man did....

He changed P's hand position!

The others were keeping their distance!

This is just outside the Lego store....L was so impressed and could not believe it was made entirely of Legos~

Inside the Lego store...so much to see! Even a Lego Woody!!

There is an entire wall of little Lego figures...and this cool magnifier that moves in all directions to help you see the details...

Yep, this is now the header of my blog...this picture 'just happened' as we all had fun trying on the various hats. L is not mad ...he is imitating Donald Duck on his hat!

A fun end to a fun evening!!

Thanks for stopping by :)

Florida part 3...An eventful day at the beach..

2011-02-13T16:47:00.000-08:00

We decided it would be fun to swim in the Gulf of Mexico so we packed up picnic lunches and headed out for the 2 hour trip. Thankfully, the Lord prompted us to bring 2 vehicles. We decided at the last minute not to all cram into the 'bus' but to take Mimi and Pop-Pop's van as well. You'll see after reading below why this was such a blessing!

The girls were not happy to read this sign in the bathroom before we headed to the beach!! They had already read the sign about rattlesnakes on the way in to the park!! I have to admit, I was a bit apprehensive in the water too~

Mimi and Pop-Pop-what fun we have with them :)!!

Me and my man!!

The boys were convinced that they discovered rocks with remnants of the oil spill on them!

What a handsome crew :)!! I can't believe how much these boys have grown up!

Daddy with our 'yummy little boys'!!

You can't tell from this picture but there was a sandbar out pretty far which made the water really shallow once you swam out to it. The route out to it though was extremely rocky so we had to scoot on our bottoms until it was deep enough to swim...it was pretty funny to watch everyone negotiate ! The younger crew pretty much kept a monkey grip on one of us due to the sting ray poster!!

Another shot of the sandbar...you can see how far out it was~

All 8 of us after a swim in the Gulf of Mexico~

All 6 kids had fun making a very cool message out of tiny rocks/shells. I could not get a picture to capture it all ...this was just a small part of it~

All 10 of us :)

Capturing the moment :) Too bad the sun was in our eyes!

After our day at the beach,my mom and I had the girls in her van and we were following my hubby and the rest of the gang in the big van. A few times he pulled off the highway only to pull right back on. At the next exit, he put his flashers on and coasted to a gas station that just happened to be at the end of the ramp. The battery died so my Mom pulled her van up alongside, we jumped it and were on our way again...

This time alongside the highway where my mom was able to pull up on the grass next to our van and M once again jumped the battery. We made it one more exit where M lost all power including the steering...he was able to pull right into a parking spot in this truck stop.

A tired but thankful duo finally eating dinner at 9:30pm!

How grateful I was that I was not driving, that the Lord had us break down all 3 times in safe spots and the final time in a truck stop where we were out of harm's way. Also, we were on our way home and closer to our timeshare. Thankfully, we have friends in the area so we called them to get the name of a reputable garage to have the van towed to which is always a help to make sure you are not taken advantage of when you are out of town! We called AAA and our van was towed away. My hubby and Doyle rode with the very fast tow truck driver who we learned was quite the character!... 45 minutes or so later we arrived at the garage where we left the van. Then all 10 of us squished into Mom and Doyle's 8 seater for the 45 min trip back to our timeshare. Had we not brought their van, we would have been stranded! The van's alternator went causing the battery to fail. It was fixed by the next morning when M and I went to retrieve it. How thankful we are for the Lord's faithful provision for us...this could have happened in the middle of the night on our drive to Florida , I could have been driving when the steering and power went out, we could have all been squished into one van and stranded. The list could go on and on...suffice it to say: Great is His faithfulness!!

Florida: Part 2-Our Day in the Magic Kingdom...

2011-02-01T11:21:00.001-08:00

We started out early to beat the crowds and managed to make it to the ticket window before there was a line. We showed them our certificates from the Volunteer program with identification and were issued free tickets for a day in the park :) Friends from home even gave us a free parking voucher....sweet!!!!

Some of the kiddos on the boat ride over to the Magic Kingdom~

Mimi had the great idea to choose buddies...I could not have planned it any better...it just so happened that all the buddies were wearing similar colors...even my hubby and I :)

One of the best things we did was spend $15 to rent this stroller. I was shocked at how lenient the WDW staff is regarding bringing in outside food and drink. We were stocked with waters, juices, and snacks to keep us going for most of the day. It was a HOT day so in spite of our preparation, we still needed to buy drinks and a quick meal later in the day~

So here I am ready to capture a Kodak moment in front of the famous castle and there was this crane in the way!!!! They did move it somehow but we were never in the right place to get another picture~

The 3D show was pretty amazing. It was fun to watch all the kids reaching out to catch the images that seemed to be jumping at them from the screen!

I was glad to see that our older boys did not outgrow the Teacups!

or Pooh!?!

Mimi and Pop-Pop treated the gang to some refreshing ice cream in the middle of the day~

The crowds were dense and it was sweet to see both sets of boys walking with their little brothers this way~

Sweet Surprise!!

After coming out of the Peter Pan Ride, C tells me that he saw our dear family friends, the C's...there they were taking a break sitting in the shade waiting for their friends~I still can't believe that we bumped into them in the midst of all those people-- we had no idea they were in Florida and had not seen them for over a year!!

Tuckered out.... some of the kiddos chose to 'fast pass' another ride while these 2 chose to take a break~

Scary, isn't he??

Scarier???

The castle at night :)

Mimi donning her lovely glow bracelet earrings while waiting for the fireworks to begin :)

I am so grateful the Lord made a way for us to make it to WDW... I truly never thought this would be a possibility due to the expense. Lavished yet again!!!

Our Florida Adventure..Part 1

2011-01-26T18:47:00.001-08:00

I admit I am hopelessly behind on updating my blog and don't know how to catch up...right now the 4 youngest kiddos and I are snowed in at Mimi and Pop-Pop's as this latest Noreaster slams the area. I just heard that we have had 10 storms in 25 days-wow! It seems like a great time to think about the sun and sweaty humid days :) So, I am finally posting pictures from our Florida adventure in September(told you I am pitifully behind!)

We took so many pictures that I'll have several posts from the trip.
It all started as an idea back in January 2010...Mimi learned of Disney's Give a Day, Get a Day and after perusing the website', came up with the idea of helping the kiddos to make blankets for Haiti. The fun part was they(the 3 youngest-G found out by mistake) did not know that a trip to Florida was in the making...

G helped Mimi and I pick out the fabric, the younger 4 made all 8 blankets with Mimi... the older 2 helped with packaging them up for shipping, and Daddy paid for it all :)

Voila! All the blankets ready to be shipped out :)

We finally spilled the beans on a Saturday in August just a few weeks away from when we planned to leave. The morning we planned to tell them, I shopped at Aldi and the Romaine lettuce had Minnie and Mickey on the package! That is the first and only time that has happened and I buy my lettuce there all the time!....perfect timing :) We pulled it out and asked them to guess where we were going! The older kiddos were relieved to finally be able to share the secret!

Getting there is half the fun, right?? C rigged up a curtain knowing the sun would be glaring in the window and affect their movie watching capability...they did not watch much but listened intently to the 39 Clues audio cds...

C at the controls....I think our van looked like it belonged to the Beverly Hillbillies with this curtain set up and all our stuff smooshed in!

After an arduous drive through the night, we arrived on Saturday afternoon at this beautiful single family home. My brother graciously let us exchange his week for this timeshare...what an amazing blessing it was!

We were all so impressed with the creative towel folding that greeted us!

Luxurious, huh??

Our house even had this screened in little pool just out the living room sliding door!

Perfect for swimming in the rain...until the lightening starts!!!!

The 'littles' thought this jacuzzi ( in both master suites) was pretty cool too!

There were several other pools on site' and this huge hot tub too!

This was the sunset on the first night at the main pool. It felt like we were in the Caribbean :)

Another one of the pools...we lasted here about 10 minutes...our kiddos are too old for this now (sniff,sniff!)

The kids sure kept Pop-Pop busy!

...and of course, Mimi too :)

Pop-Pop even shared his lap during nap time!

Plenty of time for game playing~

and more game playing....

And craft making in the main clubhouse...here they are decorating picture frames...

Miniature golf on site' too :)

What a handsome bunch!

Sky writing seen through the screen in our pool room~Not sure who was writing this or why but we sure appreciated it!

As you can see, we were lavished by God during our time away...more pictures to come :)

Four Years!!!

2010-12-04T18:31:00.018-08:00

I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High~
Psalm9:1,2

On December 2nd, we celebrated the 4th anniversary of Mercy and Odesco's homecoming. It is good to slow down and recount all the amazing work of His hands. At times, I can forget how far He has brought us as I am caught up in the issues of the moment. Adoption has stretched us all...in ways we expected and in many ways we did not expect. What a comfort to know that it is all for our good and ultimately His glory. It has not been an easy path, but it has been a path marked by the mercy and goodness of God in the midst of it all. The pictures tell the story best :)

THEN:

This is the first picture we received of Odesco back in the early spring of 2006! I'll never forget how we all were glued to the computer as updates came in:)

Another orphanage picture. Don't his eyes look like they are smiling? This picture makes me laugh because it looks like the nannies dressed him in girl clothes on this day!

One of the first pictures we received of Mercy~With her beautiful smile that lights up a room!

Here she is with a 'red palm oil face'...not in the mood for the camera on this day!

This is the first picture we received of the 2 of them together...looks like Odesco is not too happy to have his arm posed around Mercy :)...I am so grateful that the orphanage sent us all of these pictures as these are now a part of Mercy and Odesco's story...a story of God's faithfulness to bring us together.

Our first picture of our 'smiling eyed boy' with smiling lips!! I'll never forget how we studied this picture and were just overjoyed to finally see him smile. I also remember wistfully looking at Mercy's missing tooth and thinking how much time was passing as we waited and waited for passports and visas...

This picture was taken right before Jenkins, Odesco, Mercy, and "Auntie" Melodie left for the airport to come to America. Felicia was a foster child with Melodie's parents and she would be escorted to the States a few weeks later after all of her paperwork was processed. Their eyes look so sad and frightened in this picture...this is the way I remember them looking when they arrived at JFK...just overwhelmed trying to process it all~

Here they are in the airport during their layover in Brussels. Melodie was quite the trooper traveling over 30 hours with 3 kiddos all alone and taking pictures for us !

This picture amazes me...look how big his pants and sneakers were...within months after coming home, he had grown into them! Mercy and Odesco walked so awkwardly upon their homecoming since they had never worn shoes before! They were typically barefoot in Liberia and ocassionally given the chance to wear 'slippers' (flip flops) if a pair was available~

Mercy still talks about all the food on the flight home...she remembers the boys sleeping while she ate and ate! No wonder she is smiling!!

Our boy with the smiling eyes on his trip home:)

...AND NOW~4 YEARS LATER....

I still can't believe how much Odesco has grown!

And Mercy is becoming a young lady right before our eyes!!!

Together these 2 are quite the pair! The other day they dressed up in each other's clothes and tried to trick me into thinking they were the other person. It was still dark and early so they thought they had a chance. Actually, a while ago when they tried this, they actually fooled me!! All morning they were answering to the other sibling's name...they even switched chores! I drew the line at swapping schoolwork!!! It drove the rest of us a bit bonkers after the first few minutes but they kept at it until lunch!

Each year we try to take an evening to celebrate Mercy and Odesco's homecoming.Last year we had a "Christmas picnic" with loads of finger foods and treats I typically never make...they requested this again! Each year on their anniversary they also receive a new Christmas ornament to add to their collection.

Our Liberian nativity...one of my favorite Christmas decorations :)

The gang at our 'Christmas picnic' in the living room...

Every year we also try to watch the homecoming video and the footage from their first weeks home...Mercy doesn't understand why I cry every time I watch it! To hear their thick accents and watch them interact on video is just priceless~ it also reminds me of the faithfulness of God and how far He has brought them and us as a family. Those early days of transition were so intense and challenging. Yet God's grace met us again and again...it is a well that will never run dry. How grateful I am for abundant, sustaining, amazing grace! And how grateful I am that the Lord in His perfect wisdom and love chose these 2 children from the foundations of the earth to become a part of our family. Thanks for sharing our joy!!

Home Ec 101....

2010-11-02T18:14:00.016-07:00

We have had fun this fall spending some time with our special friends, the E's who are teaching us how to can fruits. The girls have time together in the kitchen while the little boys and their friend I are busy doing 'boy things'....Our first project was making jam~

We learned that with jam precision is key both with the amount of ingredients used and the time you boil the fruit! A good lesson for my girl who loves to cook but isn't so keen on reading the directions completely first!! Thankfully there were no mishaps...Mrs. E was there to keep that from happening :)

We made peach and strawberry jam and it was so delicious!!!

Ready to boil...

Hot, hot jars of jam out of the canner and ready to cool on the counter~

A few weeks later, our next project was applesauce....

My smart shopping friend purchased all these apples for $10!!

How grateful I am for enthusiastic kitchen helpers. The girls spent at least an hour helping to scrub and slice apples...of course they were able to put aside book work so that's always a nice motivator!!

Getting ready for the E's...

Now the fun part...using the food mill to mash the cooked apples~

Thank goodness for eager hands ...

and many workers!!

The boys and the littlest E took a brief turn milling but quickly concluded Legos were more fun!!

Getting them ready for boiling...

Boiled and ready to cool...

A job well done...what a sense of accomplishment to have all of this to show for a few hours of labor!! We will enjoy the fruits of our labor all winter long :)

I am so grateful for friends who I can glean from and make memories with!!

Happy Belated Birthday, Odesco!

2010-10-28T07:20:00.000-07:00

Yes, I am officially 6 weeks behind on posting...now that Mercy's birthday is just days away, I am a bit compelled to get Odesco's birthday post on here...as you can tell, life has been full in the B household. We had our family vacation in September this year and Odesco actually celebrated his birthday in Florida! Pictures forthcoming on another post. Homeschooling is in full swing and we have been busy preparing for our outside coop classes. It's all good and a blessing though...now that some of my outside teaching responsibilities are behind me, I hope to keep up with our family archive here.
It is hard to believe that our youngest son is now 7 years old and a 2nd grader~ We are so grateful to the Lord for adding this little guy to our family almost 4 years ago! Some things I love about our boy:

*He has a very unique sense of humor and keeps us laughing~ He also is quite the dancer...showing his moves when he thinks no one is watching!
*His hidden talent:he can wipe his mouth without a napkin...he has the longest, most agile tongue I have ever seen. Now, this is a 'skill' I try to discourage with the use of a napkin but being practical he wonders,"Why waste a napkin, when I can just lick it off!?"

*He is a deep thinker: One evening he was pondering the workings of heaven and trying to wrap his brain around the details we had read in the book Heaven for Kids. He was worried and concerned and I was so grateful he allowed his Daddy and me into his world to talk about eternity.
* He loves to invent things and is often the culprit behind my empty scotch tape dispenser :) With paper and gobs of tape, this little guy can come up with some pretty ingenious inventions!
I'm so grateful this little man is a part of our family!!

P bought Odesco all these balls...he loves balls and has been known to actually name them...Sadly, he lost 'Jimmy' on the roof at church...you would have thought this was a family member the way his siblings ran to tell me "Jimmy is up on the roof".... my mind raced as I tried to figure out who Jimmy's mom was so we could rescue the little guy...phew, was I relieved when the kids reminded me it was Odesco's favorite ball!!

I try to take out one of the kiddos each week for 1:1 time...thankfully we have lots of coupons from birthday clubs and other venues so we can keep it cost effective. Odesco's turn just happened to be right in time to use his Bob Evans Birthday club coupon...he enjoyed this meal to the last crumb...but he did share his french fries with me because he wanted me to have more than just a cup of coffee :)!!

Odesco really wanted a 'ripstick' for his birthday. It is a fancy skateboard and quite pricey. I looked on Craigs list and found one for $20 but the lady never contacted me. While we were in Florida she finally returned my email and the day we returned home I went and picked it up as a gift from Mimi and Pop-Pop. It is in like new condition and even came with a dvd and a new set of wheels...he has spent many hours in our cul-de- sac perfecting his skills:) How kind of the Lord to provide in this way~

Odesco was very patient in waiting for his birthday dinner since we were in Florida on his special day. He requested meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and potato green soup...he and Mercy were the only ones who ate that up. I love his 'potato green soup' smile~ in many of the pictures we received while the kids were still in Liberia, they would have shiny mouths... after they came home,I finally realized it was the red palm oil from this dish~

Thanks for still checking in in spite of my delinquent posts!

Now to Him who is Able....

2010-09-16T20:14:00.011-07:00

Yesterday we held our first Homeschooler's Day Out in our OWN building!!!! I never did post about our 'Grand Opening Summer' as we are now settling into our new beautiful building which officially opened the beginning of June. It still seems surreal that after 17 years of holding meetings in schools and hotels, we finally have a church home. It was very moving when we recounted the mercies, favor, and grace of God upon our church family through these years. God has met us mightily in hotel ballrooms, school cafeterias, and auditoriums. He moved in our midst regardless of our lack of air conditioning and comfy chairs. Now that we do have this amazing place to call home, we are positioned to reach out in new venues that were not possible previously. It really is an exciting time in the life of Sovereign Grace Church! As I have said so many times, I am so grateful to be planted in such fertile soil. I am overwhelmed with gratitude that our children have the privilege to grow up in such a loving, supportive environment. There's no place I'd rather be than here, where the Lord transplanted us 17 years ago!!

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Ephesians 3:20

Our new building!!

Aren't the rocking chairs so inviting??

The warm and cozy lobby where we hold smaller meetings, youth group and even some HDO classes!

The well equipped nursery :)

G was thrilled to be able to help with this wee one during her free period~

L and Odesco, hard at work in their Hands on History class:)

Mercy showing of her timeline~

If you click on this picture, you can see the full schedule offered to our students... it really amazes me that our little group can offer so much!

Moms hanging out during our lunch break

Four Square is making a comeback!! Our kids play it all the time now in the court in front of our house~

Knitting/crocheting class...I love how our girls are becoming proficient at this skill and using this to bless others with their projects!

Felicia is old enough now to join Knitting Class...Mercy was trying to help her get started!

G with her newly rolled ball of yarn in her favorite color!!

I took this picture in our last class of the day...it's not great quality but it is significant. I am including a quote from my dear friend, KB who sent out a followup email after our first HDO.
"I have to admit, I got a little teary today in the last class of the day. It was our Tapestry of Grace class with the older children and what struck me was that we had more people in that room than we had on our church planting team in 1993! No one on the team back then would have ever imagined a building of our own...with a homeschooling group of our own...with all of the wonderful people God has added through the years. Yes, Lord, You certainly do more than we could ever ask or imagine!!"
I also was undone to consider all that the Lord has done...here I was sitting in a class with my favorite people including my 2 oldest sons...
Yes, He has done more than we could ask or imagine!!

Mimi and Pop-Pop's new place!! Many Hands make light work--

2010-09-14T13:26:00.012-07:00

Friday, the kids and I were thrilled to see Mimi and Pop-Pop after their summer away in Indiana. They sold their house in June and put most of their stuff in storage in preparation for their move to the new place. We were able to help them unload their storage unit into a rental truck and then move the boxes into the garage of their new home. We all loved their new place...because of the open layout, it feels so spacious and inviting...perfect for family gatherings with 28 grandchildren!!! The Lord certainly directed their steps and ordained all of this in His perfect timing...I stand amazed at all the details that had to fall into place for this to happen. The fact that their house sold in this economy is no small miracle in itself! We are all looking forward to making new memories with Mimi and Pop-Pop,cousins, aunts and uncles, in their new place!!!

The unloading of the storage unit went pretty smoothly...

P and C fit everything into the truck and our van with no room to spare!

Quick, shut the doors before anything falls out!!!

Phew...the unit is empty!!! After a 30 minute drive through beautiful back country roads, we arrived....

Front view of their home...as you can see by the lack of landscaping, construction is ongoing but the inside is finished and so beautiful!

The rest of the street is still "hard hat" territory!

Home sweet home...the kids thought the bow(hung there by the Builders) was pretty sweet!

Mimi in her beautiful new kitchen~

Catching up on snuggle time~

After lunch, we emptied out the truck....I was proud of the kiddos who all worked really diligently :)

A job well done!!

In the midst of the boxes, C (aka 'Cyber Boy') unearthed the computer and was able to set it up for them... He was bugged though that he could not solve the wireless connection glitch...it was solved later by a 'professional' :)

After unloading the truck, we took a walk on the path behind the house...it is so beautiful-lots of sprawling Amish farms, and mountains in the distance~i can't wait to see the valley ablaze with color in another month or so!!!

Their development even has its own water tower... we hope it never springs a leak!!!

And of course no visit to Mimi and Pop-Pop's is complete without ice cream...this picture was snapped just as Pop Pop declared," I think I died and went to heaven"....

My heart overflows with gratitude for His care and provision for Mimi and Pop-Pop

Congratulations, Jason and Jenni!!!

2010-09-02T17:20:00.000-07:00

We celebrated the marriage of another nephew this summer. I still can not wrap my brain around how fast these years have flown by!! It was another beautiful ceremony and reception. Peter was Jason's Best man just as Jason was Peter's back in May. It's a blessing to see the neat relationship these 2 cousins share :)

Mom and Dad B ( my wonderful in-laws!!) just prior to the ceremony ...

This is my hubby's oldest sister and family...it had been quite some time since they were all together so I had to get a picture for my fridge!!

Odesco decided this wedding stuff is just a tad boring for his taste!! He was out cold..at least he didn't snore :)

The B clan...not the best shot but we all fit! By the way,those are flower petals littering the floor...

Congratulations to the beautiful couple!

Annual Church Camping Trip...

2010-08-18T17:29:00.027-07:00

Once again we had a blast on our annual church camping trip in July :) Several new families joined in the fun and the weather was amazing!! On the way there, we drove through some pretty violent storms but by the time we arrived at Hickory Run, the sky had cleared and the relentless heat and humidity were gone~ We actually had to wear sweatshirts and pants to bed...it was a refreshing break!! This is truly one of the highlights of our summer...our church group has an entire loop of campsites and the kiddos are pretty much free to visit with their friends all day long. The playground is right out our 'back door' and the lake is about a 10 minute hike away. How blessed we are that we 'get' to do this! Hope you enjoy the pictures!!

As you can see, we have an abundance of stuff...we even removed the back seat and can still barely fit it all in! The van was jam packed from floor to ceiling-Yikes!

We stopped around the corner for lunch after church and before pushing off for the Poconos...the local 5Below had a grand reopening and sold 5cent hot dogs--so we fed the whole family for less than $1!!...(nice face, P)

A rear view once we arrived...don't touch a thing,L...it might trigger an avalanche!

The 'back window' view from our campsite'

The other side of our back window 'view'

Mrs. V even didn't even get a day off doing hair...what a blessing she is to lots of little girls and their moms!

Voila! A new creative 'do' for Mercy while roughing it!

G's hair stayed like this the entire trip!

We took a 'young kid' friendly hike...you can't see it but behind everyone is a beautiful view of the Lehigh River~

At the lake, Daddy takes a minute to explain the stock market to L :)

Two year old Kenzie has a real hankering for her Mercy...these 2 were often seen together!

Picking blueberries!

Papa K and M having an early morning chat...
Daddy impressed the crew with his culinary skills this trip...no burned bacon and the oven mitts remained intact (ie: they did not catch on fire!!)

We typically had extra mouths at mealtime :) I plan for it and love the visits from the kids' friends!

And since the big boys had their own (borrowed) 6 person tent across from our own, there was a new boy (or two visiting) with us each morning!

I love a man with dishpan hands!!

One evening we all gathered at one of the campsites' for a feast!! Everyone brought their fixings...we had ribs, chicken, steaks, burgers, hotdogs, tons of salads...it was scrumptious!

Miss Felicia had an impromptu 5th birthday party at her campsite'

The youth had fun playing card games LATE into the evening! ...

L on his 'thinking rock'

No camping trip is complete without at least one wiffle ball game!

A fitting way to end....A beautiful sunset~

CamelBeach 2010...the first and 2nd time!

2010-08-03T20:41:00.019-07:00

Well, it seems that we just don't know how to pick ideal days for visiting Camelbeach(check out this post from our visit last year). I'm not complaining though, FREE is FREE (Mark gets these complimentary tickets for arranging the ski group) and we were able to share them with a few dear friends who have children close in age to our own. In spite of the 2 thunderstorms, we all did have a blast together. The park shut down temporarily once lightening was spotted and then reopened after a designated amount of time has passed after the storm. We hunkered down under the huge picnic tent(which happened to have a metal frame?!) where our stuff was located until the 'all clear' signal was heard. The kids scurried to get on line for the next ride...they all got one more ride in before storm #2 blew in....this time the park issued vouchers to return again another day since they were closed for more than 1.5 hours. In the midst of running from under the tent to the dressing room to get changed, Odesco dropped all of his clean,dry clothes on the wet ground and tripped while attempting to pick them up. Somehow he managed to migrate his Nike flip flop up his shin with his foot remaining on the ground. For the life of me, I could not get that sandal to budge...nor could I stop laughing at the ridiculousness of it all. I stood there in the rain for several minutes vainly working to free his leg from the flip flop to no avail. Finally a kind man who saw my dilemma offered to help. He had to 'unbutton' the plastic part of the flip flop to free his leg...it sort of broke the shoe but I was just relieved to get it off him!!! The evening ended with a wild ride home as we drove through some terrible storms... we all stopped for dinner at Cicis and this turned out to be quite an event as well...the rain was coming down so hard that we all made a mad dash from the parking lot to the restaurant. Miss Mercy somehow slipped backwards slamming her noggin very solidly on the cement sidewalk! She of course was in horrible pain...so much so that she did not want to eat...we knew it was serious then! Then she just cried and cried for us to let her sleep...which of course we could not let her do-boy was she mad at us! I tried to keep her awake on the drive home...had her reading numbers on the signs as we passed them and woke her up frequently during her cat naps. Thankfully she was easily aroused and did not seem to be getting worse...she also woke a few times in the night which was a good sign. The next day I called our pediatrician because she still was not quite herself and they told me to take her to the ER...3 hours and $100 copay later we were given discharge papers with a diagnosis of 'concussion'. They did not do any scans but just a very basic neurological exam and wondered why we were there...by the time they finally saw her, she was almost back to herself. Better safe, than sorry :) Never a dull moment around here.... Now for the pictures!!

Getting there is half the fun, right?! We had the "BOY VAN"...trust me when I say they kept us entertained in a variety of ways!!! (I think P secretly practices these faces for just the right Kodak moment!)

My friends with their wee ones in the Lazy River...

L and buddy M heading up the Raceway slide

And they're off....

The bigger dudes just hanging out

"Our spot"

Creatively entertaining us during the storm~

Mercy recovering with a little TLC from G

We chose to come back to use the vouchers after our camping trip with friends since we were already in the area and it was only about 30 minutes out of the way. This time the place was packed...we parked at the very bottom of the mountain and the lines were quite long. Most of the kiddos were tired from our big camping trip so they were not too disappointed when we decided to call it a day after only a few hours. While the gang braved the crowds, I decided to make lunch for them on the passenger seat...our van was so packed to the brim(Picture Beverly Hillbillies...floor to ceiling stuff!!) with our camping apparatus that I couldn't prepare lunch ahead of time ... there was not a spot to store it in. It was a sight to see, I'm sure as I contorted my body to reach the various bags and coolers which were under piles of pillows, duffle bags, and dirty clothes. I actually had to unload quite a bit onto the parking lot...but in the end we had a yummy lunch which seemed to hit the spot :)

Lunch time...the park was so crowded that there were no more picnic tables available to 'rent' so we just parked in this nice shady spot for free!!

G on the scenic ride up the lift to the top of the mountain...we have fun trying to figure out which trails we ski down during the winter season...it's a bit disorienting without snow!

Miss Mercy

Daddy and the little guys...don't worry...the safety bar was down until moments before I snapped this picture! They were preparing to 'disembark' :)

Odesco joined me for the ride back down~

The view near the top looking down the mountain~

Mercy is bold and daring when it comes to amusement and water park rides!! Here she just emerged from the pool after being dumped out of the Vortex ride...which we renamed the 'human toilet bowl'! She has more guts than me!!She waited on this line all by herself and I watched her as she climbed higher and higher to the top...chit chatting the whole time with the girl standing next to her :)

Thanks for checking in!!!

From Ring Bearer to Groom...

2010-08-01T20:29:00.003-07:00

I did it again!! This post has been waiting in the archives since soon after Peter and Shannon's wedding back in May!! " Better late than never" seems to be a resounding theme with me lately!

How can it be that the little 4 year old who was our ring bearer has grow up to be a groom himself?

I can barely wrap my brain around how quickly these years have flown by! It truly is a joy to see the Lord at work in Peter and Shannon's life. We look forward to seeing all He will do in and through their marriage in the days ahead~ Below, are pictures from the big day!

Our dapper boys who are growing up way too fast!... Odesco decided a bow tie was more comfortable than a traditional neck tie- I think he looks like Louis Armstrong :)!

Sisters in coordinating dresses :)

Me and my honey ~

The quality of this picture is poor but I thought their expressions were too sweet not to post :)

What a beautiful family! (The newlyweds with Peter's parents and sister)

This is my hubby's side of the immediate family...and 2 of our nieces were missing!! When you have 8 children, this is what you get a few years down the road :)

Odesco in a pensive moment!

oops-we almost got a decent family picture--maybe next time!?!

The younger kids especially were thrilled to be at their first wedding reception ever :)

The girls had no inhibitions on the dance floor...the boys were a totally different story and were not interested in dancing one bit!

Mercy certainly didn't hold back!

Thanks for checking in on this delinquent blogger!!

Blueberry picking...

2010-07-01T05:40:00.007-07:00

Yes, everyone was a bit groggy as I dragged them out of bed early(after a late baseball nite') to make our trek to meet the McBr tribe at the blueberry fields before the heat hit us.

I have never seen so many huge ripe berries before. I think we must have been there very early in the picking!

There's nothing quite like the 'plunk, plunk' of fresh, ripe, huge , juicy blueberries hitting the bottom of the empty can!

Checking their progress!

Yummmmy...and so good for us too :) In total we picked over 22 pounds of blueberries and 1.5 weeks later, we have almost finished them off!

L,Odesco, and their buddy C. McBr~

Our friend's littlest one even got in on the picking... although she hadn't decided if this was fun yet :)

This is the extent of my culinary creativity... a blob of sugar cookie dough baked on a pizza stone smothered in cream cheese with a touch of sugar and vanilla, and topped with all sorts of seasonal fruit--yum :) This was for my dear friend's 40th surprise party~

What fun it is to enjoy the tastes of summer!

Catching up...again!

2010-06-24T05:33:00.022-07:00

It's hard to think about keeping warm in the winter on these scorching humid days but our friends' log-splitter was available and so were many hands....

I love seeing our boys working together....another 'snapshot of grace'

Daddy was away last week for work and boy, did we miss him!! Thursday night couldn't come fast enough~The kids were so excited to bless him with gifts on Father's Day. They rushed him in after the log splitting to lavish him, since we had activities later in the day and would spend the next day with our Dads celebrating~How grateful I am for the godly Dads in our life... My hubby, Pop-Pop Doyle, and Pop-Pop B are such a gift to our family.

L and his brothers had some Lego fun the other day~

Yes, baseball season continues. Curtis was chosen for the tournament team again this year. Saturday evening was their first game. They lost by 2 runs but they sure looked snazzy in their uniforms :)

Can you spot C?

We so appreciated that Uncle Bill and Aunt Sharon trekked across the bridge to join us for the game...Aunt Sharon even brought Cracker Jacks...

Somehow L managed to eat 3 boxes!

Sunday morning we were blessed to have both sets of Grandparents join us for church...they came to see our beautiful new building ( I'll post on that soon!) and then back to the house for a very belated birthday celebration for P,C, and L.

Mimi took L's cues...he thought a Phillies cake would be a great idea(see his Lego creation above?) Mimi made this cake in the midst of packing up their home as they prepare to move later this summer. Most of her kitchen is in boxes but somehow she was able to pull this off!!

The cake and cupcakes were a hit :) I hid Grandmom B's brownies in the freezer but they have been discovered! The 4 loaves of pumpkin bread are still stashed though!!

Our "Little Man's" Big Birthday Weekend~

2010-06-13T06:26:00.001-07:00

I totally forgot to publish this post from almost a month ago--better late than never!
This year, L's 8th birthday happened to fall on the weekend of our state Homeschool Convention...my hubby and I are both 'on staff' to assist, so L joined us this year in order that we could spend part of his birthday together. The 2 older boys also came to serve much of the weekend and the 3 younger kiddos went to Mimi and Pop-Pop's for Friday and most of Saturday. There was a children's program again this year and our friends from Historical Happenings conducted a few sessions on Civil War and Medieval Times, which Luke attended along with a bazillion other kiddos.

Before we left for the convention we were able to squeeze in L's celebration dinner. L chose meatloaf and mashed potatoes for his meal of choice... he made this decision with a little help from his siblings. Initially he wanted whole wheat chocolate chip pancakes but since we had them for breakfast over the weekend they were able to convince him otherwise!

P was a good sport and shared his birthday cake with L since their birthdays are only 5 days apart. We were crunched for time so they celebrated together:)

We pre-ordered this WW2 gun with Mimi and Pop-Pop's birthday money for L. He could not wait for the Historical Happenings booth to get set up so that he could go and claim his gift!

L spent his birthday money from Grandmom and Pop-Pop B at a vendor who sold art supplies. He frequented the booth so much that the owner kindly gave L a sketch pad to go along with some of his newly purchased art goodies.Here L is settled at the Volunteer Booth working on a scratch art project he also bought with birthday money...it was a picture of WW2 fighter planes.

At the end of the convention, the children participating in the Civil War program were led through the convention hall 'in formation'

L is in the back row with the green shirt...he was quite the serious soldier!

Another view of the 'soldiers' in formation~

It was a crazy busy weekend followed by a wedding the next day after church so we were grateful L was with us on his special day! He thought it was pretty cool to spend Friday night in the hotel and to go for a swim at 10pm when we finally got in from the convention hall!

All in a day....

2010-06-10T07:57:00.015-07:00

Some days can best be described through pictures...

Daddy was working from home today but before heading over to his 'office' (the living room where his computer was fired up), he decided to tackle the dreaded missing sock box. With Odesco and Mercy's help, they actually matched about 10 pairs. This picture doesn't even display all of the mismatched socks...someone please tell me, where do they go????

A visit to the doctor confirmed that G's ear pain was indeed a nasty infection...too bad the oregano oil dropped in her ear did nothing but make her smell like a hoagie :(!

It's here!!! M took the day off to await the arrival of our new refrigerator freezer--it got here at 6:45 p.m.!... Boy were we all grateful to have a working fridge again to replace our almost 18 year old dying model. I must admit, I've never seen such excitement over an appliance before!

It was a family effort to get this in the house. P and C were a huge help to M as he maneuvered this monstrosity up the porch steps and into the kitchen on a hand-truck. The 3 youngest helped Daddy fish the water line through the kitchen floor into the basement ceiling and remove all the packing materials, while I whisked the the 3 older kiddos around the corner to a bowling party with friends from church.

Feels like Christmas...a refrigerator with water and ice in the door. How grateful I am for my handy hubby who was able to get the water line all rigged up before we went to bed last night..everyone wanted to drink lots of ice water today :)!! Oh, and another bonus is our white fridge/freezer finally matches the rest of the appliances :)!!

What's a fridge without a bit of family history displayed? I couldn't go to bed until I had that taken care of! I have had pictures of each of the kiddos as newborns on our fridge for as long as I can remember. Then we added our 'first' pictures of Mercy and Odesco including their 'delivery room' snapshot as we watched them emerge from behind the glass doors in the airport. I love the emotion on each of our faces as we saw them for the very first time!
Believe it or not, one of my top questions when we were shopping was,"Will magnets stick to this fridge?" They don't adhere to the new stainless steel models, in case you were wondering :)

L was very perturbed all day yesterday by another wobbly tooth. I prayed with him before bed that God would take care of it for him...at around 1am he came into our bedroom and announced, "Mom, my tooth fell out , what should I do with it?!" This morning I asked M if I had been dreaming...sure enough a toothless little man greeted me with a very big grin. He is convinced that Odesco elbowed him in the night helping the process along...only God knows :)!

Conversations...

2010-06-08T05:32:00.005-07:00

Mercy and Odesco are typically the early-birds around here. They scamper down the stairs and head right over to the school shelf to get out their work for the day. There is a method to their madness...the first one to finish gets their work corrected first and then of course free time sooner. This can make for some interesting interactions and 'opportunities' for my sanctification early in the day!
Today, as I was attempting to finish my 'quiet' time,and they were busy with schoolwork, they both noticed that last night Daddy had hung one of our Portraits of Hope pictures on the wall . Odesco remarked that he remembered playing 'that game' at Acres of Hope. Mercy commented that sometimes they did not have a wide open space to play it because the nannies would bring the beds outside to wash and dry them in the sun. Odesco remembered that the beds were not too comfortable and then he said,"Mercy there's one thing I don't understand...why did they make us take baths in hot water when it was already so hot in Africa?!" Then he remembered how he disliked wearing a particular sweatshirt but he seemed to always get stuck wearing it...he recalled how he had to sleep under the covers and how hot it would get in the bed with that sweatshirt on. Soon, they were back to their schoolwork completely unfazed by what just took place.

I am so grateful that these 2 have these shared memories of life in Liberia. I am so grateful for these brief windows into their past...I still stand in awe of the great lengths the Lord went to make them a part of our family. In spite of the frequent chaos, conflict, and challenges, my heart is so thankful to be their Mom.

How good and pleasant it is...

2010-06-04T23:11:00.003-07:00

....When brothers live together in unity! Psalm 133:1
Way back in April, our family enjoyed a refreshing Sunday afternoon at our brother and sister in law's house. They spoiled us with a delicious feast but even more with the gift of their time... My hubby just loves to be with his brother and I am equally as blessed to spend time with my sister in law. The icing on the cake was getting to know our nephew's 'bride to be' a bit more too. We were so grateful that they took time out of their crazy pre-wedding schedule to visit with our family. They spent at least an hour with the kids teaching them some fun games and later took us on a tour of the old 'full of character' house they are renovating.
Thanks Bill, Sharon,Peter and Shannon for a wonderful memory!!

Our 4 monkeys !

This is the fun game "Ninja" that Shannon taught our kiddos...they are still playing it :)

Our nephew and his sweet bride to be :)

On the threshold of the home they are renovating. One neat fact : they cut down a huge tree and used the lumber to rebuild the staircase...how cool is that?!

Dibble Dabble

2010-06-03T13:24:00.009-07:00

What do you get when you combine a hot day,8 energetic kids, a generous neighbor with a refreshing pool, and a golf tee?
FUN!!!!!
"Dibble Dabble" kept this clan happy and busy for quite a while today :) I thought some of you may want to give it a try.... Thanks Yoder family for sharing this fun game with us!!!

First, one person is the designated 'tee hider'...they swim to the bottom of the pool and place the tee on the floor...then they swim away. In this picture everyone is waiting for the tee to pop up to the surface~

Once the tee is spotted, watch out...it's a free for all as everyone tries to grab it...it is harder than it looks as that tiny piece of wood just bounces around with all the commotion!

Victory!

Another Victor!

Attempting to multi-task while I 'supervised' this lively game, I brought the book I had just received hours earlier in the mail...it is a science book that I will be coordinating a coop from in the fall....I positioned myself under a shady tree... a bird enjoyed target practice with my newly acquired book!! Yuck! (a few minutes earlier it got my arm so I moved- obviously not far enough away from his shooting range!)

Aren't they handsome?! I was trying to get a good picture for a montage frame we have...not quite what I had in mind but thought I'd share it anyhow :)
Thanks for checking in! I've got lots of posts to catch up on so stay tuned!

Happy 15th Birthday.....

2010-05-18T12:30:00.006-07:00

I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. 3 John 1:4

It is so hard to believe that P has just turned 15! The greatest joy for us as parents is to see his relationship with the Lord flourish and to watch him growing in humility and wisdom. As we all went around the table sharing what we love about P, the common theme was his humility and consistency in asking forgiveness. He also does a great job playing with his younger siblings and 'entering their world'. He is a diligent worker both in his studies, household chores, and in working for others. Recently we worked as a family at my hubby's 'Global Service Day' with many of his co-workers cleaning up a YMCA close to his office. Several of M's co-workers later commented on P's diligence as he energetically slung mulch for many hours. I am thoroughly enjoying these teenage years. Sure, there are moments, but overall, I stand in awe of what the Lord is doing in spite of us!!
Happy Birthday, P---we love you!!!!!

Miss Mercy was so excited to give P the gift she had purchased with her own money~
Each of the kids gets to choose their favorite meal for their birthday dinner...P chose "chicken pockets" a recipe shared with me by a dear friend when she brought over a meal the week P was born!! It is comical to hear the 3 boys who share may birthdays plot out their choices. L was set on having whole wheat chocolate chip pancakes for dinner but his big brothers convinced him that he really wanted meatloaf and mashed potatoes...it took some convincing but L eventually caved in to his big brothers~ I'm grateful they enjoy my cooking :)

PS: I have no idea why the font is all messed up on this post...I tried numerous times to fix it to no avail ...

The view through my rear view mirror...

2010-05-07T16:33:00.002-07:00

Today was one of those crazy non-stop full days. Lots to do, places to be, deadlines to meet. As I was driving to pick the 2 big boys up from a study group at Mama K's, I glanced at the view in my rear view mirror and my heart was so full. 7 little people filled the seats...their loud voices filled the car. There were 4 African children...Mercy, Odesco, Jenkins, and Felicia...it is hard to remember life without them. They are all such 'belongers' now...they were meant to be a part of our families. From the foundations of the earth, even through the horrors of war and hunger,God had planned that they would be joined to our families. He went to great lengths to bring them across the world to us...it truly is a miracle...how kind of the Lord that we 'get' to do this. What a privilege...it has not been easy, but it has been worth it!

I am so grateful when the Lord gives me these moments (this time through my rear view mirror). I need fresh vision every now and then...
Thanking the Lord for His kindness to me,
MamaB~

A Big Day in the B house!!

2010-05-04T13:02:00.004-07:00

Yesterday, May 3rd, was a big day in our house...we officially have 2 teenagers under the roof now!! C celebrated his 13th birthday ...it is so hard to believe 13 years have sped by since our 9#14oz baby entered the world!! As you can see from the pictures below, C has experienced a major growth spurt...sometimes from a distance( on the baseball field) I don't even recognize him! He is growing in many ways and we are so grateful for the privilege to parent our 2nd born :) Mercy surprised him by doing his chores yesterday and begged me to take her to the Dollar store so she could purchase gifts(candy!) for each of her brothers celebrating this month. I savor these sweet family moments/ "snapshots of grace!"
C has grown in many ways over this past year but most significant are the changes we are seeing in his spiritual walk. We look forward to watching the Lord at work in our son's life in the days ahead!! We love you,C~

C received his humongous toolbox from Daddy with 3 tools to start his collection. Each birthday he will receive a new tool to add to the set so that when he is ready to be on his own, (sniff, sniff) he will be well equipped in the tool department!

Our 17+ year old refrigerator has died...M and I headed out last night to shop for a new one :) We are still looking... We asked C to measure the height of our old one since we were scoping the internet before we left to shop. C ran in the other room to get his very own handy tape measure to help us out :)

Thanks for stopping by~
P.S. It was also a big day for other reasons...Today, P finished his final module of Biology, C took his last General Science test and also completed his Pre-Algebra Math program...Wednesday is our final Homeschooler's Day Out for the year~our school year is definitely winding down!!

Hello Double Digits!

2010-04-20T13:10:00.010-07:00

I can't believe G is now a 10 year old!! (Yes this post is very late...her birthday was 4/13!) We celebrated this milestone a bit early with a surprise trip to the mall to get her ears pierced :) Her friend, K who is turning 10 in May, was surprised by her mom as well. We individually told the girls we were running an errand at the mall..then we' just happened' to bump into them, and 'happened' to stroll right past the Piercing Pagoda where we (moms) had already scoped out the prices/choices of earrings etc. Once we told the girls our plan, they were not sure we were serious. They were too cute trying to decide who would go first, which earrings to pick, and whether or not it would hurt. They were both quite brave and so pleased with the results!
On her birthday morning I took G out for breakfast with her Bob Evan's free meal coupon...how my heart did sing when she asked if Mercy could join us for 'girl time'! It is rare that I get to take out each child individually for a special treat so I was so pleased that she would want to share this 'mom time' with her sister... we had a fun time being together :)
In the evening, we were blessed with a visit from Mimi and Pop-Pop Doyle and Mom and Dad B. What a gift to have both sets of grandparents here to celebrate and spend time in our noisy house!

G is growing up so fast. She is diligent in her studies and a big help around the house. She is often my brain and keeps me on track with details I tend to mix up or forget! She has also been a huge help in the kitchen recently and I feel so privileged to have the opportunity to teach her in the ways of the Lord. I look forward to watching the Lord at work in her heart in the years to come. I'm so grateful the Lord brought 2 girls into our home to balance all the testosterone:) I am blessed indeed!!

We love you, G!!

Before... sweet friends getting the jitters out as we signed paperwork and paid for the piercing and earrings~

After...RELIEF and lots of smiles!! They both chose dainty flowers made of sparkling blue stones...so pretty :)

We ended the celebration with a visit to Auntie Anne's Pretzels!

The Birthday Girl flanked by her special grandparents:)

G asked Mimi to surprise her this year ... as usual we were not disappointed with her colorful creation!! It tasted as good as it looked...and of course, Grandmom B brought her famous pumpkin bread and tub of brownies...the challenge is keeping hands off the goodies until dinner/dessert!

The kids were anxious for dessert time!

Our new birthday plate...I found a pink one and a blue one at the Christmas Tree Shop...a new fun tradition~

The whole clan(minus me )...sorry, Mimi...this was the only picture where everyone was facing the camera!!

The Annual B family Birthday Extravaganza has officially begun...4 more birthdays to celebrate in the next 3 weeks-fun, fun, fun!!

He's My Brother!

2010-03-23T19:12:00.006-07:00

A funny thing happened the other day. The weather was beautiful over the weekend and our cul-de-sac was abuzz with activity. Several of our neighbors were outside riding bikes and shooting hoops at our basketball net. At one point, M and I heard Mercy interrogating someone in the backyard. A very bold boy whom we had never seen before, was riding his bike in our backyard and Mercy rightly wanted to know what he was doing there. Before my hubby could make his way to the back door, I heard the boy ask L," Well, what's he doing back here then?" The boy was referring to Odesco who was storing his bicycle back in our shed. L confidently answered,"He's my brother!" The look on this kid's face was priceless. You could see the wheels turning and he just could not make sense of our family. By this time M had made his way outside and graciously but firmly told the boy he needed to ride his bike in the court...not in our yard. We soon learned this boy was a friend of a neighbor and when he saw Odesco come into the backyard he assumed it was a 'free for all' not realizing that this is indeed Odesco's home.
This just made me realize how accustomed I have become to being a mom of 2 African children who bear no resemblance to me. In certain settings I do expect questioning looks but it is a bit unusual to happen in our own backyard!! L thought this boy's response was a hoot. L and Odesco are such good buddies-they actually choose to share a bunk and when we separated them due to sickness, they were not happy campers. They both emphatically reported they couldn't sleep well when they were apart. They have their moments, but over all they are good buddies!

They are definitely a study in contrasts :)

Silly boys!!

There you have it: Another day in the life of our conspicuous family :) Thanks for stopping by!

The Roots are Growing Deeper!

2010-03-05T15:04:00.012-08:00

The roots in the heart of our blossoming sunflower are growing deeper and I did not want to miss an opportunity to give glory to God for the mighty work He is doing. It reminds me of the struggle a butterfly must go through when it breaks free of its chrysalis... it is painful to watch such toil, yet through the struggle God brings new life that would not come about any other way. Twice this week, there were 'issues' that typically would send Mercy into what I would call 'meltdown mode'. The storm clouds were brewing but Mercy responded to the whispers of the Holy Spirit in her heart, humbled herself, and asked forgiveness. A situation that typically would have taken all day (really!!) to resolve was over in about an hour. Absolutely amazing!

Then today, Mercy was confronted with her 'dark heart' (her words) once more and we were able to talk about how God's light can chase away all the darkness in her heart. I reassured her that darkness resides in my heart also and this is why I am so desperate for a Savior. We spoke of the profound truths outlined in Romans 7..."I do what I don't want to do, and I don't do what I do want to do"....

She told me she is "just like Justin" from the cd series Down Gilead Lane. When I asked her to explain, she admitted that just like Justin she gets stuck in 'dark pits'. This reminded me of the quote I have been meditating upon that we read many times this week in a Corrie Ten Boom biography. So, I shared, "Mercy, that sounds like what Betsie said to Corrie in the book we just read...

"Remember, there is no pit so deep that God's love is not deeper"

Her face was full of expression as she connected the dots that God had orchestrated to reveal such deep truths to her. Then she shared,"It's like my favorite song(by Natalie Grant)

There's no such thing as perfect people

There's no such thing as a perfect life

So come as you are, broken and scarred

Lift up your heart and be amazed

And be changed, by a perfect God

Mercy has loved this song since last summer and to see her processing all of these truths and putting it all together is so very encouraging. All of these pieces falling into place point to a gracious God who longs to shower His mercy upon our Mercy...these were not unrelated random happenings ...no, God is at work and He is masterfully weaving all of this together so that a broken heart can be healed by Him alone.

Isaiah 43:18-20

¹⁸ "Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.

¹⁹ See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the desert
and streams in the wasteland.

My heart is so grateful for these 'streams in the wasteland' and it is good for me to recall them now before I am tempted to lose sight of the new thing He is doing.

P.S.~ The pictures above are from our sunflowers last summer... the previous summer Mercy was so distressed when her beloved sunflower was ripped right out of the ground during a violent summer thunderstorm...this provided a very vivid picture for her of what happens when roots do not grow deep and drink up the nutrients of the soil ...it also provided a great word picture for us to encourage her to grow her roots deeply into the soil of her new life in our family. We started the sunflowers pictured above from seed and I was so thankful the Lord blessed our efforts with many tall, strong sunflowers that all weathered the summer's many thunderstorms. She knew it was because 'their roots grew deep'. What a joy it is to see her own roots digging into the soil here.

Never a Dull Moment!

2010-03-02T13:14:00.006-08:00

L has been lamenting for the past 2 days that his front tooth was really annoying him as it wiggled and jiggled. I encouraged him to yank it himself or to wait contently( ie: no complaining) for it to fall out on its own...he wasn't thrilled with either option. Well, today it was taken care of...by his brother-during a wrestling match on the family room floor. I truly wonder if our Liberian children do indeed have a future in dentistry...Mercy helped G lose 1 tooth in a swimming collision one summer day, Odesco assisted with the loss of another with a pretend boxing match gone awry, and then today he took care of L's problem....for our kiddos who are slow to lose their baby teeth, this method seems pretty effective!

Wiggler no more...thanks, Odesco!!

Odesco with the 'prize'...L's tooth in a ziploc bag.....nope, never a dull moment around here :)

Bye,Bye, Braces...

2010-02-23T17:39:00.004-08:00

Another major event in the family was P's "De-banding Day" to remove his braces. I can't believe how grown up he looks with no metal in his mouth!! Enjoy the pictures of our 'little boy' who is looking more and more like a man every day....

I couldn't stand the suspense waiting in the other room. I just had to come back to snap a picture of my first glimpse of his beautifully straight teeth!

This picture cracks me up...looks like P isn't quite sure how to smile now that his teeth are unveiled! The orthodontist we go to makes de-banding day quite a celebration...P was given a gift certificate for a free portrait at JC Penney and even the 'Sundae' that he is holding...it is filled with an assortment of candy he has been banned from for the past 2+ years!! I know, sort of ironic for an orthodontist to give, but P sure appreciated it!

P with Dr.K...just look at those pearly whites!!

Thanks for stopping by....

Another Reason To Celebrate....

2010-02-21T04:45:00.005-08:00

Well, it is official...we are finally 100% finished with all adoption related legal paperwork(except for yearly post placement reports which continue until they are 18)!!! This week, my hubby reported to the official State building, signed some papers, handed over Mercy and Odesco's permanent resident cards, and walked out with official certificates of citizenship. He called me mid day and suggested we celebrate. I am always up for a party and a reason NOT to cook :) We surprised the kids and took them to CiCis for dinner...we thought it was very appropriate to take our food-loving Liberians to an all you can eat buffet! They were thrilled!

Checking out the certificates...

It's official...they are now eligible to vote( in 10+ years!!!) ...but Mercy is bummed that she can never run for President. She is consoled to know she CAN be the First Lady. I could just imagine her in the White House...she'd certainly spice things up a bit :)!

Daddy and his youngest boy~

Just before taking this picture when I looked at her full plate, Mercy boldly declared," Mom, I'm cutting back"...

We definitely gets our money's worth here :)

Grateful for yet another opportunity to celebrate God's goodness in making Mercy and Odesco a part of our family.

Lessons in the storm...

2010-02-10T19:11:00.009-08:00

The other morning during the first storm (last Saturday), Mercy climbed into bed with me and was gazing out the window in wonder as the snow fell. She remarked about the fact she had learned that every snowflake is unique and then asked,"Mommy, what if God runs out of ideas?" What a great question ... I was able to remind her of the truths we have been memorizing from the Gospel Primer:

"My God is immense beyond imagination, He measured the entire universe with merely the span of His hand... He is unimaginably awesome in all His perfections...."

We talked about how it is impossible to wrap our finite brains around these truths. While He is sustaining the universe, keeping the planets spinning in their orbits, He is also fashioning a bazillion unique snowflakes during this storm. And even more amazingly, He is intimately involved in the details of our lives simultaneously...even knowing when a single hair falls from our heads. Truly amazing!!

The kiddos during the first big storm over the weekend~

Yes, this is our firstborn, skiing in the backyard the night of the first storm...and yes, he is NOT wearing a coat...where is his mother??

This was the view from our back window today during a lull in the "Blizzard of 2010"!

A glimpse out our front door... that's a ton of snowflakes...each uniquely fashioned by our amazing God!!!

Tomorrow it's time for the big "Dig Out"!!

Unit Celebration

2010-02-05T12:59:00.010-08:00

Last Friday we had our Tapestry of Grace unit Celebration. We are studying the 20th Century and have learned so much over these past 3+ months. We decided it would be fun to have a "SoupKitchen" theme for lunch since we ended the Unit studying the Great Depression. The older kids were not thrilled with the idea of dressing up but the younger crew had a blast perusing our many resources, choosing a person to dress up as, and raiding their closets and dress up bins for costumes. I barely helped them at all...they also copied the signs from pictures they had seen in the books we studied. Of course we had to remind the kids that our 'soup kitchen' was MUCH more lavish than the ones during the Depression. Somehow I don't think brownies, Panera leftovers, and yummy Banana pudding were a part of the typical soup kitchen menu!!

Guess who?! Here's a clue: she was otherwise known as "Curly Top" and "Dimples"

Hmmm... I wonder who Odesco is supposed to be???

This is the picture he found of the "King of Jazz", Louis Armstrong...he even posed like him without prompting...too funny!

Isn't his trumpet 'ingenious'?? Odesco and G resourcefully used a paper towel roll, kitchen funnel, and paper to make the keys...

Mercy chose to represent Marian Anderson, an African-American, who became an important figure in the struggle for black artists to overcome racial prejudice in the United States during the mid twentieth century.I'll be honest, until Mercy took a special interest in her, I'd never heard of Marian Anderson...I still have much to learn...now if my braincells can retain the new information, that would be great!!

Who is this scary gangster? L really would have looked like Al Capone if he had a more serious expression...don't you think?!

Jenkins LOVES baseball, so none of us were surprised when he showed up like this :)

"Flapper Felicia"...could she be any cuter???

Some of the gang enjoying their soup :)

An 'authentic' sign of the times...

I'm so grateful I have the privilege of teaching our kiddos and learning so much alongside of such special friends!

Summation 2010

2010-02-02T18:49:00.011-08:00

Once again, the highlight of our Parent-Youth year was Summation... an evening set aside to recount the many evidences of grace upon our childrens' lives in the past 12 months. I always walk away from these events so grateful for the approach our church takes to youth ministry. The kids have a blast at every meeting throughout the year, but the parents are there experiencing it with them. There's just the right balance of fun and purpose...truth is not watered down and every meeting ends with questions for the parents to address with their children which ultimately point them to their need for a Savior and His amazing grace. In the process, parents and their kids are talking and engaging about significant heart and life issues. Summation this year was amazing... the attention to detail was incredible and everything was done with such excellence...the games, decorations, food, printed program (which featured a paragraph from each youth outlining the spiritual highlight of the year) were all so well thought out. The evening's highlight was when parents presented their children with letters expressing what they believe to be the Lord's gifting/strengths in their lives and encouraging them to continue pressing in to their relationship with God. It was a rich, sweet time for us as a family. There was also a special time honoring a male and female high school Jr/Sr for their godly character with videos of their friends and family commending them. What great role models our kids have to emulate!
Enjoy the bazillion pictures!!

This was the doorway we entered the room through...P and several other youth worked on this set for many hours in the weeks leading up to the event. College age leaders directed the construction.... It was a great experience for him to be apart of that!

"The Banquet Hall"

Can you guess this year's theme?! Mimi made both C and P's costume...mine was borrowed and my hubby's was put together from a few dress up bins!

Robin Hood and friends....Miss Britt was lady Marian, P was Little John, J was Robin Hood and C was Friar Tuck

Yep, great minds think alike...Here's C with Mr. Kach-neither one of them knew that the other was coming as a monk...they both shaved their heads to really play the part of the monks...C grew his hair out for 2 months! Crazy, I know :) The set behind them was a drawbridge that actually opened up when they introduced our youth pastor who was announced as King- complete with a trumpeting fanfare...

C won a prize for the best youth boy costume...the shaved head definitely won over the crowd!!

A closeup...scary huh? M shaved him totally late that night so now C is quite chilly without any hair to block out this cold Arctic air!

I am always stunned by the creativity of our friends!!

Check out these costumes!!

Mrs. V did an outstanding job decorating on a tight budget with such attention to detail~ The food was amazing too... one of the ladies from our church catered it all herself...roasted veggies, salad, bread,turkey drumsticks, chicken drumsticks...all served on overflowing platters. We were encouraged to dine Medieval Style with hands only but some of us less adventuresome folks opted for plastic forks!!

More of the decorations...each shield represents one of the "Color War" teams (see below for explanation)

The games were so creative in keeping with the theme of the evening. Each attendee was given a bag of fake coins to play the games with...each youth is a member of a color team and they were able to win points for their team. This "Color War" contest continues all year.

There was some leftover food and we were able to bring home turkey 'on the bone' for Mercy and Odesco... aren't these things huge?!

The amazing thing was both Mercy and Odesco were too stuffed to eat it all in one sitting...yes, good to the last morsel of meat...she takes this seriously!!

Take a good look...Going, going...

GONE!!!

It's outta' here...Silly boy!

I've said it a million times, but once again I am so aware of God's goodness in planting us in such fertile, well watered soil!! With a grateful heart,

Meet Millie and her family...

2009-12-30T19:13:00.026-08:00

He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry.

Psalm 146:7

My hubby and I are always looking for ways to keep our kiddos other oriented especially around Christmas. The most personally significant gift we gave this year was a bag of rice to a Liberian family desperately in need of sustenance. For only $60.00, 100 pounds of rice were provided to this needy family. I was undone the first time I opened the emails and saw the pictures of this dear struggling family. And again today as I received another update regarding their desperate plight and their sad circumstances. $60 seems like such a token gift and yet it will provide freedom from hunger at least for this month. I wanted to post on this not to draw attention to us but to give others who may feel led, the opportunity to provide food for those still struggling to survive in Liberia. The war may be over but many are continuing to live in abject poverty and hunger. Seeing the pictures and realizing that this is the reality our adopted children lived with before being brought to the orphanage is very sobering. Just this evening, I made a quick run to Aldi to stock up before the weekend. I drove in my heated car and quickly loaded up my cart from well stocked shelves. I pulled out my debit card to pay for the groceries...how much I take for granted every day. How much we have to be grateful for....Lord, forgive me for complaining....
We are currently planning to write a letter to this family to share the motivation behind our giving. We are also praying about how to possibly impact this family in the months to come. The reality is Christmas has now passed and once their rice runs out, they will again have rumbling tummies. We want their bellies to be fed but more importantly we want this precious family to personally know "The Bread of Life".... the One who will satisfy their very souls. If you would like more information about this project please contact Julie Redman at redman611@verizon.net Julie and her family have a heart for Liberia, have adopted a son from Liberia, and have sponsored a young Liberian man for several years. They also have many trusted Christian contacts in Liberia making this "Rice Bowl"project possible.
You can also donate directly through Global Orphan Outreach by clicking on the "Rice Bowl" tab but please email Julie so she can send you pictures of the family who will receive your gift of rice. They will make use of any donation, no matter how 'small' and they will use100% of the proceeds to go toward the gift of rice. They will combine contributions to bless another family as soon as they have enough to do so. I was impressed with the speed in which our donation was processed, how efficiently the rice was delivered to Millie, and thankful for the many pictures which were sent to us via email. Julie has graciously and promptly responded to my many emails requesting details regarding this project so if you have any questions at all, feel free to email her directly. Thanks for stopping by.

This is Millie inside her house with her children: Seydah, Doris, and Jesse. One of the children attends a government sponsored school and her trek to and from school takes 4 hours each day!

This is the view of Millie's home... How convicted I am for complaining about clutter and unfinished projects~

The inside of their home...notice it is not watertight so when the Liberian rainy season comes, they are not protected from the elements.

The surrounding community~

Millie sells charcoal to provide for her family. She makes $1 profit per bag and often has to buy rice a few cups at a time. Most of her extended family perished in the Civil War so she has no one else to assist her at this time.

Counting my blessings and grateful for the opportunity our family has to make a small difference,

A whirlwind week....

2009-12-22T05:38:00.031-08:00

I love this time of year for so many reasons. I love our Advent and Christmas traditions which focus us back to the "reason for the season". I especially love a break from our typical school days. Alas, the day opens up to this home school mom when I am not consumed with keeping all those balls in the air simultaneously. My absolute favorite perk of this season is spending time with the friends we do not get to see on a regular basis and opening up our home for hospitality. I save these weeks for scheduling special play dates with these friends and their families... we are rich indeed!

Mercy and G enjoyed a tea party with our new friends, the E family... we met them during the homeschool soccer season. The little boys were off rolling around on the floor wrestling with the brother of these sweet girls. What a fun visit we had and I enjoyed the time I had to get to know my new friend, C better while our kiddos played!

The little boys were busy ALL day planning the 'Mario and Luigi' Show... they chose costumes, made signs and the girls made 'tickets' with seat numbers...too funny:) These 2 are hysterical together and had us rolling with their antics. G is in the background holding up an 'Applause' sign. Another benefit to the break from our school schedule is the kids can really get creative (that is when they are not complaining of being bored)...when I remind them we can whip out the books in a moment's notice, they usually find something to do in a hurry :)

On Wednesday evening, our care group gathered at our home and we went out caroling to a few of the neighbors. We only made it to 3 houses due to the cold...and yes, that is our son, dressed in shorts! After caroling, we headed back to our house for yummy refreshments and fun just being together~

On Friday, we helped the DiF family who had just moved the day before into their new abode. The Kach and Di families also were there and between all of us and the kiddos, we had some significant workers. Here the kiddos are enjoying a snack after a few hours of yardwork, furniture moving, and box unpacking. What a blessing to have the time to serve another friend in this way while making memories in the process~

On Friday evening we had the Kachs over for the 3rd annual celebration of our Liberian children's homecoming...while it was a few weeks late for Mercy, Odesco, and Jenkins, it happened to be 3 years to the day since Felicia's homecoming...perfect timing! I still stand in awe at how the Lord sovereignly led both of our families to adopt from Liberia at the same time. What a gift they are to us!

The Kach and B kiddos....all 10 of them!

Here they are trying to look 'serious' ...celebrating 3 years together!!
Go here to MamaK's blog to see the remarkable change in our children in just 3 years!!

Then came the BIG storm on Saturday!

The first thing I heard Saturday morning were the squeals of our very excited children as they peered outside their windows at the Winter Wonderland.
Odesco has been dubbed 'marshmallow man' in his puffy coat...What fun he had enjoying this white fluffy stuff!

After Daddy and the big guys did some shoveling to try to stay ahead of the storm, we all took a walk to the local hill for some sledding. We were joined by a few neighbors too...

The other sleds were a bit disappointing but this tube which had been gathering dust for many years, finally came in handy!!

L was ready to head home before the others so P decided to join us for the trek back. The snow was so deep it made it difficult for L to plod on...P gave him a much appreciated ride :)

After dropping L off at home, P went back outside and began shoveling out our neighbor's sidewalk without being asked...gotta love a boy who takes initiative :) He certainly has taken on my hubby's heart to serve. What a blessing to see that in action~

It was great to have some slow down snuggle time during the storm too :)

One disappointing aspect of the storm were the plans that had to be canceled due to poor travel conditions. Mimi and Pop-Pop were supposed to visit us for their annual gingerbread house decorating tradition...fortunately, I had all the supplies so the kiddos went to town decorating (and eating!)...(but it wasn't the same without Mimi and Pop-Pop)

When we awakened Sunday, the storm was almost over...now the great digout began! Everyone played a part...after our cars/walkways/driveway were cleared, M and the big boys moved on to the neighbors, then a single mom's in our neighborhood. It took most of the morning and early afternoon for them to do this...

We ended the day with a gathering at the Y's home with a few other families...

Yesterday, our special friends the McD's who we see maybe twice a year, trekked over the bridge for a visit...

We always enjoy our time with them...

What a fun, friend -filled, snowy week!!
How grateful our family is to be so rich with friends!

Remembering His Grace...

2009-12-16T20:03:00.010-08:00

Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders you have done. The things you planned for us no one can recount to you; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare.
Psalm 40:5

Twenty years ago today, my hubby and I were married. I am so grateful for this man and these precious years we have lived together. What a gift the Lord gave me in him; a gift I do not deserve! Cyber Boy(our 2nd born) schemed with me to put together a slide show chronicling the past 20 years in order to surprise my one and only. Of course this project was a "hopeful"on my summer to do list but did not get completed until 5:00PM today!! Last night while M was out of the house, I pulled out every photo album since before our engagement. My heart was undone as I perused the photos which archived our life together and considered the many ways the Lord has shown Himself faithful to us again and again. Through the joys and victories as well as the challenges and sorrows, this theme prevails:
He is faithful, He is good, and we have been continuously lavished with His mercies. We deserve NONE of this yet we are recipients of it all day in and day out...what amazing grace.

Our pastor is taking our church through an excellent series on Nehemiah and on Sunday the theme of the message was "Remembering Grace". His main point was that reviewing our history renews our commitment to God. I'd encourage you to slow down during this busy season and take a moment to consider how He has worked marvelous deeds in your own life over the years...it will do your heart good, I promise!

Truly, the wonders He has done are too many to declare...the slide show below is just a meager attempt to chronicle His hand in our life over the past 20 years...
I'll warn you it's a bit long~ it was hard to cram 20 years of living into a few minutes! The kids really got a kick out of Daddy's humongous glasses and my changing hairstyles -styles sure have changed in 20 years:)

Thanks for celebrating with us!!
With a grateful heart,
MamaB

Going, going, gone....

2009-12-05T16:07:00.005-08:00

G decided a few months ago that she would like to donate her hair to "Locks of Love" the day after our homeschool play. Wednesday morning she awoke to wavering feelings about this...then she convinced herself that some little girl would be blessed by her donation, so off we went to the Haircuttery. This is the 2nd time she has done this...We are so proud of her and love her new 'do'!!

Before...

During....

After the chop but before the style...

Voila :)

Celebrating 3 years as a family of 8!

2009-12-04T10:42:00.018-08:00

Last evening we had a memorable family night celebrating Mercy and Odesco's 3 year homecoming anniversary (a day late). We ate a variety of appetizer/finger foods in the living room with the tree lit, candles burning, and Christmas music playing. We each shared a favorite memory surrounding their homecoming. It blessed me to hear the older boys share memories of Odesco's first smile and how excited we all were when we finally saw his pearly white teeth. Then we watched the video of the airport footage and their first week at home. It is unbelievable to see how much they have grown and changed physically in just 3 years... I am so grateful to have this footage--it was such fun hearing their voices and their thick indecipherable accents!

Earlier this week, I had told my hubby that I'd like to start a new annual December tradition idea I had read about: a 'Christmas picnic'...just a simple time to slow down as a family to create a memory. It fit perfectly with the anniversary of the kids homecoming, so a new B family tradition was born :) We look forward to gathering with the Kachs later this month to celebrate with Jenkins and Felicia as well.

After we viewed the video and pictures last night,Our Cyber boy, C was inspired to create the slide show below of Mercy and Odesco's homecoming day and initial weeks at home. I love the song he chose...it is so fitting.

Those of you close to us(or those of you who have perceptively read between the lines of my blog posts!) know that there have been many dark and trying days as we continue to transition, yet in spite of this, we believe with all our hearts that God chose these precious children to become a part of our family. It is His perfect wisdom and sovereign goodness that brought us together. Even the darkest day and my unbelieving heart can not compare to the splendor of His amazing grace which sustains and carries us through it all.

In closing, I wanted to share a quote I recently read which resonates in my heart and really summarizes one of the key lessons I have been learning over these past 3 years.

There is a big difference between being insufficient and using our insufficiency as an excuse to give up.We are all insufficient."The ability to acknowledge our insufficiency is what allows us to tap into Christ's all sufficiency and surpa-abundancy." (from page 23 of Homeschool Supermom-Not!)

Thanks for stopping by and for all of your support over these past 3+ years as we anticipated and prepared for Mercy and Odesco's arrival and now as we continue to walk the path that God has set before us.

Good food always makes an impact with this clan :)

Every anniversary we try to find a significant ornament for Mercy and Odesco to add to their collection.

Slowly their collection is growing...we may need a larger tree to fit them all (just kidding)

Goofy boy :)!

I am so aware of my insufficiency and so grateful for His all sufficiency and supra~abundance!!

Run for African Relief...

2009-11-28T07:04:00.014-08:00

We wanted to thank you for your support of Covenant Mercies through our run in Saratoga. It was a fun time with over 2500 participants in the Memorial race on Thanksgiving morning. We finished the 5K in 32:56. Because of your generosity we were able to raise over $600 for the children of Africa. Over the past few months there have been a total of 22 other runners participating in the Run for African Relief at various venues throughout the country and through these combined efforts, over $16,000 have been raised for Covenant Mercies and their work with the children of Africa! If you would like more information about Covenant Mercies, you can visit their website' here. Below are pictures of race day!

These cool gizmos attached to our shoes and actually registered when we crossed the finish line ~

The mob before the race started...over 2500 people participated. It took a little while to even cross the starting line as we all moved together in one big blob!

Phew, we made it...

One of my brother's friend snapped this picture moments after my hubby and I crossed the finish line. My brother was already recovered and waiting for us...if we are able to visit again over Thanksgiving we'll have to attempt this run again~ maybe with more training, I'll actually keep up with my bro'!! I'm sure my hubby could have but he stuck by my side :)

After the race, there was free food and water offered to the participants in a local hotel right near the finish line...it felt good to drink,eat, and sit!

The day after...in our matching "Turkey Trot" shirts :)

Thanks for stopping by!!

Happy Birthday, Mercy!!

2009-11-14T12:51:00.013-08:00

Mercy's birthday celebrations took place over 2 days. The Thursday before she turned 8, both sets of grandparents joined us for our traditional birthday celebration. That evening, Mercy went home with Mimi and Pop-Pop and she enjoyed them all to herself for an entire day. On her actual birthday we were able to go to Coco Key for free and then Miss. Britt came home with us to present Mercy with a very special group effort gift which I will tell you about in another post.Our spicy girl certainly adds life to the B household. She can light up a room with her smile and when she is around, there is sure to be something interesting taking place :) She is bold and unafraid of meeting new people...In my mind's eye, I can see her one day in the future, living up to her middle name, Evangeline, which means 'bringer of good news'. I pray that she will one day take the good news of Jesus Christ to many. Right now, we pray and trust that the Lord will settle the issues of her heart and help her to come to terms with leaving Liberia and fully embracing her life here. It has been a challenging year for her but what a comfort to know that God is at work and that He is altogether wise and good in sovereignly adding our Mercy to the B family!

Happy Birthday to Mercy!!

Mercy loves this game Go Travel Africa-It is similar to 'Go Fish" but you ask for neighboring countries-it definitely hones the geography skills...I purchased it before Mercy and Odesco came home and their reading skills are finally at a level where we can all play it. I'm grateful that Mercy loves to learn about Africa...she asked me to teach her the Geography Song for Africa. I hope to learn it with her this summer when I have a few more braincells to work with!

The birthday girl with her godly grandparents...what a rich heritage she has!

Mercy requested a sunflower cake and Mimi obliged...isn't it pretty?! In case you're wondering,the flower petals are made from heated and flattened Starbursts. Grandmom B also brought her famed brownies and pumpkin bread...yes lots of carbs and sweets but no B birthday celebration is complete without these goodies!

Hot sauce...only Mercy would be thrilled to receive this in her gift bag!!

Mercy and Miss Britt at Coco Keys...we were able to enjoy several hours there with a group of friends and we all were admitted for Free!!

Here are a few pictures from Mercy's special time with Mimi and Pop-Pop...

Mercy is creating a bag out of fabric that was given to us from Liberia.

Mimi is a great instructor...

What a fun memory for Mercy...to make this bag out of a pair of jeans with Mimi...just like G did on her birthday in April.

Homeward bound with her homemade crafts~

On their way home, Mimi and Pop-Pop treated Mercy to a dinner at Friendlys...she was thrilled that the staff sang to her !

Happy Birthday, Mercy!!!

He Redeems the Day!

2009-11-10T13:36:00.004-08:00

Odesco was having a rough day (putting it mildly) and he needed to stick close to his Mama while the others went to Mrs. Di's for a few hours so I could run errands. Needless to say, my boy was NOT a happy camper...he was sullen and mad. On our way to the Di's, I confess my heart was lamenting..."can't we just have one peace filled day without meltdowns, conflict, and stress?!"After dropping the others off, we stopped at BJ's and I felt the Lord prompt me to give him what he did not deserve...so we shared a soda together. Slowly, he started to soften. He helped me run errands...pushed the cart, counted the cans of pumpkin, kept track of how much I spent at Produce Junction, and then we came home to make Mercy's belated birthday meal of meatloaf. Odesco was in his glory as he helped me prepare it without having to share the task...my smiley boy was back :) Sure, there are consequences for the choices made earlier in the day but the Lord redeemed it for both of us...I'd love peace and smooth sailing days but then the Lord would not have the opportunity to show up in all His glory...don't you just love it when the Lord redeems the day??

Adoption Benefit Concert

2009-11-10T05:09:00.003-08:00

Religion that God our father accepts as pure and fautless is to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
James 1:27

On Sunday evening our family attended an Adoption Benefit Concert for our very special friend, Miss K(Mr and Mrs. Di's oldest daughter), who is in the process of adopting a baby girl from Ethiopia. It was a night filled with beautiful music, sacred dance, worship, and God's heart for the oppressed and orphaned. Mercy and Odesco and many other adopted children had the privilege of participating in an Adoption Children's Choir (this is the 3rd time this group has performed). It was an amazing night celebrating the gift of adoption and reminded me once again of the miracle of adoption in our own lives.

Mercy and Miss K~

How precious it was to hear these children sing 'He knows My name"-what a powerful song!... there were children from China, Korea, Vietnam, Russia, and of course, Liberia :) They were all dressed in outfits from their countries of birth~

So thankful to be adopted into God's family and to have the privilege to take part in the miracle of adoption in our own home~

Snapshots of grace...

2009-11-08T05:42:00.003-08:00

Behold how good and pleasant it is when brothers(and sisters!) live together in unity!
Psalm 133:1

Taste testing my attempts at Liberian Potato Green soup...they conferred and decided it tastes just like they remember :)

Quietly drawing together before bedtime ~

Mercy helping G with her hair after bath time~
She combed it out and even blew it dry!

Because our 4 youngest are so close in age, share rooms, and are together almost all the time, sweet times of 'dwelling in unity' do not go unappreciated or unnoticed!! Thank you Lord for another snapshot of grace :)

"Hair Help" provided once again...

2009-10-23T16:53:00.001-07:00

In spite of all my reading and well intentioned preparation prior to Mercy and Odesco's homecoming, I am still learning how to manage their African locs...I must admit, this one area of caring for them has been one of the most challenging aspects of our transition. The Lord knew I needed help and over the past 3 years has sent Miss Hope, Miss Britt, and now another special friend Mrs. V, to assist me! A few weeks ago, after we removed the yarn extensions from Mercy's head, , Miss Britt graciously gave up a good part of her day to braid Mercy's natural hair (no extensions). Unfortunately, her hair was so knotted and snarled that there was only time for the front and sides to be put in a style. On Wednesday, I 'picked the brain' of my friend, Mrs. V who is quite experienced with ethnic hair ... she has had plenty of practical experience with 4 daughters and her own head :) She bravely invited me to come with all 4 'littles' for a day of hair care. Her hubby kept an eye on the kiddos(who played with their brood), as Mrs. V went to work. He even made snacks and dinner....I told him I felt like I was at an upscale salon :)!! We were there for 8 hours, and I was so blessed by their heart to serve this clueless Mama. How kind of the Lord to know just what I need, when I need it. Mrs. V was able to cut Odesco's hair without giving him a complete buzz, which is usually what we have to do when it gets this long. She showed me how to trim it with scissors first and then how to pick it out making it possible to use the clippers with the guard on. Odesco was thrilled to be leaving with hair on his scalp as he was anticipating a 'buzz'!! Mercy had her hair relaxed and Mrs. V painstakingly worked through all the knots and snarls like a pro. She trimmed off all the dead ends after she blew it dry and flat ironed it. Mercy was thrilled with her 'new look'. The most amazing thing is she can now actually get a comb through her hair with ease!! Enjoy the photos...

Look out Tina Turner....the eve before 'hair day'.

Yep...it was a desperate situation and once again, the Lord provided this clueless momma with much needed help.

Some of 'the girls' at the beginning of 'hair day'

The girls keeping busy...

12 year old Miss M attempted to prepare Mercy's head by combing out some of the snarls prior to Mrs. V applying the relaxer. We thought maybe Mercy would be a bit more cooperative with Miss M working the comb!

Miss.M with her adorable 18 month old baby sister~

These boys need a haircut!!! This is before Mrs. V put her hairstyling skills to work on DJ's and Odesco's heads! Notice how long Odesco's hair is...he is pulling the slack out of one of his curly locs!!

AFTER!!! What handsome fellows!!! (Odesco's forehead is still healing from the nasty knock he took a few weeks ago) Mrs V. flip flopped between working on Mercy's hair and the boys...she had a very productive hair day!

Oh, the drama!!...Step one...applying the relaxer

Blowing it dry and working out the knots! After this, she flat ironed Mercy's hair.

Miss M is keeping an antsy Mercy entertained during her trim

Mrs. V demonstrated the "wrap"...a new way to prepare Mercy's hair before bed...we put a cap on over this to try to preserve her new do.

Mrs. V and Mercy...they look like sisters in their matching shirts!
Thanks so much, Mrs. V for this day long labor of love!!!

Voila...Isn't she lovely?! :)

Wow, what a difference 8 hours makes!!

Now off to 'wrap' Mercy's hair before bed!!
With a grateful heart,

Just what I needed....

2009-10-22T13:38:00.011-07:00

Today was like a cool drink of water in a dry and parched land. We are in the throes of our homeschool schedule. Life is full as I attempt to juggle the at home schoolwork and the HDO loads of all 6, in addition to preparing for the classes that I am assigned to teach. Add in the daily routine of keeping our home functioning and I was beginning to feel the 'cost' of homeschooling and mothering more than I'd like to admit. This morning we dropped P and C at the Di's who have graciously invited them to join them on a trip to the Poconos for a couple of days.(Yes, they will have to do some school while away!-another perk of homeschooling-they can easily pack up their work!) There were many tears shed by L who misses his big brothers terribly when they are away. (Truth is, I also miss them greatly and can't believe how quickly they are growing up!) Mercy and Odesco were struggling with 'it's not fair' attitudes regarding their big brothers' opportunity for fun with our special friends . All this to say: this morning was a bit draining as I tried to deal with all the emotion being spewed forth. I attempted to help each child to see that they have an opportunity to rejoice for their brothers....and I vainly tried to convince L that the fact he misses his brothers so much is a good thing...that means he has a special friendship with them...he wasn't buying it as the tears continued to flow!!

I decided to let the 'littles' have a break from their school book work after we returned from the big boys' drop off. We watched part of the WWI film," Sergeant York" since we are studying this period in our history curriculum. Soon after an early lunch, we had to leave the house in order to arrive on time to their homeschool soccer game. This was the first time in 3 years that I did not get lost on the way to this particular field... yeah, things were starting to look up :) The weather was amazing today... blue skies, warm sunshine, mild temperatures.... the trees are just beginning their autumn display of color and the 40 minute trip to the field was filled with, "ooh's and ahh's" as we all marveled in the glory surrounding us. The kids had a blast playing soccer and after the games, we headed over to the playground. I left the kiddos there with my friend Kim so that I could bring the van around and as I walked, my heart was overwhelmed with gratitude as I took in the view of the many homeschool families with their children of varying ages, in the middle of the afternoon, enjoying a beautiful fall day outside together. After I pulled the van around and the kiddos were loaded up, I rolled down my window and said to my friend, " Can you believe we get to do this?? We are so blessed!" To which she answered, "Yes, and we get to do it with our friends!"...I reminded her " And grandchildren!" as she had just been visiting with her 2 sweet granddaughters at the park moments earlier.
While I will admit, mothering and homeschooling is probably the hardest work I have ever set my hands to, His grace truly is sufficient and I am in awe of the privilege that I get to do this!!!
With a grateful and refreshed heart,
MamaB