A child-like faith

So the other day I got schooled by my son. And it really makes me proud that he called me out.

But first things first - I need to announce that if you haven't noticed the side thermometer - we MET our goal of $5630 for our referral fee!! In little increments of $10-$30 from Olivia's store!! And a few sweet donations to boot.

A referral fee is the last amount of money you pay to 'seal the deal' when you get your baby's photo and history - THE CALL. The money helps pay court costs, medical costs, and everyday orphanage care for our child.

Anyway, you get THE CALL and then have to return your acceptance papers and $5630 in just a few days. So to have this money in the bank thrills me.

So when the boys found out that a holiday market at their school had pushed us to $5628 they were so excited and wanted to know - "NOW can we go get her!". Well no, not now. We still have to wait til we're number one and then we'll be able to give them the money to accept her. (which by the way, we are now #12, I think)

To which Seth asked, "so then how much more money do we need?"

Me: "Well, we need a minimum of about $10,000. And that's just for me and your daddy to go on the first trip and me on the second."

Him: (in a huff) "so you're just hoping that you'll get enough money for you and dad to go!!"

Me: "It's not really hoping Seth. I have faith that God will provide enough for us to go."

Him: (now mad) "so you don't have enough faith that God will give us enough money for us all to go see her! You should have enough faith that he can give enough for us all to go!!!"


To which I had to give it to him - yes - I would love for my kids to be able to go with us to meet their sister, play with the children at the orphanages, see poverty first-hand, and hopefully birth in them a desire and love for God's children who are so often forgotten. I would love for them to go on this trip so that they will never forget.

But no - I guess I don't have the faith that God would provide for those tickets too. Cause that's a lot of money. And He's already done so much for us. How much more can I ask Him for??

However, as I told Tony - what lesson will I be teaching Seth if I push him to dream small? Isn't this entire adoption a huge dream to begin with? And what if he really does have God telling his little heart that he will go on this trip? And I tell him he needs to just ignore that?

So the question is now - do we take that big leap of faith and tell him "come on buddy, let's go get that passport..." or do we sit back and wait to see if God moves on that front too?

Being an adult stinks. I wish I had the child-like version of this faith journey all the time..

Bloggy Christmas Cookie Exchange

Oh, I am such a sucker for anything sweet...

My adoption buddy at "My Crazy Adoption" just started her 1st annual Bloggy Christmas Cookie Exchange and hey, anything that does not involve me putting any brain cells into a real post, but keeps my peeps coming back to visit every once in a while - I can go for.

So here is the simple, but glorious, chocolatey cookie dessert that I promise you will thank me for. Cause every time I make it, everyone loves it and I get the credit, although my friend Amy actually shared the recipe with me. So go ahead, make it simple and then rake in the compliments for the easiest taste of Heaven ever:

Cookie Dough Heaven:
1 large refrigerated choc. chip cookie dough roll (or two regular size)
1 cream cheese (or low-fat version)
1 egg
3/4 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 350. Press 1/2 of the dough down in a 9X13 pan until covers most of bottom. Mix cheese, egg, and sugar and spread over the top of the dough. Drop crumbles of the remaining dough all over top. (it wont cover it all, that's fine). Bake around 30 min or until cookies on top are beginning to brown. Best when served room temp.

And.... as an added bonus - my famous homemade chocolate chip cookie recipe -
A few years back, I had a cute little questionnaire where I asked the boys questions about their mom. What do you love most about your mom? She makes us cookies. What does your mom do best? make cookies. What is your favorite thing that your mom cooks? Her cookies.

Mind you, they were interviewed separately. So I'm thinking that a little extra effort for the homemade variety has scored me a few brownie points. However, after typing the above, I'm preeetty sure that the first lady now has me on her hit list and will be contacting DSS to report my poor parenting - as everyone knows, we should not show our love through our food.

Home-Made Choc. Chip Cookies:
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 egg
2 1/4 cups a.p. flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1-2 cups semi-sweet choc chips (1 if you want to taste the cookie, 2 if you are a chocolate addict like me)

Preheat to 375. Mix sugars, butter, and egg. Stir in flour, baking soda, and salt. Batter will be stiff. Stir in chips.

Drop by rounded tablespoons onto baking clay, 2 inches apart. Bake 8-10 minutes.

**to me, the secret to a perfect cookie is the baking clay. It allows the heat to go through the cookie instead of charring the bottom or having hard bottom, soft top cookies. It's just perfect - thank you Pampered Chef...

Our Father Came

In February, 2010 I became engrossed in the story of a father's love. The Haiti earthquake had just hit and news bombarded us from every side. But in the midst of the chaos, one story made it's way to the forefront of my mind. The story of a father, who went to Haiti, to rescue his son. A son that they had been planning for, preparing for, and dreaming of for years. He saw his son in trouble, and he went to bring him home.

Ernest and Ronel Parker then slept 9 days on a hard Embassy floor - waiting to come home to their family. With disaster and death all around them - the son clung to his father, his hero father, asking "we go now?"

On his mother Debra's blog, she wrote of the day Ernest left for Haiti: "He did not have an ounce of fear in his body. He was more determined than I may have ever seen him before. The look in his eye was intense and his heart was beating just a bit faster. He was going to fight for his son. He did not care where he would sleep. He did not care what he would eat. He was not scared of what danger there could be. Nothing would stop him. A father's love was the drive behind the strength."

A Father's Love...... this time of year, as we celebrate the season - we see twinkling lights, wrapped gifts, and we picture the sweet, sweet picture of an infant in a manger.

And while that story should be celebrated, I think just as much, we need to focus on the impact of that sweet child. That it was not the birth of the babe that impacts us, but the arms of the Father coming to bring us home to our family.He did not care what he would eat. He did not care where he would sleep. He was not afraid of the dangers that he might face. He was coming to bring his children home.

But still, do we realize? Our world is no less broken than Haiti still is today. Broken by the sins of greed and hatred. Littered with the trash of immorality and perversion. Full of plague and pestilance, growing day by day. Spiritual death is all around us and increases every day.

And yet our father came to suffer through those days to bring us home.

And how often do we, instead, of being comforted in his arms, tell him, "just a moment, I need to stay outside and play in this rubble."

How often do we, instead of running and yelling from the roof-tops - "Our father is here to take us home, he will take all who come to him!!" Do we instead keep his gift to ourselves as we are ashamed of our status as his children.

How often do we, instead of talking to him and loving him, do we instead, stay pent up in our own rooms until Sunday, when we might emerge to tell him hello and then go back to our own cares?

Christ did not come to be a babe in the manger. Christ came to bring us home. To rescue us.

And he did not come to have us sing quick 'hello', but to worship him for the gift of our adoption. And to tell the world of his love. And to bring others into his arms and out of the destruction. To show love to those that have no one else to help them.

Spiritual death is all around. And you never know when the walls of judgement will fall down on top of you. When the plague of sin will destroy your joy, your health, and your life. Only through Christ can you have the peace that no matter how hard this world is, no matter how bad you may have once been, you are still loved, and it will be alright. And that he is still here, ever present, always watching - and doing miracles in the lives of his children. He is alive and active.

Do you know who your Father is? Because over 2000 years ago, he came so that he could take you home. All you have to do is run to his arms.

3 'Mounth' DTE

3 Month DTE, and no exclamation marks this month. It has been pretty uneventful with our agency pretty much at a stand-still for the last month. Unfortunately, one of the main feeder orphanages is going through a re-licensing process which has cause many families to be stuck in limbo until the certification is complete. Which causes us little people underneath them to also be stuck in limbo. As no new babies can be brought in while there are still babies who haven't been able to pass court and go home yet... However, one month more of waiting means one more month closer to seeing Olivia, so we still celebrated, albeit a few days late. The flavor of the month, chosen by Addison was:

New York Super Fudge Chunk

Yummmmmy. As you can clearly see.. This, my friends, has got to be THE messiest priss pot there is. Every meal ends up on her clothing, hands, arms, toes, you name it. But as I said in the last post - chocolate makes us happy!!!

It all comes back to chocolate or Charlie Brown

Just for fun since I still haven't found my writing ability. Although I did shorten the quiz a bit as I was getting long-winded:

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? I can't say I've ever had Egg Nog but just the thought of drinking eggs kinda makes me throw up a little in my mouth. You can also hold the hot chocolate. In the way of coffee, I'm in chocolatey heaven with just enough Mint Chocolate Truffle to turn the color from black to a beautiful caramel. A little coffee with my cream please. (with a Lactate on the side) And I have to say I am committing adultery on my old love affair with Peppermint Mocha. But Mr. Truffle now has my heart.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Santa declines to wrap the Wages gifts. Primarily because Santa is a cheap scape who buys most of her gifts from consignment sales. So if they are never wrapped but always open, one can always pass good-as-new as brand-spankin-new. It's just easier on the elves all the way around. Cuts down on production costs.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? white. white. white. On the tree, cause I love to lay on the couch, take a lactate, drink a mug full of mint flavored cream, and watch the stars twinkle. Stars just don't twinkle in red and green, it just ain't right. And that goes for outside icicles as well. If I saw ice hanging from my roof in shades of red, I would be wondering what nice Southerner shot Rudolf on my rooftop. It just ain't right..

4. Do you hang mistletoe? There is no need. We needed medical intervention to stop this baby producing mill.

5. When do you put your decorations up? The weekend after Thanksgiving. Although at the moment half opened boxes are littered all around my house as my children have decided that their mother is either too lazy or too slow to actually get the house decorated. So the children's rooms are decked the halled. The rest of my house, not so much. Unless you count two empty Christmas tree boxes in front of my fireplace and bubble wrap sprinkled all around.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish? turkey stuffing. Yummmmm. Why we only make it 2 times a year is beyond me?

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child? making the rounds at all the grandparent's houses and being given MnMs and chocolate covered cherries. Due to divorce and healthy grandparents, we were able to know 3 sets of grandparents and 3 sets of great-grandparents. That's a lot of MnMs to be had.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I thought I had things figured out in 4th grade until we were in the middle of building a house, living off of hot dogs and bologna sandwiches. When I got a new bike from Santa - I KNEW he had to be real cause that bike must have costed at least $500!! (says the 4th grader with no concept of money)

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Not normally. Although I've picked up the tradition of giving the kids p.j.'s on Christmas Eve. Just cause I like cute Christmas morning pictures vs. pics of my scrawny boys hanging out of hand-me-down boxers.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? I've given each kid's room it's own tree to reduce all child interaction with my piece of art. Hey, don't judge me. I can smile at their Charlie Brown trees and smile at my carefully spaced holiday masterpiece.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? Loved it as it makes it's way to the Carolinas so infrequently that it is awesome to see how much joy my kids get out of a few stray flakes. Even better, last year's South Carolina blizzard came in one night, was enough to make snow men out of - and was gone by the next afternoon when the kids were playing in short sleeves. It's like a drive thru version of Frosty the snowman.

12. Can you ice skate? Coordination is not my strong suit. If you count standing up and then skidding on your rear, yes - I can skate. Just not on my feet.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? a couple years back Tony gave me a charcoal portrait of Seth drawn by our artist friend Noah. He was about 3 and it made me cry. First present to ever make me cry but I loved it.

14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? the babe in a manger that grew up to be my Daddy. The answer is always Jesus.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? do I have to choose just one? Although you can't go wrong with anything chocolate - I love the icebox fruit cake rolls my mom and I make. It's fruit cake with no cake involved, but lots of powdered sugar, graham crackers, and cherries.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? giving my kids ornaments every year that reflect their interests. They could care less, but I love doing it. And they love their personalized, self-decorated Charlie Brown trees.

17. What is your favorite Christmas Song? Mercy Me's version of Angels we have Heard on High. It's a song headache all season long.

18. Candy Canes: Yuck or Yum? could really care less. Unless they are ground and mixed with chocolate. Chocolate makes everything happy.

19. Favorite Christmas Show? Charlie Brown's Christmas. His tree makes me smile. Can ya tell??

Your turn!!!

An infestation!!!!!

The other morning I woke up to a rodent infestation.

They were everywhere.

In my jean drawers...


In my p.j. drawer....


Even on my bathroom ceiling....


And a week later, they haven't moved at all....

And why do I allow these miniature critters to continue to greet me every morning??

Because it cracks me up that such a plot could have been orchastrated by such a sweet little thing as this.... it just isn't possible.....



Or such an angelic face as this.... no way would HE have planned such an attack...



Angels. My little angels. That crack me up.

Although I may need to take down the bathroom mice as visitors may not find it as funny as I do that rodents are stuck to my ceiling. Real or not.

(And Braeden's black and blue forehead and cheek - Seth hit him with the dog lead. By accident. Because he was laying on the ground. And when I called Tony to tell him that we had just narrowly avoided another ER visit -- he immediately asked "what did Braeden do???" How did he know??)

The terrible 2's strikes again

Yes, I do realize my youngest is almost 5.

I'm talkin about ME.

You know, the one who has faith God will provide for this adoption..
until the due dates for payments loom near.

You know, the one who has faith that God has the perfect daughter destined for our family..
until I get down that it is taking so long.

You know, the one who has faith that God loves me..
until bad things happen.

Bad things like lay-offs. Again. The third time in the last year. Unless I've lost count, which is possible.

Last time was the week before Christmas. At least this time we had a month to go...
Last time I had a mini temper tantrum. O.k., a big, full-out, screaming-stamping-my-feet temper tantrum.

This time I had a mini melt down. O.k., a stay-in-my-pajamas-and-avoid-all-conversation-as-I-sit-in-a-corner-and-pout temper tantrum.

Last time, God provided another job in two days. And I chastised myself for my lack of faith. I even wrote a blog about how stupid I had been.

This time, God provided another job in three days. And so I am now chastising myself for my lack of faith. And writing a blog about it. So I can once again look back later at how immature my Christian walk can be.

We had been praying for him to get a better job where he could move up and be successful enough for me to scale back my hours more when the baby gets here. His last job was quickly showing itself to be a dead end. A big, fat dead end where a boss gives you no work to do, you beg for work to do, and he assures you it will come, not to worry about loosing your job. And then he lays you off the next morning.

This job has an exciting boss who is pumped about his partnership and is planning on growing and succeeding together. Kind of like we had been praying for. And silly me for worrying about God taking away his crappy job. And having a temper tantrum. And acting like a two-year old. You would think I would learn.

Another job in three days in a bad economy. It's kind of like He has a big plan which is better than mine isn't it?? You would think I would learn....