fAmiLy FotO

Andrew is Seven!

Pictures (not in order of days events)

Andrew chose to have a chocolate car cake!

Went to an Orphan Soul Concert at the end of the night. They played "With or Without You" OS version! Will be posting that song later for my fellow U2 friends! Greg and Mandy, drummer and lead vocalist of OS, are the children's godparents.

Our beautiful three on March 21st!

I made Andrew a special breakfast. It was different, at least! (extra suger)

Papi and Andrew

Almost Seven!

Andrew is almost seven! Only 2 more days! We actually started the countdown on Mar 1st! He is really excited! This is his second birthday with us, and instead of doing a party with family and friends he has elected to have a family fun weekend. (This is when the family rents a room at a hotel with a pool. We play in the pool, open presents, eat cake, spend the night, and then, find something fun to do in that town/city.) However, there has been a death in our church and we'll have to postpone the hotel. We still plan on doing some fun things like presents & cake, and Orphan Soul Concert. Next week, we'll hit the hotel and go to the Exploreum!

I was thinking on the way home from work today... "Geeze, before children, how did we spend our evenings? Sometimes with friends & family, and then alone... geeze, the house sure was quiet! What a difference children make! I wouldn't want it any other way... God thank you for the opportunity to parent and be a mom. I am blessed."

A Visit with Flat Stanley!

Flat Stanley came to visit us! What a fun surprise! He came all the way from Webster, NY to visit! We had lots of fun while he was here. He will leave tomorrow for the Arizona desert before going home to Tennessee.

Take a look at some of the adventures we had...

*We went to a movie produced by someone in our church. It's main character was a cow named Bossie who shared the gospel.

*We taught Flat how to play Hide-N-Seek. Diego would giggle and give him away, but they all had fun! :)

*Tatiana took him to her Soccer Party and jumped around in the inflatables.

This was a great idea! I must get the book and read it with the kids. We may try to do our own Flat Stanley and send it to some of you. Have any of you ever participated in a Flat Stanley project? :)

A Mohawk Moment!

Andrew has needed a haircut for a week now. I told Ben the other night we should give him a Mohawk. Well, Andrew has really been resistant to letting me cut his hair since Papi has taken him to the Salon with him the past few times. Surprisingly, tonight, however, he wanted ME to cut his hair. So, I got out the clippers! And we had some fun!

He was so funny! He really liked it. Ben didn't. I thought he was cute! I said, "Oh, Andrew! That is rockin'!" He ran into Beamie's room and said, "Hey, Beamie! I'm rockin'!" I made him shower the gel out and then commenced to giving him a "buzz" cut "like in Colombia."

to the moon and back

A new thing Diego and Tatiana say:

Kids: "Mami, I love you to the moon and back."

Mami: "Well, I love you to the moon and back times 100!"

Kids: "No! I love you to the moon and back 10-100 times!"

And it goes on and on, and of course, they come up with numbers I've never heard of, and I usually end it with a "Gosh, that's a lot!" And then they say, "And I love Papi, too!" :)

I was just telling someone yesterday how much that blessed my heart! And then I imagined how God might feel if we boasted about our love for Him as my children do us... I can only imagine He would be wearing a HUGE smile! So, when's the last time you told the Father how much you love him? You are so special to God that He gave His only Son, Jesus Christ, so that you may live. His love for us is greater than we may ever comprehend. Thank you, Jesus 'to the moon and back!'

The Conversation...

Tatiana and I shared a sweet little conversation one night last week. It was so special. I dreamed of conversations in her room where we'd lie on the bed together and look at the mural on the wall that her G-Mami (Godmother) painted and talk about the future of possibilities and hope and what lies behind the gate... or who has the key to her heart (referencing the heart lock on the fence)... As a therapist, I could use that mural as a launch for many intimate discussions...

G-Mami painting before the children arrived. 5/2007

G-Mami & Tatiana 2/2009

Well, we had one! It wasn't really deep, but it was special. It went something like this:

Tatiana: Mami, why did G-Mami do that on my wall?


Mami: Oh, Tatiana... Me and G-Mami loved you very much, even before we knew you! We prayed for you and talked about you. We loved you very much! A lot like we do for your sister.


Tatiana: Ah...


Mami: Mami and G-Mami wanted to do something really special for you while you were still in Colombia before you came home... So, G-Mami painted this. It is beautiful like you!

Tatiana: Yeah...

Me & My Girl

That was it! Sweet! It was the first of many more conversations to come.

I love my daughter! I love all of my children! God gave ME the desires of my heart! I am blessed. I am so blessed. These children were set aside for us AND we were chosen just for them! It was a "God-thang!" and I am forever grateful!

Tatiana's School Project-Colombia

Thanks to all who contributed to the project with photos and other neat things... I will try to acknowledge everyone: Julie E, Julia C, Sherri C, Brooke H, and Jan H. Sherri gave us the Chivas when we went to visit her. I hope to ride one next time we visit Colombia! Tatiana will get to be "Teacher of the Day!" We have some Shakira music in Spanish, also. I hope to get some roses, also, but time again may elude me. Anyways, it was fun finding pics. Colombia is really a beautiful country! I love Colombia!

Ben's Ordination

Saturday, February 28th, Ben was ordained as Lead Pastor of Worship Center, Pascagoula. Ben has served as a Pastor at the Worship Center for over 13 years. It was a very special day for him and the people of the Worship Center. Bro. Horace Vinson was also recognized as an overseer. The next day, after this service, we had 14 people who were healed in the Church Service. Since then, God continues to put people in his path that are being healed. It's pretty wild... Please pray for us as this is a new adventure with greater responsibility and more pressure than ever before. Thanks!

Grandparents' Visit from Minneapolis

Diego put together a puzzle with Grandma! He absolutely is fascinated by cars, airplanes, and boats!

Story time! My favorite time of the day. This time Andrew read. Go Dog Go. He did a fantastic job! His reading has come a long way since I posted last year.

Funny, the things that fascinate the little ones?

Andrew & Grandpa

It was great to have Ben's father and Sandy, his step-mom, down for Ben's ordination this past Saturday. This was only the second time the children have seen them. They enjoyed their time with them. It was filled with church, bowling, and Chuck E. Cheese adventures!

bLOG wITHDRAWalS?

Not sure if I'm really having blog withdrawals or experiencing apathy. It seems like a while since I've updated. There's a lot and then nothing really at all to talk about... Do you ever feel like you are like the hamster running ceaselessly on the wheel? No time to "do nothing?" There have been a few things that I've thought about wanting to blog here lately, just no time to collect all my thoughts... but maybe soon?

I'd love to post about my thoughts on my own struggle with "getting pregnant", "the rest of the story"-concerning our time in Colombia, family misconceptions -including my own, the fight with the school systems concerning ELL, family fun ideas, and so much more...

Something to ponder: Why would God call feet beautiful?