Yucky jobs

I finally did it.

I cleaned out the van.

No more jelly beans, animal crackers, cheerios, raisins, craisins, M&M's, and whatever else my children ate in the last 3 months.

It feels so good to go in and see vacuumed out carpets...not that they are factory clean, but one can always pretend.

I wish I knew someone who liked to clean vehicles...I would love to trade something(ie: I make a couple of freezer meals and they clean my car.) Someday I will meet that person.

Off to make supper. Tonight Carl and I are having crab legs while the girls are eating quesadillas. Everyone is very happy with the menu. (I love that they have no idea that crab legs are delicious...what they don't know at this point saves me a lot of money)

More waiting...

We did get an update on the boys today. I can't believe they are only 21 and 22 lbs! By comparison Adie is 30+ lbs.

We have more waiting in store. There were more rules added by the government. More letters need to be written and one extra meeting done before we can obtain a court date. All this needs to happen when they only have 3 or less days a week of electricity and they never know when they will have it. Pray for electricity!

I am a little sad because it will be at least another 2 weeks before we hear anything else.

The good news is that another family should be home soon so maybe we will get some more pictures of them. (They are so cute - you will fall in love with them once we can show you pictures.)

Praying for news

We are praying for a court date. We have heard nothing now from the agency for a month and the silence is deafening.

The courts may or may not close this year. If they close we are looking at not getting the boys until November at the earliest. This breaks my heart in many ways in which I cannot go into detail on this blog, but if you know me, you know why.

I am praying that there will be electricity in Ethiopia so things can get done over there.

God's timing is perfect. He has a mighty plan for our family.

Until the boys arrive home, I am enjoying the three little girls that God has already blessed us with.

Daddy date

Adie and Daddy went to the YMCA so they could go swimming together. Adie has had to painfully sit through swimming lessons all week without being able to swim. (She wears her swimsuit to Grace and Lydia's lessons and their teacher gracously lets her jump in once at the end of the class - just to say she went swimming)

She still is a rascal.

I was and still am packing to go Carl's family reunion at the lake cabin this weekend. Adie got into my makeup AGAIN! 3 eyeshadows and 1 blush scraped out onto the carpet. Some of you might have thought that we don't have that many stories anymore...nope...She still is a handful - mind you a cute handful. Lucky for her that I was so upset that all I could say was, "Adie we do NOT play with mommy's make-up." (I responded to her behavior...I didn't react. I really wanted to jump up and down and say, "Not my make-up again!"



As you can see I love Stanly Carpet cleaner and my Green machine. I think I got most of it out.

Note: Make sure you vaccum your carpet first! That is step 1. Step 2: clean with Stanly carpet cleaner. Step 3: Use the Green Bissel Machine.

Interview with Tom Davis

Here is an interview with Tom Davis. His book is the next one that I want to read - Fields of the Fatherless. He and his wife took a group of people to Russia to do a camp for orphans (they were 26 and 22 at the time with a 7 month old girl) They fell in love with a ten year old girl and went back one year later to adopt her. Now he works for Children's Hope Chest. This is an amazing ministry that partners with churches to truly adopt and orphanage - financially, spiritually, physically etc. They are concerned for all the children who age out of the orphanage and become a extremely sad statistic. (For example - as he states in his interview 70% of girls become apart of the sex trade) I would say, "Enjoy the interview," but I guess I should say, "Be humbled and let God work on your heart."

Cleaning party

Last night I went to an Essential Oil party and learned how to clean my house with non-toxic chemicals.

I have to admit that I am sold on the idea. I started cleaning my toilets this morning with baking soda and vinegar and it worked splendid. I used their sample of laundry detergent and loved it.

I am hoping that getting rid of the harmful chemicals will maybe help with my headaches that I have. (3-4 times a week) I always thought it was my thorn that I just needed to deal with, but maybe this will help. I know it will help Lydia's eczema.

At first glance it can look expensive to start, but I look at it as 1 doctor visit and I have it paid for. (You pay a lot out of pocket when you own your own business...there is no such thing as $10 co-pay for a quick visit.)

I will let you know how things work next week. I also learned of a great store that I need to stop at on my way to the cities - Trader Joe's. It has been recommended now 3 times in the past week. (Natural foods, soaps, and all sorts of random stuff.)