Not sure I have told everyone....

So, now that it is almost upon us, it occurred to me that I may not have made any formal announcements.... My family is in a musical that is showing on Friday night. It is called Music Machine. It is all about the fruits of the spirit. You know, Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Gentleness, Faithfulness, Goodness, and Self Control.

There are three main characters, (Nancy, Stevie, and Conductor) and a large supporting cast. Heather and Daniel are Nancy and Conductor, and the rest of us are among the supporting cast...

There is only one showing of it, so if you are interested, Friday night in Visalia, 7:00pm at GCC (Off lovers lane)
Anyway, I am so proud of my littl'ns. They are working so hard to get their lines and blocking. Heather has a ton of lines and Rebekah has a dance. Steven is the token little kid, so he has a few small parts, and Jeremiah is the little one that comes in on my hip... I am just a moma who drops her kids off and picks them up and makes the most of her time on stage....  :-) But anyhow, it should be a lot of fun, so you are all invited.

Just a lovely reminder...

"Oh, mothers of young children, I bow before you in reverence. Your work is most holy. You are fashioning the destinies of immortal souls. The powers folded up in the little ones that you hushed to sleep in your bosoms last night, are powers that shall exist forever. You are preparing them for their immortal destiny and influence. Be faithful. Take up your sacred burden reverently. Be sure that your heart is pure and that your life is sweet and clean." —J.R. Miller, The Family

Optometrist

So Monday was a really long day! All of my chillens had appointments with the optometrist. The boys had a 10:30 appointment and the girls had a 3:15 appointment. So we decided to stay in town and run errands... It was a REALLY long day! But I am excited to announce that my little girl will be getting a pair of glasses so she can SEE!!! Yay! Her birthday is on Saturday and we are crossing our fingers and hoping that she will have them in time for her birthday. But one way or another, she is excited! So I have some pictures to share...
Steven was first and this sweet lady was SO surprised that he did not need the pictures card. He was reading the letters card. He did pretty good...

Then came Jeremiah, and he was not as coopertive as his big brother... but really cute just the same.

Then we went to Wal Mart and got water bottles to prepare for the heat and went to visit daddy at work (Steven stayed and helped for the rest of the day) and we got the car washed too....
Then was miss Heathers turn.... She is SO dissappointed that she will not be getting glasses...

And princess Rebekah was last.... the doctor had to work with her ALOT to get the prescription right.

And here was trying to decide on the right frames for her... these were not the ones we chose, I do not know why I didn't get a picture of the ones we decided on, but there will pictures before too long...

And when we FINALLY got home, Heather and I got to go to the first day of swim team....
and listening to the swim coach....
well, that is my update for this week.... I hope to talk to ya all soon....

Just because it has been a while.....

Well, It seems (once again) that I have neglected my blog for some time now.... I usually have the time to catch up on reading blogs, OR on posting them... NEVER both. So today I shall post.
Now that that is done, how are you all? It has been a while. We are doing well here. My best friend just moved away (from next door to 12 hours away) and that has been hard, but other than that life is good.
We attended the licensing orientation through the county and are doing the paperwork for them. They do it a bit different than Koinonia did. We have ALL the paperwork that needs to be done and ALL the checklists now. (got them at orientation) and when we are ready to have them check us, we turn it all in together.... I think I like it this way better... I am in control of when I am done instead of waiting for someone else to give me more things to do.
Homeshcooling is going well... I think.... At least for now we have kindof developed an approach of unschooling or something like it..... we do unit studies, and the kids love to do workbooks, and we talk ALOT... and read ALOT.... and they are learning ALOT, but we do not have any sort of schedule or agenda or structure. That "tactic" will no doubt change as the kids get bigger and need to know more, but it seems to be working for now.
We are enjoying the outdoors alot more now that the weather has gotten nice. We even made a garden bed. teh dogs would tear it up if it were in the backyard, but we made a pretty one in the front. This way when we are not growing veggies, we can still plant pretty flowers and it will be nice...
First, the kids lined up the bricks....

Then I got to put them where they belong and straight-ish

and snap your fingers and do a little dance and here is the end result

I have teh seeds started now and we will plant them soon I think. The cucumber and Zuccini are outgrowing the little starter pods... not sure how the onions and carrots are going to do... we shall see. This is our first attempt at a garden. It is all new to us.
Well, that is it for now... oh, my hunny and I are going to the Steven Curtis Chapman and Michael W Smith concert tomorrow night.... I am really excited. It is our early anniversary celebration.... We have not been to a concert before. It sould be good.....
I hope to hear from you soon.

a few habits to get into....

I copied this from a friends blog and thought I would share.... I need to get better with this.

-Christina

The Daily 7 for a Highly Successful Household

February 24, 2009 by Stephanie

Ah, chores. They are such a necessary evil. As I mentioned in my Clean Less, Play More post: I don’t like to clean. Instead, I choose to do a tiny bit each day to ensure that I never waste a day cleaning house when I could be out conquering the world.
Or answering email.
Our family has a list of chores that we try our best to accomplish daily. Now that the kids are old enough to help, they do. When I am sick or am away from the house, the kids and Adam step up and help maintain order in the house.
Sort of.
We’re still real people, and we don’t live in a museum.  I’m not going to lead you astray and say that I make sure the following tasks occur each and every day no matter what. I might burst into flames.
and the smoke detector started beeping last week and I haven’t replaced the batteries yet…
I came up with this Daily 7 after reading the Stephen Covey books. (I told you I liked to read personal development books!) I like how Covey breaks down complex tasks into 7 steps—not too many to get overwhelmed, but not too few that nothing gets accomplished.
Number 1: Make Beds Right Away
Number 2: Do One Complete Load of Laundry
Number 3: Empty All Garbage Cans
Number 4: Keep Your Kitchen Sink Empty
Number 5: Clean Up After Yourself and Help Children Do the Same
Number 6: Bathroom Wipe-Down
Number 7: Before Bed 10-Minute Clean Up
I have outlined all of these steps in the Totally Together Book in detail, but really they are quite self-explanatory.

Make Beds Right Away

The second you climb out of bed in the morning, make it. It’s such a wonderful feeling to have accomplished something at 6am. Teach your children to do the same—if beds are made daily, they don’t get destroyed as easily, and it really takes less than a minute to pull a sheet taught and straighten the comforter. If you haven’t already done so, streamline your bed linen to the bare essentials. There’s no need for 50 decorative pillows or an elaborate stuffed animal collection. Really.

Do One Complete Load of Laundry

A complete load means one that is washed, dried, folded, and put away. I’m not trying to be mean; I’m trying to be realistic. It is no fun to save all the laundry for one day a week and not be able to leave the house. Do a little each day, and you will no longer waste away a beautiful afternoon because you are stuck inside tackling a mountain of clothing. I hate ironing, but have found that if I iron clothes while slightly damp I save  a ton of time.

Empty All Garbage Cans

On our honeymoon, Adam promised he would empty the garbage cans every single day without being asked. This hasn’t happened. It actually kind of pisses me off. Instead, the kids help with the wastebaskets in the bathrooms and their bedroom, and I take out the kitchen garbage every morning after emptying the dishwasher. If I fill it again during the day, I put it right in the middle of the kitchen with the recycleables and hope Adam trips over it. I’m kind of mean like that.

Keep Your Kitchen Sink Empty

I don’t know what it is, but if you put something, anything, into the sink, other pieces of flatware are magically drawn to it and all of a sudden the sink is completely filled and rendered useless. Instead, take the time to put your dirty items into the dishwasher right away, or wash the item quickly by hand. It really doesn’t take that long. Just do it.

Clean Up After Yourself and Help Children Do The Same

My friend Alison homeschools her nine children. I love Alison. I met her before having children of my own, and she is hands-down my mommy idol. She shared with me once that the secret to parenting is to remember that your goal is to raise capable adults. Chores are not only okay, they are necessary. Model good behavior for your children. Take the time to put your shoes all the way into the closet and hang up your coat. Once you are putting your own things away, your children will be more likely to follow suit.

Bathroom Wipe-Down

This is my favorite. I keep a container of disinfectant wipes in the bathroom, and wipe down the toilet (inside and out) every day. If it’s been a particularly um, busy day—I will do it twice.  This keeps me from never having to scrub out the toilet with one of those scrubber brush things that I find beyond disgusting. I also quickly wipe down the shower stall and bathroom floor. After showering, use an item from the dirty clothes pile to dry the shower walls and door. This will keep mold and soap scum from accruing. Now use your damp item to quickly mop up the bathroom floor. Dust and hair will disappear and will keep you from needing to mop.

Before Bed 10-Minute Clean Up

Before retiring for the night, do a super quick once over the living spaces of your house. Recycle the magazine left on the coffee table, and stack leftover drinking glasses in the dishwasher. Put the couch cushions in order, and fold the blanket. You will wake up much happier each morning if you aren’t greeted to last night’s mess.

teaser...

Stolen from a friend's blog (see more here)
KIDS
"...could i be having more fun? seriously. i LOVE watching them. learn, play, fight, grow. i love how much they’re teaching me. about love. love - watching my honey with them… could i be more in love with him? love - learning what unconditional means. love - seeing how discipline and love go hand in hand. i love the questions they ask. i love watching them sleep. i love nursing my babies. i love being pregnant. i love knowing God is growing a baby in there. that He’s knitting the details where i can’t see. i love the surprise of their birth. i love their smell. i love even the big-kids-playing-outside-top-of-their-head smell. i love how they interact with each other. i love how they love playing with their daddy. i love how they look packed like sardines across the back of the corolla. i love pick-ups, and hands-in-the-air-please-hold-me-mama looks. i love when they learn that first joke. and they realize the world is funny and they can create some that. i love the pictures they make and asking, “tell me all about it” because i can’t tell anything about it. i love their eyes when you tell them you got ‘em a surprise. i love seeing who they are and waiting to see who God made them to be. i love when they hold my hand and the softness of that hold. i love when they say, “i wuv wu mama” i love that they are as excited as me to get another brother or sister. i love how they make up games like catch the bouncy ball with the upside down bucket. i love when they discovered crisco while i wasn’t looking. i love how they take care of each other and then beat each other to a pulp the next second. i love the fingerprints all over everything."

Update on Adoption status

So, I have not been writing much at all, let alone updating the status on the adoption process. Sorry about that. I wish that I could report that we are finished with the certification process and just waiting for kids. I WISH!!
No, I am instead reporting that we are having to start the WHOLE process over again!!!
Yeah, you heard me right. We received a letter from Koinonia on Saturday that basically conveyed that Koinonia is no longer interested in us as a foster or adoptive family. But no other explanation. So.... for the last few days I have been on the phone leaving countless messages with supervisors of social workers who will not tell me why we are being discontinued in this process after all this time. Apparently it is a common procedure for a company like Koinonia to make it policy that no matter of the rejection decision is to be divulged to ANYBODY! (Not very helpful)
Let me tell you.... It has been a frustrated couple of days.
But today I was able to speak with a man who, though he knows he is not permitted to tell me why we were rejected, he also understands the predicament that this decision places us in and he was so kind as to let me guess what the problem is, and tell me "No, that is not an issue" or "well, let me tell you what you would be able to read on our web site" and once, even so much as "ok, now we are on the fringe of what I am not permitted to speak about, so let's redirect this conversation".
So.... as far as I can tell, the reason we are not able to adopt children through Koinonia is because we have four children already. It is Koinonia policy that a family not have more than 6 children TOTAL (including biological children) The strange thing about that is I remember reading that when we were first deciding whether to use Koinonia or another agency and asking a man (who I thought was) upper level management if this would be a problem. He said that it wouldn't because foster placement agencies are more interested in the best interest of the children (in this case siblings) than in an arbitrary number (a total of 6 kids) and bendable rule. (both of those words were HIS not MINE). Oh well, at least I know now what the problem was and that it is not something that will prevent us from adopting from another agency. 
I cannot tell you how irritating it is to be told "No" and not be told why. Anyhow.... The good news is that there are other agencies that do not have a problem with that, so we will just have to start over again. Not stop indefinitely.
So... here we go again.....