"I Want to Live on a Farm"

On Tuesday, we finally had the opportunity to get the pony ride we'd planned for Ethan's birthday. We only visited the farm for a little over an hour, but impressions were made. I wish my camera battery lasted longer. The kids fed goats, held baby goats, rode a pony, played with a kitty, saw horses, chickens, bee hives, and calves. We even got to watch the daughter demonstrate her barrel racing skills. It was fabulous! As we were pulling out, all the kids begged us to move to a farm. Maybe some day? Uncle Johnny and Aunt Sarah, I know some kids who will be a great help with your farm in the near future!

Thanks Leah for leading the kids on your pony!

They were all enthralled with the baby goats, which is when my camera battery died. bummer! They had so much fun playing with them and picking them up. I think we'll be going back, if they'll have us at their farm. I have some hard workers who would love to put in some volunteer farm hours. 

Fish Highs and Lows

We've been on an emotional roller coaster ride over here today. 

Imagine our surprise to see that our Dalmation Guppy named Spot HAD BABIES this morning!!! Just this week we talked about how Spot must be eating too much because she had a big belly. We would never have guessed that she was pregnant. 

The energy and excitement as we discovered not 1, not 2, but 3 babies (called fry) swimming around the tank was intense. The kids were hooting and hollering with joy. Ethan was acting like the proud papa. "What am I going to name all those babies?"

How quickly that intense high became an intense low when Ethan and Luke watched Spot CHASE AFTER AND EAT ONE OF HER OWN BABIES!! Ethan was screaming and yelling at Spot to stay away and then GULP the baby was swallowed. Ethan began sobbing. The look on both boys faces was so heart breaking. We quickly took action and began our rescue mission.

We filled up a bowl and began trying to gather the 2 remaining fry. Darin helped us to catch them and then we kept finding more. Spot was still having babies. In the end we rescued 6 little fry to a safe haven. Daddy said he'd get some special baby fish food and we'll see if these little ones grow up.

What a lesson this morning on life! We learned a lot about guppy fish and the sweet hearts of my two oldest boys. Who knew having fish could be so exciting and emotional!?!

Gymnastics Camp

This week Irina and Aaron have been participating in gymnastics camp at our favorite gym. 

(A first time doing any gymnastics for Irina!)

She could barely contain her excitement. Aaron was excited too, but he didn't talk nearly as much as she did. The first day I stayed the whole time to be sure she did okay following directions and trying new skills. I am not surprised that she smiled all morning and was so eager to learn new things.

 I didn't want to be too annoying with my pictures, but the camp is awesome. The coach has done a great job providing lots of different activities and meeting all the varying levels of the kids. Irina is just learning how to do a summersault and cartwheel. There are other kids who have had much more experience and they've had opportunities to explore new skills too.

Not to overlook Aaron... he is having a great time too! He's taken a couple gym classes before and finally mastered climbing the 20 foot rope to the ceiling. Only one more day of camp on Thursday... we'll see if my weary butterfly can move her sore legs by the end of the day. She is using muscles she has never used before! Despite her achy muscles and tiredness, she tells me every day, "Thank you for camp, Mommy." 

Words that Speak Life... a work in progress

I believe wholeheartedly that there are very few neutral words. The words we say either build someone up or tear them down. Sometimes we speak these words to other people. Many times we speak these words to ourselves. Words can have a very significant impact on the people around us (including us!)

Every summer I choose a Bible study for the kids and me to work on together. This summer I couldn't find what I was looking for and decided to create my own study. It's been very simple, but I hope and pray that it has been effective.

You guessed it... we are studying the WORDS we speak this summer. I moved a piece of furniture and added this art easel to our family room. I attached a blank poster board and we've been gradually adding to it each week.

We LOVE music around here. It is almost always playing. 

SO, we kicked off our summer study watching a video of Hawk Nelson's song "Words." 

I printed off the lyrics for the kids and we glued them to our summer bible 

study composition notebook. Here is an excerpt from the song:

Words can build you up
Words can break you down
Start a fire in your heart or
Put it out 

Let my words be life
Let my words be truth
I don't wanna say a word
Unless it points the world back to You

We ALL struggle with the words we say around here. I am not excluded from this. My tongue is certainly not tamed. My frustration can lead me to be less then encouraging several times a day. I am also notorious for speaking death to myself in my thoughts. ugh! I'm not sure if this summer study is more for me or for the kids, but I hope and pray we are all learning something. 

We've been memorizing Ephesians 4:29, 1 Thessalonians 5:11 and Proverbs 16:24. 

Each day we spend about 15-20 minutes reading, memorizing and discussing. It is short. Their attention span is short. I try to get them talking as much as possible so they stay engaged. We've had some great conversations and that makes me thankful. Do I see a noticeable difference in their name calling and unkind words? Not really... but I have to hold out hope they are hiding these truths away in their hearts. 

We watched Toby Mac's video for his song "Speak Life" and had lots of conversation about what it means. I printed out the lyrics and we read through it together. 

If we're going to speak life to one another, then we have to know what is true about us according to God in His word. We are not stupid, weird, ugly, a failure, or other names we call each other and ourselves. We are 

FORGIVEN, BELOVED, HIDDEN IN CHRIST, MADE IN THE IMAGE OF THE GIVER OF LIFE, RIGHTEOUS AND HOLY, REBORN AND REMADE, ACCEPTED AND WORTHY, GOD'S CHILD, CHOSEN, DEARLY LOVED. 

We watched Jason Gray's video to "I Am New."

We have a list of verses we've been looking up, memorizing 

and writing in our composition notebooks. 

Psalm 139:13-16

1 Peter 2:9

Jeremiah 29:11

Ephesians 1:4-5

Ephesians 1:20

Psalm 139:1-4

Colossians 2:13-14

John 1:12-13

Galatians 4:6-7

1 Samuel 16:7

John 15:15

Romans 5:1-2

Colossians 3:12

Galatians 3:26-27

Psalm 138:8

1 Thessalonians 1:4-6

Romans 8:14-15

Colossians 3:3-4

Ephesians 2:19

1 Thessalonians 5:5

Philippians 3:20

Hebrews 3:14

Matthew 5:13-14

2 Corinthians 1:21-22

1 John 3:1

1 Corinthians 3:16

Romans 6:18

1 John 5:18

2 Corinthians 5:17-21

If only we could see ourselves and each other the way the God of the universe sees us. Without a doubt we are sinners, but we were loved enough that Jesus died for our sins while we were still sinners. Oh, if only we could remember that as we condemn others and ourselves. 

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death." Romans 8:1-2

Let us love one another and speak life to one another and ourselves with our words!

Stop and Give Thanks

In some ways, the summer is zipping by too quickly. Can you believe it is almost August? I'm not ready for school to start! In other ways, I am ready to kiss summer goodbye. I'm looking forward to the return of Community Bible Study, homeschool co-op, and a more regular schedule.

In early August, we celebrate being home from Ukraine for 8 months. I cannot overlook how miraculous it is that we were in and out of there so quickly (in comparison to other families adopting from Ukraine ). This is especially notable considering the violence that is going on in the Donetsk region right now. No matter how many challenges we face as Irina learns to be in a family (and we face many "tests" these days), I must not forget that it is a gift that she is HERE in America safely with us and learning. Last year at this time, I was longing to have her under my wing. In 2013, I wrote about it HERE and HERE and HERE. Now that she is here, the hard and wonderful work continues.

In the midst of all that, these are the sweet moments that fill me with thankfulness.

1) Blueberry picking! Blueberries are probably my favorite fruit. 

We picked 9 pounds and I'm ready to go back again. 

2) Family Bike Rides! I can't wait until they have enough endurance 

to plan a trip to the rail trails we rode on as kids on Cape Cod. 

3) Parachute Playtime with Friends!

4) My dear, dear Ethan... he asked for tea at breakfast and 

sat on the deck drinking his tea and eating his hard boiled egg. 

How sophisticated of him!

In contrast, he always needs to add danger to any adventure. 

He's learned how to ride his bike with no hands... even around a curve. 

A unicycle is on his wish list. He can both exasperate me and amaze me at the same time!

5) "Me have 'flash pot' Mommy?" It took me a while, but she was asking for a WASH CLOTH. She is trying so hard. We all talk pretty fast, so I guess it may have sounded like 'flash pot' to her. Another cute language discovery, is that she uses the word "moo" in most sentences. "Moo rain today, no pool going?" "Irina like carrots moo red pepper." "Moo Irina play legos." It is not a Ukrainian or Russian word, but we must say something that sounds like that.

6) First tooth, fresh hair cut and dress up! I simply cannot believe my baby is SIX. 

Aaron lost his first tooth last week and his joy was ADORABLE! 

Oh, I love when I give him a fresh hair cut and see his sweet little face.

 Saturday, I found him fixing his bed dressed up like a fire fighter. I ran to get my camera.

The costume is a little short, but it was SO stinkin cute!!! 

It is so good for my heart to STOP and notice the sweet things that ARE happening around here.

Committed

Back in January 1997, a young girl was arranging flowers at a flower shop in Blacksburg, Virginia. 

When she met the handsome delivery boy, a beautiful friendship was born. 

Hours were spent talking about God, playing guitar together, and ironing 

(that's a story for another time). 

 After graduation, they both took jobs in different cities about 3 hours apart. 

By February of 1998, they knew they were meant to be together forever and a proposal was made.

On July 25, 1998 they were wed alongside family and friends.

Honeymoon on Nantucket Island

Together 3 years

Together 7 years

 Together 10 years

Together 15 years 

 Today, we celebrate 16 years of marriage. 16 years of God's faithfulness. 

16 years of commitment and love. 

And a fun reason to pretend like I'm back at the flower shop arranging flowers!

(Thanks for the beautiful flowers to arrange, Darin!)  I can't wait for our date night tomorrow. 

Our first night out since we brought Irina home from Ukraine!

Introducing our new family members: Spot and Flash

Over the weekend, the fish tank was finally ready to add fish. 

Ethan was SOO excited to go pick out our new fishy friends. 

(This was part of his 8th birthday present.)

He chose a dalmation guppy and a red and gold tuxedo guppy. 

It was hard to get a picture of our new family members because they wouldn't smile for the camera. (Thanks Mr. B for the joke!) Do you see Flash near the bottom in the middle? And Spot is on the right near the top. 

This is our first experience having a pet. I'm glad they are very low maintenance and QUIET. The kids spend a lot of time watching the tank. I have to hide the food so they aren't tempted to over feed the little guys. Ethan told me this morning that next he wants a snake, and then a frog, and then a lizard, and then a turtle, and then a dog and then a horse, etc., etc.. Oh my! 

Blue Skies + Happy Kids = Smile on My Face

On Thursday, I couldn't stand the sibling conflict one more second and knew that we needed 

a change of scenery. The weather was GORGEOUS! Low 80's. Low humidity. Beautiful blue skies. 

It wasn't on our schedule that I posted the night before, 

but they handled the spontaneous change in plans just fine.

"No summer school today? Sure! I don't mind." :)

Even with a GPS, I got turned around and a 20 minute drive turned into 45 minutes. 

Thankfully, we found our way and it was totally worth the confusion. 

Isn't this lovely!?!?! I couldn't stop taking pictures. 

The blues, greens, white puffy clouds, the colors of the kids shirts... it was captivating to me. 

 I took them to a park that we've only been to once before a couple years ago.

There are walking trails alongside a river. We did hike the trails, 

but we spent most of our time by the water. 

 They asked to take their shoes off and when I said "Sure!" they were delighted! 

"Please try not to go in any further then your knees," I said. 

"Yes, Mommy," was their reply.

They were leaping from rock to rock and not phased by the hot rough rocks. 

I don't know how because my feet were throbbing when I was jumping around. 

(I did set down my camera and join in the fun.)

"Me likes, Mommy! Me likes water!" Irina shouted again and again.

 There were quite a few "slips" into the water so we air dried off and explored the trails some more. 

 Then, we had a little extra time to do more rock jumping before we needed to leave. 

They seemed to have forgotten my earlier request to try not to get wet above their knees.

 They got more and more daring. "See Mommy. My clothes not wet."

 Whoops! Somehow Ethan seemed to keep getting wetter and wetter. 

Irina  and Aaron decided they needed to experience it too. Thankfully, it was 

pretty shallow where we were and the current wasn't too strong. 

Look at the little otter swimming down the stream. 

Luke finally decided it was okay to get wet too.

Next time we'll bring a change of clothes and towels! They were drenched, but it was so worth it. 

What a fun day of making memories and letting kids be kids.