Nothing Like a Little Easter Color!!

We had a fun evening with Brad's mom coloring Easter eggs. With a sensory seeking son, it was quite an experience. It was like something out of Lucy and Marcy's eggstravaganza in the Easter Beagle. Asher had pieces of egg in each dye. Check out his REALLY RED hands. Lots of creativity and fun!!!

What a Career!

This was forwarded to me by my Mother!!!! The best in the world (atleast according to ME)!! See my Mom has six kids and for all the titles my Dad had my Mom only use the term "Housewife" to my knowledge. And for all you two career women - I'm amazed!!!

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A woman, renewing her driver's license at the County Clerk 's office, was asked by the woman recorder to state her occupation. She hesitated, uncertain how to classify herself. "What I mean is, " explained the recorder, "do you have a job or are you just a ...?" "Of course I have a job," snapped the woman. "I'm a Mom."
"We don't list 'Mom' as an occupation,
'housewife' covers it," Said the recorder emphatically.
I forgot all about her story until one day I found myself
in the same situation, this time at our own Town Hall. The Clerk was obviously a career woman, poised, efficient, and possessed of a high sounding title like, "Official Interrogator" or "Town Registrar." "What is your occupation?" she probed. What made me say it? I do not know. The words simply popped out. "I'm a Research Associate in the field of Child Development and Human Relations." The clerk paused, ball-point pen frozen in m idair and looked up as though she had not heard right. I repeated the title slowly emphasizing the most significant words. Then I stared with wonder as my pronouncement was written, in bold, black ink on the official questionnaire. "Might I ask," said the clerk with new interest,"just what you do in your field?" Coolly, without any trace of fluster in my voice, I heard myself reply, "I have a continuing program of research, (what mother doesn't) In the laboratory and in the field, (normally I would have said indoors and out). I'm working for my Masters, (first the Lord and then the whole family) and already have four credits (all daughters). Of course, the job is one of the most demanding in the humani ties, (any mother care to disagree?) and I often work 14 hours a day, (24 is more like it).
But the job is more challenging than most run-of-the-mill careers
and the rewards are more of a satisfaction rather than just money." There was an increasing note of respect in the clerk's voice as she completed the form, stood up, and personally ushered me to the door. As I drove into our driveway, buoyed up by my glamorous new career, I was greeted by my lab assistants -- ages 13, 7, and 3. Upstairs I could hear our new exper imental model, (a 6 month old baby) in the child development program, testing out a new vocal pattern. I felt I had scored a beat on bureaucracy!
And I had gone on the official records as someone more distinguished and indispensable to mankind than "just another Mom."
Motherhood! What a glorious career! Especially when there's a title on the door.

Does this make grandmothers "Senior Research associates in the field of Child Development and Human Relations" And great grandmothers "Executive Senior Research Associates?" I think so!!!

Thank you to all you Child Development and Human Relation Specialists!!! A Job well done!!!

Smiling Faces!!

The snow is melting and we are happy, happy, happy! Spring is on it's way! I promise I will blog something with substance soon. My mind is on vacation these days.

Our Star Student!

She is amazingly beautiful, inside and out. She loves animals and her passion for them runs deep. She mothers all including Asher and our black lab - buckeye. If she is not a vet when she grows up, she wants to be a mom. She is a singer and performer no matter where she is. You can always find us in any store because she is usually singing a show tune or doing a little soft shoe in the aisle. She said in her star student interview that what she does well is praising the Lord. And if she had a wish, she would wish for 100 friends - which doesn't make sense cause she already has them! We love you Abby!

More powder, but this time its NOT on sugar donuts!

We have over a foot of powder! We've enjoyed playing

in it, even Asher this time!

This is about 10 inches before the end of the storm.

One of two snow eaters

The other eater making blue snow balls.

My snow boy that never wants to come in

and is totally loving all of this snow!!

My summer girls even enjoyed it.

Asher loving sled riding on our walk.

Smiling in the snow!

Got to love sugared donuts!

It's a Hard Knock Life!

Did I tell you that Caroline got an extender put in the top of her mouth by her Othodonist two weeks ago. She has been trooper cause it has not been easy to say her lines with the wires at the top of her mouth. Here is Caroline's favorite scene. It was only on tape so I had to use our disc camera and the TV so sorry about the quality.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Annie Jr. Preview!

This weekend is the weekend for Caroline's Annie Jr. performance. We went to the dress rehearsal last night and we can give you a sneak peak. It fades out at the end cause we were trying to get Asher quiet and he wanted a better position to see Annie. Afterwards he kept asking to see Annie and was just enjoying her. It was much like seeing a character at the amusement park. Caroline's hard work has truely paid off. She really loves this drama stuff and it shows. I hope to get more of her scenes down loaded later for those of you that won't be able to see her performance. As for Caroline, we say BRAVO!!! BRAVO!!!!

Molly in motion.

Caroline and a friend back stage.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

An amazing family!

I wanted to share a wonderful slideshow from a friend of mine that lives far away. Her son did an awesome job putting it together and it is for the one year celebration of their forever day with the family!!! This just makes me cry and burst with warm fuzzes! I just love her big family and they all just bust with joy on their faces. Enjoy!

Snow Ball Fight!

We have another snow day but really it should be called a freezing rain day. So do you know what fun you can have with a bag of cotton balls and a pair of old white tights????

SNOW BALL FIGHT!!!!!

We made many balls and started the fight! It was a good time and no one got hurt and yes you have to be burning many calories in the process. So grab and old pair of tights and cotton balls and have yourself a ball!

If you are looking for a treat to go with the theme. We take tortillas and fold and cut them into snowflake shapes. We put a little oil in a skillet and fry them on both sides for a minute or two. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and you have a snow flake snack! Enjoy your snow days!

More Snow!

We've gotten more snow and this time it has been the biggest of the year so far - 3 inches. We have had many 1 or 2 inches that come right at rush hour to delay us or with ice have called off school. Since this snow was actually deep enough and wasn't accompanied with ice we went sled ridding. Asher didn't care for the cold and only had a few rides down the hill before he asked for the car, but the older ones enjoyed riding.

Almond Oil Lotion

A friend of mine shared this recipe with me to make a great lotion for Asher. It is perfect for Asher's skin. I feel so domestic and sometimes wonder if I found the right bottles if I could have a small business making this. You can buy the ingredients at a great price here. So, if you have ashy skin and are having a hard time finding the right cure, give this almond lotion a try.

Just an FYI!

I'm not one to tell you how to spend your money, but I do want to make you aware of an opportunity that you can send some of your tax check this spring or the "rebate" we all will get, if you so desire. My friend has set up a website called http://barefootworld.org. I know that the reason for the rebate is to jump start the economy, but I can't help but think of some others that could use this money more than me consuming it. The current project is one that Caroline has just raise some money for this organization called blood water mission(aka. http://www.1000wells.com/). She collected money from her friends and they as a group took money they would spend on pop and coffee on their free time and donated it to give a water well for people all over the world that need clean water to live.

Again, I'm not telling anyone what to do but just giving you something to consider when you have some extra money coming your way. Recently, I've been challenged by what is consuming me. What do I consume and what consumes my time, my mind, my talents. So, I'll leave you with one question.

WITH WHAT ARE YOU CONSUMED?

Catching Up!

Well, it has been a while since I've posted and we've been sick and not taking photos. Here are some past photos from another day of skating awhile back and some creative videography from our oldest.

Skating Buddies

Blisters take away smiles.

Caleb and Dad

Fun with laundry

I wanna go out and run!! Sure looks warm to me.

Happy Valentine's Day!

A sweet kiss and some great smiles!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

What' s Happen'in?

If I was to post pictures of what has been happening the last few weeks (3 to be exact), you'd have photos of fevers, sore throats, coughs, aches all over and head aches. So far, knock on wood, Asher and I have missed the action. It started with Caleb having strep two weeks ago, then Abby last week and this week Caroline and Brad have a nasty flu. I may sleep on the couch tonight with the windows OPEN!!!

Since I don't have sick pictures I'll post this cute one of Asher and Buckeye watching Dad get some fire wood.

Ice Skating!

We usually get one good weekend of ice skating on a nearby lake and this is that weekend. Asher got on skates for the first time and we caught it on tape. By the end of our time there he was skating (or walking around) on his own. But I think he liked eating snow more (as is seen here). Abby loved spinning and Caleb loved falling and Caroline enjoyed spinning and dancing on her skates. Grandma joined us for the fun!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Fun with our cousins!

About a week ago we had a great game night with three of my nieces and the kids' cousins. They are Marlene, Marilin and Olga (hope I spelled them right, girls!). We had a great night eating and playing a game called I'd Rather. M, M and O are all from Mexico and speak English really well. We try our limited Spanish we have but we don't do them justice. We had a great time and enjoyed lots of laughter. Olga is now in Indiana, Marlene is still in town and Marilin goes back to Mexico for a few weeks. We can't wait to do it again but it may be awhile that we can get all three of them together. They all three have come to the States to find work. I'm so impressed with them jumping into things here.

Wrap a Baby in Africa!

Would you like to help wrap a Ethiopian Baby in a nice warm blanket?

On February 1st a fellow adoptive mom is hosting a blanket party here on her blog. Go down to the Great Blanket Party heading for her explanation. If you would like to help her wrap up a few babies, I hope you’ll come and help out. There will be a paypal link on her blog that day to make it easy for you to donate. Every penny of your money will go straight to Ethiopia. February 1st. Let’s see how many babies we can wrap.

He'sGot the Whole World in His Hands!

Asher's all time favorite book!

This is Asher's favorite page. He always wants to pause here.

That makes me wonder what he is thinking. He loves Brad so much

and his Dad is his most favorite person in the whole world. He kisses this

Dad and says that it is Asher's Dad. I'm guessing he only sees the

relationship, and I find this so interesting!

This is my favorite page and I can't wait til Asher understands that

God has EVERYBODY in his hands, both his family in Ethiopia

(though we don't know anything about them) and his family here.

My thoughts are often with his Ethiopian family and this gives me so much comfort.

On Ice!

We had a great time taking in the High School Musical on Ice. I know it can sound kind of hokie but the show was really good and it was amazing what they could do on the ice. We found the music in us and we were all in this together (except Asher - past his bed time).

My Flag Girl!

Abby tried something new this weekend and has a new love. When she came home from school with the flier to sign up for this color guard clinic, she picked up my swiffer and started practicing. After two hours at the clinic this is part of their routine that they learned. I think she has found yet another thing she loves but you can't do it for school till 7th grade so for now, she can attend clinics and summer camps and of course, twirl the swiffer. Here she is . . .

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com