Sold Out

Obama tickets are sold out for his visit in town today. Shucks!

Back To Church

We all went to church yesterday for the first time since bringing the baby home. Whoa!!We attend a church which practices family worship. There is no children's church or nursery. We love that, but when you are out of practice, watch out! First, getting up and out the door by 8:00 with 7 people proved to be a little tricky. We thought we were doing good. We were not late, everyone was dressed, things were lookin' good(Even though I had to put my make-up on in the car.). We get to church and realized we forgot Jackson's blanket. That is the only thing that really keeps him quiet. He knows the routine. Get the blanket, sit on mom or dad's lap, suck my fingers, and have the occasional Goldfish or sip of water. He immediately starts looking for the blanket. He dumps out the diaper bag and starts crying. I am thinking, no problem, we have food and a cup. No cup. He whined or cried the entire service. On to the baby. He is a really good baby. Give him a pacifier and he will cuddle for hours. No pacifier and he is not so quiet. Guess what? We forgot it. It was rough, but we made it through. Any bets on if we pack the diaper bag the night before next week?

We are Sad, Sad People

So, Bruce and I were given the gift of a free night of unlimited babysitting. Great! We found an incredible new tapas restaurant and ran a few errands. We even went somewhere else for coffee and dessert. At 8:00 my husband says it would be a shame to go home already. The girls said to stay out as late as we would like. We could not think of anything else to do. I was so tired and just wanted to sleep. So, we were home by 8:15. Please tell me it is just life with a newborn and I am not getting old.

Daily Bible Reading

I have felt the need recently to revamp my Bible reading. I think I am going to follow Christ Church's lectionary schedule unless someone has a better suggestion. I am doing a New Testament study, but I feel when I stick to studies there are certain parts of the Bible I never read. Any suggestions?

My Time in Hawaii

I have been asked about my time in Hawaii so I thought I would tell you a little about it. First, it is so amazing to me that we can live in the same country, but really be in two different worlds. The mere fact that I stepped on the plane to rain and 30 degree weather and stepped off to clear skies (I think, it was dark.) and 80 degrees was enough to rejoice over. The very next day was the day the baby was to be born, so I did not see anything but the hospital for a few days. I wish I had a picture of the view from the hospital, it was amazing. I was told I was given a real treat. It never rained while I was there and the skies were so clear you could see the peeks of the mountains. This is evidently rare. On my 4th day there I took a break from the hospital and some friends took me to take in a few sights. We drove to the beaches where a lot of surfing competitions take place. This East coast girl had never seen those kind of waves or "real" surfers before. It was great. It really was breath taking at times. I have always wondered what it would be like to live at the beach. I have decided I could really get used to it. The thing I would have to get over the most, would be the lizards and geckos. IT was strange to see them roaming about all over the place. I was laughed at more than once because of my squeamishness towards them. Okay, maybe laughed with. I thought it was pretty funny too. I really did okay with them until Bruce says one night, "So, what do you do with a gecko that is crawling along the wall inside the house?" I wanted him to take care of it, he just laughed,and I pretty soon became used to living with them. I had a great time. We met what we hope to be life-long friends (Thanks again for everything you all did for us.), developed a wonderful relationship with the birth mother of our child, and saw what had to be some of the most beautiful sights in out country if not world. If I did not have four children at home waiting for me, I could have easily been one of those people who say, "I came to Hawaii on vacation, and just never left."

Gettting Back into the Swing of Things

Well, Easter has come and gone. The egg dying was a much better success this year. My hands seemed to have more on them than anything else, but it was fun and the kids really got into it. We had a great time with friends and the kids really enjoyed their Easter baskets. I did not go to church, but Bruce went with the older children. We are giving the air another week to be free of flu germs before going back to church. We are getting back into the swing of things and trying to have some routine in the midst of everything. Routine is key for me and raising our children.

I have received a lot of emails about the adoption. I do not want to go into details here, but it will be a few months before things are free of risk. We thought it would only be a few weeks until we went to the table last week to sign papers. Needless to say we were a bit frazzled, but in the end the risk is really no more than it was before, we just have to be patient longer than anticipated. You can pray for my anxiety level. We love him so much and it is hard to not know what the future holds. More and more I am realizing this is true of everything and I need to strengthen my faith and walk with God. After all, this is His child and He will take care of him. Thank you for praying for us.

Easter Traditions

We have not had very many Easter traditions. Someone has been sick for the last three Easters. Growing up in Virginia, I am used to Easter being the kick off to Spring. We have not found that to be true here. The idea of spring clothes and outside Easter Egg hunts in 40 degree weather does not sound like too much fun. Nancy Wilson has a great post on why I should change my attitude. We do have some traditions. We always dye eggs the night before. We will do that tonight. I am trying to erase images from last year so I can be excited. Every cup of dye was spilled at some point. For weeks every time I mopped the floor I found a new pastel color to remove. I usually do fix a good Southern style feast, but since we have had sickness for the last few years it has gone virtually untouched and we eat on for the next week. Friends invited us to be with them tomorrow for brunch.We did not know if we would be back from our trip in time to plan a big feast. So, we will be joining them. Their kids are grown and it is always fun to see the fruit of raising a family and the blessings that abound when they all come together. I do always buy new outfits for the children. Although it always seems silly to dress them up and then bundle them up in their winter coats. But, we do it anyway. That's what we do. What about you?