Brooke Fraser - Albertine video

"Chip In"

Well, I added the Chip in gadget to our sidebar. That way, any one who would like to help out can do it through paypal. We are brainstorming fundraising ideas for this adoption. We've got a few ideas that are hopefully to come soon. Also, our family has been talking about ways we can cut back and things we can do without so we can put extra money towards bringing our child home. Things like eating out...we shouldn't really be doing as much as we do anyways. Yesterday I talked to the kids about not doing a Christmas tree this year and instead putting that money towards the fund. They agreed. We won't be buying gifts for each other either. Somehow we're all more excited about Christmas this year. I'm handmaking most of the gifts we'll be giving out too.

We are still waiting to find out if Alexie is going to be the child we adopt. I think we are all hoping she is. Luke says he KNOWS she's the one God wants us to adopt...we'll see. :o)

Field Trip ~ Nina and Pinta

Last week we got to go see replicas of the Nina and Pinta. The Nina is supposed to be very accurate. It was all made by hand, the way it would have been made. It was very surprising how small the ships were. It was interesting seeing where the crew would have slept and lived out their days. They had it very rough!

We got there early and walked around Volunteer Landing. We rode the glass elevators up and down a few times. Took the walkway over the road....Ethan thought a good picture would be him acting like he was falling. :o)

Love

I just LOVE these people! :o) Chad is the best dad...I know I've said it before, but, it's true. He's so exhausted, but, he's under the house building an animal trap with the boys so they can see what they can catch. He opens his heart to 4 little boys that aren't even ours and when he's with them he gives all he's got. Ethan's heart just amazes me. Luke is wild and crazy, but, he's also extremely sensitive.

The conversations that Chad and Ethan have when they are alone are so cute. Ethan asks question after question...."when will I be old enough to have a gun?", "when will I be old enough to have a lighter?", "when will I be old enough to drive?", "when will I be old enough to get married?". SERIOUSLY????? He wanted Chad to help him out with a list of prospective brides for when he was old enough. It's a secret between them though. :o) So cute!

The other day he was reading a book about mummies when he found out that King Tut died when he was 18. He was so upset that King Tut "ONLY GOT TO HAVE HIS DRIVER'S LICENSE FOR TWO YEARS!!!!"

Here are just some pics from our weekend.

Chad caught this frog for the boys.

We're studying Venus so we did this experiment to get an idea of how lava works and what it's effects are.

Then....it's pre-bedtime dance party...Urkel Style.

Step of Faith

I posted this on my photography site, so I'm just copying it to over here. I need to actually "say" it so I can't back out when I get overwhelmed. This is something that is impossible for us...but, we know that God can do.

Before my husband and I were married, 8 years ago, we felt like God had called us to adopt. We didn't know from where, or when or anything else...we just had a burden for children that needed a family. We've explored different things, event completed the foster care class, but it seemed like circumstances in our life always put it on hold. Well, now is the time. It's time for us to not look at our circumstances. We have to get our eyes off of the huge amount of money it takes to rescue a child and our lack of money. God has called us to care for the orphans....that means HE WILL PROVIDE! We are so excited! I got to witness the homecoming of two orphans from Ghana today. It was so amazing. I can't wait for that day.

We have decided that the profits from my business will go to our adoption fund from now until we bring them home. So, I just wanted my clients to know that your money will be going to help bring a child into a family that will love it with all their hearts. For us, that means that things will be tighter and we won't really have extra money, but, we're having faith that God will bless that! I've decided to take on a couple more shoots before the end of the year to help us get things rolling.

We'll be adopting from Togo or Ghana, Africa. We're still trying to decide on agency and all of that stuff. Of course I will keep you updated. Prayers are appreciated!!!

This is the little girl, Alexie, that we sponsor right now. She could end up being who we adopt, but, we really don't know at this point.

The heart of the matter...

First of all, Tuesday we went to our first Zoo Class. Since it was on astronomy, I thought it would be fun to go there to supplement what we are learning. It was ok...not sure if we'll do them in the future.

They had more fun after the class.

Chad and I went to see Tedd Tripp this past weekend at a Shepherding a Child's Heart Conference. It was SO GOOD! I got so much out of it. At times I felt overwhelmed but left feeling hopeful. One thing he encouraged us to do was a "Heart Notebook" with the kids. We started ours on Tuesday. It's going great so far and I know I'm learning so much!

Teaching them to guard their hearts is so important. (Proverbs 4:23)

Ephesians 6:1....The reason they need to obey is because it's God-ordered...not just for my convenience!

We're going to be going through ungodly and godly attitudes of the heart. We started with revenge...not that we have any of that going on around here!!!!

We looked up scriptures about revenge and then went through several examples from the Bible of people who took revenge and then people who trusted God. It seemed to really click with the boys. Today we did envy. When I started explaining what envy is, Ethan slumped down in his chair and said, "oh boy...I think I'm gonna have to work on this one". I'm so excited about it. I think it will help us to focus on their hearts when we discipline, not just the behaviors. It will also help keep my heart in check.

Jeremiah

Sunday afternoon we walked the boys back home after Water Angels. Jeremiah was begging to go home with us...he doesn't have school, so we asked and they said sure! He is so precious! He just cracks us up. He is totally in love with Chad. Ethan loves to act like his big brother. Luke and him are constantly wrestling around. It didn't feel right waking up Tuesday without him there. Hopefully he can come again soon.

Pyramids

We've been studying mummies, pyramids and all that fun stuff in history. One of the activities in the book was building a pyramid out of sand and glue. A few days ago we mixed up the stuff for our bricks and have been waiting for them to dry ever since. It took longer than we thought and they never really dried out. So..our pyramids are pretty crumbly. However, the boys still had a blast with this. I won't be surprised if they build other stuff really soon.

After building our pyramids we watched a National Geographic Documentary about pyramids. After that, the boys got their toy soldiers to protect their pyramids from the tomb robbers!