Ana Starts School Today.......

......& you know what?
I'm OK with that.
(It helps that she's only going for two 1/2 days a week-ha!! ha!!!)

The New Look.....

Remember this???

Well, now this is his new look.
I didn't even shed a tear over cutting his hair!
Aren't you proud of me?!!?!?

First Day of School

We had such a good time together!!!

Ruthie even got to participate some!!!

Taking Another "Bloggy Break!"

I just need time to concentrate on getting homeschooling up & running for the school year.


But, you KNOW I can't stay away completely, so check back a few times a week!!! (At least once for pics & once on Thursdays!!)



Love to you all, my faithful "bloggy friends!!!"

This Makes me Smile, for Some Reason......

She starts 3rd Grade today.

Happy & sad-all rolled in together for her mom.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Are you good at establishing traditions?

I grew up with a lot.

But, I haven't been so good at starting many of my own.

So, as I got ready for today,
last night as I was preparing for today,
I remembered last year’s first day of school.

& I dug out the pancake mix.

I’m so glad I did!

She’ll be thrilled to see the words
“3rd Grade” spelled out on her plate when she arrives at the breakfast table,
don’t you think?

I’ll report back later on for how she did on her day-
I’m super excited as her teacher!!!
We have a lot of fun things planned for tomorrow!

Thursdays Before the Throne

Been thinking much about ways I have been ignoring the Holy Spirit's prompting in my life.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Suppose God brings you to a crisis and you almost endure it,

but not completely.

He will engineer the crisis again,

but this time some of the intensity will be lost.

You will have less discernment and more humiliation at having disobeyed.

If you continue to grieve His Spirit,

there will come a time when that crisis cannot be repeated,

because you have totally quenched Him.

But if you will go on through the crisis,

your life will become a hymn of praise to God.

Never become attached to anything that continues to hurt God.

For you to be free of it,

God must be allowed to hurt whatever it may be."

From: "My Utmost for His Highest"

Aug. 12

Wordless Wednesday......."& the Love Affair Continues."

Our Story.....Part 7.....

When Ruthie was three months old,

we made our first rip to Guatemala.

This was also big for me,

since I had never left the country before.

After we accepted the referral,

the planning for our visit trip ensued.

Ana had to have babysitters lined up.

She was in Kindergarten that year

& I had begun homeschooling,

so I also had to:

Figure out how much homeschooling to plan for.....

Packing-a monumental task for me under normal circumstances (although I am improving). But packing/planning/preparing for ANY eventuality-while in a foreign country for a few days with a baby you are solely responsible for, & whom you have never met……with a language you barely understand-yeah it was a bit overwhelming.

Making sure all the plants were watered etc……

You know how it is….

But, I think the hardest thing for me-was leaving Ana at home. But, having never been to Guatemala-we just had no idea what to expect, so we thought it was best to leave her at home.

& it turns out that was a good decision-because when she finally met her sister for the first time, it was perfect-but I’ll get to that next time! J

We flew overnight into Guatemala City on a flight that left from LAX at almost midnight on OCT 4, 2006.

When we arrived in Guatemala City-the sights & sounds we amazing. Almost right away, I was at peace & excited to see what each new moment held. No more nerves! Wasn’t that cool of the Lord to do for me?

That first day in country, we went to Antigua. Even though we were exhausted from lack of sleep-every moment of that day is etched in my mind.

~Trying to catch a nap in the “Bed & Breakfast”
(I put that in quotes because it really wasn’t a B & B-
it was more like a “B & all the meals”
Really felt like home by the time we left.) before we left for Antigua.

~The drive through the city, up into the mountains, &
then down into the valley where Antigua is nestled between several volcanoes.

~The tour of the convent

~The lunch at a nice restaurant

~Shopping in the market-
& by this time the missing of a full night’s sleep the night before had begun to catch up with me. I distinctly remember feeling as though I was walking through a haze.

~Supper back at the “B & B.”

Such fond memories for me (can you tell?-ha!! ha!!!)

Anyway, the next day, we went on a tour of GT City & included a stop at the clinic where Ruth was born. As we sat for a few minutes & looked at it, I tried to imagine the birthmom’s last few moments with Ruthie being played out in one of the rooms whose windows peaked out on the alley in front of us. I just couldn’t imagine her agony. Knowing she was doing the right thing, but how hard it would also be.

Then-at long last the moment we had waited-literally years for!

We arrived at the office of our lawyer,
where the foster mom was due any moment with our baby.

She was a few minutes late, which we kinda expected,
& which allowed me to work up a real case of nerves
(I wish we had digital video of that-it’s almost funny.
You can see my hands shaking
& hear my voice shaking, too!)

Anyway-the moment arrived & in she walked!
She handed me my baby so quickly,
I could hardly process all of it!
Ruth took one look at me & started crying.

AND. LITERALLY. DID. NOT. STOP.

For over an HOUR & a HALF.

We left the lawyer’s office to drive back to the home we were staying in
& she cried almost all the way there.

SCREAMED BLOODY MUDER, actually.

So, after all the romantic buildup in our heads,
our first meeting was far from ideal.

& little did we realize how much the screaming would become a part of our lives!

Fortunately, she has toned it way down!!!

The rest of the few days we had with her, though, were heaven on earth.
Just took turns holding her all the time.
The few times she wasn’t being held were at night. And then came the goodby.

Which was almost the WORST thing I have ever endured.

& another wait began.

It was hard.

But, God sustained us through it all.

Tune in next week for more!!!!

I Took Ana School Supply Shopping.......

This is a big deal for me.

She has been at home with me since she was born.

And she is going to part-time charter school in the fall.

I know, I know.

She’ll be fine. & so will I-I promise.

So no one needs to tell me these things.

But…..can I still just say-

WHERE did the time go????

Look at those eyes......

Christmas 2001-8.5 mo old.

Did You Know I Have A Biker DUDE?!?!

& no, it was not me who did this to him-

but isn't he CUTE as a biker?!?!

(Claira R.,

his favorite babysitter,

who is holding him in this picture,

styled him up!!!!)

FFF

Way to go, Mom/Grammie!

My mom made this outfit for Natty.

That train is made of smocking,

which I'm sure took hours to do.

This picture is for you, Mom!

Swimming Lessons......

The kids took lessons with their cousins.

ABOVE: My nephew, Andrew
ABOVE: My nephew, Nathan

ABOVE: Ruthie

ABOVE: It's always fun when one of your friends ends up in lessons at the same time as you!

This is E.M., one of Ana's friends from church.

ABOVE: Ana

ABOVE: Joshua, my nephew & E. M.'s brother, T. M.

Happy Birthday to our Little Peanut, Who's Now a TWO Year Old!!!!

Love this smile!!! Can't believe I caught it!!!!