For Such A Time As This...

The Rhett-ster

2011-06-10T15:08:00.003-05:00

Once upon a time there was a boy who wanted to be like daddy when he grew up. And so he dressed up like him!

And there also was a time when someone got ahold of my camera and tried to squish her brother's head.

And then there was this time when Rhett decided to get dressed up and play an instrument.

Oh, who am I kidding...this happens all of the time! My kid is a crazy boy but I wouldn't have him any other way!

Tap, tap, tap...is this thing on?

2011-06-09T10:04:00.006-05:00

Have ya'll quit me?

You know its been awhile since you posted on your blog when you can't remember how to do it! Go ahead and say it....pathetic!!! But as I'm sitting here waiting for my pictures to upload I now remember why I've been discouraged to do it.

Here are our traditional first day/last day of school picture comparisons...here we go!

Emily- first day of 8th grade...cutie patootie!

Last day of 8th grade=last day of middle school=one mama that would like for time to slow down! One big change for Emily this year is she switched from glasses to a contact. Yep. A single contact. Its a long story.

Ridge- first day of school. What a nice shirt he has on...hope you like it.

Last day of 4th grade...oh WAIT. No, your eyes are not deceiving you. He is, in fact, wearing the same shirt as the first day of school. Which is not much different from the 3 out of the 5 school days per week that he wore it during the school year. Hey, what can I say. He doesn't need much to be happy! Ridge had a great school year and is growing up too fast!

Natalie- first day of jr high...what a beauty!

Last day of school....now this child has grown up alot too but, praise the Lord, has stayed her spunky and quirky self! She really loved the freedom that jr high brought this year and made lots of friends!

My two girls on the first day of school...a little apprehensive.

Full of confidence. Thus the socks.

I did not get last day of school pics of my littles which I will do this week and add their pictures in a separate post. But don't hold your breath. Because you'll die.

Big families-repost

2011-03-23T14:30:00.003-05:00

A friend of mine on facebook directed me to this blog who had posted this about big families. I loved it so I sent it to Brian who in turn told me I should post it on my blog....he said, she said, he said, he said.....got all that? Anyway here it is....I think I sorta understand what he is talking about....sorta!

Written by Matthew Archibold-Feb. 4, 2010

WHY BIG FAMILIES MIGHT BE EASIER

A woman said to me recently that my five children were very well behaved. It's one of the best things I can hear so I thanked her. Then she asked me "how do you do it with so many?"

I told her that I don't think I'd be a very good parent of one child or two. She didn't believe my answer but honest to goodness, I sometimes think that having many children is easier than just one.

Why big families are easier:

Patience. I never have to teach patience. My children know that I can't drop everything for them if I have a baby in my arms.

Work Ethic. My children have learned to work because there are always chores to do in a small house packed with little messy lunatics. And they all learn quickly that sometimes they have to clean up a mess even though they didn't make it.

Humility. My children have learned it's not always their turn. They've accepted they can't always get their way because other people have to get their way sometimes. They've learned that some children are better at certain things than they are.

Foreign language skills. You can learn a lot of Spanish by watching ten years of Dora the Explorer that you just can't pick up in two. And now with the Diego spin off I'm practically fluent.

Laughter. The children have learned to laugh at the insane non sequiturs of younger siblings. They've learned that laughing just feels better when seven people are doing it along with you.

Competition. Do I really need to go into this? Everything is a competition in big families. The children compete over who reads faster, who drinks their milk faster, who gets to the bathroom first...etc. Everything is a competition and they're all keeping score.

Balance. The floor of the front room of my home is a minefield of toys and childhood paraphernalia. Just walking through the room requires great skill and balance. I'm absolutely convinced my two year old will be a favorite for Gold on the balance beam in the 2016 Olympics. (She might have to lay off the cookies a little but I'll deal with that later.)

Life isn't fair. Sometimes you just give it to the baby because you want a little quiet. Not all the time. But sometimes.

Just say "No." Being able to say "no" may be the most undervalued skill in this world. The need to be liked is pervasive. The need to be cool even more so. Having brothers and sisters teaches children to say "no" about 143 times a day. It's a good skill.

Praying. They learn that nothing beats praying together as a family.

Nature/Nurture. Having many children has taught me that nature has a lot more to with who my kids are than nurture. This is helpful, especially when your children misbehave you don't have to feel bad about it. Just say "Stupid nature!!!" and blame your spouse's genes.

Namecalling. You can occasionally call your child by the wrong name and still not be considered a terrible parent. They know who you mean just from your tone. Sometimes if you need something done you can call the wrong name and someone will still show up. That helps.

Spying. My children have learned that they can't get away with anything. I have spies who look a lot like them who are willing to drop the dime on them for anything. Even at school I've got a child in just about every grade. If they do something I'll hear. That keeps them nervous. And I like keeping my kids a little nervous.

Friendship. The children have many friends. They've got girly friends, crying friends, fun loving friends, consoling friends, and crazy friends. And they all have the same last name. And they'll be there forever for each other. No matter what.

Love. I think my children have learned to love because there are others around them to love and who love them. I honestly can think of no better way to teach children to love than siblings.

My Week in Rwanda... Guest Post (Bw)

2011-03-19T15:28:00.003-05:00

Well - have had an amazing week here in Rwanda complete with great executive meetings, negotitations with the KingFaisal CMO and CEOs - and then a last minute requested meeting with the Honorable Minster of Health, Dr Szebeira, himself (with great progress made!) --- but more on that later as have better internet and can post the photos. The whole (and real) reason my wife let me come on this trip is below: Introducing Grace...

We have a great video of this visit as well - but no way internet here is gonna support big uploads so will show that later as well. Love you all and thankful for your prayers. Beginning long journey home tomorrow and soooo ready to see Ames, Em, Natie Bug, Ridge, Diah, and Lil Man Rhett! Love you guys!

peace,

Adiah's 3rd Gotcha-versary!!

2011-03-18T18:32:00.008-05:00

Yesterday we celebrated Adiah's 3rd Gotcha Day Anniversary! Since Brian is in Africa this week AND the kids are on spring break we decided to celebrate big! We left the house bright and early yesterday morning knowing full well that it would be a very busy day! And to say Adiah was excited was an understatement! The child has been talking about her Gotcha Day for weeks now! When she realized that yesterday was finally THE day she could hardly contain herself! She loves to celebrate anyone...but especially herself! The day she was placed in our arms 3 years ago she was such a weak and timid little baby. She was undernourished and very fragile. To look back on those first few days and remember...well, you would hardly recognize her now! She is a healthy, vibrant, confident child! And she loves for everyone to know it! I'm so thankful God let me be her forever mommy! I am a changed person because of it! Adiah Hope, we love you so much!!

Our first activity of the day was pottery painting. They each enjoyed picking out which piece they would paint! Each piece completely reflected their personalities when all was said and done. And Adiah had so much fun!!

Adiah getting started

ALL of my kids painting away...

Ridge chose a spider man piece...

Natalie had a flashback to the 80's and did a splatter paint heart...

Cutie pie Rhett

He chose a motorcycle and did a smashing job don't you think?

Adiah and Mommy...

Adiah picked a princess castle(of course!) and did a wonderful job, too!

Emily did a sun that she wants to hang up outside on the patio by the pool...

When we were done and waiting for our pottery to dry we decided to go get a picnic lunch and find a park to eat and play at. Right about the time we arrived Brian called from Rwanda so I missed getting pictures of our picnic but here are some of our fun time playing...

We did some sliding...

Some hanging out and face making....

Some posing on the slide while the wind was blowing...

Some looking at spiders...

Some dare-devil climbing...

Some quality sibling time-ing...

And some swangin'...

It was a great time! Its been a long time since we've all been at a park together like that. Just wish our daddy was there! Adiah loved that activity as well!

Next we headed off to the mall and (the brave mommy that I am) decided to do some ice-skating! I know you're all shaking your head at me. But listen...you do what you gotta do, mkay? So after the 900 minutes it took us to get everyone skated up we headed off to the ice. Rhett and Adiah have obviously never ice skated before. Adiah loves to watch it and has asked quite a bit if she could go. But Rhett....not so much. He was walking around really well on the skates but once we hit the ice he was over it! We tried for awhile but eventually took turns hanging out with him on the outside. Adiah did very well for it being her first time. She actually kept her balance most of the time and didn't want to leave when it was over! I wondering if I should enroll her in lessons? The older kids had a great time too and helped me out quite a bit with the littles! A memory we'll never forget! I wasn't able to take any pictures while we were skating because my hands were full but I took one after the fact. Look at Adiah's face!!

After ice skating we headed down the hall to Build-A-Bear! The little kids have never been and its been years since the older kids have been. Emily and Natalie didn't want to build a bear so they helped me with everyone else. Except for the loud "stuffing" machine Adiah loved every part of this! She loved picking out a Hello Kitty and her ballerina outfit. We all kissed the little hearts and put lots of love inside of her kitty! Ridge and Rhett even enjoyed doing this little activity!!

Here she is humoring me with one more "cheese" for the camera

Rhett stuffing his puppy

They gave Adiah a little golf club thing to push down the stuffing pedal because she was so nervous of the loud noise.

Mr. Cool Dude, Ridge getting his camo bear stuffed.

Cuties!

At this point we were all about wiped out but we needed to eat dinner so we headed over to PF Changs and enjoyed a yummy meal to end the day! I could barely keep them awake on the way home and we all slept really well last night! I think we all enjoyed Adiah's Gotcha Day/spring break celebration! But most importantly...we're all so glad Adiah is in our lives!

Rwanda...here we go again!

2011-03-14T17:18:00.004-05:00

As much as I KNOW you wanted to continue to look at the lovely pictures my (currently grounded) daughter put on my blog I think I'll change it! Sorry! But I had to share that Brian is on his way to Rwanda as I type this! I was trying to figure out a way to explain why he's going but my friend, Chelsea, explained it so much better than I could so I'll let you read her words. But Brian and Mark(Chelsea's husband) will be spending the next week in Kigali with Jane (our guide in Rwanda when we were there this January) and then make the beautiful drive to Noel orphanage where we spent our last two days while we were there. Its also where a piece of my heart stayed behind! We are joining with His Chase this summer and taking a team of people to Noel to build a sports arena and to do some medical assessments on the precious children there. Currently there are 650+ kids that are living there. But I just wanted to ask you to be thinking of Brian and Mark this week and pray that the Lord would open up the doors that need to be opened while there....He's already doing it! Mark has been there for a few days now and it has been amazing! Thanks!!! I'll post pics if I get any from Brian! I'm so proud of him....!!!

Back to the Future

2011-03-04T17:11:00.013-06:00

Ladies and Gentle men! Boys and girls! Welcome one and all to a series of pictures that will make you cringe, smile, laugh, and bring back memories that you thought you would never have to bring back!

Just kidding!

sorta.

Before we get going, let me inform you that I am not your regular host, or even her husband! This is yours truly, the one and only, the coolest kid on the block, the oldest, the greatest child in the family- Emily Woods!

Just kidding!

sorta.

So lets begin! I was going through a very big box of photos we have, when I came across these beauties! These here are prime picks, and are oh so very worthy for you to enjoy....

1.] Lets begin with my mother and her wedding dress- I mean prom dress! Aint those sleeves something!

2.] My fathers a cheezer! What can I say?

3.] Im pretty sure this group of ladies {one of which is my mother}were apart of the living christmas tree! Whats a living christmas tree you ask? If you really care to find out, please ask my mother! She'd be delighted to tell you! There's a video of it somewhere.. Hmmm...

4.] Aunt Sara- always a very proper, polite woman...

I like sarcasm

5.] "Hmm, I wonder how much of this gold tinsle I can wrap around my head..."

Watch out Lady Gaga!

6.] Shout out to Mr. Ed Haas! I'm loving your hair in this picture- yours too dad! :]

7.] This is the front of this picture...

...and this is the back of this picture! How cute- they were just friends though!

8.] Nuff said.

9.] Honey Mooners!! Lets all do a collective "Aww!" One. Two. Three! *Awww!*

That was nice..

I wonder if Carlos 'N Charlie's is still open? Lightbulb! They should go back and take another picture with that same heart around their faces! Whos wid me??

10.] Yours truly!

11.] I spy with my little eye...a closet door...with the lable "closet" on it! Click on the picture and see if you spy it too! Aside from that and the shirt she's wearing, my
mom is riding an ironing board like a horse!

Ha!

12.] Polates? Yoga, maybe? Maybe its just a guy they found and proceeded to inttarogate with questions like, "Whats your favorite part of father of the Bride?" or, "What's your Revlon perfect shade?" until he would take a picture with them!

I was just informed his name was Franc.

13.] Another Nuff said.

14.] " Is this angle better?"

No.

16.] When we were little kids, we used to play on that floater thing and pretend like we were superman. Nice form Mommy Holly! :]

17.] If they're on night watch then they're ready to go!

18.] My Uncle Rob's never been much of a jokester...ther was one time when he chased my mom and aunt around the house while his fingers were being bull horns when they were little... but that was a long time ago...

I like sarcasm

19.] "Give me that cake now!"

Just kidding! I have no idea whats going on in this picture, or who she could be growling at!

20.] There's a broom on the wall.

21.] All Hail Queen Quilted Northern!

Whats going on?

Why is she wrapped in toilet paper?

Is this a tradition that I dont know about yet?

Will I one day be wrapped in toilet paper?

22.] I dont now why I question why my sister is a very dramatic human being? The answer lies within this picture. When my mom saw this picture, she still remembered the name of the guy behind her- it was Jimmy, or Andrew or something...

23.] Special thanks to whoever gave that pan to my madre- cause we still have it today! In fact I made a chocolate sheet cake in it the other day!

Whats that? You want some chocolate sheet cake?

Too bad! I ate it all!

24.] Whoa. Im at a loss for what to say...

25.] If this is wrong- then I dont wanna be right! I'll give you a hint: One of those is my mom, and the other is my grandma! But who can tell them apart?

The eyes, the eyebrows, the nose, oh my!

26.] I pray to thee up above, that my mothers hair will never get to that extent again...

...I can hear your Amens.

27.] Is this another tradition? I think I recall my aunt telling me this was a graduation party?

28.] " Ba da da da da da" Im Lovin it! What about you?

I hope you did! Because, alas, we are at the end of our journey! Feel free to shout out your favorite picture in the comment section! And I challenge all of you to go through some of your old pictures, find the "good" ones, and then be brave enough to share them with the world! A Back to the Future challenge:]

Have a great week and laugh lots!

Roger Roger Over and Out,

Emily

For real- Am I going to be wrapped in toilet paper?

Day 4- Drawn From Water

2011-01-20T20:04:00.011-06:00

On the fourth day we went to an orphanage called Drawn From Water. Currently only 13 kids live at this place. Its a small home with several staff members which is a great ratio for these kids! Click on the link and find out more about Drawn from water.

Part of our crew as we were preparing to leave that morning for Drawn from water.

Jason immediately found himself a little one to love on!

These kids were obviously scared of us. You can tell it is not often that they see white people. They were very unsure of us and it took quite some coaxing for them to even crack a smile at us. The older ones opened up more when we busted out the crafts but the babies really didn't let down their guard that much. These kids are really cared for! They've even fashioned the home to seem like its a "home" situation. They have rooms with a two to three bunk beds, one baby bed, and one nanny bed. Each room is this way and so every night the kids have an adult in the room sleeping with them. The kids were very bonded to their nannies which was good! I told Brian, though, that if these kids were able to be adopted we would be starting that process yesterday! The goal with Drawn from Water is to eventually reunite these kids back with their biological families.

Daria and her sweet baby...

We set up a craft table for the older kids. We brought foam crosses, coloring sheets with scripture on them, etc. They had a great time! I remember at one point sitting and coloring with one of the kids and she copied EXACTLY everything I put on my page. It was sweet!

Dad had a good time trying to get the little ones to open up with a ball!

Tara and "Bubba"! This kid was hefty! And so very serious. Even at the end of the day he barely cracked a smile. But we enjoyed loving on him and feeding him lollipops!

Chelsea brought a bunch of cars that someone donated and this was the perfect place to bust them out! The older kids and younger kids both really loved them!

Chelsea found a special little girl to love on! She was so frightened of us at first but eventually only let Chelsea hold her! They bonded quickly!

The nannies at Drawn from Water love these kids...its very apparent! And they have beautiful hearts! They enjoyed seeing themselves on our cameras!

Taylor making crosses with this sweet girl!

Billy, our resident photographer, captured some very sweet moment during the entire trip! This was one of my favorites!

Bubba!

The older kids went nuts with the crafts! Look how creative!

This bike was really warped and needed a little help! Billy helped balance the back so this boy could ride....they need a new one don't you think?

Chelsea's girl....

Me and "Bubba"

Sara and Taylor handing out lollipops

Day 3

2011-01-20T16:57:00.006-06:00

Day three we went to what we called "state run/not state run" orphanage. We were a bit confused but I think it was actually called Kidane Orphanage(thanks Sara!). We had a great time with them and were able to face paint, do VBS, teach a few songs, do some crafts, play some ball, and let these kids know they are loved!

This was the 'head sister', Sister Lutgarda(unsure of the real spelling). When she walked out I immediately thought of my JoJo who passed away about 7 years ago. My sister and my dad thought so too! The way she carried herself, her sweetness....everything! This woman was born in Malta and now lives in Ethiopia running this orphanage. They take any of the children that the govt feels isn't healthy. There are lots of older kids, kids with HIV/AIDS, abused children, who just want homes. In fact we were told that we would probably be asked by these kids if they could come live with us. The answer we gave is that we would pray for them to get a family soon. It was hard to look into their eyes and say that because I wanted them to believe it! You could tell that people come in and out of their lives all of the time. They are used to saying goodbye. In fact they even had a song they sang to us at the end of our time with them. It was to the tune "This is the day, this is the day, that the Lord has made...."
It went:
This is the day, this is the day that we say goodbye, that we say goodbye.
We are so sad, we are so sad that it makes us cry, that it makes us cry.

We honestly didn't know what to say at the end of it. We looked around at each other with big eyes and then hugged them goodbye. What else were we to do? However, later that night as we were debriefing again many of us voiced what we were all thinking..."Its so sad that they actually have a song that they sing to say goodbye. They do it all of the time". And what was very evident in these kids is that even though this is their "home" and they are happy there...they know what they are missing. They're missing a family. They LONG for a family. And on this day...my heart broke.

Chelsea and some sweet girls...

These boys thought I was quite funny as I tried to play basketball with them! I was trying to "get up in their business" and did a little "shake and bake" with them but all it did was make them laugh! We had a good time and I realized quickly that the next time I go to Africa I need to do some two-a-days to get ready!

Tara always draws a crowd! Beautiful red head with face paint...who could resist?

One of the sisters in the baby room. I got the privilege of going with our group leader, Frank, into the orphanage first to get a little tour of the place so we could tell our team how best to spread out. When we got to the baby room they informed us that many of the babies had woken up with chicken pox that morning. We chose not to spend any time in there only because we were trying not to spread it to any other kids we came in contact with. It was sad because there were MANY babies we wanted to love on! You could tell that these sisters really loved these kids and wanted to do the very best for them!

Sara painting something fabulous!

Taylor and her crew!

Jason never stopped playing ball with these kids!

My dad enjoyed visiting with this young girl who is leaving for nursing school in Germany soon! Her heart was so tender!

We also were able to do a VBS and craft with the kids there. You could tell they had a good time and knew exactly what they wanted their pages to look like.

Billy with two sisters.

This little boy is being adopted and his parents will be coming soon for him!

This sweet little girl would walk up to me all day and say "photo"! She loved posing for me!

This is Shitaye...she was one of those girls who knew exactly what she was missing..a mom and a dad. Such a sweet spirit she had!

Ok, so maybe Jason did sit down for a minute. But only for a minute with his buddy!!

I love this homemade weight!

So our time was short here but the impact they made on ME was deep. Look at these sweet smiles...doing what I said I would do and praying they find families soon.

Korah

2011-01-19T16:20:00.012-06:00

Ya'll I've been trying forever to get these pictures downloaded to my blog and put them in the correct order but I'm running out of patience with this thing so they are staying in the order they are. Hopefully you won't be too confused!

On the plane leaving for Washington DC with Sara and Dad. We were excited!

Here we are in the DC airport waiting to get on our plane to Ethiopia! Jason Root, David Root, Chelsea Jacobs, Glen and Daria Leland and Billy Pope(photographer extraordinaire!)

Chelsea won the luggage award. I don't really think there was a luggage award but we made one up and gave it to her. Most of these bags were filled with donations to the orphanages we were going to! Awesome stuff right there!!

When we got to Addis Ababa we went to the guest house to check in. We were supposed to have a few hours to sleep and then head out to Korah but our guest house wasn't ready yet so we went over to wait in another guest house. We didn't get in our rooms until it was time to leave for Korah so off we went. We were exhausted but the Lord was so good to give us that supernatural energy we needed to continue on! Once we got there we forgot about being so tired!

I wish I could fully describe what being at Korah meant to me. Its a community that literally was formed in the trash dump right outside of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. I wasn't prepared really for all we would see but I'm so thankful they allowed us the opportunity to be with them. Being satisfied with all that they have is a lesson I need to learn. We all need to learn it. They craved physical touch. They were so happy that we were there to love on them, hold their hand, look into their eyes, and tell them that they were loved. There were moments when any one of us would have 5 kids hanging on our arms and legs. I remember at one point thinking to myself..."THIS is why I'm here". There are so many people who wonder if it really matters or if it really does any good to go on trips like this. And when I looked into those eyes of those precious people (young AND old) and realized how much they loved being talked to and valued and played with and cared for I found my answer. I attached a YouTube video down below. Its a short look into Korah. But the answer is also there...they ARE important. They are!

We were able to pick out 5 sheep and take back to Korah so the people could make up a stew and feed the kids. Meat is a real luxury for them and they normally only get it on special occasions (if even then). We happened to be there on a Saturday and they are not normally fed on Saturdays either. We were able to feed 250 people that day!

Trying to decide which ones to pick...hmmm...

Jason found one! Not gonna tell you what he did to it but it involved a knife. That's all I'm gonna say...

Sara and I were a little sad about it though...

They sheep had to ride IN the van with us back to Korah. That was a first for me!

The end product. Sheep stew with injera. I did not try this but a couple of our group members did.

My dad handing out plates of food.

What a blessing to see this...

Look at these two sweet precious girls!!

My dad with two sweeties!

Sara and her new friends!

Jason and his sweetie for the day....or one of many!!

Some of our group walking the streets of Korah...(Billy, Taylor, Chelsea, and David B)

Our group debriefing that night...
Some of the other things we got to do at Korah was do a VBS lesson with them, sing songs, listen to their songs, play soccer, face paint, etc. It did get crazy at times but I was so thankful that God had allowed me to be there at that exact time with those exact people. Next up...'the state run/not state run orphanage'....

Disturb us...

2011-01-15T11:21:00.004-06:00

Well, I'm home from our time in Africa. I have so much to say and so many pictures to share. I can't wait to do it! I've only been home for 3 1/2 days and already I feel like it was just a dream. I can't believe I got the honor and privilege of being with the amazing people of Ethiopia and Rwanda. But it wasn't a dream....it was very real. And the things I learned from Africa are probably too many to write out. As I go through the pictures with you I will try and convey what the Lord put on my heart. I have been forever changed! However, right now I want to share a prayer that has been floating around blog land for a while. I just felt it fitting for this season and the things I'm asking the Lord now that I'm back. I pray I will be forever disturbed...

Prayer of Francis Drake, 1577

Disturb us, Lord, when

We are too pleased with ourselves,

When our dreams have come true

Because we dreamed too little,

When we arrived safely

Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when

with the abundance of things we possess

We have lost our thirst

For the waters of life;

Having fallen in love with life,

We have ceased to dream of eternity

And in our efforts to build a new earth,

We have allowed our vision

Of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,

To venture on wilder seas

Where storms will show Your mastery;

Where losing sight of land,

We shall find the stars.

We ask you to push back

The horizons of our hopes;

And to push back the future

In strength, courage, hope, and love.

This we ask in the name of our Captain,

Who is Jesus Christ.

Gisenyi, Rwanda

2011-01-07T08:04:00.001-06:00

Howdy all -

No new pics as they have no Internet in the far out lands they are in now, but quick call from Amy which was good for me! Definitely saved the best/most challenging for last per Miss Amy. Area is so beautiful physically, the mountains of Congo are in view, but the devastation in the little ones around there and the poverty evident in so many ways have been welling up in emotional tears every quiet moment. They are working daily at very overcrowded orphanages (600+ kids at each) and pretty draining. Facilities have stepped down off the star rating. Beds are cots and bed bugs and some kind of leach are everywhere around their beds. Larry threw his back out yesterday so please pray for strength for him. They are here for two more days then begin the long 2 day journey home (Yeah!).

Will post more pics when they get back to airport. Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement. All the Woods kids are still alive and have been fed and been bathed. (Thank God.)

peace,
Bw

Amy's Kisses

2011-01-04T15:41:00.002-06:00

K... nothing else needs to be said...

wow.

Leaving Addis ---- on to Rwanda

2011-01-04T13:53:00.003-06:00

Howdy all -

Very minimal talking but some email updates. They have made it to Rwanda. Place they are at now does not look to bad... feeling a little better but guarding her back pain. Lice may have made the trip from Ethiopia with a few - so praying for lack of spread to others. Mosquitos are thick in the new place so sleeping under nets at night now and praying their malaria prophylaxis ordered by Dr Moreland is in full swing! Reaching half way point of this trip, but nerves and feelings on edge for Amy and others full way... praying for renewal. Thanks for everyone's thoughtful support, and continue praying.
peace -
Bw

View from their lodge in Rwanda.

Papa Larry and a few new friends.

Sweet picture. (Sara out of love for you and sincere respect for all that you are doing-- I am not going to make a comment about our fun "nurses vs. doctors" stuff like you know I would do in person, nor comment on that strained look on your face. I won't - I promise! Love you girl - your rockin your skill set for Jesus!)

The girls.

Looks like Amy's stomach must be growlin lookin at all them rolls of... of... stuff!

Can she be more beatifully awesome?

More to follow when it hits home base!

Korah & Addis Day 2&3

2011-01-03T15:00:00.005-06:00

All -
Just pictures so far today, internet so not working enough. The group is leaving for Rwanda here in about 6 hours. Amy doin good but has sore throat and back feeling twitchy and "wants to go out." Now we know what to pray specifically. Keep praying. Peace- Bw

Wish I was gettin a flower painted on my face!

Bettin' one of those stood out for future consideration...

Man --- my sister kisses that guy....

From his hand pointing like that - I'm tellin you he is sayin...

"... and you know what?? Now listen!"

Sara's groupies...

Sara again. Guessin from her shirt she is still regular...

Wonder what his name is...

Chelsea and a friend with small pox or stickers gone awry...

Guessin' that's as close as she got... her chickens she can dance with - but thinkin' not so much with these guys...

She's either makin' a basket, praying in tongues, or preparing to be like Sara's shirt above.

I'm guessin praying...

Will post more when she gets a chance to email - hopefully today as they go through the airport!

Korah Day 1

2011-01-01T14:45:00.003-06:00

This is brief email from Miss Amy. Lots of pictures below. Will post now and she can edit information and repost stuff later as needed for those following - just thought would be good to see. Keep praying! - Bw

Hey guys!! Well I haven't been able to blog like I thought I would while here. The internet is completely "iffy" at best and I can't get onto blogger so I'm emailing this post to Brian. Words can't even express what we've already experienced in the short time we've been here. We landed on whatever day that was and went striaght to Korah for the afternoon. When we arrived the kids were chanting "Welcome! Welcome! Welcome!!!". It was so awesome. We could hardly get out of the van because the kids were so excited to see us. It was simply amazing! The love these kids showed to us just because we were there. My dad jumped right in and had a great time playing with the kids. One particular little girl really loved him and didn't leave his side. We just played with them that day but then we returned there yesterday to spend the whole day. We decided we wanted to feed the kids and Sumer from Project 61 said that a great way to feed them would be to purchase some sheep and they would slaughter them and make it into a stew Apparently these kids dont' really get fed on Saturdays and meat is a real luxury. We bought 5 sheep for $150.
We actually went to a place and picked the sheep out, put them IN our van and brought them there. We have pictures and when I get home I'll blog in more detail when I can actually see the pictures. Basically the sheep were slaughtered (with the help of Jason), made into a stew and we fed about 250 people. They were thrilled! I really have no words to express the extreme need. No words. This is WAY below poverty level here. Yet the happiness they showed just by someone looking in their eyes and spending time with them is just amazing. We were able to do a short VBS lesson with the kids and did some facepainting and soccer playing too. I have so much more to share....I need to have my pictures in front of me and have the time to really expound. However right now we are preparing to go to another orphanage for the day so I need to go. Thank you all for praying for me and the team. We have a great one!! I miss my family so much! When I lay in bed at night I think of them and cry. I can't wait to hug their necks! Sorry this is so short but I gotta run!

Love you guys!!

Amy (and Dad and Sara)

this may be one of my all time favorite pictures of this beautiful woman...

I'm guessin that bread is good....
... and I bet part of that other thing is chewy and grissly enough to stick between your teeth...

this I think is the field outside the city they went to play games (soccer) and do VBS...

two beautiful smiles...

amazing man right there -
(Jason - my sis Gina's husband...)

I love this man - but what is he gonna need that pen for in his pocket there?

(Larry - Amy and Sara's Dad)

Sara - with plenty of new friends!

And.... one more time... Picture of day 1 for the Woods Gang here...

I'm leavin' on a jet plane...

2010-12-29T08:15:00.004-06:00

Well, today is the day I've been looking forward to since April. I'm hopping on a plane (along with my sister, Sara, my dad, Chelsea, Jason, and David) to meet the rest of the team we've joined through Visiting Orphans. We'll be flying to Ethiopia and Rwanda to go visit some orphanages and love on some sweet kids! Of course, my heart really has no idea what its getting itself into but I'm so thrilled and honored to be a part of this trip. I would love it if you guys would keep us in your prayers while we're gone. For the basic stuff like health, safety, etc but also for the big stuff. You know like eyes to see what we're truly there to see. For Supernatural energy and ability to get down and dirty and just 'be' where they are. We're spoiled Americans who have no idea really what it is to "need" anything. I want to be present in every moment. And for God to be glorified through it all!

Along with all of this excitement comes some sadness though. I'm gonna miss my people so bad! We're already feeling the tears and (healthy) anxiety that comes with being apart like this. As you remember a couple of posts ago I confessed some of the fear issues I've struggled with. The Lord has been so faithful and I feel completely covered up by Him. I love reading Psalm 91 and I've been meditating on these words...(for me and for my family)

Those who live in the shelter of the Most High
will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
This I declare about the Lord:
He alone is my refuge, my place of safety;
he is my God, and I trust him.
For he will rescue you from every trap
and protect you from deadly disease.
He will cover you with his feathers.
He will shelter you with his wings.
His faithful promises are your armor and protection.
Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night,
nor the arrow that flies in the day.
Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness,
nor the disaster that strikes at midday.
Though a thousand fall at your side,
though ten thousand are dying around you,
these evils will not touch you.
Just open your eyes,
and see how the wicked are punished.
If you make the Lord your refuge,
if you make the Most High your shelter,
no evil will conquer you;
no plague will come near your home.
For he will order his angels
to protect you wherever you go.
They will hold you up with their hands
so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.
You will trample upon lions and cobras;
you will crush fierce lions and serpents under your feet!
The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me.
I will protect those who trust in my name.
When they call on me, I will answer;
I will be with them in trouble.
I will rescue and honor them.
I will reward them with a long life
and give them my salvation.”

Thank you for praying! I'll try and post from Africa if I can. Of course you just never know. Like I tell my kids..."you get what you get and you don't throw a fit"! And I'll leave you with pictures of my people whom I love so much and already can't wait to get home to throw my arms around their necks! Thank you to my family for loving me enough to let me "go" and for stepping up to the plate while I'm gone! I love you....

My kids.

My guy.

Gotcha...one year later!

2010-12-28T12:43:00.005-06:00

Today, December 28, is a very special day around here! That was the day...one year ago today...that Rhett was placed in our arms forever!! And even though he entered our family in a rather stressful season he adjusted so completely well! Probably better than his parents did, that's for sure! He came to us so unsure of everything...he had a home as far as he was concerned and was taken right out of it. And even though it was for the best he didn't understand that. He was loved quite well at the orphanage that he lived in for the first 2 years and 8 months of his life and for that I will be forever grateful! But the love of a family is something different and I thank God every single day that I get to be his mommy! He is full of energy...full of life...full of mischief....full of surprises....and full of love! I wouldn't change one thing about this boy. I know I work alot harder now that he is in our family...he keeps me on my toes(I had to get up 5 times just typing this paragraph to go see what he was up to)! But I'm so thankful that God made him the way he is. He is a fighter...a survivor...and just plain awesome! Last night, Rhett got his fingers slammed in a door and he was really hurting! I scooped him up in my arms, got an icepack, and went and laid him on my bed and snuggled with him for awhile. He was whimpering quite a bit. I needed to get up to check on Adiah but when I started to move he began to cry alot and he said "Mommy, don't go bye bye. Don't leave". And I know he was talking about not wanting me to leave the room but I couldn't help but think to myself.."I'm NEVER going to leave you Rhett. Never. You are forever mine!" Rhett, mommy and daddy love you so much! Happy Forever Family Day, buddy!

December 28, 2009...not too sure about what was happening

Meeting mommy for the first time...

Back at the hotel daddy tried to break the ice by giving him a pen and paper...we joked that he was probably trying to write a "SAVE ME" letter!

This was his home for the first couple years of his life...

Fast forward one year...happy, silly, fabulous little boy!

He loves all of us so much. Adiah and Rhett have a special bond! Sure they fight but what brother and sister don't?

Look at that face! What is he up to now?

Forever ours!

And on a lighter note....Christmas!!

2010-12-27T16:23:00.006-06:00

First of all, I want to thank all of you for your sweet comments and emails about my previous post. Obviously that was a hard one to write but so cleansing at the same time. I'm thankful for the continuous work the Lord is doing in me. And if I could help anyone at all thats an added blessing! So thanks!

Ok, so on to something "lighter"! Christmas this year was filled with lots of family, fun, gifts, and food! We started our celebrations on the 18th spending the afternoon and evening with Brian's dad and step mom at NorthPark Mall! Jim and Linda decided to surprise us this year with a scavenger hunt! We divided up into family teams and we each got a board that gave us clues as to where we could open our next clue. It was lots of fun and the kids really got into it! Jim and Linda really thought it out and made it a fun experience! The final stop was the Ronald McDonald train display! They purchased a portion of the train and had our family names put on it. Whoever found their train first won! And all of the proceeds go to benefit the Ronald McDonald house! So neat! Of course, we won....You know it, Root family!! Afterwards we went to Cheesecake Factory for some dinner and yummy dessert and exchanged gifts. It was a neat way to celebrate Christmas!

The Woods and Roots

On Christmas eve eve we went to Brian's mom and step dad's house. Carol and Bill always work very hard on the kids stockings and this year they did not disappoint! I believe Rhett's favorite thing was his Elmo umbrella! Good thing it rained all day the next day! We ate pizza, opened gifts, and enjoyed each other's company...

MiMi with all her grand kids...that's alot of kids!

MiMi also has a tradition that she makes a quilt for each grand kid that enters our family. Well, this year 3 kids joined the fam so she had LOTS of work to do! She poured many hours of work and love into these quilts! Here she is with her 3 newest additions!

Bill and I decided we never get a picture together so here we are....

Here is GiGi(Brian's grandmother) with all the great grands!

My two oldest girls with their cousin, Brooklyn. Such beautiful ladies!

I love this one of Ridge because that is pretty much what his face looked like the entire holiday! He was super excited about everything he got!

Christmas eve we spent the night at our own house and all of the kids slept upstairs together so the littles wouldn't get up in the night and wander around. They've been known to get up way too early! Here they are at the appointed time of 7 am! They were ready!!!

Adiah is into all things princess (still) and she had been asking for the Rapunzel magic hair and purple dress. Santa did not disappoint!

This was Rhett's first Christmas celebration but it did not take him long to figure out that it was super fun! He got his own new bike...and he loves it!

Emily with her stash from Santa...a Kindle was her big ticket item this year!

Natalie got one too!

Ridge got a new bow and arrow set! Its a good one!

I couldn't really sleep well on Christmas eve so I got up before everyone else and showered for the day. I even made the comment to Brian that I was happy I'm never in any Christmas morning pics because I had rollers in my hair. Wrong. Little did I know that Santa was going to leave me some diamond earrings! Santa did good!!

We then headed over to my parents house for the day. My brother, Rob, brought his smoker and smoked the most fabulous turkey and ham you've ever tasted!

Then it was on to the gifts...lots of them!

My dad...

My mom...I think she had a good day!

My niece, Lily

Rob and his wife, Emily

Rhett had fun opening his gifts...his tool kit was his favorite one, I think!

Adiah surrounded by gifts!

Besides my brother in law, Matt, being super sick (with pneumonia we think) we all had a great day!

I hope you all had a blessed Christmas!!!

Grief

2010-12-17T21:00:00.003-06:00

I've wanted to start this post a million times. Actually I've tried a time or two but it just wasn't right. I'd like to go on and on about all the posts I should have done but there is no way I could back track and make up for them all...so I won't! I'll just start from here. For those who know me you know that I'm a processor. I take forever to mill over something and pray about it and then eventually share my "feelings" about whatever topic it is. This past year has felt like one big "process" session. I'm not sure I will be able really write what is in my heart tonight. I'll try though.

Last December Brian and I flew to China to adopt Rhett. I believe most of you know the story about how 2 days before we left Brian's leg began to hurt. The leg that was so badly injured when he had his car accident in 2004. Yet we pushed on and flew to China. What else were we to do? Our son was waiting for us. Of course, we didn't know the severity of it yet. Praise God. We arrive in China on December 27th and meet Rhett on December 28th. By December 30 we knew Brian was not doing well. We made the decision to send him back home to get medical help. But I had to stay in China to finish the adoption of our son. I can hardly even type that with out crying. It was a hard time. Recently, I've told that part of our story a couple of different times. Its still very fresh on my mind. Remembering the times when I would be in a hotel room in China with a son whom I hardly knew with a very sick husband in a hospital half a world away and I was so very very scared. Brian was not just a little sick. By the time he reached the U.S. his organs had begun shutting down. He had a massive Staph infection in his hip. I would lay in the floor of that hotel and shake and pray. And cry out to the Lord and beg Him to show me that he was still with me. That he hadn't left us. I felt alone. It was all very traumatic. Does that sound weak to you? I'm sorry if it does...and actually at the time I felt so very very weak. But the Lord! Oh the Lord had only started revealing himself to me.

And most of you know that Brian got home just in time. The Dr's took him straight to surgery and cut out the infection and then put him on 6 weeks of the only IV antibiotic left that would kill this infection. The only one. Let that soak in for a minute. Pretty scary stuff right there! And then Rhett and I got home and we began our life in the midst of all this YUCK. Trying to continue bonding with our new son and praying life into my husband. It was hard. In the midst of all of this an acquaintance of ours passes away from a staph infection just like Brian was fighting. It was hard. After finishing his 6 weeks of IV antibiotics we go in for a follow up MRI just to be sure that the meds had done what they were supposed to. Just a formality really. However....the MRI showed that something had grown back. Just two weeks after stopping the ONLY antibiotic that kills this infection. It was hard. That was a Friday. We gathered some dear friends together that night and prayed. Prayed HARD for a miracle. Prayed for healing in Brian's body. After that evening of prayer I felt more peaceful. Brian felt more peaceful. We chose at that point to try and shield our kids from all of this(for the time being) until we went in on Monday to see the surgeon. Brian and I used that weekend to go through some important things that I might need to know. We went over money stuff, kid stuff, I cried, but then we just lived our life. We bought furniture (weird fact to throw in there but it was significant to me). The Lord really blessed us with such a sweet weekend of being together. And then Monday...we went in to the surgeon (who has done every surgery on Brian's hip since his accident-love him!) to see what he would want us to do. We went fully prepared to be checking into the hospital for more surgery. However when we went into his office he decided to try and stick a needle in the area that showed the infection and pull some out so he could see it first. He tried several times to remove some of the fluid but couldn't get any. The fluid was gone! Where the MRI showed more infection...there was no more fluid! It was a MIRACLE!!! Praise God!!!! I cried so hard. Brian cried. However, his infectious disease Dr wasn't as thrilled and wanted a more thorough exam of the area and ordered another test to be run while Brian was under anesthesia...10 days later. Ugh. I felt like I'd been punched in the gut. LONG story short we went in 10 days later, he had the test done and still no infection was found!!! We were so thrilled!

So why am I writing all of this? Well...because I've had a hard time this year. I wish I hadn't, honestly. I wish I could tell you that all of those things were such faith building experiences. They were...but sometimes they weren't. I used to feel bad about saying that but I don't really now. After the wonderful outcome I struggled quite a bit. On the outside I would say the words people would want me to say. I would tell people how thrilled we were about Brian's outcome and how ONLY the Lord could do that. And its all true. And I believed it. But there was another battle raging inside of me. As time went on I felt myself being so afraid. Deep fear. Fear that started about Brian's health but leaked over into other areas of my life. I felt a darkness hovering over me and I couldn't figure out what on earth was wrong with me. I wanted it to stop. I found myself becoming angry that any of this happened. I felt like I was letting my kids, my husband, and God down by feeling this way. I felt like that because I was so scared then that must mean that my faith was weak. And I was just so tired. Now...don't get me wrong. It wasn't ALWAYS about this. We were loving this new family member and loving each other but this was just the battle raging inside of ME. I shared it with Brian but really not very many other people besides him. I didn't feel like I could. And I prayed about it ALL of the time.

So Brian and I go to Rome in July...LOVED it! Had the best time!!!! But after we landed back in Texas I felt the heaviness once again....praise the Lord there were changes on the horizon. In September we went to the wedding of some sweet friends of ours and afterwards another dear friend (one who has been very KEY in my faith walk) started talking with me and asked how I was. The flood gates opened and I cried like I hadn't in so very long. I cried and was honest and talked through some of the things I'd felt and for the first time after hearing her words to me I felt the darkness lifting. I felt the Lord telling me that I am OK. "It's OK, Amy. It's OK to feel that way. It's OK to ask hard questions. It's OK to cry and be sad. It doesn't mean you have no faith. In your weakness I am made strong! I have NOT left you...." My sweet friend reminded me about grief. And what that looks like. And how there is JOY at the end of it. I hadn't even thought about the fact that I could be grieving. Grieving over the events of last December when I should be happy that the Lord spared his life was a foreign concept to me. I left there and for the first time in a long time I felt like it was going to be different. Do I still struggle with fear? Yes. The fear of death and losing my husband was crippling. To come to grips with the fact that even though its easy to say "They aren't mine to hold on to. They are the Lord's and no matter what it will be OK" sometimes that's not as easy to live out. Do I have to daily get up and lay it at the feet of the Lord? Yes. Sometimes its easy...sometimes its not. But after writing that all out I can honestly say this has been one of the most amazing years of my life. My new son is AMAZING! He's crazy busy all of the time but he's awesome! I'm a different mom now that he is here! But this past year has also been amazing in different ways....and that's sort of why I started this post in the first place. In the midst of all of the grief this year the Lord has been opening up new things for me! In April I went to an adoption conference in Minnesota and afterwards I prayed alot about how I could be used to do something more for the orphans. Adoption is awesome and life changing but what ELSE could I do besides adopt? (And don't get me wrong...if the Lord said we could adopt again we would!!) Through the adoption agency we have used both times I found a group called Visiting Orphans and I signed up to go on a trip to Rwanda and Ethiopia to go and do what I know how to do...be a mama to these precious ones who need the touch and love of a mama. But you know what? I wouldn't have even thought of it on my own....I wouldn't have been in a place to feel like I could do this had it not been for the events of this past year. Had it not been for my God. I'm excited because now not only am I going but my sister, Sara, my dad, my sister's best friend (and my friend too) Chelsea, my brother in law, Jason, and his brother David are all going on this trip! When is it you ask? Well...sorta funny....it's the exact same dates that Brian and I were apart last year when he got so sick in China and had to come home. Beauty from ashes, I say! I know the Lord has called me to this trip. I know there are so many things that will be hard to see but so good at the same time! I know I will miss my family like crazy. I know it will change me forever! I know I may deal with fear. But is the Lord going to be there? Yes! Has the Lord left me? No way! And if you find yourself EVER asking that question....please remember this post. And hear me say....He loves you. He will NEVER leave you. It's OK to ask hard questions. You are not alone. And He is always there in the midst of the darkness! Friend, Jesus loves you so much. I could go on and on....I KNOW he loves me! I know He cares! I'm so thankful for a God who is patient with me...who allows me to process!

Please be praying for our trip which is December 29-Jan 11. A time of year that will never ever be the same to me. And pray for Brian as he is here with the kids...he has no clue what he's in for!!!

Man Stuff 2 - Man Trip (Mancation) to Colorado

2010-11-27T20:34:00.009-06:00

So for about 6 months the men in our small group have been planning to get away to the woods and kill stuff and grill out and camp. We had cancelled it 2-3 times before - but late Nov we were on it!

Unfortunately - Chad C had been held up in Haiti on missions trip about a week extra - so he was forced to back out last second - but me, Bro-in-Law Matt, Joey (John Owen), Shane E, Andy, Gaby (one of the Shanes' guitar players) and Shane E loaded up on the ol tour bus and headed for the open air of Colorado! ((And then Chuck (John Owen/Joey's brother) joined us when we got there...))

We stopped off in Lubbock on drive up and did a show in Lubbock. Was a good crowd of over 400 and good worship that night! Was good as we got to eat West Crust pizza and even saw Shane B's momma who lives there in Lubbock. After the show we loaded back up the bus and started rollin, between Joey, E, and B - we made it all the way to Denver by the time most of us rolled out of the bunks!

Colorado here we are!

Once we got to Denver we unloaded some gear at the local ministry HQ - then we headed for Wally Mart to stock up on man stuff before getting to the outback. Someone had the brilliant idea to divide up the list of needs and every man get "what they need." But see.... here's the problem. We are men. And we all think we need alot... and we each came back with two cart loads each of stuff.

This picture does not really do this justice - but let's say that this couch and the other couch and one of the bay's under the tour bus were loaded for bear! It was like we weren't sure we could make it for 2 days in the woods without our wives - so we might as well eat really good!

After we got to camp and got everything rolling - a few of us decided to load up and go find a lake to do some fishing.

The others stayed behind to get the fire rolling for cooking later that night...

This is us hiking out down some trails about a mile to a lake we saw on the map...

We found the lake. It was beautiful - but these dudes were not messin around - they started crawling out there to see how thick the ice was! (Notice perspective of one holding camera as this picture was snapped compared to rest of his friends... and notice that if one of them goes in... Uncle Matt and Joey are closer to the poor suckers than me... Natural selection - that's all I gotta say!)

After awhile -we figured if Chuck was walking way out there in the center - we were safe - So B started hacking with a hatchet at the ice to make a hole... turns out the ice was a solid 8 inches thick in most places...

Once the hole was ready we put in the poles and started waiting. And then... B showed his manhood by...

Poor fish didn't have a chance. We took him back and got him ready for dinner...

Me - B - and Matt enjoying our time in the middle of nowhere in Colorado.

So - by the time we got back to the camp grounds. Andy had taken out a bird with a sling shot. E and Gabby had the fire rollin awesome - and we settled in for grilling and fun time! If I have never said it before on this blog - my man Shane E knows how to cook - and grill - and do it up right!!

We started by grilling up the fish we caught. Little butter - salt - fire - -- it was AMAZING. Then E grilled up some Jalapenos, and Onions, with BACON cooked into them.... I'm tellin you - it was good... Then MANSandwiches...

16 oz fillets - cooked to perfection, on nice thick buttered buns, grilled onions, bacon, spicy mustard, whole jalapenos, lettuce, tomatoes... Man - was good.... that we had two doctors on this trip for those that went into cardiac arrest after throwin that bad boy down... Not healthy - but was a good time!

Again - picture failes to compare - but it was a spread. And yes - that is EZ Cheese in the background...

Then the rest of the night - we just sat around a stared at this -- in the middle of the mountains - 20 something degrees. Tellin stories. Being thankful for favor and good friends. The next day we got up and did more of the same. Of course we added fishing for squirrels, laying Snares for the birds - and shooting anything that moved with the sling shot we got at Wally Mart...

No animals were harmed or endangered in the making of this blog. (At least not that I'm gonna say on my blog...)

Truly was a good time with the boys and much needed by me... Love these guys and the role they are playing in my life. Excited to see what the Lord will do with all of us over the next few years!

But in memory of things I found on my iPhone - here's a picture of vacation that is even better than a man trip with da boys in the woods...

Me and Amy in Italy this summer.... simply AMAZING!!

Next Up - Ridge qualifies for his next karate belt...

Man Stuff 1 - Ridge's Paintball Birthday Party

2010-11-27T14:48:00.010-06:00

Howdy all - I think this is where my wife used to blog... and knowing that once a year we pay something silly to have this blog memorialized into a real "book" with photos - thought would unload some content from my phone related to the Boys in the Woods gang... First off:

Ridge just turned 10! We celebrated by heading out to shoot each other as much as possible with loaded guns. Paintball of course...

Ridge with his cousin and two friends from school... this picture was actually after they had been shot multiple times! (If you have never been paint ballin' - let's just say goose egg and large bruise for 1 week following getting direct hit to skin are common... it hurts!)

Side note: First Game. Dad gets shot in head by Andy on other team. Screams "I'm out!" and hands in air starts to walk off field... Only to get shot in back of knee by my OWN TEAM MEMBER (Ridge) - guess he was a little trigger happy and had buck fever with a large moving target in front of him! Worst bruise of the day for 'ol dad - that is a sensitive spot!! Friendly fire sucks...

This was sister Em' - who also got shot by Andy... but she was having fun!

Side note two: About half way through he day having fun with the boys (and Natie Bug and Em) and other guys from church - some dude shows up with 2 full large duffle bags, full fatigues, prtective vest, full gear I'm tellin ya! His own gun, extra air tanks in his pant legs etc etc etc.

There are those that play games. Then there are those that wish the games were real and their lives revolve around "the game". Meet Rafael...

We called him "Dark Angel"... then he asked if he could play with us... we were like "OK dude - we're out here with 10 year old kids...." But he played.

And destroyed us.

Let's just say we were playing with pea shooters - he was playing with a HIGH powered uzi. And he was serious - He took Joey (John Owen) out with 5 shot bursts the the upper left arm inside of 10 feet.... Joey (John Owen) he was pissed.

So Joey and Andy went inside between games and hatched a plan...

Yes - those are paint grenades. And The Dark Angel was gonna meet his match with these two...

So the stage was set - last game - we are all dyin for this guy to get his due...

Joey is on point up ahead.

He goes for the bloody grenade attack kill... Pulls the pin with his teeth while grunting some manly kill em all phrase under his breath...

And lets the grenade fly...

Only to have it open up over his head and rain down yellow paint all over him!! Me. Andy. The Game Judge on the sideline -- are all rolling around on the ground holding ourselves cuz we might just pee on ourselves it was so funny!!

Needless to say was a great day for all!! Ridge had a blast and we made some memories!

Here was the whole gang for the day:

Natie Bug - Dad - Emily - Ridge - Uncle Joey - Uncle Andy - Gary - Ronnie - Hunter - Uncle Jason - Cousin Nathan

Coming Up Next - Man Trip to Colorado with the small group men!!

Harley, the dog

2010-08-29T18:07:00.004-05:00

Harley is our boxer.

Scratch that.

Harley is Natalie's boxer. She's 8 months old.

Harley didn't come by obedience naturally. What dog does?

So we've enrolled her (although later than we should have) in doggie obedience school.

Natalie is the primary trainer for her in these classes. I just sit by for support and the occasional help if Harley gets out o' control.

We've gone to 4 classes so far. We attend on Sunday evenings and get to do lots of homework during the week. 4 more to go...its a bit of a beat down but don't tell my lovely daughter that!

Wanted to show some of the progress that has been made by my girl and her dog....

Take it Harley......

Sometimes you feel like a nut....

2010-08-25T14:39:00.003-05:00

This past weekend Brian and I (plus our kids) cleaned out the two major rooms upstairs that were a burden to even look at! I mean seriously. When we moved into this house 2 years ago we used those rooms as our "catch all" until we had time to deal with it. Every time I would go up there I would feel this tremendous weight on my shoulders and knew this would not be a job for just one person. There was one closet in particular that was the death of me! Well maybe not the DEATH of me but it felt awfully close. I tried, people, for two straight years to clean that thing out but every time I would just shut the door and go eat a ding dong. Not even exaggerating. And I think the thing that bothered me the most about that closet was that I knew it was boxes and boxes of my old elementary, high school and college memories. I also knew that when I started pulling out those boxes I was going to have to start making decisions about what to keep and what to throw out and I wasn't sure I was ready to do that. Brian, on the other had, was VERY ready for me to do that! So Saturday was the day! The good thing about going through boxes of memories is that you get to make fun of yourself quite a bit!

Which leads me to the following pictures. Brian insisted I take pictures of this because I think he was appalled at me. He learned something disturbing about me that day....

Do you want to know what it is?

Ok...I....had....a....doll.

And not just ANY doll. Her name was Mary Beth.

Oh, yes, I got her when I was little. I had a good friend in Oklahoma who's mom made us these dolls, if I remember correctly. It was back in the day when Cabbage Patch Kids were coming out so these dolls sort of resembled them. Sorta.

Anyway, the problem with Mary Beth is NOT that I had a doll. Its that I put her to bed every night....with her bottle....until I was....lets just say old. We're not going to scare off any of my friends! (Hello. Are you still out there?)

Yes, me and Mary Beth. We were tight. I loved her. I was her mommy. And I'm not ashamed of it!!!!!!!

Whew. Ok.

I feel like I need to go eat a ding dong.....

Don't you think she sort of looks like me? OKAY! I'm done...Goodbye forever, Mary Beth.

1st day of Mother's Day Out...aka School!!!

2010-08-24T16:49:00.005-05:00

Well, sorry for the delay today. Apparently the power likes to go out at our property alot. Something about all the trees. So it finally came on at 4pm and I'm just now getting to this post. Did you want to know all of that? Good.

Ok, so Rhett and Adiah had a great first day of Mother's Day Out! Which means....so did mommy! Whoop!

Rhett is in a class with a teacher that I'm super excited about!! She was their cousin, Hannah's teacher last year and this year! Rhett and Hannah are in the same class! Which could be good or it could be not good...we'll have to see! Not sure if I mentioned that last year Adiah and Hannah were in the same class and then they got separated. Not going to go into the reasons here but lets just say it had more to do with others and not so much with them. I'm not sure they were even in the right class to start with. 'Nuff said! My sister blogged about it a little here.

And Adiah is in the class she was in this summer so she was comfortable with her teacher who is also amazing!! I heard when I picked them up that the only time Rhett cried today was when he saw Adiah in the gym. These two can fight like nobody's business but also love with as much passion!! I'm thankful for this first day! I had some good quiet time today! A very much needed day!!

So I couldn't decide which one of the "together" pictures I wanted to post. They were incredibly sweet to each other this morning! Adiah was really loving on her brother!

To my friend Kim...show AW the shirt on Rhett!!

Look at that look of love on her face....

Oh. My. Word.

My big 4 year old ready for school!!

And my big 3 year old who thought he was ready and then promptly changed his mind once we got there. His mind changed back to happy once he started playing!

She was like..."Mom. Enough ALREADY!!"

All Rhett wanted to do was nap. Its what he does. Didn't even want to wait for naptime OR for his nap matt to be rolled out.

First day of school....

2010-08-23T14:04:00.005-05:00

Here we are the beginning of the school year and once again I CAN NOT BELIEVE IT! In one way this was a very loooonnnnggggg summer. And in another way it just flew by. This year I have 2 kids in middle school, 2 kids in preschool, and one in elementary! Whew! Today went pretty well for my older kids. Of course tomorrow morning we start the "real" school. You know...Emily has 7 am volleyball, run home, 7:15 leave to take Ridge, run home, 8:10 leave to take Natalie, run home, throw some clothes on the littles and leave at 8:45 to get them to MDO at 9. Gonna be fun! Actually, I'm sure I'll have somebody use the bus in the morning. Anyway, I'll post Adiah and Rhett's first day pics tomorrow since they didn't actually start today.

My babies are just too big!!

I'm excited to see how the Lord uses them this year in their schools!

The little kids felt the need to be in this morning pictures!

My two middle schoolers....Can you guess which one was apprehensive?

Emily my beautiful 8th grader

Even in her nervous state Natalie goofed it up for the camera...

My amazing 6th grader!

My sweet SWEET 4th grader, Ridge!

Heres to a GREAT year!!!!

16th anniversary gift!

2010-08-21T08:00:00.005-05:00

Yesterday was our 16th wedding anniversary! And my super amazing kids surprised us with a video they made (with a little help!) for us while we were on vacation. They reworded some of the swagger wagon song to apply to our family! They are so funny! Thank you, kids!!!

Note- Yes, I need to clean out my closet. I plan on getting to that pronto now that everyone has seen in there!

(Turn music off on the sidebar so you can hear)

More pictures from our trip!

2010-08-14T21:01:00.013-05:00

Ya'll. I know. It's been slow going getting any pictures from our trip on this blog. But re-entry into life with 5 kids has been C-RAZY to say the least. We had back to school shopping, dentist appointments, friend sleepovers to name a few. But I'll try and get a couple of pictures on here tonight and then add a few more later. I needed to get this taken care of so I can blog about other things. Like....you know...school starting soon....anniversary....new cats named George and Pink Lady, etc. Enjoy! (Man, I had so much fun on our trip!!!) And then I have some other news like how I'm going to Rwanda this December with Visiting Orphans that I'm so excited about!! Can't wait to fill you all in!!!!

Before we left Rome for the port we had coffee at a little cafe down the street from our hotel.

I was not a big fan of their espresso. Maybe it tastes like that everywhere, I dunno. Blech.

When we got on the boat we headed straight for our room to settle in!!

I remember Brian telling me to do this...not sure why!!

We got a bottle of champagne in our room! Brian nearly hit me in the eye with that cork!

The view outside on our balcony before we left

Our first stop was Sicily. We took a tour bus to several places...the first was shopping in Taormina! Such a fun and beautiful little place! This was us in front of some church.

More shopping in Taormina...

The view from a cafe we got Diet Cokes at while shopping. Breath taking for sure!

One of my "must haves" was cannolis in Sicily! They did not disappoint!

We went to Mt. Etna for a quick visit...we brought home some lava rock for the kids!

Wine tasting at a winery in Sicily

The night before we arrived in our scheduled stop in Turkey we got a note from the captain that informed us that violence had increased towards American tourists in the last few days in Turkey. He advised us not to get off the boat...so we listened. We spent the day chilling by the pool but were quite disappointed that we missed out on our excursion that day. These were taken from the boat.

We went to Athens, Greece for our next stop. We decided to tour Athens on our own. We went to the Acropolis and also did some shopping.

The shopping in Athens was less than desirable! Lots of things our eyes should not see! But we had fun eating gyros and relaxing! This picture was taken right after I spilled a strawberry icee on my lap!!

The last stop we made was in Crete. We had to get off the boat at 7am in order to make our excursion. Our boat was leaving at 1:30pm to head back to Rome so our excursion started early. Unfortunately, we were at a winery for a wine tasting at 8:30 am!!!! Something was definitely wrong with that picture! Had a hard time enjoying that with the taste of toothpaste still in my mouth!

Afterwards we were taken to a restaurant to taste some of the local food in Crete. Some of this was yummy and some...well, not so much. But it also included some sort of strong alcohol which we chose to pass on! Crete was quite beautiful!

While waiting for our bus back to the boat in Crete I came upon this door. I want it!!

Day 3-Vatican City

2010-07-24T14:20:00.002-05:00

Today we spent the day touring the Vatican, the Sistene Chapel, and St. Peter's Basilica. It was absolutely beautiful and something we've always dreamed of seeing. We left with lots of questions we want to get answered seeing as how we are not Catholic and don't understand some of the "Catholic" ways. We look forward to researching that when we get home. We went out for a fabulous dinner tonight in Piaza Cavour again. We are terribly sad that this is our last night in Rome but looking forward to getting on the boat tomorrow and seeing things at our other stops. The people come to get our bags at 8 am so we need to get some sleep tonight! Especially since we haven't gotten up before 9:45 am both mornings!! Poor us!! See ya'll at our next stop in Sicilly! Happy Birthday tomorrow Adiah!!! We'll try and skype before we leave our port!

Entrance to Vatican City! Did you know its considered its own country? Cool! When we entered we actually left Italy!

St. Peter's square

Our dinner tonight. Gnocchi with fresh mozzerella and tomato sauce. Yummo!

Holy smoly, I'm tired!

2010-07-23T13:21:00.004-05:00

But my word, we are having so much fun!!!! Last night Brian and I took an ambien to get some sleep. Lets just say it worked and we didnt leave the room until 11am. But then we didn't get back to the room until almost 8pm so I'd say we made up for lost time. We walked and walked and WALKED! And walked some more! We stopped for lunch at a quaint little italian restaurant near the Colosseum and had pizza with a bunch of water! Its hot here! And then we found our way over to St. Peter's prison where he was held and also where he baptized the other prisoners. From there we bought ourselves a Roma Pass and made our way to the Colosseum and toured that. We bought Rick Steve's guide to Rome on my Kindle before we left which has come in handy. We felt super prepared doing all of this! From there we went to the Musei Capitolini. After touring all of that we made our way to Travestere and found a lovely restaurant where we ate antipasti, parmesan and black pepper pasta, and Lemon Veal to recharge! Also ate some gelato on our stroll home and now we are vegging out at the hotel getting ready for another full day tomorrow!

This would be the address of the hotel we are staying at. For those that know the significance of this number to us...can you dig it? Yeah God!

For Ridge...the Leaning tower of "pizza"!

A whole in the celing of the prison where Peter was. They would lower the prisoners through here.

The Colosseum!

Under the floor of the colosseum where they would store the animals they would often use to fight with the gladiators.

I'm not sure...me somewhere in the Colosseum

Brian in the Colosseum

This is not Brian on his cell phone. We rented those audio tour thingies at the Colosseum

Dinner tonight at the fun little restaurant...

Some goofy gladiators roaming around at dinner.

More pics for my kids!

2010-07-22T13:29:00.002-05:00

This afternoon we went out and toured a bit. We toured Napoleon's museum and walked for what seemed like forever. Of course we are jet lagged so that may have something to do with it. We found a place to sit and listen to music. We bought a piece of street art. We ate Bruschetta and had...a beverage. It was so fun. Then we found a place to get gellato and headed back to the hotel. We are super tired but are going to try and stay awake until the littles get home from MDO. But wanted to add more pics for the kids to see!

We're here!

2010-07-22T08:32:00.005-05:00

We arrived in Rome around 3 am Texas time. After gathering our luggage, finding our ride, driving 45 min to the hotel (reminds me of China driving! Yikes!!) checking in, grabbing a quick bite to eat we then took a quick power nap that will hopefully hold us until bed time tonight. We are pooped! But so excited to be here!! I can already tell I'm going to love it! The kids had a hard time saying good bye when we left but I know they are in good hands! I'll post more pics later when we leave this room and I actually take some!

Here's the gang before we left yesterday...

Me and my guy all ready to go!

Saw this sign on the way to the hotel and thought of my princess back home! I miss you guys!

Cinderella came to Adiah's party!

2010-07-20T21:46:00.009-05:00

I never had a daughter who was so into "princesses" like Adiah is. Which made the theme for her 4th birthday party this year super easy! Her birthday is actually the 25th but since Brian and I will be on a Mediterranean cruise that day(poor us!) we had her birthday party this past weekend. We had family and friends over to celebrate her special day with her!! And, boy, was Adiah surprised when her favorite princess of all, Cinderella, showed up to join the festivities!!!

The morning of her party she woke up and immediately wanted to put this tutu on. So typical! Another thing that was sweet was she came into eat breakfast and said "Mommy/Daddy came to China to get me?". We talk alot about China with her. About how she grew in her China mommy's tummy but how she came to live with us "fow evah and evah". It was neat how she happened to talk about it again the morning of her party!

Running out to the princess bounce house we rented. That was her big request for her party...little did she know!

The castle cake she also requested! We ordered this from Gimme Sugar Bakery in Midlothian. They did an amazing job!

Uncle Jason played "Prince says" before our special guest arrived. The party guests didn't know we were killing time...

And then the doorbell rang and Adiah came to the door to see her special friend, Cinderella!! She literally stood there trying to figure out what to do. Cinderella asked if she could come in and join the party and Adiah said..."Sure. Come in. Come in Finawella!". So incredibly sweet!! Cinderella came in and immediately took over the festivities. The following pics are sort of out of order but I'll try and explain...

She did a craft with the boys and girls. Each girl made a wand and each boy made a sword. She pulled these out of her 'Mary Poppins' type bag.

She had a story time with them where she read the story of "Cinderella" to them. I was surprised how kids and adults alike were quiet during this!

Cake time was so sweet because Adiah could hardly contain herself when we sang to her. She has been waiting for this day for a LONG time!

Cinderella also gave Adiah a very special gift just from her. She read the card to her and helped her open her gift. I couldn't believe how attentive she was!

Other things Cinderella did was help the kids play "pin the kiss on the frog" and she did a dancing parade with them. I was SO pleased with how this all turned out! I even had adults tell me that they had so much fun at this little kid's party!

All of the prince and princesses who came to the party! What troopers those boys were! Although, they didn't have a choice because they are all family members or small groups friends!

At the end, Cinderella, had a picture taking time with the kids. Adiah just looked at me and said..."Mommmy. Finawella loves me!". Make my heart melt, please!

Look at her sweet hand on Cinderella's face! Too sweet!

Adiah was SO tired by this point! Can you see it in her face?

Ahh...my forever princess. We love you so much, Miss Adiah Hope! Happy Birthday!!!

Thank you to all the friends and family who helped us celebrate our special princess!!

*Thanks to my sister in law Gina who sent me the "good" pictures from this post!

We interrupt this silence with....

2010-07-19T21:09:00.003-05:00

Yup. Someone got their hair cut today. I'll give you a hint....are you ready? It was a crafty Chinese boy who can't keep his hands off the scissors who cut his black haired sister's hair. Oh the drama that took place after this happened. All we heard for awhile amongst tears was..."my HAAAIIIRRRRRR!!!!!". It wasn't until after I promised a trip to the "hair cut place" that she calmed down. Do you still need help figuring out who did what?

I'm alive!

2010-07-12T08:04:00.002-05:00

I promise, I'm really still walking on this earth. It's called "my kids are home and up in 'b'ness' all day, my computer crashed last week, getting ready for a princess party, getting ready to go to Rome, and my kids are home and up in my 'b'ness' all day(did I already say that?)"

Whew! Ok, off for another fun filled busy day. I promise I'll try and post something substantial before we leave in 9 days!!! Whoop!

My nail guy really likes 4th of July and stay at home mom's have it SO easy....(ahem, cough, cough)

2010-06-24T17:10:00.003-05:00

Really. I wish someone would have told me that being a stay at home mom would be so easy.

No really.

Even my nail guy thinks so. I know this because he sort of told me that yesterday.

Go with me for a minute.....its a lovely story.

Yesterday Brian was home in the morning and I had enough time to sneak off and get my nails done. I had something I was doing today and I really wanted my nails to look purty for it, mmmkay? So I run the kids to their drama camp and go to my neighborhood nail salon. The owner of the salon likes to talk to me. He's a super friendly guy. And he loves the fact that I have Asian children because he is Asian himself. Anyhoo, he saw me and came over to have a little chatty chat. This is how it went....

Nail Guy(lets call him NG for the rest of this post): You like 4th of July? You going on vacation for 4th of July?

Me: I DO like 4th of July, thanks! And no, we're staying home. We've made plans here in town.

NG: I really like 4th of July. I like how there are parades and people throw candy. Small towns have good parades. People take day off from work. You go swimming. You see fireworks. I like 4th of July.

Me: YES! Thats true. I like 4th of July too. I like to eat BBQ and stuff. Yup.

NG: I like how you get day off of work for 4th of July.

Me: (bursting his little bubble) Yes, thats nice. But unfortunately 4th of July is on a Sunday this year. So you're already off of work, aren't you? ( I know...I'm mean. I don't know why I said that. Just trying to make conversation)

NG: Oh. But in professional world if 4th of July is on a weekend you either get Monday after 4th of July or Friday before 4th of July off from work.

Me: Ah. Ok. Wow, wish I got 4th of July off.

NG: (Hearty belly laugh) But you stay at home mom's get MANY more days off.

Me: *blank stare*

Yes, he really did say that.

The End.

Emily's 13th birthday!!

2010-06-18T11:45:00.007-05:00

On Wednesday my sweet oldest child turned 13 years old! I'm really not sure how that happened seeing as how I'm still 28 but some how it did. Right before my very eyes! And oh how beautiful she is! Not just physically either. She is blossoming into this young woman who loves the Lord and shows it. The Lord has blessed her with an amazing singing voice too! She has been writing songs for the last couple of years and they are amazingly heart felt. There are not many nights where I don't hear her upstairs playing the guitar and singing. She loves to worship the Lord through this gift and has become more and more confident as time goes by. Anyway...all of that to say on Wednesday she got a super special gift! One that had to be documented here. Our small group meets on Wednesday nights so we decided to have a small group 13th birthday celebration for Emily. She requested sushi for her birthday dinner so that's what we did. We happen to love sushi so she didn't have to twist our arms too bad to do this! Another thing I need to add here is that we happen to be friends with Shane and Kellie Everett and Shane and Beth Barnard (aka Shane & Shane and Bethany Dillon) and they are in our small group along with my sister, Sara and her husband Matt, and Chad and Christy Coleman. Ok. Enough set up already...gaw! The Shanes and Beth have really been instrumental in encouraging Emily in her love of worship music and song writing. I don't even think they know just how much!! So we go eat dinner and after its over we decide to do cake and gifts....

Emily's fun cake!

Shane E, Kellie, Beth with baby Lucy in her belly, Emily, and Natalie

Matt, Sara, Shane B, and Brian

So when its cake time the Shanes pull out a guitar and sing happy birthday to Emily! Shane and Shane style, of course! Emily was enjoying that fully!!
But then something fabulous happened afterward. Shane B pulled a pink bow out of his back pocket, stuck it on the guitar, and gave it to her for her birthday!! Both the Shane's had talked about it along with their wives and wanted to give this to her as a special gift since this is such a special birthday!

Emily was so shocked!! And happy!! (added note post facto from Dad... This was a gift like no other and literally brought me to tears (almost) when they told me of this gift idea for her. Was so honored that they would choose to honor Em with this gift at this stage of her life. This is no simple guitar. The guys happened to be endorsed by Breedlove Guitars and this particular guitar was one that this company made specifically FOR Shane B due to his stature as a guitar player in the industry. Shane E told me about the list price they said they would have charged IF they even would sell this version to the public... Let's just say it was well more than I paid for my first new car in 1990. After the tears of awesomeness - had to actually pray to God to root out the envy in my heart, cuz as one who loves gear and instruments - realized I don't even own a guitar this nice!)

She literally didn't have any words to say!!

Here is the birthday girl with her new guitar!

Thank you so much guys for making this so special for her!! She hasn't quit playing it since Wednesday night! We're just so honored!!

Sometimes they like each other

2010-06-14T18:48:00.004-05:00

So last week I pulled my back out trying to separate my littles as they were pounding each other with Mickey Mouse lunchables in our grocery store. It was big fun. Grapes were flying everywhere and mommy was not happy. But I wanted to show you one of the times that they actually acted nice to each other.
And in case you are wondering YES I indeed did actually almost call Rhett his brother's name in this video. Rhett...Ridge....it gets difficult sometimes! Who can relate?

Funny kid!

2010-06-14T17:00:00.004-05:00

Goodness me. I have a funny 11 year old daughter. She wrote a post today on her blog....you really should go read it. I have no clue where she gets her goof ball nature!!

I did overhear Emily say...."Natalie. Do you EVEN know what a punctuation mark is? No one is going to understand this."

Natalie says..."Oh yes they will, big head!". Nah, she didn't say big head. But she meant it. I could just tell....

Krabby Patties

2010-06-12T18:43:00.003-05:00

Ridge is my super creative son! Since he was young he was always making things out of craft supplies. He went through a phase where he was making several guitars a week out of paper and tape. I kid you not.

Anyway, on Thursday, Ridge decided to make the Empire State Building out of paper and hot glue. Well it just so happens that we did not have any glue sticks that fit the hot glue gun we owned. I say that loosely because I'm sure we have some that fit the gun but *someone* couldn't find them. I'm just sayin'.

Anyway, he could find the super fat glue sticks that we had so he decided to try and make them fit. So off he goes to my kitchen where my SHINY NEW SHARP knives were that Brian got me for Mother's Day. He proceeded to *try* and cut one of those fat glue sticks in half.....along with his finger. Not kidding. I'm gonna show you a picture but if you are a girly-girl and can't handle it then don't look. Just scroll on down quickly.

Ok, that wasn't so bad but can someone say OUCH???? I didn't show you the super gorey ones where you could see his guts and bones. I'm only slightly exaggerating. But he did about cut off that front part of his finger. I was heading to the chiropractor so I threw him in the car with me so Mr. Chiro man could take a gander and tell me what to do. I didn't know if stitches were in order. He told me it could go either way on stitches/no stitches so we opted to bandage it tightly and let Dr. Daddy take a look later that night. Dr. Daddy took a peek and decided we would pass on stitches since Ridge was pale as a ghost everytime you touched it...but then he sent me a bill. How dare he?

What does this have to do with the title of my post tonight? Well, today Ridge decided he might be able to lift a finger again in his life and asked if he could make dinner. I said "Sure. As long as its good or you're working off that bill your Dr. Daddy sent me". He then proceeds to tell me he wanted to make Krabby Patties like on Sponge Bob. I think "Yeah! Seafood! This'll be good!". Did you know that Krabby Patties are actually hamburgers? When Ridge produced this recipe so I could run right out and pick up all the "strange" ingredients Natalie said..."Ridge. That's a hamburger, yo." Maybe she didn't say yo. But her attitude said yo. He then went on to tell us just how wrong we were. Hamburgers have meat, cheese, and bread. This Krabby Pattie had meat, cheese, LETTUCE, TOMATO, PICKLES, KETCHUP, MUSTARD, and ONION and bread. Crazy isnt' it? So, needless to say, my baby boy made us a Krabby Patty for dinner and it was so...yummy! But you know what the best part was? When we sat down to eat he said..."You know. I actually made those for you guys. I'm going to eat this hotdog". Errrrr........????????????????

The Krabby Patties!!!!!!!

So proud of himself! I really do love this boy!!

Dusty - Movin On Up! (Guest Blog by Dad)

2010-06-06T18:59:00.011-05:00

(*A note from Amy before you start reading this post- I feel like I need to preface this post with some information so you all aren't confused. Are you listening? Ok. Sooooo....we have a horse. His name is Dusty. The girls have actually been taking lessons on Dusty for a couple of years. Last September Dusty was for sale so we bought him for them but didn't tell them until Christmas. That was their Christmas gift from us. Now you can read my husband's post and not be confused. Also...my husband is a savvy businessman/fabulous anesthesiologist but is a country boy at heart thus his country boy "typin"...Carry on.*)

Well after a year or so at the old training location called Noble Champions, we made a decision to move the kid's horse, Dusty, to a barn closer here to the home spread. Actually less than a mile down the road (on Joe Wilson - the same street we live on) and right on the path we take to "go to town"... so should be easier to drop in and see 'ol Dusty more often. It has been awesome seeing the kids learn in lessons over last few years in riding, horse care, ownership, etc. Dusty has been a joy, and aside from a lil injury he had on his leg from bad fence (at old barn site) has been a joy to own as well.

So this Saturday we set out for the trans-countryside journey. Decided would be too easy to get horse trailer from Papa Jim, or even borrow one of the many friends have here locally - so decided kids could learn about perseverance and doin things for yourself. Loved it - your horse - you need to move him- you're walkin him all the way there!
(Not really too far - only about a 1.5 miles/2.414 Km ;-)

This is the kids pulling out of old barn, ready to hit the road...

Dusty did good - he likes to walk the center line so girls had to keep shoulderin him back over to the edge of the road...

Natie Bug gettin her turn.

Pullin into the Barn at Cedar Hill. Dusty liked the sight of all those fillies just settin there waitin on him... he's such a boy. Over 200 acres on this ranch for riding so big improvement over the old place for Dusty and the kids.

This is them meeting Marci at the front of the new barn.
This place used to be an Arabian breeding barn. Gonna be much nicer for Dusty and much closer for the kiddos to get there more often this summer! (and SAME cost as old place - Dad loves that part!)

Walkin down to the office for the kids to "sign" all the official papers.

52 stalls in this place - much cleaner and nicer than the old track! They have daily ranch hands that feed, turn out and bed down at night, and muck the stalls. Kids just don't know yet we're getting them hired so they have to work there for $1.50 an hour to learn some lessons like we all had too growin up!

This is Dusty's stall.

Room with a view...Dusty seemed to like that - no windows in the old place.

Personal fan for the man!

This is the covered riding arena right off the back of the stables. For those that don't know just seeing it drug daily and watered three times a week (sprinklers were runnin when we got there) is good stuff. This apparently is "pretty good and worth the monthly boarding price, Dad", or so the kids tell me...

One of the two round pens for lunging (whatever that really is) and other "lead work".

Kiddos are pretty pleased after a good morning's haul. Them happy and Dusty happy makes dad pretty happy as well! We'll see how things progress this summer and maybe be some shows and riding competitions to blog about soon!

Last day of school 2010!!

2010-06-04T11:25:00.009-05:00

I can't believe (again) that this school year is over! Whats really crazy about this year (as well as in 2008) is that we started the year with 4 kids and we're ending the year with 5!! My kids have all learned so much! And I don't just mean what they learned in school. I've seen them mature in ways that alot of kids don't have to. I've seen them learn to be brave and strong when deep down inside they were scared. I've seen them grow in their faith and trust in the Lord more. I'm so proud of my kids for who they are! I couldn't ask for better people!

We have a jam packed summer starting tomorrow morning! All of the kids go to camp this June on two different weeks. We also have drama camp for Natalie and Ridge in June and Emily goes to Wisconsin on Wednesday with her CMPS class at school to compete in international competition! Go Emily! The littles will be attending Mother's Day Out this summer on Tuesdays and Thursdays. This will be Rhett's first MDO experience so to say I'm nervous (and excited!!) is an understatement. I think it will be really good for him! And Emily is also in a summer volleyball league.

Maybe in July we can breathe? Maybe? Can you hear my voice quivering?

But I just love summertime and can't wait to get it started today when the kids get home from school!

So on to the comparison pictures of the first day of school in August 2009 to today, June 4, 2010.

Little Miss Adiah on her first day of preschool in August 2009

Today....And because I needed you to see how difficult it was to get her to stand still I give to you takes 2,3,4, and 5!!!

I think she was channeling her inner chicken.

Emily on day 1 of her 7th grade year.

And today....my oh my. Isn't she beautiful? I can't believe she is going to be 13 in two weeks. I don't want to talk about it, ok? Ok.

Mr. Ridge on his first day in August 2009

And today! I do believe his feet have grown the most!!

And Natalie....she was very disturbed about how she wore her hair the first day of school in August. She looked these pictures up last week in preparation for this post. So this morning she asked me to curl her hair!

My oh my again! How can she be finished with elementary school already? How is it that I will now have 2 middle schoolers? I don't want to talk about it, ok? You can't make me.

And here's my gang all together this morning! For some reason I didn't take a group picture on the first day of school? Boo on me!

And because Brian can't stand to be left out here is one with the Daddy in it. Can you find him?

Swagger Wagon

2010-05-25T10:30:00.001-05:00

Oh. My. Word. I love this. My favorite part? "Every Mother's Day proves I'm kind of a big deal" Aw yeah!!

Time to clean off my camera....

2010-05-21T15:41:00.020-05:00

I think I did this last year where I just decided to clean off my camera and post a few treasures that I found. Its always fun for all of us because I never know what I'm gonna get. Kinda like a box of chocolates....were you waiting for me to say that? I knew it.

My kids often take off with my camera and take pictures. I don't know how many times I've busted them doing something they probably shouldn't because they decided to take pictures of whatever they were doing and NOT erase the evidence! Its great. They are all currently grounded and sitting in their rooms crying and writing me a letter about how sorry they are for what I just found on my camera.

Kidding.

Or not. You'll NEVER know......

Anyway, lets get to it.

So, we found a bunny.

Natalie loved the bunny.

Shadow Emily loved the bunny too. Shadow hand tried to feed the bunny a chip.

Our neighbor, Gracie, loved the bunny too. Then the bunny ran away. True story.

Our skinny dog, Tucker. Is it a problem that the vet has me bring this guy in for weight checks? He's a little overweight, ok? And maybe he's on a diet and the vet said bring him back in a month to see how he's doing and he gained a pound. Maybe.

My daughter, Adiah, has to earn her keep around here by planting flowers for me. It's how we roll. Get to work, girl!

Emily made dinner for all of us. Its how she earns HER keep.

One day I sent the littles to their room to play because I was tired. Then I got more tired when I got to clean up this mess. And this was nothin' compared to what it was later.

Ridge loves that Adiah thinks she is a princess. He decided to make her a crown out of sticks, blue painters tape, leaves, weeds, and hot glue. She loved it! What a great big brother!

This was taken on Rhett's 3rd birthday on May 3. Handsome boy!

Another cute one. I couldn't pick. Emily took 112 of these shots. Not really but close.

I like this one because it makes me happy and sick at my stomach all at the same time. Look at the background. Swirly.

I especially like this one because Adiah has her pants on backwards.

Rhett loved his cupcake on his birthday! And he loved getting presents! And he loves his mama. I have pictures to prove it but I can't show you because apparently something inappropriate was happening with my shirt and no one told me. I'm sure my husband noticed but of course he didn't say anything. So trust me, I have more pics of this night but they will stay in the safety of my own computer.

Oh wait. Here's a shot I can show you. But thats it.

Later that week, we had a birthday party for Rhett, Caleb, and Bekeh here at the house. All 3 of them were adopted in January and all 3 of them have birthdays with in a week of each other. We had a bounce house, bubbles, balloons, sidewalk chalk, lots of friends, family, and fun!

Rhett and Caleb really liked pouring the bubbles out onto the ground. I don't think they get it.

Natalie and Brooklyn at the party. Two sweet (preteen) cousins who enjoy being together. Hey girls. I just want you to know that I had a secret mic on you guys during this conversation. We know what you're up to!

Gina taking a picture of me taking a picture of her. We're cool that way.

MR. Noah Balboa making his entrance to the party. He actually ran up to us and said "Hi. I'm here". He likes to state the obvious.

I like this one of my mom and dad walking up to the party. We had everyone park up at the front of the property so the kids could run and play without parents worrying about cars. I like to make my parents walk long distances to get to me. Muuuhhhaaaaaaaa!!!!!

Adiah was a little disturbed that this was the 2nd time in one week we were celebrating Rhett's birthday. She is so ready for her own. She said "No more Rhett's birday. My birday in Chu-ly(July)".

Adiah had a little program at preschool the other day. She didn't see anyone in that crowd except her daddy. No one. Not even her lovely mother who was waving like a crazy person. JUST daddy. She blew her daddy kisses. Sang to her daddy. I see how it is.

She did great!!

See. Just singing away to her daddy.

"I may never fly o'er the enemy" looking RIGHT at her daddy. I'm not bitter at all!

Oh, OK....there she goes. She loves her some mama too!!!

And then we had a tornado. And I was stuck at the preschool during this tornado. So I gathered my 2 kids and my niece, Hannah, who was there and we sat in the hallway. And then Hannah had to poop. And then I didn't know what to do. So we just sat there and sang songs. True story.

And this is me when I was 6 doing the Highland fling when we lived in Scotland. No this wasn't still on my camera from 1979. I just found it and thought I'd brighten your day with this loveliness!

Good night!

Outside playtime!

2010-05-14T16:12:00.005-05:00

Today the littles and I played outside until the sky opened up and we were forced back inside!

Funny story: When we came inside I fed the kids some lunch and then put them down for a nap. It started thundering loudly about 15 minutes into nap time. Adiah came running down the stairs (she was napping in Natalie's room) crying because she was scared. Every time she is scared she wants her daddy. She said "I wanna talka dadddddyyyy......." So we called daddy. Daddy told her that she didn't need to be afraid and that is was just water. She then said...."I don't wanna wateeeerrrrr.....Turn it off." Sweet girl! Thought we could just reach up to the heavens and turn that knob off. Then we told her how God sometimes talks to us through the thunder. She said "ME? He talka to ME? Ok." Then she hopped down and off she went. I love her so much!

Anyway, here are some pics of my cuties riding their bikes. Enjoy! And yes. Rhett always talks that loud at me. He is LOUD!

You might want to turn the music off in my sidebar before you play the video. Or not. Its really up to you. Whatever floats your boat.

Albertine

2010-05-12T11:34:00.002-05:00

So I still haven't finished my post about my time in Minnesota at the Summit VI. I'm having a hard time putting into words how my world was rocked. I told my friend, Britney, that even though I've adopted twice now...my eyes have JUST really been opened to the need. I'm overwhelmed with how much God loves us and loves those children, each and every one. How he has called them by name. How he has called ME to do something. I feel very raw right now. That's a good thing I think. I'm spending alot of time asking God what I can do. I want to be His hands and feet. I want my heart to continue to be broken for the things that break his. I can honestly say (and not proudly) that I'm not sure I've ever experienced that. And I'm not sure I've ever REALLY asked. But I'm asking now. Because my eyes have been opened and I can't ignore what I now know. So I'm writing this particular post because I wanted to share a song that I love. Its by Brooke Fraser. I've added it to my side bar over there but also wanted to post the words. I'm excited about some things that my sister and I are planning for the fall here in our area. And I am also excited to see what happens with me and my family as we continue to ask and do! I know it won't be easy. I know there are alot of "things" that might try and stand in our way. But its not about that now is it? Its about the children....

Albertine

I am sitting still

I think of Angelique

her mothers voice over me

And the bullets in the wall where it fell silent

And on a thousandth hill, I think of Albertine

there in her eyes what I don't see with my own

rwanda

[CHORUS]

now that I have seen, I am responsible

Faith without deeds is dead

now that I have held you in my own arms, I cannot let go till you are

I am on a plane across a distant sea

But I carry you in me

and the dust on, the dust on, the dust on my feet

Rwanda

[CHORUS]

[BRIDGE]

I will tell the world, I will tell them where I've been

I will keep my word

I will tell them Albertine

[CHORUS]

I am on a stage, a thousand eyes on me

I will tell them, Albertine

Happy Birthday, Rhett!!!

2010-05-03T16:25:00.002-05:00

Today my baby boy turns 3 years old! Rhett, we are so glad you are a part of our family now! You bring nothing but excitement! We've all had to bust out our ballet shoes because you certainly keep us on our toes!!!! But we wouldn't have it any other way(except maybe for some of the messes!). Thank you God for allowing us the privilege of celebrating the day he was born with him every year!!

Happy Birthday, buddy bub!!!!!!!!!! We love you!!!

Leaving on a jet plane!!

2010-04-27T11:02:00.003-05:00

I wish I could say I'm heading off to some place tropical but I can't! Instead, I'm going to Minnesota. Sounds awesome, huh? No really, I'm super excited about this trip. My sister, me and two friends are heading to an adoption conference called Christian Alliance for Orphans Summit VI. I'm really excited about what we are going to learn and be opened up to this week. I really feel like the Lord has called my family to the adoption world to do more than JUST adopt. I hope to bring back some ideas about how we can do something here in our community or church. But I'll say this...when you have something that you feel like the Lord has called you to you BETTER BELIEVE that the enemy will be out in full force to try and distract you or tear you down and make you feel like there are plenty of other people out there who could do a much better job than you. He's been on attack around here. But I won't cower. I'm standing firm and letting the Lord lead us. I make mistakes. I'm not perfect. But I have made my heart a home for the One who is. And with Him and through Him we can do anything he has called us to. If you could pray for us I would appreciate it. My two littles woke up this morning throwing up(of course...see what I mean?) and I leave tomorrow.

Also, I wanted to point you to a blog I follow. This mom wrote a blog post this morning and it really hit home to me. Would you consider reading it? Would you consider asking the Lord in what capacity YOU could be used in the life of an orphan? I'm done closing my eyes and pretending everything is fine "out there". This life is so temporary. What are you going to do with it?

No Longer Weary!

2010-04-07T21:50:00.004-05:00

Hey! I'm not weary anymore. I promise! I just don't even know where to start to catch everyone up. So I may not catch you up. I may just start from here. But I will say this...THANK YOU for praying for us! The Lord was so good and again took me on a journey during this season. Brian is fine. We went in to have his hip checked out and after two different days trying to find the fluid via needle they couldn't' find much and what they could find was not infection. Praise Jesus! But the real miracle is what he has done in my heart. Man, he revealed some things about me that were hard to see but so needed. I'm different! And I'm so glad I am! He never fails to take care of us. And friends....even if Brian were not ok that statement would still be true. He never leaves. He is always there. So we are looking forward to what God has for us in the future!! I have a feeling it won't be lacking in adventure! If you find yourself going through a season where you just don't know what to do or feel left alone PLEASE turn to the Lord. He has answers. He want to talk to you! He wants to be there with you and for you. He loves you more than anything else in this world and longs for us to seek him more during these difficult times. So consider this the "ice breaker" to get me back into blogging. This blog has been hanging over my head for a while now but I just didn't know what to say. So there you go! And just because I know you'd love a picture here is one from Easter which also happened to be Natalie's 11th birthday!

This Saturday night we are having her birthday cooking/slumber party with her friends. You can just go ahead and cover me in prayer about that! Thanks!!

Weary...

2010-03-05T19:24:00.003-06:00

I don't have many words to type tonight. I'm weary. WE are weary. For those who didn't follow our trip to China to get Rhett you can hop over to our adoption blog and catch up on what happened with Brian while we were there. Today we got the results of a follow up MRI that Brian had on Wednesday. There is more fluid collecting and they are suspecting more infection. Will more than likely have surgery on Monday. He was started back on his IV antibiotics today.

Yes, I know that God is so much bigger than this. I believe HIM and his promises to us. Yet I don't know what to do with these feelings I have. I'm just minute to minute having to lay it down. Because its not my battle to fight.

But I know where our hope, our healing, our answers come from. There is no better place to be but in His arms. And for that I'm thankful!!

Please pray....

Snack time!

2010-02-22T15:01:00.001-06:00

First of all...isn't my man amazing? I heart him.

Second of all....here is a video of my two littles having a snack last night. I heart them, too.

A Dora the Explorer Day!

2010-02-20T21:37:00.008-06:00

Howdy all - this is Mr Amy Woods - and Miss Amy is out of the house on a well deserved weekend away with a few of her girlfriends. Sure that'll be a blog of somethin or another at some point, but I am just 24 hours into the weekend.... and I have already proven and sworn an oath in full bodied language to never take what my wife does for granted again!

I know I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me... but not sure that includes keepin up with all 5 kids and this house completely solo. I DO NOT KNOW how this woman does it... seriously.... I am a pretty capable man if I do say so myself... often... but I have today met my match and have no where near the grace that my bride does in this daily role!!!

So - thought I would tell just one of several stories from the interesting day. And in tune with current kid shows of our era thought we would play a lil Dora the Explorer episode.
For those not quite hip with the 2-5 year old's lingo there-- its a basic 30 min show (infused with 14 min of commercials) that encourages cross cultural language learning with an exploration to find an answer in each episode. To find the answer you have to travel along with the Dora crew to find the clues to figure out what in the world could have happened.
Can you say "mejor el dang engaña el espectáculo en tv?"That's GREAT! I knew you could! Trabajo bueno!

So lets try this together!! You can do it!!
So kids, what do think this picture is?

Well... that's close (can you say cerca? - that's great- I knew you could!) but let's follow the clues and see how dad finally figured it out!

As we begin the journey - lets introduce some of our new friends:

Say hello to Harley everyone!
This cute lil addition to The Woods Gang is Natie Bug's new -

"I'll be responsible - I PROMISE" project...

She really is cute! And even dad is thrilled to have this lil Boxer in the family - she is an awesome dog and she is a smart and quick learner... just like you! Can you count to two en Espanol?

Uno.... Dos....

or Ooohhhh DOS!!!! Well Harley can two!!!

Just not yet sure between OUTside and INside... (Her homework for Monday is to read that book Inside Outside Updside Down... man that was my favorite!!)

But back to the story (No swiping Swiper!) rather than a fully educational and actual photo image for this portion of the exploration and Harley's contribution-- we'll go with this for the kids:

Well after hitting that lil road bump - and a note from our sponsors - the next major action figure needs to enter the scene from stage left...

Introducing lil China boy who loves that he's now a Texan!

Seriously folks - he loves his boots! Screw the pants - if he's got his boots on he's a happy camper.

So after Natalie got the clean up done for Harley's learning lesson, we noticed the smell was not dissipating... So next deductive reasoning point was to check out China Cowboy's saddle paddin and sure enough - foul enough wreakin there to make you wanna skip breakfast.

But as we kicked up our lil boots for a lil pit row quick change - low and behold -- part of Harley's business was screamin from the bottom of China Boy's boots!

Can you say "Crap!" little kids?? I know... I can too!!

So then back at the ranch and with a little further investigating we concluded that Lil China Boys boots must have been on a lil journey of their own!

He had traveled from the wood floors to the carpet... to the tile.... to his bed... to Adiah's bed.... and then to finish it off right he had a lil hoe down on top of the toy chest and ground that stuff right into the white paint on the chest and the window sill and the toys that happened to be there as well.

SO if you guessed it from the beginning as "That looks like Harley's poo off Rhett's lil boots onto the kid's toy chest... then you were right! Great job everybody - we knew you could do it!

El gran trabajo y nostros vamos a hasta la proxima vez!

(Great job and we'll see you next time!)

!! Amy le amo y no puedo esperale a ser de casa !!

(Amy, I love you and cannot wait for you to be home!)

peace out - gonna go crash in our bed and pray the two little ones are as tired as me and sleep all the way through the night!

- Brian

PS - I think in the 16 years Amy and I have been together I can count on all my natural digits the number of times I have done a load of laundry! Not because I can't, or am too male to help... it's just always done. Somehow clothes and sheets and blankets around here "magically" end up clean and you never think about it-- till you have more sheets and filthy blankets in your arms than you can hold and they can't all fit in the clothes washer EVEN when you flip that switch to "Extra Large" on the top panel! I did two loads today (and didn't screw it up!! ;-)

Seriously though - I am a blessed man who knows how blessed I am that the woman of this houses chooses to care for all these details. Without so much as a whisper of concern she keeps this house... and all these kids... and all these pets... and me...... all runnin smoothly full speed ahead.

I love you Amy Woods - you are amazing.

Look what I just found in my husband's overnight bag....

2010-02-19T14:59:00.002-06:00

Is it sad that I'm laughing about this? Easy open arthritis cap....Don't you know I'll be giving him a hard time about this!! Or maybe I'll just be in trouble! Stay tuned...I'll let you know how it goes.

Its ALL fun and games until.....

2010-02-16T21:32:00.008-06:00

Last week we had record snowfall for this area of Texas!! It was forecast all week to have snow starting last Thursday. We woke up Thursday morning to this....

Which is fine! No problems! The kids still had school so surely the roads were fine....but by noon my neighbor (the only neighbor I have) and I decided that our kids should probably come home before it got too bad. The snow was coming down quite hard and since we live out in the country the roads would get pretty bad as the day went on. So her sweet husband, Gary, decided to pick up all of our kids from school around lunch time. Which again is (still) fine!! After we ate a little lunch we decided to go out and play in the snow. After all...we don't get this much around here! Even the neighbor girls and our dog, Tucker, joined in the fun!!

Yes. That would be my daughter with my husband's hunting coat on and plastic bags over her cotton gloves. We don't get snow much so there is normally no need for winter gear. Don't judge me!!

So around 3:oo I went in while the big kids kept playing outside. At 3:15 I was watching a movie next to my fire(propane, thank you very much) and the power went out. So I called the electric company on my cell phone and reported my outage. The recording said it would be back on around 7pm. Ok....I can deal with that. So I text my husband and tell him. He then informs me that he is leaving early because the roads are getting bad. About 5pm he calls to say that there was a
pretty bad accident on our country road and the police had it blocked off and he was finding an alternate route home. At 5:15 I get a text that he had slid off the road into a ditch and couldn't get out. A stranger (I use that word loosely. You hardly meet a stranger here!) drove him to my parents house. They were not home because they were busy being stuck in the snow too so my neighbor who was out rescuing school buses and other vehicles from the ditches in his tractor stopped by and picked him up. Seven o'clock rolls around and I call the power company again and the recording now says 9pm. Ok....we can still handle this! We bundle up and eat PB and J with sourdough, get the guitar out, sing songs, and tell stories. It was like a regular camp out! Except with out the warm fire!! We were all in pretty good spirits because SURELY the power would be on any second now.

SURELY!!

Nine o'clock rolls around and I call again. Now the recording just says they are working as quickly as they can. Not good. But still...we decide to stay put for the night because we couldn't really get out of our driveway anyway because its at an incline and the roads were slick! We pile on the blankets and go to bed. The next morning(Friday) we wake up all blue lipped and cold toed.....SURELY the power will be on today.

Surely!?!

After Brian plays in the snow with the kids for awhile he decides he really needs to try and get to work. He finally makes it up the driveway in my car (remember his is still in a ditch!) and heads to my parents to shower. He sends my dad back over to get us around lunch time so we can go eat a warm meal and take showers. Surely the power will be on this afternoon.

Surely?

Long story short? The power did not come back on until Sunday afternoon!! While staying at my parents I would watch the news with my dad at night and seeing all of the people who did not have power either and didn't have somewhere else to go made me even more thankful for our situation. See....my parents took in 7 people who had 7 mouths to feed without hesitation. And they didn't at all make us feel like we were intruding. We were not having to stay at a community shelter and we actually had a warm bed to sleep in. And even though we lost alot of food from our fridge and freezer I still knew that we could go to the store and replace it. There are people who wake up every day wondering if they will be able to eat at all....or feed their children. We are so blessed. We take so much for granted in America. I want to do more....I want to be more aware of the needs around me. I want my heart to beat like His....Thank you, God........

I walked up to the front of our property to see if I could see any trucks working on power lines. I saw nothing. Except my family down by the house playing in the snow. I love my people!!

This was the view down our road.

My husband, kids, Tucker, and the snowman who looks like he's smoking an orange joint. Why did they do that? My husband is 6ft. if that tells you how tall the snow man was!

I have more things to tell about our weekend! It involves a puppy and an old lady who's car may or may not have hit some ice in front of my house yesterday, spun out, and crashed through my fence. Its always exciting at the Woods Casa!!!

And this is where Adiah and Rhett slept while we stayed at my parents. Other than my parents bedroom they only have one other room so we made beds anywhere there was space. My littles got one of the bathroom floors!!

Ridge's class project

2010-02-01T23:05:00.000-06:00

Ridge has to make a cereal box in his class sometime soon so he decided to do a rough draft at home tonight....

Translation: This cereal could help lower cholesterol and save the lives in Haiti...

Wow. That is some serious cereal! I like how he says it "could" lower your cholesterol and save THE lives in Haiti....I think I may have a lawyer on my hands. I love this kid!!

Signing off.....

2009-12-25T20:12:00.001-06:00

We've had a wonderful day celebrating Christmas today....probably one of the best! We've enjoyed family (I've been working on a Christmas post but blogger isn't cooperating with pictures), opened gifts (also involved a HORSE!! and a LAPTOP!! We have some happy kids in the house tonight), food, laughter, and wonderful memories. And tonight we are winding things down and preparing to leave the house at 3:30am (yowzers!!!! Once again....thank you, Dad!!). So I'm off to cuddle my kids for one last time until I see them in 2 weeks. I'm so honored to be doing this again.....Rhett, we love you! We can't wait to celebrate Christmas with you HERE next year. Please be praying for us as we go! Brian is hurting in his hip(the hip he hurt in his accident a few years ago) so I'm sure this trip could be hard on him. But we serve an awesome God who loves us and takes care of us! Victory is already ours!!
See you from China!!!!

You can follow us on our blog for Rhett while we are there....www.theroadtorhett.blogspot.com!

The day the coyotes ate my chickens....(its sad but true)

2009-12-19T18:07:00.002-06:00

Last week my neighbors came over to inform me that a couple of my chickens had been eaten. They knew this because my yard looked like a feather pillow had exploded on it and because they found a "corpse" and saw a coyote running off through my yard with another one. If I had my head about me I would have grabbed my camera to document. Its just how sick I am. But I didn't. Apparently, someone had left the door to the coop open after feeding them. So to say "thanks for helping me and cleaning up my mess so the kids didn't have to see the mayhem" I made them some cookies. You like?

We still have 2 chickens and the kids are already asking when we can get more.

I have a new niece and nephew!!

2009-12-08T12:54:00.003-06:00

My sister in law, Gina, and her husband, Jason, just got the fabulous news that they passed court in Ethiopia and get to bring home their 4 year old daughter and 2 year old son soon!!! I believe we may even be in China and Ethiopia at the same time getting our children! Their names will now be Bekeh and Caleb................they are ADORABLE!!! I can't wait to meet them! If you want to follow along as they go to Ethiopia and adopt these children you can click on the link HERE. I don't think she has made it home yet to update her blog to reflect this information. She has announced it on Facebook so I'm not jumping ahead of her! I promise!! Just wanted to share their sweet faces with my bloggy friends!!

Pioneer Woman field trip!!

2009-12-03T07:04:00.012-06:00

As many of you know, I Heart Pioneer Woman! AKA...P Dub, Ree Drummond, etc. So does most of Dallas apparently!! Ree came to Dallas to do a book signing at a Borders on Tuesday night and there was no way you could keep me from going! My sister, Sara, and I along with my older girls loaded up in the car on Tuesday and headed to meet her. I had all sorts of things in my head that I was going to say to her when we got to the table. So did my girls! Emily and Natalie LOVE her!! I mean....LOOOOOVVVVEEEE her. I find them surfing her website often to find a new recipe to cook. And all I have to say to the men in my life is "Its a PW recipe" and they'll eat it!
Anyway, we arrived on Tuesday along with 2.7 million other people and collected our color coded wrist band. Orange is such a pretty color. Unless its the color wrist band you received that night which happened to be the 5th color group. With about 100 people in each group it didn't look so good!! We stuck it out until about 10pm but when we realized we weren't even to the halfway mark and had already been standing in line for 3 hours we decided to go home. My girls had school the next day!! But we had a lot of fun that night, anyway. We stood in line with some girls who had gone to ACU so that was fun connecting/reconnecting with them. And we did get some pictures with her. Well, not really WITH her but close enough!

After we got our orange bracelet we headed to eat some dinner...

Sara passed some time by playing games on her phone. Have you ever played Word Warp? Fun!!

This was my view from my place in line. We were at the very back at this point.

Bored. Hey, lets take pictures of each other taking pictures of each other!!

Aunt Sara got the girls some chocolate!!

We did get to see PW's daughters too! I believe Natalie and Sara stood behind the oldest daughter in line at the coffee shop and Natalie made some "loud" statement about her. Like "THERE she IS!!!". This is her oldest daughter...

Her youngest daughter...

And there is REE!!! Apparently she really took her time signing all of the books and making people feel welcome. Sweet!!

As we left we snapped some shots from afar!

We love you, P Dub!

TA!!!!! (repost from our adoption blog)

2009-12-01T14:01:00.002-06:00

I really can't believe I get to type these words!! We got our TA today!!! At 9:29 this morning, our travel coordinator called and said the words I'd been waiting to hear since we saw Rhett's face in May...."I have some good news to share with you!". And the rest is a blur!! She will be requesting our Consulate Appointment tonight and once that is made we can book our plane tickets. It looks like there is a group leaving on December 24th. If the cost isn't ridiculously more expensive we will probably skip the Beijing portion of our trip and leave on the 26th so we can spend Christmas day with our other kids. I'll have more details later this week but I just wanted to share the good news with all of my faithful prayer warriors and blog followers.

Even though we know that God's timing is perfect it still hurts in our flesh when things don't "seem" to go right. My sister in law and her husband did not pass court last night in Ethiopia due to a reason beyond their control. So its been a very bitter sweet day. Praying that they will get to go to court again on the 8th and bring those sweet babies home!! Its all for His glory!!!

Stay tuned for more details!!

Let's look at him again, shall we? Oh, Rhett! We can't wait to hold you and love you and smother you with kisses!! And get you a dude's jacket!!

If you want to follow along on that blog go to www.theroadtorhett.blogspot.com. That is where we will post while in China!

2009-11-26T05:55:00.001-06:00

2009-11-13T08:49:00.001-06:00

I have been posting some over on our adoption blog for Rhett. You can check it out here.

Sorry for the lack of posts lately!! Trying to get ready to go to China at a VERY crazy time of year!!

Iron Chef America...kids edition

2009-10-25T20:07:00.005-05:00

Tonight the kids wanted to do an at home version of Iron Chef America. So I got to choose the secret ingredient that they MUST include in their recipe. I really should have thought this one through before I started randomly choosing things from our pantry. Because Brian and I got to be the judges!! That's right. That means we had to actually EAT what they made. So what were the secret ingredients you ask? Well....I chose 2 actually. Blueberries and Dried Beef. Yup. You read that correctly. Don't ask me why I have dried beef in my pantry.

Ok, fine.

Its for a dip I like to make but whatever.

Chef Ridge...

Chef Natalie...

Chef Emily...

I believe this was Natalie's blueberry concoction...

If you don't have this stuff in your pantry its a MUST!!! I'm sure they have it in the Biggest Loser pantry. For sure!

My poor sink...its supposed to be a copper sink.

This was Chef Ridge's meal. It was Rolled Dried Beef with blueberry sauce and leaves from the bush out in front of our house. Caution...don't eat the leaves.

Chef Natalie's meal....a dried beef and turkey hot dog with blueberry and a sprig of parsley for color. I like her style.

And Chef Emily's meal...a dried beef and turkey biscuit with blueberry and sugar sauce drizzled over it. Mmmm. Mouth watering.

They worked very hard on their concoctions and even had me interview them in the middle of the show about what it is they were doing. Have you watched Iron Chef America? You should! Go find it on The Food Network!! So when they were done Brian and I got to sit down and judge the appearance and the taste of the food. It was interesting to say the least!! But in the end the winner was......Iron Chef NATALIE!!!!!!!!!!!

Next week the defending champ will take on her sister and brother....and the mom will choose a much better secret ingredient!!!!!!!!!!

I do not heart kidney stones

2009-10-14T07:00:00.003-05:00

Well, my husband has officially joined the Kidney Stone club. Except its not really a club. And you don't get lots of fun stuff once you join. Unless you count ER visits, throwing up from pain, lots of drugs, and a pee strainer as fun! Brian started having some severe pain on Sunday night in his kidney and because he is a dr. he knows RIGHT where his kidney is. Funny how that works. So off to the ER we went!! My brother in law, Matt, is a family practice dr here so he called ahead to let them know we were coming. We were seen right away and got a CT scan done promptly but with it being a Sunday night at midnight it took quite a bit longer to receive the results. Turns out he did have a kidney stone as expected and we were sent home with meds and other paraphernalia to help us as we wait for the beloved stone to pass. However, all day on Monday Brian couldn't keep anything down due to pain so the meds weren't working and he wasn't hydrating so that this thing would "COME ON DOWN"!!! Finally about 10pm on Monday night we got him comfortable and able to sleep through the night with out throwing up. Yesterday we woke up with a goal in mind. Drink!!!!!!! So he did but we figured it wouldn't hurt to go get some IV fluids from my brother in law's office. The problem there is that they are not a hospital and haven't done IV's in quite some time. Praise God my sister (who is a nurse practitioner) works there 2 times a week. She used to work in the NICU several years ago and did all sorts of stuff on tiny babies. So starting an IV on a grown man was probably cake to her! However....it had been years since she did it AND it was Brian....her brother in law. So Sara came in and made some crack about how this is her dream come true...sticking her brother in law...yadda yadda yadda. And got 'er done. Brian felt so much better after receiving the fluid and hopefully will pass the thing soon!! Of course, you know me...I had to document! And don't be surprised if I take pictures of the stone once its here!!

This is not what it looks like...

2009-10-11T08:26:00.002-05:00

Our friend, Shane B. (or as Adiah calls him Shaybee), thought Adiah looked "funny" while eating her lollipop at Emily's game the other day. These are two goofballs when they are together!! Can you say TROUBLE?

2 years ago today....

2009-10-05T13:41:00.003-05:00

...our lives changed forever when we saw this face! We got the call on October 5, 2007 that they had a little girl for us! Precious little Adiah!

Little did we know that we'd be heading back to China to pick up her little brother! And it wasn't until we were doing THIS (see below) today that I realized what the date was.

Ok, for those of you who don't like little girls to have their ears pierced you can look away. But Adiah is truly a girly girl and every time I am getting ready in the morning she asks for "eaw wings, too, mama". I actually had no intentions of doing this today. I had asked Brian about it last week sometime and he said go for it. But I just didn't know. So I was doing some Christmas shopping this morning in Claire's and a lady was in there getting hers done. So I asked if she minded if we watched her. Adiah LOVED it and I asked her if she wanted to do it too? She said YES!! But I still wasn't sure if she would let them. The lady working told me just to sit her on the seat and if she freaked out just by her touching and messing with her ears then we would stop. Well, Adiah plops herself in the chair and proceeds to hold her hair back for the lady. She was so happy! So we did the marker thing on her ears thinking she would stop after that. Nope...she loved it. So it was then and there that we decided just to go for it. The lady told me she would cry after the first but to help her be still and she would quickly do the other. Adiah flinched for a second but that's it. She was smiling and staring at herself in the mirror. The one who cried was me! I didn't have my camera on hand because it wasn't in the plans today but I used my phone.

Happy girl with her earrings! In the car on the way home I said, "I love you, Adiah". She said, "I lud my eaw wings". Priorities!!

Awesome news on our Adoption blog...

2009-09-30T15:58:00.001-05:00

Go check it out HERE !!!!!

Random picture day

2009-09-29T16:31:00.007-05:00

Going through some pictures on my camera and thought I'd do a random picture day. May you be wowed! In no particular order...

The kids found a little dead snake in the driveway and decided to do snake surgery and take pictures for their mom so she would have a heart attack.

My sweet 10 year old identical twin!

We had paint yourself (and your siblings) with pudding day. I don't think Ridge was too keen on the idea. I don't know what makes me think that.

Look at that chocolate child. I could just eat her!

My two oldest girls loved it too!! Until the bees decided that wanted to play and then it was over!
Emily and Ridge decided to make cookies and take pictures of each other while doing it. They had fun!

My sister, Sara, had a birthday. Isn't she a cute chicken? Even though we had nothing to do with this little stunt she still blamed us!

Oaks School of Leadership cook out at our house. Praise God it stopped raining just in time. Or that would have been 70 people in my house!! Where to sit?

Emily is on the 7th grade volleyball team. Go Em!!

And the winners are....

2009-09-22T07:16:00.003-05:00

And just for fun I'm throwing in another winner...

So M. Holly, Debra, Britney K, Ailie, Becky Beck, and Jennifer T contact me at beanrawoods@gmail.com with your address and I'll get the CD in the mail to you. I know you'll love it!!! And thanks to Beth for the CDs!! Today is her birthday by the way!! Happy Birthday, Bass!!

A giveaway!!

2009-09-18T21:29:00.003-05:00

As many of you know, last March when we arrived home with Adiah, we struggled alot! Like I've said many times before, I was so happy to finally have her with us but finding what our new normal looked like and helping her to cope with the loss of her old life and the beginning of her new life was very tiring. Physically, emotionally, spiritually. All of it. But as you know we've come a long way and she is BLOSSOMING into a sweet and confident child. Anyway, back to when we returned. Adiah didn't sleep all that much. And when she did it was very fit full. As if she was remembering something awful as she fell asleep. It was difficult to watch as her mommy. I remember one night as I was holding her on the floor of her room and rocking back and forth as she cried and I cried that I grabbed this CD and began to play it. I bought this CD about a year before while waiting for Adiah to come home. I fell in love with it that night. The worship songs were very healing to me and seemed to calm Adiah down. I recognized some of the voices on the CD but didn't really take the time to see who everyone else was. But I listened to that album daily with Adiah. A couple of months later I did look to see who the artists were who contributed on the album. And one of those ladies was Bethany Dillon. I knew her name and knew some of her other songs but didn't realize that is who sang a couple of those songs. Anyway....fast forward to today. The Lord has allowed me to cross paths with this beautiful person. She has become my friend and is one of the most sincere, sweet, genuine people I know. To think that the Lord would give me the gift of her friendship...this person who was instrumental in helping me through a tough time without even knowing it...well, its a blessing. Her new album came out on September 8th and it is so good! Its called Stop and Listen. I really like all of the songs but my favorite I think is Deliver Me. Powerful! Soooooooooooo...........all of this to say..............my sweet friend has given me a few albums to give away to my sweet bloggy friends! I'm giving away 5 copies of her new album!! Just leave a comment and you are automatically entered. I'm not even sure I have 5 people who comment on here but if I get more than 5 comments then I'll do the random draw thing. Since its a Friday night and some people might be away from the computer for the weekend I'll do the drawing on Tues morning. That's Sept 22. The first day of fall!! If you don't happen to get one in this give away I'm telling you to RUN (don't walk) and buy this album!! You won't regret it!

P.S. Funny Adiah story. Adiah can't say Beth. She calls her Bass. Bass loves it. When I was playing the new album for my kids in the car I would turn it down to tell them something and Adiah would say "Up Bass. More Bass!!!".

She loves her some Elmo. What can I say?

2009-09-18T13:09:00.003-05:00

And yes I did put it on her in the store even though she was wearing a dress. We are THAT family!!