Oh My...

Decorating for Christmas

This is my favorite time of year. We are praying for snow though. It's Montana for goodness sake!! We should have snow in the winter. Sheesh.

I was in the grocery store yesterday. Zenash pointed to a picture of Santa Clause in a poster, and asked who it was. It hadn't occurred to me that my daughters had no clue about Santa Clause. That's a crazy concept to teach to a 5 year old, especially since she's borderline old enough to know that Santa Clause isn't real!!

This Christmas we'll be celebrating our one year anniversary with our daughters. We've been spending a lot of time as a family reminiscing about Zenash and Yemsrach arriving in our family. It adds another dimension to the Holiday Season for us.

I leave you with some photos. You'll have to forgive the shirtless boys in our tree decorating pictures. I wasn't thinking about them being shirtless until I realized they'll be looking at these pictures in 30 years wondering why their mother didn't make them wear clothes in the wintertime. Maybe if we had snow.

Also, the only reason I'm posting the first picture is because the expression Yemi has in it is hilarious. And we didn't get any more good photos of her the rest of the night. So there you have it.

What day of the week are you?

You Are Monday

Like this day of the week, you are ruled by the moon. More than anything, you are flexible. You are moody and impressionable. You are easily influenced by the world around you. And while you can be temperamental, you eventually adjust. While Mondays tend to be the hardest day for people, you don't mind getting back to regular life. You're the one waking up early and making the coffee while everyone else complains.

What Day of the Week Are You?

Thankful For This Family

Yesterday, my very favorite cousin came to visit. I hadn't seen James for more than eight years. It was such a joy to spend time with him, to introduce my kids to him, and catch up.

James and I were not close growing up. His parents had divorced, and so he was raised by his mom, and we didn't meet until we were about 15 years old. We didn't instantly hit it off, but we were blessed to attend the same college later on.

In college, James and I became the best of friends. We are kindred spirits, he and I, and he's one of my very closest friends.

We had lost touch when he moved to the East Coast to practice law, and I stayed behind to raise a family. I thought maybe our lives had pushed us too far apart, but after seeing him again yesterday, it was like old times.

It just goes to show that family is what you make it.
Blood isn't thicker than water.
You choose those family relationships that are healthy and lovely, and you make the most of them.
Sometimes friends are like family.
Sometimes kids from another country become your flesh and blood.

I am so thankful for my family!

For:
Cousins that are like brothers
Biological siblings and adopted siblings...absolutely no difference in my heart!
Parents that are my best friends
A sister-in-law that is near and dear to me...closer than any sister
Best friends that are closer to me than sisters
My husband who is my soul-mate
And for my children, girls and boys, chocolate and vanilla, African born and American born...all conceived in my heart.

Thank you Lord!

In order to spend more time on the computer...

Hey Karlina and Erin....my two loyal blog followers...I have the blogging bug again.
And a new layout!
Exciting stuff!

Check back...

My insane, but totally workable, schedule

I used to fancy myself as the "free spirit" type. But, that title just allowed me to wallow in my life...the chaos and disorder made me sluggish and depressed, although I don't think that I was seeing it all that clearly when I was just letting life happen to me.

Over the summer, as I was planning out our school year, trying to be sensitive to where I felt that the Lord was leading our family, I got extremely anxious over what is now our schedule. I didn't think that I could hack it. But, I was wrong, and I am functioning so much better in our go! go! go! world. It's not for everybody, but it works for me.

Here's a glimpse at my week:

Sunday-
up at 6:30 am, everyone fed and dressed by 7:45
church from 8:30-10:00
The rest of the day is a free day for the kiddos. We just hang out and play.
I do my weekly home school planning, meal planning and budget for the week on Sundays during naptime.

Monday-
up at 6:30, everyone fed and dressed by 7:45
drive Ben to kindergarten, drive Zenash to preschool (Zenash goes to school M, W, F)
home to homeschool Brady from 9:00-11:00
drive back in to pick Zenash up at 11:15 and pick up Ben at noon
lunch at 1:00
nap time for littles from 1:30-3:30, finish home school during this time
4:00 chores and housekeeping
5:00 start dinner, check email etc.
5:30 kids dinner
6:00 adults dinner while kids play outside
7:00-9:00 Financial Planning Seminar at church
9:30 Kids Bed
10:00 "decompress" TV time for adults
10:30 Adults Bedtime

Tuesday-

up at 6:30, everyone fed and dressed by 7:45
drive Ben to kindergarten
Ladies Bible Study for me at church 9am-11am
Pick up Ben at noon
Lunch at 1:00
Naptime at 1:30
Homeschool from 1:30-5:00
5:00 start dinner
6:00 family dinner
6:30 cleanup dinner, housekeeping
7:00 littles bathtime
7:30-8:30 do girls hair
8:30 kids bedtime
8:30 housekeeping, email, etc.
10:00 decompress grownup TV time
10:30 adults bedtime

...You get the general idea. Wednesday's the kids have their programs at church from 6:30-8:00, and I have an extra kid for the afternoon. Thursdays are our "Friday"s for home school, the last day of our home school week, so we work really hard to get it all done. On Friday, I work, and the kids stay with their grandma. On Saturdays I clean houses for extra income. Surprisingly, I don't feel like I'm headed for burnout.

Off for bed! More blogging coming soon....

Tap, tap...

Hey, I'm actually going to post something later.

If you check back, it'll be really interesting. Or not.

You decide.

I've got the blogging bug again.