handsful

I sometimes have to shake my head when I think of myself having 5 children.  When Randy and I were dating and talked about having children, we always said “2, maaaaaybe 3”.  Well, it’s obvious how those plans worked out – I’m sure God was smiling as we talked. 

You know the whole joke, when people see you with lots of kids…chuckle-chuckle…”don’t you both KNOW how that happens?”  In our case, that wasn’t…uh…the case.  None of our children were conceived in the traditional way.  It took us years to conceive Abbey, and that was with fertility treatments.  When we were ready to try for #2 (God laughing uncontrollably now), we went down the same path of medical intervention.  Voila, buy 1 get 2 free!  And, when we realized that God was calling us to add a sweet little girl from China to our brood, we listened. 

Our kids didn’t come to us in the standard, text-book, birds and bees way.  But, He blessed us beyond measure and I honestly don’t know why – we certainly don’t deserve it.  But, He is love, mercy, grace, and so much more.  We are grateful. 

I know there are many women out there who wait to be moms.  I remember those Mother’s Days and they were just plain hard.  I couldn’t imagine myself ever having my OWN Mother’s Day.  But, this year is my 12th :)  I pray for those who wait…you aren’t waiting alone.

Win!  First round play-off game today was hot – both the weather and the bats!  Here is EJ smiling at 3rd after getting a hit the first time he used his new composite bat.  He got hits 2 out of his 3 times up to bat, batting others in and scoring himself both times. 

Here is one of those times…headed home while the pitcher watches the ball go sailing :)  Next play-off game is Tuesday!

The offender: 

This little sweetie has fast hands and knows how to use them.  She gets into everything, grabs anything within reach (or gets herself in reach by finding a stool), and helps herself to any and all items that look interesting. 

The problem: 

Our pantry door.  More specifically, our way-too-easy-to-open pantry door.  She thinks it’s her own personal 7-11.  She brings me cookie and cracker boxes all the time.  She uses the larger containers on the pantry floor to stand on to reach higher shelves.  It can get maddening.  Don’t get me wrong – I know that adopted kids can have a “thing” about food and they need to know it’s available.  Lainey is well fed, and is rarely refused food unless it’s just not time for more food – and I don’t think she needs a cookie 1/2hr after breakfast :) 

The solution:

It’s not pretty, I know.  But sometimes taking one little thing that drives me nuts AWAY is worth gaining a little ugliness.  Our pantry door is hollow, so screwing a latch into it doesn’t work.  Quick and cheap solution is a removable hook, rubber band, and a hook screwed into the door frame.  It works…so far.  As long as I keep the stepstools away from her.  ;)

I’m putting away dishes and then hear a muffled “mama”…”mama”.  Apparently, Lainey decided the kid’s dishes cabinet was the perfect hiding place. 

I’m not the only one who sometimes carries Lainey in the Ergo!  The funny thing is, Marley isn’t too far off the weight limit of 40lbs…I could almost carry her in it. :)  (I have no idea why Lainey’s smile face has turned into a “I’m in major pain” face!)

Let’s see, this Sunday after church we lost one (Ethan went to Ian’s) and gained four (Rachel, Zach, Emily, and Julianna).  There is always a “transaction” of this sort to be handled on Sundays and they’re usually spur of the moment.  Business as usual.  The kids love having their friends here, and really…what’s a little more noise, right?

No fear of jumping in this year – she used to need Randy to catch her.  He’s there, just out of camera shot.

Two very nice waiters

Our homeschool group, Christ Church Homeschoolers, had it’s Spring Banquet last night.  It was so well done, we were very impressed!  Abbey, Payton, and Ethan were all servers.  Each table had it’s own server, Ethan was ours.  Payton has found a new passion – waiting tables!  He took care of his own table so well, he started helping others with theirs! 

Abbey loved being a server, too. 

Each table had our salads, honey wheat rolls, cupcakes, and little baggies of candy for each person.  Speaking of the food, the menu was planned and prepared by Chef Jessica (Marley’s cooking teacher and local celebrity chef).  She was assisted by the other cooking students – Marley had to be at the church cooking both Thursday and Friday to get it all done.  The main dish was a wonderful lasagna! 

Ethan shows Marley to her seat – she and the other cooking students were released from their cooking duties so they could eat!  The servers ate beforehand, in the kitchen.  :)

Our co-op leader is Barbie.  She’s extremely good at her job!  And, it’s a bonus that she’s just as nice as can be.  Here she is welcoming everyone and introducing Payton to pray for our dinner.  He volunteered to do this – the boy loves to pray. 

Happy girl, lasagna is coming! 

After dinner, each student received a diploma for completing their grade at CCH. 

Payton, Ethan, and Marley

The whole group of pre-K through HS.  If you include babies – 3’s, we have 250 kids in the group.   

Marley and her cooking class were recognized up on stage by Chef Jessica and presented with cooking tools as a thank you gift for their efforts in preparing the dinner.  I don’t have a decent picture of it, since Marley always hides in the back when she’s on stage.  Where would she get that from?

Some goofing around went on after it was all over – my friend Laurie and I get a little cheesy. 

Laurie’s daughter Kenzie…you’ve gotta move fast to get her picture! 

Lainey was seriously giddy about getting a balloon to take home.  She batted it and giggled all the way home. 

Hey!  Where’s my diploma?  I passed my 2’s and 3’s class, right?

Go back with me to last October.  We did the usual, took the kids to a local pumpkin patch and we chose a few pumpkins.  Also as usual, we displayed them on the front porch.  Well, as time goes on, pumpkins lose their attractiveness and start to get icky.  One by one, they all started getting bad spots and were tossed out. 

I recall one night, when we were rushing out the door (not that THAT happens much around here…), and that last pumpkin was still sitting there, begging me to pitch it.  Having no time to find the outdoor trashcan, I stashed it behind the left brick wall that lines the walk up to our front door. 

I’m sure you can guess where this is going.  It sat and sat and sat, and slowly rotted – WAY past the point of me picking the thing up and actually throwing it away.  I assumed it would rot away totally, end of story. 

A few weeks ago, I was back there pulling weeds and there it was…I knew it wasn’t a weed, but it took me a second to put two and two together (math isn’t my thing).  My word, we have a pumpkin plant growing!  Not having the heart to yank it out – I mean, here it was, life out of a dead icky thing!  I had to give it a chance!  As you can see from the above picture, it’s doing rather well. 

Here is a shot from the other side…we started seeing blooms this week!  So, we’re letting the little guy grow and we’ll see what happens.  I know it’s going to get huge, and frankly a big honkin’ pumpkin plant at my front door isn’t my idea of Southern Living beauty.  But, it could get interesting. 

Anyone else ever grow pumpkins?  I wonder if we need to fertilize?  Spray it for buggies?  Hmmm…I’ll post updates on it’s progress, cause I know you’re all excited about this, too.  Right?  Maybe not.