Smith Soup

Earthquakes of the physical and emotional variety

2011-11-05T23:28:00.000-07:00

At about 10:53 tonight, right after we all finished watching our Oklahoma State University Cowboys football team win their 8th straight game this season, Undefeated this year, I had just sent my football fan kiddos to get ready for bed when IT rocked the house and everyone came back into the living room to ask "WAS THAT an E A R T H Q U A K E ??"" The USGS initially called it a 5.2 magnitude but quickly upgraded to 5.6. We didn't have any damage, but it was a very different kind of excitement, even after that close adn important football game. We'd been cheering for our Other home state team LSU Tigers as well and minutes , maybe A minute before the Cowboys won, the Tigers won their game as well. BIG EXCITEMENT !!!!!
The tremor honestly rivaled and maybe was dwarfed by the events of the last month in our household. We were made aware of a baby in Missouri who has the same diagnosis as Daniel, whose very young single mom had placed him for adoption. Several people from several very different areas of my life contacted me , unbeknownst to each other, about this baby and eventually, we were asked if we might BE this   baby' s adoptive family and if we'd consider adopting him. We submitted a profile letter for the birth mother to review  and talked as a family about having another Hydranencephalic baby in our family. This little guy is more severely affected than Daniel but just as loved by our Heavenly Father as any of the rest of us. The mother chose between the two families the agency presented to her after they had sorted through several dozen family requests and profiles. We had re-started out home study process in light of this and keeping it up dated for Liberia............... the mother chose the Other Family. We had talked about how God presents us with things sometimes and asks us if we are willing to trust Him with the "unusual" or unexpected. Charlie explained to the children that we need to be ready and willing to obey God when He asks something of us. When we shared with the children that we had not been chosen, Charlie told them, "sometimes God just asks IF we are willing, but doesn't always require the action...kind of like Abraham preparing to sacrifice his son Isaac. We do have to always be ready to obey God." FAST FORWARD one week exactly. The agency called me back to say that the Other Family had backed out and did we want to be considered still/ again. Charlie and I talked, we knew that this baby was very likely to remain hospitalized for a long time, is likely to not live very long. A lot of "Are you up to caring for two special needs babies?" ensued, and we agreed to move forward and start the process. In the midst of all our annual eye doctor exams and dental check-ups ( and two children having oral surgery and wisom teeth extracted AND an emergency oral surgery for a stuck tooth too) we got all the required doctor visits done and documented for an updated home study, Charlie and I got our finger prints done and mailed off with bakground check forms. He encouraged me to press OSBI for an expedited processing for the sake of the babie's life. Accomplishing all this, we were asked when we'd come to visit Baby "V" in NE Missouri.This past weekend was decided upon.. Time off work requested and granted, Hotel reservations made, appointments were set up with the medical staff and the attorney handling the adoption for us/the agency.    On Wedensday night after prayer meeting at church as we drove home Charlie and I spoke to the children about the baby's NEW NAME. Several preferences were voiced... Jacob, Matthew, Levi, Benjamin, Gabriel. Naomi liked Michael: as in Michael W. Smith. Rachel liked Jacob. Isaac and Noah said we knew too many Jacobs already. I suggested Levi which most everyone liked, including Charlie, who has always liked that name. Isaac sugested Gabriel because he liked that Gabriel was an angel and he liked the stories. Gabriel Levi got the most support and "YAH!!!"s   So, when we got up super early on Friday morning to drive to Missouri , we were adopting another special needs baby. whom we were goingto call Gabriel Levi, but NOT "Gabe." We were going to have another son. As we drove, shortly after leaving the house, Charlie said  to me  "This adoption doesn't feel right to me" and he that didn't want to go forward any more , or even go to Missouri at all, but he kept driving. I was in shock, but for three hours as he kept driving he said the same thing. "It doesn't feel right to me'".
The attorney called as we were talking and crossing into Missouri to ask if we'd decided on the baby's new name so that he could put it in the paperwork. Charlie told me to tell him that we were backing out. Period. He then had me call the agency case worker to tell her the same thing. In less than two minutes, the Plan Presented, the Request given and accepted, all the hard work and planning and the turning -around future of a very challenged, sick baby were unraveled. What I sensed and saw as God presenting an experienced family with a child they understood the needs of, a child easily nearby for sake of completing the process, God blessing us with a child to love and care for who was not going to grow up, or need much more than love, God saying , " I need you to do THIS"..............was now suddenly......stopped. Charlie had told me that when the Other Family backed out he had had a feeling that was going to happen and he was already prepared for that . Strangely I had felt that way too, and so had the case worker............... I was not prepared for "stop".
We aren't talking about it at all. Charlie says it's over and he is at peace with it.
It is my deepest soul -felt prayer that the baby, "V". Gabriel Levi, does get his forever family, soon, because their "forever " together is not doing to be be very long and because of us, they maybe have a month less. It is my prayer that they are in unity of purpose and plan as they go forward with V's adoption, that the enemy not confuse anyone's thinking or cause anyone to "lean on thier own understanding". I am praying for peace, and understanding, words to share with our children about how "Being ready to obey " and "Being willing to say 'yes' to God" fit this story while showing the respect for their Daddy that I need to show and that they need to be living as well. I am praying for healing and communication. I am praying against hurt, anger, confusion and a root of bitterness which I do NOT want to allow to take root and grow into REAL bitterness. I am praying for clarity for everyone in this chapter of our lives. IF I missed God, I want to know where I started to miss and how I didn't see that. I want to understand what Charlie sensed and felt so strongly to act against. If I DIDN'T, I pray that God will be asking us again soon to trust and obey Him in something else.   I am praying for CLARITY.
It's National Adoption Awareness month, November , and tomorrow is Orphan Sunday in churches around the world. My heart is so tender for the many, many children in our world who so desperately need FAMILY; having to leave one behind with whom I'd already begun an attachment and while still praying for our two in Liberia who seem to have less and less chance of ever coming home, my ORPHAN AWARENESS is at an all time high. I am however rejoicing with several friends who have recently been matched with new adoptive children, very excited for several ladies I am mentoring who plan to adopt within the next few years. Not everyone one is called into adopting a large, and larger family    but it is my belief , my hope and my prayer that MANY MORE families will begin looking afresh at James 1:27 and asking God. "WHO is WAITING FOR US?"  and then to pursue and add to their families through the wonderful act of obedience and blessing which is adoption.
WHAT AN EARTHQUAKE of excitement on earth and in heaven if families would come forward for the millions of waiting orphans. We've been blessed 7 times so far to completion by adoption. Our "season" is drawing to a close one of these days............Like with Elijah and Elisha, my prayer is that we will be handing our "mantle" to others who may experience a DOUBLE PORTION of what we have been so richly blessed by God with!!! I'm sad for my "right now" but I am excited because I know that God is far from done!!! Blessed be the name of the Lord!

Who delights over who with singing?

2011-09-28T08:28:00.000-07:00

We will delight ourselves in the Lord (Ps. 37:4)
to the degree we know he greatly delights in us (Zeph. 3:14-17).
I have been so blessed, encouraged and challenged by the teachings of pastor Scotty Smith of Christ Community Church in Franklin, Tennessee. He shared these two verses together in a little post his morning. I want to delight myself today, and every day, to the degree to which I know HE delights in me. and He rejoices over me with gladness, quiets me with His love and rejoices over me with singing!! (New American Standard says " with "shouts of joy"... I like that too!)
Let's SING SHOUT BE GLAD and REJOICE as we delight ourselves in our God Who is delighting over us!!!!

Sing, O daughter of Zion!

Shout, O Israel!
Be glad and rejoice with all your heart,
O daughter of Jerusalem!
15 The LORD has taken away your judgments,
He has cast out your enemy.
The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst;
You shall see[a] disaster no more.
16 In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:
“ Do not fear;
Zion, let not your hands be weak.
17 The LORD your God in your midst,
The Mighty One, will save;
He will rejoice over you with gladness,
He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing.”

"At Your Name" by Phil Wickham

2011-09-25T19:54:00.000-07:00

Have Y'all heard this song yet? I'm guessing "probably" since I seem to be almost "always" the "last to know" but I am being blessed every time I hear this new song. You will need to disable or mute my playlist at the very bottom of my page so you can play this song. When the song is availabel in a playlist form, I will include it there. The song is too new right now; the CD RESPONSE from which this came, is not released yet.
Phil Wickham

At Your name

Mountains shake and crumble

At Your name

The oceans roar and tumble

At Your name

Angels will bow

The earth will rejoice

Your people cry out

Chorus

Lord of all the earth

We shout Your name, shout Your name

Filling up the skies

With endless praise, endless praise

Yahweh, Yahweh

We love to shout Your name, oh Lord

At Your name

The morning breaks

In Your glory

At Your name

Creation sings Your story

At Your name

Angels will bow

The earth will rejoice

Your people cry out

Chorus

Lord of all the earth

We shout Your name, shout Your name

Filling up the skies

With endless praise, endless praise

Yahweh, Yahweh

We love to shout Your name, oh Lord

There is no one like our God

We will praise you, praise you

There is no one like our God

We will sing, we will sing!!

Not a Great Gramma, but a new Gi-Gi, mom to a Drill Sgt and a motor cycle crash survivor

2011-09-22T15:43:00.000-07:00

Where did the summer go that I have not posted anything since JULY!!! Somewhere between having the new air conditioning unit installed the 100+ days of over 100 degree temps, healing from that smashed toe, and daughter Esther giving birth last week to Riley Kay, life has been FULL!!!
Emily sadly, lost her baby, so the GREAT Gi-Gi title is on hold for a while. She is doing fine , and even though her mom, my daughter in law Diana was in ROME with my son who was on a two week break from his assignment in Afghanistan, other Gramma, Amy was able to be with Emily as were several of her aunts. Her military husband was not home at the time either. Life is never without speed bumps. How wonderful that God never leaves us alone or "unaccompanied' (as the military refers to how service members are separated from their families for a tour of duty)!
We wrapped up school in August, finally. In our home school students do not flunk; they repeat and re-work until the learning has occurred. Sometimes that makes for a long school year but there were a couple of our children who finished early. That option is also available.
AUGUST. SO HOT that our water bills were as costly as a typical electric bill and the electric bills were larger than the mortgage on our previous home! I'm thankful that we were comfortable and that we all agree to keeping the house to 84 when it's 114 outside! It is amazing how cool 84 feels when one has been out working in that 114+ weather! We all enjoyed our pool very much, and from it we had a wonderful view of the garden we worked so hard to prepare and so anticipated harvesting. Draught, even in the presence of $200 water bills was the victor in the fight to maintain a great garden this year. No corn, no peppers, no tomatoes, few squash, great crop of okra, interestingly enough, very few beans, almost no cucumbers. HOW did we raise as many cantaloupes and water melons as we did, I don't know except that the huge leaves and deep mulch underneath gave greater protection than I could have imagined. When I gave up on the corn patch, the goats were thrilled to have free access to the dry stalks. It was like "corn hay" I guess. They did an excellent job of clearing up for us!
I had the wonderful opportunity to go to son Caleb's Drill Sergeant School graduation later in August. We hadn't seen each other for a year and this occasion was a "HAVE TO attend", so plans were made. Drill Sergeants are a very small elite group of soldiers in the Army, the school is not large and there were 40 grads in Caleb's class. He will finish his assignment in Kentucky and head for Ft Leonard Wood to begin his new career in early October. We are so proud of him!! My departure was not without event, as Life would have it. As we prepared to leave the hotel for the airport so I could catch my 6 AM flight, a phone call rocked our world. The Sheriff deputy on the other end was calling to let us know that Gideon had been in a motorcycle crash and had been life flighted to OKC from our town. DEAR HEAVENLY FATHER, I was praying and spiritually "flipping a coin" DO I GO on the plane or do I GO HOME? The deputy was able to contact the ER department who called me really very quickly to give me a status report. While Gideon was very seriously injured, his injuries were NOT life threatening. I barely made it onto the plane; it felt rather like Ping the duck, being slapped on the back for being the last duck on the Wise Eyed Boat, but I made it!! We didn't get as much time together as we'd have liked but we had a special time. I got off the plane back in Tulsa, went home to hug all the children and have lunch with them, then Charlie and I loaded up to go get Gideon from the hospital in OKC. The doctors asked that I come to learn how to dress the puncture wound in Gideon's abdomen and the road rash which covered 80% of his body, as well as how to monitor the multiple stitches and staples. I honestly was not prepared for how my son was going to look. SO swollen, cut up and bruised. Literally his head was stitched and stapled back together! What I saw was GOD'S HAND of protection. Gideon should have been dead or totally in a vegetative state. He had no broken bones! A lot of internal injuries are still healing, including a brain bleed and concussion, the 1" puncture wound (probably caused by the clutch handle being snapped off and Gideon falling against the broken stump.) His knee will need surgery . My heart was overwhelmed with gratitude to God for sparing my son, and amazement at what ALL had happened as the result of one poorly planned late night motor cycle ride. Four weeks later Gideon is still staying at our house. He can't live by himself yet, is still in a lot of pain, and obviously can't work yet either. I see God working in his heart and causing him to address some things that have long needed addressing and if THIS is what it took, I am content. He and I had some pretty interesting private moments since he was unable to bathe for the first two weeks. It was Gideon and me, the shower chair we got for my stroke afflicted mom, the hand held shower and the only way I could give my 26 year old son some dignity in the situation: a large lap towel. I shed a tear when he thanked me for even thinking about his dignity in light of everything I had to do for him. I cry a different kind of tear as he and Daniel lie side by side in front of the TV : Daniel in his special horizontal chair and Gideon stretched out in the recliner. I have dubbed that TV zone as the "Neurological Unit" Gideon talks to Daniel and encourages him to cheer for the favored teams, trying to convince us all that Daniel is also a Dallas fan! I also hear frquently, "Hey D, whatcha think man?They gonna win this next game?" The things that touch a mamma heart!
And then there is Esther! She gave birth to our precious grand baby the day before my husband's birthday and who weighed 9 pounds 15 ounces!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She is beautiful and we are totally in love! Esther and Casey were so precious to watch as she labored and then together with their brand new baby girl. I was honored to be part of the day. It was not the way we all anticipated the day to go, but Esther and Riley are fine. I could editorialize about meddling medical interventions but that is another post!
Sweet grand baby Charlie turned 2 the day after my husband's birthday so the three of them will always celebrate together! September is the month for Grandchildren's birthday for sure! Joshua's 2 (Emily and her brother Ethan) Caleb's son, Jon (Hannah)'s daughter Mady for a total of SIX September Grandbabies!!!!
We've started piano lessons and a new Alpha and Omega curriculum school year with several more computers so that the day moves much more smoothly. Our summer temps have given way to cool 80's and our new AC unit is already on hiatus. Let the wood chopping and stacking begin!!!!

Meet Miss Riley Kay!!

Esther and 1 hour old Riley Kay

A proud Gi-Gi and Riley in the blanket I finished as Riley was being born!!

Four generations of Keyser-Smith women!

Yes he did! Got right up to his cake and licked that whipped cream right off!

Cousin meets Cousin

Leah, Esther with Riley, Casey, Rachel, Isaiah in front of Linda, Isaac behind Linda,Charlie holding Daniel,Naomi,Jael, Gideon ,Jon holding Charlie, Mady and Hannah, Noah, Sopheak and Malachi

Caleb with some of his fellow Drill graduates

Drill Sergeant Caleb

Me: a Great Gramma... How Can I Pray For You?

2011-07-29T14:31:00.000-07:00

I am going to be a GREAT GRAMMA early next spring! Our grand daugher Emily was married recently to her Navy fiance and this week they announced that she is due to have their first baby ! Since my daughter in law and my son were both born when her mom and I were VERY young and Diana had Emily when she too was VERY YOUNG, I will be a VERY VERY YOUNG Great Gi-Gi. (Y'all know my age joke..."42 is a big enough number for an age so that's where I parked mine." I AM of course 42....plus, so saying I'm 42 is not untrue. If I said I was 57 THAT would be a lie. I am not there yet. ) My son will be 37 next week and Emily is almost 20. WE are ALL very young! Emily told me that (and I took this to be a tribute to my dad and tradition) Joshua will be called "Pop" like he called my dad. Diana said that she will be "Lolli". YES, that is how we roll. I guess the Family Crest will have a Tootise Pop on it!!
Youthful as I may feel, some of my parts are inconflict with this concept. Overusing my right hip while on crutches for a left knee problem trashed my hip joint and the X-rays and my orthopedic doctor indicate that a Total Hip Replacement is in my future. He told me that I will know when I am ready , and they will schedule it accordingly. The prosthesis used for younger more active people is a bit different from those used for more sedentary or less active people. It's still the opening up of my leg, the removal of my God-given ball joint and sanding down of the hip socket, gluing in a plastic socket and skewering a new ball into the top of my thigh bone, putting me back together and teaching me how to use a hip that will be void of wear and eventually of pain, but with some limitations that my painful ,worn out hip does not have. My painful, worn out hip is already limited since I lost full range of motion quite a while ago, I limp almost all of the time and include Motrin or Aleve as part of my daily diet. There is the option of hydrocortisone injections into my hip to give me a bit more time before The Big Event, and I am going to take advantage of that until later in fall. I dont' want to be on a different floor of the hospital from Esther when she has Riley and I need to be ambualatory to help her for a while. A planned trip in August is also not conducive to a walker and rehab three times a week. I know that I "knew" this was going to be the diagnosis and prognosis was before I saw the orthopedic surgeon, he thought he "knew "too from my desciption of of events and my time line. When he and his PA assessed my X-rays they REALLY KNEW. It's not nearly as radical as it used ot be even a few years ago. There is no more in-patient stay for 2 weeks or in-patient rehab for 5-6 more weeks. I will be hospitalized for maybe 4 whole days ( a Tuesday morning until some time on Friday) with walking and rehab starting on day 1 in the hospital. I will definitely be slowed down for a few months but I'm promised I can swim and walk the 5K lake path again before too much longer.............depending of course on how seriously I apply myself to my rehab regeime. God sustained me through the need for gall baldder surgery and through the need for vein stripping surgery and healed me up in remarkable time from both of those ,so I am praying and trusting for a similar recovery. If you'll remember to pray with me as I prepare spiritually and physically for the procedure, I would be so very grateful!! Thanks in advance for your prayers!
NOW, please tell me , HOW CAN I PRAY FOR YOU????????????????

"Greater things are still to come, greater things are still to be done here!"

2011-07-25T10:30:00.000-07:00

Praising God that we got some rain last night after so very very long! The burn ban around here has even been so far-reaching as to prohibit welders from doing their work because of the spark-fire threat. Our governor has lifted several restrictions for truckers hauling hay to help the ranchers and farmers because so many are having to buy hay from less draught-sticken states like ours. The land in Oklahoma is so parched and burned and dead, there is very little hay growing. there is very little "scruff" for lives tock to forage or graze. Buying hay from out of state is expensive, but currently necessary. Gov. Fallin is allowing wider loads with no additional fees for 60 days. Just that lifting of a weight/size load restriction will help and we take our help where we can get it! This part of Oklahoma has been 26 days straight with over 100 degree temperatures and 8 more days predicted (upwards from 104...to an official 108) so last night's rain, even though it was slight, was so welcomed!!
AND THEN.............. our IRS Tax Advocate called me this morning to tell me that IRS has completed their review of our tax refund file (yes all 131 pages of it) and that they have apoprved our refund to be released in full! Just in time to make the one PAID IN FULL payment on our AC unit, instead of the frist of potentially many, very large payments!
The stitches came out of my toe on Thursday. It is healing slowly but healing. The broken bone pieces will gradually heal themselves and I guess I will feel tingly sensations along the way. Weight bearing is still painful but so is the "pull up" effort I seem to default to to NOT be weight bearing. I'm working hard to put weight on my foot so that the toe doesn't heal with a crooked upward tilt. The nailbed is "icky" looking but not infected and not so swollen either. I wore regular shoes to church yesterday around the bandage, much to the amusement of many! I am a "high-heels" kind of girl and that flat ortho boot I wore for two weeks needed to be Linda-history . I am thankful !
Several months back a friend recommended a book to our prayer group. I saw it at our bookstore and without doing much research, bought it. God had a plan for me to have that book for someone else entirely! The book is Made to Crave Satisfying Your Deepest Desire with God, not Food. by Lysa TerKeurst who is the Proverbs 31 Ministry originator. The book is amazing if you are not familiar with it. Yes, her premise is learning to seek GOD for our sufficeincy instead of the craving for food, but she goes so much deeper...to whatever ones' personsal "lust of the flesh" might be. It is an EXCELLENT book! I have a dear friend who shared with me recently a desire to totally submit the craving, (yes, "craving" was the word used!) for food and to give that once and for ALL to God and see God bring victory over it. WELL........ God put this friend's face right in the middle of my spiritual vision with a prompting to give the book to my friend. I did. Last night I got an excited phone call telling me that this WAS exactly what God had been speaking and the book was EXACTLY what was needed right now!
There are other things for which we are trusting God and praising him for as well, but these two things are "biggies" and I wanted to give God the praise before I did anything else!
As I was looking for a video of "God of This City" for Sunday worship, I discovered how the song came to be written and that it was not Chris Tomlin who wrote it as I'd thoguht but a group named Bluetree from Dublin, Ireland. They wrote the song while on a mission trip to Thailand. While in the midst of a "Red light " district, deep in a section of brothel and sex trade businesses, God moved on their hearts that HE had great things for that city..........when they returned to Dublin, God spoke to them about that city as well. Knowing that changed my whole perception of the song , which I already liked a lot! I loved being able to share that part of the story as we sang God of This City yesterday morning as part of our worship music time. God put this song together in my mind with "Holy is the Lord God Almighty," "How Great Thou Art," and "Shine Jesus Shine" God was stirring hearts and it wa a special time!!
Are you aware of "THE RESPONSE", A Call to Prayer for a Nation in Crisis ? Gov Rick Perry has called this a National Solemn Assembly and has rented the Reliant Center in Houston Texas as a central gathering place for all who would want to come there on August 6 to pray. Other churches are participating across the country simulataneously with the day of prayer and fasting in Houston which is slated for 10 AM-3 PM A number of churches in our town are participating here and gathering at a large facility here. I would invite each of you and challenge you to set this day aside in your churches, fellowships, Bible Study groups or Home Groups , Cell Groups. Our nation IS in crisis for certain, on every level, but most of all in its spritual decline. I believe that God WANTS to heal our land, I believe that there ARE "greater things.... still to be done here" and I want to be a part of any effort, "organized' or personal, to keep praying "THY WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN. Click here to find out more about The RESPONSE

July

2011-07-20T23:01:00.000-07:00

Still no word from the IRS about the status of our tax return. The horror stories from other adoptive families keep coming and coming; I stop and pray that somehow they will get quick resolution and that we will get our return released as soon as the Tax Advocate had indicated or sooner............ PLEASE LORD!!!
Today was the 21st day in Oklahoma with temperatures over 100 degrees in a row. Absolutely incredible to be living through, I have to say. Several state governors have called for official Days of Prayer for rain. Our governor is among them. When I see these conditions around me and read of the struggles in Africa of people who have it even worse, and who are dying from the heat , lack of rain and lack of food, I am so grateful for what we DO have, even in this heat wave . I am reminded to pray for others, and not to focus on ME. I/we have it VERY easy compared to those who are truly suffering in the heat. Lord, are You coming soon?
I will see the orthopedic doctor tomorrow to follow up on this shattered toe thing. The nail bed feels , well, dead. I "think" the nerves were crushed in the accident but I am very aware of the sensations in my toe itself. Trustfully the bone pieces are calcifying their way back to each other in healing!!
Charlie, Gideon, Isaacand Isaiah went to Colorado for a long weekend of camping and fishing and mountain climbing. They got back way late last night after a wonderful 26th birthday trip for Gideon. They had a really great time together and made lots of wonderful memories. They tell me that in addition to camp sites there ARE cabins to rent.............That would be MY kind of camping, minus the snow, minus the fishing. Nuff said???

I love my friends!!!

2011-07-19T21:48:00.000-07:00

What a special visit we had last Monday when my cyber-friend Susan  who also became my face-to-face friend and her family got to come spend some time with us on their way to Arkansas! What an even more fun time we had today when they made time to come back and spend more time with us   on their way back to California!!! Their son Zach had such fun riding horses with Naomi , who had just as much fun with his equine kindred spirit! After an almost "obligatory ' dip in the pool, Naomi and Zach were out to the pasture to catch Sugar and Lucky and saddle up! Kallie was still holding back, so swam a bit more and watched movies with Leah, Rachel and my grand daughter Mady. I fixed my oh-so-delicious and OH -SO-FAKE chicken enchiladas as a casserole for dinner (another friend had used my exact recipe but instead of rolling tortillas with the chicken , etc mixture, she tore up the tortillas and layered all the ingredients in a casserole and it was REALLY GOOD too so I copied her tonight) in two huge pans with Susan and Mike helping tear up tortillas and layer all the "glop" and cheese so we could bake it up. AND WHAT FUN that Kallieann loves guacamole as much as I do ! AS I put chips, salsa and guacamole out as a side dish, she was so excited!!! I got back from a few last minute errands just after Susan and Mike, Zach and Kallieann arrived so I walked in to find Susan already cuddling on Daniel. What a beautiful picture my mind snapped as a "memory photo" ! After dinner, Kallie FINALLY got up her horse nerve and had Naomi lead her around the yard and pasture on Sugar's back, Kallie loved it!! Too soon it was time for all the Brenners to pack up and hit the road for the next part of their long trip back to California. I don't knwow when we will see each other again; I am sure it will be too long from now, but I am so thankful for these precious friends and their children! SAFE TRAVELS DEAR FRIENDS!!!
Earlier today anothe friend and her 4 daughters came by for   a visit but also for an "interview". Something at their church led to a challenge to ask someone how they came to invite another person to join their family, essentially about adoption. The 10 year old daughter thought of our family and wanted to interview us. She knew we had a large family and quite a few children who were adopted, but had not heard our "5 Loaves and 2 Fishes" story. It was so fun to share our story with her and her mom and sisters! Lori, the mom, had not heard all of our story either and she was thrilled at what all I had to share. She kept saying "WOW!!! THAT is a GOD THING! Nothing else!!" and she was so right!! I love being able to share our story and the bottom line, as I reinforced to these young girls is that we should never say "NO" to God. He may say "NO" to us, but we need to always be ready and willing to tell God "YES LORD!" and let Him guide our steps, that we never know what all God has for us until we ask, but if we back off of something and spew all the human excuses for why "a thing" is impossible or too hard, we may cheat ourselves out of a blessing God has for us. I hope and pray that God uses this time together to reinforce something or stir up something in that young girl, or her mom and little sisters. I am so aware of God's hand on us over the years, and it is ONLY GOD who has brought us to the place we are now. Had we said "NO GOD" at any point in our incredible life journey, our story would be so different, if not in visible , tangible circumstance, in spiritual growth or maturing attitude. If we were to say "NO GOD" tomorrow, the awesome blessings of our yesterdays would be little more than stale bread, and I have no desire to accumulate stale bread! I want , I crave, I desire, and I am pursuing and aiming for a John 10: 10 life...Life and MORE ABUNDANTLY!!! (more modern versions and translations say   "The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. or   " LIFE TO THE FULL") Isn't that what YOU want?
I am reading Lysa TerKeurst's book "Made To Crave, satisfying your deepest desire with God, not food" and this is a wonderful book!! I am not particularly struggling with food, but Lysa's point is that WHATEVER we crave above our craving for God needs adjusting. Her intro says "This book is dedicated to you, my friend. While I don't know your name, God does. I believe He led you to pick up this book because He wants you to know your issues with food are not a curse but a gateway through which He can touch the rawest places of your heart and help you discover a deep satisfaction only He can give. Go ahead and dare to believe that this time around things will be different!" I am reading this book to let God root out what my "food" cravings may be so that God can work in my life to cause me to want HIM ALONE as what / WHO I crave above all else!!!   (She is the Proverbs 31 Ministries Lysa TerKeurst, btw)
My heart sings " You are my King! In all I do, let me honor You!"

Goat sitting. Really?

2011-07-12T22:45:00.000-07:00

Yes I am. A woman to whom I sold two does several weeks ago had just moved to our town and was not thinking about the commitment having dairy goats involves and totally forgot that she had a trip planned out of town for her son's military graduation. WHAT TO DO WITH THE GOATS??? She called me to ask how messed up they would be if she left food and water but didn't milk them for 5 days, saying she was pretty sure that was a bad idea. I sensed her dilemma and offered to goat sit my former goats for her. Today she brought them back but was just thrilled at having them and spoke of how sweet they are and how glad she is that she got them. She'd asked me about bringing them back to breed in fall so I happily introduced her to Thor , our Future Stud Muffin. She and her younger sons were very pleased with him too. Yes, goat sitting. why not?
I saws the orthopedic doctor today who was pretty pleased with the state of my toe after we soaked off the old dressing to evaluate . I was pretty pleased with the suture job when I saw it because Thursday night ,frankly my toe was a wreck. Today it's just red and held together with black sutures. (Photo upon request, decided not to post it with a disclaimer "Not for the Squeamish" (wink!) Next week I will get the stitches out, have new X-rays and we'll see if the bone pieces are healing together although he told me to expect that to be a very slow process. I stood on my foot TOO MUCH yesterday and by evening it was so swollen and sore. I really behaved myself today and I can truly feel the difference. Still restricted activity, and no swimming, certainly no mother- daughter shopping trips for a while and no bowling. When Charlie and I took the kids bowling today, I decided that since I could not bowl, I could get busy on Riley's baby blanket. She is due to make her arrival in EIGHT WEEKS!!!!! Hard to be a very conscientious cheer leader when buried in intricate crochet instructions and counting stitches to keep the pattern perfect! It felt good to get several inches and rounds completed.
We are praising God tonight for the fact that it is ONLY 82 degrees right now! We got a little bit of rain which cooled things down for a few hours and almost watered the gardens...almost. We still need about three solid weeks of slow steady rain to revive the parched pastures , yards, fields and gardens but we will take what we are given. Tomorrow's temsp are due to be back over 100 again but for now I will happily open my porch door and let some fresh air in the house!!!
Don't you love Natalie Grant's song, "Your Great Name" I love the music and I love the words! Listen alongwith the sound track as you read the lyrics below and be blessed as you worship!
Your Great Name

Lost are saved find their way

At the sound of Your great Name

All condemned feel no shame

At the sound of Your great Name

Ev'ry fear has no place

At the sound of Your great Name

The enemy he has to leave

At the sound of Your great Name

Chorus

Jesus worthy is the Lamb that was slain for us

The Son of God and man

You are high and lifted up

And all the world will praise

Your great Name
Verse 2

All the weak find their strength

At the sound of Your great Name

Hungry souls receive grace

At the sound of Your great Name

The fatherless find their rest

At the sound of Your great Name

The sick are healed the dead are raised

At the sound of Your great Name

Jesus worthy is the Lamb that was slain for us

The Son of God and man
You are high and lifted up
And all the world will praise
Your great Name
(BRIDGE 1)

Redeemer my Healer Lord Almighty
Defender my Savior You are my King

Of IRS audits, air conditioning, broken bones and visitors from far a way

2011-07-11T22:24:00.000-07:00

We were so unexpectedly delighted to find out that some changes in the Adoption Tax Credit were going to result in our return being larger than we had ever expected. We filed the forms, and began the wait for our direct deposit, as with every year since direct deposit was an option. Imagine my surprise and dismay when checking the IRS website "Where's My Return" to find a notice saying our return was being "reviewed", we were not to send any documentation at this time but to wait for up to 45 days for IRS to contact us and ask us.. I began to hear from a lot of adoptive families that this was also happening to them. Our larger than "normal" returns were raising red flags with processors and we as a huge group were being pulled for audit. As I've mentioned before, our central heating and cooling unit went out last summer and we had been counting on that money to replace the unit, knowing it would be COSTLY. We never dreamed in mid July we would still be waiting on a tax return over documents we have submitted over 5 years and followed IRS rules to submit. This in mind I called the IRS to ask if our case could be considered a hardship and a Tax Advocate assigned to adjudicate and perhaps expedited our case. It has been summer in Oklahoma since May, with our temps over June and July so far being well over 100. PRETTY HARD on a baby who is unable to thermo-regulate because he is missing that part of his brain to maintain when the inside of our house was 98 degrees a lot of days. Box fans helped a bit, but mostly only moved hot air. Going outside in the sun and coming in a few minutes later helped the healthy members of the family to re-group and to cope; we were able to borrow 2 small room AC units which helped some too, but overall, 107 is just plain HOT. The IRS agent was gruff to me at first because I had disregarded the 45 day instruction before I called but when I explained that 10 of us were living in a non-air conditioned house, he softened quickly and became VERY helpful. In less than the 10 days he told me it would take to hear from a Tax Advocate to contact me about our case. The Advocate was very warm in her letter but required our supporting documents in SEVEN DAYS from receipt of her letter! I spent every minute of those days putting receipts together with adoption decrees, travel documents...every thing that we had kept carefully filed for"just in case" At 4:30 PM on DAY SEVEN I faxed 131 pages of supporting evidence to "prove " to the IRS that we had indeed adopted the most recent 4 children and that they are real, live, breathing people and not tax cheat material. HOW the IRS can no possibly know how much money in fees the USCIS requires to even start an adoption and how much money in Home Study fees to get that USCIS documentation, how can IRS not know that all adoption documents are required to be presented at Social Security Administration to prove that said child exists and was legally adopted and allowed into the USA so that a Social Security Number may be assigned so that said adoptive family could even CLAIM said child on the tax forms?? The changes made for this year made the "Credit' a "Refund' so expense documents should have been a moot point, HAD IRS TRAINED ITS STAFF IN NEW LAWS and to EXPECT LARGER THAN USUAL REFUNDS FOR ADOPTIVE FAMILIES, but no. We were assigned the same IRS agents who ferret out real and potential tax cheats, rather than being viewed as middle class folks following IRS instructions. To support our hardship claim, I enclosed the weather reports from our newspaper for three weeks surrounding the audit document preparation time and photos of the thermostat on my dash board showing the time and date and 107 degrees.
HOW GRATEFUL I WAS for the super lady who owns our local shipping office. Instead of the usual $1 per page to fax documents, she helped me run the whole packet and confirmed that it was sent for me and blessed me with a $12.50 bill!!!!!!!!!!!!! She told me that if any of my receipts from her store had faded she would look them up in her files and make me new documents. I wrote her a thank you note and left it on her desk after she left the store.

Assembling our documents...like doing 5 adoptions all at once!

The heat really was getting to be more than we could keep up with however so in anticipation of resolution , we took out a loan and bought a new AC system, which went in on Wednesday and Thursday...just in time for the temperatures to hit 112-114 five days in a row!! I am trusting that we are completed in time for the first payment on the loan coz it's a DOOOOOZY! We DO need the tax refund for the AC unit; we just felt we could not wait until the end of August (the projected date of our return IF IRS "likes" all that I sent them)...so, we DO have a comfortable house, our Audit is submitted and life was going to be relaxing over the weekend, right? ( I spent ALL day July 4th in the house with the audit docs while my family was out at the lake at our rented camp site) . NO. Thursday night, babysitting Charlie, Mady and Blake for Hannah and Jon, I volunteered to walk Sugar for Charlie. I picked up her reins and I "think" touched her cheek and caused her to think I was ready for her to walk. NO. She picked up her big foot and stepped on MY foot, my right big toe to be exact, squarely on my toe and somewhat on the rest of my toes. I know I shouted, realized it was hurt pretty badly, but kept enough presence of mind to grab Charlie from off of Sugar's back lest she think she should take off in trot-run..which had happened earlier that morning with 6 year old Mady on her back. NEITHER incident was Sugar's fault at ALL. With Mady, Sugar didn't realize that Mady didn't have the reins in hand, felt enough of a side kick to think she'd been told to go, and took off. Naomi and Mady had been running the horses in and out of the back yard all day so this was an expected reaction at that point in the routine. Thankfully, even though Sugar took off in full barrel race speed, Mady hung on to the saddle horn and didn't let go . Sugar took several laps around the pond, the barn and the pond again before racing around the barn one more time, bumping into the corner of the barn and causing her to stop and Mady to get off. i was right there when this happened so grabbed Charlie from Isaac and sent him to go help Mady. OYE! I prayed over her so fervently as he (and Sugar ) ran! Brave kiddo that she is, with a little urging from the Gi-Gi, (that's me) Mady got back on Sugar and Isaac led them back to the porch from whence they had started. With my foot, Sugar just didn't know I was in the spot she was starting out for OR that I was not wearing my Ariat boots or that her foot could cause my foot extreme injury. Shortly after I left my shoe in the yard and hobbled to the bathtub to rinse my toe and assess the damage, Hannah and Jon arrived for the children and Hannah heard the Tale of Sugar and Mamma. Unsqueamish as her Mamma, she looked it over , saw that it was "pretty awful' and took me tot he ER. WHEW!!! I graded this as "not as bad as passing a gall stone but worse than having a baby" and was so thankful that when the ER doctor starting injecting anesthesia into my toe that he hit a nerve quickly and before he was even done injecting I was no longer in pain. Two + hours later I returned home and Hannah went to sleep. I was taking off the immobilizer boot they'd given me and realized that my foot was bleeding far more than I'd been told to expect so after a call to the ER to confirm, had Jael take me back to the ER. THIS TIME they realized that my injury was not "just " the shattered bones in my toe that were so easily visible in the X-rays, but that the arteries and veins in my toe were also torn and not clotting off. 15 stitches later in my nail bed, the bone was no longer visible and the bleeding had pretty much been stopped. We did NOT take photos although the unsqueamish and medically curious nature of my daughters and myself made it pretty tempting! The stitches will not come out for two weeks, and I see an orthopedic specialist tomorrow morning. Don't know what he can tell me other than "elevate your foot, ice it and take Motrin" . I was given IV antibiotics as well as oral follow-up meds because of the injury and exposure of the bone and the increased risk of bone infection, and also some pretty heavy duty pain meds. I am totally allergic to Codeine so the next tier drugs down have to do. This stuff made me so loopy and sea-sick, I decided discomfort was better and returned to Motrin. I could not put a sentence together but was acutely aware of the fact. THAT was so frustrating, much to the amusement of my family since I am usually the uber articulate one. It was fun at my temporary expense, to have the verbal "upper hand" for a change. I was not sorry to cut that game a bit short!! All this to say I am even more thankful that we got the AC put in because I am on very limited weight bearing restriction. Saturday Hannah and my dear friend Jenny took me grocery shopping since I kind of missed that on Friday. Hannah pushed a Walmart wheel chair for me and as I directed Jenny and Hannah pulled my week's shopping needs off the shelves in what seemed to me, record breaking time!!! I knew my dressing needed to be changed so Hannah volunteered to to that chore as well. Sweet Charlie -man, not to be left out or without an opportunity to help, picked up a pair of pliers an older boy /man person had left out and preceded to "help". As she cut the dressing off, Charlie pinched the toes on my other foot.

Every time Charlie sees a camera he says "cheese" even when doing toe surgery!

Such dedication!!!

In other Calico Acres Farm news, I found the most beautiful Alpine buckling to be my Fall 2011 "Stud Muffin" He is so sweet and social and I love his coloring! Our Spring 2012 babies are going to be gorgeous and again, coming from a great milk line himself, he will contribute to my goal of producing great quality and quantity milk producing lines.
Meet Thor!

Since most of our horse owning experiences are happy ones, I'm sharing some photos of Mady and Naomi as they rode last week.Riding, or just being around horses, brings out the most beautiful smiles on Naomi's face

Mady and Sugar, Naomi and Lucky and Thunder, Sugar's colt, get ready for a ride

This is what I saw most of the day on Thursday...girls and horses heading out the gate!

and off they go!!!

And here she comes !

Taking a rest for a little while. These girls don't look like they know its 112 degrees out!

Madyson petting Thunder

Today was a very special treat for me! My dear friend Susan and her family who live in California are traveling to Arkansas for some family business and wee able to fit a visit with us into the itinerary! We've been able to get together over the years a couple of times and it is always WONDERFUL!!! Susan and Mike's older daughter who came to visit with them one time was in Cambodia last year and was able to attend Malachi and Sopheak's wedding adding a special international link to the event. Their son knows the children of our friends from the same Bible College in Arkansas and we also share in common that we have a Vietnamese daughter and Cambodian son who are almost the same ages. Susan and I met online through an adoption support group and communicate online pretty often. It is super special to get to meet face-to-face, some of my cyber-met friends , and meeting Susan has caused our two families to become friends as well.

Susan's son Zach loves horse back riding so it was no surprise that even in the heat, they spent as much of the afternoon out on the horses as they possibly cold. With a few breaks to swim in the pool and play Marco Polo with Susan's husband Mike and the other kids, they rode and rode and their faces were exhuberant !!

Kallie had planned to ride but the heat, and the sight of my bandaged toe kind of put her off of her own riding but she and Rachel made up for not riding by swimming and I think a great time was had by all!!! There is a chance that they will come back through this way on their way home which would delight me no end, but Zach and Naomi are both talking about being able to ride together again......................Susan and I have a lot of similar life-experiences beyond our children in that our parents have presented special medical challenges to us as well and it was so good to have someone to share back and forth with about those issues. I have some really fun memories of being at Susan's parents' home several years back, and really enjoying their company. My dad had died before that time , but since then, my mom had a severe stroke that changed life for her and all of us forever, Susan's mom had a severe stroke last year that God chose to as His time to take her Home and Susan's dad is in Alzheimer's. I've been through the selling of parent's home and possessions, the nursing home selection and such, she is going through a lot of that now . I don't have many friends who like me are still raising younger children while caring for aged and/ or disabled parents. I hope that I can be and continue to pray encouragement for her as she starts this project ahead of her. All too soon it was time for them to leave, I'm so thankful for the time we had and that I was able to introduce Daniel to her . They were all so sweet and loving to him and Daniel snuggled right into Susan's shoulder, roared his sweet roaring talk and smiled his biggest smiles at her for quite a while. Shattered toe and throbbing stitched up nailbed pain or not, IRS audit or not, life is go good and I am full of praise to our Heavenly Father for His goodness. I can not say enough how blessed my life is!!!!!!!!!!

Who knew a haircut and a bath could be so exhausting?

2011-06-16T22:19:00.000-07:00

OH my!! Maybe it was going bowling before the haircut and bath, I'm not sure. Daniel has his habits and routines to be sure. He has pretty much figured out church on Sunday and doesn't fall asleep quite so quickly after church as he used to but most other situations totally drain him! I watch my sweet baby , with <5 of his brain in his skull, trying to figure out where he is and what is going on around him, and now that we are bowling every day, bowling is not quite so tiring for Daniel either, but today...........oh my sweet baby needed a haircut and a bath VERY BADLY! He screamed all the way through the haircut...SCREAMED, slobbered, buggered, cried, fluids were everywhere all because I gave took about an inch of over grown thick hair off his head for the rest of summer. You would think I was cutting off his skin the way he protested! I cuddled Daniel for a long time after the haircut and he fell deeply asleep. I LOVE CUDDLING DANIEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! His wonderful shower chair which is his new and usual place to hang out in the house needed a bath almost as badly as Daniel did ,so sleepy baby and I went to the bathtub. Not quite as bad in his thinking as the haircut, I am guessing, he protested for a short while. MY thinking is that a warm bath feels good to anyone and everyone....... eventually. Showered and all the dead skin removed from his tight little fists, and from under his toes and arm pits, my sweet little man smelled great and and looked super! Upstairs to his room, lotioned and dressed, Daniel was ready for his bed! WHEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
How amazing it is to me that Daniel has been home with us for one year and one week!!!! He has done so well with his surgeries, with feeding through a tube , with clothes and blankets , and with his much busier life in Oklahoma over that in an orphanage in Liberia!
In this year I have come to know that sometimes he is ticklish under his arms and on his shoulder blades. SOMETIMES! Not always. He HATES having his hands touched unless I am slapping them . Sounds violent but I don't mean "hard" , but stroking his hands invokes a very negative, frightened , irritated default response while a slapping motion brings out an almost immediate smile and then laughter!!! He hates having his hands stretched or his arms touched to get his clothes changed or to powder under his sweaty armpits but LOVES when I tap on his elbows, or "type " on his forehead. Our doctors tell us that Daniel does not remember anything and is not aware of individual people or events. TELL THAT to anyone who watches me set up his feeding tube for a meal! SOME DAYS, as soon as I pull up his shirt so I can hook up the tube to his Mic button on his tummy , Daniel responds with a smile and or a roar of pleasure. While his meals are flowing into his tummy from the tube, he may wiggle and smile and make as many pleasure-sounds as a baby could make. Daniel may never say a "word" but I hear his thoughts . I understand his "talk". I understand his body language. A year ago I was learning how to read my precious baby. Now I know that I KNOW him. Daniel would love to be held , in my LEFT arm all day long. I am left handed and that arm is stronger. ALL my other babies liked my left arm best too. It didn't take a brain for Daniel to know what felt best.Daniel is no different from all his other older sibs in that respect. . When I hold him against me, on his tummy , he snuggles. That too apparently requires no brain for a baby to default to . When I stroke his legs he smiles, he roars, he "talks" and he laughs. Sometimes his ribs are ticklish too and the laughs are precious to hear. SOMETIMES all those touches are not pleasant or welcome and Daniel screams. I never know how he will respond until I start an interaction. . Strangely, a slapping of his cheeks or tapping of his hands or forehead almost IMMEDIATELY calms him back down. This tells me that he is not in pain but more of a protest reaction. To an outsider it may look very strange to tap or thump like I do, but Daniel is NOT wired like a typical baby. I am careful in how I respond to his "likes" and WHERE I respond to them as well. A lot of people seeing Daniel, back off but can also be very quick to be critical. I have to inject here that VERY few people even in our church seem to have warmed to Daniel. VERY FEW....as in: I can count on the fingers of 1/2 half a hand who have asked to hold him, or who HAVE. My baby, in his blind, totally dependent state, makes people uncomfortable, I guess. He puts people off. They don't "know how " to relate to him... I suspect because babies are "supposed to" give something back when held or talked to and Daniel just can not always do that ; may be it is something else. HE is BEAUTIFUL, he is sweet, he is a baby whom God blessed this world to know. Kind of like Jesus Himself,
" He came unto His own but His own received Him not" It has not hurt me as much as disappointed me to watch people's responses to my son. Our church, our friends, PRAYED THIS BABY HOME, but they don't love on him like they do "normal " babies.The few people who acknowledge him at all occasionally stoke his leg (maybe) and say "awwwwwwwwwwww, sweet Daniel" and keep walking. I can not express how it touched my heart two weeks ago when a new family came to our church , the mom was someone I'd met at baseball several years ago; she too is an adoptive mom, and her IMMEDIATE response to seeing me holding Daniel was to ask "Can I hold him?" She took him from me and just loved on him. He cooed , he smiled, he was as beautiful as I see him all the time. I could not help but think about how much the "distant" people are missing by not spending a bit of time loving on Daniel. I am so thankful for the year we have had WITH Daniel, for the year + that we spent praying FOR him, and for the time we have ahead...however much tiem that might be.
Right now Daniel is sound asleep after his hair cut and his bath. I can'timagine life without him. He is soemtimes "difficult" and "different" but he is our beautiful, PRECIOUS BABY and WE get to be his family!!!!!!!!!!

The clippers, the bath chair and the cleaned up, trimmed up , exhausted baby Daniel . No photos of the splashed up sweaty Mamma!!!!

I'm BACK!

2011-06-10T22:50:00.000-07:00

Has it really been over two months since I posted anything? OH MY!!! Since April, most of the goats have kidded, we've sold afew , a doe died, all the mamma goats are seriously in milk and the babies are weaned to grain. Sugar had her foal on Easter night. He's a beautiful little colt and he loves Naomi best of all! All the barn cats had kittens, 15 in all, but slowly and surely, the number of kitties here at Calico Acres Farm has decreased. our Calico Mamma, Lilac has 5 kitties who are going to an aviary to mouse there, one whole litter and the mamma went to North Dakota with our friend and former neighbor Lori who moved there, along with several of our "extra " goats. We've added 20 chicks to the chicken coop population and are culling out the non-layers. We have 24 more chicks arriving on July 1...should be lots of eggs by fall to eat and to sell!! The gardens are so exciting: burgeoning with cucmbers, beans, several varieties of tomatoes, lots of peppers, onions, garlic, okra, squash and zuchini, potatoes, corn, more corn, canteloups and water melons! We've added a dozen new fruit and nut trees to the orchards and tansplanted some pecan trees from other parts of the pastures into the orchard. The grapes look great too. It is amazing how much better things grow when the garden is tilled over the winter and really well-prepped for spring planting! I really worked the front flower beds and rose gardens as well, and made an herb garden space out front where I usually plant pansies or begonias. The cilantro, basil, oregano, and rosemary have a smell that is so close to heavenly,I can just sit and sniff....... and sniff and sniff!!!!!!!!!!! Blended with the surrounding roses, oh yes!! It's like a perfumery!
We purposed to seriously garden this year to really provide food for our family and to have plenty to share with others. So far , that goal is nearing the first seps of accomplishment!
Our biggest milestone is that Daniel has been home HOME HOME with us for a whole year as of Monday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I still shake my heard at that because it does not seem possible.
He is not much bigger than a year ago, still easily a size 18 month size and with his 4" foot he is still in newborn sized 3 shoes and size 3 diapers. We have all come to know him so well, know his many dislikes and his few likes, the things that sometimes make him smile, the things we know make him scream immediately, the things he puts up with. His favorite things are being held by his Mamma, music and being thumped. Soft touches seem to scare Daniel or irritate him badly. That produces lots of screaming! A stronger touch will bring about a smile and often a laugh and some Daniel talk too.......most of the time. Some days Daniel's affect is "flat" and unresponsive; some days he is so animated and so full of laughs and smiles, Every day is a new day of WHAT WILL DANIEL LIKE TODAY??????? He is truly our Forever 6 week old and I am thankful for this precious baby and how he fits into our family! I will never chase him around or shoo him out of a cupboard, but I WILL be able to cuddle him any time at all for as long as he is ours. How much more blessed could a mamma be ?
Jael graduated from high school and Esther'sbaby ................ a girl that she and Casey have named Riley Kay , is doing so well! Esther started her pregnancy a bit heavier than would be optimally healthy but she has taken such good care of herself and Riley that at 27 weeks along , (due on Grandpappa Charlie's birthday) she has only gained 6 pounds! Her NP is so impressed as is her midwife mamma! Riley is not our only Grand Baby-in-the-making however. Daughter Kari is due in late December and Caleb and wife Tiffany just found out they are expecting their first baby together about on my birthday . Sweet Grandbaby Charlie is talking and we enjoy him so much!!! I am his "Gi-Gi" and he loves to come to Gi-Gi's house! There are a couple of our grown children who are not living their lives as unto the Lord as they know they should, but at this point God's grace and mercy are covering them more than they know as this mamma continues to pray over them.
i stand on Isaiah 54:13 " ALL your children shall be taught of the Lord and great shall be the peace of your children"..unwavering I stand firm for each of our children and trust God to draw them to eactly where HE wants them to be. It is painful to my mamma heart, but God is the strength of my heart!
Our central heating and cooling unit ( a very old and underefficient heat pump) died last summer before the heat had subsided. It was our plan to use our tax refund to replace it, no debt, no credit, just get a unit up and running and be done with it. THAT was before the IRS and some provision in Obama care made the way for our adotpion tax credit to be a "Refund" for the first and only time. The catch? MUST PAPER FILE not e-file...more time... the second catch??? Almost all the adoptive famileis who filed the required Form 8839 haver been noified ( and slowly I might add) that their file is being investigated and THAT means tax refunds , which are bigger than any of of us expected along the way, are being held up for months! We personally are waiting to see if we get the actual Letter from IRS requestign documentation, or if we'll see our money deposited. Right now we just don't know how that will go but God does and I am praying that He will orchestrate the arrival of the check with the bill for the AC/Heating unit. It all reminds me of my favorite Christian radio song right now... "REACH" by Peter Furler. "You hold the weight of the world yet I don't slip through Your hands!!" THAT is where I am today: knowing that WE are not going to slip through our Heavenly Father's hands!!!

Why did I used to have time to blog?

2011-04-05T14:19:00.000-07:00

The past three months have been no more event -filled than any other months...that I can recognize anyhow. My house is not remarkably cleaner, I was not gardening, I have not crocheted an afghan or even a whole scarf. So why have I had so little time to find my computer, my blog , and put into print even a few of the myriad activities or musings which bless my life? Well OK, maybe I AM busier..........I am trying to get started now and the beep of my text message and its accompanying light tell me that Jael is finished with her make-up first semester English class and is ready to be picked up and taken to work. About the time I return from that I will take Blake to Baseball for Hannah who is working late at her bank job. No, I didn't have time to go get G-baby Charlie from day care for her, but I did take Sopheak to work after two dentist appointments this morning. I did hoe some cabbage and cauliflower rows, and transplant tomatoes, peppers and morning glory plants, we did school, I did get Charlie the Dad and the boys off to a friends' ranch to help clear out some equipment and scruff for her. (Her husband just deployed; last time he and Charlie the Dad were deployed together). I have cooked scratch meals, good ones every day for the last week +, including for a church pot luck dinner. I did all those things before and still found time to blog. Wonder how I did it?? I'll think about it while I am driving I guess!!

A "Little" Gardening Miracle of Healing

2011-03-18T11:51:00.000-07:00

I took the entire day yesterday, aside from Daniel-care, to garden. I sun-screened pretty successfully, and stayed busy from 11-5. I love being in the garden, I love the soil no matter how sweaty and "funky" I may get. It is life -affirming for me, it is therapeutic, it is so satisfying, it is pure hard sweaty-working pleasure!!! There was a lot of border root-work to do before I could put my cucumbers in: my tiller just can't get that close to the fence so the little trowel and I spent about 1 1/2 hours prepping the cuke portions of the garden. Those borders were then as nicely composted and turned over as the tilled portions. !!! Two varieties of cukes went in, and along with them garlic, onions, cauliflower, broccoli and a bit more early cabbage and some late harvest cabbage. Marigolds will border the entire garden to help ward off bugs. The strawberry patch is in and it too is looking very promising. THIS garden is going to produce and provide for now, for later, for sharing with others: it is a SERIOUS garden!! When the "cold weather" early veggies are done, the peppers, tomatoes, egg plant, beans, zucchini, and squash will go in. Most of these are currently (and happily?) sprouting in the indoor green houses and waiting their turns. Our other garden is the corn field which I've bordered with potatoes and carrots. The corn field was so nice and soft, full of great horse and goat compost, lots of great soil and sand so that prepping and planting the corn rows was an easy task. (Thanks to Gideon who tilled for me, twice!) I was staying well hydrated, still well sun-screened, took some Aleve for the stiffness in my hip and back, and was guarding my knees against a possible lock up even though I have not locked up either knee for over a year ( out in the goat nursery delivering that Topsy Turvy and the other 2/3 of those triplets) and was feeling really GREAT!!! Suddenly, as I started to move forward on my knees to advance my corn rows, I felt that oh-so-unwelcome and oh-so-familiar sensation of my left knee locking up! I tried to reverse my motion because sometimes that quickly unlocks the knee, but not today. I gingerly turned over so I was sitting instead on kneeling in the corn patch and I started to pray. I thanked God for the day, for the love of gardening that He has placed in my spirit, for the ability to produce food from our land, and for the strength He has given my body in spite of some of the "creaks" . I asked God to please release my knee so that I could continue using the perfect conditions of the day to complete the gardening because ALL OF IT was unto Him.
A bit of history:
God has released my knee numerous times over the 7 years it has had this issue, in answer to prayer, but some times He has let me stay locked for as long as 12 days, relying totally on Him and moving along on crutches. The last time I was locked for 12 days was right before Charlie came home from Iraq his last time. I locked up, and that knee did NOT release under any conditions. I did farm work on my crutches that whole time. I was still doing a lot of the milking back then, which did not do my opposite hip any favors but the work got done. My chiropractor was able to unlock it once but it took him an hour of work!!!!! Some times God will give me some guidance as to what I need to do or how I need to move to cause the knee to unlock and it is not always the same method. THIS TIME, God moved in my mind that I needed to stretch out my leg as far as possible ( something I try to avoid because it is PAINFUL!!) and to massage above my knee working downward . I have never done this before or even tried that technique. I massaged as I continued to talk to my Lord. In about 20 seconds, I heard the oh-so-familiar and oh-so-WELCOME sound of a little "pop" and my knee released! As soon as it unlocks when it's just been a short lock-up, the pain is gone and I am totally free to move as I choose!!!! After a pretty lengthy praise time , I decided to finish my corn rows sitting rather than kneeling. This was a pretty good plan as Gideon assessed when he came to bring me a squirt bottle of cold water. He thought I'd chosen that position because it allowed me to use my body as a "Row spacer". I WAS, and I DID, but not until the locking and healing episode! Actually the sitting method was faster than the kneeling method because I could very easily furrow, plant and a cover two rows at once.

This garden will be particularly special to me, this year especially the corn field. While I don't think that anyone "needs" a special place to pray, I suspect that at least this year, my corn field will be my frequent prayer place !!

Daniel, a birthday with a neuro-surgeon visit

2011-03-16T09:16:00.000-07:00

Our sweet baby boy is officially by Birth Certificate -officially, three years old!
His day yesterday started with a vist to his neuro-surgeon for a follow-up on the shunt placement done last July. Our visits with this doctor last year were far from "warm-fuzzy" encouraging visits, but I saw that God was using Daniel to teach this very educated, experienced man a few things that no school or other educated person could ever teach him. I saw this again yesterday when doctor entered our exam room and asked how Daniel was doing. My cheerful and enthusiastic "He is doing VERY WELL!!" was met with a much more sober and not enthusiastic " Why would you say THAT?" I got to testify about God's hand on Daniel again by explaining the changes we have seen in Daniel's behavior and reactions to things and people around him, how we are so pleased that despite what his MRI indicates, Daniel seems able to acomplish far more than "expected". I spoke about tickling, music, how he loves to sing praise music, tracking my voice with his eyes, even though they cant' see, everything that is a part of Daniel's DEFINITE personality, including the dis-likes and ongoing limitations. He looked at the chart and saw that the nurse had measured Daniels' head circumference and commented that his head had not grown and said "Well at least he is comfortable. You can come back and see me in a year." He asked what the neurologist had said about Daniel and I replied that she told me she was amazed that he was breathing, much less that he was alive. NO response to that but to comment that the incisions were healed well and the risk of infection from the shunt sites were very minimal at this point and that having a family to care for him probably had done more than a shunt.. The questions I asked him he told me that I would be better suited to ask the Neurologist herself.
Daniel for his part, talked to me throughout the exam, smiled and roared his little roars and stayed pretty relaxed. He had to have his photo taken for his file and we even managed to catch the tail-end of a smile for the photo. The nursing staff are very sweet to Daniel, VERY SWEET.
Since it's our family tradition to celebrate birthdays at the Tex-Mex restaurant where Esther used to work, last night for Daniel's birthday was no exception. The staff were more than happy to celebrate Daniel with us!
I fogot my camera, Charlie took a few photos with my camera phone and they are all we have tangibly to remember the night by, but we will all remember the joy at being able to celebrate that Daniel IS three years old and VERY MUCH ALIVE AND WELL!!!! And for the record, he did NOT like the whipped cream from his fried ice cream!

Inthe Birthday Sombrero for a photo-op!

Daniel's first birthday party

2011-03-16T08:54:00.000-07:00

was with our church family after service yesterday morning. Our precious baby is turning three but this will be the FIRST time his life will be celebrated by acknowleding how special the day of his birth really was! Daniel was having a really worse -than -bad -day of incredible irritability due to his intestinal system being on strike or unaware that it had been invited to participate in his week, but we were celebrating DANIEL's L I F E nonetheless!
I knew that having invited everyone to a cake and ice cream party , the mention of gifts would come up. Daniel does not need anything, really so I suggested that if anyone REALLY wanted to do something for Daniel that I would love it if they would give him a gift of a donation to an orphanage related in some way to his life. THANK YOU to those who did just that!!! I am more than happy to Paypal funds in Daniel's name for you!

We are so thankful for Daniel! Holding him while he screams and cries in discomfort and irritability over every touch and movement , being unable to comfort him except by thumping on him seems so inadequate to this mamma's heart but pound and thump I did. The second I'd slow down or stop to switch hands or rest my hands would be the start of the next round of screaming. I'd medicated and hydrated, prayed and started all over again and again for three days. Late last night his body gave him a little bit of relief and this morning I was informed that Daniel MUST have " REALLY cleared out" because the space by the woodstove was too smelly for anyone else to sit near Daniel, AND he was stretched out and SMILING!

If an empty intestinal tract makes my baby happy, and causes him to hurt no longer, that's about the best birthday gift I can give !! He had not "talked to me" in 3 days or so, but after a thorough clean up, he was talking and smiling , responding to some tickles and he even allowed me to help him do some stretching exercises!! We will celebrate again tomorrow as a family. I have been asked why we'd "bother" to make a big deal out of Daniel's birthday, yes we have. We celebrate because Daniel is our baby. We celebrate because God blessed us with him and chose us to love a very unique baby boy who may never have a clue that we celebrate his life. I know that seemingly his understanding of a diaper change, a bath, the brushing of his teeth the changing of his clothes and the putting on of socks or shoes is that they are pain producers, interruptions to being still and and unstretched but not elements of being loved and cared for. How often do we cry and complain and "pitch a fit" at the circumstances we find ourselves in? Those of us who profess to be born-again followers of Jesus: how often do we respond to God "cleaning us up" like Daniel responds to me? Yet God loves us , loves us so so much, loves all of us, loves me, regardless of how I/we respond to His touch. How wonderful that God never loses his temper, doesn't get irritable "back" , doesn't shake His head needing to "take a break" from our behavior. He loves, and loves and loves some more. That's how I want to be able to love Daniel and all the people in my life: every day! Daniel's obvious limitations really help me remember the not-so-obvious limitations of the rest of us ,and remind me of God's unfailing love!!

"Teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom"

2011-03-10T09:22:00.000-08:00

Rewritten and re-tooled:
I love this verse from Psalm 90. It's verse 12. I know that I waste a lot of time.It's easy to do. We all have things that we know deep in our hearts are a waste of time. Some of those things, in and of themselves are not "bad" things whatsoever, but in light of Eternity, what I see is that RECOGNIZING what I/we waste time on and getting it under submission to a real schedule of productivity aims us toward the " gain a heart of wisdom" goal. I don't see where the "Proverbs 31 woman" is forbidden to have a second cup of coffee, or linger a bit longer over the wonderful myriad, plethora, (OK I just happen to love those two words and enjoy being able to seize opportunity to use them!) or abundance of recipes in her new cookbook, or blog-hop, blog write, watch tv game/talk/news shows, but I suspect that "She" ie, US, are always learning to be ever more consistent in time management; let's call it what it is : good stewardship of our time and self-control. Numbering our days means numbering our hours and minutes. SO often I say " I just do not have time for that" but what I mean is and the truth of the matter is, I used up the time I had doing something else: be it a necessary thing or a good choice/bad choice thing. Like it or not, to choose doing one thing is usually choosing NOT to do something else. My prayer is that I will make the best choices while not getting angry, impatient, or bitter about the necessary choices. Yesterday was an easy stewardship of time day. Everything fell into place with children, school, chores, and Bible time. There are also days when the normal routine activities take up more time and energy, than "normal" and the extra time I'd hoped for is a vapor in the wind...like today. Daniel had a very hard start to his day and was super difficult this morning. His getting-up-and-fed routine took a very long time. as he drew up extra tightly and was extremely irritable to every touch and motion.Every thing I did for him caused screaming and more drawn-up tightness, and lots of pauses to help him re-group so I could continue with his routine. I numbered my days against how the uncertainty of just how many days I will have to love on Daniel and care for him. Love on my cranky baby or wish I could go write? NO BRAINER. My baby is now and writing anything, doing anything else, can wait a while. I, me, myself, wanted to write NOW, but now it is time to go across town and pick up Sopheak for work. Numbering my days..................I love being able to help Malachi and Sopheak. One day she will have her driver's licence and I will have an extra 45 minutes back in "my day". Numbering my days for me also means keeping a "heart of wisdom" attitude even if the time can't be spent the way I planned or hoped it would go. Lord please help me to be mindful of the increase when it returns and not let myself fritter it away !! Psalm 90:16-17 wrap up that chapter with these words:
"Let Your work appear to Your servants and Your glory to their children, And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us, And establish the work of our hands for us, Yes, establish the work of our hands!"

Day dreaming about my other two children.........................

2011-03-03T09:05:00.000-08:00

Day dreaming, praying for, longing for.............you get the picture!

A face we can't wait to see face to face with our own faces! Such a fun-loving and handsome young man!

I love that Diamoh will smile now that she has all her permanent teeth in.She is so beautiful and it made me sad when she'd hide her face from any thing that looked like a camera for such a long time!

So many Smiths, so much activity!

2011-03-02T23:31:00.000-08:00

    ..... or at least a flurry of activities! Our weather has been glorious this week, sunny, warm and not even windy so my priority for the week was to get the "cold weather "veggies planted and to get the garden beds ready for planting. Yesterday while playing with Grandbaby Charlie, I got the cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower planted. I would have gotten farther but a phone call from oldest son Joshua took top spot, even on a sunny day. We had a one hour + conversation as I sat in my garden chopping manure into the soil. Our Yellow star flag is going back up in the window, again. Joshua heads out for Afghanistan in three short weeks for the rest of the year. God has kept him safe through 5 years of tours of duty, has sustained my daughter-in-law Diana and grandchildren Emily and Ethan while Joshua has had to be gone and I am beyond words of praise to our Heavenly Father for that!! My uniformed military guys have done their tours and been able to come home for a state side tour. Civilian contractors who do vital jobs for the military do not have that luxury and Joshua has been over seas more than any of our uniformed service guys combined. Please keep them in your prayers when you think of the ongoing War on Terror . The "press" may be tired of writing about the war, but it MATTERS and we have a lot of soldiers and civilians serving in that War. THANKS!!
Our strawberry patch got turned today so that I may plant tomorrow but it sure didn't happen today!!
The milestone of this day was that Sopheak got her learner's permit Driver's Licence!!!!! Malachi is in school all day at OSU so I got to take her for her test and photo and celebrate this occasion with her. WHAT FUN!!!!!A trip to Sonic for late breakfast was the perfect end to that part of our day
.Jael s is an officer in the high school DECA national marketing organization which had its state competition Monday and Tuesday. While she didn't place in the top 3 slots in competitions she did place 4th and earned a slot for the national Convention and Competition at Disney World in May! She is so excited about this honor and opportunity which will help her wind down her Senior year !! I am super proud of her!! Her category of competition had a lot of other contestants, more than the other categories she could have chosen so she knew she would have to work extra hard to do well. The migraine meds she is taking have really made life tough for her and she does everything she does around and through headaches and nausea. The black outs seem to have disappeared as quickly as they appeared but the Migraine meds have side effects that may or may not be worse than what they are intended to prevent. Jael continues to keep plugging and excelling !!!
     Charlie may do the final assembling and filing of our family taxes ever year but the "leg work" is up to me. I've been gathering receipts and tallying all of our pertinent categories so that he can plug those numbers in and file our return. HOWEVER... he is gone a lot and Esther and Casey, and Malachi and Sopheak are not so confident in their tax-filing abilities so I have been the TAX GIRL this week for them. Happily, I was able to guide them through the process and get them both good returns as a result.
     Tennis season started last week for Isaac, Noah and Isaiah as did the Junior High traveling basketball league season for Noah . Baseball starts soon for Rachel as drum lessons continue for Leah. My garden is SUCH a blessed side step from all the taking and picking up. It's so fun to watch our sons and daughters in their individual and collective activities and so fun to do our "at home " activities together as well.
      Also on the Grown Smith Kids front, Caleb leaves for Drill Sergeant school this month until late June, Kari will know next Monday if she is pregnant with Baby 4 ( and Baby 5!!) and Gideon is planning to go to Russia to work with Alex Krutov and the staff at The Harbor in St. Petersburg from September to December. THE HARBOR is an incredible organization which while NOT an orphanage, takes in orphans in Russia to teach them a trade, teach literacy, teach the Gospel and help as many at-risk young orphaned youth in Russia to NOT end up as prostitutes, drug addicts and suicide victims through presenting HOPE and a FUTURE to the students who live at The Harbor. Gideon will be teaching carpentry to the young men/boys so that this may be a trade they can be employed with after they graduate from The Harbor. This is a HUGE thing for Gideon who is preparing spiritually, mentally, emotionally and financially for this 4 month mission trip. Gideon was very very touched by the Holy Spirit when Alex came to visit us about a year or so ago, and God has not let Gideon alone about the needs at The Harbor and what he, Gideon might have to offer . He will take university classes through the summer so that he can take the fall semester off for his Russia work and then finish his senior year at OSU when he returns from Russia. It promises to be a challenging and exciting time !!! It is a mission trip requiring MUCH fervent prayer!!!!!!!!
      Daniel is TICKLISH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sometimes! I discovered when massaging and doing his stretching exercises this week that his ribs are (for now, sometimes) ticklish . When the sensation of being tickled feels good Daniel laughs and laughs with the most melodious sound I think I have EVER heard anywhere, seriously!!! It doesn't' t last very long and he does not always respond favorably to being tickled BUT WHEN HE DOES, IT IS AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!! There have been no hands nearby to pick up a camera and make a photo -op out of Daniel's delightful responses but I have to tell you that my heart soars with a Mamma-delight over his laughter that could not be photographed anyhow. He is an amazing baby! This week I have become aware of his responses to setting up his feeding tube for a meal too. He has shown a definite awareness and approval when I have lifted his shirt to expose the feeding tube and hook him up for a feeding. This is a new response and it too, delights me and gives me much to ponder in my heart and to call other family members to come and observe.He rarely ever expresses an awareness of hunger or that it's time for a feeding, but the approval and pleasure of getting set up for a feeding and the feeling warm liquid food -stuff flowing into his tummy are undeniably obvious!!!
Our scripture study today was in Numbers today and in Psalm 90.   I so love and appreciate the words of verses 12     "and So teach us to number our days That we may gain a heart of wisdom. "
...17 "And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us, And establish the work of our hands for us; Yes, establish the work of our hands".
I don't want any of what I've lived today or what I've shard about my life today to matter... if it is NOT established by the Lord and what HE has put into my/our hands to do and be about the business of tending to. I want for our family that each of us count our days, that we pursue wisdom as we grow in our faith and relationships with our Heavenly Father. This passage also instructs us to be Holy as God is Holy... a teaching we are studying in 1 Peter as well on Sunday nights in our small group fellowship. Impossible? As humans yes it is. As new creatures in Christ who are being conformed to God's image and renewed by the tranforming of our minds, YES I believe we can be. I am going to be dedicated to that pursuit of Holiness and to teaching to my children a life -long hunger for that Holiness .
If what I am here on Earth for is not established for my hands by my Heavenly Father, it won't matter what I try to do or what I feel I've acomplished. It is the desire of my heart to be everything in every moment that my Father wants me to be from gardening to ticklling and everything in between!!

Newest photos of Junior and Diamoh

2011-03-01T22:49:00.000-08:00

Oh how I love new photos!!!!

Junior, age 11 1/2 with some gifts from home

Diamoh, 8 1/2...not quite my "little girl" any more

Praying daily, waiting, praying ,trusting God for our children as He sustains them in Liberia and as we all wait for THE Day that they are finally allowed to come home!!
Thanks so much to our friend Eric for taking the time to take gifts to our children and their care taker, and to get photos for us as well!!
Just as I watched our Rachel grow up in photos from when we met her so long ago when she was barely three until we brought her home at age 6, we are watching Diamoh...baby teeth, loose teeth, no teeth, shy smiles and oh-so-serious faces, smiles with teeth once again and the confident smiles and expressions that have nothing to prove any longer. Junior's photos have less of a growing up story to tell although I do have photos of stages of his life where he added some permanent teeth in less obvious spaces than one would see watching the changes in a younger child's development. Both have changed so much and yet so little since we first saw their faces so long ago in photos, and in person twice now. They are such beautiful strong children and how I ache that this "tween" stage of life when they need a mommy/mom daddy/dad to nurture and nurture them is passing by! Dear P. does such a great job with the children although she does tell me from time to time of "issues" and we discuss how she handles them and that my message to our children is "OBEY P! She is telling you to do exactly what Daddy and I would tell you! She is teaching you just as we would be teaching you here at home with your brothers and sisters." The ongoing relationship we have is far from ideal, but until God opens the doors for us all, it is the relationship that we work to develop. Please pray for our children with us as we wait?

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

2011-02-24T09:46:00.000-08:00

Psalm 139 :
13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. 17 How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! 18 Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand— when I awake, I am still with you.
I took Daniel to the Neurologist yesterday, at long last. It took a very long time to get the appointment, her office over booked and we were bumped and canceled repeatedly and had it not been for Jael's more imminent need of a neurologist, and that I brought Daniel to her appointment to get him up under her nose, we might still be waiting. All in all the appointment I felt was more for the Neurologist's benefit far more than Daniel's. She had not looked at his films before we came, so really had no idea what we were there for or why. She took al ot of notes, asked me a lot of questions but mostly, she was amazed at Daniel: amazied that he was breathing, alive, responsive to anything, did I mention alive and breathing ? Our sweet baby has less than 5 % of his brain . The Doctor said she had never seen such a severe case of hydranencephaly anywhere, living or not, and certainly not in a child who was about 3 years old, had had no medical care for 2 of those years.She asked so many questions about our family, and repeatedly "You KNEW this baby had this condition and you still went to Africa to bring him home? What a blessed baby he is!!" It was an incredible opportunity to share God's love and His hand of direction upon our lives, and Daniel's. SINCE SHE ASKED "why would you do this?" I got to tell her our whole incredible story and how we just knew ( OK I "knew "first" out loud...it took Charlie some real "Jacob and the angel-type" wrestling with God before he too was ready to say out loud what he knew God had been doing in his heart. ) that Daniel was supposed to be our baby and that even in the face of a suspension on adoptions in Liberia, with our other two children still waiting, GOD paved the way for us to get Daniel home. I got to share a bit about God calling us to grow our family through international adoption and how He leads our family.
She didn't tell ME anything I didn't already know. I was able to tell her how Daniel's hydranencephaly affects HIM personally and about that she took al ot of notes too. She re-assessed that he is totally blind, we knew that but the MRI shows in photos I did not get to potograph, that while he has basic optic nerves, there is no wehre for them to "plug into" so to speak. That part of his brain is missing. The portions which govern growth and thermo-regulating are also missing.............hence my "3 year old" is 21 pounds and still 32 inches long ( and would not even weigh that much but his skull grew so much to accommodate all that fluid that his head is still disproportionately heavy for his body) and we layer lots of clothing and blankets to keep him cozy. I have bought ski caps in every color so I can coordinate them with his daily outfits, but that's just how I roll!!
She asked if we wanted to have his hearing tested, but as she watched Daniel "track" my voice with his sightless eyes, she knew his hearing was quite fine.
The upshot of the visit is that he is a healthy very brain -damaged baby boy! Advising me to be aware of the devastating and life-threatening complications of pneumonia should he aspirate any fluids, she told me that she does not need to see him for a year and that there is nothing she could do for or to him, that he is a miracle all on his own.
The most incredibel moment of the whole visit was when the doctor, looking at the MRI images, said that Daniel had almsot no brain at all and DANIEL LAUGHED. He doens't laugh oftenk, and its usually when I am stroking his head and singing to him, but I was only holding him in a snuggle at that moment. "Fearfully and wonderfully made" were the Psalmist David's words and they apply every bit as much to a shepherd-turned-King as they do to a baby born in Liberia, left abandoned under a banana tree, "discovered" by a big seasoned family and adopted into that farm family.
ALL the reasons we'd said we would probably not adopt a child with multiple disabilities fell by the wayside: things like " She/He'd feel left out if we went to do farm chores where the wheelchair or crutches could not go" "He/she would not be able to do.... etc etc....." "A blind child would have a very hard time in our house with its quirky layout and with the farm itself.." THIS multi-issued baby will never encounter any of those things which would have been valid concerns for an older, LESS disabled child. We can carry him everywhere, he will never fall or stumble anywhere in his house or his yard, never be or feel left out...
In short, all those things we praised God that each of our bio-babes did not have when they were born, Daniel HAS: in large measure...all by himself. Who but God would know that a seasoned (OK "older" ) family whose youngest child was almost 9 , needed this very special baby to be their baby? But for that family asking God just what HE wanted them to do, and acting in obedience, rather than reacting out of a sense of what was "practical" or "logical", we would not be blessed with our precious Forever Baby!

Daniel's brain. The dark areas are brain tissue.

normal brain, same view

More shots than I was able to photograph from Daniel's MRI, but the same view, looking down into a normal brain

This morning our severe thunder and lightening storm woke Daniel up. Only some good cuddle time with Mommy made it better and calmed him down. How totally God is it that I just hit a crazy "big" number birthday but I am thrilled and consider myself "blessed among women" to be the Mamma to a virtual/perpetual 6 week old?

Living Life, loving life!

2011-02-22T13:38:00.000-08:00

It's that time in a dairy goat farmer's life when she begins to sell the offspring of the most recent breedings. Since we have NO DOES to keep so far, we have 2 Sable Saanen bucklings and a Sable/Alpine cross buckling to sell as well as a stray wethered ( neutered) Boer (meat goat who turned out to be a runt: too small to butcher but a nice enough size to be a companion goat or just a grazer). Hopefully by the weekend I will be less these 4 goats as I prepare for two more does to kid next month or so. These boys are beautiful and Nicholas, the brown and white boy is going to his new home this afternoon. The Boer goes on Saturday. I "think" I have the other two boys sold as well...if I want to drive an hour + to deliver them. RELIEF!!!! We bottle the three youngest boys three times a day and milk, be it goat or cow milk for those guys, starts adding up real fast when they drink gallons a day. It's always fun to have baby goats, but you "just know" when it's time, and NOW is my time!

Naomi helps bottle the babies:Nicholas, Oliver and Tristan

Oliver

Nicholas,

unashamedly our favorite baby so far this year!

Tristan, who is of the same father as Nicholas and Oliver, out of a different breed mother.
Daffodil, his mother is one of our triplets from last March, and has proven to be as amazing of a milk doe as I had hoped when I bred her after several years of working toward THIS breeding. As a first time mamma, she is giving us nearly 2 gallons of milk a day AND has the good milking teats and great milk production of her father's lineage along with her mother's superb milk production. I can't wait until her sister Topsy Turvy gives birth in May! Topsy Turvy is my goat obstetrical miracle bottom-first breech baby . Trustfully she will NOT have triplets for her first kidding because that pretty much promises at least one breech baby when she comes due. If I NEVER deliver another breech baby, it will be fine with me!

Nicholas and Tristan

Nicholas and Oliver.How I wish their triplet sister Pansy had lived! She looked just like Nicholas!

Our winter this year has been extreme, even for the extremes we are so famliar with in Oklahoma, our temperatures actually 100 degrees different last Thursday from the Thursday before! Taking advantage of the 82 degree days last week, we went outside to soak it up. We were babysitting Charlie for Hannah which added to the fun of a beautiful day!

A week AFTER the -22 temps went away we had 82 degree temps so outside we went!
Charlie loves the swing!

It was even warm enough for Daniel to go out for a ride in his wagon and enjoy it!

Naomi inviting Lilac our Calico to swing or play with Charlie

Naomi in her cold weather boots taking Daniel out to visit with the horses

Holly, my Westie came out to play too

Back in the yard, Daniel had a good ride thanks to his big sister!

Jael came out to play too. This was the beginning of a "Spin Charlie Around" game

` Now that the snow has all melted away and watered the eagerly waiting bulbs in my gardens I am thrilled to report that daffodils and crocus are popping rapidly, with tulips and hyacynth not far behind. Also visible are the tiny grape hyacynth sproutings. My perennial dianthus are reemerging, joinging the pansies which never died off under all that cold and snow. I LOVE seeing blooming flowers a week after a snow storm!
As farm animals grow and thrive, as flowers do what God intended them to do, my next grandbaby is growing and thriving too!!

10 weeks and 4 days!! Wish I had the shot where Baby Rogers was stretching "her" arms and legs too! Esther and Casey were super excited to see all that movement and hear the much welcome heart tones!

We are awaiting confirmation that our oldest daughter is also expecting a baby/babies within the next two weeks! The wonders of medical science boggle my brain and that God has allowed man to experience as much of HIS knowledge as he has boggles my brain even more. I will miss being with Kari for this first ultrasound sadly. I was with her for her first ultrasound of her last pregnancy and I was I who saw first that there were TWINS, and not just one baby.

My youngest daughters are visiting for a few days with their friend Taevy, who is my dear friend Anita's daughter. The original plan was for the girls to be picked up on Sunday but Naomi who does not do sleep overs very often, got a bit hesitant and THEN realized that she'd made a date with her brothers to watch the NBA All-Star basketball game thatsame night, she was beside herself with conflict!! Rachel could not care less about basketball so she was fine with the afternoon plan and fine with later on to, but sweet Naomi!! She didn't want to be the least bit rude to Taevy and her family, she REALLY wanted to go, but brothers and basketball??????????????? NO brothers and basketball????????????? Taevy would still be Taevy after THE Game was over so she picked my brain and picked my brain and vascilated for quite some time before deciding that she NEEDED to honor her promise to watch that game AND THEN if her Daddy would take them to Taevy's house on his way to work the next day, she 'd be at peace with herself . APPARENTLY that was a great plan because the girls called me this morning to ask if they could stay until Thursday instead of Wednesday afternoon. Ahhhhh, the joys and freedoms of home schooling: take books along, take computer work along, visit with fellow-home schooled kiddso and even school becomes a new adventure to share! I am so glad the girls are having a good time; they have been planning for quite some time and the next part of the plan is that Taevy will come visit here for Spring Break in March.

Do I need to tell you that I MISS MY DAUGHTERS???????????????

WOWZA I miss my daughters!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Amazing that my youngest daughters are old enough to be gone from me for days "for fun" and not just for a "have to" kind of occasion. God knew that I would not be ready for my babies to NOT be babies forever, so He blessed me with Daniel who WILL BE my forever baby! Life is so good because God Who keeps blessing my life is SO VERY VERY AWESOMELY GOOD: all the time!!

A Birthday, Letters from Liberia, news from home

2011-02-15T15:29:00.000-08:00

How can it be 17 whole years since the Valentine's Day dinner date Charlie and I didn't make because I was giving birth to Jael Shamar? SEVENTEEN YEARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The youngest of our bio-babies was born after a pretty easy two -hour labor at 8 PM on a Saturday night. We'd planned to go on a group dinner date, but I had " a feeling" and warned our friends that if we didn't show up, they could know we were having the baby, even though it WAS 5 weeks before my due date. Sure enough................. our 6 pound 10 1/2 ounce baby girl kept us home but that event did NOT keep our friends from coming by to visit us later that night!! Jael had her first non-family member visitors at 10 PM, shortly after being cleaned and tidied up and getting her first nursing! Thankfully our midwife Kathy and her partner, Giselle ( also my midwifery partners) made it to our house in time to tend to the rapid - paced labor and the birth. Esther came so quickly that Kathy and Giselle were 5 minutes "too late" and Charlie did a job he said he never wanted to do again!!! Kathy quickly reminded him as she arrived PRE-BIRTH that he had gotten his wish for this baby!!

Strawberries and cheese cake!

Our family moves pretty quickly all around and these birthday photos are no different. HERe is my beautiful Jael with her beloved brisket dinner and fresh strawberries and cheese cake dinner! Naomi is helping her slice cheese cake.

Oh what a precious envelope arrived in the mail on Monday! Our friend Eric who had been in Liberia for several weeks doing mission work has returned and with him he brought letters from Junior and Diamoh! Well a lovely colored picture more than a letter from Diamoh but words of scripture and encouragement from our precious 11 year old son, so far away. He told us to read John 14:14 because that was his prayer for "it WILL come to pass" WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!! John 14:14 " You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. " Hallelujah and AMEN!!!!!!!!!!! It's been along hard wait for our children and for us too, for the day that will come when we get the word that we MAY come for our children. How awesome that our children are praying with us for their eventual home coming, and trusting God for that day. Our precious care giver is such a Godly and wise young woman and she teaches the children well in The Word and how to grow in their walk and relationship with God. We are so very thankful for her in their lives, and in ours. She humbles me with her strength and faith because she without hesitation, praises GOD ALONE for all that He is doing through her life. He is doing A LOT!

From Diamoh age 8

From Junior, age 11, my young son full of faith!

Isn't this a great envelope?!!

The other side of the awesome envelope!

This last month has been so full of busy days, I have longed to sit and journal my thoughts and prayers and our family activities but sitting has not been on my list of things needing doing "most". School work, lots of doctor's office visits including the long distance visits in OK City have taken a lot of time. Thankfully it seems Isaiah's MRSA is indeed cured/healed/cleaned up and gone and Jael is now more than a month without a black out! Naomi and Isaiah have both stopped coughing and running fevers, PRAISE GOD that no one else got sick along the way!! Still no foal from Sugar, but with our temperatures in the "below Zero" realm for several days and our newest accumulation of snow blanketing everything under, we were glad that we'd miscalculated the date of breeding. It's OK!!!
When the vet came out today to check on the goats and ultrasound for success or failure of the imported buck, we were pleased to see lots of babies on board for Rose, Sunflower and Topsy Turvy, but disappointed that Satsuma, perpetual mother of triplets is not bred at all, so back in the breeding pen she went with clear orders to her and Mr Norvel, the Stud Muffin-in-Waiting to "get busy". Should he fail at his task, I have another buck to put to work, but I am not thrilled about the possibility of a mid July kidding. I suppose I prefer that to Christmas Night kiddings, or kiddings in mid -Spring flood and mud but it's just not the "norm" for dairy goats. We are expecting some "Tax Day" babies from Rose and maybe just maybe I will be blessed with a brown doe who lives!! The Ultra sounding goats is really a fun thing to watch . As the spines and extremities start to appear on the screen we count the future babies growing in the mammas and start to guess about girls or boys, colors and color patterns. It's a cool thing to have a vet who owns a portable ultrasound machine!

Snow and cold, colds and snow, Pass the "Blow-Nex please!"

2011-02-09T16:57:00.000-08:00

Really? Oklahoma has had two major snow storms in one week's time?? Not just dustings of snow, but deep accumulations, deep drifts, lots of snow days for the public school students and college students as well, lots of talk about no Spring Break because the Snow Days have to be made up...................One more benefit to Home Schooling: the bus never gets stuck, the roads are never snowed in, the students are never snowed OUT of school!! We are using the public school Snow Days as "make up days" for other events we canceled our school for. Should come out even by the end of the year! In the meantime several of my children have nasty colds, and this Mamma does too. Isaiah who is thankfully nearly HEALED of his MRSA has bronchitis. This week we did not have to incise and or re-pack that infected wound zone! It looks so good and feels much more like healthy tissue and not a swollen tennis ball sized abcess as it once did! How "nice" to be able to use that doctor visit for a bronchitis exam, get prescriptions and be done for the week. We've been to the doctor at least once a week for Isaiah for 6 weeks, and thankfully we did not need to make an appointment for next week! Jael is thankfully still black-out free, her headaches are diminishing as are the vomiting episodes, Is it the Migraine meds or isn't it? Jael had started to feel better before we saw the neurologist and before she started on those meds. We may never know, but that does not slow down our praises to God for sustaining her during those many unsettling and unpredictable months !
Naomi, Isaiah, Rachel and I are playing "Pass the Blow-Nex" but it has not stopped Naomi from going outside to play in the snow. She is a tough kiddo!! Rachel and Isaiah have opted to stay IN, under blankets and near the wood stove! "Blow-Nex" is a Naomi-ism for Kleenex - tissue, coined when she was probably about 2 and it stuck as a family word.

On our deck. LOVE the triangles!

Isaiah

Back to that Oklahoma snow. This arid state in which we live even has DRY SNOW! The powdery snow on the ground is absolutely no good for snowballs or snowmen, or forts. The one day we had 40 degree temps in between the Big Snows, the powder got moist enough to really play with so my boys and their pals quickly built a 5 foot tall fort in the pasture across the street. The cold returned all too soon (for me) and before that fort could melt. It stands as a testimony to the ambition of 5 tween and teen boys who refused to be defeated by dry snow. Fun will be had!!!!

Gideon gets ready to go out, his boot cast and broken foot don't slow him down a bit

Gideon and Noah

Naomi takes on the snow and cold!

Lilac, our Calico Acres Farm mascot tasting the snow

Isaac and his fort. That's our house in the bckground

GrandToddler Charlie goes sledding!

Global Girls a group for internatioanlly adopted Tween girls!!

2011-02-09T15:19:00.000-08:00

Kuddos to my friend Anita for cooking this up. I had shared on our Oklahoma International Adoption group this morning that I (as moderator) was hoping to foster some new friendships by having a "Roll Call" for the members of our group. A common thread seemed to emerge that a number of us had tween girls who were wanting to meet and chat with other girls their age. Anita has launched a group for Christian Tweens, which can be supervised by us the parents and I would encourage that, as I invite you to give the group some thought for your daughters.
Here is Anita's post:

Hi all,
A Yahoo email group has been started for Christian girls ages 8-12 who have been adopted internationally. The group is called "Global Girls." If you have a daughter in this age range that would like to connect with other international adoptees, she is invited to join! Likewise, one

parent is invited to join if you feel the need to supervise your daughter's involvement. [Parents will not be posting to the list.] Myself and one other mother are moderating the group. We will make sure all discussions are appropriate for this type of venue (from a Christian perspective).

The website is http://groups.yahoo.com/group/global-girls/.

***PLEASE NOTE: Yahoo does not officially allow children under 13 to have a Yahoo Group profile. In order to make the profile an alternative date of birth will need to be given. Alternatively, your child could join the group under your profile.***

If you have any questions don't hesitate to email me.

Blessings,

Anita
agillispie@cox.net

Super Bowl, and a job lay-off

2011-02-06T18:56:00.000-08:00

trumps writing because my family is all hanging out together, some of us cheering for one team and some for the other. What a fun night!!!
I WILL say though , that even though Esther's husband Casey was laid off from his job this week, God is SO faithful and within hours of our circle of friends and family knowing about it, their bills for Feburary were PAID IN FULL!! We helped, yes, but more than the mom and dad kind of help, GOD really moved and provided!! i love that Casey is leading Esther in prayer over their little family and that they ARE trusting God and not jobs or pay checks or people!!! OH HOW I LOVE JESUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No time to blog.............maybe..............

2011-01-29T23:01:00.000-08:00

I had every intention of catching up this blog on life at Calico Acres Farm aka Smith Soup. Instead, I decided Daniel needed a haircut more at the moment than I needed to write. Ok. SO I opened up my blog and after several days of internet being out and in , mostly out............ I saw that I had missed a LOT of blog posts from so many of you and so instead of writing, I read. OH MY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I missed a LOT of life dear friends, a lot that I will be praying and praising God with you over!! So, since it's 12:30 AM and it is now Sunday which is my earliest morning of any week, I am not going to write much now either. Let me share that we are on DAY NINETEEN of no black outs for Jael!!!!! Esther is definitely feeling the usual first trimester symptoms of a pregnancy, Joshua is in Germany on military assignment for 6 weeks, Caleb and Tiffany are slowly but surely recovering from the disappointment of a 10 week -along miscarriage and Gideon's broken foot is healing. Sopheak did her finger prints at USCIS for her Change of Status from fiance visa recipient to Permanent Legal Resident! To take total advantage of a flukey 80 degree vacation from winter, we had a back yard BBQ to celebrate son-in-law Jon's 28th birthday. YES!!!! 80 degrees in late January , in Oklahoma. Last week we had snow. There is still a snow pile here or there in northern exposed areas even today (or a puddle where that snow pile stood yesterday perhaps!!) What fun to grill outdoors while comfortably wearing shorts (or in my case, only a long sleeved shirt with no jacket!) and to just hang out on the deck watching the kids toast marshmallows! The pinata we did for Jon's party was definitely a "summer " thing too, but in Oklahoma, one learns that seasons are more like lots of spices mixed in a single jar rather than several jars sitting side by side. In all of that God has been faithful and we have been very mindful of it! The song that probably most accompanies my thoughts this week is "More like Falling in Love" or "Oh How I Love Jesus!" There is a whole separate post about WHY those two songs, but if you have heard "Falling in Love" you know its about cutting past religion and being in a relationship with Jesus..."Caught up called out...." and what I want, what I HAVE, what I strive to nurture is "more like falling in love than something to believe in, more like losing my heart than pledging my allegiance" The God Who sent His only begotten Son LOVES ME. He delights over me with singing, calls me the "Apple of His eye" and adopted me as his own so I could always run to Him as my Abba Father! There are some who deny that one can have a relationship with Jesus because that isn't "scriptural" but I am here to tell you, my relationship with Jesus is REAL and I have no "religion" by name but as a born again child of God, I do desire to practice what HE calls "true religion". I will never hesitate to encourage each of you in that pursuit either! Let me leave you with Hebrews 10 : 23-25 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Spur someone on today toward love and good deeds, meet together with other believers, worship our God and Father in Spirit and in Truth. Have a totally blessed Sunday!

A quote to start my weeknd! C. S. :Lewis

2011-01-28T16:26:00.000-08:00

"O Kings and ladies, I have been wandering to find him and my happiness is so great that it even weakens me like a wound. And this is the marvels of marvels, that he called me Beloved, me who am but as a dog .” C. S. Lewis… “The Last Battle”

Liberia on my mind............and black outs too...........

2011-01-21T23:33:00.000-08:00

We met a man named Eric two years ago when my husband and I traveled to Liberia to spend two weeks with our children, Junior and Diamoh. Eric and his family hope to adopt a daughter in Liberia as well and getting to know him was a blessing. He has been able to return to Liberia several times to do mission and humanitarian aide work and he is returning again TOMORROW!. Please pray with me for he and his team who will be doing some construction projects and other work too ? I know I mentioned this already. Eric is also going to see our children and take gifts to them...something I am seriously excited about!
Please pray for Julie, who is home with their other children too? I am pretty used to being on my own on a regular basis, but I don't think that is the case for Julie, who is7 months pregnant with Baby #8.
THANK YOU SO MUCH ERIC for taking gifts over to our children for us!!
Today was Day #11 for Jael with no blackouts! I don'tknow why they started, I don't know why they have seemed to stop. We will see the neurologist on Wednesday and hopefully she will have some answers or ideas. In the meantime I am so thankful to our Heavenly Father that Jael has remained safe over the past 4 months, even with the random black outs. He knows the what -for, the whys, He knows it ALL and above all, we are trusting God to keep our focus on responding in ways that are pleasing to Him and appropriate for the faith He has given us .Compared to some other folks I know who have daily "crisis situations" I feel like ours are minimized but NO! How each of us responds in our situations to GOD is really the focal point.If life is "Easy" and I forget to praise God , I am wrong. If life goes totally haywire and I forget to trust God , I am wrong.There is an old hymn called " I Surrender All" and that cuts to the heart of the matter. Do I, do you, trust God all the time or do we wig out and lean into our own understanding when the unexpected arises? As humans it is normal to jump into "self-sufficient mode" when something out -of-the-ordinary pops up. As God's children, He really desires for us to talk to Him first and react accordingly...
by living out the faith we profess during the "easy days".. Other situations in my life which shall go undetailed challenge me every day to make the choice to LEAN or go it on my own. It is amazing how quickly I am abel to see the fruit of what I choose. The times that I press hard into my Lord and choose to react HIS WAY don't always resolve things any more easily BUT I do not have to add repenting for poorly chosen reactions either. When I do respond in my flesh, often the conflict is prolonged and painful. "Stressing out" over Jael's health issues won't change them any but that mentality will change me.
I shared a passage in Isaiah with a friend this morning and I want to share it with you as well. It is from
Isaiah 43

1 But now, this is what the LORD says—

he who created you, O Jacob,

he who formed you, O Israel:

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;

I have summoned you by name; you are mine.

2 When you pass through the waters,

I will be with you;

and when you pass through the rivers,

they will not sweep over you.

When you walk through the fire,

you will not be burned;

the flames will not set you ablaze.

3 For I am the LORD, your God,

the Holy One of Israel, your Savior

How can I NOT trust the God who promises CHILD "YOU ARE MINE!!!" ?

Meet my newest GRAND BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2011-01-19T13:07:00.000-08:00

Here is Riley Kaye/ Logan James Rogers............. all 5 weeks and 5 days old!! Esther and Casey announced their news last week. We had a SCARE on Monday but the ultrasound showed us that Baby Rogers was indeed very much present with heart tones recorded!! I was so thankful that Casey was able to get off work to be with Esther and glad that I was able to drop what I was doing to be with them as well! Oh we prayed so earnestly together for God to do what looked pretty impossible at the moment, but more than that, to draw Esther and Casey closer and closer to Himself NO MATTER WHAT!!! Our rejoicing was certainly great when we knew she had not lost the baby!! Our son Caleb and his wife Tiffany were also expecting a baby, due at the same time. They were waiting on their ultrasound to make their announcement but the ultrasound didn't deliver good news for them.The roller coaster ride of Mamma -Gramma emotions was pretty wild, sharing Esther's news, to be met with Caleb's news, and then for Esther to experience what she did on Monday ............I had chosen as one of our worship songs for Sundays' service Blessed be the Lord".
We all were singing " Every blessing You pour out I'll turn back to praise. When the darkness closes in Lord, STILL I WILL SAY Blessed be the Name of the Lord Blessed be Your Glorious Name!!" prepared to sing praises no matter what was going to happen.
Isaiah's MRSA infection had to be re-opened and repacked yesterday, but he is more mobile than he has been. I'm so thankful that even though there is still a lot of infection still present we seem to be beating it back!
Jael is celebrating this her NINTH DAY of no blackouts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There are still other symptoms which are pretty limiting, and I did have to bring her home from school today, but no black outs!!!! We are praising God for whatever He is leading us through as we trust for complete healing and restoration in her body!
I will be waiting with almost baited breath for new photos of our Junior and Diamoh next week! A friend we traveled to Liberia with two years ago is going over this weekend and is carrying gifts from us to our dear children ! It is such a joy to be able to send things to them, to send money to provide for their needs and OH SO PRECIOUS to be able to talk to them as often as we do!! It will be wonderful to have photos when Eric returns. One day we won't need a courier because our children will be home. Lord please haste the day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I can tell you all with absolute certainty, life would be beyond impossible without the presence of my Heavenly Father by awesome His Holy Spirit!

Of MRI's and MRSA's

2011-01-13T14:06:00.000-08:00

Jael's MRI results came back: completely normal. PRAISE GOD, no tumors or any other such "scary" things , but we are still no closer to a diagnosis or a course of treatment either. When the neurologist's office responded to our doctor, we were initially given an appointment in SEPTEMBER! I was dismayed to say the least and asked if the Neurologist could call or be called by our doctor to discuss a more relevant date to begin Jael's assessment. AS I prayed that we could get Jael seen sooner both the Neurologist's office and our doctor's office called to let us know that Jael had been moved up to January 26 . The plan is apparerently to do an evaluation and a "Real-time" or "visual" EEG. That is still 14 days away, but much better than no apointment or one so far off as to be "no appointment". Thankfully she has had no black outs for two whole days andv since I have not received any "MRS. SMITH...........YOUR DAUGHTER............." phone calls , I can happily report that she has gone almost THREE DAYS!
As for Isaiah and his MRSA infection, I wish that the report was better. He has had his leg wound packed , repacked and cleaned 4 times now. He has taken two rounds of anti-biotics, the wound is still very deep and very large. It is not really getting better, it is just no longer draining to the surface. NEXT STEP: an ultrasound of the wound to determine depth and scope of the infection, and perhaps, and likely, an out- patient surgery under general anesthesia to open up the wound, debride and clean it to its core. OUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Despite good hand washing and hygienic practices, it would seem that the MRSA is out to get me too. I had a cut on one finger,;it healed just fine. A cut on my other hand has not healed as well and is looking supiciously like a MRSA infection. Our doctor ordered a dose of meds for me, just to be careful.
In other news; Esther and Casey are expecting their first baby later in summer!!! The plan was to not announce the news quite so early but a couple of "insiders" got so excited , Esther and Casey decided to go public before any hurt feelings ensued. The names Clayton -Something and Riley Kaye are being considered and Charlie/Charles IS NOT. Esther was hoping for another Little Charlie Smith cousin, but Casey says "no way". Several of us have a "pink" feeling about this baby anyhow. We'll see, won't we!!!!
My 11th Grand baby will be born in 2011...that' kinda cool isn't it!!
Some friends are going to Africa later this month and it is so exciting to me to be able to send little gifts to our children and their wonderful care taker!! Mailing is never a good idea so we who have ties there all wait for others to help us out. I had such fun picking out little goodies! I put together a new photo album of us for our children first and foremost!! Then, 6 awesome and fun shades of nail poilish for Diamoh, a new outfit, UNO for Junior as well as two Matchbox Airplanes. Junior aspires to be an airplane pilot , and I want to encourage that any way I can!!!! Punch balloons for all the children and some love gifts for our care taker complete the package! I started out thinking "Oh this for that child and a little this for that child and OH SHE will like THIS!" STOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It is s a fine line between sending gifts and over extending someone else's weight allowances and gracious offer. . So while shopping for gifts sometimes leaves me feeling like I'm sending "so little, " when my "little" is packed into someone else's luggage x how ever many other people are wanting to send "something little"... it adds up so very quickly!! Nevertheless, I am so grateful for a chance to send anything over to keep us all encouraged and in touch while we wait............... and wait................I am hoping that the nail polishes will bring back smiles and happy memories for Diamoh of the day that I painted her nails and then all the other girls' fingers and toes with her as my assistant.
After several days of really cold temperatures , today's 38 feels almost warm. NO it does NOT! It is still cold, my wood stove is still my most essential utility. Thoughts of steamy , humid West Africa and S.E. Asia float over my chilly brrrrrrrrain and a blanket stays wrapped around my shoulders! For all of you who love the cold, ENJOY!! I wish you as much enjoyment as you can stand! When it's hot in a few months and you are not so comfortable, I hope you'll wish me lots of warmth as well. Leah and I laugh often about how glad we are that God created such a wide temperature range and so many people to enjoy each and every degree of it!

Precious hands and feet!

From another angle...

Plaiting Diamoh's hair

Flunking the "Proverbs 31 woman quiz" !!

2011-01-11T07:54:00.000-08:00

YES I DID, or I "would have" if there were such a thing.
In all of the busyness of black outs, MRSA infection, kidney infection, broken bones, doctor visits, hospital visits, normal life activities and such, it got colder and colder, we used the propane heater in the dining room more often and while I do know it's a propane piggy, I got too busy to remeber to think about propane tank levels outside in our big tank. BAD MISTAKE!!!! I woke up this morning to an incredibly cold bedroom and was saved only by my electric blanket and thick sleep socks! My first thoughts were to re-set the thermostat and get things going again. Failing in that, a quick trip downstairs to turn on the kitchen stove confirmed to me that YES I had let the propane tank run out. It is 9 degrees outside and the wind chill makes it even colder. After taking Jael to school and gassing up the car in those cold temps (found a gas station still offering pre-Alaskan pipeline leak/shut-down prices) I called our faithful propane dealer who will come to our rescue this morning...for $1.99 a gallon x 200 gallons. SO for now, the wood stove and small electric space heaters will keep us warm, we'll do school around the woodstove , we'll fix anything hot in the microwave oven, we won't dry clothes or shower. I'm hoping that the water heater and stove lines didn't get too much air in them overnight when the propane ran out. It's always a challenge to relight things when too much air gets in those lines. NEW RESOLUTION: I will now write the propane delivery date on the calendar on the day it is delivered AND on the next subsequent few calendar pages to remind me to keep a closer watch. Sweet Naomi, ever resourceful, just said, "Mommy, I brought you something!" and gave me a bowl of parmesan cheese sprinkled pasta which she had cooked with the microwave oven. Maybe I didn't flunk that "quiz" after all!!!!

Just listen...............It's His KINDNESS..............

2011-01-08T23:24:00.000-08:00

This song, "Kindness" by Chris Tomlin has been on my heart and in my mind all week as I have been praying with some dear friends over their son who has chosen a modern day "Prodigal son " path in life. That made me think about how much " prodigal son" stuff goes on in our own lives that others never see.I hadn't thought of this song or this scripture for years, but all week I was drawn to that passage and to Chris Tomlin's song. We will be singing it in church tomorrow. I sense God stirring some waters beyond just the "obvious". I know I am praying over my own life that God show me anything that is keeping me from knowing the utter absolute fullness of a relationship with Him, keeping me from "life and more abundantly" in every area of what God has blessed and challenged me with.
Romans 2:3-5 in the Message version of the Bible reads " You didn't think , did you, that just by pointing your finger at others you would distract God from seeing all your misdoings and from coming down on you hard? Or did you think that because He's such a nice God, He'd let you off the hook? Better think this one through from the beginning. God is kind but he 's not soft. In kindness He takes us firmly by the hand and leads us into a radical life-change." NIV puts it this way," " Or do you show contempt for the riches of His kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?"
God has given us so much and some times we just don't see it, but EVEN THEN, He shows kindness to remind us who He is and what He is like. Isn't it JUST LIKE GOD to be kind when we are acting like spoiled children, but not kind just to be "nice" but kind to draw us , lead us, invite us, to repentance because He loves us so much and He wants us in fellowship with Himself. What is God drawing you to repent of ? How is His kindness touching you? Is His love better than life to you? How is He leading you and showing you Who HE is so far this year?

December 31 and today:only days since December 23 without a doctor in them!

2011-01-07T13:12:00.000-08:00

I have been SO M I A. and I can see from the loss of followers that when life gets so busy you can't blog about it, people go blogging elsewhere. Jael has now been blacking out for 3 + months, and we are really no closer to a concrete diagnosis. Yesterday capped it all with a long black out on her first day back to school and a near trip to the ER by ambulance. In between her black outs, my mom was hospitalized for a severe UTI and kidney infection on New year's Day,, the day she came home from the hospital, Gideon broke his foot, and Isaiah developed MRSA infection in his thigh and needed much intervention. SO FAR TODAY no black outs, no doctor visits, and we do have an MRI scheduled or Jael for next Tuesday. Jael and Isaiah have been at the doctor's office either together or on opposing days since December 23. Isaiah is needing a bit less pain med for his leg and the infection site looks to be improving!!!! How I praise God for keep ing me all together when the goings on around me are rather chaotic!! Blessed be the Name of the Lord!!!
I hope to have photos and fun things to share very soon with those of you who are still coming around to visit SmithSoup!

"You are More" : thoughts from a friend and lyrics to a song

2010-12-28T19:40:00.000-08:00

It is still Christmas in my thinking but I've moved my Christmas music down a bit in my play list. My #1 song right now is by 10th Avenue North and is called "You Are More". The lyrics are so powerful; my children and I have been blessed by them since the day I brought home the 10th Avenue North CD , which we play very often! My friend Kim posted thoughts about the song today on her blog. Her words need no more comment from me. They are also the words of my heart. THANKS Kim for how you let God direct your words when you wrote !! I hope that each of you who stop by Smithsoup to visit will be ministered to by listening to the whole song while you read the words that follow.....

From Kim at "His Hands, His Feet Today " You Are More
Every time I've turned on my radio, be it in the car or at home, this song has played for the last two weeks. It's been running through my head day and night.

"You are more than the choices that you've made,

You are more than the sum of your past mistakes,

You are more than the problems you create,

You've been remade. "
I think of, and am prompted to pray, for several people whenever I hear it. Adults and children. People who have been hurt. People who have believed lies. People who are searching. People who need to be remade. People who need to know that it's only when they surrender their lives to Jesus ... can that happen.

People He created.

People He loves.

The very people He died for.

There is so much more I want to say to the flip side of this, but for fear of offending my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ (because that's not my heart), I will not. But I will say, that being silent to an issue is not an answer. The Word says that once you know ... you- are- responsible.

Our new triplets

2010-12-28T13:14:00.000-08:00

Calico Acres' latest additions!

love the snuggle going on here

Pansy and Brownie 10 hours after the Christmas night birth

Christmas in a "stable"

2010-12-27T23:55:00.000-08:00

We had all of the family over for Christmas Eve night and then a smaller group of family and friends over for Christmas Day. WONDERFUL TIMES!! Missing my two sons and daughter ( and families) who were unable to be here from their home-responsibilities in the States and my two precious little Liberian darlings so far away from my arms but so close to my heart! I was all set to play a game of Cranium with my mom and kids after gettting Christmas Day dinner cleaned up when one of the boys told me that Brownie (my best dairy goat who was due to deliver on the 25th) was getting ready to have her babies: they had seen the "bubble break". That was some time before 4PM. As things would go, Baby #1 of Brownie's triplets turned out to be coming butt breech and was stuck. I've delivered butt breeches before and done fine, my vet did stuck triplets for me last year and we lost a doe. It can be very dicey with multiple babies after two. . At 7 :30 I knew we had real problems when she had not delivered (goats birth less than an hour after that water bag presents and breaks)so I called my vet who as life would also have it , was in California. Called several vet friends of Jael and also of my neighbor: it was Christmas night, no one wants to answer their phone on Christmas night, ( I DO NOT BLAME THEM!!) those who did told me to take Brownie to OSU Vet Med hospital for an emergency C-section. BLAH. I NEVER told a patient in my midwifery practice (or when I was taking call for another midwife) to go somewhere else on Christmas; I went out and took care of my ladies and their babies, numberous times!!!

I called our old vet , left a message.......... but he did call me back pretty quickly, from 3+ hours away, but gave me some tips and said "YES OF COURSE YOU CAN DELIVER HER!." Followed his advice, which was a tad bit of different technique than I was using, and discovered not only the butt breech I'd been feeling, but that the head of #2 was stuck in the birth canal under the butt of #1. A good hard push back on #1's butt pushed #2's head out of the way. I never was able to pull the legs down and out ( the preferred way to deliver a breech animal) ; the baby advanced quickly when that other baby's head was out of the way, and I delivered the baby butt breech. YAY!!!!!!!!!!!! A DOE!!!!! #2 came less than 30 seconds after #1 was out and #3 came a few minutes after that. Two bucks but its OK. #1 is fine and SHE IS A DOE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Time of delivery: 9:55~!!!!! Brownie and babies did just fine, the goat midwife is fine too but stiff from being in her small confine on my knees for all that time. At first I thought that all three babeis were black and white like the daddy but upon closer examination and light of day on Sunday morning, I was beyond delighted to discover that we had TWO brown babies and a black one! We've never had brown babies from Brownie: pure white ones and black and white ones, but this accidental breding, shall we say, er, brought out the brown genes that would not have presented otherwise? (Redneck and inbreeding jokes caused the names of several "sterotypical comment" -States to be suggested as names for the babies...if y'all get my drift?? )
So after not getting to bed till after 3:30 Christmas morning, and really hoping for a relaxing after noon.............. I got 6+ hours in a cold stable of sorts, with my hand up a goat. It is OK. I got a doe out of those triplets . A brown doe!!! Brownie has only given me boys the last two breedings and boys on a dairy goat farm are pretty worthless!
Attending this birthing on Christmas gave me a whole new empathy for Mary, Joseph, and Jesus' birth, being out there all that time in the straw and the cold. Straw is a great insulator, but definitely better for the birthing of goats and other furry creatures than for human babies, especially The Son of God. I thought of Joseph...poor guy. What could he have possibly known about labor and birth in that day and culture except that it should NOT be taking place in a place like a borrowed stable with an espoused husband actign as midwife! I thought of young Mary and all the things she had already experienced in her few years.To also travel while so great with child,...all those miles from home and her mother, with no midwife...... and then to know she would give birth to God's Son in straw and animal dung WITH HER HUSBAND ATTENDING HER? What humble obedience that all was! And then, as she lay recovering from labor and birth, trying to figure out how to nurse the baby and think all the thoughts that first time mommies have, a band of shepherds showed up, pumped and awestruck by the angels' visitation , to see The Baby. I have had visitors very shortly after I have given birth in the comfort of my home and nice bed and it was "OK"...they were known and trusted friends. Sweet Mary not only gave birth in that stable but entertained guests there . It's truly more than my brain can get wrapped around. No wonder scripture tells us that Mary kept and pondered all those things in her heart: she had a LOT to ponder!

So, Christmas was wonderful, both days of it. I was so thankful that there was no unwanted drama from ANYONE either day and that it truly was a celebration of God's gift of Jesus, start to finish. Getting to talk to Junior and Diamoh gave me a wonderful start to the day to be sure!

The babies are WONDERFUL!!!! Brownie is such a great momma to her babies, every year and this year is no exception. The babies are snuggled closely up by her neck most of the time and she keeps them close to the heat lamp in her little nursery stable as well. The doe we will keep to further that Brownie bloodline and her name, like her grammas and half-aunts will be a flower name. She is Pansy, named for a tough winter- resistant and very spunky flower. She will join Rose, Sunflower, Daisy, Lilly, Daffodil and Topsy Turvy (there was NO flower to name that upside down butt -first baby girl last March so she breaks the tradition!) in the pasture when she is a bit older. .The boys will either be put up for sale or raised for meat. Cute is only good for so much mileage on a farm. Boys are "worthless" since they have come from the mammas who need to be bred again the next year.
Today has been a wonderfully slow "do regular stuff " kind of day and for that I am very grateful! A big pot of beef noodle vegetable soup warmed everyone for dinner tonight and Isaac said "Mommy, this is almost atthe top of the favorites list with Barley soup!" I knew it was a hit because Barley soup is THE favorite and most requested soup around here.Its amazing what one can do with a small portion of marked down "on sale" beef and a well stocked pantry!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH 2:30 AM and all is well!!!

2010-12-25T01:10:00.000-08:00

We had our whole family Christmas tonight , all the kids and my mom, 2/3 of the local grandchildren and it was so much fun!!!!!!! I had a whole porkloin left over from Esther's wedding and that was tonight's dinner meat. LOVE smoked meat in mid December!! A departure from the standard rice with every meal (although there was OF COURSE rice) was "Potatoes Supreme" one of our favorite potato dishes to go along. Photos are loading SO slowly on my poor old computer so I'll share a recipe instead. For a crowd of 20 use 3 bags of Ore-Ida frozend Potatoes O'Brien (with onion, pepper and celery in the 'taters) 4 cans of Cream of Chickn soup, 1 1/2 containers of light sour cream. 2 cups of milk and 1 pound of shredded cheddar cheese. Grease a huge cake pan ( I use my three cake mix size pan for this recipe), mix all ingredients together and spoon into the pan. Bake at 350 for 45-56 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and starting to brown. LEt sit for 15 minutes before serving. UBER YUM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ( unless of course you are a non-dairy vegan........there is no vegan substitutions for this recipe ) With corn and rolls, and a mixed berry pie with ice cream for dessert, it was a Christmas dinner to remember!
Fun with the Secret Santa for sure as the Smith kiddos and spouses and Smith grandchildren exchanged gifts with each other lasted for a long time!! Everything from an Airsoft gun and 10,000 bbs for said gun to an Aggravation board game to Gummy Bears, to beef jerky to deodorant, fancy Christmas stockings, and a fun fish-and-net bath toys from Daniel to his nephew Charlie and a soft fuzzy hat for Daniel from his big sister Esther made for a great exchange and a demonstration of individual imaginations at work!
Hannah and Jon gave me a new nut cracker for my ages -old collection and now in addition to my soldier in his camo-gear and my Uncle Sam, I have a Marine in full dress blues joining the traditional nut cracker soldiers. This nut cracker is my 38th. The talk of the evening was of course CHIGGER and Charlie's ongoing shock anddelight at receiving her. I'm pretty tickled that our WHOLE FAMILY knew but no one spoiled the surprise! Work boots for Casey, a new heavy jacket for Esther, wonderful cologne for Hannah and Jon were mine and Charlie's gifts to our older chidren. Since Hannah and Esther will be with their husbands' parents tomorrow for Christmas 2010, Smith Family Christmas was pretty heavily loaded in to Christmas Eve, and shortened by Esther and Casey having to drive 100+ miles to Casey's parents house tonight. Christmas will be completed later today with Sopehak and Malachi and my mom again . We will read the Christmas story, sing carols and when my mom arrives for dinner later , more caroling and my last gift to her will be singing "Bethlehem Morning" as she requested. I've been working all week; its been years since I've sung that song!
After everyone earlier tonight left I still had stockings to stuff and distribute, and "stuff" to clean up so yes, here I am blogging at almost 3 AM. It was an awesome day, almost ever last minute thing that was supposed to arrive via UPS/ Fed-Ex did arrive so no one is giftless . As we stop to remember that all the festivities started because of a humble stable birth ( not even a home birth!!! a stable!!) and shepherds catching the overflow of joy from a heavenly host , the gifts and wrappings pale pathetically in the REALITY of what God's Gift to us was. No big bows, no flashy paper or bells, but straw in a cave. No big bills incurred to give the gift but the canceling of the biggest debt possible. Its fun to give tanglible gifts , won't deny that, but if we would truly give as much thought to what GOD gave us as we do to what we are going to give each other, I suspect our walks with God would be closer ones. As I 've shopped and wrapped I have really tried to shift my focus and keep it on WHY I'm shopping in November or December at all. Jesus, Jesus JESUS
J E S US ....................no matter what else I do, what we do, all that matters for all eternity is what we do about the Gift of Eternal Life that God gave on on the day that we celebrate as Christmas. I know that I have confessed my sin and asked God to wash away my sin, and that I have received Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior, I know that God gave to me salvation and the promise of Eternal life though Jesus shed blood and resurrection from the dead...nothing that I did or could ever do "earned" my salvation, we can't ever "earn" redemption, but by believing that God sent Jesus as a baby via virgin birth to be the final sacrifice for sin, we can be given salvation. That's a gift we won't come close to understanding the fullness of until Jesus comes back to take His followers Home. I can't wait for THAT day! We celebrate that Messiah has come, but He came to come AGAIN and as big as Christmas is, as big as Easter is, THAT DAY will defy all description! Enjoy your Christmas day/weekend thoroughly as you ponder CHRISTMAS: God's Gift in Christ's birth. Amazing love, how can it be !

Maybe now I can get down to Christmas business!

2010-12-25T00:25:00.000-08:00

It is finished. The arrangements all made and executed, the almopst 3 hours of driving to go to the necessary destination, all the emails, text messages and phone calls worked out the details and Calico Acres Farm, most specifically my husband, now own a Registered Half Arabian , Registerd Quarter Horse named Erin's Jig but known as CHIGGER. She is "blood bay" a bright rich red color, with a black mane and tail, and a white sock on her back right foot. For those of you who know horses, she is 15.3 hands high for those of you to whom that means nothing, she is big. Chigger is almost 6 years old and my husband was totally taken by surprise when we called him outside to "see something" Friend and neighbor Lori and I drove her truck and trailer to go get Chigger, had a lot of fun in the process and were thoroughly impressed with what Naomi had found on Craigslist for her Daddy. From the second she saw the ad she "knew" this was her Daddy's horse. Details seemed to make this a not-workable deal but God stepped in and it all came together in two days. Perfectly together. I made a big bow for Chigger's neck and Lori and Naomi led her over from the other neighbor's pasture to make our presentation. It was absolutely a fun moment when he realized what we'd called him in such urgent tones for!!
Meet Chigger!!

Chigger and Charlie , Naomi watching

Lori my friend, grafted in daugther and neighbor who went with me to get Chigger coz SHE had the trailer!

Cowboys, baby goats, Christmas and life in my fast lane!

2010-12-23T09:29:00.000-08:00

Naomi, Gideon, Charlie and me in Dallas

What ? No partridge in our "pear tree" ?

Only at our house...............

Bueller, the kicker who kicked the winning field goal, practicing . We were REALLY this close! NO ZOOM NEEDED!

I guess it's common knowledge that I am a sports fan with my boys, and Naomi. Gideon got us awesome, wonderful Field level passes for the Dallas game last week. He is probably Dallas' greatest Oklahoma-based fan and he was thrilled to be able to get those passes for Charlie, Naomi, himself and me. Dallas Cowboys stadium is beyond description and the fun of being there, so close to the players and the game was probably a once-in- a-lifetime-experience for us. A funny side story is that here at home, we've gotten passes to a number of the OSU Cowboys' games and unfortunately the last 4 games I attended, our Cowboys lost. Gideon is friends with several of the players and they jokingly ( I hope!! ) told him that I personally was the football-jinx. In fact when they were losing their last game, a couple of the players called Gideon and asked him if I were at the game. I was not. With that and the win of the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday, I am declaring myself officially exonerated of that funny allegation!! We got some fun photos, got autographs of some players and Jerry Jones the Dallas owner, and Naomi got her photo taken with ( I am not familiar with some of the names here) Leon Lett and some other multi-Super Bowl game winners. Gideon was just as happy as could be showing us around the stadium and hanging with NFL players. We even were on TV briefly during the game.......in the lower right side of your TV screen if you happened to be watching.........being right at the railing of the field level puts one right at camera guy-level! Got a kiss from Rowdy, the mascot at half time too!

And in the midst of that, I was sad as well as excited. How much money spent on this place, and these players, food, drink, parking, mementos, and all of that.the opulence of it all......and I thought of how many really REAL and ETERNAL things could happen with that kind of money put into REAL and ETERNAL investments. Hearing the crowds cheering and hollering ( and I do my share believe me!) made me think of what heaven may just sound like when we all shout "HOSANNA" and "GLORY TO THE LAMB" "WORTHY IS THE LAMB WHO WAS SLAIN!!" and calling out the Name of JESUS. I was quite sidetracked by those thoughts a number of times, and wishing I was in heaven shouting my praises to my Father..........................................

One of our goats totally unexpectedly gave birth to a baby this week. Yes that happens when an excited buck jumps a fence. Goats are not in season all the time, but they sure get that way easily. apparently the smell of a nearby buck will trigger "heat" and apparently it DID!! I knew the buck had jumped the fence; we are awaiting triplets any day now from that adventure, but Daffodil was really a surprise and little Pansy is certainly a cutie!

With as much as is going on around here with Jael's ongoing medical saga, and doctor visits, I have not gotten the Christmas decorating or baking done, not all my shopping either........... this morning I was on the phone with a friend and happened to look at our Christmas tree. I set it up last week, just have not put any ornaments on it. It had ornaments which totally cracked me up!!!! Atop our tree is a turtle shell, completely intact, minus the turtle. Yes a turtle shell. My boys had sport with the tree and there is also a chicken egg, pierced with an ornament hanger hanging on the tree. Some "Real ornaments" are there too, but the egg shell and turtle shell made Smith family history!

Christmas this year is different in that we decided to replace our really old and very badly decomposing TV set. I braved the Black Friday shopping and got a super deal on a TV . Family shopping done. It still needs to be set up but that is not my domain. I also got my husband something that requires my driving quite a ways for the pick up and which I truly believe will blow his socks off. I will spill the beans tomorrow after it has been delivered. He will get it a bit earlier than we would normally open gifts but that 's just how it has to be. HOPE WITH ME THAT IT DOES NOT RAIN????????????

Some of my baking is completed , some just messed up. WHY did the brownies stick to the pan that I know I greased? Kids had brownie crumbs with ice cream for breakfast just now, coz that's how we roll! Pecan pie gifts are underway, more cookies to follow AFTER "the gift trip".

I am giggling and "ho ho ho-ing" like crazy ....should be a really fun Christmas on the gift side. Hoping that my precious Liberian children have a special Christmas too... we sent their money long enough ago so that shopping could take place there too. Dear Junior asked me for new shoes as the ones I gave him in June have gotten too small. THAT thrilled me : he is growing, he has enough food to eat and he is GROWING! Thank you dear Heavenly Father for that! We will be trying to call them tomorrow and or Christmas; you never know if the phone lines will be working or jammed or what. TRUSTFULLY this is the very last major holiday we have to be apart from Junior and Diamoh!

Just for a smile!

2010-12-13T08:15:00.000-08:00

Isn't this the stuff greeting cards are made of?? It's grandson Charlie who is almost NOT grand BABY any more, and son-in-law Casey's niece Cassie (named after him!) who were the ring bearer and flower girl for Esther and Casey's wedding.

Have a blessed day today whatever you have to do or choose to do!

Back online ! Our newest family photo!!

2010-12-11T07:48:00.000-08:00

We were without internet for 4 days which meant virtually no school for the Smith Kiddos and NO easy way of communicating for the Calico Acres Mamma! I have that really nifty new Blackberry, having had to replace my other phone ( lost at a not-victorious OKC Thunder basketball game the night before Thanksgiving) and I have figured out how to Face Book.. but the screen is too small and its all too loopy for me to do much else. All you really saavy techo-folks, I envy your skills!
Our boys have been super busy with their basketball season which has been very successful so far, with only one loss and six wins. Its so fun to watch my sons and their teammates ' skills develop as their confidence grows as well. I love watching Malachi, once the player I watched, now be the coach of the team he once played for. One opposing team coach asked last week as he heard all the team introductions "Is your whole team last- named Smith?" We laughed because we do not have a "big bench" ( large team) and with three players and a coach all being Smiths, we ARE the definite majority!
The boys really do play well as a team, and its so Mamma-heart popping to observe how they cheer each other on and brag about each other, rather than " Look at ME ME ME LOOK AT ME, Listen to what I I I I I did!!" They came in the door last night with " Peter did this and Peter did that" stories and I had to really dig deep to find out how Isaac, Noah or Isaiah did. Peter told me. That 's how best friends should be!!
Leah is not a fan of watching basketball at home or courtside, but she and Rachel can be persuaded to go root for their brothers and pals; Naomi LOVES basketball and is the first to ask about game schedules and if we will be able to go to a game. She is Isaac's prodigy as far as NBA goes too: she knows a lot about many NBA players and has her own personal favorites! The night of the fateful Thunder and Linda's phone loss, Naomi was sweetly cheering AGAINST our OKC team in favor of Houston's Rockets, who won. When they would score , she'd smile and clap for them, give Isaac a smirky -lovey smile and when our Thunder would miss a shot or lose the ball, she'd do the same. Made for a fun night!
Jael is taking her 2nd round of SAT exams this morning in hopes of bumping up her first sore by two or more points. This will guaranteed her full admission to OSU's Honors college, and lots of funds!! She is so bright and so strong in mathematics! This is not my strong suite so I'm thankful that she inherited her daddy's math ability. I am little help in that department. She and Gideon are strong in Language Arts ( my "gift") and sciences which I guess is from both the Daddy and the Mamma. Isaac comes by everything very naturally it seems, while everyone else, home grown and adopted has to really work at grades in almost all subjects. Malachi is on scholarship this year, and he worked SUPER HARD to earn that; it was not easy in the slightest.
I just heard this song you are hearing play right now for the first time last night. On YouTube you may find it set to film footage from "The Nativity" and sung by a woman, and my version is Randy Travis (?) but it is a beautiful Christmas song called "A Labor of Love". I hope you enjoy it as much as I am! I'm still really enjoying "Oh Come Oh Come Emmanuel" with "Hatikva" in its background. PRAISE GOD for His wonderful gift of music! Brook Fraser's "Hosanna" is also one of my "gotta listen to" songs right now as well. Her words "I see a generation. ...rising up with selfless faith" really move me!!
Are WE rising up to where God would have US? Are we raising up the next generation with selfless faith? Stir us Lord, challenge us every day to seek Your face, to be on our knees, physically and mentally .. For Your Kingdom , for YOU LORD!!!!! For YOU!

Four generations of us, There's my mom holding Daniel and her Great Grandson Charlie, behind her in the cowboy hat.
May we all continue to follow hard after God and raise up a strong next generation of Believers!

Guess I should label us, ya think? Front row: My mom Gladys 83, with Daniel, next to her is Hannah and Jon's Madyson,6, looking away and up is Naomi, 9. In between Madyson and Naomi is our Rachel, 11,
Behind my mom is me, Linda with my DH behind me, the cowboy hat is hiding Hannah and Jon's

Charlie, 14 months, being held by Jael, 16. Next is Esther the bride and

Casey her groom; in front of Casey is Leah, 14, and next to her is Daughter-in-love Sopheak, next to her is Hannah, 23 and our son-in-love, Jon, 27. Right behind Jon is Malachi, 22.On the other side of the photo behind Charlie the Patriarch is Gideon, 25, Next are Noah, 13, Isaac, 14, and Isaiah, 12.

Yellow ribbon in my side- bar: coming down!

2010-12-02T11:44:00.000-08:00

With great joy and with a heart full of praise and thanksgiving, I am taking down my yellow ribbon, again! Our son Joshua has finished his latest tour in Afghanistan and is celebrating with our daughter-in-law in Amsterdam, Netherlands before returning home for their first Christmas together (and in the States) sine 2005!!They were reunited when both landed at the airport in Amsterdam last night, she from Maryland and he, from Arifjan. My Mamma heart is so full ! Our family has had someone serving in the Middle East since the War on Terror began, with very little exception. We are all home for now! Caleb is not due to deploy any time soon , Jon only re-activated with the Marines and his unit had just left before he signed back on, Gideon is planning to be re-enlisted after the first of the new year. As we continue to pray for the many families who are still separated by military service, the sight of our own, at home, serves as a deeply -grained reminder of how precious life at any stage, truly is!!

WELOME HOME JOSHUA! Thank you for serving our country and our world! WE love you so very much!

Smith Soup has a new ingredient!

2010-12-01T23:31:00.000-08:00

We've named her Holly. She is a West Highland White Terrier, she's almost 2, she was orphaned a year ago, and needed to be re-homed by the family who took her a year ago. Enter my browsing on "Free cycle " looking for oh, goats, furniture, you-name-it and there it was : an ad for this dog. Charlie and I had been talking about "Westies" just a few days ago and I'd said that I really liked them and maybe ... if.... ever again we got a dog, I'd think about this breed. The lady had posted very early in the day and I didn't see the post til pretty late Sunday night. At noon Monday she phoned me to talk about the dog. There had been a lot of responders...always are for a free Registered dog, but she wanted a REAL family who would love the dog. She'd narrowed her choice down to another lady and us. By the end of our phone time, she was asking if she might bring Maggie out to us that evening , maybe she " spend the night so we could check each other out, " like that....

Well Maggie was not the name we'd have given her, and it wasn't the name on her registration papers either, so we all talked about names that fit her AND us, and happily landed on "Holly". All our other animals have flower names and with Christmas right around the corner, it seemed to fit just right. She seems to like it and to respond to it so I guess we did OK!
She is spunky, I don't think she knows she is a very small dog and she has already shown the kitties that she will not be intimidated by any of them. They have backed off already. All of the children seem to like her quite well. I talked to my husband( who is out of town for refinery TURN AROUND... a huge annual refinery assessment and repair event) about finding the dog, about the over night trial, and he just laughed that we had only talked about this a few days ago and NOW here was The Dog, and a freebie at that. He is going to like her with her all-over-the place personality. Except for one very early-on run -in with the kitties which resulted in the kitties scaring a bathroom experience out of her, Holly has proven to be very house broken.

Due to an allergic reaction to flea meds the other family shaved her pretty short and raggedly shorn. In a few months she will look like she is supposed to. Right now she is not quite as pretty as she will be ,but she IS very pretty!!! With the temperatures right now Holly has been quite cold when going outside, so she came to us with a wardrobe of sweaters and jackets. After a good rub down with some heavy duty scalp moisturizer, we dressed her in one of her sweaters. Some might groan. Until maybe 7 P M two nights ago, I too was a dressed-dog groaner. Now I am thinking it's just cute . HELP HELP HELP! This might indicate that I am losing some firm grip on things but I assure you I am NOT! For this chapter in our lives, she is the right size indoor dog for us. Despite her possible need for clothing, she is no wimp and I am not a wimpy dog owner .

If my 'puter were not freezing every time I try to upload a photo, I'd be sharing photos now. A dying 'puter is no fun, as many of you already know. I was able to upload this one photo before things froze up on me and I was not able to upload any more.

I didn't think it would be too very long after we lost Aslan that someone would be thinking about a new family dog. I probably knew that it might be, WOULD be... ME. I was right. Looking at Holly right now, sound asleep on the sofa next to Jael after having had several great runs with Naomi earlier, I'm sure we made a good decision.

We have a diagnosis for Jael. Meet Vasovagal Syncope

2010-12-01T23:24:00.000-08:00

Vasovagal Syncope

Jael has been diagnosed with a condition called Vasovagal syncope. Other names for it includes fainting, neurocardiogenic syncope and neurally mediated syncope.

Vasovagal syncope is not a serious or life threatening condition, but is in effect an abnormal reflex. This results in a drop in blood pressure leading to decreased blood flow to the brain resulting in dizziness or fainting. The resulting black outs, length of episode, locations during an episode, the activities engaged in at the time, these may certainly be dangerous however. Needless to say, Jael is not driving or going anywhere by herself.

OK. With normal efficient blood pressure and blood sugars on the low side of normal, Jael does not have a lot of blood pressure or extra sugar-powered energy to fight the vagal response and so the fainting happens, QUIKLY. The doctor has for now suggested and my research concurs, that we try to get her blood pressure up a bit for resistance. HOW? More fluid intake and more SALT. This is the ultimate irony for us as Jael has loved salt and all things salty for her whole life and we have worked very hard to direct her tastes into other herbal-flavored directions, with some success. Her response to the doctor's advice was priceless. "I've been preparing my WHOLE LIFE for this!" she delightfully exclaimed!

We are still keeping up with her blood sugars but not as aggressively; she is really working on higher fluid intake but that's tough because she is a water drinker already. Salt? Oh she is all about that aspect of managing her syncope and it seems to be helping. She went almost 4 days without a black out, two days were not so good but today has been a good day after she go through the early morning. She will see a cardiologist in mid month but our doctor consulted with him and we are following his advice to our regular doctor. Small meals and protein are helping too so the initial diagnosis of hypoglycemia has been helpful. The vomiting seems to be lessening as well and I was very glad to see that Jael had re-gained the 6 pounds she'd lost earlier on in this adventure.

Will she outgrow Vasovagal syncope or will it be her life long companion? We do not know. Vasovagal syncope may also slow down and seem to go away for long periods but return with no warning. It is my prayer that God will use this to make my daughter alarmingly and acutely aware of the need for a healthy life style and from there that He will choose to heal and deliver her. I know that having prayed for her since the moment I knew there WAS a baby in my womb in 1993, God has been setting His plan in motion for that wonderful baby's life. Born 5 weeks early and a respectable 6# 10 oz, Jael entered the world spunky and eager to experience everything around her without letting it get the best of her. Jael means "mountain goat" and her middle name Shamar is a Hebrew word that means a strong dedication or perseverance , to encompass like a hedge, or to protect. Jael possesses everything that her name might indicate and her responses to these health challenges are just as spunky. Not squeamish about sticking her fingers for blood sugars whatsoever, she also started a very accurate dairy of her sugar results and the episodes they involved. Her activity log was so very helpful to the doctors in assessing what all might be going on in her body. I was proud of her. I AM proud of her. She sometimes comes off as flippant about life, but I've also known people who, when diagnosed with an issue, sank into pity or sadness or depression. She has been very matter-of-fat about all of this and while she has admitted to me that she was scared, she has not let fear become a task master.We have had some very precious prayer times about her life and all of its details. Oh I know, There are children with issues far more chronic or serious...life threatening, but the risks of fainting anywhere at any time are pretty daunting and she has faced that risk with a true Shamar spirit. As her mom, I'd sure rather see that Shamar spirit put to use in some other area of life, but God is raising up a young woman warrior for His Kingdom and He knows best how to train THIS warrior as He gives a new kind of strength to her mamma!

2010-11-27T11:51:00.000-08:00

How eternally grateful I am that God promises that His mercies are NEW every morning! Ok so Thanksgiving Day was not the wonderful memory I wanted it to be, or envisioned that it would be, and even if daughter Hannah says "Mamma, only ONE PART of the day was not-so-good, the REST was WONDERFUL" my hormonally influenced state of being is sort of stuck on that not-so-good part. My spirit KNOWS better, and I am praying over those hormonally tainted memories!
My 6 home schooled children had worked really hard on putting their thoughts together about being thankful; they each wrote down 5 things for 5 days in a row to share with us at dinner. UN -fortunately, one of those ugly things that happen too often when God's children are having a good time and the enemy decides to stir up "something" ... happened and the 6 kids x 25 THANKFUL THINGS got left in the dust. I am hoping we will share them tonight. We DO have so much to be thankful for and I do not want us to waste the time and effort the children put into articulating their thoughts or ever cause them to think that expressing thankfulness is a waste of any time or effort!
The meal was fantastic, it was. Everyone helped so much in getting it all ready. Wednesday we tore up 10 loaves of bread for bread stuffing, chopped 7 pounds of onions and 3 bunches of celery for corn bread and bread stuffing, the boys peeled 10# of potatoes and cut them up for me, the younger girls helped me make the pies, taking turns cracking eggs into the bowl, adding the sugars, Karo syrup, pumpkin and all that goes into a Pecan pie and a Pumpkin pie. I didn't get my cranberries cooked, or Pecan Pie cake baked until after we got home for the Oklahoma city Thunder basketball game so Wednesday night was a really late one, but that left only turkey and potatoes for Thursday. Yes a long day to be sure, but a really good full day ( well except for that losing my phone at the basketball game anyhow. *funny story, as I am writing this post, the phone rang and a lady told me she was trying to get back with Greg who had called her from this # ,she'd been calling it over and over but it was going to a voice mail. AH HA!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My phone has/had DID a new "owner". It didn't get left under my seat. I explained to her how Greg came to be calling her from that number and asked her if she could please ask Greg or whomever actually had my old phone if they could all me and we could make arrangements for me to get the phone from them? I really would like all my photos and old phone numbers. She was very nice and very apologetic over my losing the phone and a bit embarrassed at how she had the number. I just want my old data. I lost the phone legitimately I am sure, I don't think anyone stole it...just an inconvenience to me and he has a very dead batteries, no longer active phone anyhow, if he didn't throw it away.)
BUT I digress.............
I got to watch the May's Thanksgiving parade, Thanksgiving morning: MY personal tradition. This year was super special because Hannah and Grand baby Charlie came over to watch with me. Charlie LOVES the floats and balloons. We had a very special time making a new three generation tradition together! I have loved the parades sine I was a tiny girl and went to the Downtown Detroit Hudson's Thanksgiving parades with my aunt and uncle and cousins. Most of our children do not share my love of the parades sadly. I'll take what I an get !
As it turned out we had not "extra" guests and for that I'm thankful , but only because the folks I invited didn't think they were going to be able to be with family and things turned out for them that they could. Having three married children home along with their spouses was special, Gideon was here, but only one grand child on this occasion, with my 83 year old mom, and the at-home Smiths we filled up two big tables nonetheless.
With my boys growing up as big and hearty as they are, it would be natural for the quantities of food to disappear more quickly but I have NEVER seen Pecan pie cake disappear as totally and rapidly as I did this year!!!!!!!!!! I gave a portion to son-in-law Jon, to take home as he's hooked now too, but still........................ a whole pecan pie went along with it in its disappearing act
and only a bit of pumpkin pie was left as a dessert souvenir !
There are a few photos from the day. My most treasured photos of the day are of Daniel in his THANKFUL FOR MOMMY and DADDY outfit. I bought it in summer of 2009 when Hannah was pregnant with her Charlie; we bought matching outfits for our boys, planning to dress our babies alike last Thanksgiving. Charlie , it turned out was too big for his last year, but Daniel's is even a tad too big this year. Daniel had a really good day and there were lots of SMILES from him when I was shooting pictures !

A year ago we rally had no idea if Daniel, Junior or Diamoh would be home , soon or ever. Right now we wait for any hope of homecoming for Junior and Diamoh and that will be purely God's timing. We believe that they WILL be home one day, and we praise Him for how He is caring for them until that day. It is incredible that Daniel is home and such a testimony to God's hand upon a whole lot of us. As I watch Daniel smile or spasm, search the air for my voice, or randomly switch his tongue "like a lizard" Jael says, I am over whelmed with joy that he is HERE, with us, able to be loved round the clock , played with, medial are obtained when ever he needs it, to lay cozily in his wagon and pulled from room to room so he is never out of sight, tucked snugly into his bed, or when I am rocking him and stroking his hair. This baby should not be alive to be approaching his 3rd birthday at all, and yet he IS and he is an orphan NO LONGER. He has his official certificate of citizenship as of this week. He is 100% adopted, and except for the official name change which is in the works right now, he is as Daniel Elijah Smith as he could possibly be. We are able to speak to Junior and Diamoh often, to make sure they are cared for and their immediate needs met UNTIL we are able to bring them home. We hear from our other far away children : Kari and family in Texas, Joshua in Afghanistan (Diana, Emily and Ethan in Maryland) and Caleb and family in Kentucky at Fort Campbell. I wish, I dream we could all be together for a holiday, or ANY day, and I hope that one day this dream will come true. For now, I am grateful for electronic media which pull us together regardless of global geography!

When my internet connection speeds up and I an upload photos I will. Right now the speed is too slow and everything freezes

Two photos I really like!

2010-11-23T18:09:00.000-08:00

Noah, 13, Isaiah 12 and Isaac 14 1/2, three of the blessings that make my Thanksgiving so rich!
They are so busy so much of the time, its hard to get a photo of them standing still!

My beautiful Leah age 14 1/2 who only recently let her face any where near a camera.

PECAN PIE CAKE and CRANBERRY ZUCHINI MUFFINS by request!

2010-11-23T06:48:00.000-08:00

Its that time of year again for the richness of pecan-laced baked goods and partiularly for my all time favorite , PECAN PIE CAKE . Since October of 1998 when I first read this recipe, it has been a big BY REQUEST dessert at our house, our church, and the hosues of our friends. A bit labor-intensive it is for sure, but you will agree when you take your first bite that every minute was well spent!!! Employ your kiddos of a friend to help wit the pecan grinding, egg beating, ingredient measuring and one more time you'll find that "Many hands make light the work" The Cranberry Zucchini Muffins recipe I found online and I really don't remember where, but it is a wonderful one too! I've made it as a bread in a 9" loaf pan rather than muffins and it works very well that way too.

PECAN PIE CAKE from Southern Living Magazine Oct 1998

Ingredients

• 3 cups finely chopped pecans

• 1 cup butter, softened and divided

• 1/2 cup shortening

• 2 cups white sugar

• 5 egg yolks (separate the eggs and set aside the whites)

• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

• 1 cup buttermilk

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 cup chopped pecans

• 5 egg whites (saved from above)

• 3/4 cup dark corn syrup

Filling

• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar

• 1/3 cup cornstarch

• 4 egg yolks

• 1 1/2 cups half-and-half cream

• 3/4 cup dark corn syrup

• 1/8 teaspoon salt

• 3 tablespoons butter

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

•

• Garnish

• 1 prepared pie crust, rolled flat, leaf shaped cookie cutters

• about 15 pecan halves

• 1 egg white beaten frothy

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Generously butter 3 (9 inch) pans. ***For large gatherings I use 2 – 10 “ pans but nothing else is different throughout. Divide 2 cups chopped pecans evenly between the pans. Shake to coat bottoms and sides of pans. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, cream together 1/2 cup butter, shortening and 2 cups sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the yolks one at a time, then stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla. Combine the flour and baking soda and beat into creamed mixture alternately with the buttermilk. Stir in 1 cup chopped pecans.

3. In a large glass or metal mixing bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold 1/3 of the whites into the batter, then quickly fold in remaining whites until no streaks remain. Divide batter equally into prepared pans.

4. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. *Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes. (*Any longer and your cake layers will stick and break apart!!) Invert layers onto wire racks lined with wax paper. Using a pastry ( or a BBQ brush) brush, brush tops and sides of cake layers with 2/3 cup corn syrup, and cool completely.

5. Make the Filling: In a large saucepan, combine 1/2 cup brown sugar and cornstarch. Stir in 4 egg yolks, half-and-half, 3/4 cup corn syrup and salt. Bring mixture to a boil over medium heat. Continue boiling, whisking constantly for 1 minute, or until thickened. Remove from heat. Whisk in butter and vanilla.

6. Chill.*My method is to put the pan of filling into a bowl of ice cubes and stir the filling for a few minutes. It’s SUPER FAST especially if you are wanting to assemble your art work all in one session.

7. Assemble the cake: Place first layer on serving plate, pecan side up. Spread with half (or *nearly all if you are doing 2 10” pans) of the filling. Place second layer, pecan side up, on filling. Spread with remaining filling. Top with remaining cake layer, pecan side up. (*Reserve a few teaspoons of filling for garnish leaves)

8. IF you are decorating with pie crust leaves as a garnish, heat oven to 425. Cut out leaves with cookie cutters out of prepared dough. Using a sharp knife carefully etch veins onto the leaves. Crumble small pieces of tin foil, spray them on a cookie sheet sprayed liberally with no- stick spray. Drape the leaves over the tin foil balls so that they will bake looking like naturally dropped leaves on the ground. Using scraps of dough and pecan halves, wrap pecan halves in dough so that they look like "acorns" Brush with egg white. Bake for about 7 -9 minutes or until golden. Remove carefully from cookie sheet. Using a bit of filling for "glue" place your leaves and "acorns " randomly on the top and sides of your cake.

TAKE A PHOTO OF YOUR ART WORK!!!! THEN enjoy!!

__._,_.___

Cranberry Zucchini Muffins Recipe

For those of you who prefer to use oil over butter, be my guest (use 1 cup vegetable oil instead of the butter) but I have to tell you, I've made these both ways, and the butter version just tastes better.
Ingredients

3 cups grated fresh zucchini

2/3 cup melted unsalted butter

1 1/3 cup sugar

2 eggs, beaten

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 teaspoons baking soda

Pinch salt

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 cup walnuts or pecans (optional) WE prefer pecans

1 cup raisins or dried cranberries

Directions
You won't need a mixer for this recipe.

1 Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). In a large bowl combine the sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Stir in the grated zucchini and then the melted butter. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the zucchini mixture and mix in. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Stir these dry ingredients into the zucchini mixture. Stir in walnuts, raisins or cranberries if using.

2 Coat each muffin cup in your muffin pan with a little butter or vegetable oil spray. Use a spoon to distribute the muffin dough equally among the cups, filling the cups up completely. Bake on the middle rack until muffins are golden brown, and the top of the muffins bounce back when you press on them, about 25 to 30 minutes. Test with a long toothpick or a thin bamboo skewer to make sure the center of the muffins are done. Set on wire rack to cool for 5 minutes. Remove muffins from the tin let cool another 20 minutes.

*Note, if you are including walnuts and dried fruit, you will likely have more batter than is needed for 12 muffins. I got about 14 muffins from this batch, and that included filling the muffin cups up as far as they could possibly go (above the surface of the muffin tin). This also works VERY WELL baked as a loaf. USe a well greased 9" laof pan and bake the batter fro about45 minutes. Test as with the muffins for doneness. This recipe doubles well .

If you stop by and meet my family and me through this blog, please do leave me a comment. I'd love to know who you are!!!

What a wonderful weekend!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-11-21T18:11:00.000-08:00

Despite a yucky cold, and despite Jael's tough week, this week had an amazing week-end!!! My dear friend Jill whom I've known via the internet for over three years but not known face -to-face , flew in for the weekend with her precious daughter Jordan. Her visit was actually two-fold: I was not her only friend-destination, but she was not my only friend -to-visit this weekend either. We've been hoping to meet for so long , she had planned on taking me with her to Ethiopia earlier in the year when she traveled to get her newly adopted daughter Lilly (for whom I had a tee-ninesy bit of input in naming!) but God had other plans and we did not get that longed for February shared birthday-hug. Not then....
..HOWEVER................... a mutual friend was planning a celebration for her 5 year old daughter Abby and we both wanted to be at that celebration. Abby was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of leukemia about a year after being adopted by our friends the Riggs Family. . The last two+ years have been a real walk of faith for them as well as for those of us who are their friends. This past week Abby completed her two years of chemotherapy, was tested and declared to BE IN REMISSION and a big party of celebration was planned in her honor . I've shared about Abby as I 've blogged ; my daughters grew and then had their hair cut to donate it to Locks of Love in Abby's honor, I've shared prayer requests for her over time as well as praises for positive steps. Jill too has been a part of those who love the Lord and who, loving Abby, have prayed and advocated for her during this long stretch of many valleys
.WHAT A THRILL to see Jill at long last , waiting at the curb of the airport passenger drop off and pick up point! I knew that we were truly kindred spirits, but when I saw that she and I were both wearing the SAME SHADE OF GREEN, I just had to smile a huge smile. Of all the hues, shades, tones and tints, we BOTH had selected Kelly green. I knew it would be really good from that moment! Naomi and Jordan struck up a friendship right away as Jill and I just took up side by side in the car where we'd been online and on the telephone. As soon as we got home, and all afternoon Jill, an incredible photographer and the little girl, were in Heaven On Earth on our farm. Jordan got to play with the horses, got to ride, got to pose with new friend Naomi for Jill and her impressive camera as Oklahoma showed us one more of its incredibly beautiful fall days! The tree-house, the rope swing, the big swing set, the kittens, goats and chickens.............all were thoroughly enjoyed by two little girls and the Mammas who love them and took great delight in watching them together.
How fun it was to be able to introduce Jill to my family, little bit by little bit, starting with a quick pass through with my older at-home children as they prepared to head out to a basketball tournament with Malachi, then picking Jael up from school, picking Sopheak up from work, my husband getting home especially early from work and then finally running clothing out to Gideon. SO many pieces of Calico Ares Farm lore and Smithsoup blog posts all fell right into place with real faces to plug into the written words and to associate with my many photos.
I loved being able to just let the conversation flow with no "gotta go bathe babies" ( read: brb.....) no "phone" (brb) "milk customer" (brb) no short phone call, just awesome sit -and- visit time! The day started so early for Jill and Jordan with a 2:45 AM departure from their home to the airport in Pa, and the time zone change too... for ME it was 8 PM. For them it was 9 PM and a loooooong time since real sleep. Too early we said our good nights and made our plans for Saturday and the ABBY IS DONE WITH CHEMOTHERAPY Party.
As happens with real life my big plans for a whole morning with Jill had to be altered. Jael had a horrible night, a really bad fall, maybe a broken nose, some blood sugars which were definitely NOT in the hypoglycemic ranges , Charlie had morning farm obligations and I just could not leave Jael alone as sick as she was , and Jill's allergies would not allow her to come back to our house. Naomi had a great time with Jill and Jordan while I ministered to Jael and Daniel. Thankfully Jael's boy friend was able to come stay and "Nose sit" I called it so that I would feel safe leaving until Charlie got home again. His hoped -for plans to come to the Party had to take a back seat to helping are for Jael and Daniel (for whom I simply didn't have a space in my car. I WANTED to bring him with is!)
It was still a very special day of being together! Arriving at Abby's house we were able to help mom Michelle with some early party set-up, Jill got to have a terrific ( but all GREEK TO ME) conversation about photography with daddy Brent, the kids all got to run and play together with Abby who was still a bit stressed from all the events of the week AND with the fact that her favorite brother Garret was NOT at the house, but cute as can be regardless. After seeing quite a bit of "Boo Hoo" Abby, it was really good to see her playing dishes and tea party with one of her friends and seeing her run and play and laugh as she relaxed! I can't imagine what it would like to 3,4, or 5 years old and have so much attention on myself in so many different venues as Abby has had to live through. I wondered if she had had any real idea , at age 5 the magnitude of the celebration party her parents had put together in her honor, or if she had a clue as to why all these strangers were all over her house, or why so many people she'd met in so many other settings were now suddenly at her house together and bringing gifts. It was not her birthday, she knew that much. . It had to be a bit overwhelming even without a lumbar puncture and bone marrow aspiration the day before! I can not imagine parenting a post-toddler/pre-schooler through life- threatening illness while trying to teach manners and courtesy along with the other things that parents teach toddler-aged kiddos, in the midst of pokings and proddings , or obedience and respect through painful medical procedures and frequent ER visits and hospital stays. How does one teach a child not to be selfish or self-centered while EVERYTHING, or so it must seem for a little one, IS all about THEM? It's not a parenting skill I envy or desire to have to learn, thank you!! For all that God has given to us, having to figure out all of those kinds of issues is NOT on our plate (at least not now or that I am aware we will need to learn!) I have not asked Brent or Michelle many of those questions, but she and I have talked a little.
Lots of fun meeting other friends of my friends and discovering all of our commonalities as we chatted. There were many people that I met whom I hope to maintain communication with in weeks and months ahead.

THE PARTY. Oh MY!! ! This mommy and daddy were so thrilled to celebrate Abby being in Remission, they had A P A R T Y !!! I don't know how many families actually came, it seemed like quite a few, but I can tell you they were well fed and their children were thoroughly entertained with this amazing church's video game room, sound system , a super blow-up "Moon Walk" house, face painting, candy and more candy! It was so precious to be part of this awesome kind of celebration after praying through so many of the valley days when Abby was very very seriously ill!
It was also a lot of fun to be together with so many other adoptive families, to hear their stories, share our good and bad memories, make suggestions for future experiences, share learning experiences that made our own subsequent adoptions better, helped us to "adopt smarter"...just seeing the many many blended adoptive/bio families with children was a blessing!
As a mom of no Guatemalan or Ethiopian children, who is used to gatherings of the SE Asian adoptive families ,it was very different to be the only mom with Asian children present, and as the mamma of So Many, it was weird that I only had two of our children with me. I missed ALL of my wonderful family! Naomi and Rachel had a really great time, and I'm glad they were able to come with me. ( I did hold Daniel and snuggle with him for a loong time after we got home. I really missed him. I've not left him that long before and it was very strange!!!)

All too soon, we needed to leave for the 1 3/4 hour drive back home and it was my turn to be the tired one who called it an "early evening". I knew we'll see Michelle and Brent, Abby. Landis and Hannah again, but the tears let loose when I started my "farewell hugs" with Jill. We have some hopes and tentative plans; God knows how those will pan out later.we just knew this was THE END of a wonderful but short very full visit for her and me. **** It was so sweet to see her "I'm getting on the plane" text right after worship was over this morning and SO SO good to hear Jill's voice a little while ago telling me that she was down on the ground and all went well. I miss my dear friend already!!!

Photos will not do us justice, but I'll share some. Jill really has the good ones and I will have to wait for her to upload and share later!!

Jordan, Naomi and Abby with their BABY BE BLESSED dolls. Jordan gave one to both Naomi and Abby so the three of them could play dolls together!! THANK YOU AGAIN JORDAN for your sweet gifts!!

One happy little party girl! This is definitely not the face Abby had on when we first arrived at her house

Jill and Jordan

Naomi. Jordan and Rachel...and balloon animals!

Jordan getting her face painted

Naomi opted for a hand painting of a ladybug

but then decided on an arm vine too

Jordan and Naomi and balloon animals. Jordan had the best poodle I have ever seen!!

Brent giving goodies to the party goers!

TOTALLY "O T " but I had to take a photo of this young girl. Her strawberry blonde hair and its gorgeous highlights were so beautiful!! God does ALL things well, doesn't He!!

some of the party children around Miss Abby

Brent and Michelle had planned on pinatas but with no where to hang them, he opted to do a huge candy drop instead!!

How I praise GOD for friendships that He ordains, for the wonderful bonds we are able to forge in His Name, and for the absolute pure joy of celebrating with friends that their little daughter is in REMISSION of a terrible cancerous disease. Thank you Brent and Michelle for inviting all of us to share your very speial moment . I don't think anyone will soon forget this evening ! God IS good ALL THE TIME, but there are some times that He just lets us see a bit more clearly or deeply HOW GOOD. This weekend was one of those times !

Jill, me and Michelle

My honey and me,

2010-11-18T22:18:00.000-08:00

Is there really a caption for this photo???

Yes, one more from THE wedding!

Hypoglycemia

2010-11-17T22:38:00.000-08:00

Sometimes life is just not easy or full of the "fun stuff". Like when your 16 year old daughter suddenly begins blacking out in random places and at random times of the day, begins vomiting most of her meals and starts testing her blood sugar only to discover that at any given moment she is running in the 40-70s when 80 + to 120 is a "normal" random test result. Jael started showing symptoms of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar, sort of the opposite of diabetes: too much insulin production rather than too little as with diabetes) about a month and a half ago while we were also starting to get busier and busier with Esther's wedding and Daniel's surgery . After the first 3 episodes of blacking out we went to our doctor who was very pro-active about figuring out what was going on. Our doctor made a tentative diagonosis of hypoglycemia but I suspected that was the problem since I am hypo; my dad was diabetic as well as is Charlie's mom. It's something that I caution our children about regularly:FAMILY HEALTH HISTORY. I am all too aware of the potential for diabetes in our children and as a result have always promoted good foods and eating habits. TEENAGERS however, just seem to need to figure that out on their own and when disorder rears its ugly head.............teens seem to pledge all the harder to figure out their own way and how to include junk food, no food or dopey big Sonic meals and somehow make it work for them. HA!!!!!!!!!!!

SO, after weeks of glucose monitoring, a Holter monitor test to assess potential cardiac malfunctioning, weeks of glucose results- recording and journal -writing about fainting and vomiting episodes, some days being really good and some being really bad and a few flukey ones in between, Jael blacking out every day for the past 6 days at least once, today we saw the doctor again. Seeing Dr. Evans for Jael and or Daniel has been a weekly event for a while now. Jael blacked out right after dinner last night at a restaurant....giving quite the "floor show" to the other customers who saw her plummet headlong and land on her face on the tile floor. Her brother Gideon and I rushed to her aide as restaurant staff offered all the help we might need as well. Today I had to go get her early from school because she blacked out on the stairs . Fortunately, her boy friend was with her, and he has been with her when she's fainted before . He kept a very cool head when all the people around them , teachers included all were frankly wigging out.. Jokingly I told her that I think her brain is checking out to getaway from her for a while and laughingly she agreed. Our doctor set up an appointment wit h an endocrinologist for December to assess if there could be anything else going on that needs addressing and went over her most recent lab results with us. Its clear that hypoglycemia IS her issue so food is the base line approach to helping Jael for now. I have been trying to promote small frequent meals but she has been a pretty typical teen in that this is "not convenient" or she "didn't' feel like it" but today reaffirmed to her that what she "felt like was frankly in the "tough noougies department" for now and her foreseeable future.

She asked me to go shop for things that she could or would eat throughout the day: protein shakes, beef jerky, cheese sticks, sunflower seeds, nuts, and she promised to stay away from the fries and chicken strips at Sonic.

She is sore from the hard bumps to her head and her shoulders. I am amazed at her spunk and ability to keep a great attitude. I am thankful for that attitude as we forge a new path of dietary changes and modifications . She was in a hurry to get done at the doctor's this afternoon because it's Wednesday night and YOUTH GROUP. About two minutes after she got home from church she fell sound asleep on the sofa and I am going to let her stay there .I think right now she needs a good nights' sleep while her Mamma prays over her!

A Thanksgiving Memory Revisited

2010-11-16T22:30:00.000-08:00

This week we were visited by an elderly couple who are on the board for our Electric company co-op. The reason for the visit? Knowing that we are a large family with quite a few children still at home, she asked if first of all we 'd be offended if they asked us if they could give us a turkey for Thanksgiving as the co-op was making a list of families who could use some help over the holidays and second, if they could bring that turkey to us. I gave the woman a hug and thanked her for thinking of us. My response to her question caused her to give me a hug right back. We ARE a very large family , this is true. We are in no way "financially" wealthy, this too is true, we are not financially "poor" either, also true. We are blessed, we have enough, we have enough to share, to plan to share and then to be able to share. I told the woman this and that we really appreciated what they had asked, I had a request of her: to please give that turkey to a family who needed it truly more than we did , in our name since WE were their original "target family". It was not pride and it wasn't turning down a blessing. It was passing on a blessing ...................... THAT stirred a memory of a much different time in our family history.
My husband's business had not been doing very well that particular autumn. We had several clients who had not paid their bills to us, and when you're self-employed, that means a lot of other folks don't get paid either and that things tend to get very lean in the household of the self-employed. In spite of that, I always managed to buy some extra canned goods and staples so that there was something to share with someone who simply could not buy those things at all. Our church was having its annual food drive to put together Thanksgiving baskets for needy families and of course each of our children brought their canned goods to the church kitchen to add to the growing stacks and piles. They were so exited to help and share! They were so looking forward to helping put those gift boxes together out of all that food stuff! Later in that same evening the ladies in charge of assembling and distributing the boxes called me aside from my AWANA Sparks group (K-2nd graders Bible class).

They both had tears in their eyes when they told me, "we were speechless when you and your children came in with bags of things for the Thanksgiving Boxes. YOUR FAMILY is one that we are doing a box for!" THAT made ME speechless. I had not thought of us as "needy" and it just didn't our to me that anyone else would.
They asked me not to tell my children because the ids were all starting to work on the boxes that night and were having so much fun. My bringing things to share had really touched and blessed them and they wanted me to know that. I was so very blessed by their loving words and our family was beyond blessed by the Thanksgiving Boxes! I had not thought of that for a while, but this morning that memory came flooding back.

With the Apostle Paul I an say that I know what it is to" be abased and to abound", and I am reminded often "in all things to be content" We had plenty when we "didn't have plenty" and this year we have plenty enough to share more of that plenty and to ask a blessing to be passed along.

God has been faithful to us every single day! We have seen incredibly lean times and some that were pretty amazingly "plump" but for the most part we have been quite comfortable.............not "if I need a thing I can go right out and buy it NOW" comfortable, but comfortable. Having been in many places where people have nothing whatsoever, I am all the more aware of how precious and how huge "comfortable" really is. It reminds me to stay thankful and to be mindful of when I start to complain about my "stuff" or circumstances.

I am reminded so often by my own children how blessed we are . I will never forget our Isaac's first Thanksgiving in America. He was 8, and had been home about 9 months. We had talked about Thanksgiving being a feast, or really big special meal to celebrate all the things we are thankful for. I tried to explain turkey , as bigger than any chicken he'd ever seen. He'd seen me buy this huge turkey package but it was wrapped in plastic so still pretty hidden away . I roasted the turkey, Charlie came and carved it up, putting the platter of sliced meat into the oven to stay warm while we prepared the other food items for the meal. Isaac came into the kitchen, saw the carcass in the roasting pan, scraps of meat hanging off of it , intended for soup for another meal and his eyes got bigger and bigger as his thoughts raced through his head and words began to sputter out of his mouth. "Mommy?   Is T H A T the feast?" he asked with an enormous smile of amazement stretched across his whole face. I lost it. What I was referring to as scraps was the picture of a feast to a small boy from a very impoverished previous life.

"Give thanks with a grateful heart Give thanks to the Holy One   Give Thanks because He's given Jesus Christ His Son.........AND NOW let the weak say 'I am strong'    Let the poor say 'I am rich'
because of what the Lord has done for us       Give thanks!!!"
"Praise God from Whom all blessings flow     Praise Him all creatures here below   Praise Him all ye heavenly host Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost! AMEN!!"

There is life after a wedding!

2010-11-13T22:07:00.000-08:00

I am so thankful that Esther' s wedding was LAST Saturday and not today.What a difference a week makes in the climate of a place! Last week we had those odd but -oh-so-welcome 70+ degree sunny days and this week we had more normal 40s and 50 with rain and mud . While its sunny today, it's pretty hilly and rather muddy. It would not have been the awesome setting for a late autumn wedding as last Saturday was.

SO............... what did we do today , a week after THE Wedding and all the busyness involved therein??

Our dear friends who live in Tulsa have a Khmer daughter who is right between our youngest daughters' ages and she got to visit for the day while her parents were doing other "grown-up"stuff here in Stillwater. We don't get to see any of the Gillispies often enough but when the girls get together, excitement mounts for days and fun is non-stop when they are together! Taevy got to visit with Naomi and Rachel today and it was a fun day!

They went to assess the goats and the kittens (who were born when Taevy and her sibs spent two weeks with us in late spring) gather eggs from the hens, they rode bikes, they ran and played, inside, they ate our usual friend Ramen lunch with cabbage and sliced meat and we baked white chocolate hip macadamia nut cookies. I assigned measuring duties to each of the three girls and we added and added to my industrial strength Kitchen Aide mixer until we had an incredibly delicious cookie dough which made a wonderful bath of cookies! Granted the girls lost interest in the spooning of dough onto cookie sheets and waiting for cookies to get done, but we had a great time with the assembly process, at least I "think" we did!

\Naomi and the afternoon's gathering of eggs

Taevy going to gather eggs with Naomi

Taevy and Naomi

Sweet Taevy brought me a new piggy for my ever-expanding collection too. SO cute!!! A pair of piggies side by side who immediately got the place of honor on my kitchen window sill .

I got another unexpected piggy gift this week too! My cyber -friend Kerry whose little boy Teddy I got to meet when I went to go get Daniel sent me a wooden plaque which simply states WHEN PIGS FLY. That new addition is now parked in front of my cookbook collection.

THANK YOU TAEVY and KERRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Daniel was having a really good day today and while its hard for me to hold him, coax a smile or two out of him AND get those smiles and laughs on camera, today I really DID IT!!!! AS my spaghetti sauce simmers for family dinner later tonight, I will hopefully get some photos to upload. Face Book and my slow computer just could not get them uploaded. I hope Blogger has better "luck"

Taevy, Rachel and Naomi enjoy the fruits of our labor

Blue bow Pink bow Piggies from Taevy

" WHEN PIGS FLY " from Kerry!

Something made Daniel just burst out in loud laughter!

Daniel and I were talking; he was smling and telling me all kinds of things!

"Love is Worth Fighting For."..my song for the wedding

2010-11-10T22:16:00.000-08:00

MORE wedding photos!

2010-11-10T19:04:00.000-08:00

Jael, Maid of Honor

Hannah walking in

Leah walking down the aisle

Amy, Esther's forever dear friend

Terri , another good friend

MR and Mrs Rogers

Esther and her Ring Bearer

Esther and Hannah

Jael gives a "High 5" to someone......

Groom and a pal

The Groom was having a VERY good time!

More photos, more fun!

2010-11-10T15:57:00.000-08:00

AS Esther walked down the aisle, her groom was waiting

Jael sang for the first two step
"Imagine Me Without You"
She was lovely!

Bride and groom leaving together. Esther did NOT go side saddle!

The Wedding Table

on top

Had to share another one of the girls and Lady

the wedding again, a different view

Esther's "other man"

Will you..............as long as you both shall live? WE WILL!!

Jael, Hannah, Amy , Linda and

Colleen

line dance together

Wedding Photos

2010-11-10T15:33:00.000-08:00

Ok my 'puter is not letting me move the photos to where I really want them so, in no really pre-planned or desired order...

THE cake! Isn't this amazing?? The frosting really looks like tooled leather designs, the tier separator is cowboy boots and there is real rope around the bottom tier of the cake. Casey's aunt Shelly did an incredible job!

Oh the things fondant frosting (an do!

Flower girls and Lady

Bridesmaids and Groomsmen

Esther and her Daddy arrive

The walk down the aisle begins

Daddy and daughter

THE Wedding, go get your coffee, its a long post!

2010-11-09T08:44:00.000-08:00

WHERE do I start? What a beautiful wonderful, fun -filled, God-blessed wedding!! Our dear friends :mom Debbie and daughter s Colleen and (bridesmaid) Amy got in from Louisiana Friday afternoon . Its always too long between visits with them but so nearly perfect when we an be together! Debbie did so much to help me get things done for the wedding when all my regular "life stuff" would not slow down or allow itself to be sidelined for a day or two and for that I am so eternally and publicly grateful! The rehearsal was a lot of fun. Not knowing how the horses were going to respond to the bridesmaids sitting side saddle added an element of uncertainty, having borrowed several horses who really didn't know any of us at all, added another element of the same. My husband and sons and son-in-law-to-be had worked hard on dismounting platforms for the bride and her maids so that getting on the horses and perching side saddle would be hopefully modest and simplified as well as dismounting nicely too. Practice went well, but there were no dresses involved to test it all out. We'd have to wait for the actual wedding for that!!

Esther's future father-in-law brought his huge smoker cooker out to our farm to prepare his awesome feast of a rehearsal dinner. Smells of delectable sorts filled our nostrils as we practiced coming in and going out, ran through the ceremony itself and I worked on my solo. The wind was blowing so ferociously that I found myself competing with it for the sounds coming through the microphone!!

It was hilly on Friday after noon as the sun began to set and we were all wondering about how we'd fare Saturday in sleeveless dresses!! A hard frost was predicted for Friday night and that too was a bit unsettling, but we had all been praying for one more beautiful November day in Oklahoma and trusting that God would show favor.

OH HE DID HE DID HE DID!!!!!!!!!!!! There was frost on the ground at 7 AM. By 8:30 on my last run to Walmart, the frost was gone and warmth was surrounding us! NOT a loud in the sky, not much wind, we were euphoric over the background for the wedding!!

Foods were being cooked, all the decorations and accessory items reached their destinations, the boquets had been made the night before except for Esther's which was assembled and tied in yellow, green and white streaming ribbons right before the ceremony. My bedroom turned into the Grand Dressing Room with boxes of donuts and 2 liter bottles of Dr Pepper filling my bath tub and make up and hair spray from all over the place found its way to my double sink.

Stories and memories, we were forbidden to tell about anything which might make Esther boo hooey and thus melt her make -up, well except me.

I HAD to hug my beautiful daughter and remind her that almost 20 years ago, a baby girl named Esther Miriam was born 5 weeks early and on her due date proper was admitted to the hospital nearly dead from RSV after she'd stopped breathing in our home. I did PR on my tiny daughter and then drove her to the hospital with my hand on her chest to make sure she'd continued to breathe. She had seen the doctor the day before, we'd thought she was croupy, but that next day she just went downhill so quickly. It was right after I'd called the doctor to tell him to meet us at the ER that Esther stopped breathing. My husband was sitting in the next room rocking toddler Malachi and I called to him as I was dashing out the door, "we are on our way to the ER. I will all you later." For the next three days they gave us virtually no hope for Esther. She had gotten THAT sick THAT fast. We had refused allow life support for her because they had told us she would be so brain damaged form loss of oxygen and we didn't want to start something that would keep Esther artificially alive and away from Heaven or that really could not be disconnected at some time later. Our prayer was that God heal Esther: on earth or Eternally. We took a lot of flak for that. A lot. This was the Intensive care Unit where I was working and my co-workers were not supportive of our decision. DAY FOUR was our miracle day!! Esther began to rally and respond to the meds and for the first time the staff verbalized hope for our precious tiny baby girl. On DAY TEN she came home and has truly never been sick a day sine !!!

We knew that God had spared her life in an unmistakable way, for "such a time as this" and her wedding morning called for a re-telling of that story.

THE WEDDING

Was so beautiful start to finish I am really not able to describe it!! Lots of guests filled our pasture facing the barn, music filled the air mixed with happy voices and the whinnying of 6 horses awaiting their part in the ceremony.

Esther and Casey didn't want a traditional "Unity candle" but instead wanted to signify the blending of their pasts and future by each of them having a Mason jar of sand from their home town to pour into a common container as part of the ceremony.

Cindy, Casey's mom and I carried in the Mason jars of Western Oklahoma sand and Southwest Louisiana sand together and that started the wedding.One by one the bridesmaids rode in from the back side of the barn in plain sight of the guests, to the back of the seated guests. At that point the groomsmen who had led the side saddle-riding maids in, helped them dismount and then walked them to the front of the barn where Casey and our Pastor were waiting. It was so BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sweet Grand baby Charlie was the ring bearer, all decked out in his jeans, boots, wide belt with "dinner plate " buckle and his mini-Stetson , Casey's nieces were Flower girls :each one totally adorable in her own right! The completion of their flower petal scattering duties completed, Esther and Charlie began their approach. She was so radiant, her daddy so proud and so on-the-verge-of-tears...........he helped her off her beloved mare Sugar and walked his daughter down to present her to her groom. The usual question of "Who presents this woman ?" (NOT GIVES...we don't are for that wording) was followed by questions to Casey's parents and to us. We were asked if we as the parents would continue to support and encourage our children to help strengthen their marriage , pray for them and continue to guide them in God's principles. THAT was a cool thing I had not heard in a wedding before.

The vows and message were so personalized to Esther and Casey and the message about the sand was precious. As they blended their sand together, I sang the song "Love is Not a Fight, but its Something Worth Fighting For" from the movie "Fire Proof" to them (occasionally using the lyric sheet to shield the mike from the rushing winds!!) and then my daughter and her new husband were introduced for the first time as Mr and MRS Casey Rogers. They strode out to the awaiting horses, Esther looked at Sugar, looked at herself in her lovely poufy wedding gown , thought for a second and hopped up on that Paint mare as if her dress was a favorite pair of cruel Girl jeans and in a flash was ready to ride! NO more side saddle for MY cowgirl! Casey was beaming and amazed as he watched his bride. He was heard to exclaim, "THAT'S my WIFE!!" as they rode off across the pasture hand in hand, stopping for an occasional kiss! We gathered in the barn for family photos after the horses had all been tied up and put into stalls. The smaller children loved being at a wedding that turned into a petting zoo!!

We all moved from the pasture to the back yard where Gideon and Eddie ( Casey's dad) had prepared pork tenderloin on the smoker along with grilled potatoes and green beans. My dear friend Lynn and her mom Wanda had baked home made rolls for us and those rolls were a super addition to an already wonderful meal!

The wedding cake. WHAT an I say?? Casey's Aunt Shelley did the cake as a gift for the couple and it was probably the most fabulous cake I have ever seen anywhere!! Going along with the cowboy theme, the cake was decorated with cowboy boots as a tier platform separator, the frosting looked like lasso rope around the cake tiers, and the icing which decorated the sides of the cake looked like tooled leather on a very expensive pair of boots. A few scattered sunflowers added to the cowboy theme, and the Groom's cake was decorated to look like staked hay bales. AMAZING cake art!!!!!

I feel like I am using so many superlatives, but this WAS a superlative day!!!

We ate, we danced, we laughed long into the dark hours before the last of the guests went on their way. Later after as much as could be cleaned up , was cleaned up, Debbie and I sat back to bask in the completion of the event. I want to mention here too that Debbie held Daniel for me when I went up to sing. She had noticed that he does not respond to very much, very often, but she told me after I'd come back to my seat, that as SOON as I began to sing, his countenance changed. He began to move, his eyes began searching the air for my voice and he began to sing with me. She was so touched by his response to his mommy who was "out there somewhere" and his efforts to locate me and to join his sweet baby roar with my song.

I also didn't mention that as we were rehearsing Friday, I saw Esther talking on the phone as she rode her horse into the pasture and that she kept talking as her daddy led her down the "aisle". I thought "WHAT IS SHE DOING???" This is her WEDDING REHEARSAL!!" Well, her big brother Caleb who was unable to be with us due to military commitments called to hat with his little sister. That made a phone call in the middle of rehearsal quite all right!!! Oldest big brother Joshua currently in Afghanistan sent his best wishes via Face Book.

My heart is full, my daughter and her new husband are so full of love for each other, its pretty nearly tangible! Something more!!! He had realized at the end of their pre-martial counseling sessions that he had never actually asked the Lord to be his personal Savior. He'd gone to church, been a good person, tried to do what was right.... but had not been taught , and had not realized there was so much more!!! Realizing that this was really imperative and something he wanted to be sharing with his wife, he prayed a salvation prayer and announced to our church the next week that having received Jesus as his Savior he wanted to follow the Lord in baptism BEFORE the wedding. We had a Baptismal service for Casey last week to meet with his wishes.

Photos will follow. There are SO many really share-worthy ones, I'm not sure where to start. If you happen to be FB friends with my dear neighbor-friend Lori Steffy, you an see hundreds of photos on her face book page!!!

two more days

2010-11-04T20:37:00.000-07:00

The weather looks like it is going to great for a wedding and like hats and gloves will not be needed! The bathroom is nearly finished. Only ONE mishap! As my husband was lifting the toilet to put it on the pipe, it slipped ,dropped and broke.YES the toilet. So in addition to new paint, new flooring and new towel fixtures, we have added a new toilet to the list of things we bought that really had nothing to do with a wedding but had EVERYTHING to do with having a wedding! I know our guests will thank us for having more than just one working bathroom!!!
Yard is very tidy, no leftover blown get-away garbage along any of the fencing, garage is swept and very neat, dining room is guest ready too
Tomorrow the rest of the house WILL be dusted swept, mopped and vacuumed. The windows WILL be washed. Green beans are being prepped for my new Paula Deen stock pot and the bacon which will season them. All 70# of meat are smoker ready too. One of our afternoon jobs will be to pierce and wrap 40# of potatoes so they are ready to be baked. We will assemble flowers and make little bags of rice and bird seed to throw at the newlyweds. LOTS OF TEAM WORK stuff to do!!!
I am quite sure that the baked tilapia, rice, and mixed greens I prepared for dinner tonight are a great THANK YOU for the work done today and motivator for tomorrow's hard work to be well done!!! it couldn't hurt any way, right??

November 2, 2010

2010-11-02T08:02:00.000-07:00

Our weekend was beyond defining. A dear friend told me, "Your life was just like a country song!" Yes it was, right up to our beloved Golden Retriever , Aslan   being run over and killed right by our driveway. I just don't even want to talk about it any more other than to say that God is faithful and He was with us every minute! God is GOOD, even when the "Stuff" going on around is does not look "so good". Blessed be the Name of the Lord!!
Naomi's 9th birthday was Saturday and we had a great family time over the ourse of 4 days! Ice cream cake, A Brandon Heath and Jars of clay concert, and Chinese Buffet for lunch ! Lots of great fun!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR NAOMI!
The WEDDING is now less than a week away!! The details are working themselves out, my prayer is for a bit of warmer weather to stay around or return, as the Case may be! Last week it was glorious 70's and this week, maybe 60's. NOT what we were hoping for an outdoor wedding where the bridesmaids and the Calico Acres Mamma who hates cold temperatures and who are all wearing sleeveless (albeit GORGEOUS!!!) dresses! The meal is ready to be smoked an grilled, flowers are ready to be assembled into bouquets and sprays and boutonnieres, the barn is neat and tidy, the pasture is guest -ready!!
The bride and groom are READY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dear Bloggy Friends it is the most important day of the year for us: the day we may go out and exercise our right and privilege as citizens of this great country:its Election Day!
PLEASE DO GO OUT AND VOTE!   Read the amendments, pray and vote to the best of your understanding of the issues, and by your knowledge of God's laws for the people He created . Regardless of your party affiliation, some of us are going to be happy or sad, satisfied or angry, but this is our Country and we all love her. I know very clearly how I want to see things go, and I know that I do not want the "winners" to get in to their new jobs and go back to business as usual. Our Country needs to be re-directed and our economy addressed squarely. We need to get rid of a lot of junk and a lot of junk -makers. Nothing happens overnight , but a lot is possible in less than 2 or 4 or 6 years of blaming the "other guy".
My prayer is that America has awakened and is ready to engage her politicians and hold them accountable. Ever written an elected official? called one? Gone to a rally or town meeting? This might be the year for you to give that some new thought and act upon those thoughts. Your voice DOES make a difference!
Today be the best American you an be!! Pray and VOTE!!!
Please listen to "Breathe on us again" and read the words here as you listen?   (The song is from "Promise Keepers," if anyone was wondering)
THIS above all is my prayer for The United States of America and The church!! Please Father, BREATHE ON US AGAIN!!

Breathe On Us Again

O Lord hear
O Lord forgive us
We have lost the awe of You
Have mercy have mercy

O Lord restore

The church that bears Your name
O Spirit send
A revival to this nation
Breathe on us again
Breathe on us again

O Lord cleanse

Our hearts which are divided

Stir the faith that we once knew

We're thirsty we're thirsty

O Lord restore

The church that bears Your name
O Spirit send
A revival to this nation
Breathe on us again
Breathe on us again

Recipes we enjoyed this week at Calico Acres Farm

2010-10-29T22:06:00.000-07:00

STUFFED BELL PEPPERS

10 large square Bell peppers, gutted, save the tops, blanche for 3 minutes and remove from boiling salted water, set aside
16 cups of cooked rice ( we like Jasmine)
4 large cans of tomato sauce
4 large cans of diced tomatos
2-3 # of lean ground beef of turkey
2 large onions, diced
Chili powder about 3 tablespoons
Garlic powder about 3 tablespoons
cumin about 1 tablespoon
salt and fresh ground pepper
4-6 cups of V-8 vegetable juice
Brown the meat with the onions, drain off the fat.
Mix rice tomatos, rice and meat together in a large pot
stir in spices. These are so individual I only make guidelines, I often add more as I test taste
Grease or spray with no-stick spray a large roasting pan. Place peppers in the roasting pan, Fill prepared peppers with rice meat -tomato mixture, spoon the remainder over the peppers and even out in the pan. Plae pepper tops on top of the rice stuffed peppers.Cover and bake for 2 hours at 300 degrees. IF your pepper stuffing gets too dry or you want them a bit juicier, pour the V-8 juice over the peppers and rice mixture during the last 30 minutes. Serve with home made bread or corn bread, Makes about 20 servings. I usually cut the peppers into halves when I serve the meal for more pepper servings with the stuffing. Stuffing is great leftover as the pepper flavor simmers into the stuffing

CHICKEN TETRAZZINI

6 chicken breasts, stewed Save the stock and into it add:
1 pkg frozen seasoning mix veggies ( this is a cheat thing. The peppers, celery and onion are precut) You can cut your own veggies to total 2 cups and simmer in chicken stock till tender.
3 large cans of Cream of Mushroom soup
1- 4 oz ajr of diced pimientos, drained,
6 oz can mushrooms
4cups plain yogurt
3 # thin spaghetti, cooked an drained
salt and pepper to taste
4 -6 cups of shredded cheese

Cube the chicken, mix together in a large bowl or pot with the soup, yogurt , veggies and chicken stock, pimientos and mushrooms . Pour this mixture and spaghetti into 3 9x13 pans or 1 three-cake mix sized pan. Stir and dmix together thoroughly. Top tetrazzini with shredded cheese and bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees.
About 20 servings and leftovers are delicious hot or cold!!!

That Halloween question

2010-10-28T09:09:00.000-07:00

Tom Davis whose writings I enjoy an am challenged by regularly ( RED LETTERS Living a Life that Bleeds.... PRICELESS the novel about sex trade in Russia....his blog, his Face Book page) posted about Halloween today that prompted quite a few comments about the subject. His post is here and its a good one. Halloween an ongoing discussion amongst my friends, some with long held postions ( "yes we do" as well as "no we do not") and some with recently worn down positions, and some still trying to figure it out .
I shared a comment on Tom's page and decided that I would share it here as well. His question was Do you celebrate Halloween?"

We don't, we haven't, and we won't particpate. My thoughts on it are that we do not encourage our children to tinker with things occult any other day of the year and that disguising them in candy and games doesn't make them any less occult. The underlying themes of witchcraft and demonic activty have no place in our lives any day of the year but Americans in their fun-loving ignorance have invited satan into a day of the year with no restraints. That day has turned into a more -than -a -month with all the store hype and sales promotions of things demonic scary, occult, and just plain ugly. There's nothing Phil. 4: 8 about it anywhere. Because we hae a lot of new believers in our circle lately, I think its even more important to remember not to cause anyone else to stumble. IF we say "avoid the very appearance of evil " but play with halloween, what message do we send? IF we quote "resist the devil and he will flee from you" but invite the things of the devil (again occult costumes, dead-play toys and symbols, witches and ghosts) into a "Celebration" of candy and "fun, what message do we send? We'll flee the devil tomorrow??? On the surface this "one day" may look like "simple fun" but lighten up??? I don't think so. The enemy is prowling like a lion to see whom he can devour. IF I'm munching Halloween candy and lugging my kids around in the dark amongst demon-mimicking children and their ghostly-ghouly looking friends, I might just be the next thing "munched on" and it won't be by a hardy late- fall mosquito.

Have a blessed day whate ever you all do on the 31st, but can we really ask God to bless us when we praticipate in something that condones and promotes anything of the devil and encourages others to do the same? That's my question.

Wedding preparation and another birthday! late afternoon additions

2010-10-27T11:12:00.000-07:00

October is our really "birthday-heavy" month with Isaiah on the 1st, Caleb on the 9th, Rachel on the 15th and then Naomi on the 30th. No other month has as many birthdays except September and except for DH Charlie's birthday, those are Grandchildren ( Joshua's son and daughter, Caleb's son, Hannah's daughter and son: please note I don't differentitate between bio and step...the children in this family are entirely IN the family!) it is also our anniversary month. SO, all tht said, we are going to eat Chinese food for Naomi's birthday at her request and go the the Brandon Heath / Jars of Clay concert being held at a church about an hour from here. She also has a very warm fuzzy fleece blanket being made for her by her mommy who is obviously NOT working on it becasue she is blogging about it!! We actually missed Naomi's first birthday because we were traveling home from Cambodia with Noah on that October 30. We lovingly remind her that she got a new big brother for her first birthday!
The wedding is coming together , I HOPE nicely! I am purchasing the necessary items a bit at a time to maintain cardiac efficiency, and I am really relegating tasks to others...REALLY!!! Well, OK one whom I recruited to help sew the bridesmaid's dresses has been sick and then had a sick daughter, but I'm TRYING!!!
********************
I did get three bridesmaid's dresses marked for hemming on Monday night. I hadn't noticed at the store but was a bit aghast as a (former frequent and semi-professional) seamstress that the hems of the dresses were top-stitched on a machine!!!! If you don't sew this is meaningless to you but if you DO, you know what I'm talking about. No nice invisible machine stitch or hand sewn hemming job: TOP STITCHED, with no real hem at all! OUR finished dresses will be hand hemmed and the stitches will be invisible. If my helper is well and her daughter is well, I'll have her mark my dress so I can get it hemmed too, or maybe we can sew together while my girls play with her children. That would be fun! I still need to take Naomi and Rchel dress shopping.
*******************
Food: I bought all the meat two weeks ago, veggies can't be purchased till next week later for maximum freshness, but all the supporting food items will be purchased tomorrow, ditto the remaining paper products.
I have nothing to do with the cakes. They are a gift from Casey's aunt. THANK YOU Aunt Sherri! !!!!!!!
******************
FLOWERS:
Esther will have fresh yellow and white roses tied into green and yellow ribbons, her bridesmaids will have bouquets of fresh or silk or both, harvest flowers: sunflowers, mums, pansies, also tied into yellow and green streamer ribbons. Our groomsmen will have a yellow rose boutinierre (spell check says I got tht right on the first try!! LOL) . We can make the floral arrangemnts (we...ME) on Friday night after the rehearsal.
*******************
Barn and pasture preparation is NOT my department but I did go out and assess the needs yesterday when moving some buck goats from one pasture to another... to avoid being downwind of the muskiness of buck goats during the wedding ya see... its all good now. Stands have been built and painted for the Bride and her party to dismount their horses and be walked up the path to the barn. Hirching posts have been made sound and are also painted. A railing is now being built to keep people from getting too close to our lagoon as they walk to the reception and we hope to have some golf carts to valet folks too! A 10 day ahead look at the forecast so far promises us a sunny slightly cool day but NO RAIN is in the forecast!! I am hoping for 70s temps but we'll seeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! The bridal party has jackets to go over their dresses but they also have STRICT instructions from Esther that the jackets are for AFTER the ceremony, not during..
********************
Horses
This falls into the "something borrowed "category along with my mother's /grandmothers/my ring. WE do not have enough horses of our own for all fothe bridesmaids, Esther, Casey and Charlie too. BUT we have 2 neighbors with horses that we will be borrowing to complete the procession. One neighbor who is pretty much a grafted in daugther is going to bathe and groom the horses for us, braid manes and tails and keep them wedding -ready. I heard a little rumor that the Daddy of the Bride is going to buy some sort of Wedding Bling for Sugar, Esther's pretty Paint mare too. That Daddy !!!
********************
The house.
WILL not be as ready as I'd like just because it won't be. It will be as ready as I can get, but we live here every day. We home school here, we really LIVE here.............I'm hoping the back bathroom will be remodeled this weekend, That is my biggie expectation.
It can happen, but Brandon Heath and celebrating Naomi's 9th birthday WILL come first!

Celebrating 8 years of life with Noah

2010-10-24T17:23:00.000-07:00

One of my very favorite photos
of Noah ever!

My dear friend Jennifer traveled with Jael and me to Cambodia 8 years ago to complete our newest son Noah's adoption. The day I met Noah for the first time, he was standing with the orphanage director waiting for our car to drive up. I didn't want to overwhelm this tiny boy with all my pent -up excitement but OH I wanted to snatch him up into my arms, kiss those dimpled cheks I' been dreaming of for so long, talk to him in words I knew he would not understand, but I held back, "some"!! I grabbed him ently, hugged him pretty snuggly but not for a long time and I kissed the top of his head. He hugged me back right away and I knew I was melting and this little boy was being blended into my being right there on the spot!We had waited far longer than we'd anticipated for Noah's adoption to complete. A suspension on adoptions in Cambodia imposed by the US governemnt left hundreds of us wondering how and if ever, we' be united with our children. Some of us who had been politically active before jumped right in with both feet ready and many who'd never done a political thing in their lives jumped in too. That group of prospective adoptive parents was ENERGIZED and we let our Congress know it, state by state , Elected official by elected official until a "Pipeline" was established for those families who wished to persevere. That action was responsible before God for many childen being able to come home. How incredible that journey was and how unbelievable that it was eight years ago already! That tiny twinkly eyed little boy has grown into a tall winkly eyed teenager who is skilled athletically ( baseball, basketball, tennis, swimming, soccer....) and academically, is a great helper and has a super sense of humor.
What we didn't know then (or in March that year when Charlie and I were in Vietnam together completing Naomi's adoption) was that when Charlie went to meet Noah that God would be preparing his heart and then later mine, for a whole lot more than this one trip to Cambodia! We both met four other children we never DREAMED we would be able to think about adopting, much less actually DOING IT! The boy who was Noah's best friend ( and the bond between them was so obvious to us as we watched the children together) the boy to whom Noah turned to share whatever he had in his hand , was the subject of one of our very first halting English conversations. "Mommy, a boy at t'orph-nige, he like my brother. He not my brother, but like brother. Sang Thai. You go 'dop him too?" WHO KNEW that in February 2004 that request would be a reality?
When I met a little Inca -Mayan looking cherub of a toddler-aged girl behind one of the buildings at the compound, another older curly -haired girl was pulling her hair and she was crying. I picked her up, dried her tears as I told the other girl in words she did not understand to "stop that. Don't hurt this little one!" I asked the director about this girl, and was told her name, Narene, and that she had a brother, Guhn Kear and a sister, Narong, both older than she was. She was 3 they said, and the other two 4 and 6. I HAD to meet them too. No fanfare, but I watched them play, I asked as much as I could about them, knowing that the "Pipeline" was only at that point for matched children, and no more. Oh the adventures God was getting ready to reveal to us!!!!!!!!!!!!! Charlie and I compared stories and photos later only to discover we BOTH had been smitten by the same siblings. Thinking that there was "no way" for any other adoptions, he kept his photos to himself. Obviously God had other plans already "in His Book"
I have to share some of my favorite photos of my favorite first-adopted son !!! Thank You Heavenly Father so very much for our wonderful son and all the blessings that have come with being his Mom and having Noah in our family!

Noah with Leah and Isaac August 2010

Tractor time!

Isaac, Csey, Malachi and Daniel, Jon, Isaiah and NOAH, Gideon, and Caleb

First days of school ALPHA PHONICS with Noah (and baby Naomi)

WInter 2002-03 Horse drawn "sleigh" tote . Malachi pulls Noah behind Windstar

Noah's Giving and Recieving Ceremony 10-24-2002

Early photos of Noah ,age 4 and then age 5 PASSPORT PHOTO!!!

First Thanksgiving. Noah got his own drumstick!

46

2010-10-23T19:59:00.000-07:00

After a week of tests and doctor visits and negative test results so far, Jael is still blacking out, still feeling queasy, light headed, nauseated and unsteady...most of the time but not ALL of the time. The doctor asked that we start tracking Jael's blood glucose and so far she has tested in the low side of average or the high side of low, but not in the clearly " low" zone. Until tonight. In the middle of Praise and Worship music practice Jael called me and a very weak little, NOT-my-typical-bouncy-Jael sounding voice asked me, "IS 46 bad?"
I responded by asking if she meant her blood glucose and she said yes "That." YES JAEL, 46 is clearly not normal, clearly LOW LOW LOW" I told her to get some milk and fruit into her system as quickly as she could and pormised toget home as fast as I could.
AH-------------HAA!!! perhaps we have found the culprit causing Jael's week-long mis-adventure! We will be monitoring her diet, modifying her diet and checking her glucose levels to follow up, for sure!! I don't know if this has been brewing for a while. She hasn't had these kinds of symptoms before last week. I don't know WHY or WHAT would cause it to start now, but if her root issue IS hypo-glycemia, we can work with that! Idenitfying the problem is always the first step. I hope we are on that step!!

Field Trip at Calico Acres Farm

2010-10-22T09:21:00.000-07:00

Well a little field trip anyhow. My friend Kember and her 2 year old son wnted to come and see our goats and maybe even get to milk a goat. Kember's friend and helper Elena wanted to milk a goat too so we set up a Mini-Field Day for yesterday. Baeden pettted the goats and had a blast . He was a bit hesitant about that milking thing and backed off from the opportunity but that didn't stop Kember or Elena! Rose was very helpful, stood very nicely still in her milk stand and Isaac and I (mostly Isaac ) taught the ladies how to feel for "the right spot" to squeeze and how to let the teat flow and how to let it re-fill. My photos are from my phone camera, and not very good at all. I know Kember and Elena took some which I hope are better meomentos of the day than are mine. On the way to the milking barn, we saw an unusual sight on the fence post of the buck goats' pen. A rather large spider was carrying a VERY large cricket on its back, I am guessing she was en route to a web. Again, my photos are not good and the reason is two-fold. First : phone camera again with slow shutter speed and Second: Ribs is so friendly and affectionate! He kept trying to lick my hand as I steadied it on the post of his pen. His licking and prodding bumped my hand every time I centered on a "good shot" and I got Rib's assistant-type shots instead. We all got a great laugh from the experience anyhow!

Kember and Rose

Kember Rose and Baeden

Elena and Rose

Elena excited at milking successfully!

The spider and the cricket

Fascinating to watch, but I guess ya had to be there!!

Bridal shower, fainting, goat medicine and Matthew 19

2010-10-20T20:22:00.000-07:00

Esther's church bridal shower was Sunday and we had a really good time celebrating the upcoming wedding!

Here Grand daughter Mady and daughter Esther share a smiley moment in between opening gifts. Mady was the the Gift Bringer and quite happy to have such an important job!

Esther was blessed with many wonderful gifts from a vacuum cleaner to coasters, dishes, kitchen laundry (as I call it) a stock pot, gift cards, and more, and she was surrounded with love and encouragement all the while!

The "Gag gift'"of the day came from Malachi and Sopheak (mostly Malachi) when he gathered a wide variety of colorful beverage cups from Esther's place of employ MEXICO JOE'S. (We have so many of them and we share them as souvenirs with visiting friends because they are THE standard measure and most frequently used beverage cup in all of Stillwater) He wanted to be sure that he didn't repeat a color in his set so she has about 12 of all different hues and tones!

A Paula Deen stock pot from Mom and the Smith sisters, "Stocked" with lots of other kitchen goodies

My beautiful Esther Miriam who could not be much happier with the way God has ordered her steps!

Yellow roses and black cowboy boots represent the wedding itself. Esther's colors are yellow and green ( not quite John Deere but that was the original plan!!) and yellow roses will be a favored flower in the wedding bouquets. The black boot? OH YES!!! The bridal party will be wearing those black boots for the wedding! ( Mother of the Bride TOO!!)

On the heels of the shower and planning for the wedding something started happening to 16 year old Jael. She began to get queasy, weak, and to pass out cold. After several hours at our dear doctor's office on Friday , we had ruled out any pulmonary issues with a chest x-ray, ruled out extremely obvious cardiac issues with an ECG, and targeted the simpler issues with a blood draw for analysis, A Holter monitor to evaluate cardiac activity for a 24 hour period was ordered and today we got that taken care of. It will feed cardiac data to a computer until tomorrow morning and the data will be assessed for any hidden cardiac issues that the ECG didn't catch. The blood work came back all within normal parameters so the next thing is to monitor blood glucose to see if perhaps hypoglycemia ( low blood sugar) is the culprit.Among Jael's symptoms are nausea, lack of appetite, vomiting, some lower intestinal involvement, but mostly a feeling of weakness and that fainitng thing. I found her on the bathroom floor today right before we went to the doctor.

She had no idea what triggered that episode. Earlier in the day she had been helping me to trim goat's hooves when one of the bucks kicked at her and ripped off a couple of the Holter leads. THAT caused no problems. When Gideon thought he could help with the trimming and then seriously injured young buck Edward, Jael went right to work, being the future Veterinarian that she is. That too, caused no fainting issues. I think I will spare you the photos of poor Edward's mis-trimmed hooves. Suffice it to say Jael and I were upset, Gideon was contrite, and Edward was a mess.

I think we have stabilized him, controlled the bleeding and hopefully got the rest of the hoof trimming done so that Edward is not lame or infected..............

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH life on a farm with a large family. NEVER a dull monment, ever!!

I am so thankful for God's hand on each of our children! When Jesus admonished His disciples in

Matthew 19, "Let the little children come to Me and do not forbid them, for such is the Kingdom of Heaven, And He laid hands on them" ( "and departed from there") He showed us how special and precious children are! He didn't say they were perfect, He didn't say that this blessing was in any way an imparting of salvation to them, or that they got the blessing of something that others didn't get or would not get in some other way, but He reminded everyone for all ages to come, that children are worth stopping what one is doing to tend to, to minister to, to encourage and to treasure as symbols of Heaven itself...in their simplicity and their basic uncluttered faith and I suspect, their pure desire to just BE with Jesus, asking nothing from Him except to BE WITH THEM. It was parents who brought them so that Jesus might lay hands upon them and pray for them , but scripture does not say the children asked for ANYTHING.

How often do our own children approach US this way? Wanting nothing but to be with US: their Mommies and Daddies? I love that I have been able to home school my children, work from home when I did have a "Not-the -Mommy- job" but I know I wasted a lot of the "just be with " moments. Events this weekend reminded me of how special each moment with my children is: be it teaching complicated grammatical terms and uses, or cleaning up a wounded goat, encouraging the wounder of the goat that no one hates him, watching basketball or tennis games, playing board games, emersing the female part of the family in bridal celebration , reading the Word together at the family table, re-building a bathroom with help of our children, LIFE WITH OUR CHILDREN IS PRECIOUS!! I would remind myself and each of you who might be reading this

"Let the children come..and forbid them NOT!"

I do not think that is taking a scripture out of its context or changing its meaning one bit to not quote the entire passage. The meaning is so clear that Jesus valued the lives and presence of the children deeply!

I am praying for a very specific child this week who needs a family and soon. She has known much pain and suffering in her short 8 years, much rejection and much abuse. My deepest prayers are for a family who can lead her to Jesus so she can know that she is not going to be forbidden or turned away EVER AGAIN. A family who can lead her t ohealing and restoration and revival... I "think" I know who that family is. The family thinks so too, but its not a slam -dunk done deal by any stretch. Will you pray with me for " Miss A" and her future? As you do, please take a moment to hug on your own children and thank God for them one more extra time. Pray for children in our country and our world who are waiting to be told "COME TO ME", told they won't be forbidden or denied....loved and accepted by a family who will love and treaure THEM? I love that God has given my husband and me the capacity to love so many children and I know that soon the day will come when we know that our family is complete: no more additions through adoption for us to be Mommy and Daddy to. My heart is heavy for more families who will also adopt, who will foster children, who will mentor children, because the need is not going away. As we ache to be able to bring our precious African children home, we continue to pray for the many other children who wait. In my joy at celebrating weddings and birthdays, teaching moments and chastiisng moments, there is a burden for incompleted families and unmatched children. So many children...............so many children.................so many families .............so many people waiting for so many other people!!!!!!!!!!

Show us how You want us to participate Dear Heavenly Father!