A better version of Sea World!

We are busy loading up the van to head to Florida for the

week and the kids are so excited. 

They have all been waiting on the edge of there seats for when

we tell them to jump in the Van so we can start our trip. 

Jackson in particular is most excited to see Sea World. 

To pass time Jackson set up a Sea World in the kitchen for the

girls to bring there dolls to.  I have been busy loading up but I

had to go get my camera out of the van because I thought this

Sea World was to cute to pass up.

Each bowl had a different sea animal in it.

Looks like these tourists are having a blast!

I feel bad for this guy below he some how fell into the tank with a shark and killer octopus. {yikes}

 Sweet Elizabeth! Notice she is missing a tooth.

  That was quite the excitment around here last week. 

Every time I get to experience a first with her I feel so blessed.

Ok well we are off

let's see how the real Sea World compares {grin}

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Patience

God is really trying to teach me something

There are so many things up in the air right now, good things,

fun things but they can't seem to happen fast enough.

They are out of my control and there is nothing I can do to

speed up the process.

Anyone who knows me knows I like to do things fast. 

Once I make a decision I work non-stop to complete the task. 

Very soon I will know what God has planned and I am sure it

will be so much more then I could have imagined. 

Continuing to trust in him.  I know his "slow" timing is for a

reason.  I have been growing so much closer to him during

this time of trusting and praying.  Praying for so many friends

waiting for there adoptions to be complete, praying for so

many people suffering right now going through some of the

hardest times in their lives and giving praise for all the

answered prayers I see and hear on a daily basis. 

He never ceases to take my breath away.

Meanwhile I am loving life and who I get to share it with.

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Skipping my Shower

Just put these two down for a nap and the other 3 are at

school.  This is usually my time to take a shower but today I

just couldn't get something out of my mind. 

It is something I have been wanting to post for awhile but I

always seem to be so busy or to tired at the end of the day to

write.  I have so many people say to me:

"You went from two potty

trained kids to 5 over night, you are crazy!" 

or

"you must really love kids" 

This is usually

not meant as an insult but just more amazement that

someone is crazy enough to commit to something like this.  I

really do think most people in our lives don't get it and really

think we are crazy.  I know where they are coming from.  A

couple years ago before Eli and I made the commitment to

adopt I would have never in my wildest dreams thought that

we would adopt three kids at once.

I even had some Christian's who are very close to me

say right before the kids moved in

"so your really going through with this"?  "I

am worried about you and how it will change your life if

you commit to this."

"Just because you are a Christian doesn't mean you have to

adopt."  "Why didn't Jesus adopt?"

I could go on and on with quotes. 

Everyone worrying for me, but no one worrying for the three

children that had no where to go. 

How does that make sense.  Praise the Lord that we said yes

because our lives are so full and so blessed because of these

three.  Ayla would have never met her best friend if we

had said no.  We have never been happier as a family.

Why do we want to live our normal life and be left alone. 

That is not what God calls us to do.  We should be reaching

out to the world and showing God's love. 

Most of us Christians (including me) Just want to live a life

like the rest of the world and then go to church on Sunday.  I

am not trying to sound judgy I promise.  I am so, so, so guilty

of this. Eli and I didn't have some extra patience, super

power or a huge savings to be able to take on this job.  We are

just normal people that said yes to what God called us to do. 

I know God is calling me to do more though. 

He is calling all of us to do more. 

I have felt so guilty this week as I

planned a vacation for my family and have a pantry stocked

with food. Why has God blessed my family so much when

their are so many other families suffering in Japan and all

over the world?  There is so much more that I can do.

Praying that God shows me.

 I am not saying go out and adopt three kids. 

But what can you do? 

I promise when we say yes to God's calling for us he will

provide and give you the strength you need to fulfill that

calling.

We are so blessed

Just think if we all did something a little "crazy" for Jesus. 

Remember we are the only ones here to show God's love and

there are so many people out there that need it.

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Macaroni

This little giggle box

{If you could hear the giggle that comes with this smile you would melt}

She is such a picky eater

I mean the worst I have ever seen

She wants and craves junk

Before she came to our house she was used to soda and fast

food at just 6 months old so she hasn't been to happy with the

healthier options I have been offereing her. 

This face below cracks me up because it is the same look she

gives me when I try to shove some veggies in her mouth.  She

will close her mouth as tight as she can and give me that look

"yeah right I am not going to put that in my mouth"

Let me tell you Zoe has more personality then most adults I

know.  Oh I love her!

So last night I made an exception  we had macaroni and

cheese with our dinner.  Zoe wasn't even trying any of the

food I had for her and she was screaming at all of us to

share.   So I decided why not I would make an exception and

scooped some Macoroni on her plate.  She ate and she ate

like I haven't feed her anything for the last 4 months. 

 Can you tell she loves macaroni?

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Dates!

Pedicures and Manicures with my girls

and haircuts and Ice cream with my boys

I am one blessed Mommy!

If you haven't joined my giveaway yet click here to enter.  I

have loved reading about you guys.  I have learned so much!

Thanks for letting me peak into your lives.

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Me and a give away.

I am nosey. 

I will admit it.  I love to know all about people and how they

live.  But within 30 minutes of meeting me you will know my

whole life story because as much as I love to know about

people I am also an open book willing to share almost every

personal detail about myself {this can be good and bad}

So lets get to know each other. 

I am going to have a give away.  I will be giving away any item

that the winner picks.  All the shirts and jewelry I have are on

the right side of my page when you scroll down.  All you have

to do to be entered is leave me a comment that tells me

something about yourself and if you have a blog tell me what

your blog is and become a follower.  If you are already a

follower you can still just tell me something I don't know yet

to be entered.  Next week I will pick a winner.

I can't wait to hear what you have to say! 

Here is a little bit about me:

I was born in Texas on the Mexican border and then lived

in Mexico and Columbia the first 5 years of my life. 

My parents were missionaries.  

I have two sisters, one older one younger.

I was bilingual as a young child

but as I grew up I forgot so much of my Spanish.

{wish I kept up with it and could still speak it fluently}

Some of my first childhood memories are of my Dad playing

and singing "this is the day" on his guitar.

As a child I always played "mommy". 

I always had 13 kids and no husband

(wonder if this ever concerned my parents)

I couldn't wait to grow up and be a Mommy.

I cried and begged for my parents to adopt from Romania

and Saudi Arabia.  

Even as a child I had a deep compassion for the orphaned

and abused children of the world. 

As a child I promised myself that when I was an adult and

had a voice I would stick up for them.

I am trying but I know I can do more to keep that promise.

I never not once heard my parents argue.

My Mom is the most incredible cook ever {seriously}

Every night dinner was like thanksgiving

I hate to cook. 

I do cook but it is just to get something healthy on the table. 

Strangely I love to do laundry

I love a spotless house. 

I think that is why I don't like to cook because I can't stand a

messy kitchen

My first job was at a Fazoli's

I was never a straight A student

I went to college for a few years {still want to finish}

I got my realtor's license {loved being a realtor}

I met my husband in High school

I am madly in love with him

He didn't want to get married until he was 30

we got married when I was 19 and he was 21

He only wanted 1 child

we have 5

God has transformed us

My favorite color is blue

I always wanted to be a children's book writer

Most days I have no make up on, my hair is in a pony tail and

I am wearing sweats.

I have seen to many miracles to count in my life

I have failed so many times and God always picks me back up

My favorite flowers are tulips

Sometimes I put the kids to bed in the clothes I want them to

wear the next day so we can get out the door on time.

I don't drink coffee

I have been to Mexico, Columbia, Canada, Korea, Thailand

and Cambodia. {Cambodia still has some of my heart}

I know God has big plans for me and sometimes I am scared

but for now I am so happy to be serving him by loving my

kids, husband and who ever else he brings into my day.

OK your turn:

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All of us!

 I am so excited to finally have all of us in a picture!  Eli got

me a new camera for Christmas and I couldn't wait to get a

picture of all of us.  My dear, dear friend from Indiana came

down for a visit this past week with her two very little ones

and spent an entire day taking pictures of us. She is so

creative and I am so thankful to her because these pictures

are priceless to us.  Not to mention she was extremely patient

with our little crew and lets just say Max was in no mood to

take pictures.  We still managed to have fun.  I included some

of my favorites.  I love that I will always be able to look back

at us because some days life just seems to fly by and I don't

want to forget all of this.

Have I mentioned that my husband is an amazing percussionist {grin}

I love this one of the kids running free. 

I am hoping this is how life will be for them very soon at our

new house.  Thanks to all of you who have been praying

about our moving situation.  We decided not to move this

summer because it would be to much of a rush.  We are going

to start building our house in Indiana in the fall {if all goes

well} and then next year at the end of the school year when it

is time to move we will either sell or rent out our house

depending on the real estate market.  Oh we are so praying

someone will just knock on our door sometime in the next

year and want to buy our house {but not holding our breath}.

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Busy

I know I haven't posted in a while but we have been soooo

busy.  I have had doctor appointments, lawyer appointments,

school activities, lots of playing and big decision making.

It has been so nice these last few days we have actually gotten

to go to the park a couple times and get some fresh air. 

Hoping to get a zoo trip in sometime this week if it doesn't

rain.

Have I mentioned how much these two love each other? 

Seriously they are inseparable and they were perfectly made

for each other. 

I always wanted more then one daughter.  I have two sisters

and I always wanted that for Ayla. I never would have

guessed that God had two beautiful daughters out there

waiting for me.  I couldn't wait to get them all matching

outfits.  I happen to think it is the cutest thing.  Ayla already

had a few of these poppy dips made last year.  I love them

they wash so well and the fabrics are beautiful.  They are

made with love by Sallee who is raising money to go get her

third child from Ethiopia.  Go to her blog. Encourage and

pray for her as they are being held up by paperwork.  You can

look at her pictures of her beautiful boy Samson Jude that

they are anxiously waiting to bring home.

Here is Zoe in her Poppy Dip with me, nervously watching

her brother's and sister's go down the slide.

I know, I know I said we have been doing some big decision

making and didn't offer an explanation.  We are praying

about moving.  A lot of things need to happen for it to work

out.  We want to move back to Indiana where we lived 5 years

ago.  We have been ready to move out of this house since we

first moved in.  It is really expensive to live here.   Property

and state taxes are ridiculous here and in Indiana they are

much more affordable.  We moved into this house with only

Jackson who was 18 months at the time and obviously our

needs have changed.  I don't want a larger house but we need

a different layout with more space for coats, laundry and

shoes.  My parents are thinking about moving back there and

Eli's family already lives there.  We have some very dear

friends that already live there.  I call them my

soul mate friends.  They have prayed for me through good

and bad and have always been such an encouragement for Eli

and I.  We had a realtor come out yesterday and the house

values have depreciated so much around here that the huge

chunk of equity that we once had in our home would be

almost gone if we sell our home for what it is worth now

{ugh}.  That would really affect our down payment for our

next house.  On a positive side my parents have some

beautiful land there that they are wanting to build on.  They

said my sister's and I could build houses on it also.  It isn't

a for sure thing though because it will take time to see if the

county would approve of the land being subdivided.  I really

want to move in the summer so that it doesn't affect the kids

school year so we would need to list our house soon since it

will probably take months for the house to sell.  We also need

the adoptions to be finalized before we can move out of state. 

We could finalize as early and March and as late as summer. 

Eli would have a few things to do with his business to get

things settled for the move.   We would have to find a rental

house to live in while we build and of course we would have

to sell our house now before we could do this.    We all

have such a peace and excitement about the move.  How fun

would it be for my kids to grow up right next to their

grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins with lots of land to

run and play on.  I know God's plan is always so much better

then my own plans, so we a busy praying, praying, praying

the God guides us and lets us know if we should stay put, sell

our house or rent out our house.

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