I know its been awhile since I have updated this blog but as you can imagine we are very busy around here, you know the normal stuff, laundry, homework, supper, dishes, more laundry, keeping Crimsyn from totally destroying everything etc... I am pleased to report however that everyone is doing well, and we are thankful for that!!!

What compelled me to take the time to write on this blog was of course reflecting on the past 18months, a time that forever changed me. I am so humbled that God choose this path for Michael and myself and not that our path is better than any one else but nevertheless it is just that OUR path and I Thank God daily. I am so very thankful for all my children and love them all like crazy but tonight and a lot of times I think of our precious daughter, the one who has taught me about what life is all about, this child is angel, I know everyone loves their kids and thinks their little angels but I'm telling you she is truly an angel, I have never witness a child more humble and thankful than her, she has been through so much in her little life and I am so thankful tonight that when she went to BED she was clean and had a full tummy. The shape she was in when we first met her is indescribably, and that was the best her birth mother could do, she no doubt sacrificed what little she had for her child, I witnessed a love between the two of them that was very real, a love so great she wanted her to have more than she could provide, a love that sometimes disturbs me, I am here enjoying everyday with this beautiful little girl and a precious unfortunate woman is missing out on seeing our daughter grow up but I have to remind myself that it was her prayers God answered and brought us all together...Resiana will never by the grace of God go hungry, be dirty, be bitten by bugs to the point she is scared, hair falling out due to malnutrition ever again and I am thankful that he let us be her parents..

She is amazing and I am so touched every time she reads me a story or writes me a note, to think around 18 months ago she barely spoke English and she didn't know what the simplest of things were such as a refrigerator and a window, she does not complain, a reminder sometimes comes along and I realize she has not been with us her whole life and it gets me thinking about how hard her little life must have been but most of the time we are a happy little (big) family living life..

Reminder this morning: Getting the kids ready for school and was running behind so I asked Carter to heat up the french toast sticks ( which were frozen) and after fixing Resiana's hair told her to go to the kitchen and Carter had her food ready, when I went in the kitchen Carter was talking loud to Resiana and I asked what the problem was and he said mom I was in the bathroom and I had the toast sticks on a plate but hadn't warmed them up yet and Resiana ate them (frozen) and never complained, she apologized and I felt horrible..My Angel

Where Has The Time Gone???

Well I cant believe it is nearly August, and all to soon our precious little children will be going back to school...After five years of having a child in school it hasn't gotten any easier, I hate when its time for them to be gone away from me eight hours a day, that is so sad to think they spend most of their awake time with their teacher instead of their Momma, but I reckon that's the way its suppose to be, they don't really get much of an education curled up by Mom on the couch watching cartoons or playing hide and seek, so in just a few more weeks the routine will start again and even though it is amazing to watch them grow and learn it is also so very hard at the same time, to think that each day draws a little closer to them gaining their independence and that one day you wake up and that is it, no more school lunches to fix no more bedtime prayers, no more chaos in the house, the chaos that you have learned to love so much, the chaos that is your life.To know that at this very moment they are all safe and sound sleeping like little angels is a wonderful feeling, so for now I would like to relish in the moment, the moments when every time I turn around there is another mess to clean up or someone is prowling in the pantry for a snack for the hundredth time, or Crimsyn has pulled down all the picture frames off the table or is trying to climb the metal spiral staircase for the tenth time ( what was I thinking when we put metal stairs in our house) or Caden is pestering Carter to the point of a meltdown or has overflowed the toilet again etc....The list could go on and on and on but I will stop with that, but you know the funny thing is there are times when I actually love those moments don't get me wrong I love it when my kids are playing in perfect harmony an walking the chalk line but those moments are the ones that make parenthood adventurous you know its really never boring at all, and once school starts back and we are on a good schedule again, Michael and I will have our couple of hours at night to catch up on life and maybe watch a little TV together but if not were going have a lot to talk about when were rocking on the front porch talking about the Good Ole days, because I feel sure we are living our Good Ole days and I thank God for each one......

He Can Speak To Our Souls

Wow a lot of things have happened since the last time I posted but nothing has changed in the fact that we have so much to be Thankful for, the past few weeks have been filled with many sorrows but in the mist of the storms spoke peace to our souls, shortly before the tragic tornadoes hit we lost a dear friend and member of our church family to what seemed to us an untimely death, she died suddenly at the age of 37 leaving behind three children, to us this was so hard to understand but we must know that God makes no mistakes and his will is perfect and he can and will take care of us, then the devastation of the tornadoes hit and took the lives of so many people and destroyed so many homes, but ultimately we have to trust and know that our dear saviour holds it all in his hands and he controls the way the winds blow, no matter how fierce the winds are he has it all in his hands and in the mist of the storms he can speak peace and that is exactly what I believe he did, the people that lost their lives I believe he cradled them in his arms and spoke peace to their souls just as the song says Sometimes he calms the storm but sometimes he calms me and that is what is amazing even though the winds may blow and the rain may fall he can send that amazing comfort that only comes from on High...Today I am thankful for that..

A few photos of our Easter weekend!!!!!

My little family or not so little family is doing well, it seems the children's sickness is behind us for awhile so I praise the Lord for that, I thank him that we got to celebrate his resurrection and enjoy our family and our church family for Easter and we also had a wonderful Mothers Day, just the fact that I am a mother made it a wonderful day but I got to enjoy time with my children just me and them going to the mall and build a bear workshop and having a wonderful day and then on Sunday spending time with my mother and all my family it was just wonderful and I am very thankful, it amazes me what God has given me, I am unworthy but so grateful...

Mom What am I

Well I guess our topic of discussion around the dinner table tonight was somewhat different than most "normal families". Carter started the conversation off by talking about race and what it all means and exactly what we all are, he could not remember his exact ethnic background , so I began to explain for the hundredth time in his life~ Carter your Marshallesse and one fourth Filipino and Crimsyn is Marshallesse and one fourth Japanese and Resiana is full Marshallesse and that is why Carter and Crimsyn favor so much, the Asian they both have in them, which causes a slight slant in their eyes, and Caden was trying so hard to get in the conversation he started trying to make his eyes slanted and kept saying (very loudly) mom I think my eyes are slanted to, so what am I, Carter and I busted out laughing which in turn made the baby laugh then made Resiana laugh and before you know it we were all laughing so hard we were nearly in tears. They still are not quite sure what all of it means but I am not sure it matters that much, do not get me wrong I want them to know where they came from and "who" they are but most of all just to know they are my babies sent from God and I would not care if they were purple and came form Timbuktu, they are my precious children, the desire of my heart..... The other night we were all in the van and Michael and I were just talking and I over heard Resiana and Caden talking in the back about adoption, so Michael and I paused to listen to what they were having to say, it was so funny to listen to them talk about it, Caden preceded to tell Resiana,"Hey did you know our Mom and Dad got us from all different mamas belly's" and Resiana said yea I already knew that , and Caden was like oh ok that's cool isn't it, and then on to talking about what happened at school that day, just so normal, I am so thankful that God has helped my children to understand how loved and how special they are..Resiana is so precious, seeing she is the only one that actually remembers her birth mother I was concerned in the beginning that understanding all of this would be so hard for her but no, just a normal little girl who sometime makes reference to her other mama and that is just fine to me, for she will forever be a special woman to me because she is my daughters other mama..

The joy a baby brings

Well I am grateful, so grateful for all my children and they all bring something special to the table, at all stages they have each went through I have enjoyed it but there is just something about a baby, the happiness they bring and the way their little smile can light up a room and just the fact that they can sway back and forth or play with their toes and everyone in the family wants to sit and watch. Crimsyn is growing up so fast, he is 6 and a half months old now and he is our pride and joy, not just to Michael and myself but all of the other children to, everything he does is the greatest thing in the world. Time is swiftly passing and everyday I realize a little more how precious my time is with my children. The baby has brought so much joy as well as the other kids but like I said there is just a special joy a baby brings to a house.

On another note the kids got their report cards today and they all done very well but I must say how amazing it is to see how far Resiana has come, considering this time last year she spoke broken english and did not know some of the most basic things and now she is learning to read and acts as though she has been here her whole life.

Our family was given another gift from God this week, my brother and his wife had a baby boy on March 15th and what doll he is and we are so thankful he is healthy and everything went well, such a miracle, the gift of life, Thank you Lord for every child that has touched my life, I am blessed. Benjamin Jack Wooten 8lbs.6oz. 22inches, Crimsyn loved him and just wanted to keep kissing him over and over, so sweet....We are Blessed

Circus Celebration for Well Children!!!!!

Today I was thinking how thankful I was that for three days all my children have been well, no fevers nobody having to miss school etc., so I thought what could we do to celebrate, the kids have been through the ringer the past few months so I thought they deserved a reward, so I decided to take all four of them to the circus(by myself) to celebrate. First I will say we had a wonderful time(mostly) and we all made it home safely, but lots of chaos in the mix, remember I have a 10 yr.old, a 6yr.old, a five yr.old and a 6 month old, so off we went to the circus and it was a circus just making to the gate it took about thirty minutes to park, went to one parking area and they said it was full and I needed to go to the other one, so I go to the other one and they tell me they are full and I need to go back, so finally after finding a park we must then walk at least half a mile in the rain to get in the arena , I was scared Caden was going to dart off so I held tightly his hand with the baby on my hip and Carter and Resiana right beside, whew, we make it in and we need someone to escort us to our seats because by this point the show has been going on for about 15min and I have no clue where to go, so they escort us up to the highest point of the arena and I thought the steep stairs would never end, but finally we arrive at our seats and guess what, they are taken, so the staff personal ask the people to move because they are in the wrong seats and then proceed to tell me these are my seats but we are short a seat, so he then ask the woman in the next seat to see her tickets and he says they sold us the same ticket, so by this point I am like we will make the best of it and just sit here, a seat short , well In about 5min another family comes and tells me that me and my children are in their seat, so up we go and down about 500 flight of stairs, not knowing where in the world to go, so we go to another staff personal and they direct us to totally new seats up another 500 flight of stairs and by this point I am about to fall over from all the climbing and once again the seats are occupied and they ask the people to move but this time it is the correct seats but I am completely embarrassed and I know people are wishing me and all my kids would just sit down and watch the show, we finally got settled and the kids Loved it, and I loved watching them, Crimsyn was a bit to young, I thought he would enjoy just looking at all the bright colors but I was wrong he just wanted to grab our drinks and grab the people in front of us hair and buck because he could not have any popcorn but that was ok, he was funny and I had a night out with all my precious not sick babies and it was worth every minute but next time we might opt for Chucky Cheese or somewhere that does not have 5,000 flight of stairs, we will save the big arena events when Daddy or Grandparents come along.....Oh yea I forgot to tell the part at the end when we started to leave that at the top of those 10,000 flight of stairs I fell with the baby, yes fell, barely catching Crimsyn and could not get up and one wrong move and we both were going tumbling down them stairs but thanks to some nice strangers we were able to get up and safely made it to the exit even stopped and took a few pictures on our way out....Oh the joys of motherhood!!!!! I love every minute!!!!!!!!! almost...

I Think I See The Light At The End Of The Tunnel

Oh where would I even begin, well I will begin by saying I am very thankful, Thankful for many things, the fact that I have children to take care of is a blessing a most wonderful blessing and during these trying days I have leaned on that, just the fact that Michael and I were and are so blessed to be parents....and so the drama unfolds, Sickness, Sickness and more Sickness but I think maybe quite possibly we are nearing the end, maybe, but let me say that our most precious heavenly father has been there each step of the way and through him we have made it thus far. I will give you a brief rundown of the past two months in the Clark household.....We have had two hospital visits, Crimsyn hospitalized due to the flu and respritory problems, Carter surgery for a mass in his abdomen..Trips to Birmingham for a suspected blood disorder for Resiana ( but Praise to The good Lord her test thus far has come back good, one more to go) Caden has had some pretty concerning issues with his asthma and they thought he had penoumina but thankfully it wasnt and they did not have to put him in the hospital. Crimsyn came home from the hospital about two weeks ago and then took another back set, running high fever and not eating well for the last five days but GOOD news all day today no fever, eating good, Carter is doing great after his surgery, Caden is breathing better and Resiana is doing wonderful, could this be the end of our sickness for awhile, I sure hope so but if not we will continue to do as we have, take care of the children to the best of our ability and stayed home bound as long as necessary.....But to all be well again at the same time would be a Wonderful blessing and maybe something I will not take as for granted as I have in the past.

What a Year !!!!

Well it is about 3:40 am and I have yet to be able to go to sleep, Insomnia, I think that is the word. I cannot clean house because I have children spread throughout this house who are sleeping peacefully and I do not want to disturb them.
When Michael and I went to bed we had our usual pillow talk and our topic of conversation was our life with these children God gave us "our children" and how amazing it really is. That ten years ago he sent us a child from nearly halfway across the world from a little Island out in the pacific ocean, and what a blessing and miracle that was and how we have watched him grow into such a wonderful child a child that would of had a much different life a life I do not even want to think about, a life of poverty in its most true form but tonight he is asleep in his room safe and sound and what a blessing he has been to his father and I. We were the ones who received a great blessing when God gave him to us, he filled a void, a longing in our hearts to parent a child, to share our love with a child. We were so happy,Carter was our world and then out of the blue on a Sunday afternoon we received a phone call, a call that changed our lives. We thought Carter would probably be our only child and we were ok with that even though we wanted more we just felt extremely grateful for him, we were not seeking out anymore adoptions because we really did not know how to go about it because Carter just kinda fell from heaven to be our child so when we received the call if we would be interested in adopting again we were beyond happy to think maybe just maybe God would give us another child. We were a little afraid to get our hopes up but on that next Thursday we got the phone call that changed our world forever, it was from the doctor who was delivering the baby and it went something like this " Crystal you and Michael need to get to the hospital your baby is on the way don't worry about anything I have called the judge and lawyer and they have drawn up the paperwork and they will meet you at the hospital. Wow, so to the hospital we went and into the delivery room I walked and the birth mother said " its you...Your the one I have been carrying this baby for" I had never seen this lady in my life but God had put a connection between the two of us, I sit with her through nine hours of labor and then witnessed the birth of our precious son, Caden has been our sunshine, this child who will soon have his sixth birthday has been a joy, he makes you smile even when you want to pinch his little head off because he is being a stinker, he has a way about him a way that special, I look at him and nearly laugh just because he is such a mess, full of adventure but most humble. He has blessed our lives more than words could express. Well as you all know the story does not end there, were only half way there.
I really felt as though we were so fortunate to have two children through the miracle of adoption and did not expect anymore blessing. After the earthquake in Haiti last Jan. we felt the tug upon our heartstrings that God had another child planned for us, but after realizing Haitian children would not be placed for adoption unless you were already working toward an adoption in that country, Michael decided to get back in contact with the people who helped facilitate Carter's adoption. We could of never imagined what was in store for us, I guess you all know that story and I do not need to continue to ramble but what a year this has been, what a remarkable life God has allowed me to have. I would most of all just like to say Thank you a million times over for my life, yes it is hectic at times and I do not relish the moment like I need to but at times when it is quiet and I am all alone and I think of what God has given me an overwhelming joy floods my soul and I know its just by his mercy and great love that I have such a blessed life and that my children are just gifts from God and it is only because he allowed it. I am ashamed of living a fast paced life, a life where I worry and wonder what the future may hold, I would like to live in the moment the moment of now, the now is good, my children are just that children, precious wonderful, full of life, happy children and that is so much to be thankful for, so tomorrow when things are a little hectic, I want to remember how I am feeling now, feeling like the most blessed woman on the planet, what have I done to deserve this, nothing, nothing at all just by grace..Thank you Lord!!!!
Someday I hope I can give back, I want to know my life helped someone else and not always be consumed with me and mine, that is how it seems sometimes but with the help of God I will do something someday, I told Michael earlier tonight we should be missionaries when the kids grow up, he laughed but I was serious...You never know but for now I guess my purpose is to try and raise these precious children in the nurture and admonition of God, whew that's something big right there and I pray everyday I can do just that. That remains to be seen. Sorry I have rambled on and on and if anyone actually reads this kudos to you, its late and I had nothing better to do, well I just now thought I could of been praying,oops sorry Lord didn't even think of that, see I have a long way to go to be that creature he intended for me to be...lol..well goodnight or should I say good morning..

Snow day!!!!!!

Today was such a fun day and thankfully all my children were well enough to play out in the snow. The kids as well as the adults had a great time. What some great memories we made today. Michael got a rope and inter tube and pulled it behind the four wheeler and we all took times riding in it and the kids loved it. Life is so busy sometime it was just nice today to have my husband and children together with nowhere to go or no deadlines to be met. I remember when I was a child and how much fun my family had playing together in the snow and I hope my children will look back on this day and remember what a wonderful day we had.

Thank the Lord all the kids are fever free for now and seem to be over their sickness, Resiana is still not 100% and we still have the worry of how her blood work and test are going to turn out but for now I am choosing not to drive myself crazy with the what ifs and be thankful she is our little girl and God has allowed us to take care of her and we should know that he ALWAYS comes on time and knows how to calm the storm. Just a few short months ago he delivered for us and brought our bundle of Joy home and that is exactly what he is...JOY, there is not words to describe how crazy we all are over him...We are thankful!!! I know and trust the Lord is going to take care of her. He has it all in his hands and where better could it be!!!

Re-Cap

Well I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas, we did!!!! It was amazing to have our children and enjoy Christmas together. To see Resiana and the excitement she showed and to know this time last year she was sleeping on a side walk and that Christmas to her was just another day but this year was totally different. It is amazing how God has blessed our lives this year, I would of never dreamed that we would of been blessed with not one but two children, we are a very happy and blessed family and we could never praise God enough.

We did have a good Christmas, but unfortunately we have had very sick children, baby Crimsyn took very sick during the night Christmas Eve and was sick during all the holidays and after taking him to the doctor on Monday after Christmas they determined he had RSV. He was very sick but with breathing treatments, antibiotics he still was not making a big improvement but after much prayer and the compassion and love the prayers got through and he is now 100% better.

Resiana has been very healthy since coming to us and it has been very hard for us to watch her be so sick, she took sick the Monday after Christmas and remained sick all week,running high fever and just laying around. We were very concerned because she just couldn't seem to get over it, Caden took sick also but only ran high fever for a couple of days and now just has a cough. Resiana did not have any symptoms other than the high fever but on Wednesday night she came in our room and I thought she was sick at her stomach but when I turned the light on I realized she was bleeding it was all over her, I ran to the bathroom and started cleaning her up and realized she was having a severe nose bleed, thankfully it stopped within about five minutes. Well the rest of the week she remained sick and Sunday night the kids were watching TV and Carter started yelling for me and she was having another nose bleed this time it was massive, I got her to the bathroom and it was coming out with such force it was splattering on the walls and we could not get it stopped, after about ten minutes I started to panic, I could not get it to stop it continued for maybe another five minutes and I realized she was getting weak and I had to do something, I called the church and told them to tell Michael to come home and when he got home it was still bleeding and I think it bleed for about 40 mins, after about 25min it slowed but continued to bleed. The ER did blood work and was concerned, her platelets were low and that is what allows your body to clot. So now we are having to watch her close because they said at this point her hemotocrit and hemoglobin are so low that if she were to have another bleed they would have to admit her for observation and most likely give her a blood transfusion. They are thinking the reason her platelets got low was because the virus she had traveled to her bone marrow, we hope that is the case. She goes for more blood work this week and if her platelets are not up it would mean something a lot more serious than a virus. The doctor said it would take her a couple of months before her body built back up the hemotocrit and hemoglobin because she lost such a large amount of blood so during that time we have to pray she doesn't have any more bleeds. I know we are no better than anyone else to have sick children and I am so very thankful I get to take care of them but it still hurts my heart to watch them be so sick. During her sickness she has not complained one time, during the massive bleed (so bad it looked like someone had slaughtered a pig in my bathroom) she never cried or got the least bit upset. My other children would of been beside themselves, I asked her later if she was scared and she said no. I guess considering everything this poor child has seen in her little life has made her one tough little cookie. She is truly our little Angel and I thank God everyday I Get to be her mother, it is truly an honor. So please pray for her if you think of her.

Carter was my tough one during this past week and he is my helper, he is such a good boy, I am so proud of him, he helped me so much this week . I thought he was going to stay well but today he took sick, mainly his asthma, he has had several spells today, I guess it is his time to be petted by Momma, it is a circus around here. Oh the nights are an adventure as well, I guess with four kids you increase your chances on less sleep....Last night I think it was around one before I got to sleep and before 6:30am, Carter up twice, Caden up twice, Resiana up once and the baby once...OH the joys of motherhood..Yes I asked for it and belive it or not I would not have it any other way. I am just thankful that my sickness was brief and I have a wonderful husband who also happens to be an amazing father... Take Care everyone and Happy New Year!