A Gift

I do not have a big story to tell or any great updates nothing has really changed in our lives other than Crimsyn is growing up right before our eyes as well as the other kids...Life is full of ups and downs,but I think it is what we learn when were in the valley that makes the mountains that much greater and i think that if there were never any valleys we really couldn't enjoy the view..What is life all about anyways, yes first and foremost I think to serve God and keep his commandments should be our top priority but within us all lies a capacity of love and compassion and I think God wants us to to use that to help others, I for one fail greatly in that department but if I had a goal for 2012 I would love to help those in need, I usually think of poor people and yes I most definitely want to help in that area and get out of my comfort zone to do that ,skip buying those cute shoes or my kids a new outfit just because and give to those who need it so much more than I do, but I have thought a lot lately of how many other ways people need help, sometimes its as simple as a smile or a simple I love you, maybe a card in the mail, a pat on the back, maybe my time, time yes that would be a sacrifice to give someone(other than my immediate family) my time...I had a life altering experience with the adoption of our last two children, it has profoundly changed my life, many nights I lie in bed and think of my children's birth mother and the other people that had to live in such poverty and I feel a since of guilt of why I have such a blessed life, who I am, I am no better than any of those people but somehow by Gods mercy I am beyond blessed and whats amazing is they feel the same way, They feel the love of our Saviour too, maybe its because of their simplicity that they can feel his love so strongly, I believe if someone is honest in their hearts God will make a way, In saying that his ways are so high above ours that we will never figure them out but I truly believe he does not look at things the way we do, we as humans have complicated things but I would love to get back to the simplicity that is in Christ Jesus..Today I feel happy, happy that I know him, Happy that I am the mother to four wonderful beautiful children, and a wife to an amazing husband,today I am thankful for Life and it is a GIFT!!!

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...