Changes

Here are some pics of our BIG girl in her "pony" undies. She is so very proud of herself!

Jori and I had a little "girls" night out. We went to get haircuts. Here we are before...

...and here we are after. Once she started cutting Jori's hair, my heart kind of went up in my throat. I know it is going to be way easier, especially since she doesn't like to keep "pretties" in her hair.



We can't for get about Tyson. The first thing he said when he saw us was that we looked "weird". That is his favorite word at the moment!

Just a good old boy

Here is a picture of Darin's beard. That's one month of growth people.

And here is his amazing shave job. Don't you think he'd fit right in with Bo and Luke Duke?? He could at least be their faithful sidekick.

Love you babe.

Confession

So it occurred to me today that I need to exercise. I mean I REALLY need to get in shape. My kids took home an aerobics video for kids from church (I thought it would be hilarious to watch them do it). So after laughing at them for 5 minutes, I decided to try it and it KILLED me. I hate to even admit it, but I did like 3 minutes and was like "Mommy needs to take a break". Yeah. not cool.

I am realizing that I am getting older. Not old, but older. I keep reading and hearing the phrase "use it or lose it" and I am thinking that I have already lost a lot of "it".

So, I am going to have to do something. I just have to come up with a plan. Our bike trailer/smooth pushing stroller broke, Jori's legs aren't long enough to ride a bike or keep up with a "brisk" walking pace. I can try my regular stroller, but it isn't the smoothest ride. I am going to have to do something. I really want a treadmill. I always try to convince Darin that I would actually use it, unlike the many others who buy them and use them for a clothes rack, but even if he did think I would use it, we don't have the funds for such a purchase at this time.

I went shopping on Saturday and when I saw my legs in the mirror all I could think was there is NO way I am wearing a bathing suit this summer. Hello cottage cheese thighs. I mean HUGE dimples. When did this happen? I am guessing it was between package number 10-11 of Double Stuf Oreos. Gah.

So that is my confession. I don't feel too badly putting it out for everyone to see, because you all don't really comment anyway (if you are still even reading) so it kind of gets me off the hook. : )

Have you ever written to your congressman/woman?

Up until today, I don't believe I have ever done so. However, as I have been secretly reading the blogs of families that have recently adopted children from all over the world, I have been reading about H.R. 213: Adoption Tax Relief Guarantee Act of 2009. This is a piece of legislation that I HOPE will make it through the whole legislative process and will one day come up for a vote. Why do I care?? Darin and I have always talked about adopting a child/children at some point in our marriage. It has been a desire we've shared since we were dating. Without H.R. 213, this may not ever be possible for us. Why? Well, currently, there is an adoption tax credit (maybe not a credit, but that is what I am going to call it)that you can receive when you adopt a child. Adoption is not cheap people, and seeing as it hurts me to even shell out $6 for a new shirt, without this tax credit/relief we would probably have a hard time coming up with the means to adopt.

So, here is a link that will take you to a blog with all sorts of info on this bill and there are also links that you can click on to write your Senators and Representative.



It really doesn't take that long. Promise.

Deep thoughts from me

I had this post all written and ready to go, but my wise husband gave me some advice that I am going to follow. Shocking, I know. We watched a movie last night that really got me thinking. This is a movie that I would recommend to some people, but not to others. I wouldn't recommend it to someone that is a new Christian or not a Christian at all. So all I'll say is that it was a movie about world religions. The first part of the movie was about Christians, and that is the part that bothered me the most, but not for the reasons I had thought prior to watching the movie. Are you confused yet? Well this is what's left of my original post:


I think that what bothered me the most was to realize how many different views we as "Christians" have. Some of us believe in the rapture, some of us believe in a literal 7 day creation, some of us believe the Bible and science just don't mix at all and that science has the answers, some of believe that carrying signs that say homosexuals will burn in hell is an effective "ministry", some of us believe that we are literally drinking Christ's blood during communion, some of us aren't sure what we believe.

I totally get it that we all hold on to our own doctrines and would have a hard time just switching over to another belief. For example, I am doing a Beth Moore study on Daniel right now. I have really enjoyed it, but Beth is a Baptist and we are now getting a lesson on dispensational premillennialism, which is the set of beliefs she has for "end-time" events. Now, I am reformed and have been brought up believing the Amillennial view and am struggling with the observations and interpretations I am now being "taught". So I do get it, but in the end is it going to matter who is right as long as we are followers of Christ?

Earlier this week I read an article that talked about how the number of people that profess to be Christians is slipping. Then yesterday I got a packet of information from Voice of the Martyrs, which included a map showing countries where being a Christian is prohibited. I guess it just made me wonder if we are losing our voice, losing our witness, because we are so focused on defending our own personal beliefs instead of preaching the Gospel message. People of different denominations are "going out into all of the world", but does it get confusing for the people of other nations when they are being told to do different things for the same God?

Enjoying the warmth...

...while it lasted! We had a couple beautiful days here in Hudsonville this week, but today it is rainy and dreary and next week there might be more snow. The kids and I did get out quite a bit to enjoy the mild weather the first part of the week and the beautiful sunshine on Thursday and Friday.

Here are some pics from a walk we took early in the week. Tyson wanted to bring his ruler along to do some "observations" (again, it's all PBS people!). Everyday I thank God for the friendship that Tyson and Jori have. They have their moments, but for the most part they stick together and have lots of fun with each other.
Little Jori is such a trooper. I wish you could all see her little legs moving as fast as they can to keep up with her big brother. She loves wearing her rain boots and would gladly wear them every time we need to go out.

Thursday and Friday we had temps in the 50's. I think it might have even hit 60. I have washed a lot of wet and muddy clothes already this week and have another load waiting for me in the laundry room! It was wonderful to head outside without a winter coat on. The kids did have sweatshirts on at one point, but they both got hot at some point and left them in the garage. I didn't think it was quite that warm, but they didn't seem to mind. As you can see, they were warm enough to play in the snow without mittens or anything. They definitely do NOT take after me!















Hope all you Michiganders got out and enjoyed the sun!

Progress UPDATE!!!

She did it, she did it, she did it, YAY!!!! Yep, Jori finally pooped in the potty. I asked her if it was hard or easy and she said "easy", so we'll see what tomorrow brings! I think she is way excited for the chance to wear undies. She has also been staying pretty dry at night already. Trying not to get my hopes up, but maybe, just maybe she'll be fully trained in a month or so, instead of the 7 months it took Tyson to finally stay dry through the night!

Progress Reports

Yesterday we went to Tyson's school for a conference with his teacher, Mrs. Hubach. We were looking forward to hearing how Tyson has been doing in school. Strengths: Tyson really adjusted well after being in Africa, he is a hard worker and a fun friend to have in class. Growth Areas: Cutting and counting to 30.

We are so thankful that Tyson has had such a great school year. God has blessed him with a curious mind and we are always amazed at the things he comes up with. We were happy to hear that "academically" (not sure how academic preschool is) he is doing well, but we were more pleased to learn that he is cooperative, respectful, sharing, and that he listens well. We have problems with some of those things at home, but Tyson is doing great at school.

Although Jori isn't in school, she is making progress in another area: Potty Training! I have been following some advice from a friend at church and Jori has finally started taking the initiative to go to the bathroom on her own. She gets 2 marbles for her cup when she tells us she needs to pee, nothing for when we tell her to go and she has been promised 3 marbles if she poops in the potty. She already filled her little cup once and got to pick out a treat at Meijer. She has been enjoying her Princess Teddy Grahams and her cup is almost half filled again! She really wants to get some Dora undies, but we've told her she can't have them until she stops pooping in her pull-up.

Darin and I have nothing to report. I am trying to make progress on cleaning my house, but we have so much crap it is hard to even know where to begin. I really want to do a big purge and get rid of the junk. I always say "if I could only have a day with NO kids in the house, I could do it", but even then, it would be pretty overwhelming. Oh, Darin is making progress on growing his beard. We will post some pictures soon. So I guess we all are making a little progress after all.