Parenting

Right now, parenting sucks. Today was one of the hardest days I've had with the kids in a long time. I'm not sure what was so different except that Britney is gone to some sprint car races in Iowa for the next several days and his mom left yesterday after a long visit. I don't know if the kids were just overly tired or not sure how to handle all of the sudden changes. Here's a quick rundown of just a few of the arguments I faced today, and I'm ashamed to say that I didn't always act like the mature adult I am :)

Carter asked for Cheetos for breakfast. That should've been a sign of the day to come. I said no, which was not the answer he wanted. But, I stuck to my guns and he had a slightly more nutritious breakfast of cheese toast.

I was planning to paint some old school desks I got for the kids at the Spittles' yard sale. The kids wanted to help, so I thought I would give it a try. It was just a can of spray paint, after all. WRONG! Ashlyn liked to hold the can about 2" from her desk and spray a steady stream for a good 30 seconds. You can't even begin to imagine how much paint I had to wipe off that desk! After an argument with her, which I'm sure ended with her feeling like a total failure, we compromised and I did the desk and she did the seat. Unfortunately we ran out of paint before we got 2 coats on the seat...

Tonight was the first night of the Nobles County Fair, and in my eternal optimism, I figured that if I took the kids out of the house, maybe our day would improve. At first, it seemed that I was once again, a genius! Happy kids, nice kids, kids who were thinking of others first! Oh, but wait, I only spent $23 on tickets, which was enough for them to each ride 4 rides. All was going fine, until Ashlyn told Carter he wouldn't want to ride one of the rides she wanted to ride, even though he wanted to ride. Because she is the all-knowing big sister, he conceded that he didn't want to ride, which made her happy, until she found out that I couldn't leave him standing all by himself while I rode with her and she would have to ride by herself. Needless to say, she was not a happy camper with that information.

And finally, when I told Carter to pick his last ride, he picked a little motorcycle ride - for the second time. Ashlyn didn't want to ride, so he rode by himself. Then it was Ashlyn's turn to pick her last ride. She picked the swings. Carter didn't understand why we didn't have more tickets for him to ride in the blue swing. So, all of Ashlyn's ride, I was holding a screaming 3 year old, pitching the fit of his life.

Oh yeah and let's not forget Ashlyn and Carter fighting over who would carry the bottle of water and then screaming "I want to go home!" while I was trying to get some information from one of the vendors at the fair.

After the kids went to bed, I made a kindness chart for both of them with some Bible verses on it and character traits that we need to work on. I hope that it will remind me too so that we don't have many more days like today!

Awesome God

Today was the adoption service at our church that we have been working on with the Spittles over the last few weeks. I know that the service was completely covered in prayer, and I know at least Britney and I went to church today with an expectation and excitement that we haven't had since we left Georgia. It was so neat how God used all of our gifts and the service came together beautifully. It wasn't work really for anyone. Sure, there were things that people were nervous about or having to step out of their comfort zone a little. But, we all trusted that He would give us the words and the heart to communicate what needed to be said.

Scot and Kristin were able to share their story, God's heart for orphans, our adoption by Him, and share their two new additions with everyone - Delali and Raymond. We were even able to include every single person there in the service by showing ways that they can support the Spittles, even when it feels like their part is so small. It's not the size of the part you play, but that you allow God to lead you in playing that part.

Two of the many amazing things that happened today have to do with the financial side of the adoption. Money has never been the focus of this adoption, but everyone knows that it IS expensive and Scot and Kristin were trusting that God would meet this huge need. God has already met the need for the first half of the $24,000 they need for the adoption and travel expenses. Today, Kristin shared the grand total for the yard sale over last weekend and Friday. Remember here, I asked you all to pray for $3,000? Well, the grand total was just over $3,300!!! That NEVER happens here. But it did for them! Amazing!

The second big WOW of the day came after the pie social we had after church. Our friend, Shelly, organized a social where people donated pies to be sold for $10 each. All of the money raised went to the Spittles for adoption expenses. There were between 35 and 40 pies total, but people paid way over their $10 for them :) The total for today was $2,047! When we left church, I had heard that the total was $947. I was floored by that. But when I got home and read Kristin's blog that the total was over $2,000, I just started laughing out loud. God is awesome! He truly can meet our every need - even through pie :)

By the way - I thought I would include a picture of most of the Spittles so that you can see this incredible family. Scot is missing only because these guys came over while he was at work :) This is Gabe, Levi, Sophia, Simon, Keegan and Kristin.

Sickness

That pretty much sums up the last 2 weeks at our house, unfortunately. Carter was sick last week with an ear infection and then some kind of virus on top of it. He was better on Sunday. Now Ashlyn has had a fever since Monday afternoon. She has an appointment today. And Britney started feeling bad on Tuesday. I hope it ends soon!!!!!!

The Spittles!

There was an article on our friends, the Spittles, in the paper this morning. It somewhat shares the story of their family and their pending adoptions. Hope you enjoy it!

The yard sale was a huge success! Scot and Kristin have decided to have a 1/2 price and bag sale next Friday to try to get rid of some of the stuff that's left. We sold A LOT of stuff over the last two days, and even though we don't have the official count yet - we know they made over $2000! YEAH!

Kristin promised she would post the final total on her blog.

Please Pray!!!

Our good friends, Scot and Kristin, are in the process of adopting two children from Ghana. They are anxiously awaiting the final referral and hope to have it in the next couple of days. This will be the news where they find out the names of the children they are going to bring home to be part of their family.

I'm asking you all to pray for them over the next week, especially. Starting tomorrow, there will be a fundraiser yard sale at our church. I heard that another couple of friends of ours are praying specifically that the sale raises $3,000 for them. Would you pray that too?

Next Sunday, August 3rd, they will be doing a special adoption service at our church. The Lord has really made Himself known to them through this adoption. It's neat to see their faith grow and how their walk with Him has changed. He has led them every step of the way, even though this was not something even on their radar last summer. I love watching other people have the faith to step out even though they don't really know what's going on. Having lived through it, you gain a whole new perspective on what other people are going through and can (hopefully) be a new kind of encouragement to them!

Scot and Kristin are some really great friends. She made the extra effort last year after having a baby to come to Adrian when Britney was gone for a fun weekend and get to know me a little. She was part of the Bible study I joined right after we moved. Scot is part of a group of guys that Britney has gotten to know and they meet for lunch every week.

Their family is amazing. And I am so thankful that we have been able to make friends like these. I'll keep you posted on how the sale goes. Thanks for praying with us!!

Oh yeah! Be sure to check out her blog - They're Ghana Come Home!

What I Did On My Summer Vacation (Part 2)

I know I'm a little late in getting this posted, and it probably won't be as detailed as part I, but better late than never :)

After a mini-vacation in St. Louis, we stayed the next week at Britney's parents'. it was a laid back, relaxing time and we spent time at the pool and playing and visiting with family.

At the end of the week, we left for south Georgia for a family reunion on my dad's side. My grandmother had only seen Carter once before and there were family members who had never met him. it had been way too long sine we had seen those family members! Aside from the heat and humidity (and gnats), it was a really nice visit.

We left from there to head down to Disney World!! We had a wonderful 3 days there with the kids, riding rides, waiting in line, eating, waiting in line, watching shows, waiting in line...You get the picture. Ashlyn rode the Tower of Terror at Hollywood Studios and both kids were more adventurous than I thought they would be. Ashlyn's favorite ride was the Kali River Rapids, which thanks to a generous person who gave us their fastpasses, she got to ride twice! I was smart and stayed off the ride the second time with Carter while Ashlyn rode with Britney and her uncle Mark. They got SOAKED! But she loved it and had a great time. Click here and here for pics at some different parks.

After the kids left, Britney and I got to stay a couple of extra days with some of my sisters. We had a great time with Melinda, Chad and Rebekah, who we never get to see or really spend much time with since we're always together at mom's with so many other people. It was nice to spend time with such great teenagers and a fun sister :)

We spent a couple of days back at my parents' before heading back home. It was a long trip, but a great trip. I think the one thing we were all looking forward to about coming home was sleeping in our own beds with our own pillows. But we are looking forward to going back at Christmas for a few days!

Strawberries!

The kids and I went strawberry picking with Britney's grandparents this morning. We went last year too, but only filled up two gallon-sized buckets, which totaled about 10 pounds. When I got home, I realized a good many of them were green because Carter picked anything that would come off of the stem. In reality, our 10 pounds were probably closer to 8 or 9 that we could actually eat, and they only lasted a few weeks.

So, this year we started out with conversations about what kind of strawberries Carter should pick - RED! I also gave each kid their own buckets, and I had 2 flat boxes that Britney's grandpa had given me. I was determined we were going to have a good time and I wasn't going to nag the kids too much about picking just the right berries. It was about the EXPERIENCE for them :)

The kids did great! Carter picked about 1/2 gallon bucket full and Ashlyn's was about 3/4 of the way full. Not too bad for kids picking on the hottest day of the year so far (a cool 88!). I was so proud of them!

I couldn't believe when I got to the check out and our berries weighed in at a whopping 30 pounds!!! So, I spent the afternoon washing, drying and hulling all those strawberries. It took me over 2 hours, but the strawberry shakes, pies, cakes, etc., will be oh so worth it!!!