Another Carter Moment

I know I've been posting about Carter a lot lately, but when my friend Jackie put this post up on her blog, I just had to share it too. The little boy in the "outdoor bathroom" story is...you guessed it - CARTER!

Lemonade Stand!!

We really do live in a small town. The kids had a lemonade stand today that we did with a family down the street. It was so much fun! The kids literally worked for their sales. They went door-to-door to the neighbors on our block letting them know they were doing a lemonade stand. Carter yelled (imagine that!) LEMONADE!!!!!!! at every car that drove by. I think all in all they each earned between $3 and $4. Not too bad for 2 six year olds, a 4 year old, a 3 year old and a 2 year old. Oh yeah - and 2 great mommies!!!! Thanks, Megan!

Another Quote From Carter

Here's the latest from Carter:

"Mom, I measured the ottoman and it's about 8 minutes to go."

He said this while using a tape measure to actually measure the ottoman. I've never seen a tape that measures in "minutes to go!"

He must use the "special" tape measure...

Memories

As the kids and I were walking down to our little grocery store, I had a memory come flooding back that made me a little sad and a little nostalgic. Maine Avenue, the main street that runs through town, reminds me a lot of Berry this time of year. It's a wide street, lined with stately trees - a lot like the walk I took every day from my dorm at the Ford Buildings down to the main part of campus. It is beautiful! And every day that walk was a time I spent deep in thought - either going over my notes again right before a big test or just about life in general. It was also the location of lots of talks with friends, and time spent just looking at the cows in the pasture. The only difference is it's people looking back at you wondering what you're doing instead of a smelly old cow!

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!!!!!!