happy halloween

wolverine won an award in the costume contest because he's super cool! i love the facial hair! it was a beast to get off though, poor guy...his cheeks were really red when we finished. he said it was worth it. :-)

i can't imagine not going to this pumpkin patch. we've gone every year since elijah was a baby. this year my mom was in town so she went with us.

elijah took this picture and i think it turned out so cute!

 

my mom brought her new kitten with her to spend the weekend with us. the boys loved her and wanted to keep her. she loves to crawl up in your lap or inside your jacket to sleep.

comic convention

first of all, i just came across this song and it really speaks to me right now.

have you ever heard of "enter the worship circle"?

i sure hadn't but i am loving their music right now!

this is the best youtube video i can find of it.

this song and one of theirs called "orphan song" are just great-ness!

and the title of this blog post...

we took the boys to a comic convention last saturday.

they had a great time and got their picture with a lot of costumed heros/villains!

THOR

IRON MAN

DEADPOOL

WOLVERINE(S), MS MARVEL AND MAGNETO

BLACK WIDOW

BATMAN AND HAWKEYE

SILVER SURFER AND CLONE TROOPERS

we have a full weekend of fun fall activities planned!

hope you have a wonderful pre-halloween weekend too!

a week of highs and lows

this past week was a doozy. 

we were up and down, up and down emotionally. 

in a way, i'm really glad this week is over. 

highs from the week:

savannah's 3rd birthday party last saturday,

complete with face painting.

spiderman and hulk were happy!

 my college buddy stephanie and her son clint stayed with us a couple of days.

here are all the boys blowing bubbles!

judah is loving gymnastics!

elijah is in his second month of judo and he loves it!

it is great for discipline and strength and he gets to wrestle...what more could an 8 year old boy want than to get to wrestle?!?!

 lows from the week:

*spending more money to get our THIRD fingerprinting done with CIS

*not getting a referral - and it hit us especially hard this week

*it seemed like a lot of life stresses hit us this week as well

having to say goodbye to our sweet dog amos. it. was. HARD. :(

Lord, I will praise you during the highs and lows of life.

I refuse to feel defeated and hopeless.

I really do feel in my gut that this darkness will soon lift...our dawn is coming!!!

oktoberfest

in the spirit of lightening things up around here,

we went to oktoberfest this weekend.

yummy food, cool weather and fun with the family.

 

surrender

Sometimes you have to let go of your "perfect" plan and trust that God's is going to be much, much better. The first step in trusting God is surrender. These past almost 3 years since we started the adoption paperwork, have been a slow, painful surrendering process. A letting go of control, of how we wanted things to happen and taking one more tiny baby step each day toward God and His plan. I can say with confidence that I am changed. I am not the same person I was 3 years ago.

The old me had a closed fist.

Now my fingers are slightly open.

The old me thought I knew what patience was.

Now I realize that patience is letting God have control of the timing.

The old me thought this was about the act of adoption.

Now I know that God had a journey in mind to change me.

The old me wanted another child for our family.

Now I know that we are providing a family for the child.

The old me thought I knew what was best for me.

Now I am finally willing to let God write His story.

And ultimately, my life is God's story, not my own. 

I thought when we obeyed the call to adopt, that things would happen the way we wanted them to since we said YES. I mean, we said YES God, can't you at least allow this process to go the way we want?!?!? No. He is not content to let us write our own story because He knows that His story is going to knock our socks off. 

So write your story Lord, we are just along for the ride.

twenty-seven months

totally off my rocker

like most of you, i love fall. i love everything about it.

this month has been quite a whirlwind and has gotten away from me.

i have neglected to take pictures of anything.

i feel restless and undone.

quite honestly, i feel completely off my rocker.

if you don't know much about adoption, let me fill you in on one tiny detail:

it will make you go crazy or close to it.

the only thing keeping me grounded right now is my faith.

we are sad.

we are frustrated.

we are confused.

we are hurting.

we did not sign up for this.

let me make it clear to you that we still 100% feel called to adopt.

what we did not sign up for was the 2 1/2 year wait.

we didn't sign up for our children being this far apart in age.

we are aching for another child.

remember that we started the paperwork almost 3 years ago.

i want to scream.

it is completely out of our control.

i have to trust you God, that you have a plan.

a plan for our family that is far better than mine.

a plan for our daughter.

thanks for letting me get that out of my head.

in the meantime, i've been reading.

a lot.

you MUST read the book 7 by jen hatmaker.

must.

or any of her books for that matter.

she is phenomenally talented.

and a wonderful speaker (i heard her).

and a very sweet person (i met her).

and in the adoption club (from ethiopia).

this book completely ruined me (in a good way).

get you a copy (but not my signed one :-).

website HERE

also, we think it's cool that jason's grandfather wrote a book.

so check it out too.

he has his own website and everything.

 website HERE

enjoy fall!

the weather, the decor, the food and the fun.

everything about it.

a last first

 yesterday was judah's last first day of preschool.

he is in the 4 year old class this year and will be in kinder next year. :-(

that means that i started back to work as well!

here we are on our first day of school together!

at his desk

and by his cubby

with his sweet teachers, ms liz and ms terri

and here is my classroom. it's a circus theme this year and i can hardly take any credit for it. my co-teacher ashley is very creative and i think it looks great!

the first day went great! judah had a fun day and i have a very sweet class.

but i was EXHAUSTED at the end of the day.

i forgot how much energy i need for 13 four year olds!