A New Beginning (+our day)

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom to the captives, and release the prisoners from darkness. (Isaiah 61:1)

Today Maxim was set free, and released from the enemy's territory, the darkness of his institution. His heart is starting to heal as he spends time with his mama and starts to learn what a family is.

Today was gotcha day, or as his mama is calling it, "forever in my arms day".

Today was a new beginning for him. He was SET FREE! 

If this family get a penny for everytime I'm sure they'll be asked if Max and Theo are twins... they'll be rich! :) 

In a few days, he will begin life with this crazy awesome family, and though he may not at first, he soon will realize just how much he has been missing out on.

THANK YOU JESUS!!!!

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So, I realized last night that I have quite a few items in my suitcase that I brought to mix up when I got desperate. Plus I got a package from friends of ours the other day with stuff to keep the kids entertained, along with some treats for me (THANK YOU sweet M family!). 

I have pulled a few of these things out here and there, but I have a lot left, and I'm NOT taking a lot of it home with me. So today we got busy with it.

First order of business... today was Grandma's birthday. So Jordan and I made a cake. Carrot with cream cheese frosting. Yum!

(Ok, so I heard it was yummy. I was planning to have some after ice cream, but after 2 scoops, I didn't want any more, too much sugar. Seriously? waaaa!!! What's happening to me?? I couldn't drink very much soda the other day before it was too much sugar. I have a sweet tooth, or so I thought. I don't like this!)

Then I raided my craft stash to make cards.

L to R: Ruby's, Leroy's, Rose's, and Jordan's

This was Ruby's. She drew grandma.. Pretty good, I'd say!

Then we played Sorry. I knew they didn't have it so I brought it from home. Ruby got a little crazy. Not sure what she had?? lol So I started taping her.

You don't have to watch all or any of it. But if you want a laugh, watch some of it. 

The last minute, esp the last 15 seconds is the best part IMHO. 

And yes, I am aware, after watching this video that she needed to move one more space. My bad.

Later after everyone got home from school, I sent the older kids outside with some rocket balloons. After some begging on their part, I allowed my camera to be taken outside, with repeated warnings to keep the wrist strap on. It survived, and I have footage they don't know I'm blogging. hehe

After the littles were in bed, we played more Sorry with grandma. Everyone had a little too much sugar, and we laughed and laughed. Great medicine.

See the dude on the left... that's Jordan. He plays a mean game of Sorry. He played for the first time today, and beat me BAD 2 outta 3 times.

And. I'm nesting. Cleaning like crazy. Weird, but true.

I got this way a couple days before Summer and Lyla came home when I was in NY. Last time I was here, I didn't very because Maxim wasn't coming home, and probably because we had kids in the hospital. :P

Today I started going crazy and made an uber long list of things to clean/organize/do in the next few days. I already got a good start on it. If you think of it, say a prayer for the kids. Nah, actually don't. It'll be good for them. hehe

Sometimes I wonder...

...what I am thinking.

I gave Ralph, Ruby, and Zhen root beer and cookies.

Luckily they went to bed fine so the morning shouldn't be too ugly.

Speaking of getting the kids up for school... Leroy asked me yesterday if they could have the alarm clock in my room and put it in their room. Umm, no. If I don't have it, I don't get up on time. Which means that if Thomas and Chipper failed to wake up with their alarms (not unusual), they wouldn't make it to school on time. Actually, not just them, everyone would miss their buses. Sorry dude, not happening. lol

Thank you to the sweet lady who brought us pizza, soda*, and cookies for dinner tonight!!!

Won't get on my soapbox about the Superbowl, if you wanted to know, I'm sure you could probably guess what my opinion is about it! I did opt outta going with Chipper to the Superbowl youth group thing at church tonight. It would have been my last few hours outta the house for the week, but I felt ready to pass out**, and feeling stupid sitting there for 3 hrs with a bunch of teenage boys when I barely know a thing about football... it just wasn't worth it. hehe

On another note, I have less than a week left here. I'm leaving Saturday. Thursday and Friday are parent teacher conferences, so no school for anyone. Not really looking forward to that, but it is what it is.

Mama and Maxim should be coming home Friday, PLEASE pray this works out. Not only do I want to meet Mr. Max after all this, but I don't feel right about leaving when Mama isn't home or on her way home for sure.

Wow, I made a whole post with a face.... smiley, stick-out-my-tongue, or sad! So proud of myself. You may notice that doesn't happen often blogging about my time here!

Thank you for your prayers. G'night peoples.

*err pop as they call it here
**side effect of those stupid antibiotics I'm still on, at least it's helping for what it's supposed to be helping for. Not sure it's worth it with the headache, nausea/upset stomach, and dizziness/shortness of breath/faintness.

This 'n' That

Everyone is on the mend, with just a few of us still stay-home-from-school-sick. Thank you for praying!

Tonight, in the course of a half hour, I gave 12 pills/shots/droppers of meds. TWELVE. Craziness. And my total from today is going to be 17 (have to take mine yet tonight). Hey, gotta get a head start on this nursing degree, right?

The other day, Stephanie had a birthday! Not fun to spend it away from her family, but we still did something special for her.

Ruby painted pictures!

Rose did too!

And we made a cake!

Today neither Ralph or Ruby had school, so I got to spend some extra time with them.. and I got my camera out. :)

Gosh, they are soo dang cute! And good thing they are too! ;)

Best buddies!

They were going to the "foo-lah store"??? Thomas (home sick) and I were asking them what they were riding in... they wouldn't tell us. lol

And tonight we were (ok, still are) watching some TV before bed...

Leroy got up to get a blanket, Thomas laid down to steal his spot, and Rose stretched out too. After a bit of a pushing and squeezing, they ended up like this. :)

We tried to keep the little ones up for awhile so they wouldn't be up too early tomorrow. Zhenya didn't last too long, but I didn't mind. :) It was amazing, he was sitting STILL on my lap! hehe

Friday Funnies:

Ok, so you northerners and/or Wisconsinites want a chuckle?? The following are my conversations with Ralph's bus driver. She cracks me up. These people don't know much about cold weather!

Before I left in Dec, I told her I wouldn't be seeing her again. When I came out to get Ralph when I got back, she just laughed and laughed. There I go making a liar outta myself again (not unusual... Chip was teasing me the other night about not being in bed yet and hour after I said I was going too!). Anyways.

Driver: "So where are you from? Minnesota? Wisconsin?"

Me: "Wisconsin."

Driver: "There a lot of dairy farms up there?"

Me: "Yes, my mom actually grew up on one!"

On that note, tonight the food channel was on. They were talking about these beer battered fried cheese curls from Madison, WI. Beer and cheese, why I am not surprised it's from Wisconsin? :P

Another day, it was slightly cold, I went out to get Ralph in a tshirt. I was a little chilly, but I have to walk 20 ft out to the road. The bus driver is wearing a sweater, and says aren't you freezing? Umm no!!

Yesterday, it was snowing, but nothing really sticking the the ground, maybe in the upper 20's, but windy. I was wearing my winter coat.

Driver: Now this is your kinda weather!

Me: Bah, this is nothing. They have off school at home today because they have so much snow!

Bus aide: Oh that would be nice!

Driver: Well, the weather didn't want you to be homesick when you were here!

I can go without the snow and cold just fine without being homesick, thank you very much. :P

G'night y'all! (I'm "down south" now, but I'm told by my FL friends I'm not very good at southern slang! LOL)

Good News!

Everyone, except for Ralph and Ruby (only morning for them), were home again today. Thomas is sick now too... I thought he had been gone enough lately not to get it, but not so.

Several of the kids had doc appts today, and no one has influenza B! PRAISE GOD! Everyone just has upper respiratory junk like me (not the same thing).

So everyone is on meds, and going to school tomorrow. And I, am going to take a nap as soon as everyone is on the bus! ;)

I felt okay today... not great if course, but okay. The sweet lady who picks Ruby up for school brought me a treat when she dropped Ruby off, and told me her daughter likes them when she's sick. I'm feel blessed, thank you Ms. J!

Can't find my camera at the moment for new pictures, but today was like this too... movies and snuggles.

I lost my pink sweatshirt the other day, and yesterday I was looking all over for it. I just found it blogging this pic. LOL

Thank you all for praying! You have no idea how much I appreciate it! Please keep praying if you think of us!

Hanging onto Him.

Sorry if this is a mish mash of info that doesn't run together and may not make sense. I can't think very well right now, but wanted to update.

Today, I'm hanging onto His promises.

2 Corinthians 12:9: But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

Philippians 4:13: I can do all things through him who gives me strength.

Because of that, and all the prayers form you lovely people offered on our behalf here, is the only thing that got me through today.

Everyone except Thomas had fevers this morning. So everyone was home all day. Chipper, Leroy, Ralph, Zhen, Theo. And even though Jordan, Rose, and Ruby would have stayed home anyways, they were sick too.

Kids with a fever, and who are tired, tend to be cranky. Long day.

Me? Doing much better than yesterday, of course not good still. Wanna know what irks me? Severe headache was one of my symptoms that I told them when I was at the doctor yesterday. So what do they do? Put me on an antibiotic that has headache as a side affect! Other side affects are dizziness, upset stomach and nausea. I def have all the side affects, and I'm thrilled about it, cause that's just what I need.

Sweet Rachel was sick today so she couldn't come. I think we got her sick. :(

Fever is the first stage of influenza B. Then it develops into congestion and cough. Zhen, who has had a fever the longest, is now getting a cough and runny nose.

PLEASE pray everyone doesn't have it. I know in my gut they do, but we need some miracle that they don't.

Today... we snuggled.

And watched movies.

And took lots of pictures.

And Ralph took pictures. This one cracks me up.

Not on my life will you be able to convince me that spiritual attack isn't real. I know it is, and I know that's what is going on. I feel like we are under constant attack here, with one thing after another on today of all days. Stephanie, their mama, is feeling attacks too.

The evil one doesn't want Maxim to leave the confines and death sentence of his institution. He doesn't want him to be set free from that dark place. So he is doing everything he can to stop that from happening, by attacking everyone helping to make that happen.

Friends, can I humbly beg to you please, please pray? Prayer is what will bring Maxim home. Prayer is what will help me get through until everyone is better.

There's nothing else we can hold onto anymore, besides Jesus. So hang on to Him we will.

Not in Kansas anymore.

PLEASE continue to pray for Ralphie and Theo, and their family, as they are still in the hospital and will be for awhile yet...

I'm home at last and safely, praise God! Got home to the house around 11am. Flight was uneventful, and so smooth for such a small plane!

But I'm not in Kansas anymore. And I miss "my KS family" already!!

I miss Ruby...

I miss Ralph...

I miss Zhen...

I miss Theo...

I miss Leroy...

I miss Rosie...

I miss Jordan...

I miss Thomas...

I miss Chipper...

(As a side note... I was showing my little brother Elijah these picture when I got home and telling him names, and when we got to this one, I told him that was Chipper. He signed 'chip' and has been signing it asking to see this picture since!

I miss Richard...

(He no longer lives at home, but he came home for Christmas a few days ago)

And I miss James and Stephanie...

Didn't get a picture with James... but here's me and Stephanie at 5 am this morning, both of us with very little sleep the past few days. Need I say more?

I miss their whole family and the adventure always going on at their house!

(I do NOT, however, miss these two or the 3 dogs... but the kids insisted I take a picture with them. Sorry to the pet lovers, but I'm not too fond of indoor pets. ;))







As a friend of mine wisely said (hope you don't mind I'm quoting you!) - "Experiences like this are great.  But they are also so, so hard.  I have never been so stretched as I am helping out an adoptive family.  And that's not a bad thing. " I couldn't agree more. I struggled and was stretched a LOT this trip. But I also wouldn't trade my experiences there for anything.

I have learned so much... not only about myself, and tips on managing a large family, but how to completely rely on Him who gives me strength. And I am soo thankful for that.

Thank you Nance family, for putting up with me for 3 weeks, and letting me fall crazy in love with your crazy (in a good way) family! Love you all and miss you!! ♥♥♥

Snow!!

PLEASE PLEASE PRAY for Miss Selah and her family! She went downhill today.. :(

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The kids were excited to wake up this morning and find snow on the ground! I was like "ya whatever, this amount of snow is nothing", but I guess it is for here! :)

We ended up going outside to play... it ended up 10 minutes at most, not counting the 45 minutes it took to get everyone ready. 

Have you ever tried to get everyone ready to go outside for the first time that winter (aka all the hats, mittens, and boots) in a house that you have no idea where any of it is?? Not the easiest. ;)

What we woke up to... 

Zhen took his mittens off and refused to put them back on, and started crying because his hands were cold... so he stayed outside 3 minutes before he went back in....

Of course I had to take some pictures to blog first of him outside. ;) Bad babysitter I am.

Ruby... adorable as ever.

Ruby and I... yes, I went outside in my PJ bottoms. Don't judge, they are warmer than any pants I have with me! I was feeling very fashionable.

Jordan...

Leroy

Then Ruby decided something wasn't right (don't even remember what it was... something silly of course) so she went back in too.

This kid may seem gentle, but he throws a mean snowball!! Love him!

And the only picture I got of Rose.... I am seriously going to miss these kids sooo very much!!!

Theo stayed inside and Thomas gave him his breathing treatment... the two oldest boys were sleeping. Ahem. Ohh well, they'll have to get up and help tomorrow when I'm gone.

The kids will have surprise tomorrow when they wake up!! Yes, Mama is gonna be here in a couple hours!! They have no clue. They still think she might not be home until after Christmas. Soo excited to see the looks on their faces!

Ralph and Theo are about the same today. Not much new with them...

Prayers would also be appreciated for a ok flight for me tomorrow... I'm nervous as I'm very light headed and out of breath today (I would guess I should be on o2 as well, but that's obviously not optional right now), plus the weather doesn't help things. Safe travels for my mom as she drives down to O'Hare and as us and our fellow passenger drive back would be appreciated too!