"Blessed is the man whose quiver is full" Ps. 127
How God Created a Miracle in Our Family...
Most people look at our family and either say "you're crazy" or "what a blessing". It is that statement alone that sets people apart in how they view what happens in life. We were childless for 6 years before God blessed us with our third foster child, Isaiah, whom we adopted. Our tiny, three pound, adorable baby boy quickly became the love of our lives.
8 months after Isaiah was born, my father-in-law gave a woman a ride. That 4 block ride changed our lives forever when she told him she was pregnant and giving up her baby for adoption. Oh yeah...and she was due in 8 days! Well, just 5 days later, we had Makenna Shea!
3 months later, after Dirk and I had just prayed to have another baby when Makenna was about 1, that same birth mother called asking us to take her next baby. Isabella was born 1 week shy of Makenna's first birthday!
The funny part of the story is when we found out that I, the one who could never get pregnant, was pregnant! Ian was born 7 weeks after Isabella! God had given us 4 children all under the age of 1 1/2!!! We were thrilled! Such a work of God's hands it was.
This year we added to our clan when we were surprisingly pregnant again (so much for not being able to get pregnant). We now have 5 under 4! And I now wonder how mom's manage with all those kids so spread apart in age. It may be hard sometimes, but we love our life!
As most of you know a box is worth far more than a million dollars to a kid. well, today the kids took a left over box and turned it into a race car complete with wheels and everything (until they removed them to be steering wheels of course). so, being the homeschooling mom that i am, i think by definition you are supposed to be utterly creative and educational in all things...well, i am not really that but i try. so i decided to make a lesson out of it. we learned all about "transportation" today. after learning the word they named all the things that "took us places" and we acted them out. a lot of fun ensued!!!
this place quickly became known as the bus stop
and now the bus if full, or was it a train at this point? who knows...it was everything!!! It makes me remember to always take time to be a kid! fun is all around us...and learning too.
Today Elias and I got the day to ourselves and oh did we enjoy it! i decided to record him talking so everyone that is far away can get to hear him a bit. he starts up as soon as you look at him with smiles and constant chattering. however, the camera mesmerized him so the smiles are not there and he was a little preoccupied with the lens to talk as much as normal. but you can enjoy just a little.
Today we learned about Japan in school today. We were reading a book about a pair of red clogs (from Japanof course) and decided to make a whole day of it! After we looked on the computer for a map of Japan, we then looked at traditional Japanese kids, dances, clothing and even how they bathe!! that part is interesting in case you are unaware! Our Aunt Heidi-Ho and Uncle Wataru (What-to-do) are living in Japan so we were blessed to already have some real- live Japanese house coats (that we called Kimonos today or Kimomos if you are Bella). we wore those all day and ate lunch with chop sticks...or attempted to anyway.
Then lunch came and eventually every one of them got food into their mouths via chop sticks! i was so proud!!!
well, most of them got it into their mouths...some just played!
then that night we were able to Skype our Aunt and Uncle and tell them a few things we learned about Japan that day. we will have to do that more for sure! Isaiah even made Japanese clogs out of his flip flops and socks tonight..quite cute!
He's growing...and doing so way too fast!
The boys had 105 temps today. We found it to be a wonderful day...i know that is terrible, but when you have 5 kids and 2 down for 24 hours...it makes for a relatively easy day. i felt bad that they were so miserable, but it was great to love on them for a whole day.
For some reason we got a wild hair and decided to paint faces today. the girls looked adorable. Isaiah didn't want his picture taken, so we let the girls ham it up!
she's showing you her muscles...
Daddy even got to enjoy our carnival festivities when he got home.
His little world is expanding...We dug out the ol' excersaucer and plunged him right in. he loved it! we all sat around and "taught" him his colors. A little overboard??? probably, but the kids thought they were being good brothers and sisters...
i think he likes it!
We thought she looked like a Mexican senorita today so we played it up and had mexican food for dinner and talked spanish (kinda).
In school today we did sponge painting which makes Bella oh so happy! she adores getting dirty!! 3 seconds into it and paint was on her nose...then the rest of her body got slimed too! they made beautiful plates today...
now the mouth is getting it...
it was her "lipstick"
don't be fooled, it just looks like she is being careful...it was all a show to act like her brother, Ian, who incidentally is not shown in these pictures because he it just too clean a person. he is the one that even when he first was given cereal he did not make a mess. on his first birthday he wiped the cake off his face and to this day scoops his spoon under hsi mouth if a drip starts to occur! he is pathetically like his mother...
Very Proud siblings...but brother is not so happy!!
We took the big kids to see the movie Wall-E (an entire movie with no words and all about a square littel robot) a few weeks ago and much to my surprise Isaiah quickly used his creativity and a diaper box to transform himself into his own version of Wall-E.
Too creative!!!
A good friend of ours, Caren, gave us a tea set from when she was a little girl. it was so sweet of her! she doesn't have any girls and wanted it to be used by our little ones, so...hence the tea party that ensued.
Bella was having a tea party with me today. she was so sweet. she had just brushed her hair and put on her makeup of course! i can't believe she is soooo girly! who knew the one who eats mud and bugs would love to dress up, play mommy, and have tea parties!! I love it! If you look closely you can see her "makeup" (aka lip gloss) all over her lips (and surrounding area too!) this day she put on blue eye shadow also...now that's a look for a 3 year old!!!
The other night I was teaching the kids the song "On Top Of Spaghetti". all of them loved it! they all wanted it sung 20 timesa at each of thier bed times, laughed and joined in. Then I got to Isaiah. We sang:
"on top of spaghetti
all covered with cheese
i lost my poor meatball
when somebody sneezed
it rolled off the table
and onto the floor.
and them my poor meatball
rolled right out the door
it rolled down the sidewalk
and under a bush
and then my poor meatball
was nothing but mush"!!!
to which he nonchalantly, matter of factly replies not with laughter, or an imediate sing it again mom. but with ..."why didn't the kid just pick up the meatball?"
Ian has really grown up lately. looks more like his daddy every day. these are a few of my favorite from today. he was so cooperative. just really mellow today.
such a daddy face!!!
another one that makes me want to take photography lessons...
a mini-dirk
he looks like he turned 12 in this picture...where is my baby???
Isaiah spent much of today just lovin' on his daddy. he has missed him so lately...
Makenna is quite the photographer. she took this one and a few more to come. she may be 3, but I think she has something here...
another one of Kenna's...
12 again!!!
those boys could not get enough of him today.
Isabella was on the move constantly. what solemn nature Ian had today, Bella was completely without. so, there were only a few that turned out without the blur of movement...
smiling as always..
Kenna's again...i think i am the only one around still enough for her to shoot.
this day Isaiah had a 104.5 temp and was miserable. his little lips get all swollen when he gets a high fever. just 24 hours though and it was gone. however, he took advantage of the chicken soup in his favorite mug on the couch...watching cartoons of course. too bad he slept most of the day and didn't really get to enjoy it.
this place quickly became known as the bus stop
and now the bus if full, or was it a train at this point? who knows...it was everything!!! It makes me remember to always take time to be a kid! fun is all around us...and learning too. 
