- JELLYBEAN GIRLS -

boy, the girls sure had a fun evening - we stopped by grandmas & showed her how they all looked & got some snacks & then we went to papaw & nana's & walked around their town & got even more goodies!! - they'd their picture taken by someone that runs the local newspaper & said they'd be on his website tonight or in the morning & we can't wait to see how it turns out! - they made a good haul, that's for sure - dustin even walked from dad/mom's house & found us downtown & walked the rest of the way home with us - brittan stayed home with papaw as he was pooped & her knee was hurting so she was leary of walking all over town on it (i think that might have been just an excuse, what do you all think?) - anyhow, fun time had by all!!

- EAT ME! -

well, here's another kiaraISM - when the kids were lined up today waiting on all the parents, i heard her teacher saying things about halloween/trick/treating, etc. - she mentioned that those that were going out tonight will be saying trick or treat - one little boy said, "i'm gonna growl at people as i'm going as a lion & my sister's going to bark at people as she's going as a dog!" - kiara gets in the car & karleigh starts sharing the news that tonight they get to go trick or treating - kiara says that she knows & can't wait - karleigh says, "we're supposed to say TRICK OR TREAT when someone opens the door kiara" - kiara says, "no, we've got to say a sound like what we're dressed up like" (& started sharing about the lion & dog sounds) - i said, "yeah, but yours doesn't make a sound so you can say trick or treat" - kiara says, "well, i'm not going to, i want to do WHAT I AM!" - i said, "oh, then what are you planning on saying??" - she says, "EAT ME!!"... they're all 3 going as bags of jelly beans!!! - (ie: clear plastic bags with them inside & then the bags will be filled with balloons of all colors with signs around their necks saying 'JELLYBEANS 1 penny') - pray she doesn't embarrass us!! - will post pictures when we return tonight

- SPREADING LOVE ALL AROUND LAST NIGHT -

well, love was sure being shared last night - now you all get your heads out of the gutter & listen to what i'm going to say here! - i stayed up until 2am (why do i do this to myself???) - at 3:45 i hear, "MOMMYMOMMYMOMMYMOMMYMOMMYMOMMYMOMMY" (yes, as you can see from my typing, ruby didn't even take a breath when she yelled either & nothing was wrong!) - here i go running as quickly as my thunder thighs could go, got to her gate (yes, my girls are gated) & signed, "what?" - she then smiled angelically, signed 'mommy' + 'hug' + 'i love you' - awww, how sweet (wish it was during daylight hours, but sweet none the less & i loved it) - i hugged her, kissed her, told her goodnight & she went back to bed - i got back to sleep about 4:15 & was sleeping peacefully until 5:15 when i hear, "mooooooommmmmmmyyyyyyy" (yes, as you can see by my typing, karleigh was long & drawn out & nothing was wrong!) - here i go running as quickly as hippo hips would allow me to, got to her gate (yes, my girls are gated) & couldn't see a blasted thing! - do you all know how hard it is to see 3 BROWN bear cubs in a pitch BLACK room... IMPOSSIBLE!!!! - i jumped (yep, i did) over the gate, made my way to the bed where the soft sound came from & as i whispered to whomever had called for me, "what?" (very softly) i hear karleigh say, "mommy, i needed 1 more hug & 1 more kiss from you before i can go to sleep - awww, how sweet (wish it was during daylight hours, but sweet none the less & i loved it) - i gave her 1 more hug & 1 more kiss & she drifted off to sleep - i got back to sleep about 5:30 just to be awakened again at 6 to get ruby up & on the bus - we raced through our normal morning routine & she was on the bus at 6:30 - i then went back to bed for 1 hour, as i've got to get up at 7:30 to get kiara up & on the bus - i savored that hour let me tell you & then my alarm rang out like an emergency siren in the night - i got up, walked into the girls' room, trying to be quiet as to not wake karleigh - i grabbed kiara, stood her upright & tried getting her to move quickly, but ever so quietly out the door - she stopped to stretch, but i didn't say anything as she was being so quiet & i thought when she finished, she'd move quickly out of the room - she finished (still in the room), turned, looked at me & in a boomin' voice said, "MOMMY, DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE YOU!!!" - awww, how sweet (wish it was when we were out of the room where a sleeping child's laying, but sweet none the less & i loved it) - it was later in the day i thought about all the love that had been spread to me throughout those 4+ hours sleep i received & even though it wasn't at the most convenient time of the day (or night in this case) it was so appreciated & i'd certainly go without sleep to be able to hear my little ones call out for me in the night... just to say they love me (i'm humbled)

- OUR NEW HOME -

well, i can't remember if i've posted these pictures or not, but when i went into the old posts i couldn't find them so if i did... sorry! - here's the home we're wanting to build

`

living room coming in from the front door, this' what you'll see (to the left will be our living room, straight ahead behind that staircase will be our kitchen - you can get to it from either going to the left or the right around the stairs) - then the room that you can barely see that's directly to the back of the house & off to the right will be our dining room (in the end the entire kitchen/dining area will be all across the back) - we're having all stained woodwork (oak), railing & banisters - the columns will all be white

this' the living room that's off to the left when you enter through the front door - we'll use this only as a living room & not have a table in here to eat on - as you can see, the doorway opening on the other side of the table will be the kitchen & the opening you can see on the other side of the stairs will be the dining room

here's looking for the dining/kitchen area at the stairs (the room you see the the left with that little lamp's the living room where we just were)

here, we're standing in the dining room, looking into the kitchen - this half wall will be omitted & we'll just have the beam standing there, but it will be white to match the 2 in the living room

here's a closer view of the kitchen - we'll have a small breakfast table where the tables located & then in the dining room we'll have a 12 seater! (oh my goodness, i can't wait)

here we're looking into the dining room (at least we're making it a dining room) - we'll have all tile flooring in here & no fireplace

here we're in the master bedroom

the little 'nook' in the master bedroom will be our music area & will house all our music equipment
here's my father walking down the catwalk into the loft - we're planning on having a couch, 2 recliners & a television with some sort of playstation, etc. for the kids
this' where my father's standing if he'd turn around (TURN AROUND DAD & WAVE!!) - it's looking down from the catwalk into the entry way - the doorway upstairs that you can see in this picture that's all the way to the left's the master bedroom - kiara/karleigh will share a room (i don't have a picture of that) & is at the end of the catwalk opposite the loft - ruby will have a room of her own directly across from our room & then brittan will have her own 'suite' (yep, full bath & everything!) & it'll be located in this picture all the way to the right (you can just barely see the door opening - we're going over there again soon & i'll get pics of the kids rooms & will post them on here then

- OUR NEW HOME -

- KIARA -

well, here's 2 recent pictures of kiara - the one on top's her kindergarten picture, what a big girl she's getting to be - the bottom's of this evening at bedtime, when her & douglas were getting tucked in - as you can see, she's got her bedtime cap on (for those that don't know this, children with hair such as theirs need to have something to cover their head that's silkie so it doesn't rub off on the pillowcase) - anyhow, she got into bed with her night cap & douglas & then she said, "mommy, douglas needs his cap too!" - i went rummaging around & found a knee-hi panty hose & made little douglas a night cap & she thinks that's about the neatest thing (nadia, you've started something now!)

- MY MOM BEAT ME! -

well, it's official, my mom beat me! - not physically, but she beat me in blogging first tonight GRRR - one may ask what i did today... NOTHING AT ALL! - i got up this morning & had a slight headache & as the day went on it began to get worse - i talked to mom & she said dad was dealing with a migraine today so apparently the power of suggestion got mine to hurting worse - i kicked back at 1:30 when the girls went down & slept for 3 hours, only being interupted 3 times due to phone calls - when i woke up, it did feel better, but not great so i just took it easy - after about 30 mintues & all 3 of the bear cubs praying for me, it was gone praise the lord! - i then went & made all 3 of their halloween costumes, got the house picked up (yep, i'm strong!) & after they went to bed, checked & cleared all my emails, checked all the blogs listed on my blog as links, blogged myself & that's it (so far!) - nite!

- NEW PICS! -

here's 2 new pictures of karleigh (3y/top) & ruby (4y/bottom) - we just got these back today & they're soooo cute! - kiara & brittan's due to get theirs done soon & then i'll post them!! - enjoy!

- PURDUE WON! -

i'm so happy to announce that our team (the purdue boilermakers) won today & won big - it was an awesome game & spike & dustin were able to be there (they're so lucky) - brittan, myself & the 3 bear cubs were at home, so it'll be our turn next time i'm sure! - the guys will be home soon & i can't wait to sit down tonight & hear everything about the game (ie: play by play, all the things the announcer said over the booming loud speaker & i hope it takes all night so i can just listen intently & soak it all up, etc.) - it'll be the highlight of the evening i'm sure - i'll post about it later!!

- GETTIN' CLOSER -

well, i talked to barbara late last night & she was happy (we were happier) to announce that she's already got another one of madisyn's papers back from parquet!! - we're waiting mainly on news of 3 girls that barbara's adopting (madisyn 14, her sister loudnie 6 & their friend jenna 13) - jenna's got 3 papers out of the 5 needed & they're signed & back to barbara, madisyn's got 2 & loundie's got 1, so they're at least all moving!! - barbara did get 1 dossier out of MOI today so that's a HUGE praise the lord! - we're so excited for the girls to get home, hoping & praying it's for the holidays, but we'll see - we'll keep updating when we know more so you all can keep track of their progress -

- I'VE ACCEPTED A JOB! -

well, it's official as of about 5 minutes ago - i'm the new program director for shiloh adoptions haitian program, in topeka, kansas - i don't remember now how they heard about me, but 'anita' called me a couple months ago, as she's the director for shiloh - she said that she'd just begun working there & she questioned them about why they weren't adopting through haiti - she was told that they wanted to work with someone on haitian adoptions, but didn't know who or how to go about finding someone - anita found my blog (i think, if i remember correctly), contacted me & i shared with them how we went about getting our haitian adoptions completed - she contacted barbara about foyer de la nouvelle vie & they both agreed to work together - i thought that was the end of it, but then god got involved!! - i received a phone call a few days ago from anita saying she'd spoken with 'teri' (shiloh's executive director) & they wanted to offer me the directors position for the haitian adoption program! - i was so honored at them asking me, not even having ever checked into doing anything like this before, but instead, they sought me out (how cool's god!!) - i've taken a few days to think about, pray about, check their references, etc. & they seem like a wonderful group to work with/for - what i'll be doing's really what i do now - once a family signs up with shiloh, they'll help that family compile their dossier & get it mailed out (doing all the legwork involved) - from that time, until their child(ren) leaves haiti, i'll be 'holding the familys hand' through the rest of the adoption process - making constant phone calls to haiti (barbara) to get updates on where they are in the process - i'll be taking pictures & videos of their child(ren) while in haiti - i'll be emailing & corresponding with them on a weekly basis, etc. - i'm so excited!! - it's just a god thing & i'm so thrilled to be apart of it - anyhow, just wanted to share the news!!

- NAME CHANGE AT OUR HOUSE! -

well, it's official, brit's not BRIT any more - when we adopted her (3y old), we kept her name, but changed the spelling - it's not a name we would've chose, although it's pretty, we'd more than likely come up with something not so common - well, ever since she could 'care about a name', she's hated hers with a passion & has begged on a very regular basis for us to allow her to legally change it, but has been told no, repeatedly - the names she'd like are hadassah, brooke, summer, memory, etc. (yep, she's 16!) - her father especially is firm on this decision & has told her no - well, she's tried coming up with everything you can imagine to not use or even say her name (she hates it that much) - several months ago, we were talking (about the name thing) & i said, "well, if you don't like brittany, why don't you shorten it to something like brit?" - well she said, "i think i will as anything's better than brittany!" so it's been brit for a few months - well............... she & i were blog surfing today (again) & stumbled upon a blog with their family pictures - in that, was a picture of a lady named brittan - she said, "OH MY GOODNESS, I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE THAT NAME!!" - she then asked if she could go by brittan (just dropping the 'Y' in her given name) & sign everything as such - we've agreed as we truly want her to like her name & she's ecstatic!! - i've never liked my name either (i too, think it's boring, especially the generic way it's spelled... i don't know if i'd like 'laurie' or 'lorri better, but i think i would (sorry dad/mom!) so i do understand why brit (et hum.. brittan) feels this way - i think it's pretty common for adults to 'not like their names' & wish they'd something else (either more common or more different, whichever the case may be) - so we now have

• dustin 21
• brittan 16
• kiara 5
• ruby 4
• karleigh 3

- PARENT/TEACHER CONFERENCES -

well, this' all i've gotten done all day long, is parent/teacher conferences - we'd kiara's this morning at 9, the karleigh's was at 10:30, now brit's is at 5 - wow, after all this i feel i've been in class all day! - kiara's teacher said she's very well behaved, participates in class, very helpful, loves life, etc., but that she has to work on sharing with the teacher what she shares at home (ie: table starts with T, paper starts with P, etc.) as she does this at home all the time, but clams up at school - we then wen to karleigh's school & they said she's very polite, well behaved, friendly & very attentive, but that she needs to work on 'following directions' - i don't mean she's not doing this, but for example they'll give her a maze (tractor in upper left hand corner/barn in bottom right hand corner with a 'road' to follow to take the tractor to the barn without getting out of the lines) - she says she understands, grabs the pencil & draws a line straight from the tractor to the barn (straight down!) - that's karleigh, she goes from point A to point B any way that seems 'fun' to her! - we'll go talk to brit's teachers tonight & i'm sure i've have many, many blog entries about all the 'issues' that she's dealing with her teachers on (hehe) - i'll blog more later (surprised, aren't ya??)

- Lori - [keep smilin']

- WAIT -

Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried,

quietly, patiently, lovingly, God replied.

I pled & I wept for a clue to my fate,

& then the Master so gently said, "Wait."

"Wait? you say wait?", my indignant reply,

"Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!

Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard?,

by faith I've asked & I'm claiming your Word.

My future & all to which I can relate,

hangs in the balance & you tell me to Wait?

I'm needing a 'yes', a go-ahead sign,

or even a 'no,' to which I'll resign.

You promised, dear Lord, that if we believe,

we need but to ask & we shall receive.

Lord, I've been asking & this' my cry,

I'm weary of asking! I need a reply."

Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate,

as my Master replied again, "Wait."

So I slumped in my chair, defeated & taut,

& grumbled to God, "So, I'm waiting for what?"

He seemed then to kneel & His eyes met with mine,

& He tenderly said, "I could give you a sign.

I could shake the heavens & darken the sun,

I could raise the dead & cause mountains to run.

I could give all you seek & pleased you'd be,

you'd have what you want, but you wouldn't know Me.

You'd not know the depth of My love for each saint,

you'd not know the power that I give to the faint.

You'd not learn to see through clouds of despair,

you'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there.

You'd not know the joy of resting in Me,

when darkness & silence are all you can see.

You'd never experience the fullness of love,

when the peace of My spirit descends like a dove.

You'd know that I give & I save, for a start,

but you'd not know the depth of the beat of My heart.

The glow of My comfort late into the night,

the faith that I give when you walk without sight.

The depth that's beyond getting just what you ask,

from an infinite God who makes what you have last.

You'd never know should your pain quickly flee,

what it means that My grace's sufficient for thee.

Yes, your dearest dreams overnight would come true,

but oh, the loss if you lost what I'm doing in you.

So, be silent, my child & in time you'll see,

that the greatest of gifts is to truly know me.

though oft My answers seem terribly late,

My most precious answer of all's still "WAIT."

- Lori - [keep smilin']

- PLANS DID NOT GO AS PLANNED -

wow, what a weird weekend - as you can go & read in my previous post about all we'd to do on friday, you can see it was VERY rushed (to say the least) - well, we picked brit up at school & ended up having to stop by spike's off (we'd not planned on this) to drop off some football tickets as since we were going camping, he wasn't going to be going to the game, so he was giving them to his brother - we then drove to the camper that we'd dropped off the night before just so that'd be one less thing we'd have to do - while on the way to the campground, mom called & said that dad went to get their camper & he was stranded out on the highway EEEEK! - she called my brother & he went & helped dad as they'd just put a new part on it & thought it might just need to be 'tweaked' a bit - they got it running so they were off - he took it to their house, they loaded it quickly & they were heading towards us as they were going to help watch the girls as we weren't comfortable with brit babysitting alone at a campgrounds - i dropped spike & brit off & they were going to get everything hauled out of the camper, awning out, rug down, lawn chairs set up, lights hung, etc. while i took the bear cubs to the grocery to grab some thing that the girls could eat for dinner that night since we were going out with spike's mom - with it being a short weekend, i wasn't going to be buying much (ie: hot dogs, marshmallows, pop, ice, etc.) - they were hurrying, we were hurrying & the girls were being so good - they all were so excited about going camping (espeically karleigh as she's definately the camper of the 5 kiddos) - mom called just as i was ending the grocery purchasing & said, "you'll not believe it, but your dad's in front of me & he just called to say the brake line broke on the camper & he's NO BRAKES on the rv!!!" - i'm thinking, "this can't be happening!!! - here it is 10 minutes till 5 & we've to leave for the restaurant at 5:15 & i've still gotta get to the camper (about a 10 mintue drive), get cleaned up, change clothes, do something with my hair & makeup, unpack groceries, etc." - mom said that dad was taking it home, but she'd still come to the campgrounds & sit with brit & the girls" - all the while, i've finished getting my things & before paying, i took the girls to the bathroom as the minute we get in the van, they'll all have to pee! - i'm talking to mom on the phone in the bathroom while waiting on all the girls to finish & proceed back to my cart so i could pay & then get outta there - i went out of the restroom to find that someone had taken my entire cart of groceries & i was going to have to start over!!! - i said, "mom, that's it, we're not camping this weekend!!! - i don't know how we'll do it, but we'll bring the girls to you so turn around & go back to your house" - i phoned spike to which he said (happily), "guess what? - brit & i are finished!!" to which i said, "hurry & pack up, we're heading home!!" - i headed for the camper, threw everything inside, changed clothes & got ready, then headed to dad/mom's house where they were standing on the sidewalk waiting on us to pull up so we didn't have to get out of the van, but instead the girls all just piled out & off they went sobbing all the way (not that they didn't want to go to papaw/nana's, they were thrilled, but soooooooooo wanted to go camping) - dad/mom said they could all (yes, all!) stay all night & that they'd 'make a tent for them to sleep in' - the girls were then excited & ended up having a great time - we made it to the restaurant at 2 mintues until 6 & had to be there at 6 (praise the lord) - we'd an absolutely wonderful time, great fellowship & great food, then we went to bill/sylvia's (spike's brother) for coffee & ice cream cake YUM! - we then went home & collapsed - got up saturday, went & got the girls, then went with dad/mom to lunch at golden corral (YUM & thanks dad/mom!!) - we then headed for the camper, dropped it off at the storage lot & came home where i began taking hair down (yeah, guess i was bored, huh??) - got everyone de-beaded, bathed, greased down & even got ruby's done (stayed up until 5am doing it) - got up this morning & started on kiara & then finished with karleigh, but you know what?? - I'M FINISHED! - now, we'll see where this week takes us *smile* - here's 2 pictures (front view & side view) that i did on them all - they love it! - i'm happy to announce too, that the front 2 rows going across from side to side & also the back braids that are all hanging down are all cornrows! - i wanted so badly to do the entire 'do' in cornrows, but my hands couldn't hold out - it'll take a lot of practice on my part, but for now i'm happy with taking it slowly - give me your read on how the cornrows turned out & tips are welcome as well!

- Lori - [keep smilin']

- MY TOMORROW... oh wait, look at the time, guess it's really TODAY! -

well, 'today', when i wake up in just a few hours, i've gotta get kiara on the bus, the mom's coming over to watch the twins for me while i run & do a fall party for kiara's class - i'll get home about 11:30, have just enough time to throw something at the kids for lunch (we'll be in a hurry, so i hope they catch it!) - they'll then lay down for 2 hours & watch a video instead of sleeping (you'll find out later, why) - during those 2 hours, i'll be cleaning (YEAH... NOT!) as our house will be shown again this week (pray it sells, we need outta here!) & packing everyone's clothes as we're heading to the campgrounds where we'll be camping for the weekend (probably the last/final camp out for us this year... boo hoo) - we'll then have to be in the car at 2 & race over to pick brit up when she gets out of school at 2:30 - i'll drop spike & brit off at the camper so they can begin unloading it & i'll take the bear cubs with me to the store (hey wait... how come he gets to keep brit (a big helper) & i get to keep the bear cubs (wanderers, whiners, beggars, etc.???), does this seem fair to anyone??) - anyhow, i'll pick up a few things at the store & then shoot back to the camper to help them with whatever it is they'll not have done yet - i should be getting back there sometime around 4:30ish, just in time to jump into another change of clothing as spike & i've got dinner plans with his mom, both of his sisters/their spouse & his brother/his spouse - every year for christmas, spike's mom takes all 4 of her children (bill, vickie, spike & sharel) & their spouses (sylvia, russell, ME! & ralph) out for a very nice dinner & she foots the bill (praise the lord!) - we love doing it as it's a special time for all 9 of us to get together - well, last christmas came/went & we're just now getting around to going as we've all just been so busy - we're going to sopporos japanese steakhouse (can anyone spell Y.U.M.!) & then we usually go to bills house for coffee, etc. - we love it, but it just so happened to fall the same weekend we're going camping so dad, mom & brit will be watching the bear cubs at the camper (thus the reason for no naps tomorrow = early betimes tomorrow night *wink*) - well, as i'm typing all that i've got to do tomorrow (sorry... today!) which includes running, throwing, cleaning, packing, racing, shooting & jumping, i need to get to bed as it's going on 1am & i'm up at 7:30 & just reading this makes me sleepy - nite all!!

- Lori - [keep smilin']

- HOW DO YA'LL DO IT?? -

i feel like such a failure most days here lately - we've 5 kiddos, but only 4 live here (16, 5, 4 & 3) so you'd think with only 4 children here, i'd be able to remember who needs what & on what day of the week they need it, right???... WRONG!!! - they all go to different schools, different days & different times, for example:

.

brit: m, t, w, th, f (6:30 - 3 / rides the bus both ways)

kiara: m, t, w, th, f (8 - 11 / rides the bus to school, but i pick her up)

ruby: m, t, w (6:30 - 4 / rides the bus both ways)

karleigh: t, th (9 - 1 / i take her to school & i pick her up)

.

i've got to remember everyday not only get all the kids off to school, but also to get them home (via: getting them off the bus, being here for them when they arrive on the bus or picking them up at school - which i recently forgot one OOOPS, sorry karleigh!)

.

i've also got to remember magic mondays for kiara, which's a folder of activities to do with the kids on monday night & return on tuesday morning

.

i've got to remember to return kiara's library books on tuesday as it's library day & she'll not be allowed to check more out if she doesn't return the ones we have

.

i've got to remember on thursdays to send a show & share (AKA show & tell) with kiara & karleigh, but it needs to correspond with the 'letter of the week'

.

then on friday's i've got to remember to take brit to school at 6 for FCA (she does remember to remind me!!)

.

i'm not kidding, i don't usually get jangled about things like this, but schedules are a must for me & i don't like 'not' having one or it not going as i'd planned (what's in the planner, must come off at the right time as it's 'in the planner', right?) - i'm not to good at rolling with the punches & taking what's thrown my way (spike, no comments K? - & yes, i said that with snip!) - i like things to go as planned, on time, everybody happy, perky, no snip involved, things to look good, orderly, etc., but guess what... these days, i'm anything but what's listed above GRRR

- Lori - [keep smilin']

- THE FINAL PROJECT... -

well, nameless' just cracking me up back here as she lays in bed getting ready to go to sleep - she just read angela's blog (which was partially about her) & says now that she'll have to be in therapy sometime in the future & will at that time be her therapy teachers 'final project' - that all the negative thoughts that were said/blogged about 'nameless' will someday corrupt her mind & she'll more than likely have a melt down - she says that's what she's here for though, is to bring entertainment to all of us - she said she already feels sorry for the poor soul who'll someday be her therapy teacher - she said one thing about it, is that teacher will be very rich by the time she's 'cured' - she cracks me up!

- Lori - [keep smilin']

- SORRY FOLKS, THE PARK'S CLOSED -

or should i say, the pumpkin patch's closed - well, it's been a huge dilemma around here this evening as we'd decided we were going to take the girls to the pumpkin patch (pumpkin fair as karleigh calls it) tonight to pick out their prize winning pumpkin & for a pumpkin hayride - well, spike was getting home at 5:30 & we were leaving right then - we woke everyone up from their nap, hopped them into 'play clothes', had them to scarf down pb&j sandwiches with chips, etc. for them to be ready when daddy pulled in - i called to find out waht time they closed & was told that they're only open 10 - 5 GRRRRRRR - all i can say's i was NOT popular with the bear cubs upon announcing that memo i can tell ya - we're planning on trying to go on thursday since ruby doesn't have school & we'll be able to go a bit earlier as when she's got school, she doesn't get off the bus until 4 so that doesn't allow enough time

- Lori - [keep smilin']

- A NEW DAUGHTER -

well, even though we're done adopting, we're still adding 'daughters' - last year we committed to sponsor a girl named mirlande desruisseaux in school in cazale, haiti through missionary friends of ours - once my parents (i should say my dad) saw the her picture, he said he knew they were to adopt her - they've since named her madisyn & have already met & spent time with her in haiti (i did too!) - since they're now adopting madisyn, we decided to sponsor another 'daughter' & so i'm happy to announce we've been matched with woodline & she's 14y - she's 1 of 4 children (2 brothers/1 sister) & helps watch them while her mother works - she likes listening to the radio, cooking & washing clothes - i can't wait to go over next time & meet her!!! - we're praying for you woodline!!

- Lori - [keep smilin']

- ANOTHER FUNNY FROM 'NAMELESS' -

well, yesterday spike & i were chatting in the car about when we sell our house & move into the bigger one, etc. - he commented on how years ago everyone had like 2.5 children on an average, but nowdays there's much larger families & you rarely hear of someone being an 'only child' - we're going along just chatting away & he comments that when we get into this much larger home & live there for however long, that at some point IF we decide to downsize after all the kids are gone, he's hoping it won't be hard to sell this large home & hopes that people won't go back to the 2.5 children per household - at this time, all's quiet in the backseat (strangely quiet) - without turning around i said, "spike wait a minute... 'nameless', there's no such a thing as a half a child so when your dad says 2.5 children that doesn't mean 2 child & half of another" - 'nameless' starts laughing & says, "I WAS GONNA SAY......!!!" - she cracks me up!!

- Lori - [keep smilin']

- A KARLEIGH COMMENT -

today i'd to go get a routine blood draw (i go every 2-3 weeks) at the hospital & karleigh went with me - while in there, she's smilin' at everyone, saying good morning, etc. & being an all around good girl - when it was time to leave, they gave her 3 suckers & 3 bracelets (1 for her & each of her 2 little sisters) - then we were walking out & stopped to zip up her zachet & there was a 'hospitality greeter' that was talking to karleigh & offered her a coloring book & crayons - we walked out & with her hands full she said, "man mommy, can you get another blood draw tomorrow too???" - how is it that i'm the one that gets stuck & she's the one that ended up with all the goodies?

- Lori - [keep smilin']

- NANA... (tsk, tsk, tsk) -

nana's teetering on the fence of being ornery these days (ooops, she just fell off & yep, she's ornery!) - she came over to watch kiara & karleigh today while i had a doctor appointment - she got here at 11:30 after picking kiara up from kindergarten on her way here & as soon as they came in, i'd to leave - i came back home about 2:30 & the girls were still up!! - now, to her defence, she did ask me what time they HAD to go down for a nap & i did say whenever's fine with me (they usually are always down by 1:30 at the latest!) - here it is 2:30-2:45 & nope, no nap & toys are everywhere!! - the girls were binging off the walls saying, "MOMMY (yes, those are caps as they were screaming!!), NANA GAVE US 2 SNACKS INSTEAD OF JUST 1!!!" - she's given them candy corn & also 'N'amens = M&M's geez! - nana will one day be grounded, you just wait! - as soon as she pulled out of the driveway we picked up toys & they're now in a sugar induced coma in their beds (sleep tight girls!!) - i'll write more later!!

- Lori - [keep smilin']

- MY GIRLS' 'PAPA KYLE' -

well, as you all know, we adopted 3 girls from haiti (all chocolate & we're all white... this will mean something later in the post) - well, kyle & angela had adopted siblings (girl/boy) at the same time we were adopting kiara in 2003, which's how we all met - we went on to adopt karleigh the following year in 2004, then in 2005 we went through another adoption with them as they were getting a baby girl & we were adopting ruby, our last (hear me all... OUR LAST!!!) - anyhow, ever since 2003, we've become best friends, going camping together, taking vacations together, talking on the phone multiple times per day, etc., etc., etc. - whenever we've gone to haiti, the caswells are the ones that watch our kids - i promise i've told them that we could get some other family members to do it, but they said they wanted to, so they have & we've appreciated more than we could ever say - i've watched their kiddos too, but it's short stays like for dr. appointments for angela or something (i'm getting the better end of the deal & she's getting cheated, but...!!) - anyhow, their kids call them papa/mama (our kids call us daddy/mommy) & after spending a lot of time with them, our kids now call them papa kyle, angela & ALL THEIR KIDS! - none of us understand why they're referred to as having 'all their kids', it's as if they've got 15+, but who knows??? - it's so funny to be out with them (yes, all 11 of us) as at that time it's 5 white adults (kyle, angela, spike, myself & brit) & then 6 chocolate kiddos & have all 6 calling kyle, papa, then our 3 are calling spike, daddy... you outta see the looks we get!! - i just know people are standing there scratching their heads thinking how can those kids, come from those parents & who's the father of the 6??... both guys are being called daddy/papa, that doesn't make sense... also, who's the mom & who's she mom to??... also, who's the 16y girl & where does she even belong?? - it's funny just thinking about it all

- Lori - [keep smilin']

- JUST GETTING HOME -

well, today started off like any other sunday morning - all 6 of us racing around to get ready for church - out the door like lightening, getting to church just in time to race all the girls to class as brit goes to secure a seat for all 3 of us all the while spike's parking the car (see, there still are guys who drop their 'women' off at the door & then go park the car *wink... he's such a great guy!*) - we then have a wonderful service at church with a surprise guest which's mike purkey (hey mom, mike purkey was at our church this morning!! - sorry, inside family joke) - anyhow, after a great service, spike heads to get the car, while brit grabs all the jackets & i make my way to pick up all the bear cubs, take them to potty, get their jackets on them & we're out the door (doing great so far!) - we couldn't come home today as we were having another open house today from 2-4 & we were also meeting up with the caswells for the afternoon/evening - since we were going to eat dinner with them, we'd decided that after church we'd just grab sandwiches, which we did - we then headed to dad/mom's house to 'blow time' - we stayed there for about 45 minutes until papa kyle (something my kids call kyle caswell... will post about that later) called & said they were almost where we needed to meet them - we headed out, met up with them at my brother in laws house (bill/sylvia) as kyle was purchasing a trailer off of bill & also, since kyle refurbishes old vehicles, bill wanted him to redo his old studebaker - they 'boys' got the truck loaded upon the trailer & we were all off (spike with kyle & angela with me... all children must remain seated in your designated carseats!!) - we headed to cracker barrel for dinner & then we parted ways & headed home, just stopping long enough to pick up a freecycle for the zachary's (missionaries in haiti) - after getting home, it was pj's, potty time, lay out clothes for tomorrow, grab packpacks, jackets & plop the girls into bed - now, what we gonna do this week???

- Lori - [keep smilin']

- BUSY WEEKEND (again) -

well, tomorrow we're off to the salon for haircuts (spike, myself & brit) - the 3 bear cubs are headin' to papaw & nana's to stay while we're getting 'groomed' (hmmm, wonder if they'll believe that 3 haircuts & 1 hair color would take about 12 hours... hmmm) - after that, we'll head to dad/mom's house to pick the girls up, then it's off to grandmother's house we go to visit her for a bit - we're then due to head to the pumpkin patch for picking out pumpkins as karleigh spotted a 'pumpkin hayride' yesterday & talked daddy into taking them tomorrow - sunday, we've church & then we're meeting up with kyle/angela for the afternoon - totally OT, but for those of you that would like to see a clip of my niece loudnie (6y) that's still in haiti, go to lori's blog & click on the second video (the one of the little girl in the purple shirt... that's loudnie!!) - the older girl jenna's being adopted by some good friends of ours - just thought i'd share!! - hopefully we'll get some video of madisyn soon (hint * hint)

- Lori - [keep smilin']

- PRAY FOR THE PEOPLE OF CAZALE, HAITI -

the friends of ours that are missionaries in cazale, haiti (lori & licia) posted this on their blogs tonight - please be praying with/for them as they've already got things they deal with daily that are above anything that we can even begin to think about, but now they've got this to deal with - they run a rescue mission there & help/treat people with anything/everything you can imagine - they share the love of jesus with everyone they meet & are doing such a good work there - my sister (madisyn) & niece (loudnie) live there with them until their adoptions are complete & they can come home - they're all safe, but after this that happened yesterday (posted below), many were killed & lives have been destroyed (more so then normal)

"Thursday, October 11, 2007 I'm going to post the pictures of the river & road. Licia will post the pictures of the houses & people. I'll try to post the video this weekend sometime. To clarify, this was in Cabaret. It's a village about a 45 minute drive away, but we must pass through it to get to the bigger towns. We're safe. The kids are safe. Cazale hardly even got any rain. This river's not Cazale's river. It's from a valley on the other side of a mountain range. These wire cages (on the right) are called gabions. They're filled with rocks & then tied (with wire) together to form a barrier. They're used to be a road from the destroyed gabions to all the way over to the left. This huge hole's making travel by car, motocycle & horse impossible. People can walk over to the side & pass single file. If we want to leave Cazale, we can drive to this point, get out & walk across & then rent a tap-tap on the other side. This' going to take months to get fixed & might not ever get fixed. The government hasn't said a thing or come up with a plan. There are 18 dead & missing that we heard of - probably more. There were so many houses destroyed! Licia will show you more of that. This' a big deal for us here & nothing this massive has happened in our area for long while. These people are so poor to begin with & then this it's almost too much to bear. One guy said, "I didn't even have time to save a spoon from my house. It's gone. All gone. What am I going to do now. I've nothing."

- Lori - [keep smilin']

- $700 MORE!! -

god's extremely good & would be even if he wasn't blessing dad/mom financially with $ for their adoption, but he is & we're thrilled!! - they sold something the other day that brought in $200 & then i opened my mailbox today & there was a book & a card from a friend of ours (dad/mom doesn't know this person - they've heard us talk about them, but do not 'know' them) - i opened the card & it was a very sweet note about praying god's blessing on dad/mom for adopting from haiti, etc. & how they wanted to give them a book & also a check for $500!!!!!!!!!!!!! - i hurried & called them on the phone, made them both put me on speakerphone & read them the card & told them the news - they were both talking over one another thanking god for what he's doing, telling me that they were going to purchase a thank you card & kept saying, "oh my goodness, how sweet that was of them!!" - it's really neat to see so many people rally together to bring madisyn home - she's a very special girl that's loved more than she can even imagine - she's loved by people that first off don't know her at all & don't know much about haiti, but are people who're saving yet another child from the only life she's ever known & making it possible that she's given a family that'll love her & care for her in ways she can't even imagine - to the person who sent the $, i know you well enough to know that you'd not want your name mentioned so i'll not share with the world who you are, but just know we love you not only for doing this, but for who you are & how much you help others - thank you so much from the bottom of our hearts!

- Lori - [keep smilin']

- THE WHINEY BOY -

i don't know about you, but my girls love watching the cartoon caillou, but i'm telling you what, that kid whines more than anyone i know (even more than kiara, which might be where she's getting it) - it's a cute cartoon where they teach doing right, sharing, etc., but even when he's talking normal, it's whiney sounding - i've commented in front of the girls that he's a whiner & i don't care to listen to his voice - they just laugh, but now refer to that cartoon as 'the whiney boy'

- Lori - [keep smilin']

- PRAYER PLEASE! -

well, here's what we've got - a home that we love, but is waaaay to small for us (family of 7 - 6 full time, 1 from time to time & an in-home office) - as you'll see, brit's room has all the music/computer stuff in it & she's no room at all for 'her stuff' - then you'll notice that the bear cubs room's somewhat bigger, but remember, there's 3 cubs living in there - that full sized bed sleeps kiara & karleigh & then under that bed's a toddler mattress that we pull out every night for miss ruby - it's not that we like making her sleep on the floor, but with her being deaf, she's loud (did i mention she's LOUD??) & gets up several times through the night just to yell for me on the monitor, for me to run in there (yes, this fat mama runs so as to not have entire house woke up to the screeching sounds of our little pterodactyl), stumbling all the way, for her to ask me if it's time to wake up yet! (keep in mind this routine of hers/ours starts every morning around 2:30am & goes on almost hourly until it's time to in fact...WAKE UP! - by putting her down on the mattress, it helps to keep her from waking up the other 2 during our 'night-time fun' (doesn't always work, but sometimes it does) - you'll also notice a kitchen table, that's mainly used now as spike's desk - the kitchen has become his 'home office' & we've to move fax machines, copiers, printers, computers, etc. when it's time to eat dinner - for those that 'know me', you know my house's usually full of things on the walls, on the tables, etc., but as you can see, we're in the 'moving out' stage & things are quickly movin' outta here! - we've got a storage shed here in town that we're storing all our boxed up things - watch out, because whatever's not moving will get packed (note: do not worry at all about karleigh getting boxed up as this child's not stopped movin' since her mama anna marie gave birth to her!) - moral of this post's to get some more prayer warriors praying for this house to sell soon! - we've got a floor plan picked out, plans have been made & a contract's signed with our builder, as we see this' something god's brought to us as an investment for the future of our family - we've done what we've been called to do, we've taken care of things that needed tending to, we've helped others in things they were called to do & now we're praying it's our time of harvest & we can get this thing underway - we've been given 60 days to sell our home before the signed contract's void - they'll stretch it to 90 days if we're having showings & people seem interested - so far it's been about 3-4 weeks & we've only had 2 showings - the family today liked our house, but liked some they'd already seen... better - the couple last week said they liked ours best out of 6 they went in, but chose one of the other ones as ours was on a corner lot & they did NOT want a corner lot (remind me again why a person who's decided they did NOT want a corner lot would even look at a house on a...corner lot???) - after the showing this morning & the 'review', i've been really down all day - i'm not a real patient person (alright, who's gonna be the first to make a remark on this one?), but it's hard enough emotionally to sell a home, get it ready to sell, keep everything in it's place & at a moments notice be able to scoop everyone up & leave the house, but to do this with 6 people living here (3 of which are 5 & under) is extremely HARD! - geez, i know i'm rambling, but again, all those that will, please pray for this place to sell to just the right family - thank you & from reading a post on a blog of a friend of mine, i'll coin the term, "now i'll go readjust my 'happy cap'! - nite!

- Lori - [keep smilin']