Who Moved My Coffee?

Just in case anyone is following this blog, I wanted to post here that I am officially moving to blogspot!   I have been considering this for quite some time now, but have finally made the move.  I plan to be much more active with my posting now, so if you are lurking, please follow me there :)  

Who Moved my Coffee (at blogspot)

I still have our private blog for certain family pictures and updates, but this will be my main blog.  I've been doing lots of writing "offline" until I could figure out where to keep my blog, so now I have to catch up! 

I just read about a new book on Jasmine Baucham's blog.  It's called Pajama School and is about the life of a homeschool graduate.  I love to read any book about homeschooling families, so I can't wait to read it!

It's a cute title! I wonder how often they schooled in their jammies.  I know we have :)

Yesterday afternoon on the way home from church we stopped at Kroger so I could run in for a few things while Rob waited in the van with the girls.  It was right there in the Kroger parking lot that my 4 1/2 year old daughter Emily prayed, "Dear God, I want you to be the boss of my life forever.  Amen".   They were just sitting there talking and all of a sudden, Emily bowed her head and prayed aloud.  AWESOME!! 

Rob and I have raised Emily to believe in God and love God.  We answer her questions to the best of our ability.  We teach her Bible verses and read Bible stories.  But this "Special Prayer" has been something we have completely left up to her timing....or rather, God's timing.  

Recently we had another conversation when she saw Rob & I take communion.   We explained that is something that Christians do after they have asked God into their heart forever and are ready to live with him being the boss of their lives.

Us: "Who is God's Son?"

Emily: "Jesus"

Us: "What did Jesus do for us?"

Emily: "Died on the cross so we can live in Heaven after we die"

Us: "And so God can do what?"

Emily: "Always forgive us"

Us: "Is Jesus alive now?"

Emily: "Yes!"

Us: "What is the cracker for that we are eating?"

Emily: "For us to remember Jesus' body"

Us: "What is the juice for?" 

Emily: "For us to remember His blood"

Us: "Whenever you are ready to pray to God and ask him to be the boss of your life, you can do that, ok? That is between you & God and has to be your choice."

Emily: "Ok"

And then she just left it at that.  She was still in fact-seeking mode.  We often joke that she is our little Theologian because she asks incredibly deep questions about God & Jesus and just loves to learn about them.   One example recently was "Do the people that die first go to Heaven first, or will we all go at the same time when Jesus comes to get us?"  That's my girl!

Anyway, we are incredibly proud of her and look forward to many more years of teaching her about God and His love for us.  I know that God, and Jesus at His right hand, were smiling down on my little girl yesterday.  What more could a parent ask for?

Hallelujah!

And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. ~ Matt 18:3

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." ~ Matt 19:14

My 4 year old daughter came to me this morning crying because one of our foster daughters (who is just about to turn 4) told her she didn't love her.   Evidently, Emily said "I love you very much", and FD (foster daughter) said "I don't love you very much!"

OUCH.

What a hard lesson for a 4 year old to learn.  It's hard even for adults.  I know that a lot of times Child-A will say something mean to Child-B and we can make them apologize or say something nice, etc.  But I couldn't do that here.  FD is entitled to her own feelings, and has the right to choose whom she loves and whom she doesn't.

Emily and I cuddled in bed and talked for a while about how love is a CHOICE.  How FD doesn’t want to love us right now because she wants to be with her family instead and even at her young age, seems to think that she can’t love us all at the same time.   Just yesterday morning she told me she was being mean to all of us because she didn’t want to be here and she wanted to be back with her family.

My response to FD:  You don’t have to love us, and you don’t have to like it here.  You do have to obey the rules! There are consequences for our behavior, so I can't allow you to be mean to the people in this family.  It’s ok for you to miss your mommy and family and it’s ok that you want to go back with them.  Right now they love you and need a safe place for you to stay until they can get things safe and ready for you to go back with them.  I explained that we did not take her away from her mommy, and we were not keeping her from her mommy.  It's not my choice how often she visits with her, or when she goes back.  My job was to love her, keep her safe, and take care of her until her mommy & family are able to take good care of her.  

I think it helped for the moment.  I don't think it occurred to me before that she blames us for her not being with her mommy, as if we were the ones that took her away.

Emily and I also talked about how there are people in the world that choose to not love God, and He loves them anyway.  He wants us to do the same.  He wants us to love other people even when they don’t show love, or when they don’t love us.  Jesus showed love to countless people that did not love him.

Mark 12:30-31 tells us, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."

I told her if she wanted to respond, she could say “That’s ok if you don’t love me.  I still love you and I know you miss your mommy”. 

It broke my heart to see my little girl crying because someone had hurt her feelings.  How dare someone not love my firstborn?  In reality, it will happen many times in life.  Many adults I know struggle with just wanting to be accepted and loved.  I know that I have struggled with that as well.  It's just human nature to want to be liked by others, but we have to remember Galations 1:10 which says, "Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ."

I still say it's a hard lesson to learn at 4.

I don't normally do product reviews on here. I definitely don't normally do a review for something I haven't used, I just had to post about this. Have you seen one of these strollers?

I had never seen one, or heard of them until today. But then, I don't keep up with the latest products the celebrity moms have.

A good friend of mine, Ginger, and I were at the zoo today, and saw someone with one of these. (The one pictured on the left)  We kept staring at it wondering if it would be rude to go ask "What IS that thing?". We decided that could be offensive, so I "Googled" it instead.

Turns out, it's called a Stokke Xplory, and all the "cool" moms have one. Tori Spelling has one. It was in the movie Sex & the City (didn't see it).

I admit it has a very unique look. I, however, am going to have to settle for not being cool. For one thing, I have 3 kids, and plan to have more. They don't offer a "multiples" option. Second, I can not comprehend spending the equivalent of our house payment on a stroller that only holds one child! I admit, I'm pretty frugal, but that's just painful to think about. (I would love to spend 1/2 a house payment on THIS one for our 3 little ones though!)

Unfortunately, according to The Stokke website, I'm doing my children a great disservice using that 'regular' stroller.

Some quotes from their website:

The Stokke Xplory is the only stroller that elevates your child to be closer to you. Higher is better because during the first years of your child's life, your child’s own sense of security and well-being is increased when they are closer to you. Keeping strong visual contact and interaction between you and your child helps reassure your child and enhance the special bond between you.

So, riding in a regular stroller is going to make my child insecure and less bonded to me?

Being close to your child allows you to keep contact and interact in a way that lower strollers and push chairs are unable to imitate, strengthening your child's feeling of security, comfort and happiness.

Security, comfort and happiness! Doesn't every mom want that for her child? Personally, if I want to interact that much with my child, I take them OUT of the stroller and play with them.

If you are really interested in adding to your "Mommy Guilt", watch this video from Stokke. Marketing genius, I tell you! What good, loving Mommy would want their child to suffer through their first few years in a regular stroller? Just imagine how much they are missing out on sitting WAY down there. Poor kids.

I have to admit that this quote intrigues me:

The ability to adjust and raise both the Stokke Xplory carrycot and seat to elevated positions makes it easy for you to bring your child in and out of the stroller without having to bend down. Reduces strain on your back and shoulders when lifting your child.

I wonder if I could get a prescription for it from my chiropractor?

I've decided I'm still going to use this blog too.  I don't know if anyone is still subscribed to it or not, but I've got too many things I want to write about and I need a place to put them!  :)  I'll still use the private one for family updates and sharing lots of pictures. 

So here goes!  I apologize if you already saw this on my private blog.  I decided it would do more good on the public one.

2 steps forward...

1) Recently, the court just decided in favor of a child who developed seizure disorder and acute encephalopathy or the marked deterioration in neurologic development as a result of the MMR, his name is Ben Zeller. My heart just breaks for this family as I watched this video from the Florida Sun Sentinel.

2) US Coast Guard SUES and then WINS exemption from abortion-derived vaccine

but then several steps back...

According to the FDA, Merck is only manufacturer of measles vaccines (MMR). Previously, they also manufactured a monovalent version of this. However, they have decided that it wasn't making them enough money, so they have stopped production of the individual vaccines and will only offer the combination one.

Did they not learn already that more is not always better? Children suffered higher rates of fever-related convulsions when they got a Merck & Co. combination vaccine instead of two separate shots

And now this....

Manufacturer Stops Sales of Monovalents for Measles, Mumps, Rubella

By David Mitchell 12/24/2008

 

Merck & Co. Inc. has stopped production and sales of its monovalent vaccines for measles, mumps and rubella. The manufacturer instead plans to focus on its combination vaccine, MMRII.

Merck spokeswoman Amy Rose said MMRII accounts for 98 percent of the company's volume for measles, mumps and rubella vaccines, compared to just 2 percent from monovalent vaccines Attenuvax (measles), Mumpsvax (mumps) and Meruvax (rubella). "The combination vaccine is what's recommended, and it's such a significant portion of the orders we see," said Rose.

"It's in the best interest of public health to make more of that rather than dedicate manufacturing capacity to monovalents." Rose said Merck had not decided when, or if, it might make the monovalent vaccines available for sale in the future. Doug Campos-Outcalt, M.D., M.P.A., who serves as the AAFP's liaison to the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and is a former member of the AAFP Commission on Clinical Policies and Research, said Merck's decision was insignificant in terms of public health.

He added, however, that some parents likely will be unhappy. "The use of the single antigen is pretty limited," he said. "There's no harm if you need one in getting all three. There are some parents out there that want a delayed vaccine schedule. They want the vaccines spread out over a longer period of time and not so many at once. That's a lot of hooey. Alternative schedules have never been proven to be superior."

 That means that you no longer even have the option to give them to your child individually. If they have a reaction to it, you will not know which one caused it. So now, many of the parents who would have given their child the individual vaccines, will end up giving none of them as a result.

I'm also offended by the comment that it's "a lot of hooey" for us as parents to want a delayed vaccine schedule. It's not "hooey" for a parent to be concerned about the safety and health of their child.

Delaying the vaccines until their bodies & immune systems are older and stronger can be a very wise decision. I know that for me personally, my child has never had, and will never receive the MMR vaccine. There are enough vaccines that she has had that I regret allowing because I didn't do the research and arm myself with enough information as a new mom. I won't make that mistake again, and I definitely won't make it with this particular vaccine. I have seen firsthand what it did to a very close family member of mine, and I won't take that chance.

I encourage you to do the research yourself and pray about the right decision for your family, and your children.

RESOURCES

If you are in Texas, and are interested in requesting an immunization exemption form for your child, go HERE.

VaccineInfo.net

Vaccine Ingredients - read carefully if you are against abortion

How Vaccines are made

I've had a few people leave me a note here that they want to follow my new private blog.  I'd love to have you join me, but I don't have your email address, and without that, I can't include you!  So, if you do not email with me on a regular basis, please leave me your email address!   Thanks!! :) 

Do it like this:  name (at) domain (dot) com     so the spammer robots can't get your email :) 

For several reasons, I have made the decision to start a private blog.  If you are a reader of this one, and care to follow along with me in the new one, please either comment on here or send me an email and I will 'invite' you.  I hope you will still join me.  You know that now that it's secret, it's more exciting, right?  Really!

Seriously, I simply wanted to be able to talk more openly about our life, and this is a way I can do it.  Being foster parents, we are required to hold a level of confidentiality for the children, so this is a step I felt I needed to take.  This way, names/stories/pictures are not available to the public.

I'm going to leave this one here, in case I need it later, so in the meantime I just started a whole new one elsewhere. 

Last night I had to go to a mandatory training meeting for foster care.  They provided childcare, so I took all 3 girls with me as Rob had to work late.  The children were all in one building being supervised by many case workers, etc, while us adults were in a building next door.  I checked the girls in, gave them all kisses, and dropped them off.  I told Emily that since it was so crowded in there, I would hang on to their bag with cups & snacks and give them to them when I came back. 

I guess she forgot I had them all. 

When I came to pick them up, Emily ran up to me and was visibly upset. (Before she saw me, however, she was playing happily)  She said "I need to talk to you!", and I bent over for her to tell me what was so important.  She insisted on whispering it while looking around like she was on a secret mission.  I couldn't hear her with all the noise, so after 3 attempts we stepped around the corner.  It was obvious to me she didn't want anyone hearing her.  

Then she said "Someone took P's' cup!!".  (P is 15 months old)  I laughed a little inside (but not outside because it was obvious she was upset about this), and told her "Baby, Mommy has P's cup.  It's in my bag!".  Emily said "No! I saw it! They have her Dora cup!"  (We had just bought new cups that day).  I set her down and opened my bag to show her that I did, indeed, have all the cups.  Then I reminded her that they sell those at the store and lots of people can end up buying ones that look exactly the same.  I thanked her for taking such good care of her sisters and making sure they had what they needed.

She was comforted by that, thank goodness. 

A couple seconds later, my case worker came up to me and said she needed to talk to me.  She said that Emily had been quiet upset and was inconsolable earlier because she couldn't find P.  See, there were so many kids, that they had taken all the babies into another room and closed the door.  Emily was playing and keeping tabs on her sisters, and was very distraught that she couldn't find P.  They actually had to take her in the baby room to show her P was ok.

I just LOVE that Emily loves her new sisters so much that she was that concerned when she didn't see one of them.  Even though some days they drive each other crazy and annoy each other, it's great to know that under it all, there is a lot of LOVE here.  I made sure I told Emily how proud I was of her for being such a great big sister and looking out for them. It just makes me all warm and fuzzy inside to have such a caring little girl!! 

The Parable of the Lost Sheep - Luke 15:3-7

Then Jesus told them this parable: "Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

Have you talked to God today?  Just because?

I'm sitting outside watching my girls play.  A and Emily are swinging on the glider together, and Emily says to me, "I'm sitting in God's lap and he has his arms wrapped around me! He's so fluffy!".   I was speechless as I smiled sweetly at her and thought about how close children are to God.  Then, seconds later, she said "Thanks God, for making me!"

And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. ~ Matthew 18:3-5

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." ~ Matthew 19:14

Have you ever said either of the following things about your life?   "I could NEVER" or "We will ALWAYS"?  I know I have.  I wonder what happens to other people when they say that, because in the last several years I know what happens to our family everytime we say that.  God says "Oh yea?" and ends up calling us to do just the thing that we never thought we would...or could...or should.  Rob and I joked with each other about a year and a half ago that we should stop making plans altogether because God always changes them anyway.   We also heard a quote from a friend teaching Sunday School one day that "if you want to make God laugh, make plans for your day/life".

I do hope He's laughing a lot! I visualize those times when you are watching your child play and you know what they are about to do will never work...maybe trying to fit one toy inside another, or putting a bucket on their head hoping it will stay there.  We laugh as we let them do it because it's amusing to see them try and figure things out on their own.  I hope that's how God laughs at us sometimes.

We've made a lot of plans for ourselves, our family, our lives only to have God call us to something entirely different.  Things that are way out of our comfort zone.  Things that scare me and excite me at the same time. He's asking us to be bold and courageous for Him.  He's asking us to die to ourselves, to take up our cross.  We shouldn't be surprised, should we?  After all, He tells us this in His Word.  He also tells us to trust Him and He will equip us for whatever He calls us to do.

The funny thing to me is how God calls me to do a lot of things.  He put a desire deep in my heart.  A dream so big that I think "oh, that's not for ME to do! But I'll pray for the people that do it.".  Then he lets it grow and grow so that I can't stop thinking about it.  He brings it back to me through other people, songs, books, etc.  I keep thinking "Why does that keep coming up?".  God knows that sometimes I need to hear it again and again.  I'm not always real quick to catch on. He's patient with me. 

Praise God we don't have to do any of it alone! 

Then, when God is especially gracious with me, He allows me to get a glimpse of where He wants me to go along with affirmation from Him that it is indeed what He is calling me to.  I still don't know how or when or why, but I do know that I am to trust Him. 

Trust the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge HIM and He will make your path straight.  Prov 3:5-6

One of my favorite "old school" hymns:

Trust and Obey

When we walk with the Lord
In the light of His Word,
What a glory He sheds on our way;
While we do His good will,
He abides with us still,
And with all who will trust and obey.

Trust and obey,
For there's no other way
To be happy in Jesus,
But to trust and obey.

Not a shadow can rise,
Not a cloud in the skies,
But His smile quickly drives it away;
Not a doubt or a fear,
Not a sigh or a tear,
Can abide while we trust and obey.

Not a burden we bear,
Not a sorrow we share,
But our toil He doth richly repay;
Not a grief or a loss,
Not a frown or a cross,
But is blest if we trust and obey.

But we never can prove
The delights of His love,
Until all on the altar we lay;
For the favor He shows,
And the joy He bestows,
Are for them who will trust and obey.

Then in fellowship sweet
We will sit at His feet,
Or we'll walk by His side in the way;
What He says we will do;
Where He sends. we will go,
Never fear, only trust and obey.

What is God calling you to do?  Is it something you've always dreamed of, or something you never thought you would do?

Emily ADORES animals.  Of any kind.  She wants to live on a farm so she can be with animals all the time.  She wants to grow up to be an "animal rescuer" like Diego.  She has no interest in baby dolls, but plays with animals all day long, and could easily live without any toys except her stuffed animals - particularly her elephants. 

But the girl also likes to eat meat!

She's seen Charlotte's Web, so we had the talk about why pigs die and how they end up being food.  She was very sad for the pig, but not too sad to ask for bacon later that day at the grocery store.   She's also lately talked a lot about chickens and how they become food. 

Now, we have tried to be very "rated G" with our answers to her questions, because I don't want to scare her.  I know that there is a fine line between answering her questions and sending her running scared into vegetarianism. (is that a word?)  I'm fine if she wants to be a vegetarian - I am pretty close myself sometimes.  But if she does it, it will be her own choosing, not mine.  When it comes to her descriptions of what happens to the animals, honestly, she is much more graphic than I am.  I don't know where she gets it.  She hasn't seen it on tv - she has probably seen less than an hour of live tv since she's been born.  We homeschool, so it's not the kids at preschool.  She doesn't play video games, or get on the internet.  Yes, we shelter her and only let her watch pre-approved DVDs. :)

 
So, tonight we had a family friend over, and we told Emily to tell her how chickens get from the farm to the grocery store.  We knew it would be entertaining.  We didn't know just how much!

Here is Emily's response to how a chicken gets from the farm to the grocery store: (complete with hand gestures)

Well, first they kill it.  They use a hammer and splat it all open.  Then they cut it open and take out the tummy because we only eat the tummy.  They cut off the head and the feet and throw them in the trash for the recycle.  They recycle the heads and make new toys from them.  Then they put the tummies and insides in a bucket and take it to the store and put it on a shelf and wait for us to buy it.

Did she just say they make children's toys from recycled chicken heads?? I don't know about her, but *I'm* going to have nightmares from that.  Do you think Santa knows? 

Anyone want to know what happens to the PIG? 

They cut it open like this (drawing a line with her finger from her neck to her belly button) but first they kill it by cutting its head off.  They throw away the head and the feet, and they take all the bacon out of the inside because it’s all bacon inside there.  Then they take it all to the store for people to buy and eat it all up. 

I think I'll have salad tomorrow! 

(A month later, and I still haven't had chicken since!)

...or at least a few of the reasons.

* Today, he went to not 1, but 2 grocery stores for me so I didn't have to take all the kids. 

* He also went by my parents' house to pick up 3 bookshelves and an assortment of other things my mom had for me

* He bought me flowers recently when I was upset about my haircut (which is growing on me)

* He reads Emily's Elmo book to her...in an Elmo voice she LOVES

* He says "Hi, Beautiful" when he answers my phone calls, and he calls me his 'bride' when talking about me.

* He leads our family by example

* He served our country in the Army, and is still extremely patriotic

* He has an incredible work ethic, and practices his morals and beliefs in all he does

* He prays for me, encourages, and supports me in all I do

* He makes me want to be a better person, yet loves me for who I am

* He thinks about the good of our family before all else, and never puts himself first

* He has a heart for helping others, and always makes sure we do just that

* He's so much better at getting up early for his quiet time with God than I am

* Because he truly loves me and our children, and I never ever have to doubt that!

I thank God for choosing such an incredible man to be my husband.  I hope Emily someday (a loooooooong time from now) finds someone just like him.

 Today is Veterans Day...a day to remember and honor all military veterans.   Please take a moment today to pause and think about all the men and women who have served, and are serving, our country.  Say a prayer today for each one of these brave people that put their life on the line for our freedom.  These men and women, and their families, know more about the meaning of sacrifice than many of us ever will.

I can't help but think about Christ when I'm talking about sacrifice.  He was the ultimate sacrifice and died a horrible death so that we could be truly free...free to live in Heaven forever with our Heavenly father.  As you pause to thank the Lord for our troops, past and present, don't forget to thank him for sending His only Son into a battle that would surely end in death...all for you and me.   Can you imagine sending your only child into a war where you know with no doubt that they will be killed?  I can't either.  But God can - that's how much he loves us.

I just wanted to note on here, that you will only be seeing pictures of Emily, but not of our other 2 children.  For anyone that reads this that doesn't know, we are foster parents and are legally prohibited from sharing any photos of our foster children on the internet.  It's hard because I have so many adorable ones of them, but we must obey the rules.  I didn't want anyone to wonder where all the other good pictures are! 

Here are a few pictures from the Flower Mound Pumpkin Patch and our church's Fall Festival.  You can see all the rest of the pictures HERE.

and the Fall Festival: