And so another Orphan Sunday snuck up on me...

yes, I was sitting in church today and it dawned on me...IT IS ORPHAN SUNDAY!!!

It wasn't that I hadn't thought of it before...multiple things had communicated it to me well-ahead of time.  The point was...today was the day and I once again had been meaning to do something special.  Organize a time of prayer, raise awareness, something, anything...but I didn't.

So I thought of our day...what could I "pull-off" yet today (my natural thought;)...nope...the day is full.  International Students coming for a full Thanksgiving dinner.

And then I smiled...fine. 

Deuteronomy 10:18  He ensures that orphans and widows receive justice. He shows love to the foreigners living among you and gives them food and clothing.

God cares for the orphans, widows and strangers...EVERY DAY. 

It is a special day.  Our hearts break under the thought of 147 million orphans.  And the question comes up...are we doing all we can?  Not just with adoption... but in sponsoring kids, praying like crazy for them and supporting them in any way we can...and not just today but all throughout the year?

Are we reaching out to the widows and strangers in our land?

God has any mix of these people near us or not so near us.

So today looked a little different than maybe what I would have dreamed up...but it was just right.  Serving and loving people who just within the past few months who have come to the US from Nigeria and China.  We were so thankful to have a wonderful family from our church join with us in this effort. 

God answered prayers today.  Silly ones...like "please help the turkey not be raw or burnt".  And continued ones for the orphans struggling around the world...may we never ever truly forget.

Redeeming Halloween!

 The past few years our family has tried "Redeeming Halloween"...and this was another year of great blessing!   This is Ellyana and a friend getting ready for a "Kiddie Parade" at our church's nursing home.

 To say the residents LOVED getting to see the little ones in costume would be a huge understatement.  Some had been waiting for an hour not to miss the kids. They brought great JOY wherever they went!

 Ellyana & I had to leave a little early from the parading to get back to the boys' school for a parade & parties.  The kids looked so cute, the games were fun & it was a great opportunity to connect with kids, parents & teachers for the 1st big school event for the year.

 Ellyana enjoyed being old enough to get to participate in bingo & other games.

 This is BJ cracking up at his teacher...people brought in silly things to have the teacher dress in...I have to say the teacher was a very good sport & got lots of laughs.

 The school day was shortened because of a teacher in service...so I loved getting the kids home in the afternoon for some "down" time.

 And here they are in their costumes...BJ picked out the Monkeys in a Barrel (it is adult size, so it will probably be around for many more years).  Everyone got quite a kick-out of it, especially with the squeaking monkey puppets.  Zach had dreamed of being Spiderman...must be the age but as Brian said..."superheros were a dime a dozen".  And Ellyana was Princess Tiana...everything is princess with her!  The kids play around the house in costume quite a bit...it always cracks me up to come downstairs in the morning & see various characters running around!

We visited a few houses, we have quite a few elderly neighbors who LOVE to see the kids each year.  It is a nice evening getting to visit with the people that you just see drive by & wave to usually.  They love to see the kids, always say how much they have grown & give them some treats.  Seemed like each house gave out a lot this year...we do ration it so it should last for a long time!

Praying we were a blessing to each one we were with throughout the day, we were blessed!

We are #3 (again)

 

So our official wait-list number for September was #3 and it seemed so great to be #3...

and well, for October we again are #3.  

In an effort to be "real" AND "thankful"...here's my short lists of why it is 

so-great & not-so-great to be #3 (again)...

Not-so-great

1. Some moms at school ask me EVERYday when I see them if we have heard anything

2. Would have loved to have our referral by Christmas-time...not looking to promising now

3. We have been on the wait-list for 26 months (enough said)

So-great

1. Far-and-away best reason to be #3 again...GOD's timing is best & He is answering our daily prayers to match us up with just the right baby girlie for our family

2. There is a lot of effort being made to make sure the children up for adoption are legitimately "in need"...this takes time...but it is a good thing that this is in place

3. More time to connect with the 3 kiddos we have here... before life changes

4. Found out this weekend Ellyana has been thinking that everyone is getting their OWN baby sister...she gets one, Zach gets one, BJ gets one...thankful for the extra time we have to sort out the fact that only ONE baby sister is coming home for the family to share :)

5. the list could go on & on but mostly it all goes back to "So-great" reason #1...God is faithful!

Happy 10 years home day!!!

Today is the day we celebrate BJ's "Coming Home" Day!  Two of our kiddos came home on jet planes from other countries, this is the day we celebrate that BJ finally made it home.  He had already been in 3 different NICU's and traveled by ambulance.  He has his own special story!

Our tiny, precious boy got to come home to our apartment in our car with all of his oxygen tubing &  apnea monitor.  The care had been been wonderful along the way...but at the end of it all..."there is no place like HOME"!  So thankful for this blessing!

She is a silly, precious girl

This girl is almost "4" and it is hard to believe!

She continues to bless our family so much &

 a big part of it is through her HUGE vocabulary and imagination!

Her words about storytime..."Miss Dorie is a wondrous story teacher"...not sure we had ever heard the word "wondrous" out of the boys mouths :)

She heads out to play football with the boys in her princess plastic high heels.  Are the words...you can not play football in the princess high heels!...really coming out of my mouth?

She will talk with great authority and report on her IMAGINARY school that she attends.  Her teacher's name changes every day.  We get quite a kick out of Ms. Table, Ms. Glue, Ms. Spaghetti.

We can NOT get her to keep her socks that we put her to bed in on but then the other night I went to tuck her in & she has these on her feet.

 

She spends lots of time playing in her room with her princesses...they all talk in very sweet voices.

She goes to storytime one time a week & gymnastics one time a week.  The other days she does pretty good helping me run errands or do somethings to help others.  She asked the other night what she had to do to the next day...I said a few things and then we have a "Room Mom" meeting at Starbucks...she died laughing and said "I never have meetings at Starbucks", funny thing is I don't think I had either.  She did get a kiddie hot cocoa out of the meeting.

After Ellyana had made a very funny comment to a friend at church today...I asked the friend today...how much of it is a "girl-thing" or is it just a "personality-thing"?  

Who knows?  But we are blessed by it!

We are #3!!!

Some fun things come in threes...

 

And our favorite thing is this picture of great MERCY and GRACE!

So thankful for Jesus (and for a little movement in our waitlist number:)!

End of summer highlights...

 We had a fun trip to Grandma & Grandpa's later this summer & we got to try out their ice cream shoppe...a just right size table.

 These 2 are so funny...they are always trying a new Blizzard type mix of flavors & then split the treat & then analyze what they are planning to order the next time.

 Loving the ice cream cones.

 Buddies.

 Grandma is brave enough to let these 2 crack eggs for breakfast.

 And thankfully, no glasses needed for the boys again this summer.

 Back-to-school donut treat.

 This summer we were "free pool pass" junkies.  Its funny by the end of the summer it felt like we had been swimming a fair amount...and then I started realizing how many "free passes" we had used at various pools around the area...pretty fun for our 3 fishies.

 The kids did take swim lessons this summer...it is wonderful to have all 3 of them as independent swimmers now...it does make pool time way more relaxing!

 Every year we look so forward to the International Student Picnic...connecting Internationals that very recently arrived in America to Christian friends...the day almost takes your breath away at all the countries represented & all the opportunities for friendships

 BJ loved teaching himself to kayak & got to take Sister out for a ride

 Water-balloon volleyball with friends from around-the-world

And one of the things that I miss with the kids back in school...doing whatever in PJ's till whenever!
The boys are having a terrific year and it does feel good to be back in sync...but summer always hold a special place in our hearts!