What?!

Does this Octuplet story not absolutely disgust you? This woman has never been married and had to conceive 6 children by in-vitro, including a set of twins- then went back to have the rest implanted and came up with eight!! According to her mother she is obsessed with having children and has been trying since she was a teen. This explains why she has chosen to remain anonymous for the past week. Have you ever heard of anything more selfish in your life? Her own mother who lives with her says in this article that when she comes home with the babies, she is leaving. As the article implies- as a single mother, this woman will have to be on welfare eventually to support all of these kids. So we as taxpayers get to pay for her desire to have 8 embryos implanted in her body and to acquire 14 children. Shocking....truly shocking. Those fertility dr.'s should lose their license. Other fertility Dr's have spoken out against them in this article, even claiming there is no way it could have been done by a legitimate dr. and maybe it was fertility drugs- but no, her mother confirms it was once again in-vitro.

The Smart Clip

This morning while I was feeding the kids their second breakfast of the day, Isaac said to me, "Mom, are you tired of losing your cell phone? Then get the Smart Clip"...and he launched into the entire commercial! Hilarious!! Of course I said- wait one minute and grabbed the camera. He is mumbling but I hope you can hear some of the words he uses straight off the commercial (go to the Smart Clip link to see it!) Like "ingenious" and "LED light". When I pulled up the website and it started to show the video, he goes "See Mom! I told ya!" Oh my goodness. I think he is watching way too much Qubo and those pesky commercials! For months he wanted me to make pancake puffs. And strangely enough I actually have that infomercial product! I'm just glad that Qubo doesn't advertise for McDonalds and sugar cereals. Then we would be in a world of hurt!

Congratulations, Again!

An email my husband received today!

Dear Billy,

Congratulations! Your story, Dream Job, has been selected to appear in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Power Moms. We appreciate both the opportunity to publish your story as well as the special message you have chosen to share with the world through our book series.

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Power Moms is scheduled to be available in bookstores March 24th, 2009. You will receive payment and ten complimentary copies of the book within 30 days of the publication date.

Woo Hoo! His first book publication...this is very exciting! He is starting to sound a little too "Chicken Soup for the Soul" with some of his latest writings that I've read. He had a really cheesy ending recently in one and I said, "Honey...I'm so proud of the heart strings you pulled at the ending here. This story is SO in with those Chicken Soup people!"

As Andy from The Office would say, "Nailed It!"

Mommy's Little Party Planner

Vivi absolutely LOVES the catologs of birthday themes and supplies that come in the mail.
She flips through every page and comments on the themes she knows..."Memo" (Elmo), "ChooChoo" (Thomas), "Pretty" (Disney Princess) "Day-go" (Diego and Dora). And of course...

Mickey!

She loves birthday supplies. She wears the catalog out and has even slept with it. When it gets really raggedy, we throw it out because a new one will arrive in a few weeks.

Is she a girl after her Mother's heart, or what?

We have planned out her Minnie Mouse birthday party and it is not even until March!

Some Additional Reading

To piggyback on my last post, I wanted to share this that was on a friend's blog. John Piper shares 15 Pro-Life Truths that are worth reading and pondering over, and of course sharing with others.

If you are one to say that at anytime a woman should have the freedom of choice when it comes to the life of an unborn person, please be aware of exactly what you believe and the implications that follow. Educate yourself, don't just say it because you heard someone else say it or it seems right, or the political views you hold to support it. Lots of things that seem right, aren't. It is important because even if you never face this decision, someone you know just might.

Everyone needs to know where they stand on this issue and be able to defend it. There is lots of wisdom in Dr. Seuss saying, "A person's a person no matter how small." And for those who do not have a voice, we will speak for them.

And I have to add that if you feel as a lot of people do that there are two reasons why a woman should have the right to abort, I would like to address those. The first is because she receives a diagnosis that the baby in her body has a serious illness or deformity that will likely shorten their lifespan, or take away their "quality" of life. I would like to point you to two blogs of families who made the heroic decision to carry their babies to full term despite the odds. Both families lost their precious babies soon after birth. But they carried them knowing this was inevitable. The Delgados, friends of our friends, who brought conjoined twins into this world. And this one I have mentioned before, who knew her baby girl would not survive outside the womb and chose to give her life inside her body for as long as God had planned.

The second reason often sited as a viable one for aborting is in the case of rape or incest. All I will say about this is that there are hundreds of families parenting their adopted children who share this as their story and I can tell you those families would never wish that their child's birthmothers had chosen abortion. Their sweet children are the product of what was a horrific beginning, but a beautiful ending, and ultimately a life still worth living.

Just something to further think about as you ponder this very important issue...

And So It Begins...

Regardless of what the president is doing well for the financial state of things in the U.S., it looks as though he is working fast on his pro-abortion agenda.

OBAMA ABORTION AGENDA LAUNCHED TODAY with order promoting abortion in U.S. population-control program

WASHINGTON – President Obama today signs an order that will put hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars into the hands of organizations that aggressively promote abortion as a population-control tool in the developing world.
Obama's order overturns the "Mexico City Policy," under which funds in the U.S. "population assistance" program go only to overseas organizations that pledge not to "perform or actively promote abortion as a method of family planning."
Douglas Johnson, legislative director for the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), commented, "This is the first in an anticipated series of attacks on longstanding pro-life policies, as the new administration pushes Obama's sweeping abortion agenda. That agenda includes repeal of the Hyde Amendment, which would result in tax-funded abortion as a birth control method in the U.S., and imposition of sweeping pro-abortion mandates on private employers through health-care reform legislation.

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This is the link I got it off of: National Right To Life

But you can google it too and several websites are following this agenda. We cannot be silent about this. I have always been strong about this topic, but God has taken me through a personal journey with my two blessings to have an even stronger opinion. The fact is that if we allow tax-funded abortions to occur, the effects will be far reaching. And adoption will become a lot less suitable for women as a choice for an unplanned pregnancy.

I may be happy that as a nation we have reached a momentous moment in history, but I will not stand and support these types of anti-family decisions, no matter who is in office.

Some Adoption Gems

I found this book at the library and it is GREAT! It tells the story of 6 children. The first one is raised by the parents that birthed him and the following 5 were all adopted. The second is a girl from Korea who is placed as a baby, one from a teenage couple who desire an open adoption, and place with a single mother. One is a family placement to an uncle when the baby's mother dies, one is a couple who wait 6 months for a birthmother to choose them, and the last is a girl adopted around age 7 from foster care. It is greatness!

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Then I came across the website http://www.adoptionclubhouse.org/. It is a resource for older children to learn how to deal with questions at schools, a book resource list, and even a great profile series of famous people who were adopted. It is really well done.

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And finally, we attended another gathering of a group we found in North Richland Hills called Families Like Us. It is a group of families that are all similar in the sense that we are all caucasian parents raising African American children, or in the case of one mom that has attended before-African American parent with a caucasian child. We had pizza with all the families and then listened to a speaker, a woman who heads up the African American/Biracial program at Fort Worth's Gladney Adoptions. It was a lot of fun. We found this group because a friend of mine and I were eating at Chick Fil A with our children last spring and the leaders approached us and told us about their group. So that is my latest!

My Loves ***UPDATED***

(My sweet Gloria and her daughter Aliza...she is due any week now with her second girl!)

Anyone else want to make the cut? ;)

Saturday Morning Cartoons

Only when you don't have cable and your children are too young for the traditional shows that lure them in with commercials about sugar cereals and toys, you have to get creative. Yesterday, I put the spanish channel on because Diego was finishing up. The next show was some random thing and then the show Jakers- all in spanish of course. Isaac wanted to watch them and did this for an hour before the t.v. was turned off for the day. I wasn't sure what to make of this! Sorry for the darkness, they wake up REALLY early- even on Saturdays!

Film Greatness

I recently saw these two movies and found them to be strangely similar. Two totally different plots, but the family dynamics in both were fascinating to watch. Anyone else seen these and agree?

Steve Carell really does some interesting stuff with his acting. Love it. The best thing about winter time is catching up on movies!

What's going on at school?

One of Isaac's best friends. She is taller than him!! Can you believe that?

You should see her parents. Wow. Vivi in her nightgown getting ready to hibernate in the bear cave at science class.


The 3's and 4's got to eat bear food and then hibernate in the cave. They all brought their bears to school.

Here are some of the winter projects we have been doing in my class.

We talked about polar bears in my class and the toddlers had pajama day! In Science, there was a big bear cave set up. Isaac's class had a teddy bear picnic and all the bears got awards tied around their necks. Isaac's was "Best Named Bear". I asked him what the bear's name was and of course he said, "Super Bear!!"

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Next week is the much anticipated Donuts With Dad. All the classes have been preparing gifts to give to the dads. Of course the theme for my room will be coffee! We did coffee bean picture frames and will be making mugs with the kids fingerprints. Billy doesn't get to have any of that since his kids aren't in my class, but he will have his own gifts from Vivi and Isaac's rooms. And donuts that morning and crafts with the kids. Then we will all go to chapel and the school will sing a special song to their fathers. One of the kids in my class has had his father's rights terminated, so we are doing his projects for his grandfather. Another child's dad is in Iraq, and a third child's dad is on a business trip- so our room will be a little unconventional as we will be having Donuts with Dads and Granddads!

It's A New Day In This Country

Regardless of your reservations in having a Democrat in office, you have to admit that something about this picture just looks right. It is a day I never thought I would see in my lifetime.

Being at the MLK parade and seeing true victory in the smiles around us as people celebrated the ways that the past and the present have collided to create unity and opportunity for ALL people, made me feel proud to live in a nation that accomplished something very BIG. This past year of such economic struggle for our family has also opened my eyes to the great need for change. I look forward to seeing what our new president can accomplish in the next four years. That being said I also hasten the day that our Lord comes back as He is the only source of true Peace and Harmony. While we await that glorious day, we will celebrate the country that we love.

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Just think....maybe our very own Isaac will one day be the first Pastor turned Politician turned Republican African American President! Now that is dreaming BIG!

Behavior Chart

We are trying to work on some things with Isaac around here involving his behavior and I found these great charts online that have his favorite characters at the top. We are focusing on four areas and as you can see from all the stickers, he is doing well! We still struggle with hyperactivity and loudness and are looking into alternative ways to help him self regulate, but for now the behavior chart is getting us through our day. The prize he chose for completion was a chocolate bar. That can't be helpful towards his hyperness!!

MLK Parade

This was the street in Dallas that the parade went down. It ended at Fair Park. This is the second largest parade of it's kind in the nation for the past 23 years.

Munching on apples, trying to survive the bitter cold!

Before about 150 more people lined the street behind them.

You can see how cold it is by our faces!

We were not prepared for it to be that cold and only wore

fleece jackets instead of our big winter ones. Brrr...

These were no Flower Mound marching bands! These highschool kids had some serious moves! I have never seen tuba players dance that low to the ground before!

All the bands played and danced at the same time, it was very entertaining.

As expected, much of the parade was focused on Obama.

The museum of natural history had this gorgeous elephant statue.

Happy Birthday, Dr. King!

This event had a lot of meaning for me this year as Isaac is starting to understand skin differences. The other day he was laying on the floor looking at his class photo and he said, "Mom, I am the only brown skinned kid and all the other kids are light. When you adopted me, you painted me brown but you were supposed to paint me light like you!" All the reading I've done telling me that transracially adopted kids go through this did not prepare me for looking into my own little one's brown eyes as he genuinly felt sad about being different. I explained that in his class is an asian girl and a girl with really blonde-white hair and a very small boy with severe food allergies. Doesn't he think they feel different from everyone else too? And that God makes every person unique from everyone else. But that all being said, I still worry for my little guy and his sense of self in this world as he grows up. In this particular class picture he is SO dark you can hardly make out his facial features- darn indoor lighting! It is our desire that his elementary school be more racially diverse than his preschools have been, and of course we hope to welcome more children into our family that share his skin color.

After the parade we went to the local McDonalds where he played with about 20 other black children of all ages. We were literally the only white people in the place the whole time we were there. He ran and laughed like he does with any kid anywhere, I don't even know if he noticed. But it made this Mama's heart very happy to see a rare moment where my boy just blended in.

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Here is the old blog post where I write about MLK Jr.

January 2007

Diego!!

Mickey the "Muneco"

One of Billy's college roomates and groomsman, with his wife, are missionaries that we support in Argentina. They sent out their newsletter and we got it today. Vivi climbed on the bed and grabbed it up screaming "Mickey!!". How she saw that so fast, I will never know! Thanks George and Emily for a shot of our beloved Disney character! I won't be reading the caption to the children.

Grocery shopping is fun again!

I used to love grocery shopping and then we hit a budget crisis and now I hate it because it is so hard to get what I want to feed my family at a good price. We can't really afford Central Market or Whole Foods, so when I walked into our area's latest little beauty today....it was bliss! Near our school has been construction on a grocery store called Market Street. My Mom and I went today and spent two hours with the kids there! They had the best coupon offers for lots of free products including smoothies in the cafe...yum! Plus $10 off a $50 purchase. You have to ask for them at the customer service desk. It is laid out so nice like the other mentioned stores, but they sell everything we would normally buy plus all the items we cannot find in one store, like our Annie's bunnies!!

We bought this cereal which is new. They have every single Annie's product off the website including ones we have never had before like:

Plus they had options in the organic milk area for school lunches!
Horizon organic has been replaced around here!

You can get a coupon for free green reusable sacks and they give you grocery credit every time you bring them back instead of using plastic bags!

But...the thing I was most excited about was the 40% off meat bin. The meat manager told me that they only keep the freshest meat in the display case, so when it has a few days left to go until it is to be sold by, they mark it down and put it in the bin! We can eat it within 3 days or freeze it. I got chicken for less than $2, swiss steak, a pot roast...and other stuff. I have had to really cut back on meat I cook because of the rise in grocery costs, and I am not a huge fan of meat products myself, but protein is the best way to fill Isaac up- so this discounted meat is going to be a real blessing in our life!

Their prices were comparable to Kroger, not as good as Walmart. But, with a lot of the products being there that I can't get other places, and their store brand canned goods were a great price plus that meat bin- this may turn into my regular grocery store. I won't even go on about the bakery and floral section!! Let's just say I am in love with this store, if you couldn't tell by this enthusiastic, rambling post! I am taking Billy there today to try the free coffee and we are taking the kids and cousins back tomorrow to get pictures with Diego!

HALLELUJAH!!

Sorry for the graphic picture.

The tiny little beast that has been terrorizing us for over a month now is gone. Billy was going to work and saw him on the side of the washing machine and came running in to wake me saying "he's dead, he's dead!" Of course I was like who? and had a rush of panic flood me but when I saw this, I let out the breath I had been holding since before Christmas. So mice DO like peanut butter. He had his last licks of the good stuff before BAM. Praise the Lord!! Now we can walk around here with peace of mind and I can buy groceries again without worrying about finding chewed up packages. Ewww. This is a glorious day! I told everyone that I wanted to actually see his carcass before I would truly believe he was gone. And there ya go. In living color.

What I wish I had a picture of was Oscar at 2 in the morning with a sticky trap stuck all the way across his face. Apparently he likes peanut butter too! I woke Billy up to "Honey!! Help me!! Oscar is in a mouse trap! Don't make me see him like this." Billy plopped him in the bathroom sink and ripped it right off without even a wimper from the pup. He did look a little dazed and confused afterward! When I told Billy this morning that I wish I had taken a picture of that he said "well go stick one on him and take a picture." He has always had it out for that dog.

Oh, thank you Lord that our mouse drama is OVER!!!

Defender of the Family

You all know that my little Oscar is my shadow. He is everywhere I am, any time of the day. In many ways, he fills the void I had growing up wanting a dog that was my very own. The only pet I had growing up was a cat that clearly preferred my sister.

But I have to say that there is something very special about our big dog, Lucy. Oh, she has quirks-just this morning I found a mangled bag of hamburger buns that once had been full... LUCY! And she snores and licks her paws so much that a lot of nights I don't sleep well. And one night a couple years ago she ate a raw chicken cordon bleu right off the baking sheet while the oven was preheating. She is a rotten dog, devouring half a tray of freshly baked cupcakes not that long ago, paper liners and all!

There are days like today, however, that I am so glad she is a part of this family. I had just stepped in the shower when I heard her warning bark. This told me someone was at our door. It was 6:30 in the morning and still dark outside. She was hysterical. By the time I'd gotten to the door she had scared the person off. The kids had been peacefully watching Barney and my heart was pounding thinking about what could have happened if one of the kids had tried to answer it. Lucy was blocking the door with her whole body so I'm not sure they would have been able to wedge in to reach the lock. Isaac confirmed someone had knocked. We don't know any of our neighbors well enough for them to come to our door that early, and they couldn't have needed me too badly or they would not have bolted so fast. I was so, so glad for my big scary dog. Her bark is a fierce one when she wants it to be. I double bolted the door and knew I could go back to my shower in peace knowing Lucy had it all under control. She has run off salesman before when we lived in the house and I was home alone. Thank you, Lucy. I know we are always safe with you.
Now if only she could catch mice...

Viv and Luc a year ago. Keeping a watchful eye.

Have you ever seen a cuter puppy on the potty?

Even though we are not going to formally housetrain our little puppy until after her 2nd birthday, she has been enjoying exploring the potty. It sings to her and flushes. So she asks to sit on it a lot. And when I don't have the energy for it all and have to tell her not right now, she has a tantrum!! Hope she is this enthusiastic about it in 2 months! Last night she sat on it while I ran her bath and she peed! She didn't even know she did it, but we made a big deal out of it. I showed her the panties I have been purchasing for her big toilet debut in March. She of course liked the Minnie ones! I am not a fan of potty training over the course of months, I think it messes with a child's mind- and then they start messing with yours! So when we do it- we are doing it. Spring Break is our destination to diaper freedom!

Congrats, Honey!

Billy had his second article published in Adoptive Families Magazine! It is his story, Black Sabbath about us attending a predominately African American church for awhile before Vivi was born. It is a full spread in the section Living With Diversity on page 20 and 21, January/February. They retitled it "Something To Believe In".

You can get this magazine at most Barnes and Nobles. It is a great one to have a subscription to. We have enjoyed it for years. I read his story first and called out to Billy the ways that it was changed, especially the subtitle. He didn't write that at all. He said that it is hard to read his work after it has been edited, because sometimes it can be really butchered. Thankfully the story itself was left almost untouched.

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In other news, we anxiously await the publication of this book:

It is set to be released at the end of March and Billy has a story that has made the final cut!! He recently signed the papers and edited the final draft, faxing it to the editor. Sure it could always get cut when it goes to print, but we have faith it will be in there. The theme of the book is stay-at-home Moms. Is that hysterical or what?! They will pay him and give us 10 copies of the book when it comes out. I am so proud of his writing ability- I was in journalism in highschool and have always had a way with words myself--as you can see by my LONG posts on this blog! He has gotten a lot of joy from writing and it is always great to be rewarded for your work! The excerpt below describes the book:

101 Stories Celebrating the Power of Choice for Stay at Home and Work from Home Moms
Wendy Walker, author of Four Wives and The Queen of Suburbia, has become the go-to media expert on women leaving the workforce to raise their families and run their homes. This book contains 101 great stories from mothers who have made the choice to stay home, or work from home, while raising their families and becoming active members of their communities. Stories from grateful husbands and children are also a fun read. These multi-tasking, high-performing women have become today’s Power Moms. Every stay-at-home and work-from-home mom will view this book as having been written just for her. Perfect for book groups, it will also contain a reader guide.

Vivi has a cold

Vivi's cold has given her no appetite. The other day she dozed off instead of eating lunch. I have what feels like bronchitis. I may have to skip out of work early tomorrow and head to the Dr. I am miserable.

Don't you just love the color brown!

Here are pics of the kids on their first day back to school this semester, wearing their clothes that Grandma gave them for Christmas! We left our camera battery charger in Houston and I got these before my batteries died for good. So I may not be able to post pics for awhile. I do have a cute video of Vivi I'll try to post, though.

Vivi had to text her BFF before Homeroom.

Her dress has cupcake trim on the chest and you can see the cupcake tights below. So cute!