Pictures say it all

Jeremiah kept steeling Jameson's binky, so I gave him this one. He prefers it as a chew toy.Thanks Carina for this Hot Sling - all the boys love it. Look at that cheesy smile again. My littlest love (Jameson) is finally out of preemie and newborn and into 0-3 mo clothes and getting some chub.

Josiah is crazy about holding Jameson. He is super sweet with him and actually does a better job holding him than Joanna does. Josiah is very thoughtful and attentive to others (more about that in another post)

I know Jameson looks huge, but really Josiah (and Jeremiah) are very tiny.

"Mom save me!"

After pulling weeds the other day, the kids made a restaurant - J & J's grill. The special was meatball sandwiches. Julia said you could also order a PB and J sandwich or salad bar, but there would be an extra charge for that ;).

The secret behind Jeremiah's big round belly - They love to do this. Notice Josiah was crying because he had to give Jeremiah a turn to suck the air.

Sagging

beautiful day playing in the wind and sprinklers - temps have been between 80 and 100 for weeks/months and we are loving it!

Josiah and Jeremiah's first trip to the zoo

My Jules - my great helper

Memorial Box Monday

(Sorry this is late, I know it is not Monday, but I am behind as usual)

We have been adding several treasures to our memorial box that I discussed a few posts back. We are seeing the Lord provide and bless us in so many ways. I will start with the last thing we added. Here is the story from this weekend:

This weekend we got 3 dump trucks full of gravel for our backyard. Javier hired a worker from the corner to help him haul it back.

For the first 3 hours they used wheel barrows. Then the neighbor saw Javier and told him that her family owns a landscaping company and she would see if she could get them a bobcat (tractor). The tractor came a couple of hours later, but meanwhile she gave them their sand rail to load up with gravel, zoom it back to the backyard and dump it (the truck bed lifts up and dumps!). Wow - not only did that save so much time and energy, but it was so fun. Every trip to the back, kids would take turns riding. Then she told me to give them a spin around the neighborhood. It made a grueling job much more fun.

Notice how LONG that driveway is and how much work it was to haul it by wheel barrows!

The amazing part is not only did she offer to help us with loaning us these things, but that she was in town and saw them. She told us that every year she camps out at the PIR races and she should have been there, but this year she didn't go. If she had been there, she would have never seen them struggling. Do you see God? Our God turned a 2 or 3 day hard project into 1 fun day. Jordan thought we should put one of the rocks in our memorial box to remember how the Lord helped us on this day - so that is just what we did.

Easter 2009

Happy Easter! We celebrate our salvation because our Lord died and rose from the dead!

My boys

My girls

All 11 of the cousins

Andrew and Jackie - they are just 2 peas in a pod

Kids say the darndest things

Dadddy, which princess are you going to marry? (Joanna 3)

There is one reason I wish we didn't adopt Josiah . . . Joanna and him love each other so much, I wish they could get married. (Julia 7)

Do babies have gills before they are born? (I ask "no, why?") Well how do they breathe underwater so long? (Jordan 8)

I am NOT the marrying type. (Janae 10)

Boys are so pretty. . . no not pretty . . . mom what are boys? (I suggested, "handsome?") No . . .boys are ugly. (Joanna 3)

I want to marry Andrew. I love Andrew. (I said, "You can't marry Andrew. He is your cousin. We don't marry family.") But you married Daddy! (Jacklyn 4)

Mommy, you look so pretty with that baby (Joanna when I was pregnant)

Why is it so easy for babies to frown when they are born, but it is so hard for them to learn how to smile since it only takes 17 muscles to smile and it takes 43 to frown? (Jordan 8)

Encouraging thankful hearts

Oh man, we have had some issues the last few days with grumbling and complaining. So last night amongst other things, Javier reminded and discussed 1 Thes. 5:16-18 with the kids "Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus" .

Our fairly new rule is that rooms need to be clean, beds made and kids dressed and ready before anyone gets breakfast. Well this morning there was grumbling about making beds. I reminded them of what we just discussed last night and that the true test is if we can be joyful doing things we don't like. I left to change yet another terrible diaper and collect my first few of 20 stool samples that I have to collect on the boys over the next week. There it was - my own sin of grumbling in my heart about doing this all over again for the 3rd time. Then God's word convicted me so I decided to make a lesson of it. I started cheering, "WOOOHOOOO! Wooohooo! Thank you God!" The kids all came running and asked, "What? What?" I said, "Even I need to be thankful scooping poop because praise God that we have insurance and medical care to get these boys well. If I can rejoice in scooping poop, you guys can rejoice in making beds!" The kids were looking at me strangely, unsure if they should laugh or run and saying, "Mom is crazy, she has gone mad." Maybe true, but the whole attitude (mine included) in our home changed.

Memorial Box Monday

Joshua 4:6b-7 "In the future, when your children ask you, 'What do these stones mean?' tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever."

We are starting a new tradition in our home that we are all so excited about. We caught this vision from a neat Christian family http://aplacecalledsimplicity.blogspot.com/ who have several biological and adopted children, who work in the ministry and whose house recently burned down. Despite all of the pain and challenges they have been through lately, they are continuing to see God provide and love them in amazing ways.

So what is the tradition? A memorial box to remember the large and small ways the Lord provides for us, loves us, answers prayers, gives us undeserved gifts etc.

I found this nice big leather box at a garage sale for $2. Any box or shadow box will work!

We will put little items in this box that represent these things. I love that this is a tangible way to declare and remember the faithfulness and kindness of our God! This will not only strengthen our faith when it is weak, but also our children's and those around us. We are a forgetful people and really this is no different than what the Israelites did when they built memorials out of stone. This is also just one more way we can obey Deuteronomy 6:4-9 of teaching our children to love the Lord our God. Just below that in verse 12 it says, "be careful that you do not forget the Lord . . ." Let us not forget! Oh how I wish we started this when we first got married! Anyway, we are thankful to steal the idea and hope to start a new tradition for generations to come in our family. Anybody want to join us? There is nothing better than encouraging one another with stories of our awesome God.