Real Time Photos

So, here's the view from my front porch today.......
If you want to be reminded of what the neighborhood looked like in it's former summer and fall glory, check here or here.

We've got a winter wonderland today, and the kids are loving it!

Seven

We've been logged in for seven short/long months now. It's crazy to think that a mere three years ago that would have meant that our referral was right around the corner! My, how times have changed! 

It has been seven short months, because those months have been graciously filled with a new job, a new house, moving, new school, and just the blessedness that life with our kids brings. They have been long months when I think of how many more sets of seven are ahead of us (7? 8? More?). Thankfully, most days, I'm filled with the hope and dream of Ruby and not the anxious waiting. That has been a tremendous (and unexpected) blessing. I'm not sure why this is. It surely isn't like me. But, I have a peace that I cannot explain regarding the whole thing. I just know this is exactly where we are supposed to be right now: waiting. 

Or living expectantly, as I've decided to call it! :)

Sawyer's Interpretation of the Nativity

Yes, even Spiderman and the Ninja Turtles came to worship.

Bibles, Bibles Everywhere!

Bibles, bibles everywhere

Bibles near and far

Let's use our hands and feet to count

how many versions there are!

(Adapted from the Baby Einstein book "Water, Water Everywhere" )

When Sawyer was a toddler, I started a search for the perfect Bible to start reading to him. Ever since then, I have continually looked for the right Bible to read to him, and now Chloe, at their level. So, right now, we have a pretty good collection. Since I am pretty picky about what I like and don't (cute, but not cutesy pictures, well-written text that tells the whole Bible story), it took me awhile to find the ones I like the most. So, I thought I'd share. (I linked most titles to Christian Book Distributors not only because they have the best prices, but because if you go to the product page and click on "additional views" they often have several pages of the book for you to look at on-line. It is VERY cool.)

I started my kids off with these:

These are small board books that tell individual Bible stories. You can find them at Amazon or Barnes and Noble.com by using their search application to search for "Patricia Pingry" who is the author. There are quite a few titles as you can see in the picture below (some are also available in paperback which is cheaper). I like that there is just one story per book (as opposed to a toddler Bible with a collection of different stories). I just find this to be easier.


Sometimes the lesson gets wrapped up in a trite little sentence at the end, but I always expand on the story myself so I don't worry about that much. The one book that I'm not crazy about is The Story of Noah because they leave out the rainbow and God's promise. That's kind of key to the whole story, don't you think? I also really like their series for holidays. Thanksgiving and Easter are pictured below, but they also have Christmas, St. Patrick's Day, and America's Birthday (4th of July).




So, once I my kids were ready for more stories and more text, I moved to The Beginner's Bible:


I liked it a lot. I liked how Sawyer could start to understand the Old Testament from the New Testament (because finishing the old and moving on to the new was always a big deal around here). The best part about it is that it doesn't break the Bible stories up. The whole story of Noah is one story. The story of Abraham is broken up into various parts that are whole stories that make sense. That's the format I prefer, but several Bibles I looked at did not do that. They would break the stories up in odd places so that they could keep the stories to just a two page spread. For example, the Read and Share Bible:




I switched to this Bible when we had gone through the Beginners Bible more than once. I like it a lot, but they put a new title on each 2 page spread. Therefore, the stories get chopped up into small parts that don't make a whole story. I would always read several "stories" at a time each night to my kids to make one coherent story. For example, the story of Noah is broken down into 5 parts: Noah,The Big Boat, Inside the boat, The Dove, and The Rainbow. I would read all 5 parts to preserve the whole story. Scot didn't get that, so he'd read just one chunk at bedtime until I pointed out to him that that didn't make a whole lot of sense. It wasn't a big deal, I still really liked this Bible, but I just think it would be improved if the stories were kept whole.

What I did like about that Bible more than the Beginner's Bible, is that there is a question at the end of each "story", so there was good interaction about the story throughout. I also liked the illustrations better.


I just recently started a search for a Bible that would be more for Sawyer's level: more text, but still a lot of pictures. We had read through both the Beginner's Bible and the Read and Share Bible several times. It was somewhat hard to find. I actually ended up stumbling across the perfect pick at W@lMart, the Read and Learn Bible:

So far, this is my favorite Bible. It includes lots of detail in each Bible story, and it is perfect for K-2 I think. The thing I liked about this was that it greatly expanded on the stories from the Beginner's Bible and the Read and Share Bible, but it still had LOTS of pictures. At this age, pictures are still a HUGE boost to understanding for kids, so I think they are necessary. This book doesn't skimp on text or pictures which I love! Also, each story stays close to the Biblical account which is important to me.

So, that's where we are now, and from all my vast searching, I know where we are headed next, the One Year Children's Bible:
I liked this a lot since it was spread out over one year, and the text is more detailed and close to the Biblical text. What I didn't like is that to have a reading for every day, they broke up the stories. So, we're back to the story of Noah in 5 parts! It has some pictures, but it confused Sawyer because there will sometimes be more than one story per page and only one picture to go with one of the stories. I would be reading about Abraham, and he'd be looking at a picture of Noah's ark. It wasn't helping him understand, it was only confusing him. So, he needs to be older for this and not so dependent on pictures for understanding.

The last Bible I found for young elementary aged kids was The Little Kid's Adventure Bible:
It looks excellent- the text is really an age-appropriate version of the Biblical text. It is very well done, but no pictures. So, it isn't for Sawyer yet. If my child was a good independent reader, this is the Bible I would get for him/her.

So, there you have it: a long, rambling post about Bibles. But, I searched high and low for the right Bibles for my kids at each age, so maybe this will help you!

One last note..... I know many of you will notice that I left out the Jesus Storybook Bible. The artwork is BEAUTIFUL. Really, really gorgeous- real artwork as opposed to illustration. The cool part of this Bible that makes it so unique is that every story in the whole book points to Jesus, and that's the whole point, isn't it? So, we will add this to our collection for sure....I just haven't yet because I've been looking for something with a greater collection of Bible stories told in an age-appropriate way while also staying as true to the actual Biblical text as possible.

*** Tish wrote a GREAT comment that I whole-heartedly agree with (not the part about being a researching hero, the other part :) ), so be sure to check it out!!!

Some Holiday Cheer for You

My dad told me about this incredible version of the 12 Days of Christmas he heard on the radio the other day. He said I had to hear it. I found it immediately, and it IS fabulous- and pretty darn funny! So.....enjoy. (You have to watch to the end- this isn't just your same old "12 Days of Christmas".)

Dare I say......

Ok, I know that sometime last weekend we also had a few days of relative health, but I *think* we might be past the killer stomach bug that invaded our house. Everyone is eating normally and keeping it down. We also have electricity back, so life is almost back to normal (my parents still don't have electricity, so they are staying with us). It feels blissful!

In the last two full weeks of school, Sawyer has only been 3 times. Today, there is no school due to the fact that the majority of our town still is without power. We're going to celebrate health and wellness by going to the movies.

Thanks for all your prayers. Maybe I'll actually be able to think and talk about something infinitely less gross for a good, long while.

I do have to mention though, I think that 90% of the reason I got to feeling better so fast when I was really not feeling well, was because of this:

At the risk of giving you all more information than you need, I have to tell you about Kefir in case it might help anyone. It was, for me, no less than a miracle I learned about by complete chance. For a year and a half, I dealt with intestinal issues that literally had me dramatically altering my daily activities (to make sure I was always near a bathroom) or living off of Immodium AD- which I brought with me EVERYWHERE.

Finally, after nearly not making it to a family gathering due to those issues, I arrived almost in tears and told Scot's aunt what was going on. (Honestly, more as an explanation of why I'd be spending half the gathering in the bathroom than anything else.) She had had major health issues that had resulted in the same issue, but FAR worse. She told me about Kefir and how 1 cup a day of it had "cured" her. I thanked her, but almost didn't try it because I didn't want to be disappointed (plus I was afraid that something so effective would taste gross). I started drinking 1/2 a cup a day for about 2 weeks. Literally, from the day I first tried it, I did not have another issue!! I even stopped drinking it after about a month, and I was still fine. It is loaded with probiotics, protein and fiber and apparently that combination did the trick. Yogurts with probiotics did not help me, this was the only thing that did. And it wasn't gross.

This "stomach" bug didn't hit my stomach as much as it did my intestines. For one day, I literally could not leave the house. I drank 1 cup of Kefir that evening, and by the next morning, I was fine.

So, I thought I'd share in case any of you are ever in need of something like this. I'm so glad someone told me. OH- and it is much easier to eat it with a spoon, like yogurt, than to drink it. (It is too thick to drink, in my opinion.)

There you go.....I sincerely hope that helps someone. And, I promise: no more gross stuff for awhile!! :)

12 Days of Vomit

On the 12th day of vomit, my true love said to me.......you know, I probably shouldn't repeat what he said! :)

I've decided to keep my sense of humor after all. I'm thinking that it may be my only hope of actually winning this less-than-fun game of Survivor we've been thrust into against our will. You'll all be happy to know that there was a fire-starting challenge today when our power went out at 1AM. Scot won that challenge after a few false starts, and just in time too......because Chloe started throwing up at 2:15AM. (See, that is why I've decided that a sense of humor is a good thing to have.)

So, I cleaned vomit by candlelight (how romantic), then snuggled up in bed for warmth next to a sick little girl who smelled like vomit because, oh yeah, you can't just throw a girl who just threw up on herself into the tub when she has A BROKEN LEG- not to mention having no hot water!!!!! (I'm seriously just laughing right now, because at this point, what else can I do?)

Thankfully, when she threw up, she threw up all over Scot so I didn't have to try to clean bedding without the use of a washing machine. And, I say "thankfully" because it wasn't me she threw up on. Poor Scot had to sleep with himself after that. I couldn't have done it.

As for me, I seem to feel really bad when everyone is doing ok. I'm not throwing up, I'm just......well, I'll spare you. But it's not pretty. When my kids are sick, I get the blessing of feeling a bit better (although, sleeping with the smell of vomit last night almost made me join the fun). So, there's what I'm thankful for right now- the small blessing of being able to still take care of my kids who, while very sick, are going to be just fine eventually. We've got it good if you really think about it.

I'm also thankful that my mother-in-law did not lose power with alomst all the rest of the state. They are saying we'll be out of power for a couple of days at least.

How I feel this morning (besides sick)

I'm wishing the wait was shorter and our little girl would be coming home soon. Most days it doesn't hit me. Today, it did.

In adoption news......

Children's Hope International is extremely excited to announce that we have received Hague accredidation!!!!!!!!!!

Praise God!!

I couldn't make this stuff up......

Sad to say, I'm waaaaaay past cute Survivor-themed posts making a joke out of the amount of vomit at our house over the last week or so. We've had the stomach bug around here enough in the past, that I could have a nice laugh at our own expense knowing that being a parent just brings this kind of stuff- like it or not. I did a really good job keeping my sense of humor about it- until tonight.......when Sawyer started throwing up again. 

Seriously. Come on. Shouldn't he be past this by now? He vomited off and on for 4 days, was ok for 4 days, and now we're right back to square one: middle-of-the-night vomiting on every bed linen (and the towels I threw down, yet again, when he said he just wasn't feeling well at bedtime). When is this poor kid just going to get BETTER already?

He looked at me tonight and said, "Mommy, I'm scared."

I mean, sure, I've had enough of cleaning vomit. Selfishly, I could use a break from that. But, I really do not like seeing my little guy so sick, and scared.

If you think of it, pray that he finally gets better. Really better- no more vomiting for a good, long time!

Update

Still going......or at least Sawyer is. Chloe (remember, my tough kid) is fine. However, after a twist in the game of Survivor that included 36 hours of vomit-free living as a teaser, we're right back to the game last night in a big way. 

In the Immunity challenge, I thought I had all my bases covered when I covered his quilt with large towels "just in case" even though he had been fine all day. Unfortunately,  he still managed to throw up on it.  So, I've now washed it THREE times just this week!!! And the towels? Well, they were beyond cleaning. They are going out with the trash today. Trust me. I'm not just being wasteful! I'm being realistic.

So, no immunity for me. Therefore, I spent some time last night and this morning on Exile Island. I'll leave it at that. 

But, the game's not over yet! I've got some really strong alliances, and I think we can make it to the end!

Survivor: Reality Edition

2 Vomiting kids

2 exhausted parents

3 hours of sleep

2 "puke buckets"

1 middle-of-the-night "accident"

8 loads of laundry

4 naps

1 disassembled car seat

4 different types of cleaner/disinfectant

6 episodes of Dora

2 full length movies

4 foods approved (B.R.A.T., anyone?)

2.5 hours till dad gets home

5 hours till bedtime 

5.01 hours till MY bedtime

Just 1........

SURVIVOR

(Actually, I'm hoping for more than one Survivor, but who's counting?)