A Typical School Day

Ok, so this first picture really has nothing to do with a typical school day but I thought I would throw it in for my grandma, Marvelous Marv :) Our new little dog, Buster, is not usually tolerant of the cats, but now that it is chilly outside he is allowing them to snuggle with him in his basket to keep himself warm.


Nate goes around and visits the boys as they are in school seeing if he can get them to come and do puzzles with him or entertain him. Spencer is easily distracted and doesn't like school so he is all to eager to have Nate come and join him at his desk.





I usually have one boy taking a break while 2 or working so that Nate always has someone to play with. Some boys do better then others at entertaining him.



This is Zach doing his typing class on the computer. He loves school but he hates typing.













This face pretty much sums up Spencer's feeling of school...he says it is useless and he thinks school should be outlawed. He prefers to play all day.




If only every year were as fun as kindergarten. Drew is enjoying his "work". He still has trouble pronouncing "r" but is flying through school. He is in first grade reading books and will be in first grade math by next sememster. I asked him what makes a school day fun and he said, "lots of paper work."

Waiting

The good news is our file has been placed in court. The bad news is they did not give us a court date yet. So, I choose to remain calm, cool, and collected why...because He who promised is faithful. That doesn't mean we are happy only when we get what we want. His way IS perfect and unless we trust in that fact then we will be miserable unless we are always getting our way, which of course doesn't always happen. Here is the prayer from Psalm that we must pray over and over again, especially in times of waiting: Psalm 62

Truly, my soul silently waits for you Oh God; my salvation comes from You. You only are my rock and my salvation; You are my defense; I will not be greatly moved. My soul, wait silently for You alone, Oh God, for my expectation is from You. You only are my rock and my salvation; You are my defense; I will not be moved. My salvation and my glory are in you God. You are the rock of my strength, and You are my refuge. I will trust in You at all times, Lord. I will pour out my heart before you, God for you are my refuge. Thank You, Lord, that power belongs to You. I choose to trust in You and look to You.

So, if you are in a waiting period, choose to look to God, choose to trust Him. Trusting Him means not fretting and worrying. We can throw the what ifs and if onlys out the window when we trust in God. I know that He is in control and that takes away my worries. It doesn't mean I understand everything or like everything but it does mean my heart is at peace with what God brings to me.

Adoption

We were really expecting to hear something the end of last week...but we didn't. We have been calling and calling for information with no answers. Finally on Thursday we called the director of the children's home to see if she knew what was up. She did, she said the person that was supposed to take our folder to court last week is on vacation and it was passed on to someone else who just hasn't gotten around to taking it yet...
There's the latest. I guess working in the child protective services doesn't necessarily mean that the children are your priority!
Frustrated but still trusting and Knowing that GOD IS IN CONTROL even when it doesn't feel like it!

Please Pray for Ema

I would like to ask you all to pray for Ema, short for Emanuel. He is 7 years old and starting first grade. He comes to church with his grandma and his little sister. His home situation is difficult. He will have to work hard to make it through school.


Please pray that we can find a good tutor for him. Someone with compassion for him and with patience. We pray that we as a family can have a good influence in his life and that he will continue coming to church as he gets older and decide to follow the Lord. Please pray for him when you think of Romania. Please also continue to pray that adoption laws will be changed. We need wisdom and patience to know how to minister to orphans. There is so much red tape to go through here in starting anything to do with orphans. Right now our focus has to be on the adoption and that is also a bunch of red tape but after that is complete we really want our church to do more to minister to the kids in our community who are abused, neglected and/or abandoned. Please pray with us that we would continue following and trusting God and we know He will direct our paths.

Dear Nate

A Family Video

Camp Pictures

A few pictures I received from Isabela from the boys week at camp.

Shopping for Clothes in Romania!

So, you may be wondering...where do you shop for 6 kids clothing in Romania...(so you may not be wondering but you will find out anyway if you keep reading). Well, now that I am discovering as the boys get older they wear out there clothes more and they can't all be passed down I am having to buy more clothes than I used to, plus the fact that we are adding a little girl in the midst. I realized, I cannot afford to get all my clothes new. I did do a little shopping at Childrensplace.com for a few new things but I had to find a new way of shopping. I have bought clothes new at Romanian stores in the past but they are expensive and cheaply made then a few years ago, thanks to Ramona, I discovered the Tuesday morning Gypsy market. You basically drive out to the outskirts of town to this big field where animals graze and poop on every other day of the week except Tuesday and there are all these big rolls of plastic spread out on the ground with piles and heaps of clothing from the west. I have discovered that with patience you can find some really good second hand clothes here, you just have to be willing to take the time to get down on your knees and dig for a while.
I had even prayed last night that God would help me find some clothes as fall is fast approaching and the kids need some clothes...sometimes I feel ridiculous praying that God would help me in my shopping endeavors but I have learned He cares about every little detail of my life so I pray about everything. I was getting discouraged after digging and digging and finding nothing until finally I stumbled on my gold mine...a table filled with good quality children's clothing where I found something for each child...except little Nate but he doesn't really need anything. I found 5 pairs of pants, a skirt, and 7 shirts for a total of $30. I wish I had brought my camera but seeing as how my back pack was stuffed with clothes by the end of the morning I really didn't have room for it anyway. So, God does care about my shopping and He did hear my prayer and gave an answer. Maybe next time I go I'll bring my camera and snap a few pictures of my quality clothing store in Romania, then you all will want to run over and shop with me :).