1 Year Ago

Who knew that last year, around this time God would be bringing everything together behind the scenes?

On our end he was finalizing paperwork, putting our picture in the hands of a social worker we had never met, allowing our case worker to talk us up as being "her pick" for two children. He was working in us, and even though we had no clue what was about to happen we spent that weekend putting last minute details together on our house....we worked with goals in mind, talked about our children, what they may look like, how old, what their names would be. I have never told anyone but Adam this but I knew that I would have a child named "Goober"...God gave me that name...I think he gave it to me to cling to and to have a name to pray for even though I couldn't picture a face. We were HOPEFUL!

On their end he was allowing their family to turn from them, they were about to see how they could be both  someone else's burden but our greatest joy. He was allowing them to see glimpses of him through the promise of a new family. He was allowing their heart to break, but hopefully letting the right people give them promises of hope. He was allowing Goober to long for a daddy so that Adam would become his hero. He was allowing them to miss their mom but promising them that a forever mommy was on the way. They were LONGING!


Even though we didn't get the call until midnight on Tuesday, February 1st about these two sweet children who needed a home QUICKLY...God was already working in the hearts of Adam and I (it had to be God that persuaded our hearts to say yes that quickly and that willingly), our case worker (who promoted us over two other families), their case worker( who was preparing to take them from their home), our CPS worker ( who we had to win over, she wasn't convinced that were legit based on our age and inexperience with children) and their lawyer (who had been representing them for over 2 years and had seen them through several homes). God sure did have a plan for these 4 Harvells....can't wait to see what he will do next in our lives :). I pray that I am taken back to that midnight call whenever I have moments of disbelief or need clarity.

On a side note, even though its been almost a full year since their Homecoming Goob still doensn't have 100% faith in our family. Adam got on him to yesterday and then explained how we discipline him because we love him. Goober's reply was " and if I am bad, I have to go live at another house". Adam's heart broke. We realize that things will take time to truly sink in with Goober...we kinda thought those days of insecurity are gone. When we explained to him at dinner that he will never ever be asked to leave our home ( I told him he could live with me until he is dead :0), we also told him that his birth certificate list us at his parents and no one can take him from us....well that was a trigger..never know what will trigger a memory for him. He told us that he missed his mom and started crying, he said she left him because she needed to go hang out with friends. Then he said that he couldn't say something really bad. We told him to say whatever he needed to and he said (with big tears) that his grandpa died because he got drunk and smoked cigarettes and he had to get his toes cut off. He said that at the funeral he had orange eyes and that that was the only grandpa he had ever had.
Then he talked about a foster family who didn't want him, how the brother was mean and lied about Goob's behavior to make him leave. 
In all of this, it was good for him to talk...he doesn't talk unless somethings triggers him and then we get an earful of things that normally make us all hurt. However, God is sovereign and gave our kiddos two sets of grandparents and 4 great grandmas and 4 great grandpas! He also put him in a home where Goob could be the oldest and those fears of older brothers aren't there but instead are replaced by two pretty neat uncles and several older boys (mom's students) who think the world of Goob. He gave him a mom and dad who enjoy time with their kiddos and even though they go out with their friends, they always come home to kiss their babies.
Its an awesome thing to see how God has redeemed and is still redeeming those hurts from my boys past.

Ephesians 1:7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;

Colossians 1:14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:

Psalms 49:8 (For the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth for ever:)

Psalms 71:23 My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing unto thee; and my soul, which thou hast redeemed.

Busy Beyond Belief

Well another week in the Harvell home....another round of oh so horrible spelling words :), another 3 days with Ribbit in nothing but panties with no accidents :) and another opportunity for Adam and I to overbook ourselves :).
Friday night was a much needed date night for Adam and I. We asked one of my 9th graders (whose mom is a fellow teacher) to babysit. We had gift cards for restaurants and the movies so we took ourselves to Panera and then to see Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close-the 9/11 movie. It was very good- at one point Adam looked at me and said " I don't know how you aren't bawling, I can't keep it together"...its very much of a daddy/son movie. When we got home the student begged us not to pay her....we paid her half of what we were going to oringally (through much convincing) and therefore had a super cheap date night!!!
This morning we got up early (thanks to Ribbit) and went out to get our Co-Op basket of fruits of veggies--which was super full this week with cabbage, lettuce, potatoes, green beans, asparagus, green peppers, onions, grapefruit, oranges, lots of pears and apples and some blueberries.This week I plan on trying out some 'garbanzo bean brownies' -I think that may fix the texture deal from the last batch of brownies I made. This week we ate lots of turkey-turkey/spinach/tomato soup-----turkey/spinach quiche (yes, we ate eggs, they were organic if that helps :) and turkey/pepper/onion/pineapple casserole (which Adam said was "different" but then ate two bowls of.
Then we went to Goober's basketball game--where he did 100% better today. He got some pretty good steals and attempted to make a basket or two ( I have a steal on video but will upload it later). He got called out for traveling and when the ref corrected him, he cried....poor guy, I mean he is 7, of course he is going to travel. We yelled to him from the bench that he was doing a great job and he was fine. From there we came home and scarfed down lunch (literally).
Earlier this week we were committed to a)hosting a baby shower, b)driving a friend to the airport and c)going to a birthday party all on Saturday night. However, all that changed when one of my students gave me 4 tickets to see the Harlem Globetrotters. All I could think was how neat it would be to take Goober to see this performance...and for FREE!! So, we hired another babysitter (one of my sweet sweet 8th grade girls) to watch Ribbit so that we could take Goober and a friend to see the game. Both boys were super stoked....they soon realized that this was not a normal basketball game and they laughed and laughed. Goob's friend looked at me after about 10 minutes into the game and said " this isn't like the Mavs, those guys are double dribbling :)". We surprised them both with Harlem Globetrotters basketballs at the end of the game and then let them get some autographs at the signings. From there we took the babysitter home and took Goober and his friend over to his friend's house for a sleep over! We have had lots of friends over to our house but Good has never stayed the night with a friend....the mom and I are texting back and forth and he seems to be doing just fine...he is eating 3rd's on dinner :).

Some funny things from this week:
I over heard Goob in the playroom saying " oh, there you are ( to his monster truck), where have you been?....New Jersey?"
Ribbit has started asking us " what you doing" and "mommy/daddy what's wrong" about every 5 minutes. She's also starting to not take afternoon naps. She told me to "kiss her booty" this week while we were watching Goob's bball practice..I laughed so hard that I had to sit down..then she kept saying " mommy what's wrong" which made me laugh harder...I am sure that we were quite amusing to the other parents.
Goob takes a 3 ring binder everywhere he goes to get people to write down math problems with/for him. He told the babysitter that we do math problems at bedtime, not stories :). The funniest part is that he calls it his " blinder".

I hope to get the pictures and videos up soon from this weekend....but Adam's snoring (yes he is passed out at 8:00 pm) is actually making me jealous. So off to bed I go!!!

Saturday

In Adam's words " we made it through another Saturday".
Today was crazy....even though we normally fly by the seat of our pants on weekends, we definitely overbooked and therefore missed some things. We started out with Ribbit in bed with us last night...she kept having scream fits. She would sleep for about 20 minutes, then cry, change positions and then repeat. She slept with her face on my stomach and her legs in Adam's back...so you can imagine the high quality sleep we got.
Then we had an early basketball game for Goober..his first one! Let me stop here to say how COMICAL it is to watch 6/7 year olds play basketball. Goober has the defense part down..in fact he was in that little boys face so much that I kept waiting for the kid to punch him and tell him to back off. Goober even guarded the kid when his team was trying to score....if the ball would have hit Goob in the face he wouldnt' have cared, because he was just too dagum busy guarding that little boy...oh that poor little boy. So anyways, after some sideline coaching (hehe) and a half time Goober did better and even tried to get the ball and make a point :).
I left early and went to my school where we had Open House for new students starting next year...yes, we have people already thinking about that and some of our grades are already at capacity with a waiting list. I got some work done at the school, talked to 5 different touring groups and then headed home.
We ate leftover tofu/chirizo enchiladas and then got down to buisness. Meaning Dad and Goob watched a movie while Ribbit and I headed to Southlake where the big fancy Farmers Market was having their big sale :). We got rolled oats, granola, lots of veggies, lots of berries, some supplements, sugar free vanilla cookies for the kids, some baking supplies and lots of Baked Organic Chips-i had coupons making them $1 a bag so we got 6 bags :).
The rest of the day was spent attacking the huge (taller than Goob)mound of laundry that both kids have been creating for 3 weeks-that's right...i haven't done kids laundry in 3 weeks, I know shame on me!!! We also spent some time trying out new recipes-Oatmeal Brownies (which the kids loved), Sugar Free, Gluten Free Pineapple Upside Down Muffins (for our breakfast this week). Then we made chirizo grits casserole and homemade Bojangles Biscuits for Sunday School breakfast tomorrow morning. The biscuits are sooooo good and so stinking simple....
So you take 2 cups of almond flour (or pecan flour, quinoa flour, whole wheat flour-whatever you have, even regular white flour),
add in 1/2 stick of crisco,
add 2 individual serving packets of splenda,
2 tsps of baking soda and
1 cup of soymilk ( I have made it with both coconut and regular flavor).
Bake at 400 for 12-14 minutes...watch them, when the tops start to get slightly brown they are done.
Then right when they come out of the oven you drizzle them with Imitation Honey-which you can find at Target and has 0grams of sugar unlike regular honey which will put you in a sugar coma real fast :). These biscuits are super duper good and creamy. This only makes 6 hearty biscuits so I normally double everything :)

The oatmeal brownie recipe I want to tweak and try some new things because even though they were good they were more like cake like than fudge like.....but they were stocked with oatmeal, applesauce, wheat germ, unsweetened cocoa and for the kids sake I left out pecans but next time they are going in!!!

The last part of our day was spent playing "spy" with Goober and listening to Ribbit count (sorta). Then we had a tickle war in our bed that was going well until Goob kicked Ribbit in the nose...it was all mom's fault though...he really can't control himself when I tickle his knees :).

OH And, we were supposed to be at church today from 10-12 for a conference we signed up for....we really did think it was next weekend, however we remembered tonight that we couldnt' have made it next weekend either due to a basketball game,football game and baby shower on Saturday :).

Here are three videos...in the first one you can hear me tell Adam that Goob is on that little boy like " white on rice"...the next two videos prove it :)

Nevermind, 20 minutes later and it still wont let me upload another video...I will try again later!
But here is Daddy (playing spy) with Goober and showing me Ribbit's new hiding spot :)

 This is what happens when Goober sweetly asks for a turn in the basket, Ribbit gets out, Goob gets in and Ribbit falls to pieces...Adam and I just laughed and laughed at this picture :)

Recipes

Adam's out having a bowling night with the boys, the kids are both asleep, I just finished off a big ole bowl of cut up apples with dark chocolate drizzle (no sugar) and unsweetened coconut..YUMMY!!!

Here are two recipes that have been a huge hit with the kiddos...and are gluten free, dairy free and under 3 grams of sugar for the whole dagum meal :).

Chicken Coconut Curry Soup
1 can of Lite Coconut Milk
2 tbsp. red curry paste
1 can chicken
dash of fish sauce-found in thai aisle

Mix all together, heat up and serve over rice!!

Tofu/Chirizo Enchiladas-makes 6 big'uns
1 case of extra firm tofu--holds up better and less slimy :)
1 link of chirizo
1 can black beans
1 avacado
1 tomato
1 can corn
1 green pepper
1 onion
gluten free wraps
1 can verde enchilada sauce

Cook chirizo for about 5 minutes on stove top, add in tofu--the natural oils from the chirizo will cook the tofu and give it a better texture. Drain meat-in same pan cook onion and peppers. To meat add all cooked veggies plus can of corn  and can of beans. Put in wraps, top with can of verde sauce. Bake at 400 for 10 minutes, broil for about 2 minutes. Top with small chunks of tomatoes and avacadoes.....you won't even miss the cheese!!!!

This weekend I plan on tackling SDG free cupcakes and ice cream..WATCH OUT!!

I'll leave you with this sweet video of the two best things that ever happened to Adam and I. Can you believe that in 3 short weeks we will have been a family for a year? I can't remember not having them....I can't remember not waking up to demands of food and spongebob....I can't remember what it was like to get to work/church/anything on time, with everything I need in tow :). I CAN remember praying/pleading with God to give us children....having a physical ache for them in my arms. We are BLESSED!

Terrific Tuesday

I meant to post this yesterday but alas, by the time I sat down, watched the Biggest Loser and researched healthy food options for an hour it completely slipped my mind.
SOOOO, here is why we had a Terrific Tuesday.
1st-Goober got a 100 on his math test and knows all of his spelling words perfectly...come on 100, I can smell you!
2nd-Ribbit started a new class today at her daycare...one where you have to wear big girl panties. When I picked her up in the afternoon she wasn't wearing the clothes I dropped her off in...my first thought was "crap". But the teacher quickly said "she is only wearing new clothes because she dropped her shirt in the potty" YAY!!! She went all day, even through nap time in big girl panties!!! Yay for RIBBIT!!!
I mean what we will do with all that money that we spend on diapers and wipes?.......heck, we may just go crazy and buy us a Minivan!!!

Her new teacher also asked us if we teach Ribbit spanish at home.....I said "why" and she said " well she told me to ANDALE all day loooonnnng! HAHAHA, we say that to her all the time because she saunters every where she goes, never in a hurry to do anything. Our little bilingual genius.

Diet, so far so good. We have had some Biggest Loser Pasta Salads, Tofu and Chirizo Enchiladas, Sugar Free Dairy Free Gluten Free (whew) banana muffins.....this weekend I am going to attempt homemade ice cream using Coconut Milk....the local farmers market was having a huge sale on Red Delicious Apples so we have also been tearing those up...gonna juice a lot of them and make some apple bread---same recipe as zucchini bread but subbing coconut oil for butter, agave for sugar and making my own pecan flour....I am thinking it will taste like an out of this world APPLE PECAN PIE!!!! YUMMY!!!!  We have also been eating lots of roasted veggies-brussel sprouts, broccoli, mushrooms!

To much longer and we will be raising our own chickens and goats and planting a garden outback....heck, if I knew for sure how long we would be in this new house I may start tilling tonight :).

Pray for Adam, he starts back tomorrow---INTO HIS LAST SEMESTER OF SCHOOL...can I get a HALLELUJAH?....So from now until he leaves for Israel we will pretty much only see each other as we share a bathroom in the morning and on Sundays at church....oh the life :).

Here is a videos that should brighten your day. This is Goobers practice for the speech meet on Friday...we have since added a large smile between the reference and actual verse and a bow at the end....however, we picked this scripture for him to do for the long term benefits (wink wink)....we weren't about to let him memorize a story when he could memorize God's word on the importance of obeying your parents :).

Goober showing his love for the Chicken Curry Soup and Brussel Sprouts

Ribbit was a little less enthusiastic, but look at that sweet hand showcasing the soup :)

my little sweet heart!

During dinner tonight Goober told me that I made the best soup ever--chicken curry soup and brussel sprouts!!! At the end of the dinner in the sweetest little voice he said " mom do you know what I like the best about your dinner?" " you made it with love".....Adam and I both laughed at his goofiness and then praised him for how sweet he is and how compliments are great to give people.
Goober really has taken to this new diet so well and pretty much cleans his plate and ask for seconds almost every night. The only thing he hasn't gotten on board with yet is the juicing....its okay, more for us :).
So far I think the best mixture was this morning-watermelon, cucumbers, lemon and lettuce (nice dark leaves).

Here are some more pictures...not alot going on today...we picked out new granite countertops for the kitchen and are playing with some different cabinet ideas, overall a restful holiday with the kids :)

Early in the morning, drinking our juice.

 Doesn't that look scrumptious? Makes you want to lick the glass clean :)...no really its not that bad!!

 Our fresh produce from the co-op.

 Ribbit loves to wear her chef outfit...she will ask you if you want pop tarts or munch (lunch) or a snack :)

Ribbit Update

I figure I should write down all the updates on Ribbit, as she is changing rapidly and doing lots of fun things that I don't want to forget.

1. She likes to say "knock knock" and then you answer back "who's there" and this goes on for 5 minutes but its hysterical everytime.
2. She shhhhes me ALOT. Except a shh to her means that you need to talk quieter, not quit talking. She gets shhed a lot herself at the dinner table during devotion. Normally I say " shhh Ribbit, Daddy's talking". So now, everytime she is sitting on the potty she shhhes me and says " shh Mommy, Daddy's talking". Its quite comical especially in public bathrooms.
3.When we change her she gets up really quickly (still naked) runs and jumps on her bed and then shows us her butt while shaking it and says " booty booty". 
4. She can put on her two pair of boots by herself, not always on the right foot but 85% of the time they are correct.
5. She always tells everything and everyone bye. If she doesn't know you she will say "bye friend". She tells the house bye, the car bye, the killies (kitties) bye and her stroller bye. She also announces when she walks outside what the weather is by saying "its hot out here" or "its cold out here"
6. She pushes her stroller more than she rides in it.
7. She isn't fully potty trained and has weeks where she regresses but she does like to sit on the potty and sing or shh and is very proud of herself when she goes #2.
8. She is still very much a mommy's girl and ask me to "hold you" all the time. She is used to me telling her "okay, one minute". The other day I asked her to pick up her chapstick and she looked at me and said very matter of factly "one mimmic mommy, one mimmic".
9. Everything is hers, even things that are clearly Goobers.
10. She poses for pictures, no more squirming unless she is in a horrible mood.....and just like her brother she wants to see the picture right after it is taken.
11. She sings "fara jocka, fara jocka papaw"...."ring around rosies rosie"......."Give God glory glory".
12. She closes her eyes and holds hands during the prayer, adds in her own two sense and says Amen at the end.
13. She walks into our room almost every morning demanding a pop tart or yogurt. Now that we are sugar free the poptarts are gone, the yogurt is still around for the kids so she eats that and then request cheerios or pizza (toast) every morning without fail.
14. Her bedtime ritual is take off clothes, dance naked, change diaper, put on pjs, she turns on her nightlife by herself, she wants to climb in her own bed and then it varies between "mommy cover up" or "ribbit cover up" and she always wants her princess blanket, followed by her green blanket followed by her water and then kisses from mommy. We always say " see you in the morning". Then I say " night night sweet girl" and she says " night night sweet mommy" unless she is mad at me for making her go to bed and then I get "turn light off" :)
15. She insist that she and Goober do everything the same and get exactly the same food. If she gets up before Goober and is already at the table eating her yogurt, the minute he wakes up and comes to the table she says " mommy, goober want yogurt, pizza" as loud as she can.
16. She loves sitting on the counter with me and helping me stir dinner, put lids on tupperware, count fruit, lick spoons, put spoons away and sing while we are in the kitchen.
17. Our guest room is permanently CiCi's room and no one else can sing fara jocka with her because she will say "NO PAPAW"!!!!!
18. She sings her Lolly song in the shower and even though it takes her a while to warm up to Captain, the minute she does she tells him hi constantly.


Thats all I can think of tonight. I am a little anxious. Goober has a friend over tonight and so far we have had  a dance party in the middle of McAListers...of course started by Adam and me to embarrass the kids and then they took over and started shaking their backsides :). I have also learned what running to the bathroom saying you have to go #3 means...never knew there was a #3. We have also talked about why its gross to kiss your sister on the mouth, instead of the cheek. Goob's friend is blonde and blue eyes so I know we were confusing lots of people at McAlisters...not that we normally don't confuse them. Goob's friend said " people probably dont' know that I am not in your family" and Goob said " NO FAIR, you look like my mom and dad". It was pretty comical.

Here are some more pictures left over from break...still trying to get them all on here and edited.

Convincing Papa to paint her toenails with her new chapstick.

 Opening up Mom's food processor from Papa and CC....responsible for the yummy hummus!!

 CC and Papaw reading their book from Goober...this got tears :)

 Showing off his new do rag, riding gloves and leather jacket....he is super cool!

Playing with play dough with CC....CC and Papa are braver then mommy and daddy..play dough is now permanently embedded in their carpet....i think they were looking for a reason to get new carpet though :)

 Making Papaw some playdough hair.....Ribbit may have a degree as a plumber in her future :)

Standing around the campfire with my kids, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and lots of cousins...out on a old dirt road surrounded by woods....one of my favorite memories from this christmas.

 sparklers with Uncle Chris and Uncle Mason

Sparklers with CC

I guess this is another picture that we should submit for parents of the year...oh well, they had fun..we were supervising very closely!

Brainwashing my kids

Well its working, this crazy new way of eating is working. Goob had two pretty solid weeks of behavior at school (and Adam needed sleep) so I took the kids to a dinner of their choice and two basketball games at our school. We went to McDonalds...duh. I spent about 30 minutes on their nutrition site to see what I could eat there....the answer is nothing....nothing that was both dairy free, low in sugar, and that didn't make me vomit on cue. So, I ate the new all white meat chicken tenders with hot mustard (no sugar) for dipping sauce and an unsweet tea. The kids both got happy meals, they totally deserved it after 2 weeks of eating so well.
I immediately felt sick to my stomach and hated myself for ever leaving the house without my own food (what I will do if there is a next time).
Afterwards, Goob said .................wait for it............duh duh duh...........its pretty exciting stuff............."Mom, next time we come here can we bring our own food and just play on their playground?".......YAY YAY YAY..he likes our food better. Take that Ronald. Needless to say he had a stomach ache today and passed some pretty potent poots. Mom-1, Ronald-0.
So what have we been eating? Tuna fish sandwiches, Lots of fruit, Tofu taco salad--yep Ribbit cleaned her plate, Hummus with cut up veggies, cornmeal grits made with soymilk---yummy Edamame, roasted brussel sprouts, sweet potato chips, kale chips, muffins made with turbinado, crisco, applesauce and we are looking into switching to almond flour/chickpea flour/oat flour. We (both Adam and I) have been learning about food and how they really do affect the body. We watched a documentary last night about a man who had a skin disease, took loads of medication every day for 9 years and simply got rid of medications, rid of the disease and lost 60 lbs. because he only ate micronutrient foods-beans, nuts, veggies and fruit. HELLO!!!!! A doctor on that show was saying that Americans now eat 60% processed foods, 30% animal products and 5% of both veggies and fruits...how sad. The sad part is that I didn't know any better...i thought that milk was good for you. WRONG...its one of the hardest things for your body to digest and therefore should only be consumed (along with all other dairy) once a week. So, to end my soapbox we are also starting to juice more of those micronutrient foods and have that juice everyday for breakfast. This morning was watermelon, kale, cranberries and bananas....it was so good that even Goob drank a whole cup....come to think of it maybe that is where his potent poots came from :). We also joined a local Co-Op to get fresh produce..today was our first pick up day and we were stoked....two laundry baskets of fresh produce for $15....cheap and healthy...can't beat that!

Here are some pictures that I just got around to uploading...leftover from Christmas...Adam and I were just editing some of them and agreed that we have THE two cutest kids ever!!!

A tiger tent from Nana and Papa....which is now in the playroom and used daily!

 Opening stockings at Lolly and Cap's house.

 1st Christmas for the Newlyweds

 Mt. Dew pants.

 Ribbit and Angel were fast friends...and naptime buddies :)

 The great grandkids on Nannie and Papaws side.

 Ribbit and her cousin Olivia opening gifts.

 Me and my sweet cousin Heather...she was my Junior Bridesmaid in my wedding.

 Mom pile...not sure how this happened, oh wait yes I am....UNCLE CHRIS!!!...but look at that sweet smile on my boys face!

 Passing out gifts to Nana and Papa.

Take that Satan

You may be wondering why I haven't written in a few days.....well because for two reasons, 1--WE HAVE BEEN CELEBRATING and 2--the dull in comparison answer of i'm sick.

God saved another lost soul on Jan 9th...at the dinner table in the Harvell home. At the end of worship service on Sunday Goober raised his hand when the pastor asked if anyone wanted to accept Christ. I didn't see it but Adam did--prayer peeker!! He talked to Goob about it some right afterwards and then again on Sunday but he was kinda timid and embarrassed about it. Monday night at dinner, after devotions we talked about having our sins washed away and how we are a new creation....Goob says we are a "new alien". He begin to spill about how he had asked Jesus into his heart and that is why he had raised his hand. He also knew that he was a sinner and therefore needed Jesus. We were both super excited but also careful to let him answer and talk...that way he will know that this was his salvation experience and nothing that we pushed on him...it was all him. He prayed with us to receive Christ and we talked about baptism, letting others know what we believe in and how he was now our brother and our son...he thought that last part was super neat.
We have been reminding him over the last couple of days that he is now accountable for his actions and that he needs to act in a way that shows how his heart has been made a new.
What a blessing and a great way to start out 2012....we added 2 new members to our family in 2011 and a new saint was added 11 months later :).
We celebrated with ice cream, no sugar , carb watch plain ice cream...watch out, we are PARTY ANIMALS!!!!

Please pray for Goob, that he would become strong in scripture and in prayer. That he realize his need for Christ everyday and be willing to repent when he is wrong.

No pictures or videos, like I said I am sick, stayed home from work today...Adam is sick too---dang, it always happens that way!!!

I wish you had a mind

Yup, the title says it all.
While I was sticking plates in the dishwasher after dinner both kids were finishing up their dinner at the table. I heard them having a conversation....pretty much Ribbit repeating everything that Goober said and then I heard Goob say in a very practical voice,, " Ribbit, I wish you had a mind, that way we could really talk to each other"...She just smiled at him and kept repeating him :)

Tonight during our dinner prayer Goob asked that God could bless everyone in the world's dinner and then Ribbit added that she would like to have a pop-tart....I mean God cares about the little things too right?

Our lives have been completely consumed this weekend with our new diets. We have gone low dairy and low sugar. Which means....we have eaten lots of veggies, fruits, rice, beans, meats, wheat breads, hummus, smoothies and homemade carbs---no sugar fresh blueberry muffins YUMMY!
Its completely not fun to eat out on this diet...well for me at least. We went to Boston Market to use a gift card and I felt safe since they serve lots of veggies...wrong..everything is coated in cheese and mixed with a cream of some type or cooked in a pound of butter. So, I had 3 pieces of roasted chicken and then they made a special side of potatoes cooked in vegetable oil and seasoned with dill just for me.....sounds like a party right?
I have enjoyed making more things from scratch and knowing exactly what we are eating though.
I have not enjoyed the amount of time it takes me grocery shop....I normally only take one kid with me anyways since I already coupon and drive everyone in the store insane. Yes I am that lady that stands in front of the chip section and compares prices, matches a coupon with it and sings with her 2 year old at the same time. Now, I am that lady that does all of that plus stops and talks with everyone since we now live in the same town where I work and then I check how much sugar and sodium each item contains.....it took me about 7 minutes to pick out 3 microwave meals for lunch this week....all the while fake arguing with Ribbit about who was being more silly and giving high fives every 2 seconds (and she yelled at about 5 people that I was HER mommy and that I HAD TO PAY FOR IT!!!  :).....i mean we are totally OBNOXIOUS!!!

We finally got Christmas completely packed up and our bags completely unpacked. The new presents are out (some of them are in the closet waiting for a rainy day) and the kids are ready to REALLY REALLY get back in the swing of things tomorrow....both in school, dad on normal work schedule.
Oh, and we got a couch for the playroom....YAY....Adam and I don't fit well on the bean bags...plus, its pre-loved and was free so they can't hurt it ;)

Oh, and guess what we celebrate in less than a month....OUR 1 YEAR OF BEING A FAMILY ANNIVERSARY....February 6th is the big day....Can you believe it?...I can't because we waited for what seemed like a decade to get our kiddos and I can because I feel like they have been mine forever :).

A Giving Heart

Isn't it crazy how much we talk at our kids but don't let act on it or don't act on it ourselves?
We talk to Goob about giving non-stop and about what your actions say about your heart. However, this morning when he gave away some of his NEW CHRISTMAS presents I was a little hesitant. His classroom is doing a service project and teaming up with a classroom in Honduras to send them school supplies. Well fortunately Santa gave Goob a lot of "fun" school supplies with disney characters on them ...as well as  A LOT of art supplies, paints, brushes, sketchpads. Goober dumped it ALL into a bag, never thinking twice and then said " mom can you go buy some paper to send as well". I ( in a very flesh filled moment) said " dont' you want me to go buy them supplies, instead of giving them your new things?" He said "nope" and went through the mess basket on the counter to dig out some more pencils and pens to throw in his bag.
I was so proud of him on the way to school and so mad at myself for not encouraging him from the get go. I mean that is the kind of things I am telling him to do right? That is the kind of thing that shows me how sweet his heart is right? Oh to have that faith and that kinda heart......he gladly gave :)

Ribbit news- she is missing lots of skin off her face tonight. Decided to try to ride brothers skateboard and instead face planted on it and took off the skin from her nose and almost all of it between her nose and lip...she looks like she has a hitler inspired mustache. She cried and cried but then got SUPER happy when she found out that she would get REAL band aids on her boo boos. Poor thing.

Now I don't mean to brag but this week was Homecoming at our school...another one of the 1294271610 reasons why I love our school....which meant it was time to decorate our walls and doors and compete! I am proud to report that my group WON the door contest!!!!! I had 10 of the sweetest 7th grade girls and boys to work with and they worked hard!!! Also, my house won..GO INTEGRATIS!!!! and to top everything off the boys varsity basketball team beat our biggest opponent tonight at the basketball game...they Goober sat with me through and "let me" scratch his back the entire time:).

Here are some pictures from this week....

                      Cutest chef ever...check out those band aids..my poor girl.

              Our theme for this year was "Movies"....so we did Batman....but tied it into our mascot as well. This was the back of the door.

Here is the front...you can't tell from the picture but the action words are on springs that come out from the door!

   Goober at the assembly sporting his Aequitas House colors.

                                                 6 of my 10 hard workers....go 7th grade!!

                   Making mommy some cookies and sausage and yogurt :)

A post from Adam's POOTER

Pooter is what Ribbit calls these contraptions so I will too. (mine is still in rehab)

So things have been crazy wild here in our home this week. Nope, we aren't back in the swing of things and yes, we are dead tired. Luckily, this week is Homecoming at our school so Goob and I are enjoying a little bit of an easier schedule and all dress down days.....thank you Jesus, washing all those school clothes can be put off one more day :).
Adam has been a great little housewife this week, NO REALLY! He took down the tree, sorted out the presents, assembled new toys, did ALL the dirty laundry from our trip, scraped wall paper off the kitchen walls, removed kitchen cabinets, vacuumed and taken kids to the doctor :)...what a swell guy!
Goob has some weird stuff going on with his skin but the doctor thinks that hydracortizone and this other cream they gave us will help...luckily its not something he has to miss school for.

The biggest wrench in our plans is the fact that mom (me) is now on an all DAIRY FREE diet.....good one God, good one. Anyone who knows me, also knows that I can tear up some dairy....MILK, YOGURT, BUTTER, CHEESE and duh duh duh CHOCOLATE!!! So far the diet is doing what I need it to do and I have had three great days filled with meat, beans, rice, veggies, water and slim fast shakes (shocked that these aren't non-dairy and still taste awesome). If I am going to give up the cow, I better dag um loose some weight.
The kids and Adam are also suffering along with me, except I make sure they get plenty of dairy at breakfast and lunch....dinner is dairy free, this ain't no restaurant :).
 They liked the biscuits made with shortening and soymilk, the edamame, the rice and beans, the roast made with flavored vegetable oil.....but tonight things got interesting with the TOFU.....I was trying to accomplish two things with tofu. One, give us a break from all the deer I have been cooking (we brought back a cooler full) and two, see if I could handle it fried, because it apparently taste like cheese when you fry it and then smother it on toast.
Ribbit didn't eat hers, Adam made faces at his, I scarfed my down and in the end found it appetizing and Goober ate 4 pieces and then announced " mom, i finished my squash".....I didn't correct him, if he wants to eat his squash, let him :)

I am glad to be back in my own home, own bed, own routine, our own little family doing our own little things but the one thing I could have given up for a much longer period of time is.......THAT 1st GRADE SPELLING LIST...it haunts me from Monday to Thursday night with Thursday night being the climax and normally the most heated night between Goober and I. Then on Friday morning we squeeze in as much practice as we can in a 2 block drive/walk. After that I think about it until I see him on Friday afternoon and hear how he thinks he did. I'm convinced that Goober will be the smartest kid in his grade if we ever leave our school (and if we dont :)....I don't think I learned the words that he is learning until like 6th grade...I mean come on, who knows what these words mean, better yet how to spell them at age 7?  For example, here are 4 words from this weeks lists that have caused some tears : swelled, stacked, stung, felt---gee whiz.

Hopefully my computer will be fixed by this weekend and I can upload some videos and pictures from the last 1/2 of our trip to Alabama....goodnight :)

Still Alive

Good News-the family is alive and well. We are safe back in Texas and except for a small rash on Goober we are healthy.
Bad News-my computer bit the dust.....Adam revived it but is still working on it to get it back to where it can be handled by a technology idiot such as myself.

Ill hopefully post this weekend and load up on pictures..if you are worried about all this free time I now have, please don't.....Goober's 1st grade spelling list is back and rearing its ugly head again :)

Sweet story to leave you with....this morning (2nd day back in school) Goober cried the whole way to school and walking down the hall to his classroom. Thinking that he was just uber tired I said "okay lets start this morning over". We got back in the car, came back home and ate some more breakfast :). Then we went back to school and he still cried as we approached his classroom. Finally he said, "mom, I just miss you everytime you leave" looking up at me with those big brown eyes. I realized that I spent two whole weeks with him and this being away for 7 hours a day wasn't sitting well with him. I told his teacher to call me whenever he wanted me and that seemed to calm him down....sweet boy.

Video Dump

These are some videos from our holiday vacation....we leave tomorrow to head back to Texas (not really looking forward to that drive) but ready to see Goob start Upward Basketball, ready to start clay with my students and DUH DUH DUH ready for Adam to start his LAST semester of classes...whoop whoop!!!

This first one is of Ribbit and Uncle Ronnie...she was so sweet on him the whole night

Next, is the kids, daddy and Captain pretending to be asleep so they could surprise Uncle Jason and Aunt Erika on Christmas mornining...

This one is of Ribbit making Papaw paint her toenails with chapstick ( i paint her toenails alot...doensn't last long).

And the last is Goober complimenting my sewing skills......NOT

You might be a redneck if....

....you rock your 7 year old to sleep in a deer stand.
....you hear a shot from an adjoining field so you hand your 7 year old off to your uncle who is in the same deer stand with you.
....you fire at the biggest of the two deer you see, high five your uncle and 7 year old and take off to track deer blood
....you spend the next 30 minutes looking through the woods with tractors and flashlights with all of your male cousins, uncle, grandad, brother and 7 year old
....you don't worry when you realize that you didn't kill the deer for two reasons 1)its super fun to shoot a 12 gauge shotgun and 2)your uncle already shot two this week and is sending you home with lots of deer :)

Yep, we did it, Adam and I went hunting together again. Goob sat in the blind with me and my uncle and at first I was praying for both a deaf and blind deer to walk by. With all the noise that Goob made I knew we were scaring away anything within 5 miles. He said he was hungry, had to pee, was bored, kept asking how much longer. Then he sat in my lap and I rocked him to sleep-which wasn't the smartest move. He kept having those dreams that scare you and he kept kicking the side of the blind. So therefore I had a death grip on his legs and his head (his little head kept rolling forward as he would get deeper into sleep).
That all changed when the deer came out right at dusk, several of my cousins and family were in blinds all over my papas land and within 5 minutes there were several shots. Adam never got a shot, he saw lots of deer though, and he plans on "blowing ones head off next time".

After that my family, my uncles family, my aunts family and my grandparents all went to my uncles for chili, dessert, campfire, football and fireworks. Goob and Ribbit had lots of fun holding sparklers and Goob set off about 4 packets of bottle rockets. Uncle Chris bought him some very large fireworks and they ran out into Kinzie Lane ( yes my grandparents road is named after me....I say its because I am the favorite, the rest of the cousins argue its because I was first :)) and would shoot them off together. He had a blast with all those teenage boys and wasn't scared of anything. At one point I looked over at him and he was shuffling close to a can, bent low and holding his hands up ninja style. He had apparently lit a dud and was being " safe" as he reapproached it :).

We all ended up playing spades and hearts until midnight (laughing hysterically, scaring each other with masks, eating ramen noodles at 9)....which for my family is normal and the kids fell asleep in beds and on the couch. Needless to say we all slept in until 8:30 this morning and then took naps this afternoon as well. I treasure this time that my kiddos have to bond with my family up on Kinzie Lane. Its where I spent every summer, where tons of my childhood memories are from and where almost all of my family lives. You can get away with a lot out in the woods and we take full advantage of it. Plus, Goob and Ribbit are being loved on and taught things by some of the best people I know. (So far Goob has learned how to drive a golf-cart, use a chainsaw, skin a deer, hunt, enjoy the river, play hearts-kinda, pick blueberries and how to RV with the best of them from family....something we can't offer in the city :).