Small Changes

Nobody will ever accuse me of going overboard with health foods. The cereals presently in my pantry are (in no particular order)
1. Cookie Crisp
2. Reese's Puffs
3. Cinnamon Toast Crunch
4. Lucky Charms
5. Trix
6. and just to ruin what could have been a healthy choice - Chocolate Cheerios

When I make pancakes or waffles, I don't throw in wheat germ - no - mini chocolate chips are what my kids prefer.

But lately I've made some moves in the "better for us" direction. One of the best changes is serving only water at dinner instead of Hi C faux juice or ice tea. Not only are we all getting nice and hydrated without all the sugar, but the kids are eating more. The water only policy has also saved us a ton of money when we eat out - drinks for 11 people can get expensive!

I'm considering weaning the kids from whole milk to skim. Maybe do a little mixing for awhile.
Where is all this leading? Who knows - I might even have them give up chocolate pop-tarts.

The Mommy Merry-Go-Round

When I first saw my baby, Kirsten, 32 years ago, I had no idea that she was the start of this wild parenting adventure that James and I are on.

I did know that being her mommy felt so right- righter than anything else I had done.

Now all these years later, being a mom is still wonderful. There's nothing I would rather do....most of the time.
Sometimes things are crazy and I feel upside down...not an altogether bad place to be.

King of Stink

I've come to understand that any time you put a large group of young boys together there is bound to be some competition lurking around the corner. But this was ridiculous!

Sitting on the couch with Ezra last night after a full day of outdoor play, I smelled something. After sniffing around, I realized that Ezra had armpit B.O.. I explained to him what it was and also told him I was surprised that already at age 7 he had to start using deodorant. Elijah, age 10, overheard the conversation and came running. He insisted that I couldn't be right about Ezra and had to sniff the offending armpit for himself.
Well, now he was mad. How come Ezra at 7 already had B.O. but he didn't? When was he going to get it? How can you make yourself get it? Would Ezra now grow armpit hair before him and etc......

I tried to explain that B.O. isn't something that people are happy to have but he wasn't hearing me.
Somehow, in the male kingdom, Ezra, with his stench had just moved up a notch and that was that.

Introducing....

Since the McKenzie family has been back from Africa and conveniently living right next door - we have been treated to a "play" or "concert" two or three times a week.
This week Annalise and Ezra took stage front with their original song entitled, "Our Day Going to School". It was something between a rap song and a ballad. I think about half way through it became pure ab lib which in my opinion didn't detract from the performance at all.
This one probably won't go gold but the singers were darn cute.

These first few spring evenings have been perfect. Basketball and bike riding have gone on till there is almost no light left in the sky. And tonight, after the littles had been put to bed, I found the rest of the kids outside on the front porch listening to AnnaClaire read them a story.
Can we just freeze time right here for a few years?

Last To Ride

Sunday after church we went to Wal-Mart and all the kids got to pick out a new bike. This was pretty exciting but not as monumental as Samuel learning to ride a 2 wheeler. He mastered it in just a few hours of James running up and down the road with him.
Being the youngest of 18 makes everything he does amazing - complete with a huge cheering section.
They're all off and pedaling.

Yesterday was adoption day!
Emma, Ezra and Samuel, who came to us through foster care, became our sons and daughter forever.

A few years ago all our biological and adopted and foster kids were older teens or grown and I thought that we were done the "mommy and poppa" stage. But God used the empty bedrooms down the hall to whisper to our hearts again. He still had more blessings to send to us and we couldn't be happier. We have another sibling group of three that we will be adopting in a few months.

I was reminiscing over some old adoption pictures and noticed how much more mature James and I are now. (Nice way of saying - wow, we're really old this time around!) I have been mistaken for Samuel's grandmother but that's okay. I figure he'll be handy to have around when I'm too old to lift things and having little boys who will tell you that you're beautiful when you're 55 is pretty awesome.

So here we are again...giving baths, buying bikes, listening to kids learn to read and picking up and picking up and picking up.
Empty nests are over-rated.