Conversation at the Soccer Field

We had our usual morning of soccer games mixed in with their team picture day. The weather is beautiful and it is a lot of fun to watch. It is also a great place to meet people in our town that I don't already know.

Just as our last game was finishing up a mom with her three children spread out a blanket and started to eat lunch. The youngest little boy I had seen playing earlier and he looked to be foreign. So I decided to be brave and strike up a conversation with her, I'm not particularly good at that. As we talked I asked her about her little boy and she said he had come home about 6 weeks ago from Ethiopia. Our conversation for a short time was interrupted with celebrating and picking up lawnchairs and quilts, but then it continued. She had seen Nathan and asked me when he had come home.

This is the fun part (I think) - I asked her if she had some support around her and she told me that in our town in the few blocks around her home there are 5 families in some part of the process of adopting from Ethiopia and they were getting together for their first Ethiopian fellowship very soon! Now you may wonder why I found this exciting since we have not nor are we planning to adopt from Ethiopia. Well, my reasons are three-fold.

First, any adoption excites me as it is a chance for a child to have a permanent family and because of a mutual friend I am lead to think that this is a christian home. Second, this is a great thing for these children coming to a little town in America to have other children from their home country nearby. Maybe they won't be best friends forever, but they will have some things in common: their country of birth, the color of their skin, and the experience of adoption. Thirdly, as I spoke with her she asked me if I had support during our adoption and I mentioned our church's adoption ministry and she immediately asked me if I went to Bethany. That's how I heard of the mutual friend. It is good to know that people are aware of the ministry at church. It is a great conversation starter and also a great way to offer support to families any where in the process of adoption. I shared with her about a family coming home with their little girl just last night and how we have another family waiting for their referral any time. We were strangers but could celebrate in a small way together for these families.

It was a lot of fun watching our kids play soccer on a beautiful day. And it was a sweet time of hearing how God is using ordinary families to do wonderful things.

Off They Go!

This was the scene on our sidewalk this morning as five of our children headed back to school. It's such a bittersweet time of year - the summer is over, another year is starting, the days are no longer all ours to do what we want with. But it is nice to get back to the structure and schedule.

Ken went into work a little late to walk with the younger three to school.

Joel is a Junior! Now I have no idea how that happened - it has been a whirlwind. The picture doesn't show it but he was a little reluctant to get this picture taken. Pretty soon we start college visits - yikes!

Here is our 8th grader, Daniel. His last year of junior high

and he is looking forward to be the topdog at school.

6th grade, the last year at the grade school. Natalie enjoys school and her friends.

Second grade is a little intimidating to Molly but she was very excited about her new teacher - "She is sooo pretty and nice!"

Brandon was so quiet this morning I knew he was nervous. When I asked him what he was feeling he said, "A little nervous and a little excited." He came home delighted with his morning and happy to announce that he had made a new friend.

Of course Nathan has to be in the middle of everything. Here on our front porch I think he was trying to figure out how to get into this backpack of Natalie's. He is going to miss his siblings during the day.

So another year starts. Remember to pray for your children's teacher. I would encourage you to find a Moms In Touch group for your school and if there isn't one currently meeting to start a group! What a blessing to pray with other moms for our children and school.

Here is a link for the Moms In Touch Group Locator so you can find one for your school:

http://roster.momsintouch.org/GroupLocator/

And if there isn't a group yet for your school here is a link on how to get one started:

http://www.momsintouch.org/leaderscorner/GettingStarted/tabid/69/Default.aspx

A Camping We Will Go

We had planned to camp for an extended weekend all summer. The temperatures this summer have been cooler than most so it really sounded like a great idea. Well the summer days got away from us, compounded by two teenagers with differing work schedules so it wasn't until last weekend that we actually got to camp. We had jokingly said that now the temperatures would go to the 100's - really we were joking. It didn't make it to 100 but it was mid-90's throughout the weekend. But what's a camping trip without a little sweat.

What you don't see in this picture is our 4 oldest kids dancing to music on the radio in the car beside us. The entire mini-van was bouncing up and down.

Brandon going for a swim courtesy of Daddy.


The first day Nathan didn't care who he was with as long as he was in the water. He didn't wear the life jacket much, we were trying to see if he would float in it. He and Joel hung out on the inner tube for a little while.

Our temporary home. We hadn't done any real camping for about 10 years and 3 kids ago. When we got our camping gear out of the attic Ken and I got a good chuckle when we saw an old list. After ten years we still needed the sippy cup and blankies that were on the original list.

Daniel got to do some fishing. Didn't catch any thing but lost some bait to nibbles.

Ken went along to encourage Daniel and to help untangle the line.

So this is why there are weird pictures of thing I don't remember on the camera. Busted!

Doin' dishes. Camping is work!

After our last dinner at camp - spaghetti - Nathan said he was, "aw du".

Even after packing up before the storm came we had a lot of fun and made some good family memories.

It's Almost Over

I remember when I was younger my dad would say that summer was almost over when the Fourth of July came. While now I think there is quite of bit of summer left at that point it still seems like the summer months are too short.

We have a couple of fun things left to do in a very short period of time but our summer is really almost complete.

This has been a fairly uneventful season for us and honestly that is nice. Nothing big has happened, but that also means we have not gotten our house stained as planned. (Now the plan is to do it early fall.) The garage sale I had thought about all summer almost happened this week but then I decided to just donate what we had and forget it. Did I mention that while I like to go to someone else's garage sale I dislike having one of my own very much.

We register the younger kids for school this week and next week they find out who their teacher and classmates are. Joel begins cross country practice next week. Though he has been running this summer with much of the team this is a new venture for him. Allison heads back to school in two weeks though she is displaced from her actual apartment until the pro-football team heads off campus.

There are things I look forward to as the new school year begins and things I am never quite ready for. Getting back in an actual routine is nice. But I cry the first day of school each year, it is such a sign of the kids growing up. It is fun to see the Lord's hand in putting certain kids in their path and in choosing their teachers. This year honestly I am looking forward to the one-on-one time with Nathan that comes when school starts. His siblings love him so much that often I have to 'fight' to get some time with him.

Many thoughts whir through my head at this time of year. I am so very thankful for our family, for where the Lord has placed us, and seeing God's hand in our lives.

Cousins

Our kids love their cousins though they don't get to see each other as often as they would like. This weekend my younger sister and her family were in town so we decided to combine our birthdays. It wasn't fancy but it was fun! Out of 12 cousins 7 of them celebrate their birthday between June and early September.

Natalie, Molly, and Brandon spent a lot of time the few days before making decorations, cards, and anything else they could think of to add to the festivities. They came up with some great ideas!

Happy Birthday Cousins!

Gobbling up the cupcakes.

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Jed had his day in June. For fun Natalie and I

made cupcakes that were supposed to look like a beach.

Allison got to celebrate a second time for her July birthday.

Mia celebrates her special day this week! (She was just out of the pool in this picture.)

Nathan opening some presents ahead of schedule for his late August birthday.



Natalie is 12 in August.


Molly is officially a year older in September.

I know that's only 6 cousins, Jimmy couldn't make it today. It was good to be together and to be able to share the excitement of another year. It seems time passes so quickly in each of their lives.