Updates!

We are humbled and excited that we feel that our Heavenly Father has set us out on the "adoption road" once again. We have been accepted by our adoption agency to start the process to adopt "Haoren"...an adorable little girl from China. Now our information needs to be sent to China to have them accept us. Then we can be "matched" with our little Asian Angel and then just get all of our dossier ready to be sent to China. Of course, there is a lot of fundraising to get done as well!

I have felt that I needed to do something to help fund this adoption and I have prayed about this. God has opened the door just a "crack" and I have become a Lia Sophia Adviser. (Lia Sophia sells jewelry.) I don't expect to become rich but if I can help with some of the costs of her adoption, then I will be happy!

I have also been making jelly and I've sold some already! I've made nearly $60! I know that's not a lot but it does help pay for some services we need to adopt again.

On another note, we spent a wonderful weekend in Chicago this weekend! We dropped daughter Jennie off at the airport for her to fly off to England until January. Yes, JANUARY! So that means I will be without my little girl for the holidays. But on the brighter side, JENNIE will spend the holidays with the young man she loves and his family! Isn't that awesome? Imagine spending Christmas in England! She is also planning to make the family a Thanksgiving Feast since they don't have Thanksgiving in England. Hmmmm....I wonder how that will turn out!! Haha....She's a cutie!!

That's about all that's going on around here. The leaves are falling and it's so pretty here in central Indiana!
Blessings to you!
Beth

Application turned in!!

Whew....after literally weeks of struggling with the application process, we have just faxed our application to adopt to the adoption agency. I had been doing the online application but had trouble with it working. Then, I faxed it last Thursday but they didn't receive it. THEN, we emailed it yesterday but again, it was not received. So today Roger faxed it from his office and they finally got it!!

This is the start of a very long process of this precious child's adoption. We have to be approved by the agency and then the agency in China needs to ok us before we can be "matched" with this little angel.
I am simply crazy about her. She seems to be so motivated and strong.

She has mild cerebral palsy which is only affecting her legs but she is learning to walk. I'm already so proud of her...just like I'm so proud of Israel for overcoming all that he overcame in his past.

WHAT GREAT KIDS!!!!!!!!!!

We would love prayers regarding this adoption...for the process, for her health and our health, and for the funds to be able to do this. This is a leap of faith right now.....

Blessings to you all!
Beth

Canning Jelly and an adoption update....

What a beautiful day it is here in central Indiana. I'm about ready to tell Israel that we need to work on school OUTSIDE!!
Right now, he is coloring pictures at the kitchen table, giving me a constant stream of chatter to keep me company.
I am making jelly! I bought 100% juice at the store a few days ago to make it with and I am planning to make some for ourselves and for gift giving. I bought a blueberry/pomegranate blend. I hope it's good!

A few months back, I told you our plan to adopt a little girl from Uganda. That didn't work out for us for various reasons, especially timing. The good news is that another family here in the States IS adopting her!!! Hurray for her!!

Now the big news ....again.....is that we are working on paperwork to adopt from the special needs adoption in China. We have picked out a precious little girl....I am in LOVE LOVE LOVE with her already. I hope it works out for us. If it does, we could have her home with us in 8 to 12 months!! She is about six years old....perfect to fit in with Israel!  He would love being a big brother by only one year! Her special needs are called "mild"....but they are still definite needs that will have to be addressed...she spends much of her time in a wheelchair.  She is beautiful, adorable, sweet, well tempered, and smart! I sound like her Mommy already, don't I?

I took my daughters out to eat at a Chinese restaurant in our nearby town lately and I spoke to the woman who owns it. She is from Hong Kong and she told me that if this little girl is not adopted, her life will be very bad...."she will have no chance at life" she said, to quote her. "There are so many poor there already, and to have a girl without family and in a wheel chair....." she just shook her head. I cried.


Would you pray for us as we make this long journey again? It is a difficult, costly, and emotionally draining one but it is one that I feel God has called us to make. We are trying to scrape together all the available money to get the process started. She is worth it.....

Have a lovely fall day!!
Blessings,
Beth

How to Dumpster Dive in One Easy Lesson....

Ok...I admit it. I like to dumpster dive. My hubby and I really get into it. Now....just to set the record straight, I don't actually GET IN the dumpster....that's what I have my DH for. In fact, on our first anniversary, we were all dressed up and we drove through a new neighborhood of mansions. I'd say "Mini Mansions" but there was nothing mini about any of them.
There was some pretty usable pieces of wood in the dumpsters so we proceeded to check them out. We hit the jackpot. While the wood was not usable for us, we DID find some pretty incredible ROCKS in the dumpster. We spent the next 15 minutes or so digging them out....with Roger inside the dumpster (With his nice navy blue suit on!) and me outside, making trips to load our tiny car with someone else's "trash rocks." We made QUITE a nice flower bed out of those rocks.......

We get all kinds of things from other people's trash. One time we got an entire wicker set with four chairs and a table...there was nothing wrong with them! We got a beautiful lamp shade (stained glass....pretty old!) and a huge mirror other times.

Lately, we have been looking through Costco for some really nice thrown away items. We got all the cardboard for the bottom of our raised garden beds by going through the trash. Israel has been with us for all of these foragings. We are teaching this little boy well....

However, my all time FAVORITE thing to dumpster dive for in Costco are the nice plastic containers they throw away after giving people samples. (Animal crackers, candy, etc. usually come in these handy dandy containers.)  I take them home, sanitize them, and fill them with things that usually clutter up the inside of my cabinets. I have made cute little "hats" to cover the lids and line them up on the top of my cabinets near the ceiling. Usually they look pretty cute. Right now, they need to be straightened.....

So anyway, my whole point of telling you all this stuff was to tell you about Israel's reaction to his learning to "Dumpster Dive." When I notice that they are giving samples away from something that had come in a nice plastic container, I say that we need to check the trash. Last Saturday, after his soccer game (which he played with MUCH enthusiasm!!) we once again went to Costco.  He RUSHED over to the trash container, peered over the edge and with a huge grin on his face, retrieved a very nice plastic container for me. He ran back to our shopping cart with the smile plastered on his face from ear to ear....and just to "save face", he announced to me...

"Gosh Mom!! You sure are EMBARRASSING!"

A LITTLE BIT OF QUIET TIME (and a little bit of chicken zombies)

I was quietly working in the garden yesterday when Israel sweetly asked, "Hey Mom....do you want me to help you pick the beans?"
"No, that's ok....sometimes I just like to work alone and think."
"Ohhh....are you MAD?" he worried.
"Nope." I said, "Sometimes I just like to think...and I like to have some quiet time. But thank you anyway." I smiled.
"Ok...you just want some quiet time?"
"Yep."
"And just some time to yourself?"
"Yep."
"Oh...Hey Mom?" he started again. "Can we go to my big brother Aaron's house 'cause I have never been there."
"Now Israel....that just isn't the truth. You have been there a lot of times." I scolded.
"Oh. Well, I was teasing." he excused himself.
I looked up from my "quiet" task. "Do you know that sometimes teasing can sound like a fib? Do you know about the Ten Commandments?"
"Yep! That's when the Apostle Paul went up to the mountain and God wrote the Ten Commandments."
"Well..." I corrected. "That was Moses."
"Oh yeah....Paul was the one who couldn't go to the Promised Land."
"Nope, that was Moses, too." I said, throwing another handful of beans into the basket.
"Oh...Hey Mom....Do you know that our chickens are Zombies and I'm shooting them?" He changed the subject.
The chickens were running loose in the yard and I quickly glanced around and saw that he had an empty Nerf gun in his hand. I was relieved when I realized that the gun has NEVER had any "bullets" since we had just purchased it from Goodwill.
"WOW! Chicken Zombies!" I laughed.
"Hey Mom? Are you sure you don't need some help? I hate for you to be working all ALONE!"
"Nope," I sighed. "SOMETIMES being alone is kinda nice...."
At that point, Israel's G.I.Joe...who..."in this episode" was playing the part of Indiana Jones, started "singing" to  an unknown and unseen love interest (possibly the zombie chickens?) "HEY BABY....BABY, HEY BABY...BABY...."
"HEY MOM?" Israel, not Indiana Jones, asked.
"Yep?"
"Did you know that Moses spent 40 days on the mountain and when he came down he wanted to kill all the people because of the idol and then he broke all the Ten Commandments?"
"Wwwell....he broke the stone tablet that the Commandments were written on." I explained.
"Yeah....that's why he couldn't go to the Promised Land, 'cause he broke the Ten Commandments."
"No..." I started to explain. "It was because he HIT the big rock God was going to have water come from. God had told him to just speak to the rock."
He looked at the stick he held in his OTHER hand...the one without G.I.Joe/Indiana Jones.
"Oooohhh....HEY MOM?"
"Yep?" I said once more.
"Where did he sleep?" Israel wondered.
"Wwwhat?" At this point I was getting a bit confused.
"When Paul....I mean MOSES was on the mountain for 40 days....where did he sleep?"
"I don't know...." I started hesitatingly..."I don't think the Bible says. Maybe God made him not have to sleep. After all, he was WITH God. God is pretty miraculous!!"
Another question...."What does Miraculous mean? Amazing?"
"It means that God can do anything...He can work miracles."
"Oh." At this point, he, Indiana Jones, Indiana Jones' friends, the big stick AND the zombie gun jumped down from the seat near the garden and ran to the picnic table where the fight between good and evil continued.
"Where's your daddy?" I wondered....
"Ummm...ummm...he's ummmm....he's in the house, straightening the clothes....and making them HOT."
"That's unusual...I wonder exactly what THAT means.." I thought to myself. I had several scenarios run through my head before I realized what Israel must have meant.
"Is he IRONING his clothes for church?" I deduced.
"YES!!!" Israel grinned. "THAT'S IT!"
I was done picking beans. My "quiet time" was over for the day.
"Israel?" I called.
"Yes, Mom?"
"Are the chickens still zombies?" I feigned fear.
"No...I shot them and made them not zombies anymore."
"Oh good." I said, as I opened the garden gate.
"But don't let one of them peck you....'cause if you do, you're in TROUBLE!"
Evidently they still had a LITTLE bit of zombiness left.

What's In the Canner?

These days are getting busier and busier with the garden produce coming in! I'm planning to can green beans today. It is amazing that  I pick and pick and pick green beans and then snap them ALL....but I never have as much as I think I do to fill a canner! I think that our green beans must be just about the most expensive green beans in the world...IF you count the hours that I have put into them! They had better taste GREAT!! I think that part of the reason it is taking me a long time is that I have stringed beans instead of stringless. However, they are producing way more than the stringless bed is producing and I am grateful for what God is providing. I am sure I didn't appreciate the hard work my Mom did all the time I was growing up as she was canning so much food for her less appreciative family. I certainly didn't make it easy for her when she told me to help with the green beans!!
After I get the green beans in the canner, I am planning to can some more tomatoes. The jars are in our dishwasher now. I went out to the mini barn to get out some more jars and I find that a little mousy or two have visited them....yuck. So I scrubbed them and am now disinfecting them further in the dishwasher. I don't know WHY I thought it was necessary to share that with you.....but I did!!

Becca started her homeschool classes this week at the big church her classes are held. She is a junior in high school this year AND she is also getting college credit for what she is taking! So far she loves it and is also taking a Photography class that she is really going to enjoy.

Israel is still homeschooled as well and is doing a good job, especially in Math. He still struggles with Reading but I keep telling him that he has only learned the English language 3 years ago and had gone from home to home until he finally got to us, his forever home. He is about a year behind in Reading. But since he is at home learning, it doesn't really matter, does it? He had SEVERE lead poisoning in Africa and it may have affected his attention a little bit. He should have been really been disabled with the conditions in which he lived but as always, God is good and protected His Israel.

We have been telling Israel about the story of Joseph in the Old Testament and that at one point he told his brothers that they meant what they did to him for evil but God meant it for good. So we have paralleled it with his life. God meant for all the bad things that happened to him for good. It wasn't easy to see that but it has worked out for good. Now every time I have something unfortunate happen to me or us, Israel says to me, "God meant it for good."
Soooo....for instance,  we were driving home from an exhausting camping trip/wedding where we were making the wedding cake and the outside wedding was interrupted by a HUGE storm.. I lost my cellphone IN THE STORM. As we were heading home on a Sunday evening, the camper we were pulling had a flat tire and of course, we had no spare....God meant it for good? Of course He did!!  I don't know God's Mind but He had a reason for that to happen to us. Maybe He was saving us from an accident that would have happened if we were not delayed. Maybe He was teaching us to be better prepared the next time. Maybe He wanted me to be able to spend time with my adult nephews, sister, and brother in law who "happened" to come along at that time.  Maybe THEY needed to spend time with us....????

That was all for free....I don't know why I wrote that but now that I have, you're stuck with it.

I have had to get rid of four of my "chickens"....who turned out to be very good crowers. I gave two of them to a cousin and her neighbor and then I found on Craig's List a lady who wanted some for her property. I drove about an hour and 1/2 to deliver them but not before one of those feisty roosters grabbed hold of my arm and would not let go. I thought I was literally going to kill him before he released his nasty and sharp beak.That rooster is about the size of a young turkey. He is huge!!  I have a lovely bruise. (I'm trying to figure out how God meant it for good....but I haven't quite got an answer yet. I guess I don't need to know, right? Maybe He was telling me to wear gloves and long sleeves when handling a "honked off " rooster.....) Anyway, I drove to the area where my son is a police officer and truly enjoyed seeing our old town/hills again. I think I wouldn't mind moving back in a few years. Give me a little cabin in the woods anyday, right??

My green beans and 'maters are calling me and I am blessed to be planning to babysit two of my grandsons tonight so I have a lot to get done today! Blessings to you!!
Beth

Time to Catch Up

Wow. I had no idea that it has been since May that I have posted anything. My days are incredibly full, it seems....just like everyone's! My garden is doing beautifully and I have been busy canning and dehydrating produce that the Lord has been good to give us.

My chickens are betting big! However, the six expensive and beautiful hens I purchased at the end of April are a story in themselves. I have been babying these hens and they have been following me around all over the place. I've given them good food and all along I was excitedly thinking about the good eggs they would all lay. However, it is difficult....if not impossible....to get eggs from roosters. Yep! Believe it or not, Roosters are NOT good layers. Five of my "hens" started crowing. I keep telling them if they just put their little bird brained mind to it, they could do it!!!! But they refuse and instead, most of them try to peck me. That's gratitude for you.

I have given two of my beautiful "hens" away....they are happily married now to other chickens.

I have one favorite rooster in with my little hens....I am beginning to fear that one of my baby hens may turn on me and become a rooster as well. Turncoat.....
The other two roosters are just beautiful but they are being kept away from the rest of the flock. I don't need to see anymore fights between the roosters! They are looking for new homes but I don't think they are trying very hard....

On a very sad and serious note, the terrible church bus accident was in our city. We live in the country but the accident site is on my husband's way to work. The church that the bus was from is amazing and if I ever decide to put our little Israel into school instead of homeschooling him, that is my first choice....they have a good Christian school. We have extended family members who attend there and I have often wanted to attend there myself. I am amazed at the testimony the pastor and his wife, and his late daughter in law's parents had at their press conference. Our local news channel 8 was equally amazing as they covered it. They talked about faith and Jesus, etc. It is a horrible thing to happen but the Lord is getting a lot of glory through this and if people can come to faith through it, it is a good thing. Our little Israel always tells me "God meant it for good...." anytime something bad happens. Out of the mouth of babes....
I feel so sorry for the family who lost their wife/mother. She had five children and was on the trip to be with her Down's Syndrome child while at camp. Very sad....such a hole left where she was......

Back on fun topics....I have tomatoes, peppers, onions, zucchini, and yellow squash in the canner right now. I think I will use it for vegetable soup this fall or winter. I have never canned that before but I think it will be good! A few days ago I canned salsa and also some green beans. I have figured out that I won't have enough to can for our entire winter's worth of vegetables, but I can make a dent in our budget this way. Hopefully next year I can plant even more. I should have enough tomatoes or tomato juice for the winter though, my 'maters are growing like crazy!!

Well, blessings to you!
Beth