Busy week!

Granny is so much fun!

Boy, have we had a great, busy week of visiting and enjoying time with Granny! I picked her up from the airport Tuesday night. Marvin stayed home with sleeping babies since her plane came in at 8pm. Way past bedtime at our house! The kids were so excited to wake up with Granny here on Wednesday morning!

Yoga with Granny!

We just hung out at home Wednesday and Thursday. We did school. The History/Science word of the week was "excavation" and after studying the what, when, where, whys all week...the boys were thrilled to do a bit of excavation of their own. They took it very seriously, and it took 3 hours to get those dino bones out of that block! Talk about determined. By the end of it, Sarah looked as though she might have been what they were excavating!

My little Excavators!

Saturday morning we went to the train station to pick up my mom's best friend from childhood. Pam lives in Portland and was able to come spend the weekend visiting with us. We all had a lot of fun. The boys were amazed at all the trains as they rolled through the station. We will be taking a train to Portland after we study trains in school next month. Michael and Sam were SO excited to see it up close. Mom and Pam stayed with our crew Saturday night while Marvin and I got to go on a.....are you ready.......a DATE!!!!!! First one in a year! We took the ferry into Seattle and hung out downtown and ate wonderful food. It was so nice to get away and actually talk and enjoy each other! Sunday we went to church. It was the second week in the row Marvin was able to go. He has only been home to go with us 5 times since we've been here, so 2 in a row was just awesome! After nap on Sunday we went to eat at a local Mexican restaurant. YUM! Then, on Monday the boys had their first ever without mommy playdate. They went home with a boy from Sam's class at the homeschool program they go to. Elijah's mom picked them up from school and they played until 5pm. I missed them like crazy, but they had a blast! While they were playing, we were dropping Pam off at the train and shopping to make this house a home. It is definitely on it's way now! When the boys got home, they were in shock, it looks so much better now! When Abby woke up from nap, she kept pointing and saying "OOOHHHHH!" I think she approves! Today we dropped Granny off at the airport. Abby and Sarah woke up from a cat nap as she was getting out. As we drove away, Abby screamed in panic, I think she thought we were forgetting Granny. The rest of the trip home was not pretty, but we made it and redeemed the evening!

On our way to church, we decided to get some pictures since we were all dressed up and in one place!!

Abba and his girls!

Some Happy Pictures!!!!

I got some beautiful pictures of Teagan today and had to share with you all the miracle that is this sweet, happy, healthy boy. What an awesome reminder. This little guy should not have lived according to so many doctors, but God had different ideas! He is 3 months old now and is doing so great. Starting to smile, coo, and laugh! I needed the reminder this week, that God can do amazing things. Whether He chooses to or not, He is able. There are so many more pictures from our week so far with Granny, but I wanted to remind us all that He is able!




Please keep praying for Stellan. He is having a hard time of it. Pray for Jennifer as well, all of the stress of the hospital and seeing the sickness without help! Please pray for protection, peace, and answers!

My heart is heavy

Today I am running around, excitedly getting ready for my mom's visit tonight. I am laughing at my children's crazy antics and enjoying the fellowship with the women at my Tuesday Bible study. Somehow, in the midst of all of this, my heart feels heavy. I am wrestling with what I know to be true about my God and what I am feeling right now. With Stellan still fighting for life, in ways that are not looking good at the moment and Forester starting chemo and radiation yesterday, I have been on my knees and flat on my face a lot over the last 2 days. It is hard to reconcile the things I know and feelings I am having. But then, I think, that IS faith. I am choosing this day to serve my God, no matter what I feel and no matter how sad and confused I am in the suffering going on in these families right now. I KNOW that God is the same wonderful, loving God that He was before this all started happening. I live my life not thinking much about it. I trust God, but that trust is not truly tested very often. It is so easy to say that God is good when times are good, when those that I care about are well and we are happy. It is SO hard to say that God is good when I feel that the world around me is suffering. My mind is so confused, it is not the first time, there have been many times before that my heart is made heavy and I am forced to put my feelings on the back burner and follow Him blindly. That is why it is so important that I know in whom I believeth!!!! I do, and I am drawing from that storehouse during this time of suffering and uncertainty. Please continue to pray for God to work, I believe that is important, but more than anything I am praying that all of our hearts are soft to receive whatever answers that He brings. Forester is doing so well, and God is to be praised for that! Stellan could very well go to be with the Lord very soon. It is so much harder to praise God for that, but that is exactly what we must do.

Ephesians 3:20
Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us

He is doing exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think! His ways are not my ways, but I can rest assured that they are, indeed, above mine. I choose to trust that God is working in every single situation right now. I choose to believe that He is who He says He is! Of course, I am doing this while praying the desires of my heart, which I believe He wants from me!

"Lord God, I truly believe, please help my unbelief!"

Stellan needs prayers once again!

A lot of you already know and follow MckMama's blog and therefore this will not be news, but some do not and so I am posting here because this little guy needs every prayer. Stellan almost died in utero due to an incredibly high heart rate. They were told there was no way he could live, he was in heart failure due to his consistantly high heart rate. He miraculously was completely healed, beyond anyone's wildest dreams, except God of course. He was born completely healthy and had no evidence of his near death experience just months before his birth. He was hospitalized due to RSV a couple of months ago, but again, recovered very quickly and thoroughly from that. Mcmama took him into the hospital last night due to a weeze and retraction during yesterday evening. While at the ER, the doctor ordered an albuterol NEB treatment and he got better right away. As they were getting ready to leave, he choked on some phlem and had a lot of trouble getting air. They succtioned him out and the doctor ordered another treatment to clear the phlem. During the treatment, his heart converted into that same high rate that almost took his life in utero. The have tried tons of things, including stopping his heart for a moment in hopes that once it starts again, it will convert into a normal heartrate. Nothing has worked. His heart is racing over 250 beats/minute. He is already showing signs of enlarged heart. His body cannot sustain this great a heartrate for long. PLEASE PRAY FOR STELLAN!!!! You can get to Mckmama's blog by clicking the MckMiracle button on the right side of my blog to get the most recent updates. Her faith is amazing and they are trusting in God, but she is a mommy has got to be terrified for her baby. This was completely unexpeted and no one was prepared for this. Please pray that Stellan's heart will convert and be miraculously healed for the second time and please pray that MckMama herself will be assured that no matter what the outcome, through it all, she is craddled in the very arms of our loving Savior.

I pray peace over Stellan's heart, Lord, You have authority over all things. I pray that you would touch him and heal him. I pray that You would surround this family with Your grace and Your peace at this moment. Lord, we know without a doubt that You are GOD. We trust you with this sweet baby. You are an unchanging God, deserving of all of our adoration and I praise You because of who You are. We are surprised, but You are not. Whatever the outcome, our faith will not waiver, You will remain God, but at the same time I urge You to restore Stellan to health fully and completely.

Abba "fun" and our newest family member!

What a long, fun day we've had! We woke up(I use that term lightly as I really didn't sleep, therefore couldn't wake up!) to rain and yucks. I locked us all in the basement with the tv on as I dosed on the couch. After lunch, we all took a good nap. When we woke up, the sun was shining and it was beautiful! We got dressed(yes, that was how rough the morning was!) and headed out to run some errands. After much success, we stopped at Petsmart. We do not have a pet any longer, so the kids started asking what we were going to get. I told them that I thought it would be fun to get a pet. Sam wanted a snake...not gonna happen! Michael wanted a cat...closer, but still a bit high on my maintinance scale. We did a lot a research and it is agreed by most that the best small pet for young children is a Guinea Pig. So, I told them I was thinking Guinea Pig and they got so excited. They were gonna have a Lenny(think Wonderpets!)!!!! We gathered all the supplies and then got the last Guinea Pig that was left. A girl, a very freaked out baby Guinea Pig. We thought she was a he at first and named her Gideon(the coward in the Bible whom God gave great courage). But, that was not good once we knew she was a girl. So, her name is Nelly(as in Nervous Nelly!). We got home and got little Nelly settled and then got in the bath(not with Nelly, just 5 little cuties). Shortly after, Marvin got home! The kids were beyond excited. They had Nelly and Abba all on the same night! Abba was trying to run off some steam and started playing Follow the Leader. It was going great until..... Marvin got really stuck in the climber/slide! I thought he was just joking at first, but then I started tickling him and quickly realized that he was REALLY stuck. After I laughed my head off for a long time and snapped a few pictures, I tried to help. After a long time and a few thoughts of having to call the fire department, he finally squeezed his way out. Silly man! He is a good Daddy, that is for sure! After all the excitement, the boys went to bed and I snuggled with Nelly for a bit in the quiet. Poor thing is gonna have to grow some thick skin around here!

Boys telling Granny on the phone about their new pet

Michael is so excited!

Sam is so excited!

This is Josh's happy/camera shy face!

Silly Abba, very stuck

Boys trying to help while Mama laughs and takes pictures!

Feeling REALLY smart right about now!

Poor Nervous Nelly during all the fun

Peek

Getting aquanted

Treasures

For quite some time, Sam has been attached to slightly odd things(like an empty ring pop ring, cheap happy meal toys....). Each day he carries them around all day long and then places them under his pillow while he sleeps. Every now and then I find a stick or dried flower or a rock that was in his pocket for safe keeping that he forgot about, but for the most part, his treasures end up faithfully under his pillow. After a week, these things pile up! So, about once a week, I go in during bath time and empty his hiding spot. This evening I had to laugh out loud at what I found. He had an empty Spider man wallet, a parachute man(the cheapo party favors that you toss and watch drift) who was missing his parachute, a used kleenex(I hope it was used by him during the night, but one really can't be sure!), a ninja turtle, and 2 empty toilet paper rolls. I had to laugh out loud over his beloved "treasure". I would have taken a picture if my camera battery was not charging. I was really amused, and then I thought how much like God. He takes the worthless of this world, the weak, the powerless, the undesireables and in HIS hands, we become true treasure. To the world looking at us, I'm sure we are quite the hodgepoge, but to God we are treasured. I am so very glad that I know how much I am loved by my maker so that I can ignore the laughter of this world and of Satan. To God, I am more than an empty toilet paper roll, I am His child, I am truly beloved treasure!

Good thing we are not Irish!

I completely forgot that yesterday was St. Patty's day until I started seeing pics of everyone celebrating. Green eggs, cute shirts, lots of greetings. I do declare, it is a good thing we are Filipino(well, 6/7 of us anyway, you know what I mean!!).

We went to Bible study yesterday morning and by shear coincidence, the girls were wearing green hair bows. Too bad they don't wear them for longer than 5 minutes! Josh went wearing....are you ready...big boy underpants!!!!!! And, he stayed dry the whole time!!!! Yeah, Josh bosh! I think it is official! He has fully potty trained himself, on his own!!!! He has had not even one accident since Saturday afternoon! I am SO proud of my man, he has really impressed me with his initiative. He has definitely blown away all my expectations! Guess that will teach me!

And, my babies are growing up! Sarah had her very first real pig tails! Her hair is getting so long. It lessens my sadness over accidentally chopping off quite a bit of her baby locks here. Even dispite my beauty school drop out trimming, her hair is growing in so fast these days! She looks like such a big girl walking around with real pig tails. I'm not sure I like that very much!

The REAL thing!

Taking a moment to feed the Babs a cracker!

Getting into trouble! Sarah's favorite past time!

Thankfully for me, my sweet girl does not sit still for 2 seconds, and pig tails have a hard time keeping up with her just yet!

Oh the Power of Pizza!

So, this afternoon, Sam asked me if we could order pizza for dinner. This has become a weekly thing for us. We order pizza and watch a movie. They mentioned a while ago that Abba must like pizza because he is always home for pizza night. Sadly, he is not home most other nights, at least not before bedtime. I didn't think much of it, just agreed that Abba did like pizza. So, I asked how come he wanted pizza tonight, we just had it on Friday. He responded, "because I really want Abba to come home." Poor guy, he really thinks that Abba only comes home on pizza night. He truly thinks that if we ordered pizza every night, Abba would be here. It is kinda funny in a very sad way! He tends to make connections to funny things anyway. He ate a muffin from Costco the night before he got his really bad cold and swears that the muffin made him sick. Every time we pass them at Costco, he says, "There are the muffins that make you sick. Don't get those!" He is very adamant. Poor guy probably wonders why we only order pizza once a week. Must think I really don't want Abba to come home since we don't call Pizza Hut everyday. Well, we did not order pizza tonight and Abba came home, so hopefully we can dispel this connection soon, silly guy.

Not Me! Monday!!!!!

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

Well, it has been a LONG time since I've enjoyed MckMama's blog carnival! I thought it was much needed this week, free therapy is always good for the soul! You should hop on over and get in on the fun!

I, being the completely attentive and watchful mother that I am, did not fail to realize that my 6 year old spent over an hour quietly performing his very own science experiments in our basement/schoolroom this week. And, he most certainly did not improvise using my soda, left over milk, color changing tablets, gel crystals and test tubes, leaving me a huge mess to clean up! And, since he did not do that, I certainly did not just shrug my shoulders and use it as a learning experience, asking him all the things he had observed and telling him just how cool his mess was.

I did not buy and eat 5 boxes of girl scout cookies completely on my own in 3 days. That would be a little over the top and more than any one person needs. However, if I had, in fact, done that, I certainly would NOT be telling anyone!

I do not still have a fake Christmas tree up in the basement. It is March after all! Only lazy rednecks keep their trees up all year long! and I definitely do not light it every now and then just to get that nice cozy feel even still, in March!

My house is always completely in order, so I did not spend the entire weekend asking my children not to throw the clean clothes in the gigantic pile in the middle of our formal living room around! How crazy would it be that I'd have to say that just once, much less several times for 3 whole days. They just don't seem to get the etiquette rule that you leave the clean clothes in the pile hiding the lazy boy, you don't throw them all over the dirty floor and use them to make forts! But, being that I always fold clothes as soon as the dryer is done drying, that was not a problem for me this weekend!

That is it for now! Hope you laughed as much as I did! Oh, it is so good to admit we are not perfect!

A shout out for Josh bosh!!!!!!

YEAH!!!!!!! I'm so excited to announce that Josh has turned the corner on potty training!!!!! He asked me to take off his diaper this afternoon so that he could sit on the potty. While there, he pooped!!! On his own! I put him in his big boy undies(his sensory self can't stand to be naked!) and he continued to initiate his bathroom trips, pull his undies off and on and get onto the potty by himself all afternoon and evening, with ZERO accidents! Including another poop! YEAH for my boy! He turned 3 almost a month ago and every attempt thus far as ended in my backing up. Something clicked for him today and I am so excited! As OCD as my big man is, I think once it clicks, it will be done for good...at least I can hope!

Sarah, on the other hand, has been running around naked for 2 days due to her awful diaper rash. She just goes where she is(including down the vent in the bathroom RIGHT next to the potty seat). She loves to sit on the potty, but just isn't getting the concept. I'm not in a hurry, it'll come in time. As for now, I'm going to fully enjoy just 2 in diapers!

And, in other news, Abby is walking more and more. However, she's got a really funny gate. I'm taking her in on Monday to see what her pedi thinks if it hasn't improved by then. I'm not sure if something is wrong, if it is her hip displasia or if she is just a bit weird(which would totally be fine!). I'm proud of her for finally taking steps! It's about time, girly girl!

Abby Riggs needs our prayers

I just read an update on Abby. She has a fever of 103.2 and a really bad infection around her g-tube on her stomach. This is very concerning as her body has ZERO White Blood Cells to fight this infection. She is in a lot of pain and is scared. PLEASE PRAY and pass this on to everyone you know who will pray. This sweet girl has touched my heart in ways I cannot even begin to understand, much less explain. I am asking you to please bring this little girl and her family to God in prayer for healing and for comfort. You can get to her blog by clicking the Praying for Abby button on the right side of my blog. Thank you everyone!

Birds!

So, I know these 5 kids. They are the greatest, funniest, cutest, most awesome kids in the whole entire world. They just happen to be mine! How lucky am I? Oh, I know it! Okay, so I might be a little bit biased, but I have to say that I'm not the only one who thinks so! My mom does too! ;) We had a great day together yesterday. These kids make me laugh ALL day almost everyday! They are hilarious! An example, well, yesterday we were walking to our car from Costco. That is the only place I really take the kids shopping anymore, since they have Q sized family carts!There were birds flying all over the parking lot, must have been hundreds! Sarah LOVES birds. She was so excited, yelling "Hi bird!" over and over while squealing with delight and waving in every direction like a prom queen on drugs. Abby suddenly starts yelling "birdies" OVER and OVER at the top of her lungs and pointing. Only when Abby says "birdies" it sounds a lot like "boobies"(which is not a word we say in our house, just to make that clear!). I was laughing so hard, people around us were laughing as well, only I think a few might have been laughing AT me... We are quite the entertainment! We saw the funniest thing in the Taco Bell drive thru. There was this huge crow and he had a bag of potato chips. The bag had only crumbs, and was as big as this crazy bird. It was dumping crumbs out and then all the other birds would come and eat them up. He'd try, but then the bag would get caught in the wind and take off, so he'd have to go after it. Finally, he figured out if he stepped on the bag, it would stay put and he could have a free beak for eating. When all the crumbs were eaten up, he'd pick up the bag and hop around so more would fall out. It was so funny to watch.

Prayers for Grandpop!

My boys are so lucky to have the best boys' grandpop ever! They spend hours clearing woods, changing oil, playing chase, wrestling. Pretty much anything that a little boy would love! It has been hard the last few months to be so far away. It was good to look forward to our visits. Today Grandpop left for a year long deployment in Afghanistan. He is in the army for those that don't know. He is an OR nurse and will be on the front lines to stabilize injured soldiers so they can make it to the bigger hospitals. He will be living in a tent city on the border of Pakistan. Please pray that he will be very safe while he is there. Also that he will be able to share the love of Christ with not only the injured soldiers that he helps, but also his colleagues. He is the "old man" of the group, so the young guys look up to him, and I can't think of a much better role model! Also, please pray for my mom as she stays behind. She will be visiting with us for a bit, we hope, and also working in Fayetteville. Please pray for peace and comfort. I know how hard it is to be separated from your love and it is not easy. And lastly, please pray for my kiddos, especially the boys. They only know that Grandpop is going to keep us safe from the "bad guys". They say he is a super hero, which I happen to agree. But, I can tell they are a bit uneasy, knowing Grandpop is close to where the "bad guys" are.

Dearest Heavenly Father~
Thank you for hearing our concerns, and for holding us in Your hands, both here and Afghanistan. I pray that you'd get the whole group to their destination safely and that You would watch over them every second they are there. Thank You for reminding us that You have a plan, that You are with us always, and that You care and love us more than we can even begin to comprehend. Please be with Granny. Allow her to feel Your arms wrapped around her, bring her peace.

The March Issue of Serious. Life Magazine is out today!!!!!

I wanted you to know about this publication I’m a part of called Serious.Life Magazine. They just published the February issue today, and I am in their Featured Blog Directory. It’s a very high quality magazine… you’ll really like it.



The magazine includes a lot of great content from bloggers you’ll appreciate, as well as great features, photos and other content. The magazine is owned and published by a family who have seven kids, three adopted and one who has Leukemia (www.riggsfamilyblog.com). The magazine gives away a bunch of ads to charities and ministries. Besides great articles on interesting people, there is a lot about family, adoption, personal finance, spiritual life, humor… all sorts of “life” topics.



Again, the subscription is FREE, and I know you’ll enjoy the magazine, so take a minute to check it out and sign up to get future issues. www.seriouslifemagazine.com

Evil in a box!

So, Marvin was home for his weekly 6 hour visit to our home. Okay, that might be a little exaggeration, but not too much. So, I took Michael to run errands with me. We call them dates, since it is just the two of us and we both love them!!!! It feels so funny to just have one kiddo, especially Michael who is not much work anymore! We actually get to have deep conversations...well, as deep as a 6 year old gets! It is fun to enjoy time away with my first born. We picked up a few Science kits to supplement our Science curriculum and we can't wait to start them this afternoon! Then, we stopped at the grocery store on the way home. I have not been there for quite some time, now that I do most of my shopping from the couch. I almost forgot how tempting all those yummy treats laden with High Fructose Corn Syrup, dyes, and preservatives are! We made it out by the skin of our teeth, Whew! Just as I let my guard down at the door, there they were. Ready to attack. Those stinkin' cute girlscouts with their tables of temptation. I walked by one, two...but that third little table got me! I came home with not 1, not2, not even 3 boxes. I came home with 5 boxes of girlscout cookies!!!! How does that happen? I think they must have some kind of hypnotic powers, do they get a badge for that? Anyway, thankfully, I have already polished off 2 boxes, so it won't be a problem for long!!!!!!!

Books, big kid cups, and a chef

Today we spent the morning at the mall. We went strictly for school workbooks and some good chapter books. However, there is no such thing as a quick errand with 5 little people in tow! We left the house at 10am, when most stores in the mall open. Everything I do is strategy. Not much I do is done on the fly. I park at Barnes and Nobles. Why? Well, because that will be our last stop and it will be close to nap time. It is better to walk to the other side to play at the play place than to make that same trek on the way home for a nap with 5 worn out children! After playing for an hour, it was time for a potty break and lunch at the food court. Yet more strategy! Let me tell you, eating at the food court with one me and 5 young children takes much planning. I'm pretty sure after living and operating my household for the last 19 months, I can beat the socks off of any general who would dare wage war on us!!!!!! After a very successful lunch, we headed for Barnes and Nobles, our last stop. The boys play together at the train table while I push the girls' around the children's workbook area. Sam has finished his workbook, and Josh needs one as well. That part doesn't take long. Then, I need to find chapter books appropriate for my young children. William Tell drove me to tears of boredom. Super Fudge did not even get through the first chapter. They LOVE the Boxcar Children, but after 3 of those books, their Mama needs a respite! So, I figured, I should fall back on some classics! They jumped into bed tonight so that we could start on The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. I am so happy to be fostering a love for reading with books I can trust!




We are phasing out sippy cups at our house these days. I am kinda sad. Where oh where have my babies gone? Sippy cups are only used when we are out of the house. Otherwise, it is big kid cups sitting down at the table. I have been very proud. The only spills are the ones they mean to do(no, I'm not proud about that!). I'm a little sad, I want to hold on to my babies as long as I can. They seem to be striving to grow up way faster than I want them to.




I could not figure out what to do for dinner. See, strategy is necessary!!!! We have lots of bread, but my children are going to turn into little sandwiches if they eat any more of them. So, French toast was the best option. Michael did it all by himself up to the actual cooking part. I'm very proud of him, he even cracked the eggs. I only had to pick a few shells out!

The Best Husband in THE WORLD!!!!!!!!

I just had to tell the world how much I love my husband!!!!!! I cannot believe the ways he loves me! Last night my man didn't get off work until after 6pm. Now, you think, that's not bad. No, except that we live 2.5 hours from his ship!!!! My man decided to drive 2.5 hours to spend 2 hours of awake time with me last night. He had to get up and leave this morning by 4:15am. It would have been so much easier for him to have stayed on board ship, but he came home instead! I let Michael and Sam stay up and visit with him for about 30 minutes before I put them to bed and we had a great time visiting and eating a snack! I so love my man!!!!!!

I think I made it through!

I feel SO much better today!!!!! I almost forgot what it feels like not to be sick! I went to bed early last night and when I woke up I felt SO much better. I still sound terrible, but I feel better! The beautiful spring time weather around here has helped, I'm sure! The girls helped me clean out their closet this afternoon and they found the tutus I had put away right after we moved in. Needless to say, being the girly girls they are, they wanted them on. And being the girly Mama that I am, I gladly obliged. And, of course, I had to take pictures, LOTS of pictures!

Abby


Sarah


Wanting to go outside!


That about wraps my Sarah up!!!!!


Sweet girl





Sarah on the run!


He's not a girl, and he is certainly not wearing a tutu, but he is one HANDSOME boy!


Watch out world, Sarah found some wheels!


Abby's walking again!!!