If you've met him you know that he's

A boy who will make you smile. A boy who will carry your stuff. A boy who loves his binky.

A boy who loves to snuggle and sleep in my floor. A boy who says the sweetest prayers.

A brother who cares. A son who still adores his mommie. A boy who sings even though he doesn't know the words. If you sit in front of us at church you know this to be true..
A boy who looks good in a hat and who will protect you with sticks. His weapons are always handy. A boy my boy...I can't get enough of his sweetness.
He loves to go to the movies with his daddy He loves the Lord. He remembers Pops.He talks about Papa Bear.He's alittle shy especially around girls.
He was our best baby..He's a pouter when he gets in trouble. He ask for forgiveness and he loves pizza. He likes to play in the bath-tub with his little men and at the end of a day he falls asleep while sucking his thumb with binky snuggled up beside him...

If you have never talked to him try it sometime.You will not be disappointed...You'll walk away smiling...

Our very first harvest

It's so much fun having lots of little ones around to dig in the dirt with you. They are at the perfect age to do anything...
They loved helping us find our yellow gold(potatoes.) They ran their fingers through the dirt over and over so as not to leave one behind.
They helped Scott put them all under the house for safe keeping until we needed them to eat..The bath-tub looked like

someone had poured dirt in the water.

The amazement of their eyes when they would pull another one out of the ground.

Thank you Lord for giving us our daily bread and thank you for reminding us that all things come from you.

u

and the winner is........

Congratulations Darby, I know where to find you! Thank you for your devotion to this 5k.
We love you!

Keep up the good work Theresa, Michael, Green Gardening Girl, Kathy, Bria, and Amy.

The past, The present, and the future..

He bought the car the week she was born..."this will be her first car" he said..
I humored him because this little girl barely a week old would not be driving for a long
time..

He kept it all these years despite several serious buyers along the way..He had it re-done
twice and wouldn't dare let anyone drive it..not even Scott.


Everytime we would go visit he would say "go look at your car."
Again I humored this old man we affectionately called 'Papa Bear.'

Papa Bear died in December 2007. In his will it was clear that this car was Taylor's.

We took it to the mechanic and it's been there for 2 months.

Scott drove it home this weekend for the first time, and as I was driving behind him

I thought papa bear would be proud. His grand-daughter has her

car. I started crying because this was his first and last gift to her.

A 1964 cherry red mustang for a girl..Who would do that when the girl has a brother only

two years younger? I'll tell you who: Papa Bear... he was a rebel in his own right and no-one could figure him out on most days..he had a reason..

As she sat behind the wheel trying to learn the gears and ignoring the loud 'glass pack' she looked over at me and said "this is cool."

Taylor and I have been taking drives all weekend. Wind blowing in our hair, sun-glasses on and
the memory of a man who rides with us..

Well done Papa Bear...:)

5-k give away

So I know it's been a long hot summer and you don't feel like running or eating right.
You're thinking you might not be ready for the big 5-k...
Come on, you know anything worth having is hard, hard work but it will pay off in the end..
So if your new to my blog and don't know about the 5-k look on my side-bar for the 5-k sign-up and read our story and then sign up it's that simple.

I need you guys to be with me on this. I need my friends to run to honor William..
I don't want to do this one alone...

So as an extra incentive we have put together a runners grab bag...It's got some very cool things, some useful things, and a few funny things thrown in...All you have to do is leave a comment and tell us where you're from and how you're preparing for the run.

We will leave this post up until Monday at 12:00pm and then announce the winner on Tuesday morning...We will pick a winner from the hat method.....Even if your not able to come to the run leave us a comment to let us know you're supporting us.....


Where I'm at in my training:

I'm running 2 miles...yippee
My clothes are too big....big yippee
I eat lots of salads which I have come to love..
I look forward to my work-outs (ok so I lie):)
I have added weekly hikes into our schedule to get more work-out time..


So leave a comment and maybe you'll be our first big winner..... As we get in shape to remember Our William....

Little flowers never worry when the rain begins to blow because if it never never rained then they would never ever grow

"mama I wanted to be like you and Taylor"

Paint Job by Channie-Mae

Insights

The follwing is an excerpt from one of the blogs that Robin follows.

"Love is the greatest because even when the pain comes, and it will because pain is the underbelly of love, nothing can ever steal love's joy. Even when the love seems gone, a memory, the joy of that memory still remains, always. And so the love remains forever."

Pain is a very real part of life. Our family has had it's share of pain in the past couple of years. CS Lewis tells us that the line between true grief and self pity is fine. It is hard to see that line sometimes....

Robin, our children, and myself continue to live in faith and continue to seek God's will. Our devotions, our family time is all more precious than ever before. Almost without fail, our son "Baby Willie" is mentioned by one of the children when our family gathers for prayer.

The quote above can truly be described as "bittersweet".

I am thankful that God is sovereign. That He is in control. I am thankful that I can lay my sorrow at His feet.

We have been reading Charles Spurgeon's Morning and Evening. Many of the devotions stress the balance between highs and lows in our service to God. That we need to praise Him daily, whether we are in the valleys or on the mountain tops.

So we do.

Scott

Colors on Canvas

Our family loves to paint and draw so we decided to spend 40.oo on canvas's and paint and do our own art work for our baby's room.
Scott came home with all the goodies and until 11.00 we painted and drew our heart's out.


This is Taylor's picture. She found this on Pottery Barn selling for 200.00 and she painted it for less than 5.00

This is Cooper's and Tuckers master pieces

This is Scott's art work..This one is above the baby's bed..So cute!!

This is my art work. I'm not a very good drawer so I found a book and used tracing paper...shhhhh don't tell anyone

The mess is cleaned up and all have fallen asleep..I have five new pictures in our baby room and I think we have a new hobby...:)

Our School Daze

Doing "School" with three and four year old's is alot of fun but also alot of work......

Between keeping everyone on the same page there's tears, fights and tummy aches and bathroom breaks...I have started using a new program with my little ones that has truly amazed this home-school mom..It's called Frog Street and it teaches the name and sounds of letters by using music..My kids absolutely LOVE it.. I will say it's alittle pricey but if you have more than one it might be worth it...They dance and jive all over the place and laugh like crazy.....I hear them singing the Annie Song through out the day and they can spot a "mamma A" anywhere...

Besides letters we're also working on cutting and gluing. I give them each a bin with their name on it so they can put all of their work for the day so they can show daddie.. They love to show off their work to their biggest fan...I also do a bible story and the pledge allegiance to the flag.Cullen is working on his first and last name. We go over days of the week and listen to books on tape while they have rest time.

"School" only takes about an hour or so... then it's off to watch one ' little bear' and then nap time....
Being flexible is so important to teaching this age group..I always make sure I have snacks in my snack can and a sense of humor....
These days are fleeting and I try and take advantage of every moment to teaching my kids about God getting along with each others and learning to do good work...I always make sure this is a FUN time..I don't want them to associate being with me and doing school a drag...(Now this changes after they get older and take some responsibility in their education.)

g

Dinner and a movie.... I think I love ya

Home-made pizza fresh from the oven

Flowers fresh from the gardenKids fresh from the yard.A movie with the Partridge family's song "I think I love ya".......been humming it all day..

Jordan getting his instructions from Channie-mae..:)

Jo stopping long enough to give me a smile...

Josh making his world famous popcorn while we all watched on.

The beauty of friendship.... wrapped up with a wonderful meal and a funny movie....
What more could you ask for on a Friday night....

Enjoying New Life with dear friends.

Our dear friends just had their 8th baby, Ellia. We went over to see the newest addition and she was beautiful...

My friend Kelly went all natural this time and to be honest she still seemed to be "in shock.":)

She said she's still trying to find the beauty in a natural childbirth..Gotta love her honesty..

I can't wait to get to know this little girl and see how the Lord uses her for his Kingdom..

It made me miss William like crazy but..rejoicing nonetheless.....

Lessons from the farm

For I have learned, in whatsoever state I am in. therewith to be content. Philippians 4:11

A Lesson from the Goat

If you will take a good look at the next goat you see, you will discover that the corners of his mouth turn up, but never down,as if he were in a good humor all the time. This funny mouth with turned-up corners, and the merry gray eyes, give him a most comical expression. He is apparently one of the most contented of all animals. If grass is plentiful, he eats and is glad.

If there is nothing to nibble, he climbs on the top of a rock or rail fence and looks pleasant.

It is said that he can pick up a meal where a mouse would starve,often helping himself to rubber shoes and tidbits, from an ash heap. Turn him into a lot that appears to be as bare as your hand, and in a few minutes he will be munching something, his eyes still twinkling and the corners of his mouth still pointing up-ward. If people who have formed a habit of giving way to a bad temper would smile more and look on the bright side of life, they would be far happier and would shed sunshine wherever they go.

Lessons from our Farm to yours..

This is a late night "sneak Blog"

Robin will probably delete this blog when she wakes up early and sees this. So for you priveleged few I will attempt to enlighten you with an update on current events.

1. Cap and trade....This is nothing more than a well planned scheme to raise the fears of the sheep about "global warming". Over the past few years, and now, the liberal wolves and their lackeys, the main stream media, have indoctrinated us with the global warming...greenhouse effect nonsense and now they are frothing at the bit to reap their reward. If you have been duped into believing in global warming, then I suppose you may think that cap and trade is "wise". Shame on you. If we truly are destroying the environment why would we allow ANYONE to continue to do so? NPR (as liberal as they get) explained to me how this new policy will work.... if you make enough profit you can buy other businesses carbon credits and continue to pollute. Please...can you believe this line of thinking? If you have swallowed this el toro caca

then you ARE A SHEEP. This entire policy is nothing more than liberal socialist taking big government to another level.

We must stop the madness! Obama and his minions and the main stream media will move us closer to chaos than any administration prior to this one.

All you people who have voted for "hope and change" please take a realistic view at where we are now as a nation, and see the truth, don't continue to applaud the downfall of our great nation. QUIT BEING SHEEP!!!

Conservatively yours

Scott

View from the White House:

photography by Taylor

Rain Water

Rain Water:

Good for what may ail you. Wipes your blues away.

Little drops of wetness that make you smile.

Allowing our children to be children. To get wet in the

rain, to get dirty in the mud, and come in to clean clothes

and a snuggle blanket.

These memories stored away and will be embedded in their

mind. The refreshment of the rain and the breeze.

And for an instant everyone is best friends and everyone is happy.

No cares, no worries, just brothers and sisters

taking advantage of God's way of playing with his children. Sending smiles

amongst them all and an afternoon of summer fun.

Thank you Lord for the rain and watering my garden and my children....

Training my daughters

If girls are brought up as if they were meant for sideboard ornaments, they will not have much influence for good over the men who become their husbands.

A thoughtless, selfish, snappish, fretful, overbearing, and dictatorial young woman may take prizes at school, may excel at music, and travel round the world, but the more she knows, the less culture she has. The commonest country girl, with good health, an open brain, and a warm, unselfish, patient, self controlled disposition, is a hundredfold more cultured than the boarding school graduate, who is fractious with her mother, cross with her sisters, or knows too much to associate with other girls.

by Tamara S.Valine

I truly believe one of the most important roles we must teach our daughters out side of honoring her father is being a delightful and helpful sister....If she can bend her will enough to have the love and respect of her brothers and sisters then her heart is moving in the right direction..

A true indicator of my daughters heart is on a typical day at home and how they use their words to encourage the others... Yes even Channie, she is in training and I start early encouraging her

to use her words wisely...only saying things that are kind and helpful..and when she doesn't pulling her aside and saying "Channie that was not kind to say to your brother why don't you tell him your sorry." She might say " I don't want to." Honest enough and then I would tell her "how important it is that she have a big heart and part of having a big heart is learning to forgive and not stay mad at someone..." she might then go and ask someone to forgive her and give a quick hug and all is well...(for the moment anyway)

Taylor on the other hand is on the front lines.Her attitude and her disposition is her own responsibility now. She has the vision of raising a multigenerational family so her role as big sister is very important to her..She gives very freely of her self and her time and she has no problem coming and asking for forgiveness when she has been short or snappy..Reminders are fewer these days but still there when needed..

Remember the attitudes in your children that you think they may out grow usually only get bigger...

Friends,Farm,Family and alittle black bottom:)

Daddy's Home!!

Sturdy and plump and clean and fair, With big brown eyes and a tangle of hair, There's a little lassie who runs to meet her father's step that rings on the street, As, day after day, at the set of the sun, Father comes home when his work is done.

Making money for wife and weans, Few are the sheaves the good man gleans;

All day long he is busy down-town,

Snowflakes sift where his hair was brown;

But he starts for home at an eager pace,

and love lights up the care-worn face.

For there at the window watching out

Is the little maid whose merry shout

of "Daddy is here!" in his ear shall be,

Swift as he turns his own latch-key.

And glad is the heart at the set of the sun

When father goes home with his day's work done.

~Anonymous

Thanking the Lord it's Friday and Channie's daddy will be home..

Have a blessed weekend and make sure you meet that man of yours with

a smile...

Trusting God

On November 12, 2007 I landed in Monrovia, Liberia to bring home a little sick baby boy whom I did not know.

No one prepared me.

As I landed, the heat of the African continent was breath-taking.

No one prepared me.

No one prepared me for the amount of people I would see or the noise that was there.

No one prepared me for the smell, the sights or the faces of the people I would see.

I walked into a new world and my main goal was to walk out of that world alive and well.

I was frightened most of this trip. Scared that Jo's paper work wouldn't go through.

Scared to sleep in a strangers house with guards and gates around me.

Just scared.

I just wanted to be on the other side and have Jo safe at home with my family.

I doubted our decision to adopt, I doubted my ability to survive in this country.

Fear does alot of things, but one of the main things it does is keep you from doing the will of God because you're too fearful to take chances or to do "hard things." You're too afraid to take a chance so you miss a blessing.

The night was March the 24th 2009

Driving in the rain to a hospital.

No one prepared me

No one told me how it would it feel to lose life before you met life.

No one prepared me for the look of heart break in my husbands eyes

when they said they couldn't find a heart beat. NO one prepared me for the sights I would see

or the noise that would surround me that night.

No one prepared me for the days that followed and the massive hole that

is and will be Forever in my heart.

I just wanted to survive.

I wanted to wake up every morning still breathing and remembering that God's plan is perfect.

No one prepared me for the months that would follow when the heart ache gets so bad that you have to pull over on the side of the road until you stop crying. No one prepared me for the anger that I felt.

I just wanted to be on the other side of this. Looking back and saying "I made it through."

I survived.

Life is scary. Life can be difficult to navigate sometimes and you wanna throw in the towel and say " I'm through, I'll coast from here thank you! NO more chances. No more living on the edge. My heart can't go through anymore hurt or anymore pain. I'm sure the Lord understands."

But does He? Our life is not our own and when you let that sink in, I mean REALLY sink in you know that our life belongs to the Lord and He expects big things from us. We are not to live in fear. We have a big God with big life changing adventures for us and we should be living beyond ourselves all the time.

To bring Him glory.

When you go through 'hard times' you have a couple of choices...(This is me preparing you..)

you either get bitter or draw closer to the Lord.

My choice is the latter. I will not give up..I will not go down saying "well I was too scared to do this or that because I lost so much and the pain is too bad."

I will live my life to the fullest...

When I die Lord willing an old old woman I want a bunch of children around my bed sending me

on to the other side saying 'well done mom'.

I have six voices now and Scott and I are moving forward with our adoption of voice #7....

We will not stop our calling in life.

We will move forward and trust that the Lord will use us to grow up another soul to love Him..

Will there be heartache? I don't know..

Will it be scary? I'm sure the un-known is always scary and for me lately that's been my way of life.

What's supposed to happen hasn't been happening and I've had to trust the Lord on a level that I've never had to trust him before.

Adoption I know is a put yourself out there kinda thing, but I don't just want to "survive" this journey. I want to live this journey....I want to make waves and the only way I know to do that is keep moving forward with my head up high looking to my Father.

It's trusting when I don't possibly know how every thing is going to work out.

But I'm in!! Scott's in. Heck, our whole family is in.......We know that this will change our life and we say "Bring It On".....

Voice #7, mamma's looking for you and I can't wait to see God show up and show out in our life...

I guess the main point I want you to see is that No-one can prepare you for YOUR hard-times.

You have to resolve to push forward through each hard time and grow and trust and keep moving..You can't change the past but you can impact the future..........

Memories from Charleston...

We invited some friends to vacation with us so we could "get to know them better".... It turned out to be one of the best vacations we have ever had.

As Mr. Tom said "Y'all took a chance"

Yes, we did, but we are so glad we did.

We built so many beautiful memories!

Did I mention there was 19 kids between our two families?

We walked,

Downtown in the old market,

down King street, through the battery...

We played in the huge fountain at White Point Gardens,

we walked on the Cooper River Bridge, just to say we did.

We played on the beach, collecting sea shells,

and jumping waves.

We ate wonderful food at neat restaurants, and laughed MUCH.

We did nightly devotions where afterwards

we sang or talked until late at night.

We had a surprise 'treat' when Mr. Tom
brought home chocolate one night.
We watched Indiana Jones movies until Late or Early depending on how you look at it...minus a few adults...:-)

We had a lazy picnic underneath

the huge oak trees in Charles Towne Landing,

where we wished we would have brought a quilt to take a nap.
We watched the kids 'get rich' from retrieving quarters from underneath the coke machine.

The kids played in the yard, acted like pirates, climbed trees, and camped out underneath the big "Tree" bed...all the while looking out for the "Germans"..:-)


We had a big 4th of July surprise, the Isle of Palms was having a huge fireworks show and we didn't know it. When we walked out on the beach it was packed and we ended up having perfect seats a gentle breeze from the ocean and a big fat moon over head.

We waited in line for bathrooms and all had a blast doing laundry and dishes together.

We laughed more than I thought possible.


The kids would fall asleep on the couch during devotion time at night and one by one we would carry them off to bed...
Some even fell asleep under the tables.

We helped a single mom that was our "neighbor"

she had cancer and needed some work done in her yard.

All of the guys cheerfully pitched in and got the job done,

leaving a lasting impression and a new friend from Charleston.

We had a big shrimp boil for supper on Saturday.

This was a time for reflection of our trip and a wind down.

Every day was bitter sweet because we all knew it was one less day we had together.

By the time Sunday rolled around, there was a cloud in the air.

Everyone woke up knowing that we were leaving

and once again Mr. Toms words were right on target:

"We will all be melancholy for a few days" he said, and his words have rang true for our family all day..

We lingered in the driveway saying good bye many times acting as if we were at summer camp and would not see each other till the next summer when if fact we'll see each other on Sunday.:)

We have walked away with a special bond with this family that will continue to grow..and we're already planning a trip to the snow capped mountains next.

Now this is one family we can travel with.

We just need a bus........