Babies don't keep

The good days in my house make the bad ones seem so trivial. Today, all 5 kids are in a great mood. Lucas is being a polite, little gentleman to his sisters. The girls are using their manners, saying please and thank you. The big kids were incredibly obedient while Baby Girl received her weekly, in home physical therapy this morning. We ate at a lunch table abounding with laughter.

Elizabeth told me she likes it when I call her "My love" and then she proceeded to write the following spelling words without any help from her teacher (that would be me): top, six, red, my, and & cat.

Today, I feel like the best Mom in the world. My sink is full of dishes, my laundry room has exploded into the hallway once more and my kitchen is a wreck but my kids and I have had an awesome day. One full of smiles and laughter, giggles, hugs and kisses.

It reminds me of this poem by Ruth Hamilton:

Mother, O Mother, come shake out your cloth,
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing, make up the bed,
Sew on a button and butter the bread.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I've grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,
Lullabye, rockabye, lullabye loo.
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo

The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew
And out in the yard there's a hullabaloo
But I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo
Look! Aren't his eyes the most wonderful hue?
Lullabye, rockaby lullabye loo.

The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow
But children grow up as I've learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep!
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.

Ruth is right, babies surely don't keep. See....

And to think. This little baby wrote out six spelling words all by herself today. Crap, where did I put those kleenex?

(Just to clarify, the above photo is of Elizabeth, all of 2 days old. Babies don't keep, not one bit.)

Extreme Family Makeover: Rwanda Edition

My good friend Emily and her family have been in the process of adopting from Rwanda for over two years. On Monday they officially passed court in Rwanda making their newly referred daughter legally theirs. Travel dates were being thrown around like rice at a wedding as they tried to figure out when, how and what is needed for 5 people to fly to Rwanda (that's 5 people because they are taking their 3 children with them. Cool, huh?).

Hope was looking defeated as they thought it would be January before they would travel to bring home their youngest family member. Imagine living your days knowing that one of your children was half way around the world and there is nothing you can do about it? I can't even think of the gut wrenching misery that would overcome my body.

God moved some pretty serious mountains yesterday when they got the call that they could leave for Rwanda on FRIDAY. Friday people, as in the day after tomorrow.

Holy moly.

Bags are being packed, prescriptions filled, errands ran and final arrangements made in 48 hours. These things usually transpire over the course of two weeks and they are throwing it all together over a holiday.

Please be in prayer with me for this sweet family as they travel across the globe to meet a daughter and sister that they've been praying for for two years. Here are some specific requests:

1) Travel, travel, travel. Please pray that all documents needed will be remembered as they hastily pack for 5 people going to Rwanda and 6 coming home. Also pray that packing will not be stressful. Finally, that tummy troubles will not rear their ugly heads as new foods and cultures are experienced.

2) That sweet Sonia will embrace her new family and that her adjustment to her new family will go smoothly. I'm sure I'd be a little terrified if 5 strangers showed up and began calling my name and wanting to hug me. Imagine being less than 2 years old and it happening.

3) Emily's family has a history of migraines. She gets them, her husband, her daughter and one of her sons also gets them regularly. Please pray that migraines stay far, far away from them for the duration of the trip (or forever).

4) That God would continue to be evident in every way as they complete this leg of their journey of obedience through adoption.

You know, even in the midst of all of my doubt it's so clear how God orchestrated the adoption and travel for this family. Thank you God for making yourself known in such a big way.

Bowers, I love you all so very much. Be safe, have fun and enjoy every second loving on that sweet girl!

-----

If you'd like to follow the Bowers' journey to Rwanda via twitter, click here.

No one tells you

There's something I noticed about my kids a year or so ago. They were all playing quietly and out of no where someone began to wail. As I investigated the screams I soon discovered their cause. One of the kids had a huge bite mark. The other child stood frozen, eyes fixed upon me, knowing that (s)he had done wrong.

What I realized was that no one had taught my children to bite or hit or kick or punch. They just did it. They pulled that ability from the recesses of their sinful selves and did what felt necessary at the moment. But they'd never seen me or Luke bite, kick or punch someone when we didn't get our way.

My point is, it wasn't a learned behavior. It was something they knew how to do from the moment they figured out a little something about self-expression. Aaron has yet to begin biting out of spite, but he will hit his little sister when she tries to play with one of "his" toys.

Again, this isn't something we taught him to do. He's a normal 18 month old little boy. My guess is, if you have kids, you see some of their behaviors and think to yourself, "Where in the world did they learn to do that?"

I know that unacceptable behavior is not something I've taught my kids to do but rather something I'm attempting to train them to refrain from.

I think doubt is the same way.

No one teaches you to have doubt. In fact, before you ever decide to turn your life over Christ and become a follower you are filled with doubt. Sort of like that toddler who is filled with the desire to hit or bite his siblings.

Then, something miraculous happens.

You meet this Man. And slowly, yet dramatically, He changes you. But there's something that they never prepare you for. They never tell you about the doubt you will continue to have. They never tell you that it starts as small doubt and moves into the big areas of your life.

One of my girlfriends and I were talking about childbirth this weekend. She said, "I expected the pain and the soreness after delivery but no one prepared me for when the nurse came in and smashed on my stomach every hour for the next day. That hurt worse than anything!"

She's right. No one prepares you for the hurtful side of being a follower of Christ. No one tells you upfront that it will still hurt, often worse, when you are walking this new road. No one prepares you for the doubt that creeps in, then seemingly takes over your spirit.

No one prepares you for the times when you so desperately want to be close to the Lord yet with every page of your Bible or every Christian book you read, you'll want to snap it shut and fling it across the room from pure disgust.

Disgust at yourself. Disgust from the doubting.

No one tells you that these seasons can last for months at a time. No one tells you how to pull yourself out or how to cry out for help or how to allow the One who knows your thoughts to begin to work this all out for His glory.

No one tells you that through all of it you still know He is there, but you wonder why on earth He isn't speaking in your direction.

No one tells you how lonely it feels or how bad it hurts or how much you question Him and yourself and you wonder if you have this whole Jesus thing as figured out as you thought you did.

No one tells you how you will one day deal with the pride in your heart and how the consequences of that pride will have doubt casting a shadow on all areas of your soul.

It's cold in those shadows people. Very cold.

No one tells you how your heart can't even begin to worship to your favorite song, even when it's played in an amazing worship service where everyone around you is seemingly filled with the Spirit.

No one tells you what it feels like to glance over at your husband on a Sunday morning and see him deep in prayer and hope to God that he's praying for you because you know you can't pray for yourself.

These are the thing that no one tells you about being a lover of Christ. So, in case there are people out there wondering why no one else has told you. Here I am. I'm telling you.

Sometimes loving the Lord hurts. Sometimes you are filled with doubt. Sometimes it makes you lay awake at night and wonder why it's been months since you've felt His presence. Sometimes you won't want to open your Bible. Sometimes you won't want to talk to your best friend about it. Sometimes you wonder if you really believe what you say you believe.

But.

He's still there. He still loves me. He still did it all just for me.

And always, that's enough.

Das Not Funny! Friday: Conversationally speaking

Friday is here once more. This week our house was full of interesting conversations. I use the term "interesting" very loosely here people. Verrrry loosely. Nonetheless, I hope y'all enjoy this week's edition of Das Not Funny! Friday.


It's bedtime and once again our bedroom door creeps open after all our precious ones should be tucked away for the night.

"Mom?" Ashlee says softly.

"Yes?" I reply.

"Um. Wizabets went poop in our bafroom and she needs you to come wipe her."

"Ashlee, please tell Elizabeth that she is big enough to wipe herself and to wipe and go to bed."

"Okay," Ashlee replies.

Less than a minute later....

"Momma?" Ashlee says again quietly.

"Yes Ashlee."

"Wizabets says she needs you to come do one scoop on her butt then she will do da west."

"Ashlee, repeat after me, okay?" I say, "Elizabeth..."

"Wizabets..."

"Mommy said to wipe your bottom..."

"Mommy said to wipe you buttum..."

"and get in the bed right now."

"and get in da bed wite now."

"Thanks Ash. Now go tell Elizabeth," I direct.

"Okay."

The door shuts.

The door opens.

"Mom?"

"Yes Ashlee?"

"I wuv you."

"I love you too."

-------

Driving home after dark one night (which doesn't say much because it gets dark here at, like, 5:45pm) Luke and I spot an opossum running from the road.

"What was that?" I ask my brave, fearless husband.

"I think it was a opossum," brave, fearless husband replied.

"What's a p0sst-um?" Ashlee asks.

"It kind of looks like a really, big rat," I say.

"And it's the size of a raccoon," brave, fearless husband adds.

"O0000," says Ashlee. "I don't wike wats."

"Good choice Ash," I say.

"Kank you!" exclaims non-rat loving Ashlee proudly.

-------

"Okay Buddy, let's get your undies and pants on so we can go," I say to Lucas.

"Put your foot in...." I begin.

"No Mom! Wait! Turn my undies awound. I wanna see da Batmans!"

"You know that is the back of your underwear, right?" I ask.

"Yep. I wike dem dat way," he says, matter-of-factly.

-------

"Mom and Dad?"

"Yes Elizabeth?" Luke responds.

"Why do policemens have such big jobs and such little cars?"

Luke, looking confused and glancing in my direction..."Um. So that when they need to drive fast their car won't tip over."

"Oh. Because if they drove a big van like ours then they would get in a bad wreck?" she asks.

"That's right baby. That's why Daddy doesn't drive fast in our big van," Luke continues.

"Yeah, and then our big van would get all scratched up and I would be sad," Elizabeth noted.

"Yeah! And den it would catch on fire and we could wide it and it would be SO! MUCH! FUN!" Ashlee added.

Glad she lives in the land of excitement and joy, even when it pertains to perceived disaster.


Don't you want to join me this week for Das Not Funny! Friday? It's simple, really. All you have to do is write your own Das Not Funny! Friday post. Then, link it right back here. Finally, enter your info into MckLinky so that my blog will link back to yours and we can all enjoy your funnies.

Y'all have a conversationally awesome weekend. Happy Friday!

Tell 'em what they've won...

Well, I was all excited about using Random.org to generate a fancy, schmantsy list of 5 random entries.

But, there was no need. That's because, in all, there were only 5 different people who entered the giveaway! (Although I would have sworn there were 6, but my list shows differently. So #6, if I left you off the list below, email me and I'll send you one as well. I love how my brain works SO efficiently when I'm pregnant).

Anyway, here are the winners in no particular order:

Wendi

Vonda

The Hall Family

Lady Araujo (I love that her plug for R4R was bilingual! I just wish I could understand the rest of her blog!)

The Caldwells

Congratulations!

For those of you to whom it applies, please email me your mailing address at: beaverbunch (at) gmail (dot) com and I'll try to pop your Bible in the mail early next week!

Oh, and #6, if I really did omit your entry somehow, please email me also. I just knew there were six people but......

Giveaway! Giveaway! Last day to enter!

Today is the LAST day to enter my giveaway for your own copy of the Jesus Storybook Bible! The contest closes tonight at 11:59pm EST.

Check out this post to see how YOU can enter. It's easy and painless and I PROMISE you won't be disappointed if you win.

I'll announce the winners (hopefully) tomorrow!

Y'all have a great Wednesday!

Adoption Update on Baby Girl

For the last several weeks (actually since my trip to Arkansas in October) I've been holding my breath and praying for God to move Baby Girl's adoption along, quickly.

While I was sleeping in one morning, our social worker (not Baby Girl's original social worker or her new, adoption social worker...that's #3 are you keeping count?) called and gave us some news that if Baby Girl's adoption was not official before the birth of Baby #6 that there could be a problem. Ideally, we were hoping and praying that Baby Girl's adoption would be final and then Luke and I could voluntarily terminate our foster parent license. If that couldn't happen (because Baby Girl was not legally adopted) then our County office would have to appeal the state for a license waiver. The waiver would be to allow us to be a licensed foster home with 6 children rather than 5. Our state law is that foster homes can only be licenses for up to 5 children.

You still with me? However, since Baby Girl is legally in the custody of the state, they could say "No" to our appeal and remove her from our home. Needless to say I was quite worried. Still, I knew that if God's plans were to remove Baby Girl then all my worrying wouldn't do much to change that.

So I began to pray and I asked others to pray. God has heard those prayers and answered them in a BIG way.

I spoke with Baby Girl's adoption worker today. The BEST news is that Baby Girl's birth mother did NOT appeal the TPR (Termination of Parental Rights) order!! She had until yesterday at 5:00pm to appeal and as of 10:30am today the attorney's office had NOT received an appeal! WHOOOOOPIE!!!

Today our case should be taken to adoption committee where we would be deemed an adoptive placement for Baby Girl!

Once we are considered an adoptive placement and the placement is written on paper IT DOESN'T MATTER if Baby #6 gets here before her adoption is final! Our adoption worker told us that the only difference is that we would be considered strictly an adoptive placement and not a foster home. Once a child is placed with an adoptive family, the adoptive family does NOT have to be licensed.

In short, SHE'S HERE TO STAY!! Praise God!

There is still some other paperwork that has to be written, signed by a judge and filed. The legal father's TPR date was in early November so we are waiting on that order to be written, signed and his 30 days appeal period to lapse. But, I'm TOTALLY not worried about any of that because to date they've been unable to contact the legal father so I doubt he'd appear now and appeal his TPR.

Whew! Y'all still there?

God is so good. I would hope that we'd have Baby Girl's adoption final by mid-to-end January. But, they are moving and retraining a new county attorney so that may not happen as swiftly as we'd like.

Thank you all for praying along side us with the adoption of our children! God is just so very, very good!

Never did I ever

As a Mom there are often things that I say to my children that shock me. Often, it makes logical sense and goes directly with the flow of conversation between myself and either a three or five year old. However, most of these are things that I never, ever thought I'd be saying outloud (or even in my head for that matter).

"What did you just eat off your foot?"

"Please stop crying or I'll give you something to cry about."

"No, you may not eat your food while you go poop."

"Yes, you can put your sword in the refrigerator if it will help you focus on eating your lunch."

"No. We cannot have grass for lunch.....I don't care if that's what elephants eat for lunch, we do not eat grass."

"Please do not put things you pick off of your body into your mouth."

"I think I can wipe myself, thank you......I am a grown up."

"Because I'm a mean mother and I don't let my children eat candy for breakfast."

"No, when the baby gets here you cannot drink breast milk like a baby."

"Because showing someone your penis is not nice."

"We do not eat out of the trash can! Ever. Even if it is laying right on top."

"Please get your finger out of your sister's nose."

"Please do not bite your toenails."

"Because gum that's on the bottom of your shoe is nasty and doesn't need to be chewed."

"No. I will not name the baby Alligator Beaver....Yes, it does sound silly."

"What you just did made Jesus very, very sad....No, I'm sure He is sad and not asleep."

"Please do not lick the toilet."

What are some of the things you never thought you'd say?

Giveaway! Giveaway! Read all about it...

What's that?

You didn't know you could win something? Shame on you! Here are the quick details....

I'm hosting a SUPER, AWESOME, FABULOUS giveaway. Click here to read about how YOU can win 1 of 5 copies of the Jesus Storybook Bible!

Giveaway ends at 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, November 18th. Go! Click HERE now! Um.....you know, please.

Das Not Funny! Friday: $1.00 worth of funny

Holy smokes this week flew by! However, I remembered many more funny things that my children said and did this week for Das Not Funny! Friday. Maybe my memory is slowly coming back. Or, maybe not.

Here are the funnies from this week...

Earlier this week Ashlee came to me with a tiny light bulb in her hand.

"Wook Mom! I founded dis!" she claimed.

"Where did you find that Ash?" I asked, puzzled as to where she would have gotten a tiny light bulb.

"I jus founded it," she stated again.

"Yes, Ashlee, but where did you find it?"

"I jus founded it. In my hand."

--------

Lucas has been having a hard time staying in bed at bedtime. However, one night this past week, we made an exception to him receiving a consequence for getting out of bed, again.

As our door crept open Lucas peered through and said,

"Mom and Dad. I pooted and it made my butt hurt."

--------

Baby Girl's newest game to play is peek-a-boo. However, she's got it a little wrong. Instead of covering her eyes, she covers her ears.

I don't blame her.

--------

Elizabeth and I headed out this week to run some errands. We stopped by a local fast food place to pick up a "snack" because a pregnant lady and a 5 year old have no business shopping hungry. Especially if there is candy within arms reach.

As we enjoy our Jr Cheeseburgers she looks at me and says, "Mom. This has GOT to be the best cheeseburger in the whole world."

Wow. That's some pretty low standards little girl. Pre-tty low.

--------

During the above mentioned excursion Elizabeth was convinced that she was getting a prize for helping me shop. We visited two different Dollar stores in town and she picked up on the fact that everything in each store was a dollar.

"Can I get that jewelry? It's only a dollar!
Whoa! Chap stick! Please Mom! It's only a dollar!
Look! Headbands! Pllllllllllease Mommy! They're only a dollar!"

Then finally,

(GASP!) "MOM! Look. at. this. SUNGLASSES! How much are they?"

Wouldn't you like to play along with this week's edition of Das Not Funny! Friday? All you have to do is write your own post. Somewhere in that post link back right here. Then, enter your info into MckLinky. It's super simple and oh-so-fun.

Happy Friday y'all!

Ya Ya Y'all

If you've read my blog for any amount of time you know how much I love and adore our close friends Chris and Lindy. They are the brains and obedient hands behind Only Servants Ministries. Seriously people, I could go on and on for hours telling you how fabulous this couple is and what an impact they are making on the people of Kenya. But, you can see all that for yourself by clicking here and checking out their ministry blog for yourself.

The reason I'm bringing them to your attention once more is for non-ministry related stuff. These two twenty*coughsnortthirty*somethings are in the process of adopting two sweet children from Rwanda.

I could go on and on and on about what fabulous, God centered parents they will be. But I'm going to keep this post as light and airy as possible. And if I start telling y'all about Lindy's mothering instincts or Chris' whole-hearted desire to father and lead a family I'll just start bawling. And these days, once I open that can-o-worms very little slow that train down.

Let me just say that no sooner than 45 seconds after their children are placed in their arms will Luke and I be calling them for parenting advice. Oh who am I kidding? We already ask them for parenting advice.

Anyway, Chris and Lindy will be flying back to the United States in the very near future. With them they are bringing ALL KINDS OF KENYAN GOODIES. With Christmas just around the corner, wouldn't your holiday be brighter getting that special little girl in your life one of these:

Or how about that special woman in your life some of these (and you can be your own special woman if you wanna be. I mean, treat yourself ladies!)?

Maybe you aren't into jewelry or dolls? Well, who wouldn't want these in their house for some interesting conversation starters, or even a reminder that Kenyans think that Mzungus (white people) are chubby?

Don't need reminding that you are chubby? Yeah, me neither. Therefore, if it were me (and this is) I'd opt for the opposite of a reminder of chubbiness and go for something that says "Stuff your face and think of Africa." I'd choose these adorable little napkin rings...

Oh wait. We were talking about Christmas presents weren't we? Thaaaaat's right. So ex-nay on the getting this stuff for yourself. Get those skinny African things for your skinny friends. Get the napkin rings for yourself. At least that's what I would do.

But in keeping with Christmas, there are several nativity sets. They come in many variations, but I like this one:


Or these amazing angels, straight from the hands of Kenyans:

Whatever your fancy, this is just the tip of the Ya Ya iceberg. All items are custom made by authentic, actual Kenyans. That's right people, real people who were born and bred in Africa. Pretty gosh darn cool if you ask me.

Chris and Lindy will be having a Ya Ya Market right here in our hometown! If you know me IRL, this won't be a problem because you can stroll downtown and see what all Chris and Lindy brought back and purchase them for yourself.

If you don't know me IRL (in real life) and are interested in these items please contact me at beaverbunch (at) gmail (dot) com and I'll see what I can do. All proceeds from the Ya Ya Market benefit Chris and Lindy's adoption fund.

Here are the specs for you locals:

Ya Ya Market
When? November 20th, 5-8pm
November 21st 2-4pm
(during the Christmas parade)

Where? That funky little coffee shop on Main Street
(you know the M*cough*'s Brew)

Sorry to be vague, but lately I've been a little paranoid about publishing our living location to the world. If you DO live locally and want to attend but have no idea where I'm talking about, then email me at the above email address and I'll hook you up!

Video killed the radio star, or something like that...

Some of you who know me IRL (in real life) may already know this. But whether you know me IRL or only virtually, I have something to tell you.

I can't listen to secular music.

Notice I didn't say I shouldn't, or that I don't want to. It's just that I can't.

It's not because I think that secular music is un-Christian. In fact, I love me some Carrie Underwood (at least her first album after her American Idol win). And, that Apple Bottom song is pretty good too (Plus, Luke will drop-it-like-its-hot to that song. And this youtube clip of that red-headed kid dancing to it just CRACKS me up.).

And just the other night we turned on the radio in our living room and all 7 of us had a super fun dance party. We rocked it out to some Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" and even some new, funky music that I'm sure all the hip teenagers are listening to these days.

So, it's not that I think Christians shouldn't listen to secular music. It's just that I can't.

You see, before I married my husband I made choices about my life that didn't involve God or prayer or guidance from Godly counsel.

Some of those were good choices, like my decision that a wallet with a chain should probably be eliminated from my wardrobe. Yeah, I'm serious.

Some of those were bad choices. Like the choice to give my body to the guys I dated. Choices to live for the moment and not think about my future husband.

In high school, I really believed that I was going to marry the guys I dated. I really believed that if I was going to marry them anyway, why not go ahead and do the things married people do?

In college I enjoyed the good time I had with whoever I could have it with. The thoughts of how it would effect me, my marriage and even my children 10 years later never even occurred to me. I mean, whoever I married would have baggage too, right?

And isn't that what the world leads us to believe? I was watching a late night show the other night and one of the (female) guests said that she thought that people should just have sex before they ever went on their first date. That way, if the sex was bad, they wouldn't waste their time dating. She thought this was an excellent idea for everyone, except her two teenage daughters.

I wonder why her views changed when she thought of her own children? Perhaps she too knows why I can't listen to secular music.

For me scanning the radio dial is dangerous territory. Since it's been quite a while since I've listened to anything other than my iPod or Christian radio, I know very few new songs. So you'd think that the general radio would be safe, huh?

Notsomuch.

You see, it wasn't too long ago that I thought I could give the radio a try. I turned it on to our local New Music station and began listening. The first few songs were okay.

Then it happened. They played an oldie-but-goodie.

At first I was like, "Oh! I like this song!" But then, I remembered. I remember who he was and how I felt about him. I remembered what he smelled like and how I gave myself to him.

He was not husband. Thoughts and memories came back to me that I had thought I had forgotten. I snap back to reality when one of my children calls for me from the back of the van. The rest of the day I spend fighting off thoughts of him and what we did.

I'm totally serious. It's that bad and it doesn't bring blessings and warm fuzzies to my marriage.

I do have fond memories too that are evoked by songs. Sweet Home Alabama will always make me giggle and want to stand on a chair (500 points to the first person who knows why and can say so TACTFULLY in the comment section). Brown Eyed Girl will never be sung the same and will always have my sorority's twist on it. And the Dixie Chicks' first album will forever remind me of my first semester in college and the freedom I felt being on my own. Plus, Salt-n-Peppa will forever make me wanna Shoop.

So maybe it's dramatic for me to seclude my self from the secular music world. I'm sure there are many other secular songs that would evoke fond memories of my past. But in all honesty, it just too dangerous.

Why would I risk having a mental affair with someone I should have never been involved with in the first place? Why would I want to risk lowering my husband in my eyes because of a "good" memory (that is probably skewed) with another man?

I can't find a single reason why. Hopefully, your past is less tainted than mine. Hopefully the radio doesn't send you into a tailspin of emotion from years past.

But for me, my past killed my ability to freely listen to the radio. It has killed my ability to be hip and cool and know the newest Black Eyed Peas song. But I'm guessing that even if I knew the lyrics, I wouldn't be that cool anyway.

Das Not Funny! Friday: Stank and Squirrels and Sickness

It's Friday already. Man this week flew by. Once again my memory, along with several laughable moments, escape me. Gee, how I wish our walls could talk so they could remind me of all the funny things I've forgotten. Actually, maybe I don't wish that. Maybe they would tell a little too much.

Anyway, onto this week's Das Not Funny! Friday post including all the things I will tell.

One morning last week all 3 big kids climbed into bed with me while the babies were still sleeping. I clicked on the TV hoping to catch a few more Zzzzz's. As I doze in and out of consciousness, this what I hear:

Lucas: "Shuuuuuu weeeeee! My fangers stank. Bizzy, wanna smell dem?"

Elizabeth: "Sure." ............... "Wooooo. You're right. They do stank!"

-------

**Look away now if dead animals freak you out**

Yesterday our bird dog squirrel dog, Brinkley, delivered this little gem to our door step:

This is the 3rd one she's delivered to us as a, um...trophy.

The kids were lucky enough to witness Brinkley proudly presenting me her catch. Therefore, it became a hot topic for the rest of the afternoon. When Luke got home he shoveled up the rodent and began the trek to the woods to dispose. However, the kids wanted to do this:

The look on Ashlee's face alone is enough to crack me up. However, the icing on the cake was when Elizabeth said,

"Mom! I can see it's poop hole!"

Yes sweetie, you can. Along with it's bulgy black eyes and nasty, rodent teeth.

-------

Just when I thought the morning sickness was over it came roaring back on Tuesday. As I hovered over our kitchen sink, Elizabeth looked on with with concern. As I changed my clothes and we prepared to go out on a Mommy/Daughter date she asked,

"Mom. Why did you frow up? Are you getting sick?"

"No baby," I responded, "It's just because of the baby in my tummy. It still makes me sick sometimes."

"Why, Mommy? Do all Mommies get sick when they have babies in their tummies?"

"No baby," I sighed, "not all of them."

"Well, why do you get sick?" she questioned.

"Because honey. That's just the way God made my body," I tried to explain.

"Well why in the world would God do a thing like that?"

I'm asking Him the same thing.

Alrighty folks. Below is MckLinky if you'd like to play along. All you have to do is enter your info into MckLinky and he will do the rest. Y'all have a great weekend.

Daddy Day (and Night) Care

Have you wondered just how those 6 days went while I was away, enjoying sleeping in and not changing diapers? Below is a post that Luke wrote for all of you inquiring minds. The best part about my entire vacation was the desire my husband had to caring for our children and let me take a break. I think he was just as excited about my getting a vacation as I was. If nothing else from the whole week stands out to me, it is that my husband loves me more than I could ever deserve. I am married to a remarkable man. One that loves me when I'm unlovable, takes care of me when I'm capable of doing things myself and sacrifices knowing the benefits I will reap. Sounds a lot like another Man I love. I am truly blessed beyond measure.

So, without further ado, here is Luke's take on 6 days of being a single Dad:

So you may ask what life is like for 6 days, with 5 children (all under 5 years old), while your wife is away. I have to ask myself the same question. First of all, I am not some super hero, tight-wearing, perfect dad. Several people have asked how things were, while my wonderful bride (I may have added that part) was off on a deserted island being waited on hand and foot. Everyday there were about 2 meltdowns before breakfast, 1 before lunch, 2 before dinner, and 1 before bedtime.

After we dropped mommy off at the airport, the first destination of the daddy day care bus was..... Bass Pro Shop. For those of you that know me, that, in and of itself should be funny. I must say going there at 10:00 in the morning was quite nice. There is noooo body there. I have the babies in the twin stroller and the older kids get to walk around. They all listened really well. The biggest hits were: Lucas getting to touch an actual gun, Elizabeth seeing the HUGE catfish in the fish tank, and Ashlee finding the princess tackle box. After that 2.5 hr time span (hey, they were happy and I wasn't leaving), we went to a park to burn off some more steam. We finally made it back home for naps.

That one day is the only full day I remember. Some other activities we had were: playing in the leaves, children's museum, gymnastics, church, bounce house, and my memory is gone again. We did some school work. I say some so you can insert how much you think it was. I would stay on the low side if I were you. Me being the morning person I am we were out of the house by 9:00 most days. For the first couple of days things were ok. Mentally I think it helped knowing she would be gone for a while and I had no choice but to make it work. The longer the week got, the harder things got. By the sixth day I completely failed at being a patient, loving dad. I found myself getting on the kids for every little thing. What was really hard was there was no down time. I found myself constantly correcting someone, changing a diaper, fixing something, stopping a fight, cleaning, etc. By the end of each day I was done.

What really helped during the week was starting everyday in prayer and studying the bible. The two days I didn't start my day with God I had the least amount of patience. I must say I had a lot of quality time in the word and in prayer. The distractions of work were not there, the computer was broken, and we don't have but 8 channels to watch. When the kids went down for there naps I would lay down for 30 minutes to an hour. It was so refreshing. Jessica had also pre-made some meals before she left. We had friends bring by dinners. Grandparents took us out to eat and some of the kids stayed with them 1 or 2 nights. Friends dropped in, with their kids, to bring a good distraction for my children. Two nights, guys dropped by to make sure I was still alive. Friends called to check on me, offer to go to the store, bring a biscuit buy. Friends at church helped load and unload the kids. The older kids stepped up and helped clean and helped with the babies.

After it is all said and done I would do it again. I do see the daily struggles Jessica has to deal with and it makes me appreciate and love her so much more. I am especially thankful that God has put in her a desire to be with our children day in and day out. It was a great week with my God and my children.

Jesus Storybook Bible Giveaway!!!!

I will begin this post by saying that I have not been financially compensated by Zonderkidz, Zondervan or any of its affiliates for any endorsement of their product. I heard through some webish grapevine that there is a new, boring law that could get me in trouble if I host a giveaway and do not disclose whether or not I have been financially compensated. I have not.

I wish I had. What a life, huh? Paid to give stuff away. Bring. it. on.

Mmmmkay. Now that those technicalities are outta the way...

I'm am SO STOKED!!! This will be a lengthy post where I overuse the italics feature and possibly too many exclamation points!!!!

Somehow, by the grace of God himself, I won several copies of the Jesus Storybook Bible Deluxe Edition. First of all, lemme just tell you what an incredibly, cool Bible this is. Then I will tell you how YOU have a chance to win 1 of 5 copies that I'm gonna give away, right here.

Oh yes people, I'm that fancy.

First of all, this Bible.

I LOVE it.

Yes, technically it is a Children's Bible.

Technically.

But I've never been one to classify myself by a mere technicality.

Our kids love this Bible, I love this Bible and Luke loves this Bible. It's fun to read, easy to understand and sparks some seriously great discussions with our oldest three children. It is beautifully illustrated and the author does an incredible job of taking every story in scripture and richly bringing it full circle, back to the miracle of Christ.

I'm tellin' you, that Sally Lloyd-Jones is magnificent.

Most times, when we read these stories to our children I get teary eyed. And that's just the plain 'ol regular version. You see, we've owned this Bible for some time now. My mom got each of the big kids their own copy a while back. It's been a frequent reading in our bedtime story routine for almost a year.

But this Deluxe Edition is something real special. It comes with 3 audio CDs where you can listen to this guy, who has an incredible accent by the way, read with passion and all those fancy voice inflections that your English teachers always wanted you to do in school.

It's superb. Just superb.

Check out the Jesus Storybook Bible's website to see samples of the stories and hear excerpts of the audio CDs. (I tried to steal some of their photos and such, but they've got it all copyrighted and blocked. Darn those big wig publishers and their fancy, schmantsy computer nerds!)

I promise you won't be disappointed if you check out their stuff. Some stuff, like downloads, are even FREE.

Okay, so onto the Giveaway, right?

Up for, er, giveaway are 5 copies of the Deluxe Edition Jesus Storybook Bible. Each copy includes:

1 Deluxe Edition Bible in Hardback
3 Audio CDs of the stories included in the Bible
1 case to store your new Bible treasure
1 promise from yours truly that this will become your new, favorite family Bible (and isn't that worth more than the other 3 combined? No? oh well...)

I PROMISE you will want to win one of these sets.

You have several options to enter the giveaway. Here they are, in no particular order.

Option #1. Read my post about Run 4 Revolution. Then, click here to donate $5.00 toward ending child sex trafficking and to support the International Justice Mission. Once you go to the Run 4 Revolution site, scroll down and click on "Sponsor" on the left side of the page.

For every $5.00 you donate, you get an entry. (For example, if you donate $15.00 that is THREE full entries.)

If you are thinking of going all in and purchasing 7 or more entries, you can simply click here and join Run 4 Revolution for the low, low price of $35. You'll get lots of cool stuff, support a great cause (one that is currently awaiting it's 501(c)(3) status) AND you'll get TEN whole entries for the price of 7. That's a bargain people, and you all know how I'm all about bargains.

And, the best part is, you DON'T HAVE TO BE A RUNNER TO JOIN. It's simple, really. So grab a donut and click away peeps.

Please be sure to put "Bible Giveaway" in the text box when you pay via Paypal. And it probably wouldn't hurt you to double up and shoot me an email me (beaverbunch (at) gmail (dot) com) telling me you've donated and how many entries you purchased. My friend Lindsey will be checking on the R4R side but just to be safe, email me too.

Option #2. Read my post about Run 4 Revolution. Then, YOU blog about Child Sex Trafficking AND Run 4 Revolution. You must link to the Run 4 Revolution website somewhere in your post. You'll get bonus sprinkles if you use the logo by swiping it from their site. Sprinkles don't count as entries. They just look good.

Come back and leave a comment giving me the URL address of your POST.


Option #3. Read my post about Run 4 Revolution. Then, put the Run 4 Revolution widget on your blog. You can see what it looks like by checking out my upper right sidebar. It's super cool and super easy. Simply go here, copy that funky looking text/code at the bottom of the second box and paste it into an HTML/Java Script Gadget in the Layout section of your blog.

Come back and leave a comment giving me the URL address of your blog.


That's it! Three incredibly simple ways to enter. You can gain an entry into the giveaway by doing EACH of the things listed above. However, you will only win one Bible. Sorry folks. If you don't have a blog, well, sorry. Looks like you'll just have to purchase your entries OR start a blog ASAP and get to bloggin'.

Entries will be accepted until Wednesday, November 18, 2009 at 11:59pm EST. Winners will be announced the following week.

The retail price for the Deluxe Edition Jesus Storybook Bible is $24.99 and can be purchased by clicking here or on your favorite retail site, such as Amazon.

Good luck! Let the RACE begin!

Terrible Threes Twos Toddlers Attitudes

I suppose gone are the days when I blogged about deep, intellectual thoughts and things that had more to do with the purpose of life rather than just my purpose with loading the dishwasher, washing machine and changing diapers.

Hum? What's that?

This blog was never that deep?

Good. Then you won't be too disappointed when this post is only surface deep as well.

Lucas woke up in the same mood he went to bed with last night. And, that's not good because it wasn't a good 'un.

After some much needed convincing from his mother, he decided that his day would stink big time if his a.t.t.i.t.u.d.e. continued on into the afternoon.

So, I pawned him off on my Nana. Oh stop it! He'll be an angel there because he will be the only one getting her attention and she has the coolest toys.

Ashlee is at my Mom's house as well for the afternoon. That means that it's just Elizabeth, me, Baby Girl and Aaron the horrible. I think his terrible two's have reared their ugly head WAY before his 2nd birthday. He is a total stinker. When he receives correction he storms off in the other direction, usually in search of something he can hit saying, "Uhhhh Uhhhhhh!"

Not so cute.

Seriously, winter has hardly started here and already my children have cabin fever. Sweet Lord have mercy. It's gonna be a long winter.

I felt the baby move yesterday while I was up and around doing normal, everyday stuff. This is the first time this has happened. Usually I only feel the baby when I'm sitting or laying down. But then yesterday, while inspecting the fridge for something to make for lunch, boom! There is was. It was a shocking reminder that this baby will be here before I know it. I'm already 22.5 weeks. Over half way there. Holy mackerel.

On another note, be sure to check back bright and early tomorrow morning for a super great giveaway! I am so excited!

Finally, because I can, I will leave you with a few pics of my sweet girls.

Couldn't you just eat her right up with a spoon?

Totally sweet.

When asked to pose like her older sister, this is what I got. Classic Ashlee.

Y'all have a great week and be sure to come back tomorrow!

Monday, Monday

Wow. Today has been a MON-DAY.

Baby Girl has therapy on Monday mornings and when the therapist showed up I was half dressed and still brushing my teeth.

At lunch, Aaron decided he only wanted apples and yogurt for lunch. Which works out fine except that he likes to swallow all foods completely whole. That works well for yogurt. Notsomuch for apple slices.

Finally, at naptime Lucas decided that he was afraid of his room because of dinosaurs, then zebras, then hungry wolves.

So, I decided to let him rest with Elizabeth while I got some much needed housework blogging done. Instead of napping the two of them played and giggled and ultimately broke Lucas' most prized possession. A "Spirit" horse statue.

Insert massive freak out by Lucas.

He is currently screaming at/for me from his bedroom. I am praying he finally falls asleep so that he won't be a screaming-banshee-terror-child later.

Sigh.

Is it Friday yet?

Stay tuned this week because I am super excited about an amazing Giveaway I have scheduled for Wednesday!

That is, unless Lucas' room continues to be invaded by gorillas or zebras or crocodiles or....