Look Mom, No Training Wheels!

These are pics I just found on my camera from the last time my dad was at our house. We took Caden's training wheels off and he learned to ride his bike without them. He did pretty well in the driveway but got scared when we took him out in the street! We are getting there though!

Adoption

I have been thinking about adoption lately. I know lots of people who are adopting internationally right now and it just causes me to think. We have friends in Houston that have adopted from Guatamala, others we know from Houston that just arrived back from Ethiopia with their two new children, another couple waiting to get the call to go to Russia to get their daughter, and yet another friend I reconnected with waiting for the call from Rwanda. I also know at least 4 couples that have adopted domestically...remember my post about Promote Oklahoma Adoption! Anyway, this just causes me to think about all those children in the world that need loving homes and that sometimes couples need help and encouragement to bring those kiddos home!

Remember we are all adopted sons and daughters of God! Ephesians 1:4-6 "For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves." NIV

Anyway, I told my friend Ashley I would also let my blog buddies know about her fundraising efforts...they had t-shirts printed. Here are the details and a link to their blog for more info.

http://racksadoptionjourney.blogspot.com/2009/03/after-months-of-tweaking-ryan-and-i.html
If you would like to purchase a shirt, let me know the size and color (brown or pink). They are $15 each. The sizes are S-L adult then, XS-L child. Please email me ashleysmith@brightok.net.
The back of the shirt says: I'm telling a story with my life, and you are telling a story with your life, and when we are telling our stories, we are setting the compasses of the people around us. Stories are the most powerful way to teach, and we are learning how to live through the narratives of our stories. And God is saying "I want us to tell better stories." -Donald Miller
Here is the design.
I am not promoting one family over the other...I am just informing you about what a friend is doing. I am also encouraging you to encourage those you know who want to adopt or are adopting!

Also the more I got to thinking about this, it dawned on my, I have cousins that are adopted! I thank God for them and for their birth mothers who made a sacrifice so my aunt and uncle could have children, and I could have cousins! Love you guys!

Sorry for the rambling, it sounded all so much clearer in my head at 4am!

Potty Training Update

I decided to try, try again and picked a weekend when we would be mostly at the house. This past Friday when it started snowing, I figured now was as good of time as any. So we began. I am happy to report Carter is doing well! He is mostly potty trained with #1. Poop is a whole other story, but we will get there soon. Any tips from you pro moms out there let me know. When I potty trained Caden he just refused to poop in the pull-up or underwear and would ending up holding all day and doing it at nap time while asleep. Carter is stubborn and will just poop whenever he feels the need, just not in the toilet! I am not complaining, I am just thrilled we have the first part down...our diaper bill was getting out of control!

Another note - we are with Gigi and Pops this week so stay tuned for pictures!

Blizzard of 2009

Here are some pictures I took this morning of all the snow. Cory is shoveling a path for Jack to go to the bathroom and Caden is just running around in it. It is really hard to tell how much we got because it is blowing so much! In the front there are 2ft drifts in front of the garage doors, so we are not going anywhere today :) In the back it is easily up to Caden's shoulders in some spots! Enjoy the pics!

Godly Witness

Last night after Cory's game we headed over to Lotsa Noodles for dinner. There was an ad in the paper for buy one get one free entree so we decided to take advantage of it. I am telling you this because the cashier didn't get it so we had to spend some time dealing with the manager to get our free entree, etc. She was back and forth from our table quite a bit and after the 3rd time Caden leaned over to Cory and whispered, "Dad, give her one of your cards."

****side note****
Cory has these cards that are the size of a business card that say "Is there more to this world that what we currently see?" and on the back it talks about life after death in heaven, eternity, has John 3:16 on it and an email if they have questions. He gives these to just about anyone, cashiers everywhere, waitresses, people in gas stations, etc. You know Cory...our little evangelist!

Back to the story, we weren't sure what "card" Caden was talking about so we asked him. "you know, your card with the earth on it!" We kept asking and he wouldn't say anymore. Finally he leaned over to us and whispered, "you know, your card that talks about Jesus!" We asked him why he wanted us to give the lady that card. He replied that is what Daddy always does!

This opened up an entire discussion on witnessing. We were able to explain why Daddy passes out those cards and why people need to hear about Jesus! It was so encouraging and fun to see Cory teaching Caden about God's great commission!

Thank you LORD for giving me such a Godly husband and father to my children! Thank you for Caden's curiosity as well. May we continue to be an example for him and to continue to share our faith with others. LORD, help me to follow Cory's example and use his cards more often with the people I come in contact with. Continue to grow Caden's curiosity so that one day he will want to tell others about you! Also continue to give him the desire to know more about you! Thank you for the opportunity and responsibility to teach him about you! Be with Cory and me as we teach him!

Sledding

This year we went a little bit later in the winter than we have before, so there wasn't much snow around the cabin. Normally we can just sled down the driveway but this year there was no snow on the driveway. We had to get a bit creative! Papa and Caden took the jeep out for a drive and found a good hill! We bundled up the kiddos and off we went. The idea was to take the snowmobiles up the hill and sled down. It sort of worked :) The snowmobiles didn't cooperate much and the snow was too soft to sled well. I had a really hard time, but Caden had a blast! Carter and Brooklyn just preferred to ride on the snowmobiles! All in all a fun afternoon!

Carter with his Daddy on the snowmobile

Brooklyn and Papa - I don't think she even went down the sled once! I can't remember.

Here is the pretty girl "smiling" for me while we wait for the snowmobile.

Carter found this bike helmet in the garage and insisted on wearing it while sledding.

Caden starting his run.

Papa with both Brooklyn and Carter

3 of my crazy guys!

Caden was pretty fast on this sled!

Tubing Hill

This was by far our favorite part of the trip! We got to go tubing two days down the mountain, as Caden would point out! We didn't get any pics the first day on our camera, but here are some shots from the second day. I didn't get to go the 1st day, but we got three tubes this time and we all got to go! Carter wasn't much into it so he just rode with me a few times then stayed at the bottom with Cory. It was one serious workout to hike back up the hill pulling your tube. I also had to pull Caden's tube and sometimes pull both tubes with Carter in one! OUCH!

I know I went down at least 6 times, and Cory probably did another 4-6. Caden went down 10-12 times total. He loved it so much. You can't tell from the pics, but he was having a blast. Carter pooped out early and just wanted to throw snowballs and eat snow. Brooklyn would only go down with Papa, not sure how many times they made it down though. It was a workout, but tons of fun!

Here I am going down, holding on to Caden and Carter. We usually went down separately, Carter with me and Caden alone...but this time they wanted to ride together.

Here is Papa and Brooklyn going down.

Papa hauling Brooklyn back up.

Me after a run - notice the lack of warm clothing...it was like 50 or close to 60 degrees! Crazy!

Carter getting ready to throw a snowball.

Carter eating the snow!

Cory at the bottom.

Caden going down...he loved this!

You can't really tell by this expression on his face, but he had a blast!

The four of us at the hill.

Just my hubby and I being cheesy! - notice his forehead...love the sunburn!

Red River Week, Part 1

Cory, his sister Kayla, her boyfriend Michael, and his Dad went skiing on Sunday. They had a great time and Cory even got sunburned. His face look pretty funny the rest of the week. He didn't get many shots on the slopes but he took a great video for me!

* word of warning: don't watch if you get motion sickness easily!