Cody Had His Tonsils Out

Last Thursday, Cody had his tonsils and adnoids removed.  The doctor said that his nose was 80% or more blocked by the adnoids and his tonsils were huge.  He is doing WONDERFUL.  He has very little discomfort and the only probably is keeping him inactive for the two weeks that we are suppose to.  That is a lot of work!!!

Here are some pictures of Cody right before he went back for surgery.  :)  He wasn't scared a bit and he's not shed one tear still!

Isn't he the cutest?!

I think this was right before he chose the kind of homemade ice cream 

that he would be wanting made the next day!

I'll take another one soon, but now I spend all his waking time trying to keep him calm!

Love This! (What a Mom of Many Wants for Mother's Day)

Of course, what I want most is my 5 Bulgarian Blessings in my arms, but since that isn't going to happen by Sunday - this is a good one!

Well here is a picture that you should see!  This is my crew coming into Walmart with their Daddy.  He took them on his own inside the store to go get me some flowers for Mother's Day.  I just haven't been able to bring myself to go pick up flowers to make the front of the house look fresh.  All I can think about is the kids across the ocean and getting anything done that might made the trip a little smoother.  So they went to get me flowers and I think they are even going to plant them for me for Mother's Day!

I just had to take a picture.  Aren't they all cute!?!  

We had just left our homeschool group's Field Day,

so they are a little dirty looking and worn out. 

(There are 13 kids in that picture, 

but there was no angle that got them all 

and a few ducked. roflol)

I have to say watch my big family file in and then watching from a distance as they checked out, only to get to go through the entire parking lot in a huge train (they closed the doors on the side we parked on!) - 

was a wonderful Mother's Day present!

Watching them at the Field Day, listening to them jabber all the way there and home, listening to Dayton ASK to get to push the buggy with the two littlest in it, and watching them all tell me who liked which flowers - 

PRICELESS!

AS IS THIS PICTURE!

I am so blessed!

Birthdaying Unroe Style

Jacob turned 9 years old today.  I'd love to show you what the day looked like and a picture of the birthday boy, but I didn't take any today.  Jacob will not look at the camera and it seemed a shame to waste time that we could be enjoying with him while trying to get him to do something that he is NOT going to do.  So I thought I'd paint you a "word picture" of Jacob's special day.

Jacob has RAD, selective mutism, and maybe a touch of Autism.  This was his 4th birthday home and the 1st time that he made it obvious that he definitely knew it was HIS special day and was excited about it!  When the first person told him Happy Birthday before church today, he took off dancing around the room.  He even tried to sneak and look in my Walmart bags when I came home from the store the other day and he heard the kids ask where to hide his presents!  (Come on special needs Mamas - you know that is big stuff!)  He also stood up for the Birthday Song at church this morning, but looked down like he was shy - yet had a very ornery smile on his face!

After church I headed to pick up the cupcakes and got some other stuff at the store, while everyone here had lunch.  When I got home, they were all very ready to get moving toward the wonderful day that was ready for them outside!  We got them ready quickly and out they went.  They played for quite a while.  I went out and got Cody to climb the dome climber all the way to the top.  That meant that suddenly Jacob and Zeeky wanted to as well!  :)  ( I love good peer pressure!)

Late this afternoon we went out to the picnic tables in the front yard and had Jacob's cupcakes and some milk. He was very excited about it and was very excited to open up the gift bag (yes, we've learned that especially with special needs kids that takes the stress out of it!) to see what he got for his birthday.  He was thrilled with the toys that you step on or it the little "thing" (very technical tonight aren't I?) and the Cars characters project from it.  I made sure to get 3 of them so that other kids would do it with him and it would be more enjoyable.

Then 7 of the kids and Brent played a game of wiffle ball out front.  I was putting on dinner, so I put Cody and Julianne in the plastic gate thing.  They'd only been in it 5 or so times ever, so they were excited about that even.  There were tons of giggles coming from that enclosure!  After I got dinner on, I went out to check on their game and bounce those big soft balls off of Julianne and Cody which was just a thrill full of continual laughter!  (Have I ever mentioned how much I love my life!?!)

I planned dinner to hit right after it got dark, since they weren't hungry from all the cake until late!  We took candles (real and batter powered both) out and ate on the picnic tables.  We had pork chops, asparagus, and stuffing.  The kids thought that was the best way to have dinner out in the dark!  Then, Dayton started sneaking up on people on scaring them while they were at the table.  Unique was laughing so loud that I had to make them quit.  The "non-homeschooled" neighbor children would have to have a hard time getting to sleep with all that loud squealing and laughter!

Then we started bringing some of the kids in for baths and showers, while the rest stayed outside in the dark with the glow sticks!  Yes, that is a favorite summer activity and they've been begging to since the first warm day.  Julianne, Cody, and Zeeky were done by that point and asking to come in, so they got to be first up for showers and baths.  The children managed to keep their squealing down to a minimum and played like crazy outside.  I was very glad that the gate was locked and I knew they couldn't get out.  I could however see glow sticks flickering all around the "ark" play structure.  :)

There is so much fun to be had in a large family.  Homeschooling gives us a flexible schedule that allows so much family time and we can adjust our schedule to what works best from day to day.  We don't take "snow days", but we can take a "Sun"day instead.  We can play out late, sleep in later, and still get a good days school in.  We get to spend time together and my kids are the best of friends.  The kids have a full "party" of kids here and can put together a game of about any size any day that they wish.  We don't need a bunch of activities, because their are enough of us to be active without the planned times.  :)  God has truly blessed us and right now all I could wish for us for our next 5 to be home with us too.

Now the children are all soundly asleep and the business day is beginning in Bulgaria, so I am going to head to bed myself and pray myself to sleep begging God to take care of my 5 Bulgarian Blessings as well as move our adoption through quickly so we can get them home.

The next birthday here is only 2 weeks away.  Destiny is exactly 2 weeks younger than Jacob and will turn 9 on Sunday two weeks from now.  I guess we really better get some rest!

A Great Sunday - Unroe Style

Sunday morning we got up and went to church.  We already had everything all laid out so that we could change clothes quickly right after church.  The kids were all excited because we were going to UNCLE GREAT AND AUNT KIM'S HOUSE.  Uncle Greg and Aunt Kim are the incredibly cool uncle and aunt that our kids adore.  We all also adore Caiden, Caleb, and Chloe!!!  Who wouldn't!!??!!  They just bought a new house and they have the perfect place for get togethers now too.  We've always enjoyed them coming here, but we got to go to their new house this time!

So we hurried over to their house and had hotdogs, macaroni salad, potato salad, cole slaw, chips, juice boxes, pop, and bunches of cookies.  :)

Julianne doesn't like to go new places very well, so she was sleepy and went to sleep on Daddy.  Then we woke her up to eat.  She tried to boycott again, but couldn't help the desire to sneak bites when we weren't looking.  lol 

Cody and Destiny especially loved playing with the "three C's"!  There was giggling everywhere!  The other kids watched movies, goofed off with Uncle Greg, and played a hunting game on Wii.  Then after everything else was done Greg, Brent, Denzell, Jose, and Dayton all went out to target shoot.  Everyone hit the targets right on too!  They were all pretty proud of themselves (even Brent!)!

Julianne then became my first child ever to cry because she didn't want to leave somewhere.  Julianne has always liked home best of all.  If we stay somewhere too long she will even take me and put my hand on the door knob to make sure I 'get the point'.  lol  She was just sitting their quite until two of her cousins started to kiss her!!!  Well, every princess loves to be adored!!  So she was laughing and they thought they were pretty cool getting her to laugh so much too.  She would want them to do it and then act like she was going to push them away.  lol  Every girl wants to be pursued I guess!!  haha  When it came time to go out the door I had to pick her up and carry her out, because she wanted to stay longer!

Then we went to my mother's house to visit for a little while.  The kids had fun looking at pictures of Uncle Greg and me when we were little.  I was informed of how cute I was in some pictures and how weird I looked in others.  lol  We enjoyed our visit with Grandma Paula and then she jumped in her car and went to our next stop too!

Then we were off to my grandparents' house a few doors down from my mom.  We enjoyed some time visiting with them.  The kids went to their favoriate hangout, down in the finished basement.  It was good to see Mommom and Daddy Bill.

By the time we left there we had been having so much fun that we were hungry and exhausted.  We waited till the Wendy's closest to home and drove through for ice cream and milk shake treats.  About the time we got to the window, some people decided they were very hungry.  So as any crazy people would do, we went back around the drive thru to order real food.  When we got to the window the 2nd time, they asked us to pull around again to give them time to get it all together.  We were cracking up as we went around the drive thru for the 3rd time!!!  Only we could do that!!!

We then brought it all home and ate here. 

That is an Unroe Style Sunday!  We don't often hit 3 houses in one day and often have the company to our house, but whatever we do - we do it BIG! 

The Excitement of the Day!

Yesterday, I saw a that a friend from high school had a litter of Blue Heeler puppies.  I messaged her and reserved one, but didn't tell the kids.  (Yes, I'm sneaky mean like that!)

Today, I told the ones who were cooperative yesterday and finished their homeschool work to get ready and run and errand with me and the ones who didn't finish yesterday's assignments had a couple extra assignments to do today.  (Yes, I'm mean like that too!)  Zeeky, Jacob, and Cody all did WONDERFUL work yesterday (I'll post some of that later!), so they and Jose, Dayton, and Julianne  all loaded up in the minivan.  The ones here had work to do and Denzell had online school work, so they stayed nice and busy!

I didn't tell them what we were doing even though they asked a million times.  When the time finally came that we were almost there I asked them to help watch for the sign for the Pig Farm we were going to.  Then came the "We aren't going to watch pigs are we??".  (Yes, homeschool kids have to worry about such things.  haha)  When we got there and I had them sit in the van while I walked a few feet away, they saw the lady hand me a small gray animal and thought for sure I had just gotten a pig!! 

Imagine their excitement and surprise when it was a little tiny puppy!!  Thrilled children!  Well, Julianne was not initially thrilled, but she has warmed up to him quickly!  :)

Ok, videos and pictures!

Excuse Cody's excitement.  He talks very clear, but he was so excited

that it is just a SQUEAL as he talks!

Any wonder why he he needed this?

Friends and Fun

We had a huge great weekend.  Friday we had our homeschool Co-Op, which is highlight for the kids and also for me.  It is great to get together with other Christian homeschoolers!!  I even got to talk to a family about adoption afterward, which always thrills me!!

Saturday, we had a couple families join us here at our house for an "Unroe Style Egg Hunt".  That means that we hid over 600 eggs that were filled with candy and watched the kids run around like crazy hunting them.  We ate afterward and had the island full of junk foods, with sticks of cheese and chips included for a little healthy snack too.  Such great fellowship with other Christian families and all the kids had a blast!

Sunday, we had lots of fun and a little drama.  lol  It started with 13 Easter baskets full of devotional books, huge bubble makers, other small toys, and lots of candy.  Then we headed to church for a wonderful time of celebrating Jesus's sacrafice for our adoptions together with our church family.  The weather was beautiful, so we were able to walk and the kids looked absolutely amazing in the big line walking to church!  (I couldn't help but imagine how much better it will look with our 5 Bulgarian Blessings in that group!) 

Then came the "drama".  lol  I was opening a huge can of green beans and sliced my finger open with the can lid.  :(  I knew immediately that I'd have to get stitches, but I put a terri-strip on it and then wrapped it tightly.  I was able to finish dinner and enjoy it with the kids and Brent's parents.  Then I went to Urgent Care and got 5 stitches! 

After I got home, we made Resurrection rolls and watched the Veggie Tales Easter Carol dvd.  Julianne is to the point that she loves Veggie Tales and laughs hysterically at it.  All the kids enjoy it, but the older ones would say that they only watch it because of the younger ones.  Thank God for little siblings is all I can say!!  

Ok, so now for some pictures!

Julianne (above)

Cody and Julianne (below) both age 5

Destiny (above) age 8

Zeeky age 7 and Dayton age 10 (below)

Jacob age 8 and Jose age 10 (above)

Precious age 19 and Crystal age 12 (below)

Andrew age 11 and Forrest age 13 (above)

Unique age 20 and Denzell age 16 (below)

Hope your Easter was great!

Too Cute Not to Post

Julianne's favorite color is turquoise.  She loves the turquoise combs the best (combs are HUGE for her).  She loves turquoise rubber bands.  Turquoise anything makes her happy!

She got the new glasses in turquoise and she LOVES them.  Even when she "takes them off" she puts them around her neck instead of pitching them into another room!  She wants to wear them so I've been trying to find outfits that she can wear with them. 

This is from before church this morning:

She knew she was cute too!  She made a very vocal protest when Daddy was going to take that dress off!  I love my opinionated little princess!

Why Our Country Isn't Really Doing Better Than Eastern Europe

Here is my next topic in my discrimination writings. 

I know that I often hear comments about how horribly behind times the countries of Eastern Europe are in their treatment of people with disabilities.  They "can't believe" that people leave their children with Down Syndrome at the hospital.  They "don't understand" how someone could do that to their child. 

You should see their faces when I tell them that our country doesn't do any better!  Of course, here in the US children with Down Syndrome are not put into mental institutions.  What could I possibly mean???? 

In the US, out of every 10 babies who are suspected to have Down Syndrome - 9 are ABORTED!

Do you have any idea how sick that makes me?????  It makes me want to scream, yell, and cry.  Doctors often say "Well, your child is going to be born with Down Syndrome.  Do you want me to set up the appointment for the abortion?".  WHAT????? ARE YOU KIDDING ME????? 

Here in the US, we call that "right to choose" or "its a woman's body".  What it really is  - MURDER!  We are killing an entire group of people before they are even board.  We hear people talk about "baby girls" not being valued in China or India.  We are doing the same with babies with Down Syndrome.  Our society has decided that if we kill them before they are born, then it is ok. 

WELL IT IS NOT OK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Babies with Down Syndrome choose life too!  They want to be born.  They want to be spoiled!  They want to love chocolate!  They want to sport their "Designer Genes"! 

If our society wasn't killing them, then it wouldn't be unusual to see someone with Down Syndrome at Walmart or any where else for that matter. 

I think if we look at Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream" speech and think about it from the view of a child with Down Syndrome, then we might get a whole new view.  They have the right to walk hand in hand with children who are considered "typical" (whatever the crap that means!).  They have a dream to be a part of a world that sees the wonderfulness of their extra chromosome!  They dream to be part of a world where their uniqueness is celebrated!  They have a dream to have the beauty of their special features acknowledged.  They have a dream to live in a world that realizes that they too were made in the IMAGE of our CREATOR! 

They have a dream to live in a world where a doctor instead says "CONGRATULATIONS!  God has chosen you to be the mother of a "Chromosomally Enhanced" child" and hands them news articles about families who go to the other side of the world just to have such a blessings.  They dream of doctors handing the new mother's the "real story" and info to the different Down Syndrome Associations.  Papers included in their "Congratulations Pack" have blogs of families who love their children with Down Syndrome. Phone numbers could be included of mother's like me who would love to tell them that the most wonderful gift on earth is about to grace their world.  They are to join the rank of mothers who KNOW that these are God's most precious gifts! 

We Went Out to Eat Last Night

Last night we decided to go out to eat after church.  We decided to go to Bob Evans and hoped that our late night trip would lead to it not being crowded and being seated quickly.  That was a success and we pulled in to a mostly empty parking lot.

As we started to unload the kids, I noticed that there were employees staring quite worriedly at us.  I had to chuckle at the worry on their faces.  If they had known all the "diagnoses" then they would have just slipped quietly out the back door!  I always wonder how fast people would retreat if they knew all the labels.  I mean, just the sight of all of those kids (knowing nothing more) unloading the van caused their blood pressure to rise!

We went in and they ask "How many?" while employees still peeked around the corner.  I had to laugh inside.  I told them "15" and you could see them look around like "nope we weren't hallucinating there really are that many".   They started to move together tables for us, but I let them know that there was no need to move things around.  We can just as easily sit at 4 tables as we can at one long one! 

Things went so smoothly.  My kids are REALLY good in public and especially out to eat.  We had drink orders ready to give immediately.  I had two kids who ordered for themselves (Dayton and Denzell) and I ordered the rest.  (I was letting others order for themselves, but recently they showed that they couldn't handle it and ate until all the food was gone on the big meal and I had vomit to clean up.)  I keep the meals uniform to make it simpler for the waitress and also because if we were home everyone would be eating the same thing anyway.

They brought out the food and everyone was served quickly.  I had ordered extra onion petals that I walked around and handed out.  There were no spills (though I thought Brent was going to spill someone's drink a couple times!).  The kids ate quietly and neatly.  The talking at the tables was low and no one got out of their seats.

The kids really enjoyed hearing the employees that dreaded us so bad comment over and over on their good behavior.  They laughed when we got to the vehicle about all the compliments to Brent and I about what a good job we must be doing.  When we were checking out and they were still complimenting the kids' behavior, I said "I saw your looks of dread when we came in.".  The lady replied with "Yes, but that was BEFORE we knew you and now we WANT you to come back". 

Yes, I was very proud of my crew!  I hope we changed some view points.  Maybe next time they see a large group of kids coming in, they will remember that children can be respectful, calm, and enjoyable.  :)

And for your viewing pleasure cause she really is THAT CUTE:

Great Wolf Lodge Trip (Pictures)

Before Christmas we took all the kids to Great Wolf Lodge.  They had been asking to go to an indoor waterpark every since we went to a different one in 2008.  Several of the kids weren't here then and I really wanted to them to get to experience it.  We are also aware that once our 5 Bulgarian Blessings arrive home it will be a LONG time before we are able to attempt anything major like that.  We found a great deal during their "Homeschool Days" and told the kids it could be an early Christmas present.

I have to admit that I was a little worried.  Water is a scary thing when you have such a  large family.  Also we have 5 on the autism spectrum and for some reason those in particular seem to be drawn to water.  We had to get two suites in order for them to allow us to stay because of our family size.  That meant that we weren't even all together when we were in our rooms.  I planned, packed (oh what a job!), and made sure the kids realized the rules and precautions. 

The whole trip went WONDERFULLY!  I was so pleasantly surprised.  God really worked it all out.  The scariest part was probably Julianne and Cody using the steps in my suite as "physical therapy".  :)  (I have to say that they sure have conquered that goal and I can move on!) 

The water was a big hit.  They loved the wave pool that was so calm until the wolf howled!  There was a water roller coaster that I went on with Dayton and Jose that made me scream and I'm pretty sure did a sinus rinse on me.  It was a lot of fun, but it was wild!  The youngest 5 loved the smaller water slides too. 

One of the highlights for me and the younger kids was that the Lobby was all decorated for Christmas.  At night all the younger kids go down in their pajamas and listen to a story that comes alive with all the characters.  Then they sing a song about "snow" and fake snow starts to fall in the lobby.  After things calm down from that the mascot comes out and a bedtime story is read.  Our second night there was cool, because a reindeer came out to story time instead though.  It was so very much fun and so magical for the kids.

There were other great things to enjoy as well.  The pizza was so great on night one that we couldn't wait until night two so we could order it again.  The suites had nice sitting areas and we were able to watch movies that you could order (my room was the party room and I let them stay up and watch movies until about 1 am, but it was vacation!)  On our 2nd day there we decided to really make it special.  We took a break from the water park for lunch and let them all eat JUNK.  Oh yes, we are NUTS!  We went to the shop that had all the sweets and got cookies, chocolate dipped pretzels, fudge, smores, and hot cocoas!  They all sat and ate it in bathing suits in a place decorated for Christmas!  Julianne especially is a big fan of chocolate and Zeeky is also known as the "Cookie Monster" around here, so they were in heaven!  Later in the day, we went and did crafts in a special room there for craft time.  A few of the older boys went to the arcade instead. 

I have to say that it is now probably our favorite place we've gone (well besides that in Georgia we get to see awesome friends!).  We made great memories.  Everything we needed was under one roof.  There was great excitement for everyone!

Satan is on the Prowl and That Must Mean . . . . .

That GREAT things are in the works! I am determined to see the good in the trials. Today it was the van. I got all 12 kids ready for church and Brent realized that a couple tires were low on the "big van". He took it down the road to get a little air and the next thing I know he says he can't get them to hold air. :( Zeeky was TICKED! One thing that is not fun is Zeeky (6 years old and has autism, FAS, and fetal drug exposure) when he is dressed and not "going"! lol All the kids were ready with coats on and ready to go.


Brent did get it to Sam's and they fixed the tires. We were so glad that God worked it out where we wouldn't need new tires! New tires for our big van were going to run $800! The people working there were very nice and told him that really the tires were still great. They need new valves where the air goes in and to be resealed to the rims. One did have a nail in it, but who knows how long that has been there. I haven't drove the big van anywhere since last Sunday night. That wasn't even the tire that was the most concerning since it was just a little low and another was barely holding air at all! God is AMAZING like that!

Tonight we made it to church! We had an awesome service and feel so ready for the week. I'm sure that the devil will keep on throwing stones at us. Thankfully, God provides! The new refrigerator is even bigger than the first one. :) I just try to remember that if we weren't on the right track then the devil would have no reason to even bother with us! He hates it when adoptions are in the works. He has always made life difficult right before each adoption. Right now we have Cody's adoption and the 4 from Eastern Europe all at the same time. He is ticked off! :) The international adoption must tick him off even worse. These kids would have all stayed in institutions their entire lives and their light and purpose that God gave them would have never got to shine. God has put us here to bring them home though! We won't be stopped by vans, refrigerators, or the devil.
It really reminds me of one of the songs I have on my Iphone sung by the Veggie Tales. I love it more than the kids I think. :) "GOD IS BIGGER THAN THE BOOGEY MAN"!!

Julianne's Eyes

We went to the new specialist yesterday.  I liked this new pediatric eye doctor much better.  This lady was very good with her and explained what she was doing.  She did a much better comprehensive eye exam as well. 

She explained that right now Julianne can see 1 INCH in front of her clearly.  Anything beyond that is quite blurry.  She has some scarring that could mean she was a preemie as well.  She does NOT think that Julianne needs the eye surgery that the other doctor wanted to do to allign her eyes right now.  She thinks that the crossing is because of the severity of her vision problems.  She gave us a new prescription for glasses along with the info for the type of frames that would probably work best for her.  It was the type of frames I had researched and was hoping for, which made me feel good about her as well.  She also decided that we need to work towards her full prescription, but that giving her a full strength prescription for glasses now would probably just scare her. 

We went today to the eye doctor's office that we use for the rest of us.  They are ordering the frames for us now and we can't wait to get her all fixed up.  I'm praying hard that she will wear these easier.  :) 

Julianne is amazing anyway.  I can only imagine how amazing she will be once she can see!  She'll probably get into even more (if that is possible lol) and learn a lot more as well. 

She will look so good in glasses that everyone will want them.  :)

Counting Some Blessings!

I'm going to attempt a "light-hearted" post.  I thought I'd go through some old pictures and see what I had to share.  Everyone should remember their blessings and smile on Sundays especially.  lol

This one made me smile immediately.  :)  This was Julianne's first tea party.  The two boys joined us because they just couldn't miss Julianne's first tea party.  I think I remember distinctly them giving me that evil eye and telling me that I better not post it.  lol  (I didn't post it for over a year, so I think that is pretty good.  lol)



She started out neat, but it got kind of messy.  :)

Let's see what else I've got in this bag.  :)

Oh wow, was this a long time ago.  Dayton and Andrew were both only 4 years old here and Forrest was 6.  Forrest and Andrew weren't even living with us full-time yet.  What cute little wisemen they were!

Look!  We were about to get eaten by dinosaurs!  (We only had 9 kids then!  That seems like forever ago!)


I don't know what the biggest blessings to look at are right now.  I could count the blessings as those specific moments, which were awesome.  The other blessing is really just getting to be their Mom!  I love those little people and all the joy they bring me.  :)



For the Record

If you know us personally then you probably know others that know us personally. I have a request. Please share these thoughts with others, so that I don't lose my self control and share them in person.



Here are the facts and we already know.



Yes, it is not "normal" to adopt this many children. EXPLANATION: We are not trying to be normal. We don't want to be normal. We like our crazy life and our loving home. I'm definitely not going to win any "normal person of the year award" and I am very cool with it.



Yes, it is going to be busy and crazy to take on this many with special needs who have never lived in homes before. EXPLANATION: We like busy and crazy (the opposite of normal to most). We love children and feel that each and every one is a blessing. If you think we will change our minds and leave them in mental institutions and orphanages because it will cause our lives to be a little wild for a while, then you are wasting your breath. They are already mine in my heart and I will take down anyone in the path to make sure that they get home. If your child was in that situation wouldn't you do the same?



Yes, we realize that they don't speak English. EXPLANATION: I really don't care what language they speak. God made them and God brought them to my attention because He knew I'd fall in love and do something about it. They will learn to understand language just as my other children with autism learned to do. It will be a challenge, but also a rewarding and educational experience for our whole family.



Yes, we know we can't save them all. EXPLANATION: I can still save more. I can't adopt them all, so why don't all the people who say or think that do something about it? Why don't all of them save one? The statistics show that if most Christians adopted even one child, there would be no more orphans. I don't need an excuse and I refuse to defend myself. I am now leaving the defending to those who do nothing.



Yes, I will have 12 children ages 10 and under. EXPLANATION: That happens to be when they were born and how old they are. Sounds like fun to me!



Yes, I have thought of the "How are we going to do it?". EXPLANATION: I hear that question a lot so believe me I have considered it. The answer is that I will be figuring that out as we go, just as we always have. God doesn't give all the answers right away. He provides what we need as we go! I have learned to live peacefully with that for the most part (harder when they aren't safely in my arms yet, but I'm trying). We are planning to do some extra homeschooling during the summer and take time off when they arrive home with maybe just some light studies and build back up to our normal school routine.



I'm sure there are lots more things that should be here. It is quite late and I am tired. I do now feel much better after getting that off of my chest.



If anyone thinks that there is an alternative to my insanity, then you don't know me well. I love the children that God has placed in my heart. I will not leave even one of them behind to live in hopelessness. I will take on more if God provides a way. If anyone is very concerned about what all I am taking on, then please feel free to get off of your bahootas (I use that word instead of "butts" here often) and do something crazy for God yourselves. You might find it is quite rewarding and that knowing you changed the life of a child is even worth a little extra tiredness and making life a little harder for a short while is such a BLESSING.



Please spread the word. My "paper pregnancy hormones" may be the culprit. It could also be a very earnest impatience for the complacency of the world around me. It might even be that I can't imagine how people live knowing that they do nothing to help children that God created, but yet live in despair. I can't put a definite pinpoint on the cause of my inability to deal with the questions. I just know that the next person who suggests in any way (no matter how discreetly) that maybe I should leave my children in mental institutions or let them suffer so those around me won't be uncomfortable or we won't have to go to the "trouble" of being their parents, might need to DUCK.

A Lost Little Angel

Another little angel from Reece's Rainbow was lost today.  She never knew a family's love.  She spent her whole life ALONE.  Even though she was among many, she was alone because she never belonged to anyone.  Imagine never knowing love and never having a family! 

I just don't understand.  Where are God's hands and feet?  What are the Christians of our world doing while these children die alone?  How does each one justify doing nothing?  I am often told that I can't "save them all".  I realize that.  Another DIED ALONE.  My heart is broken as I imagine how it may have happened.  How alone she probably was does my whole earth shake!  God said that what we do unto the least of these we do unto Him.  Look what happened to Him.  Yes, it like we did it to Him!  He was alone, unloved, and in need and our world turned its back. 

As children sit in mental institutions today, it is like we do it to HIM.  He made them (perfectly by the way!), He loves them, He told us to take care of them, and it is like unto Him.  We are neglecting our duty as Christians.  As a result, Christians are missing out.  They don't know the blessings of doing God's will.  Sure it is HARD.  What blessing doesn't come through hard work???  God said to do it and I pity those who will stand before Him and have done nothing to help the children.  We are doing it unto Him.  Christians are letting these children die out of pure refusal to live for Him.  He died for us and Christians everywhere sit back and get comfy in their seats while His gifts to us and His instructions to us so to DO SOMETHING. 

She is gone.  Many more WAIT.  They won't wait forever either.  They will end up in the same lonely death without His people doing something.  There are many things that each of us can do.  Adoption is the thing they need most.  If you meet the qualifications to adopt and can love a child, then I dare you to pray and ask Him.  I doubt He will tell you "no".  If you can't adopt then post their pictures to help them find families, give to their adoption funds, help people who can adopt pay the "ransom" to get them home.    Advocate, pray, give adopt!  Children dying while people sit back and try not to look is not acceptable. 

Here is her picture.  Look at her and do your best to make her be the last to die so needlessly.

Destiny Got Saved

Well Wednesday evening Destiny came to me right before we left for church. She said "Mommy, Dayton and Denzell don't have their sins any more because Jesus took them, but I still have mine because I haven't been saved. I need to be saved Mommy!".

I have lead a lot of my kids to the Lord. I don't know why her saying that made me want to sob and cry. It did though. God is so amazing! Destiny is the child that they told me was "mentally retarded" and who was such a mess when she got here. She was scared. She only spoke in echolalia. If I raised my hand she would flinch and jump back. She never expressed any emotion that was good at first except that she always looked scared. Since then she has become my bubbly happy girl. I knew that the AWANA verses she was learning seemed to be sticking, but I wondered when she would for sure make all those connections and be able to express them. Her doing it sent me into tears. I hurriedly said "Ok we are going to be late for AWANA if we don't hurry so we'll take care of it there". She was happy and so was I!

She spoke with "Billy" (I've heard his name mentioned in every prayer since then that she has prayed out loud.) and prayed to ask Jesus to take away her sins and save her. She was so excited! She even got up front and wanted to tell all the other people about how "Jesus took away Denzell and Dayton's sins and now He took away mine too! He saved me and made me very happy!".

God is amazing! I've got two other posts coming up with just how amazing!

WOW This is a great video and Message!

A friend led me to this music video. I've never heard it, but am thankful that I did. It goes along so much with our church services today. God is so good! We should be spreading that far and wide. How can the world see the love of God if we aren't willing to step out of our "comfort zone" and show them that love? I hope this song challenges you to try and change the world!

Click the title to hear for yourself!

Literally Turned Blue!

Has this happened to anyone else?

Let me explain. I was so excited today that a new pair of jeans in the brand that I love so much that I bought the next size down "in case" (which I thought would be somewhere around the time of my death) I ever went down a size, FIT! I was so excited that I decided to immediately wear the jeans right then (in case of course whatever miracle occurred today is gone tomorrow). I wore them to pick up Destiny, shop at the book fair, and go to three stores (Sam's, Walmart, and the Dollar Tree). *Ok, I know this doesn't sound glamorous and what most people would wear NEW jeans for, but heck it is big for me. I went shopping alone! I bought Christmas presents, stuff for Operation Christmas Child boxes, and went to my grandparents' house where I ate food that I DID NOT COOK!*

The thing is that now my legs are blue. I can laugh at that. I mean, most jeans do say "wash before wearing". I understand why that is very clearly right now. ha ha I guess I just need to pray that nothing goes wrong that would require medical attention. They might think I was a lot worse off than I was, since my "lower extremeties" are BLUE.

Oh well, no worries! The smaller size fit! I am still not telling what size though! :)

I've got some other great stories to tell, but I am heading to bed. I'll catch up later!

I was given a Million Dollars!

Well, I don't have a REAL million dollars in my pocket or anything. It was just that big of a reward. See I am feeling quite under the weather today. I didn't get to go with some of my kids for their first night back at AWANA as a result. I worked on their verses with them. I made sure they had their stuff together and their "dues". I just didn't get to go so those moments with them.

This was a big night for Zeeky. I took him into the Cubbies room last year for the lesson time. I made sure he sat good and tried to get him to participate. I knew that he wasn't ready to fully do it though. He wasn't talking enough to even attempt saying verses. He wasn't able to stay "on task" like I knew he should. He wasn't able to interact enough either.

This year is another ball game entirely. Zeeky was able to say his verses with me today. He even understood it enough to know what it was meaning too. I'd been having him repeat "God loved us and sent His Son". When Brent got home, I asked Zeeky to come say his verses for Daddy. I was getting ready to say part for him to repeat and he said "God loved us and sent Jesus"!!! Now that means that he knows what we are talking about and that "His Son" and "Jesus" are the same thing!!!!!

I sent him with Brent and some of the other kids hoping that he would really do it for them. Guess what, HE DID GREAT!

One of his teachers let us know that he did well. She also said that he helped a little girl with a puzzle. He said the letters and put them in the correct places. I've seen him do this stuff, but to have him finally able to go and do this on his own is extra awesome. It really was MUCH BETTER than a million dollars.

They said Zeeky was "severely mentally retarded" and "nonverbal autism" when he come home to us at age 3. He didn't talk at all. He made no eye contact. He still had a bottle and all he was fed was poptarts and cereal bars. He was behind in ever single area. I just knew they were wrong though, because I could see the spark behind his eyes.

I would love to find that psychologist who labeled him that way at such a young age. I would love to let him know that at 5 years old (almost 6 which will make me cry) he is doing so very much more than they said he would ever do. He is talking, saying verses, and participating in AWANA without me. He knows his colors, letters, shapes, numbers, and can read quite a few sight words. He has not gone to school since he got here and we only did speech therapy for a short time because he wasn't working for them. He just needed love and someone to believe in him. I believe he is going to keep right on going too! I also believe that I am very blessed to be "Mommy" to my little "Zeeky Monster"! God is so good!

The Backsliding of the RADishes

Crystal and Andrew had been doing so well. I mean they were doing REALLY well. I knew it wouldn't last forever. I am not a newbie at this RAD thing, so I knew that it would return sometime soon with another round. It did.

We hadn't been to my grandparents' house for a month. We usually go there much more often than that, but with school starting back here full force and some other stuff going on it just hadn't happened. Brent was working this evening and Tuesday morning are his time to homeschool. I took Destiny to a check up with our medical provider. He got them up and going just as he did last week for homeschool.

The RADishes realized we were going somewhere, so they went into "RAD mode". Andrew tried out not writing his vocabulary definitions. Crystal went back to working on stuff and not telling us she had already done it so that we can get it checked. Andrew wrote so sloppy that you couldn't read it. Crystal did all of her math problems except for 4 and then wouldn't change the answers on those. Andrew finally made it to math and acted like he couldn't do his paper even though he could do it on the white board. Crystal began to shed fake tears over her math, while pretending that she really thought you could subtract and get a bigger number as your answer.

Oh yes, my RADishes were back to their games today. It is ok, because they didn't get the pity that they were hoping for at my grandparents' house. They got to sit on the hill where I could see them out the window. Of course, they didn't get the cookies or ice cream either! They looked all sad while they did it, but the pity never came for them.

I discussed with them how "not mad" I was. I told them that I understand that they just can't handle normal interactions with other adults. I let them know that at ages 9 and 11, I expect them to tell me things with words. This might sound like "Mom, I just can't handle having fun at Mommom and Daddy Bill's house today, so I need to sit outside". Then I could reply with "Thank you for letting me know how you are feeling. I would be glad to let you sit on the porch if you'd like and I will bring your treats to you out there.". I reminded them that talking with words helps them get what they need and prevents them from using their behavior to speak for them. I reminded them that using words to get help doesn't have consequences, but using bad behavior does. I let them know that if they had used their words then they wouldn't have gotten behind on their school work and had more to do tomorrow either.

Big hugs and a bedtime reminder of how much they are loved did follow. I really do love those two little brats, but I wish they would use words instead of behaviors! I hope they are back to behaving tomorrow. I will probably know when I first look at them. You can see their wheels turning for ways to try and get away with RAD behaviors at first glance if you know what you are looking for, but sometimes it is scary to look. lol Praying hard for the RAD to go to the back and love to come to the front!