The life I saved today...

Let me tell you a very touching story that happened today. Very touching. You might need your tissues for this one. Okay, you won't need your tissues, but if you are in a public place reading this, make sure everyone knows that you might be laughing very loudly soon!

I was driving down a rural road today, going back to the office from lunch. When I drive down the road by myself, I am doing one of three things: singing loudly and dancing, talking on the phone, or looking at the scenery I am passing and thinking of pictures to take there. Today, I was doing the first. I noticed a very large bird on the right hand shoulder of the road. I was trying to figure out if it was a hawk or eagle and because it was kind of bouncing off the ground, I wondered if it was hurt. I quickly figured out that the hawk (I just guessed that it was a hawk at this point so we will call it a hawk) wasn't hurt because it started flying away. Then it turned and started coming towards the road. Mr. hawk was about 20 feet in front of my car and about 15ish feet in the air. It was very pretty, and I was admiring this bird for a split second and then something dropped from from mr. hawk onto the road right in front of me.

IT WAS A MOUSE!!! Yes...a MOUSE dropped from Mr. hawk right in front of my moving vehicle. Mouse was alive, yes he was. He scurried to one side and then another. I screamed...took a breath...screamed....took a breath. And then I closed my eyes and hoped I didn't run over it. Yes..I did...I squeezed the steering wheel tightly and closed my eyes and screamed and hoped I didn't hear a thump. I screamed...then I said, "Oh no Trinity, open your eyes!" I can NOT believe that my enjoyable scenery changed from a beautiful hawk to a mouse dropped right in front of me! I stopped and looked in the rear view mirror and saw Mouse running in a zig zag back and forth back and forth. Oh great, now I saved this poor mouse's life, but he has brain damage! I so wish someone had been in the car with me...I had to scream, laugh and squeal all by myself! I just couldn't believe it. I got to the office and told Judi all about my truamatic drive! WOW....what a day! And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the story of the life I saved today!

call from the teacher

So I was at the office with three of the girls. They were playing nicely in a room and I was getting a lot done. My phone rang, and when I saw caller ID, I saw that it was H's teacher, who is also our dear friend. I didn't think too much of it because she is very involved in our church...there could be a million reasons why she could be calling. She told me she was calling about H...Oh great what did she do? She seemed to be in a great mood, she didn't seem to be hiding anything...oh great...wait a minute Trinity, pay attention!
She went on to tell me that H was doing an EXCELLENT job! She said that even on areas that she had been struggling a little with, she has put a lot of effort in and has really mastered it. She went on to tell me how proud she was that H had brought her own money (birthday money I must add) to pay for her library fine, and the librarian was very proud of her that she was responsible to get it paid and pay for it with her own money that she gave her a special bookmark. And because H passed her goal on reading her AR books, she got book bucks, which she can spend at the school store. H earned $10 in book bucks and spent all 10 dollars...ON OTHER PEOPLE!!! She even gave Mrs. Ripley a pen that she bought. Mrs. Ripley said that it was hard to take a gift like that, but it truly gives H such joy to give to other people!
So the lessons I learned today:

• H is a VERY thoughtful person and is working hard (well I already knew that, but nice to realize again.)
• She has the very BEST teacher!!!
• I need to be like Mrs. Ripley and recognize and verbalize when I see someone doing the right thing.
• I need to NOT automatically assume my children are doing something wrong...why do I do that???

So...the moral of the story...I AM SO SO SO PROUD OF LITTLE MISS H!!!! Thank you Lord for her!

Another gift from the Lord

Remember the last post I did about a gift from the Lord? It started with a little griping....something about me not having much in my baby book, and all of my pictures having my sisters in it....something like that! Well....that post resulted in another gift from the Lord! Now...I realize that the Lord gives us blessings and gifts everyday and we just have to recognize them. This was an extra special gift.
My friend Tracye felt sorry for me I guess, and decided to find some pictures of me as a baby. Tracye was our babysitter when we were little. I'm sure we were kind of bratty....but I do remember we liked her a lot. I remember when my dad dressed up in my mom's clothes for some sort of church function (I'm sure it was funny at the time...better than it sounds as I'm writing it) and I was scared to death of him in women's clothes. I wouldn't even go to my mom...just Tracye. My other memory of Tracye is when she was babysitting and the fire alarm went off, so the three of us jumped up from bed, and ran to our safe spot by the mailbox. The problem with this and the reason I even remember this situation is...we were sleeping in our underwear...or at least I was. We were very little, but there we were...standing outside in the dark by the mailbox in our underwear with Tracye! I don't know why I don't remember vital information, but I remember silly stories like that....and I really don't know why I felt compelled to share this tonight....anyway...Tracye went looking for pictures. She even had someone go through the old church albums to find pictures. They found 2!!! We actually have this one with the four of us, but not digitally, so it was fun to get. I changed the lighting and I think it looks really nice!

This one....this is so special! It is my baby dedication! I didn't even realize I was dedicated in this church. We had moved to this town a few months before, and I thought I had been dedicated in the previous town. I was SO SO SO happy! And look....do you see what I see? There are no sisters in the picture with me!!! Thank you so much Tracye!

I cropped the picture a little...I absolutely LOVE this picture! I love the moment captured where my mom is kissing my head! I just LOVE it! And look at my dad...makes me laugh! I can't believe how young they look...they look like kids!

Thank you Lord for this gift! I LOVE it!

Snowman

Today we had some snow and ice, but these pictures were taken from a little over a week ago. We had a very light dusting of snow, but the girls wanted to go and play in it. They came in and wanted me to go see their snowman. Well, I really did not want to go outside, so they brought their snowman to the porch, I stood inside the warm house, and took a few pictures of them in the snow! Then I sent the water camera out with them, but I haven't downloaded those yet.

Here is the snowman...more full of grass than snow.

I love this one because A is running in the background!

Poor hairy snowman!

Here she comes...

We went to my aunt's house a few weeks ago, and my cousin Sarah gave us a really fun gift...a party in a box. Not only was this a party, but a Miss America party! So, on the day of the Miss America pageant, we got to have our party in a box!
She sent us plates, cups, nail art, wands, tiaras, eyeshadow, ribbon to make sashes, and Miss America trivia and most importantly, a score sheet with all of our names and all of the states, so when we watched it, we could mark which ones we liked! It was SO much fun!

We went through a lot of options trying to figure out what kind of food to make....we came up with all kinds of "good" ideas to make crowns, and such, and we even thought about eating salad and then eating pizza at the very end of the pageant because we thought that might be what those girls do! But we decided to go dainty/tea party kind of like. Autumn made tortilla wraps and chicken salad and egg salad sandwiches. She also made nutella and peanut butter and then cream cheese and jelly sandwiches in the shapes of hearts and stars. Cheese and tomatoes are kind of a given for our parties!

Also we had our little debbie fancy cakes and strawberry shortcakes for the fancy occasion as well as fruit "scepters" even though Miss America doesn't really have a scepter! Oh, and notice the shoes in the background...Sarah had those and party poppers in the box too. Oh, and we ate just about all of that food!

Miss America...dog version....Maggie! Yes, she got dressed up too!

Mr. America...Hudson put on his "tie" for the occasion.

They got to dress themselves from our huge selection of dress up clothes and old curtains and such to dress up with. Notice the lovely "backdrop" they put up for the pictures! Just to note....only for a party with just the six of us would I put blue eyeshadow on them that dark! We had fun putting on makeup, doing nails, and doing hair.

We each picked one state before it even came on, and 5 out of 6 of ours made it to the top 10!!! CRAZY! Here is M being crowned (that tiara came from high school, not the party box)

lovely Miss California

She picked Oklahoma for her state, but she didn't want to pick a state...she wanted to be Miss Cinderella!

Miss Cinderella/Oklahoma

H being crowned. And notice that she isn't in her formal wear, she is in her talent competition costume!

Miss Texas

A being crowned.

Miss New York

SO MUCH FUN!!! Thanks Sarah and the gang!

Eating my words

I don't like to eat my own words, but I have to today. Remember that sweet little post when I might have said a few LITTLE words about the youngest child being a LITTLE left out? Hmmm....remember that one? Well, I will tell you that S's anniversary has come and gone and I did NOT post about it. I know, I know....I am eating my words. But, enough of that and on to the real reason of the post...Happy anniversary S!!!
Three years ago, S came to live in our home forever!

Wow...this little girl has grown up so much! S is a blessing in our lives. We fought hard to get her into our home...not because we did not like the foster home she was in because the foster mother is a great mom. It wasn't that at all. It was just that all of a sudden, it was very very VERY clear to us that these four girls needed to be together forever, and that our home was the place to do that. We had been very sure that we would do only foster care, but through realizing that S needed to be with her sisters, the Lord made it very clear that we needed to adopt them.

S is a funny girl. She has a noticeable smile that really does light a room. She smiles when she is happy, and if she thinks it will help her case, she smiles when she is in trouble too! Even when you talk to her on the phone, you can hear her smiling. S is very mischievous, and very smiley when she is stirring up trouble! She loves the color yellow, elephants, polar bears, yellow gum, and Skippy (Becky's husband and our good friend). S is a nurturer and a leader. She is a mother hen for sure. We love her dearly and we are so thankful that she is in our lives!

A couple of small things

I realize I haven't posted a lot lately...maybe I'll post a couple today. Maybe. It is cold and snowy and icy outside. School is canceled and the roads are too slick for me to want to try to drive on, so we are being lazy at our house. I've got me some yummy Starbucks Christmas blend coffee, we all have blankets, and we are watching fun movies....I really like days like this. I would love to get out and take some pictures in this beautiful weather, but I just don't want to get out in the cold. So I might or might not get some posts done on here. I love the small details of life, but as you know, I forget them easily, so I thought I would share a couple of things that have happened lately. Nothing big, but I don't want to forget them.

• A lost another tooth! She was actually spending some time on her bed away from sisters....we all need a little time by ourselves sometimes! I was frustrated at the moment, and trying to get some laundry done (never-ending process) and A came down with a very excited look, telling me her tooth is bleeding! I did one quick yank, and she didn't even flinch, and it was out! The bad news is, the tooth fairy just doesn't do a good job at our house. That darn tooth fairy always leaves the tooth and the money always gets kicked around or left somewhere besides under the pillow, and Autumn always has to go in and help "look" for it. Autumn pointed out the quarter to A and told her that she must not have known what it was and A said, "Oh yeah, I thought this was something else cause that guy on here had a Mohawk." Hmm...whatever....glad you have your quarter.
• M and H cooked dinner! Well, I guess I should say they prepared dinner. They made salad, which meant they had to cut a lot of toppings to put on the salad. I was very proud of them and they did an excellent job using a knife. They were so proud of themselves, and it was a good reminder to let them be involved and have ownership of things.
• S has had a few great weeks at school. She has gotten green a LOT, which is a very good thing and a great accomplishment for her!
• Conversation with A:

A: Trinity, I know something.

Me: Good, what is it?

A: You never argue with a bear.

Me: Okay, well that is good advice.

A: Cause if you argue with a bear, he will eat you.

Lesson learned.