A gingerbread house and other Christmas fun

The stockings were hung...

This is the gingerbread house (kit) we decorated - Ben and Owen ate their weight in candy!

A Very Busy Saturday!

Don't know WHAT I was thinking when I planned all these activities for this Saturday - ended up being fun but I am beat. First we met up with Nanny and Kelly and went to Homewood Garden Center for the Holiday Open House and voted on our favorite new poinsettia varieties, then headed to Blue Jay Pointe where Daddy was playing flag football with friends from church - we took a short hike to the lake and played on the playground. Then we had lunch before heading downtown to the NC History Museum for a Native American Festival. At least we ended it in the right way with Krispy Kreme!

This was the only photo I took at the NC History Museum's Native American Festival - they are in a dugout canoe...

A Walk in the Park

Not many pictures of the boys - they wouldn't stop moving to take pics!

Marbles Kids Museum

Ben working with REAL tools - he was in heaven!

So glad I'm the one taking pictures so I don't have to go out there.

The stomp rockets were a hit

Orphan Care Sunday - How You Can Make a Difference!

You will need to click the pause button on my friend Christa Wells' music player to hear this video - but be sure to turn her back on when you're done - she rocks! :-)

10 Ways You Can Help Orphans

1. PRAY for them:

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened." -Matthew 7:7-8

“I had been in many prayer groups interceding for the things of God but that night I was surrounded by people who have never been involved in praying as a group. And what touched me was the move of God upon this group as they wept and cried out for the foster care children, workers, and others involved! Truly humbling!”

- Tape a waiting child’s picture to your dashboard and pray for the child every time you’re in a car. Visit AdoptUsKids.org or RainbowKids.com.
- Organize an evening prayer vigil at your church and pray for children in foster care or an orphanage overseas.

2. SPEAK up for them

"Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all the unfortunate. Open your mouth, judge righteously, and defend the rights of the afflicted and needy." -Proverbs 31:8-9

“I didn’t think a whole lot of it at the time. I received an email about a teenage girl from Ethiopia who needed an adoptive home right away. I forwarded it on to some good friends who forwarded it one more time to some friends of theirs. That’s all it took. That young woman now has a forever family. Who would have thought speaking up for an orphan could be as easy as hitting the forward button?”

- Carry a waiting child’s picture and show it to other believers. Ask if they, or someone they know, would give this child a home.
- Become a court appointed special advocate for a child in foster care. Visit NationalCASA.org for details.

3. PROVIDE for their needs:

"If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food…and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?" -James 2:15-16

“I looked up. There was the boy with a missing smile…He extended his hands to me, his burned brown hands. I took my wipe and cleaned each of his precious palms…The language barrier crumbled as I was just a mom caring for a boy’s hands the way they should be cared for. It wasn’t the shoes, or the toy or candy...it was a simple act of love and the boy who lost his smile, found it. He hugged me tight and called me Amiga…friend. The smile he gave me was more precious than any gift I had offered him…I had been transformed by an orphan; I was con-quered by a smile.”

- Give sacrificially to a reputable orphanage. Financial gifts can be designated for specific items and aid needed by orphans. Visit HelpOrphans.org for more information.
- Organize a drive in your church to collect school supplies for children in foster care or shoes for orphans overseas. Visit GainUSA.org or ShoesForOrphanSouls.org.

4. SUPPORT those who support them:

"…and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds..." -Hebrews 10:24

“We were expecting a baby, but when our foster agency called us about a six year-old instead, we felt we just couldn’t say no. We agreed to take her into our home, but we found ourselves in need of several items. A friend from our Sunday School class passed around a list of our needs, and within days, we had a new bed, linens, a dresser, and other items we needed for our new daughter.”

- Mow, baby sit, or organize meals for a week for foster parents. Pray with them and tell them you appreciate what they do. Encourage a family adopting an older child by hosting a shower for them.

5. PROTECT them from harm:

" The Lord protects the strangers; He supports the fatherless and the widow, but He thwarts the way of the wicked." –Psalm 146:9

Sam and Janet have fostered many children over the last decade. In one emergency placement, they agreed to take in Duane, who’d been abused. One day, while playing, Duane followed Janet into the laundry room. As she poured the bleach into the machine, Duane ran away, screaming, “Please don’t put bleach in my eyes. I haven’t been a bad boy!” Janet wrapped Duane in her arms, assuring him he was safe now.

- Become a foster parent or emergency foster parent.
- Raise money to build a children’s home to help remove children from the streets. Visit WorldOrphans.org for details.

6. VISIT them where they are:

"Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of God is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world." -James 1:27

“As we turned to leave the orphanage, one of the boys had asked to address our entire group. Smiling, 15 year-old Israel said, ‘Thank you so much for bringing us the candy, the Bibles...thank you for playing games with us and telling us about Jesus. Please don’t forget us. Please come back.’ And then, after a silence, with tears in his eyes, he spoke one more time. The translator, through her own tears, told us Israel’s words, ‘Today was the best day of my life.’”

- Go on a mission trip to an orphanage as an individual or family. Visit GainUSA.org or HelpOrphans.org for information.
- Take dinner to a foster group-home on a regular basis.

7. GIVE sacrificially to them:

"Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." -2 Corinthians 9:7

Eight year-old Alex of Uganda lost his parents to AIDS at an early age. Before long, God provided for him and more than fifty of his brothers, sisters, and cousins, through a ministry called Ugandan Lambs at Grace Brethren Church in Long Beach, California. When a congenital heart defect was discovered, his sponsor raised over $15,000 from the church and community, more than double the amount needed to pay for the surgery that has now saved his life. One young boy even gave money he had held onto for over a year since his grandfather had given to him.

- Take dinner to a foster group-home on a regular basis.
- Support reputable orphan care organizations on a regular basis.
- Contribute generously to an adoptive family to help offset their costs. Visit ShaohannahsHope.org or LifeSongForOrphans.org.

8. ENCOURAGE them to press on:

"We urge you brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone." –1 Thessalonians 5:14

“We met Kent while working as house parents at a children’s home, but he soon aged out of the system. Not wanting him to be without support, our family celebrates his birthdays with him and invites him over on holidays. We talk once a week, encouraging him, and sometimes providing the tough answers he needs. For four years now, God has used Kent to refine our hearts and to encourage us as our children have seen and learned how to reach out to and love others as Jesus calls us to do.”

- Sponsor a child, support them financially, and encourage them through your letters. Visit VsionTrust.org to learn more.
- Become a mentor or tutor to a teenager in a foster group-home.

9. ADOPT them into your family:

"A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God is His holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families…" -Psalm: 68:5-6a NIV

“It was a typical evening dinner with my family. Kilyan, my two year-old son that we had recently adopted, sat across from me in the chair he’d claimed for months since our return from China. Tonight, though, he looked up at me with his huge grin and said, ‘You’re my daddy.’ Looking back through tear-filled eyes I could only whisper, ‘Yes I am.’”

- Give a child a home through international, domestic, or foster care adoption.
- Adopt a young adult who has aged out of the system.

10. MOBILIZE your church for them:

"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you." -Matthew 28:18-20

Irene grew tired of reading the stories of abuse and neglect among the foster children of South Florida. She began knocking on doors, trying to find anyone who would listen. Her persistence paid off when she reached the pastor of Calvary Chapel, Fort Lauderdale, who took a huge leap of faith. Now, a few years later, 4Kids of South Florida has grown into a ministry that has blessed thousands of children through adoption, foster care, mentoring, and more.

- Be a catalyst in your church for starting a sustained orphans ministry. Visit HopeForOrphans.org for resources.

Owen's 1st Lego set

Halloween 2009

Big Buzz, Jesse and Little Buzz (no one wanted to be Woody!)

A cat, a tree and a funny face

Suzy and her friend Hannah as spider lady

Suzy playing with the jazz band at Frankenfest