My Meateatin' Man

So today I was at a playdate (one which I showed up to in curlers.........seriously, had NO IDEA I had left them in until I walk up the stairs to the house and see my reflection - I see well put together children and then I get to my image and just see rollers.......to his credit Padraic never blinked an eye just commented on how this must be a new look.......the man is use to playdates with me by now - I think it's been two years now)........ok back on track........I was at a playdate and we were discussing diets and weight and such.

Padraic said he has lost 5 pounds since his "dieting" which started on Sunday (yes, let's all take a moment to hate on this man.......6 days, 5 pounds......as he was eating his salad with peas, croutons and RANCH dressing, people).  I said ahhhh, that is so frustrating!  Joe is the same way.  He might have mentioned that Amanda, his wife who works with Joe, gets the teeniest bit frustrated too.  I said Joe has been consistently 10-15 pounds lighter than when we first got married and considers watching what he eats eating 10 pieces of the pizza I make because after all everything on it is homemade from the dough to the sauce to the cheese so it must be good for him :)  I said he wasn't heavy when we got married just meatier.

Nico chimes in.

Nico:  He was a meateater?
Me:  No, buddy, meatier.
Nico:  A meateater?
Me:  Sure.
Nico:  Did he growl when you got married?


Again, it was Nico.  Nico who likes the women on the exercise video because they take off their clothes and exercise, the ones in the back not talking.  Nico who thinks all the boy dinosaurs fight and the girl dinosaurs bury themselves underground and die when faced with an attacking dinosaur.  Now he thinks daddy was some kind of growling meateating dinosaur on our wedding day....................let's take a moment now and pray for the woman that someday will marry my sweet boy.  If he starts growling during the vows, I will take full blame.

(On a side note I DID have my wedding dress on just a few weeks ago and I was able to zip it without the help of steel undergarments but I think I almost lost consciousness there for a moment because I might have stopped breathing for longer than I should have.......it was a small victory.........it's rather embarrassing how many times I have actually had it on since being married.........after the wedding people asked me if I was going to have it preserved.  I looked at them like they were CRAZY!  I mean how on earth would I be able to wear it around the house if it was all bagged up like that?)

One of My Favorite Things

Each year we try to keep the focus on giving and the birth of Jesus and prepare for Christmas Day with excitement and joy.  And we have done some good things over the years, fun stuff, meaningful stuff.  This year, though, we started something that I hope to continue each year.  It is simple.  The kids are able to follow along easily.  It requires little or no preparation.  It infuses scripture and His word into our everyday celebration.  It is found here : www.aholyexperience.com .  She  has made a free jesse tree devotional book.  Each day you read a story from the bible and make an ornament to go on the jesse tree.  Our jesse tree we made out of paper and is hanging where we eat.  We can go over the stories, using the ornaments to remember, at mealtimes.  It's been good.   It's been good to see Fia get it, to understand the stories, to hear and make connections as we work our way through the old testament.  Each night there is a way to unwrap His love which includes singing a Christmas carol, making a card for someone or writing down the blessings in your life and putting them under the tree.  We have skipped one or two because the kids are still young and the attention isn't there, at times.  Francesca is off to the living room, Nico is licking whatever food is on whatever surface, Fia is struggling to stay on task but well, you heard what the other two are doing :)  So it's not perfect but it's a start.  It's a new tradition, one that I hope will grow and stay with our kids.  Check it out.  

Sweet Words From a Sweet Boy

It's been a few days since posting........I am a bit tired.  We have been doing a lot of fun stuff, seeing fun people, hosting fun get togethers but it's tiring - the whole kid thing and making a home thing, at times.  Even though you can think of a million people who should be more tired and are more tired it doesn't REALLY keep you from being weary.

So today when my sweet boy wanted to have a bug party after play by yourself time and was full of ideas of how to do this before daddy and Fia came home I was inclined to just sit this one out.  But when you are a mom there are very few times when you can just sit and even when you do, in the back of my mind at least, is that little voice saying, oh come on they are only little once, go on, play with them, be with them, love on them.  So we put rubber bugs in balloons and blew the balloons up so "our guests" (daddy and Fia) would have to stomp on them to get the bugs out, we created a spider web maze/tunnel in the shoe room, we looked up what bugs ate and laid out bug food on plates (blood - Sprite with strawberry juice, twigs - pretzels, leaves - cucumbers) and we had a craft to do with paint.

Was it worth it to rouse myself from the place on the floor where I was about to crumble and fall asleep?

Oh yes.  Yes, it was.

For after all the party planning and in the midst of staging our fun.....Nico, without even really looking at me or thinking about it, said, "You are such a fun momma."

Oh, buddy........I am such a lucky momma.

Let's have a pirate party tomorrow....

Second Sighting

We have had a second sighting of the unstable mother from Fulton Drugs parking lot.  It appears that she has moved into the neighborhood.  At 9:14 this morning, a mere one minute before the school down the street is supposed to start, she was seen in front of her house.  To say she was disheveled is an understatement.  She was wearing light purple and blue fuzzy pajama pants, a pair of Ugg boots with part of the pants tucked in and part out, what appeared to be some type of hunting/lumberjack fleece sweatshirt - blue and black checkered - over top another sweatshirt.  Her hair was matted in the back and crazy in the front, as if it hadn't been brushed in several weeks.  It was obvious she hadn't looked in the mirror this morning, if ever.

Perhaps more disturbing was the state of her children.  The youngest was dressed but appeared to be wearing a coat at least 2 sizes too big for her and was not wearing any socks or shoes.  She was flung into the car by her mother and hastily strapped in.  Then the middle child, a boy, was not dressed at all.  He was still in his pajamas and was wearing green frog boots and a winter coat.  The eldest child was standing in the doorway with her book bag open, things spilling out, trying to hold all the things required for a day of kindergarten - mittens, scarf, hat, lunch bag and her enormous book bag.  She was holding the door open trying to listen to the instructions of her crazed mother in the driveway.  It went something like this:

GO! GO! GO!  WE ARE GOING TO BE LATE!!  NO YOU DON'T NEED TO WEAR ALL THAT STUFF TO SCHOOL!  YOU ARE GOING TO BE OUTSIDE FOR 2 SECONDS WHILE YOU WALK IN THE BUILDING!  I KNOW THAT MRS. B SAID YOU WERE TO WEAR ALL THAT STUFF TO SCHOOL BUT YOU DO NOT HAVE TO ACTUALLY WEAR IT INTO THE BUILDING WHEN WE ARE A MINUTE AWAY FROM BEING LATE AND YOUR MOTHER HAVING TO WALK IN THE SCHOOL LOOKING LIKE THIS!!!  GO!  NICO SIT DOWN! SIT DOWN OR I WILL LEAVE YOU HERE!  FRANCESCA YOU DO NOT NEED SHOES, I WILL TURN ON THE HEAT, WE AREN'T GOING TO BE GONE LONG!  WE ARE GOING TO BE LATE!!!

As you can see she is clearly disturbed, unable to dress herself or all her children in a timely manner or in a calm manner, for that matter.  Please let us know if you witness anything in your neighborhood.  We think we have it contained to this one area.  Also contact your local law enforcement agency if you see any of her children not dressed appropriately, it will be getting cold out soon and we want to make sure to maintain the health of these children......someone has to do it.

Have a good weekend and may all your mornings be merry!

Rock Stars

So it's true.............rock stars, they know each other, travel in the same circles.  I have long been a fan of the Lantz family.  They live their lives with a determination and focus and passion for Christ that goes beyond what you find in the every day, they have sold out for Jesus.  It's an amazing thing to witness and be a part of - go here http://lovecanton.com/ to see what they began in Canton along with the Bargers (who are now moving and leaving a BIG, EMPTY space in the pews at church and my heart......I'll get over it......someday.......love you, Ashley :)

So it turns out that this rock star of a family has a connection to another rock star of a person - Sarah Terwey.  She is 28.  She just got married, is simply beautiful, she's intelligent and when you see a picture of her laughing she is glowing.  It's a cool thing to see.

She has 13 kids.

She lives in South Africa.

She is a rock star.

And she needs your help.

Her is a website for her organization: http://www.pfunanane.org/.  They give homes, education, food, love to children who are desperately in need of these things.  Children without homes have found a home with Sarah and her husband, Mark.  They are currently in need of 100,000 dollars to buy the land that they are living on.  This includes their schools, their homes and would give them an opportunity to continue to expand their ministry.

Here is their mission statement:

At Pfunanane our vision is to impact children and families in the community in the following ways:

Education

Pfunanane Academy strives to give children the highest standard of Christian education possible. The school is a place for disadvantaged children and orphans to join other children in a healthy and non-stigmatizing classroom environment, where they receive special attention and care, along with a quality Bible-based education. 

 

Financial Support

Sponsorships provide the disadvantaged children with the following support: education, a healthy diet, uniforms, travel subsidy to and from school, housing on the school property where necessary, health care where necessary, gifts, clothing, school books and supplies, etc. Support such as food or medical help is also extended to the families of the children as determined by need, and parents are hired for part-time help wherever possible.   

 

Children's Village

With 19 children already living in our children's cottages, we have plans to build more group homes and create a "village", providing housing, care, and a stable family for orphans or children who have been abused, abandoned, neglected, or have nowhere else to stay. Each future cottage will have a long-term house parent or couple, and will be home to up to eight children.     

 

Spiritual Development

Pfunanane's aim is to make disciples in the community, which includes the children attending the school and their families. Children are involved in outreach efforts as well, teaching them to be servants and Christian leaders in their own communities. The Gospel is taught at every opportunity in the classroom, and children have weekly discipleship times. 

 

Skills Development

Pfunanane plans to expand our involvement in skills development, whereby children will learn about different career choices in South Africa, and will be taught skills that will help them to be self-reliant in the future.  Our aim is that they will one day become  Christian leaders in their families, communities, and country. 

Sarah and her husband are changing the world - one child, one village at a time.  It's amazing.  It's inspiring.  Will you join me in helping them?  Can we pour out our abundance on them?  I would love for our lives to be a reflection of what God is doing in their lives.  I would love for our gifts to them to not make sense, for their website to have an update that doesn't make sense.  For their need, their debt to be erased as was ours so long ago.

If you have any questions or concerns about authenticity please let me know.  I can put you in touch with someone, a rock star.......then you can be part of the group :)  Also, I asked to be Sarah's friend on facebook to receive updates and to be able to pray for their family.  I was accepted within the hour and got to see a bit of her life and what she is doing.  It's real.  It completely does. not. make. sense.

All glory to God.............

In Awe

When I first stumbled upon this blog http://kissesfromkatie.blogspot.com/ I searched for the how, the hole in the story even.  I read through all the entries, I searched the website, I googled Katie Davis because her story, her life makes absolutely no sense.  I thought for sure there was something that I was missing.

How can a 22 year old girl from the United States have 14 children, live in Uganda with no parents, no husband, no family and survive, not only survive but be joyful?

She must be ugly or weird or something.  (Yes, this is the extent of my awfulness.  I actually had this thought.)

She's not.  She is gorgeous (not even exaggerating), comes from an upper middle class family, was popular in high school, had the boyfriend, the sports car, was on her way to college which would have been fully paid for by loving and supportive parents.  In short, she had it made in every way that seems to count in this world we live in.

What am I missing here?

Then the sense of inadequacy began to creep in, began to color my perception of the amazing things this young, beautiful girl was doing in the lives of people in Uganda, the lives of her 14 girls that she is a mother to.  I began to feel little and insignificant and silly that I spent one moment ever feeling tired or frustrated or overworked.  I began to be a little angry and suspicious of a girl that could accomplish so much and so much that came from just her..................

But then..........then I realized.  I realized the best part of her story, the very best part is that she wasn't alone.  It wasn't just her.  It was the power and love and strength of a mighty, mighty God that works through Katie.  The best part of her story is that no matter how much you delve into it, no matter how many searches you do on her, no matter what facts you gather it still makes no sense.  It isn't this neat little package that you wrap up with a bow and then call it a day.  IT MAKES NO SENSE that a girl would leave all she knows, all that is comfortable, all that is familiar and decide that Uganda is where her heart is and where she will raise 14 girls and care for the unloved and the unlovable.  IT MAKES NO SENSE that a girl would trade a sports car for a passenger van that is filled with children, with dirt, with grim and with love.  IT MAKES NO SENSE that an easy life at college with a boyfriend and friends and parties and fun is traded for a life filled with cooking and cleaning and homeschooling and doctoring in the poorest of countries.

I am inspired by this girl.  I am encouraged by this girl.  I am challenged by this girl.

I wonder how God will use me, I wonder how He is using me at this moment and what He is calling me to in the future.

We just rearranged our bedroom - to fit a glider in for a friend that just had a baby, I thought she might need a private place to nurse or pump or rock her baby.   While I was doing this I thought......oh my, am I opening myself up to the call?  We are waiting to hear from the county, a foster placement, hopefully a child to adopt.  Waiting and maybe just a bit nervously........our life is pretty comfy right now, getting easier every day as the children are growing and growing more independent.

But Katie reminds me.  Reminds me that this life wasn't always meant to be one of comfort and ease but one of living out the love that was poured forth for us and in doing so surpassing mere happiness and reaching a point of joy, joy through a life that doesn't revolve around us but around Him and serving and loving and blessing those He created.  I figure if Katie can raise 14, we probably have room for one more or however many God puts our life (Right now my mom is reading this thinking oh, there better only be one more, if even that many more, what is she thinking "however many God puts in our life"............oh, mom, I love you.  Don't worry, we'll be just fine.....just think at least we aren't moving to Uganda :)

Go now.  Read her story.  Be inspired.

Sweet Dreams, My Little Man

 I think I met them the year before I was married to Joe.........probably at a family reunion.  But I fell in love, in love with Uncle Gary and Aunt Martha.  They are quite possibly two of the nicest, most caring people I have ever met.  In fact I was playing a game once with the Codispoti siblings and there was a question.........if you HAD to have other parents who would you choose (not that I would ever want parents other than my own fabulous parents) and I didn't hesitate to choose.  All the siblings knew which answer was mine when Uncle Gary and Aunt Martha were read out to the group.

We have been up to Michigan each year since having the kids, every fall.  We go to see the pigs, the barn, the cats that run through the barn.  We get stuffed full of good food, always there is bacon in the morning and ice cream at any time.  Uncle Gary can match any grandmother out there in terms of how many times that man will offer you food and how much he very sincerely would like you to keep eating more and more of it.  He always wants to make sure you got enough.   We have been on hay rides, tractor rides, played on the neighbor's swingset that Uncle Gary carried across the way so the kids would have something to play on when they came.  There are toys that were purchased for the arrival of the clan, their is hockey in the basement, basketball outside and hats that Uncle Gary brings home on the Saturday we arrive.

In short, it is a child's paradise.

I think that Nico must have fallen asleep dreaming of the farm and all the fun he has had there the past 3 years of his life.....................

Wearing his Uncle Gary hat