A Footnote To The Post Today

What I wish I would have added to this after mulling it over
is that you should just be ready for how incredibly different things are over there.

I know we all know that.
We know the food will be different
we know the sights and sounds will be different
we know the culture and expectations will most decidedly be different
but the needs of God's people are also going to look incredibly different
and that's the part I think I left out. 

Your bubble?
Will burst.

When I talk about serving and loving I don't mean that you will just run into people sitting on the street asking for change but you will see more,
so much more.

The naked*
the dying
the sick
the injured
the children

it's all there.
It's all gonna be there.

I cannot begin to describe the homeless crisis and social injustices that are present over there.

Granted, I have stopped many times over here and helped.
Given a few dollars
gone back into a store and bought a Gatorade and a big bag of pretzels and handed it over on a street corner
but I'm telling you
you get over there
and it's gonna be different
way different. 

I wish I had known.

I wish I had been ready.
Instead of acting defensively to whatever situation we came upon
I so wish I had acted offensively. 
Because when you are on offense.
You are prepared.
You put on the armor.
You fight for victory.
You fight for good. 

When you are responding defensively you aren't ready.
I wasn't. 

I guess that's it.
I hope my heart is coming across in this.
I know it's a tremendous feat to cross an ocean and love on our children
but I guess my encouragement is this:

Don't let it end there.

Because there is more opportunity and more blessing than you could even imagine waiting for you.
You just have to stop and see it.

My Big Mistake.

A year and a half later and I'm still so incredibly regretful.

I wrote about it on my monthly post over on NHBO.

You can check it out here if you like. 
If ever given another opportunity I will behave so much differently.

Mr. Smarty Pants

Graduated from 8th grade
and was inducted to the National Junior Honor Society last week.

Do you know what it's like getting 14 year old girls to smile for a picture?
No?
Well.
I don't either.
But it seems pretty easy.
They all seem to look beautiful at all times,
they flip their hair back,
put one hand on their hip
arch their back
and do that pose that seems to be so popular right now.

Do you know what it's like getting 14 year old boys to smile for a picture?
No?
Mkay.
Let me show you.

It's like this.

and this.

and this.

until you offer them more food and then you get this.

But then they go right back to this:

Until you crack a joke
and then you finally get this:

Love this boy.

Welcome to High School Jordan.
4. More. Years.
sniff-sob-snot bugger-snot bugger

You say Potato, I say Potato

And you are both wrong...

because it's actually a pineapple.

One of the things that is hardest around here as it relates to proper English acquisition is the fact that there are 3 in process of learning.

3.

So 1 says it wrong
and thus sayeth the other 2.

So as I bee teaching them that there proper Enklish

I am
at the same time 
undoing what they are hearing from each other when I am not around.
A bit like the blind leading the blind.

And well,
with their dynamic...
if it comes from their brother...then it's like Gospel truth.
Thus it doesn't actually occur to any of them to do a little fact checking or to ask me or one of their other brothers.

So a tomato may be a potato
Darth Vadar is apparently Luke's brother
And we might be pronouncing words completely incorrectly

but somehow I have a feeling
this too shall pass. 

Family Pictures

and I need a drink.

Whew.

Once a year folks
we do it

Once.
A.
Year.

And now the morning after I am ever grateful I have a full 364 more days to recover.

Please.
Puh-leeese
someone tell me I'm not alone.

The washing
The combing
The wiping of faces
The re-washing of hair while the shower sprays me with water because he couldn't manage to get all the shampoo out.
The stealing away of 5 minutes to get myself ready (heaven forbid)

and then promptly being told halfway through that I look like Minnie Mouse.
Ahem.


And then there's this contraption:

of which I do not often operate.

Cuz ya know
that's what a few minutes in the dryer is for...
to prevent the need for actual ironing.
{Can I get a witness.}

The folding

The organizing.
The matching.
The smiling in the photographs when you really want to reach over and ask him if he would kindly stop acting like a total dork and just smile. 


The
keeping
of
all
7
of
them
clean
at.
the.
same.
time. 

After much thought and no research I have decided this:

Boys.
Don't.
Care.

They are not like us.
They couldn't care less if there was never a graven image of them on this earth.
They don't care that yesterday's breakfast is still on their face.
They don't care that their hair is so, so slimy they look like they belong as an extra on Grease.
The fact that I assure them their great-great grandchildren will one day want to know what they looked like means nothing to them.
Socks don't match?
Not a problem.
Toe nails long enough to warrant their own zipcode?
Super. 
They. Just. Don't. Care.

Ok. 
Well, mine don't care. 
Ya'll could all have normal children for all I know.

But alas, we survived.
And then we went out for ice cream.

And took up nearly the entire place.

364 more days people.

3
6
4.

A Little Known Fact About Me

is that when I was little
I envied
like envied envied
my brother's ear infection medicine.

Hey brotha!

He had ear infections all. the. time.
course...it could have only been once or twice
but in my childhood cerebellum I recall it being
all
the
time.

And all. the. time.
he got to have the yummy bubble gum medicine.

And I?
I got nuthin.
Well...
nothin except for what I could lick out of the cap when no one was looking. 

I'm pretty sure that I should seek out some therapy or something to help me deal with this.

But that's for another day.

Enter the year 2012.

Jason breaks his jaw
and we are at the commissary last week filling our cart with all things liquid and blendable.

He's kinda just throwing things in left and right
and I'm totally letting him
cuz ya know
I feel bad for him.

I was pretty amped up the first week or so after the accident,
obsessively analyzing what he was eating.....errrr drinking....errrr dreating?....
and how I could make it fatter or increase his caloric intake
but then as he continued to lose weight anyway I now feed him what I can and he fills in with whatever liquids taste good
and we realize life will go on and he will gain it back soon enough.

Last night I was a hankerin for a cold drink
saw this in the fridge

 

realized it was low calorie
and thought I should probably pay more attention next time to what he is putting in the cart
cuz ya know
"slenderize" isn't quite what we are going for here.

But I digress
I took a sip

And oh HALLELUJAH
can you believe it?
It tastes exactly like the bubblegum medicine of the 80's!

It was as if my taste buds in that moment were rocketed back to the days of neon, banana clips and leg-warmers and were belting out Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. 

So if you
like me
somehow had a thing for bubble gum medicine back in the day.

Cry yourself to sleep no more
and go getcha some of this.

Your welcome.

Oh, and if your not like me
find this weird
and question my mental stability as it relates to drinking things that taste like bubble gum
then
well
your still welcome.

Cuz it's that good. 

Every Now and Then

I wonder why I feel like I can't seem to get it together
and then I recall
that it could have something to do with this:

4 weeks ago:

2 weeks ago:

6:30 am today:

Which is why I now feel like this:

The end.

She's in the Hospital

And she's ready.

Pre-op testing done.

Just waiting on a liver

and
the
needed
funds
so
they
will
operate.

Please.

Grab an envelope here. 
If everyone took one no one would give more than $500 and her surgery would be fully funded.

There is HOPE for Alea. 

And He STILL Waits.

He's available again...
he's still looking for his family.

Here he is again...
re-posted.

I know many of us have seen this:

http://www.thenanfang.com/blog/zhongshans-3yo-hiv-orphan-has-hopes-for-adoption/

 

and ugly cried over this precious child. 

And though the facts of that article and his everyday life are a bit skewed(he does actually get out and interact with other kids)
the true fact remains

He needs love.
He needs life.
He needs a family.

Allow me to introduce to you to him.

People, meet Mr. Cutie Pants
Mr. Cutie Pants, meet People!

3.
Year's.
Old.

HIV +
and in need of a mommy and a daddy.

HIV is not what it used to be.
Educate, educate, educate.

Please.
Someone.

Here is a link to a video with some more HIV info

Shoot me a message if you'd like more information and I will point you in the right direction. He is ready, he is available, and he needs you!

mommyof4jays@msn.com

If you emailed me about him before the same info/same agency still applies!
Let me know if you need it again!

Alrightythen.

Soooo

apparently yesterday on the walk home from school
one of my children
whom shall remain nameless

stopped suddenly on the sidewalk
turned toward the house about 4 doors down
and
pee'd.

Pee'd. 

Dropped trow
and pee'd

in.the.garden.

Of.my.neighbors.house.

I suppose Joshua just couldn't hold it anymore
and well
when you gotta go
you gotta go pee in your neighbors yard.

I gotta go bake her a pie now
Nothing says sorry my son's urine is all over your daisy's
better than pie.

What flavor do you reckon is best for this particular scenario?
Apple?
Cherry?
Key Lime?

Right now I'm thinking lemon meringue. 

Lord help me.

A Week.

A Week in Review.

One more week down for this one...or what's left of him that is.

He's down a total of 12 pounds so far....
but we still aren't talking about that.

The twins turned 10.
Seriously.
What. The. Heck.

I miss those babies that would snuggle up with one another whenever they could.

Gracious.
I love those two.

We rented a video game trailer for their party.

Supah fantastic.
There are something like 14 children in there and I am happily chit chatting on the porch above letting the people that run it - and have a clue about video games because I do not - handle it.

Nobody broke anything this week.
That's big.
No arms, no more jaws, not even a pinkie toe,  no thing.
Call me crazy...but I call that a great week.

Joshua got sent to the stairs for a time out for sumthin or other.
Jordan joined him.
For no particular purpose.

Sympathy time out I guess.

And no, we don't make him sit with his head in his hands...he does that by himself.
Bless him.

Justin competed in a battle of the book competition and his team ended up with 2nd place.

Well....as far as my mental tabulation could accurately tabulate....it was 2nd.
They award 1st place and don't tell the rest what place they got.

And if anyone can tell me why I tend to raise my eyebrows and look like a total tool every time I take a self photog with any of my children, let me know. I'm all ears.
What drives me to do this?
Wrinkle minimilization perhaps?
I dunno.

This happened on Mother's Day:

Of his own accord.
It happened so fast I made him come back so I could adequately capture the moment.

Ahhhh so nice.
And justsoyaknow,  in the spirit of honesty.... he didn't actually do the laundry.....but the man child at least brought it downstairs without being asked.
Of course it was 8:14 pm.....on Sunday....and he was out of clean uniforms for the upcoming week.....so I suspect he had ulterior motives.....but I choose not to think on that. :) 

Found out that Jacob's plastic surgeon/oral surgeon team are booked for bone grafts for a little over a year.
Ummmm....ok.
This means we are going to miss that all important "window" for the graft in regards to their canine teeth making their appearance.

Any cleft parents out there have any wisdom? How important is this window? Will the graft still take? Should I find another surgeon to get it done in the window? Help!

And no....we are not adopting sweet Bo.

Sniff-sob-ugly cry-ugly cry
I was merely introducing him to an incredible family that I know that I know that I know would love that boy to pieces and give him the help, the family and the future that he needs.

Precious Alea still doesn't have a family.

Which keeps me up at night
and makes me wish my husband would spontaneously look up at me from the dining room table and say, "Hey babe, I think we should go get that girl."
Insert-holding-breath-

.....gotta go.
I'm turning blue from lack of oxygen.

Introduction.

CorI, meet Bo.

Bo, meet CorI.
Just make sure you call him Cory...
or dad.