What have we been up to?

 Hey it's me Michael again....just wanted to share that I am AWESOME!  :)  Look I am putting my fingers in my mouth!  Mommy I guess thinks that is a big deal?  Not sure, but hey she says it's good and cheers for me. 

 Awwww.........me and mommy holding hands.  I wonder if daddy is jealous?  ;)

 OK- just chillin' because I am so cute all I need to do is sit here and suck my thumb and my mommy thinks I am a Rock Star! 

 Soooo.....we have been pretty busy lately.  Crazy things have come up- like yet another "glitch" in our adoption process.  As far as we know we will still be going to court for 11am on the 27th to finalize our adoption!  PRAYING!!!!!! 

***If you saw my facebook statuses we had some issues with our agency and with the "state".  Anywho, our social worker totally got it all done and back to them even though it meant she was working late at night to do it!!!  PRAISE GOD!!!!!!  Whew!!!!! 

 We have been trying to get a lot of bits and pieces done for our family- some extra appointments (Michael had an EKCO done- just for precaution since he was early, and was a very sick little baby, and then neglected as well.  Then he also had a hip xray because of his Cerebral Palsy- again just precaution because there can sometimes be many things that can hurt your hip or cause it to "get out of place" with CP.), making appointments- it takes work to try to squeeze all our kids into the dentist time slots, getting our birth mom letters and pictures done :) which I find hard sometimes mainly because there is so much I want to say and sometimes feel that it can be hard to do, my hubby has been finishing up some last minute things for 4Kids of Tampa - now he is officially not working for them anymore, and well with Jason still working for a while outside the home and myself doing a lot more with Christian Adoption Consultants- getting us both on the same page with our clients and putting things together etc, as well as talking about how things are going to work in the future with us both being home and everything......there has just been a lot to do!  Whew.....oh and that is not to mention celebrating all of our kiddos adoption days and birthdays, doing our Christmas traditions, making cookies, and of course going to Busch Gardens too!!

 You know sometimes it is ok to actually take some time to transition.  I know for our family there have been plenty of transitions that left us with no time to breathe and "restart".  So we decided that we would take the month of December to catch up on things, finish things off, enjoy time together, do our work, and really be a family!! 

Notice Daddy and Jonathan in the front row of the Scorpion- the very first roller coaster at Busch Gardens and yes it goes upside down too.

 Here is a tiny - very tiny lizard. 

 Can you find the lizard?  He is seriously the smallest I have ever seen.  Looked like his tail had already been cut off a bit. 

 Look.......my kids are already driving!!!  Ahhhhh- run far, far away :). 

 Oh yes, we have also gone to a couple of "practices" for our churches Christmas Eve services.

 So here we are hanging out.........chillin'.........

 We get to be the family that will be sitting in a "living room" setting on stage - Jason will read the Christmas story.  Which is great because it is real that is what we do every Christmas!!  :)  Some people are sarcastic about those who don't attend church except Christmas and Easter, but we totally think of it as an opportunity to share the Love of God- Whenever and Wherever!!!  God's Word has the power to heal and change people's lives no matter how often the come to church!!! 

 This is our family hanging up door hangers from our church for this weekend's services.  They are having pony rides, hot cocoa, face painting, hay rides, skits, and the service includes 100's of people on stage all at once- WHY?  Glad you asked- TO SHOW PEOPLE GOD'S LOVE and INVITE THEM INTO A RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIST!!!!  They have asked everyone to invite others they already know and are around to come. 

Believing that it isn't about Santa, or pony rides, but about taking time to have fun as a family together- in church- and inviting others to come along!!  Praying for many lives to be changed!!!!!! 

I know as a former camp director- we used to put in ropes course elements, add crazy games, train our staff on every safety thing possible, have great food, etc.  Same reason- to INVITE PEOPLE TO CHRIST!!!!  ***Do you need these things- no way- CHRIST IS ENOUGH, but it is a way to reach out to where people are!!!  :) 

 Oh and we have been doing our Christmas traditions.............What are our traditions? 

We give gifts throughout the season- but they are gifts to draw us together and have fun together- games, books, movies, and activities (like my parents monetary gift was spent on Busch Gardens passes- which is only 20 minutes away and always fun).  This year as you can see- we added to our scooter collection as well. 

Mary and Joseph as well as the wise men travel around our home....until Christmas when Jesus was born (yes we know Christmas Day was probably not his birthday-it's all good).  Then the wise men come onto the scene on Epiphany- even though we know it was a couple of years after Jesus' birth. 

 We read fun stories like the Legend of the Christmas Tree, the Legend of the Christmas Stocking, The Legend of St. Nicholas, The Legend of the Candy Cane, Is Santa for Real, The Story of Jonathan Toomy, The Most Marvelous Gift, Granny Mae's Christmas Play, The Crippled Lamb, The Pine Tree Parable, The Little Spider, God Gave Us Christmas, The Tiny Star, The Christmas Miracle (Shoey and Dot)........

**Just a note if you want to know where things like Christmas Trees, Stockings, Santa, the Candy Cane came from these are wonderful books!!!  :)  The others are all fun too and point to the REAL reason for this Blessed Season. 

 We love to break out in song  and find new Christmas favorites!  Singing carols is a great time!

We love to decorate, hang stockings- all our stockings and stocking holders are snowmen, we each pick out a new ornament for the year (we love Hobby Lobby 1/2 price ornaments), popping popcorn and drinking cocoa!!  This year we added a lighted cross and a new huge wreath in our yard!!  **The wreath was repurposed Christmas tree that bit the dust earlier.  My hubby is creative!  :)

 Oh - yes......well this is what happens when you break the rules of doing scooters.  Such as going in the road, not watching for others, not wearing a helmet, not wearing proper foot wear, etc.  ;)  They aren't happy with me now, but I love them too much to worry. 

 I asked Michael if he would ever break the rules.....this was his response- blowing raspberries at me ;).  Awesome. 

 Last night we packed up some extra treats and went off to go see some Christmas lights after Jason made some really yummy Chili!!!  **Have I mentioned that I love the fact that we now work from home so he can cook?  BECAUSE IT IS A HUGE BENEFIT for our whole family!  Trust me!

 These two crawled in the back of the Suburban as mommy and daddy were talking and watching the kids scoot.  Are they cute or what??

 Crazy too!

 Hello Elizabeth!!!  :)

 Oh and one thing that has kept us busy as well is cleaning up and doing more purging!  :)  Look at my desk!!  You can actually see it!!!  WOW!  How can one family have so much paperwork?  Oh and or file area that hold another huge batch of papers as well as my desk has been cleared!  This is truly a Christmas miracle- not kidding!

 This scene is from Busch Gardens......where the tradition of Christmas lights comes from......when Christians would light candles as a representation of Christ being the Light Of The World! 

 On a beautiful starry night, the angels opened the sky and with light and joy pouring out of heaven a beam shown down upon the manger in preparation for the birth of the babe. 

Love the language used and the picture it paints.  God was in every detail of His Son's birth. 

 I just love the fact that it is represented here as well! 

 This gives HOPE- to me, to you, and to all the other people living on Earth!  This is the reason for everything we do- all year long!!!! 

 This season is just a reason to remember.  In scripture and now in the Jewish tradition there are many things they did as a reminder of God's Laws, God's Promises, and God's Love for us.  It is necessary to have all of them.  It is necessary to remember!!!  To pass that down!!!  To help our children remember and celebrate what God did for them and for us.  To show others the Light of The World!! 

What do you do to remember God in this season? 

 This little man helps me remember every day.  He is a miracle himself, and the progress he is making is miracle on top of miracles!!!  When he first came into his first healing family- he pretty much didn't eat baby food....let me tell you that was a feat in itself!  He didn't like anything in his mouth.  Slowly but surely God has brought him to the place of slowly learning to use his muscles in his mouth.  To use his lips, to lick things, to allow us to stretch and "wake up" his muscles in his mouth. 

Today- he licked this sucker!  He allowed me to "roll" it in his cheeks, he changed hands and brought the sucker to his mouth with both hands, he willingly put it in and out of his mouth on his own!  He played with the sticky stuff on his tray!  He played with his own tongue with the sucker!  These are all HUGE accomplishments.  We are sooo proud and excited about what God is doing in his life! 

Oh and another brag- he said Momma, and then pretty much right away said Michael.  Another HUGE step 2 words right in a row both with 2 syllables.  Now that daddy is working at home - he gets to see a lot more as well.  :)

 Oh dear....hide an seek?  Actually he got hurt this last week and wasn't using one of his hind legs at all, but now is using it a little bit.  Silly kitty likes to play outside so no idea what happened. 

 Oh and sometimes we just have a philosophy of - Why not?  This is all of us eating apple pie and ice cream for breakfast- why not? 

 See....it's true.  I must have the best parents in the world!  ;)

Praying your Christmas time has been Blessed.  Praying for you all to have a safe time with family and friends!  I know we will. 

Praying specifically for those who have lost someone.  Praying God will send extra comfort and love to them!