Thankful Thursday already

Man, the time flies by huh? We actually missed posting for Thankful Thursday last week. I forgot about it that evening. My kids reminded me later that night. Hmmm, what to say this week?
1. the threat of rain(we here in Texas need it so badly)
2. the new dog that was thrust upon us last Friday is housebroken(he is a darling 5yr old toy poodle that was about to be dropped off at the pound when God thought it would by hysterical to see me add a dog to our home of soon to be 4 kids, a guinea pig, 2 fish, and my other job 24hours a week as a nurse! HA, I give Lord)
3. tomorrow is payday!
4. my great friend Susie's precious mom who cleaned out her house and donated items to our upcoming garage sale to help raise money for our trip to get Hudson
5. iced tea with SweetNLow
6. not having to use the heater or AC for several weeks--I'm saving a ton of cash!
7. our nebulizer to help Dillon out when he has "wheezers" ;)
What are you thankful for today? You know, if your heart is grateful it doesn't have room to be grumbling!

FAQ's 1

Morning all! Since I get asked pretty much the same questions many times over, I thought it would be beneficial to start addressing some of those questions here. Today I'll hit on one or two so check back for updates to the FAQ's.
1. So, can you not have children of your own? Well, 13 yrs ago, God gave us a child by birth. He is our "own". Then, when he was nearing age 4, we discovered we couldn't have more children by birth without major fertility treatments. We were led to adoption and adopted 2 children from Korea(a few years apart) and they are our "own." Now, we are in the paperwork pregnancy for a toddler in Korea who has been waiting for a family of his "own." We will soon be united and will all belong to each other and he will be our "own" too! :) We think we are the luckiest people ever-we have experienced both! You see, blood line and biology do not a family make; but daily love, tears, work, commitment make us the family God planned.
2. Why don't you adopt an American baby, there are plenty who need homes right here? We figure since there are 143 million orphans in the world and about 200,000 children in the US foster system, there are plenty of needy children to go around! God called us to the children of Korea.

Say What?

Life with a child who has special needs is pretty darn funny(gotta laugh or you'll go nuts!). Dillon has an attention span of about 10 seconds. So, yesterday we were driving down a road we drive down fairly frequently. He said "where baby?" I was explaining that Hudson was far away and it would take a long time before he comes home. Then I decided to start preparing him for the adjustment. I told him that when Hudson comes home I'd have to carry the baby, not Dillon(yes, I know he is 6 but he's my current baby--don't judge :)). He was looking out the window with a serious look and said "I can't see ho!"
No, he didn't mean THAT, he meant, we were driving past a field that usually has horses in it(hey, is is Texas!) and he didn't see any!
So much for serious talks huh?

God's provision continues

Did you ever doubt?? Well, let's just say I'm a bit like the waves of the sea that is described in the book of James in the Bible, tossed to and fro by the wind!! I entered a contest on our local Christian radio station and KNEW I was going to win 1000.00!! I just really knew that God wanted me to win that contest to put the money towards our plane tickets(3 round trip-we are taking our daughter Abby). Guess who didn't win? ME! UGH. I was bummed and began really stressing about how to pay for plane tickets without paying for months and months on our credit card. I priced 3 round trip tickets from DFW to Seoul with a layover in LA. It was priced at 4400.00 :(( I have flown to Korea before on the non-stop flight from DFW via Korean Air when I escorted a baby for our agency(I've been an Area Rep for Dillon Int for about 5 years). I really thought the nonstop flight would be a lot more than with a layover so I hadn't even considered that possibilty. Yesterday I checked into it. Guess what?? For all 3 of us to fly nonstop from DFW to Seoul via Korean Air was 3400---exactly 1000.00 cheaper than what I was thinking we would pay! Coincidence you say? NO WAY. I know my God, and He orchestrates such little awesome details that I can never chalk it up to happenstance. So, surely with the 2 garage sales we still have planned for fundraising, and cashing our 1000.00 mutual fund that has done nothing over the past year, we shall be getting really close. I really really really do not want to have a big debt over our heads from this trip. I'm quite the frugal(okay, many call me cheapo!) momma and debt is yucky yucky. We can talk budgeting principles later ;) Yes, I do wash and resuse my sandwhich baggies!!
Anybody wanna share about little ways God surprised you with His provision? We'd love to hear it!

Gifts for Hudson

Yippee! Someone from our agency, Dillon International, is traveling to Korea soon. We can send gifts for Hudson and his foster mother in a gallon size ziploc bag. We sent a soft photo album with pictures of our family and house, some choochoo train Robeez style shoes(LOVE those knock off at Target for only 13.00), and The Very Hungry Caterpillar(all my kids just loved that book). For the foster mother, we sent a bottle of Estee Lauder perfume, some lotion made in Texas, and some chocolate covered Espresso beans. I cannot wait to get the new picture that the staff person is going to bring us when she gets back!! Oh how he must have changed and grown up!!

Happy Gotcha Day

8 years ago today Mike and I landed at DFW with Abigial. She was warmly greeted by about 30 family and friends. What a great blessing and adventure. Our family(extended included) was never the same. We are now Korean-American!

It's Thankful Thursday again

You know, it is funny, but Abby and Carter love Thankful Thursday. I figured it would be another reason for them to roll their eyes and say "Oh Mom"(believe me, there are many of those reasons like the time we had Africa Day and I only let our family eat rice and drink water the whole day and we talked and prayed for starving children in Africa--don't think we are all holy or something, by 5pm that day, our stomachs were sick to death of rice and water and we bought HAMBURGERS--I'm super ashamed!). Anyway, you who know me well know that I'm almost always a seriuos person. I despise wasting time, silliness, wasting money and such. It is a heavy burden to bear because I always struggle with feeling guilty! Guilty for working too much, guilty for not working enough, guilty for not playing with the children, guilty for not teaching them more of God's truths, guilty for spending money on a new shirt from Target, guilty for not having a date night with my husband--you name it, I'm feeling guilty for it!!!
So, today's Thankful Thursday is guilt free and not going to be deep or spiritual, just fun!
I'm thankful for internet
I'm thankful for the automatic button on my coffee pot that comes on at 5:20 am
I'm thankful that my husband likes to spend time with us, not at sporting events, hunting, or fishing
I'm thankful for Dillon's hysterical British accent
I'm thankful for the way Abby's smile lights up her whole face and that she isn't a prissy girly girl
I'm thankful for Carter's deep desire to do the right thing and that he doesn't always get lost in WalMart anymore(cell phones are so good for that)
I'm thankful for a new month and getting to do my favorite activity: fill out my big wipe-erase family calender with the new month--I love organization and calenders and to do lists!!
I'm thankful for heading out of the rat race next weekend to the country for Easter and watching my kids play with their cousins and hunt for boat loads of candy from Nana and Papa and Grandma.
PS. I'm reading "The Power of Your Words" by Robert Morris--you must must read it!