Do Something Worth Writing

Among lots of other things, Benjamin Franklin is quoted as saying, "Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing."

I haven't been writing much, so I guess I'm supposed to be doing the latter. 

My days lately have been filled to overflowing with homeschooling, cooking from scratch, laundry, diapers, more cooking. Is that worth writing about? Maybe...

But I know someone who IS doing something worth writing about. So I'll write about her.

Since early in December, my friend and Project TLC partner, Shelly, has been in Eastern Europe on a mission to adopt four children. It's been a tough road, with inexplicable roadblocks littered along the way including being told she would not be able to adopt the children she had grown to love and worked so hard to reach, but must adopt four different children or none at all. You can read all about it HERE.

Being a strong orphan advocate and experienced adoptive mom, Shelly was not about to go home empty handed. The Lord directed her to four darling little boys who might not have been discovered otherwise. Boys whose ultimate potential in their culture would have been realized in a mental institution. Finally, a ray of sunshine! Court is scheduled this week and she'll be bringing the new boys home to her family after a short waiting period.

With an extended period of time in country, funds for returning home have become an issue. Many of the costs associated with adoption in this country are on the back end. Medical appointments, immigration visas, plane tickets. Right now, Shelly is about $4000 short to get the kids home.

I'm so happy to call Shelly my friend. I love to hang out with people who are willing to do the hard things, the right things, the sacrificial things. After she gets home with the boys, I'll have some fun things to share about her adoption...sweet little threads of God's goodness. But until then, please help us raise the final bit of ransom to get these kids home!

A donor has offered a $100 Target gift drawing for all donations over $25. I'll draw a name from donations under $25 to receive a hardcover copy of The Boy from Baby House 10. Go here to donate and check on progress: http://gracehavenhome.com/families/burman-family/ 

Thank you!

Tightening the Belt

We really had a nice Christmas season. It's always a little nuts having the kids out of school for so long, but with extra helpers around we managed ok. The best part was having our bigs home, if even just for a few days. It was nice not to rush around in the mornings to catch the bus...to just hang out with brothers and sisters!

New Year's Eve was a bit different this year, as dad did a series of runs...a 5k late in the afternoon, another 5k at 11:45pm, followed by a half marathon on New Year's Day. Our family "party" just wasn't the same without him and I actually rang in the new year in a hot bathtub, looking out the window watching fireworks going off in the neighborhoods to the south of us.

I planned to do some strategic planning starting on the 1st, but somehow we are back in survival mode again. It's so difficult to plan when you are putting out fires left and right. Soon.

I've been trying to trim our budget in any way possible. Last fall we got rid of our landline as well as cable TV. This month I'm experimenting with ways to cut the food budget. On a whim I made a big batch of bread one day a few weeks ago and everyone loved it so much, I've decided to just make our own bread each week. I've got a jar of sourdough starter fermenting and I can't wait to use it! Thank goodness we finally got another 50 pound bag of oats...now I can make granola cereal for super cheap. My kids love to eat cereal, but I don't love paying for it.

We are also experimenting with different ways to include beans in our meals. We have a freezer full of deer meat, so we are good in the meat department. What are some ways that you are able to trim your food budget?

Word!

I've been dying to share Max's amazing new skill, but I haven't been able to get it on video! I have all but given up on my formerly institutionalized boys ever developing meaningful speech, but Max is gonna prove me WRONG!

A few days ago he was sitting at the top of the basement stairs. He wanted to go down and play but he's anxious about the stairs. My son Richard said, "mom, is he asking for help? Max, do you need help?" At that point Max shook his head "yes" and said, plain as day, "ELP!"

Max has said words on occasion, but none consistently. Now we are hearing ELP! all day long...and he is using it appropriately! However, when I attempt to take video, he clams up. He's a real smart turkey!

Settling in for Christmas

We had a really busy week! Doctor appointments, Christmas programs, airport pickups and clubs. Phew! I'm ready to slow down and enjoy some chill out family time.

Here is Theo at his Christmas program dress rehearsal. Nope, he wouldn't wear the antlers! 

We had some beautiful weather this week, a real gift from God! The kids enjoyed time to play out back...and look who LOVES to swing now!! Max used to panic at the sight of it. 

Theo is getting SO big! I wish you could feel how SOLID he is. I never guessed the little bag of bones we met 3 1/2 years ago would turn out to be a bruiser.

Finally, Richy and Heather are here so we can put up our tree! The only thing that would make for a nicer weekend would be for our Robert Wesley to be home with us. 

Sunday Funnies

Getting 10 kids, plus mom and dad, ready and off to church on time is a tall order. Sometimes we make it on time, and sometimes we make it on time with everyone appropriately dressed, but we normally make it right on time. Every single week is a circus.

We always sit in the same spot, a carefully chosen back pew, mere steps from the exit if some emergency were to arise. My goal for the little boys is to learn to sit quietly for a period of time and they are getting pretty good. When we stand they stand. When we sit, they sit. No toys. No coloring pages. It's just easier without distractions. And I don't end up crawling under the pew in front of us to retrieve dropped crayons!

Today Max swiftly and deftly snatched the purse if the lady in front of us! Before I knew it, he had a purse in his chubby little hands! 

After a wonderful service, with amazing Christmas music from our choir and orchestra, we took the kids to Sunday school. Zhen has a new Sunday school helper! I could just sing! Zhen needs a firm hand to help him in Sunday school...his behavior is challenging. I've been with him every week since I can't remember when. Today, Zhen's helper said that he was comfortable enough for me to leave. I might have sprinted out of the room! I actually went to my own Sunday school class with my own husband and I think they remembered me.

The most challenging part of the morning is walking down the halls with our crew in tow. After Sunday school lets out, I'm generally loaded down with coloring pages, take home pages and stuff. It's pretty dangerous for me to not have free hands. It was bound to happen, but today Theo finally grabbed someone's behind. I wasn't fast enough to catch him.

That wasn't enough embarrassing enough. Nope. Ralph, who swaggers and draws attention wherever he goes had a treat for everyone in the lobby. He was wearing his special Christmassy cowboy shirt, with the fun pearly snaps. In the middle of the lobby, my boy decided to rip those snaps open in true flasher style. I had papers in one hand and Theo's hand in the other. Dad was pretty far ahead of us and didn't know what was happening. I was helpless as my little sweetie strutted through the lobby holding his shirt all the way open. 

Dad must have been feeling the Spirit today. After church he said, "lets do something adventurous." You guessed it, we took all the kids into the grocery store with us to pick out lunch meat and chips for lunch. Yup, that is his idea of adventure! 

Are your Sundays ever crazy, too? 

Waste not...

Grandma grew up in the depression era. Half of her siblings did not live to see adulthood. Her mother died while she was still young. Life was hard.

So hard that she didn't want to remember, didn't want to share. She didnt like antiques, they reminded her of old times, hard times. 

Even though grandma didn't share much about the old days, I learned some of her tricks for getting by. For one thing, nothing goes to waste. 

I buy chicken thighs to feed my family. The price is right and it's really easy to get all the meat off the bones. The bones and skin go back into the pot to make broth. After the broth is chilled it's easy to lift virtually all the fat right off the top.

What do you do with that chicken fat? Into the trash? Heck no!

Sometimes I will mix a few spoons of chicken fat into dog food for our puppies. But this week, while I was pulling chicken meat off the bones, I found myself thinking about gram. I often think of her when I am working in the kitchen. I had my hands all chicken-y, thinking of gram and a little secret she shared with me a long time ago. 

Shhhhh...chicken fat makes really soft and delicious cookies. 

Here is the secret: You can replace half the fat in your cookie recipe with chicken fat. 

(Maybe you already know this, but I prefer to think of my grammy's wisdom as mystical and rare.)

After I lift the fat off the broth, I put it into a clean pot, add water and boil to remove any leftover particles. Chill it again, lift the fat off the water and keep in the fridge until you are ready to bake. 

My kids thought for sure that our chicken fat sugar cookies were going to be gross, but they are begging for more! 

Have you tried this before? If not, I dare you. This is the perfect time of year to try a new thing with cookies. 

Smart little stinker

Here is Ralph this morning...watching Fireman Sam on the iPad. On YouTube. In German. 

I had a YouTube app on this iPad, but Ralph was watching all sorts of weird stuff. I deleted the app so that he could focus on his learning apps. However, he simply figured out how to find YouTube through the Safari app. Little stinker. Smart little stinker. 

He regularly watches his favorite videos in other languages. He has a Chinese count to 100 app that he really likes. I'm not sure whether to worry about his indifference toward language, or celebrate it!