Babies!

Before Wiggles left for her trip we got some new babies.

Beautiful fluffy babies.

One day old babies.

Adorable babies.

Baby chicks.

When they grow up they will lay beautiful brown eggs.

I love the happy sound of chickens.



Mumzy

In The Wars!

My poor baby boy looks like he has been fighting this morning!

 

 

 

We had a fun day yesterday visiting friends.

 

 

But there were a few more friends than we thought.

 

 

Poor little Buttons was the designated site for some sort of bug conference.

 

 

His left eye lid is all swollen.

 

 

And under his right eye is also puffy.

 

 

But I think it makes him even cuter!

 

 

 Mumzy

Going to the Zoo!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We're going to the zoo... zoo... zoo...

 

 

 

 

 

 

How about you... you... you...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why don't you come too... too... too...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We're going to the zoo...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 And we had an awesome time!

 

 

 

Mumzy

My Mama's Heart

My Mama's heart is beginning to ache. In a very few short weeks my big girls are going away on mission adventures. Wiggles is going to Hondorus with Teen Missions International where she will be reaching out to the people in rural areas. Jelly Beans is travelling to Taiwan to spend time with at risk youth showing them God's love and encouraging them. I am so excited for both my girls and know they will be in God's hands.

But my Mama's heart aches for our younger kids, they find it so hard when Papa Bear goes away for work and he is only gone for two weeks. Jelly Beans will be gone for three weeks and Wiggles for eight. The younger kids will miss them, especially Princess and Treasure.

It will be very hard for the younger kids to believe the girls are coming back. Hard for them to believe that the big girls are a precious part of our family and they have not been discarded. Hard for them to believe that the younger kids are very special to the girls, they love them deeply and will miss them immensely. Hard for them to believe that the lack of contact is because of the restraints of the trip not because the girls don't care.

I wrote this and never managed to fit in getting it published... Wiggles has been gone almost a week now and Jelly Beans leaves in just a few days. Papa Bear and Kiwi Boy are right now at a inter-provincial swim meet. (Kiwi Boy is doing very well!) They get back one day before Jelly Beans goes away for her trip. This place feels like Grand Central Station!!!

Please continue to pray for all our children no matter where they are located in the world. This summer is one giant adventure for our whole family!

Mumzy

Sibling Bonding

 

One thing we were concerned about when we began this adoption journey was how our three birth kids would cope with being invaded and out numbered by four new kids that would require a lot of time and attention.

Sure they were all teens and should fear better than younger kids that would need to find their place in the new order of things. But they still had their own issues, needs, and way of doing things and all was about to change...
And change is hard... for everyone... even teens!!!

Before the younger kids came home the teens all had a bedroom to themselves, now everyone shares with a younger sibling or two. They had their stuff and knew where it was. Now nothing is where it should be and there is no place where the younger ones won't eventually find it. 

If the younger kids see something they like they take it, they use it, or they hide it. If they don't see something they like they go snooping... in drawers, in wardrobes, in bags. They have the amazing ability to find anything that has been put away as private.

All this makes for a hard time in accepting the younger siblings by the teens. But somehow through determination, understanding, and forgiveness our teens have chosen to find ways to bond with their younger siblings.

And we are finally beginning to look and feel like a single family unit once again!

Mumzy

Making Good Memories

 

Our children have so many bad memories.

 

 

Thoughts that make it hard for them to sleep

through the night.

 

 

Moments from their past that that trigger

fear and mistrust towards us.

 

 

Triggers that tell their brains and bodies to run away,

to fight back, shout and hit out physically.

 

 

As a family we are working hard to make new memories.

 

 

Memories that will bring a smile to their faces

when they are quiet in their beds at night.

 

 

Moments that are a healing balm to their aching hearts.

 

 

 

Mumzy