greenfridge

The View From Here

2011-09-07T13:01:00.000-07:00

Vanilla

2011-06-29T16:37:00.000-07:00

As posted on FB :)

Want some Vanilla? REAL vanilla? I'm getting ready to make homemade vanilla - vanilla that does NOT contain sugar, HFCS or water. I was thinking, maybe other people want some of this? It will be ready just before Christmas and will be packaged in an 8oz. amber glass bottle. If you want some let me know! $5/8oz., I can ship too (pay only actual shipping). Leave a comment if you're interested! This would make a great Christmas gift!

The view from here: Fun at the Beach

2011-06-09T21:03:00.000-07:00

The View From Here: Turning 3

2011-05-19T13:05:00.001-07:00

The little man turns 3 today!!! Jaron brings so much joy and energy to our lives (he has energy and we are left with little :)!!! He truly is as his name means: Cry of Rejoicing and Strength of God. We are so blessed to parent this child!

The View From Here

2011-04-18T12:22:00.001-07:00

Bees!!!

2011-04-10T18:25:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures from our weekend bee escapades! We picked up 3 pounds of live bees on Friday and installed them in our hive that afternoon. It was a perfect day and all went as planned! As you can see in the bottom left picture I am standing there with our Beekeeping for Dummies book making sure we didn't forget anything. Bees really are fascinating creatures!!! I thought that I would be scared out of my wits with an open package of 10,000 bees but it was actually just really fun and I found myself more concerned for their welfare than fearing for my life :). It was definitely a bit of an adrenaline rush!

En Español

2011-03-28T15:07:00.000-07:00

Me: Jaron, What do you want for breakfast?

Jaron: Cereal

Me: No

Jaron: Porque no?

Me: Excuse me?

Jaron: Porque no?

Me: . . .

I suppose I should have just given him a choice initially but since he wants yogurt and honey virtually every single morning I didn't expect him to ask for cereal. I also didn't expect him to question me properly in Spanish! In then end, we landed on pancakes :)

The View from Here . . .

2011-03-24T20:17:00.000-07:00

Let's see . . . a little strider biking in the house, a few car pile-ups, a visit from Grandma and Grandpa Green, a fun morning at the zoo with Mommy and Daddy, painting bee hives . . . you know, the usual!

2011-02-10T18:32:00.000-08:00

"I know there is poor and hideous suffering, and I've seen the hungry and the guns that go to war. I have lived pain, and my life can tell: I only deepen the wound of the world when I neglect to give thanks for early light dappled through leaves and the heavy perfume of wild roses in early July and the song of crickets on humid nights and the rivers that run and the stars that rise and the rain that falls and all the good things that a good God gives. Why would the world need more anger, more outrage? How does it save the world to reject unabashed joy when it is joy that saves us? Rejecting joy to stand in solidarity with the suffering doesn't rescue the suffering. The converse does.”

- Ann Voskamp in One Thousand Gifts

emphasis added

Needy

2011-02-03T12:04:00.000-08:00

"Who would make good helpers, do you think? Clever ones? Rich ones? Strong, important ones? Some people might think so, but I'm sure by now you don't need me to tell you they'd be wrong. Because the people God uses don't have to know a lot of things, or have a lot of things - they just have to need him a lot."
- The Jesus Storybook Bible - Matthew 4, Mark 1, Luke 4-6

We thoroughly enjoy this book at our house. Parents and child alike :).

Fun Times

2011-01-23T12:55:00.000-08:00

We've been enjoying the new dogger. Flo's a big lump of love with big jowls and paws and and unending need to have her ears scratched. We went to our friend's farm yesterday and let her run a muck in the pasture with their dog. Run a muck she did in the mud and the cow pies. There's really nothing like rolling around in fresh cow poop right? From that experience we learned that she loves water. When we hosed her off she hopped right into a trough full of water and laid right down! Fun times around here :)

A few truths

2011-01-18T12:31:00.000-08:00

I read a blog post in my Google Reader a few weeks ago - the author was talking about how when keep our eyes focused on Jesus through the adoption process we see everything differently. I printed a list that she provided and have been reading through it from time to time. I have no idea what blog I found it on, or who the author of the post was (they were a guest writer) - so at the risk of plagiarism, I'll list a few of the truths:

Focus on Jesus keeps us from setting our own expectations, romanticizing the journey. He keeps us balanced and grounded - able to live in both the present life at home and still mindful of the child that is not yet home. (II Corinthians 10:5)
Focus on Jesus reminds us to pray for more than a quick process. Jesus wants us to pray for the heart of the orphan, for the hope of the nation of his/her birth, for the redemption of the governments involved, for the process of other people's journeys, for our children at home as they face the changes to come, for our spouse to stay focused on Jesus. He wants us to pray against the principalities at war against our children's homecoming, against sickness and starvation, against darkness. There is so much prayer to be done on this journey, but focusing on the orphan will not produce such prayer. Focus on the orphan narrows our vision and causes us to pray for what's on our left rather that what is coming our way on the right. (Romans 8:26-27)
God's desire is to carry our burdens for us. We feel the weight of the journey because he created the desire in us to care for the orphan, so our hearts will certainly break along the way. But God does not intend for us to be crushed by it. He rather desires the weight to remind us constantly to look to him rather than the difficult circumstances at hand. His yoke is easy. His burden is light. (Matthew 11:30)
God's business is to set the lonely in families, meaning HE does the work. HE alone is Redeemer. (Psalm 68:6)
God is the Father to the fatherless (Psalm 68:5). His love for the orphans we pursue/care for is far greater than our own.

Probably my biggest struggle through this whole process is to continue to live in the present, to allow my mind and heart to be available in the here and now for my family. A hard thing to do when your heart longs for something more. Sometimes I feel like I'm going to go crazy just sitting on the floor playing trucks or demolition derby - because my heart constantly feels so torn. I'm learning to live in the present, to take on His yoke. I'm learning to trust His great love for my children - for He is their Father . . . my Father. And as I pray I am very aware that there is so much more going on than the adoption of two children.

Peace to all who struggle to walk down this road.

Introducing . . .

2011-01-17T21:29:00.000-08:00

the newest loaf in our pack: *Flo*

We had to put our 10 year old Rosie-dog down last fall because she had advanced Osteosarcoma. We had a great run with her and we loved her very much!

This past weekend we picked up this not-so-little gal through Saint Rescue - an organization that takes abandoned or surrendered Saint Bernards and finds good homes for them. We're having fun getting to know her! She is super sweet and loves a good ear scratch. She has a giant noggin. She's doing pretty well learning the rules of the house but still attempts to get up on the couch. I think we'll all be good buddies :)

These are pictures of her at her foster home:

The View From Here

2011-01-17T21:02:00.001-08:00

Starting off the New Year . . . without a lot of clothes on :)

The View From Here: December Edition

2011-01-17T20:51:00.000-08:00

A little bit of December fun

what DO you do on Christmas morning when all the gifts are for Him?

2010-12-03T11:23:00.000-08:00

Good question. Here's a few suggestions from Ann Voskamp who writes over at A Holy Experience.

Ten Things to Do on Christmas Morning: When all the Gifts are for Him

The video at the bottom of the post is worth your time for sure.

Christmas is coming!!!

2010-11-17T12:23:00.000-08:00

I love it when the seasons change - each season glorious in its own way. We've been talking around here about Christmas and how we want it to look for our family. It is a continually evolving process. Several years ago we decided that in our family that we would spoil the birthday girl/boy. It only seems right that Christmas be no different.

I read this beautiful post today: Christmas: Thinking about Whose Birthday It Is. She has some great links at the end as well. Another resource that our family and church uses is Advent Conspiracy.

What are the special ways that your family celebrates Jesus' Birthday?

The view from here . . .

2010-11-14T15:19:00.000-08:00

Haven't posted pictures for a while - we've been practicing expressions:

happy

sad . . . with some mad eyes

mad

surprised

People comment often about Jaron's hair thinking that I style it in a mohawk. No friends, he actually wakes up and his hair is like that just about every morning. No joke.

Technicalities

2010-11-07T10:06:00.000-08:00

I was thinking the other day that maybe I haven't explained the technicalities of our adoption situation very well her on our blog. Really, I just thought I'd bore you to tears :). I also thought that it may be nice for other people who find our blog because they are thinking about Burundi adoption and they freak out because of how crazy our process is - maybe it would help them not be so freaked out because they will be able to see that they shouldn't end up in the same situation that we are in.

Here's what has happened (here's where I throw a bunch of form numbers at you and talk USCIS and DOS jargon). When we started the process to adopt in Burundi, we filed a form I-600A with the US Citizen and Immigration Services (USCIS). At that time (2007) that was the way that you started an international adoption process. This was before the US signed the Hague Convention (an international agreement to safeguard intercountry adoption ). On April 1, 2008 the US signed the Hague and began its implementation. From that time on, if you begin an adoption from another country that has signed the Hague (Brurundi is a signatory to the Hague) you have to fill out a form I-800A to start the process instead of an I-600A. If you started the process before April 1, 2008 then your case is considered by the US to be a “grandfathered” case and they treat it as they would have pre-Hague.

The difference between the process with an I-600 case and an I-800 case is this: with an I-600 we would go through the adoption process in Burundi, they would give us the adoption decree, we would travel to Burundi, the US Embassy would do an orphan investigation, they would declare the child eligible for a visa if the child meets the US criteria for an orphan and off you go. The trouble with this process and one of the reasons for the Hague is that many times a family would get an adoption decree from a country and then the US would do the orphan investigation and find that the child did not meet the criteria to be considered an orphan. So you would have a family who had legally adopted a child in a country but they could not immigrate with the child to the US. This is a big, big problem. With the I-800 process, a child is identified for a family and then a preliminary orphan investigation is done by the US Embassy to determine that the child does indeed meet the criteria for an orphan and will be eligible for a US visa. The Embassy then sends a letter called an “Article 5” letter to the Central Authority of the adoptive country telling them that when the adoption is finalized the child will be able to immigrate. Once the Central Authority has that, they proceed with the adoption and grant a final adoption decree (this is a very simplistic explanation, there are many more details but for these purposes, we’ll leave those out). With this process in place, families are less likely to end up in a really messy situation where they can not bring their child home. The Hague, in a lot of ways is a good thing.

Here’s where we’re hitting resistance: Our case was started before April 1, 2008. We are a pre-Hague, grandfathered case. That is how the US Department of State and the USCIS sees us. There was no I-800 for us to fill out when we began this process years ago and there were no adoption agencies that were approved to work as NGO’s in Burundi. The Central Authority in Burundi (they have our file) continues to ask for a letter from our Central Authority (that’s the Department of State). They want an Article 5 letter. We can’t get an Article 5 letter without filing an I-800. Changing over to an I-800 process is essentially starting all over – simple as it might sound to just file a new form, it’s not. The DOS has written us two letters now. They have delivered them to the guy who can sign off on our case. He says they don’t say what he wants them to say. Currently, this has the attention of the US Ambassador in Burundi, and many, many people at the DOS. They are trying to work something out and trying to come up with a letter that will satisfy whatever it is that this guy wants without us having to jump into a totally new process with an I-800. We may have to re-file, but we will wait to see if the ambassador can make progress on our behalf.

My Love

2010-10-13T11:33:00.000-07:00

Geoff, when we married 8 years ago today . . . I thought that I knew you. I thought that I loved you. I thought that our dreams were big. But . . . 8 years later I know you more, love you more and dream even bigger dreams with you. The future is bright with you by my side - I can't wait to see what it holds! There's no one I'd rather dance through the minefields with, There's no one I'd rather sail the storms of life with than you. Thank you for continually laying your life down.

A few things to throw your way

2010-10-07T20:31:00.000-07:00

As time passes our kids in Burundi get older (duh). I feel it every day . . . Jaron wearing pants I bought for Justin . . . Giving the pink Converse I found at a garage sale for Emelyne to my sister for her sweet girl because they are a size seven - and even Jaron wears an 8 . . . cute striped baby legs hiding in the back of a drawer peek out and catch my eye . . . a conversation with friends who know about children in hard places reminding me again that years are passing.

Sometimes fear seeps into my heart like a drink spilled on the carpet. So many questions about the hard road ahead. Fear. Worry.

It's not safe is it? Adopting. It's not safe. It's not safe for me, for my family.

Then I read things like this:

Christians and Adoption
Advocacy
James 127 and the Church
Is the Orphan My Neighbor?

and I remember: I'm not called to safe. No way.

He defended the cause of the poor and needy,
and so all went well.
Is that not what it means to know me?"
declares the LORD.

Jeremiah 22:16

One of those days

2010-09-23T13:18:00.000-07:00

It's been one of those days where I feel like I've just had to keep moving to keep my mind busy . . . maybe even this post is an attempt to not think too much. My head keeps spinning with what ifs and whys today. I can't keep my mind off of our kids. I keep wondering why we are in this crazy adoption . . . did we/are we hearing wrong? Why do two kids who have a family waiting for them have to wait so long? What is the deal with this Gabriel guy? What if it all falls apart? What if civil war overtakes Burundi again? Are my kids ok? Are you protecting them God? Are we supposed to just give up?

A few things that I've read and seen that at times comfort me, yet always seem to leave me with more questions . . .
I've been following a blog called Holy Experience - I encourage you to follow it. Here are a few recent posts that have struck me deeply: here, here, and here.

Today I watched this on another blog I read: Francis Chan

I read this: ". . . I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." Mt. 17:20 . . . and I wonder - Is my faith too small? Why doesn't the mountain move? Why when so many people are praying, begging, asking?

Not a lot of answers . . .

The View From Here III

2010-09-17T13:18:00.000-07:00

If you can't tell yet, "The view from here" is my way of saying "Look, here are some pictures I took! Isn't my son cute?"

cuteness x 2

"The Buoy" Jaron is semi-obsessed w/ our neighbor's things like his buoy and "jerry'sbigredloudcar". One morning we found this in our back yard - turns out our neighbor has a soft spot for two year olds so he gave Jaron his bouy.

And here is Geoff, Jaron and "jerry'sbigredloudcar" post demolition derby.

Asleep in the car

We had been launching wiffle balls in the air off of this sheet. We took a break and Jaron decided that he need to be wrapped up in it. Once I got him all set he said "Jus' like Jesus, mom!"

Yes Jaron, jus' like Jesus.

Working hard on the front yard!

The view from here II . . .

2010-09-09T13:13:00.000-07:00

The end of July and the month of August were a whirlwind! Lot's of guests, activity and a bit of traveling!

Jaron and cousin "Sissa" - as she calls herself (Alyssa).
They're 6 months apart and they have a blast together!

Jaron and Great Grandpa Mitchem

My parents, sister and niece came from Spokane and My Grandpa and Grandma came from Trail - they parked their RV's in front of our house and in the driveway. It was like our own little compound. Other than enjoying each other, we picked pounds and pounds of blueberries!!!

Dinner at a friend's house involved a ride on a 4 wheeler and a Kubota tractor - Jaron was in heaven.

This crazy kid is really into Kubota tractors. While we were at our friend's house, Jaron said, "Hey Dad, look at the size of that payloader!"

Chuck and Jaron

At the fair

First Rodeo!

My favorite kind of family photo!

After being in Spokane for the weekend and then home for 48 hours, I got the call that my sister was in labor. I made a mad dash to Spokane and made it 15 minutes before Kaitlyn was born! What a joy and privileged to be part of that moment!

After coming home from Spokane, I attended my 10 year college reunion (what a blast!) and had more family visit. Now we're gearing up for a trip to Michigan here soon to see Geoff's family!!!

Traffic Jam

2010-08-22T13:08:00.000-07:00

I was heading out of Spokane on Friday – mid morning – I was anxious to get home. I had already started our later than intended and I wanted to get home to see my boys! I don’t know the streets in downtown Spokane well, but I can pretty much find my way to the freeway. I found myself on Second heading West. It just so happened that it was a construction zone. Half of the one-way street was all torn up and it was down to one lane. Traffic was not moving. I sat for about 15 minutes in the same spot. While I anxiously sat, I looked around – scanning for a possible way out of the sitting and waiting. Suburban in front, sedan in back, busy sidewalk to the left, earth movers and dump trucks making progress on the right . . . no way out. I felt stuck. I couldn’t see a single thing in front of me – no way to see what was possibly holding the traffic up. So I sat waiting, waiting, waiting . . . what I felt in those 15 minutes was way too familiar.

Three plus years ago we started down a road that we believed would lead us towards the completion of the adoption of two beautiful children, Justin and Emelyne. We find ourselves stuck and waiting, waiting, waiting. We keep looking around – searching for a way to get out of this stuck place . . . not to get out of our adoption process, but to complete it – finish what we started. There is a mountain (a man named Gabriel) in the way and we can’t see what is in front of us. There is seemingly no reason for the hold up. As I waited, I could see so much activity going on around – people passing on the sidewalk, workers doing their jobs. Likewise, we have watched countless friends begin and complete adoptions (and we are truly happy for them!) and yet it feels like we have not moved. As I sat I wept, and begged The Earth Mover to move the mountains in front of us – to clear the way so that we can proceed.

There is a man who has our file – he keeps trying to find things wrong with it. The Minister says our file is fine and she is ready to sign off on it as soon as this man, Gabriel, passes it along to her. This situation continues to be out of our hands (not that it ever was in our hands) and it is the most frustrating and tiring thing that we have ever been through. We are working with our contact as well as the American Embassy and the Sisters at the orphanage and are hoping that somehow they will be able to put pressure on Gabriel and convince him to do his job and sign our file. This next week is the Presidential Inauguration in Burundi so apparently few in the government go to work. So we live to wait another week.

One day closer . . .

Sweet Girl!!!

2010-08-22T13:02:00.001-07:00

I had the privileged of racing to Spokane to witness the birth of this sweet bebe girl Wednesday night and 11:59pm!!!

Welcome Baby Katelyn Grace!!!

The Strider

2010-07-30T11:07:00.000-07:00

We got a gift card for b@bies 'r' us when Jaron was born and we found ourselves two years later with no clue as to how to use it . . . weird dilemma, but there wasn't a whole lot that we wanted to use the card on. Recently though, we found these little bikes - "Strider Running Bikes"- and bought one with the gift card. They are pedal-less bikes that help kids learn balance. Jaron has had this bike for a little over three weeks and at first was a bit uninterested. Now that he's got a hang of it, it's hard to get him off of it! We have a little dirt pile in the back and he loves to glide down it! He considers it his "motorcycle" :)

The view from here: in pictures

2010-07-17T20:18:00.000-07:00

dew on the radishes

picked 13lbs of these on Friday!

riding his "motorcycle"

getting ready to roast a marshmallow in the chiminea - he insisted on wearing his winter hat.

Los Oats

2010-05-27T12:39:00.000-07:00

Can you read it? I got this recipe from the PA at Jaron's 9 month check-up. I'm not exactly sure how we got on the subject of steel cut oats but next thing I knew she was jotting down a recipe that she had found in Cook's Illustrated (great mag by the way!). She said it was the best way to make steel cut oats. We've made it this way ever since. Well, I always have to make a recipe my own so I guess I should say that we've used it as a guide ever since.

So here's our version:
In a medium saucepan melt:
2 T Butter

Add and saute until nutty:
2 c Steel Cut Oats

Add and simmer uncovered on low:
2 c Water (half of the above recipe - 4 c just makes it a lot soupier that we like - at most I'd add 2.5c)
2 c Almond Milk

Take off heat, add:
1/2 to 1 t sea salt

Let sit for 5 min.

Blueberries, chopped walnuts and real maple syrup are our favorite toppings!

A random post . . .

2010-05-27T12:17:00.000-07:00

. . . in which I talk to things that can not talk back . . .

We went to Cirque du Soleil last Saturday. It really is the most amazing show. Amazing. If you ever get a chance to see it - DO! Travelzoo - thank you for 50% off tickets - you rock!

Dear Blueberries (or "bloolies" as my favorite two year old calls them), sadly, I have taken the last bag of you out of the freezer. You have served us well this winter and I will be missing your presence in my steel cut oats (recipe to come soon) and smoothies for the next two months. Please come soon . . . oh wait, you need the sun for that, don't you? Which leads me to . . .

Dear Rain, I'm not one to complain too much about your presence . . . but frankly I could use a little sun. Actually, it's my garden I'm most worried about (although I'm "feeling it" too). See, when the sun is out, I can control the water that my garden gets. When it rains constantly, I can not control the amount of sun my garden gets. Frankly? You're drowning my bean and cucumber seedlings. From the looks of it, they don't like that. Plus, I've got tons of Raspberries, Strawberries and Blueberries that desperately need the sun.

And while I'm at it, Slugs - please stop eating my lettuce. We can do that job just fine. We don't need you to slime things up.

The End.

Link Love

2010-05-21T13:50:00.000-07:00

A few blog entries that have caught my attention in the past few weeks:

The Livesay's: Abundance and Scarcity - this post was pretty impacting for me. I think about this topic all the time - it seems like there is always this tension for me, it's always at the back of my mind. Also, in light of the fact that our kids are getting older and older I worry a lot about the institutional affects of being in an orphanage and how that will affect our family - it pushes my boundaries but I know that I need to keep looking at what the Lord sets up as my boundaries, not what I want my boundaries to be.

Our Little Tongginator: Love and Adoption - a must read for all those who have or will adopt and for all those who know someone who has or who will adopt (I hope that's pretty much everyone:)!

(in)Courage: What Every Family Really Needs to be Really Strong - for every Momma who wants to speak strength, hope and peace into her children . . . and Why the Kids Really Need a Red Hen Mama - exhortation to be present with your children.

Elections

2010-05-20T12:01:00.000-07:00

Updated to add: Elections for today (May 21) have been postponed until Monday May 24 due to an error on the ballots . . . Sigh - one more day for government offices to be closed.

Tomorrow begins the first of many (5 possibly 6) election in Burundi. This election season is long - it runs May 21 to September 7 and it includes a pivotal Presidential election (and possible run-off).

From allAfrica- this article includes a brief description of Burundi's recent tumultuous history: Country Faces Major Test as Poll Season Begins

Please pray for peace and for leaps and bounds to be made towards political maturity.

Columbine

2010-05-19T21:15:00.000-07:00

It's the middle of May. The Columbine are blooming. For me, Columbine will forever be the flower that reminds me of Jaron's birth. When I was laboring at home in the sweltering heat (it was in the hundreds mind you - and that is not an exaggeration) I would walk the paths of my garden over and over. I would water my flowers and plants. Before we left for Andaluz I filled a half a dozen of my little bottles with flowers. Bleeding hearts, Grape Hyacinth and Columbine. We placed the flowers on the ledge near the tub where hours gave way to days of laboring. A sweet sweet memory of the work done to birth our son.

2010-05-19T12:35:00.000-07:00

We got home from Costco last night and there was a package for Jaron at the door. They've been piling up all week for his birthday.

Me: Jaron! Look a package for you! Man- you've hit the mother load this week!

Jaron: Mommy load!

24 Months of Fun!

2010-05-19T12:26:00.000-07:00

It was raining hard on Saturday so we all had a run about in the rain. This picture so well captures the free spirited-ness of Jaron. Today he turns two years old. Two! All week we've been practicing singing Happy Birthday to him, and he's been practicing by singing it to himself. When he woke up this morning we sang to him and he threw a fit - what a crack up!

Jaron, you are your name, "Cry of Rejoicing". You bring joy and laughter to all who meet you. Your keen sense of humor, compassionate heart and playful spirit meld into one amazing little man.

Some fun facts about Jaron:
His prayers: Almost nightly he does two things - he prays for Emelyne and Justin and he thanks God for dog poop.

His vision: The kid sees things before anyone else. If Jaron says he sees a cat/garbage truck/school bus/squirrel/bird/ant, we believe him because it is usually there, even if we don's see it for another 30 seconds.

His sense of humor: Jaron is a bundle of good times. He's never far from a laugh and he brings laughter wherever he goes. He likes to tease and easily draws others in with his sense of humor.

His loves: dirt, being outside, squirting people with squirt bottles, balloons, baths, pretzels, trains, motorcycles, bugs, books, hiding, music, logurt and honey (said in a pitifully cute voice).

Going to the Dentist

2010-05-07T12:58:00.000-07:00

It’s been a long time eh? Well, I refuse to feel guilty about not writing here – because sheesh, that’s just plain crazy! However, you may or may not be pleased to know that I compose blog posts in my head daily, sometimes multiple times a day, the thoughts just don’t make it to the keyboard. Some of my friends are really great at verbal processing (yup I’m talking about you Emie :)– that’s just not me and I’m learning to be ok with that. I prefer to process process process and then spit it all out – and if it makes it to the keyboard, well then, lucky you:). That’s all fine and dandy when it comes to inconsequential things like a blog. Life though, is about unfinished stories and more questions than answers. Again, I’m learning to be ok with that :).

There has been a lot going on in the past 4ish months – a lot of emotionally consuming things. Pardon my vagueness, but a lot is family related and not appropriate blog fodder. Regardless, that combined with our adoption adventures leaves me feeling spent. Which brings me to the title of this post . . .

We’ve been in this whole adoption process A LONG TIME! In my head/heart I know that it’s been a long time but there are a few things that naggingly remind us of the long timeness. Strangely enough, the most annoying one for both Geoff and I happens to be going to the dentist. We are fortunate enough (lucky? blessed?) to have dental insurance and with that comes two free cleanings per year . . . which comes with a chatty hygienist (bless her heart – she really is wonderful). Our dentist is great – I mean that sincerely – He’s the best dentist I’ve had, ever. They make sure that you have the same hygienist every time – you know so that they can keep notes on you about the little things that they talk to you about while they pick at your teeth and all the questions that they ask that you try to answer between gagging, using that spit sucker thing and trying to rinse the gritty junk that they clean your teeth with. Frankly, it’s hard enough to answer questions like, “How’s Jaron doing?” or “Do you still go to Southgate?” with two hands in your mouth. But then come the big dogs, “Do you have those kids yet?” and “What is taking so long?”. Uh . . . can I spit please?

So here we are in May – August will round out three years that we have been in this process. After I go to the dentist on Tuesday, that will be my 6^th visit (unless I mysteriously get ill . . . I’ve been thinking about it) since we started down this Burundi path. When every day people ask – the ones who love us and pray faithfully for us - that doesn’t get old (ok – truth, sometimes that is hard too – but these people know more of the play by play and there’s not 6 months of stuff to catch them up on). It’s these markers like the dentist that remind me of the length of time that has passed – that remind me that my kids are wearing 3T, soon to be 4T clothes instead of 12 mo, 18 mo, 24 mo . . .

I don’t know how much longer it will be before we get to smother our kids with love. I just don’t know. Some days it feel like we’re on the brink – other days . . . .

So back to the beginning – I don’t feel guilty about not posting on this blog, however I do feel as though I have deprived you, my faithful checkeruppers of the opportunity to know what is happening so you can pray. On that note: Our file is at the Ministry of Solidarity – there is one guy there (who shall remain nameless) who has our file. His job is to analyze our file and hand it off to the courts. Our file is complete – it has everything that it needs for him to analyze it. He just needs to DO HIS JOB!!! Once the file goes to court then there is only a specific length of time that they can hold on to it before they give the Adoption Decree. Then, we go – we go get our two preschoolers. This guy – he’s had our file for months now. We need him to sign it. The end.

My newest motto is “One day closer”. I am confident that God knows the exact day that we will meet our kids. Every day that passes without them is one day closer to the time when we go get them. And I will close with this:

In other news: the littlest kiddo turns 2 in two weeks – I’ll be sure to post an update on him here soon

What Mothers Cannot Do

2010-03-23T12:13:00.000-07:00

Lord,
in this frenzied puttering
around the house,
see more!
The dusting,
straightening,
muttering,
are but the poor
efforts of a heavy heart
to help time pass.
Praying on my knees
I get uptight;
for hearts and lives
are not the only things
that need to be
put right.

And, while I clean,
please,
if tears should fall,
they’re settling the dust,
—that’s all.
Lord, I will straighten
all I can
and You—
take over what we mothers/sisters/aunts . . .
cannot do.

by Ruth Bell Graham - italicized words added by me

Does your kid get the herky jerkies?

2010-03-17T15:23:00.000-07:00

Herky Jerky: characterized by sudden, irregular, or unpredictable movement or style

Gosh, I thought I'd made the word up but thanks to a Google search, I've found that it's a real term! See Mom? I'm only half as crazy as you think :)

Jaron will be 22 months old on Friday. All of his life he's done this strange thing every time he hits a big milestone in development. He gets the herky jerkies. When he was little little it took a few times of the herky jerkies to hit before we figured out what was going on. It would look like this: Life, moving along like normal (whatever that is) then, all of the sudden for three days or so our nights were interrupted with Jaron experiencing sudden, irregular and unpredictable movement. He would have a hard time falling asleep, and if he did he would wake up the instant you moved or tried to put him down. He would flop around in bed and wake himself up all night long. If we brought him into bed he would be a crazy man - flopping like a fish out of water but he'd be half asleep. In bed with us he would sleep best if he was pretty much laying on me at least partially. Then, just as fast as it came on, after a few days, he'd be fine. Life would continue on as before the herky jerkiness. Except - he would suddenly have a new trick. Sitting up, crawling, walking, talking, growth spurts - they all follow herky jerky episodes. We just got done with a herky jerky weekend. Hmmm! I wonder what new trick Jaron will pull out of the bag???

Do your kids do this? Is this like some crazy neurologically super-sensitive phenomenon that only my child experiences? I'm not talking about seizures or anything that causes me to worry, I'm just talking about herky jerkiness, you know? Anyone? Come on - somebody has got to have studied this in some fascinating college course . . . maybe not?

Preach it!

2010-03-04T13:43:00.000-08:00

As I washed Jaron up after breakfast this morning:

Celina: Jaron, you are a joy and delight to our family
Jaron: . . .
Celina: I love you!
Jaron: Amen!

in the words of our budding artist:

2010-02-13T07:30:00.000-08:00

"nakey, nakey, nakey, PAINT!"

They're still living it

2010-02-11T09:51:00.000-08:00

The people of Haiti - they're still living it every single day. A few blogs I've been following:
this isn't grey's anatomy
The Livesay [Haiti] Weblog

Sometimes it's easy to forget when it's not in your face . . .

beautiful

2010-02-08T20:36:00.000-08:00

I read the most beautiful birth story today . . . here. Be prepared to cry - and rejoice!

Rocks and such

2010-01-31T15:48:00.001-08:00

It has been nice enough to play outside several days this past week and so we took advantage of that! Jaron has discovered the yellow dump truck and loves to push it up the burm - nevermind that mommy has pretty flowers planted there. I do believe that between Rosie being terrorized/teased by a squirrel in the tree above (and thus trampling all the living things sprouting out of the ground) and Jaron driving trucks all over the little hills, I have lost this small battle. When early spring comes I'll salvage as much as I can and transplant them to a safer location! Then they can have the dirt piles to themselves :)

2010-01-25T18:46:00.000-08:00

Doing the dishes every night is just one of the many many many reasons that my husband absolutely rocks! You bless me so much G!

I hope you know there is somebody searching . . .

2010-01-19T14:14:00.000-08:00

. . . for a way to get you here.

Saw this on a blog I read - this song and video is "Amos Story" by Aaron Ivey. It's about his son who is in Haiti awaiting the completion of his adoption. It beautifully describes the heartache and hope of a parent waiting for their child. I couldn't help but think of Justin and Emelyne.

. . . so close your eyes and dream of a better day with me. As angels hold you tight may you sleep in peace tonight. So dream, dream, dream my child. Hear the whisperings of hope. It's a song that you can sing as you sleep in peace tonight. I'll find a way to get you here if it takes every breath. Another sun rise hits the ground and its a dark lonely sight. Lightyears away I hope you know there's somebody searching for the way to get you here. I'll get you here.

Pray for Haiti

2010-01-14T08:28:00.000-08:00

Here are a few links to blogs that I read regularly:

Howerton Family Blog
Welcome to My Brain
Medical Advocacy Team
Heartline Ministries

Update: What are the Green's doing to help? Well I wouldn't normally blog on this but if I do, then $10 more will be donated to Compassion International's outreach in Haiti. We made a donation to Medical Teams International. Our donation was matched up to $50 by Geoff's employer, Sterling Communications. Now, since I blogged about it :) a gal who's blog I read, Money saving Mom, will donate and additional $10 for relief efforts in Haiti. Not a bad way to make $50 into $110! Thanks Sterling and MSM for adding to our donation! Shoot - may as well make it $111 right? Savings and Stewardshi p added those 100 pennies!

Maybe you should blog about it too? Click here for more details.

Quiet Endings

2009-12-31T10:02:00.000-08:00

We spent Christmas in Spokane this year. My brother and niece as well as my sister were up from Texas so we all converged at my parents home. It was good to be together.

We've been striving to make Christmas more and more simple as the years come. Thankfully, my parents are in on it too. Geoff and I stuff each others stockings with small, mostly edible gifts but don't do anything outside of that. We got Jaron a little pot and pan set. We didn't exchange gifts between parents or siblings. It was fantastically simple. I don't miss the volume of gifts. I don't miss shopping. I don't miss the gift bags, the bows, the wrapping paper, the clutter. We budget for Christmas - putting a sum of money away each month and each year we take a percentage and give it towards Advent Conspiracy. This year we got to give even more of it away.

The year is wrapping up quietly. Geoff has a lot of vacation to use (you know, we save it all up - just in case a miracle happens and we get to go to Burundi . . . ) so he's been working half days and spending extra time at home. There are a lot of hopes and dreams that we have for the coming year. The main hope is that we will be able to travel to get our kids in Burundi. There are still some hoops to jump through to do that - but we hope that this is the year . . .

What were you doing 6:30 am on Saturday morning?

2009-12-14T08:59:00.000-08:00

I was just telling my mom last week that I was surprised we hadn't had any trips to the ER yet. Jaron tends to move at lightning speed and the concept of body control is not on the radar yet.
Saturday morning bright and early Jaron tripped on Rosies bed in our bedroom and fell into the corner of our dresser. It was small but deep, slightly gaping and "T" shaped. So I called my personal Peds after hours (a.k.a. my mom:), texted her a picture and she said confirmed that yup - we probably needed stitches. We headed out the door to the ER (urgent care wasn't open for another two hours). We stopped at st*rbucks for coffee and scones on our way - does that make me a bad mom? :)

Here's our little buddy with 5 stitches. Poor little guy!

Let me tell you though - he's got a lot of fight and a great set of lungs. It took three of us to hold him down and he screamed the whole time. It was heart wrenching to hold him down but easier than watching someone else do it. The ladies in reception and everyone in the waiting area were so sad for him - yes, they could hear him at the front desk even with the door closed.

We like to start our weekends with a bang :)

Everything Cookies

2009-12-02T09:17:00.000-08:00

We are loving this recipe for "cookies". They're perfect - Jaron feels like he is having a treat and I know that everything in them is good for him! We make a batch and then freeze them for snacks through the week!

Everything Cookies
(adapted from Bob's Red Mill "Health Cookies")

Ingredients:
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup wheat germ (or wheat bran or ground flax)
1/4 cup milk powder
3/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (or almond butter)
3/4 cup honey (or brown rice syrup)
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup dried unsweetened cranberries
3/4 cup quick cooking rolled oats
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/3 cup sunflower seeds
1/3 cup shredded coconut (unsweetened)
1 cup raisins (unsulfured)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.

Stir flour, wheat germ, powdered milk, salt, baking powder and baking soda together.
In separate bowl beat together butter, peanut butter and honey. Add egg and vanilla; beat well. Add flour mixture, mix well. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto cookie sheet.

Bake for 10 minutes. Let cool on cookie sheet2 minutes then remove to wire rack to cool completely.

Makes four dozen.

Winter garden

2009-11-15T14:28:00.000-08:00

Well, winter gardening is going! Some things have been a total bomb - some things have been fantastic. I'm finding that if my plants didn't mature enough when the sun was warm then they probably aren't going to mature completely although they might surprise me.

Not so great:
Pac Choi: This surprised me - it grew pretty fast and went to seed before I could harvest it. I'm not sold on the taste but the stalk makes a good sub for celery in stir fry
Kale: I want to like you but I haven't found the right way to eat you yet. Smoothies are ok with enough agave, sauteed works but I only really like it with bacon or a lot of butter and well, I'm just not going to cook that way. Next we'll try creamed kale.
Turnips: I just don't know what I did wrong with these guys. I got a few that were nice but the others grew funny
Beets: Didn't get enough sun in time to grow big - I had them hidden behind a tomato plant.
Canoe Peas: Well these were great but they didn't produce very many - I'll try the rest of my seeds in the spring and plant a bunch. They were short lived too.

Great:
Carrots: Oh how I love you. We will be able to eat fresh carrots through the winter!!!
Broccoli: Coming along grand! I think that I can pick the first here this week.
Parsnips: Almost there - I can't wait to roast these lovelies up!
Spinach: Held strong until about two weeks ago - really great variety.
Winter Lettuce: Still coming! I should have planted more though.
Winter greens blend: This has been adding nice color and texture to our salads.
Mustard: growing really well and I can tolerate it hidden in a salad - next up we'll try it sauteed.
Radishes: These buddies grow fast - 22 days. They look pretty in a salad but we don't eat them plain . . . we certainly don't eat 4 rows worth. So while they grew great, I'll plant less next time.
Chard: Good looking/tasting variety - didn't plant enough though.

Kohlrabi and parsnips

My first broccoli!!!

Verdict is still out:
Chinese Cabbage: Still need to harvest . . . and find a recipe.
Cauliflower: They're growing but I haven't seen any heads yet.
Kohlrabi: I want these to work sooooooo badly. I thought for a while that they would be a bust but they are getting bigger!

It still hasn't frosted here - so I picked 4 red bell peppers Friday. Yes four!!! I've never been able to get my peppers to turn red because they go bad or the season ends too soon. This mild Autumn allowed them to turn and they are beautiful!

We get outside and enjoy dry weather whenever we can . . . it does the boy-o and momma good!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-10-28T10:08:00.000-07:00

Same ol'

2009-10-26T20:05:00.000-07:00

Same ol' same ol'. That's all I have when people ask about our adoption. Still waiting. The end. Since I mentioned in my last post that we should hopefully be getting some new news, I promptly was lame and didn’t post. Why? I was so totally disappointed that we actually didn’t get any news at all. Actually it was more than total disappointment. The rollercoaster of emotions has got to stop soon. It has become quite emotionally draining to hope hope hope and then – splat – nothing. So, while hopefully things are happening that we can’t see and don’t hear about, we are really still in the same spot that we were a few weeks ago. Changes are happening in the Burundian adoption system – changes that are good. Changes that will speed the process up, that will weed out people who profit (more than they should) from the process – they really are good changes. We’re just stuck in the middle of them. I keep reminding myself that it is not all about me and what I want. There is a bigger story going on, many other stories in fact that are all woven together and they all affect each other.

Justin turns 3 on Wednesday. Three. I can’t even believe it. We got his picture when he was 9 months old. Now he’s 3. I knew we’d miss his first birthday. When his second birthday rolled around I was certain that it wouldn’t be much longer. And here we are another year later. It’s crazy-sad to sort through clothes that I have for him and Emelyne. Clothes that they will never wear. I know – dumb clothes – but they mark time for me. Time that has passed without Justin and Emelyne here.

We put together a package to send to both the kids for Justin’s birthday – some clothes, a stuffed animal, a mini etch-a-sketch, match box car, a doodle pro, crayons and paper, a disposable camera (we send one with each package – we have asked Mother Superior to take periodic pictures of the kids with it and save it for us so that we can get them when we come, That way our kids will have a few more pictures in the long run – we hope that the pictures are really being taken . . .), pictures of us and letters. We also sent a bunch of tea and chapstick for the Sisters. Do nuns wear chapstick or drink tea? We shall see :).

thoughts running around in my head

2009-10-05T11:15:00.000-07:00

Been meditating on these things lately:
" . . . But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently." Romans 8: 24, 25 NIV

"There's more to come: We continue to shout our praise even when we're hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we're never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary—we can't round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit!" Romans 5:3-5 The Message

Been holding on to these words - words that were first given to us and then confirmed as others have prayed in the Spirit for us:
"The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases." Proverbs 21:1 NIV

"Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." Isaiah40:30, 31 NIV

That our children in Burundi would know and experience Love.

Aren't they beautiful?

This is potentially a big week for us adoption-wise. Meetings, decisions, etc. Hopefully by the end of the week we'll have some more solid information but for the time will you lift these two children of the King up to Him? He can change the hearts of kings (or even just make them do their job in a timely manner :)!!!

In other news . . . this kid

. . . continues to keep us on our toes. He is an absolute kick in the pants. He keeps us laughing and shaking our heads at every turn. He is infatuated with being outside where he litters the yard with sticks, feeds the chickens tomatoes and is fascinated with garden spiders. He is just starting to say words besides momma and dadda; "hot" and "ro-ro" (Rosie) being his most recent favorite words. He loves music and does a pretty sweet air guitar as well as busts a few dance moves during our singing time at church. What was life like without this joy and light in our life???

Perspective

2009-08-28T14:12:00.000-07:00

I found myself weeping over this overwhelming blog post today: you can read it here

While you're at it, you may as well bookmark her blog - you're going to want to read her past posts too: kissesfromkatie.blogspot.com

El Jardin

2009-08-25T20:25:00.000-07:00

I'm totally loving this time of year - garden-wise. You know, earlier in the season you get a few raddishes or carrots, the strawberries are in full force, then the raspberries, then the blueberries . . . but then mid to late summer comes and everything just goes crazy out there! I love that every time we are in the garden Jaron immediately goes over to the tomatoes and picks a few for the chickens. He's afraid to put the tomatoes in their house because they've mistaken his fingers for food a time or too so he just stands there with the tomatoes in had and the chickens pace and cluck at him. I think he might like the garden as much as we do!

Here's what we picked two Saturdays ago:
Tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, peppers, carrots, raddishes, lettuce - wild, butterhead and spinach, an onion, figs, leeks, cabbage and basil! Talk about abundance!

Yesterday I made soup and every single vegetable and herb in it was from our garden except the corn - and that was from a farm a mile or so away!

Check out this zucchini plant:
This is in a 4x8 box. If I would have planted it in the middle it would have taken over the entire box. As it sits, it crowded out a good deal of the greenbeans as well as one of my Armenian cucumber plants. And yes, we run an organic garden - so no hormones here!

The fig tree is heavy with figs - another week and they'll be ready - same with the grapes. look at these beauties:

Jaron and I enjoyed our first bunch today.

The fun is just beginning for us though! We decided that this year we are going to try to garden through the winter. Crazy I know - since we usually hit September and we're so sick of having things to harvest. The climate here is perfect for winter gardening so we're going to try our had at taking advantage of that. We've ordered seeds from a local company that has varieties specific to our area (which happens to be a good idea for anyone who gardens - order seeds from a local company if you can! they should have seeds do well in your climate - makes sense, huh?). Starting in June we started a bunch of seeds - some in the ground and some in peat pots. The ones we started in the ground we interplanted with some of our existing plants and also put some where earlier plants were finished. We have been transplanting the seedlings from the peat pots into the ground the last few weeks and it looks good so far! I'm excited to try some new recipes this winter. The winter garden will consist of: Fall Broccoli Blend, Brussels Sprouts, Beets-Autumn Harvest Blend, Cabbage, Collards, Carrot-Merida, Kohlrabi-Superschmelz (don't you just love that name!), Kale - Dwarf Siberian, Lettuce-Arctic Tundra Blend, Winter Greens Blend, Mustard-Tah Tsai, Onion, Chinese Cabbage-Monument, Pac Choi, Parsnip-Javelin, Radish-Cherry Belle, Spinach-Giant Winter, Swiss Chard, Turnip, Cauliflower-Amazing and Garlic. The challenge will be to stay on top of it all come . . . winter.

Leave 'em alone for just a minute . . .

2009-08-25T20:14:00.000-07:00

I love me some blankies in the potty - don't you?
Thank you Jesus that he can't flush yet. Amen.

Do you diaper?

2009-08-19T11:29:00.001-07:00

This post is for all the mommas out there who purchase and change loads of diapers. We are a 75/25 family when it comes to diapering - what I mean by that is we do cloth diapers 75% of the time and then at nights, when I feel lazy or when we go out for a longer period of time (about 25% of the time) we use disposable dipes. Just purchasing disposable diapers for the 25% of the time is costly so I hit sales and stock up whenever I can (last month I got a crazy good deal of 5 jumbo packs of Huggies for $11!!!) so I'm here to tell you about a deal that I am taking part of that you just might want to try yourself. I takes a little time but in the end you'll end up saving a bundle of cash.

So here's what you do:

1. Go to diapers.com and sign up for a new account (you have to be a new customer to take advantage of this deal)

2. Get last weeks Sunday paper and find the $3 off Huggies Pure and Natural coupon that was in the the Smart Source - OR there might be a $3 off Huggies Pure and Natural coupon available here OR print off the $1.50 off any Huggies coupon that is found here (you can print two per computer - just hit the back button - you need 5 of these coupons so you'll need to have access to three computers or use a combination of newspaper coupons and internet printed coupons - ask your neighbors, friends and family too!) As you can see the more newspaper coupons that you can get the more $$$ you'll save! As I said before - you need 5 coupons total.

3. Mail your coupons (5) along with 1. your name, 2. your email address, 3. your billing address to:
Diapers.com
P.O. Box 1564
Montclair, NJ 07042
It should take about one week for the coupons to be credited to your account.

4. Once the coupons have been credited, place your order.

Buy 5 Jumbo packs of Huggies Pure & Natural diapers ($9.99/each) = $49.95
Use 5 coupons you mailed in - they will be credited to your account (-$7.50 to -$15)
Use promo code GREEN5 at check out to get $10 off (-$10) This code does not expire
Total = $32.45 (if you use 5 $1.50 coupons) to $ 24.95 (if you use 5 $3 coupons) or somewhere in between if you use a combo of coupons

IMPORTANT: When ordering, do not check the e-coupon for $1.50 or $3 off. You will only get $1.50 or $3 total off and be unable to use your mailed coupons.

5. Mail your receipt in for Parenting Magazine $14.97 rebate.

**IMPORTANT: Print this form off NOW as Diapers.com periodically pulls it. If you wait until you receive your receipt from Diapers.com, you may not be able to find it again. Also read the terms - there are important things in there like: make sure that you send your receipt in with your rebate and send your rebate in within 4 weeks of purchase.

Total for 5 packs of diapers delivered to your home: between $17.48 and $9.98 after coupons, discounts & rebate with free shipping (on all orders $49 and up)!

**********

Now, if you are really ambitious, you can go to Diapers.com's site through Ebates. Sign up for a new account there and you will receive 1% on your Diapers.com order plus a $5 sign up bonus. That would make your total somewhere between $5 and $12!!! FOR 5 PACKS OF DIAPERS!!!

You can use any combination of manufacturer's coupons -- Huggies, Luvs, Pampers, etc. The only requirement is that your total is at least $49 before coupons to use the $10 promo code (GREEN5) and to get free shipping. Oh, and Diapers.com has FAST shipping!!!

**The $10 promo code discount and Parenting Magazine rebate are avaliable only for new Diapers.com customers.

I know, I know there are a lot of steps to this - but if you can be organized about it and take a few minutes to do the work it will save you a bunch of money! Let me know if you have questions!

Peace and love to all the mommas I know who change diapers every day :)

Camping Fun

2009-08-13T09:07:00.000-07:00

Got back this week from spending a long weekend (long as in Fri-Mon, not long as in it seemed to last forever) North of Carson, WA at Beaver Campground. It was pretty overcast most of the time which lent to lots of walks, sitting around in front of the fire chatting, reading, and just hanging out. Of course we chased Jaron around all over the place too since he no longer walks, his little legs just run. It was a beautifully shady and quiet campground. The trees were all sycamore and maple - I bet fall camping there is spectacular!

Lots of "hiking through the woods"

Grandma had the magic touch many many times

Lots and lots of cool bugs to be found!

The food was great :)

What a great friend to do all of this with!!! We're finding that we make a darn good team

And we were in great company!

As seen on Target shelves . . .

2009-08-04T08:14:00.001-07:00

I was at Target yesterday and Jaron and I browsed the sale toys . . . I saw this item - the "Crayola Sidewalk Paint Sprayer". The description says "This motorized sprayer gives your budding artist an exciting new way to create". I was just wondering, isn't this starting 'em a little young when it comes to tagging? Just wondering :)

Two years

2009-07-24T20:11:00.000-07:00

Today marks two years since we received this picture in our inbox:

Here they are - Emelyne at approx 6 mo. and Justin at approx 9 mo. Aren't they cuties? At that time we began the process of deciding if we would accept both referrals. It didn't take long. YES!!! What we didn't know at the time was that the one year that our attorney thought it would take for the process to be complete would turn into two years . . . and beyond. There are a lot of emotions we experience on a daily basis when thinking about our kids and the adoption process that we are in - frustration, anger, peace, love, impatience, hope, helplessness. Mostly we just feel sad that we can't be with them. We pray all the time that God will Father them and that they will know love.

Afghanistan, eight years . . .

2009-07-19T19:36:00.000-07:00

I came across this photo essay in The Boston Globe today . . . it takes you on a very powerful photographic journey. They are emotional and thought provoking.

There are two parts: Part 1, Part 2.

'Round these here parts

2009-06-24T12:22:00.000-07:00

A few snapshots of our life these days:
The last month or so has held a lot for us - we've definitely enjoyed the summer so far . . .

*** Our bathroom is 99% finished (has been for a few weeks)! We just have a couple of finishing touches to put in place and then I'll post before and after pictures.

*** The garden is growing! We've had a great garden year so far - radishes, lettuce, snap peas, strawberries, strawberries, strawberries, raspberries, and did I mention strawberries?

um, these are the radishes.

*** Jaron continues to delight! He is quite the jamonito (say it with your best espanol accent - it means little ham). He keeps us on our toes and laughing almost constantly.

He loves to be outside.

(nose, meet concrete. how do you do?)

The dirt is his friend.

He loves to pilfer strawberries and raspberries.

The chickens captivate him - he watches them for minutes (quite a feat) and likes to stick weeds in the fence to feed them. He loves to carry sticks around the yard whapping everything in sight. He is getting *8* teeth at once!!! We really should buy stock in Hyland's teething tablets. All of his one year molars are in or poking through and his eye teeth are just about poking through.

Jaron is also quite the little helper with baking, sweeping, loading the dishwasher, chopping scallions . . .

yep that's rhubarb

*** We attended Canby's Family Fun in the Park day and enjoyed people watching and animal petting.

*** We went strawberry picking last week with friends and had a blast! Like we need more strawberries? Made a ton of freezer jam, froze a ton for smoothies and crushed some up and froze them for desserts.

*** After a great hunt we found a baby bike seat and we've been tooling around town on our sweet ride. Geoff and I look totally dorky in our helmets - how does he look so dang cute?

*** And finally our adoption: It's hard to know what to say. If you think it's been a long time then we feel like its been eternity (ok, i know that is totally blowing it out of proportion). Here's the deal, every day all day we think about all three of our kids and our hearts long to be together - the five of us. If we could, we'd pack up and head to Burundi for the duration of this process. Our hearts hurt every time we hear "mama, papa, how are you? I love you" from the other side of the world as we talk to Justin and Emelyne on the phone. Our patience is tested every time we are told that we will hear word soon and it never comes. We are approaching two years in this Burundi process and the only certain thing is that it is not over yet. The sweet faces that we saw at 6 and 9 months old are 2 1/2 years old now. We can't really explain why our process has taken so long, it just has. There are probably explanations - some we know, most we don't. The thing is - it's not in our hands. As much as our hearts long for the day when we will be together - we can't do a thing to make it be that way. We just keep trusting and hoping and longing and trying not to let our hearts hurt so much . . .

The two sweet ones! Feb. '09

For the most part we're loving life, enjoying summer and looking with great anticipation to the future!

If you can't find your cell phone . . .

2009-06-02T10:17:00.000-07:00

make sure you look in the block box.

365 days ago

2009-05-19T09:32:00.000-07:00

Jaron Ezekiel Green was born one year ago today! I can't begin to describe how this child has changed my life.

Labor with Jaron began on Friday the 16th at 4am when my water broke. It progressed s.l.o.w.l.y. and it was HOT outside. Remember last year the first really hot weekend of the year? Yup that is the weekend that I went into labor. I labored at home for two full days (yes, in most circumstances your baby will be fine for that length of time or even longer if your water breaks - the baby continues to get nutrition and oxygen from the placenta. Additionally, amniotic fluid is constantly produced and can even replenish itself). I drank a ton of water and tried to rest as much as possible. on Saturday there was still nothing remarkable in regards to contractions. We walked up and down the street, I walked in the garden, I watered the garden, I got things ready for the birth center - we'd pretty much gotten things ready Friday morning though - expecting that we'd be farther along by now. Did I mention that it was hot out? Geoff took a picture of our outdoor thermometer for the record:

It wasn't until Saturday at 11:30pmish that my contractions were 4-1-1 (Four minutes apart, lasting a minute each, for the duration of an hour). We went into Andaluz - an amazing place btw - and one of our midwives met us there to get us set up. Geoff tried not to speed and I tried not to be annoyed at every bump in the road - I was incredibly uncomfortable. The plan was to have a water birth and I immediately hopped (ok, maybe not hopped) into one of the birthing tubs. The water was soothing and helped relieve much of the pressure and eased contractions a bit. We brought a bunch of my little glass bottles with flowers from the yard in them, i remember the columbine the most vividly. I can't look at a columbine today without thinking of my birthing experience.

I labored through the night on Saturday and into Sunday morning. I remember seeing the sun rise on Sunday morning and I thought that it was certain that I would not see another sunrise before my child was born (didn't know he was a boy yet!). My contractions waxed and waned all day Sunday. I was so frustrated at this long process and didn't understand what was going on with my body (of course all I really had to compare process with was that of my two best friends who happen to pop their children out in seconds). Jaron continued do have good heart rhythm which was great - it gave me a lot of relief to know that even though it was taking a long time that he was doing ok in there. Geoff and I walked around the building a million times, we jogged up the stairs and walked slowly down, I labored on the the birthing ball, the toilet, the bed and in the tub. A lot of Sunday feels like a blur - I remember feeling constantly noxious and throwing up all over Geoff. I didn't want to lay down because that is when my contractions intensified, joking about how long it was taking and enjoying the shower. By Sunday evening I was really frustrated by how things were going. I just wanted there to be a magic thing that I could do to make things progress. I fully expected that we'd be done by now!

The sun came up on Monday morning. I remember thinking to myself - the sun will not come up again without me delivering this baby!!! Through all of this time I had a wonderful birthing coach in Geoff and three wonderful midwives who took care of me. Each lent something to the experience that made it a joyful, beautiful and peaceful. Geoff and I were able to take a lot of time alone - in one particular instance Monday morning I realized that fear was holding me back from emotionally giving myself to the process. I feared the pain and I feared the unknown. I shared that with Geoff and he prayed over me - I began singing a short melody, I don't even remember where I learned it:

Holy Spirit come, Holy Spirit dwell,
fill this place with joy overflowing, with peace overflowing,
in all of your glory, come.

Shortly after that my contractions picked up and I finally felt the urge to push. It was still slow going but progress was being made. I found that things progressed faster if I used a birthing stool - something about that birthing position was conducive for me. Eventually my mom and sister came in, I think that they were in the room for a couple of hours and finally Jaron was born at 12:31pm. I was still on the birthing stool and gravity took effect - he came out fast. Usually the head is born and then with the next contraction comes the rest of the baby but Jaron flew out. Turns out he was semi-posterior which explains a bit of the looooong labor. The birthing experience was amazing - I definitely recommend it :). Really though - it is amazing - emotionally and physically unlike anything else!

I can't thank God enough for the beautiful gift of Jaron. He is our gift of joy.

The day after Jaron was born

Three months old

Six months old

Nine months old

One year old
Happy Birthday Jaron Ezekiel!

Over two hundred reasons . . .

2009-04-28T21:16:00.000-07:00

TO MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS AROUND A PORCUPINE!!!

This is my sister's dog, Caleb, after he visited the neighborhood porcupine yesterday night.

poor Caleb dogger!!!

Tis Spring

2009-04-24T13:41:00.001-07:00

It's spring in Oregon!!! Ok, I know it's officially been spring for a few weeks now but, Woo hoo! Now, someone tell me why we waited until now to tear apart our bathroom instead of using our winter months???

our king edward II flowering red currant (king eddie for short)

our magnolia tree

Friends who make cool things - giveaway alert!!!

2009-04-17T09:53:00.000-07:00

*Update* holy cow i won!!! now . . . what sign should i pick . . .???

One of the beauties (think about that word for a minute . . . weird huh? beauties?) of the internet is that you are able to connect with long lost friends! A while back Kristal popped back into my life and we've caught up on each others lives via e-mail and blogging.

Kristal has some serious creativity going on - she even has her own etsy shop! She makes the cutest signs! Scoot yourself on over to her etsy shop ({grateful tulip}) and check her signs out . . . then head on over to her blog (the varela voyage) and enter to WIN two signs - one from her shop and one that you get to customize!!!

2009-04-12T12:38:00.000-07:00

The LORD is risen!

Our little gardener

2009-04-11T09:29:00.001-07:00

Jaron got his first taste of gardening yesterday. I think he liked it!

Ten months old

2009-04-01T09:57:00.000-07:00

I'm a few weeks late on this one but here is a picture of Jaron at 10 months old (March 19th)
Currently Jaron's favorite past times are: cutting teeth #7 and 8, chasing Rosie around our all fours, tooling around the couches and coffee table, pushing anything that will move (diaper box, rolling block box, dining room chairs, computer chair), putting his hands in his mouth to gag himself, eating (food and otherwise), entertaining, getting his hands on any form of paper within his reach, spitting . . . the list goes on and on. He's Mr. Always-on-the-move!

I got him some of those whole wheat teething biscuits - those are nice and messy by the way - to keep him busy in his booster chair while I get his meals ready. Good 'ol Rosie has a sneak habit of staling them when I have my back turned. Well the other day I tossed Rosie a treat and left Jaron in the living room while I went into the kitchen to get him some water. Moments later Jaron is sitting next to Rosie with something in his mouth. Hmmm, what could it be??? Delicious! The kid was snacking on Rosie's dog treat. Serves you right for stealing his teething biscuits Rosie!!!

I just about threw up from the smell of his dog treat breath :)

Real Customer Service

2009-03-05T13:53:00.000-08:00

I ordered some diapers for Jaron a couple of weeks ago. I was really excited for them to get here. They are fitted bamboo diapers that are supposed to be super soft and absorbent. I got them last week and popped them into the washer to wash them twice before we tried them out. We tried them and I really like them a lot. The only problem is that they seem a little small. They are supposed to fit up to a 18 to 35 pounder . . . Jaron is 20 lbs and they fit him perfect. Weird. How in the heck is he supposed to fit into these things when he is 15 pounds heavier???

I was folding the diapers two days ago and I looked at the tag . . . "Size 1" WHAT!!! Oh that's why they fit perfect right now! They are not the size that I ordered - darn it! They sent the wrong size! I e-mailed the company that I ordered from and inquired about my order . . . turns out I was the one who messed up. Unfortunately I had ordered size 1's instead of 2's. However . . . Christy - the owner immediately offered to take the diapers back and send me the correct size even though the mix-up was my mistake and even though the diapers had been washed and worn! She even offered free shipping on the new diapers. I couldn't believe it! I can't think of the last time that I encountered customer care . . . you know the kind where a company is more concerned about your satisfaction as a customer than their bottom line?

So, I'd like to recommend that you take a spin over at naturally trendy. It's a great eco-friendly baby botique with some great deals. Make sure that you check out the stainless steel BPA free Safe Sippy - Jaron loves his blue one and we have a green one and a pink one waitin for Justin and Emelyne. She also has some great deals on Baby Legs - you can't find them priced this low anywhere!

Thanks Christy for a great experience!

Waiting on our Central Authority approval

2009-02-25T09:04:00.001-08:00

***UPDATE 2/26/09*** I did just get an e-mail from our attorney's assistant - he said that they did have the meeting and as he put it, "they only stayed with the list of files which need approval and promised to work on them in the order of arrival at the Central Authority. Tomorrow, we shall know an estimate regarding when your file will be treated". So there you go - not necessarily the answer that we were hoping for, but at least they are working on it.

It feels like we've been waiting on our Central Authority approval FOREVER! It has been about 5 months since Justin and Emelyne's files along with ours have been there. Getting this approval would be a huge step forward in our adoption process.

**Our attorney in Burundi is supposed to have a meeting there tomorrow (that would be tonight in the states since they are 10 hours ahead of PST)**

Will you pray with us? Will you pray that the approval for both Justin and Emelyne will be granted?

It's almost . . . .

2009-02-22T19:55:00.000-08:00

. . . Lent!!! What is Lent you ask? I'll tell you. Lent is a forty day period before Easter that is set aside for preparing to take in the good news of Christs' death and resurrection. Lent means "spring". It is a time to reflect, repent and rededicate. Well, that is a really really brief description - here is a really great resource that Imago Dei Community has provided for their church . . . I'm sure they won't mind if you browse - plus it has a really great explanation of Lent - you can find it here.

Ok, so the reason I'm writing about Lent is because I would like to invite you to join me in the Lent H2O Challenge. Here's the challenge:

"Sometime during Lent (February 25 - April 11), take the H2O Challenge. For two weeks, make water your only beverage. Save the money that you would normally spend on sodas, coffee, juice, milk, and sport drinks. At the end of the two weeks, send the money you saved to Living Water International for the drilling of wells in needy communities.

What difference can you make? If you saved a dollar a day for two weeks, you could provide three families with clean water for a year." - www.water.cc

Go to H2O Challenge to read more!

What do you think? Want to join me? Drop me a comment or e-mail me at greenbean101302 at yahoo dot com and I will send you a sweet bracelet to wear during you beverage fast.

Updated 2/23: So since I drink water 99.99% of the time, I am going to donate $1 for each time I fill up my water bottle each day.

Driving Lessons

2009-02-19T19:50:00.000-08:00

He had to get one of the vanity plates

Two and ten - I've got this down folks!

Nice head check son

Like a creepy movie . . .

2009-02-18T11:58:00.000-08:00

***UPDATE*** I talked to my neighbor - it WAS her son crying . . . whew!

So last night Jaron decided that it would be a good idea to cry on and off from midnight to 1:30am. It was cool. Well, at 1:08 am, I picked him up out of his crib to feed him. He was still fussing when I walked into our bedroom. We have a baby monitor in his room and the receiver is on my nightstand. As I walked into our bedroom I could see the lights on the monitor flashing like they do when it picks up sound. I could hear Jaron's fussing in my ear (obviously, I was holding him) but the lights were not congruent to his fussing. Um, OK? Oh and I had just turned off the monitor in Jaron's bedroom so that Geoff would not have to listen to him cry through the monitor. Wierd. Now the creepy part is that I could hear a distinctly DIFFERENT BABY'S CRY loud and clear through the monitor!!! Cue creepy music . . .

We think that because the monitor in Jaron's room was off that the receiver picked up the signal from our neighbors house. I still need to call her and ask "was your son crying at 1:08am???". Please say yes, please say yes, please say yes.

the home front

2009-02-06T06:41:00.000-08:00

I've been seriously lacking in the blog department lately . . . and the e-mail department . . . and the sitting around eating bonbons department. Being a mom to this -

fantastically amazing boy has simply made my priorities a bit different. It is hard to express the joy and satisfaction that comes from watching Jaron grow. Every day there is something new, hilarious and amazing. It is incredible to watch his personality emerge. I had no idea that an 8 month old had so many expressions, could wiggle so much, or bring so much laughter! Last year the Lord kept bringing the word "Joy" to mind . . . and I think that Jaron is the essence of the word. In fact, now that I think of it - his name means "cry of rejoicing"!

He's begun to make goofy faces and play peek-a-boo - even without prompting. He'll burry his head in the couch/bed/my chest and pause . . . . then pop his head up waiting for you to say "peek-a-boo!!!". He loves his baths. He has a sweet faux-hawk. He is quite aware of other children - often reaching out to engage them. He gets soooo excited when his daddy gets home. He'd much rather stand than sit or inch-worm crawl. He loves emptying baskets, reading/tearing books, and being naked. He loves to sing. He feels very important if he gets to eat whatever we're eating and he is eating tons of different foods these days. He has the cutest most contagious laugh. He wakes up at 5:30 most mornings. He is talking so much! He loves his Rosie-dog and Rose loves him. Oh there are just so many things . . . truly joy in our lives.

And I'll leave you with a few recent photos:

yes, he's um . . . sucking on the dog's paw.

hard at work!

Amazing Inauguration

2009-01-20T18:37:00.000-08:00

Did you watch it?

What an amazing event! The place was packed!!! Every time we watch an inauguration we watch as a new chapter is written in history. This time it was like two chapters were written. A new president, and he's African American.

I marveled that our democratic process is so peaceful. Yes - we are passionate about our causes and candidates, but we are peaceful about the process. Civil wars aren't started. Coups don't overthrow. This isn't so in many countries.

I marveled at the fact that 60, 70 years ago there was so much oppression of black people - and now our president is African American. It is a beautiful thing. There is more progress to be made but there is hope based on where we have come from.

Oh, and Aretha's hat rocked!

Stateside

2009-01-18T16:11:00.000-08:00

My smaller taller brother is back from Iraq.

Welcome home Matteo!

Air Mail

2009-01-03T16:11:00.000-08:00

Last year we were surprised to open our e-mail Christmas morning and find updated pictures of Justin and Emelyne waiting for us . . . so, I kind of expected the same this year and was bummed to find that we didn't receive any e-mail from Burundi. However, upon returning from Spokane yesterday there was Air Mail waiting for us!!! Inside there was an updated picture of our kiddos, a letter from one of the Sisters and beautiful handmade Burundian Christmas card! What a gift!!! We also got to call the orphanage and briefly talk with them on Christmas day. Such a beautiful thing to hear their voices and we can't wait to squeeze their sweet cheeks!

2008-12-24T12:47:00.001-08:00

Make a Smilebox greeting

Click on the next button for more photos!

Hoar Frost

2008-12-21T10:24:00.000-08:00

Ok, now that I have your attention I guess it's not technically hoar frost . . . it's just ice covered bamboo.
It snowed almost all night Friday
and almost all day Saturday.
Now the post snow freezing rain has come.
It's snowing inside our house too!

Who is your role model?

2008-12-19T11:29:00.000-08:00

1) Pick a number number between 1 and 9.
2) Multiply by 3.
3) Add 3.
4) Multiply by 3 again.  You will get a 2-digit number.
5) Add the digits together.

Now with that number see who you admire most from the
list below:




















1. Albert Einstein
2. Abraham Lincoln
3. John McCain
4. Nelson Mandela
5. Mother Teresa
6. Mahatma Gandhi
7. Brad Pitt
8. Bill Gates
9. Celina Green
10.George Washington


I know‚ I just have that effect on people. One day you
too may be like me. Believe it!

PS. Stop picking different numbers.  I am your idol, just deal with it!

An Invitation

2008-12-02T10:55:00.000-08:00

As the years have passed Advent has become more and more meaningful to me. Anticipation, Hope, Longing.

This year our church is using a resource that combines image, scripture and a devotional thought. It is called "The Advent Door" . . . consider this an invitation to join in!

Click the door to enter

World AIDS Day

2008-12-01T06:47:00.000-08:00

December 1, 2008 marks the 20th anniversary of World AIDS Day. Since 1988, the face and response to AIDS has greatly changed. While many of these changes are positive, this anniversary offers us an opportunity to highlight how much more still needs to be done.

In an e-mail today from Dan Hastline of Bloodwater Mission he writes, "there is so much risk in thinking about too many stories at once. Without a way to visualize millions of faces, I am reminded that AIDS is a disease that kills one person at a time. It is a disease that destroys the body, one blood cell at a time. It destroys families one person at a time. It creates a void, a deep emptiness where hope and health should be, one story at a time. And so today, I am thinking about how I can help one person. How I can love and act, and advocate on behalf of one person. And in the midst of this great and challenging fight, we may one day realize that we have the opportunity to not be able to visualize the millions of stories that have regained their threads of hope, and sustained their health.

Can you think of a person? Can you put yourself in the place of someone wrestling with HIV/AIDS? Do you wonder what their fears might be? Do you wonder what their families might be going through? Do you consider the moment that they have to bring the news of their illness to their family? Is there room in your heart, in my heart to feel what they feel?

Today is World AIDS Day. To most of us, it is just another day. What would it take for us to remember there is no such thing as "Just another day." And what would it look like to do our best to ensure that those wrestling on this day under the weight of this disease can make it to the next?

It is in our hands. It is our ideas, our passion, our willingness to learn, to fail, to search, to love, and to fight that will bring forth the ideas and the designs to beat HIV/AIDS.

It is my hope that we will continue to feel the urgency of this great need. It is my desire that we will continue to open our hearts to the stories of people all around the world that suffer.

I believe that God has given us this great privilege to be a part this great act of healing. Please join us in praying, in knowing, in loving, and in serving.

And maybe we can one day celebrate by saying, 'Happy World AIDS Day!' "

Well written Dan.

Before November gets away from me

2008-11-30T13:51:00.000-08:00

. . . I thought that I'd let you all know that this month (OK, the one that is over in 9 hours) is National Adoption Month! Adoption is one of the ways that we have chosen to form our family - our kids aren't living with us yet and it has already changed our lives!

If you've ever considered adoption here's a few things that you should know:

You don't have to be rich. Adoption can cost you $0 to a lot of $$$. Most people I know who adopt are not rolling in the cash.

You do not have to have a grande house. Contrary to popular opinion (OK, most American mentality) your children can share a bedroom.

You do not have to experiencing infertility to build your family through adoption. If you have a heart to love children then there are children who need your love.

The journey you embark on will change your life!!!

Some sobering stats:

Did You Know?...

Every 15 SECONDS, another child becomes an AIDS orphan in Africa
Every DAY 5,760 more children become orphans
Every YEAR 2,102,400 more children become orphans (in Africa alone)
143,000,000 Orphans in the world today spend an average of 10 years in an orphanage or foster home(According to figures from the United Nations. These figures include children in the American Foster Care System)
Approximately 250,000 children are adopted annually, but…
Every YEAR 14,050,000 children still grow up as orphans and AGE OUT of the system
Every DAY 38,493 children AGE OUT
Every 2.2 SECONDS, another orphan child AGES OUT with no family to belong to and no place to call home
In Ukraine and Russia 10% -15% of children who age out of an orphanage commit suicide before age 18.
60% of the girls are lured into prostitution. 70% of the boys become hardened criminals.
Reliable statistics are difficult to find, even the sources often list only estimates, and street children are rarely included. But even if these figures are exaggerated by double, it is still an unacceptable tragedy that over a Million children would still become orphans every year, and every year 7 Million children would still grow to adulthood as orphans with no one to belong to and no place to call home.

I don't think that adoption is for everyone. However, I think that caring for orphans IS for everyone and especially for those who are followers of Christ. Here are two main ways to do this - care for those that are already orphans by adopting a child, fostering a child or sponsoring a child and help make our world a better place so that the number of orphans does not continue to grow by mentoring a child, encouraging and supporting families that adopt and foster, supporting and encouraging single parents, supporting encouraging and mentoring women who become pregnant outside of marriage, becoming involved in social organizations that work to keep families together and educate and equip them to make a living . . . the list goes on.

"God smiles when a kid finds a family and a family finds a kid" Dawn Davenport

I'm curious to know . . .
Do you in some way care for the orphans of the world? If so, how? Any creative suggestions?

Sloppy Baby Giveaway

2008-11-18T21:04:00.000-08:00

Pho for Five is cool enough to give away a super cute gift set from Sloppy Baby. Um, and I get two entries in the drawing if I post about it :)

Which one are you going to pick???

Politically Speaking

2008-11-04T19:43:00.000-08:00

So I'm sitting here watching the results of the election roll in. I've kind of avoided that topic here - not because I'm afraid to talk politics - but because I have felt extremely conflicted about the two front runners for prez. There are things that I like about both candidates . . . and things that I strongly dislike. If I there was an oval to fill in that said "neither, I want to start over with new candidates" - that's the one my pen would be filling in.

Here's the bottom line for me though: Regardless of who is elected - I will continue to live my life doing, being and becoming, what and who I am called to do/be in this world (WORLD - not just the US). It might mean that I work harder at a few things or be a bit more intentional about how I go about my life but who I am called to be remains the same.

Ummmm . . . the end.

Tomorrow

2008-10-29T08:53:00.000-07:00

My brother heads to Mosul, Iraq with the 3rd Armored Cavalry Unit. Will you pray for him, his wife and his daughter . . . and for all who are in his situation?

Matt,
May you be enfolded in love and surrounded with prayer.
May the blessing and assurance of God's presence be with you as you fulfill your call.
May you know God's presence as He guides you, sharpens your skill and makes your judgments true.
May you have Gods love, strength, wisdom and grace.
May your faith be fostered and your courage made sure.
May the Lord bless you with everything you need to sustain you in the face of whatever may come.

Some Autumn Favorites

2008-10-27T21:39:00.000-07:00

I love the change of seasons - my favorite though is Autumn. I love its brilliance and crispness. I love the thought of staying indoors a bit more after a long summer in the garden. I love that the earth takes a rest and invites me to as well.

Here's the fall planter that I planted a few weeks ago. I got the giant bucket at an estate stale a while back and it worked perfect! It makes me smile every time I go out the door.

This giant spider web was hooked from the tree to my car this morning. Cool colors on the tree eh?

These funky things appeared on my Magnolia tree - I've never noticed them before but I think they are beautiful and odd!

And then they were FIVE!!!

2008-10-15T20:34:00.000-07:00

I feel like I have a half dozen posts in my head and I've been meaning to get this one out for weeks but I just am not really sure where to start. Our adoption process has been quite a journey and there are some great things that have happened lately. We have shared the details with some close friends but for the most part we've laid low for a few reasons - emotionally, it has been touch and go for the last 3 years and sometimes it has just felt overwhelming to share details because we just don't know all the answers. Sometimes it is hard to face people when you don't know how long you will be waiting, or why you are saving your vacation time for an unknown departure date, when you have no idea when your court date will go through, when you feel like they think you are silly for running after something so difficult for so long . . .

For those of you who are fairly new readers of this blog - I don't even know how to catch you up on the last three years! If you are so inclined I suppose you could search the blog using the word "adoption" and you'll get the story from the way back beginning.

So here's the scoop:
At the end of July 2007 we received photos and referral information for two children in Burundi - we were sooooo excited!!! It was a boy and a girl - 9 and 6 months old respectively. In Burundi the law says that children need to be abandoned for 1 year in order to be adopted. So we had to wait until the beginning of 2008 before our attorney could begin to seek court dates for these two little ones. Between strikes in the Judiciary and canceled court dates it wasn't until July 2008 that we were able to get the Declaration's of Abandonment that we needed for both of the children in order to proceed with the process. Now that we have the Declarations, our file goes to the Central Authority for approval - that can take 3-5 months (I know . . .slooooow:). After that we're talking passports and travel dates! Our attorney in Burundi thinks that it may be possible for us to travel in March . . . if all goes as planned.

We have been puting together photo albums to send and will get those off tomorrow. We also have been able to call the orphanage twice and speak with one of the Sisters who cares for our kids. Our kids know that they are brother and sister, they sleep in beds right next to eachother and when one goes somewhere, they make sure the other is in tow - so sweet! They know that they are going to a momma and daddy. When I called the first time (I was the only one home), the sister I was talking to had someone go find our little guy so I could talk to him - she kept trying to get him to say momma. I know that he couldn't understand a word I was saying . . . but it was so sweet to know that my boy could hear my voice saying "I love you . . . momma and daddy love you!" Eventually I could hear a little voice say "momma". Oh the tears rushed to my eyes!

It's hard to believe that the process that we have been in for three years may come to a close in 6 months. In a lot of ways the day can't come sooner - we are eager to travel to pick up our children, to see them face to face, to get to know them and to welcome them into our family. I certainly cherish the one on one time I have with Jaron (Lord knows that will change :) all the while painfully aware that my children in Burundi do not have someone who spends one on one time with them. We are excited to see what the near future has for us knowing that the end of this process is really just a whole new beginning in our lives. Crazy to think that between Jaron and these two little ones we will go from two to five in less that 12 months time.

Christmas is coming!!!

2008-10-15T16:11:00.000-07:00

Take a gander at this video - also found at www.adventconspiracy.org.

Well???

The Green List: what we've been up to

2008-10-01T21:51:00.000-07:00

Just got back from vacation. Ok, actually it was staycation. We had planned on going up to Victoria BC for a couple days, visiting friends in Sequim, WA and then seeing my Dad and Stepmom in Ballard . . . but we stayed home. Honestly the thought of packing, driving, then feeling the pressures to go "sight see" (in BC at least) absolutely stressed us out. We had a few rough nights with Jaron before we were supposed to leave - we were sleep deprived and really, we just wanted to relax and sleep in our own beds. So we stayed home. It was fantastic - the perfect balance between getting caught up on things that needed to get done around the house, and just plain 'ol resting. It was good for the body and the soul.

In gardening news:
I can't believe our garden this year. Everything is falling over. The beans ran out of pole to grow on so they just collapsed. The tomatoes are obese, falling every which way, heavy with fruit. I weighed one of the tomatoes tonight at it was two pounds. There are bigger ones still ripening on the plant. I've trimmed back the watermellon a dozen times. The calendula continue to flower, and flower, and flower. The grapes - darn them, they all come ripe at once! I love it and am overwhelmed all at the same time!

The Jaronimus is a cute as ever - we have a ton of pictures posted on another blog. If you want to see those pics e-mail me cgreen at sterling dot net and I'll add you to the invite list. C'mon, don't be shy :) here's a teaser:

See? Cute!

Quotable Tuesday

2008-09-30T14:33:00.000-07:00

"It is extraordinary to me that you can find $700 billion to save Wall Street and the entire G8 can’t find $25 billion to save 25,000 children who die every day of preventable treatable disease and hunger. That’s mad, that is mad.”

“Bankruptcy is a serious business and we all know people who have lost their jobs. But this is moral bankruptcy.”

– Lead singer of U2 Bono speaking today during day two of the Clinton Global Initiative.

"Freedom is a delicate and subtle gift, easily perverted and often squandered."
Galatians intro in The Message

2008-09-23T10:39:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday brother of mine!
My life is sweeter because I've known you. I love you.

Marc Black
September 23, 1974 - October 21, 1995

Sweet sweet cornbread

2008-09-11T21:56:00.000-07:00

This post is dedicated to you Jeana and Kristal :)

So here's our favorite cornbread recipe - my dad is the one who actually found it on verybestbaking.com one night when he and my mom were visiting and he was craving sweet cornbread. We like to smear it with honey butter and pair it with White Chicken Chili.

Sweet Cornbread

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (it's also good with white whole wheat flour)
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup corn meal
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted

Directions:
PREHEAT oven to 350° F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan.

COMBINE flour, sugar, cornmeal, baking powder and salt in a medium bow. Combine milk, eggs, vegetable oil and butter in a small bowl; mix well. Add to flour mixture; stir just until blended. Pour into prepared baking pan.

BAKE for 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

FOR MUFFINS:
SPOON batter into 18 to 20 greased or paper-lined muffin cups, filling 2/3 full. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks for 5 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool slightly. Serve warm.

The Fair and Rodeo

2008-09-08T20:37:00.001-07:00

We forgot our camera when we went to the fair and a friend who we met there just sent me pics that she took of us . . .

must have elephant ear at rodeo

so who's the girl in the pic with me and Jaron (who happens to be in his oh so cool faux moby wrap that i bleach stenciled a dragonfly onto!)? well that is ginger folks. she was at the rodeo with her family and was sitting near us - she mentioned to me that she recognized me. we figured out that she had found my blog through a mutual friend of ours and recognized me from the picture! funny!!! so there you go we MIRL (met in real life) but it wasn't creep stalker like :) so ginger - if you read this it was fun to meet you!

oh, and another fair highlight: this year i entered a few baked goods at the fair. i pretty much figured that only old ladies do that and probably the same ones win year after year, but what the heck - i wanted to see if I could knock them off their rockers . . . and I DID!!! I won first prize for both my no knead artisan bread and sweet corn bread!

Sweet Surprise . . . I don't think so!

2008-09-03T20:22:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking a bit about high fructose corn syrup (from here on out HFCS). I made my own Spaghetti sauce the other night because it is virtually impossible to find a jar at the store without it (plus, homemade tastes better and is cheaper). I've made homemade hamburger buns, salad dressing, BBQ sauce . . . all because I can't find many options in the store without HFCS in them.

I was inspired to write this post because of a commercial that I saw on TV today while I was on the treadmill at the gym (I know, the treadmill, at the GYM - well that's a whole 'nother post all together!) . Anyways, they have several TV's and I was watching one, reading the little subtitles and listening to a podcast on my i-pod all at the same time. What I read caused me to stop listening to my i-pod. Here's the commercial:

http://www.sweetsurprise.com/tvads.php?vid=Party.flv

I couldn't believe what I was hearing! I made a mental note of the dub dub dub and looked it up when I got home.

The page in a nutshell (www.sweetsurprise.com):

"high fructose corn syrup is safe and no different from other common sweeteners like table sugar and honey. All three sweeteners are nutritionally the same"

"High fructose corn syrup offers numerous benefits. It keeps food fresh, enhances fruit and spice flavors, retains moisture in bran cereals, helps keep breakfast and energy bars moist, maintains consistent flavors in beverages and keeps ingredients evenly dispersed in condiments."

Ummmmm . . . so since they are nutritionally the same then they are all ok to eat? Huh? BTW - by nutritionally the same they simply mean that they all contain the came kcals per gram - the breakdown of the actual fructose and sucrose IS different - and our bodies process them all differently!

Ok, so it keeps food fresh . . . do ya mean it has a loooooooooooooong shelf life? Cause I've never seen HFCS in anything other than products that are supposed to sit on shelves. Ever seen an apple with HFCS in it? Retains moisture . . . maybe if we ate fresh foods they would be moist because they are fresh, not because they have HFCS in them . . . oh but then retailers wouldn't make money because their fresh foods would go bad sooner - boo hoo! Maintains consistent flavors . . . you mean it preserves food - isn't that called a preservative??? Evenly disperses ingredients . . . good thing because gosh, it just can't stand unevenly dispersed ingredients!

What they don't tell you:

HFCS is somewhat cheaper in the United States due to a combination of corn subsidies and sugar tariffs. (wikipedia.org) yup- it's all about the money folks!

HFCS tastes sweeter than refined sugar, allowing manufacturers use less and save money

While HFCS, sugar and honey may all have 4 kcals per gram they anre NOT the same!!! Read here to see the difference.

"High fructose corn syrup can be manipulated to contain equal amounts of fructose and glucose, or up to 80 percent fructose and 20 percent glucose.² Thus, with almost twice the fructose, HFCS delivers a double danger compared to sugar." (westonaprice.org) Here's the thing though: in fruit the ratio of glucose to fructose is usually 50/50 - additionally fruit contains FIBER which slows down the metabolism of fructose and other sugars . . . HFCS is absorbed very quickly.

"It is also really bad for the environment. The genetically modified corn used to produce HFCS requires more pesticides and chemical fertilizers than natural corn. It is also not a crop that is rotated, which severely depletes top soil quality." (current.com)

Dr. Mehmet Oz, author of You: The Owner’s Manual, says..."The problem is that HCFS inhibits leptin secretion, so you never get the message that you’re full. And it never shuts off gherin, so, even though you have food in your stomach, you constantly get the message that you’re hungry"

Because it is metabolized by the liver, fructose does not cause the pancreas to release insulin the way it normally does. Fructose converts to fat more than any other sugar. (westonaprice.org)

Fructose has absolutely no enzymes, vitamins, or minerals, and in order to be processed once inside the digestive tract, it must rob the body’s stores of these precious micronutrients. (dynamicathlete.com)

HFCS comes from corn, so, in that respect, yes, it’s natural. But, as the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) stated in response to the ads, “High fructose corn syrup just doesn’t exist in nature.”(cornsyrupkills.net)

Since the body doesn’t recognize HFCS as a regular sugar, it gets shuttled to the liver for processing. However, once there the liver doesn’t really know what to do with it either, and it gets converted to fat much more rapidly and frequently than any other type of sugar. (dynamicathlete.com)

Another interesting thing . . . who sponsors this "public service message" on HFCS? Um, The Corn Refiners Association. "To help their image and give the industry some cred, the Corn Refiners Association has launched a $30-million multimedia ad campaign touting the syrup’s humble origins, comparing it to sugar and honey in ads featuring golden corn cobs nestled in bright green leaves." (cornsyrupkills.net)

So, really, my life isn't completly HFCS free - we do our best to stay clear of it though. I think that the thing that ticks me off the most is how much they downplay it and make it sound like it's gotten a bad rap for no reason. Just the fact that the campaign is launched by the Corn Refiners Association is incredibly suspect!

So next time you go grocery shopping, take a little extra time - read the labels. I tripple-dog-dare you to shop HFCS free.

Un. be. lievable.

2008-09-01T21:51:00.000-07:00

I'm sending you elsewhere with this post: Go check out today's post on welcome to my brain. Watch the video too. Is this guy for reals? Un. be. lievable.

Yearbook yourself

2008-08-25T12:31:00.001-07:00

here's what I did today while my son took a nap . . . instead of a million other things i could/should have done - oh what's a little fun anyways :)

you know you want to do it :) go to yearbookyouself.com and take a trip in time

1990 - um pretty close except i cut my own bangs that year so the brick wall was not so tall

1980 - mom, i think we both had this HOT haircut!

1978 - the year i was born and the year of the cool fro

1970

1960 - grandma had some glasses like this

1950 - check out the pin curls - so cute!

Hmmm - i think 1970 is my favorite year. Thanks for the entertainment Kristal :)

camping and cooking

2008-08-24T20:49:00.000-07:00

We got to go camping last weekend with our home community. Despite the heat (104 degrees) we had a great time! Jaron did great and so did the ro-dog.

rosie drove with the help of Geoff sticking out of her mouth

We both really enjoy gourmet cooking but we're finding that with a baby we don't get to cook or enjoy our meals like we used too (well, we enjoy our meals, we just essentially eat one at a time :). However, we have gotten a chance to cook up a couple yummy things . . .

tomato, basil and mozzarella pizza on the grill
seared scallops and corn with spinach and tomato salad