Well, It's Official...

Tony went to work yesterday afternoon and took over as the new manager! He really likes his new staff, and he actually was in a great mood when he got home :) He said the 30 minute ride home gives him time to unwind before he gets home...a plus for me!

His store isn't top in the market like the store he just left, but there is tons of room for improvement, so it could be a better store in a while. To put it differently, he won't be making the money we thought at first, but that's okay and here is why...

Remember my constant rant of not finding a job? Well please pay attention, this is really important and a lesson I'm learning along the way:

God is in the details. Did you get that? God is in the D E T A I L S...that's right! So this whole time, God was planning for Tony to be promoted giving us just about the right amount, nothing more and nothing less than what we will need. And that always seems to be His Way!

So now that I don't have a car during the day, because we need our car to last for a while, I will be able to do things at home instead of worrying about finding work and I'll be able to get paperwork done and prepare the bedroom for our twins...God has allowed me to stay home and be the stay at home mom that I have always felt called to be :)

Well, I have alot of things I need to do, especially call to schedule our HOMESTUDY!!! Plus some other not so fun things like clean the bathroom, do laundry and wash the floors :( But all the while I'll be thinking of my girls...can't wait to add homeschooling to my list of things to do! :)

Have a wonderful day!

Well, Kind Of A Big Day...

Let me back-track a bit...Our week started off with some so-so news. It seems that the country that we are adopting from closes down for summer vacation from July to September. Well at first I wasn't too happy, but as I started to think about it, that actually works in our favor. At the time of that news, I was feeling pressure to get things in gear and find a job (no pressure at all right?), and start planning and trying to get everything done...blah blah blah. Well, suddenly I realized I had a timeline and my brain cleared and it is clear as a sunny day. So I now can truly say that we should be traveling in October. So then today...

My day started off like most others, trying to get motivated to do something. That is difficult when you start your day with a migraine. Then it got interesting...

Tony called me about 10:30 to ask me to pray for him. Hmmm, not an unusual request, but different because he said he was going to get a visit from his Regional Market Manager. Well he didn't know what to expect, except that he was going to be given his own store! Yes, ordinarily a great thing...but under the present circumstances it could be a tumultuous situation.

Well, he had his visit and was given a store about 20 miles from here, which will necessitate a move to another town, which we may or may not do right away. We have already started our adoption paperwork here so we may just complete the adoption and move later on...still on the fence about that one.

He becomes a manager tomorrow. Along with additional hours, he will have 3 Sundays off a month (up until now he has worked almost every Sunday since last October :( ) so we can go back to attending church again, YAY, he will receive a commission on sales every paycheck and he will receive a quarterly bonus! That is the biggest news! I don't have to find a job and we will be able to move forward without fundraising for our initial fees anymore!!!! So now when people want to donate, we can direct them to our FSP so their donations are tax deductible. Then we are going to have business cards printed with the picture of our button of our twins, with our fs page and blog address to hand out to everyone and anyone who wants to see.

Our very next adoption item is our home study fee and passports which I can proudly say we can provide for those fees...we'll just have to fundraise for 12,000.00-13,000.00 for all of our other fees!!!

So, as long as things goes forward as was told to Tony today, tomorrow afternoon I will be calling to schedule our homestudy for late in June! And then we have all of our other paper monster to plan for....OMGOSH! This could really be happening....AAAAAAGGGGHHHH...Going to bed now, I can't believe what tomorrow can mean...time to dream of finally bringing our beautiful girls home forever! :)

God's blessings...

What A Beautiful Service

I just finished watching Chrissie's Celebration of Life Service a while ago. She was a beautiful princess that finally found her forever family. It was a blessing to hear about her and the story that her mother, Lorraine, told about her adoption, the joy and happiness Chrissie 'Jewel' brought to the family and the decisions they had to make regarding surgery and treatment. It really was a uplifting time.

As much as I am saddened by her passing, I can't help but feel some joy that someday soon we will see her again, this time in person, watching her dance and jump, run and play. She has been totally restored to her original splendor which God intended, and I'm sure she will still 'be the boss'!

I am grateful to the Patterson family for sharing their Serbian Sensation with the world, during the hospital stay and today for her Celebration into life. The love they all have for their princess was very evident in the service today. I am honored I was able to attend, even 2000 miles away. God has gifted everyone with many blessings today, I just pray that others can see that.

Well I'm off to spend time with hubby. I pray that you will have a God Bless evening too.

Barbara Christyn Joy Patterson

I took a few days off to just re-evaluate things and returned to my email group for Reece's Rainbow and facebook only to find out that our beloved Chrissie had passed away early Wednesday morning. My heart is broken for Chrissie's family right now. There is nothing more to say.

Click on the title of this blog and it will bring you to Lorraine's blog for Chrissie.

I'll blog again soon, just not now, I'm just too sad.

Our Anniversary...25 YEARS! When did that happen? Part II

Well, like I said earlier, we spent the day reminiscing about and visiting our past. Spent a chilly, but beautiful day together, and it's funny, it was quiet and I didn't mind too much...must have been the 'special-ness' of the day :D

We came home and after dinner, we had our beautiful anniversary cake from my sister! Here we are cutting the cake...

And the cake is being eaten...

When we cut our cake at our wedding, May 10, 1985, Tony wouldn't let me do what I did last night, and it was fun...so the next picture is what I had always wanted to do...

And yes that was a staged annoyance frown! We had fun with that and he couldn't believe I took the pic, but I just couldn't help myself... :D I'll have to work on that for next year for our renewal...everyone is welcome!

And this is how we spent today...

I can't wait til the day that the twins can 'Hop on Pop' as he is sleeping just like the boys used to do... :)

Good night all, God's many Blessings to you...

Our Anniversary...25 YEARS! When did that happen?

For me, it feels surreal...it just doesn't 'feel' possible, and yet everytime I do the math, it comes up the same...25! Unless I'm doing something wrong with my math, maybe I'm not applying the proper 'new math' rules...Did someone change the rules again without telling me?? :D Anyway, it just doesn't feel possible, and I don't feel my age either! I don't get it, but that's okay...time flys when you are having fun?

I am so happy we've made it this far. We wanted to renew our vows, but when we saw Slavka and Sandra, I wanted to have them more, so we didn't do the whole gown, preacher, meal thing...we felt we needed to bring them home and then celebrate our new family all at once, corny I know, but that's me! Take me or leave me...I always wanted a daughter, and now we're getting two! :D Complete family (maybe, we'll see what God has to say later)!

We didn't do a lot yesterday, we drove around Tony's hometown and saw places that we went to while we dated and visited his family grave and just reminiced about our early lives. I had a wonderful time, but Tony felt like he should have done more...little does he know what he is doing now will certainly benefit us all down the road. I love that he feels he needs to do more, I just wish he'd get that I never care what we are doing, I just love being together...he says it's a guy thing! Poor guys! :D

Anyway, Sunday was a special day, and I didn't realize that my sister was going to celebrate our anniversary on the same day as Mother's Day and my mothers birthday. She started her day creating a replica of our wedding cake, minus the cascade of butterflies along the side. This is the picture:

The color matched our wedding party colors and our original cake colors...I don't know what inspired her, but I'm not complaining! We were so blessed :D

She also gave us a beautiful silver anniversary frame:

I can't wait to have a nice picture to place into the frame :)

Well, that is all for now, I will blog some later since I have pics of us cutting and eating our anniversary cake! I still have 3 other days to make up for, and I really haven't run out of blog ideas, at least not yet... I'll see you and blog about last night! Hope you have a great day full of blessings!

Happy Mother's Day!

I hope everyone had a wonderful day today!

My day was special. I spent the day at my parents house and had a nice time catching up. We celebrated Mother's Day, my mother's birthday and our silver anniversary. That was special.

Unfortunately Tony had to work, as did Austin and of course Cale is away and had to work all day. But I did have a wonderful time! I'll share what we received for our anniversary tomorrow since tomorrow is our big day!

See, I told you no pity party...I'm too blessed for one! And by the way, one of the biggest gifts was Austin getting high speed internet for the house...that means no more interuptions and more blogging and email for me! :) YAY!!

Have a blessed night!

Wow...36 + hours without internet...

Can really cramp my plans! Sorry I didn't blog, I would have if I had the chance!

I was hoping to keep up on how things were progressing with Christyn Joy, Chrissie, but not having the internet was like being on a desert island :( I had no contact with anyone...I didn't like it. The biggest issue was Chrissie updates. I really freaked when I got the digest from Lorraine and it was looking rather dark for her. But I know that God is bigger than anything we are going through, so that helped. Then when I told Tony my frustrations and how I thought it was all satan, Tony said it was all God...making me rely on Him and not the internet...wise, and that is why God put Tony together with me!

Anyway, Chrissie is doing better right now and we just need to remember to pray for her. God will take care of the rest!

Sorry for not blogging, I'll make up for the last couple of days over the next couple of days, I promise!

Hoping you all have a VERY HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!!! I know that I will! :) Love to all!

Pity Party At My House On Sunday!

Well here I am again. I thought I'd run out of things to blog about, but my children and family keep me going... :)

Really, there won't be a pity party, but the day won't be nearly the same as it would if I had all three of my boys and my beautiful little girls with me! I found out today that my youngest son, Cale, Austin and Tony had planned to surprise me by flying Cale home for my birthday in 2 weeks. He called Austin and told him he can't make it home for mothers day or my birthday...that made me sad. I really miss Cale...phone calls don't take the place of hugs and 11:00 pm kitchen talks that we have when he is home...can you tell I miss him? I am, and have been, praying that he changes colleges and moves back here, but unfortunately we raised him to be an independent young man who enjoys being out on his own, and he likes his friends in KY... :( So, I am like a good number of mothers who have to hear from their children that live or attend college far away from home. I guess I am just happy that he is here in the US, he could be a soldier in Iraq...always an upside...

Speaking of upsides, next year at this time, I will have my princesses home and yes this will be my last mothers day without daughters, and maybe I will be blessed enough to have all of my sons here too! Then my mothers day will be complete! :D

Have a great night! I know I am!!! :D

Well...This is a record for me!

I think now, if my math is correct, I am 1/7th of the way to forming a habit...it takes 21 days to form a good habit, and this is day 3 :D We'll see how long this lasts...

I will start with an update on Chrissie...God is Amazing, not that I, or anyone should be, surprised! It looks like things are looking up for our little Serbian Sensation! Just keep her in prayer that she continues to do as well as she is doing...To Our God Be The Glory!!!

We had another 'quiet' day, the kind I don't like! But on the up side, my middle son, who is still living at home, is spending more time at home...I'm not going to lie, I'm one happy mama! I don't think many people understand families that are close. I actually caught an eye roll from someone who thinks it's ridiculous that Austin is still at home. Not all children that stay at home sit around all day playing video games and eating mom and dad out of house and home! He contributes his share of chores, pays rent and works full time. That is what is required of him...and he is good company, too.

I have always had a dream that we would someday own a huge home with enough room that all of our sons would be able to live with us, with their wives and all of their children...What can I say, I really enjoy being a mom! And yes, everyone, with very few exceptions, thinks I'm off my rocker! If I'm off my rocker, should it be a surprise to anyone that we are going to adopt? I think not! :D So now my dream is expanded to include Slavka and Sandra and their husbands and families too! But that won't happen for a really long time...Tony says he isn't going to allow dating until they are in their 30's...so that's that! ;) ROFLOL

Well, I actually did do some things today, I planned where we are going to relocate the bunny and how to re-arrange the house to organize and get started on the bedroom for the twins! So see it wasn't all that quiet I guess...

Well, it's Tuesday night, I need to go start getting ready for bed now because my favorite family is coming on tv at 9:00...the Duggar's!!! Tony doesn't like it when I watch them at night because when he dreams at night the Duggars are usually in them. He calls them Duggar Dreams...poor hubby :D

I hope everyone of you has a great night!!

Wow...Here I Am Again.

Well this isn't a record yet, but I'm blogging for the second day in a row. :) I'll start by telling you that Chrissie still needs prayers, she has another big day ahead of her tomorrow. We're praying for her too, and her wonderful family...

Well, then Tony received an email today from a local BMW dealership for an advisor position he applied for the other day. The manager seemed to be interested in Tony's transfer to Indiana a few years ago...don't know why or where that is headed, but this dealership has other stores in Florida and New York State...hmmm... What next? :D Maybe a move again? Bring it on Lord, you know we'll go anywhere You wish...

Tony and I had a great quiet day together, but we really need little ones to keep us young, I felt old and I don't like that... cuz' I'M NOT!

One of my best friends told me a few weeks ago that she had been praying for a way to raise money for us to bring the twins home. Well, she said He told her to paint pictures, so she painted us three sweet pictures and we just got them today! I am not sure how I am going to sell them, I think we'll do some type of 'give away' on this blog or my fundraiser blog, we'll see...

Please pray for us now too, we need to plan our yard sale, when and where, so I can plaster our neighborhood with flyers asking for donations and also send out an email and message to everyone we know... we really want it to be a success so we can finish fundraising for the first few things we need to do. Then we can move on to the BIG ticket items like grants and such...pray for success so we can bring our princesses home before October... :)

Well, I'm going to go now, I have things to do so Tony can surf for a while...hope you have a wonderful evening! Til tomorrow...

Let's see...

I know I missed blogging yesterday, but here I am and I think I have a new goal.. A Blog A Day, All Through May! Let's see if I can do this... :D

Just letting anyone not following along about Matt and Lorraine Patterson and their Serbian Sensation, Chrissie, who is four years old and underwent open heart surgery on April 19th. She seems to be doing okay. They are changing her ventilator today in hopes that she will feel better. She has a fever but drs think it's due to internal swelling of tissues, not necessarily an infection. She is an amazing little one and her family is wonderful. We are continuing to keep her in prayer, especially since she seems to be in more pain than she has had. Please pray for her and her family.

Now, I am also going to blog about my two princesses! They are beautiful in our eyes...yesterday I went to my mothers house to scrapbook and looked through my old pictures and noticed that Sandra looks just like me at her age! And she looks just like my Aunt Nancy and cousin Julie! I can't wait to unpack my pictures to see pictures of Tony's family because I think that Slavka looks just like Tony's mom...I'm really 'chomping at the bit'! :D Have I told anyone lately that I love those two sweeties!

A couple of weeks ago, right after Easter, I went shopping, not for the girls but that always happens :D I happened to find the Easter sale at Kmart and most of the decorations were 90% off. Well I saw their bunnies. The first one I found was this cute little pink one, at 5.99 regular price. I scanned it and found it was $.59 so I picked up two!

Then I was looking at the cute white one that cost $9.99, it was $.99, so I bought two!

Then there was the cutest, and biggest, purple bunny and he is usually $19.99, and he ended up being $1.99, so I bought two!!!

So here they are waiting patiently for their princesses to come join them! :)

I have chosen and bought their quilts, they are beautiful Laura Ashley Heirloom quilts! They are a bright pink with white daisy's all over them and they are reversible, white with pink/dark pink narrow stripes on the other side, and I bought them at Burlington Coat Factory at a fantastic price!

Awesome for them...now it will look like their new bunnies have a field of daisies to eat and sleep on while they are waiting!

Well, enough already, gotta go get dinner planned...Have a wonder-fun evening of Blessings! :D