Typical Day...

Throughout our days, anything can happen....we school, we love, we build, we eat, we have fun, we disagree, we take pictures, and then we try to love some more.  Here's some photos from our typical days (sometimes it's like candid camera around here - you never know who's watching!). 

Rock Star DT!

Rock star DT w/her dancer!

Buiding with Keva Planks during quiet time!

Our master builder!

One of our talented pianists practicing

Dancing the day away!

Smile!

Building during a read aloud - two of our math activities - cuisinare rods and parquetry blocks - how inventive!

Surprise!

Donatella joins Karate!

Following in her big brothers' and daddy's footsteps, Donatella joined Karate when she turned 6 - and she's lovin' it!   (Now everyone is asking, when is Mommy joining?!)

Kia!

Maria turns 5!

Maria turned 5 in January, and it was her turn to have a special day with mom having her nails painted. Since we were getting ready to leave on vacation, her and I spent some time up in mommy's special room, soaking her feet and hands before I did her manicure and pedicure myself. It was so much fun and she was so happy!

Ready for flip flops!

Praise the Lord!

Last night Maria and I had dinner at my  mom's - my mom said something at the dinner table that made me cry - she said, "I wish I was 20 years younger to enjoy the children more, I'm so happy living here (across the street from me) and can be with the children every day, I love them, but I've lived a good life and I'm ready to die; if God takes me now, I'm not afraid."   I was speechless.   I am certainly not ready for her to die.  Yet all I could think about was, does she know Jesus - and I asked her, "mom, have you ever prayed to receive Christ in your heart?"   This was something I asked her when my grandma passed away last March (my mom's mom) and I could tell she was wanting to know more, but it wasn't the right time.   I felt that now was the right time.  She said no that she had not asked Him into her heart, and I told her we would talk about it more.   To be truthful, when she said no I did not know what to do!   But I knew it was not difficult because I had prayed the prayer 6 years ago, and it's so simple a child can say it.  But I felt I wanted to get it right.  So I went home and googled it and printed out one page of sharing the Gospel, which concluded with the prayer to receive Christ.    And then I could not sleep at all night last night, fearing I may have missed the opportunity God presented.   God is so good, my mom came over several times today and I could tell that she was not her usual self.  So just before 4pm we came in the house and she shared what was on her heart - she said that after a conversation w/my dad (about his weight and food) that left her a little irriated, she went and had a long talk with Jesus, and she told him, "Jesus, I've done some things that aren't right, and I'm asking you to forgive me, and if you can't it's OK, I accept my consequences.  And when I die I don't even know where I'm going."  My heart was so sad, I told her that by asking for foregiveness that she is forgiven!  And I told her how much Jesus loves her, and how I've seen Him pursuing her over the years.   I then shared the Gospel with her, and asked her if she wanted to receive Christ.  Before she answered, she wanted to know if this meant she would not be Catholic anymore, and I told her of course not!   I know so many Catholics who prayed to receive Christ as their Lord and Savior, and they still go to Catholic Church.    We bowed our heads, I held her hands, and she prayed the prayer to receive Christ.    I had tears in my eyes, and hugged her.  I told her that today she has been re-born, and that she is going to Heaven!   How awesome to be celebrating that in my heart this Easter, and knowing I will be spending eternity with her.    Little Dom and Dio came in and I told them what had happened and they were so excited.   God keeps showing me more and more why he had us buy this house, and how He led my parents to buy the house across the street from us.  He is so Awesome!   And ANYTHING is possible with God!   Praise the Lord!    I love you, Mom!

A First "Lost Tooth"

Just a few days after turning 6, Donatella lost her very first tooth - she was so excited!  She now has a  second one loose on the top.

Turning 6!

Turning 6 was a big year for Donatella. We celebrated with 12 little girls and had a Musical Birthday Tea Party! Nana and Grandpa came for a surprise visit. Donatella has such a sweet spirit, and she truly loves all her friends. We made tambourines and wrote on them "Sing to God"; we had a sewing project and all the girls got to take home a bookmark to sew; we made placemats with the girls names set to musical notes; we played "Pin the Handle on the Tea Pot", Dio played Happy Birthday on the Piano, and all the girls got to play instruments and have a concert. 

This was hanging on the front door - Donatella painted it pink and mom wrote the words

Dio and Dom made this sign for Donatella to hang on her chair during the tea party

Pin the handle on the tea pot!

A Musical Concert!

Sitting down to Tea - actually Apple Cider and Chocolate Milk!

"Piano" Tea Sandwiches - Cream Cheese w/Pineapple,

Cream Cheese w/Jelly, and Apple Butter

Lighting the Candles

Happy Birthday to You!

Make a Wish!

We ended the day with a Birthday Dinner at Mimi's Cafe with Nana and Grandpa, and Grandma and Grandpa.  And the lovely and fun Miss Nancy waited on us as dinner.   

Happy Birthday, my sweet Donatella!  We love you!

Me on Birthdays and more...

I often hear people say, "I don't know where the time went." I think about that sometimes, but more often I think about, have I used the time, talents, and gifts God has given me to Glorify Him? As we celebrate another year of birthdays for the children, that thought comes to mind again. Little Dom was born in December, Maria in January, and Dio and Donatella in February. Dio is a Leap Year Day baby, and this year he got to celebrate on his "real" birhdate - Feb 29! I remember each birth, and adoption, like it was yesterday. I was not a believer when my three biological children were born. I was adopted into God's family almost four months after Donatella was born, and then God called us to adopt Maria three years later. I want each birthday to be one where we celebrate God creating each one of us in His image, and where we spend time giving thanks to our Creator. I want us to reflect back and ask ourselves, how did we use the last year He gave us to honor and Glorify Him, and let's pray about what His will is for each of us this year. Although I talked about it with each of the children, I don't think I carried it out as completely as I felt led to do. Donatella's birthday came the closest to that. How did I even get to journaling this??? It all started last night when D and I were talking about wanting to add on to the house - he said to me "I'm working as hard as I can (to make money), but I'm already rich in love and family." That really touched me - to hear that coming from him. And then this morning on the way to church D asked me why am I not wearing my wedding ring - I told him "it's a piece of junk and it looks awful" to which he agreed. (I've never had a "real" diamond.) I said I'd like a nice band - he said he'd see what he could do. I felt like I was whining a little bit, and during worship part of the lyrics from "Forever Reign" jumped out at me -
The riches of Your love
Will always be enough
Nothing compares to Your embrace
Light of the world forever reign.
I was instantly brought back to our conversation in the car and thought how could I be so vain - who really cares about a silly ring! I am rich in so many ways I cannot even count - and most importantly JESUS LOVES ME and it doesn't get any better than that. I don't know how this whole post relates, but this is what the Lord put on my heart today, and I knew I had to get it down in my journal (blog).
Thank you, Lord, for speaking to me so clearly through worship today, and for the riches you have given me. I always want to live my life pleasing to you; help me teach my children in the way they should go. May we continue to celebrate each year in honor of You. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

REAL Food!

I won't make this long, and I'll get right to the point - I am no longer a raw vegan - hurray!    We were discussing having another child, and I started to wonder about all the miscarriages I had... my friend P emailed some articles that I read, and they went against everything I have believed about food!  But....it made sense - and the missing pieces that I was searching for finally fit together.   I believe I miscarried because I was missing some key ingredients which would lead to early miscarriages.  I also came to realize that I chose a lifestyle of being a vegetarian, and then moving to a raw vegan, for the wrong reasons - I chose that way for appearance and not health.   So now I drink raw milk, eat grass fed beef, pastured chicken, pastured eggs, occasional organ meat, you get the idea.   I have put on a few more pounds than I would have liked, but now that I'm back exercising and figuring out just how much is good for me, the weight is coming off.  I am really enjoying cooking again, and having people over.  My family is happy!   I still love my veggies, fruit and salads, but these are no longer my staples.   And did I mention - I am really strong - stronger than I've ever been.   I believe that whether or not we have another child, that God used that to get me to look at what I was doing, and He saved my life.    Read for yourself - Nina Planck's REAL Food, and REAL Food for Mother and Baby - and make the choice that is best for you.  

I found the Christmas pictures

This was one of my favorite Christmases, as we focused on Christ, and on others.

Christmas morning!

One of our Christmas traditions is to give new pajamas on Christmas Eve -

one of my favorite things to do, and the kids look forward to it each year.

We gave each of the kids a Lighthouse t-shirt - Lighthouse is our homeschool group

that we belong to.  Mommy and Daddy each got one too!

Donatella's gift to Daddy

Maria's gift to Donatella - she made a holder for all Donatella's hair bands!

Dio playing the song he wrote for Dominic.

Brotherly love - let me capture this moment!

Dom's gift to Maria - a box for all her trinkets!

The Christmas stocking I made for Dio.





Merry Christmas!

Catching up!

So much has happened since last July!   I am not even going to try and catch it all up, but rather to highlight so I can remember these last eight months...

The biggest change is that we moved on August 31, 2011.  This was an enormous task, and much more overwhelming than I anticipated; not only packing and unpacking, but having some construction done in the house and having the entire house painted inside - we could not unpack for weeks!  I am glad it is but a distant memory, and we have all settled in.

Moving truck loading

Last look at old home - bittersweet...

The POD packed and ready to go!

Welcome Home!

Where will we put everything?! 

Living in the country!

Happy Family!

Girls in their new room!

Hangin' out!

Part of living out in the country is owning your own rider-mower...here's little D's first lesson!

Field Trip to the Apple Orchard!  The kids had a chance to manually press apples to make delicious apple juice!

A Halloween spook above catches the kids' attention!



Dom showing off how to make your apple shiny - just use a cloth and rub!

Dom has enjoyed making a few swings for the kids in the yard... here are the girls sharing a ride!

As mom and dad work on the many house projects, the kids take control and cook dinner!

Our First Christmas in our new home!   This year we chose to pick one person in our family and make a gift.  Rather than buy gifts and put them under the tree, we chose to go on a family trip instead.   The hightlight of this Christmas was the gift that Big Dom made me....my owl box!   We have owls in the area and I want to help them have a safe place to nest.   Here is our owl box - no owls yet, but we think we put it up a little too late in the season, so we are hopeful for some activity this fall.

With some help, Dom had the owl box mounted on a tree about 35 feet up.

Here he is with his tools!

 

The owl box being hung by Dom and VC.

Me and Maria looking on excitedly!

Dio getting a better view!

Voila!  Thank you Dom! xo 

Our annual Christmas tradition of picking out our tree!   This year the kids trimmed the tree completely on their own - it was very special for them. 

This was my special gift to put under the tree - this Nativity has been in my family since I was a little girl...it is a sweet reminder that our Savior, the King of Kings, was born in a simple barn.

Family night making Gingerbread Men! 

Our Family Vacation started out with a field trip with our homeschool group to a skydiving training center - Dom, Dio and even Maria suited up for an awesome experience!

We took the kids to Florida - where we relaxed and enjoyed a lot of good family time!  The highlight was a trip to Legoland - what fun! 

A nice trip to the beach!

I cannot seem to locate any of the photos of the gifts we all made each other for this Christmas!  Dio wrote a song for Dominic and played it on the piano; Dom made Maria a personalized box where she can put all her trinkets; Donatella made Daddy lots of goodies, I made Dio a Christmas stocking, and Dom made me the owl box.    And little Dom had a birthday in early December, turning 9.  We celebrated at the IcePlex with his friends for an Ice Skating party.  

We were blessed with a Piano this year!  We met a neighbor during our garage sale in October, and she was a homeschool mom.  Her daughter had graduated and played the piano.  She called me in late December and said they were ready to part with the piano, and would we be interested.  Oh yes!   This is something I never thought we would have, and we are so very thankful.  Dom, Dio and DT have been taking piano lessons for about 5 months and are doing so well...they love it and play all the time.