Friday, November 30, 2007

Another One Down!!!

Another family will be completed before the Holidays!

Marcy is traveling to Haiti (to leave tomorrow and arrive in Haiti Sunday) for a Visa visit of Monday December 3rd, 2007...once again at the lovely time of 7am.....

This makes my SECOND family to travel for this next week!!!

CONGRATULATIONS JEREMY, MARCY, AUSTIN, CHRISTIAN, KADEN.....WELCOME HOME LOUNA (GRACE) AND HAYLEE (HOPE)!!!!!

Lots of love to the newly completed families.....I LOVE YOU ALL!

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

4 Minutes in Haiti

Wonderful video with scenes of daily Haitian life, sounds and sites...LOVE IT! Makes me miss Haiti so much!

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Graci is coming home!

I am so excited I can barely write...type, whatever...

One of my adoptive mommies is getting to travel! Visa interview is Tuesday am (7am to be exact...eeww) and she will return with their new daughter Thursday! I am so excited. I have 2 more families on the cusp of travel and hope to post soon that they too have their appointments made and tickets bought.....Graci is coming home!!

Congratulations Tim, Beki and Jami.....Graci will be home for Christmas!

Monday, November 26, 2007

Prayers for a Friend

I have a prayer request for a friend.

This friend Mike is one of the fighters I have met during my ring side medic job and I just love the guy. He is a fierce competitor and very loyal to his friends. My prayer for him is this:
Mike is the ripe old age of 23 year old. He and his 21 year old girlfriend have been awaiting the arrival of a daughter this month. Well, the 23rd, Mike celebrated his birthday and the 24th his baby daughter was stillborn. I am so very sad for Mike and his girlfriend, I believe they looked forward to this baby as hope....she is now gone. Mike is not a religious guy, and I do not believe he is saved, however, that is not my call to make. I do know, that he is sad, lonely and in need of prayer as is Carrie, the mother of the baby.

I have sent him words of comfort, the only thing I can offer him, except for prayers. Pray for them to have clarification that the Lord loves them and their daughter, and that there is some reason, unknown to them, that he has taken their baby.

I always hated that saying "it was for the best, God knew what he was doing"....It never made it any easier, but for them I pray that they find some peace in the situation and come to know God through it all.

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Haiti Video...Great footage

Great Video that shows pic's of Haiti. Some video, some still shots, all great!!


Courtesy of Youtube and MBA's Without Borders in Haiti

Friday, November 23, 2007

Funny Video

I think they filmed this at MY house!!

Promoted to Angel

On November 12th I posted a video about a little boy named Henrius, in Haiti. He was suffering from Kwashiokor's, a severe form of Protein Malnutrition.

Wednesday November 21st in the morning, Henrius succumbed to his illness and has been promoted to angel status and into the arms of his waiting Savior.

Prayers to the Rescue Center in Haiti for their efforts (this death was very hard for Lori and Licia and the staff) as well as prayers for his birth family that had hoped for a better outcome.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Weightless and Empty

This year as Thanksgiving comes up I have so much to be thankful for. This will be the first year Kai and Nikaya will get to spend with us as a family. December 13th will be 1 year home from Haiti...where did the time go??

I think of the families that are still waiting for their children to come home and the loss and sadness they have of missing another Holiday with those children and it makes me cry...I have been there. I think about the families so much that it effects my sleep, making it necessary for me to take med's to help me fall asleep or I would be up all hours of the night...thinking....scheming of ways to get them home faster...wishing and praying for things that it isn't my place to decide, but still I think about them.

There is a song by Sarah McLachlan called 'In the Arms of The Angel'. This song speaks to me and brings me to tears every time I hear it. Her words are below:


Spend all your time waiting for that second chance
For the break that will make it ok
There's always some reason to feel not good enough?
And it's hard at the end of the day
I need some distraction,
oh beautiful release
Memories seep from my veins
Let me be empty and weightless,
and maybe I'll find some peace tonight

In the arms of an Angel, fly away from here
From this dark, cold hotel room,
and the endlessness that you fear
You are pulled from the wreckage
of your silent reverie
You're in the arms of an Angel;
may you find some comfort here

So tired of the straight line,
and everywhere you turn
There's vultures and thieves at your back
The storm keeps on twisting,
you keep on building the lies
That you make up for all that you lack
It don't make no difference,
escaping one last time
It's easier to believe
In this sweet madness,
oh this glorious sadness
That brings me to my knees

In the arms of an Angel,
far away from here
From this dark, cold hotel room,
and the endlessness that you fear
You are pulled from the wreckage
of your silent reverie
In the arms of an Angel;
may you find some comfort here

I would love to be weightless and empty of worry and find the peace that would allow me to sleep.
Everywhere we (the adoption workers, the families and the adopted children) turn, there are vultures at our backs...the corruption is unimaginable.
The sweet madness and glorious sadness brings the families to their knees. I have lived thru that as well....4 times for myself.....it is such an arm aching and heart wrenching situation to be in.

I think of all of the kids and their families as I celebrate my children's First Thanksgiving home, and pray for them to be strong and that they truly know that someday this pain will all be a distant memory and a journey that they are Thankful they made and that I was blessed enough to be a part of.

Saturday, November 17, 2007

A Few Funnies

Got this from the blog of my friend Britney. LOVED it and had to share it with all of you!!!



A little girl was talking to her teacher about whales.
The teacher said it was physically impossible for a whale to swallow a human because even though it was a very large mammal its throat was very small.
The little girl stated that Jonah was swallowed by a whale.
Irritated, the teacher reiterated that a whale could not swallow a human; it was physically impossible.
The little girl said, "When I get to heaven I will ask Jonah".
The teacher asked, "What if Jonah went to hell?"

The little girl replied, "Then you ask him".



A Kindergarten teacher was observing her classroom of children while they were drawing. She would occasionally walk around to see each child's work.
As she got to one little girl who was working diligently, she asked what the drawing was.
The girl replied, "I'm drawing God."
The teacher paused and said, "But no one knows what God looks like".

Without missing a beat, or looking up from her drawing, the girl replied, "They will in a minute."



A Sunday school teacher was discussing the Ten Commandments with her five and six year olds.
After explaining the commandment to "honor" thy Father and thy Mother, she asked, "Is there a commandment that teaches us how to treat our brothers and sisters?"

Without missing a beat one little boy (the oldest of a family) answered, "Thou shall not kill."



One day a little girl was sitting and watching her mother do the dishes at the kitchen sink. She suddenly noticed that her mother had several strands of white hair sticking out in contrast on her brunette head.
She looked at her mother and inquisitively asked, "Why are some of your hairs white, Mom?"
Her mother replied, "Well, every time that you do something wrong and make me cry or unhappy, one of my hairs turns white."

The little girl thought about this revelation for a while and then said, "Momma, how come ALL of grandma's hairs are white?"



The children had all been photographed, and the teacher was trying to persuade them each to buy a copy of the group picture.
"Just think how nice it will be to look at it when you are all grown up and say, 'There's Jennifer, she's a lawyer,' or 'That's Michael, He's a doctor.'

A small voice at the back of the room rang out, "And there's the teacher, she's dead."



A teacher was giving a lesson on the circulation of the blood. Trying to make the matter clearer, she said, "Now, class, if I stood on my head, the blood, as you know, would run into it, and I would turn red in the face."
"Yes," the class said.
"Then why is it that while I am standing upright in the ordinary position the blood doesn't run into my feet?"

A little fellow shouted,
"Cause your feet ain't empty."



The children were lined up in the cafeteria of a Catholic elementary school for lunch. At the head of the table was a large pile of apples. The nun made a note, and posted on the apple tray:
"Take only ONE . God is watching."
Moving further along the lunch line, at the other end of the table was a large pile of chocolate chip cookies.

A child had written a note, "Take all you want. God is watching the apples."

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Titus 2 and Parenting

I took my 2nd Titus 2 class this last Sunday. I love that I have founbd a group that has so far fit for me and given us a place to possibly...eventually...call home church.

At my last Titus class we talked about Self Control and how to have it in everyday life with ourselves, people in our lives, our hubby and our children. I find that I struggle with the last one some times and I am not sure if it is because I am impatient, tired, grumpy selfish or all of the above. I explained the concept to my hubby (we are to practice the 'art' of self control at least 25 times this next month for homework. This really is harder than it sounds when you have 4 children aged 10, 7, 6, and 3. hehe

I explained to the kids that we are going to ALL practice our voices and words adn use them as if Jesus himself were standing behind you when you say them...to give you a little reminder to watch your tongue, tone and eye rolling.

Yestrerday, Hunter was yelling at Kai...the exchange went like this:
Hunter: "Kai, I am gonna hit you on the head when no one is looking!"
Me: "Hunter, what would you do and say if Jesus was standing behind you?"
Hunter: (Never taking his eyes off of Kai and never cracking a smile) "If Jesus was behind me I would still say it but I would whisper!"
Me: (inside myself of course..) hehehehe

We are still working on the concept.
:-P

Monday, November 12, 2007

Rescue Center Video..Please Pray

This was filmed by one of my new friends in Haiti. She and her sister are wonderful and care for the many children in Cazale at their clinic. Please, pray for Henrius as he tries to survive....something they see everyday in MANY children.

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Haiti Video of NLL and HFC

This video was posted by a group that went on a Mission Trip to New Life Link and Hope for the Children of Haiti (one of the Oprhanages in Haiti I work with.) Look, listen, see the beauty of the children...wish there was more!

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Church

I am excited to return to our new church tomorrow. Kids are bathing tonight to get ready to go tomorrow morning since we must be there by 9:30am and it would not allow all of us to shower beforehand....not happening with me and 4 kids! ;-)
I have missed church the last 2 Sunday's due to either being ill or being out late working the previous night....what an excuse huh?! Anyway, tomorrow we are getting back into the swing of it and I will also be returning to the Titus 2 class tomorrow night..very excited for that!

Kai and Nikaya-isms

Kai and Nikaya watch way to much WWE Wrestling with Hunter. We know this now because the other day they were playing in the living room rolling around and pretending to throw each other on the floor etc. Nikaya fell over after Kai got a good fake kick on her. She got up and said "Oh tay....fine, fine, fine..." and ripped her shirt off over her head and flexed her muscles Hulk style and said "Kai, you see my BIG muscles?" Kai replied "Oh yeah, see mine?" and ripped his shirt off over his head....maybe we need to monitor the TV viewing a little closer!! :-)

Hunter-isms

Hunter has had a few funnies in his day as well. Here are a couple that stand out:

Hunter talking to me in the store.
"Man mom, I cannot wait until I am old enough for my Bar mitsvah!"
"Hunter, you are Haitian and Baptist, NOT Jewish."
"Oh, no Bar mitsvah then?
"Uh...no...."


Us to Hunter:
"Hunter, eat all of your food on your plate..there are children starving all over the world, including your own country."
Hunter to us:
"But, if I eat all of my food I wont have room for dessert..."

Demi-isms

A few funnies that we have had the last few days:

Hunter talking about something he learned at school and how it was an Idiom....I said "Hunter, what is an idiom?" to which Demi replied "Gosh mom, even I know what an idiot is." :-)

Hunter was in his room dragging toys out of his toy box. He comes in and tells me that he has found all the toys WE have hid from him all this time...RIGHT...we hid them from him in his toy box...what a concept... Anyway, I told Hunter he had better clean his room when he was done digging so it didn't look like a CYCLONE hit it. Demi replied "to late, there already was a CYCLOPS in his room!" :-)

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

Fight Updates :-P

OK. I forgot to post about the MMA fights I went to and sat Ring Side Medic for. I have to say, these were good (I think they are all awesome, but these were exciting)
I had 1 REALLY bad eye cut. This guy had 3 Hematoma's around his eye. A Hematoma is a blood filled sack...He was bleeding so bad, but his corner begged me not to stop the fight reminding me that it was not bleeding INTO his eye and he could still fight. I decided to let him go 1 more round and told him if he was still bleeding that bad after the next round he was DONE! The guy thanked me and went out to fight the 2nd, but final round...knocking the other guy unconscious and winning the Title belt! Took me 5 butterflies to close his eye and 5 more after his shower. (I usually close the cut after they get out of the cage so they can shower and get the Vaseline off and cool off so the butterflies stick better and once they do that I re-butterfly them for good until the go to the hospital.)
One guy got his opponent in an arm bar and all of a sudden the guy on the ground SCREAMED! I run in and the guy who did the arm bar kept saying "I heard something pop...eewww..." I checked the guy and saw no visible injuries and had the Ambulance Crew come up to check him as well. We believe he popped a nerve in his arm, and sent him to have x-rays.
Big fight of the night was the second to last one. A guy who has held the Title for several years was fighting an up and comer. They were fighting good and hard and finally after 3 rounds the new guy got the Title holder in a choke hold and he tapped out....The new guy jumped for joy and his posse came into the cage to congratulate him and I went in to check the loser out to make sure he did not lose consciousness. All of a sudden someone ran into my arm and I almost fell down. I look up and HUGE fight of about 10 people is happening in the winners corner. YIKES...here came the Local Police, and 2 different Security services in to the ring. The Dr. helping me runs out and turns around to say "wow..what a mess" but he didn't see me....I am IN the middle of the fight pulling the fighters I know off of each other and checking all the blood...IT WAS EVERYWHERE! I had several cuts, scraped, bloody knuckles etc from the ones fighting. Come to find out, the kid who lost, his FATHER ran into the ring and sucker punched the kid who won...WHAT?! The father was arrested, the kid who lost was MORTIFIED that his father did that and the guy who won...he had a majorly cracked bridge in his mouth (he had taken his mouth piece out after his fight)all 4 front teeth were broken, bleeding and loose...what a bloody mess. When I was finished, my hubby was holding my arm because I was to stupid to get out of the cage during the fight...hehe...and he was terrified for me... and I was covered in blood. WHAT A NIGHT!!!!
Can't wait until Dec. for the next ones!

Sunday, November 04, 2007

Halloween

I have yet to post photos, but Halloween was fun. Hunter was a scary bleeding Grim Reaper, Demi was a Vampiress, Kai was Spiderman and Nikaya was a Cheerleader (of course). Curtis dressed up as Gandolf the Grey (from Lord of the Rings) and took them trick or treating to family and neighbors. All the kids had fun. Nikaya would say over and over again that Curtis was her daddy, but she would NOT hold his hand for anything, choosing instead to hold Tracey's (one of my bestest friend's). I stayed home for the first time in....ever...to pass out candy. I made my hair into a fohawk and put black lipstick and eye shadow on. Most of the neighborhood kids know me so they thought it was pretty great...they thought I should take that look to the street for everyday use. hehe

We were still able to start early enough to trick or treat and then be in bed by 9pm as usual. Than goodness or we would have had grumpy sugar drenched kids the next day.