Inspiration Sunday

A man never stands as tall as when he kneels to help a child.











~Knights of Pythagoras


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Thanks for stopping by.
If you like my blog, I hope you'll be able to take a minute to add yourself as a follower (over on my sidebar).
Come back soon! I'm here every day, rain or shine...

~Anne


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Quote courtesy: quotations.about.com
Image courtesy: jesusofnazaret.com

Ode to the Mom in the Grocery Store

Couple weeks ago I was shuffling my way through my weekly grocery shopping trip, when I saw a young Mom doing the same.

Only where I get to enjoy the freedom of shopping sans kids, she had hers in tow: twin three year-olds in the 'car' part of the cart, and a six month old in his carrier in the kiddie-seat area.

Awww. Seriously, so cute. And the twins were being so good.




image link


The baby, on the other hand. Oh my.
He was teething. And he was voicing his discomfort vociferously.

At first, the loving and patient Mom was cooing softly to her wee one, trying to comfort him. But as the baby's wails increased in intensity and volume, so did the Mom's coos.

I LOVE you, Jonathan.
You're WONderful!

I LOVE you, Jonathan, you're WONDERful!!

Her pitiful cries could be heard from the Uncrustables to the Pampers.

But there was no comforting going on. Only a feeble attempt to convince herself and the other shoppers that she did indeed love her baby, and that she was not, in fact, losing her cottin' pickin' mind. My heart bled for her, but there was nothing I could do to make the wailing stop.

We finished around the same time, and I gave her my spot in line, because I knew she not only had to get through check-out, she had to load all the groceries in the car, get the kids and the food into the house, and put it all away, all with a screaming baby and two increasngly antsy preschoolers.

Our eyes locked in a moment of sisterhood.

She knew from my look -- I did not envy her. While I found her babes precious, and it made me remember back to when my own were little, I knew that when I returned home, I would have six pairs of eager reluctant hands to help me unload and carry in. I would have six sweet whiny voices asking how they could be of help when they could get back to their video games.

But I would not have a screaming baby. I would not have three year olds hanging from the rafters. I would have semi-adult-like beings to engage in mature conversations about why I didn't buy Pop Tarts or the right kind of ice cream.

And I wouldn't trade them for the world....

farm Friday Becomes (for today) Father's Day Blog Hop

With Father's Day around the corner, I thought I'd review a few things about my beloved.

And that would be Fred.

I wrote this about him last year when I first started doing the whole Sunday Social thing, so I'm just cutting and pasting it here.

What. I'm busy, OK?







And there he is. The one with the red hair.














Ain't he handsome?

Problem is, besides being handsome, Fred is the strong, silent, private type. As in, he doesn't much care for me broadcasting all his likes and dislikes and quirks and what-not out to my hundreds of thousands of fans.

Did you just snicker? I heard you snicker.

So what can I tell you about my beloved?



cricket, cricket....



Not much. Sigh.

But I can cheat. I can tell you what I like.....


I like...
A man who is tall and broad and strong.
A man who understands hard work and working hard because he has been there and done that.
A man who is not afraid of changing out a toilet or chopping firewood or running the tractor to plow our driveway in sub-zero windchills after a full day's work.
A man who is probably the smartest person I have ever met with an IQ somewhere out there in the stratosphere.
A man with a very ecclectic taste in music and books and movies and food.
A man who seems more at home and at ease with the salt-of-the-earth folk of his childhood than in the well-to-do circles of his career colleagues.
A man who is an old softie when it comes right down to it, who has supported me in taking in all manner of critters to rescue or foster or bring into our family.
A man who has supported me in the pursuit of all my children, no matter how they came to us, no matter whether they were staying with us a week, or a school year, or a lifetime.
A man who has taught our children what it is to work hard, to appreciate the good things in life, to apply yourself, and to always help those in need.



But don't tell him I told you any of that.

I'm linking up today with SixSuitcaseTravel.com for their Father's Day Blog Hop. Come join the fun!

And I'm linking up with yet another blog hop. Deborah Jean's Dandelion House. Come check it out!


















Thanks for stopping by! Come back soon. I'm here every day, rain or shine.
Anne~


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Don't forget, I will love you forever if you throw me a couple votes:

Circle of Moms: click the pink badge, scroll down to my blog, and click the thumbs-up button to vote. You can vote every day till June 20th!





Top Mommy Blogs: You know the drill by now, don't you? Just click the juggling chick and you've voted. You can vote every day till, like forever.

Thanks!

Hold the Cherries (reposted)

I posted this on my old blog a couple years ago, but since we just finished harvesting our cherries, I thought I'd repost. Enjoy!



The other day Fred went a little crazy pruning some of our fruit trees (cheap therapy). After he came in all sweaty and scratched up, I surveyed his handiwork. Looked like a tornado hit. There were branches everywhere and our poor trees looked like, well, poor trees.

He waved his hand in a sweeping motion to indicate the arborial slaughter and said, "Perhaps you could have the kids pick these branches up tomorrow".

"And do what with them" I inquired curiously.

He hesitated when the proportion of the problem sunk in and then muttered, "Just have them throw them into the side pen and I'll clear them into the ravine with the tractor another time".

Oh, another time. Our famous words. The translate loosely to "It'll never git dun".

But ever willing to serve my darling husband's wishes, the next day I rallied the troops and told them it was time to go move some branches.

"Why, was there a storm?"

"No, your Dad trimmed the trees."

There followed some wailing and moaning of biblical proportions, but they managed to rip their bottoms from the couches and chairs and head outside to survey the damage.
New round of wailing and moaning. But I stayed the course, assuring them they would have No Fun of Anykind until this chore was completed. They slumped their shoulders to the point of defying gravity. Physics would dictate they should fall over with their shoulders rounded forward to such a degree, but upright they remained.

Once they were underway I headed back inside to moan and wail over the chores I needed to start in on. After a bit, as I was cleaning in the kitchen, I saw a bowl of cherries on the kitchen table. Some of the kids had picked those yesterday and weren't they yummy. I popped a couple in my mouth and went about my business, but some nagging issue was starting to solidify in my mind. It started as a vapor but continued to take shape as I moved along, chewing my cherries. Into the trash I spit the pits, and the fog of a problem finally took shape. I picked up the phone and called Fred, who was out at the tractor store.

"When you were trimming the trees, did you happen to cut any of the cherry tree branches?"

"Yeah, some, why?"

"Because the wilted leaves of cherry trees are toxic to goats and horses!" I yelped, revealing that on rare occassions my brain was capable of retreiving pertinent information.

"Well just tell the kids not to throw them into the side pen."

"Too late, they've been at it for awhile now."

"Well then ....."

But I had already hung up the phone and raced outside.

And yep, there were the goats, clambering over the growing branch pile like ants on a watermelon rind, munching happily away. I yelled for the kids to stop throwing branches in, ran into the pen and chased all the goats out.

The kids were staring at me like I had finally lost my mind.

I scanned the ground and found the offending item I was looking for. I waved it over my head for all to see.

"See this? This is a cherry tree branch!"

They were looking sideways at each other now, finding it amusing that Mom was becoming so unhinged right before their eyes.

"We need to go through these piles of branches right now and remove ALL of them."

"WHAT?! We just put them all in!"

"I know, I know, but cherry tree branches are poisonous to goats and horses."

Bella started to cry. "You mean all our horses and goatie-goats are gonna DIE?!"

"No, honey, only if they eat the leaves after they get all brown and shriveled. But we have to get them out of here now before they eat any more."

"But I don't want to touch them if they're POIsonous!"

"No, honey, they're not poisonous to touch. Just if they're eaten."

"But I eat cherries all the time!"

"The cherries aren't poisonous. Just the leaves. And only if they're all brown and wilted. And only to goa..... oh never mind, just get in here and start taking out any branches that have leaves that look like this. And any leaves on the ground that might have gotten ripped off the branches when you threw them in. Pretend it's like an Easter egg hunt."

So the kids now began working in reverse, pulling out any cherry tree branches they had thrown in only minutes before, deconstructing their giant bird's nest. It was kinda like playing Pick-up-Sticks only with giant, scratchy, interwoven branches instead of skinny little colorful sticks. Had I recorded the children as they undid all their hard work, I could have sold it to a movie studio to be used as audio for a scene where family members look thorough a bloody battlefield to find their fallen loved ones all disemboweled and decapitated. The moaning had reached its pinnacle at this point. But I have to give credit where credit is due. They did it. Our side pen was once again a habitable pen for our four-legged friends. Our one-day-to-be-removed-to-the-ravine-branch-pile had now reached new heights and could probably be seen from the town center.

Just then Fred came home and asked how he was supposed to mow the grass with this big pile of cherry tree branches in the way.

I had a few choice ideas of what he coud do with the branches, but it is my intent to keep this blog G-rated, so I'll not post my suggestions here.









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Thanks for stopping by! If you enjoy my blog, can you please take a minute to add yourself as a follower? Just mosey on over to the sidebar and click "join this site". Easy peasy.
Hope to see you back tomorrow, I'm here everyday, rain or shine...

Anne ~



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I'm linking this post up with A Rural Journal Blog hop today. Come on over and join in the fun!




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Thanks!

Wordless Wednesday

School artwork project by Bella...






















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Thanks for stopping by! Come back tomorrow, I'm here everyday, rain or shine...

Anne ~



**********************




Don't forget, I will love you forever if you throw me a couple votes:

Circle of Moms: click the pink badge, scroll down to my blog, and click the thumbs-up button to vote. You can vote every day till June 20th!





Top Mommy Blogs: You know the drill by now, don't you? Just click the juggling chick and you've voted. You can vote every day till, like forever.



Thanks!

Adoption Tuesday - International vs Domestic

I had posted this on my other blog some time ago, and thought I would repost now for Adoption Tuesday. Enjoy....




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International vs Domestic, and I'm Not Talking Wine or Cheese.


I've heard much debate as to whether, if you're going to adopt, you should go domestic or international. Or even if folks should be adopting at all.



When I first looked into adopting,

what's it been now, 8+ years?

I decided on international.



There were a few reasons. I was, quite frankly, scared of some of the horror stories I had heard about adopting a kid "from the system". I wanted a process that would be a clean cut so that once it was done, it was done. No continued visitations with birth relations, etc, etc.



And I was extremely happy about how it all went. All except for the debt it left us with.



Next adoption? International again, but of course. Not because of any informed decision-making, but because we were adopting a specific child that we had met at our first adoption (and his sister). He lived in Kazakhstan, ergo we went to Kazakhstan.



So three adoptions under my belt, and international every one of them. One would think I am a dyed-in-the-wool international advocate, yes?



Not neccessarily.



I think I'm done growing my family, but I'm not certain. This book is not closed. Well, it's closed, but the pages are marked with a bookmark.



If I ever decide to add more children to my family, perhaps it would be a good idea for me to compare international and domestic adoptions in a pros and cons format to see which comes out on top.



Let's see what we got......



International

Kids are in orphanages.

They don't do well in orphanages.

There are institutional delays and attachment difficulties and poor supervision.

Sometimes kids don't get the medical treatment they need.

Sometimes kids die.



Domestic

Kids are in foster homes.

They don't do well in foster homes.

There are delays and attachment difficulties and poor supervision.

Sometimes kids don't get the medical treatment they need.

Sometimes kids die.





International

The kids usually have histories that include abuse, abandonment, neglect, trauma.



Domestic

The kids usually have histories that include abuse, abandonment, neglect, trauma.





International

When you bring your child home from overseas, the ties are cut. The only relatives the parents need concern themselves with are Aunt Becky and Grampa Joe.

This is both a pro and a con. For no matter how much we embrace our child's birth culture, his biological family is generally gone forever, leaving the child with a pit in his heart that all the culture camps in the world could never hope to fill.



Domestic

When you adopt domestically, you may or may not have obligations to allow the child visitations with biological relatives.

This is both a pro and a con. While it's great in theory for the child to keep ties with relatives and keep connected to her former life, it can be a an emotional rollercoaster for her to visit back and forth with the father that just got out of jail, the maternal grandmother who whispers in her ear that she will come to get her and bring her back.





International

Sometimes? The child is placed for adoption for the wrong reasons.

Sometimes? The child ends up in a situation less desirable than his birth family. Less desirable than the orphanage.



Domestic

Sometimes? The child is placed for adoption for the wrong reasons.

Sometimes? The child ends up in a situation less desirable than her birth family. Less desirable than the foster home.







International

There are many costs associated with adopting a child from overseas.





Domestic

There are many costs associated with adopting an infant from the US. There are few costs associated with adopting a child from the foster care system.



Any and all adoption costs are but a drop in the bucket when compared with the costs of raising a child.





International

The child's culture, ethnicity, and possibly race may be different than that of the adoptive parents. Could the parents ever truly love such a child?



Domestic

The child's culture, ethnicity, and possibly race may be different than that of the adoptive parents. Could the parents ever truly love such a child?



Having experienced parenting children both born to me and adopted, I can say without reservation that parents can and do love children equally, whether blood related or not, whether the child has almond-shaped eyes or brown skin or speaks a different language. The only people who even suggest that parents could not love an adopted child "as their own" are people who have never adopted. The thought, to me, to any adoptive parent, is preposterous.





International

If adopted, the child could...

Be raised in a family.

Love.

Be loved.

Stop wondering what's wrong with them, stop questioning why no one wants them.

Reach their potential.

Have hope.

Feel comfort.

Feel the tenderness of a parent's embrace warm their soul.



Domestic

If adopted, the child could...

Be raised in a family.

Love.

Be loved.

Stop wondering what's wrong with them, stop questioning why no one wants them.

Reach their potential.

Have hope.

Feel comfort.

Feel the tenderness of a parent's embrace warm their soul.





So as to the questions:

International?

Domestic?

Adopt?

Foster?






















I don't know. I don't have all the answers. Or even most of them.



The only answer I have is that if I end up adopting another child, be he from China or Kazakhstan or the good ol' U S of A, whether her skin is black or brown or white, whether she have 10 fingers and 10 toes or 8 fingers and 9 toes or an elbow coming out of her ear, I will love her. I will cherish her. I will make her feel like she matters.



And isn't THAT... all that matters?





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Thanks for stopping by! Come back tomorrow, I'm here everyday, rain or shine...

Anne ~





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I'm linking up today's post with Heavenly Homemaker's "Gratituesday". Come join!


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Don't forget, I will love you forever if you throw me a couple votes:

Circle of Moms: click the pink badge, scroll down to my blog, and click the thumbs-up button to vote. You can vote every day till June 20th!





Top Mommy Blogs: You know the drill by now, don't you? Just click the juggling chick and you've voted. You can vote every day till, like forever.



Thanks!







Image courtesy: ramsey.k12.nj.us

Mirth Monday - Morgan Freeman?

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I'm linking up my post Snake in the Grass on the Barn Hop over at Homestead Revival today. Come join the fun!













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Thanks for stopping by.
If you like my blog, I hope you'll be able to take a minute to add yourself as a follower.
Come back soon! I'm here every day, rain or shine...

~Anne


**************


Don't forget, I will love you forever if you throw me a couple votes:

Circle of Moms: click the pink badge, scroll down to my blog (Life on the Funny Farm), and click the thumbs-up button to vote. You can vote every day till June 20th!





Top Mommy Blogs: You know the drill by now, don't you? Just click the juggling chick and you've voted. You can vote every day till like, forever.