Alpheus and I are so thankful today that the homestudy visit went well this morning!  Candace is a really sweet lady and we are so thankful that God led us to her.  Last week when she forgot our appointment date, she was so apologetic.  In order to show how sorry she was, she brought us a quart of already shelled, homegrown pecans!  They are delicious!  Wasn't that sweet!

We went around the yard first and looked at the garden.  She and her husband have many pecan trees and pear trees so hopefully this November we will take her up on the offer to come up and pick a whole bushel!   We of course shared a quart of the green beans we have already canned from the garden.  (Alpheus did another 14 quarts last night so we are moving right along there too!)  We also chatted about gardening struggles and successes.

Next Candace reviewed the material that we had turned in and clarified a few details and such.  She already knows so much about us, and we have read her biography page that she shares to help us get to know her, so it kind of feels like we are old friends already! (She adopted her two children.) One very encouraging thing that she said was that she knew this was the best place for Lydia to be.  She also wanted to let us know that this adoption proposal would be legal for a year so if we wanted to pursue another adoption right away we wouldn't have to pay for another homestudy if we did it within the year.  It made us feel confident that she would recommend another adoption!

Following a tour of the interior of the house, she asked if we would like to see a couple of quilts she had just finished.  One day on the phone, I had mentioned that I was trying to sew a dress for one of the girls, so she knew I would love to see them!  They were so beautiful!  It was actually what she was doing when I called last Saturday to see if she was still planning to come. 

The girls did really well while she was visiting.  Hannah loves to be with the adults and listen and talk.  I was proud of her for listening more than talking.  Basically the girls played while we went over everything and they played very nicely.  Candace also commented on how happy and involved Lydia was in playing with her sisters.

So we are thankful!  Thankful that God has led this far in the process and thankful that we see a light at the end of the adoption tunnel!   Thank you for praying!

Disclaimer: This post is not intended as a personal message to the four or five regular commenters to this blog.  This is in the probably unrealistic hope that more than that actually lurk here and just never comment. (Hint! Hint!) However it is also intended to "punish" the company by giving them negative press on my little corner of the blogosphere.  They certainly deserve to be shown for their true purposes!

In general we don't watch television.  Now we have videos that we watch on a television set, but we don't receive local channels or satellite.  So we are pretty much in the dark about the latest toys, fashions, sayings, etc.  I was probably the last person to know what the word "bling" meant! (I would have said the sound of an old fashioned telephone!)  If you don't know, email me and I will be the 2nd to last!   (BTW, if you dress, smell, talk, and play like the average person in a commercial you may need to consider our radical answer to being so influenced by the ungodly world of television: Deny yourself and your children TV for as much as possible, even to getting rid of it (gasp!) and increase daily consumption of God's Word as much as possible!    We are still seeking to take our own advice and do not claim to be perfect at it either!  Okay, off this soap box and on to the next!) 

One of the main reasons that we don't watch television, except the occasional news video clip on line, is because of the lack of moral programming.  We would enjoy the chance to watch (as we still do on occasion with our Little House and Andy Griffith series) but for the most part we don't want to promote or be exposed to the ungodly, mockery of what is good, in every modern movie, sitcom, cartoon, and soap opera.  Honestly I haven't watched a soap since I was in college and then only because my roommate taped them and I didn't always feel like leaving the room.  Unfortunately I still support this den of iniquity and I don't even realize.

Maybe I have a stomach ache and buy some Pepto, or I pick up a bottle of Pantene conditioner or buy Luvs for our newest addition!  Without even realizing it, I have supported the makers of one of the filthiest, most immoral "soaps" on television! I was just sent a notice by American Family Association to encourage me to boycott this company and sole producer of "As The World Turns."  Here is their reason:

Here is the view of the biggest girls doing a nature study yesterday.  I have been sick (abscessed tonsils) and I needed to give them something to do without me.  So I told them to go to the garden with a pencil and paper and sketch one of the plants  from the garden.  They chose to get chairs and be comfortable.   They just looked so cute lined up there, that I had to get a shot of it.  I am standing on the new back deck that used to be our fort! (another story that I didn't get pictures for; let's just say that I am blessed to have a creative carpenter for a husband!) That is the neighbor's yard on the other side of the garden.

Here is one of the girls up close.

They all did very well, and drew three different plants each.  I was really proud of the detail each one put in their drawing.  These are planned gifts so we are going to save the revealing of them! :)

Here is a picture of the baby doing her nature study.  This was actually a different day, but it is so cute, I wanted to share it.

I am going to try to remember to take a picture by the tree every month so we can see how tall she is getting! :)

BTW, you may have noticed I haven't used her name in this post.  That is because we are changing it after all.  We were going to keep her birth name because it was easier, but then as I began to think about the years ahead, it would be one more difference between her and her sisters.  They have Bible names and she doesn't.  So we are going to name her Lydia.  This is similar sounding to her birthname so she already answers to it. We are keeping her middle name the same.  I think it will be harder for us to adjust to than her.  I have caught myself at least 10 times today saying her old name! :)  We also think that changing the name is a beautiful reminder that when we are adopted by God we are made new too!

Garden update:  Dh has already picked and canned 14 quarts of green beans, and he picked more today!  We have also enjoyed green onions.  We are looking forward to potatoes and squash soon!

Adoption update:  We didn't get to have our first homestudy visit last week because Candace misthought and didn't come.  She was so apologetic! So we are going to try again for this Saturday!  Thanks so much for your continued prayers for us.  We are so thankful to have her and each other, and most of all God's love!

In Christ,

We want to thank everyone who has been praying for the adoption!  I received a call last night from the lawyer that the birth father signed to deny paternity last night!  This is such an answer to prayer!  Thank you God!  Thank you to everyone who was praying for this.  Not only will this make the process shorter but it saved nearly 1,000 in costs if we had to pursue him with searches and newspaper notices!

The Next Step

We have our first homestudy visit this coming Saturday.  We are looking forward to meeting Candace, the one who will be completing the homestudy and writing the proposal for the judge to recommend we be named as adoptive parents for Olivia.  Then there is a provisional period following the court appointment.  I believe it is 3 months long.  At the end, Candace will write a second report, and the court will grant us full parental rights, and we will change Olivia's last name to Atkins. 

We are very thrilled and are just so thankful that she has been with us already.  I know many other adoptive parents have to do this part while still waiting for their child/ren.  Olivia is fitting right in with the family.  We are so thankful God has answered our prayers!

Here is a picture I took of the girls before church this morning. I forgot how hard it is to get a 1 year old to stand still and smile on cue!  LOL  Then of course when I get her, one of the other ones has gotten distracted or is trying to help by doing something to make the baby smile!

Here is another one that I think is so sweet!

She must be thinking, "What are you all doing just standing here!  Our shoes are on; let's go!"   I won't show you the other five shots where she is either making a break for it or demonstrating her dislike for the whole operation!

We know God has granted us many blessings!  We are so thankful for the latest answer to our prayers!

In Christ,

The HSB Front Porch is having a contest and you can win a $50 gift certificate just for blogging about The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Spring Promo before midnight April 30, 2008. Subscribe now to The Old Schoolhouse Magazine and receive 25 BONUS gifts valued at over $550! The Winter Promo sold out, don't miss out on the free gifts this time!

They are also giving away a $150 gift certificate to the Schoolhouse Store. All print subscribers (new or renewing) between April 3 - 30, 2008 will be automatically entered into a drawing. No purchase neccessary to win. To enter without subscribing, please send a postcard with your name, address, telephone number, and email address to:
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I am so excited about getting my Spring Edition of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine!  I just love looking at all the different books, products, and resources that are being developed by companies, or homeschoolers themselves!  Even the ones I know I probably won't be using this year or ever are so interesting!  I always get like this about this time of year.  Looking forward to what I will be teaching the next year.  Getting my spring edition of TOS is a major part of that excitement!

This magazine was the first one I received at a homeschool fair the year before I began "officially" homeschooling.  It was such a blessing!  I learned so much from just one magazine!  I am so thankful that everyone at TOS works so hard to give a broad spectrum of homeschooling topics with very specific and helpful articles, resources and activities!  I always recommend this magazine to anyone considering homeschooling.  As a matter of fact, I have bagged up the last several editions to pass along to a friend who is starting down this wonderful journey!  Thanks again TOS for being our guide, cheerleader, and friend! May God bless you all!

For His Glory,