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:

Updated at the bottom!

We promised the girls that whenever they turned 5 we would take them to the place with the big mouse.  Now being down here in Florida you might think we meant Disney World.  No, not that mouse!  The pizza mouse!  Yes, Chuck E. Cheese

Why do we promise them that at the age of 5 they can have this special trip?  Because you only turn 5 once and that is enough of a visit for me!

Seriously, we took the girls to CEC when Hannah turned 5.  Sarah was actually jipped out of her turn because she had just gone the year before at 4! Shhhhh!  She doesn't realize it! :)  As we were leaving CEC three years ago I made the comment that we would go back on Mary's fifth birthday.  They never forgot it and have really looked forward to it! So here is the picture of the girls with the big mouse!

The next picture is when we were waiting for our pizza.  Isn't that a sweet picture!

Mary's birthday was actually the 10th.  She asked me to make Italian chicken (broiled breasts with Italian seasonings rubbed on), green beans, mashed potatoes, and fried apples.  I also made biscuits and gravy for my DH! Yummy!  This was probably the first full meal he had eaten in five or six days!  We then enjoyed chocolate truffle cake and mint chocolate chip ice cream!  (I still lost 2 pounds at weigh in this week!  You know I was definitely sick!) Here is Mary blowing out her candles!

We did get out the birthday table cloth and we bought her one helium birthday balloon, but that was the extent of the decorations this year!

5 years ago: pictured with Aunt Angie holding Mary, cousin Eric holding Sarah, and Mamaw holding Hannah

Here is the birthday girl in 2005 at Christmas!  Our little Shirley Temple!

We are so blessed to have Mary Faye!  She is a smart and sweet girl and I am so thankful God allowed us to have her!

Mary asked me just today (Monday the 17th), "Are you really not going to CEC again until we have kids?" I had told them they only go on their 5th birthday.  As we were leaving Hannah asked if we were ever going to come back again.  I said, "Sure, when you are married with kids and have their party here I will come!"   Anyway, Mary really enjoyed it and wants to go back!  Then she said, "Mommy, if I wait until I am old like you I will be to big to ride the rides!"  Good argument but poor choice of adjectives!  She is so funny!  So we will see if we ever go again.  I think I need a year or two off!

Ernest Baldwin and his wife, Louise, became the unexpected but happy parents of twin girls.  Janet Faye and Janice Raye were delivered at home six weeks early.  They had two older brothers named Tom and Richard, and an older sister named Norma.  Due to the unexpected nature of this twin delivery, the babies were tiny and struggling to survive in their home of love.  As many babies who are born prematurely, the twin girls both suffered from jaundice.  Ernest began building an incubator for the babies to live in until they were stronger.  The directions were on the back of some insurance papers.  Sadly, little Janice died at seven days old, before the incubator was completed.  Janet Faye did live and spent many days in the incubator growing stronger as her family mourned Janice and prayed for Janet to live. 

Janet Faye is my mom.  She is the most wonderful mother a girl could ever have.  She married a wonderful man who would be the best father a girl could have!  She also gave me brothers and a sister to share in my growing up years!   She always put her family first and loved us all.  As an adult I especially appreciate the friendship and deep love Mom and I have for each other!  (Those who know me, know that I am crying  as I write these words, remembering the wonderful things she has done for me!) 

Proverbs 31:28
28 Her children rise up and bless her;
NASU

I love you Mom!  I thank God that He spared your life and that you live for Him!

Here is your birthday wish from your Florida girls!

Hannah drew this really quickly after church today so I could take the picture.  I forgot to check it before taking the picture! 

Happy Birthday Grandmom! 

I had a very happy childhood growing up.  I had kind older siblings and a best friend in my twin brother!  I had a loving mother and father.  Some of my adolescent years were spent with my grandmother living with us.  I was surrounded by loving family.  We ate together, played together, and went to church together.  One of my fondest memories growing up is sitting in church with my parents.  As I grew older my father was not as committed to going with us, but I still remember feeling so happy when we were all together on "our" pew in our small church.  We always won the "mother with the most children" awards on Mother's Day because we were the largest family most of the time! 

One of my girlhood fantasies was to imagine what it would be like to sit in church with my husband and children.  Some Sundays when I wasn't particularly focused on the preaching (Lord forgive me!) I would try to visualize myself grown up and sitting with six or seven children spread out around me and my husband.  Sometimes he would have straight hair and sometimes curly.  Sometimes the kids were all twins and sometimes they were stair-stepped.  I had so much fun imagining my life as a mom and wife in church.

Oh, I never knew just how wonderfully God was going to bless this girl's heart!  I waited what seemed like forever to meet my husband.  As I said, I grew up in a small church and there were only a few guys available, none of whom were interested in me!  Then I moved to a more rural county for a teaching job, and found myself attending an even smaller church with NO available men! And really there were no available Christian men in the whole county as far as I know, and believe me, I searched!  God put me there, I believe, to teach me that He was all I ever needed.  I didn't need to imagine myself with a handsome husband and well behaved children to be happy.  I finally learned that I would never be happy unless I was happy with Him and Him alone!  Finally at age 26 I learned and embraced this wonderful Truth!

So, let me just say that God waited until the perfect time before He sent my dream man!  One morning when I was sitting in that little tiny church in came a very handsome, young man!  He was going to be preaching for our pastor who was on vacation.  Before the preaching, this handsome young man steps up to the pulpit with a guitar to share a song (he wrote!) before he preached.  Did I mention that was the other part of my fantasy?  You see my mom played piano for our church.  I dreamed that I would one day learn to play the piano and my husband would play guitar.  So now this handsome, young man is playing the guitar and singing with a very soothing voice!  Okay, you can imagine that I am now pinching myself.  Seriously, this is my exact prayer.  "Oh Heavenly Father, I want a husband just like that!"  My next thoughts were, "Please help me to focus on your word and not him!"  And God did!   And He continued to answer those prayers for a year.  The handsome young man became the full time pastor when our former pastor retired two months after his vacation!

A year later and I am still praying both prayers. God is working in both our hearts preparing us for each other.  Nine years ago on this day, my darling husband and I committed our lives to following God together!  What a wonderful and glorious answer to my prayers!  It is ironic that the one important part of the dream I rarely experience is sitting together!    There are occasions and I enjoy them!

So the girls and I sit in the front row (because that is as close as I can get to him) and I wonder what they imagine for their futures.  Are they dreaming that one day their husband may be a preacher?  Are they hoping that instead he will be sitting with them?  I pray they learn at much earlier age than I did that God is all they need and more than they deserve.  But I also pray that they will be thankful, as their mother is thankful, for every blessing He gives them!

I love you Alpheus! Happy Anniversary!  Your Eva

Here are the lovely roses my darling gave me. We also enjoyed a delicious dinner at Red Lobster and a visit to the Christian Bookstore where I found 2 great kids books, a cd for me to sing at church, and a new Fernando Ortega cd!  Alpheus got a few things too! We at dinner on Friday the 5th but the girls made cards for us on both days and sang to us several times! Cutie pies!  (Thanks Mom and Dad for the card and gift!  Love you!)