Hip Hop Hustle... Holla

My mom sent me an awesome workout DVD this week called 'Hip Hop Hustle'. It is definitely "blog worthy"! Let me say, that the beginning words were enough to make me almost double over in laughter, which already I am on the right track for an abdominal workout with that move alone! ;-) The first words were instructions on what your workout wear SHOULD be... baggy pants, baggy tee and of course, your best hip hop HAT (preferrably positioned to one side, Play-ah!)

SO, did I wear the correct work out clothes to start off my work out, you ask... you will continue to wonder... YO!

The boys were in the livingroom with me as I started the DVD and already I could tell by the big eyed stares that they were a little concerned. It did not take long until Landon quite flustered said, "Mom, this is very inappropriate!" Again, ab workout move as I cracked up laughing and turned paused the DVD. I guess I will need to wait until I am alone to try to finish the workout, or start stashing away money for therapy for my boys! Still laughing!...

Angel Song

I just completed my latest book from www.booksneeze.com called Angel Song. My opinion on the book is a little conflicted. The book was good, yet it left me wanting more. I was very excited to start this book as I thought the idea was very good. Following the death of her sister, a woman starts hearing unexplainable music. Of course, she thinks that she is going crazy from the loss of her last living relative. As she is going through the process of getting her sister’s house ready to sell after her death, her sister’s neighbors surround her and show her love and acceptance like she has never felt, including a little boy with Down Syndrome. He claims that there are angels with her, watching over her and protecting her, and the music she hears is angels. Being a non-Christian, she does not believe that God is real, much less angels. If they were why wouldn’t they protect her, why wouldn’t God protect her sister from dying? After all, her sister WAS a Christian.
She experiences much inner conflict regarding abandonment and feeling she does not deserve to be loved. Her sister’s friends love her unconditionally and in her brokenness, just as Christ loves us…
You can probably guess how the book ends, and I do like that about the book, reading about how someone comes to realize that Christ does love us and gave His life for us, there is nothing bad about that, however, I would have liked a little more depth to the characters AND the story. It continues on about her job, and her shutting everyone out, to the last chapter where all of a sudden she believes the angels and God are real and now she can date the neighbor. I think the emotion was lacking for me for some reason that I cannot put my finger on. That is what frustrated me about the book, it was a good premise, but something was just missing for me.
Would I recommend this book to others? Hmmm…. Yes, because it was not a waste of time, and the story idea was good. I love reading about how God reveals Himself in different ways. However, I would probably only give it 3 out of 5 stars.

Vet Slap... coming right at ya~

A couple of weeks ago when the boys and I had taken Bella to the vet, the Dr. Vet-Man said that it would be a good idea to run Bella more. He asked which one of the boys was brave enough to ride their bike around the block holding her leash while she ran beside. Oh, at that moment, both puffed up older boys were certainly brave enough and absolutely looking forward to doing just that! Before they had the "opportunity", Bella had her spaying surgery, so she was unable to do too much for a week or so (at least she was not supposed to).

Russ and Blake were going to mow the yard last night after the heat subsided some, so they headed out around 8 pm (still 900 degrees), and I headed outside with Bella. I thought I would try the bike/block/Bella idea and give her a good run! I started down the driveway holding onto Bella's leash, and my eyeballs must have been as big as saucers due to the fear I was experiencing! That crazy dog was all over the place and therefore SO WAS I! I felt like an out of control weeble wobble. As CRAZY BELLA zig zagged back and forth in front of me, I used the hand breaks to try to keep myself from being launched 40 miles an hour into a tree or mailbox. Landon is screaming out after me, "Mom, do you have your cell phone in case you run Bella over?" Russ is saying to Landon, "Run Bella over, what about Mom? Do you see what is happening to HER?"

We got about 4 houses down, I was still technically on the bike, my legs were flailing alongside of me as I tried to steady myself...or at least that was the idea... the fear had only intensified, when at that moment I thought... What in the world was that vet thinking when he suggested that this was a good idea... TO MY 10 and 8 YEAR OLD BOYS! I wanted to slap that man!

I managed to get Bella to turn around and head back home. As we pulled back up in the driveway I informed Russ that that was NOT going to happen! I will be sure to thank the vet next time I see him!

Fantastic Chicken?...Why Yes it is!

Russ' Aunt Sue had made us dinner one night when we were in North Georgia about a year ago, and it was so delicious. I could not leave without the recipe. For whatever reason, I did not make it myself until last night, and we ALL agreed... IT WAS FANTASTIC!!! SO, I thought I would share the recipe because not only is it yummy, it is sooooo easy!

Fantastic Chicken

Prep Time: 5 min.
Cook Time: 2 hours
Cook Temp: 300

8 boneless skinless chicken breasts
8 slices of bacon
1 package dried beef (cut up)
1 can Cream of Mushroom
1/2 pint Sour Cream

In a 9 x 13 casserole dish, place cut dried beef. Wrap each chicken breast with bacon and place on top. In a bowl, mix sour cream and soup then spread evenly over chicken breasts. Bake for 2 hours. Serve over rice. (You may use the crock pot instead).

Yummy!

Cooking Class Part 2

Notable quotes-

Blake - "Landon, you do not have time for Legos! You need to concentrate on the timer!"

Blake - "Landon, don't be afraid to use a little power in cracking those eggs!"

Blake - "Landon, the cook may not lick his fingers while he is cooking. If you do, you MUST wash your hands before continuing!" (I do appreciate his obsessive hand cleaning!)

Blake - "Landon, I am not going to help you clean up your mess, because I am about to make my own that I am going to have to clean up!" (at least he understands the rules!)

Current Items being made:

Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Fudgy Brownies
Lemon Lime Bars

Seriously? Weight Watchers does NOT agree! Come on, Kids, how about some Japanese food? Let's try cooking DINNER instead of DESSERT! ;-)

THOUGHT: I think tomorrows class should be Cleaning 101!

Cooking Class

Shockingly, Blake is PATIENTLY TEACHING Landon to make chocolate chip cookies. For anyone who knows Blake, you would understand why this is shocking! #1 - Blake does not help Landon do ANYTHING! #2 - Blake is not patient with ANYONE! Thank you, Lord, for a minor miracle today!

Thanks for the guitar, GRAM!!!!!

Mom and Tim 2010 Summer

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Angel no more...

I have always felt like God blessed me with four wonderful, for the most part well-behaved boys. Holden was the best baby, and I always said that if I had him first I would have had plenty more... well, I didn't, yet I still did. Anywhooo... as I said, he has always been a really good baby, easy going, sweet, loving, loves his brothers...you get the picture.

Well, my "Sweet Baby Boy" has hightailed it out of here, and has been replaced by "Dear God, nail everything down, and duck tape that kid - Boy". Terrible twos have swept in with a vengeance! He's CRAZY! I am sure he is just trying to exist with the four older brothers leading the way, however, they are pretty good to him, I must say!

I had to go by the library today and return some books and pick up some new ones. Well, mistake number one, Russ was not going with us. So, Holden asked for "Daddy, Daddy, Where's Daddy? Daddy... Daaaadddddyyyy!" I told Holden that we would go into the library and then home to daddy. "Hmmmpppht!" was his reply! I should have turned around at that moment and just used the drop box! How important is it for my kids to read during the summer anyway? But, no... we went forth with the plan.


Blake decided that today was the day he needed to get his own library card... tick, tock, tick, tock... that would be the sound of the ticking time bomb waiting to go off (aka Holden). Counter Lady says, "Ma'am, Did you know you had an expired license? You know you could get a fine for that?" AWESOME! Once we had the card in hand, Holden promptly threw his shoes on the floor and looked at me with such defiance in his eyes. I explained that he must put his shoes on, and he looked at me and walked away. My head was telling me all sorts of things to do... but due to the very crowded location we were in, I grabbed his hand and tried to walk him over to the books so that I could grab a few for the boys in my haste and get out of there. Not so fast... rent-a-cop security guard very disgusted with my parenting at that moment said, "YOU HAVE TO WEAR SHOES IN HERE!" So, again, the battle ensued. I sat him in the closest chair, and told him that we would not be leaving until he put his shoes on. Apparently, that was ok with him as he sat down and looked at me and smiled. Great... so now what? Then I remembered, Russ was home waiting for us.

"Holden, don't you want to go home and see Daddy?" ... The shoes went on!

So, we are racing to find the books that Landon had requested, Blake is looking for a certain book, I look over at Holden who is now scaling the book shelf... Spiderman was halfway to the top when I saw him and I almost immediately had a stroke! I grabbed him, and told Blake that we were DONE!

At the check out desk Holden is trying to take the books off of the closest shelf, so, I try to deter him by picking him up so that he cannot reach... at which time he starts to scream at the top of his lungs. I did not think I would make it out of the library without me having a nervous breakdown... but low and behold I did. The total visit only lasted about 15 minutes from start to finish, but that was THE LONGEST 15 minutes I have experienced in quite some time. "Barefoot Horror Movie Screaming Spiderman" stressed me out to the max! The sad part about it, was that I only had Blake and Holden with me, I cannot imagine how much worse it could have been with 2 more added to the mix.

I am already missing my sweet little Holden...

Bringing Brenna home~ ;-)

Praising God today for His many blessings.

Email Update from AMY:

Hello, everyone! We are writing with great news, having already been to the oath ceremony and have Brenna's visa in hand!!! This morning the consulate called us to tell us that they had great news--the encrypted files were finally unlocked overnight--in fact, someone who wasn't officially assigned to our case worked on it 'til 2/3 in the morning US time last night. God is so good and moved in the hearts of MANY to get our paperwork done!! Today we went to the Consulate for the ceremony where we met the director of adoption dept and found out more. She recognized Brenna just from me holding her! She said she'd been drawn to our case b/c of a friend of hers who'd adopted 5 years ago and had a similar experience with expecting a healthy baby and finding a sick child. She said untold numbers worked to help and that it was amazing how fast everything was done. For the oath ceremony, we joined about 30 other families in pledging our love and care for Brenna; we all cried of course! Our sweet girl celebrated by cooing and staring in my eyes for the whole bus ride back to the hotel and by giving us her first real giggles tonight from daddy being silly. So awesome! We are in love! We stare at our two children and wonder why we are so blessed.

I can never express on behalf of our family how much your prayers, emails, concern, love, etc, have meant to us. You have been J's hands and feet across the ocean! Please pray us home--here are specifics:
1. for us all to be seated in bulkhead together with a bassinet for Brenna
2. for the cyclone coming to HK not to affect our flight Friday
3. for Brenna's fever to break and not return the whole flight home; she has a seemingly chronic fever right now. Please pray against any diarrea, too and for her ot be at peace

We leave Guangzhou tomorrow at 2 for Hong Kong. Our flight leaves Fri morning and we get into B'ham at 8pm central time. Can't wait to see and catch up with everyone!!

Love, love,
Amy
Praise to the Lord, who is mighty to save! He is everlasting Father, Prince of peace, wonderful counselor, mighty in battle, intimate in His care and compassion.

Update

Dear All,
After a nice, somewhat relaxing weekend, we got some disappointing news today. It looks like there's a good possibility we'll be staying here longer than anticipated. The US Consulate doesn't have the power to process our change of status without CIS (immigration) processing our home study update (yes, another one...). We have spoken with everyone we can at this point. Here's what we need you to pray and get the troops praying ,too:
That when our agency talks to CIS today or NBC (national benefits something), that they would find favor and they would agree to process our update with GREAT speed--like by tomorrow. Pray for everything to be processed as quickly as possible. The big thing we're asking, that we KNOW God can do, is to get us out of here on our original date--Friday. This would be a mini-miracle....

If we have to stay, we're in a great place to do so, I suppose. Please know we are strengthened and encourage by your prayers. We know God is upholding each of us.

Brenna seems to be gaining strength and relaxing more each day. Please continue to pray especially for her fever to go away and no diarhea (sp?).

Please know that if this e-mail is disjointed and incoherent it is because I (Chris) took over after Brenna started crying. (Crying is good...this is an expression of emotions and a belief that her needs may be met).


Love you all!

Chris, Amy, Micah, and Brenna


Amy here back on...
Just thought I'd add that we love hearing from you--emails help so much even though we don't have time to respond to them. It's quite hard for my personality to be so out of touch! thank you all for your messages so far--hope you're all doing well!!

ONe really hard thing today was seeing pics from Brenna's orphanage. We sent a disposable camera there before we came with a translated letter asking for them to take pics. This is a huge blessing that they took some b/c we couldnt' go to her orphanage this week b/c it was a day she was so sick. Anyway, they are quite overwhelming...it looks like a hard orph and she is terrified and terrible looking in all of them. Please pray for us to know how to process this. We are thankful for having them, but they are so hard to see. We feel that we are seeing a truer picture than most do these days of what the reality is across Ch with orphs. Pray we are up to the task of knowing what to do with this knowledge. Pray for the orphans here--for people to rise up within the country to care for them.

What makes a person special to me?

Well, there are many things that make me appreciate others, but this past weekend, I was reminded of one big thing. When someone invests in my children, not because they HAVE to, but just because they want to... that warms my heart. This past weekend, Russ' cousin Joe took to my boys and helped teach them to fish for Catfish at the lake. Blake and Landon had the time of their life. After fishing most of the day on Saturday, he took them back out at 6:30 in the morning on Sunday before we left the lake to come home from the reunion. He was so patient with them, and uplifting and he made memories with...and for them that they will not soon forget. I am thankful for those, like Joe, that invest in my boys.

Temples Family Reunion

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Gavin turns 5

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AMY EMAIL

Dear Friends and Family,
Well, if you've been looking for some good news, you're going to get it. We made it through a scary night to see God's hope shine today. Brenna was quite sick last night and we had some fears that she could develop a dangerous syndrome due to an increase in her food intake after starving for so long. But mid-day today she started having relief from her fever and we've seen her personality start to shine. We have one more day of this critical time for potential refeeding syndrome and we'll slowly be able to increase her food intake more. I cannot explain how overwhelming and scary the last few days have been--essentially we've been caring for our child who would be in the hospital in the US under close supervision. So bizarre...but this level of malnutrition is not an uncommon thing here--just uncommon in these days of Ch int'l adoption...

She has really been funny today--kicking her legs, squealing, holding toys, trying to pull up... it's been so hard not to feed her more than we have been advised b/c she's so hungry!! Soon, baby girl, you can have all the food ou want!

So here's the kicker/the curveball from today....we went to the Chinese physical exam office where all adoptive families must have their children exaimined before the final adoption ceremony/visa stuff. They were totally overwhelmed at her state. They are now refusing to allow her to be classified as a healthy adoption...so they are requiring our status to be changed to special needs adoption. We have no idea what this really means at this point as far as paperwork adn timeline goes...my heart sank for about 1 minute when we heard this but then i thought, of course, the battle for her continues and we are up for the challenge through Christ who gives us strength. PLEASE pray for favor with the US consulate--to not require too much change (we're non-hague family which makes it easier) and to see that we need to get her home ASAP. Please pray for contd wisdom and peace as we care for her. Please pray for us all as we're so exhausted in every way. Pray for Micah--he's got a runny nose but no fever.

I have to end with a story of what God led us through today. This morning was NOT easy--we had great concern for her and came to a place where we felt God ask us to be okay with the thought that she may not make it--that our time with her may be very short. Somehow, God gave us the peace to do this--I don't know how, but He did. We felt Him ask us just to love her and to realize 1 Cor 13:12--that what we see is just a glimpse. We were very aware of every moment with her, taking pictures, loving her. Then, hope rose up! Funny how this mornng our group was focused on words of hope from Him... Seeing her blossom today has been a true miracle. She's not out of the woods, but she's one day stronger!!! I cannot wait for you all to meet her, God willing, and to see the amazing girl she becomes!!

Love to all,
Amy

PS, on a hilarious side note: we get these specal barbie dolls holding a chinese baby at the hotel as gifts!! We have two--I think Mariah Carey is the image they try to create with the mom barbie's hair and clothes--so funny!!

Keep Praying!

Today, Thurs., has been a better day. We had to have Brenna's picture made
today and her physical. The physical was done by Chinese drs. for the American
consulate. Three drs. came to see her and they were appalled by her condition.

She has gained 7 oz. in 2 days!!!!! She is trying to sit up and is playing.
She smiles and makes noises. She recognizes her Mama and Daddy. She is crying
for her demands to be met. We're so excited. She has no fever today. She
likes to pull Chris' glasses off. She tucks her bib under her chin when she's
going to be fed. She wants a piece of paper or a towel to tuck and throw
around. We're amazed and so thankful for this improvement. The drs. will not
approve her for a normal child adoption. Her paper work has to be c hanged to
special needs adoption before we can get clearance. Why, we don't know.
Dillion the adoption agencys in the states h as to write the consulate and clear

this up. We're on hold right now. The pediatrician in AL wants her home as
soon as possible. We may be able to leave a day early by not going back tgo
Hong Kong. Her dr. in AL said if she had her now she would be in the hospital.

Micah is a little trooper. He is ready to come home. He helps feed his baby
sister and wants to play with her. Continue your prayers. God is listening.
Linda, your email address will not go through.


Much love,
Jana

Latest on Brenna

EMAIL FROM RUSS' DAD:

Brenna ran a high fever last night. She is not out of the woods yet. She is playing but Amy and Chris did not get to visit the orphanage yesterday. She continues to take her food, but she is on a rocky road to recovery.

Please pray for Brenna's continued recovery and healing from whatever malady she suffers. Pray for her little body to intake the nutrients she requires to overcome her malnutrition - she continues to take food well. Pray for wisdom and guidiance for Amy and Chris - that they receive the right counsel and can bring Brenna to Birmingham with them permanently. Pray for Micah that he can learn to share his parents with his new "sister."

Thanks to each of you for your prayers and for your support during these times.

The Same Kind of Different as Me

I recently read the book 'The Same Kind of Different as Me'. I received it free through www.booksneeze.com with the only deal being that I would write a review about it on my blog. Let me tell you... deal or no deal, that book was amazing. It is a true story and fiction could not be written any more addictive. This book shook me to the core. I received it yesterday afternoon and used every free moment to read until I was finished today! I laughed, I sobbed... I learned!

First of all, the sadness and oppression of blacks in America at times in our history was eye opening. I am not ignorant that slavery existed, however, it was long before my time and nothing that I have seen personally. Out of sight, out of mind so to speak. I have never read about it in a first person perspective, until now. It disgusted me! In God's eyes, we are all the same, sadly that is not how it has been on Earth.

The story of Ron and Debbie was such a blessing to read. Debbie truly was a woman seeking to serve God. What a beautiful example of the virtuous wife! Her blindness to those "unlike" herself was so admirable and I only wish that more of us had that same compassion, myself included!

Without giving the whole story away, I would just say that this book is such a testimony of God having a plan for every one of us! He uses ALL things for His glory and though we may not understand the "why's", it is all part of His plan. This book is powerful... filled with the power of compassion, overwhelming with the example of faithfulness, and powerfully motivating to make a difference.

Update

Hey,

Wanted to let you knnow about today. Amy, Chris, and Brenna were at the dr. most of the day. They were able to go to an international clinic and see an Eng. speaking dr. We're all very hopeful of his info. He examined Brenna throughly which was not done yesterday. She is normal in length and he does not think she has any lasting developmental problems. She has great eye contact. He says says she does not have a twisted stomaach. He belives she has an underlying condition that has not b een diagnosed. Her picture that we got today from when she was about 3 weeks old showed a fat little girl. She is running a fever and the dr. believes she has a colon infection. We have med. for both. She is eating and drinking like crazy. He said feed her on demand. She is turning over, and we say her first smile this evening. Amy is so good with her and she watches her Mama's every move. The dr. mentioned maybe Chron's or colitis. We'll get the tests at home. We would like to come home early but we think we need the time here to buid her up. Amy and Chris signed the adoption papers today and paid the orphanage. She said they were counceled by so many today and many more people were involved. One of the adoption agents said Amy and Chris were approved for a healthy baby, and might not be given the right to keep Brenna. Please continue to lift us all up in your prayers. We're all tired and concerned, but so much better today. Micah is super. He is having a little trouble sharing Amy. Brenda and I kept him today while they were gone. Please pray that Brenna gets to stay with us. She would not have lived long if we hadn't gotten her. I have lots more to tell, but I know I'm rambling,. Gotta get somoe sleep.

Love,
Jana

Update from Amy

Dear Family and Friends,
I know that you have been eagerly awaiting news on our first meeting with our daughter yesterday. Believe me, no one could have been more shocked than me over how differently yesterday went than we'd imagined. Let me just say that our trip over here could not have gone more smoothly--Micah is a champion traveler! Yesterday we went to meet our daughter at the local provisional adoption agency office. When she was given to us, we knew that something was wrong. She is very, very sick. She's 18 months but the size of a 6 month old--we knew this but it's impossible to be prepared for that. Then, just 10 minutes after having held her, they (her nurse and caregiver at her orphanage) gave us some medical paperwork; she had just gotten out of a week's stay at a hospital on Friday. She was admitted for terrible diarrhea (sp?) and we got a strange translated hard to understand diagnosis of a twisted stomach. So, we demanded that we be taken with her to a foreign clinic in the city for medical attention. Micah, by the way, was so excited to meet her and kissed her spontaneously!! so sweet!
So, we spent 4 hours at this clinic and didn't get much info; they did an ultrasound and said that her connection b/tn her stomach and duodenum is normal, but said they couldn't tell about her stomach even t hough our american pediatrician at the int'l adop clinic told us an american doc could diagnos this by ultrasound...So then they said a GI would be needed to tell. Well, we kept asking how she got this diagnosis from the other hospital--the nurse finally called and sure enough shed' gotten one there. We were trying so hard not to put her through anything she didnt' need--she was SOOOO scared at the clinic--she knew wher she was... Anyway, the pics from that GI should arrive by mail today and we'll go from there. We've asked for an extension on our adoptio paperwork b/c our guide said basically the only card we have in getting info on her is our money and we still have it in OUR pockets for now...
So, she came home with us last night and she's definitely a fighter. She seemed very attached to her nurse and was upset when she left...so she wasn't happy with us until we gave her food...she can suck down a bottel like you've never seen!! She also loves rice porridge and ate some last night. She sucks on her ring finger of her right hand to go to sleep and slept with us last night.

I don't think it's possible to explain how bad she looks--so malnourished...it's overwhelming. We feel at this point that ther is some underlying problem causing chronic diarreha or something...we just don't know!!

PLEASE pray for us: 1. For information--we want ALL of her records from the hospital and orphanage. They are NOT forthcoming with any of this. we don't know if someone is trying to save her life and so are scard to give it or what... but we need that info 3) for complete unity b/tn Chris and I as we confirm our decision. 4) for wisdom on whether or not to push for an expidited leave from the country or if she needs the time here to recoup befor our trip. (5) for Micah's and all of our health from being in a clinic yesterday (6) for Brenna not to be afraid (6) for our guide, Becky, to be able to communicate with us and the doctors and orphanage (7) for peace and clarity adn rest. (8) most of all, for complete healing for our daughter.

Please get people praying for us. We believe that satan does not want her redeemed. pray we are not acting on fear. Pray for rest and calm We are all having trouble sleeping except for Micah. Yesterday was the most surreal and overwhelming day of my entire life. Once again the Holy spirit reminded me of a dream when i asked Him to remind me of what I needed to know--God is faithful. Pray we can deal with our emotions as we have them or need to...

Love to all...
Amy

Pulling the Wool?

We heard from China this morning... apparently, the adoption agency failed to mention that Brenna has been in the hospital for the past week. They discovered that she has an inverted stomach. This can be repaired with surgery...however, there are some other concerns. She is 18 months old, and she is only drinking milk and eating rice puffs. Her weight is about 12-14 pounds. This child was not listed as special needs, as this was something that Amy and Chris carefully considered being that Amy suffers from Crohn's Disease and they thought it would be very difficult to provide the necessary care to a special needs child. So the question remains...how could this agency be aware of her hospitalization and medical needs and not inform Amy and Chris. Understandably, they are torn apart right now, as they watch other families along their journey who are adopting their children and going home to start their bonding lives as a new family. They wonder what the future holds for their sick little Brenna.

As they are in China, they are consulting with doctors from Birmingham for recommendations and information. Please join us in praying with them!

Adding On

We are waiting to hear from Amy and Chris regarding meeting their precious daughter, Brenna, for the first time. It is 8:53 p.m., on July 4th, in Fort Oglethorpe, GA, where we are hanging out with Russ' dad. Jana, Russ' mom, is with Amy and Chris (and their 2 year old son, Micah, in China, and it is 8:53 a.m. on July 5th there. Today is the day. We are praying with them, and so excited for them. Please pray with us for a smooth adoption and blessed union between them all. We are looking forward to meeting our sweet little neice very soon!