A camping we will go...

What a great weekend we had.The forecast called for beautiful weather, and since Brent had to work a little Saturday, Mom and I planned on taking the kiddos to the lake. The water, of course, was too chilly to swim in, but they kept busy playing in the sand, catching minnows, burying each other neck deep, and just running free!

This sweet baby wasn't a fan of the sand for some reason, but he was perfectly content perched in this chair or playing in the grass behind the beach. He will get used to it, I am sure!

Mom is always our grill master, and we enjoyed yummy grilled hotdogs for lunch!

Yum!

We took a drive through the campground just for fun, and got the itch to set up our tent and spend the night. Mom and I are always up for an impromptu adventure, and of course the kids were on board! We drove home (perfect timing for kids to nap while we drove), packed up our tent and a few other quick supplies, left Levi with Brent for the night (I was afraid it would be too cool for him during the night), and headed back to the lake!

We quickly got our tent set up, got a fire blazing, and enjoyed the rest of our evening roasting wieners and sitting around the campfire telling stories and laughing.

I have SO many wonderful memories of camping at Lake Claiborne with my family. Sometimes we would stay in tents, and sometimes we would stay in my grandparents motor home. And the whole family was always there - cousins, aunts, uncles, friends - and we would ride bicycles, stay up late laughing and playing games, and spend our days playing in the sand and floating around in the water. I can close my eyes and imagine it just like it was yesterday.

And now I am taking my kids there. I love seeing them run up and down the same hills I rode my bike on, and it's so fun to see them playing in the same campsites where we always camped.

The kids loved sleeping in the tent, and surprisingly, I think everyone slept pretty good. It's so refreshing to wake up in the woods with nothing but the sound of birds chirping and fellow campers beginning to stir.

And I got some fabulous one on one time with my big boys. They are growing so big so fast, and something about camping seems to make time slow down for just a bit.

Brooke, Brody, and I took a little walk in the woods behind our tent on Sunday morning. It was so peaceful, with just the trees as my canopy and the fallen leaves as my floor. It was out there where I realized that I needed this little getaway more than I knew. I have been so consumed with Lennox's adoption lately, checking my email and the forums constantly, desperate for a little piece of good news assuring me that things are moving over there. There has not been one family travel this year to get their baby, and we are nearing mid-April. I have been feeling peace lately that good news is coming, but I'm just on edge waiting for it happen. Watching my baby boy grow older month after month, and feeling like we are no closer to getting him than we were the day we first saw his face, can be emotionally exhausting.

But being out there, with nothing but nature - no cell service, no internet - was so refreshing. So very much needed.

We were home by early Sunday afternoon, with sun-kissed faces, sandy toes, and hearts full of joy and fun memories.

This was our home away from home for the night, and you would have thought it was a castle as much fun as those boys had inside. Love being a mom to boys!

Our Journey to Financial Freedom

Brent wrote this post last week, as we prepared to make the very last payment on his student loan. The payment cleared yesterday, so I am so happy to finally share our Journey to Freedom :)

Written by Brent:

If you are reading this, old lady Sallie Mae has finally left our home forever.  She was the last one hanging on and keeping us from our freedom.  Now we have officially paid off all of our debt except our house.  We struggled about whether or not we should tell our debt free story or keep it to ourselves.  We decided that we should be proud of our accomplishments, and we know reading the stories in The Total Money Makeover kept us motivated. Our lives are not perfect and there are many situations in our lives that can and should be better.   

We started our journey over four years ago, not really knowing why, but knowing we needed to get out of debt.  We started out with debt on an SUV, truck, land, student loan, and credit card.  We used the Dave Ramsey snowball method to attack this debt.  The first step to the process was getting on the same page and creating a budget.  As we slowly paid off debt in the beginning, we felt as if we were not making any progress.  Once we would get one thing paid off, we would add that payment to something else, and debt would melt away a little faster.   We made the most progress when we finally realized that brand new cars are not necessary, they are just modes of transportation.  We traded in or sold our cars, and we found used ones that get us from point A to point B. Adding the car payments to the debt snowball jump started paying off the debt a lot faster.  Just to make things interesting, we decided to throw in a couple of kids and a few surgeries to pay for along the way. 

As we paid off debt, our lives changed together.  We are closer as a couple than when we started this journey.  As we accomplished this task together, it helped us communicate more.  Because of this process, Laura has been able quit work and stay at home with the kids.  There are numerous blessings that come with her being at home with the kids. It also allowed us to grow spiritually and changed our lives forever.  When money, or worry about money, does not consume your life, it allows other areas of your life to grow. 

We talked about not knowing why we started the process, but we know now.  There is a little guy in South Korea that never would have had a chance to grow up with three brothers without us getting out of debt.  Dave Ramsey always talks about changing your family tree financially.  Little did we know that part of our family tree would be a branch from South Korea.  It will still be months or even a year before Lennox will come home, but we will be ready to go get him when the time comes.

We did not accomplish these things alone.  God has blessed us throughout this journey in many different ways. Family members have helped us out whether they knew it or not.  If you mysteriously stopped getting Christmas presents, you were a blessing to us.  If you received a gift, they will eventually be nicer gifts.  Thank you to everyone that has helped us out with fundraisers for the adoption.  Thanks to your help, we were also able to pay for all of our adoption fees during this time.  Thank you to everyone that has encouraged us through the adoption process.   Thanks again and we are ready to start the next step in our lives being debt free.

Easter - Part 4

Finally wrapping up Easter! On Monday, the day after Easter, Tara and I took the kids to a city-wide egg hunt at the Arboretum.  It was pretty much just chaos...seemed like there were 900 kids there. Not ideal when I had the three kids by myself...I was in constant fear of losing someone. We stood in line to get a pic with the Easter bunny, but there was a huge line behind me, so I just snapped a quick picture and moved on. Poor Brody had the sun in his eyes, Levi wasn't worried about anything but that sucker in his mouth, and Beckett tried to smile, although I can tell he a bit uncomfortable beside that giant rabbit. Lol. Oh well. The kids probably had fun :)

Easter - Part 3

I just love Easter. Seeing all of the little boys and girls running around in their fancy clothes is just so sweet. I love celebrating our Risen Savior. I love the family, food, and fellowship. It's just a special time.

Levi and I didn't make it to Sunday school that morning...he had run a little fever the day before, and I wanted to make sure he was well before I brought him to church. Brent took Brody and Beckett on to Sunday school (I sure missed having my sweet little 2-3 year olds in SS Easter morning!), then Levi and I came to church.

We had a great Resurrection service, then proceeded on with our busy afternoon. We had lunch at my grandmothers, then on to my mom's for a few hours, then to Brent's parents for dinner! It was a stormy day, and the electricity was on and off, but we had fun anyway. The kids hunted eggs in my grandmother's living room and then it was piñata time on the front porch! At my moms, the storms had stopped, so the boys pulled on their rubber boots and tromped around outside in a stream for a few hours. They had a blast. Can't wait to get those pics from my moms camera! :) At my in-laws, the kids pretty much stayed outside until dinner time. Brody and Beckett wanted to target shoot (they are southern boys through and through...and I could've be any more proud), and Levi just wanted to go wherever his Poppy went.

They were all three worn completely out, so I'd say the day was a success! Praying we have another pair of little rubber boots to pack next year. And a dark headed little boy spending his first Easter with his forever family.

Easter 2013 - Part 2

Brody's school had a Kindergarten Easter egg hunt at the park on Thursday, and they had a blast! It was a beautiful day, and I got some cute pics of Brody and his little friends.

Easter 2013 ~ Part 1

Our Eater celebration started last weekend with our church's egg hunt! It was cold and rainy, so the hunt was moved to the gym. It actually was just an egg "pick up", but the kids loved it anyway! :)

I only got a few pictures. It's hard to watch all three kids fill their baskets and take pictures...I felt like I was running around like crazy! The kids had fun though. Levi really got into it this year, which was so cute to watch. Glad they got some practice, because I'm sure they'll be hunting plenty of eggs this weekend!

Sweet Little Update

We got a wonderful little update on Lennox today! We only get these detailed written updates when staff from our agency travels to Korea (about twice a year), so they are treasures to receive. We were able to submit three questions for them to ask his foster mother...the answers are below :)


1) What is his daily routine?
~8 am: wakes up and takes 240 cc (8oz) of formula. 11am: he takes a short cat nap. He doesn’t have a regular bath time as it typically follows a bowel movement. In the afternoon, he takes another short nap for less than one hour. Throughout the day, he is very busy exploring his home. He is able to pull up to stand, he attempts to climb onto objects like the sofa, and he also walks with support. His foster mother is convinced that he’ll walk independently before he is a year old. He goes to sleep around 9-10 pm and wakes up around 7 or 8 am. He sleeps on his stomach next to his foster mother on the floor. He takes 240 cc of formula every five hours. In the meantime, he eats the snacks that were sent in the care packages and he enjoys them very much. He also eats three or four spoonfuls of rice. He does not like cheese. If he doesn’t want to eat, he closes his mouth. If we say to him “ ahn-dae” (no) or “ha-ji-ma” (don’t do it), he stops doing it. He seems to know what he is told.

2) Can you describe his personality and share some of his likes and dislikes?
~He is curious and enjoys playing with things that are new to him. If he is hungry or sleepy, he gets fussy. If he’s very hungry, he cries very loudly. In general, he is a cheerful and attentive little boy. He enjoys playing peek-a-boo and smiles when he hears ‘ka-koong’ (the Korean version of peek-a-boo). There is another foster boy (age 8 months) in the home. His foster father describes his as the most diligent person in the home. He likes toys that make noise and he likes to push the buttons over and over again.

3) What items are most important for us to include in future care packages for him? ~His foster mother shared that all the items included in recent packages have been appreciated and age appropriate and she feels this is experience his adoptive parents gained through parenting their birth children. She sends her thanks for the gifts. Snacks, clothing without footies, toys that make noise, shirts and long pants would be helpful in future packages. She did share that onesies are difficult so she prefers separate pieces.

It is so wonderful to feel like we know a little bit more about our boy! We were glad he hear that he has a foster brother in the home with him - maybe the shock of having three brothers when he comes home won't be quite as overwhelming. :) And I have no doubt he is being loved and taken care of. I can't wait to give these people a big hug!

Sounds like we need to send over plenty of snacks, outfits, and interactive toys! I love knowing what he needs the most. I feel like I can prepare care packages more easily now. I am so thankful for our wonderful agency and the extra effort they put into getting info about our kids. Such wonderful people they are!

We are expecting to receive a short video of him by the end of the week, so that's super exciting!

I say to myself, "The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him. The Lord is good to those whose hope is in Him, to the one who seeks Him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord."
Lamentations 3:24-26