Another OM adventure...

Treyton and his team took 3rd place and also received an OMer Award.
The team struggled a lot throughout the past few months. They started out with a "newbie" as a coach... poor guy had NOOOO idea what OM even was! I stepped in to help the coach out and then he decided to quit all together because he didn't have the time to commit the I said was needed to finish out the season. The OM directer at our school hates me with a passion and decised to bring a new coach in at the end of January... with competition March 12... oh well, they can now move on and hope that next year goes better. I'm proud of Treyton for sticking it out. :)

Cooper and his team took home the Ranatra Fusca Award AND 1st place! They advance to the state competition on March 26th in Binghamton (which is also his birthday!)

Baseball practice starts tonight for Coop and Treyton, and golf started a few weeks ago for Austin. We are running all over but I do have a lot to update on so later this week I will be posting again. Hopefully my computer will cooperate and up load pics from Pala's finalization (from October) !!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!! May you be stuffed full with all of the delights of your bountiful feast! :)

As you all know Thanksgiving is a very special day for our family. Not only is it the day that we join together for a wonderful day of feasts and prayers but it is also the day that we united as a family of 6. Last year the day was a glorious day as we were welcomed by our boys (and extended family) as we arrived home from India with Pala! The day that I wasn't quite sure we were ever going to see after some of the hiccups that we encountered during our trip but the Lord made it happen. There will NEVER be a Thanksgiving that we will not be thankful for. We are truly blessed this season.

With the Christmas holiday quickly approaching I continue to find myself wondering about Pala's birthmother and if she thinks about Pala. I pray that the Lord gives her peace and love through the holidays.

Happy Thanksgiving....

Broken Hearted...

Well, it's time that I update my blog and to come out of mourning.

It's been awhile since I've posted due to many reasons. LIFE! LIFE! LIFE! for the most part. Some good, some great and some absolutely heart breaking times!

First, I'll start with our blessings. Treyton celebrated his 11th birthday and finished up his second season as ball boy for the Varsity soccer team. He loves it and also gets paid $5 per game so he thinks it's pretty cool that he has a job. With all of the money he made last year and this year, plus a little he had in savings he bought himself an iPod touch. The boy is in heaven! :) Not to mention he made the Honor Roll for the first marking period in 6th grade! We are awaiting news about OM tryouts... a bit more challenging at the Middle School level.

Cooper finished up his first season of PeeWee football. He played on 2 teams... one of the teams went undefeated for the season and Coop was in the newspaper quite a few times! He is going to be one to watch out for in high school! He made OM this year and is very excited!

Austin made Merit Roll for the first marking period and is finally done with Midget football. He made the All-Star team and they had their final game yesterday. His coach had nothing but praises. You would not believe how tall he has gotten! I have no doubt that he will be taller than me by the new year! I realize that doesn't take much but it's hard to see him grow up so fast. and he's talking about girls more and more... eeks! :)

Miss PEA celebrated her 2nd birthday and is almost all the way potty trained! On October 13th we finalized her adoption and made her official name change. She got to celebrate her 1st Halloween and was a cheerleader. I made her simple costume with a tu-tu and a tshirt with a paw print painted on it. Very simple and she thought it was a big deal. I love the simplicity kids have at her age. November 21st will be our first GOTCHA DAY. We are planning a very quiet family dinner.

Now for the heartbreaking part...

It's been a really hard past couple of weeks for us. We have made the very difficult decision not to move forward with adopting Shilpa. There are many reasons we have been lead to our decision. I'm having a hard time understanding why and am grieving "her loss". The Lord placed her in my heart and every time I turn around a door keeps slamming in my face. I'm not going to publicly discredit anyone so I won't go into details about what's been going on over the past couple of months but I will say that I appreciate and love the experience that Dillon gave to us. I've been leaning on them quite a bit for support even though they aren't involved in any way. We didn't raise a whole lot selling shirts but have agreed that we will be donating it. We have not decided yet on whether or not to donate it to the orphanage where Shilpa is to help with her care or to donate it to Dillon. It's only $300 so we are leaning towards donating it to Dillon to cover the cost of 1 family's ICPC. We've talked about making this an annual donation. It's not much but every little bit helps. I still have care packages done up for Shilpa so I will continue to send them to her. The decision was not made lightly. I had really hoped that the Lord had put her in our hearts because she was meant to be a part of our family. I thought we had followed the path we were supposed to take but somewhere along the way He decided it wasn't the right one. I look at her beautiful face and keep wondering why the door has closed. Please pray for Shilpa and that God has a beautiful plan for her.

Last day to order!!!

Hi all!

Today is the last day to order your T-shirt for "Shirts for Shilpa"!!

Thank you for supporting us!! We are truly blessed!

Shirts For Shilpa

We are ready and all set to move forward with Shilpa's adoption. We should be finalizing Pala's adoption within the next couple of weeks and can then begin our homestudy phase of Shilpa's adoption. We are selling T-shirts to raise money for our homestudy. We are hoping to sell 100 shirts in 3 weeks! There are 2 different designs to choose from....

Simply Love India is a wonderful design that was created by a fellow adoptive momma and we are blessed to be able to use her beautiful artwork for our adoption fundraiser.

Orders will be taken until Midnight September 1st!
We hope that you will help us bring Shilpa one step closer to her family by purchasing one of our T-shirts. When you wear it, we hope that you will wear it proud knowing that you helped to complete our family and know that there will be one more child that is able to be a part of a real family.

Ladies/Girls:

These shirts are a super soft and comfy unisex cut. The front has Simply Love India with pink swirls wrapped by Phillipians 4:6-7 printed on a rich chocolate brown T-shirt. The back is printed with the saying "Love will always find a way". This is NOT a slim fit shirt. It will fit more loose and roomy. Sizes are youth small thru adult XXL. If additional sizes are needed please email me and I will let you know the availability. For all International orders please email me for shipping rates.

Women's/Girl's Simply Love T-Shirt

ADULT-XXL $27.00 ADULT -XL $25.00 ADULT-L $25.00 ADULT-M $25.00 ADULT-S $25.00 YOUTH-XL $25.00 YOUTH-L $25.00 YOUTH-M $25.00 YOUTH-S $25.00

ORDERING HAS ENDED

Men's/Boy's:
These shirts are extra soft and normal fit. They have been known to shrink slightly so keep that in mind when ordering. The front is black and red Simply Love India surrounded by Phillipians 4:6-7 printed on Army green. The back has the saying "Man up. Protect and Love the Fatherless". Sizes are youth small thru adult XXL. If additional sizes are needed please email me and I will let you know the availability. For all International orders please email me for shipping rates.

Men's/Boy's Simply Love T-Shirt

ADULT-XXL $27.00 ADULT -XL $25.00 ADULT-L $25.00 ADULT-M $25.00 ADULT-S $25.00 YOUTH-XL $25.00 YOUTH-L $25.00 YOUTH-M $25.00 YOUTH-S $25.00

ORDERING HAS ENDED

Ordering is simple. Simply choose the size you would like and click "Add to Cart". This will open up a PayPal window. You may add another shirt by clicking "Continue Shopping" or you may check out at this time.

Orders will be placed September 2nd and you should receive your T-shirts within 2 weeks of that date.
Thank you for supporting our adoption!

Two Bengali Princesses reunite!

Yesterday, Colleen and I were able to meet face to face.
Here we are with our 7 children! Yes, 7! and trying to get them all to look at "Grandpa" (Colleen's Dad) was not an easy task. Word of advice: Take your group photo at the beginning of your day, not right before you are leaving to go home. :)

Colleen and I have been friends through the adoption community since January 2008 and were finally able to meet thanks to her wonderful choice of vacation destinations! Ha! First thing Shad said was "Who vacations in Western NY?! It's farm country!" There are a lot of wonderful things to see and do here but we are not a tourist attraction! Ha!!! Funny thing is... Colleen and I have a connection that goes way back... further than our adoption connection... her husband and I went to school since Pre-K together! ...and now, our daughters were adopted thru the same agency, same country, same orphanage... very small world!! Every few years she is able to come back to the Rochester area, where she grew up and see old friends. Lucky for me it's only about 2 hours away!

It was so well worth the drive! We started with lunch at Tandoor India Restaurant where the staff knows our names!! Ha!!! Colleen and I were so busy chatting that we forgot to get out our cameras! Go figure!!! Our kids ruled the joint!! :) Then we took the kids to Henrietta Veterans Park to play on the playground for awhile. They all played so well together that it was like we were out for a regular play date! My older boys helped keep an eye on the little ones and Colleen's Mom and Dad were there so it really gave us time to catch up. It really didn't seem like a first time meeting. So many of my blogger friends live so far away... I hope that we will have the chance to meet like Colleen and I have. It was a wonderful day for all of us!

Miss Lia Riyani

Cooper, Pala, Treyton, Lia

Big Brother Treyton helping the girls out

Getting these 2 to sit still was a huge task! :)

Any longer in the swings and I think both girls would've fallen asleep!

You should've seen these girls climbing all over everything at the playground! They were like lil monkeys!! :)

The decision to adopt again...

When the Lord opens the door for you, don't close it! Walk through it with faith that He will lead you. That's exactly what we are doing! Are we scared? YES! Are we excited? YES! Are we hesitant? YES! Are we nervous? YES! Are we crazy? Oh, absolutely! But we have faith that our Lord will carry us through it all; the ups, the downs, and the in-betweens! :) This wasn't planned by any means but we are embracing the opportunity to raise and love another child.

Now that I can share a little bit "Angel's" name is really SHILPA. She is the amazing little girl that we met in November during our travels to India to bring Pala home. She is at the same orphanage that my niece, Subha was at down in Kanjirapally, Kerala. We were blessed to spend 3 days down there before traveling to Kolkata to get Pala. If you recall, our trip kept getting delayed over and over... well, we believe now that Shilpa was the reason. We believe that God did what he had to do to put us at her orphanage the time that he did for a reason. Had we traveled with the dates and itinerary that we (I) wanted then Shilpa would not have been there. She arrived about 2 weeks before our visit. Now that we're home with Pala and can reflect on everything... it was perfect! Even with all of the glitches! It will be a few months before I can share my beautiful daughter's picture with all of my blogging friends but trust me when the time comes there will be a ton! :) I have received many wonderful pictures from recent travelers! We are nervous about bringing an older child into our family but are trusting that this is what is meant to be for us! Shilpa is 10 and it will kind of like having triplets!! Ha!!!! Treyton is 9 months olders than her and Cooper is 10 months younger!! It will be crazy around here for awhile once she's home but it'll be a good crazy! I had been keeping in contact with the orphanage director since our trip and getting updates regularly on Shilpa. We weren't even sure an adoption plan was going to be put in place until one day in April when I called the adoption agency that handles the adoptions from SKB and told them that I was getting ready to mail out another package to Shilpa. The caseworker said an adoption plan had been put into place and that the orphanage was applying for international clearance! Shilpa had been talking about us and before they started looking for a family... "are you interested?" What?????? Really????? Now????? Oh, my... that's a lot to take in! I told her I'd have to talk with Shad and get back to her. We called a family meeting and discussed it with the kids. They were all on board. OK... the next thing is how do we pay for this?! We are strapped and still re-cooping from Pala's adoption! We haven't even been home 6 month with her yet. Eeeeeks!!!! This is a lot to think about!! Well, we still haven't figured out the financial end of things yet BUT we do know that with FAITH and HOPE all things are possible. Our Lord lead us to Shilpa and put her in our hearts and He will provide for us in our time of need. We are not fortunate enough to be able to use Dillon as our adoption agency so we have had to build a new relationship with CHSFS so we have been kind of jumping through hoops lately and we are not able to use the same homestudy agency that we did for Pala so we are starting over there but we will make it all work out. So far we in the process we have been approved by the Older Child Committee and are now applying to CHSFS. They do thing a lot different than Dillon but I keep reminding myself that we are working backwards this time. The hard part of this is knowing that Shilpa is 10 and entering a difficult development stage. This is the time she really needs her mom and dad to help her through it. She had been living with her birth father until she was placed at SKB in November of 09. I'm not going to share all of the specifics with you about why she was placed at this time because we feel that since she is older it should be her decision to share her story publicly when she's ready. She knows what family is and I can't wait to share ours with her. I hope you will continue to follow our journey to bringing Shilpa home.

Our family is growing!!

These are the eyes of our "Angel"!

A 10 yr old angel named Shilpa!

Who will now be able to call us Mom and Dad!

I am happy to announce that we are her forever family!

We received the call last night saying that we can move forward with adopting her. There are still a few formalities to go through but all in all she is the newest member of our family! I wish I could share full pictures with you but the agency we have to go through this time won't allow us to until we actually have guardianship. I will be sure to keep everyone posted throughout the process. So, until then, you can bask in the beauty of her beautiful brown eyes! :)

Please continue to pray for the process, our finances, and the adjustment It will be a long and hard journey but it will be all worth it in the end.

NYS Dillon Days

NYS Dillon Day is on the calendar!! It's been very exciting for me to be able to plan this 1st ever event! It is set for August 21st in Binghamton, NY. Come for the weekend or just for the day, it's up to you! The Comfort Suites on Vestal Parkway will have rooms blocked at a special rate for Dillon International families. It's right across from Binghamton University and Chuck E. Cheese is about 1/4 mile up the road!

Friday 7-9 Meet & Greet with Jerry and Denise Dillon
Saturday 10-5 Zoo Day at Ross Park Zoo ($4 per person)
3-6 Pizza Party and games at Ross Park ($10 per family)
7-? Minor League Ball game at Municipal Field ($7 per person)
Sunday is a free day to explore Binghamton, meet some new friends for lunch or whatever you would like before you venture home! We are hoping to make this an annual event!

There will be time for autographs if you get to the ballpark early and the first 1000 kids under 14 through the gates get a free Webkinz! Also... if you have a Zoo Membership to any other zoo you should be able to get into the Ross Park Zoo for FREE! We get a membership to the Seneca Park Zoo in Rochester, NY and Ross Park Zoo is on the reciprocating list (along with many others across the US). Invites will be going out later next week. If you are not in NY or PA and would like an invite please let me know and I would be happy to forward you one.

Gidget- Embassy Day

Gidget had her Embassy Day and all went pretty smooth. They arrived around 9am and were out by 10:30am. The clerk tried telling them that it was going to take 2-3 days to process because they needed another document from CARA but it all worked out. They head home today. They planned on staying at the Hyatt for the day and then heading to the airport around 8pm. I should hear from her when they land in Newark and get through Immigration. By the way... coming in to Newark at 4am is awesome! The only people going through Immigration at that time are the ones coming off your flight! We were through and to our connecting gate in less than 30 minutes. That gave us time to grab coffee at Starbucks, get freshened up and relax before our next flight. No rushing around. :) Hope they have the same experience as we did!

Gidget-Delhi Day 1

Gidget and Shane arrived in Delhi late early Monday afternoon. Maiya slept the entire flight! They went to Dr. Chawla later in the afternoon for Maiya's medical appointment. Unfortunately she did not have a good experience with him. So, she's NOT recommending him. That's too bad because we loved him. :( Oh, well. All 6 shots that were needed were done in 1 trip to the doc though so it CAN be done. Tuesday is a day of rest for them at the Hyatt. Maiya has had a few crying spurts so they are not planning to venture out. Maybe time at the pool and walking the grounds... nice and relaxing! :) Embassy Day is Wednesday! They are ready to come home to their boys! They are tired and recommend a day of rest in both Kolkata and Delhi. Gidget said not once has she been scared or uneasy. She left all of the negativity back home and went with a fresh mind and she enjoyed her time in Kolkata a whole lot more then Delhi so far. :) We laughed and I asked if she wanted to go back to India with me next spring and her response was "Ha!Ha!... Nope! That's quite alright!" :)

They have Maiya (Reela)!

I spoke with Gidget yesterday afternoon and they have Maiya! I was in the middle of my niece's 1st bday party and it was late when we got home so I wasn't able to post last night. :( She said it was a wonderful meeting. They used the same driver that we did, Nayeem, and he was just as wonderful to them as I said he would be. Maiya cried a little when they picked her up but all is going well now. Nayeem took them to the same place he took us and got their Visa pics out of the way. Today is their resting day at the Kenilworth and they fly to New Delhi on Monday. Their plans are flexible for the early part of the week so hopefully they will be able to get some much needed rest. Until I hear more... :)

Gidget and Shane are in India!!

Just spoke with Gidget and she asked me to give everyone an update. They're in New Delhi right now resting at the Radisson before catching an early morning flight to Kolkata. They are just a few short hours away from meeting their sweet little princess! Gidget's sinuses are acting up but other than that the trip is going well. The first time travelers have survived the first leg of the trip! :) Please pray for them during the remainder of their trip and that Gidget's sinuses clear up so she can get felling better. She's hoping to find some Sudafed at the domestic terminal in the morning. I'll keep you posted when I hear from her again!

Where we left off...

When we left off, we were headed to Binghamton University for the NYS Odyssey of the Mind competition. Treyton and his fellow team mates did a fabulous job and placed 4th. It didn't qualify them for the World's competition in Michigan but I am VERY proud of them.

As you recall we had 2 birthdays squished into the hectic OM weekend too! :) Austin 13 and Cooper is 9. Time has certainly flown by. Especially since coming home with Pala. We ended the trip with an afternoon at Chuck E. Cheese. Shad's brother Shane and his crew joined us along with our good friends, the Moreland's.

Pala's Christening ceremony was beautiful. She screamed almost the whole time! :)
It was held March 21st. Exactly 4 months from the day we met her at ISRC. I even wore the same tunic that I wore back on November 21 to pick her up. Amongst other things, I am putting together a slide show of all of her Christening pictures. No promises of when that will be done though. :)

Pala enjoyed her first trip to Uncle John's farm where she got to see the goats, cows and donkeys.

Kylie and Austin decided to go for a ride! No worries there... they are cousins!

Easter morning came before we knew it! It was a whirlwind of commotion!! Easter is our day to host our family gathering and some how we manage to keep it all together. It turned out to be a beautiful day and a wonderful gathering. When it was all said and done, we had about 25 people squeezed into our tiny little house celebrating Jesus! We normally don't have that many but as we got talking to some of our other family members and they mentioned just going home after church service we insisted that they come over. Not to mention we are walking distance from the church. How could they say no?! HA! There will be no excuses next year... unless we aren't here... :)

The boys got right up Easter morning and showed Pala her Easter basket. Normally there is a rule that they have to wait for Shad and I before getting into them so we have the camera ready, ect but this year they were excited for Pala so it was a free for all! :)
and... as you can see Miss PEA already had her jammies stripped off by the time she came downstairs.

Blowing kisses outside of church before the egg hunt.

Cooper and my niece Alana with their egg filled baskets. There were over 1000 eggs for the hunt!
Right after Easter Pala had about a 2 week bout with pneumonia. She is now back to her normal self and is cutting her final 2 teeth... eye teeth! Fun wow! :)

Pala's first ice cream cone! :)
She wore just as much as she ate! I wish I had video taped it! Next time! Baseball has begun so there will be lots of hot dog and ice cream cone eating!

"ANGEL" Update

Angel celebrated her 10th birthday yesterday! We had cake and "opened" this little outfit and movie for her. We will be popping it in the mail to her this week. The cake had her name on it and I didn't take the time to photoshop it out of the pic so I can't post it. :( Sorry about that!

Before when I told you all about her, we thought she was 8. Paperwork has arrived at the adoption agency and she is 10. Didn't mean to mislead anyone if you may have been helping to find a home for her. I honestly did not know. It was just my guess. The case worker at the adoption agency contacted us about 2 weeks ago and has discussed Angel's case with us at great length and...

Drum roll please....

We have decided to take a HUGE leap of faith and pursue her adoption! There is a lot of red tape to go through and it could also fall through but we believe strongly that this is the direction we are meant to go. It will be an emotional journey for our family and we would really appreciate your prayers. We have no idea how the finances will fall into place but we are trusting in the Lord that if this is His will then He will provide for us. Right now the committee on older child adoption at the agency is reviewing our current homestudy to see if indeed we are a good fit for Angel. Then they will contact the orphanage and the director will talk to her about our family structure. She knows Shad and I and that we were in India to bring Pala home but I'm not sure if she is fully aware that we have 3 boys also. If she wants to join our family then we will move forward. It's important to us for her to be part of the decisions right now. She has to want this too. So, now, we just sit back and wait.... this is really hard for me! No matter what she decides we will still remain in contact with her. God didn't place her in our hearts for nothing! :)

I am also planning a Dillon International Family Weekend in Binghamton NY the 3rd weekend in August. As things progress I will post more. :) Let me know if you may be interested in coming.

"Pala Day" video

Here's a little video of our "Pala Day" through to her Christening. Her Christening Ceremony was exactly 4 months to the day from the first day we met our little Sweet PEA!

Happy Birthday Cooper!!

Yep, another birthday here at our house!! I told you it was another big day!! I didn't plan that very well now did I?! Ha!!! My not so little guy anymore is 9 today!! Hard to believe!! To add to the excitement we are headed to Binghamton today for Treyton's OM competition so the birthday boys get a bonus of going away for the weekend and staying at a hotel. Wahoo, right?! Ha!! I'm a little nervous about Pala... she likes her own bed so it could be a very long weekend. Not to mention she HATES to ride in the car unless we are just ramming around town. It's about a 3 hour drive for us.... did I mention Pala hates riding in the car. :) I think a nice glass of wine should be waiting for me when we pull in to the hotel. :) One can dream!!lol Pictures to come next week!! Happy weekend and congrats to everyone who got guardianship this week!!! Yeah!!!

Happy Birthday Austin!!

Well, my son is now a teenager!! Eeeeks!!!! Today Austin turns 13. Not until 7:10pm of course :) Any teenage advice would be appreciated!! Ha!!! He has asked me to prepare an India meal tonight so I am off to the grocery store to pick up a few things. I had already anticipated this "want" so I gathered all of my spices at The Asian Market a few weeks ago when we went up to my niece Subha's birthday!! Good thinkin' Mama!! I will post pictures sometime next week when things settle down!! Tomorrow is another big day for our family... stay tuned!! :)

Adoption Tax Credit Extended and Increased

Adoption Tax Credit Extended and Increased

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March fury!

We've had a couple of really beautiful days lately Pala and I have been able to go for walks and play outside. It seems nice to have blue skies and sunshine again. We've had post placement visit #2 and should be able to petition the courts for final adoption in early April. I have had a rough go around with the social security office the past few months but finally found someone who would hear me out (and boy did she ever hear me out!). I was quite nasty but they are finally going to issue a SS# for Pala! It is a federal office so the rules are across the board. FYI- once your child has his/her green card you may file for a SS#. You will need their passport/VISA and the green card...that's it. Do not let them tell you otherwise! The card will only have the child's name as it appears on the green card. You will have to amend the SS card after finalization to include the child's middle and last names and adoptive parents names. A simple task but it took me 3 trips to our regional office and a very nasty attitude. I had documentation that was sent to me from one of the reps that I spoke to through the 800# and they still argued with me that it couldn't be done. YES! It can!

This time of year is busy season for us we have all kinds of March birthdays to celebrate and Treyton's Odyssey of the Mind competitions. This year his team and 5 other teams from Wellsville placed 1st at the Regional tournament and are now off to States at Binghamton University next weekend (which also happens to be Austin and Cooper's birthdays!). We will be gone the entire weekend!! A little break away from the ordinary. Cooper wants to go to
Chuck E. Cheese one day so that is on the agenda at some point. It happens to be right down the road from our hotel! :) Austin hasn't really decided what special thing he would like to do yet so I guess we'll figure it out when we get there.

and as if between 3 niece's, 3 cousin's, 2 of my boy's birthdays, and Treyton's OM I decided to squeeze in Pala's Christening this Sunday! Ha!! Hello... March is off limits from now on! :)

Pala LOVED playing in the snow for the first time! The temp was way to cold for her to be out a lot but we did manage to get out a few times this winter.

This is just before church one Sunday! Everyone adores her! Then again, who wouldn't! Ha!:) We attend a very small church and she has the run of the place. It's been that way for all of my kids actually. It's kinda like having 10 extra sets of Grandparents for them! :)

Austin is trying out for the High School golf team this year! He's only in 7th grade but wanted to give it a shot. There isn't a modified or JV level otherwise he would stay with his age group. He's young and will has LOTS of opportunities to tryout again if it doesn't work out for him this year. Pray that he doesn't lose his spirits along the way.

Treyton and Cooper are playing Little League Baseball again. Practice begins tomorrow night. They will most likely be on different teams this year. Treyton has the opportunity to move up a level if he wants to tryout. I'm all for it!! I know it sounds crazy but I strongly believe that each of my children deserves to shine and not have to compete with each other to be better than the other. It will mean more running for me but I feel it would be selfish of me not to give Treyton the chance to advance just because it would be easier on me. Many people have told me "but Treyton shines in OM...". Come on!!! Is he only allowed to be good at 1 thing?! I have NEVER held my kids back from trying new things! That's how they learn and grow as individuals! Life is full of opportunities. It's our jobs as parents to teach our children how to find them.

That's a little bit of what we've been up to since my last post. More to come after the Christening, birthdays and OM competition! :)

Calling all you thrifty moms (and dads) out there...

I'm on a mission to "trim the fat" in our budget here at home. I thought I was doing extremely well until I looked back at some old magazines (2005... I know...why are they still laying around?! right? Ha!!) that I had and I came across a "getting out of debt" article. I've read tons of these as I'm sure you all have. Some advice makes sense and some may not for your family. It really got me thinking of when I first got married. We got married young...I was pregnant and in college...Shad and I were both living with our parents and after the wedding moved into a mobile home...Shad did have his college degree and had moved back home about a year before we got together to take a full time job. We were starting a family on less than $20,000 a year!! Ouch!! How did we survive?? Yes, that was 14 years ago and times were different but OMG!! I have to admit I was spoiled and back then if there was no money in the checking account I broke out the credit card... if that didn't go through I applied for another one. Very foolish, I know. Now... I am a nag about where ever penny is going!! It killed me to eat at Red Lobster this past weekend. I finally gave in after being hounded to death by everyone and after we paid the bill and were in the car headed home everyone agreed with me that our "Seafood Feast" at camp is WAAAY better. More food for more people and less money!!! Although it did bring back a funny memory for Shad and I... Austin must have been about 10 months or so (he'll be 13 next month) when Shad and I went out to dinner at Red Lobster and we were enjoying the evening with our son. Austin has had seafood since he could eat solid food!! Talk about spoiled!! :) He was just gobbling up the lobster and crab legs... well so we though... Ha!! On the way home we found out that he was storing it all in the roof of his mouth! Everytime I turned around to check on him he was chewing on something... he was teething so I didn't really think much of it until I saw him moving something white around in there... the roof of his mouth was jam packed... he was laughing so hard when I found his "stash"! Remember I said we were POOR... same dinner, our credit card was declined!! Ever have that happen?! It's quite embarrassing!! Especially when that was your only means of paying for your dinner!! Shad and I sat and stared at each other for about 10 minutes. I remember thinking "Oh shit... what are we going to do?! I'm not going to do dishes!!" Let me tell you a little bit about myself back then... I did not do anybody elses dishes but my own and it was easier to buy new then it was to do laundry. I remember looking around for the closest exit trying to figure out how to get out of there. We had about $20 still in the checking account so we could swipe the debit card for part of it but that still left about $30 to come up with. It was a good thing that I didn't clean out all of my spare change in the car and my purse because we took turns going out to the car trying to scrounge up enough money to pay our bill. After about an extra 20 minutes of drinking water and eating the free biscuits we had enough to pay our bill... we left it on the table and got out of there as fast as we could... $10 cash that Shad had in his wallet and the rest in change... needless to say the waitress didn't get a tip!! We were lucky to have enough to cover the bill. We were laughing so hard that Shad had to pull over!! Ha!! We laugh just as hard to this day whenever we pass a Red Lobster!! I hope my little story helps to bring back a memory that tickles your funny bone!!

OK... so back to my point of today's post. We are a one income family like many of you are and the question gets asked almost everyday by someone out there... "How do you do it?" Well, How do I do what? It's almost always about affording Pala's adoption but this time it wasn't... this time there was no awkwardness in the question. A genuine question about raising 4 kids... the stress, the groceries, all of it. This inspired me to reach out to all of you and ask you to share ways that you save or have saved in the past to get out debt, save for retirement or just to cut back. How do you cope with the stress of the kids and hubby? I haven't posted very often because I don't feel like I have anything to write about but you know what... LIFE is worth sharing. This is a very challenging time for many and I think that by sharing our tips and struggles can help each other. My challenge for all of you reading this is to occasionally throw out there a "thrifty thought" or "tummy tickler". Who knows, it might be the encouragement someone needs to get through the next day.

Thrifty Thought for today...

What is the most inexpensive dinner you have ever made for your family? Give the approximate cost of the entire meal, how many it fed (were there leftovers?) and please share the recipe if it requires one. Title your post "Thrifty Thought Recipe"

Challenge others to get on board!! Happy blogging!!