This post is inspired by my dear mother. When we were young and would inevitably say those whiny words that are fingernails on a chalkboard to a mother, "I'm bo-red!" my mother would stop her task, raise her eyebrows and say, "I'm so glad to hear that because I have things for you to do."
A few window washes, car vacuums, or toilet scrubbings later we would vow to never say "I'm bored" within earshot again. Ironically, it taught me that if I'm listless or have completed my regular tasks I should start a project, clean something, or invest time into whoever is sitting in the kitchen.

I am observing that perhaps other people's mothers weren't so wise. I say this because in the last month or so I have heard a handful of mothers say "I'm bo-red". The first time I heard it I stopped in my tracks. The second time I thought, "That's strange." The third time I saw it broadcasted on facebook.
I am miffed.
How can you be a mother and be bored?

The day after tomorrow I turn 30. I had someone say "Wow. Almost 30. How does that feel?" as though they expect me to crumble in a pile of wrinkles before their eyes. I've also heard people talk about leaving their 20s as though the party is officially over.

First of all, 30 is not old! It's my Beppe's birthday today and I believe she is 81. In her last couple years she has traveled much (including a trip to the Netherlands). She learned photoshop, she is currently growing her vegetables and working on projects. She facebooks and e-mails her grandkids and has embarked on adventures to visit us all with her husband of 60 years. She has 50 years on me and has partied it up more than I have this year! Sure, her joints ache more than mine and she probably wouldn't be excited about getting up with small children in the middle of the night, but she doesn't sit around lamenting about growing old.

Hudson at four can be summed up by his birthday list. He wants swords, guns, a bigger drum set, a tractor pinata, and a battery powered tow-truck so that when cousin Pearl's battery powered Jeep runs out of battery, he can hook her up to his tow-truck and bring her home.

As I was getting the kids ready to get out the door and into the car (which often feels like herding cats) I heard Darla attempting to help. "Everett? Everett! 1-2-3, eyes on me. 1-2-3, eyes on me, Everett."
My eyes widened at the perfect little teacher voice I heard come out of my 5 year old. To be clear, I have never said "1-2-3, eyes on me" to any of my children. Apparently this is something she picked up from Sunday School.

I am slightly tentative yet also excited, relieved, and hopeful to share that S. is employed! The tentative part comes because we are still working out the numbers, but our main investor assured S. this morning that we "will make this happen".

A few years ago S. started a ministry called "Big Oak". The name comes from his favorite passage in Isaiah that I shared in a previous post. Isaiah 61 tells of what Christ does; binds the brokenhearted, proclaims freedom for the captives, comforts those who mourn... and in verse 3, "They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor".

One year ago this month my sister Jasmine felt compelled to begin the adoption process while sitting in a Sunday church service. Sure that her own mother emotions were being stirred and wondering if it might have to do with recent miscarriages, she asked the Lord to tell her husband Lance the same thing if it was truly supposed to be.
One week later to the day Lance said, "I think we need to look into adopting."

They did. And like everything that Lance & Jazz do, they went at it full force (somehow over-acheiving and excelling even in this).
I could fill up pages of the amazing things that have come to pass through the process; from funding, to the process itself, to the way Ethiopia has been changing adoption laws which hurried along placing these boys with them.

On Monday Gage Moses Tafesse (age 4) and Jude Harrison Abush (age 2) became legally my nephews. We are now waiting to hear about an embassy date which will determine when Lance and Jasmine can go to Ethiopia to pick them up and bring them home.

Their siblings, Pearl (age 5), Eve (age 4) and James (age 2) are counting down the days and spend much time staring at their pictures and picking out toys for them. Jasmine just got a rocking chair recovered because you see by one look at these little faces that they are going to need a lot of snuggling. (Not just because they need it but because who could see these faces and NOT smother them?!)

This brings the count to 12 kids on the Tadema side... all of them from 2-5 yrs old. Par-tay!

I was feeling quite productive last week as I deep cleaned the house. Then I discovered what my children were up to while I was scrubbing inside...

(Note the mud smears on the side of the house.)

The best part of this was our good friend (& fantastic photographer) Mark French was over meeting with S. He pulled out his camera to capture a few moments & made the mess look somehow beautiful.

Obviously I wasn't going to let them come in my newly clean house so outside baths it was!

The beginning of a new month, a new week, new hope on the horizon... ?

Last week S. found out he did not get the job with an investment company he interviewed 3 times with. We were at peace with letting it go and hopeful that something else might be around the corner. ("The corner" being this week.)

He was prepared for a meeting today that could mean big things for some dreams. How fitting to have a significant meeting on the first day of June as we kick off our fifth month of "what the heck are we doing with our lives". We woke up and had coffee & our own quiet time before the kids were up. Over breakfast I tried not to over talk about the building hope in what this month might bring.

As I started on my big to-do list and S. got ready for his meeting, he got a call saying the meeting was cancelled until tomorrow. Normally not a big deal but when you spend five months feeling constantly let down... there comes a point when even 24 hours feels completely overwhelming.

"I'm going fishing. Hudson, want to come fishing?"

The big birthday present for S. this year was a pole & license because he has wanted to take up fishing with Hudson. As Hudson excitedly jumped to...so did everyone else. Everett threw his blanket on the ground, grabbed his "fire boots" and said, "Bye Mommy. Bye Mommy."