His voice

Ted and his dad

Ted sang in the Praise and Worship team this morning at church, and it is always a delight for me when he does that.


I love the fact that he loves to sing praise and worship to our God.


I love the fact that I can look at Ted's sweet face while we are singing.


I love the fact that I can recognize Ted's beautiful voice above the rest of the team and the entire congregation. Sometimes, I even stop singing so I can close my eyes and hear his voice more clearly.


It's a voice I dearly love that belongs to a son I dearly love! Oh, how we love our Ted.

It reminded me of another voice of one we dearly love.

A voice that often we have to be still and listen to hear.

Not unlike me stopping my singing in the midst of a crowd to hear Ted more clearly.

That voice belongs to our Lord and Savior - Jesus Christ.



I need to be reminded to stop and listen to him. Today was a good reminder.



Because when you do stop and listen, you will find


that He has the most beautiful voice of all!

Diagnosis!

But first - another funny picture of Philip during nap time!

Well, my doctor found two bulging discs in my neck causing me trouble!

Yikes!

That means physical therapy beginning this next week!

Praying that takes care of it. I don't really have time
for
this injury.

Plus, my little boys don't really care if my neck hurts or not!They are always ready for some rough housing play!

Thank you for all the prayers and well-wishes! Nice to know some of you have had similar injuries and have recovered well enough to be in the mix again with your kids.

Ted at his Honors Dinner at Ball State last week!

We are so proud of him.

A nice little rest

Yesterday was the day of my MRI. . .




I had had several people tell me horror stories
about how tight a fit they were




About how loud they were




About how uncomfortable they were









Sad but true, I didn't find that to be the case.




In fact, after falling asleep and taking a nice little rest,



I found the whole experience to be quite pleasant!



The sweet tech who ran the machine also was
a brother to a new 18-month old brother
whom his parents had just adopted.




So he totally understood that when he asked how
I was doing about halfway through the test,



I replied, "Oh, this is so much more peace and quiet
than I have had at home since February!"



He didn't laugh or judge.



He just said, "Well, you take your rest where you can
get it!"



The whole thing from start to finish kind of
felt like a spa experience!



I didn't mind the helmet holding my head in place,



I didn't mind the rigid board I was lying on,



I didn't even mind the noise of the machine
(because it wasn't half as loud as a screaming toddler)



In fact, I had the brilliant thought while in the
machine for almost an hour that NO ONE
could get to me to need something! Ha, ha!



All in all, I left that appointment fairly well rested!
(and ready to hug two adorable little boys
back at home who had completely tired out
their grandma!)

A very sore neck

It seems that I may have a problem with some
discs in my neck, and that is what has
been causing all of my neck and head pain!

Yikes! No wonder we can't play in the
backyard until Papa or big brother gets
home each day . . .


You know . . .


All that bending down to pick up doggie poo
would seriously hurt my already painful neck!



That's my story.



And I'm sticking with it!!

Philip was taking a nap the other day,
and this is all I could see of him!

Uncle Doug showing Philip how to swing a club.

Who is that cutie on his new bike?

Random pictures

Just some random pictures of so much cuteness!

Our little boys - too cute for words

Our little boys with our good friends, Tim and Anna
(who, by the way, are pursuing international adoption as I write!
They are almost empty-nesters, too!)

Even these big boys are cute!

Eli enjoying the slide

Philip (or is that Farmer Brown??) getting
ready to help Papa in the garden

God's love

For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:16




Happy Easter to everyone!

A meal to remember

I think we have finally finished the last birthday celebration for Philip's 5th birthday. This child has had so many parties that even he became confused, asking me the other day if after his friends' party, would he still be five!!

Wouldn't you like to know what he is thinking at this moment?

Surveying all of the treats as we sing "Happy Birthday."

Our big boy wanted to see if he still fit into the high chair.

Isn't he cute??

Ok, so after Philip's last birthday celebration, we were just plain tuckered out. We went to Pizza Hut/Taco Bell combo thinking it would be a safe bet for Eli. When Eli is tired or grouchy, taking him out to eat can be a disaster.

Well, even though it was a fast food restraurant and a little noisy, we were still stared at . . . although not because we were a mixed family this time, but for another reason tonight.

Eli is a voracious eater. Did I mention that he out-eats us many a time?? And he really wants his food f.a.s.t! Or else!

Tonight with him being tired and grouchy from having spent the last several hours with lots of other children at Philip's party (which, by the way, was really fun), Eli was demanding his food pronto! We couldn't keep it coming fast enough. Kevin and I were shoveling in our food as well to keep up with Eli needing food. We looked a sight especially when I looked over at Eli and saw grease and food stuck to his fingers and face as he gulped down his meal. The grossest sight was when he took his Matchbox truck and ran it through the sour cream. Ew, yuck!

People were definitely staring.

Our floor and table were a mess.

And then a group of teenage boys sauntered in and began to talk loudly, even cussing a little to show off.

Was it wrong of us that we were grateful to them for taking the heat off of us?

We kind of hated to see them leave!

LOL!!