Joshua and Jesse had their first soccer game today.  My mom took lots of pictures of the game with her good camera, so I’ll update this post after she sends them to me.  The game before theirs ended late so we got started 20 minutes late.  That meant we were playing from about 11:30-12:30 in the hot noon sun.  I didn’t even think to bring sunscreen so the really white people in our family (myself and Jesse) are a little burnt.  The boys had a blast and I got way more into the game than I anticipated.  I guess the former cheerleader in me took over and I was embarrassingly shouting all the wrong names…but my heart was in it!  Haha!  I need to work on learning the names of the other boys on the team.   Some of them have very unique names like Waters, Ford, Fischer, and Noel (pronounced “nole”).  They are a very sweet group of boys who love being out on the field chasing that ball together.  It has been a treat to see the sportsmanship come out in my boys.  They made up a ‘team handshake’ and were proudly teaching it to the rest of the team before the game started.  After an intense first three quarters with no score, the other team made two goals in the final quarter and won the game.  The boys were all smiling, knowing this was just the beginning of a very fun season.  They played their little hearts out today and are exhausted and a little stinky.  This is the only picture I took.  Bad, bad Mommy!  I’ll do better on Tuesday.

Yes, Owen brought his pet toad to the game.  That kid LOVES amphibians and lizards!

~audrey

A few of you have asked me to share what we’re eating for dinner since we’ve cut out meat.  To be honest, the first couple of weeks totally freaked me out.  Dinner time would approach and I’d be in a cold sweat in the kitchen, wondering WHAT IN THE WORLD I was going to make for dinner.  My pantry was full of food, but the whole “no meat” label just scared me.  It was unknown territory.  We’ve always had at least one meatless dinner per week so that gave me a jumping off point.  From there I simply modified some of the recipes we already love, asked vegetarian friends for their favorites, and did a lot of searching online.

Here is our upcoming dinner menu:

Egg Salad on croissants with a green salad

Burritos (Spanish rice, black beans, refried beans, guacamole, lettuce, tomato, on a sun-dried tomato wrap)

Veggie Pizza (black olives, mushrooms, sauteed onions, and artichokes)

Broccoli Salad and bagels with cream cheese, onion, tomato, and lox (it’s a yankee thing!)

Vegetarian Sloppy Joes (this is for my hubby.  I’ll let you know how they turn out….pinto beans and quinoa)

Baked Potatoes and butter beans

Spaghetti and garlic bread

Spinach, mushroom, and onion quiche

Broccoli, cheese, and rice casserole and steamed squash

One of the best things of all is that I went to the store this afternoon to buy the groceries for all of these meals and my total was only $10 more than my usual weekly budget.  I was very pleasantly surprised.

Bon Apetite!

~audrey

One hour after I posted last night, I received an email from Paypal:

“You’ve received a donation to your account in the amount of $495.00”

Once again I sat at the computer, hands shaking, tears flowing; in awe of a God who cares for even me.  The God of the universe used a young woman whom I haven’t seen in over a decade to bless us and build the faith of my children (and us!).  It was a precious reminder that He will provide exactly what we need, exactly when we need it.  These times are sweet whispers of confirmation that we’re right where we’re suppose to be; on a journey to Africa.

~audrey

I’m just going to be real here.  Every penny we’ve raised/earned/saved so far for Zoe has already been paid to the agency or used for things like ordering documents for our home study and dossier.  As soon as our home study is complete (we have our last appointment next week!  woohoo!) we can start applying for grants.  However, we can’t finish our home study and dossier without a few important and expensive items and we simply don’t have the money right now. Please don’t misunderstand me and think, “Goodness, if they can’t even afford the paperwork process, how can they afford to adopt?!” It’s not like that.  If we had time to throw together another yard sale this Saturday or a bake sale this Sunday, we’d do it and no doubt have the money we need by next week.  If we wait until payday, it’ll put us almost a month behind in the process.  But this stuff needs to get done, like, yesterday.  What I’m asking is that you share our story with anyone you think might be interested in Bows for Life or our puzzle fundraiser. Here are our current needs to complete our home study and dossier:

Two passports that must be expedited to arrive on time:    $240

Four passport pictures each for myself and my husband:   $80

8-hour Hague Training online:   $175

TOTAL COST:  $495

I know that God is going to provide the money need right when we need it, but I also know that often times He uses His people to bless each other in times of need.  If you feel led to give or share our story, I know you’ll be blessed in return.  If nothing else, please continue to pray.  Pray for Zoe and her birth mom (she could still be in utero for all we know).  Pray for her safety and that she’ll have food to eat or milk to drink.  Pray that someone will be there to love her and sing to her and hold her each and every day until we get to her.  We’ve even been praying that God would put hope in her heart, knowing that Mommy and Daddy are on their way.  That her Father will not leave her or forsake her; she is not an orphan!

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within.”  Ephesians 3:20

~audrey

Do you ever have those moments when something makes you laugh so hard you just can’t stop and before you know it there are tears streaming down your face and you can’t even see what’s in front of you?  Well, I did tonight.

Josh and I had to write autobiographies for our home study.  He is a two-finger typer, so I sat at the computer while he dictated his autobiography to me based on the questions we had to answer for our agency.  It is now 11:30pm and we were getting pretty silly.  The final question is:  “Describe the kind of child you hope to adopt and characteristics that you absolutely could not accept in a child.”

After I read the question to him I said, “What a stupid question!  What kind of person would be adopting if that had such strange or rigid expectations of a child?  How can you answer that?”

There was a long pause.  I figured Josh was thinking up a sweet, theological answer.  Then, my laid back, not usually funny husband said with a smirk,

“You will not accept a penis.”

I

ALMOST

DIED

LAUGHING!!!!

I suppose he was right.

We are not planning for a penis this time around.

~audrey

I guess it’s a good thing that I haven’t blogged lately.  That means I’m doing what I’m suppose to around the house and not sitting at the computer!   But I’ve missed you!!

This morning I woke up to my kids yelling about ants under the table.  They must have been feasting on a week’s worth of crumbs that fell to the floor and I just haven’t made the time to mop!  So that is how I started my day; shoooing the kids out the dining room, sweeping, and mopping so vigorously that I got a blister.  That’s never happened before!  I sent the kids to read quietly while I cleaned up the kitchen and made breakfast.  Now they are outside bird-watching and I have a clean kitchen, breakfast is ready, and my second load of laundry is working.  I guess that would be impressive if it was only 8:00am….but it’s almost 9:30.  So that means we’re just now eating breakfast and won’t be starting our school day until 10:00.  Not so great for a Monday morning, but after school it’s going to be a jammie day so I can catch up on all of our laundry, so I’m not too disappointed.

Happy Monday!!

And HAPPY FIRST DAY OF HOMESCHOOLING SAM B.!!!!!

~audrey

Hmmm, I’m trying to figure out where to start!

My meatless quest is going strong and I am very, very happy to report that I feel like a new person since cutting out meat and adding fresh veggie/fruit juice to my daily diet.  We’re still drinking green smoothies for breakfast each morning, except for today because I killed my ten year old blender and will be getting a new one tomorrow.

Before starting our juice fast, I had not had a period since March (sorry if that is too much information, but you need to hear this!).  After only ten days of eliminating meat and adding fresh juice and produce to my daily diet, I started my period!  Could that be a coincidence?  Maybe, but I highly doubt it!  The amount of hormones in our food, mostly through conventional animal products such as meat and milk, are affecting women in ways that will affect generations to come.  Look at how many women have trouble getting pregnant and also how many women get pregnant with twins spontaneously.  The number of women having twins has more than doubled in the past ten years.  Coincidence?  I think not.  As I’ve said before, the only time having twins is hereditary is if your mother was a fraternal twin.  Every other case of twins, including every identical twin pregnancy, is completely spontaneous and miraculous (not that EVERY pregnancy isn’t a miracle, but you get the point.).  We’re consuming hormones that our bodies were never meant to produce.

Meals have been pretty easy as well.  I just don’t serve meat!  We had homemade veggie pizzas last week that were unbelievable.  I made a really delicious crock pot macaroni and cheese recipe and served it with veggies.  Tonight we’re having vegetarian nachos with lettuce, salsa, black beans, cheese, guacamole, and sour cream.  We haven’t cut out all dairy.  We still eat cheese and sour cream, but we’ve switched back to almond milk for baking and drinking.  We no longer have any white sugar in the house!  I had actually run out and when I went to Earth Fare last week, I went ahead and bought a five pound bag of organic demerara sugar, which is just organic cane sugar, never refined and very minimally processed.  It tastes a little bit like brown sugar but is slightly coarse.  This morning I made homemade blueberry muffins with fresh blueberries, demerara sugar, and whole wheat flour.  They were delicious!  Joshua actually ate three and said, “These are awesome!”

We officially started our new school year last week and it has been better than I could have possibly planned.  I have noticed such a tremendous difference in the boys’ behavior, interactions, and patience since we made our diet changes.  I know a lot of it has to do with the fact that mommy is happier, more relaxed, and more patient.  It’s been very peaceful in our house and the television only gets turned on at night when we watch America’s Funniest Videos and Jeopardy as a family.  We’ve done lots of reading and our school work is almost always complete by lunch time if we start at 8:00am.  I thank God each and every morning for my children and for the freedom to homeschool and share each and every precious moment with them.

And lastly, we started our homestudy last week!  Finally!  I also received an email from a couple that Josh and I went to high school with 12 years ago.  They’ve been following our adoption journey and would like to give us $1,000 to help us bring Zoe home!  I could hardly believe my eyes!  I say that, but then I catch myself, because we’ve said all along that we’re confident God will provide every penny we need to bring Zoe home, but seeing that come to fruition is simply amazing.  God is so good.  He’s more than enough.  He is all-sufficient and He will not leave Zoe as an orphan.

Bless you and have a great week!

~audrey

Okay. We made it to day three and decided to break our fast. Man, that was tough! Honestly, it makes my heart break for addicts of things like drugs and alcohol. If I felt the way I did toward food after only three days of consuming nothing but juice and water, I cannot even fathom how it feels to be addicted to other types of substances.

I can tell you that we plan to do more juice fasts in the future and we saw incredible results in those 72 hours. I lost five pounds, my face cleared up in 48 hours (my chin has been breaking out for months!), my ‘bad food’ cravings have vanished, I have lots of energy and don’t crash in the afternoons, and we actually find ourselves craving fresh fruit/veggie juice throughout the day.

Tonight I am trying my hand at a vegetarian dinner. We’re having 15 Minute Cream Avocado Pasta and corn and bean fritters.  Right now I’m sipping  some juice because my stomach is rumbling and I’m quite hungry, but I’d rather nourish my body with a little juice rather than a quick snack with empty calories.

I’ll let you know how the meal turns out….here’s hoping!

P.S.  Thank you Nicole for sending me over to Oh She Glows!  Fantastic recipes and nutritional info!

~audrey

After watching the documentaries, “Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead” and “Food Matters”, Josh and I decided to embark on a 10-day juice fast.  On a perfect day we consume four 16 oz. servings of juice and lots of water.  The juice is mainly the recipe given in the documentary:

Mean Green Juice

1 bunch kale

4 stalks of celery

1 cucumber

2 granny smith aples

½ a lemon

ginger root

Surprisingly, it’s not bad.  We also bought a few bottles of Green Machine by Naked Juice.  It contains apple, banana, kiwi, mango, broccoli, spinach, spirulina, chlorella, blue green algae, and garlic.  It is actually delicious!

We’re planning on trying a homemade V8 juice for lunch.  We found a good recipe on food.com.  The documentary also inspired us to make sure we’re not taking the easy way out in regards to what we feed our children.  Overall, our kids eat very well.  They’ll eat salad, Jesse and Owen like sushi, they always eat their veggies, and consume at least two servings of raw fruits and veggies each day.  However, as we make a few changes around here in efforts to get our bodies to optimum health, we’re going to shoot for 51% raw on a daily basis even when the fast is over.  Breakfast will likely consist of a smoothie or raw fruit.  This morning the boys had a smoothie made of:

2 cups of spinach

1 banana

1/2 cup blueberries

8 strawberries

This recipe was enough for them to have about 8-10 oz. each.  The best part is, they know the spinach is in there and that it’s very good for them whereas before I would try to hide it.

Lunch will likely be a salad, veggies with homemade hummus, fresh juice, or maybe even another smoothie.  And dinner will be cooked.  I’m already looking forward to trying a chicken marsala recipe I found recently but plan to substitute the chicken for portobello mushrooms.   We’re not aiming for perfection, but we do believe that God created our bodies to be able to heal itself when being nourished properly.

Food Matters was an excellent educational documentary.  I highly encourage you to watch both, but Food Matters really opened our eyes to which foods and vitamins best assist in the healing process of different diseases and ailments.  Watch it!  They’re both “watch now” movies on Netflix if you’re a member.

I started the fast Thursday at lunch and Josh joined me Friday morning.  This afternoon will start day three for me and I’m feeling great.  Yesterday was tough.  I wanted real food and I was very tired in the afternoon.  Thankfully, I haven’t been drinking caffeine for several months so I haven’t had to deal with caffeine withdrawals which I hear are pretty rough.  I was able to take a three hour nap yesterday afternoon and was good as new for the rest of the day.

I’d really like to read the book “Made To Crave” while in the midst of this fast.  I’ve heard it’s excellent and really deals with our addiction to food.  It’s so sad to think about how addicted we are to food.  I even got sad last night when I thought about waking up Saturday morning and not making a big breakfast for my family.  I can practically smell those homemade buttermilk biscuits.  But instead, I woke up, made a large pitcher of our green juice, prepared the boys’ smoothies, and poured Pinesol in all the sinks and toilets.  Time to put this energy to good use!

I look forward to recording our progress throughout the rest of this fast.  I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you that I look very forward to my first meal when it’s over.  I hear days four and five get a lot better.  We’ll see!

~audrey

Children in Augusta will go back to school in two and a half weeks.  Where has the summer gone?  We’ve done a whole lot of nothing and it still seems to have flown by.  Owen will be in pre-k, Jesse will be in second grade, and Joshua will be in third grade.

As I sit here typing, I can hear Jesse in the midst of his guitar lesson in the living room.  His passion for music, worship, and playing his guitar fill me with joy.  Aside from one season of t-ball when Joshua was four, the boys haven’t participated in team sports up to this point.  There just hasn’t been time.  I think one of the worst things families can do today is make themselves too busy.  Too busy to gather around the table to eat dinner together, too busy to talk about everyone’s day, too busy to read aloud a few chapters of a good book before bed.  That said, we’ve decided to let the boys play soccer this fall.  We knew if we signed them up with the Family Y, they’d be on the same team.  The season lasts three months.  I think the teamwork and competition along with being outside for something they truly enjoy will be so good for them.  How appropriate that they’re team is called The Bandits!

I have found myself really “enjoying the moment” lately.  A few weeks ago, the boys and I went up to the lake for a few hours and we were the only ones at this particular beach.  As the boys played in the water, I relaxed into my beach chair, face to the sun, and took a few slow, deep breaths, thanking God for the beauty of His creation that I have the privilege of enjoying on a daily basis.

Just the other day, my friend Teresa and I were planning to take the boys to the lake again and I told her we needed to plan a day trip to the beach.  She said, “Let’s go tomorrow!”  Just like that, I cleaned out the car, ran up to the store at 10:30pm to buy snacks and sunscreen, and packed the beach bag for a long day of fun in the sun.  Joshua and Jesse have only been to the beach once and it was four years ago.  This would be Owen’s first trip to the ocean.  I was so very excited to surprise them Monday morning with our spontaneous change of plans.

We headed out at 8:30am, arrived at Folly Beach just before lunch, played all day, and packed up to head home a little before 7:00pm.

We stopped to get gas and a Chick-fil-a milkshake along with a bathroom break, and arrived back home a little after 10:00pm.  It was absolutely perfect.  I sure hope that the boys look back on our spontaneous trips to the beach with sweet remembrance as they get older.  There’s no place we’d rather be than with each other.  We will surely be making more trips to the ocean in the near future; next time with hubby as well!

I don’t want to miss a single moment of my children growing up.  I look so forward to watching them with their baby sister.  They can hardly wait for the day when she’s snuggled up with us for story time before bed.  Just last night Jesse prayed, “Lord, protect Zoe and send someone to love and comfort her until we can bring her home very soon.”  They pray for her each and every night as we cradle her in our hearts until we can hold her in our arms.

God is so good.  I just can’t say it enough.

~audrey