Well I've been thinking about doing this post for a long time... so here goes. Two summer ago, we started talking about redoing our kitchen, it was a small eat in kitchen with room for five if we squeezed the high chair at the end of the bar, and were in process to get another baby (Isaac) so we knew something had to change. So we began making plans to redo the kitchen, it needed it, the cabinets were starting to fall apart and we just didn't fit any more. We were planning to remove some walls open it up and make the whole house more use able. Well we are blessed with an amazing carpenter in our family, my father-in-law, so we got him to help on this project. He built the cabinets and so much more.

This is Paul or Pap, as he is called at our house.

So we began our journey to remodel the kitchen and Paul asked his cousin Margie to come take a look and give us her expert opinion, she is a wonderful space planner. Well Margie took one look at the house and began adding on the moment she drove up. Here is what she saw.

She said, oh what they need is a laundry room/mud room and a two car garage with bedrooms above the garage, they need a new roof anyway might as well do it all at the same time and have it all match up. Well we were planning on a new roof as well, but that was it. Ben and I were a bit overwhelmed. After they left we had a good start on a plan for the kitchen, but we were both rolling our eyes at the thought of such a major addition. But the more we thought about it the more it started to make sense. We knew we weren't done adopting so maybe few more bedrooms a couple more bathrooms and a laundry room on the main level started to make sense. But we still weren't convinced until I saw this vs. 3 times in one morning and it really sealed it in my mind when I read it in the Living Bible.

Isaiah 54: 2-3 "Enlarge your house; build on an addition. Spread out your home, and spare no expense! For you will soon be bursting at the seams. Your descendants will occupy other nations."

It never ceases to amaze me when a vs. from the Bible speaks so clearly to me, for surly the word of the Lord is alive and active. Anyway here we are almost two years later Isaac came home right as we finished the kitchen and a month later we started the addition. Here it is..

this is the front

This is the front of the old house minus the dormer.

This is the back.

A few weeks ago we finished the last major piece of the remodel, or I should say Paul finished it, we refinished the hard wood floors in the old part of the house. Paul put the last layer of polyurethane on the floors Sat. morning and on Sunday morning preparing for my Sunday school class I felt God give us the go ahead for the next adoption. I hadn't said anything yet to Ben, I'd been bugging him all summer about starting another adoption and he really wouldn't say much. Which is really unusual!!! I have always been the one in the past to say let's wait, or not yet. So as I'm getting ready for church, Ben says out of the blue, are you ready to start another one. I just smiled and said yes, it's time. So here we go again!! We have applied to America World again our previous agency we used for Sam and Isaac. We have applied to the Ethiopian program again and initially we asked for two children. This may change as we are working with our agency they would like us to be prepared to take just one child as it is highly unlikely that two would be available at the same time. We're still praying about it. But we're looking forward to filling up this new addition until we're bursting at the seams.

Blessings,

Leigha

I had an interesting conversation last night..

Last night on the soccer field watching my two oldest boys practicing soccer, I had an interesting conversation with a fifth grade girl. I know her and her family, but haven't really had a conversation with her until now. She thinks Isaac is adorable and like most girls her age, she is dieing to hold him. He of course would much rather run loose all over the soccer field and beyond.

So were visiting and she asks me if all the boys are adopted?

I say no Owen is biological and Abe, Sam, and Isaac are adopted.

Then she asks if another brown skinned boy from their team, was my son too?

I say no he's just a friend.

Then she asks are they brothers?

I say yes they are brothers.

She says no I mean do they have the same mom and dad?

I say yes me. I'm their mom.

She persists, no I mean their real mom?

I say, Yes they all have different birth parents, but they are indeed brothers. By this point I'm getting a little frustrated that she doesn't seem to get it yet, I know she isn't being purposefully hurtful. How grateful I am that Owen, Abe, and Sam didn't hear this conversation. She wasn't done yet.

She went on to ask me if their parents just don't want them? Ouch!!

I said, it's not that they don't want them!!!!! It's more that they can't raise them, for lots of different reasons but mostly because their to poor to care for their needs.

I thought about this conversation a lot last night and of course the perfect answer comes to me late at night laying in bed. Next time I'll say, their parents love them very much, so much so, they spent thousands of dollars to bring them home, they traveled thousands of miles and crossed an ocean just to pick them up, and we would do all again a thousand times over just to have them home. God may have used one couple to give them life but the Lord knew what they needed and where he wanted them to grow up and he knew just the right family to place them with. No matter how they came to be where they are now I know for certain that before the beginning of time God created me to be their mama and he ordained them to by my babies.

I know this conversation had a purpose, I know I'll be better prepared the next time the questions come and hopefully if my boys are present they'll be reassured and not hurt by the questions.

What do you all think? I'd love to hear your comments and advise?

A MAMA'S HEART

Last night I scooped up my sweet baby out of his crib and was nearly moved to tears. You see that happens to me from time to time. A random routine situation will bring me to tears. As I gathered up my crying baby, held him close and moved to the kitchen I thanked God that I was his mama, that his birth mother had given him the best she knew how to give, she didn't want to let go, to miss all the little special moments of his life, she chose the hard things for herself so he could thrive. As I fixed his bottle, that he was crying his heart out for, I thought of all the other mamas around the world and how they have nothing to put in a bottle, with empty breasts and empty stomachs themselves, how their hearts must break at the cries of hunger coming from their children. Again I thank God that I can feed my babies, that I am not forced to give up my children because I can't feed them, because I live in a nation of extreme prosperity.

I think of Sam and his routine, although rather traumatic removal of his tonsils. What would have happened to him had he still been in Ethiopia? Would he have died for want of a routine procedure that happens here everyday? You see Sam's tonsils were so big they were waking him up at night, because when he fully relaxed his gigantic tonsils would cut off his air supply and he would wake up to breath. Life threatening here? NO WAY, but what if he was living on the street in Addis Ababa fending for himself, hungry, malnourished, and alone? For many children this is real life.

What will we do about it? To whom much is given, much is required! Have we given all that the Lord has required of us or are we giving a little in order to easy the guilt. Are we stuck, unsure of what to do, overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of poverty and those affected? Has the Lord laid adoption on your heart, or maybe sponsorship, or maybe he calling you to pray? Have you shrugged it off, fear and worry taking the place of God's call. What if we'd been to scared? Where would my boys be? Would they live on the streets begging for food, or maybe sifting through the garbage dump looking for something to sell or eat in order to survive. A life is at sake. If the Lord is leading you don't wait the consequences could be dire for someone else.

Look who's ONE!

Yes it's true, Isaac turned 1 yesterday. We had a little celebration at home, and a larger party planned for Saturday night.

Isaac enjoyed an oatmeal cookie, and his brothers helped him blow out his candle.



This is what happens when Isaac has a fruit bar for breakfast. It gets everywhere and this boy really likes to smear things in his hair and after the fruit bar we have to resort to a wash down in the sink. Needless to say we only have fruit bars when we also have time for a rinse. Isaac enjoys all of it immensely.

Is he cute or what?

This child loves to laugh and has a about a half dozen different laughs which always seem to fit the occasion. And it just so happens his name means laughter. Needless to say were all madly in love with this little guy and believe it or not were already starting to think dream and pray about our next baby! How does God do that! I never dreamed I'd be a mother of four boys, let alone 4 boys from three different continents and now I'm already dreaming of another brown eyed, brown skinned beauty. My heart already aches to wrap my arms around my baby. Have a blessed day! More pictures to come of the up coming party.

On a side note we went to the fair yesterday and some friends of our allowed the boys to get in with there ram so the boys could pet it. Well it was time to go the ram had, had enough so Sam reached out to pet it one more time and then he licked it right in the middle of it's back and then grinned ear to ear. Oh Sam we never know what your going to do next and yet I wasn't surprised, it was soooo funny!!!

June 20th was a big day for the Singletons

Sorry this is long overdue! I need to do better on posting, the days seem to short and the to do list to long! Father's Day was a big deal this year not only does Ben now have another son to call him DaDa, but Owen was baptised, it was Abe's 5th gotcha day and Isaac was 11 months old. If that's not a reason to celebrate then i don't know what is.



Daddy and the boys, none of them like to have there picture taken, including Daddy, can't you tell!



This is Owen preparing for his baptisism, later that night I asked him about it and was telling him how proud we were of him and his decision to follow Christ and this is what he said, "Water feel good on outside and heart feel good on inside." We are so proud of him and praying he will always jump in where God leads.






Here is the boy who started it all. I can't believe it's been five years already. We love you buddy and we're so glad God chose us to be your family.





Here is our mover and shaker. He's been cruising around on all fours for a month now and he's getting good with a walker. Time flys, soon we'll be having a birthday party!





This is singer man (aka Sam) he often comes out for special occasions and church. We still haven't figured it out yet, we'll let you know when we do!

We've been so blessed by all of our children and can't imagine our family without them and we eagerly await the next child God has for our family.

Am I black mom?

The other day I was changing Isaac's diaper and Sam comes in the room as is his routine, if Isaac's awake Sam is sure to be nearby. Anyway Sam asks me in a matter of fact voice,
Sam: "Mom am I black?"
Me: He is looking at his arm and I can tell he means literally what color am I. So I respond, "Well your kind of brownish?"
Sam: "Is Isaac black?"
Me: "He's brown too, just darker than you." I'm thinking wow this is a good opportunity to discuss our differences, and how God loves us all and were a wonderful mix of all the colors he has created, when Sam follows up with this...
Sam: Will I ever be green?
Me: "No Sam."
Sam: "Why not? I want to be green!"
He walks away and I just shake my head and laugh. He doesn't care that we're different colors he just wants to be his favorite color John Deere green. Don't you love children, so unhindered by the things that bind adults.
Here they are beautifully unhindered...

Look what I can do!!!

He's pulling up! Isaac was 9 months old yesterday and he is very pleased with his new trick and so are we!