Unfortunately there isn't time for a long post as we are preparing for our first seasonal trip to an orchard. This time we are finally making it for apple season, which I usually miss with all the pumpkin anticipation. Will has been looking forward to this trip for about a month now, ever since he saw apples on a neighbor's tree and I told him we were going to go. Be on the look out for lots of good orchard pictures and entries to come!
But I didn't want the day to pass without saying Happy Grandparents Day to both my grandmother (who will probably never see this as she doesn't do computers) and to Will's grandparents. We all need grandparents to dote on us when our parents are trying to discipline, which is just what Will's grandparents do. So allow me to put a few words into his mouth, "Mamaw! Mimi! Papaw! Thanks for all the cookies and chips before meals. For all the toys and books that make loud noises and the golf cart rides. For reminding me how smart I am and letting me make gates with your legs for an hour at a time. For teaching me how to make funny faces and letting me yell in your houses. For turning on the TV for me when Mommy and Daddy think it's time to turn it off. For bragging to your friends about me, singing with me when you aren't usually a singer, and reading to me when you aren't normally a reader. For letting me kick you in the middle of the night and sleep in y0ur bed. For spoiling me rotten. I love you! Happy Grandparents Day!"
And Happy Birthday Mimi! We love you and look forward to celebrating with you in person soon!
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Happy September
Yeah for September! Just one more month until my favorite month of the year! I'm enjoying the cool, fall-like weather already.
According to Beth Moore's suggestion, I have decided to not add any more verses for the year, but instead to try to really memorize the ones I have already picked. There are over 24 of them already since I memorized some of them in pairs, so I'm not really cheating. (Not that you care, but I do!)
I hope everyone's September is full of fun and wonderful surprises!
According to Beth Moore's suggestion, I have decided to not add any more verses for the year, but instead to try to really memorize the ones I have already picked. There are over 24 of them already since I memorized some of them in pairs, so I'm not really cheating. (Not that you care, but I do!)
I hope everyone's September is full of fun and wonderful surprises!
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Verses Remembered
I promised to backtrack and post my verses for July. Here they are, still as applicable as they were in July...
2 Timothy 1:7
For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but of a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline.
Titus 2:3-5
Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.
2 Timothy 1:7
For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but of a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline.
Titus 2:3-5
Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Where's Waldo? (a.k.a. Where's Will?)
If you remember the Where's Waldo books, you had to find a tiny Waldo in the midst of all kinds of tiny pictures setting a particular scene. Waldo went all kinds of interesting places. Since I have not been as regular as I would have liked to have been on the blog, I thought I would do a recap to show you some of the places Will has been this summer.
Will's 1st Baseball Game--The Lexington Legends--We caught one of the game balls and he was hooked up with a free glove signed by Big L. Thanks Joe and Linda! (And Joe's friend!)
Playing in the creek near Mimi and Papaw's house. Not Will's normal picture look, but I thought it was funny. Will is a very expressive guy!
Scared of heights, but relaxing for a little fun on the farm.
A Helping Hand Adoption Reunion Picnic, posed with our travel group (There were many more in our group who couldn't make it.)
Will's Child Dedication at Vineyard Community Church; Thanks everyone who celebrated with us! (A couple people not pictured.)
Playing in Fountain Square, Cincinnati, on Forever Family Day
"Looks like fun," you say? Any time we leave somewhere, Will announces that he had fun there. "Will had fun--Walmart! Will had fun--Kroger! Will had fun--church!" So now Will's favorite saying..."Will-fun guy!"
And where else could Will be found this summer? On the couch watching our first family TV show--I Survived a Japanese Game Show! Hai Majide! (Translated, "Are you serious?")
It seems like we were able to pack a lot more in this summer. Last summer was taken over by getting ready for Will, getting Will, and learning to take care of a little boy on little to no sleep! Hope everyone had as great a summer as we did!
Will's 1st Baseball Game--The Lexington Legends--We caught one of the game balls and he was hooked up with a free glove signed by Big L. Thanks Joe and Linda! (And Joe's friend!)
Playing in the creek near Mimi and Papaw's house. Not Will's normal picture look, but I thought it was funny. Will is a very expressive guy!
Scared of heights, but relaxing for a little fun on the farm.
A Helping Hand Adoption Reunion Picnic, posed with our travel group (There were many more in our group who couldn't make it.)
Will's Child Dedication at Vineyard Community Church; Thanks everyone who celebrated with us! (A couple people not pictured.)
Playing in Fountain Square, Cincinnati, on Forever Family Day
"Looks like fun," you say? Any time we leave somewhere, Will announces that he had fun there. "Will had fun--Walmart! Will had fun--Kroger! Will had fun--church!" So now Will's favorite saying..."Will-fun guy!"
And where else could Will be found this summer? On the couch watching our first family TV show--I Survived a Japanese Game Show! Hai Majide! (Translated, "Are you serious?")
It seems like we were able to pack a lot more in this summer. Last summer was taken over by getting ready for Will, getting Will, and learning to take care of a little boy on little to no sleep! Hope everyone had as great a summer as we did!
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Resolutions Revisited
My first post in January was about my resolutions. In keeping with past traditions, I could have forgotten all about them, but I really am trying to turn over a new leaf. So to make sure I will actually get some of them accomplished, I figured I better check my progress thus far. But first, here's a recap of what I had been learning about in January that spurred me on in my resolution making.
1. Faith is spelled R-I-S-K. (John Wimber) If God is as big and powerful as we claim He is, isn't He going to want us to do some big (aka risky) things?
2. On the surface faith makes no sense. Why doesn't faith make sense to most people? Because faith is being certain of what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1
3. If I am a follower of Christ, I should be defined by my faith, which (back to #1) is spelled R-I-S-K. Therefore, I should be doing some risky things this year, that would seem crazy to most people.
Once you see how my resolutions are coming along, I think you will see how all-encompassing the above 3 factors have been in our lives this year.
So here were my goals.
1. Potty Training--Check! Once we got past the first 3 miserable days of spending nearly all our time in the bathroom or cleaning up messes, Will has been amazing. The 2nd day of training we took a short break to visit the local fire station. The fireman saw him holding himself and asked if he needed to use the bathroom. He made it! Amazing control when he wants it, which is pretty much all the time now. Yeah Will!
2. Eating More Vegetables--I am doing a little better. I at least have the fruit down. I am eating healthier in general, so if I don't want to starve, I have to include a few more veggies. But I am still striving for the 5 servings a day on most days.
3. Play More--I have been more intentional about making sure that I do play while doing other things. I have been doing a little more intentional play, but can probably still do better. Perhaps I should set a 30 minute timer like Mom used to when we were practicing piano???
4. Build our Photography Business--The website is up! http://www.wohlfordphotography.com Two weddings are booked. Better business cards are in hand. We have several new customers lined up. We are still very excited about our "new" business!
5. Scripture Memory--Confession time. I have soooo slacked off. I am still picking my verses, but the spiral ring containing them is MIA without the IA. I plan on catching up. That will sure be a lot of work.
6. TBA--This is the one that started rumors flying before. But I can reveal some of it now... Part of the announcement is that we both really thought I should stay home from work. I had to officially let them know in February. I won't be returning to teaching this year. It still feels weird. I miss shopping for school supplies and catching up on the school gossip, seeing some of my teacher friends. But I know I have more fun with Will. He already knows all his ABC's and can count to 14. He is beginning to recognize his colors and knows most of the shapes--including the octagon. He has fun everywhere he goes and we do tend to keep the road warm. Even though we are strained right now, I still know that this was the right decision for our family.
And the rest of it is that we plan on adopting another baby--hopefully sooner rather than later. I'm sure this doesn't come as a shock for any of you that really know us. We have always wanted a big family. We had hoped to have already started the process. I still have hopes that we will have started by the end of the calendar year. Thanks Economy for slowing us down. But I thought I would go ahead and let you know because we could definitely use the prayers, just as we did last time. It took so long last time, that we kind of wanted to keep it to us for now, but God likes it when we pray for each other, so please pray for us to qualify, have the finances available, and for that baby somewhere who needs a home with an awesome brother!
So, back to the top, you can see that our lives feel like nothing but RISK right now--new photography business, planning to adopt again, still figuring out the day-to-day in this economy. And definitely, planning on doing anything that costs $$, which all of those things do, makes absolutely no sense. So is my life defined by faith? I still question sometimes. I definitely do not see what or why God makes the decisions He does often. But living the life I live, having the year we have been having, being able to get out of bed in the morning with a smile on my face, I have to say that my life must be defined by faith because I sure am waiting on God to provide! I am a follower of Christ, hopefully defined by my faith, which is definitely spelled R-I-S-K. If you think I am crazy, according to what is listed above, I must be doing my job. So what do you call a girl with no "real" job, trying to start a business and adopt a baby, who's biggest goals are to play with her son more, eat veggies, and memorize Bible verses? Crazy?!
1. Faith is spelled R-I-S-K. (John Wimber) If God is as big and powerful as we claim He is, isn't He going to want us to do some big (aka risky) things?
2. On the surface faith makes no sense. Why doesn't faith make sense to most people? Because faith is being certain of what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1
3. If I am a follower of Christ, I should be defined by my faith, which (back to #1) is spelled R-I-S-K. Therefore, I should be doing some risky things this year, that would seem crazy to most people.
Once you see how my resolutions are coming along, I think you will see how all-encompassing the above 3 factors have been in our lives this year.
So here were my goals.
1. Potty Training--Check! Once we got past the first 3 miserable days of spending nearly all our time in the bathroom or cleaning up messes, Will has been amazing. The 2nd day of training we took a short break to visit the local fire station. The fireman saw him holding himself and asked if he needed to use the bathroom. He made it! Amazing control when he wants it, which is pretty much all the time now. Yeah Will!
2. Eating More Vegetables--I am doing a little better. I at least have the fruit down. I am eating healthier in general, so if I don't want to starve, I have to include a few more veggies. But I am still striving for the 5 servings a day on most days.
3. Play More--I have been more intentional about making sure that I do play while doing other things. I have been doing a little more intentional play, but can probably still do better. Perhaps I should set a 30 minute timer like Mom used to when we were practicing piano???
4. Build our Photography Business--The website is up! http://www.wohlfordphotography.com Two weddings are booked. Better business cards are in hand. We have several new customers lined up. We are still very excited about our "new" business!
5. Scripture Memory--Confession time. I have soooo slacked off. I am still picking my verses, but the spiral ring containing them is MIA without the IA. I plan on catching up. That will sure be a lot of work.
6. TBA--This is the one that started rumors flying before. But I can reveal some of it now... Part of the announcement is that we both really thought I should stay home from work. I had to officially let them know in February. I won't be returning to teaching this year. It still feels weird. I miss shopping for school supplies and catching up on the school gossip, seeing some of my teacher friends. But I know I have more fun with Will. He already knows all his ABC's and can count to 14. He is beginning to recognize his colors and knows most of the shapes--including the octagon. He has fun everywhere he goes and we do tend to keep the road warm. Even though we are strained right now, I still know that this was the right decision for our family.
And the rest of it is that we plan on adopting another baby--hopefully sooner rather than later. I'm sure this doesn't come as a shock for any of you that really know us. We have always wanted a big family. We had hoped to have already started the process. I still have hopes that we will have started by the end of the calendar year. Thanks Economy for slowing us down. But I thought I would go ahead and let you know because we could definitely use the prayers, just as we did last time. It took so long last time, that we kind of wanted to keep it to us for now, but God likes it when we pray for each other, so please pray for us to qualify, have the finances available, and for that baby somewhere who needs a home with an awesome brother!
So, back to the top, you can see that our lives feel like nothing but RISK right now--new photography business, planning to adopt again, still figuring out the day-to-day in this economy. And definitely, planning on doing anything that costs $$, which all of those things do, makes absolutely no sense. So is my life defined by faith? I still question sometimes. I definitely do not see what or why God makes the decisions He does often. But living the life I live, having the year we have been having, being able to get out of bed in the morning with a smile on my face, I have to say that my life must be defined by faith because I sure am waiting on God to provide! I am a follower of Christ, hopefully defined by my faith, which is definitely spelled R-I-S-K. If you think I am crazy, according to what is listed above, I must be doing my job. So what do you call a girl with no "real" job, trying to start a business and adopt a baby, who's biggest goals are to play with her son more, eat veggies, and memorize Bible verses? Crazy?!
Monday, August 3, 2009
August Verses
Since I've been a blog-slacker lately, I'm going to go ahead and put both verses for August. I'll have to backtrack later and tell you the verses for June.
Joshua 1:9
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”
1 Pet 3:15
But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.
If you click the links, you'll see I copied them from BibleGateway.com. It's a great place to look things up, see different translations, etc. Check it out!
Joshua 1:9
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”
1 Pet 3:15
But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.
If you click the links, you'll see I copied them from BibleGateway.com. It's a great place to look things up, see different translations, etc. Check it out!
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Fathers and Families
Yesterday we had our last social worker visit for Will. It was basically a license to brag about our son for an hour or so, which we did rather easily. I had not given the visit much thought since we have been so incredibly busy lately (mainly why my blog has been silent), so I was really surprised by the overwhelming emotion when it was over. God reveals to me every day what a special little boy he has entrusted me with, but He really hit me with it yesterday, and the day before. I'm just so glad he's mine! He's been mine officially for a year on June 30th, when he was legally adopted in China. But I guess I do have to share him with John. ;)
We fairly frequently get the same question we got last night..."Is he always this happy?" Most of the time, the answer is a resounding, "Yes!" Although we could have done without his jumping up and down on the couch in front of the social worker to prove it. Will is very happy. He was described that way to us on the day we got him, when he was screaming and trying to get away from us. After he had time to get use to us, we could see this was true. She will probably never read this, but it just seems right to say thank you to the woman who was his foster mother. She must have been the absolute best. She taught him to dance and love music. He was no stranger to running and giggling. Most importantly, she bonded with him, which later gave him the ability to bond with and love us. Thank you so much!
So enough with the serious stuff, here's what you really want...pictures! I missed my tribute to fathers on Father's Day, so I wanted to share a picture of my Dad with Will. Papaw is one of Will's favorite people in the world. It's been that way since the minute they met at the airport. All children seem to love my father. I do not think I have ever seen anyone act goofier around a child, which is what makes him so great. Dad, thanks for being so special to my boy. For all the rides you give him in the golf cart, the potato chips you sneak to him, and for sleeping with the little wildcat when he visits! And thank you for being the same kind of great father to me!
Will with Mimi and Papaw at the Pancake Pantry in Gatlinburg
I could not let my Father's Day tribute go by without a shout out to John, of course! Anyone who knows John must know that he is an amazing father. He dotes on Will constantly. Will wants to be just like his daddy...playing guitar, riding in Daddy's car, dressing like him. If given a choice, Will will pick out a shirt that he thinks looks like Daddy's.
Since John loves his T-shirts, I could see no better present than to make them matching shirts.
Happy belated Father's Day to all you dad's out there! (When I'm this late with a wish, I like to call it "spreading the joy.")
Fathers and Families. We celebrate Family Day, the day we first met Will, on June 29th. Will has become quite the train enthusiast, so we went to check out Entertrainment just north of Cincinnati. Definitely worth the trip if your little ones (or big ones) like trains--or if you need a good excuse to visit Ikea. It was the perfect way for us to celebrate being a family.
We fairly frequently get the same question we got last night..."Is he always this happy?" Most of the time, the answer is a resounding, "Yes!" Although we could have done without his jumping up and down on the couch in front of the social worker to prove it. Will is very happy. He was described that way to us on the day we got him, when he was screaming and trying to get away from us. After he had time to get use to us, we could see this was true. She will probably never read this, but it just seems right to say thank you to the woman who was his foster mother. She must have been the absolute best. She taught him to dance and love music. He was no stranger to running and giggling. Most importantly, she bonded with him, which later gave him the ability to bond with and love us. Thank you so much!
So enough with the serious stuff, here's what you really want...pictures! I missed my tribute to fathers on Father's Day, so I wanted to share a picture of my Dad with Will. Papaw is one of Will's favorite people in the world. It's been that way since the minute they met at the airport. All children seem to love my father. I do not think I have ever seen anyone act goofier around a child, which is what makes him so great. Dad, thanks for being so special to my boy. For all the rides you give him in the golf cart, the potato chips you sneak to him, and for sleeping with the little wildcat when he visits! And thank you for being the same kind of great father to me!
Will with Mimi and Papaw at the Pancake Pantry in Gatlinburg
I could not let my Father's Day tribute go by without a shout out to John, of course! Anyone who knows John must know that he is an amazing father. He dotes on Will constantly. Will wants to be just like his daddy...playing guitar, riding in Daddy's car, dressing like him. If given a choice, Will will pick out a shirt that he thinks looks like Daddy's.
Since John loves his T-shirts, I could see no better present than to make them matching shirts.
Happy belated Father's Day to all you dad's out there! (When I'm this late with a wish, I like to call it "spreading the joy.")
Fathers and Families. We celebrate Family Day, the day we first met Will, on June 29th. Will has become quite the train enthusiast, so we went to check out Entertrainment just north of Cincinnati. Definitely worth the trip if your little ones (or big ones) like trains--or if you need a good excuse to visit Ikea. It was the perfect way for us to celebrate being a family.
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