The Snake in the Chicken House

"Mom, Mom! You've GOT to come outside NOW!"

Obviously, Miriam does not realize that I am on the phone with my dear friend, Lisa -- having my weekly mental health chat. I give Miriam the "raised eyebrow" and continue talking.

Insistently, she continues, "Mom, there is a HUGE snake in the chicken house, and Daddy has caught it, and it's big and red, and it is SPITTING EGGS OUT AT DAD!!!!!"

This description certainly catches my attention...and the attention of everyone else in the house. So the troops all head out to see what's happening. Seizing the opportunity for a little peace and quiet, I remain in the house and continue talking on the phone, all the while giving Lisa the play by play commentary on the snake capture and release.

Now I don't know if my dear Syd is unique, but he has a weird fascination with snakes which he has passed on to our children. I, on the other hand, prefer to stay as far away from snakes as possible. From the safety of my living room, I watch as they gather up the snake catching kit -- yes, we have a kit for this pastime which consists of Syd's custom made capture pole and a canvas bag. With a few mishaps, the snake is captured. Evidently, he is VERY stinky.



The snake hunter and his followers parade down to the creek. After some poking and prodding, the snake emerges from the bag and slithers up the tree.



The bystanders calmly observe the really, really long snake.



Having accomplished their mission, my young naturalists traipse back to the house. Josiah and Gideon detour at the water trough to wash the stinky stuff from their hands.



Josiah is barely in the door when he announces,"That snake was barfing eggs all over the place. I've never seen a snake barf. I want a pet snake, Mom."

A 6-foot long, egg-eating, barfing snake for a pet?

What do you think my answer is?

David's birthday

I guess it is appropriate that I should start my blog on the birthday of one of my children. David, child #3 and son #2 turned 16 today. How did this possibly happen?

It seemed like only a very few years ago we received a morning call from our adoption agency asking if Syd could come home so they could do our home study TODAY. It had only been 5 weeks since we had contacted them asking if we could be considered as potential adoptive parents. Those five weeks were a whirlwind of paperwork, meetings, more paperwork, interviews, etc.

The agency director, dear Miss Teri Blanton, arrived early in the afternoon, with a very wet behind the ears intern in tow. We sat in the living room having a cheery conversation while Rachel (5) and Nathan (3) played nicely. I'll never forget the look on the intern's face when Rachel pulled out Eric Carle's The Very Quiet Cricket and proceeded to "read" it to Nathan.

"'Good morning,' said the spittlebug, slurping in a sea of froth," Rachel intoned in her sweet little five-year old voice.

The intern thought Rachel was a genius and I was a wonder mother. In her mind, we had passed the home visit test with flying colors. After wrapping up the formalities, Teri looked at her watch and announced, "Well, we better get going. We have a plane to catch. We are flying to Lubbock to pick up your new baby. He was born this morning."

Shock! Disbelief! Could this possibly be happening so quickly? After trying to get pregnant for 7 years, waiting and waiting for the adoptions of our first two children, we could not believe that the wheels of the adoption machine could ever turn so quickly. But it was, and our precious, precocious, delightful David was coming to join our family.

Today, that precious baby is a 6: 1" almost-man. He has traded soft-as-silk cheeks for scruffy whiskers and sweet, cooing sounds for a deep voice. He towers over me, and I am thankful he is a cooperative fellow, because I don't think I could really make him do anything. He brings his signature brand of laughter and joy to this family. And, while his older sister, Rachel, started our family on the adoption journey, David moved us to new horizons. With David, our family branched out of our 2-parent, 2-children who "look just like their daddy" comfort zone into the life of a multi-racial, large family that garners second looks wherever we go.


So, I guess I know what I need to blog about. Perhaps some people might be interested in hearing about the life we lead, the joys we experience, and the struggles we face as we live out our lives in northeast Texas. Others might be encouraged as I share the way God worked in miraculous ways to build this family. I don't want this blog to be about me. I want it to bring glory and honor to the One who created us, who sustains us, and who gives me strength to go one living day by day, firmly entrenched in His love and grace. To Him be all the glory -- forever and ever.

What to blog about?

It seems the thing to do these days is to write a blog. So, I set up this page, but now I am at a loss of what to write.
Should I write about homeschooling? There are already a jillion homeschooling blogs.
Should I write about my family? It seems that might be hard to do and still preserve their privacy.
What is there that is unique about my life?
Hmmm...well maybe I should just start typing away about the reality of the life of a real homeschooling mom with 8 adopted children all at various ages and stages of life.
Sometimes life is idyllic, but a lot more of the time it is tough. Sometimes it is hilariously funny, and other times I just want to tear my hair out.
So,, here we go. Come along for the ride. I am not exactly sure where we will be going, but I know it will be interesting.