Our "Sharecropping" Garden

This summer our close friends, The Whetstone's, offered to let us plant some things in their garden. So, one Saturday morning I took the girls to Farm & Home with a $20 budget and let them choose plants for our garden. With some supervision they chose peppers ( several varieties), broccoli, cauliflower, cherry tomatoes, squash, zucchini, & cucumbers. We also choose a few herbs to plant in a pot for our front porch.

Grace with our basil plant.
Grace was VERY helpful and loved helping with the planting. I really enjoyed working on this with her. It is really fun now that she is interested and actually helpful!

Faith was a bit less enthusiastic about getting dirty...
Paul running the tiller for us.
Looking back I really wish we would have planted green beans and sugar snap peas...but maybe next year. I really have little knowledge of what I am doing so this was essentially like a $20 science/learning experience for the kids. Seeing these pics motivates me to take new ones as the garden is really growing! We are hoping to have some type of "Thanksgiving Dinner" at some point with veggies from the garden to help teach the kids about God's provision.

Poison Ivy

We have had our first official case of poison ivy at our house, and like anything Grace does it took over completely. Her poor face was quite itchy! But, she was quite proud of what her face looked like with the "pink" all over it.

66 Club

One of our goal's this year for Family Quest was to learn all the books of the Bible. Grace was very motivated and we worked all year long on them. She had known the Old Testament for awhile, but refused to say them to the check-in volunteer. I finally got her to admit that she, "Didn't want to have to go up front and talk in the microwave (microphone) and have everyone clap for her." So, when I promised she didn't have to do that she continued on in her memorization. The last night she said them all and earned her way into the 66 Club. We were very proud of her! We used this song to help her. This version seemed to work best for us.

Here she is with her badge. I love how she is looking at it, she was so proud.

Her new thumbs up sign she gives me when she knows she has done a good job.
To celebrate we took the whole family to a local buffet. The girls love it because they get to pick their own food & get ice cream (a rarity when we go out to eat). It was quite the eventful celebration dinner! Half way through eating I looked up and saw a German cockroach (aren't you impressed I knew what type it was.... married to the bug guy what can I say?) crawling across our table! Well, needless to say that made us ready to be done eating! Jeremy couldn't eat another bite. (I don't really blame him after the types of kitchens he has seen) Grace however was ready for her ice cream. So, I toughened up and went to get ice cream with the girls. I figured I have eaten worse on missions trips and I didn't want to spoil the celebration. We really wanted to make a big deal of this accomplishment. Jeremy spoke to the manager and they ended up giving us our meal for free. (God's provision??) Overall, it was a celebration meal we will never forget!

Grace,

We are SO proud of you. You show such a desire to learn God's word and that makes our hearts so happy. We are praying you will continue to grow in this love and someday we can't wait to see you teaching it to others!

Love,

Daddy & Mama

Titus-15ish Months

Here are some pics of Titus I took between 15 & 16 months.

He went through a phase where he like to put his finger by his face/nose.

Doesn't he look so grown up?
He loves his green ball blanket.
The remains of a bag of chip he sprinkled down the hallway and then crushed. (I had just finished vacuuming, of course!)
He loves this blue car that belongs to our friend's the Whetstone's.
This is his, "I'm grouchy pick me up!!" face that likes to come out when I am trying to cook.
He loves the toilet! He found the plunger and did this all on his own, he was so proud.
Here he is having his first ice cream cone. We are still trying to figure out how much dairy he can tolerate. But, he is loving his lactose free milk so that is working well for now.
-Titus is definitely an explorer. His favorite activities include taking things out of any drawers/the pantry, going outside (he is a real grouch when his sisters get to play outside with out him), pushing the buttons on the tv, driving his coupe car, throwing things in the toilet, unrolling the toilet paper, dumping his sister's cubbies, eating things off the floor/out of the trash (when he can get away with it), and watching out the window.

-He also loves his blanket and sucking his thumb. He usually only sucks his thumb in his bed or when he has his blanket.

-He has a wonderful onry grin and belly laugh.

-He continues to grow and is headed straight towards the 3T clothes (as least shirts & pjs).

-His best friend is Logan and they like to wrestle on occasion.

-He is starting to show a bit more interest in toys (finally!!!) but still mostly prefers getting into mischief.

-He is showing signs of wanting to be a "big boy" for example he likes to walk now, but doesn't get to all the time because he prefers not to hold my hand. He also is very proud that he can crawl up on his sisters' beds. He refuses to eat anything unless he picks it up and won't even take food from your hand most of the time. He loves using a spoon and is getting pretty good at it.

He continues to be a joy (accept when I am trying to cook dinner, then he is a grump. :)

We love you Mr. Man!

A Yard Sale Miracle

This Spring one of my big projects was getting ready for a yard sale. My friend Karen asked me if I would like to join her and I took the idea and ran with it. Jeremy and I decided all of our proceeds would go to our adoption fund so it made me very motivated! I went through almost our entire house top to bottom. Jeremy kept telling people that anything we hadn't used in the last 5 minutes was up for sale. (Not exactly....but we did get rid of a lot of stuff!)

I spent so much time going through things I didn't even have time to price my items. I just sat them out and figured I would give a price as people were interested. (I know not like my usual organized self. Oh, how 3 kids has changed me!) We put in the paper that our sale would open at 3 p.m. I headed over to get started setting up at 9 am. By 9:15 ish we had made our first sale and it never slowed down! It was crazy all day long. Our sale was set up outside and we knew that rain was definitely in the forecast. But, I just kept praying and praying and praying. And God showed himself in a magnificent way. The wind blew up 2 or 3 times and it would feel like it was going to storm any moment but it always blew over. Karen's husband Paul was watching the radar for us. He said the storm came very close and then literally went right around Hannibal. I definitely saw this as God's hand of provision for our adoption! I'm so full of praise that we have a God who walks alongside us, even on the days where the agenda is a crazy yard sale!

By Friday night we had made over $400 dollars. Wow! I was completely exhausted. My feet hurt and I was SO tired. I remember thinking that I haven't felt like that since I was pregnant. And then I gave God praise again for showing me that this really is our "pregnancy" as we prepare for our adoption. I was incredibly blessed by the McSmith family and the Whetstone family that worked right along side us, I knew they were doing it because they too are anticipating being a part of bringing "baby" Humiston home. As I lay in bed that night I teared up just seeing what a beautiful thing God is doing in our lives. I saw that by the time this little one arrives so many people will have been a part of it. I could envision a quilt and knew that each project or donation is just another block towards a beautiful future God is building for our child.

On Saturday we set up early, but this day the rain came. Even though the rain was kind of a mess. (We had to run everything through the dryer so we could even donate the unsold items) God would show his faithfulness in a different way that day. Several families from our church showed up to purchase things knowing the sale was helping our adoption. They went through boxes on the porch and took home soaking wet clothes. Even though we had to shut down before even getting everything out we still made over $100. God is good.

Grand total we made almost $550 dollars. If you are reading this please join me in giving God the glory for the great thing HE did!

Future Humiston,

Let it be known that you are already loved, not just by us but by wonderful people who love the Lord. They too want to be a part of the beautiful story God is writing in your life. Oh, how more and more every day I can't wait to meet you. My heart longs to hold you in a way I never could have imagined. You are prayed for, you are anticipated, you are so very special. And I am trusting the Lord to keep you until he brings you home.

Love,

Your Future Mama

Mother's Day

This year our Mother's day celebration was very laid back. We went to church as a family and then had lunch at home. The girls were very excited to surprise me with a trip to Lowe's to pick out flowers. They actually kept the plan a secret for a couple days! We were originally planning to choose some flowers to plant in pots but Jeremy knew I have always wanted a lilac bush and encouraged me to pick out one of those instead. So, I finally have a lilac bush and am excited to enjoy blooms next Spring! (Although we still haven't planted it in the ground as we are hoping to move and can't decide wether to commit by planting it...)

This year the girls helped making stepping stones as their Mother's day project for the grandmas. They had a great time and this was one I let them use creative license so they were each one of a kind.

Big Apple Adventure

This past year Grace was part of our church's Kids Choir. Each Sunday afternoon they met to practice. Their spring project was a musical based on the theme for our VBS, "Big Apple Adventure." It was very cute! Grace got lots of comments on her "freestyle" or "spirit led" performance. She was very into it most of the time and not afraid to do her own movements versus the pre-learned actions. I was proud of her for not being near as afraid to perform this semester. She kept finding us in the audience and giving us a big cheesey grin with a thumbs up sign. I'm not sure if this will be Grace's "thing" but she had lots of fun.

Doing the correct actions- yeah!

Here is the thumbs up...
She was very excited Gramy & Papa came to see her dress rehearsal on Saturday night.
We are still thinking about if this is something she will want to do again next year. And Faith is definitely thinking she would like to join in next year.

Lucky Number 7 (The Year of Prayer)

On May 8th Jeremy and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary. I honestly can't believe its been seven years. I still kind of see us in the "young/newly wed" category sometimes (although the 3 kids & minivan do help with that...) We celebrated by a night away at Harpole's Heartland Lodge in Nebo, IL which is about an hour away. The lodge was first built as a hunting lodge, but now they have guests for getaways as well. In order to save a bit of money we stayed in the "Hunter's Lodge," but we had the entire thing to ourselves so it was great!

After dinner (which was amazing!) we went on a hay ride & then has smores at their camp fire.
In the morning we woke up early. I know, I know you are supposed to sleep in but we get up so early during the week these days we are just prewired. We went on an hour walk before breakfast on their large property. It was very quiet and gorgeous. We both really miss having time to be outside in God's creation. It was just nice to be together and talk without our 3 beautiful interruptions.
After breakfast we did some more hiking in the woods before heading home. It was getting very hot and was pretty muddy from the rain the night before. We saw a HUGE snake as well which added to the excitement. Jeremy tried to encourage it to move out of our path, but it won and we hiked through the brush to go around instead.

When we got married, my cousin/friend Kara was my personal attendant. She brought me lucky bamboo, which she renamed my "prayer bamboo." A year or 2 ago I accidentally watered my prayer bamboo with crystal light. Opps! No, matter what I tried it killed my bamboo (and made me reconsider putting crystal light in my body). Jeremy and I have gone to enough marriage enrichment classes to know that year 7 is kind of a mile marker of sorts in a lifelong marriage. (AKA a lot of divorces happen by/at year 7). I recently did some redecorating in our master bedroom and found a great place to put a new piece of bamboo, that will compliment our travel theme great. I am hoping to purchase one soon. So, instead of this year being lucky number 7 I am declaring it our prayer year. I really see how God is growing us in this area. A few months back we began praying together one morning a week. This was a challenge since Jeremy leaves for work so stinkin' early, but it has been such a blessing. At church we are currently focusing on the family and a couple gave a testimony of praying together. We found if very challenging because he has to be at work at 5:30 am. His wife's faithfulness to get up and have prayer time each morning really hit home. I knew God was calling us to make our once a week "good thing" a daily "great thing." So, I am getting acquainted with my husband's world of getting up with the sun. My spirit is willing, but let me confess my flesh is fighting me!! But, I know God is up to things in our life and I think this daily morning prayer time is going to be a part of us discovering his plan for us.

7 Blessings of our Marriage

1-Laughter (We laugh a lot, mostly at Jeremy because he is funny...and sometimes at me because I'm ridiculous.)

2-Balance (I'm amazed more and more how well we compliment each other.)

3-Fun (We still have a whole lot of fun together.)

4-Dreaming (We are beginning to pursue our dream of adoption together-horay!)

5-Ministry (We love to minister together as a team. We are finally back in the saddle again with me assisting Jeremy as he teaches 11-12th grade sunday school and him helping me teach 2-5 year olds one Sunday a month.)

6-Prayer (Just beginning to discover this one.)

7- Challenge (So thankful for the way the deep challenges have cemented us together.)

A Trip to Roseville

The weekend before Mother's Day we had a great dual purpose trip to Roseville. On Saturday night we spent the night at Nana's house. The kids were VERY excited about that! We walked to the park for some fun in the evening.

The next day we are had to "match" in our purple and black! We went to church with Nana and all 3 of them went to class without any tears!
After lunch with Nana we headed to Grandpa Don's 80th birthday party. The girls enjoyed making him lots of cards to help keep them entertained. They were very disappointed he didn't have any candles on his birthday cake. For the first half of the party Titus took a nap at Nana's house. Here he is sleeping with Jeremy's dinosaur blanket from when he was little. I think the caption is, "Nana seriously, I just woke up! Put that flash away..."
I unfortunately forgot to take any pics at the party, but it was a great weekend!