Apathetic

I'm not normally the type to be apathetic. As a matter of fact, I am rarely lukewarm about life. I find joy in many things...our kids, our home, our church, my marriage. I have much to be grateful for, and much to appreciate. But the last few months I have found myself on a bit of a downward emotional slant. You know when your're going down a slide with shorts on a hot day and your legs kinda stick so you don't go flying down? That's kinda how I feel. Not like I'm on a big roller coaster of emotions, but that I'm just kind of slipping downward a bit. I've been exhausted. That could be related to the five children running mad around our house and constantly needing attention. Or, it could be something else.

The other night as I was reading my Bible, I got to thinking about where I'm at in my relationship with God. I realized that maybe the melancholy I am feeling should be attributed to my stagnant faith life right now. I think I may have slipped into complacency. During the school year, I am involved in an inductive Bible study that keeps me digging through scripture for answers and seeking out a deeper relationship with the Lord. I am balancing schooling and cooking and cleaning and being a wife and a mom with my number one priority...God. But this summer has been nothing but enjoyment with my family. That's not a bad thing, though. I mean, how many people would do just about anything to have a husband home for 2 months and loads of fun activities planned all summer long? We've been thoroughly enjoying the time off. But what did I do with the Lord? I'm ashamed to admit I have fallen into the trap of "bare bones." I read my Bible each night, but then what? I'm not stretching my faith. I'm not actively seeking Him out throughout the day. I'm not being persecuted or forced into deepening my faith.

Yesterday after I told Superman how I was feeling, he insisted that I hide for 30 minutes and spend some quality time with God. That was in the morning...all day things came up. The kids needed tending to, dishes needed to be washed (or the pile would quickly grow into a mountain), laundry needed to be done, we had errands to run. Finally, almost at bed time, he forced me into our room and told me not to come out for a 1/2 hour.

I sat there staring at the wall for the first five minutes. I flipped through my Bible, trying to find something applicable to how I was feeling. I went to the back and looked up all the verses related to "discouragement," "faith," "separation" and "God's love." Nothing was really hitting home for me. I put my Bible down and decided to write out a prayer to the Lord. I laid it all out...I apologized for my selfishness and for letting my worldly responsibilities take over my life. And I begged Him to draw me close so I could feel that same fire I often feel when I am right in my walk with Him.

It was nice. I think I realized just how much life's responsibilities can interfere with my relationship with God. Now, I just need to remember how to put my daily tasks onto the back burner and deepening my relationship with Him to the front. I think it's time for me to make a change.

Chicken Little {{Graphic}}, My birthday, and 12 years of wedded bliss

So once again, two weeks has gone by and I'm not sure how. There's been lots of activity around here...

As promised, here is a visual account of our adventurous chicken slaughter a few weeks back.
My brother and I really had no idea what we were doing. We watched some tutorials online, but there's no real understanding until you've actually done the deed.

We were a bit worried that he wouldn't get the head cut off with one swoop, but in the end, he did a great job...

I just couldn't keep my eyes open. It's like how eyes automatically shut when you sneeze...it was just an automatic reflex. But, as you can see, he cut clean through!

People always use the term "running around like a chicken with its head cut off," but I really underestimated just how much she would be flopping around. She was flopping so much I couldn't hold her down and had to take off running!

Yes, she made it all the way over there all by herself...and with no head, to boot!

Airborne!

Finally done.

Draining.


Placing her into a scalding bath to loosen the feathers.

She was only supposed to be in there for 90 seconds, but it ended up being close to 3 minutes...I think that may have played a role in the toughness of the meat.

Plucking the feathers was actually quite a bit easier than I thought!




All the icky stuff.

My bro with his finished product:

Aw, she was a good little chicken...


My 32nd birthday was on July 1st.

We spent the morning picking blackberries and got $1 large sodas (which our kids never get!) at McDonald's.

Miss G just got water. Shh, she doesn't know!

My running partners gave me a gift certificate to a local cupcake shop. You know what these are? ROOT BEER FLOAT cupcakes! I kid you not. Seriously divine. I threw my "no sugar" vow out the window for my birthday. I figured I'd enjoy it while I could.

Superman's grandparents were really generous and gave me some spending money for my birthday. I decided to get a food dehydrator with some of the dough, and it's my new best friend (aside from my Kindle). =) We've dried some plums, and I'm making plum/blackberry fruit rolls as I type.


Kids eat free at Carrows every day for the summer, so we decided to go out one night. You get one free kids meal for every adult entree purchased, so Mr. C decided to draw a mustache on himself so he could pass as a grown up. It must have worked, because the waitress didn't even question us. He is pretty convincing, afterall...

And being that yesterday was 7/11, it was free Slurpee day at 7-11. It's become a tradition that every year for our anniversary (which just happens to fall on that day), we really splurge and go get the whole family free Slurpees. Mmmm....watermelon.

I'm really excited about a speaker who we are flying out to speak to our adoption network in November. I'll share more about her next week!

Preparing dinner and giveaway results!

First off, sorry for not drawing a name on Friday. My bro and his family are out here visiting from Idaho and our days have been full of fun-ness and activity.

Friday we butchered our no-longer-laying hen. We were slaughtering virgins, but we are no more. It was quite the experience. I think the fact that she wasn't a meat chicken and was a year-and-a-half old made from some tough chicken. It was more like chicken jerky. And oh, the term "running around like a chicken with her head cut off" is really just barely an exaggeration. That girl was practically chasing me without her head on. It may not have been actual running, but it was definitely aggressively flopping. My bro was actually the one to cut her head off. Nothing like some good ol' family bonding! I'll be posting pics soon.

And now, the results of the giveaway (Superman helped me out):

Congratulations, Essie! Just send me your e-mail address and I'll send you your Amazon gift!

Life Flies By, So I'll Do A Giveaway!

Superman has already been on summer break for two weeks. Tell me, how did that happen? I think having kids makes time go faster. And I really mean that. There must be some sort of crazy quantum physics/time warp thing going on. Because I'm sure that the last two weeks have only been two days.

At any rate, since we just had a time warp, I've missed blogging for a few weeks.
Superman and I had an incredible trip to San Francisco to celebrate our upcoming 12th anniversary. It's amazing what a little over 24 hours away from children can do for the soul.

We saw "Wicked" and even though Superman was asking if we could leave early before we even sat down, he ended up really liking it!

We took a tour of 'Cisco on Segways. Seriously worth the $70/person. It was probably one of the most fun outings we've done together. I was a little worried that my uncoordinated self would fall off {ungracefully}, but I made it through without any incidents.

We walked Fisherman's Wharf and hung out at Union Square and just really enjoyed each others' company.

Mr. C was the proud owner of our family's first black eye. He got a good shiner after running full speed ahead into a metal gun that shoots balls out at a birthday party.


I mean, really, is that not the prettiest shade of purple you ever did see?


Mr. C was pretty proud of his eye for a few days, but he got a little tired of everyone asking what happened. Luckily, he had his seventh birthday to look forward to! Can't believe he's already 7...


We celebrated the first day of summer vacation by doing...what else? Eating!

We spent all last week at our church's Vacation Bible School. There were over 800 kids there, and Superman and I were in charge of handing out Otter Pops. I don't think I need to cut anymore wrappers any time soon...although I do have quite the system down. The kids had a blast.


And Father's Day was a success at our home. The boys made daddy a card that truly spoke to his heart:


...And I gave him a mandarin tree to plant since his last one was a casualty of a big wind storm a few months ago. I did, however, make sure he knew that I loved him by displaying my undying affection for him on myself:


I finished reading "In Defense of Food" and "Farm City." The latter of which, I must say, is now one of my favorites.

And so, that brings me to my giveaway! After being gone from my poor little blog for a few weeks, I noticed I've passed the "50 followers" mark! Amazon has become my new co-best friend (shared with my Kindle). I wanted to share a little of that love. To celebrate, I'm giving away a $20 gift card for Amazon.com!

Just leave me a comment and you're entered! I'll be drawing a name on Friday.

The Organic {summer} Life

This past week has been filled with a hint of summer. The weather has been pretty much anything but summer, yet our family life has been filled with the lazy, work-in-the-yard, fruit-and-ice-cream joys of the hot season.

We recently acquired one of the coolest free things I have ever received:

Our kids have since been constantly dreaming up wars, having secret meetings and even shooting BB guns (with daddy, of course) from the window of the fort, popping perfectly-placed water balloons.

We wrapped up school for the year, and celebrated with face painting, doughnuts, and a delicious cheese pizza from the Whole Foods cafe. The kids frolicked in the warm sun that happened to be peeking through the clouds that day and thoroughly enjoyed racing on scooters and helping me tend to our slowly-growing tomatoes.

M-Dog was stung by this icky-looking bee. We made sure to give it a proper burial...into the bottom of my shoe. I know, I know...don't alert PETA. The bee started it.

I've been on an organic kick lately. Although the more books I read, the less likely I feel that it's just a "kick." My Kindle has taken over my free time, beckoning me to read, read, read. I suppose it's not a bad thing, although Superman may start to get jealous if I continue on with this fervor for an inanimate object.

I've finished "Fast Food Nation," "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle," and just started "The Omnivore's Dilemma." I'm sure my fellow conservatives are clenching their nervous fists as I liberalize my mind. =)

All this reading about what I am putting into my body (and the bodies of the little munchkins running around our house) has really made me more aware. It's actually been an exciting challenge to eat as much locally-grown, organic food as possible. We joined a CSA for this month, picking up a weekly box of fruits and vegetables; grown so close, they're practically in our back yard. I'm embarrassed to admit that the past few weeks, I have cooked Kale, Pea Shoots, Chard, Arugula and a host of other produce I have never even eaten. But it's been nothing short of enlightening. This morning I picked up this week's box and was giddy as a dog waiting for its puppy chow while I opened it. You see, each week is a surprise. And this was what I saw when I carefully pulled each fresh, crisp item out:

So surprisingly delicious!

On the adoption front, we are thoroughly enjoying the joys of being a completed family. And the further we get away from the day we signed papers, the more I forget about the uncertainties of life before.

Four more days of work for Superman, and then he joins the rest of us at home for more than two months. Oh, summer, how I squirm for you!

Newton's Apple and our Adoption Network Kickoff

A few weeks ago, Mr. C asked me why the sky is blue. I gave him a brief explanation as best I could, but decided to look online for any great videos for kids that could explain it better than I.

I stumbled upon this great site: Newton's Apple

It's awesome! There are hundreds of short videos answering all sorts of science questions. It's become a regular part of our homeschooling day. The videos are usually around 5 minutes, so if I need to do something with one kid one-on-one, I'll ask the other kids what they want to learn more about, and let them watch. We use it at least 2-3 times a week. Check it out!

In other news, we kicked off the Adoption Network at our church last Saturday. We had a great turnout with over 100 people! I was so pleased with the way it went. We were lucky to have great volunteers who helped us pull it off, too. I'm so excited to see where this group heads!

So Superman and I are getting a few nights away next month! I've been fervently searching for something adventurous to do. We've narrowed it down to a few things: Moaning Caverns (thanks, Soni!) or a Balloon Ride over Napa Valley. Considering I am pretty much terrified of heights and think I'm being crushed if enclosed in a small space, I'm thinking that rappelling down into a dark abyss may not be the best choice for me...

Of course, being pulled into the air by a BALLOON that has fire holding it up probably isn't the most logical choice, either. But, Superman and I did go parasailing once and it was by far one of my favorite experiences. After I threw up, I was good to go. What do you think we should do?

Interrupting my regularly scheduled break...

...to talk about how wonderful it is to be done with the adoption process!

May 17th was a greatly anticipated day in our house. I mean, we didn't know until about a month ago what our finalization date would be, but we often dreamed about the day we would be finished with the process.

Monday morning I woke up and couldn't wait to get to the courthouse. We {amazingly} got out the door by 7:20 a.m. with 5 kids, all clean and hair brushed. They even had clothes AND shoes on. And, they had all eaten. Tell me that isn't impressive?

We got there at just the right time...got right through security and only had to wait a few minutes before we were called back to the judge's chambers. We had so much family there that we didn't go back to his office, but were out in the court room. It was wonderful. I can't even put into words the joy I felt when he announced he was terminating G's dependency on the court and signing her off as "our child." I cried a bit, but a lot less than I thought I was going to.

It was all over within about 15 minutes, and we all went and had hot cocoa afterwards. It was a perfect day for it--cool and overcast. We came home and just enjoyed our day. It still hasn't really sunk in yet...maybe after a month's worth of social worker's visits passes and no one shows up. Or maybe after G falls down and gets a bruise and I don't have to e-mail anyone to let them know. Or maybe when we want to go on vacation and I don't have to tell anyone where we're going and when we'll be back. Or maybe when I take her to the doctor and don't have to get a form filled out and sent back to the adoption agency. Ah, so many freedoms!

I'm just so thankful for our sweet girl and so happy to be done. Done. Done. Done. DONE!

Introducing...

Miss G! OUR daughter. =)

And all the kiddos together.

What an awesome day!