Coley Boy

My oldest son turned TWELVE on Sept 3rd!!!! 

Wow!!  

So I thought I would finally post about his Birthday....and some other things. :0)

 His two best buddies stayed the night for his Birthday--having Cole's favorite ice cream treat...BANANA SPLIT! 

Celebrating at a water park with his brothers and some of their friends.....

He requested a cake with the design we have on our adoption t-shirts.....so I became an artist for a day...I think it turned out alright! 

The Birthday boy!

 We gave him a gift certificate for some chicks that were due to hatch the next week.....posting about that coming soon. :0)

HIS FIRST DAY OF MIDDLE SCHOOL!!!!  CRAZY!!!

Getting some help from his dad with his locker........

 And then there was THIS a couple of days ago.......

I didn't cry on his first day of school.  I did everything BUT cry.  I had to take the two younger boys to their school closer to home and so Dic took Cole.  It was probably a good idea.  I did everything I possibly could to prepare him...even color printed his class schedule in BIG bold letters to he could just glance down and know where he was suppose to be.  I didn't have to take him that day and feel like I was throwing him to the wolves. 
BUT......
when I attended his first Cross Country Meet and I saw him run I was reminded that I now have a Middle-Schooler. 
The dam broke.  
I tried to take pictures and cheer him on through the tears.  Just wish I would have brought some tissue.  My sweet boy has grown before my eyes.  I am happy and sad.  He is a blessing.  Every day I am reminded of that...

every 

single 

day.


  Coley, your mom needs you to stop getting older now.

Sharing

  THIS I had to share....from Amy's blog.....what my heart is feeling now.  Thank you for sharing, friend.

 

 While we wait...

While we wait for the perfect timing...

they hope they can wait another day.

While we wait for more money...

they wait with nothing.

While we wait for a bigger home with enough room...

they wait for room in our hearts.

While we wait for others approval...

they wait with any dignity they can find.



While we wait for the ideal child....

they wait knowing they are not.

While we wait trying to decide if we can manage another...

they wait trying to manage on their own.



While we wait to see how much we have to give to them...

They are waiting to give us even more.

While we wait for God to provide...

He waits for us to take the first step so He can.

We must NEVER use 'waiting to hear from Him' as an excuse for not doing what He has ALREADY commanded in the bible for us to do... proclaim the truth, care for orphans, serve others, be His hands of justice for the poor, and show compassion.

So, what are you waiting for??

Meet me at T4A on October 2nd in Austin, Texas to learn more about God's heart for orphans!!!

Love for our orphans is contagious

I love when the love for adoption is passed around the world and we all support one another.  OUR orphan crisis is REAL and it's BIG.  And to be able to pass the goodness on to our fellow adopting families is such an amazing thing.  Most people know who Steven Curtis Chapman is.....a Godly man with a GREAT voice.  Well, he began Show Hope many years ago and has adopted himself from China.  This organization provides grants for families who want to bring a child into their home (among many other things), but may be struggling financially to do so.  Well, a couple of weeks ago we were surprised with a letter from them that we have been awarded one of their grants.  What a blessing!!  So we now have the money to purchase our first two tickets to Ethiopia....hopefully within the next couple of days.  Some of the burden has been lifted and we are sooooo very grateful. 

And a couple of weeks ago I was approached when I set up a table in front of my favorite coffee shop in our downtown region.  The woman quickly noticed the poster-sized adoption fliers and told me how she has also adopted....eight children. :0)  She and her husband have many biological children as well.  Anyway, she proceeded to tell me that she and 40-some friends from her church are going on a trip to Israel in October and she would like to see how many people she can get to donate their air miles to us.  She asked "That should buy you a few tickets, right?".  I was teary-eyed and shocked that someone would put forth the efforts for us.  It was definitely a God-thing.  T-shirt sale weren't great that day, but I realized that I had been touched by a woman of God who loves the orphans and that is truly all I cared about.  I am sooo blessed to find the people I have on this journey.  More to come on that later....

In the almost eight months that we have been in this process we have encountered many people we may not have known otherwise.  My husband found out he does business with a driller who builds water wells in Africa to provide clean drinking water. WOW!!  (I REALLY want to be a part of that someday soon).  We have also been in contact with people who live right here in our town, but we may never see--also great thanks to Face Book for this. :0)  And it's crazy how many people have stepped forward to support us while we wait for our sweet baby girl.  T-shirt orders have come in beyond our expectations, donations big and small have been sent and handed to us, and prayers being thrown our way at every turn. We have been blessed. And we are grateful.  And we will pass on that love for the orphans forever.  Because this love is contagious..... 

Court date assignment!

Today is a GOOD day!!  We received an email stating that the high courts in Ethiopia request our presence for our official hearing on November 24th!!!  We thought all of the dates for November had been given out, and low and behold......there were more!  Halleluiah!!  We are soo excited--I may be the only one jumping up and down screaming but I do believe there is excitement throughout the house today!  We only need to be in Addis for three days, but considering the cost of travel I think we'll be staying a little while longer than that. :0)  And because our visits with our daughter will be limited this time we may do our extra shopping, sightseeing, etc on this trip.  But we WILL be meeting our beautiful babe!!  I can't even stand it!!  NOW I am thinking about all of those things that I have kept myself from thinking because we know it will be happening sooooo soon!  I always say....after Halloween, it's all downhill from there!  Sorry to ramble and I could sit here and vent my thoughts for hours!!! 

Very soon our Ethiopian babe.....very soon. 

Your mama loves you so.

HER words...but my thoughts

These are my thoughts...spoken from another woman's mouth--

My family, adopting these children, it is not optional. It is not my good
deed for the day, it is not what I am doing to “help these poor kids
out.” I adopt because God commands me to care for the orphans and the widows in their distress. I adopt because to who...m much has been given, much will be demanded. I adopt because whoever finds his life will lose it but whoever loses his life for HIS sake will find it.  ~"Katy"~

 

If you haven't ever read about Katy.....you should.  She is one of the reasons we are adopting.  I followed her blog for at least two years before we made the final decision.  If you'd like to be inspired, amazed, broken, and humbled, you can go HERE to read her story.   

Hold Her in My Arms

Last night, extremely exhausted and never getting enough sleep, I allowed myself to imagine holding HER in my arms for the first time.  I know, you must think I'm crazy....but I have told myself from the time of referral acceptance that I wasn't gonna go there.  I can't be HERE while she's over THERE and wonder what it would be like to touch her for the first time, to smell her for the first time, to kiss her for the first time.  I know, sounds like a love affair, doesn't it?  Well, it is.  And I could very well make myself crazy.  So for the last (almost) two months since we found out who she was I have looked at her pictures a thousand twenty-two times and talked about her non-stop, and replayed the trip to Ethiopia over-and-over.  But I have never (until now) let myself get to that emotional place of meeting her.  Some people may think I just don't care....I just can't.  It could be another 6 months (no, God, please) and I can't bare to be so tied up in my feelings for this beautiful child of mine who I am longing for.  I can't wait to see how she responds to me....will she smile and hug me back, or will she run away screaming? :0) It doesn't matter either way....soon she will be in my arms forever.  Now I am going back to my "place".....it's safest there.

A Beautiful Summer

This summer has, thankfully, been filled with lots of fun times.  We got a chance to host my brother's oldest son for a week and we made the best of it.  We took him camping with us for the weekend.  What a great kid--we LOVE him!!

(Jacob)

Here's the infamous sand castle in the sand box in our backyard......the boys always do this when he comes to visit.  Can you believe THIS?  They amaze me just a little. ;0)  

Camping

Then last week we went to our favorite campground in the Black Hills and stayed for 5 days....thanks to our sweet friends.  It was a beautiful weekend with a day at a nearby lake....

some campfire fun with some of our best buddies.....

and a hike on a trail....always my favorite.....

This time we brought along my other brother's little boy, Jace.  Eat'n his PB&J...always eating.

And then my husband spotted something (big hunter guy) that we always wonder about but never think we'll see....... just a little bit freaky.  These big cats are soo numerous in our hills now that there is a hunting season for them.  They have been found in quiet little neighborhoods.  Made us surely think twice about letting our kids play out of sight.  A first time for all of us--viewing one in the wild--YES, it's a mountain lion!!!  And he was watching us.  Yikes!

After the shock wore off we did some wild-rasberry-pick'n.

 Our hills are such a great place to live...there are soo many beautiful places like this.....

Taking some time to kiss an owie......

Finding horses that were longing to be petted.......

Just a fantastic way to end the week.  
Our last camping trip of the summer. 
I can't wait to do it all again next year with another little one tagging along! 
Blessings are everywhere!

Court case submitted!

Today we found out our case was submitted to the high courts in Ethiopia---now we wait for the courts to open back up in late September to find out when we go for our court-date!!  Is this exciting?  Yes, I should say so.  Hang on baby....it won't be long!!

20 year class reunion--good times

2 weekends ago was my 20 year class reunion....i know, i certainly don't LOOK that old, huh?  tee hee.  here are some of my favorite picts from the weekend with a VERY successful outcome--everyone seemed to have a great time...myself included.

 This is my life-long, Pee Wee Herman-lov'n, Violent Femms jamm'n girlfriend, Jill. We have been friends since 6th grade, stood up for each other in our weddings and have been through so much together.  LOVE HER!!!

and our friend, Jeff, that we have been buds with from Junior High times. 

  
some great friends from long-ago times, all chums from grade-school and digg'n their time together.

Five out of seven girls who "hung" together 7th grade thru graduation--
i cherished this time with my girls!. 

   We had a great time while we could--it took 20 YEARS to get us all back together!

 there was some picnic-ing.......

a little boogy-ing....

and the whole class (those who made it) together again!!

20 Years....
it's a long time.

Still More T-shirts!!

We are still trying to sell as many t-shirts as we possibly can to help us raise the money we need to travel to our baby girl.....TWO times!!  I have some new colors and I'm soo ready to have them out to all my fellow followers.

You can purchase shirts to the right on this Blog page or email me at kchiolis@gmail.com (you can also contact me through email for sizing & color questions).

One-hundred percent of all shirt purchases will go towards travel expenses to Ethiopia where our little girl is waiting for us.

  I also have a variety of women's shirts in numerous colors and sizes Small thru XL for purchase that I am not listing on my blog ( too many colors). They are true-to-size.

It's all about ME!! :0)

today is my birthday.  i am 38....i don't feel 38, and i hope i don't look it either!  not that being 38 is bad.......it's just wayyyyyyy older than 28! :0)  

ya know how we always write something special about our kids and husbands when it's THEIR special day??? well, i don't know anyone else who does this, but here's a little bit about ME......

 

i like to think that i'm a good person. that i do the right thing. that i make friends easily and make people feel happy. i like the person i'm becoming the older i get.  i feel the compassion for others is contagious and it makes me want to give of myself.  

 i have a blessed life with my little family.  i have the best "job" in the world....i stay at home with my boys. i love that i can be here to share their milestones, and funny stories, and caterpillar-catching.

i am married to a great guy who works so very hard to provide for us and he makes me happy.

i like my blogging and some face book. i don't like spiders or mice.  i love camping and beaching it.  i don't like cleaning or doing laundry.  i don't like cooking, but i love to bake birthday cakes for my kids.  recycling and eating healthy make me feel like i'm doing something right.  volunteering my time to a worthy cause makes me feel valuable.  

i value my friendships.  i detest judgment.  i have too many animals and not enough finger nail polish.

 i have a love for chocolate and ice cream, but have reactions to both. :0(  

 i am conscious about the ever-growing needs of the world and i want to be a person who contributes to it's necessary change.  i want to love on all the orphans.  
i will be able to soon. :0)

i love my life.  i cherish my God. 

life is good.

it's my day to celebrate all that i have, all that i am, and what i want to become. 

it's my birthday.

Overwhelmed

My class reunion is this weekend....my 20th reunion.  I don't FEEL that old!!!  Okay...some days I do. :0)  

And guess who's in charge?  

The person who said after doing the 10-year reunion, "I will NEVER do THAT again!!". 

And the same person who said, "IF we have a 20th (cause no one would ever take on the responsibility), I would be willing to steer the in-charge person in the right direction, but I WILL NOT have my name down as the one doing it all.".  

The same person who did the 10 year with one other person for a class of almost 500 people and now again with one other person with the same graduating class of almost 500 people.  

The same person who has 3 children and one on the way through a very stressful adoption and fund-raisers full-bore and thank yous to write.  

The same one who gets overwhelmed so very easily and has stomach aches because of it.

Yep.  

It's me.  

I'm happy it's happening because I volunteered to take it on.  

I'm so excited to see so many long-lost faces. 

I'm proud to have such a great turn-out though the only invites were through FaceBook. 

And I'm  anxious to see how everything goes and hoping that there are no complaints this time around.

So hopefully the woozy stomach will go away soon--from the nerves and the stress.

God, please give me the strength and peace I need to finish this week and get on to the next.  

You know I will be grateful.

Amen.

I Need Africa More than Africa Needs Me

As I sit and think about this child of God that we are about to make a part of our family, I think about her country. The country I fell in love with. The place that God led me because He knew I could make a difference there.

I think about her family and how they are soo courageous and how much they must love her to want to give her the very best.....they did their best.

Some day I will have to explain why she is here with us as part of our family and not there in Africa with her biological family--the place where she was born and lived and raised for two years of her life.

I will have to find the words to explain how soo many people loved her soooo much that we all came together with the Lord's wishes and blessings to give her two families. She will always be a part of Africa...it will always be her home. And so God will teach us to teach her everything we know about this lovely place.

Africa.

(pause my music at the top of the page to view and listen---I love this.)

New Fun Shirts!!!!

More t-shirts to sell!!  I have new colors and sizes!!  You can place your order with PayPal to the right, or email me at cholo5@wescomm.com to discuss which sizes would work best--The sizes in some of the shirts tend to run small. :0)

 New colors!!  
And toddler sizes too!

In Ladies (sizes Med, Large, & X-Large) (these all fit small--like Juniors sizes)..... 
I now have RED, as well as the CHOC.BROWN & WHITE.
And in 2X-Large I have a LIME GREEN--also fits small.

$20 each

Men's (sizes Small, Med, Large, X-Large, & 2X-Large) (pretty true fit) 
come in RED, SAND & CHOC. BROWN.

$20 each

Youth (sizes Small 6/7, Med 8/10, Large 10/12) 

come in TANGERINE, SAND, & CHOC.BROWN  
$20 each

Toddlers (sizes 2T, 3T, 4T) (all fit a size small) in LT PINK, LIME GREEN, & RED  
$15.00 each

I also have women's shirts in many different sizes and colors that run a size big in Small, Medium, Large, X-Large.  Email me for details or questions cholo5@wescomm.com   

 

More colors coming soon!!  
Like hopefully today!  

Filling our time...awe summer!

We are finding lots to do while we wait on that precious baby girl--funny thing is....she probably doesn't even know she's being waited ON!  Here are some things occupying our time.....thank goodness summer is here... without a dull moment.    

 

Summertime!!!