Just a little some thing...

Our week has been crazy. It is even harder when I am not feeling well and unfortunately I have been in bed most of the time.

Believe it or not. I still got a lot accomplished and not only that, but God has been so gracious to open my eyes just a little this week to how I have been behaving.



My caring kids who hate when I am not feeling well (it happens a lot) but they jump at the chance to try and make me feel better.

My little one "reading" to me while I am in bed.

School has been nothing short of a miracle. I say this because every year I am super stressed and am always wondering if I am doing enough or to much. But so far this year, I have just been taking it one day at a time and accomplishing what we can. It has been fun!!
Also our little Jacob has a hard time holding his pencil and some other things that have been going on. We found out that he has low muscle tone. We have been doing exercises with him and there has been a drastic change in such a short period of time. I wish I had a picture of a "before" the way he would hold his pencil and work. But here is the "after" :)

Working hard on their school work.

Our dinner conversations are crazy. My family is a bunch a funny, off the wall crazy people. I don't know how else to put it.They make me laugh and hubby is always the one who starts it.  Most people do bible study at their table, or listen to music, we make each other laugh so hard that sometimes it is hard to eat.  We always have this thing where anytime Jacob gets up from the table, hubby will add food to his plate. He constantly gets up. The other night we had mashed potatoes and when he got up we all put the rest of ours on his plate.  but this time we decided to make a snow man out of the food. His face was priceless when he sat back down. I wish I would have gotten a picture. We all never laughed so hard! I would share the conversations that we have but I don't want to embarrass myself ;) 

Our master piece.

Today my daughter received her first pen pal letter in the mail. She was so excited. It was a blessing because I never had them start theirs like I promised :/  so this made us all excited and they got to work right away!

Who needs a table when you have a perfectly good floor.

It is so fun getting mail. I am excited when everyone starts writing them back. Maybe they will be lifelong friends :)


Tomorrow is our cutie pie (at some point I am going to have to stop calling him that) Jacob's 5th Birthday!!!

He is so stinkin cute!!

Jacob is our little comedian and will do anything to make you laugh.  He is also super affectionate and a joy to be around.

    HAPPY BIRTHDAY My precious boy!! I am beyond blessed to be your mother!!!!





A lot has happened this week, some I can't share just yet. No it has nothing to do with Caleb, we are still waiting. One thing that God has laid so heavy on my heart is, that this is where He has me. By this I mean everything that is being thrown or not thrown my way. I am learning what it means to have a heart of gratitude, joy. Nothing is ever promised and when I get to Heaven and stand before my King I don't want to have a complaining heart, I want to be able to say "Thank you Lord for putting me in that pit, for throwing us an awesome curve ball, for blessing us in ways that we never even appreciated, for trusting us with so much, for allowing me to be your servant, for helping me back up every time I fall"  I don't want to complain or whine, or want things to be different, because THIS IS EXACTLY HOW THE LORD WANTS IT.  And if I want His will, then this should be EXACTLY HOW I WANT IT. 

When it is to much.....

I have been feeling so many attacks lately. It is getting to the point where it is even consuming my sleep. I have been having horrible nightmares. Not even sure if I should call them nightmares, but whatever they are it is not good. I wake up feeling this huge burden over me. I wake up feeling attacked by the enemy, in a way I never have before. I wake up feeling completely helpless and all I want is for it to go away.

But then the Lord gently reminds me that I am suppose to feel helpless, because apart from Him I can do nothing.  And it's not until I finally let go of the reins that I can truly see Him.

If only I would let go.......


And then this morning I see my son playing with his army men and all I can think is.....

                          God is so much bigger then anything that this world throws at me.

"He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty, I will say to the Lord, "My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust." For He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and a buckler. You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks the darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday. A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked. Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place- The Most High, who is my refuge- no evil shall be allowed to befall you no plague come near your tent. For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone. You will tread on the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot."

Psalm 91:1-13

Catching up!!

It has been a long time since I last blogged. Sometimes......okay, every time.... God has to drag me through the mud to get me back to where I need to be... eyes focused on Him.

Here's what is going on:

We were submitted to Embassy on September 8th. We just got the email today from the Embassy stating that they wanted additional documents. How long with this take? I have no clue! Are these documents even something that they are able to get? I have no clue! 

I am not going to lie, this is beyond frustrating. Knowing that Caleb is legally ours and all we need is his visa and yet we are still jumping through hoops. I don't understand!!!!! but here is the kicker, I don't have too. The truth of the matter is, if God wanted Caleb to be home, then he would be. Its not like any of this caught Him by surprise. That is where Faith steps in. It is by Faith that we ask God to do the impossible, It is By Faith that we cry out in anger, in heartbreak knowing He cares even more then we do. It is By Faith that we pick ourselves up and walk in Obedience knowing that He means what He says. It is By Faith that we pray and praise, pray and praise some more, and then ask God to help us when we can't pray and praise anymore. It is By Faith that I know Caleb will be home sooner then anyone thinks :)

If you would join us in prayer, we would really appreciate it <3

It has been exactly 2 months since I last held  my boy :( I could get all sappy on you and tell you how much it hurts but instead we are celebrating today, because.......

Today is my precious little girls 7th Birthday!!!! Oh my how the time has flown! I call her my little momma. She is so caring and wants nothing more then to help someone do anything. She just wants to help! Sometimes to much ;)

We are having her and her brothers (his birthday is next week) party tomorrow, so today we just hung out in our jammies and did what girls do. You  know.. Paint each others nails :)

Working hard on her toes

All done! I did her hands and she did her toes!

Super fun!

 Most of you may all ready know, but daddy has a special thing that he does with his girls. Since their first birthday he gets them flowers. He wanted to get them flowers that no one else would give them. He has a special flower for each girl.  Hubby gets Brianna sunflowers.  So every year on her birthday no matter if he is working, he gets her flowers.

Daddy with his oldest girl!

I did not ask her to do this. She loves her daddy!

I just love my hubbys heart.

Happy Birthday my beautiful Brianna. The Lord has gifted you with a beautiful servants heart. Even at your age you seek out kids and make sure that you have introduced yourself and ask them to play with you. You truly love them just for them and you look past everything else. I am excited to see how God will use that gift as you get older. 
                    Blessed beyond measure that the Lord would allow me to be your mother <3 <3

We started, did you?

We started our fourth year of home schooling the first week of  August. Basically as soon as we got back from Africa, yes even during my horrible jet lag, we started school.

I was feeling convicted about the extended break we took and I knew that I needed to get back on a routine.

Plus the kids actually like doing school work (ummmm most of the time) and they also missed the routine.


Even though I thought everything was going great God has decided to change some stuff for us this year.


We started Classical Conversations (CC) on Tuesday. We go once a week in the morning for three hours and I also tutor there.
WE HAD A BLAST!!!

I am so thankful that God's plans are ALWAYS better then my own.  I was beyond stressed about adding this to our schooling and I didn't know how it would all work out with my four (soon to be five) kids who all learn differently.

On Tuesday I woke up with such joy in my heart. We had an amazing first day. Not everything went perfectly but we had a blast! I am tutoring seven students ages 8 and 9. Which is also another blessing. My oldest is 8 1/2 (he is in my class) and I am able to learn with him. He told me in class that I am the best teacher he has ever had and he is glad that I was teaching him at CC as well.... Such a sweet boy! But ummmm I am the ONLY teacher he has ever had :)

First day at CC in my classroom

Obviously the kids are not as excited about geography as  I am!

Along with adding CC into our schooling we have also decided that we are no longer going to take a break with regards to math. (just like we don't take a break with reading) What I mean by that is my kids will be doing some sort of math every single day! Yep, I mean it. It only takes 3 minutes on the weekends or vacation breaks, so it is not a big deal. But I was super annoyed with spending our first month of home schooling relearning all the hard work we just did. I want my kids to be able to do math in their sleep. The sooner they understand and remember what they have learned the better they will be when we introduce harder concepts.  So far the kids love it. They have more confidence in themselves as we are moving forward.

We have also added pen pals this year. Which we are all really excited about. I wrote On facebook asking for pen pals for my two oldest and was able to get them three each. We have not started on writing letters yet, but I will be incorporating them soon. I wanted them to get through our first day of CC first.

Also by request of my kids, we will be incorporating more art. Anything they can paint, draw, or create they are all about. I am looking for some fun , not to messy ideas if anyone would like to share!

So this is our school year so far! I am so excited and can't wait to share some of our fun field trips that we will be taking this year.


Have you started yet? And if so what has the Lord changed about your schooling this year! Please also feel free to share any fun ideas :)

Fully what???? and a Winner!

I have been thinking about how I would write this post..... and no words form, just humble tears. I guess because I am still in shock.

I remember writing a post well over a year ago about how we would never allow money to stop us from serving the Lord. When God called us to adopt we knew this would be no easy task. Money is never a fun subject to talk about and having to constantly put our selves out there for each and every fee was hard.

But God had amazing things in store for us.

He exceeded our expectations every single time. He brought tons of people into our lives who have not only helped out financially but who are emotionally invested with us. 

He brought someone into our lives that was excited about helping us get a grant.

He brought someone into our lives that made beautiful jewlery for us to sell.

He brought amazing ladies into my life that have linked arms with us before we even knew this was the road that God was calling us too.

He brought wisdom and encouragement from so many of you.

He rained money from Heaven exactly when we needed it and not a minute late.

He brought miracles after miracles.


I have never felt more prayed for in my life!

"Thank you" will never be enough. 

Through all the many fundraisers, garage sales, shirt sales, jewelry sales, grants, church, and all of you. God funded our full adoption which was a little over $27,000!! How can you read that and not see that God owns it all? 

I will be honest and say that I did not always believe that God would bring it. I would make myself sick with worry, I would cry out to him and others, I would get upset, angry, annoyed, you name it and my sinful self felt and probably said it.  

I deserve nothing and yet He sings praises over me anyway. (Zeph 3:17)

Forgive me for not being able to truly express how I am feeling and how thankful I am to each and every one of you! I try to write and all I can do is cry happy tears. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! 




And now as I wipe my eyes so I can see what I am writing, here is the winner of the $25 Amazon  gift card!!!! I put the name of each person that donated in a basket and had my crazy kids draw a name.

                                                                         CONGRATS!!!!

            From the bottom of my heart THANK YOU ALL!!!

Please be in prayer with us that we fly though Embassy!

Sweet Caleb so many people here love you and are dying to meet you. We will not stop praying and I just know we will be on a plane soon coming to bring you home <3


 
Singing His praises,

Cookies for Caleb!

 WE NO LONGER HAVE COOKIES CUTTERS FOR SALE!!!!

We are so excited that Caleb will be home soon. We are not sure exactly when, but we do know it will be sometime in September!

To be fully funded we still need $3000. That is to cover travel cost to bring him home for good! Because of our awesome Lifesong grant we only need to raise $1500 of that and they will match the rest!! Such a blessing.

Caleb's 1st birthday is August 28th. I am so sad to know that I will not be with him on his first birthday, but he will be home soon!
As we were praying on what to do to raise the remaining funds to bring him home, some friends of ours thought of COOKIES FOR CALEB!

We are going to be selling Africa cookie cutters!

 For a minimum  donation to Lifesong of $15, you will not only be helping us become fully funded, you will also get a tax receipt and an additional  little gift from us!

But wait there is more!!! LOL

For everyone that buys a cookie cutter you will also be entered to win a $25 gift card to Amazon as a thank you gift! You could potentially earn your money right back!

 Even if you can not buy one could you please spread the word? We need to sell 100!!

These would make awesome gifts, fun for homeschooling or every time you look at it you will know that you brought a sweet boy home to his forever family!!

You can paypal LIfesong here  make sure in the comments you put Maser 2167 or we will not get the credit. or you can mail a check to:

                                                                  Lifesong for Orphans
                                                                          PO Box 40
                                                                      Gridley, IL 61744

                                                  In memo : MASER ADOPTION #2167
                                                                        So we get credit.
Make sure you EMAIL Me after you made the donation so I can get your address and let you know when they ship!

                                                              Cookies for Caleb!                                                          
                                  Help Bring our sweet boy home!!!

Minimum donation of $15 gets you the Africa cookie cutter, a little surprise from us, and a chance to win a $25 Amazon giftcard!!
 

Introducing......

Our boy!!!

CALEB LEYKUN MASER 

(LAY-KOON)

                                                           How blessed are we!?!

I should not have been surprised when we got the call that not only did we receive our MOWYCA letter, but also the judge had signed the decree!  Truly a miracle. On Tuesday we got an email from our agency saying "Sorry, the courts closed and you won't be getting your letter until October when they reopen." Hubby and I read the letter and we jokingly said " So your saying there's a chance!"  Normally reading a letter like that would have given me a mini break down, but I honestly thought that it could still come. And it did! On Friday we got the call!!

To God be the Glory!!

My God is bigger, My God is stronger, God you are higher then any other.......
And if our God is for us, then who can ever stop us.....
 (This song has been in my head since we were in Ethiopia)


What happens now:

They translate all the paperwork into English and then send everything to the US Embassy. From there the Embassy will get his visa and passport and other paper work ready and then when they do all that, WE GO GET HIM!!!
We have been told that it will take 4-6 weeks. So in September our BOY WILL BE HOME!!! I can not wait! There is still so much to do! I can't stop looking at pictures and remembering what it was like to kiss his squishy cheeks and smooth skin. <3

Soon precious Caleb mommy and daddy will bring you to your  home!!!

We still have money to raise... sigh... We still have the grant and if you are feeling led you can donate to the right and Lifesong will double it and you will get a tax receipt at the end of the year! Another HUGE blessing. We are praying through what to do next to help get our funds in.

Thank you all for your continue support. God has been so gracious  to surround us with such amazing people, most whom I have never even met.

Thank you Jesus for doing abundantly more then we ever expected or could even imagine.

Praising the Lord and counting our many blessings,