Timeout

Macker has been pretty spicy the last couple weeks. (read: naughtiest boy ever!)We've tried everything but today I think we might have found something that works. If he is snotty, mean, nasty, crabby etc. he has to sit in a timeout. Thus far it has done nothing he just screams and yells, gets quiet for one second then lets himself get up. (not our best parenting)

Today we made the rule that the timeout doesn't start until he is silent.(I realize this in not a new concept) When he was silent then I would set the timer on the stove. Can you tell he was not a big fan at first? He would just scream,"I. SAID. I'M. DUST. SO. SORRRRRY!!!"

After his 3rd long fit in the timeout chair he abruptly stopped yelling and said in a total man voice.

"Start the timer."

Two minutes later the timer buzzed he said sorry and I let him down. My guess is he will never be naughty again the rest of his life ;)

I asked him to show me his happy face.

I'm crazy about my Macker, spice and all.

Super Heroes

Today, a friend stopped by with 2 huge bags of clothes for the boys! So thankful!

Scotty loved having his nice friend Abby to play super heroes.

Crabby Macker woke up and joined the fun!

**Super hero outfits are courtesy of a cool neighbor!

More Winter

Frozen water.

Scott has been away at camp since Friday. Amelia has had Influenza B since last Wednesday. (poor girl) She still wanted to play outside for a little while.

The sun was shining and the kids had fun making a snow fort.

This is the little path that the neighbor made so that we can all get to our mail.

He's All Mine!

Password: toocoldtoocold

Warehouse Student Ministries "Winter Camp Baby" Music Video from LyonTamer Productions on Vimeo.

Buddies

Scooter was so happy to have these buddies in town. Jeff Durbin was the camp speaker and Sean came into town for a meeting. (and to spend time with us)
Our friend Sean arrived from AZ and he hardly had his shoes off before the fighting began. Junedog had been dreaming a battle.

Junie wants to marry Sean's daughter.... Sean told him only a really tough guy could have her...

Who are the crazy guys in the helmets?
Serious fighting.

The blizzard hit and it was great to have Sean here. He and Scott shoveled for no less than 4 hours. They also went and did a neighbors driveway too.

Do you think Scoot was happy to have his buddy helping?

I overheard Sean said something like, "I'll never complain about the heat in AZ again..."
Time for more fighting... yeah!!

He's gone back to sunny AZ and we already miss him.

Blizzard 2011

The blizzard began about 3:00pm on Tuesday. I had just gotten home from picking Sissy up from school (early) and the wind began to really blow. By that evening it was pretty amazing. Scott saw a couple neighbors snow blowing so he joined in. Before Macker went to bed the snow was already really deep.

Our electricity had been flickering all evening but at around 9 it was gone. Thank God, the kids stayed asleep all night. This morning the house was 49 degrees and I don't know if you can tell but the snow was almost covering the entire window. The lights turned on at 7:00am and we all broke into a happy dance singing 'This is the day, this is the day.....
After breakfast it was time to get to work.

Theses pictures don't begin to do it justice. Unreal!

Our freezing snowman.

The back door.

Scotty made a slide.
Here's June enjoying our patio furniture.

The snow is so deep they just walked right over the back fence.

Is it spring yet?

Scooter worked so hard making a path for our car.

The rest of the day we'll spend enjoying movies and rest in our WARM and cozy house.

LOVE!

Last October we received a referral for the most beautiful little girl. For reasons that Scott and I are totally at peace with, our referral did not continue. For the past couple months we have just been waiting and praying for the exact child that God has for our family. This past week we received "the call" from our family coordinator for a most precious 4.5 month old little BOY!

Scott and I were both on the phone as she told us a little bit about him and his background. She then told us that his given name is S*****. Scott and I both started to laugh (and cry) because his name is the very one that we had decided on using if we were blessed with a boy. Do you get how awesome that is? His birth family and our family choose the same name.

We told the kids and gave them each a picture of their new brother. Amelia's first words were, "I guess I was always meant to be the only Murray girl." The boys were cheering...

Here's what needs to happen next...
*Our agency to obtain/prepare our documents for court
*The Ethiopian court to accept our paperwork
*Get a court date
*Fly to Ethiopia to meet our son and go to court (maybe 3 months from now)
*Fly home
*Our agency to submit paperwork to the US Embassy
*US Embassy to perform an investigation and release a VISA
*Fly back to Ethiopia to pick up our son.

(I got this little list from another adoptive family's blog)

Nothing is ever predictable with international adoption. We are praying that we will receive a court date soon and that the rest of this process process will go smoothly. Please pray for our little S*****, for his health and safety. We are thankful for all your prayers and love.

I forgot to mention that we are not able to publish his picture until he is offically ours.

I'm Baaaaack!!!

It's with great joy that I announce that I'm back. After 6 months of the slowest computer in the entire world and over a month with NO computer at all, I am the happiest person in the world.

Say hello to HP.

So, here's the story... I knew that we didn't have any room in our budget for a new computer so I asked Scoot if I sold things, could I use the money for a computer... He said yes, and I sorted through the entire basement and listed all our junk on Ebay.

(you might see a mess, all I see is $$)

I listed over 20 items on Ebay.... then I packaged them up...

Put them all in garbage sacks and took them to the post office.

I made just enough for the computer! I have never had a new computer and it's awesome.I could not be more thankful and I know for sure the guy at Best Buy thought I was nuts.

Okay, so now in no particular order (phone) photos of the last month of our lives...
We were at the opening day of the first Pei Wei in the western suburbs of Chicago. Oh, yeah!!

Scott turned into Vanilla Ice.

BBQing in the snow...

We got a new shelf from Ikea in our laundry room.

We made a snowman. It's still looks exactly the same right now.

I drive Sissy to school just like this. Brrrrrrr.

The kids are as crazy as ever.

We went to zoo lights at Lincoln Park Zoo.

We finally hung something above our bed.

I became an aunt again to the cutest little brown haired boy!
Theodore John Rozeboom.

I'm sure there are a couple things I'm forgetting but we are all healthy and happy and surviving the cold winter. Check back tomorrow when I have the hugest announcement ever!!!!