Saturday, March 26, 2016

Happy Birthday To The Man I Love!!

Happy Birthday to my husband Tim!
The man who:

Serves God with his whole heart and life.
Keeps his marriage covenant between God and wife.
Is a kind and tender husband to serve.
Is my very best friend.
Makes good God sought decisions for his family.
Sacrifices needs and wants in order to give more to his family.
Is a good example before his wife, children and the world.
Works tirelessly to provide for his family.
Is man enough to be hands on with his infants/children sacrificing his own free time and sleep.

Happy Birthday Tim!  Thank you for being who God called you to be!  A servant of God, wonderful husband and father.

Romans 12:1-2  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

 

We all love and appreciate you more than words could tell.

Love always and forever,

susan, Stephen, Antonio, William, Carolyn, Zeke, Elizabeth, Billy, Timothy, Kinsley and baby "A" 

Saturday, March 12, 2016

Another Dancer In Our Future?

When I mentioned that Kinsley loves to dance and tries to copy the girls when they practice ballet, I had several request for pictures.  These pictures are a little dark and are not very good but will give you the idea of how much little Kinsley pays attention to the details, of what the girls are doing, when they practice.  Also, how she tries to imitate them.  She has been doing this for the past several months and she is not even two yet.

Below, Carolyn is practicing to a video.  Kinsley pays very close attention to what the girls are doing on the screen. 
She uses the piano for a balance beam when she needs stability.
 She even tries to make her arms do what the girls do.
 And her legs...with a little help.

 She really likes it and I think we might have another dancer in lessons soon.
 Round and round.
She acts pretty pleased with herself when she thinks she did a good job.  

This is such a huge miracle!  If you would like a reminder of all her struggles as an infant, you can read here.  This little girl...who has Hypoplasia of the Corpus Callosum.  That has only a small band connecting the two halves of her brain...that had to learn differently to co-ordinate her body to roll over, crawl and walk... By God helping her brain find new pathways to do these things... This little girl who has Hypotonic Cerebral Palsy... That has very weak muscles... This little girl who has Optic Nerve Hypoplasia and is missing some optic nerves in both eyes... can dance!  Can see enough to imitate!  She is a miracle!  We are in awe of the work God is doing in her body and life.

We all love this sweet little girl so very much.  She brings us great joy.  When choosing her middle name, we chose Joy, to honor her grandmother by bearing her name and because of how joyous Kinsley is.

I pray she will have the anointing of God on her and her life always.  That she will be greatly used of Him and choose to live for Him all the days of her life.  She is such a gift from the Lord.

1 Peter 1:8-9  Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:  Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.



Blessings,
susan     

Saturday, March 5, 2016

Wonderful Weather. Its Almost Spring!

Things have slowed down considerably the last two weeks.  Everyone has been healthy, no extra appointments and we have been able to have whole days at home.  It has been so nice to say the least.  I know it won't last long, so I am trying to really enjoy it and get some outside work done.

I spent one afternoon trimming back the vines on the grape arbors, while Carolyn watched the children play outside.  Billy came down to watch for a while.  We have started him on some supplements and he is a LOT calmer.  He is still a very active little boy but not as hyper and impulsive as he was.  He still needs to be supervised every waking moment.  We are still working with him on his emotional issues and hurting other children.  By the grace of God he has come soooo far.  I love his constant questions and desire to learn.  He is never still.  He is never quiet.  I love this little man!


Last year, Kinsley was to young to play on the play ground.  She spent most of her time, while outside, in the baby swing.  This year she wants to explore and play, which is wonderful but I can see we are going to have to get her a helmet or some light head protection, for when she plays outside.  She has very low muscle tone (hypotonic cerebral palsy) and brain/vision issues, she falls on the uneven ground about every forth or fifth step.  She hits her head pretty hard on things regularly while outside.  I was surprised at this lack of balance, as she has been doing so well in the house, on a flat surface with her walking and getting around.  She is a miracle and is doing great but needs a lot more practice walking around outside.

Our very, loyal, farm/guardian dog, Yellow, spends his days laying by and guarding our goats and ponies.  He has matured a lot this last year and rarely does anything wrong or puppyish anymore.  If the children are outside playing, he changes gears, lays by them or follows them around guarding them.  He is a big lug but a great dog.
There is a gentle hill between two pastures, going down from the play ground, to the edge of our property.  The children love to ride their toys down that hill.
Not so much fun lugging their tricycles back up the hill.
I love the smell of the children, when I hug them, once they have played outside.  So fresh.  Here are my sweet growing boys!
Billy is getting the hang of peddling!
Timothy is also on many supplements right now to try to help his autism.  He is also doing so much better.  We saw an improvement right away in his area of language.  He started to speak in sentences and take notice of his nose needed blowing and tell us.  He also has told us a couple of times he had to go potty! YEAH!  This is after a year of faithful potty training with NO progress.  He also now is interested in watching a movie and can talk about the plot.   He seems to be able to think more clearly now as well.  God is so good.  Still a long way to go but doing so very well. 

Here is a recent picture of them together.  They are not referred to as the toddlers anymore!  Such big boys!

I know things look busy and hard here sometimes and to be honest, at times, it really is or can be... but the happy times sure outweigh the hard or bad.  The daily miracles and progress encourage and uplift us.  We feel so blessed and content in life.  God is so faithful.

May the Lord God of Israel...the One True and Only God, Maker of heaven and earth...be with you in all you go through, leading and guiding you along the way.  May He bless you this spring and the whole year through, as you live and grow in Him.

Song of Solomon 2:11-12  For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone;  The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;



Blessings,

susan