Nap Time

Yes, it's supposed to be naptime but this is what I am hearing, "Hey boys, look at me." "Boys, I'm over here." "Help, I stuck." "I want to play too." Chloe is supposed to be napping but instead she is standing in her bed watching the boys outside play football. Even though it's been almost an hour and half and still no nap and I should be irritated - it is still cute that she thinks they can hear her yelling!! Ugh - gotta go - she just fell off the bed trying to get their attention!!!!! Motherhood!!!!

Egress Window

You know sometimes it is funny to post things like the "Tuna" incident but I have to say that my husband is THE BEST!!!! He works long hours for us all day long at work and then also gives much time to church commitments and making sure our boys are at every hockey practice, game, etc. And really, he does it all without complaining - I'm not kidding!!

Then, he sits and plans and reads to learn how to install an egress window in our basement and DOES IT!!! I'm just so proud of him - yes, he had help installing it but the caulking, trimming, staining ~ that's all been his!! It looks great and the boys are so excited to get to use their new room. He works every extra minute down there - we are so thankful that he can even do things like that - I never could!!! So - one room down - now he wants to build an adjoining room for the boys and finish off that end of the basement - he's a go-getter, that's for sure!!

Proud Hockey Mom

Another hockey weekend over - we had a game last night, one had practice today and another had two games today!! Keeps us hopping but we have fun! Even Chloe with her "Chix with Stix" sweatshirt gets into the action. Today she kept yelling, "Caleb, see me???" (from way up in the stands - doubt he saw her but it was cute!!


All of them play hard and we love to see that! (Hey, what else would we do with all that testosterone over here?!?!?) Last night Micah even made a goal - must say we were proud - it's fun to see them do something they really enjoy and THEN do well at it!!!

Creamed Tuna????

This is my chuckle for today: Joe came home with large cans of chicken for lunch. An Orange City specialty is cans of chicken mixed with Cream of Chicken Soup and served over buns. So - that is what we were making - Joe opened both of the Large cans and dumped them in a pan with a can of soup. He kept mixing and mixing and they sure seemed runnier than usual. I remember thinking, "Wow, sure smells like Tuna." But I knew he bought chicken so I put it out of my mind. While we were eating the boys kept saying things like, "Are you sure you aren't tricking us - this sure smells like Tuna???" "It even tastes like Tuna." "Wow, chicken sure smells like Tuna." It didn't hit me until I was going to recycle the cans that - INDEED - he did buy Tuna!!! So we had Tuna and Cream of Chicken Soup for lunch - don't all rush right out and buy it for dinner tonight - not sure I'd stomach it if I knew what it was!!! I just had to share what Joe learned today - ALWAYS READ THE LABEL and don't be deceived by "Chicken of the Sea"!! (I will give him credit though - we never buy Tuna in those large cans - didn't even know they made it - I thought the large cans would be chicken too!!!) Oh, and the best part - I put all of the leftovers up in the freezer for another day - hmmm, who wants to come right over for that meal????

Now I'm wondering - do we tell the boys?????

Favorite Photo Friday

Well - wasn't sure what I was going to post until about 10 minutes ago - I knew it had been awfully quiet - I was cleaning so industriously and I went into the living room and here was Chloe......

Hmmm, she found the presents - yes, it was hers too but don't worry Grandma - she never got the box open!!!! I told her I had to get the camera to show Dad how she was naughty - well, what else could I say - I couldn't tell her it was so funny I had to take a picture!!!!

UGH - my least favorite part about Christmas - wrapping presents - looks like I'll have extra chances to get even better!!!

My Christmas Wish

People always ask for kids to make Christmas lists but no one has asked me for my list - there really isn't much on it............except this..........................
Bookopoly - Yes it's a "book" game - it has Becky Bilby written all over it. And then, the day after Christmas, it's a book party game at my house!!! (Complete with Eggnog!!)


Just check out this description:

Roll the dice and advance to Read. Collect Bookstores and trade them in for
Libraries. Who knows! You may soon be elected President of the Book Club or you
may be tossed out of the game for three turns and sent to WATCH TV!

Sounds too good to be true!!!!

Pathetic

I have not had email since early this morning and you'd think I was going through severe withdrawals over here. I run to the computer every 20-30 min. to check and see if it's working, I even called Joe to ask if he emailed me because I wasn't able to get emails. And yes, I'll admit, I even said, "Well how is anyone supposed to get ahold of me without email??" And his reply, "Ummm, guess they could call!!!" Duh - I knew that!!! It was just a reminder of how much I rely on this silly computer!!!

On another note - Stefanie is now in the blogger world - so go say hi. We travelled to China together and have Pingjiang sisters! In fact, when Stef emails me pics of Sophia ~ Chloe looks at them and says, "That Chloe." Then I remind her that it's Sophia and she'll smile and say, "That my Sister!!!" Ok, I don't even correct that one - it's too cute!!!

(Chloe's in the middle - the cheery one!!! - and Sophia's on the right)

Age is Creeping up on Me

Ok - Now I really feel old - I'm older than the VHS tape?!?!!??!

Go here to read the obituary of VHS. VHS, 30, Dies of Loneliness.

Old Fun

Ok - since I've resurrected these old photos AND figured out the scanner - you guys are in trouble!!!! No one is safe now!!! But - I think I'll share a fun "dating" picture today - mind you, this is only a few years ago!!!!! (Yeah right and four - almost five kids later!!!)

As our oldest son reminded us yesterday, "Wow, you guys are almost 40 - that's kind of old!" And then I gently reminded him we are a few years from 40 yet - don't push it!!!

Pick Me, Pick Me

Chloe's favorite movie right now - right up there with Curious George and Dora is Shrek. I am amazed but that is always choice number 2 if not 1. (I don't think she gets half of it, but she does watch it!!) So we were not at all suprised today when, at lunch, we asked the boys a question - we needed a "yes" or a "no" from them and Chloe pipes up with her hand excitedly raised and shaking in the air, "Oh me, me, me, Pick Me, Pick Me!!!" Think she's watching too much Shrek?????

Nothing Much to Post

It's been one of those weekends, you know?!?!? I worked all day Saturday - which is normally fine - Joe holds down the fort - but Aaron woke up sick Friday night - so that wasn't good. Now, Joe can handle sickness too - he is wonderful at that, BUT Saturday was D-Day for the Egress Window - we had a couple of friends coming to help him and it had to be done THAT day. So poor Aaron was laying on the couch all day, Mom was working, Dad was putting in a window and the brothers were helping take care of Aaron and Chloe was carrying around Aaron's bucket - I am covering her in prayer - we DO NOT need a two-year-old to get the stomach flu!!!!

Today was church - add to that early to church for worship team - and that makes for a busy morning. Now Joe is diligently sanding, cauking, mudding, and whatever else on that crazy window!!! I'm not complaining though - he is saving us a TON of cash!!!

One thing to share - we bought a new Christmas CD a week or so ago and I just got around to listening to the whole thing - Wow - the last song is a tear-jerker. It is Third Day's new Christmas Offerings CD and the Last Song, "Merry Christmas" was written because, as I understand it, one of their band members is in the process of adopting from China and they thought their little one would be home by Christmas and now is not going to be - you must listen - it will remind you of the preciousness of these little gifts!!! Click here for a small clip of the song.

Favorite Photo Friday

See what attracted me to him???? He was, and still is, HOT!!!!

He's singing by the way - what's not to love about that?!?!?!

...Visions of Sugarplums.....

Well - we had baked chicken (no turkey for just the 6 of us - we go smaller!!), corn casserole, broccoli with almonds, stuffing, mashed potatoes, orange salad and rolls but Posh had other ideas....




.....LOVEBIRD!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

MAY YOUR STUFFING BE TASTY,

MAY YOUR TURKEY BE PLUMP.

MAY YOUR POTATOES 'N GRAVY HAVE NARY A LUMP,

MAY YOUR YAMS BE DELICIOUS,

MAY YOUR PIES TAKE THE PRIZE,

MAY YOUR THANKSGIVING DINNER STAY OFF OF YOUR THIGHS.

GOBBLE TIL YOU WOBBLE.........

AND IN ALL AND FOR ALL THINGS GIVE THANKS.

Happy Thanksgiving all - Hope your day is wonderful. We have so much to be thankful for!

The Bilby's

The Newest Member of our Family

Well - it was a rough day at the Bilby house. We decided after much going back and forth that we really needed to get rid of our cat of the last two years. We bought him, raised him from a kitten (and although Joe and I both couldn't stand him), our boys loved him. BUT - he was a very mean cat - he got mad very easily and scratched our kids many times and even drew blood a time or two - SO - when a friend offered us a kitten - we decided it was time for Whiskers to find a new home. It was not easy loading him up and sending him on - the boys were in tears - but we knew it was the best thing for us and for him. It does help that we have this new kitten to ease the pain a bit - and I must say - we love our new kitten, Posh is her name. She is a Himalyan Persian - and LOVES the kids - runs around at their heels all day - and even lets Chloe tote her around - Chloe could never even hardly get near Whiskers so this is fun for her. She asks me all day, "Poshie in my lap??" I love it!!! So here are some pictures....

Holiday Decorating

Here we are - Father Christmas got in the mood to decorate today - and this is LATE for him - we are usually ready for Christmas by Nov. 1. Maybe he's mellowing in his old age!!!

Mystery Picture

Ok - it's a mystery to solve - who is this kid ???? She's not Hollywood celebrity status, but most of you will have at least heard of her. Hey - keeping your minds active is a great way to prevent Alzheimer's. (You can thank me later!!)

Think they look like they're related????

Favorite Photo Friday

It's another oldie!! (I've got a lot of those around here!!)

Hanging by a Very Thin Thread

It's been a day - many of you had no idea this was even happening but this was a big day for us. We applied for a Child Of Promise (special needs) child that was to be decided on today. We waited all day and saw others being turned down but we were getting hopeful since we were hearing nothing. Finally - just when we were overly optimisitc - we got the call about 3:30 that we had also not been chosen for this little one. We told ourselves over and over that it was all in God's hands (and it was) but that doesn't lessen the disappointment. God is good and He'll pick us back up and probably make us want to do it all over again when a new list comes out but for right now we are disappointed, sad (many tears shed over here) and just plain bummed!

To top it off - our social worker found two glitches in our paperwork so it has to all come back to Orange City again, get fixed, only to turn around again and go through the whole process in Grand Rapids - will we ever even make it to China this year?!?!?!?!? Yes, one more bummer for the day - now we are told the wait is up close to two years for a referral - I am not in a hurry but WOW - that is quite a long wait. I think that is partly why the special needs list appealed to us so much - we could get a little one much sooner so that she and Chloe would be closer in age.

I will say it again - God is in control!!! (This is for me - not for all of you!! :) ) I know the truth of that but is it ever hard to understand when you are in the midst. I got so many wonderful phone calls and emails today - you don't know how much it means to have friends that care - in particular - one email had the words I needed this afternoon -

"Take care, Becky -- may you rest quietly in the peace of knowing that while
this little girl isn't part of God's plan right now, He does have a child in His
plan for you. I tell myself this all the time -- one of these days, He's going to show me the face of the child He has planned for us. And when I hold that little one in my arms for the first time, I will completely understand why other things in life fell
through... and I will even praise Him for it. I can't wait for that day!"

So - there it is - our day in a nutshell - not the best ever - kind of one of those where you'd just rather crawl into bed and forget it, but don't get me wrong - I have much to be thankful for - and I am confident that God's plan is better for me than anything I could come up with myself. And my prayer was too that this little one would just find a home - and that she did. One of my favorite songs has been a good reminder for me today - it goes like this:

Blessed Be Your Name
In the land that is plentiful
Where your streams of abundance flow
Blessed be your name
Blessed Be Your name
When I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed Be Your name

Every blessing you pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in
Still I will say
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

Blessed be Your name
When the sun's shining down on me
When the world's 'all as it should be'
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be Your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering
Blessed be Your name

Every blessing you pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in
Still I will say
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord Blessed be your name.
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

God is still "showing Himself to us" though in the midst of this - we got a
call today that we had been accepted for another grant!!!! There is
the smile in our day!

Pizza Roni

We are sitting in Pizza Hut - (after a full Saturday of hockey - of course) and the waitress asks us what kind of pizza we'd like - we were still deciding so we sat there for a minute and what pops out but "Pizza Roni!!!" Thank you Chloe - everyone's favorite flavor!!

Proud Mama

Ok - I know pride isn't good but I have to say I'm proud of my Micah!! When he started taking guitar lessons he said, "Ok, but I'm saying this now - I AM NOT PLAYING IN CHURCH - that is too embarrassing." So - we haven't pushed him - but when our music director asked him to play this Sunday night for our Harvest Dinner - he said he would!!! He put a lot of work into it as he didn't know all of the chords yet. But he did such a good job and I am proud of him - it's a great start and we'd love it if he kept it up - just had to share his debut!!!

Reading - Adoption Theme

I just finished reading a great book on Chinese cultre that I wanted to share -

it is Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See. This is one very powerful book with insight into how women were treated in China - and probably still are being treated much this same way. It is also wonderful because it goes into friendships and what they mean to us as women - it ends incredibly sad and regretful - but it does make you view your relationships in a different light.

Another powerful book I am almost finished with is I Wish for You a Beautiful Life - written by Korean birth mothers. Wow - to read these letters that mothers have written to their sons and daughters after they have given them up for adoption is heart-wrenching but also enlightening to me as an adoptive mother. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this one - it is wonderful insight into why birth moms even came to give up their little ones.

Lastly - if you want another book on adoption - a friend shared with me today yet another book I am excited to read. It is Carried Safely Home by Kristin Swick Wong. I can't give you a synopsis yet, but I was told it deals more with how adoption can even encourage you in your walk with God - and I've seen that in my life- can't wait to read it!!

Singing in the Shower

Most people sing in the shower - not me - I pray. Hey, I know it sounds corny, but I don't get up early enough to spend time praying quietly in a corner somewhere so I use my shower time to the fullest!! This morning, however, God was barged in on.....many times. I am standing in the shower - enjoying the scalding hot water, steam rising, quiet, solitude and beginning to talk to God when the door bursts open and in comes Aaron, "Mom, does this match?" Now you and I both know that there is no way to see out from behind a closed shower door, but he obviously didn't realize that and was surprised when I told him he'd have to ask someone else or wait for me to get done. I am getting back to my shower, when, BANG - the door flies open again - this time Chloe - - "Mommy - Drum!!!" I didn't even need to open the shower door to know that she had drug her drum with her into the bathroom and proceeded to serenade me. We got through a few bongs on the bongos and I directed her to the door, encouraging her, "Go find your boys." (that's what she calls her brothers). Off she goes - barely out the door and in comes Caleb, "Which sleeves do we wear today - long or short??" Ok, I'll cut him a little slack on that one - Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday we were in the 80's and were wearing short sleeves, but today we woke up to 2 or 3 inches of snow - need I say more?!?!? I told him to look out the window! Ahhhh, back to my shower (which, so my mom doesn't panic) was almost over by this point. (You have to know that as kids we were timed in the shower - no wasting water for us!!!) Just a last rinse of the hair and I was done - not so fast though - as in comes Chloe again. "Oh Danny Boy - the pipes are calling!!" You got it - she was singing "Oh Danny Boy" - now really, we do not even listen to that song, but Joe feels he must pester the rest of us by singing it at the top of his lungs while we are driving in the car!! Needless to say, the parrot in our house picked it up and now sings it whenever she wants a good laugh! Ok, I had a good laugh too but I have to apologize - God did not get His (or my) "quality time" this morning as early as He should have ~ maybe tomorrow's shower will be better!!

Favorite Photo Friday

This is what we should be doing today - YEAH!!! (But really it was taken a few years ago!)

My New Purchase

I was in the Hallmark store the other day, found this cute mug, had a coupon, so I bought it. Little did I know it would cause such a stir....I thought it was funny - my boys obviously did not. You have to picture three boys - ages almost 9, 10, and 11 gathered around this mug - I'm in the other room with Chloe just listening in......Here is their conversation - as best I remember it:

"Did you see Mom's new coffee cup?"
"Yes, I don't think that's right."
"What do you mean?"
"You shouldn't call ladies Babes."
"I think you're right - I think it's a bad word for ladies."
"I think it has something to do with sexy."
"Yeah, why did mom buy that cup?"
"Don't hurt her feelings and ask her."
"Yeah, I wonder if Dad bought it for her?"
"Should we tell him that's not a nice word to call ladies?"

There - I gave you a chuckle for your day!!

Holiday Traditions

Sandra is hosting a Holiday Traditions post. People are encouraged to add their names to the link and then post their family holiday traditions. I feel like most of our traditions aren't that "special" or "unique" but we do have one that we do yearly that the kids SO look forward to. Starting December 1, we read one Christmas book everyday until Christmas. I know - it gives away my profession of being a librarian but we truly love this one - librarian or not.

Here are a few of our favorites:

The Christmas Lizard by Cory Edwards

Silver Packages by Cynthia Rylant

Where Did They Hide My Presents? by Alan Katz and David Catrow

The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg

The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree by Gloria Houston

An Orange for Frankie by Patricia Polacco

The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by Susan Wojciechowski

Lastly - another tradition we started when our kids were born is we buy each of them a dated ornament every year - with their name on it as well. We had a wonderful lady in Grand Rapids that make ornaments out of the Fimo Clay - they are beautiful - and we still order them from her every year. Just another fun tradition we have.

HOCKEY

It's that time - our hockey games start today - just want to share my woe!! This year is the first year our boys are on three different teams so here we go! Aaron needs to be at practice (about 20 minutes away from us) at 11:45, Micah needs to be in Worthington (about an hour from us) today at 1:00 pm for a game, and Caleb has a game (about 20 minutes away) at 3:00 pm. Can you say, "We need more arms, legs, etc., etc."? Hang on to your hats - this will be a season to love or hate!!!

Chloe Story

Another Chloe story to post -

I went in to put her back in bed for her nap (now that she is in a full-size bed, she can't get in by herself - she can get out, but not back in - you get the picture!!) So, I went in to put her back in bed and she said, "I want to go to Chloe's house." and pointed out to the main part of the house. I had to chuckle but be serious as only parents can do - and explained that she had to stay in her room and take a nap. She looked at me quite seriously and said, "Ok, then I go to the library and get books?" Oh she tries so hard!!! And all good things too - I mean, how do you say no to books?!?!?!

Favorite Photo Friday

I LOVE this one - he doesn't get his photogenic-ness from me!!!! :)

Games, Games, Games

This is my new occasional post - I was inspired by Katrina over at Callapidder Days. She does a weekly feature on games that they are enjoying and, being another "game family", thought I'd post some fun ones we've been playing as well.

So, for my first game suggestion -

It is Faces by Buffalo Games. We played this for the first time last week and I am telling you -get ready to laugh and laugh and laugh. It is a lot like "Apples to Apples" where you are trying to guess what others would choose, but yet SO different. To play, faces are drawn from the deck and placed in a lineup. Player One draws one of the 174 Impression Cards, which might read "The one who loves being a dentist" or "The one who is obsessed with neatness." All players vote for the face that best fits the description. Other players advance if they match Player One's guess, while Player One advances one space for each match. Play then rotates to the next player. There are almost 200 comical faces to choose from such as vintage female faces, old time male faces or crazy animal faces. It says 10 and up for age, but Aaron loved it and he's only 8 1/2 so you can really gear it down if you need to! We just loved it and HIGHLY recommend it!

You can get this at Boardgames.com for $21.95 or Amazon.com for $18.99.
For 3 - 8 players. Ages 10 and up.