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Monday, February 28, 2011

This is my early morning riser(4:00) that helps me pack lunches
for some reason he loves his shirts buttoned all the way to the top
We are back from our fun weekend with our friends.  We had a blast and I have so many pictures to download.
More later
I have to catch up!
Have a good day

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Today is this little one's 5th Birthday
Happy Birthday
 You cannot see it, but she wears this skirt backwards.  She loves the back pockets in the front. 
I will be doing a birthday post when we get back home.  We will be in Minnesota today until Sunday staying with some friends.  We do this every February and we have so much fun.
So we will be missing in action for a few days.
The kids are so excited to listen to some new adventures in odyssey Cd's and the chronicles of Narnia Cd's that a friend borrowed us for the ride.  So thankful for those. 
I like to read a lot when we drive.  I usually read to Dave and then we both get through a book.
I also use the time to write the kids a letter.  For every birthday of theirs we write them a long letter and recap the year.  We talk about who they are, what is on their heart, dreams, goals, what they do with their time, what they eat, everything.  Then I tuck it away to give to them when they are 18.  My mom always used to write me letters (when I was over 18 and living at home) and I always read them and saved every one of them.  It got me through those tough times, even though back then I didn't want to admit it. 
We will be fasting and praying today, thanks to Linny over at http://www.aplacecalledsimplicity.com/
Thanks for your prayers and donations.  We are forever grateful and so thankful you are part of this journey with us.  We will see you in a few days!
Love
Jill

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

What was I thinking...
So before school the other morning
we were doing headstands and handstands on the living room floor
My children were all trying to do various gymnastics moves.
Olivia was trying to do a cartwheel and then Odin...
Hilarious
So, I decided why not
I used to do them all the time in grade school and in high school
I am no gymnast
I was a volleyball and softball player
So as I prepared myself so I wouldn't hit anything in the living room
All the kids are watching me with my hands in the air
ready to go
and I'm off
and as I put my hands on the ground
one of my wrists gave way and I totally fell
The kids were totally laughing
Odin grabs the phone and says, do I need to call 911 mom
I couldn't stop laughing and crying at the same time.
If we only got a picture, it would've been priceless
Really..
what was I thinking
I am almost 35 years old
Can anyone else out there do them ...still?

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

 This little guy loves making trains at home!
He likes to think he can crawl over the tops of all the chairs.
The cargo is his sisters dolls.
So thankful they play so good together!

Monday, February 21, 2011

Hearts
Me:  Olivia, what are you doing with those on the right and those on the left?
Olivia: I was planning on giving them to the orphans in the orphanage when we go visit them



 Me: Do you think we have enough?
Olivia: yes
If they only knew what the real numbers looked like.
We will continue to teach our kids about the orphan crisis and ask God to break their hearts for what breaks his! 
Happy Monday!

Friday, February 18, 2011

Life
Playing Life at 5:30 am
before school in the morning
 Seriously, my kids think everyone gets up at this time and does this stuff!

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Too funny

I forgot to post this.  Look what someone spray painted in our snow after the superbowl.
Dave is a fourty niners fan so everyone thought he did it and changed his fanclub!
The kids thought it was great and we got a good laugh out of it!

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Signs
God always provides signs for us for everything we've ever done
sometimes 1 sign but most of the time numerous signs over and over on a daily basis
I am a firm believer in them
We ask for them and he provides
sometimes fast sometimes months or years
The WAITING is what is so hard
God is so good though!
His love never fails
I was out walking the other night in the dark
and I was having my precious confiding time with my God
Talking about life, dreams, hopes, decisions, asking for a ton of answers
(which I do every day)
Just still waiting for answers on certain things
but I keep praying and asking and waiitng
Then all of a sudden the coolest thing happened
I just happen to look up into the dark night sky and see a double shooting star land right above my head
(If my head was in the sky)
 It had only one tail with 2 stars
one above the other
parallel with each other. 
I should of  had my camera
I have never seen anything like it
I couldn't find a picture for you all to see either. 
It was so bright!
I was so excited I actually jumped over a few sidewalk cracks and wanted to call people
God is so good!

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

The kids had there Valentine parties yesterday
and we did a fun scavenger hunt around the house.
They love this
20 clues for each kid

and a surprise at the end from Grandma Mimi and Papa Julio
an art case

chocolate waffles with chocolate syrup
 
Homemade cards are the best!
Hope you had a great day with all your little Love's as well!

Monday, February 14, 2011

Making Valentine Cookies
or sugar cookie snowmen
Happy Valentine's Day
Love must be sincere
Honor one another
Be joyful in hope
Be faithful in prayer
Be devoted
Live in harmony with one another
Do not be proud
Do not be conceited
Be devoted to one another
If it is possible live at peace with everyone
Love is quiet
understanding
mutual confidence
sharing and forgiving
loyalty through good and bad
makes allowances for human weaknesses
Celebrate the love for your husband if your married
the love of your friends, family and most of all Jesus Christ
With Love
Jill

Friday, February 11, 2011

Babysitting
I took on a babysitting job on Thursday's only for 2 other children and it has been so fun.
the extra money will go straight to the adoption fund
We made cupcakes
had a tea party
talked about Valentine's day
respect for others
doing things as a team
animals
love
Love the things that kids come up with
My older 2 kids cannot wait to come home to these 2 little treasures and play with them before their parents come and get them.
Odin purposely wakes up the babe to hold him for 20 minutes
He says, mom
I want to adopt one like this
like what?
One that has no teeth and a fuzzy head
Love their honesty!

Thursday, February 10, 2011

           Months on the waitlist
We have had some sickness going through the  house this week.
Taking turns with everyone.  Thanks for all your prayers!


Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Love Notes
Whenever my  dear husband has to travel  for work
which is very rare
 he always leaves me
love notes.

(sorry about the bad picture)
This one is super special
I have it framed
A cursive left handed love letter!
Taped to things
Sent in the mail
in my car
I am so thankful we have such a wonderful marriage.
Spiritually growing together
Giving God total control over our lives
Allowing the holy spirit to guide and empower our lives
Being filled with the Holy spirit
resulting in joy and holiness
The gateway to his heart is through respect, even when I don't think he deserves it.
Hee Hee
Thank you for being such a great gift to me.
I am so thankful and grateful for you!
I love you David

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Valentine Decorations
The kids want decorations in our house all year
Sometimes, it's hard to find things around the house or come up with ideas
We mananged to find everything right in our house this time.


This is what we did with all of this
Turned out great.
 The kids think we are supposed to decorate every month for some reason.  They love decorating!

Monday, February 7, 2011

Packer Day
On Friday the kids had packer day at school and a pep rally
seriously....
I can't believe these schools do these kind of things.
I was never big into cheering for teams on t.v
We watched very little TV if any when we were younger
Never had time for it, so the whole game thing on TV was never really my thing
I was into a ton of sports and they were my life growing up
but that was different
The kids and the other BIG kid(dad) had a blast making these t-shirts that nanee bought for them
We have 2 Steeler fans(they were fans years before they got to the Super Bowl) 
(I am not sure what he is doing with his fingers)

We are not fair weather fans here in the Funkhouser household
You pick a team and stay with it
Through the good, the bad and the ugly
Way to go Pack!

Friday, February 4, 2011

 Fear
Great sermon on Sunday by our guest speaker Andy Starling(sorry I don't have a picture to add of Andy) from Victory church in Oklahoma
His wife Kristy did an amazing job singing


Beautiful voice
His sermon was about fear and how we let it control our lives
What are your fears
spiders
dying
being home alone
never being married
losing a loved one
animals
heights
water
drowning
the dark
the list could go on and on
It really hit me and brought me to tears
I have so many ideas, dreams and thoughts  swirling in my head
but waiting for God to show me the way and guide me.  We have been praying for answers to lots of things for months, it just gets so hard to be patient especially when YOU want to get going on things and you have extra time too.
Are these thoughts from God
 Are these ideas from God and
not just things I think I can do 
 or want to do
The fears I have our making the next step and committing myself
The what if's always come back and haunt me

2 Timothy 1:7
For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

2 Samuel 23:20-21
20 There was also Benaiah son of Jehoiada, a valiant warrior from Kabzeel. He did many heroic deeds, which included killing two of Moab's mightiest warriors. Another time he chased a lion down into a pit. Then, despite the snow and slippery ground, he caught the lion and killed it. 21 Another time, armed only with a club, he killed a great Egyptian warrior who was armed with a spear. Benaiah wrenched the spear from the Egyptians hand and killed him with it.
 
Lion chasers know that the bigger 
their God is the smaller the lions become
Lion chasers  understand that playing it safe is risky
You get one shot in life
Will you have regrets when you die
Dreams that are not fulfilled because of fear
constantly making excuses for when the time will be right for you.
Can you
Chase your fears today ?
without faith it is impossible to please God...Hebrews11:6
We live by faith, not by sight....2Corinthians 5:7
Have a great Friday! 
Care, Prayers and Hugs
Love
Jill



Thursday, February 3, 2011

 Valentine's cards
We always make homemade valentine's cards for school
They like to ask for craft supplies as gifts.
We are huge crafters, but that stuff costs a lot
We are not into the whole valentine(holiday) so to speak
We believe in lots of loving every day
80 cards later, we are done
and Jonah could've kept going
Odin was barely hanging on
Have a great Thursday!
We are buried in snow here.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Making cookies
Odin reads the recipe to us
the Little's mix it all up
then we all roll the balls
Wish you could come over and have some
Chocolate Chip/Peanut Butter Chip Peanut Butter Cookies
Today we are doing some fasting and praying if you would like to join us.
Praying for guidance for our family and some clear direction.
Thanks for all your prayers and donations!
We love you!

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Jonah's 6th Birthday
We chose to celebrate Saturday since daddy had to teach on his actual birthday.
I asked this sweet little guy what he would like for his birthday a long time ago, so I would have plenty of time to do whatever I needed to do
He says, I would like a gift card to Africa to get my brother and sister, get out of there fast and fly home.
that would be a pretty big gift card, I said
Then he said, how about sponsoring a child for $34 a month for a year and then we can write to each other and send pictures.
I love the idea but we cannot afford that when we are trying to save for an adoption, I said, maybe when we are finished with this we can find a way to do it.
Love his heart
so so giving
We started the morning out with eggs and sausage and juice(his choice all day-we serve him and he is free from all chores and helping).
Then he chose hot dogs and soda/juice for lunch
My kiddos love to do cheers
Then we headed off to Appleton
 and went to an indoor play gym

Look at the sweat!

Then Jonah chose to go out to eat instead of a gift.  My children love to go out to eat, but we don't.  They can pick that for their birthday gift or ask for gift cards towards a restaurant if they wish.  They think it's so neat.  I always have coupons too so that helps. 
He was so excited that they sang to him and gave him a free hot fudge sundae.
Then we went home and had cake and opened gifts from family.
He is excited for the cake!
 bugs and blue lizard

Thank you everyone for all the wonderful gifts. 
He loved them all and was so excited!
Thanks for all the wonderful cards too. 
Odin loves to read them to him.
We are so greatful for such a wonderful guy God has blessed us with!

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