half and half

I did a little math recently and discovered that today marks the day that I have been married as long as I was single. Today I have spent exactly half of my life as a Dobbs, and half of my life as an Oscarson.

People thought we were nuts when we got married. I was only 19. Just one year out of high school. We'd only been dating for a short time, and not all of that had been blissful. But somehow I just knew he was the one (or I was being incredibly stubborn). I was a total brat while we planned our wedding (did I mention I was 19??) I was scared to death and cried a lot on my wedding day (did I mention I was 19??). And the first years of our marriage were not pretty. It was not a storybook beginning, that's for sure.

But God is good. And He is bigger than all of that. He drew us both to Him. He wove us together. He made us into a family.

We were able to go out on a date last night - a rare but cherished treat. And during our time alone together I was reminded once again how much I love this man. How safe and secure I feel with him. How thankful I am that he is the father of my children. How much I love our family and our home.

I am completely humbled by all of this. I know without a shadow of a doubt that we had nothing to do with creating any of it. But I am so very grateful.

.....So carry on, 19 year old girl. You cut that ridiculous cake you picked out. You don't have a clue what you're doing, but God does. And He's got this.

awana awards night

The kids had their Awana awards night last night. Liam completed his third Sparky book and will move up to T&T next year. Audrey completed her second T&T book. They both love Awana!

chess

It was a beautiful afternoon here today. The boys needed some exercise so I asked them to put on play-clothes and head outside, which they did. But this is not exactly what I had in mind...

the wait

Jen Hatmaker is doing a series on ethics in adoption. It's been encouraging to me on a number of levels - but this quote from today was particularly poignant.

"Although frustrating, the slower and more thorough a country is, the better. If they place a premium on reunification and in-country placements and insist on exhaustive investigations to approve an international placement, we say AMEN and commit to wait. " 

awana grand prix

The kids participated in their Awana Grand Prix last night. We all attended and had a great time cheering them on! Liam's car won 3rd place, Audrey's got 4th. And they've already started drafting car plans for next year. (They're a little competitive. Just a little....)

good friends

Sometimes, good friends don't even need to talk. They can just gather together and read!

Love, love, love our neighborhood. Some of the neatest kids I know live on our street. Blessed, indeed.

It's Mother's Day

And I'm feeling very blessed today.

A beautiful reminder this Mother's Day...
http://www.onethankfulmom.com/large-family-life/mothers-day-for-the-brokenhearted/

boys!

It cracks me up that this kid sleeps with both his sword and his sippy cup. Gotta love the wonderful world of boys!

final project

Audrey finished her cake class yesterday. For her final project she did a two-tiered red velvet cake with flowers. She's a natural! And it was so much fun sharing this time with my girl. I'm sure there will be more classes in our future!