Disney World x 3

Right now we are on the second airplane of the day, and the 12^th total of my kids' lives. This will be their third trip to Disney World at the tender age of 5 and a half. I can't help but wonder about the implications of this on their future. Danny and I both grew up in modest lower-middle class homes in the south where you were lucky to make it to the beach once a year for vacation. We were not given new cars for our 15^th birthdays and we either paid for our own college educations or we worked hard for the scholarships that paid the way. I'm still doing that, as a matter of fact. We look at being able to give our children better than our parents could give us as something to strive for, but was loading up in the Chevelle and heading to Mobile really that terrible of a childhood.

Now, of course, we love our kids and spend quality time with them every day. We strive to place focus on God and family. Note that I'm not addressing the absentee parent or the corporate parent who doesn't have time to be with their children so simply buys their love. This is a different issue altogether. I am speaking only of being spoiled rotten!

My Bible study today came from 2Tim 3:1-7 and focuses on the end days and what our lives will look like. It's sad how much of our culture and even my own household that I see in this passage: "for people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God…."

By no means am I implying that taking my kids to Disney is creating demons bound for Hell, but I do wonder if I am teaching them to prize things over God, to love the things of the world rather than the things of Heaven. Of course we take our kids to church, pray with them and most fervently pray FOR them but I cannot help but fear for their future today…not only the eternal future, but the hard near future of having to face the real world and realizing that not everyone gets to go see Mickey every year.

You Can Teach a Stuffed Dog New Tricks

Sept 19, 2009 This is the conversation at my dinner table:

Andrew: that dog next door is a BAD dog because he chewed up my umbrella

Mommy: no, he's not a bad dog; he just needs to be trained

Andrew: I know, Zachary can do it because he trained Lenny (his stuffed dog)

Zachary: Yeah, mom. When I tell him to sit, he does!

Mommy: um.... well that's not quite the same thing.

Andrew: that's right mom, Lenny is a good dog!

Mommy: well, yes, but....

Zachary: I know! Lenny can just show him how to be a good dog!Zachary: I know; Lenny can teach him how to be a good dog.

Case closed. J

Ah, The Joys of Parenthood

June 3, 2009 Andrew came in the room & said, "mommy Benny rhymes with Lenny & denny " etc, etc, etc, I said "yes, that's good." He had been watching "Wonder Pets" & the characters are Lenny, Tuck & Ming Ming. The next phrase out of his mouth was "Tuck rhymes with F***." I simply said, "yep, it sure does!" I deserve a MEDAL for not breaking a smile!

The Birds and the Bees

Nov 18, 2009 Zach says, "mom, do babies grow in eggs, like birds," I say, "yes, I guess so. I have an egg in my belly and God puts part of dad in & makes a baby." Andrew says: "How does God put the part of daddy in you?" I tried the God is magic bit but they PRESSED me it. Andrew says, "when dad gets home can God put some of dad inside of you?" I simply replied, "you need to talk to daddy about that."

Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep….

Feb 9, 2010,

During our nightly prayers we have begun to pray for God to bring us a baby through adoption.

Kids' prayers last night:

Zachary: "Jesus, please bring us a baby girl."

Andrew interrupts: "no, boy"

Zachary screams: "NO, GIRL!"

and it goes on and on and on until mom says, "God, please bring us the baby you want."

They still weren't happy but it didn't come to blows! J I am so thankful for my kiddos!

Twin Adventures

We are hanging out in El Paso for a while now that dad is home from Iraq. We are praying for God's direction in our lives and feel that adoption is the way to go for us. For now I have decided to share some of my favorite twin adventures with you....enjoy!

August 3, 2007

Shopping Trip Fiasco!

I may never leave the house with my kids ever again. What started out as a quick trip to Dothan to pick up a new double jogging stroller ended up with Zachary beating his head on the floor of Target and Andrew wetting his pants TWICE!
So no big deal, we were going to Dick's Sporting Goods to pick up a new stroller after I'd spent the last three hours on the phone calling EVERY single place in Dothan trying to find one. All was fine and as we're pulling into the parking lot Zachary starts yelling "pee pee potty, mommy, hurry, mommy, hurry." So of course I park in the first spot I can find and we go running in the store, me holding both of my 35 lb boys. I yell at the guy at the first register to tell me where the closest potty is and of course it's in the far back right corner. Andrew won't hold on and Zachary is steadily SCREAMING "pee pee potty, mommy, hurry, mommy!" So we finally get there and my good boy does indeed go potty. Crisis averted. Then we head back to the front of the store to get a buggy. Well no one can walk so I'm carrying all 70 lbs again. We find the buggy and Andrew realizes that he is controlling the automatic door (this is the first time they've realized they could open the door) so he doesn't want to get in the buggy. I bribe him into the buggy with promises of finding a ball. Well, we are in a sporting goods store so you can easily imagine how many balls we did find and ALL of them ended up in the buggy. I foolishly decide to try on a quick pair of shoes since they are happy with their balls, and they decide to play catch even though I adamantly told them that we don't throw balls in the store. While I'm crawling on the floor to dig balls out from under racks, they continue to throw them at me....in case you haven't noticed yet, I have NO control at all. So at this point I decide it's probably time to go. We get to the register and I REFUSE to buy TWO TEN DOLLAR balls, but will buy the $2 ones. They go nuts but decide the must have these two boxes of mints that are shaped like, you guessed it, balls. So we get those, but I won't let them open them. MELTDOWN!!! Zachary flips out. Well, the nice employee is helping me to the car with the stroller and just looking at me like I have no control. Well, I finally get the kids, the shoes and the stroller in the car and call my friend, Kerri, who I had intended to meet at Target and told her that there was no way we were going. I'm pulling out of the parking lot and Andrew starts saying "pee pee, mommy, hurry!" I wanted to scream!!! But instead, I quickly cut across the parking lot to Target and threw my kids in the buggy for our next trip to the bathroom. Of course, Zachary is flipping out because I still won't open the mints for him. We get to the potty and Andrew does indeed go potty, but Zachary spills half of his mints on the floor of a public bathroom! We finally get those picked up, get everybody's hands cleaned and get back in the buggy. At this point, all are happy again so I decide to look for a second. HUGE MISTAKE. All is well for a while and we do in fact see Kerri and her son Mason, let me correct....Zachary saw Kerri and started screaming "Kerri, Kerri, Macy, Macy." We did some looking at toy clearance and virtually everything in the store is in our buggy (the path of least resistance). We let them hold things and then gradually put them back up as we walk along. Anyway, things are ok and then Andrew says "uh-oh, pee pee." I assured him that I wasn't angry and it was fine. I started to pull his pants down to just change him there and then he REALLY peed. It was great. He began to get upset so I assured him that all was fine. We changed into our "Incredibles" undies which we have to wear backwards because that's the only way we can see the picture and I get the pee cleaned up. Again, all is well now and we look like serious white trash. My kid is running around with his undies on backwards with no pants on and two different shoes. Oh, I forgot to mention that they were each one wearing a brown and a black croc shoe. Again, I have NO control.
So not long after the pee pee in the buggy incident Kerri and I decide to try to leave the store. Zachary refuses to let go of the $15 Thomas the Train toy even though I have the SAME one in my purse already and even though I offered him EVERY OTHER TRAIN in the store, he wouldn't give. So, at the register, we throw a monster tantrum including beating our head on the floor (while in mis-matched shoes) while Andrew stands by in his backwards underwear and his mis-matched shoes. Needless to say, I carried him screaming to the car. Well, I turn the DVD player off because they are going nuts and kicking each other between the car seats. We honestly had not been in the car 5 minutes and Zachary is crying so hard he can't even breathe and he starts saying "pee pee, mommy, hurry!" I pull out of the road construction line I'm in and get mean eyes from the flag holder and pull into an apartment complex with a dumpster. We quickly get his pants down and I tell him to aim for a rock. He does and pees like a big boy. Well, we get back in and Andrew is saying "pee pee" with a sheepish grin. I said no because he'd just peed in the buggy, and start to drive. He points down and is peeing. So I slam on breaks, throw it in Park and grab him out of the car. I tell him to aim for the same rock, but he's all done at that point. The "Incredibles" undies are wet and so is his car seat so I have to change him again. Well, all I have left is a generic blue pair of underwear. Of course he doesn't want them and is screaming "Lightening McQueen" at the top of his lungs (the pair of undies he wanted) so I end up spanking him and putting him back in the car in the blue undies. I get back in and pull back onto the road. Not even one minute later I look back and both babies are sleeping soundly. Did I mention that I HAVE NO CONTROL.

Adoption Profile

Hi, we are Danny, Jennie, Andrew and Zachary.

Danny and Jennie have been married for 8 years and have been blessed to naturally conceive twin boys, Andrew and Zachary. Rather than opt for natural conception again, they feel God leading them toward adoption.

Danny is a 32 year old helicopter pilot who is separating from the Army in order to spend more time with his family. He has a Bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice that he earned at the University of Southern Mississippi where he met Jennie. He enjoys playing with his kids, landscaping, hiking, spending time with extended family and eating good food! He is funny, kind hearted and a daddy to the core. He loves to tickle and cuddle!

Jennie is a 30 year old online university professor who is blessed with being able to work from home. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in education to continue staying home with her children while educating the masses. Jennie teaches Sunday School at their local church and loves to be around people. She is very outgoing and enjoys teaching her kids new things every day.

Andrew and Zachary are five year old fraternal twins who love to laugh and play. They are very loving children who are excited to have a new baby in their home. The twins attend Pre-K at their church and are involved in KinderMusick and Upward Soccer.

Danny and Jennie live near both sides of the extended family, ensuring that their children have lots of cousins to play with and grandparents to love them. The family enjoys traveling (especially to Disney World), hiking through the woods, going on picnics and watching movies.

This family has more love to share and would like to share it with your baby. Please consider us as the adoptive family for you.

God Bless!
Danny, Jennie, Andrew and Zachary