Jackson's new friends

Wednesday of last week was Jackson's 2nd day of school... at his new school. On Wednesday, I picked all the kids up. I was asking them questions about their day and the girls were talking a mile a minute. I wanted to hear from Jackson, so I said, "Jackson, did you make any new

friends?"

"Yeah, I made two new friends."

"What are their names?"

"Tyler and Clock."

"Clock??"

"Yeah, Clock."

"Are you sure his name is Clock?"

"Yeah, it's Clock..... or maybe it's Cock."

My eyes grew as wide as saucers. Then I said, "Well, I can guarantee his name is not Cock."

"Then it's Clock. Yeah, his name is Clock.

Later on that night, when he was on his 2nd round of trying to eat his dinner, he got up from the table with his cup and headed to the refrigerator to get more water. As he was walking, he said, "His name is Clark. Yeah, that's his name. Clark."

Shew!

I laugh every time I think about it!

American Idol Concert Tour

Just so you know.... I would never block any of you from my blog. I just manipulate people to get comments. Hey, I never said I was perfect.

I have learned that when your kids go to school for the first time ever (at least the girls 1st time), it's not such a great idea to pick them up, spend 10 minutes with them on the way to drop them at the grandparents, and then head 75 minutes away for a concert. I'll just add this to the list of things they will need therapy for later.

Shelby had a bit of a rough start. She was so worried about being organized. Her stomach was hurting and she kept having to run to the bathroom. When we got home at 11:30, she was still awake. She was nervous again this morning but ended up having a great day! Sheeewww!

SO....

I know you all have been dying to know what I thought about the American Idol concert... and it just so happens that I am dying to tell you.

To be honest, I wasn't super excited about going. I went last year and was disappointed. I really wasn't planning on going this year, but I changed my mind at the very last minute and bought tickets. I am really glad I did!

I thought, the minute it started, I was going to be disappointed again. Last year, they started with #10, let him/her sing 3 songs and worked their way down to #1. I like it when they sing together and in 2 and 3's etc... So, when I heard, "Number 10.... Michael Sarver!" I was ready to be disappointed. However, when he only sang 2 songs, I had hope it would be different.... and different it was!

So, I am going to talk about the concert in order... or at least the order I remember.

#10 Michael Sarver- He sings better in person than I thought he would. He's just not that entertaining.

#9 Megan Joy Corkery- I actually like her voice. It's very unique. And, when she doesn't have to face the judges at the end of her songs, she seems a bit more relaxed and her voice is a whole lot less pitchy. I think she did great... MINUS.... the fro...... and the prostitute outfit. See for yourself!


She has gorgeous hair.... when it is in the o'natural state. I am not sure what she was thinking. I certainly don't know how in the world she got her hair to do that... not that I even want to know.

#8 Scott MacIntyre Again, he sang much better in person... just not a huge fan of his voice.

#7 Lil Rounds- WOW! She was amazing. I had so much hope for her this last year. She was my favorite after all the auditions. To be honest, I really thought she would win... at the beginning anyway. Week after week, it was such a disappointment. I think the pressure and the judges got to her on the show because SHE ROCKED THE HOUSE last night!! That was the Lil I waited all season to see!

And.... when we get to heaven, if you can't find me....it's because I am going to be black. Seriously, I am asking God to make me black. Nothing is impossible for him... in case you don't know. I want to move like Lil Rounds. I want to sing like her too. Or Cece Winans. I don't care. I just want to be black. And sing. And dance.

Lil's last song was All the Single Ladies. She was movin! I was afraid she might lose something... but it all managed to stay in there somehow. I have been singing that song ALL DAY LONG. Believe me, you don't want to hear me sing it either. I'll sing it for you in Heaven. When I am black.

#6 Anoop. Anoop Dog was in the house!! For such a classy dresser... he really blew it last night. What on God's green earth was he thinking wear those purple clod-hoppers???

He did fine. I really do like his voice. He's just not an amazing performer... even though his skin is dark:-)
I just wanted you to get a glimpse of that wretched hair one more time. Lady of the Night. Geesh!
#5 Matt Giraud was amazing. He was a great performer and I liked him even better than I did during the season.

Scott and Matt came out of the floor doing the dueling pianos. They were amazing!
Anoop singing with sunglasses on. The other 5 in the bottom 6 joined him. I don't remember what they sang, but it was really, really good.... whatever it was.

They had the song choreographed too... really fun! They did a great job.

#4 Allison Iraheta (however in the world you spell her last name. It's not worth looking up the correct spelling.) I don't know what it is about this girl, but she gets on my last nerve... so I have no pictures of her singing by herself.

#3 Danny Gokey I love Danny! He did a great job. I think he even worked a little Zumba into his song. Or, at least some kind of latin dancing. It was funny!

Ahhh... I said the word Zumba. I haven't been able to speak or write that word since my little friend, Janae, got sick. BUT, she is on the mend! Praise the Lord. Her cardiologist released her and in the privacy of her own home yesterday, she did 9 Zumba songs.

Adam was all the hype. Every time his picture came up on the screen before the concert, all the girls would scream. It was actually really annoying. HELLO GIRLS! He doesn't like you! He plays for the other team.

And, because of their ear piercing screams, my husband was equally, if not more, annoying. He would double over, put his fingers in his ears, make this awful face and then turn around and give these girls dirty looks. Who's the adult? And, HELLO, when is the last time you've been to a concert? Young girls, teenage girls and older woman with no life... scream at concerts...FYI!

And, Adam definitely had the most dramatic build up before he came on stage for the first time. The lights flashed more, the the music was louder and exploded when Adam Lambert appeared.

Now, I'm not going to take anything about from Adam in the performing department. He is absolutely amazing. I don't necessarily love his voice, but he is a performer!

He is also skanky!! See for yourself!



Yep! He was doing... ummmm... some not very nice things with that mic stand. Really ticked me off too. American Idol is a family thing and everyone else was so clean.


The crowd also threw all kind of things on stage while he performed. I know some of the things probably were not good, I just don't know what they were. And, I don't want to know... thankyouverymuch!
Oops! Didn't mean to take a picture of Allison, but they performed together.
Then Adam took off his jacket. Not a good look, if you ask me. No one asked me.
Yeah! KRIS ALLEN! He may not be a performer like Adam, but I think the voters of AI got it right for a number of reasons. 1)He is no question the most talented... from the vocals, to the guitar, to the piano... 2)He is wholesome and he is a Christian. There may be hope for our country after all.






Kris and Adam popped up through the middle during the finale.

There's my girl, Lil. She was so sweet. Always helping Scott around the stage.

SO, am I glad I went this year? Yep! Wish I could go again!

P.S. Aren't you so proud of me?? I had the batteries for my camera charged. I had them in the camera. I had the camera. And, I had the card! Nothing short of a miracle.

Now, what in the world am I going to do with all these pictures? If I didn't blog or have children that loved American Idol, I would have never even taken my camera. I just don't have pictures from important events... like my babies 1st 4th of July:-(

First Day of School Ever

Well, today my kids all started a new school. Shelby and Gracie have never been to school, so this was their first day ever. Jackson has gone to preschool and Kindergarten. He went to school because he needed speech therapy, but now they are all at the same school.

I decided to send the girls to school for about 100 reasons. If you really want to know why and how I made the decision, please email me and I would be more than glad to share.

I want to say that there are no formulas for raising children. There is no one path that is right for every one. There are pros and cons to all forms of schooling: home, public and private. Thankfully, God wants a relationship with each and every once of us. Because of that, I believe when we ask for guidance, he graciously gives it to us. Through what could only be his guidance and provision, we are sending our children to a private school. We could not feel more peaceful about our decision.

Enjoy pictures from their first day... which was yesterday.

The younger two loved school. The oldest is a bit stressed about the organizational part of schooling. She will do great once she gets the hang of it!

Two posts in one day. Whoohoo! The one below is from last year. If you want to relive my adoption with me... scroll down!:-)

The Battle-from Aug 25, 2008- last year

This is a post from last year (from my other blog). I thought, since it is so close to celebrating Emme Day (the day she joined our family), I would repost things from last year. Check back later today, I will have another post. I've got a million things to say.

And, by the way, you guys are a bunch of slackers when it comes to leaving comments! Where'd they all go? I'm gonna close my blog and only open it to people who leave comments. I can do that you know? Does that scare you?

I thought so!

THE BATTLE

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high [places].

Ephesians 6:12

I believe when God sets desires in peoples hearts and sets them on a mission, the army of the enemy prepares for battle. He doesn't wait long to attack.

If you know me, it is no secret that I have battled depression and anxiety attacks since I was about 19 years old. I am very open about it, it's not a secret. It's not an everyday issue. It usually rears it's ugly head in very stressful times. I have had terrible bouts about 5 times. I believe that I will have complete victory over this one day. I serve a living, powerful, healing God. And, he sent Jesus, so that I might live life and live it fully. To me, that means being victorious over weaknesses. However, I will always have an enemy. That enemy studies my weaknesses and strikes there every time.

It's like on the movie Karate Kid. (Don't act like you didn't love this movie!) Daniel LaRusso is fighting in the championship of a karate tournament. He's fighting against the bully who has beat him up and tormented him. Daniel's leg is hurt and the master of the other team knows this. He orders the boy to strike Daniel's leg.

That's what the enemy of this world does to us. To me specifically, he preys upon this weak area of my life.

In February of 2006, when we were in the paperchase part of the adoption, he hit me hard. I started having panic attacks which in turn makes me depressed. I wanted to concede defeat and forget the adoption. However, the Lord was faithful. He keeps teaching me how to fight.

This past spring, Satan took a different approach. I wish that I had written down the attacks that took place in the month of May. Although, I doubt many people would believe that all the things that happened could happen to one person in such a short amount of time. At one point, I WAS TOTALLY convinced that Candid Camera was lurking around every corner. I was just waiting for someone to jump out and say, "Smile! Your on Candid Camera!"

I thought for all of you who follow along with this story, I'd at least give you a play by play of the first weekend of May. Plus, Emme has to have a record of this. I want her to know that we were fighting... fighting for her!

May 1, looked like one of the happiest days on record. At approximately 12:30, we had an unsolicited, surprise call from Maury at FTIA announcing our LOA had arrived. And, it was only 6 days after receiving word we had received our PA. If you are adopting SN from China, then you know this is like a miracle. We were so excited! She gave us instructions that our LOA would be overnight Fedexed to us. We would receive it on Friday morning and we were to send it back, Fedex, overnight, on the same day.

It arrived on Friday morning, just like it was supposed to. I signed it, filled out the travel sheets, made some copies and prepared to send it back. While I was making copies, since my copier is in my laundry room, I threw in a load of laundry.

You should also know, that I had a garage sale going on outside and it was Jackson's 5th birthday. Hardly anything going on at the Isaascs' house! Ha!

At one point, I came back in to throw the wet clothes into the dryer. I walked into the laundry room to find water all over the floor. For some odd reason, our washer empties into a sink. Our washer doesn't dump the water into some magic hole in the wall, like most people's washers. It goes into a sink and the sink had decided not to accept any more water so it spewed it all over my floor. We had to call someone right away because there was so much laundry that it was going to start revolting if it didn't get washed. It was fix it fast or I was quitting!

So, a guy came over to fix the problem about 2 pm. About 3 pm, I left to run to Fedex to overnight the papers back. While I was there, I had a few color copies made that would only copy well by Fedex, etc... Of course, those trips always take longer than expected.

I flew home to grab Gracie to take her to gymnastics while a mighty wind was whipping up a storm. I helped Paul throw some of the garage sale stuff into the garage and somehow in that small amount of time, we got into an argument. It is important to note that, we are one of those odd couples who rarely fight. I don't even know what the fight was about. I threw Gracie in the car and drove in the driving rain to her class. When I arrived, I grabbed my copies of the paperwork to look over while I was inside. I am not sure why I did this, but I did.

While inside looking over the paperwork, I realize that Paul didn't even sign the LOA. I panicked, called Fedex and begged them to dig out my envelope. They fished it out but told me to get there by 6 pm so it could go out on time. I ran home to get Paul. And, guess what?? 3 hours later, the guy is STILL fixing the sink in our laundry room. It is now 5 pm . I had one hour to get to Fedex. At, 5:55 pm, 4 HOURS of fixing one pipe in our laundry sink, the guy finally finishes and we race to Fedex.

Please, keep in mind, it is Jackson's birthday. At this point, he has reminded us many times it has not been a good birthday. We do our business at Fedex. We went to dinner at a place Jackson made sure to tell us he didn't like. We went home, joyfully sang Happy Birthday, ate cake and sent the kids to bed.

I went down to throw in a load of laundry and went to bed... happy. NOT!!!!

In the morning, I went straight to the laundry room to put the clothes into dry because Shelby's uniform was in the wash and she had a soccer game at 11 am. I also had a baby shower for a very dear, wonderful friend at 10 am.

I walked into the Ohio River.... in my laundry room. That river that I walked into made the previous days flood look like a small rain puddle. The water had come out into the family room and it had gone under the wall into the bedroom next to it.

I ran upstairs. I announced to Paul that the idiot that fixed the sink for 4 HOURS the day before didn't really fix the sink at all! He very calmly looked at me. HE thought for a moment and then....he had the nerve to say to me, "Did you put the hose back in the tub?" I said, "WHAT???!!!"

"Did you put the hose back in the tub?"

"WHY WOULD I THINK TO PUT THE HOSE BACK IN THE TUB???????" "I DIDN'T WORK ON THE SINK??" "YOU WERE WITH THE PLUMBER FOR 4 HOURS!!" "I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW THE HOSE WAS OUT OF THE SINK!!!!!!!'

To clarify, the water didn't just BACK UP. The water from the washing and the RINSING, all 400 gallons, poured onto my floor.

You don't need to hear the rest of the conversation. And, my dear friend, who has done more for me than I could ever write....... I didn't make it to her shower.

Sunday, I went my laundry room to make some copies. I love, love, LOVED that copier. Yes, I said LOVED. The copier that I used everyday, because A) I am adopting and if you adopt, you need a copier and B) I homeschool. Everyday....EVERYDAT I used that copier. The great flood... it ruined the power pack.

So, on Monday morning, I got up and at 8:30 I called HP to order a new power pack cord. I had the part number ready.

Of course, you know the drill. It takes 10 minutes to get to a live person. After 10 minutes, I start to order the part.

The live person I was talking to.... I am pretty sure he lived in India.

Me: "Um, yes, I need to order a new cord for my printer. The part # is RW456 876 45TS. "

For the next 15 minutes, I read that guy every part # on the cord, the printer, the phone book. You name it!

Finally, I think we have the part.

At this point, it is 9:15 and I have to be at a Kindergarten screening at 9:30 am. My hair is not fixed, my teeth not brushed. I only have on the t-shirt I slept. And, I am violently motioning my children to get dressed.

The Indian Man (dot not feather) (please use the accent when you read): Could I have your name?

Me: April Isaacs. I-S-A-A-C-S

The Indian Man: your address

Me: ( I have to spell my street, 3 times!)

The Indian Man: Zip code

Me: 38389 (Yes, I know this is not my correct zip code. I made it up so the sick people of this world don't know where I live. HA!)

Keyboard clicking

Indian man: That is not a valid zip code.

Me: 3 8 3 8 9

Keyboard clicking

Indian Man: That is not a valid zip code.

Me: Sir, I get mail here everyday. I have lived here for 5 years. That is my zip code.

Me Ok. Change it from (small town I live in) to (close big city)

Indian Man: That is not a valid zip code

Keyboard clicking

Me: I sit and breathe in and breath out and count to 10. I say nothing.

Indian Man: Miss, if you do not give me valid zip code, I can not order your part.

ME: ( I am normally calm, rarely raise my voice.) (My voice was very raised, very raised!) SIR, DO YOU THINK THAT I WOULD SIT HERE ON THE PHONE FOR ALMOST AN HOUR TO GET A PART SO THAT WHEN I FINALLY GET TO THE PART WHERE I CAN GET THE PART, I CAN GIVE YOU AN INVALID ZIP CODE?????????????

Indian man: I need a valid zip code.

I hung up... without ordering the part. I had no choice. I had to leave.

Candid camera did not reveal themselves.

I got dressed, went to the Kindergarten screening. A few days later, I got a new copier.

If you have made it this far, WOW, you should get an award!!

Sometimes, the enemy attacks and attacks and attacks. He can do it in multiple small ways like he did to me in May. Desperately trying to wear me down. Or, he can drop the nuclear bomb and go for my mind. I believe that over the last, almost 3 years, he has tried whatever it would take to keep a little girl out of this home. He knew, when we succeeded, that precious little girl would hear about Jesus everyday. He's going to lose. We leave in 7 days!

The Lord has taught me how to use his word to fight. He has also taught me that over and over and over again in the scriptures, praising and worshipping him brings defeat. Check it out for yourself. When the Israelites when out to fight, they sent the tribe that sang songs about the victory God would win, AHEAD of the people who would do the physical battle. In the New Testament, when someone wanted healing, they worshipped him first. When he was not worshipped first, he confronted the faith of the individual. (See Matthew 15:22-28) In that passage, the woman's miracle did not come until two things had been established: 1) that she had faith , and 2)that she was going to worship God.

2 Chronicles 20:21

When he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers to sing to the Lord and praise him in their holy garments as the WENT OUT BEFORE the army saying, Give thanks to the Lord, for his mercy and loving-kindness endure forever!!

Will you go before us and praise God and pray for our protection against the enemy???

Kings Island

Last weekend, when we went to Chicago, I felt like The Clampetts traipsing through a 4 star hotel with our 20 pillows. Never mind, that I am like a fish out of water when I leave my county anyway... you can imagine what I am like in a big city. The big city of Chicago... where I had to take out a loan to feed my children. One less child could go to college if we fell into any of the tourist trap activities. Geesh! We got no bizniss in Chicago. We can not run with the big dogs in a place like that... we got to hide under the porch.

But, yesterday, we went to Kings Island (courtesy of Paul's parents). There's something about going to a place like Kings Island that makes me feel... well, a whole lot better about myself. I don't so much feel like the Clampett's in a place like that. I kind of feel like the Jeffersons... only we're white. Sing it with me now:

Well we're movin on up,
To the east side.
To a deluxe apartment in the sky.
Movin on up
To the east side.
We finally got a piece of the pie.

Fish don't fry in the kitchen;
Beans don't burn on the grill.
Took a whole lotta tryin'
Just to get up that hill.
Now we're up in the big leagues
Gettin' our turn at bat.
As long as we live, it's you and me baby
There ain't nothin wrong with that.

Well we're movin on up,
To the east side.
To a deluxe apartment in the sky.
Movin on up
To the east side.
We finally got a piece of the pie.

I fear that by writing this, I may come across prideful, like I am better than certain people. That's not what I am trying to say. I just never seem to get over the people at these types of places... especially their clothing choice.

Yesterday, I decided I might do an independent study on the way people dress when they come to Kings Island.

I am just going to stand around with a note pad and a tape recorder. Then, I am going to stop people like the REALLY heavy girl in the white tank top without a bra (that was wet mind you) and say, "Excuse me? Could you tell me about your outfit today? Like, how did you decide that would be what you would wear today? Did you think about getting wet? Did you think through the fact that when it got wet, people would be able to see through it?"

Or the girl walking around in her swim suit top and a pair of jeans. "Excuse me? What makes you think it's socially acceptable to walk around here with a bikini top and a pair of jeans? Do you see other people walking around with similar type outfit? Would you go to the grocery story wearing that?" How about a restaurant?

Or the "home schooling- looking family" of 6 that ALL wore tan shorts and blue and white tie dyed shirts. It's not like they had 4 little kids with them. The youngest was probably 6 and the oldest 14. And, the dad and at least one of the boys had their shorts hiked up to their chests while their mom had on a HUGE fanny pack. "Excuse me? What made you ALL wear the exact same thing? Did you want to stand out like a sore thumb? Why do you pull your shorts up so high?"

(By the way, until Tuesday, I can say anything I want about homeschoolers because I am one. On Tuesday, my girls will go to school for the first time EVER- we will lose our homeschool status.)

I'm pretty sure some time during the course of the day, I'd get beat up.... or at least punched. BUT, it might be worth it if I could understand some of the decision making processes of these people.

And, how is it that some people don't look like they came to Kings Island for the day... they some how look like they just belong there. I'm not even sure what that means.

And, why do couples come there and hang all over each other. I don't understand that. Holding hands... totally fine. But kissing and hugging and groping and leaning all over each other. Why? Why do that in public? No one wants to see that! And, these really young kids, if they are doing these things out in public, what in the world are they doing when they are alone? DO NOT ANSWER THAT!

We left Kings Island around 8 pm. My children were wet and dirty. The girls hair looked like the fur a of neglected cat. They were tired and cranky. You'd think we'd have raced home to the shower, huh? Nope! We went to a wedding reception.

The reception was for a guy Paul mentored when we were at Cedarville. He also happened to work as a pastor of our church for awhile. He is also the reason we attend the church we attend. He invited us once, we went and we never looked back.

He's no longer a little midwestern homeschooled boy. He's works with Erwin McManus at a huge church in Los Angeles. He got married about a month ago in LA so he came home for an Ohio reception. His family lives on a ranch and a couple of years ago they added on a small 3000 square foot addition to their already large home. I think it's perfectly acceptable to do something like that if you have birthed 3 children and then adopted 8 children internationally.

The reception was held there. We met this guy's new wife, hung out, ate some unbelievable Korean food (and I hate Asian food) and talked to people we have not seen in a long time. It was really fun. We left about 11 pm.

Today, I am sure there are people asking: Who were those people at the reception last night with those dirty kids? Why would they come looking like that? Why'd they come at 9 pm when it started at 6?

I'm sure you get the point:-)

Hank and Sueann

Chicago Part III and Dreams

One of my favorite people in all the world and also one of my very best friends is Gina. If you want to read more about Gina, click here.

Gina drove out from the Chicago suburbs on Saturday, hopped a train and met up with our family downtown. They took us to the aquarium and bought us lunch. The buying lunch thing was kinda dirty on her husband's part, we were trying to buy lunch for them and some how he beat us to the punch.

So, anyway, Gina was very offended to read my blog and not see any pictures of them, but a whole bunch of pictures of the beautiful people, Ryan and Chelsea (see last post). Gina is also one of the funniest people I know, so we had a good laugh about it. Then I had to explain to her that we only took one picture together and it was horrible. I did take one picture of her on my phone.. the one below. Anthony wouldn't look at me.

And, Gina had taken one picture of Anthony and Emme that she sent to me. That picture cracks me up. Check out his face. He is going to be so funny just like his mom and dad. I LOVE funny people.We shared a lot of drinks in that expensive forsaken city of Chicago. Now, we are paying for it. Jackson had some kind of funk going on for a few days... fever, stomachache. I had it yesterday. Emme has had it today. So glad she has vomited up EVERY bit of her food today. The feeding team that she is scheduled to see Thursday morning is going to love to see her weight. Grrr......

I love this picture!

My Gracie ALWAYS falls asleep just like this on trips. It never ceases to crack us up!

I hate this picture of Jackson. He looks like Pee Wee Herman.

The End of Chicago

Dreams

I wish someone could interpret my dreams.

Some dreams, I think I can interpret myself. Like, I always have the dream that I am driving a car and I can not for the life of me get my eyes open. I think I get this one. I like to control things. I don't think I try to control people. I just want to be in control and help people that hurt or heal people when they are sick or fix bad marriages, etc... But, clearly, I, in a real sense, can only control what I do. And, I am not even sure I can control myself without the help of the Holy Spirit.

Then,

Several times in my life, I have had the dream that all my teeth have fallen out. What's up with that one?

But, last night, I had a really bad dream. It was horrible and I was so sad and heart broken. In my dream, my pastor, Charlie... his wife died. It was just unthinkable. She wasn't sick. She's was in great shape and just beautiful (true in real life too!) I remember being so, so sad for Charlie because I know/knew he really loves/loved Sherry. I knew this was going to be horrible for him. I also remember thinking, "I bet a lot of single women are really happy." Isn't that horrible?? Hey, I can't control what I dream.

Of course, everyone wanted to know was how she died. It was a big mystery. But, this guy came up and said, "I have this special paper and if it sticks anywhere on the body, it means there was some kind of fluid leak." (Sounds more like a car to me... but...) Well, apparently, when this guy put the paper on her nose, it stuck. So, it was concluded that she died from a stuffy nose.

Weird I know!

Do you have any recurring dreams?