Pay it Forward

I read lots of adoption blogs. I got the idea for this game here.

Here’s the rules

I am entering into the following contract with the first 5 people who comment and then commit to do the same on their blog.
Just read below and if you feel up to the task copy the following into your blog and leave me a comment. I can’t post overseas, so it’s for US residents only.

1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make. You get what you get and you don’t have a fit.
2. What I create will be just for you, with love.
3. It’ll be done this year (2009).
4. I will not give you any clue what it’s going to be. It will be something made in the real world and not something cyber. It may be weird or beautiful. Or it may be monstrous and annoying. Heck, I might bake something for you and mail it to you. Who knows? (okay, I probably won’t bake anything because shipping that is a huge pain.)
5. I reserve the right to do something strange (but probably won’t)
6. In return, all you need to do is post this text on your blog and make 5 things for the first 5 to respond to your blog post.
7. Send your mailing address - after I contact you.

Welcome to everyone. I will however, make an effort to do something that you like based on what I see on your blog, BUT there are no guarantees.

Birds

Here are our babies! Look how big they are, four days from our last pictures.



Their eyes are open!


To see our birds from the beginning go to these posts:

Bird Eggs
Newborn Babies
Growing Fast

Bugs

Each week I pick some things for the boys to do that go along with the theme at Aiden's school. This way I can reinforce what he is learning and expand on it. I also choose a memory verse that goes along with the theme. Both boys are doing such a good job with their memory verses. Not only can they tell you this weeks, they can tell you Every week we've done. So far we've learned:

Theme - Flowers
God made the flowers. Genesis 1:11

Theme - Gardening
God placed man in the Garden Eden to take care of it. Genesis 2:15

Theme - Hawaii
Let them give glory to the Lord and proclaim His praise in the islands. Isaiah 42:12

This week was bug week at Aiden's school. So, we memorized the verse,

Ants are not strong, but they work to store their food. Proverbs 30:25

I've had fun talking with the boys about what it means to work for food and store it. This week has been enhanced by watching our Mama bird feed her babies too! We've talked about bugs, we've looked for bugs, and we've read books from the library on bugs. I've been having lots of fun thinking of things for the boys to do that go with the themes. So far we've planted flowers made octodogs and gone swimming. Today for snack we had ants on a log!



The boys loved making them themselves and even ate celery! Wow!


Next week is Picnic week! I can't wait!

Birds

Look how much they've grown in Four Days!!!! Oh my goodness! That nest is getting tight! And they are chirping away. We are enjoying watching the mother feed worms to the babies. This has been a really neat experience for the boys. Not much longer and our little ones will be flying from the nest!

The tree

When we left Macomb two things were left behind. First, my cherry blossom tree. Last, Colin's grave. A good friend suggested transplanting the tree to the cemetery. I hadn't even considered this, but I'm so glad she suggested it! The landlord and the cemetery grounds keeper both agreed to let us do it. The ground was still frozen when we moved in March, so we couldn't transplant it before we left. This weekend we went back to Macomb to see some former students graduate from high school. We also transplanted my tree. It's so nice to have such peace and closure now. I love that my tree is next to Colin's grave. It just seems so right.

First, we had to dig the tree up out of the backyard. It was a little strange being at the house. There are already new tenants there. The boys were very confused by this and really wanted them to "leave our house."

Aiden wanted to help and he wanted his own shovel. His Daddy bought him one.


Anthony liked digging.


Mommy dug too!


We've placed the tree in its new home.


We gave it lots of water! It was a hot day!


We protected it with some mulch.


We're all finished! It looks so good, like it was meant to be there!


Look how they've grown!!!

Hawaii Week

Aiden's theme for school this week was Hawaii! So, we did some creative things to go along with the theme. Here we were learning about the letter H, with paint of course!


Creative Hands




Then, for lunch, I decided to keep the theme going a little. We had an octopus made out of a hotdog, some gold fish, pickle seaweed, ketchup water waves, and a cheese sun.


Here's a close up of our Octodog!

Birds

Our baby birds have been born! I think they were born last night or this morning!

100th Post

This is my 100th post. There is a tradition in blogging to do a post containing 100 things about me. I'm very into tradition!!!

100 Things About Angie

1. My full name is Angela Beth Chaney Bailey. Please call me Angie.
2. I accepted Jesus as the Lord and Savior of my life at the age of six.
3. At the age of 12 I was called into full-time Christian ministry at a GA camp.
4. I love cats.
5. I learned to whistle when I was 21 after many years of practice. I still cannot carry a tune while whistling.
6. I can recognize my brother's whistle in a store and find him. I subconsciously listen for it.
7. I have two incredible little boys. They are the light of my life.
8. I have four children in heaven. I can't wait to see them!
9. I am married to the most amazing man in the world, Patrick.
10. I like to the play the piano to relax.
11. I am afraid to play the piano in front of other people.
12. I played the xylophone in high school and other various percussion instruments.
13. I cannot wait to adopt a little girl.
14. I want at least two little girls.
15. I am not good at keeping plants alive. I killed a cactus by forgetting to water it.
16. I took voice lessons in high school and love to sing.
17. I began learning American Sign Language when I was 8 years old.
18. My passion in life is working with children.
19. I love, love, love Vacation Bible School. It gets me jazzed!
20. I have a double Bachelors Degree in Human Development and Family Studies.
21. I have a minor in Substance Abuse Counseling.
22. My Master's is in Christian Education with an emphasis on Children's Ministry.
23. I lived in Japan for two years.
24. I really, really love shoes. It's an issue.
25. I am addicted to the internet. I have to check e-mail and Facebook.
26. I have a routine I go through when I get on the internet. I must check my mail and such in that order every day. Mail, private message boards, blog feeds, and then Facebook.
27. I hate cleaning the George Foreman grill.
28. I did not use any medication when I delivered Aiden.
29. I wish I had used medication when I delivered Anthony. His labor lasted 13 months.
30. If you are really wondering about number 29, you should know that Anthony is adopted.
31. I love playing in the snow.
32. I do not like to be hot, at all, for any reason.
33. I love Veggie Tales. I watched them before I had children.
34. I wear a size 10 shoe.
35. I used to wear a size 9AA. It was very hard to find shoes.
36. My feet grew when I was pregnant with Aiden.
37. I am a stay at home Mom. It's my favorite job ever.
38. I am allergic to caffeine. If I drink it, or eat it, it makes me throw up.
39. Onions give me a migraine.
40. I like to cross stitch, but haven't done so in years. The last time I cross stitched I was making a picture for my nephew Matthew. He died after three weeks and I haven't been able to pick it up since.
41. I love power tools.
42. I've helped build three churches.
43. I tore the ligaments in my ankle building the altar of one of those churches.
44. I've been on the staff of seven churches in varying positions.
45. I still sleep with a stuffed animal, Patrick's Lambie.
46. I have a blankie. I have to have it to sleep. I acquired it three years ago. Don't make fun of it.
47. I have the cutest niece in the whole wide world and she is so much like her Aunt Angie it is scary.
48. I love to read. I used to get in trouble for staying up way past my bedtime reading.
49. I was a honor student in high school.
50. I like to collect cobalt blue jars.
51. Only one of my grandparents, my Mema, is still alive. I miss the others, especially my Pepa.
52. I deal with depression and take prescription medication to help.
53. I have Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and it affects my life alot, but I try not to let others know. The medication I take for depression helps the IBS.
54. I would love to go bungee jumping.
55. I ate a live termite once, in a rain forest, just so I could say I did.
56. I've been to Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, Mexico, Hungary, Germany, Romania, and Trinidad on mission trips.
57. I need to renew my passport. It's still in my maiden name.
58. I want to get my children a passport.
59. I believe that you cannot, as a Christian, say that you are truly ready to do anything God calls you to do, unless you have a valid passport. I stole this statement from Jim Smith.
60. I am currently a church planter. We are missionaries through the North American Mission Board. We are working in conjunction with Illinois Baptist State Association and Fox Valley Association to begin a college ministry and a church in Sugar Grove.
61. I love McDonald's french fries.
62. In Japan my nickname was heine geijin (strange foreigner) because I would eat anything they put in front of me and I liked it!
63. I ate one thing in Japan that I never want to see again. It was cheese made out of squid's ink. It was so incredibly disgusting.
64. I want to visit Ireland.
65. I have a hard time believing I am worth anything. I struggle with this alot.
66. Because of 65 I have a hard time believing God loves me. But He does and it's miraculous.
67. I like to sleep with lots of covers on me and the room really, really cold.
68. I had a near death experience during one of my miscarriages.
69. I really love going to Build a Bear. I had my 30th birthday there.
70. My life verse is Luke 2:52, "And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men." This tells me that we should be concerned about the entire realm of a child's development. Wisdom = mental development, stature = physical development, favor with God = spiritual development, and favor with men = social development.
71. I sleep on my tummy.
72. I cannot see out of my left eye, making depth perception difficult.
73. When I was eight or nine I prayed that God would give me a red headed child. I forgot that prayer until the doctor announced, "Look at that red hair!" as Aiden was born. God answers prayers.
74. Sometime I feel like God takes too long to answer prayers, even though I know His timing is perfect.
75. I really hate for my food to touch. I usually eat all of one thing on my plate before starting on something else. I eat what I like the least first and save the best for last.
76. I like the challenge of decorating a cake. I just wish I was faster at it.
77. Genetic testing proved that I do not have TRAPS like Aiden. However, I still have a lot of the symptoms. Patrick and I really believe there is something to that.
78. I love big cities. I love, love, love big cities!
79. I like attending theatrical productions. So far my favorite has been Les Miserables.
80. I love Irish dancing. I would love to see Riverdance again.
81. I wish I had learned gymnastics or ballet as a child.
82. I wore an engagement ring made out of duct tape for four months while my real ring was being made. I love that duct tape ring.
83. I love my wedding ring because the diamond in it belonged to my grandmother and 1/2 of the gold belonged to Patrick and 1/2 of it belonged to me. We made it that way as a symbol of the two becoming one. His ring is also made from our gold.
84. I dream vivid, colorful dreams and can remember them. Usually they are not pleasant.
85. I cannot sleep if Patrick is not here.
86. I married a man that is four years younger than me. I robbed the cradle. I would do it again in a heartbeat, because he's worth all the jokes.
87. I like to play games on the computer.
88. I really hate going to the doctor. That has gotten better since I am trying to set a good example for my children, especially Aiden, who sees lots of doctors.
89. I have a dimple under my right eye where I fell and had to have stitches when I was three.
90. When I was two I flushed my glasses down the toilet.
91. I collect bouncy balls.
92. I love cheese.
93. Each of my Christmas ornaments has a story and I can tell you all of them.
94. I am the scheduler in our family. I have to keep track of where everyone, especially Patrick, is supposed to be or we don't end up there.
95. I am slightly anal and OCD. I really like order.
96. I really strive to raise my children where they will not have the fears and hangups that I do.
97. When I was little I wanted to be a pilot, but my eyesight was a hindrance.
98. I like goofy movies like Young Frankenstein, Spaceballs,and Airplane.
99. I can type fast and I spell well. Therefore, I proofread the majority of Patrick's seminary papers.
100. I started blogging to share my life with friends and family. It's been an amazing 100 posts! Here's to 100 more!!!

Handsome Men

I've always dressed my boys cute, but very comfortable for church. It is very, very rare that I put them in something that is really dressy. For Easter we chose a very cute outfit for the boys that I thought would be really comfortable. On Easter Sunday they looked adorable. However, their friend Ethan had a new tie. Aiden wanted the tie. He begged and begged for a new tie. So, we found these awesome matching soccer ball ties for the boys. They both loved them!

Ready for church


Handsome men about to worship!

Future Red Raider!

Mommy and her boys

Mother's Day 2009

Mother's Day 2005



Mother's Day 2006



Mother's Day 2007



Mother's Day 2008



Today. Mother's Day 2009

Planting Flowers

The boys and I planted some flowers this week! Aiden helped with the potting soil.


We all helped plant, here's Anthony taking his turn.


All Finished!


Now, who wants to take bets on how long before they are all dead??? :)

Birds

We noticed that a robin red breast was building her nest in our backyard! The nest is to the right of the cubby hole with the boys bicycle helmets in them. These pictures were taken on May 7th.


Four bright blue eggs!