Church Boy

Last night, Papa Bear and I were watching a movie with Bubba Bear, while the little ones were fast asleep. They had been down for over an hour after Little Bear woke up around 9:30 to 9:45, crying, and needing some cold medicine, due to a runny and sniffly nose. (See, I had originally put them down at about 7:30 for Baby Bear and 8:30 for Little Bear.)

Around 10:30, we heard Little Bear's voice, OVER the TV, which had the volume turned fairly high...it WAS a movie after all! I went back into the little ones' bedroom to investigate, and both of them were sitting up in bed, talking. I asked them, in a stern voice, "What are you guys talking about in here???!!!". Little Bear, who is 4, promptly answered, "God". Good answer, church boy!!! Now go to sleep!

Mama Bear

Happy Birthday to Little Bear!

It's Little Bear's 4th birthday today! Happy Birthday, Little Man! We love you so much, and we are so grateful that God chose to place you in our family, through adoption. We have been SO blessed by your joy-filled presence in our family. We pray that God grows you in this coming year, that you learn more and more, and grow to love Jesus with all of your heart. We LOVE you!!!

Mama Bear

Giggles Galore!

I have shared 2 videos on Facebook today, but I had to share this one too, because I just love Baby Bear's baby giggles. We put her tutu on her, for the second time ever, and let her toddle around in it. She is just learning to walk in this video. LOVE this baby, I do!

WARNING: The end of this clip might gross you out a bit. Sorry. She was a little excited.

Have a blessed day in Christ!

Mama Bear

Fiber One Caramel Delight Cereal: A Review

Yesterday, I did the grocery shopping, which is a rarity, because Papa Bear usually does it. (We only have one working vehicle right now, and three kiddos, so it's easier for him to do the shopping after he gets off work.)

Well, as I was ambling up and down the aisles, with no list in hand, but only an idea of the few things that I needed to pick up, I happened upon the cereal aisle. Now, if you know me, you know that I could eat cereal morning, noon, and night. But I don't. Because I want to be a good example to my kids. And because I need to somehow get some vegetables into my diet.

Anyways, I noticed the Fiber One cereals on sale. We have tried, and like the Fiber One bars (my favorite is the Oats and Caramel...see a pattern here?), and we have also tried, and like the Fiber One Toaster Pastries (but we don't buy them, because they are still pretty high in fat and sugar, kinda like Pop-Tarts). So, I thought, hmmmm, wonder how good these cereals are.

Normally, I won't pay more than $2 per box of cereal, but I figured, since we pay more than $2 a box on our beloved Nature's Path Pumpkin Flax Plus Granola, and the matching bran flake cereal (I didn't want to type the whole name out.), we could get away with paying $2.50 a box on the Fiber One cereals. I got three different flavors to try:

Caramel Delight, Honey Clusters, and Raisin Bran Clusters

Of course I just HAD to open the Fiber One Caramel Delight cereal this morning. I munched on a few pieces straight from my cereal bowl, sans milk, and I found that while they are nicely sweetened and caramel tasting on the outside, the inside pretty much tastes like fiber cereal. That's ok though, because when you add bananas and milk, you could almost believe that you're eating a caramel flavored Cinnamon Toast Crunch.

All in all, I really like the Caramel Delight Fiber One cereal, and I would buy again. My biggest complaint is the amount of sugar, but I guess that's what they have to do to get people to eat fiber cereal, right? I mean, that's the only way I'm eating it...if it's a little on the sweet side, and it doesn't get soggy in milk too quickly.

I'll let you know when I try the others.

Have a blessed day in Christ!

Mama Bear

PS...I did not receive any compensation for this review,
and the opinions stated are mine and mine alone.

What I Did Over My Summer Vacation...

Right now, Papa Bear is home all day, every day, recovering from carpal tunnel surgery. He's been "off work" since early June pretty much, and I LOVE it! I know most couples wouldn't be able to stand being together that often, but we're pretty different from most couples. We have been really enjoying our kiddos, and our garden. We've even made it to the park every now and then, and to the library. Due to getting stitches out too soon, it appears that he will be out through September, so that will give us a lot of opportunity to spend MORE time together. Yahoo! Here are some photos of what we've been up to lately!

Taught our 16 year old some great photography tips, while we photographed Baby Girl.

Tasted some of our first produce from our garden, including this delicious tomato, some carrots, radish, garlic greens, onion greens, green beans, cherry tomatoes,
strawberries, and basil.

Played in the water park with friends from church.

Participated in a July "Easter Egg Hunt" and park play date with the same friends from church.

Photographed my youngest brother, Chris' wedding in New Mexico on June 26.

Got to see my little sister get baptized while in New Mexico for the wedding.

Took sunset photos in New Mexico (in my parents' back yard), while there for the wedding.

And that's not all! (Nor is it in chronological order) I will be sharing more of what we've been doing this summer as I get the chance. I stumbled upon a blog today, where the author mentioned how she wanted to try to keep up with her blog, so that she could "preserve" more of those very special family moments. That inspired me to do this post, and more posts to come. I hope you enjoy these posts!

God bless,
Mama Bear

Comparing Refrigerators to People...

This morning, as I was praying over my breakfast, I think that God revealed something pretty cool to me. We have just moved from a tiny apartment to a house, with lots of space for our growing family. Before we even moved, we prayed about things that we needed to get for the new place...like a washer and dryer, a refrigerator, couches, and more. God has blessed us SO much by GIVING us all of these things and more. Seriously! He used other people in our lives to bless us with a FREE washer and dryer, a FREE refrigerator, TWO FREE couches, a free dresser, and much more.

So as I was praying, I thanked God for every good and perfect gift that comes from Him. Even refrigerators that need a GOOD cleaning inside. I feel that God showed me the comparison between me and that refrigerator. He gave us that refrigerator, and it's a good and perfect gift. It's not new. And it's surely NOT clean inside. But isn't that just like me? I was not clean on the inside when He saved me from my sin. I STILL sin, and so my cleaning (sanctification) is a daily, even hourly process. Just like the refrigerator, which we will give a good, deep cleaning (kind of like salvation), my heart will get dirty again because of my sin. But praise God, for Jesus, whose blood was shed for my filthiness.

As I clean the refrigerator, I will remember what Christ has done for me, and I will thank Him and praise Him for giving me a clean heart that is washed by the blood of Christ. And I will thank Him for the good and perfect gift of the refrigerator.

Mama Bear

Why Has It Been 2-1/2 Months?

Time flies when you're having fun! Goodness, but it has been a LONG time...and this blog tends to get a bit neglected. I guess that's what happends when it's low on the priority list. Things have changed so much in the past two months!

Our little man, whom we adopted last March, has turned 3 and started special needs preschool. In January, when school starts up again, he will be riding the bus, which is a HUGE thing! I'm praying that he LOVES it, because we are a family of 5, with only one working car. Things get a bit hairy at times!

In October, we got a call from our adoption caseworker, who knows we have been waiting for a little girl. She told us of a baby girl, who at that time wasn't even 2 months old. She asked if we wanted to be considered, knowing very little about the situation, other than the age of birth mom and baby. We of course said YES! We were chosen from a group of 12 families. But then, we went to an AWESOME church retreat, where many of our friends there were sick. As soon as we got home, we got hit HARD with the H1N1 virus. All four of us. So that put off getting to go meet the baby. We were working hard to be patient, and that paid off. As soon as we were all better, we went and met her, and three days later, we got to bring her home!

A week before Thanksgiving, Little Man started his preschool, AND we got Baby Girl....at the same time! YIKES! But God is good, and we were blessed with some time off for the boys and for Papa Bear. And then we were blessed again by being given a couple of weeks of prepared meals by the wonderful ladies in our church.

Then of course, Christmastime was upon us. We have not gotten enough sleep, but we are so grateful for this precious life...especially at Christmas. There is not a 100% guarantee that we will get to keep this baby, and we knew this going into it, but we gave the whole situation to God, and we know He is in control. If we get to keep her, then we will praise Him. If we don't get to keep her, then we will praise Him. He knows what she needs, and knows the desires of our hearts, and He is sovereign. We know that His will will be done, and we are ok with that, no matter the outcome.

So, as we begin the new year, we pray for more sleep, and we pray that God will allow us to be the very best parents we can be to all three of our children. We pray that He increases our faith, and that we grow in Him each day. We know it won't always be easy, but we sure know it will be worth it all in the end, when we get to stand before Him.

I hope you have a blessed New Year!

Mama Bear