Big Tiny

A few weeks ago I posted about the agony I was in, waiting to meet our son. Within a day of writing that post, I was holding him in my arms. Someday I want to write about it all. It was strange holding him for the first time with a room full of eyes on me.  Since that day he has been spending more and more time at our home. On Tuesday, our home will officially become his home.

I am struck by how God enjoys surprising me. My last 2 children have been delightful surprises. Our little girl joined our family on 3 hours notice. Every baby item that I had was packed away in storage. And yet, by the time I brought her home from the hospital that afternoon, we were totally ready for her. My husband left for work being a father of 3 and came home a father of 4. What a wonderful day that was!

This time, I had come to a place of contentment. I always hoped for 5 or 6 children, at least, but I came to the conclusion that we were done. I knew if the Lord willed, He would add more. I gave away or sold all of my baby stuff. I put the very last of it in the Goodwill box on Thursday. The following Wednesday our former social worker called and said, “I want to tell you about a situation.”   I feel like my Heavenly father has just handed me a spectacular gift. I am so blessed!

Everybody keeps telling me how lucky our boy, “Big Tiny”, is to be becoming a Huffman. I say, we are the ones who are blessed. I can’t believe that I get to be this sweet boy’s mama. Of all the people that could have been chosen to be his family, God chose us. What an honor. Thank you, Lord.

Overwhelmed

Today I feel totally overwhelmed, in a good way. I am overwhelmed by the lovingkindness of my Heavenly Father. I’m overwhelmed by His handiwork.  I am overwhelmed by His blessings.

I am at this strangely content place in life. I wish that I could say I am always content. I struggle with being still and waiting. I always want to know what’s going to happen next. I can get way ahead of things in my mind. But right now, I just feel at peace. I am okay with whatever happens next.

I remember another time when I was overwhelmed, in a scary way. I went in to the hospital to have my son, Nathaniel. The doctor had some concerns about him and decided to deliver him early due to a “gut feeling.” I was extremely worried about him and on top of that, I began having vasovagal. I never had that before and it was terrifying, which caused me to panic. My chest felt like it had a huge weight on it I felt like I couldn’t breathe. My heart was racing and my baby’s heart rate was dropping. Everything around me was a blur, but as I lay on the operating table being prepped for a c-section, the anesthesiologist  leaned over and started stroking my face. In her foreign accent she said, “There, there. You are just a little highly strung. Relax.” In my panicky state, I comprehended what she said and got a little mad. I thought, “You’d be a little highly strung if it was you laying here!” They quickly delivered my son and discovered that his chord had a tight knot in it. Later the doctor told me that if we had waited even two more days, it could have been too late. I learned two things that day. First, I really am a little highly strung at times. (Though it took a while for me to admit it) Second, I can trust God. He had a plan for my son and He gave that doctor that gut feeling.

Admittedly I have been a little highly strung lately as I wait on the arrival of another son. However, over the past two weeks I have been able to take a deep breath and just trust that God is in control and his timing is perfect. Thank You, Father.  I know you have a plan. I trust You and I rest in the overwhelming knowledge that You are in control.

Family Day

“I love you and Daddy. And, I love family day.” Those were my five-year-old daughter’s first words to me this morning. Yep, it brought tears to my eyes and made my heart swell. I love family day too.

We have family day every other Friday. My husband has a unique work schedule. He works 7 days, and then he has 7 days off. Yes, his weeks on are long and busy weeks, but it is worth it for the 7 days off. Since we homeschool, our schedule is fairly flexible. On the weeks that he works, we do 6 days of school. Then, on his off week, we do 4 days and take the Friday as family day.

We do different things. Sometimes we might make a weekend out of it and go stay at a hotel. We’ve done day trips to different Historical spots. Yesterday we were going to head to downtown Lexington to the Spotlight on Lexington festival. However, since my oldest  daughter has been feeling poorly (Mono), we decided to do something a little more low key. We went shoe shopping and then out to eat Indian food for lunch. (Our favorite!) Then we headed to the pet store and bought a new guinea pig to replace Funky Ricky, who died. (Welcome to the family Spunky Ricky.) Then we all (Including S.R.) went to the movies. After that we headed home and introduced the Guinea Pig to his new cagemate. Googles. We all hung out together in the family room, laughing at the guinea pigs and playing together. After we were fairly confident that the pigs were not going to hurt each other, we took a drive to Harrodsburg and ate at another favorite  restaurant, The old Owl Tavern. After dinner we walked around the Beaumont Inn for a while and then headed home to watch the Clone Wars. That was family day. Nothing fancy or elaborate and mostly spontaneous. However, that mostly spontaneous day touched my little girl and filled up her little heart with love. That’s my favorite part of family day!

Hello again

Nobody told me how they were doing. I want to know. How’s your job? How’s school? What’s happening in your life? I’m waiting to hear from YOU.

Things at my house are a little blah tonight. I have three sick kiddos that haven’t felt like doing much of anything today. Joshua is working, so it’s 8:59 and I’m the only one up. It’s strangely quiet.

I want to tell you that up until today, when the blahs hit, we have been on a great schedule. I am extremely excited about this! You see, every year I try new schedules and then it’s so hard to stick to them. This year we have a schedule that works and we are sticking to it. I think this will be our best school year yet. My classroom is also awesome this year! It’s organized and it functions well.

We are busy this year, and I think that busyness is helping us keep our good schedule. Everything has to be done in a timely fashion, otherwise, it simply won’t get done. Also, the kids are pitching in a lot more around the house. Everyone has their jobs. My oldest daughter takes care of the animals, my son empties and loads the dishwasher, my other son is responsible for picking up all the outside toys and my littlest girls sets and clears the table. Everyone is responsible for their own bedroom and and each kid has a bathroom to keep clean. On Sunday Joshua checks rooms and bathrooms and finds out if everyone has been doing their job. If they have, they get an allowance. If their rooms and bathrooms are cleaned, they get a little bonus. It’s working well for us. There is much less stress when everyone pitches in. Many hands truly do make light work.

Joshua’s new job also allows time for him to work around the farm. His big project right now is gathering up fallen limbs and re-establishing some of the walking trails that we used to have. I am particularly excited about that! I used to love roaming around those paths, and I look forward to doing it again. I’m not sure what his next project will be, but he did just finish setting up a tool workshop. Maybe he’ll build a raccoon and snake proof chicken coop!

I’m sort of rambling here. I’m tired. I didn’t get much sleep last night and don’t expect to tonight. So, on that note, goodnight.

Tell me how you are doing please or I’m going to have to stop blogging altogether.

September Update

Here we go again. Do you want to know what I dislike about blogging? It’s so self-centered.   So, let me start out by asking, How are you? Did you have a nice summer? What’s God doing in your life?  I really want to know. I’m looking forward to hearing from you.

Goodnight,

Chrissy

Late spring Update

Schools out! Yippee! The teacher and kids are giddy. We kicked off summer vacation by taking a trip to Disney World. We had a great time and the kids are already wondering if we are going back next year. I love Disney! In one day we managed to go to the moon, we walked through Ireland, had lunch in China, had dinner in Morocco and dessert in France. One night we ate African food at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. The restaurant is called Boma and the food was amazing! Do we have any African restaurants around here?

I did not go to Spain. I just couldn’t leave my family for that long. Someday I will go and take them all with me.

This summer is going to be busy, but good. Josh will be doing some traveling. He’ll be going to Texas in a few weeks. The kids and I were going to go with him, but we decided the 18 hour car drive was a bit much. So, he’s going to fly. He’ll be taking some classes and having some down time. That will be nice for him. I’m a little disappointed that we aren’t going, but we will manage to have some fun at home without him. In August, he may be going to on a medical mission trip to Haiti. The kids and I will be spending lots of time with friends, at the pool and enjoying our farm.

I also plan to do lots of writing this summer. I am very excited about this! I have heard different writers talk about how their stories came to them. I wondered if one would ever come to me. Over the years, as I have sat on my front porch, bits and pieces of one has come. Recently it has gotten to where I walk around with the story continually expanding inside my head. It’s all in there. I’m so afraid that I am going to forget it all and I am just trying to write out as much as I can. I’ll organize it later. For now, I just have to bring that story to life. I can’t tell you too much, but I will say that it may not be something that you would expect from me. It’s not something I would expect from myself, to be honest. My husband is also working on a story. Well, he’s slightly bolder than I am. I say “I’m writing a story.” He says, “I’m writing a book.”  Anyway, it’s fun that we are doing this together. I confess that I am being spurred on by some creative rivalry. When he announced that he was starting a book, something inside of me said, “I’m going to write one first!”  I think that competitive edge will keep us both going for a while.

This past school year I wrote a play adaptation of Canterbury Tales for our homeschool co-op. I had a blast doing it! My friend Sarah did an amazing job at directing the play and another friend designed all the sets. It took a lot of people to pull it off and It was neat to see so many people working together. I could never ever direct a play or paint sets. I am amazed at people who can. They might feel the same way about writing. My favorite part of the entire production was seeing all the different giftings mesh together to make something that none of us could have made on our own.  It was hard work and it was a lot of fun. Most importantly, it was a wonderful learning experience for the kids.

It’s time to leave blogland and get on to cooking dinner and cleaning up the house. I’ll try to post again soon.

Chrissy

Winter Update

My last post was in August. So, instead of apologizing for being unfaithful to the blog, we’ll just call this the winter update. I planned it this way…really.

This year I am homeschooling four kids.  My two youngest are both in kindergarten now. This kindergarten class is by far my toughest yet. How do teachers do this with a whole classroom full? I do enjoy it, a lot, but my brain is very tired at the end of the day. Third and fifth grade is easy compared to Kindergarten? Why? I think it’s because I’m laying whole foundations in Kindergarten. I laid those foundations one at a time with the 2 older kids.

The older kids are hitting the stage in life where they are busy. They still have fiddle lessons. In addition to that they recently joined the Lexington Children’s choir and they are doing gymnastics. I used to watch my friends with older kids run around like this and I felt sorry for them. I dreaded the days of being the “chauffeur”.  But, it turns out that it’s not so bad. We have “The Green Bag” which goes everywhere with us. What is that? Well, it’s a green bag which has The Green Bag” written in bold letters. In the green bag are a multitude of things to keep the little kids busy. There are crayons, coloring books, stickers, mazes and even punching balls.

When we arrive at an activity the little ones pull out their stuff and guess what I do. I pull out a book. A book! I have time to read now! This chauffeuring stuff isn’t so bad.

We started school in early August and as a result, we will be finishing at the end of April.  We are getting a pool pass and while the kids take swimming lessons and frolic in the water, guess what I’m going to do. Read books! Maybe I will even eek out some writing.

I have been doing  some writing here and there. I just finished adapting a play for our homeschool co-op. You’ll never guess what play we are doing. Canterbury Tales. Yep. I think I heard you gasp. Don’t worry. I stuck to the clean and virtuous tales and made them elementary kid friendly. If you don’t believe me, you can come see for yourself. I’ll let you know when.

Since I have finished the play, I am looking for some other writing opportunities. Ideas hit me all the time, and I’m kicking one around right now. It would be fun if I could pull it off. I can’t tell you what it is though. Sorry.

My husband’s new job has been a wonderful blessing. Yes, he misses the clinic and he fills in for Dr. C. from time to time. He’s always happy to see his patients. But, he absolutely loves his new job.  I absolutely love his new job too!

He works 7 days and then he is off for 7 days. He has had much more time to spend with the kids and I. He is teaching the kids Latin and he helps them with their music lessons. Every other Friday we have family day. We have taken some neat family day field trips. Last week we went to see the Titanic display at the Louisville Science Center.

Having every other week off will provide some great opportunities this spring and summer.  I might be  going to Spain in a few weeks! I have a friend who is studying there, so now is my chance to see her and to see a place that I have always dreamed of visiting.  Also, we hope to take the kids to fiddle camp this summer, and possibly, Joshua may be going to Haiti. So, there are all these opportunities that we can participate in now, because Joshua has that extra time. On top of all that, life is much less stressful these days, which has been a very good thing.

In my last post I mentioned that we had a new baby. Baby J stayed with us for four months. We love him very much and he will always be a part of us. We love his parents and are happy that he is with them now. Adoption and foster care makes for a big extended family. I love it!

We have, however, closed our home to foster care. All the letting go last year was tough on the little ones. (And Mom and Dad) We have decided that, for this season, we are done. I think I’ve said that before, only to re-open our home a few months later. This time is different though.

Although, my oldest daughter wants only one thing for her birthday. She wants a baby from China. We haven’t ventured down that path yet. Maybe someday, but for now, we are enjoying having kids who can feed themselves, dress themselves and buckle themselves in the car.

God is good! Life is good. I am enjoying this restful and happy season. I hope that whatever season you are in, you are discovering God’s goodness in the midst of it.

It’s been a while…

and it’s not because nothing has been going on at the Huffman house worth writing about. It’s that I don’t know where to begin!

The first bit of news I have to share is that my husband is changing jobs. I know that some of you are very sad about this, and there are aspects of it that make him sad as well. I know that he will miss the patients that he has cared for over the years. He will still be around though, helping out at the clinic and being involved in the community. He is very excited about being back in the hospital setting and is glad that he will be able to provide care for any of his patients that have to be hospitalized.

Now, may I tell you my favorite part about the new job? He will be on a 7 day on, 7 day off schedule. Now, I klnow that a lot of you have raised your eyebrows at him working 7 12 hour days, but 12 hour days are nothing new for him and that 7 days off is going to be great. He will be more involved with our homeschooling and he has plans to really get our farm up and running. The kids are looking forward to having lots of time to spend with their dad, and so am I. It is going to be a lifestye change for us and I am sure that some adjustments will have to be made, but we are excited.

We have a new little foster baby at our house. He’s so sweet! The question everyone asks me is, “How are you ever going to let him go?” The truth is, it will break my heart. I’ve had to let go before and it’s so painful. There really is no way to guard your heart. I have to hold on to the reality, which is, “This baby does not belong to me.”  At the same time, I need to love that baby like it does belong to me. (That’s the easy part for me) When it comes time to let go it will cost me a part of my heart, but I wouldn’t trade a single second of what I am doing.

So, job change, new baby and starting school next week. This year I will teach 5th, 3rd, and kindergarten. Yikes! I’m still having trouble imagining what it is all going to look like. The first few weeks will be a learning curve for me. I know that if we can get into a good routine everything will fall into place, so that’s what we will be working on. It might be kind of crazy at first, as most things are around here.

Well, this is short and sweet. There is much to do!

Happy Spring

I am looking forward to a very beautiful weekend. I’m hoping to get some spring cleaning done, and maybe some gardening. I always look forward to spring and summer, but this year, I am especially excited. There is just so much to look forward to.

My mom is moving to Kentucky. She will be three and a half hours away, a straight shot down the parkway. She used to be 7 hours away and we had to fight Nashville and Memphis traffic to get to her. Her new home is right smack dab in the middle of my brother and I, so hopefully this means more family gatherings. Also exciting is the fact that her house has an inground pool and is less than a mile from Kentucky Dam. Now we have a “Lake House” to visit. This was a well thought out plan on my mom’s part.

We are also going to Disney World soon. This is a rare nonworking vacation for us. Usually we travel along with my husband for work conferences. A few days ago I was reading Disney travel guides and was most excited about visiting Animal Kingdom and taking my little girl to see the princesses. Things have shifted a bit though.

Now, I am looking forward to something totally Un-Disney. We are going to meet a real Princess along the way. This little princess is waiting for her forever family. Maybe it’s us!  Or, maybe her Heavenly Father has other plans. We will trust Him to open all the right doors and close the wrong ones.

I hope you enjoy this weekend. It sounds like it’s going to be picture perfect. Thank you Lord for spring!

Coming Up With a Plan

Okay, this is as random as it gets on here, as this post has nothing to do with any of the stuff I typically write about. Today I am posting a meal plan. Here’s why.

A few weeks back I had a dream that I got arrested. My punishment was that I had to take cooking lessons taught by a jail warden who just happened to be a female version of Gordon Ramsey. Although the reason for my arrest wasn’t clear, I can only assume that it had something to do with the food police.  In the dream, I was at the bottom of the class and was constantly berated and whacked on the head with wooden cooking spoons. Finally, the last day of my punishment arrived. I showed up late for class and was sentenced to repeat the class. It was a true nightmare which left my cooking confidence shaken.

The day after the dream, I burnt dinner, to a crisp. This past Sunday  I made soup, which turned to mush. It was completely inedible.  I’m not sure what’s going on with me and my cooking, but I have been off my game for the past couple of months.  So, I have decided, it’s time to come up with a plan.

Following the advice of an expert, I have made a list of all the things that I cook on a regular basis. Then, I took that list and made a schedule. I’m starting with a 4 week plan. The next step is that I need to make shopping lists for the menus. I confess, being a very non-detail-oriented person, that this is the part I dread the most. But, for starters, I will post my plan here.  I am only planning 5 meals per week, as we often go out, I might try a new recipe, or my husband takes a turn in the kitchen. His cooking style is much fancier than mine, so he plans his own menu.

I don’t exactly know how to post a table  on here, so this may not look pretty. And, before I forget, my favorite cooking diva is Ree at http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/. Any of my recipes that have the Marlboro Man in the title are hers. She’s fun and she has some awesome recipes.

My Meal Plan:
Week 1

Monday-Spaghetti with meatballs, salad, garlic cheese bread
Tuesday-Chicken in foil, green beans, corn, roasted potatoes
Wednesday-Chicken corn chowder (Using leftovers from Tues), bread
Thursday-Grilled salmon, rice, broccoli with cheese, salad
Weekend-Meatball subs (using leftovers from Mon.) oven fries

Week 2:

Monday- Lasagna, salad, bread
Tuesday- Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans, corn
Wednesday-Taco soup, bread
Thursday- Tuna casserole, broccoli, salad
Weekend-Crockpot pizza, salad

Week 3:

Monday- Marlboro Man’s pasta, salad, garlic bread
Tuesday- Oven fried chicken, green beans, corn, potatoes
Wednesday-Essie’s chicken and dumplings, peas, applesauce
Thursday-Hoppin’ Johns, salad, bread
Weekend-Marlboro Man’s favorite sandwich, oven fries

Week 4:(Hmmm…looks like I made week 4 a pricey and fancy one. I will either tweak it or have someone over for dinner.)

Monday: Rachael Ray’s Venetian shrimp and scallops, salad, crusty bread (Pricey but one of my favorite recipes!)
Tuesday-Emeril’s steak with onions, rice pilaf, his fancy corn, broccoli
Wednesday-Chili, salad, bread
Thursday-Baked tilapia, green beans, baked potatoes, corn on the cob
Weekend- Chicken spaghetti casserole, salad, bread