Catch up

Due to the LACK of Pictures on the blog lately....thought I would throw a few random ones here for all to see. We are a few days away from moving and things are crazy fun busy around here. Thanks to all of you patient friends and family members who keep popping onto the blog with HOPES of a new post! I will let the pictures speak for themselves. (note...some of the pictures have a date ON the pic...grrr...but it is obviously incorrect...2005 Hee hee)
ENJOY! The Blaske Bunch celebrated National Adoption Day, Got to go see our Anacortes Friends (Yeah for Moses.....John's best buddy HOME now, and we are moving...LOTS of new posts to catch up on. Look for them in a bit...let me get my boxes unpacked and computer turned back on....LOVE all of you, Thanks for your SUPPORT and PRAYERS!)

DONE

Just a side note from my last post....

For the first time EVER.... (that i can remember) today I can say that:

"THE LAUNDRY IS DONE"

With the whole family down to "4" full outfits...
I watched Ashlie, Brock and myself do our loads of laundry today....it hit me....I walked away from the laundry room with the last of the clean clothes to take up stairs, only to look at the laundry system we have set up for the kids...to see it EMPTY!

WHAT???? Can this BE....EVERY ITEM in our home is CLEAN???

YES!

Maybe I am onto something with this 4 outfit thing.

As I celebrated and said things like:
"WOW, you guys do not know how this feels to a mommy heart"
and
"yahhhoooo, no wash tomorrow because there will not be enough to do"
my kids started saying....
"you are going to let us open our packed boxes of clean clothes when we get to our new house....RIGHT???"

Of course I will...but in the back of my mind I am plotting and planning how we can rotate clothes in plastic tubs like we do toys in our house....maybe a two week rotation of 4-5 outfits each in each bucket...hummmm,

JUST a THOUGHT!

For now this mommy is off to enjoy an evening with my family...knowing there will NOT be clothes in the wash or dryer waiting for me in the a.m. or better yet...trying to catch the load RIGHT before the mildew sets in :O)

4

Many of you have been asking how our "prep" for our moving is going....
Today I have to laugh as I heard my kids say:

"Dad tossed his head back and laughed at you mom"

Why you ask?

Today we signed the closing papers for our home and our new home...Ohhhhh my!!

Who would of guessed that when God whispered in our hearts...
"pre-pare for a new season..time to move"

*that our 1928 Farm House (that had an inspection document with to many repairs to count) would SELL IN 20 DAYS of being on the market. (yes ...this market...the week after the stock market crash...IT IS ONLY GOD!!!)

*that our friends who asked us months ago in what we thought was "jest"
"Hey Blaske's do you want to buy our house?"
that it would be the actual house we did get to buy.
A House full of our dreams....dreams for kids, dream for ministry...and a quote from our 17 yr old son "feels like we are moving into a grown-up version of a house"
(he likes the fact that mowing 1/2 acre is less time than taking care of 2 acres and that the house does not need PAINT, TRIM, WINDOWS or immediate repair)
* I like that too :O)

*that our little John would navigate preparing to move in ways this mama could not have prepared for.

*that a family of 8 with LOTS of stuff in our HUGE out building could prepare to move to a house with a one car garage? Lots more living space, but smaller garage.
(can anyone say Craigs list?) How do we collect all this stuff???

*that it has been 2 months of purging and asking the questions...
"does anyone know what this is?"
or
"if it has not been touched in 6 months...it is OUT OF HERE!"

*that I would find delight in the alley ways of Front Street cardboard recycle bins...FREE boxes! Yeah!

Which brings me to the comment above:

"Dad tossed his head back and laughed at you mom"

We are down to 9 days before we start loading up the U-haul to drive 2 miles over to our new home.
Each week I have set out a plan.
(remember I am an organizer...makes my hubby laugh...and no the boxes are not color coded :O) but there is a method to my madness.)

Due to working the Beacon House Ministry, National Adoption Day and some steering committee's for His Kids...I knew I needed to be purposeful.

So this week the "plan" was to get all kids DOWN to 4 FULL outfits each.
(thus the tossing his head laughing stuff from hubby)
Thought was .....4 outfits each ='s 32 out fits to wash instead of the 1,000 that usually run through the laundry room at any given point.

So for two days the washer and dryer smoked as we WASHED all the clothes and picked out the 4 outfits for each of us.
All the clean clothes got PACKED and yes labeled, ready for loading in the truck.

I asked Dave why he found this so amusing...and he said
" I would of never thought of that, but am sure glad you did...and it made me laugh to see the SHOCK on the kids faces as they described your request of them"

My kids...I am sure, years from now, when we sit around the Thanksgiving table with their families....they will remember the year we MOVED on Thanksgiving Week and Mom made us pack our clothes and only keep out "4" outfits!

Thanks for all of your prayers, support and help as we move...we feel so loved and covered by EVERYONE!

Quote

I do not take this space to do this very often....but yesterday I was hit by a quote from our youth pastor that has struck my heart.
He was preaching from Job and about "hope in hard times"
One of the points was:
Gods response to Job is that:
God shows us, it is better to know God than to know answers. (Job 38:1-13 19-21, 33-36)
QUOTE:
"Don't Offer experience like it is the TRUTH"
How many times have I had a chance to sit with my friends when they are naked, bald, hurting, in ashes....yet I find my self like Job's friends...using my life experiences as TRUTH.
My circumstances do not DEFINE God. God spends verse after verse talking to Job..."where were you when the foundations of the earth were being laid?....do you hold the waves back on the shore...etc" It is such a loving set of verses from God to Job....
Job answers:42:1-6 HUMILITY
Then Job replied to the Lord: " I know that you can do anything, and no one can stop you. You asked "who is this that questions my wisdom with such arrogance? It is I and I was talking about things I knew nothing about, things far too wonderful for me. You said, listen and I will speak! I have some questions for you, and you must answer them. I had only heard about You before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes. I take back everything I said, and I sit in dust and ashes to show you my repentance."

In the circle of daily life experiences we all live in, I find that Homeschooling, adoption, pregnancy, parenting, money advice, house keeping, friendship, ministry ETC....all seem to be OPEN venues for me and others to pass off Experience as TRUTH...I pray that my heart can be like Job and say "I had only heard about You before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes, I take back everything I said, and I sit in dust and ashes to show you my repentance"

My Circumstances do not DEFINE GOD!
Thank you Lord for your love for all of us, may we be found to be a people of repentant and confessed hearts before you...FULL of your love and POWER to hear and do what you call us to do!

Princess Victoria

We are blessed and honored to CELEBRATE the amazing life of our sweet 10 year old daughter! As a family we were FILLED to overflowing watching our friends and family shower her with love on her special day. THANK YOU to all of you for LOVING Victoria and supporting our family as we live each day to SHINE the love of Jesus Brighter than the day before!

We were able to have her party at our "Kids Place" at church with blow up bouncy houses, lots of room to play and of course LOTS of singing...VICTORIA"S favorite thing to do.

10...Ten candles, ten years of life lived far beyond what our hearts can grasp, hopes of 10 times 10 plus years for Victoria to grow in the love of the Lord and use all the life experiences He has allowed...so that she can be the BEST Victoria God designed for her to be!

The other day we were talking about school with the kids and Victoria asked "How many years do we go to school?" We told her and asked her why she asked. She said "because when I get big and done with school, I want to be a nurse that takes care of children like Romana does" She was very excited about the thoughts of getting gifts for her birthday. A few weeks before her party she said to me "Mom, If I get gifts, how can we help the kids at Beacon House have nice things too?" She knows it is hard to send items to Ghana (due to duty taxes etc) so she asked if kids could bring "change" to put in the wishing well. So the families who came brought "change to help change the lives of the kids at BH." I love her heart! Thank you families for the "CHANGE" you have made in VIctoria's life by GIVING toward BH! YEAH!

Blaske's all dressed up as Kings, Queen, Prince, and Princesses! (by the time of the picture Dave had lost his crown and robe...but boy did he look HANDSOME! Thanks for leading our family with GRACE, LOVE and Authority....I LOVE YOU being your Queen!

Victoria's favorite things:
*Spaghetti Dinner (would eat it every day...every meal)
*Dressing her dolls hair, reading, riding her bike, singing
*Favorite movies: Mary Poppins, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Annie
*Prayer she NEVER misses "Lord help the kids at BH, and help Helen's eyes to open "
*pink of any shade on any item is how she loves color
*school, any kind of school work, check list or sticker (yeah I think I have another organizer "do'er" in my house :O)
*loves God...God is not something she adds to her life..but it is a part of her. (I am big time humbled watching her relationship with God...I have a lot to learn)

Okay... I know this has been a long post....but I had to finish with this picture..
On her actual Birthday I went to the school and surprised her with her "first hot lunch at school" We got to get our food, (PIZZA...yeah, so glad it was not Salisbury steak day :O) She was soooo excited to walk her tray down the line, pick her food and sit at the table. We sat, ate, talked, met her friends, ate some more.
As she got up to clear her tray and skip off to the play ground, I found myself in one of the moments that often come, but still catch me off guard. I watched her skip off, turn and say in her Victoria way "Bye Mom, Thank you"
I could feel the knot in my throat start to form...."okay Carrie no crying in the lunch room" It is in those moments where I do feel the Holy Spirit brush my heart as if to say " Isn't she wonderful? watch and learn, have a heart of a child"
I hope to journey along side of whatever God is doing in my life, good times, hard times, desperate times, joy filled times with the out look of a child "Thanks God" as He watches me skip out to play!

Okay-Okay-Okay

Alright all my friends and family who have been politely saying "checking you blog and guess what Carrie...it is the same"
I am sorry :O(

P A P E R - C H A I N !!!
Ever made a paper chain to count down the days until Christmas? Remember the long strips of paper, the glue sticks and the sticky fingers?

72 days ago I cut 72 strips of paper...pink, purple, and green...and my sweet 9 year old daughter sat with me as we glued and numbered each ring as we stuck them together.

How did this come about? From day one in January when I met Victoria she spoke of her "Birthday" and how she can not wait to celebrate with her family. We have had many dreamy discussions about the day God formed her in her mommy's tummy and how thankful we are for her "birthday"
When we got home to America it became a big task to keep flipping our BIG family calender a few times a week to "count and recount" the days until her "Birthday"

So at 72 days we sat and did the above mentioned task of making a paper chain.
At first I did this for my own convenience of not having to count...but what I did not realize was the LONG and GREAT discussions that would come each night as we tore off one link of the chain before bed.

Topics of her bio family filled the nights. IT prompted many discussions about Beacon House and the celebrations of Christmas and Easter and the memories of those precious days. The amount of PRAYERS that get sent up for her Bio family and the need they have was sparked night after night as she put her requests of food and water for them before the Lord. (my mommy heart is in awe so may times at her caring in touch heart for those she loves)

Last night we found ourselves in the Safeway isles picking cake mix and frosting for cupcakes for school and Birthday Dinner for Victoria.
The 72 days have passed...the paper chain had one link left on the wall as I tucked her in last night.
her EYE"S danced as I tucked her in and she said "I do not think my body will let me sleep tonight...I have never had a birthday celebration" I told her, " I know and I am soooo blessed that God knew you were created to be blessed and celebrated and we are just hours away from doing that...sleep well" Smooched her forehead and slipped out of the room.

IT was 11:30 and I was frosting the last cupcake....blew up some balloons, tip-toed back into her room and tacked them to the ceiling for her eyes to see when she first opened them (who knew what time that was going to be :O) and off to bed I went.




Today Victoria is 10! Her 10 years of life have been lived in a way that most of us will not be able to put our minds around. She has the light of Jesus in her eyes...the spark of survival in her spirit, and a thankfulness that runs into the core of her being.
Today we CELEBRATE her and THANK God for the beautiful young woman He hand made in her mommy's womb all those years ago!

Eight

Eight people in our home, eight years in our home, eight hours of sleep (ha ha ha )
Really this post is an update on the how and where God is calling this family if "8"
When I returned from Ghana in March, the path God was paving for His Kids our Homes we more and more clear.
Although Dave and I had been stepping each time God showed a step....it seemed one step at a time.
Shortly after the kids came to join us we felt the nudge of the Holy Spirit that a new season was coming and bigger steps would need to be taken.
You would think that 5 bedrooms and 4 acres would be PERFECT for a family of 8! Yes it is, but the questions stirring in our hearts is TIME.
This is the first house we have ever owned. The last years in this 1928 farm house have been filled with lots of laughter, lots of kids, lots of mowing, lots of weed - eating, lots of repairs (which of course come with an old house full of great character)
Reality: The question being asked of our hearts at the moment is"
"What do you want to spend your time doing?"
Answer: "Lord...to many things to list right now...but you know our hearts and you know it is NOT mowing, weed - eating, and remodeling our home"
The relationships with God, eachother, the kids, and the LOUD cry of the orphan are all being pushed to the top for us.
This week our acre fence is painted, the gazillion bikes are tucked away, the counters are clean, laundry is tucked into any closed off space (to not be seen :O) and we have "staged" the rooms to look more open and the SIGN of "FOR SALE" is in the yard.
It always is good, even when it is CHANGE and it is HARD work, to move in the direction that God is asking.
We may do it bumbling a bit...but we are doing it.
Thanks for all of you who pray and cover us as a family.
We hope that God will receive all the Glory as he sets this family of "8" in a new season and place.
For those who have helped us "love" this little farm house over the years...you can go and see the pics on line.
www.sskrealtors.com
nwml#28155087
With excitement and love!