Challenge and Triump

Kaden.

We love him, and we always will.

But that doesn't mean he's always easy.

 

2 years after coming home, I'd say Kaden's "honeymoon stage" has officially ended.

*sigh*

 

He is full of energy, full of potential, full of questions, and "whys?", armed and ready for arguments, and full of needs for explanations for everything...  Hence, my parents are exhausted. 

 

We don't know what's going on with our K.K.

Thankfully, though, we don't always need to know.  Challenging times will pass, and we'll become stronger because of them.

 

But even with our challenges, Kaden is pretty darn awesome.

Earlier this summer, we went with family to a race at the YMCA.

Everyone in the kid's racce took off and sprinted towards to finish.

 

 

 

Everyone but Kaden.

He's not one for rushing.  He likes to take his time and enjoy the journey.

He likes to have fun, he likes to go slow.

 

 

 

So he grinned and laughed and shouted his way down the road, and then...

He saw a little girl going very slowly.

So he turned to her and held her hand down as they walked the rest of the race together.

 

 

This sis was the proudest girl there that night.

So proud of my sweet brother, and so encouraged by glimpsing again the sweet heart he has.

We love out K.K., and we always will. 

 

 



Kaden Quotes 26-28

Kaden venting:
Kaden: "Sometimes boys look at me and say, 'hi little boy'. 

But I not little.  I tell them, 'I'm a big boy!', and they say, 'oh, hi big boy!'

And I say, 'you right'!"

As were passing a grave yard while driving in the car one day:

(source)

Kaden:  "Why we have to be quiet?"
Mom:  "What do you mean?"
Kaden"  "Brittany say we have to be quiet."
*silence*
Kaden:  "Because people in their tombs."

 

While watching the wedding of 19 Kids and Counting:

(source)
Kaden:  Brittany, my heart so excited.
*breathes heavily*
Kaden: My heart so excited, and I cannot stop it!


God's Ways Are ALWAYS Best

Mother's Day weekend has long come and gone, but the memories it has left with us will be remembered for a long time to come! 

 

This year we traveled to TVR - Teen Valley Ranch - a place that holds many memories for me.

 

My first year there, in 2012, was very bittersweet.

As a family, we were trying to heal from the loss of our two referrals (before Kaden and Bethany) and I was having a very hard time.

 

That year I honestly didn't enjoy the camp. 

I was waaay too shy to approach any of the few girls my age who were at the camp then, 

so I stuck to the shadows and stayed off by myself or with my parents.

Our last night I climbed up the hill to our cabin in the dark. 

I heard kids shouting in the gym, adults singing in church, and teens talking in the Chalet.

I felt alone, but I wasn't.

I sat quietly in the rocking chair and began to pray.

I could feel God around me as I sat, and my heart began to trust that his ways ARE truly best.

That night I dreamed of an African woman having a baby,

and, as I later found out, that was just about the time Bethany was born. 

God's ways are AWAYS best.

 

This year I returned to TVR with my family, my entire family including the two African treasures I prayed for that night.

And this year was completely different.

I loved being around my peers this year, and I made friends with some awesome, awesome gals.

I even learned how to say, "Hi, how are you?" In Amharic. (thanks Selba and Mectis!)

This year I went to TVR healed, I am reminded that God's ways are ALWAYS best. 

Always.

 

Kaden Teaches me to Dance in the Rain

Kaden has taught my family a lot, and learning to dance in the rain is only one of those lessons.

I have to say he does it pretty well!

And even though I got in trouble for asking him to go outside when it was raining, I think it was worth it. :)

So here you go! 

My own quote and all...

 

Kaden and Bethany Quotes (#24-25 and #9)

I thought I'd lighten up my writing a bit by throwing in some cute Bethany and Kaden quotes. 
Enjoy!

In the car one day,

 Kaden was talking on and on about how much he wanted to buy baby clothes for himself.

 As hard as we tried to explain that there simply were not baby-style clothes made for a nearly 6 year old boy, he would not be stopped.

"We can buy yots of clothes!" he said,

"Mommy fings, and baby fings for me.  I'll buy a crib and a swing... and diapers!"

(Kaden adores baby diapers)

"We can look on the computer when we get home!

Right Mom?"

 By this time most of us were tuning him out; still he continued:

"Right, Dad?"
"Right Defany?"
"Right Brittany?"

"Right...?" and with a big sigh: "Oh well."

 

Tonight after dinner, Bethany found a lady bug, and was enjoying showing it to everyone. 

She showed it to Brandon, Whitey (our dog), me, and my mom.

When Mom said it, she smiled and said, 

"Aw, he's a-dori-ble!"

"Yes!" Bethany agreeded, "him is a-dori-ble!"

My mom and I were working on my history for the week.
It was rough, because I hadn't reviewed the material since Christmas break started, and didn't really remember any of it.
I thrive on writing intensive work, not just reading and answering question. 
I tried to explain that the text book I was using just wasn't working for me.
"This isn't how I'm wired, Mom," I said, "I just cant learn like this."
Then, from across the room, I hear Kaden yell,
"Sure you can, Brittany!  Sure you can!"



Christmas with Kaden

One day my mom came down stairs to find Kaden busily occupied with something a little out of the ordinary. 

This is what she saw:

A Nutcracker tied up with white yarn to bulldozer,

and Playmobile Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus in a rescue boat.

 

"Kaden, what is this?" she asked.

"Well," he replied, "Him, (pointing to the nutcracker) Him made bad choices, so him had to go to jail."

 

Then Mom turned to Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus.

Turns out, this year they're speeding away to escape Herod in a rescue raft.

 

Hmmmm... What do I make of this?

All I know his that Kaden has a wonderful imagination!

Naptime Conversations

Ahhh, the joys of being a big sister!

Right now I'm sitting in Bethany and Kaden's room just talking and talking away.

It's naptime, and I'm babysitting.

A wonderful thing about being a big sister is that I can spoil my siblings a little.

Not totally, of course, but I love to do it occasionally.

 

We're talking about my favorite thing - God and salvation.

It started when Kaden had a mini-melt down over going up for rest time.

He came up, but he kept telling me he was mad and frustrated.

I had two choices; I could brush it off and order him to go to sleep (and get the big sister of the year award, of course!), or I could talk it out with him.

I chose to talk it out.

We talked and talked.

I prayed for him and thanked God that his is my brother.  I prayed that God would take away the frustration and anger in his heart.

After praying, Kaden said he was still angry.

I explained that God would take the bad feelings away, if Kaden would let him.
I explained to Kaden had to chose to open his heart to God and allow him to take away the bad feelings.

It makes me so strangely thankful for what I've been through in my life.

Now I have the knowledge to speak from what I've experienced and what God has taught me.

I learned from experience just this past week about opening your heart to God, being vulnerable, and allowing him to come into your heart and heal you. 

I was taught this by the Holy Spirit during a painful spiritual attack I'm planning to post about soon.

 

We talked for so long - we're actually still taking as I type. 

It's an hour past naptime, and I don't really care.  (hope you don't mind either, Mom! :/ )

We're talking heart to heart, and its so worth it. 

It confirms what I've been feeling.

I feel so called to mission work among children, and that what I'm planning to go to college to learn to do better.

Sharing how the Lord has worked in my life is my passion, and I feel so fulfilled and alive doing it.

I want to share what I'm learning with those who are struggling and need encouragement.

There are so many dreams that God has placed on my heart, and I'm so thrilled that they are beginning to happen.

I'm growing faster than I ever have in my life spiritually, and God's been working mightily, healing me of so much.

 

 I want to encourage you in the dreams and plans that you have.

What dreams has God placed on your heart?

What is He calling you to do?

Are you struggling with something, or do you need encouragement, or prayer?

Don't be afraid to ask for it.

Summing up, I'll leave you with this:

 

"Finally, be strengthened in the Lord and in the strength of his power."  - Ephesians 6:10



A Kaden Update

Kaden.

Life with Kaden is so good.  And rewarding.  And exhausting. 

He's always done so amazingly well being home.

He has his days, of course, but all of us do.

He's learning right from wrong, and, like I mentioned in the last post, is our family's police man when it comes to "making good choices" and rescuing people. :)

 

And like any boy,

Kaden gets mad.  He gets his feelings hurts, and he gets sad.

He has needs like other children his age, but his needs are often met differently than the average child.

He needs security, predictability, and love.

He needs those things in ways that other kids don't.

He needs time to pretend to be a baby, and experience the love and innocents that babies get.

 

He needs to know that we will always have food to eat, and that he will never go hungry.

He needs to be allowed to "save" some of his food for later, if he feels the need to do so.

While we let him do that, we also try to stress that fact that it is unnecessary.

He will always be able to eat when he is hungry.

 

And he needs love.

He needs to know that we will always love him.

Always.  No matter what.

When he makes poor decisions, we love him.

When he has to be disciplined, we love him.

When he doesn't get his way and throws a fit, we love him.

Last night Kaden was crying.

He said that he thought I wouldn't "be his friend anymore", simply because he was acting up when it was time for bed.

Kaden, sweet Kaden, I will always love you. 

You are my brother, and nothing you could do will make that love disappear.

 

And so, the "Melt my heart" part of this post:

I have special goggles I use when I swim.

Most goggles hurt my eyes, but these don't.

It just so happens that Kaden loves these goggles.

It also just so happens that Kaden breaks things very easily.

Because of these two factors, I try to keep said goggles out of sight in my room.

Today Kaden found them, and was playing rescue (his FAVORITE game)  with them.

I sat down next to him and explained that those goggles could be easily broken and asked for them back.

Kaden gave them back easily, but got upset.

He started looking for his handcuffs, and when he couldn't find them, he got a rope and pretended to "put me in jail".

Bethany jumped to my rescue and ended up in "jail" (a closet) with me.

I thanked her for trying to rescue me and she said,

"It's ok.  'Cause youse is my favorite sister."

That sure melted my heart, but that's not even the best part yet.

Eventually we got out of "jail" and the little ones went down for their naps.

When Kaden woke up, he went downstairs to find me.

"Brittany," he said, rubbing sleep out of his eyes, "I sorry for bein' mean to you."

Oh.  My.

I quickly hugged him, told him I loved him, and ran up to tell my mom.

"He came in here first thing after he woke up," she said. "He told me that needed to go tell you he was sorry.  He's probably been thinking about it all of rest time."

Even now my mind fails to grasp all of this.

His heart, his loving, trustful, sweet heart... Folks, my little brother is pretty awesome.

Though it's hard to see it some days, Kaden is simply mind blowing.

I need to try harder to step back and appreciate what a treasure we have in our little man.

 

 

 



Bethany and Kaden Conversations

Kaden is all about being the police man of the family.

He has decided it is his job to make sure everyone in the family "Does good choices".

Yesterday I was typing up some school work on the computer when I overheard Kaden talking to Bethany.

He had her sitting down in front of him, his pretend handcuffs on her wrists.

The toy of offense was next to them, and Kaden had a serious frown on his face.

The conversation went something like this:

Kaden:  why you do bad choices, Defany?

Bethany:  Me wanted to play with this.

Kaden:  but I was playing with it first.

Bethany:  No, me was.

Kaden:  No, I.

Mom: Kaden, do you want a snack?

Kaden:  Wust a minute, Mom!  Defany, don’t do bad choices, ok? You not want to go to jail.

Bethany: (sighing) ok.

 

I completely cracked up hearing this!
Sometimes I forget how absolutely hilarious these conversations are when I hear them several times a day.

I need to take a minute and simply enjoy the stage we are at now as a family.

I love it!

 



A Dream about my Lost Brother

The title of this post may have grabbed your attention.

To clear things up, I want to tell you that the boy I will talk about was never certainly going to be my brother.

I will give more details later, but although he was never officially my big brother, he will always be in my heart.

 

That being said, here is the post I had planned to write:

Last night I had a vivid dream.

Before I tell it, I want to give you a pit of background.

After my parent were married, they hosted a sweet, young boy from Belarus in the summer.

His name was Stas.

He began coming home to spend summer with my family, before I was born, when he was 8 years old.

In fact, Stas was here in the US with my parents when I was at the time of my birth. 
It was a work of God for us through him that I was born at home instead of in VA.
My parent were going to Virginia to see family for July 4th, but Stas suddenly got a high fever and my parents decided to wait. 
And then I was born unexpectantly the next day 6 weeks prematurely on July 3d.
God worked for me and my parents through this sweet little boy, and I will always have him to thank for that, among other thing. 



Stas came every year for 10 wonderful summers.

My parents and I (though my parents remember it better) had the privilege of seeing Stas grow up from a sweet little 8 year old, to an even-sweeter-still 18 year old.

One year my little 6 year-old heart was broken when my big brother, Stas, never showed up.

I have missed him every year since.

 

Stas was wonderful.

My parents could speak more to this, I have absolutely ZERO memories of Stas misbehaving or giving us a hard time.

What I remember is my "big brother" playing baby dolls with Brandon and me,

swimming in the pool with him, his sincere smile,
 and - maybe my favorite - Stas reading Brandon and me a story book in Belarusian and not being fazed when we laughed our heads off because of how funny the language sounded to us.


 

And then he would leave.

I don't remember many of the early years,

but I do remember one year when I woke up early (after he had left) and I went upstairs to his room.
All his things were gone.
Every toy was put away.
Every trace of him vanished.
I looked for a picture of him, and couldn't find even that.
That may have been the last year he ever came.
Somehow my 6 year-old heart knew that I'd never see him again on earth.



Stas had a special possession.
It was a stuffed animal Pooh Bear, who he would never take back to Belarus with him for fear of it getting stolen.

 He loved it, and I, as young as I was, could see that.
Years after he left the last time, I gathered Brandon and David in my room and showed them the Pooh Bear. 
I told them how Stas had cherished it.
Then I told them that I had promised to myself that I would keep it for him every year until he returned.  I would not let it get thrown or given away.
I was Stas's, and Stas's it would remain.

*sigh*

But, in my dream,

I was standing in our playroom (of our new house, which Stas has never seen) with my parents.
Kaden and Bethany were there playing as well.
I turned around, and there was Stas, about 16 years old, not saying a word, only standing there with a huge smile on his face and joy in his eyes.
My mouth dropped open and I just stood there, speechless.
Words escaped me and I didn't know what to do.
Not like the awkward silence that occurs when someone forgets their line in a play or anything.
No, it was nothing like that. 
It was a total, joyous overpowering that rendered me speechless.
Suddenly, I ran from the room to get something.
I came back with the Pooh Bear, and placed it in his hands.
And then my dream ended.

In my dream, Stas looked exactly like this

I don't know what exactly it means.
Maybe I will see Stas again on earth.
Maybe God's trying to tell me that I'm released from my promise, as simple as it may be.
Maybe Stas has found a family wherever he is.
Perhaps I can stop remembering him with the twinge of sadness over my loss.
Whatever it may be, I know that God has it under control, and I can simply trust him.
I love you, Stas!




Kaden Quote 21 - Life Lessons from a Five Year Old

lick, lick, scarf, scarf, scarf.

I turned around and, to my horror, saw our dog, Whitey, on the table eating someone's dinner.

 

"BAD DOG!" I yelled at him, running to try to save what was left on the plate.

 

"Him's not a bad dog!" Kaden yelled, "Brittany, you know that? 

Him's a dog, and dogs do that.  Him's not a people.  He's not bad, because dogs do that a lot.

Dog's... well... dogs, if you get a pet, them's going to do that."

 

That stopped me dead in my tracks.

How can a five year old be so smart?!

Our dog is not bad.  Our dog is simply a dog, and dogs do things like that.

That doesn't make him bad.

 

We as people do bad things, and that makes us people, that doesn't make us bad.

It is in our fallen nature to be sinful and to make wrong choices.

That's why we need Jesus to turn our old selves into someone new.

 

I'll in this post in a song about dogs Kaden wrote and wanted me to type up.  Here it is:

 

"Dogs have a tail, and they lick, dogs do that.  They want special treats, because him's a dog.

Lelma-laid, it taste good, its so strong.  God is strong.  God makes special things. 

God's so powerful, powerful and strong, because him died on the cross. 

But he did not stay dead,

now we don't have to be dead, because he choose to save us."

 

Kaden is. amazing.

 

 

 



2 Years Home!

This second year of Kaden and Bethany being home as absolutely flown by!

We've had a really great year with them, and have seen them both develop and grow,

both in character and physically.

 

I think back to this night 2 years ago.

We were all so excited for our parents to come home with "Kadi" and "Baby Jilma".

As excited as I was, I was lightly nervous and apprehensive. 

What would this be like?

Our life would be completely different now...

What would we do with them all day?

Would Mom and Dad have any time for us anymore?

I never asked these questions, even to myself, but they were subconsciously running through my mind.

Then they pulled into the driveway.

Slowly they got of the car.

As soon as I saw 5 month old Bethany - my baby sister - all my subconscious fears instantly vanished.

I held her for the first time a few seconds later, and I was in love.

This was my sister, my answered prayer, the one I had waited for years to love.

And Kaden....

Oh, the little toddler he was then.

It is absolutely crazy to look back at picture and videos and to see what an absolute baby he was then.

He has grown so much and has completely transformed. 

He has been such an amazing joy and blessing, even through the sometimes trying times.

We are so unspeakably thankful for the gifts we have been given through Kaden and Bethany.

We love them so very much and cannot imagine our lives without them. 

 

Our day was packed full of fun!

Kaden called a meeting and together we came up with a list of things to do to celebrate.

Amazingly, we've done everything on the list!

 

Our day began with a special breakfast, then a trip to the park to play and take pictures, with Subway for lunch.  Next we came home to play outside, make jello, have shrimp for dinner, and end our special day with looking at pictures and videos from Congo before playing Baby Kaden and going to bed.

One of my greatest treasures... enough said.

this year

Last year

Two years ago! 

 

 

We also made Jello!  Although it didn't turn out quite right, it was fun!

Jon got into it too!

 

 

Kaden and Bethany,

We love you SO. VERY. MUCH. 

You are amazing blessings in our lives, and we can't image our lives with out you.

We love you!