funny of the day

Conversation of the day: (to set the scene, we were driving past the courthouse, aka: Ella's castle)

Ella: I'm going to have a wedding at my castle.....and Jayden (cousin) is going to dance with me....and I'm going to wear a princess dress and be a princess just like you were mommy.....and Grady's going to be a prince.

Grady: Noooooooooo (in disgust)!  I'm NOT going to be a PRINCE! I'm going to be SPIDERMAN!  And I'm going to have a wedding at a basketball game!!!

Enough said, I guess. We couldn't have twins with more of a girly girl and a completely opposite "all boy" boy!

Moving Forward

It's been quite a while since I have posted.  Let's just say it's been a crazy few months.  Here's the rundown since our last post:

-Stephen's been crazy busy with work!

-When not at work/traveling around for work, he's been working on finishing up loose ends on our house.  I have an awesome husband!

-We've been attempting to check things off our Haiti list in our spare? time (kids' shots, fund-raising prep, etc).

-We had a successful garage sale getting rid of a lot of the excess!

-We've made trips to Indiana (fund-raising seminar), Tennessee (take care of some Haiti business), and Kentucky (orphan summit <-------awesome!)

-Had a fun and special weekend in Illinois with my family for my Grandma's 90th B-day

-Mikah turned two :)

-Twins started swimming lessons :)

-Stephen took a trip to the boundary waters with a group of guys from our church

-AND, we officially got our house listed today!  

     I know there's plenty of things I've left out, but those are the big ones.  We've also managed to keep three kids alive and thriving :)  That's a big enough task in itself!  In other big news, Stephen has 8 days left of work at InVision!  It's going to be a bittersweet end, but I am looking forward to having my husband around and to be able to devote the time needed to fully prepare for our move.  Please pray for our family during this transition that is coming faster than we ever anticipated.  Pray for our marriage, our kids, and that all the details we need to work out would fall into place.  

Also, check out Hands and Feet's new website!   It just launched this past week and is pretty cool.

I'll leave you with a conversation Grady and I had on our way to the store tonight:

G:  Who's truck is that mommy?

Me:  Um, that's Aaron's truck.

G:  Daddy sold his truck because we're going to Haiti, and we love Haiti, mommy.  And all the kids there.

(funny fact: Stephen didn't sell his truck to move to Haiti.  His truck died like 5 months ago!)

A New Journey

I've been thinking for a long time on how to even make this post.  Well, without babbling on for days that is.  The simplest and most sincere way to put it is this:

We are moved.

Five years ago, Stephen and I made our first trip to Haiti.  We instantly fell in love with the people and culture.  Since that first trip, it is crazy for us to look back and see that God has been shaping and refining us for the last five years to serve somewhere in the country full time.  It wasn't something we planned out, but something that God was planning out for us.   Over this past year, God has specifically burdened our hearts for the orphan and the social injustices of the world.  As parents it breaks our hearts, just as it does our Father's heart, for the thousands upon thousands of children in our world that have not one person to advocate for them.

Psalm 82:3 says, "Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed."

We are moved.

Our family has the opportunity to serve at at a children's village in Cyvadier, Haiti called The Hands and Feet Project.  Their mission exists to care for orphans and abandoned children of the world with the love of Christ.  The vision is to raise a generation of orphans who will grow into men and women who will have a relationship with Christ and be leaders in their communities.  The Hands and Feet Project has a big impact on the community around them, employing 40 + people in an otherwise job-scarce country.  


Stephen and I truly believe in this mission and are humbled by the opportunity to join their team full-time.  With the burden of our hearts, we are excited to use the skills God has given us to advance His kingdom....in Haiti.  Hands and Feet currently has one main site in Cyvadier with 50+ kids and a new site in Grand Goave with 31 kids.  Stephen will be the project manager for these sites as well as dealing with daily needs around the orphanage.  My role will evolve as we get there including tutoring the kids, working with the nanny's, the many short-term groups that come throughout the year etc.  Grady, Ella, and Mikah's role: to be kids, make lots of new friends, and spend more time with their daddy than they currently get to :)


Our move date is October, 2011.  Now let me tell you dear friends and family, we of course have some fears!  We know it seems a little crazy to move our family of five to the poorest country in the western hemisphere, and the reality of our move is hitting closer and closer to home as our plans move forward each day.  With each and every fear though, God confirms to us each day that this is His will for our lives right now.  We have had friends, family, and even somewhat strangers ask if they can financially support our mission before we have even launched our funding endeavors.  God is good, and He continues to tell us to fear not, for "in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28).  We know in this journey we will face many trials, some of which are currently known and some unknown.  But we know where our Hope and future lies, and with that in our hearts we are confidently abandoning our lives as we once knew it and embracing the journey God has in front of us.


Our prayer as you read this, is that you will join us on this journey.  We are extremely blessed to have loving family and friends in our lives and we will continue to update this family blog regularly along the way. 


Blessings,
Carrie & Family

Birthday Parties!

Grady and Ella got to celebrate their birthday three times for their third birthday!  It started with a celebration with mommy on the actual day, followed by a party at our house the next day, and one at Grandma and Grandpa Mulligan's a few days later.  It was more of a birthday week :)  I now have two super-big three-year-olds!  Gotta love them :)

As requested, a Ming-Ming duckling cake for Ella...

...and a dinosaur cake for Grady!  

fun in the sun......i mean blizzard

Yesterday, the girls had a blizzard party.  What winter storm party is complete without bathing suits?

Don't you wish you looked this cute in a bikini in the middle of winter?

Mmmm, a bowl full of cheese :)

Ella loved being in her swimming suit all afternoon, but was pretty disappointed we weren't ACTUALLY going swimming.  

cloudy with a chance of pizza

I don't find much time to blog about all the crazy happenings and funny things that come out of my kids' mouths,  (heaven knows we're not lacking for stories in this crazy home)  but I really wish I would write some of the silly things down more often.  So without further ado;  a story from this morning!

To set the scene, our house has been pretty chaotic for the last three weeks.  Stephen has been working late hours and he's started teaching another class at UNI for the spring semester.   There have been at least three nights out of the week over the past 3 weeks that he hasn't been home until after the kids are in bed.   This has made it extremely difficult to stay on top of the cleaning and errands that need to be done, as I've just been in survival mode.  Oh yeah...have I mentioned that we've only had one vehicle for quite some time now?  We haven't had a full refrigerator or cupboards in a while....and even if I could muster up the ambition to bring my three small toddlers to the grocery store,  I don't have a way to get there during the day and our grocery store closes at 9pm.  Ok,  I'm not whining.  Just setting the stage for our morning :)

I once again wanted to get to the grocery store last night, but Stephen wasn't home until 8:00 and I couldn't make it in time.   This morning we were at an all time low for food.  I was struggling to figure out what to put together for the kids for lunch.  Stephen happened to be working in the area this morning, so I called and asked if he could stop by the store and grab something for lunch for the kids before he left for Waterloo.  He said that he'd grab a frozen pizza and leave it on the front step so he could get on the road asap.  I heard a knock at the door and thought he had changed his mind and decided to come inside.  I told Grady to go open the door, so he ran to the door and found a bag.  

"Moooommmm!!!  I found a PIZZA!  It dropped.  It got dropped by the sky!!!!!!  I found it!!"  Then Ella joined in, chattering away about the pizza that dropped from the sky.   I haven't laughed so hard in ages.  Oh, to be a kid and actually believe that a frozen pizza in a Fareway sack dropped out of the sky.  I just played along and we had a magical lunch time :)

Happy Birthday Grady & Ella!

3 years ago

Now!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Grady & Ella!  Three years ago today, you guys made quite an entrance to this world and we've had a crazy, fun journey ever since.  I've been blessed to see you grow from little helpless babies, to little tiny people.  Ella, you make me laugh every day with your funny conversations, belly laughs, attention to detail, and love for learning.  I know and pray that God will shape and use that strong will of yours for something amazing some day!  Grady,  you're a pretty funny BOY!  You sure know how to balance out all the girly activities during the day by "rooaaaarrr"ing at the girls like a dinosaur when you're frustrated or turning their play cookies into basketballs.  But, you have such a tender heart that will (in the VERY distant future) make you an amazing husband and daddy someday!

 Life is always a little chaotic as you now know that you are 'twins', but you guys make quite the pair!  I love you both so incredibly much!  Happy Birthday!                     Love, Mommy