Coach purse winner!

Congratulations to Janet Dunleavy! She was the winner of our Coach purse giveaway. Thank you so much to everyone who donated!

Coach purse giveaway!

WOW!

Congratulations to Natasha Owens! She won the iPad in our drawing.

Tra and I are amazed at how generous everyone is. We know there was a carrot on the end of that stick, but so many of you just wanted to help us on our adoption. We can't thank you enough. Thank you. Thank you.

As soon as I can figure out how to edit the video to blur out confidential information, I will post a short video I have of the drawing.

Tim and Tra

Want an iPad? Donate and see...

Really Good News!

Tim and I are THRILLED to announce…….here we go AGAIN!! We're adopting!! We are praying for what God has and we are praying for this little soul coming our way. AND we want you to be a part of our journey! I'll be posting information here as we make progress along the way. We appreciate your prayers!

"I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you." John 14:18.

I-Pad

How would you like one of these??? Stay tuned and I'll tell you how you could win one!

YAY SUN!

It is an absolutely beautiful day outside!  I am so in love with the breeze and sunshine.  Which made me think how great it is that sitting outside enjoying it, is always FREE.  Those of you on facebook saw my status.  We aren't really taking a true vacation this summer; but sitting outside today made me think of all the things that God blesses us with that are FREE.  

Some of you were a bit confused on my random ramblings in my earlier post.  I'm not here to explain it.  Those who understood it or just want to hear more....here is where I am now....

I can't do many things.  I do aspire to do many things. I am a dreamer, always have been.  I always am the one who comes up with the BIG IDEA.  Following through, on the other hand, well that might be a different story.  BUT, I am determined to follow through on this.  I am praying that God help me figure it all out!  This ministry http://amazima.org/ I learned about it through this blog www.kissesfromkatie.blogspot.com  I desperately want to do something to help. If I had my way I would be pursuing an adoption right now to give one of these kids a true home and family that could love them.  BUT, that is not where God has us right now.  So, something I CAN do is cook.  Cooking is one of my true passions in life.  I am going to be selling some baked goods to try and raise money for amazima.  Pray with me.  I don't know if this is the thunder God was speaking to me through the other day or not.  We shall see.  I will post more details as I get things figured out.  

Random Goodwin boy stuff:  (I know how you all love them :)

Joseph asked me "why Mom?" for the first time yesterday.  I know that might sound odd to be excited about, but that is a true skill he has accomplished there.  We were so proud and yet so scared at the same time.  

Nathan BEGGED me to let him "just get a tardy" at school today so he could watch his favorite TV show this morning.  (didn't happen)

Tracy

Great day / Theory of a six-year-old

Mowed the yard in the beautiful weather.  

Went to the book sale at the library and picked up a load of books for only $8.  

Headed to Franklin Festival and saw a race car at the BP on the way.  Turns out it is some sort of promo car.  The boys got to play in it and Nathan got to play this very, very cool racing game.  The graphics were so real!

Had a great time and some lunch at the Franklin Festival.

On the way home, we stopped by Tractor Supply for a fundraiser car wash for the niece of a friend going on a misson trip.  Car cleaned and gave to a worthy cause.  While at the store, we went inside and saw some baby chicks.  Luckily for us it was "Demo Day" so I got to take the boys around for some laps in a go cart.  They were stoked!

When we got home we chilled for a bit and then headed outside to play in the glorious sunshine.  Nathan played in the sprinkler with the kids down the street and I did some more yard maintenance.  

Dinner.

After dinner, Nathan and I started changing out the sprayer on the kitchen sink only to realize the old one is a proprietary one and the clip broke when I was taking it off.  So, off to Lowe's.  No luck at Lowe's so off to The Home Depot.  No luck there either.  Looks like we will need a whole new faucet in there. 

All of that to get to this.  While Nathan and I were leaving Lowe's, he says to me, "Dad, you know how Sprout and PBSKids.org work together?  Well, Lowe's and Home Depot should work together.  I mean, look at all of these supplies!  They both have the same supplies so they should just do it.  Work together."

I tried to give him a short primer on competition, but he still thought they should work together.  Then, at The Home Depot, he goes into a monologue on the company colors of The Home Depot, Lowe's and Target.  He does not like the orange that is everywhere at THD.  Just do you know, his favorite corporate color is Target's red.  Also, he is very against the "THE" before "Home Depot."  Nathan thinks it should only be called "Home Depot."  He said, "THE before it really doesn't sound right."  The kid really likes Lowe's.

That is it.  Brought him home and put him to bed.

Great day.

Tim

thinking outloud....

So many random thoughts flying around my head....not sure if any of them would make any sense to anyone.  Maybe not even me.  Maybe it's the sun that is out today and the nice mild weather coupled with a nice quite house.  Quite for the moment anyway.   I just want to say, I'm not sure what God is up to right now in my life.  I am sure He is up to something.  I can almost hear the thunder softly in the background.  I can almost feel the walls start to just barely shake.  I feel no fear, only excitement for what is to come.  I see God working in friend's lives and I am overjoyed for them.  I can't wait to see more of His touch.  Okay, seriously I just finished typing that and the loudest clap of thunder just hit the house!  With nothing else.  One loud clap of thunder.  So, as I was saying, God is up to something in the Goodwin house.  There is my Joseph, I must go tell him everything is okay.

Tracy

PS- If this has made no sense at all to you, don't worry.  My next post might.  No guarantees though :)  

My new mantra....

Through patience a ruler can be persuaded, a gentle tongue can break a bone.

Proverbs 25:15

That's it.  

wow'd...

I am so blessed.  I LOVE this life that God has blessed me with.  It's not always easy.  It often seems NOT to be what I would have chosen for myself.  Not that I wouldn't choose THIS life, but I would not have chosen THESE struggles.  Although, I don't think you can really seperate the two, can you.  So I go.  I move forward because God gives me everything I need.  Right when I need it.  I am so in love with my boys.  So in love with my husband.  So in love with the fact that my job is to take care of them.  

As most of you know, this is our BIRTHDAY BLAST month.  Joseph turned 3 April 6th, me 30--something April 7th, and Nathan will be 6 on April 12th.  It is emotional this year.  For 2 out of the 3 years of Joseph's life we weeped and waited and hoped for him to come home.  HE MADE IT.  I can't really put  into words how it feels.  I am just wow'd by God.  Nathan turning 6 is blowing my mind too.  Didn't I just have him?!  We are beyond blessed.  I am feeling overwhelmingly thankful for all that God has done for me and my family.  It wasn't so long ago....for a brief moment I almost wasn't here.  God knew that there was a Nathan and a Joseph in my future.  Wow.  I love you God.

Tracy

Go fly a kite! OK

This morning we hopped out of bed and headed to Loveless.  Love the biscuits!  When we got home, Nathan wanted to fly his kite.  We had a little wind, but, sadly, it died down too quickly and we had to put the kite away.  Well, this afternoon there is a front blowing and so the wind is up!  We got the kite back out and had a great time.

Tim.

Getting busy and excited...

As many of you know both our boys are getting ready to have birthdays.  BOTH our boys, that is so great to say this year.  We've been saying it for 2 and half years, but this time the 'both' in that sentence is physically with us!  They are so pumped up about these parties, and I am too.  Joseph talks about his Mickey Mouse cake everyday.  Too cute.  We have two fun filled weekends of Mickey Mouse and Aliens coming up. Can't wait.

We are having some big milestones at our house.  Nathan has finally graduated speech classes at school!  He no longer qualifies as ALL his teachers can understand him clearly 100% of the time.  YEAH!  Joseph is a walking talking mess now-a-days too!  He knows how to express himself very well.  He knows what he likes and he knows what he doesn't like.  I'll take that any day over throwing a fit 'just because.'  It's easier for him now, since he can communicate so much better.  Along with that comes an adorable little personality too!  So we have our baby turning 6!!  Going on 12.  We have our real baby turning 3, and two very happy parents.

Praise God for his goodness.

A little off topic

I have posted a little something to my personal blog that some may find interesting regarding our current financial status.  Not well researched, but interesting to me.  You can find it here.

Tim

when you know it's time....

to do the laundry!

yes that is a paper towel hanging on the towel rack.  Tim is such a genius.  This made me laugh out loud when I walked into the bathroom. 

2 post in one day....

Crazy uh?  Well I had to share this.  I posted some time back about my cousin Jaime who had been in a terrible gas explosion.  He is recovering and God is taking care of him.  His wife, Natalie is pregnant with their first son.  Click the links below and see how God shows us how much he loves us:

http://www.nbcaugusta.com/news/georgia/40761292.html andhttp://www.wrdw.com/home/headlines/40758947.html

why?

Why is it necessary to have horrible mornings? I believe God has a purpose and plan in everything that happens. Even the silliest of things matter. So, what was God's purpose in me and my 2 boys struggling to make it through the morning rush??? I mean whoow. Maybe He wanted to make sure He had my attention for the rest of the day. He's got it. So, first thing Nathan comes in my bed snuggles up and starts in "my head hurts, I can't go to school." Mom says "sorry your head hurts, we have tylenol, you are going to school." Mom is thinking in her head "oh how I wish you could stay home with me today, sniffle sniffle." Truth is I have a doctor's appointment today so I needed him to go to school. Probably good because I might have caved otherwise. Moving on, Dad is still home so both boys aimlessly follow him around. I look at the clock and realize we are 30 minutes behind schedule! Dad had decided "sure Nathan turn on the TV." WRONG!! So it took Nathan and extra 15 minutes to get dressed. Remember we are already behind. I am frantically making lunch, and breakfast with the last bit of supplies. It's also grocery time. I realize Nathan didn't feed the fish before he came downstairs, I sent him upstairs for that and to brush his teeth before he eats. The whole time Joseph is yelling "mom, eat. mom, eat. mom, eat. mom, eat. mom eat." So I tell Nathan HURRY! As I'm packing the lunch, I remembered Nathan saying he didn't bring home his lunch box because his drink spilled in it yesterday. So now I have to fashion something as a lunch box that I can put an ice pack in, but still have separation for the little crackers that are his entree. The next moment I hear "MOM, COME HERE QUICK!" I yelled up "what happened?" He answers, "ummm I spilled." GREAT. I go up to his room, and yeah almost an entire container fish food is on his floor. To top it off, he had also been looking for his belt so his dresser drawers were open. Yes, the fish food not only was on the floor, but all in his drawers and clothes. So, I get all of that cleaned out. I'm not happy by this time. I finally did get the boys downstairs and fed. Then they wanted to sit in the floor and watch TV. So I decided to let them. Nathan finished first, of course. So he was already sitting in the center of floor watching TV when Joseph went into the living room. Joseph walks in and very bully like says "Nathan MOVE." Nathan moves over. So I tell Joseph, no Nathan is just sitting in the floor you sit beside him. Joseph proceeds with a crying fit. You can imagine how fond of those I am. He finally stops and sits beside Nathan. (well, beside almost on top of :) A few minutes later it's time to get in the car and go to school. I left out the part where I spilled milk all over the kitchen counter while packing lunch. Anyway, Nathan goes to put on his shoes and says OUCH, these shoes have shrunk. We'll shop for a new pair this weekend, just wear them for today. Thankfully he says, "ok, I'll be fine." Ahh a nice answer. I definitely remembered that song about motherhood that lady sang. It's funny, if you haven't seen this TRUST ME it's worth the click.  The Mom Song

So now that I've seen it all typed out, I guess it wasn't so bad afterall. It was just not our norm. Our mornings are usually very smooth and peaceful, mommy likes it that way:) Actually like most things, I blame Tim. He forgot to set up the coffee maker last night. That REALLY throws things off balance and the Goodwin house. If I can't wake up to a fresh hot cup of Joe, I'm just ruined!! Ruined I tell you.

Let me try again...

One more thing about the mom of the octuplets. What I was trying to express yesterday was my frustration with the way people were judging her for the phone call to 911. She did sound 'crazy' on the call. If one of my boys went missing I would have sounded crazy too. I loved getting some feedback from you guys on that subject. I just wanted to make sure everyone knew that I wasn't trying to debate whether or not she had made good choices. Or if she was a good mother or not. I was bothered by the brutal personal attack they were giving her about the 911 call.  

On to other things.... I am LOVING the nice weather, HATING the fact that later in the week we'll be in the 40's AGAIN. Tim and I have been joking that we should open a t-shirt joint in Hawaii. Doesn't that sound great?! It does to us. I told him, ya know we don't need much. I'm cool to live in a tiny little place, my kids back yard can be the ocean. So I'm telling you this story to lead up to this crazy dream I had last night. So we have been joking so much about this and talking about it; that I think it crept into my subconscious. I dreamed that we lived in this tiny tiny apartment. It horrible decor, and Nathan and Joseph had to share a tiny old room. It was all run down and dilapidated. YUCK!! Okay, so maybe I do need more than I realized!! Okay God we'll stay put. Thank you for my beautiful un-falling-apart home!

UGGGG!!!

Okay I just watched one small blurb on the Today Show.  I am so irritated, outraged even at these so called 'experts' who think they have the right to judge, or give an opinion on this mom of octuplets.  This one lady, who is an author, was VERY judgemental on this poor mother.  Then, this author towards the end of the interview says "well I'm not saying I'm perfect either I have the zanex in my purse to prove it."  Are you kidding me lady?  So we aren't supposed to judge you on your mental instability, but you can judge her?  I'm reminded of being a child and having my parents explain to me that kids put others down because they are insecure.  They have to make themselves feel better by making themselves feel 'above' everyone else.  The only way to do that is to put others down.  I see a classic case of bullying from this author.  I'm not saying that this mom didn't mess up, but is there any mother on this earth who has done everything flawlessly, perfectly, never yelled at her kids, never lost her temper, never over-reacted?  Come on!  They were REALLY criticizing her for that 911 call when one of her older sons was missing.  The lady was pregnant with 8 babies at the time!!!  I'm sorry but until you personally have ALL OF THOSE hormones running through your veins I just don't think you are in a place to judge.   I know there are other mothers out there, with far less children, who also have temporarily lost track of their kid(s).  I know as a child I personally got lost in a store once.  It happens.  Even the most conscientious parent can turn around one second, back the next and her child not be where he was. I'm not saying it's okay, but I'm saying don't judge.  She was worried about her son, and probably completely realizing she is WAY out numbered with the children she is going to have.  Why do people in this world feel it is necessary or helpful to come down on each other?  I'm having a hard time putting this into words.  It is ridiculous to me that people think they are so high above the rest of us, that they are qualified to say what this woman should or shouldn't be feeling.  I would think that it would be very hard to be going through what she is going through, in the public eye under public scrutiny no less.  You know she could have chosen selective reduction, but she didn't.  She must be terrified.  She must be wondering how on earth she will care for all these children.  I don't know if this woman is a christian or not, but either way I will be praying for her.  God has a plan.  I just wish people would get off their high horse, and realize we are really all the same.  You don't know what you would do.  You can say what you think you would do, but the truth is YOU DON'T KNOW.   I am frustrated and worn down with people putting others down to make themselves seem better.

ug.

She was right. Again.

I enjoy a great bowl of popcorn. Really enjoy it. But, I am not a big fan of the microwave stuff from that old guy with the funny name. I like the loose kernels popped with love. We had had this great popper that was like a hot plate with a plastic bowl on top. It was called stir crazy or stir popper or stir me a drink or something like that. Sadly, it died this weekend. I thought maybe we got a bad batch of kernels so I headed off to the store to get some new ones. It was not the kernels.

Tonight I decided I would just make it on the stove top like we used to do, but Tra brought down the hammer and told me I would make her quite unhappy if I woke the kids with all the noise made by sliding a nice quality, heavy duty pot across the little metal things that sit over the gas flame. Oh, I'm sure they have a name, but I can't think of it right now.

Here is where the different ideas came into play. Tra said something like, "You know you don't need 'microwave popcorn' to make popcorn in the microwave, right?" Well, as I am sure you all know, that is just crazy talk. I mean, how could big companies make millions of dollars off of microwave popcorn if there wasn't some special sort of pixie dust in that bag? After much discussion and doubting, she proceeded to find it on the Internet. Well, there you have it. It is on the Internet so it must be true. Finally, I give in. I take a paper bag, smear one of the inside walls with butter, add the kernels, and add some salt. Four minutes later we had wonderfully smelling, wonderfully tasting popcorn.

When will I learn?

Tim