Those Benners are something else...

OHHHHHH... sweet Benners.... how we love you so much for so many reasons... you have always amazed me of your sweet love for others, beautiful faces, tender hearts and the gift of giving... and yet again you amaze me... After 2 failed post man attempts and 2 hours of our family in the car trying to find our mysterious package... we got another care package from the Benners... We love you and thank you... and really MISS YOU!

A little something for Pierce and alot for Mama... Marcie had asked what a I needed and I had told her the only thing I needed was some clear stick deodorant (can't find it here)... and I got 2 sticks and alot more... oh what a great Thursday night I had... I just love presents...

Here are some pics of The Benner family the last time we saw them in Feb. 2009. Sweet Evie Lou... we miss you.

Here are the two love birds checking out the cake...maybe their wedding cake???

PD Bird loves him some Mr. Shane time...

One last look at our sweet Evie Lou... thanks again and we love you... You guys are the best and you rock my world. So when are you coming to visit????????????

Releasing Children from Poverty in Jesus' name!

"Our family now consist of Blake, Camille, Pierce and you now, Anju"!

Blake and I talked last night and we both agreed that this was a perfect gift for mother's day (read yesterdays post here for more info)... a gift that keeps on giving and something that we want to do for another but we know how powerful our God is and I am sure we will be humbled in how it blesses our immediate family as well.

With that being said I searched online for a new sponsor child today... and I immediately found him. I was humbled to notice that as soon as I clicked on sponsor a child today the country Indonesia popped up... it takes 20 minutes on a boat ride to get to Indonesia... could this be anymore perfect... I long to already meet our sponsor child and did not even know his name but I knew that I could hop on a ferry and get to him if I had to. After selecting Indonesia and the age range (young but old enough that I could write to him)... we found Anju!

I immediately thought of two things:

1) Our family now is Blake, Camille, Pierce and you ("Anju").

and

2) The song from Dream Girls... "And you, And you, And you... your gonna love me"... not only are we going to love Anju but we hope he loves us too.

Here is our Anju:

"Anju"
Age: 4
Gender: Male
Region: Asia
Country: Indonesia

Anju lives with his father and his mother. His father is sometimes employed and his mother is employed as a laborer. Anju works at home running errands. There are 3 children in the family.Anju is not presently attending school. Playing with cars and running are his favorite activities. He also attends church activities regularly.

Anju was waiting 6 months for a sponsor parent... it breaks my heart for all the children in the world that could just use $32 a month to make a world of a difference in their day to day life.

I will give up my beloved chai tea's at Starbucks for 6 days every month... Anju is worth it. Maybe I could give up 12 days and get another child?

I can't wait to watch him grow up and love on him through correspondence, finances, prayer and someday maybe even a hug.

If you have a sponsor child... I would love to hear all about them, pray for them, and thank you for making a difference in releasing children from poverty in the name of Jesus.

What I want for Mothers Day.... to be a Sponser Mom!

When I was in college I sponsored a child in Africa through an organization named Compassion... through all the hustle and bustle of leaving College Station, living with friends in Houston and getting my own place I lost my sponsor child Abdul. It is something that has grieved me for years and occasionally I think of him and how I have failed him in so many ways.

Well enough is enough.... I have never been more convicted than when I read these 2 post today from ladies that were united with their sponsor children:

Patricia Jones

Melissa at Living Proof

Blake has been asking me for weeks if there was something that I wanted for Mother's Day... I came up with "not so good" ideas... but now I know... I can't wait to tell him tonight... I want to be a sponsor Mom again... I look forward to getting a new child on Sunday... and maybe someday we can meet him or her and have the same experience as Patricia and Melissa had this past week.

Wouldn't it be great... excuse me AMAZING... if all of these children had sponsor parents... and were able to rest there head on a soft pillow at night knowing that they would have food/shelter in the morning, someone that loved and cared for them and just someone that was praying for them.

God thank you for reminding me today of how special we are to you.

Never been more happy with Tonsillitis and a Sinus Infection!

Starting on Saturday Pierce had a horrible deep cough which shortly turned into a runny nose and temperature. Under normal circumstances I would have given him some extra love and maybe some Motrin but things aren't that normal are they... with all of this Swine Flu hype going on (no none cases in Singapore) I was a little freaked out. We did not go to church on Sunday bc of his condition so we had a lazy morning and Pierce seemed only to get worse. He had a low temperature, runny nose, sneezing, coughing, achy, etc... Monday morning this is what he looked like... he just wanted to sit there...so I got a little nervous and Blake told me to call the dr. to just make myself feel better... that is all I needed and off we went.
When we arrived at the dr.'s office they immediately took my temperature and Pierce's. Pierce did not have a temp. at the time bc the Motrin had set in but since he was coughing and had a runny nose they wanted him to wear the mask (he would not so they "sort of" isolated us)... All the personnel were wearing these masks and everyone had their temp. taken... even a guy who came in to get his stitches looked at...

After seeing the dr... I have never been more happy to hear that Pierce has Tonsillitis and a Sinus Infection... Thank you God. We are good but on medicine and trying to get lots of rest to get better.

I have a little itch in my nose and my throat is sore so I am headed to take some Zicam now... hope to have the family healthy again soon... for now we are enjoying each other and staying inside.

Tagged...

I was tagged by my friend Suzanne and you know I have to play now!

Here are the rules for "eight things": Mention the person that tagged you. Complete the list of eight things. Tag eight of your wonderful blogger friends.

Eight things I look forward to:
1. Heaven!
2. Retirement
3. Sundays... it is the only full day I get with Blake.
4. Pierce getting rid of the crud.
5. Visits from family and friends to Singapore
6. Care packages, cards, emails and calls.
7. Vacations!!!
8. Winter in Texas

Eight things I did yesterday:
1. Talked with my in-laws on the skype (missed my parents)
2. Missed church bc Pierce was sick
3. Got a Starbucks
4. Went to the pet store with Pierce and Blake and petted some animals (but no pigs)
5. Got to watch Pierce and Blake play a racing video game
6. Slept in until 9am
7. Blogged and emailed
8. Watched X-men last night with Blake.

Eight things i wish i could do:
1. Visit the US sometime soon
2. Play the piano
3. Be a back up dancer
4. See my family more often
5. Know how to potty train my son
6. Travel the world for months at a time
7. Learn how to be a better cook
8. Become a nurse overnight.

Eight shows i watch:
1. American Idol
2. 24
3. House
4. Ellen D.
5. Go Diego Go
6. Pierce's movies over and over again
7. Can't think of any others... sorry
8. not many American shows make it to Singapore that are on when we are awake or updated.

Now I tag Shelly, Whitney, Corrie, Sheridan, Renee, Jacquie, Jenn, Emily

Speechless Sunday!

It's Hot and Pierce is jumping for joy!

Mom can we go to the pool today?

Well of course... are you ready to go... Yes I am.

We have not been able to go to the pool all week... he was one happy kid... he loves the pool... am I the only one noticing how skinny he is getting... what is going on?

He just loves playing in the water with his friends...

Pierce is telling someone to get out of the water here... wonder where he got that from?

Here is one of Pierce's friends... Sin Ji from Japan... isn't he just so cute... he is 2 months older than Pierce.

Stuck on the slide... don't you just hate when this happens?

Here is another of Pierce's friends... Alex from England.

Pierce has just learned how to Jump and he is so happy to show off his skills... even jumping off of the edge of the slide... Jumping for Joy!




There have been some videos of random people dancing on my blog for the past couple of days so I thought it was time (especially for the grandparents) that I put some video of Pierce... here he is sliding and jumping and having a hard time learning to share. Enjoy!