40 Birthday Blessings

Today was a special day. Today my friend, Wendy, celebrated her birthday. I was honored to be a part of her day. Her story is inspiring. It is filled with great trials and even greater victories. Wendy is courageous, determined and strong. She loves passionately in a way few of us will ever comprehend. She is thankful for the little things and truly appreciate every tomorrow. I am blessed by her friendship and thankful our paths are intertwined. Happy Birthday my sweet friend!

In the Air

We just returned home from LAX dropping Mike and my Dad off. They will be landing in Ukraine tomorrow evening at 10:40pm. Please join us as we pray for a safe and speedy trip. I can't wait for my boys to come home!

Peyton Jay Teixeira

Our biggest BLESSING this Thanksgiving came in the form of a sweet little bundle. The much anticipated baby Peyton (AKA PJ) was born on Thanksgiving morning. The third in the line of beautiful Teixeira babies Peyton completes the bunch perfectly. She is the spitting image of her big sister Skyler.

After gobbling up my turkey (no pun intended :)). Mike and I left a house full of family to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner with our friends. The best part of my day was snuggling with Peyton. We are so excited to watch her grow into a little lady. We can't wait to see what God has in store for her life.

I am THANKFUL for the gift of New Life.

Cousins

The kids and I have been enjoying spending time with our cousins for the past few days. My sister, Carolyn, has four children. My kids LOVE playing with Bekah, Drew, Rachel and Zech. On Wednesday evening after going to pizza together we went to Papa and Nonnie's house for cookies and pj's. My mom has a pj obsession so when the kids are all at her house you know pj's will be coming out at some point (which is great for us because we never have to buy them). Here are all of the kids lined up to receive their new cozys.


That same evening I was fortunate to spend a few hours with my cousins as well. While getting caught up on concerts, boyfriends and babies we shopped for a few last minute additions for our Thanksgiving meal.


I am THANKFUL for my Family.

Goodbye Presidents

With this month quickly coming to an end we are sad to say goodbye to our study on the Presidents. I would continue it and we would never be out material to study but, I am excited to move on to our Advent unit.

Here are a few highlights from this month-

The battle at Bunker Hill-


Jewelry for the First Ladies-


Flag Pizza-


Campaign Headquarters :) -


Sorting Democrats/Independents/Republicans-


The Gettysburg Address-



I am THANKFUL for my students.

Beach Football

The second part of our long weekend included a trip to the beach; are you seeing a theme- 3 weekends in a row. The weather has been incredible. It is way too hard to pass up the beach on days like this-


We are THANKFUL for great friends to enjoy it with!

Think PINK

Bailey had a really big weekend. It started off with a party for her girlfriend, Esther. The girls were asked to arrive dressed in PINK. Bailey was larger than life for this party. Even her hair was colored pink. Too bad the party didn't start until 5pm. She was ready to go at noon. ;)

I caught her checking out her get-up in the mirror. She was quite impressed!

The best part of the evening came when they announced that they were going to go toilet paper one of the girls homes. I don't think Bailey even knew what they were talking about. She called home and asked permission. I of course was THRILLED! My parents did not allow us to go T.P. homes. Although, one time my mom caved in and allowed me to T.P. our home as long as I cleaned it all up first thing in the morning- LAME! Anyway, Bailey was brought home at 11:00pm and she couldn't stop talking about how much fun she had. Since a few of the girls were spending the night at the party we thought it would be fun to T.P. their house. Mike, aka 'the best dad EVER', took Bailey back out at 3am; talk about a bonding experience. Her excitement the next day was priceless.

To CARLIE with LOVE

My Little Elves

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

I hope there was something educational that the kids learned while helping me put this together. We spent the past hour playing on the computer. Maybe I could count it as Computer Science. :)

Ukrainian Hottie

Our friend George had a quick visit with Tate today. He said that he is doing well and that he is anxious to speak (probably more of the 'roaring language' that George was referring to at our first meeting ;) ). Mike will get to snuggle him in 12 more days!!!

(BTW- Tate looks like my Dad did back in the 50's with his slicked down, combed over hair style- very handsome!)

Gone Fishin'

The day we got home from Ukraine Mike took the boys down to the tackle shop to get set up for fishing. Three weeks stuck in a foreign country will make you do strange things! The very first time Buddy cast his line into the water he caught a fish! Mike is now slightly obsessed. He and his mom took the kids on Saturday afternoon and then I joined them on Sunday. The weather was incredible. We didn't catch any fish but we all had a wonderful time.
I asked Bailey yesterday if she had fun fishing. She said, "It's not that fun when you don't catch any fish." So I asked if she had fun jumping in the waves and digging in the sand. She replied, "Nah, I just had fun hanging out with Dad."

3 Reasons Why Brooklyn Rocks!

#1 - She is very fashion forward and is willing to take risks!



#2 - She knows what she likes! Blended Java Chip w/ extra whip, PLEASE.



#3 - She is constantly surprising us! We had NO IDEA that she learned this along with Bailey. We thought she knew the first three- only Brooklyn.

Maddie May

Our sweet Maddie May turned one year old on Thursday, or should I say seven (in dog years). The festivities were small with not more than a song, a bone and Maddie begging for a cupcake. WE LOVE YOU MAY MAY!

My Boy

Are you missing him too?

Enjoy!

WESTMONT

Please be in prayer for Westmont College as well as the residents of both Montecito and Santa Barbara. The fire continues to burn and the winds are picking up. The picture above is of the sweet prayer chapel on campus...we need your prayers!

VIDEOS

If you are having trouble loading the videos give it a minute and then reload the page.

The Big Question

The one question everyone has asked is, "How did the kids do while you were gone?" ANSWER- the kids did EXCELLENT! Really, I had a much harder time being away from them than they had being away from me. Since I am sure you have all missed them too :)...here is a update.

One of the ways that I homeschool Bailey is through Unit Studies. Our school year has been divided up into various subjects. Up until now her most favorite has been NATURAL DISASTERS with Tornadoes topping her list. The beginning of November brought a new obsession- PRESIDENTS. My Aunt Jo did a wonderful job of capturing her curiosity in school. After homeschooling for 20 years I guess she knows a thing or two :). Bailey is hooked. We are talking 'Presidents' morning, noon and night!



Brooklyn refused my request for a video. She actually said, "No video today Mom, but you can take my picture." She really makes you work! Brooklyn has told me several times in the past few days that her favorite thing right now is her Doctor outfit sent from Aunt Carolyn. She looks so darn cute in it too...maybe with some luck I'll be able to sneak a video tomorrow.


Buddy went through BOOT CAMP while we were away; REALLY GOOD boot camp. Aunt Jo stressed the importance of obeying. How much would you pay to hear your 3 year old say this-


Baby M changed more in three weeks than I could have ever imagined he would. When we left he could say Mama, Dada, Papa and ball. Check him out now-

There's NO place like HOME!

We made it home safely. Oh, how good it feels to kiss our babies, sleep in our sheets and eat some really good food!

MORE LATER- OFF ENJOYING LIFE!

Officially our SON!!!

Today was a really exciting day for the McKay household. Today our family grew by two feet. Today we gained a son, a brother and a life-long friend. Today is a very special day. A day we will never forget!

The court process was easy and quick. We were ushered into a medium sized office with our translator, social worker and orphanage attorney. A female judge presided over the hearing. She first asked us a few formal questions- name, birth date, address. Then she asked a few questions about adopting and specifically a child with special needs. A short thirty minutes later it was over and we were standing outside. The hardest part of the hearing was listening to the orphanage attorney talk about Tate. She said that he was abandoned by his birth parents and that he was unwanted in Ukraine for adoption. Their loss- OUR GAIN!

Here are the first few minutes of us with our SON! (Nice pink outfit!)





Saying goodbye today was not as hard as I had envisioned it would be. We know that Tate is well loved by the orphanage workers. Mike will return to Ukraine with my dad after the 10 day mandatory waiting period. They will pick him up to bring him home for the very first time!!!

ELECTION DAY

It is such a strange feeling to be out of the Country on Election Day. We will return home to a new President- weird. My devotional for today included the following that I thought I would pass along. And yes, MOM, we sent our absentee ballots in before we left!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
God's Word actually has a lot to say about politics and world leaders - and here are a few critical facts you might want to put into your perspective:

First of all, it is God Himself Who determines the winners of elections. Yep - and all along you thought it was the voting system and the Electoral College? Sure, they were the tools, but the Hand behind it all is the Sovereign and All Powerful King of the Universe:

Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God (Romans 13:1).

The 'governing authorities' that are referred to here were not democratic or even friendly towards Christians. But that didn't matter then - or now - because it is crystal clear from this verse that there is no senator, judge, or even president who wasn't placed there by God Himself.

I know...pretty weird, huh? But actually, it makes sense. It's not like God is in heaven going 'Oh no! The guy I voted for didn't win!'

I actually take comfort in the fact that no matter which person is sworn into office in January, it's the one that God established to be President of the United States .

So what does this mean? Well, whether you can vote or not, whether your candidate won or not, whether you kept up or not...really doesn't matter in the big picture. This is our responsibility:

I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity (1 Timothy 2:1-2).

What usually happens when the 'wrong' person gets into office is we moan, complain, make jokes, and do everything else but what we are supposed to do...which is pray.


We must pray-

-that God will turn the heart of all presidents and kings and rulers to Himself.

-that our President will rule fairly and justly.

-that God will accomplish His perfect will through those He placed in authority.

-that we will properly submit to our government regardless of whether or not elephants or donkeys are running the circus.

That...is how we rock the vote!