Trip to the Zoo

2 year olds...

I love my 2 1/2 year old little boy. You just NEVER know what will come out of a 2 year old's mouth!! Today after church, he pulled some change out of his pocket. He absolutely LOVES change! He has no idea what a dollar is, but he will carry a penny around as if it is his most valuable possession! So Blu's mom saw him pull some change out of his pocket after church, and she sweetly said "Aw, Caedmon, do you give your money to Jesus?" Without missing a beat, my 2 year old said, "No, Walmart." :)

I love the Christmas season!

I promise I do! It's just that I'm the type who likes to experience something, and then move on to the next something. That, my dear friends, is the reason that all of my Christmas decorations were down by 5pm on Christmas Day! :) I know, I'm pathetic..

Anyway, we had a good time..made a whirlwind 24 hour trip to Brownwood to see family and then back here and had family with us for 3 days. Had a day off in between and now more family coming today, since my sweet husband is preaching at church tomorrow!! So today we're headed to the zoo with grandparents! (Don't worry--we'll steer clear of the tigers!)

Christmas was really a good time this year but kinda weird to look at it and wonder if this will be the last "normal" Christmas we have with our family here in the States... very interesting to see what 2008 will hold for our family.

Anyway, I'm kinda rambling today...finding it hard to focus...too much Guitar Hero has damaged my brain and all I see are bright colors...

Cambree and her Paw


Caedmon's new tricycle!

"Christmas Sunday" Pics

Pre-Christmas Fun!

So this has been a really good weekend! Friday night was our Youth Christmas party at an ice skating rink and huge mall for 8 hours with 25 junior high kids...Ok, there were like 4 high schoolers, but still. Well, guess what I, the youth minister's wife, did??? I disappeared after the pizza and gift exchange, bought myself some shoes and a purse, and then went and got a pedicure! I'm so bad!! :) Then, my college kids (who I LOVE and told to come crash the party) came and hung out with me. :)

So today I went and helped Jessica buy Christmas gifts..it was the most insane shopping day I've ever seen. This mean ole lady at Walmart totally cut us off for a parking spot, and it's sad when one of your 17 year old youth has to keep you, the youth minister's wife I point out once again, in check!

Then it was on to Date Night tonight. Funny, our last date night was like in March when we decided to move forward with our adoption. (yes, I do realize that was 9 months ago-sad, but true). Lots changes in 9 months...But anyway, we had a gift card to Olive Garden so we ate there, and then went to Half Price Books, and then on to see I Am Legend. What a SCARY movie!! I covered my eyes for like half of it! Blu LOVED it...but def not my type!

So tomorrow is "Christmas church" which means that we all dress up in nice Christmas clothes (sometimes guys who don't have sisters have to be explained things like this--when we first got married he had no idea that you had to have an Easter dress each year!) Everyone got new clothes (but me, but I don't need any!) and I'm so excited! Isn't that silly? Except my babysa little spoiled and she has such nice clothes (from grandparents...) and I bought my little boy a $4 shirt from Walmart! Oh well...I guess that's the way it is with girls. So anyway then we're headed to family for Christmas Eve so that'll be fun!

Ok, now to respond to some of my most loyal blog commenters.. :) CeCe I did get your list of 10 things and I have to tell you that Blu and I both thought your laundry fetish was SOOOO funny!!! Julie, though I love you dearly, Pepsi is like the "Pink Bismuth Liquid" version of Pepto-Bismol...it's just not the same...
AMBER! I can't believe there's Dairy Queens in Canada! Blu wants me to ask if they still use the slogan "The Texas Stop Sign" for Dairy Queen up there! (and I'm 27 by the way... :( Jessica and Erika, I love you both and you are so loyal to my blog! And my secret blog friend, do you think it's safe to come back yet?? :)

Thanks for letting me be goofy,
Darbi :)

Wow..

Wow that's a really big picture of my face....

Blog Addiction

What is up with me blogging so much lately?! Anyway, I thought I'd post a list of 10 Random Things About Me for all of my very loyal readers :) Some of you know me, some of you don't, so here's some DEEP insight into the Real Darbi...



1) I am a recovering cokeaholic. My life has gotten so much better since I discovered Cherry Coke Zero....wow...

2) I am not a recovering chocoholic. I am completely addicted. My favorite dessert in the world is a Dairy Queen Moolatte...surely you Yankees have Dairy Queens up there??? If not, I will pause for a moment of silence on your behalf...

3) My husband's name is Blu, and his brothers are named Cloud and Shade. No, seriously. His parents weren't hippies and aren't Indian (you know you were thinking it!)

4) I'm a PK.

5) I'm really torn about moving to Zambia, because I know my heart is there, but my sister is also there, which means I would be taking the remaining 2 (3 by then) grandchildren of my parents to another continent...

6) I REALLY REALLY love to read Christian fiction and can easily read a book in one evening.

7) I'm not very girly. I wear tshirts, jeans, ponytails, no nail polish, etc. I have recently discovered pedicures, however, which rank up there with DQ Moolattes...

8) My closest friend is 17 (almost 18). I love Jessica! She (and Erika) make me feel young again!

9) People say me and Blu look alike, and on our honeymoon someone thought we were brother and sister. We got married at 19.

10) I'm not who I used to be, but I'm not who I want to be..yet.

OK, hope that was very insightful into the REAL Darbi..gotta go put Caedmon, who is insisting on sleeping in a swim diaper tonight, into bed!

Texas Snow

So I was reading my blog friend Amber's blog today and I saw her gorgeous pictures of the winter snow where she lives. I couldn't let her outdo me, so I had to post a picture of our big 2007 snow. (This was back in Easter). We were SOOO excited!!

Blog Me!

You ever have one of those days that just screams out, "Blog Me!! Blog Me!" That was today....

It began with our 2 1/2 year old, Caedmon's, voice coming through our 13 month old, Cambree's, monitor yelling a frantic "MAMA!!! MAMA!!" We go to the room to find them both in her crib (not unusual) but him absolutely freaking out because "sister" had puked on him. There was vomit in the bed, so we just stripped both kids, realized they had both pooped as well, and stuck them in the tub. Figured it was just too much milk for sister, and Caedmon was possibly jumping in the bed, pounding on her tummy, who knows...

Later, while on the phone in another room, I hear that dreadful sound of paper ripping. I run to the living room to find both kids under the tree with eyes wide open as they had just opened a Christmas present. They picked the biggest one and both looked so excited as they saw its contents!

Lunch was uneventful, but then came naptime... Sister went down like an angel, but Caedmon, who was put in bed at 12:30, finally fell asleep at 2pm...after countless spankings, bribes, etc.

I was looking forward all day to our trip 1 1/2 hours away to see my parent's Christmas choir musical! I got my friend and one of our youth, Jessica, to go with me to help with the kids. We were about 20 minutes down the road when Cambree proceeds to puke about 3 times in her car seat. I had no outfits and about 6 baby wipes with me. We pull over, switch drivers, strip the baby, and I do my best to clean up with 6 wipes. We head back home with the windows down to try to get rid of the smell...

Back home, throw Cambree in the tub, throw car seat cover and clothes in washer, clean up kids toys, realize that sweet hubby made a grilled cheese sandwich for supper and bread, cheese wrappers, etc. are littering the kitchen. Get the kitchen cleaned and the toys relatively put back where they belong..

Head to my computer to catch up on the latest adoption drama..

And people ask me if I get bored being a stay at home mom!

Maxwell...

I'm sure there's some more stories out there, but I thought I'd take a break from the funny stories and just share about some of our friends, so you can get a glimpse into their lives.



We were doing a survey of a village in the bush called Mapanza. Maxwell showed up at a Bible study, and it was seriously like he was waiting his whole life to hear the Gospel. He reminds me so much of Apollos in the book of Acts...he knew he was supposed to be preaching but he didn't quite have the whole story to preach yet. We gave him some materials after he accepted Christ, and he returned the next day. We said "Well, Maxwell, how was your night?" He said, "All I can say is that it was filled with the Spirit...and I know I need to be baptized right now." He was baptized, and he returned home and led his wife and neighbors to Christ. He is now a pastor of a church and just this month completed his 3 year seminary degree. Maxwell's everyday job is that he grows tomatoes! When he moved to the bush, everyone told him that there was no way he could grow tomatoes in this soil, but he had been to agricultural school so he knew he could do it. He grows tons of tomatoes that he sells to bigger cities in Zambia. Many people ask Maxwell, who is so educated, why he would choose to remain in the bush. Maxwell said he knew that this was where God wanted him.


Maxwell's wife is named Priscilla. She is so beautiful, inside and out. She had a baby, about 18 months old, named Chibotu, which means "good." Chibotu sadly died after we left due to hydrocephaly (water on the brain).


This is Maxwell's daughter, Lwiito. Lwiito means "call." Maxwell named her this (2 years before he became a Christian) because he knew he was called by God. We gave her this stuffed bunny and she carried it everywhere!



Last we heard, Maxwell was doing an excellent job as pastor and had even ventured out to a nearby village to start a church there as well!!

Crazy White Man

Ok, first of all, I realize that many of you reading this love African children, so let me start by saying that WE DO TOO!! That's my disclaimer...

Zambian children are taught to be terrified of white people. To them, white people are the "boogeyman." Their parents teach them from a young age that if they are not good, the white man will get them!

Not many people in Zambia drive cars. Most young children, especially in the bush where we live, have never ridden in a car, much less driven one. We oftentimes had trouble with young kids throwing rocks or sticks at our truck.

One day we were driving WAY out in the bush, where I'm sure few white men had been before. :) We saw a group of about 3 young boys on the side of the road and they all had sticks in their hands. One of them threw a stick at us, and though it didn't hit the truck it made Blu REALLY mad. He slammed on the brakes. They all took off running and my husband jumped out of the car and chased them!! He caught up to the smallest one and picked him up and was holding him up in the air telling him he shouldn't throw sticks or rocks at trucks. This little kid was terrified but was yelling in Tonga "it wasn't me!" Well, the other 2 boys had stopped running when they saw that the other one had been caught, so Blu called the one over that he knew threw the stick. He yelled "Kamuboola!!! (Come!)" The little boy just stood there with wide eyes and Blu quickly realized that the entire front part of his pants was soaked with urine!! Blu went from yelling "Come!! Come!!" to "Stay there!! Don't come closer!!" Blu gave them a speech about throwing rocks at trucks and then turned to walk back to the truck.

It was then that he saw a group of Zambian adults on the other side of the road watching. We have never seen a group of people laugh so hard! I guarantee you that those 3 little boys will be terrified of white people for the rest of their lives, and that they will NEVER throw a rock or stick at another truck again!

Nicknames

Ok, ladies, let's hear it! What crazy nicknames for your kids do you have that only make sense to you??

Caedmon: We originally thought we'd call him Caed, but that hasn't stuck. However, we did start calling him Caeder-Potater. That eventually got shortened, and now he is and forever will be my Caeder-Po.


Cambree: Her name is Cambree Rain, but for some strange reason, we started calling her Cambree Lu. This became Cambree Lulu, which became Cambree Lulu Bug, which eventually got shortened to Lulu, and sometimes LuluBug. Of course, Caedmon just calls her "Ditter" (sister), so he picked up on the Bug, and now Cambree is and forever will be my DitterBug.


Let's hear it! What's yours??

Headache

This has been the most intense week of my life in three different areas. And now that the week is over I have a really big headache.. ;)

Wow...

Well, there's something pretty big happening in our lives right now. First, a little history:

We came back from Zambia knowing that God wanted Blu to complete seminary, so while doing that Blu has been the youth pastor at a church. For the past 2 years, we have been seeking God about our future--do we return to Zambia as career missionaries? Do we stay in the states and pastor? Do we stay in the states and work with youth? Though we haven't felt "release" from Zambia, we haven't had a peace about returning as career missionaries with our mission board. We prayed and prayed and just felt like we got a big fat WAIT from God.

In the past 3 weeks, God has knit things together so beautifully to give us a picture of what our future holds. That sounds cheesy, but I have no idea how else to describe it. Out of the blue, someone approached us about donating a huge sum of money to open an orphanage in Zambia. Specifically, they said that they felt God wanted to use these funds to open an orphanage that was to be run by us, and that God was going to use this to send us back to Zambia. We were in shock, but the more we talked about it, we knew this was God and there was such peace and excitement in our hearts! We knew we could not do it alone, and we doubted that our "friends" (who need to remain confidential at this time) would be along for the ride, but little did we know that God had been preparing their hearts for this as well.. In fact, they have a donor that has been approaching them as well in years past about opening an orphanage in Zambia...

We are all still in prayer about this and all of the details, but it does seem pretty clear that this is the direction God is leading. Our goal would not be to adopt these orphans out (Zambia's adoption laws are crazy) but to take a group of 25 kids ages 5-7, and raise them in this orphanage, educating them as well, and most importantly, teaching them about Jesus. We would live there full-time along with another family, and we would rely heavily on volunteers from the States to come and serve in short-term capacities. Our tentative plan now is to begin in 2008 the process of setting up the non-profit here in the States, and then leaving for Zambia in January of 2009 to set things in motion.

As you can imagine, this is a terrifying and exciting adventure (much like adoption!) Please pray for us. Speaking of adoption, where does our adoption fit into all of this? More posts on that to come in the coming days/weeks...

A Kinda Adoption Update

Tomorrow will be 2 months since we lost our referral of Samuel. Meanwhile, some crazy and exciting things are happening in our lives as God is "kinda" pointing us to a direction for our future and where/how to serve Him. In the midst of all of this, my heart aches for my new little boy...and seeing where he fits into all of this. Here is an excerpt from an email our agency sent out last week:

"I know that many of you are on the edges of your seats, as I am, awaiting referrals...However, earlier this week, I received a list of over 60 children who are in this process of being prepared for referrals. I am awaiting the final steps to be taken and then referrals will begin flowing over the coming weeks."

We are selfishly hoping and praying that we will know who our little boy is by Christmas! Thanks for praying with us!

Blu, Darbi, Caedmon, & Cambree