"For I Know The Plans I Have For You," Declares the LORD!! - Jeremiah 29:11

Since November, the month of my last post, we set about to dissolve our contract with our old agency. This, unfortunately has been a difficult process and has taken a great deal of time, most of December until now, the beginning of March. It was easy to sign the contract that dissolved our tie to our old agency, but to get our paperwork back from them and convert it over to our new agency has not been easy. Our old agency asked for more money, which didn't set well with us, as we felt that was just plain unneccessary, but only made clear the new path we were taking with our new agency, who has done nothing but work within all of the fees we already paid. We paid the money, but it has been one problem after another. We know who orchestrates the plans for our lives, and He is allowing these minor bumps to happen for a reason, whatever thoses reason may be... We know God is bigger than these little setbacks. I must confess, however, that this part of our adoption process, at least, for me, has been the most difficult time so far. I have experienced a lot of tears, and all of us have been so frustrated. The adoption process some days beats us down, when I picture our sweet child being stuck because of this red tape. We try not to dwell on the details and think only of the end result!!! We know, through our faith in our Lord and savior and through His promises to us, that we WILL move forward and that it will be the best plan for all of us - plans to prosper us, not to harm us, plans to give us hope and a future....

We are encouraged by our new agency's philosophy, people, and shorter wait time. Once our paperwork is converted (we thought we had it all done this weekend, only to find out a date was incorrect, and, as crazy as this sounds, because of this incorrect date, we are stuck, until a new original document can be made - isn't that crazy?), we can move forward with our new agency and finally be done with our old agency - yay! My hope is that by this coming week, our documents can be checked over, sent to Ethiopia, and then translated. Once the documents are translated, we can be matched with our child. We don't even need to deal with waitlists with our new agency, because we are the only family that wants a child over the age of 2. Yay, we went from being #100 on our old agency's waitlist to #1 on our new agency's wait list. This change has saved us at least a year, possibly 2 years of waiting. That is really priceless!!

So much has happened to our family in this wait, though, that has been amazing and can only be from God (all a part of HIS amazing plan).........

Our oldest son, who has severe ADD, who has struggled with reading for years, has really made some amazing strides this year at school. He went from reading at a 4th-grade level at the beginning of 6th-grade to reading at a 6th-grade level this past month. All of his hard work and struggling and our hard work with him and struggling have paid off!! This has been a huge answer to prayer on behalf of so many to get him where he needs to be... Thank you God. We can't tell you what a victory this has been. We credit God for this stride forward. It has only bolstered his confidence and helped him to see and feel his reliance on God for things... Phillipians 4:13 "I can do all this through him who gives me strength." He could actually connect a verse in the Bible with his struggles. It was an a-ha moment and very meaningful for us all.

I also have to mention this amazing story, because, as small of an event as it was, it made a huge impact on my faith.... I have had some health issues the last few months, which required me to have to go in to the hospital for an MRI in early February. To say that I don't like small spaces is pretty much an understatement. I freak out. I have had several MRI's in the past and know my limitations. Of course, I was going in to be checked out for MS, which was scary in and of itself, also. I got a card of encouragement from a friend that week before the MRI appointment, and she wrote some of the lyrics from Chris Tomlin's song "Whom Shall I Fear" in the card. At the exact time I opened the card in the car, while the radio was playing, that song came on the radio - wow! That was amazing. If you have ever had an MRI done, you know that they can play music into your ear phones, while you are in the tube. I asked my friend, who is a local Christian radio personality, the night before the MRI appointment, to play a certain song for me at a certain time of the day, so I would know I was half way through the appointement, that her voice would be there with me in the tube, and that I could have that song to look forward to hearing. The song, of course, was "Whom Shall I fear". I went to the MRI appointment armed with my iphone (for radio streaming into the tube), my blindfold, and 2 vallums :) I was ready - LOL!!!

The first thing the MRI tech asked me is if I had ever had a contrast MRI (they insert dye into your body through a needle); well, I was going to have a contrast dye MRI that day - surprise! I had never had one - DEEP BREATH, as I don't like needles and it meant a longer MRI appointment - boo. Then, I asked him if he could stream my iphone into the tube. He said he could - whew. I put my blindfold on as soon as I got in the room - the less I had in my sights the better. The tech put me onto the table, but told me that he could not get my phone to load. I'd have to listen to a Christian radio station from satellite - DEEP BREATH. At least it was still Christian radio... The test began. About 10 minutes into the test, I began to have a panic attack...My heart started racing; I felt like I was being strangled and couldn't breathe; I wanted to scream out that I couldn't continue. Then, all of a sudden, I heard "Whom Shall I Fear" pipe into my ears! Are you kiding me? I started to cry and immediately began to calm down :) I heard my girlfriend's voice come on the radio. The tech got my phone to stream JUST as my song came on the radio - PTL!!! The tech asked if that was my song, and I said yes. How did he know? He said he just knew. We got to talkling about Christian music and if he attended church, and he did attend church. He was so kind and accomodating to me. PTL! I was given the dye injection for the contrast test, and I hardly flinched. I felt a wave of peace come over me like never before. Was it the vallum? I think not!! God had moved me in this small but significant way. Prayer for calm and for a good test were answered. I will never forget being a part of that little miracle in my life. I do not have MS, AND I conquered the dreaded tube :)

These small victories in the grand scheme of life may seem small, but they are significant to us!! In a stretch of months where we have felt like our adoption process is just stuck, we cling to these victories and KNOW that God does move and orchestrate and control and give us peace and love us and want only the best for our lives. We know He can move this adoption process along tomorrow, if necessary, but maybe we aren't ready just yet. We need to see and experience more of HIM before we can move forward. We pray for our little bundle in Africa... We pray he or she is healthy. We pray he or she is being provided for. We pray that our child is loved in a very real way by the KING!

We are coming little one; WE ARE COMING!!

l

So Many Changes

Whew, I can't believe it was August the last time I updated our blog. Soooooo very much has happened in the last 3 months... So excited to update you on our progress and the changes in our family since August!

First of all, at the end of August, we adopted a puppy. He is an adorable Maltese/shihtzu named Otis. Our boys did not know we were going to get a dog, so waking them up that first morning to puppy kisses was truly an experience that my husband and I will never forget. It was so precious to see their truly surprised and excited faces. Otis, named by our boys, has been a wonderful addition to our family and has brought us much joy :) Otis eases our adoption wait a little, at least for the boys!

Here is a bit about the last few months of our adoption by the numbers...

Each month, we get an email from our adoption agency about where our family is on the agency's wait list to be referred a child. In August, we were #112 for a boy and #131 for a girl. In September, we moved up to #104 for a boy and #125 for a girl. We were making so much progress that excitement and spirits were high! We opened October's email to have that excitement fall a bit. Our move was very small, but it was movement none the less. We were still hopeful that it was movement forward. So, here we sat, moving into November at # 103 and #119.

We began to feel little nudges in our heart the beginning of November (after all, November is Adoption Awareness month, so we knew it would be a hard month for us, longing for our little one more than ever) - scripture began to leap off of the page, sermons were giving us restless feelings, conversations with just the right people were too amazing not to see God's leading, family devotions made us stop
and think... We were beginning to feel as though God was leading us in another direction in which to
adopt. Really??? We had so many conflicting questions. Why had we felt so lead to go with our current agency in the first place? Why had we not checked out other agencies? We loved our current agency, they said and did all the right things. Why would we leave them? We would lose a lot of money, if we broke our contract with our current agency. Were we really supposed to lose this
money to go to another agency? After all, adoption is expensive as it is... scary! This was a crazy new development.

We needed wisdom and prayed James 1:5 for many days in November, as we had when we were questioning whether we should adopt in the first place: "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without fault, and it will be given to him." We needed wisdom from
God to make this decision - couldn't do it alone...We got invited to a friend's church for Orphan
Sunday and heard from 3 families that adopted children, 2 families from Ethiopia and 1 family from
Haiti. The sermon, given by those 3 families through their adoption journeys, wasn't so much about
adoption, although that was the obvious theme, it was more about hearing God's will in whatever that
may be and choosing to follow Him in faith. Our hearts are not to be like the Dead Sea... lifeless, still, and have no outlet. Instead our hearts in faith to God are to be living in the word, moving on what we are charged to do, and, most importantly, spreading the word to others, creating that outlet for our spirit to flow over others in our life and whoever we meet. The family car conversation on the way home from that service and later into the afternoon was awesome. The verse that kept radiating, at least for me, like a little light was 1 John 3:18-20: 18. "Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions in truth. 19. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in His presence 20. whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and He knows everything." Were we just to wait out the time to be matched with our child, or were we to move in whatever direction God was calling us - pursuing the truth of our calling which was to care for the orphan?

God was setting that foundation of wisdom that we had asked for! We were pointed in the right
direction to adopt, but we just needed to change direction a bit and really do this with faith... listen with faithful hearts and trust that God would fulfill more than our heart's desire, when we
follow Him. So we decided to, at the very least, check out other agencies that same week of that Adoption Sunday sermon. We called a local adoption agency, and, to our surprise, they only had a few families on their Ethiopian adoption wait list that wanted a child older than 3. Our age range is for a boy or girl age 3-6. Hmmmmmm! I talked to the adoption director for Ethiopia, and she broke down the costs for us, and she said many of the fees for their agency would not apply to us, as we were far enough along in the process. Hmmmmm! We wouldn't be out as much money as we thought. Then, she said the thing that turned on the lightbulb for us. Our wait to be matched with a child would only be 2-4 months after our paperwork got updated and sent to our new agency! WHAT?!! We could go from waiting 2-4 years to waiting only 2-4 MONTHS?! We had to pinch ourselves. Needless to say, we filled out the new application with the new agency and got the ball rolling this week :) Whoo Hoo!

We are so grateful for God's orchestrated plan in this change in direction. We can't hardly find the words! He gave us the wisdom to pursue this new direction, and we are excited to move along so quickly! God's plans for us are so much better than we could imagine for our lives.

Whew! That is a lot of change in just a few months! Keep praying for the orphaned and pray that the adoption process continues to move along swiftly - God bless!

Settling Into the Wait

We are officially finished with all paperwork and fingerprinting that is necessary to make sure we are able to adopt. Our last letter came yesterday, as US Immigration has deemed us a "favorable family" to adopt internationally from Ethiopia :) We are rejoicing that we can now officially move forward. We got put on our agency's adoption wait list 2 weeks ago. Now, all of our paperwork and fingerprinting and family profile information can get sent to Ethiopia to begin the journey of not only our adoption agency but also the Ethiopian adoption agency working to match our family with God's choice for us! It doesn't seem real that this journey is now completely out of our control. From here on out, our prayer is that we always remember to trust in God's timing, which is perfect, as the Lord does NOT make mistakes. God has our family and our new, little one in the palm of HIS hand, and I know, whether or not our child is with her or his birth family still or in an orphanage or not even born yet, that the Lord is watching over this precious little one... Thank you, God, for making this journey possible!

We get monthly updates about our progress regarding that wait list and where we fall each month based on how many children get matched and united that month, so not only does it mean good news for us, when we go up on that list, but this also means that other orphaned children are being referred and/or matched with their forever families and are orphans no more!!!!!!!! That is great news for everyone :)

This month, we made HUGE gains - amazingly thrilling to say the least. We opened up our email last night, and we went from #146 for a girl to #131 and from #125 for a boy to #112 - YIPPEE! 28 children got matched this past month. That is so wonderful... Praise the Lord! The courts close in Ethiopia for the months of August and Sept because of the rainy season there, so I am happy that so many got matched before this happened. We probably won't do much moving in the next 2 months, so it was such a blessing to move up so much in just one month - our first month on the wait list :)

We are bracing ourselves for the months that not much happens and the wait seems too long to bear, as that is going to be disheartening, I am sure, but we are moving forward...  to the day we get the call that we have a referral! It is then we will be able to see our child for the very first time! The journey will be worth it :) The settling into this wait will be worth it!!!

Keep praying for the orphaned child! God bless.

Wait Listed

Last night, while having a great dinner with friends, we got the phone call we have been waiting to recieve since January, when we began our adoption journey... Our adoption agency called to tell us that we were officially done with our adoption paperwork and that we are now on the adoption wait list for a child to be matched with our family!!!! All of us were rejoicing at the dinner table in the middle of the restaurant, as I wrote down the details of my phone conversation on the paper tablecloth, so everyone at the table could keep up with my conversation, especially my husband :)

This news is bittersweet... We are family number 125 waiting for a boy, and we are family number 146 waiting for a girl. Our match guidelines are for a boy OR girl ages 2-6. These numbers, while expected, are very high. We were praying for lower numbers on the wait list, but we know our God is mighty and can do anything... such as move us along more quickly than these numbers show. Our wait time now is approximatley 2 years from now to bring our child home. This timeline is NOT what WE want, but, again, we know that God can do anything. We rest in the trust we have for HIM, knowing this is exactly where we need to be :) We ARE moving forward. We ARE on the wait list. We ARE going to be matched and united with our child some day.

Our boys are thrilled! It is their joy in this that brings us closer every day to knowing we are where we need to be... number or no number! As we leave on a family vacation soon, our boys have prayed that they wish their new brother or sister could share in this trip, as well... some day! They always take him or her in their hearts wherever they go, so, then, do we :)

We are praising God for this huge stride forward. We feel blessed to be on this journey together as a family and being able to share our journey with you! Keep praying for our little one so far away but getting closer each new day. We pray without ceasing and rejoice in everything!

Blessings...

Just One More Starfish - Praise the Lord!

Since Mother's Day in May (my last update), we completed our home study and sent it in to Homeland Security (Texas), along with our I600A document, so that we can get our immigration (biometric) fingerprinting. This is the last hurdle to being able to send our dossier in to get put on our adoption agency's waitlist for a child!!! Praise the Lord that things are going so smoothly!!!

 

Last week our agency called to tell us that they made a change in this process, which benefitted our adoption journey greatly. Again, Thank you, Lord! We could send in our dossier before we got the I600A fingerprinting appointment, which facilitates our adoption more quickly and can get us on the waitlist for our child that much faster. Praise the Lord! We sent in our dossier last week, as it was all complete and just ready for the go ahead to send out. Our agency received it, approved it after we send in one missed document. We have our fingerprint appointment for July 16th. We are just waiting to see where we fall (what number we will be) on the adoption agency's waitlist to get matched with our child. This is exciting news to say the least. We are praising our Lord and Father in Heaven for moving this process along so quickly! We are singing happy songs and doing happy dances in the Holwerda household :)

 

We have had little set backs here and there since May, but nothing that has been too devastating! We feel we have accomplished alot (that the Lord has accomplished alot in our lives as we grow more patient, trusting and faithful in His plan for our family), as we move closer and closer to that day that we will see our child face-to-face for the first time! I know we will glimpse the Lord himself in the face of this beautiful orphan, who, on that day, will be an orphan NO MORE! We know it is a long journey that we have ahead of us, and we know the daunting statistics of the large number of orphans out in this great, big world. We are only one family adopting one child. There are millions of children still out there waiting for a forever family!

 

However, one story that comes to my mind often (as we think of how staggering the number of orphans is in this world) and as I prayed about and thought about adoption for our family a year or 2 ago, is the story of the little girl and the starfish... My husband would also admit that this story played a role in his prayer life, also, as it came to his mind a few times, too! The Lord made us listen and be reminded of this story in our quiet times with Him... If you listen, maybe the Lord is telling you something as you read this story, too... It is short, sweet and to the point, so I hope you take the time to read it now :)

 

The Starfish Story

A young girl was walking along a beach upon which thousands of starfish had been washed up during a terrible storm. When she came to each starfish, she would pick it up, and throw it back into the ocean. People watched her with amusement.

She had been doing this for some time when a man approached her and said, “Little girl, why are you doing this? Look at this beach! You can’t save all these starfish. You can’t begin to make a difference!”

The girl seemed crushed, suddenly deflated. But after a few moments, she bent down, picked up another starfish, and hurled it as far as she could into the ocean. Then she looked up at the man and replied,

“Well, I made a difference to that one!”

The old man looked at the girl inquisitively and thought about what she had done and said. Inspired, he joined the little girl in throwing starfish back into the sea. Soon others joined, and all the starfish were saved. - adapted from the Star Thrower by Loren C. Eiseley

Just imagine what it would be like if we as God's people, saved the life of just one orphan....just one? There would be no more orphans....not one left in this world!!!!!

More Than an Iphone for Mother's Day

Mother's Day this year for me was a bit bittersweet. I am sooooo very thankful for the family that I have - an amazing husband, who loves me for me (and that is saying alot), and 3 amazing boys who fill up my heart with unconditional love! Who wouldn't be happy with that, right? However, this year my heart was also in Ethiopia - a bit torn... just couldn't help but think about our little one there without us in their life yet - an orphan waiting to be matched with our family. Did you know that there are 5700 children worldwide that are orphaned EVERY day. That number is heartbreaking... to know that a child is growing up each day without the things in their life that we all deserve, especially a child - love, stability, safety, food, family, etc. So while my heart was filled up celebrating the 3 reasons why I am a mom today, I was a bit sad that our family was not yet complete and that there are so many waiting orphans out there!

As I am in a family with all boys, I usually get interesting presents for Mother's Day, to say the least! I have gotten the token blender or plug-in appliance - poor husband had a difficult time living those "presents" down :) I have gotten my share of hand-made gifts and/or handmade cards from each son - presents that are all near and dear to my heart. In recent years, I have gotten flowers, captured bugs/creatures, jewelry, clothes, etc. I am one lucky and blessed mom, and I hope I have taught our sons well about how to buy a gift for the beloved female in their futures - LOL! This year I got the newest Iphone. Grant it, I did want one, but, as I am technologically illiterate at best, I was a bit scared to own one. Of course, our 3 sons promptly began to tutor me about all of its functions and to introduce me to Siri - my personal phone attendant. Yep, that is right. I have a phone "butler". To a person that owned a flip out keyboard phone (non-touch) and had never texted another human being before, this was awe-inspiring, to say the least. I'll just say it... We have come a long way, baby!

As we were all fooling around with the phone to see what it could do, one of our sons said that the phone has a world clock on it... can search any country for it's time at any given moment or have the ability to save world time clocks to your phone, so, at the touch of a button, you know the time in specific places. I was thrilled. I have parents and a sister/brother-in-law and nephews that live in Arizona, and I can never remember how far behind they are in time, as this timing changes twice a year. I uploaded Arizona's clock for easy reference - nice! Then a few minutes later, our oldest son typed in Addis Ababa and said, "Mom, did you know that Ethiopia is 7 hours ahead of us?" A bit of a lump developed in my throat. I immediately downloaded Addis Ababa's clock to my phone :) That Iphone app, in my eyes, just brought me to more than a firm place in the 21st century. In a small way, I can carry a piece of Addis Ababa and our little one there wherever I go!!!! I know it may sound sappy, but I feel a bit closer to this very special country that holds a bit of all of our family member's hearts! When I feel sad or impatient about how long the process takes to adopt, I can look at this clock and picture what he or she may be doing at such and such a time and pray for them. It is so comforting and helps to make things real, as that is hard to do, when you are just simply filling out paperwork. That Iphone is more than just a phone for me right now - it's a link to our Ethiopian child! We then used the internet on the phone to Google Ethiopia and all that it has to offer. We looked at maps of the country, special places there, famous landmarks, etc. We made our day brighter by learning more about where our newest addition will come from. We all grew a little closer to Ethiopia, because of that silly Iphone! It was a wonderful Mother's Day after all (and wonderful gift at that), as we were able to include our little one from so far away!

I wanted to update you all a bit as to where we are in the process of our adoption since our home study visits over spring break in April. Our home study is complete, and is at the main All God's Children office in Portland, OR. Once it is approved (hopefully some time this week), it will be sent to us, so that we can send it to Texas to get our immigration papers approved and approval to get special fingerprinting through the Homeland Security office. Once this step is complete and we have our fingerprints (about 6-8 weeks), we send this paperwork, along with our dossier (Ethiopian documents needed from us - letter of intention to adopt, certificates of birth/marriage, passports, etc), back to Portland for translation into Amheric (the Ethiopian dialect). When it's translated, it is sent out to Ethiopia to the AGCI agency in Addis Ababa (hopefully by the end of the summer) to be used to match our family to an orphan there in one of their orphanages. WE praise God for how quickly this process has all moved along!!!! We really have had no glitches in this process, so far. PTL!

Thank you all for your continued support in prayer for our family! I would ask, that if you are reading this blog today, would you be willing to pause and take a minute to pray for the 5700 kiddos that were orphaned just today and the more than 160 million orphans worldwide, waiting for a forever home? Please pray about your own family status. Is the Lord calling you to adopt? If you think you financially can't handle this option, remember, the Lord blesses those that are a blessing. I know, without a doubt, the Lord will help you with this component. We have experienced that blessing. If you think your spouse is resistant, but you feel the call on your heart, please pray that your spouse's heart will be changed. We have experienced this change in our lives that only the Lord could bring about! If the Lord is knocking on your door today, maybe this is a wonderful opportunity to either answer the knock and move forward with adoption or, at the very least, commit your family to pray regularly for the millions of orphaned out there worldwide! Thank you, again, for your support of the orphaned in any way!!!!! Blessings :)



Small Sacrifices but Big Fun on Spring Break

We decided this year, in an effort to be more frugal as we save for our upcoming adoption, that we'd stay home with our kiddos during spring break and make a go of some fun and good memories right in our own back yard... The kiddos are at an age that they believe they are the ONLY human beings in our whole town that are staying home this year - that ALL of their friends got to go away for spring break BUT them. While this is not true, I am sure to a 7, 9, and 11 year old this probably feels true. I feel their pain. If I was completely honest, I would have to say that I'd much rather be on a beautiful sandy beach somewhere feeling the cool ocean breezes in my face, but it is a small price to pay to be able to save that much needed money. Next year, maybe we will go some place warm and far away, as a family of 6 instead of a family of 5 - whoo hoo! Then again, maybe we will choose to stay home again :)

It is a difficult lesson to teach little ones how to sacrifice... It is something that they need to learn early, bit by bit, I think! We send our kiddos to a private school, so we sacrifice for that. But, God has led our family to this decision, so God will provide, and He has provided. We decided to build our own homes - 4 in total over the last 11 years; God gave my husband the talents and skills to be able to build our houses without an outside contractor (outside of his 9-5 job as a high school assistant principal). We have sacrificed roots to keep moving and building equity. But, God has led our family to each piece of property, each house built, and each new move, so we sacrifice our roots; God has provided for us in every move in more ways than we could have imagined. After the birth of our second child, God led me to be a stay-at-home mom. I quit my awesome high school teaching job that I LOVED! Our income was cut in half, and I didn't want to leave really, but we knew it was the right thing for our family, so we sacrificed. But, God led us to this decision, and He has provided in every way for our needs and then some, more than we could have dreamed. And, I can't imagine my life as a full-time teacher (or even part-time teacher), AND one of being a mom. (I give all working moms so much credit - kuddos!) Now, God has led us to adopt. He will provide for this; I have NO doubt. It is hard on a daily basis to see God's hand in His provision for us, but it is always there. If we need to sacrifice by staying home on spring break, rather than go on a big vacation, we will do that. God will provide for our fun and memories here in our own backyard!

So, how do you teach little ones how to sacrifice?? For us, I think, it boils down to leading by example, in alot of ways. I hope our kiddos see that we have sacrificed to get where we are, but that sacrifice doesn't have to mean going withOUT. God provides, when we can't do it ourselves, but you have to ask yourself what the motivation is... The kids are getting "it" little bit, by little bit!

In preparation to have our staycation this year, I challenged our family to keep our week under $200 in activities. I scoured the internet; I accepted coupons from alot of friends that weren't staying around for break that I could use as money off of fun things to do in our town; we are relying on other families from around our town that are staying home, too, to get together with etc. etc. We are determined to sacrifice but not do withOUT!

Maybe this might help you, too! Here are some of the ideas I have planned for our family of 5...

Friday - Day 1 - Our local movie theater has free matinees every weekend in March and April, so we are going to go see a free movie (of course, since the movie is free, we will splurge on popcorn and pop for the kiddos - huge treat for us, as we usually don't splurge on those things when we go to the movies) ~~ $12 with free refills of pop and popcorn refills for a quarter.
Saturday - Day 2 - We are having a sleepover for all three boys and their friends... Built in fun, AND this proves we aren't the only ones staying home for break - ha :) ~~ $15 for food and special munchies and one movie rental (Redbox is $1)
Sunday - Day 3 - Our weather is fairly warm (about 60 degrees), so on this day we are going  to a local park for a picnic, kite flying, fishing, and skate park extravaganza. We have a local park that has all of these fun things to do in one spot. ~~ FREE
Monday - Day 4 - A few families that are staying around town are getting together to go bowling. We all received coupons for one free game of bowling through our school, if we pay for shoe rental. ~~ $15 for shoes for the whole family
Tuesday - Day 5 - We are going to our local bounce house with cousins for unlimited play time. I downloaded deal coupons. $25 for the whole family
Wednesday - Day 6 - We had a family board game tournament in the morning. We own so many board games, but I also purchased one new one just to change things up a bit. ~~ I purchased the game Pit for $18.95. The boys then volunteered at our local educational farm for the rest of the afternoon, which they do on weekends throughout the school year ~~ FREE
Thursday - Day 6 - We are relying on families that are staying around town again. We are getting our kiddos together, called our school to let us have the gym for an hour, and had a few of the dads run a mini-sports camp for all of the boys in basketball and soccer and football. Then we walked to a near by park to have a Nerf gun war and have pizza - $10 chip in for pizzas and pop for the whole gang.
Friday - Day 7 - We are doing a screen day... The kids are allowed to finally play their electronic games (they had to earn time throughout the week to get this day - I gave them pebbles in a jar for completed chores, being kind to one another, etc., and predetermined the number of pebbles that they had to have by Friday to be eligible)... Wii, Dsi's, Ipad, etc for part of the day.~~ FREE Then, it's out to eat that night to Buffalo Wild Wings. We have 3 boys, and this is their favorite restaurant :) ~~ $40 for our whole family.
Saturday and Sunday - Day 8 and Day 9 - We called up one of our local hotels that has an indoor pool. They are doing a spring break special for a one night stay that includes a full breakfast buffet. You'd be surprised how hotels are willing to wheel and deal, if you ask. We can check in before 4 on Sat and ask for a late check out on Sunday! We brought munchies and ate dinner before we went, and breakfast is provided the next morning. ~~ $90

That brings our total to: $201... I think that is a pretty fun week, and it was extremely budget-friendly!!! We also took nature walks, went on bike rides, played football, soccer, baseball, etc in our backyard... On a rainy day or 2, we did crafts (our favorite is fusion beads, or.... as my kids like to say, "The big bucket o' fun"!), had carpet skate relays in our basement, played with playdough, baked and cooked together, made special reading nooks around the house and read our favorite books, etc. The boys never said that they were bored :) We kept them moving... that is the key!!

I think they learned that sacrificing is necessary in life, as they see us sacrifice for them and our lifestyle. We sacrificed by not going somewhere exotic on spring break, but we did not have to do withOUT. In fact, I think our family had a great time. My kiddos didn't complain, and I think they learned a little about sacrifice. That is a great thing!