Today (written yesterday)

I received some wonderful news today.

Several schools in our area did fundraisers this week for Haitian Roots. They called it "Hope for Haiti: Digging Deep". They raised a lot of money to help Haiti! Awesome!

An amazing pilot named Jake Yockers and his crew refused to leave the tarmac in Port au Prince this morning until the orphans he had come to bring home to their families in the US were on it. He told them they could arrest him but he wasn't leaving. Around 5:45pm 56 children, Chareyl, Brent, Scott, and other volunteers landed in Miami. What a miracle. It is still a headache processing paperwork, but they are on US soil and the children's parents are on their way to Miami, will have them in their arms tomorrow, and will be able to take them home within a few days. It truly is a miracle. I have been following the situation very closely for the past 10 days and it has been INTENSE. Read this.

I received an amazing phone call this afternoon. The ID said "unknown". I picked it up and I heard a beautiful woman's voice come through from a static line. "Alo?" My heart leapt, "Vivianne?" I nearly screamed. "Oui." A huge sigh of relief from me..........................................and a quick prayer of thanks to my Heavenly Father. We could only communicate briefly. I asked if she was okay, she said yes, she asked in Andre is doing well, I said very good. I said I was happy. Then we paused and she handed the phone over to somebody who spoke English. Our conversation then continued. She is safe. The two baby girls are safe. They lost their tiny home. It crumbled to pieces. They are living in the street. But she wanted me to know that she is okay. I said I love her. She said she loves me, too. I said that Isson is coming next week and he will send aid. Some people believe you shouldn't support your child's birth family in anyway because it could be misconstrued or it might encourage other people to give up their children--thinking that the family adopting their child will then help provide a better life for them. I understand that point. But guess what? I made a commitment to God when I met Vivianne and little Vivianna the first time (two years AFTER Andre came home from Haiti) that I would make sure that little girl was taken care of. So, stick it where the sun don't shine, UNICEF. I don't like you anyways. In fact I recently wrote a post called "Why I Hate Unicef" but I can't afford any negativity in my life so I chose to erase it and stop thinking about you for now.

ANYWHO...I am mostly thinking of Haiti every second...but I've been realizing that often I am worrying and crying about children in Haiti...all the while my little ones are whining or clamoring about me, begging for attention. That's no good. I love my children madly. I am so lucky to be their mother. Here's a little of what's been going on:

Lots of playing in the snow. In these photos the kids are playing with Tanner and Elle. Their mom, Patti, has been a best friend of mine since we were their AGES! For reals! And now we live in the same neighborhood and watch each others' kids and our kids like each other (most of the time). How cool is that?

Speaking of friends, our next door neighbors recently rented their house to the coolest family ever and they happen to have girls ages 8 and 5. Can you believe that? Right next door. And so nice and cute? It is truly an answer to prayer. My kids have had good friends but never ones close enough to just walk next door to. What a huge blessing!


Oh...and more "speaking" of friends...on days when I refuse the noise of any additional children and Deedle is just dying for a friend to play with...well...she can often convince the sweet, shy, and demure Britney to come over to play. After dressing Britney up in the appropriate attire, she even has to go outside and knock on the door to make the playdate official. I know some people find this very disturbing but it doesn't bother me in the least. Britney and Deedle never fight, whereas Loumy and Deedle rarely get along (despite Loumy's sincere and frequent prayers that a day can go by with out any fighting).
What else has been happening? Oh, yes, Moselle. Never say never. I always did and now look. This is Moselle. She was rescued by my nephew and his cute little wife but they couldn't keep her because of their buildings' pet restrictions and for some reason we decided to take her. I really don't know what possessed us, but...she is ours. And guess what? She's the easiest pet ever (easier and less stinky than a fish--I'm not even kidding!) and I actually like her. Weird. Never say never.