A close up view.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Zac's AlphaSmart has arrived!
Back in November, Zac's Occupational Therapist suggested we apply for a grant from the ARC Foundation to purchase an AlphaSmart. It is basically a personal word processor with a few added features to help those with special needs. The public schools use them with their special needs kids.
For Zac this will really help his writing ability. He has tremendous trouble with remembering how to tell his hand to write the letters. His mind can work through the spelling portion pretty well now, but then taking that info and transfering it to written form is torture for him. Also, the legibility of his handwriting is very rough and we can't seem to make it any better. Believe me, we have tried everything!
I can type up worksheets on my computer, download them to his AlphaSmart and he can fill in answers then print the page on our printer. He can also practice spelling words on it, type copywork or dictation, etc. I'm excited to experiment with the many ways we can use this tool.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Do you need to change your mind?
I've been struggling with where I spend my time lately and how much gets spent on me verses housework, schooling the kids, changing diapers and bottle feedings, etc. Is it okay to set apart time for me and why do I feel so guilty when I do? God gave me Prov. 14:8 to chew on these last few days. I'm reading The Rest of God by Mark Buchanan, a book about reclaiming the Sabbath rest God intended for us to use, but so many lessons in this book can apply elsewhere in my life, too. I love Mark's breakdown of Prov. 14:8...
The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways,
(they think about where they are going)
but the folly of fools is deception.
(they keep lying to themselves.)
Mark goes on to say..."Wise people ask, Does the path I'm walking lead to a place I want to go?
If I keep heading this way, will I like where I arrive?
Fools keep making excuses for themselves, justifying and blaming, all the way to nowhere.
They dupe themselves right to the grave. They never change their minds."
This has challenged me to look at the path I'm on and the choices I'm making every day and ask "Do I want to continue down this path? Will I like where I will arrive at the end of this path?" To change our direction, we need to change our mind, our attitudes, thoughts and actions and head down a different path. This idea of changing my mind has been a lightbulb moment for me. I have been the fool, lying to myself, making excuses, justifying, blaming. For instance, with my weight...I can blame the hormones my doctor put me on or my hysterectomy for messing up my hormones. I can justify my decision not to exercise with the fact that there is not enough time in my day to add it in. I'm too busy with all of these kids. My list could and did go on and on and on. I'm just duping myself right into the grave! I have to face the truth about my weight and the physical problems it is causing and the fact that I'm the only one who can do something about it. I won't wake up one day and find it magically fell off while I was sleeping. I must change my mind, my thinking, about what I need to do everyday and the choices that are best for me. That is when I will begin to see real change and improvement.
I can apply this "change of mind" to many, many things in my life and I plan to make more changes in the coming days. What a difference it makes when we do as it says in 2 Corinthians 10:5
Take captive every thought
to make it obedient to Christ.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Naomi's adoption UPDATE
Our attorney officially filed our petition to adopt on Feb. 11!!! We are just waiting (as we have for the last 6 months :( ) for the county and state to finish up the paperwork on their end of things. Our caseworker was out this week and we signed a few more papers. Hopefully we are getting close to the end. We don't have a date yet, but I'm hopeful we will soon.
Okay everyone, I never got around to sending out our Christmas letter this year so I decided to make it my first post on our Zeigler Zoo blog. My goal is to post an update every week, but we'll see how that goes. Hope you all are doing well!
Zeigler Family’s 2008 in Review
January
January started off with a surprise Retirement Party for Annette’s dad, Bernie. A week later we celebrated the first birthday of our foster daughter, Carlie. We are thrilled to announce her pending adoption! It should be finalized in the early part of 2009. Her name will officially change to Naomi Beth Zeigler.
January started off with a surprise Retirement Party for Annette’s dad, Bernie. A week later we celebrated the first birthday of our foster daughter, Carlie. We are thrilled to announce her pending adoption! It should be finalized in the early part of 2009. Her name will officially change to Naomi Beth Zeigler.
February
Zachery turned 11 in February. Hannah participated in her last AWANA Grand Prix and Noah in his first.
Zachery turned 11 in February. Hannah participated in her last AWANA Grand Prix and Noah in his first.
March
Our dear friend, Chris Gaff, lost his battle with ALS. We will miss Chris and still mourn with his widow, Jody, but rejoice in the fact that we will be reunited in glory!
Our dear friend, Chris Gaff, lost his battle with ALS. We will miss Chris and still mourn with his widow, Jody, but rejoice in the fact that we will be reunited in glory!
April
Naomi began physical therapy and developmental therapy for severe delays.
Naomi began physical therapy and developmental therapy for severe delays.
May
Scott and I celebrated our 15th anniversary. Scott faced some tough competition on May 6 in the General Election. He won this round, now let’s wait and see if the Democrats can find someone to run against him in November. To make election day more exciting, Noah broke his finger and had to go to the emergency room. Scott lead our church’s first College and Career mission trip. They spent a week at Camp Assurance in Illinois. Scott’s dad, Paul, had surgery after several months of chemo and radiation treatments fighting colon cancer. He is slowly getting his energy back and trying to return to a new “normal”. Patrick turned 17 and got his driver’s license for his birthday! He even bought his own truck a few months before in anxious anticipation.
The last week of May our family went on our annual mission trip to Word of Life Bible Institute and Camp in Schroon Lake, New York. This was our family’s 5th year. A total of 9 families went this year! What a blessing it is to share the joy of working for the Lord. Many hands make light work!
Scott and I celebrated our 15th anniversary. Scott faced some tough competition on May 6 in the General Election. He won this round, now let’s wait and see if the Democrats can find someone to run against him in November. To make election day more exciting, Noah broke his finger and had to go to the emergency room. Scott lead our church’s first College and Career mission trip. They spent a week at Camp Assurance in Illinois. Scott’s dad, Paul, had surgery after several months of chemo and radiation treatments fighting colon cancer. He is slowly getting his energy back and trying to return to a new “normal”. Patrick turned 17 and got his driver’s license for his birthday! He even bought his own truck a few months before in anxious anticipation.
The last week of May our family went on our annual mission trip to Word of Life Bible Institute and Camp in Schroon Lake, New York. This was our family’s 5th year. A total of 9 families went this year! What a blessing it is to share the joy of working for the Lord. Many hands make light work!
June
Scott went with the Jr. High Teens on their Summer Missions Outreach trip to Word of Life, Canada. Zac’s highlight of his summer was spending a week at “horsy camp” (Red Cedar)! This was a special week for autistic children only. He rode a horse everyday. He even stood up in the saddle once and on the last day of camp he was chosen to lead the other campers on their daily horse ride around the lake.
Scott went with the Jr. High Teens on their Summer Missions Outreach trip to Word of Life, Canada. Zac’s highlight of his summer was spending a week at “horsy camp” (Red Cedar)! This was a special week for autistic children only. He rode a horse everyday. He even stood up in the saddle once and on the last day of camp he was chosen to lead the other campers on their daily horse ride around the lake.
July
Naomi began Speech Therapy and had tubes put in her ears. That was one of the best things we have ever done for her! She finally started babbling and calling me mom! Scott’s brother, Todd and his family came up from North Carolina for a week during 4-H Fair time. All 4 kids had 4-H projects this year. Patrick, with his busy schedule, ended up with only Bowling this year. Hannah took Bowling and Foods - breadsticks. Zac took Bowling and Lawn and Garden (which includes a tractor driving contest!). Noah took Bowling, Electric -circuit board, and Lawn and Garden. The day after the 4-H Fair ended, Patty packed up and went on the Sr. High SMO trip to Word of Life, New York.
Naomi began Speech Therapy and had tubes put in her ears. That was one of the best things we have ever done for her! She finally started babbling and calling me mom! Scott’s brother, Todd and his family came up from North Carolina for a week during 4-H Fair time. All 4 kids had 4-H projects this year. Patrick, with his busy schedule, ended up with only Bowling this year. Hannah took Bowling and Foods - breadsticks. Zac took Bowling and Lawn and Garden (which includes a tractor driving contest!). Noah took Bowling, Electric -circuit board, and Lawn and Garden. The day after the 4-H Fair ended, Patty packed up and went on the Sr. High SMO trip to Word of Life, New York.
August
We spent 17 days in our motor home traveling along some of the Lewis & Clark trail. We went all the way to the coast of Washington and Oregon. While we were gone Naomi’s mom and dad voluntarily terminated their parental rights and agreed to let us adopt her. We were shocked to get that phone call but utterly thrilled with God’s timing. Zac had a check up with his heart doctor and we learned his hole in his heart closed up on its own! He was one excited little boy. The fear of heart surgery had been weighing on us all for the last two years. God is so good! Volleyball season began again for Hannah this month. She also began attending the coveted Teen Club at church. School began again upon returning from vacation. Patrick is a Junior, Hannah is in 7th grade, Zachery is in 5th grade and Noah is in 4th grade.
We spent 17 days in our motor home traveling along some of the Lewis & Clark trail. We went all the way to the coast of Washington and Oregon. While we were gone Naomi’s mom and dad voluntarily terminated their parental rights and agreed to let us adopt her. We were shocked to get that phone call but utterly thrilled with God’s timing. Zac had a check up with his heart doctor and we learned his hole in his heart closed up on its own! He was one excited little boy. The fear of heart surgery had been weighing on us all for the last two years. God is so good! Volleyball season began again for Hannah this month. She also began attending the coveted Teen Club at church. School began again upon returning from vacation. Patrick is a Junior, Hannah is in 7th grade, Zachery is in 5th grade and Noah is in 4th grade.
September
Hannah turned 13 on the 11th and got the birthday present she had been praying for. Naomi’s baby sister was born on the 10th. We were called on the 11th and I brought her home from the hospital on the 12th. It is quite possible we will adopt her also. She weighed 5# 9 oz. and was 17” long. She is growing like crazy and entertaining us all. She just started smiling and cooing. She has a giraffe on her mobile above her bed that has become her best friend. She lights up every time she sees him and can spend 20 minutes laying there talking to him. Adding two babies to our family less than one year has been quite a challenge, but we thank God everyday for his faithfulness to us and for finding us worthy of this high, high calling. Hannah and Noah began another season of Tae Kwon Do. Naomi dropped Developmental Therapy this month to add Occupational Therapy. Our total therapies are as follows…Tuesday -Naomi/OT, Wednesday - Naomi/PT, Thursday - Naomi/Sp and Friday -Zac/Sp and OT. Whew!
Hannah turned 13 on the 11th and got the birthday present she had been praying for. Naomi’s baby sister was born on the 10th. We were called on the 11th and I brought her home from the hospital on the 12th. It is quite possible we will adopt her also. She weighed 5# 9 oz. and was 17” long. She is growing like crazy and entertaining us all. She just started smiling and cooing. She has a giraffe on her mobile above her bed that has become her best friend. She lights up every time she sees him and can spend 20 minutes laying there talking to him. Adding two babies to our family less than one year has been quite a challenge, but we thank God everyday for his faithfulness to us and for finding us worthy of this high, high calling. Hannah and Noah began another season of Tae Kwon Do. Naomi dropped Developmental Therapy this month to add Occupational Therapy. Our total therapies are as follows…Tuesday -Naomi/OT, Wednesday - Naomi/PT, Thursday - Naomi/Sp and Friday -Zac/Sp and OT. Whew!
October
Puppets ministry started up again for Patrick and they performed for the Albion Harvest Fest this month. Noah participated in a basketball camp. Hannah and Patrick both began Quiz Team this month. We spent a Sunday with Scott’s family making apple cider. We made around 40 gallons!
Puppets ministry started up again for Patrick and they performed for the Albion Harvest Fest this month. Noah participated in a basketball camp. Hannah and Patrick both began Quiz Team this month. We spent a Sunday with Scott’s family making apple cider. We made around 40 gallons!
November
Noah turned 10! Scott ended up with no competition for the General Election so he will be the Noble County Surveyor for 4 more years! Hannah finally was allowed to get her ears pierced. She took her friend Claire with her for support. This Thanksgiving we spent a week on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina with Scott’s entire family. The weather was chillier than we expected but it was still a great adventure. It was a great “memory maker” for us all!
Noah turned 10! Scott ended up with no competition for the General Election so he will be the Noble County Surveyor for 4 more years! Hannah finally was allowed to get her ears pierced. She took her friend Claire with her for support. This Thanksgiving we spent a week on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina with Scott’s entire family. The weather was chillier than we expected but it was still a great adventure. It was a great “memory maker” for us all!
December
Zac and Noah sang in the children’s Christmas program. Zac got to be a shepherd kneeling at baby Jesus’ manger. Annette’s family met up for family portraits. We had never had the entire family present before so this was one for the record books.
Zac and Noah sang in the children’s Christmas program. Zac got to be a shepherd kneeling at baby Jesus’ manger. Annette’s family met up for family portraits. We had never had the entire family present before so this was one for the record books.
May Christ be first in your heart this season and all the new year through!
Hand to the plow,
The Zeigler Family
Scott & Annette
Patrick, Hannah, Zachery, Noah, Naomi, & Savannah
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