COLOMBIAN BREWD

2013-06-14T07:45:00.001-05:00

trusting- always

Back in the saddle

2013-01-29T18:13:00.001-06:00

This is my command--be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9

Life continues to be full and blessed. These last few months we have been trying to adjust to having a college girl living away from home. Olivia is at UW Madison with the hopes of possibly entering medical school. The dynamics at home changed a little bit with Gretta now being the oldest young adult in the house. Gretta is busy with Choraliers and studying ALL the time. She holes herself up in her room on most nights making ump-teen notecards to study for various tests. Ella is playing indoor soccer and busy being a fan of all sports with her new friendships she has made since entering school. She squeaks in a little time at Culvers working- but does not get many hours since she is not fifteen yet- so that is a little frustrating to her. Dayne just turned teenager yesterday. He is now the oldest homeschooled here and is really helpful in making our days go smooth. Basketball fills his weekends.

Diego and Yerly are growing in their learning everyday. This year has been really rewarding seeing their level of reading and math skills come along. We still struggle with what they say are normal issues for kids who were abandoned at such young ages for such an extended period of time. Many of the issues seem to be our issues which we are finding are a result of reactive attachment. This whole process has increased our dependency of God- it has not been a bed of roses. It is difficult dealing with their emotions and difficult dealing with our unexpected emotions as well.

Jude has been our comic relief and continued blessing. He blesses Diego and Yerly everyday by allowing them to nurture him. He has helped them tremendously find a place in our somewhat chaotic family. He has provided learned empathy and care giving to the older kids. He has provided stress relief when we realize that dealing with a toddler issues are much easier than dealing with teenage issues. It is so easy to tell him no and sit him on the stairs….not as easy with free willing young adults who need to make their own decisions- which are sometimes hard for us to sit back and watch.

Whats on the rothwell plate? We are gearing up for some of us to travel to Cancun for a mission trip this summer. Gearing up for a family trip to Gulf Shores…even sooner!!!

the return

2011-11-06T22:59:00.001-06:00

My family- they bring a smile to my face! This was taken during Fermentation Fest in Reedsburg!

This fall has been full of traditions and memories in the making. And sadly, as Olivia has reminded me, traditions that will be different next year. Olivia is in full swing planning for college and life after high school. We did our obligatory college tour of some campuses in the Milwaukee area- baby in tow. I’m still not quite sure how to feel about visiting colleges with our senior and her baby brother. Two different worlds.

It has been a stressful fall for Olivia, retaking her ACT for a final try at a better score, applying to colleges and writing essays. Thankfully, today Olivia was blessed with her first acceptance letter. She was accepted into UW Madison. She has always dreamed of UW Madison- but she was doubting her acceptance and had come to terms with the fact that she might have to go elsewhere. This was a huge sigh of relief for her and a milestone in her education. A milestone for her and a milestone for me.( If I am allowed to say that.) I can breath a huge sigh of relief as well after all of the years of toiling and worrying if I was teaching the kids enough at home while being questioned by others if the kids were learning anything. Why would I ever doubt that God would not equip us when we were homeschooling for Him? Nine years of homeschooling Olivia and three years of public high school. Praise God.

There are other schools she is still waiting to hear from. Her other top pick is Marquette. Unfortunately, we will not hear from them until February. I am feeling like a little fish in a big pond trying to help her navigate these decisions, apply for scholarships and plan for her future. I have to remind myself and her that God has a plan! We need to pray and allow him to direct and guide her. Once again, I am reminded what a gift she has been to me, but one that I cannot keep. I pray that she will remember her foundation in Christ and that she will allow Him to be the center of life and with that all good blessings will flow.

Summer Lovin

2011-07-01T11:47:00.001-05:00

Summer is in full swing at the Rothwell house. Full swinging baseball bats that is. Dayne finished his first season of baseball and just got voted onto the All Star 11 year old team to play in tournaments all July. Diego and Yerly are full swing in tball. Diego is an “Ole Pro” this year and helping his sister get familiar with the game of ball

this summer!

The Rothwell taxi cab is racking up the miles. Diego and Yerly took a week long soccer clinic, a week long vacation bible school, tball and swim lessons…while dayne and ella are busy at 2 different basketball camps and tennis lessons everyday. We found a way to condense 5 trips in 4 hours to the high school down to 2.

Olivia is busy at Hollister at Tanger mall. Gretta helps Ella with a babysitting job once a week. Ella’s highlight of the summer is BRACES…woo hoo… hardly. And in our free time…there is lots of playing in our newly painted pool!!!

We started out summer with our annual camping trip to the 400 trail in Wilton!

I am trying my hand at a mini-job this summer. Jude and I head into the Swim Reedsburg office a couple of mornings a week and I have been teaching swim lessons one afternoon for a couple of hours. It’s alot of fun, but not sure if this is my season to be working away from home…even if just for a few hours. Home is such a busy place and in need of a full time manager…now I see why I haven’t worked all these years.

JudeBug is scooting around. He says mama(came first :) ) and papa. He shakes his head no.

Diego and Yerly are in full english mode. Yerly speaks with absolutely perfect grammar with an extensive vocabulary. Her first favorite word was “repulsive!” They are in for a treat this summer with the spanish summer school which is spoken in 90% spanish for 3 weeks.

We continue to be amazed at God’s provision for our family through our new house and new family members. Our God is an awesome God!

LIfe is Full Life is Good

2011-04-29T13:18:00.002-05:00

We are all blessed with the new life of Baby Jude. He brings alot of smiles into our house and fills us all with love. Jude is sitting, laughing, shaking his head..no, no, no, clapping, scooting, back floating in the pool and blowing raspberries to name a few.

This year began quiet and calm, much unlike our beginning to 2010. Olivia had a little reprieve from her mystery illness for a couple of months. In the beginning of April, we were back on the road of hospital and medical visits. She has been dealing with numbness and loss of movement, speech and vision in her episodes. Thankfully, she is scheduled to see a neurologist and all major tests so far have been clear. Despite all of her illness, she has maintained the high honor roll and with 2 AP classes this year as well. She was inducted into National Honor Society. Last fall she enjoyed the football dance team and working as a dancer for an illusionist in the Dells. This spring has been full with a new job at Hollister and preparing for Prom!( below….olivia before prom)

Gretta has enjoyed her first year of high school after homeschooling. She entered the year as one of two freshman on the football dance team. Her cohort was of course best friend Emily. They are literally joined at the hip all the time. She has excelled in her classes with 3.88-4.0 grade point average all quarters. She just finished Drivers Ed and is active in the JV soccer team. She hasn’t played soccer in a few years and was eager to get back on the field and have some fun with friends! We don’t see her a whole lot as she really enjoys having her own room for the first time in her life, although we do hear lots of singing coming from her humble abode.

(below..gretta with emily before winter carnival)

Ella had a busy year playing volleyball and basketball for the city and local Christian school. She is now on hiatus…not a wanted one though…( mom missed soccer sign ups with a new baby) Ella is such a help to have at home with schooling and homelife. She is doing well in her seventh grade work and always a social bee. She works once a week, nannying for a 3 year old girl.

(Below…ella with mom and pop for her special 13th birthday dinner alone)

Dayne has been playing football, basketball, swimming and now entering baseball season. Dayne has enjoyed cooking every Tuesday with a family friend of ours, Linda Sweeney. Linda comes every week to help with any tasks. Since feeding our large family is at the top of our priority list, Linda and Dayne make meals to be frozen every week. Dayne’s favorite recipe has been the snack of squash or pumpkin chocolate chip muffins. He has become a huge help and so thoughtful.

(below..happy dayne with a birthday present)

Diego loves being a big brother. He is the one to make Jude laugh the most. Diego has been working on speech this year. We began doing some testing through the school to see where he was with his speech. We found out he is in fact delayed and was emotionally the level of a four year old. We were hoping to have some speech therapy through the school on a weekly basis, but unfortunately as homeschoolers he is not able to get help. He has to fully enroll or is not able to have therapy. He is not ready to enroll full time and we find that he benefits from being home as do our other children. As we tie up our school year this next month we are amazed at his progress. Diego is reading english~ which is a major accomplishment. He is also completing first grade math with adding and subtracting. He is accomplishing so much more than we expected. When we first brought him home a year and a half ago yesterday, he could barely follow simple directions, he could not count and did not know letters. He still struggles with speech and being understood. We are praying that God will turn on a little speech light in his head that makes the sounds flow.

(below…diego and yerly decorate christmas cookies)

Yerly our sweet ,doting girl, has loved being a big sister. She asks to watch Jude daily and loves to entertain him with toys and books. We decided to school Diego and Yerly together doing first grade math and k/1 reading. Keeping them together has worked well. They challenge each other and encourage each other. Yerly is one smart chica! She is flying through first grade math and is reading and writing her own stories. She comes up with the best words to add to her vocabulary. Her favorite word this year has been repulsive. She speaks english and understands it incredibly well.

(below..Ella invited Diego and Yerly to a dress up tea party)

Mike is busy at Grede but his real love is on a football or baseball field as a coach. He puts all of his time and effort into coaching.

I have had fun with zumba with Olivia once Jude hit four months and swimming lessons with Jude which has led to finally using my lifeguarding cert. and some hours this summer at Swim Reedsburg! Thanks to our friend Andrew, I have a website for photos. I have just taken family photos and some for friends. This summer I have two weddings scheduled and am excited to venture down that road.

Life is full and Life is good!

a crazy day….

2011-01-22T12:07:00.001-06:00

not only did we welcome a new son, we welcomed home a son with a broken arm today.

After a long day of oooowing and aaahing at Jude, Nana and Grandpa offered to take the kiddos to the football game so MIke and I could have some time alone. We had been up all day and we ready to snuggle in for a nap. The gang was gone about 45 minutes, when we got a phone call saying Diego broke his arm. He ran ahead of my parents and sat on the ledge of the bleacher ramp and fell off. They ran him home to show us and Mike took him into the ER…which followed by a quick “surgery” at 2 am after a whole day of no sleep…plan B is in full swing.

Diego broke his right forearm in 2 places. So we are in a cast for 8 weeks and a splint for another 4 and the already challenged school…well we will be taking a break and figuring out a payment plan for this new little undertaking. Whilst Diego was in the hospital, we had Olivia in and out for mystery stomache aches, nausea and vomitting all of October and November. She was the lucky recipient of a endoscopy and colonoscopy….more costs to find out we couldn’t really find anything…. all said and done, time to move on.

Welcoming Baby Jude

2011-01-22T11:09:00.001-06:00

Baby Jude Simeon Rothwell was born at home on a warm, breezy, fall night~September 24.2010. He is our little miracle baby and a surprise blessing. Jude means praise and Simeon means God Heard. The little baby we prayed for 7 years ago is finally here. He weighed 8.12 and was 21 inches long. After contractions all day long, Mike and I decided to do our belly cast that night after all of the kids hit the hay. While in the middle of the cast the contractions became pretty strong around 11pm. After the cast, I slipped into the tub with the relaxation prompts from Shawni on the ipod. By midnight it was apparent we needed to call Lindsey and finish getting the portable birthing tub ready. Mikayla arrived first around 1:15 and Lindsey to follow around 130. The contractions were already strong and 2 minutes apart and quickly turned into back labor~ which I can only describe as the after pains of being smacked with a 2x4 in the base of my back. What seemed like a year, only took an hour and a half. Baby Jude was born into our arms at 2:46.

About 2minutes after he was born I asked Mike to get the kids, who not to our knowledge were all standing waiting outside our door. They came in and we all awed at Baby Jude.

Touched Twice Reedsburg 2010

2010-08-25T11:22:00.000-05:00

Here Comes the Sun!

2010-06-08T10:59:00.001-05:00

Life is full settling into a new home. Mike has mastered the pool in record time. He is such an engineer. He has his spreadsheet with stats everyday and is constantly making changes in chemicals to get the balance just right. BUT hey….its working!!!! Diego and Yerly have come to love the pool. They weren’t sure at first since the shallow end is 3 ft. They strap on their lifejackets( a requirement to be outside now in the back :) )

Diego and Yerly fit our family like a glove. We hear over and over how well they are adjusting and how it seems like they have been with our family forever from our family and friends. It is a huge blessing for us. Oddly, it has been a bigger adjustment for the kiddos who used to be the youngest two Rothwells. Diego and Yerly are happy and love life, which is a great thing for all of us to witness and absorb. Diego at times struggles with a little internal anxiety that appears on his little face from time to time…but we no longer have the throw- up- anxiety. They are both doing extremely well homeschooling and beg to have their turn daily. They are nearing the end of learning every letter and the sounds in the alphabet in their Sing Spell Read Write program. Diego amazes us with his ability and desire to learn despite being behind Yerly in his education. He has caught up with her and we are wondering if he will surpass her in some areas, which will be astounding….since she is one smart chic!

The end of spring capped off with our church carnival….a BIG WIN with Diego and Yerly.

PONY RIDES!!!

We kicked off summer with a camping trip to Wilton….our fav memorial day spot. We set up camp at the little city park campground which is off the 400 bike trail and a short drive from the Kickapoo River to canoe and a walk to the swimming pool and most importantly the PIE SHOP. We don’t all fit in the camper anymore, but the older girls are real campers and set up their mattresses and teen pad in the big tent.

CAMP ROTHWELL

Pregnancy at a spry-40 is going well. Swimming has helped and the fact that God prepared my bod last year with training for the mini triathalon and doing a biggest losers program losing 15 pounds…that are now back again. oh well….Im looking forward to nursing the pounds away. I can burn the BIG cals while sitting with a baby…NICE!!! We decided to find out this time around seeing as we rid of ALL of our baby supplies just last fall. I even sold all of the cloth diaper wraps and new cloth diapers…ugh! So off we went to restock the supply once again and the Waunakee Garage Sales have brought us back up to baby par.Soooo …it is a boy…they say. Diego and Dayne gave a huge shout out that they won! It will even out the hormones a little more in the house with 4 boys/man and 5 girls/women. We are still amazed at the Master Plan God created. We are Glad HE is in charge, because we sure would not have chosen this path at our age. Losing that little boy 7 yrs ago, leading to adoption, leading to a long awaited pregnancy which will infact knit Diego and Yerly more intricately into our Rothwell family as a big brother and sister. Just amazing.

2010-04-29T09:31:00.001-05:00

Firetrucks and Spaghetti

The annual firemans spaghetti supper is another sure sign of spring. Families walking to the fire department, reuniting with old friends after a long winters hibernation and just good food!!

Dayne and Diego and Yerly were more than excited to go. Dayne… because his friend Joseph would be there and he is a superstar at the firestation with his dad the firefighter and his grandpa the old fire chief, Diego and Yerly were just excited to go somewhere as a family.

Easter Days

2010-04-06T13:40:00.001-05:00

Easter Blessings! We are without words some days as to how Great is our God.

These days as we hit a milestone in our pregnancy….we revisit the memories often….Seven years ago when we lost a baby boy midterm, we did not understand how “all things work for the good of those who love Him.” We could not understand how the loss that was felt so deep was in some way a part of God’s plan in shaping our lives.

That loss lead our hearts in a whole new direction. We were very unsettled and felt God’s calling to expand our family. We were not getting pregnant after several ( 5 to be exact) years of trying and after two losses. The desire for a baby was placed in our hearts and left unfulfilled for a reason. So that would examine all that God has to offer. We wondered if God was calling us to use our experience in Mexico to adopt a sibling set from a latin american country.

After many prayers and seeking….Now we have two little love bugs in our family and God has decided to bless us with a baby as well. After all of these years, we just sit in Wonder!! We can only imagine that God had a plan for Diego and Yerly to be in OUR family and that God has a plan for this new gift.

As we approach the midterm of this pregnancy and the period of loss, we can completely envision this new little life and with a renewed hope that all things do work for the good of those who love Him.

We continue to pray that this baby will remain free of the GBS infection.

CELEBRATIONS

we celebrated ella and greenly’s birthday!!! 12 and 2 yrs old!

Easter Finest!

We had a great time decorating eggs this year, with a new excitement brought to the table from two little people.

The city easter egg hunt was almost as exciting as we walked out our front door, across the street to the park!

We woke up at the crack of dawn to go to the free Kalahari indoor theme park admission from 530 am until 8 am. Tired, but so much fun!!!!

Spring has brought a new love….BIKES. For spring break, we put the training wheels on both of the little love bug bikes. They love the freedom of being able to ride around the sidewalk!!

For St Pattys Day we celebrated with all things Irish and we had an Ireland Unit Study day for homeschool coop.

Diego and Yerly said their names and ages in english with their lovely shamrock hats!

Gretta gave a report on scones, a tradition from england and ireland and she gave samples of her own scone recipe.

Ella told a little about St Patrick and served a green sherbet drink.

Dayne told a little about leprechauns and had a little tootsie roll hunt for the kids.

2010-03-15T21:32:00.002-05:00

After a long hiatus...we are back.
Much has changed in 3wks.
1….We sold our house.

Packed our house after living there for 14 years and homebirthing 2 babies there and bring 2 adopted babies home.
2….We moved to our new house.

We have unpacked the necessities and are recycling much!!!
3. Mike and I went to New York City to celebrate our 4oth bdays with my wonderful sister and brother in law!!!

We have had an ultrasound and found that we will be adding to our family around our anniversary and Yerly's Birthday- Late September.
What a surprise and happy 40th birthday to Mike and I.
We were NOT expecting that. God must have a plan..since our house sold so fast and we have this big house now. We are feeling totally blessed these days, in all that God is doing and the friends and family he has surrounded us with. It still amazes us!

Diego and Yerly are still trying to wrap their brains around the idea of a baby in my belly. I think they thought they just appeared at the orphanage. Yerly is now wondering when her baby will grow?

Arroz Con Leche

2010-02-17T16:00:00.001-06:00

We had a D and Y favorite today for lunch. We had some leftover rice from dinner so we made Arroz Con Leche. Once they knew we were making it, they immediately started in song:

Arroz con leche
Me quiero casar
Con una señorita
de la capital.

below: dancing to party music in the front room

The meal also triggered a memory for Diego. He told us that he was given arroz con leche after he split his chin. He told us a little boy was chasing him with water in his mouth and Diego fell on the cement and split his chin. After the doctor came and gave him a shot he had arroz con leche. :)

Mike turns 39 +1

2010-02-09T20:12:00.001-06:00

We started out the morning with Gretta, Ella and Dayne awake at 4am to make breakfast. I heard them getting up and decided to join them. They made Mike an Omlette before he headed off for early work. So sweet!

We sent Mike 4 black balloons with 4 candy bars to his work. He didn’t find it really funny.

We celebrated Mikes bday night at the MooseJaw! We had the entire basement to ourselves and ordered wings and pizza and pop and played games around the bigscreen. It was really fun! We went home and had cake and opened his presents!!!

Cant wait to celebrate both of our bdays in NY with Al and P!!!

BOYS and Monster Trucks

2010-02-09T18:53:00.001-06:00

For Mike’s 40th he really wanted to do Monster Trucks with the Boys. So he got tickets for the three of them and our brother in law Patrick and nephew Jaxson. They got Pit Passes and toured the trucks beforehand. Real Men!!!

1600 HP Hummer with 60 inch tires.

Dayne, Jaxson and Diego

Love Bugs

2010-02-09T16:22:00.002-06:00

the super shoppers!!!

Playing Pioneers and Cowboys. Diego loves to dress up!!!!

Just too cute not to snap a picture

Dayne turns 10!!!

2010-01-29T09:45:00.001-06:00

Dayne

kind~smiley~strong~sweet~mathematician

whiz~joyfilled~athletic~talkative~generous~

soft heart~

This morning Dayne was so thrilled that everyone came in to sing happy birthday to him in bed with a Nutella Crepe. Birthdays are a day off of homeschool….so we spent a lazy morning eating crepes, scones and watching Monsters Vs Aliens. We spent the late afternoon and evening at Christmas Mountain once Olivia and Pop came home!!! Free lift tickets and most of us have ski’s we have found at vinne’s or ebay…and it was a day!!! Cheese curds in the chalet, sun and snow….it was a good birthday! We went home and ordered Pizza Hut and watched Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs followed by brownies and presents.

Happy Birthday Dayne!!! We love you!!!

Big Trouble in Little China

2010-01-29T09:33:00.001-06:00

january 27 2010

We had stir fry tonight and the little love bugs were so

impressed to find out that they owned chopsticks. I

brought them to the table and they immediately said “Oh

Mami…” with a sigh. Diego dug right in a knew exactly

what to do with them. HOW do they know these things??

the super-gross-fried-worms 10 yr old boy party-

2010-01-23T09:37:00.002-06:00

Dayne turns 10 this week so we roasted him with fried worms….ewww…

We had fun finding all sorts of gross recipes like fried worms

…which were sautéed hot dogs

We made some intestines( pie crust filled with empanada mix and rolled like an intestine with red brushed egg white)…which we forgot to take a picture of, the monster bites(which D and Y sported in the prev. blog,fingers(fries),shaved skin (chips)

The boys were all given a harry potter jelly bean and had to guess their flavor…like cherry, earwax,bacon,vomit,green apple or dirt.

NEXT~They made some horrific worm concoctions. Two boys went to the kitchen and were able to create their worm platter with goodies in the kitchen. ( worms were died spaghetti noodles, ingredients of their choice on the counter…)They drew the names of the lucky soles to eat their creation. This went on til each boy had a turn of course….There were concoctions like barf casserole with horseradish, maple syrup and fish sauce….eww

The worm cake and the worms awaiting….

Brush those teeth

2010-01-23T09:15:00.001-06:00

Diego and Yerly thought it was hilarious to make all

of the super-gross-boy-party-food for Dayne’s Fried

Worm 10 yr old boy party…

Frosty

2010-01-14T20:20:00.001-06:00

We finally had a warm enough day to pack snow for a snowman. Diego and Yerly were EXSTATIC to make their first hombre de nieve!!

Gretta our 14 yr old sweetheart

2010-01-14T19:07:00.001-06:00

Don’t get the wrong idea….our Gretta is NOT a Viking Fan, but is an ADRIAN PETERSON fan.

Gretta 14~

1.kind

2.compassionate

3.sweet

4.smiley

5. giggly

6.helpful

7.patient

8.a great friend

9. a great babysitter and helper of little ones

10. a great sister

11. determined

12. beautiful voice

13. wonderful piano teacher

14.creative

love our homeschool afternoons!!!!

2010-01-06T21:27:00.001-06:00

This afternoon for homeschool we headed to our fav spot these days….the pond to skate! We brought Dayne’s friend Drew along and had a great time playing freeze tag and having relay races. We enjoyed the quiet and peacfulness of our little nook in the woods. Some of the middle schoolers were out enjoying the afternoon on the trail snowshoeing with Gary Williams….glad to see them also enjoying non traditional learning!!!

PCB…postchristmasblues

2010-01-04T20:57:00.002-06:00

Gretta and Yerly…..their time spent Saturday afternoon doing Yerly’s hair and makeup for Y’s dress-up Dorothy dress.

MONDAY: Today was a great day. I was prepared for the Post Christmas Blues but decided that they were not welcome in our home. We fell right back into the homeschool routine, which includes the chore chart/ flylady cleaning jobs…which makes our house soooo much nicer to reside in. Diego and Yerly were excited to open their workbooks again for sing-spell-read-and-write. Gretta goes to town and completes her assigments after they are given in record time. She will be ready for HS next year. Ella is anxiously awaiting a research unit in her language. Dayne zipped through his final division facts unit with lightning speed. His math skills STILL amaze me.

This morning for our devotion, we talked about being afraid. Specifically, we talked with Diego and Yerly about being afraid. We asked them if they were afraid of the dark. They replied that at Casa De Maria they were very afraid of the dark, because there was a big raton…which is either rat or mouse. They told us a story about this critter downstairs at CDMyEN. We asked if they were afraid here and they said “No…because Mami and Papi are here and they shut the shades.” :) So we were glad to hear that they are not afraid of going to bed at night.

Tonight we had a delicious sauce on our Slow Cooker Chicken….so yummy, I had to share. We topped the chicken and rice on the side with this heavenly creation.

olive oil
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup dry white wine
4 tablespoons butter

Preparation Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with olive oil. Add finely chopped onion to pan; sauté 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in chicken broth, white wine, and white wine vinegar; bring to a boil. Cook until reduced to 1/4 cup (about 5 minutes). Remove from heat; stir in butter

our neck of the woods..

2009-12-31T13:56:00.001-06:00

we found our own little skating rink this afternoon!! What fun we had...clearing our own little spot in the woods