It takes hands to build a house, but only hearts can build a home
Our Family
When I was a young girl, I dreamed of having four kids ~ two girls and two boys. When I told my husband my plans while we were dating he laughed. He wanted two kids. God had a different plan for us.
This is our family in Maui a few years ago. Now I’d like to introduce you to our great kids!
Our first born we named after my husband and my father (Timothy Joseph) and we call him “TJ” or “Teej” for even shorter. He is thoughtful and quiet and very hard to read for a mother who thinks being verbal is very important. TJ’s goal is to use as little words in a day as possible. He’s a right and left-sided brain. He’s a musician and a computer nerd. He loves God purely and sincerely. When he attended NC State University, he and a group of friends started the BYX fraternity (Brothers Under Christ). He was the president during his senior year. He’s a videographer by day and a musician by night. He plays keyboards, vocals and trumpet in two different bands. He makes us so proud!
Our second son, Joshua Paul (middle name is LOML’s father’s name), was absolutely the easiest baby ever. He was so quiet, there were times I forgot he was there. BEST MOM AWARD FOR ME! He’s kind and very determined. Everything is black and white. It’s right or wrong. No gray areas with him. He gets that from his mother (ME!). He is intolerant of sin in himself or others. If I do something wrong, I’m going to know about it. He makes me accountable! He graduated from Appalachian State University with a B. A. in Music Performance (trombone). He’s planning on auditioning for a military band while he decides what he wants to do with the rest of his life. We love having him home and we get to listen to him practice his music. My favorite is when he tickles the ivories and sings. AMAZING! In his free time, he coaches his high school alma mater ultimate frisbee team. GO COUGARS!
Our third son, Caleb O’Brien (my maiden name), has always been my “wild” child. He goes full speed as soon as his feet hit the ground and he doesn’t stop until he crashes into bed at night. When he was little his nickname was Tigger because he didn’t walk, he bounced everywhere! He’s an athlete, a musician, and a lover of all things on ESPN! He’s just graduated from Appalachian State University with a major in music industry. He’s doing an internship in January to complete his studies. He also plays ultimate frisbee at school. GO NOMADS! He has a sweet tender heart and has a great sense of humor. He plays the guitar and piano by ear which always amazes me. He also loves singing in the Chamber Singers choir.
Our fourth son, Jacob Sean, is definitely the baby of the family and Mama’s little boy! And his older brothers will never let him forget it. He’s the first one in our family to run for office. He ran for Student Council President for his elementary school two years in a row. We were in awe! He had to give a speech and make posters…we may have a politician on our hands. Except he will be honest and good-hearted. Like his brothers, he loves music but hates to practice. A positive of being the youngest, he gets to see first-hand what practice leads to. All his brothers are amazing musicians. I encourage them to start a Christian boy band but they all laugh. Between them, they have 4 piano players, 2 trombone players, a trumpet player, and a couple of guitar players. A plus…they can all sing. That spells BOY BAND to me!! Jacob is a sophomore at Appalachian State University majoring in Business Administration. He’s not sure what he wants to do yet. He loves playing ultimate frisbee on the same team as his brother. GO NOMADS! He loves college life and I don’t think he misses his parents at all He’s an amazing young man!
When my youngest son went to preschool, I asked God to show me what He wanted me to do with my life now that all of the kiddos were in school. He spoke loud and clear “I WANT YOU TO ADOPT!” I said, “No really, what do You really want me to do?” He said it again and again and again until one day I said, “Yes Lord, but you’re going to have to get the LOML (Love of My Life) on board.” Be careful what you ask for because He did and our life has never been the same.
August 2005 we brought our two daughters home from Kazakhstan (I had never even heard of this country until God made it possible). If you want to read the whole story of our journey to adoption, we wrote a blog to communicate with our boys for the five weeks we were over there and away from the boys. You can read it here.
Claire Jazira is now fifteen years old and a sophomore in high school. She continues to try to rule her world and be her own boss. Mama and daughter bang heads a lot but in the end she knows I’m here to take care of her and I’m not going anywhere. Through good and bad, I’m going to love her. She’s got a memory like no one I know. She learned all her times tables (0-12) in one day. She knows every word to every song she’s ever heard. She’s amazing! She loves ultimate frisbee like her brothers, drawing, and reading. She wants to be a professional singer when she grows up.
Ciara Jenya is a tiny, sweet, tomboy who weighs 20 lbs soaking wet. Her attention span is as long as a blink and, like her older brother Caleb, never stops until she puts her head on her pillow at night. She loves her mother except when I make her do her homework. She has to sit for that and that doesn’t make her happy. She is a fourteen years old high school freshman. She loves reading the same books over and over again (The Warriors and How to Train Your Dragon series in particular). She loves playing the violin, ultimate frisbee and her favorite past time is beating her brothers in chess. She’s in the process right now of writing her first book!! She’s harder on herself than her mom which makes parenting pretty easy! We can’t wait to see what God has in store for this little firecracker!
I always wanted a large family and God blessed us with an even larger family! Everything He does is bigger and more wonderful than we can ever imagine!
Thanks for visiting our blog. I hope you are inspired but something you see and read. Let me know about you and your dreams! God Bless!
Our first born we named after my husband and my father (Timothy Joseph) and we call him “TJ” or “Teej” for even shorter. He is thoughtful and quiet and very hard to read for a mother who thinks being verbal is very important. TJ’s goal is to use as little words in a day as possible. He’s a right and left-sided brain. He’s a musician and a computer nerd. He loves God purely and sincerely. When he attended NC State University, he and a group of friends started the BYX fraternity (Brothers Under Christ). He was the president during his senior year. He’s a videographer by day and a musician by night. He plays keyboards, vocals and trumpet in two different bands. He makes us so proud!
