Twenty Questions Answered Part 1 of 3

mom2four said...
What are your favorite and least favorite parts of being a mom of many :) AND, where do you most often get new recipes :)
My writing (DAD / husband / John) is in red and I’m not touching this one. My (Christine) writing is in blue. My favorite thing about being a Mom is seeing everything through my kids' eyes. I also love having the power to make all of my kids owies feel better. I enjoy the closeness that we share, and how they always have something to tell me. I don't like the bickering and fighting that goes on between my kids way too much. I get recipes from all over---- food shows, cook books, trying the food and liking it so much that I ask for the recipe, restaurants, and the Internet. Often times I google the name of a particular recipe and read through them until I find a recipe that sounds like it will be good.

The Combes Family said...
What do you do just for *you*? With so many children, I'm sure it's hard to come by, but what is your favorite thing to do?
Be with me (ha ha). Nothing in particular, but whenever I need time just for me, John is always there to be with the kids. I enjoy blogging, cooking, being with my family, and my passion is adoption (particularly special needs)...... and helping adoptive families.

Anonymous said...
What does John do for work? You have said you visit on business trips! Just curious.
I squeeze oranges and lemons and tangerines and sell the peel to cows and coordinate all the activity in between.

Anonymous said...
I was curious whether Dennis was voluntarily relinquished or if he was removed with parental rights terminated. Not sure and I don’t care (sorry). I believe that he was left at the maternity hospital. Of course, I respect your privacy on this issue if you don't want to answer. The reason I ask is because I feel a little bit of guilt regarding my adopted son. His birth mother's rights were terminated, and I feel a little bit "out of place" that I am his mother now since he wasn't freely relinquished. I know logically that his circumstances existed before I came into the picture, but I guess because I also have bio-children, I know how hurt I would be if someone took my children away and someone else parented them. I hear you, but birth moms probably balance that guilt after their child is gone with the pleasure of knowing they are being better cared for. Some of our other children's birth parents had their rights terminated. They had numerous chances to visit our children and make some sort of effort to be their parent. They did not do this. Also, in the case of Dennis and knowing what was implied on the Reese's Rainbow site, I feel badly that wrong assumptions may have contributed to his removal from his birth mother. Even if he was relinquished, I feel sad for his birth mother that it might have been because she was not in a position to seek treatment for his condition. You’re probably right. I'm just curious if you have any of these feelings or concerns and if so, how you come to terms with them. No one did anything wrong. He is so loved and well taken care of. Birth mom would be psyched to know all this. (To our knowledge,) Dennis was never harmed physically, thank God. From the moment he was born he stayed in the hospital for fourteen months until he was moved to the orphanage. I truly believe that Dennis was given up because his birth mom didn't feel like she could help him.
--Julie

Megan said...
Do you hold to the belief in Quiverful? I first heard about it on a program about the Duggar family of Arkansas. What do you think of other large families? There’s a “quiver full” verse in the Bible that speaks of children as blessings and of course we agree. Beyond that, I probably don’t know what you’re getting at. The verse doesn't say “quiver over-flowing” of course so there’s probably a reasonable limit but I won’t characterize ANY family as too large or too small because you never know what God will do. I don't know how many children would be considered a quiverful, but I do love having a houseful of kids.

Rachel E. said...
Why did you delete your Jitter Fits post? I thought it was a great example of striving for a Christ-centered marriage and family. I deleted it because I wrote it and have that right and didn’t want to embarrass any one. Glad you liked it and that there are other goofs like me out there! My other question is, are you and John planning on adopting any more children? (Sorry if you've already answered that one.)
Hmmm, are we planning on adopting again---- what a loaded a question. Society already thinks we are absolutely crazy, so why not a few more! But seriously, it is a balance, and while my husband would probably like to be done, I would seriously move to a third world country to be surrounded by orphans, to raise my children (and myself) in a more simplistic environment where relying on God would become a daily need rather than something you forget to squeeze into your day. I know full well that us doing that is probably not going to happen.... neither is my back-up dream of opening a therapeutic respite home for struggling families and their adopted children, so raising a full vanload instead of a whole orphanage could be a wonderful compromise that is doable for the both of us.

Stacey said...
Oh what a great topic.. I have some questions but feel free no not answer..
1. Do any of your children that were adopted ever talk about or meet their bio parents? Yes. Of course. This is a natural thing and it has brought us very close. At the same time, our girls have had their questions answered and don't bring them up very often.
2. Are any of your kids dating anyone? No. Come on' LOL, our oldest is only 13.
3. How much was your house? The right amount. After looking at all of the homes in this area for four months that are suitable for our family (there aren't many), we were actually going to make an offer on the house right across the street from us. Then this one came available last minute, and we got it for 25% less than the other home. God blessed us, that's for sure.
4. Why don't you Christen your children a few months after birth? I don’t see that term in the Bible. But am actually open to infant baptism because of some Colossian analogies to circumcision. And this is a huge change for me (who used to just staunchly support “Believer’s baptisms”. But I haven’t had a two month old, or 8 day old, in over 5 years. We dedicated most of our children to the Lord. Some have been baptized. I believe that God knows our hearts and our children's hearts.
5. Will you have more kids in the future? I am not a prophet. I am neither for nor against this. Sometimes husbands are faced with wives’ words like, “honey I’m pregnant”, then what are ya gonna do? I think I am thrilled with John's answer on this. Even though I can't bear children anymore, going through the adoption process feels much like a pregnancy. Just like when you feel pregnant, you also feel when you are ready to adopt.
6. Does Dennis' eye at all close, like when he is sleeping? Does he wear a nite patch?? No and no. Lids are stuck open.
7. How much was Dennis' adoption being he was special needs? I don’t think needs have anything to do with costs. Reece's Rainbow helps place children with special needs which is where we first saw Dennis' picture. They help fund raise money which made our adoption costs less. We also had some unexpected help from family and close friends.
8. Are you guys, Catholic, Baptist etc..??? Both. I don’t climb into the man-made boxes that we have a tendency to put around God. If you had a more specific doctrinal view or question, I would be happy to state my view on that but I don’t want to get into a debate or argument about most of the nonessentials of the Christian faith. I believe that Jesus is my savior. 9. If the kids are aloud candy then why can't they have soda till 13? lol They all drink too much soda and eat too much candy (like their dad). Some rules are probably meant to be broken. They can all have soda occasionally, but it is not until 13 that they can have one can a day, every day. Call it a tradition that the kids look forward too.
10. Do you have any pictures of when your children were babies that were adopted? Pretty young ones, yes, but not exactly birth shots or anything. Looking back at pictures, all of our children looked so young when we first met them---- they might as well have been babies. If I went overboard I am sorry, I just love reading your blog... lol thanks, it makes her day. Thank you, I'm flattered. Your a wonderful family and you are supermom.. lol yes she is!!!

Cindy said...
Just discovered your blog tonight through Leslie's and look forward to spending more time perusing. Can I post a link to your blog on mine? Of course, but only if I can link to yours.

Tina in CT said...
Do you ever just want to have a few hours just by yourself? I don't know how you do it. Kids have earlier bed times than she does. Sometimes, but like my husband said, I get time after the kids go to bed.

Amy said...
First off, thank you again for sharing your life with us. I actually dreamed of Dennis the other night. We were at church and he came running into my classroom and said, "Thank you, Amy, for praying for me." And then he gave me a big hug! I usually don't remember my dreams but that one was so sweet I'm glad I did! What a wonderful dream! So anyhoo, my question is...Do you have a life verse and if so, why did you pick it?
You asked her. Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. My ways got me no where---- I think this verse says it all!

Mary said...
How do your kids get along? I would say like most do. Do they all tend to play with each other in one group, or do you find that they tend to separate off into smaller groups based on age/gender/grade in school/ etc? The latter. Dennis hangs with everyone. Jonny, Andrew, and William always play together as do Anna and Annalyn and Rachel and Julia. Sveta tends to gravitate to Adam and I. Caleb is the social butterfly. This is how it is most of the time, but it isn't uncommon to see Julia karaokying with Sveta, William watching Adam play his DS, or Andrew playing pirates with Annalyn. I only have 1 sibling, so I always wondered whether larger families tended to have different sibling "subgroups."Also, can I just say that I love the way Rachel is taking care of Dennis...it seems like in every photo of her that she's giving him a hug or carrying him - it's so clear to me that she loves her new baby brother! She's a great sister now and she'll be a great mom someday.Great job on raising such wonderful children!

Susie said...
Were any of your adopted childrens' names changed when they were adopted? Just slightly on the first names if at all. And big changes to middle and last names. We personally didn't change any of our children's first names when they came to us except for Annalyn in which case we put her first and middle name together so that we didn't have two Annas. We gave all of our adopted children new middle names so that they would have a family connection. Here is a post that talks more about changing names.

Jill said...
What is your favorite dessert to eat? Mine is chocolate covered nuts, Almond joys, German chocolate with pecan frosting, reese’s pb cups, or … but I’m not picky. I have to pick one? I don't think I can.

Heather said...
I don't really have a question. I am just catching up from a long absence in blogland. I am so thrilled that Dennis is doing so well. The scare you had post-surgery was awful. I certainly will be praying for his upcoming surgery. Thank you.

mmc said...
How did you find a spouse so open to having/adopting a lot of kids? God does these kind of joins I think and I wasn’t open to a lot of kids OR adopting when I was “found”. I didn't know that about my husband when I married him. Adoption or having a large family certainly wasn't in my mind when I first got married. God changed both of our hearts. Sorry, this was probably answered before, so feel free to skip it! I really want to adopt, but am not sure if whoever I end up with will want to as well.... (I'm 20 but I know I will adopt one day) Is Dennis expected to have any sort of issues with speech? undoubtedly. He is too cute, and such a great helper around the house! (I love that picture of the two of you) -Molly

Nikki said...
Do your adopted children (well, other than Dennis who is too young to understand) have any desire to return to visit the countries that they were born in one day when they are older? Do you have any desires to bring them to visit? Indeed all of us have big travel desires and we dream of such trips often. When the time is right, I am sure we will be going back with them for a visit.