Big Mud Puddles and Sunny Yellow Dandelions

Author Unknown

When I look at a patch of dandelions, I see a bunch of weeds that are going to take over my yard.

My kids see flowers for Mom and blowing white fluff you can wish on.
When I look at an old drunk and he smiles at me, I see a smelly, dirty person who probably wants money and I look away.

My kids see someone smiling at them and they smile back.
When I hear music I love, I know I can't carry a tune and don't have much rhythm so I sit self-consciously and listen.

My kids feel the beat and move to it. They sing out the words. If they don't know them, they make up their own.
When I feel wind on my face, I brace myself against it. I feel it messing up my hair and pulling me back when I walk.

My kids close their eyes, spread their arms and fly with it, until they fall to the ground laughing.
When I pray, I say thee and thou and grant me this, give me that.

My kids say, "Hi God! Thanks for my toys and my friends. Please keep the bad dreams away tonight. Sorry, I don't want to go to Heaven yet. I would miss my Mommy and Daddy."
When I see a mud puddle I step around it. I see muddy shoes and dirty carpets.My kids sit in it. They see dams to build, rivers to cross, and worms to play with.

I wonder if we are given kids to teach or to learn from? No wonder God loves the little children! Enjoy the little things in life, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.

High Chair Derby

Discovering the 'princess' in you...

So the princess earned her date (she chose McDonalds of course). Thirty days of no hitting and no talking ugly to friends. Can I just shout a big WOO HOO for Princess Lainey! I am so proud of her! 30 days is a long time for a 5 year old~ but enough time to form a good habit of how to treat our friends. Keep up the good work sweet girl! You are a real princess to the King (of Kings) and I can't help but think that He too is having a party over this. :0)

Happy Birthday Dad!

I love you more than words can say. Thank you for everything you do for us, thank you for being just the way you are and thank you for supporting us through this crazy journey of life. You are my hero.
Love you- Amy :0)

Always wear a smile. Remember, without your smile, your attire is incomplete.

Because... You're never fully dressed without a smile. :0)

When you leave your little guys at home with your big guys- you just never know what they are going to do when they get bored. So, today I found these pictures on my camera. When I asked them what they were about they explained to me that they thought Kaden looked like 'Waldo' from the "Where is Waldo books" in his pj's so they thought they would create a blog post for me (since I haven't been exactly faithful about blogging often lately) and see if you all could find Waldo. So, here it is- courteous by my older kids.

Where is Waldo???

All I can say is I am soooooooo glad I found him! Because I am pretty sure he is the cutest 'Waldo' I have ever seen in my life!

Please pray for Guatemala

http://www.jcics.org/Guatemala.pdf

"As recently published by Nuestro Diario, a leading Guatemalan newspaper, children are being abandoned to the streets at an alarming rate. With few government institutions to provide care and the closure of many private institutions, some birthmothers are simply leaving their newly born children in trash dumps. Nuestro Diario reports that in Guatemala City alone, 91 children were found abandoned with 70 being new born infants. Twenty abandoned children in Guatemala City were found after they had already perished. What is being done to build a social service system which not only protects children from corruption but also from a tragic death?"

Sometimes when it's too much for my human mind or heart to withstand, all I can do is wrap my arms just a little bit tighter around my precious little girls and ask once again Why?

In Africa

This post is going to be really hard for me to write for two reasons. One, the reason I blog is because I am so passionate about adoption, I’ve always figure that if God can use us at all to ‘help’ someone else along the way than I am all for that. Yet, because I also have to respect and protect our ‘private’ lives I have to be very careful how much I ‘share’. So, that puts me in a tough spot on how to share.
Secondly, putting this out there is totally admitting my weaknesses… and well, there are many. I will warn you now they are not in the least pretty.
Not pretty at all.
So, here goes…my best attempt to share- the good, the bad and the ugly- without really sharing.
I might as well get it out there first- I have never been one who completely understood disruptions. I think a large part of that is due to the fact that my precious nephew came into my sisters family (therefore my family) through a disrupted adoption. This kid is nothing but amazing. Perfect- no, but none the less- amazing. If you heard his story, if you knew him- I guaranteed you too would question ‘disruptions’. Yet while I know it’s wrong to ‘judge’ someone else-being as passionate as I am about adoption, I guess that part of it didn’t fit into the picture I had drawn in my head of adoption. I didn’t want to go there- I didn’t want to even think about that being possible. That is, until a precious family that I know had to walk this road…
and when this part of adoption became a very real possibility for us as well. It was at that point the Lord gave me a whole new view of disruption-the side that many families have had to face. Many beautiful families- who love God with all their heart- who truly, without a doubt are just as passionate about adoption as I am- have to walk that road. Without any choice of their own, it creeps in and destroying their biggest dreams. Despite their continuous prayers, their tears, their heartache, their hard work and dedication- disruption becomes their reality. They must release their child - only to be left carrying the hurt, carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders.. and once again finding themselves falling to their knees asking God why? Why- when it was all they had dreamed of? Why- when they had given their all and poured their life into that child? Why- when they had been obedient to God’s calling. Why?

Today I am able to understand this in a whole new way- thanks to God. He gave me a small taste of what these families endure and I am ashamed to say that I didn’t always understand. We came to a place with one of our new children where not continuing to parent them became a very big reality. Any way we looked at it- we had all of the right reason to go that route. While I cannot share the details, I will tell you that pretty much every person I am close to- good, Godly Christian woman, said the same thing- they would absolutely understand if we chose to not finalize the adoption. We were in a situation where safety became an issue and that, of course, put a lot of pressure on my husband and I as parents. Lots of pressure to do the ‘right’ thing for everyone involved.
We were hurting and we were scared. Our dream, our picture of ‘how things would play out’ had been squashed before our very eyes. I didn’t want ‘this’ being a part of my life. Quite frankly, I didn’t want to deal with ‘it’ at all. It was bad- it was ugly, it was wrong- and ‘I’ didn’t want to have any part of it. Once again, I wanted to put on my running shoes, or hide under my covers- just go on with my life and pretend that ‘this’ never happened to us.
So, I reasoned with myself- that we could just that exact thing. After all, we had every reason to move on. Nobody would judge us if they knew the truth. They would understand, and I was sure they would do the same thing themselves. It all made perfect sense. It really did. We had every reason.
Every reason, except for one.
God had called us to this… and God had not yet allowed us to release this child.

Again I wish I could share. I wish more than anything I could tell you how clearly He spoke to me- how obvious He made Himself known. I wish I could tell you how through scripture, through an experience I had one day He ‘showed me’ something I never knew before. He spoke to me in a way that literally took all of the fear, the hurt, and the anguish we had been feeling- and gave us a peace like no other.

I know there are times when God does release a child now from your grip- as was the case of a sweet family I know. Where their part was done. Where the answer was no more. Where He reclaimed that child and she are no longer theirs. And as painful as that was, they had to act in obedience. I have a whole new respect for people who love a child so much they are willing to acknowledge and obey God when He says ‘let go’ regardless of their own wants, their own desires- and their own pain.

And then there are other times where God asks you to continue. To stand beside this child regardless of how hard that may be. Regardless of your own dreams, your own feelings- regardless of the fact that you are less than qualified. He simply asks you to continue on.

I love how one mommy explained it like this:

"Do you ever look at your kids and your circumstances and just have to say to God, "Okay - this is my Africa."? I know I'm called to be the parent to all of my kids. Sometimes it doesn't make sense. I'm realizing certain bits of information were not given to us before we made the decision to take our children (information that would have led us to say, "No, thank you" immediately). Yet God made this one crystal clear. He has asked us to do it. And some days ... all I can do is say, "It's my Africa. It's devastating. It's putrid. It is foreign. It feels completely impossible. Yet it is my calling."

So here we are- walking this road we never thought we’d end up on.
We are humbled and changed- but changed for the better.
Will it be easy? No way.
Some days do I still feel like hiding under my covers? You betcha.
But then I remember that my Africa is waiting…
And I am called.
So I put both feet on the ground and focus my eyes on above…once again offering all that I have-my hands, my heart, my mind, my feet, to serve Him in any way He asks and trusting Him to show me the way.

Are you too facing your Africa? If so, how can I pray for you today?
.
“The Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” John 14:26

Dessert Recipe

I haven't posted a recipe for awhile so thought I'd share this one. This is one of my kids favorite desserts and it's super easy and super good. (and it feeds a bunch!)

Ice Cream Dessert

Ingredients:
1 bag of oreo cookies
½ gallon of vanilla ice cream
Chocolate syrup
Snickers or Reeses (or your favorite candy bar), cut into small pieces

Directions:
Crunch up oreo cookies and place in the bottom of 11x13 pan.
Spread ice cream over oreo cookies and drizzle with chocolate syrup. Crumbled cut up candy bar pieces over the top and freeze until ready to serve. Yummy

Follow the leader

My sweet friend Doreen http://foreverhugs.blogspot.com/ sent me one of these today...

And I couldn't help but giggle. She said she "saw it and thought of me." Go figure.

So a few of the kids decided they would go outside and give it a try. We have one little guy- I won't mention any names (JACE!!!) who likes to wonder. You know the kind~the one who always seem to beat to their own drum...smart, funny and CURIOUS. Yep, we have one of those kind. I am hoping this just might help him stay with the pack. :0)

Thanks Doreen!!

Keep praying!!!

Please keep praying for sweet Abby. Now more than ever she needs your prayers. Please pray for knowledge for the doctors and for strength and peace her parents. We love you precious girl- keep fighting!!! http://www.riggsfamilyblog.com/

I always used to joke and say something like "Why can't God just send me an email so I know what I am supposed to be doing... It would be so much easier."
Today, I found this in my inbox.
Thanks God.

How God Uses Pain

TGIF Today God Is First Volume 2, by Os Hillman02-04-2009
"I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things" (Isa 45:7).
God will use pain in order to create a love relationship with His creation. This statement may challenge your theology. However, consider that God allowed Jesus to experience incredible pain in order to create an opportunity to have a relationship with His creation. Consider how Jesus created a relationship with Paul. He blinded him and used a crisis in his life in order to bring him into a relationship with him and use him for God's purposes. Consider how God recruited Jonah for the mission He had for him.
This is not God's first choice for His creation. Romans 2:4 reveals that God's preference is to show mercy and kindness: "Or do you show contempt for the riches of His kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance?" The problem is there are few people who respond to the goodness of God. God loves people more than He loves their comfort. He invests a great deal into mankind. He desires relationship with us and will go to great lengths to create such a relationship in order for us to receive the rewards and inheritance He has for us.
I have observed this process in the scriptures in working with people through years of ministry. I have noticed three distinct stages. First, we live based on convenience. Our obedience is largely based on circumstances in our lives. We choose to obey based on the circumstances.
The second stage is the crisis stage. God allows a crisis to come into our lives. We are motivated to obey God in order to get out of the pain of our situation. Many times God allows us to stay in this condition in order to demonstrate His love and faithfulness during our pain. Gradually, we discover something knew about God and often have a personal encounter with Him that changes us. Our very nature is affected by this God-encounter.
This begins to move us into a third phase that is a relationship that is motivated now by love and devotion instead of pain. This is where God desires us to be. Another way of saying this is we are no longer seeking His hand. We are seeking Him. We want to know God personally.
Obedience will not last when the motivation is only the removal of our pain. Obedience only lasts when the motivation is loving devotion. Where are you in your obedience and what is the primary motivation? If it isn't love, why not tell the Lord you love Him today and want to know Him for who He is and not for what He can do for you.

Stretching...and growing

Yes, we are still here.
You know, I love those times in your life when everything is falling into place... you wake up in the morning and smile and life is just good.
And yet to be able to appreciate those good times- and to grow into the person God has in mind for you- sometimes you have to go through those dark days too. They are never fun, actually- they are quite painful. But a good stretch sometimes is. We are there right now- being stretched beyond anything I thought I could ever take. But I have to.
I have to.
So during this time we are constantly doing all we can to stay focused on God- and focused on what He needs us to do.
We are hurting.
It is hard.
But I know without a doubt in my mind that God will be able to use us like never before and that is the greatest gift of all.

Princess Training 101

No, we are not going to Disney Land... it's nothing as exciting as that. ;0)

Ladies and gentlemen- we have a hitter.
I know, I was in horror too. But it’s true.
I cannot deny it.
Well actually,
I tried.
The first time we got the note home from the teacher I was just SURE it had to be the ‘other kids fault’.
Not my little girl.
Surely she wouldn’t hit anyone...?
But the second time the note came home, I knew it was time to face the music.
So… we came up with Princess training 101.
What is princess Training 101 you ask?
(Let me explain- even if you were not really going to ask)

Hitting seems to be second nature to preschool aged kids. Someone makes them mad- they just haul off and hit them (or kick or pinch or bite). So while I know this is common, and I know this is probably what she witnessed a lot of in the past-we also wanted her to learn a new way of handling stressful situations.

This is where Princess Training 101 came in.

We sat down with our little cherub, cuddled her and turned on Cinderella. While watching the show we constantly pointed out how sweet and kind Cinderella was to everyone. Even when people were unkind to her she always acted in a sweet, kind, loving princess way. Then we watched the mean step sisters. We watched how they made ugly faces, said unkind words to get their way, pointed out how the way they acted was rude, selfish and just plain mean. Then we asked her which character she wanted to be.
She of course said Cinderella!
"I want to be Cinderella mommy!"
So, I gentle asked her who she had been acting like when she was at school talking ugly to her friends and hit them.
You could have heard a pin drop in the room as the realization hit her.
She admitted that she had been acting like the mean step sisters when she treated her class mates that way.
I reminded her that while we all make mistakes, its very important that we realize our mistakes and then begin to work hard on correcting them and that was exactly what we expected of her now.

Since I like to reward hard work- hard changes- we came up with something that Lainey is extremely excited about. We made up a chart that is on our refrigerator door. Each day that Lainey comes home with a smiley face from her teacher indicating a good day- where she didn’t hit or talk ugly to someone- she gets to put a crown on that day. Once she has 30 crowns she will get to dress in any princess dress she chooses (we have about every single one thanks to garage sales!) and her daddy and I will take her, all by herself, dressed like a princess, out to dinner, to any restaurant she chooses.

I’m proud to admit we have had 8 consecutive days with no hitting and no talking ugly. (Actually her teacher even emailed me to tell me she is doing really well and that a little girl had hit her and Lainey just walked away!)
Yep- she is definitely my precious princess (in training). :0)

Now that we know...

I found this here (thanks Audrey!) and while it is hard to watch, hard to take, and hard to admit- we need to do just that. We need to admit we are failing and come up with a plan. Oh wait-God already did that... as Audrey put it WE ARE THE PLAN. Let us never forget that. Let us never forget we are responsible. We cannot call ourselves Christians and know what we know and do nothing about it.


Once our eyes are opened we cannot pretend we do not know what to do. God who weighs our hearts, and keeps our souls, knows that we know, and holds us responsible to act. ~ Unknown

Learning to notice our blessings

“Our background and our circumstances may have influenced who we are… But we are responsible for who we become.” Unknown

Not many of us make it through this world without a few nicks or cuts along the way. I don’t think I can name a single person I have ever met who hasn’t faced some kind of trial. No matter how hard they tried to take the right steps or make the right choices- sometimes bad things just happen. Sometimes we are innocent and other times we are not. But none the less- this thing called life is often not fair and often so hard.

When we decided to adopt our sibling group we knew from their ‘records’ that life had indeed not been fair to them and actually had been down right rotten. To protect their privacy I will not go into detail, but I will tell you that if in your mind you could imagine yourself in one of the darkest, scariest, places in this world-you might be able to catch a glimpse of what my precious babies had to endure. But here is the thing- my job as their mother is to now help them escape from that place... I don’t want them to stay there any longer. I want them to run free and be everything that God had intended for them to be from the very beginning when He created them. To do that, to heal, I believe that they not only have to learn how to eventually ‘use’ those trials to help others, but they have to learn to see good in them as well.

One of the things we have begun to do with the kids to begin this healing is to teach them to see other people have trails as well.. I’m not saying we are pulling the old ‘you think you had it bad you should see what I went through’ kind of thing… but rather just letting them know that there are others out there who have hurt like they have hurt too. They are not alone and they have nothing to be ashamed. I have pointed out positive role models who have perhaps gone through something similar in their past and how God used them to make a difference.

The second thing we are working on is teaching them how to be appreciative. I really believe that this is something us humans need to be taught. I think that often times people are so locked into their pain, so bonded to their misery, that they do not have any energy to lift their eyes and see the good- the blessings that God has given to them. Ever been around someone like that? They are so self absorbed that their lives become useless, their pain so unbearable, that they are unable to move on. They let their past circumstance become who they are- and that is all they are ever able to be. That is what I do not want for my kids. Someone else’s choices- someone else’s past mistake are NOT who they are.

So lately we have been coaching the kids to notice all of the things we have to be thankful for. For instance- as we drive to school in the mornings we thank God for our vehicle because there are many who do not have one. This is truly something we take for granted. When we arrive at the school and the volunteers are waiting outside in the cold to open our car doors and help us into the building- I point out to the kids that they are doing just that- volunteering to stand out in the cold to open their door when they don’t have to. When someone sends them a gift- we talk about how hard that person had to work to earn the money, how they then took the time to drive to the store, choose the gift, spent their hard earned money on not only the gift but on the wrapping paper or postage, and how they didn’t have to do that for them. They didn’t have to acknowledge them, they didn’t have to celebrate them. But they did- and that is a true blessing. I don’t want them thinking that someone has to buy them a gift just because it’s their birthday. I want them to concentrate on all that went into that gift and how loved they must be to receive it. It has also been a good reminder for me too. How many times have I taken my family, my husband, my friends, for granted without really seeing their sacrifice and truly noticing how blessed I am. And I will say that when I allow myself to focus on my blessings- I view my life- my world, in a whole new light.

Try it, right now.

I dare you.

Do you have a job? Then you are blessed.

Did you eat today? Then you are blessed.

Are you and your family healthy? Then you are blessed?

What else?

Look around you…and start counting.

I guarantee you once you are done counting your blessings the hard parts in your life won’t look quite as impossible to overcome. God is right there waiting for you to see Him, to notice the ways He has blessed you and He's ready to help you move on and help you become the person He created you to be.

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. 1 Peter 5, 6-10

Please, please continue to pray for this precious child of God. We love you Abby!!!

Surrounding yourself with good company

As I have said before, one of the greatest blessings of adoption have been the other adoptive minded families I have met along the way. If you are walking this path I encourage you to surround yourself- seek them out, heck- even stalk them if you have to (kidding of course) but find yourself a big, support group of those who ‘get it’. Trust me, you will hear the negative comments from time to time… you know the kind that make you doubt yourself, your sanity and even God’s voice. So seek out those people who will be there when you need them. The road is not always easy- but so, so, so very worth it.
You know how motorcycle riders always wave to other motorcycle riders like they have known each other for years- even though they have never met? That is what we need to do as an adoption community. We have to stick together- you know, give each other a nudge when we need it.
While adoption is one of the greatest blessings in my life- it has also been one of the hardest things we have ever done. I don’t ever want to steer anyone who reads my blog wrong and let them think that it’s always easy. I try to blog my ‘real’ feelings-within reason of course because there are some weirdo’s out there (if you fall into the weirdo category please click on the X at the top right hand of your screen and exit promptly ;0) but I also want you to know that there are bad days, days like I post previously about where I question our choices, and our sanity. Days where I am tired and don’t feel like hearing the word ‘mommy’ again for the
3,961st time- times when I am human. Our emotions- our feelings- are so tricky sometimes aren’t they? They run from hot to cold in 3 seconds flat. One minute we feel like we could adopt a sibling group of 6 and the next minute we feel like there is ‘no way’. So I guess what I am trying to say here is- just listen. Listen to God’s voice and listen closely. He won’t steer you wrong. It can’t be about YOU at all. It has to be all about Him. If you find yourself bouncing around, indecisive- keep seeking Him. He may be telling you that you are not ready yet- or He may be leading you down a path… to somewhere, or someone you had no idea was out there waiting for you. Ask yourself and then be honest about what you are afraid of? Are the things that scare you things that God cannot handle? No I am not telling you to be careless- God gave you that brain. What I am saying is that often we are unwilling to acknowledge the difference between what WE want and what God wants. If God is calling He will provide- in EVERY area… but you HAVE to take that first step of obedience. I have shared before the ways God has taken care of us through this journey. Ways I could never have even imagined before I took that first step. Not just financially- but even sending ‘just the right person’ into our path when we needed them. I didn’t even know those blessings existed until I took that first step of faith. Yesterday I found myself blessed yet once again by spending a beautiful day at the park with 3 other adoption motivated moms. As I said earlier- surround yourself with them. You will need their friendship and they will need yours. Thanks Kellie, Rachel and Shannon! Your friendship, your advice, your understanding, your hearts- bless me.

God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will bound in every good work. 2 Corinthians 9:8

What if...

Ever have one of those days where you question your life, question who you are, question if you are ‘enough’ and question if you are doing what you are supposed to be doing?

Well, I had one of those days and it went like this…

I was walking down one of the endless isles of Walmart, tossing items into our cart (okay- well actually we had TWO carts) and while I was scanning for the best prices suddenly my cart about bumped into this woman in front of me. I looked up, smiled, and started to apologized for nearly running her down-when she turned around in such a huff I didn’t really get the chance to finish.

I felt about 2 inches tall.

Not only had I about run her over in my clumsiness… but here I was in my faded jeans with holes in the knee, tennis shoes, my hair thrown up in a pony tail and my shirt had snot on the shoulder (sad but true). And there she was in this beautiful white, name brand suit, with perfectly manicured red finger nails. Her hair was cut in a cute chic style and the color was perfect. She obviously worked out way more than I do because everything on her was ‘in place’ where it sags on me. She was tan, boasted of riches, diamonds on every finger, and her make-up was flawless.

And there I stood... 2 grocery carts full, old clothes, wrinkled, no make-up, and lets not forget the snot on my shirt. I watched as she leaned over the refrigerated section to select her fat free yogurt, and I couldn’t help but notice that every guy in the store ‘noticed’ too.

As I began to walk away I glanced into my cart and was embarrassed to see that while my cart was full of chips and sugary cereals- hers was full of organic veggies and fat free yogurt. (Okay so there was a bag of baby carrots somewhere in the bottom of my cart which of course I frantically searched for it just so I could toss it on top to prove that we did eat healthy occasionally).

Heading down the isle, hauling my over flowing carts, and slowly making my way towards the check out lane, I couldn’t help but to wonder what if I had taken a different path in life... What would it be like to live a life of leisure, a life where I had time for pedicures and daily work outs?A life where people envied me, where I had influence, where I mattered.

What would my life have been like it I had taken a different path?

As I paid our ridiculously large grocery bill, piled the groceries into my ridiculously large vehicle, and drove down the highway towards home, I found myself glancing in the mirror and noticing even more flaws. The wrinkles, the black circle under my eyes from being up with a sick child, and the need for a new hair style. I heard myself mumble under my breath “like I’ll ever have time for that” and continued down the road with a dark cloud over my head -as well as my heart.

But as I pulled that ridiculously large vehicle into our drive way I looked around and suddenly felt a smile started to form at the corners of my mouth. All of a sudden my heart felt 3,000 times lighter. There, before my very eyes, was the most beautiful sight I had ever seen. 11 beautiful children of God, different in color and shape, different in personality and talents- but each and every one of them with a unique purpose in this world -waiting and waving at me. They came running towards me – so excited that I was home- that I suddenly felt like the queen of England. They grabbed my hand, hugged my neck (yes probably wiping more snot on my shoulder) and offered to help me carry the groceries in. They jumped for joy as I pulled the chips and sugary cereal out of the bag. :0) Suddenly, name brand suits, perfect red fingernails, a perfectly fit and trim body, and in style hair do’s began to seem a whole lot less important.

The Lord gave me something better and for that I will forever be thankful for. It was then that I knew for sure that yes I had indeed taken the right road home.

“Be very careful, then, how you life- not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Ephesians 5:15-16

The pineapple

Jalya (age 6) was helping me carry in the groceries as I returned home from Walmart.
Jayla- (carrying Walmart bag with a whole, fresh, pineapple in it) says excitedly "Look mama, I am so happy for you- you got yourself a plant!"