Coming out of the tunnel

Elijah has started to emerge from the "me" tunnel that most two year olds reside in. I see him interacting more and more with Abbey and other children.

We don't know this little girl, but she and Elijah played chase for quite a while

I see him starting to share with other kids.

Emphasis on "starting"

Well, maybe we still need a little work on this one!

But overall, I see him becoming more aware of others and wanting to interact with other kids! I think that his developing speech has a great deal to do with this. He meets with a speech therapist once a week. She thinks his delays are all a result from only hearing Cantonese for the first 19 months of his life. She has given me information about how to work with his speech at home. We really have seen great progress in this area, also!

New Accomplishments

The weather has been so yucky, that we haven't been able to visit many parks. Last week our OAKS group decided to brave the cold and play at a park for a little while. While there Abbey demonstrated a new skill...

Legs out and

pumping back in and

wheee, she's swinging herself!

Not a bit afraid of heights

Even really, really high places!

Give a boy a stroller....

And he'll fill it with his most treasured possessions..

his cars and trucks!!

The African Children's Choir

Last week our small group had the chance to see the African Children's Choir perform. They are such incredible performers,

but that isn't the most important thing about this group. All of the kids in the choir have lost one or both parents. Their life in their homeland isn't very pretty. But these blessed children, have been given a special gift. The ministry takes the children and takes care of their daily needs. In turn they are given an education and told about the Lord. They aren't taken permanently from their homeland, instead, they are encouraged to give back and improve life in their native country.  We heard many testimonies from former members about how their life had changed and the impact this ministry had on their lives. The African Children's Choir is a wonderful ministry to the orphans in Africa.

And boy, can they dance and sing! We all sat enthralled.

From the littlest one..

Baby "M" enjoying herself

to the older ones,

who did a little boogieing in the pew.

You can't tell here, but he was dancing

We also got to enjoy the company of our friends.

Notice Abbey's hand on her friend, Kylie's shoulder

a wonderfully fun evening!

A night in the "ho-tale"

"Ho-tale" is Abbey speak for hotel. Imagine a grossly exaggerated southern drawl something like "taell"(long a, short e). She knows she gets a laugh out of it, so she really drawls when she says it.

Anyway, this little girl loves, loves, loves to go and stay in a "ho-tale"!
John had to spend the night out of town for business last week, and asked if I'd like to come along with the little guys.  Like Abbey, I kind of like ho-tale living myself. So, I thought, "Why not." Then I remembered that Abbey had her first gymnastics class with her favorite instructor on Friday. (They did not offer a clase during the last quarter with Ms. Bethany, and Abbey really missed her). I told Abbey she had a choice to miss gymnastics and go to the hotel, or stay at home and go to gymnastics. I was a little shocked when she chose to go out of town.

John was in meetings, and we couldn't check in yet, so we went to Target and they played in the playground at Chic-Fil-A. Of course, we couldn't play without buying something, so we had to have a ice dream treat.

Finally we were able to check in. By this point, Abbey was so excited about the hotel, that she could hardly stand it. If she asked once how long before we go to the hotel, she asked a thousand times.

Hotel, sweet hotel

We had some time to kill before meeting Beth and Greg for dinner. So they watched the DV-go player(Abbey's name for the portable DVD player). Elijah, taking everything in stride, didn't seem to mind being in a hotel. I imagine that as he gets older, he will also love hotels.

Then Abbey went swimming. I forgot to take my camera. But imagine Abbey with a grin from ear to ear!

Back at the hotel, they both went out like lights.

The next morning, we went to visit Beth and Greg. We were going to go to a museum or zoo, but we ended up just chatting with them. Abbey and Elijah were even able to coax Greg into a game of "monsters". 

We later picked up John from his meeting, and went home. It was an enjoyable respite at the "ho-tale"!

What to do when you are stuck inside for a couple of days?

Last week we woke up to a tiny bit of snow, layered on top with sleet and freezing rain. It really made for treacherous roads, and driveways, and sidewalks.

We were stranded, all six of us, stranded in the house together. This is a phenomenon that rarely occurs. It seems that the big kids are always gone. But for one day we were all sequestered at home.

Soooo, what did we do to pass the time?

Some of us played music.

Some of us researched on the computer.(Probably looking at wedding stuff)

Some of us played video games.

After dinner, everyone but Daniel played a rousing game of  "hide and seek".

John counting

Abbey coming out from behind the door

John and Elijah "seeking"

John hiding under Daniel's bed

The very best hiding goes to Anna...

do you see her?

There she is!

We actually overlooked her the first time.

It was nice, in a way, to be homebound for a day. But, I was ready to get out and go the next day! (But I didn't, it was waay to cold to go out unless I absolutely needed to). The next day was a little less cold. To me, that's the beauty of North Carolina weather. If you don't like it one day, just wait until the next day!

I'm baaack!

I'm back in bloggy world again. Due to a problem with my modem, I wasn't able to update my blog for several days. But, now that my computer-guru, future son in law has all the lights again aglowing on my modem, I'm back in bloggy business.

The clothing fairy

Most of Abbey's clothes come from our own personal clothing fairy. She comes and drops off loads of beautiful, like new outfits about two times a year. It's like Christmas! Our fairy has two girls a little older than Abbey, so she has a huge inventory.

She made a deposit at our house this past Friday. Abbey saw the bags of clothes and immediately started putting on a pair of boots. When I went through the bags and boxes, I found some really neat things.

A gymnastics leotard that made Abbey a junior Shawn Johnson (at least in her own mind),

.

a ballerina outfit that inspired some pretty releves

and some beautiful twirls...

(Elijah wishes for his own clothing fairy)

We are so thankful for our clothing fairy!

Jasmine, what a deep voice you have!

This Daddy surely does love his little girl! Loves her enough to play Barbie Princesses with her.

I came in the den a few days after Christmas to find John holding and speaking for Jasmine. He grinned sheepishly and I snapped the pictures before he could object.

No doubt about it, according to Abbey, "he's the bestest Daddy around"  And I wholeheartedly agree!

Please consider...

(Scroll down to the bottom and cut off my  Playlist, so you can hear this)

Won't you consider helping an orphan? There are many organizations that would love to have help. You can go on short term trips, give donations or maybe even adopt. Two of my favorite organizations are

Show Hope and Orphan Voice

I'm currently advocating for Orphan Voice.  They are doing phenomenal things with Christ and in His name, in Viet Nam.

Not everyone can adopt. (Although, I believe, that many more could if they just got over their fear!)
But, everyone can do something. You know, it has become so evident to me and John that Satan absolutely hates adoption and caring for the orphan. Why?? Because God loves it!!!

So, go ahead take that step. Click that, "Donate" button! Or maybe even the "Give me more information about adoption" button!  I can promise that you will be pleasing the Lord when you do so. So many kids need families. I've heard story after story of people who went out to help a child and their lives were extraordinarily blessed. I know without a doubt that God's heart breaks for the orphan.

If I can answer any questions or help in any way, please leave me a comment along with your e mail address.