It's a beautiful day!

This week has been the pits! John has been gone to Las Vegas for business all week. That means I've been on call 24/7 with the kids.  I've had a horrible cold that would not go away, and the weather has been atrocious!! We've had rain and the temperature hovered in low 40's upper 30's. Raw, dark and just plain old yucky! The kids have been crawling up the walls from being cooped up inside for so long.

But…today… today is a wonderful day!

John is flying back this afternoon, I slept without the aid of a decongestant, both of my kids can get outside and play and best of all… the weather… well, the weather is the kind  that gives me a spring in my step,  just makes me feel like stretching out my arms and soaking up the warm, gorgeous sun!

My favorite Beatle's song expresses my feelings today:

I know I need to enjoy today, because, "In North Carolina, if you don't like the weather today, just wait until tomorrow." So, I'm going to love the weather while I can!!

Our little man turns 6!

My youngest baby turned 6 on the 22nd of February. We have decided to have a party in March when the weather is nicer and we can go to a park to play with some of his friends.

As we had scheduled a work weekend at the beach house, we spent Elijah's birthday at the beach. That was just fine with him, because it meant both of  his big brothers would be able to be there.

Having breakfast in bed.

Creatively, Elijah requested Oreo Poptart with whip cream as his birthday breakfast…easy enough!

 For his birthday meal, at first he chose the old standby, "Old MacDonalds". With a bit of coercion from us, and the lure of macaroni and cheese, he chose Chili's.  When we sat down, the table behind us had someone celebrating a birthday. Elijah said, "Someone else has a birthday on February 22?" We spoke to our waitress and they came out singing to Elijah.

At first, he was quite flabbergasted and didn't know how to react.

When he realized it meant a special treat, he was fine and dandy!

Never one to go with the tried and true, for his family birthday cake, he chose brownies. Once we got home we had another round of  "Happy Birthday", followed by presents.

Elijah marches to the tune of his own drummer a lot of the time. He is still a car nut! He loves, loves, loves cars. He has about a zillion to play with, but whenever we are looking for a toy for him, he invariably wants a car. He can point out makes and models of many cars. He will walk by a parked car and many times he will stop, stoop over and look to see if any part of the car's undercarriage touches the curb or parking stop.

He loves his stuffed animals. They all have names and personalities. This is "Oinky"

Elijah is a tried and true baby whisperer. He loves babies and will stop and talk with any he sees. Both of his nieces love him and will flash an ear to ear grin faster for him than just about anyone.

Elijah is slowly coming to terms with his beginnings. He loves to hear the story about when we knew he was our son.  He realizes that he is adopted and from time to time bursts out with questions which give a glimpse to his inner thoughts and processing. Because of his sisters becoming mothers, he phrases birth as, "pushing out".  The other day he asked me, "Do I look like the lady that pushed me out?" To which I replied, "You might, I don't know what she looked like." He then said, "She looked like me, that's what she looked like!"

Elijah is still on the very small size. He just outgrew size 3t and some 4t pants. He eats very slowly and compounds that with talking instead of eating. We have to routinely tell him to eat and take a break from talking.

We didn't start kindergarten this year in order to give him an extra year to develop. He knows all of the letters and can sound out quite a few. He can write his name and do some simple addition. Sometimes he wants to do "school" while Abbey does her work. He picks up a lot just by being in the same room. The other day, after hearing about the continents, he showed he had been passively listening. I was listing the 7 continents. I got 6 and was trying to recall which I had missed. Out of the blue, Elijah says the one I had left out, "Africa".

One of Mr E's favorite things to do is to ride his bike. He asks to ride at least once every day.  It doesn't matter if he is joined by Abbey or not, he just loves to ride!

He enjoys roughhousing with his Daddy.

I'm so thankful that the Lord brought Elijah into our lives. He enriches it daily. We love him more than he will ever know!!

Happy birthday, Elijah, my buddy!

Miss Layne turns one!

On Feb. 7th, my first grand baby, Layne, turned one year old! As is usual, this year flew by! I've had the privilege to be with Layne quite a bit her first year, and I'm so grateful for that opportunity. She's such a source of joy. She's quite precocious and advanced in many areas, (that's not just a proud Mimi's estimation). She says many words and is walking. She can be quite sassy. When asked to do something she doesn't want to do, she wrinkles her little nose and shakes her head and says, "No, no!" She'll tease her mommy and pat her chest and say, "I Mama!" She gives kisses, and loves to hug her baby dolls.

She had a fun birthday party.

Brobee is her "Yo Gabba, Gabba" favorite. So, Anna asked me to make a Brobee cake…

The table and guest of honor's seat

Greeting one of her guests

With her Papa (whose name she says, but flat out refuses to say my name), before the party.

With her Daddy

Nana and Grandaddy were there to celebrate Miss Layne

Another one of her guests

Bubble time!!

 Crawling through the tunnel in search of treats

Papa led some songs and was accompanied by the kid's kazoos and maracas

Enjoying her cake

Presents!

A gift bag doubles as a hat

Lovin' on her Brobee doll

We love you doodle-bug! I'm so glad for the special gift in the form of this little girl!

You just might be an older parent if…..

you happen to overhear this conversation spoken from your 7 year old to her 5 year old brother as they watch a commercial on TV….

"You know, Elijah, we need to get that stuff for Mommy!"

And "that stuff" is this medication!!

Or you hear your 5 year old little boy yell from the back of the van, "Turn the air up, I'm having a hot-flash!"

Yep, yep, those just might be good clues that you are an older parent of small children!!

(Not that I'd know from first hand experience, or anything like that!)

About my Valentine….

This Valentine's Day was spent by me sacked out on the couch with a stomach bug. My husband, however, didn't let it slip by. He brought me these beautiful flowers.

It's taken me a few days to recoup, but I didn't want to let the holiday slip by unnoticed, without sending my honey a Valentine.

This picture hangs on our wall.

It is entirely true, but our marriage is so much more. He is my best friend, but that is just the tip of the iceberg. Our marriage is the base of all I am. I'm only half of a person when John's not with me. No one can make me as angry, or as happy as he can. There's a peace when we're together. We don't have to say anything, but there is never a time where we're grasping for something to say. Every single day, I look forward to John coming home from work. Because of John's commitment to our family and me, I've been able to achieve my dream of being a stay at home mom. I recognize that he sacrifices daily so that I can live my dream.

Oh, the places and things we have seen together! We've been on mountain tops as high as Everest, and some pretty low valleys. During the highs, life was wonderful, and we praised God together. During the lows, we cried together and prayed for the strength to endure. The highs were greater because we were together, and we survived the lows because we were stronger together.  Both the good and the bad have given us a strength and a bond.

We've tried to weave a 3 layer cord with the Lord at the center. Not that we always accomplish this, but God is always faithful, even when we aren't. We both recognize that our marriage is something special, but it's not bullet proof.  Neither of us are perfect. At times we both are selfish, inconsiderate and just plain 'ole stubborn! I'm convinced it is at those times that God reins us in and pricks our hearts to seek forgiveness from each other and Him. I pray that we always remember that we are one bad decision or one selfish action away from disaster and need God's grace and shielding to keep our marriage.

 So you see my Valentine is pretty special! He's my Valentine on February 14 and 364 other days of the year. I'm so very thankful for the events that led to us meeting almost 34 years ago. Looking back, I can see the hand of God, because I made a decision that was completely out of character for me at the time. I'm immensely glad I did!

John William, I love you with all that I am~ now and forever!

Welcoming the year of the horse!

Abbey strikes a dance pose.

Elijah, when given the choice, chose to wear his tradition silk suit.

The Chinese New Year began January 31. 2014 is the year of the horse. Again this year we celebrated by joining many other families with children from China in addition to members of the Chinese community in our town. The Chinese Christian Church invited the FCC girls to share their native dances during their celebration. This year Abbey's age group performed the "Fan Dance".

Luke,Elijah,Caleb,Daniel,Kylie,Sopia,Darcy,Abbey, Lottie and in front, Natalie

Abbey loved going to practice and adored performing her dance. They used different fans during the dance.

Of course, this was Ab's favorite one.

She was happy to have good friend, Lily, next to her.

The celebration was a bit long and was spoken in Mandarin and English. When we left, Abbey wanted to know when she could do her dance in front of people again? That girl of mine surely does love to perform.

Happy New Year!!

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