gathering peeps...

siblings

it's fun to watch the kids go thru phases with each other.  usually, you can count on the natural pairings:

ashleigh and austin.

aubrie and amy.

anna and abraham.

of course, depending on the day and the mood, we see that get mixed up a little,

but, yesterday, these two were inseperable:

it's very confusing to play outside in january when it's over 60 degrees!  they were playing some version of "house" and needed blankets and lovies - on the chaise!

anna and abraham are 16 months apart - to the day!  

it was fun to watch them yesterday.  sometimes i forget that they haven't always had each other.  

i am filled with awe when i see them and the love they have for one another and consider how when god knit them together - in two separate tummy mommies wombs - he was creating them for one another...

the last five januarys

i haven't really picked up my camera since christmas, but i wanted to blog something with pictures.  so, i went back thru the previous 5 years of blog posts and found pictures!

five years ago (january, 2007)

that is some seriously cute mulan love!  mia, jaelyn and amy all came home together in april of 2006.  they are still friends today!

january, 2008

oh, that naughty little anna!  i think she grabbed some crackers and dumped them on the kitchen floor to eat them.  doesn't she just look onery?!

january, 2009

oh, my goodness!  is that really my baby boy from china?!  of course, today, as he is whining and sassy, i kinda miss those non-verbal days...  ;-)

january, 2010

this was my season of three little peeps at home.  i miss how little they were!

janauary, 2011

last janaury, we had a MONSTER snow storm!  it was beautiful!  and soooooo cold!  today?  i think the high is almost 65 degrees!  crazy!

i'm sitting here listening to abe say "it is never, ever, ever going to charge!" (about the battery on his remote controlled car).  i laugh at him.  silly boy!  using the word "never" is so immature.  so much of his life is now.

but, i also remember times i thought things would "never, ever, ever change".  

*sigh*

they do, though.

my little walk down memory lane this morning is a good reminder that things do change.  

i'm so thankful for that today...

 

 

renewed and refreshed!

i was given an amazing gift - from my rock-star hubby and my awesome abba father.

i just got home from a created for care retreat at lake lanier, georgia!

it was such a blessing to my soul to have time away to get my heart back on track with the savior so that i can BEST parent these kids from hard places.  

i met some new friends and got to spend time with some old ones ;-)

i didn't get pictures, but if you click on the links, you can see the beautiful surroundings i had during my time away.

so blessed...

not feeling very bloggy

i type.

i delete.

i type.

i delete.

it's a cycle.

honesty.  i am a fan.

protecting my family.  i am a bigger fan.

how do i blog honestly and protect my family when things are hard?

i can't figure that one out.

so.

i don't blog.

it's sad for me.

i like fun posts with pictures and fun anecdotes of being the mom to six kids.

but, i feel like i am in a season when i need to be mostly bloggy silent.

maybe some pictures and captions...

like this one:

our sweet miao was married on saturday.  chris and i felt like we married off a daughter.  it was a very joy filled day and we are honored to have been part of it.

christmas morning

 

a quick thought

we have a VERY busy and full day today!  we will leave in a little over an hour to have lunch with our travel buddies from our very first trip to china!  we can't wait to see mia and jaelyn and their families!!!

i'm up early, like i am most every moring...  i gotta.  if i don't, i won't get any time in the quiet.  i won't get a chance to spend time with jesus...

this morning i am overwhelmed by thoughts of just how blessed i am.

some days, my thought are more consumed by the task of raising these children.  teenagers.  special needs.  former orphan stuff that just breaks my heart...

but, today?  today i just cannot believe that i get to do this!  i get to be the one they call "mommy" (or "mom").  i get to be the kisser of the owies.  i get to be the one to rub lotion on his feet.  i get to be the one to watch her learn to read.  i get to be the one to take her shopping for dress for banquet.  i get to fill in the dates to his basketball games on my calendar.  i get to watch her tender heart continue to grow for her people.  i get to be the one to fight for her heart.  i get to be the one who goes to bed most nights - exhausted - because i get to be the one to care for them...

no pictures today.

just lots of tears of gratitude

and 

thanksgiving that overflows from a thank filled heart...

five.

that is the number of school programs i attended in the past month and a half.

seriously.

five.

first was aubrie's.  not a christmas program.  it was at the end of her trimester of music.

and, obviously, her location on the risers was NOT revealed to us beforehand:

next, was ashleigh's high school christmas program.  i didn't have the camera, but it was a great concert.

then, was the little girl's concert.

anna's kindergarten class recited luke 2 from memory.  anna looked SO grown up

- and VERY chinese ;-)

then amy had a special song she got to play a bell for!

the program theme was the 12 days of christmas.

i had a "swan a swimming"

and a "maid a milking"

the next week, austin had his band and choir concert.  forgot the camera there, too.  boo.  he did GREAT though and even had a pretty special part on the chimes for one song!

we ended our concert-palooza with abe's little preschool concert.  i loved it.  and i was SO PROUD of him!

he was a cow.

moo.

and, now we're done.

whew!

 

seriously.

this time of year is super hard.

for my four youngest kids.

and because it's hard for them, it's hard for chris, the two oldest and for me...

why?

this article explains it... PERFECTLY. 

fifteen

i blinked.

it happened.

she's 15.

she's amazing.

and i can't believe i get to be her mom...

she didn't want a cake this year - just chinese popsicles.  we insisted on a piece of cake - because how are you gonna put 15 candles in a popsicle?!

she's wise beyond her years and i have so much to learn from her...

happy 15th birthday, ashleigh ciera!

 

 

yeah, i know...

i am so behind.

blogging.  life.

ashleigh turned 15 on wednesday and i have pictures :-)

thursday was literally spent holding abe.

all day.

i will never be able to figure out all the reasons why the holidays are SO HARD for my adopted kids.

but, they are.

lots of happy feelings for most of the world; feelings of family and togetherness just create a sense of insecurity for my children who were abandoned - even if they can never put words to it themselves, they know...  and i have one that i am SURE carries a sense of guilt for having a family when her friends will never know that...

merry christmas!

;-)

it's a good thing that christmas is not really about family and happy memories and lots of presents under a tree.

it's a good thing that it is the celebration of our savior putting on flesh and coming to live with us...

because, then it really is about our brokenness...

and how he came to make us whole.

i don't think i really got christmas until last year.

there is something about parenting broken and hurting children that stirs a longing in my heart...

a longing for emmanuel to step into this mess, yet again,

and

fix it all.

rejoice!  rejoice!  emmanuel!