It's a Beautiful Life

The Li'l Emperor

2011-12-14T22:37:00.000-05:00

It's been a little over nine months since Paul and I met The Li'l Emperor in China. If you read here regularly, then you know how that went down. It took all of 24 hours for him to live up to the nick name we'd tagged him with. And less for him to be christened with a new one. Crasher!

Almost from the beginning it seems he has been destined for the ER. If there is something to trip over, knock over, run into or fall from, he will find it! And more often than not, it's his head that finds something, on his way down. I think that child has permanent lumps on his cute noggin!

All along we have just chalked it up to the fact that he is in constant motion..........and maybe it's possible his head is a tad big. I mean, have you seen that melon?

But then several of my kids (Parker) have had super-sized craniums and this wasn't a problem. So, the logical thing that came to my mind was that maybe, just maybe, he isn't seeing everything before he runs into it. I mean, when you stand there and watch your son walk into something straight ahead of him, you have to think there's got to be a reason!

I made an appointment.

And it's a good thing. Our family eye doctor examined our newest member. Then he looked at me and asked, "Does he run into things a lot?" Oh, you have no idea, doc. No idea!

Turns out, Crasher has a a major astigmatism and quite frankly (as the doctor put it) can't see straight.

Well, that explains a lot!

I guess we all know what Asher is getting for Christmas.....besides bubble wrap, a helmet and football pads.

I can't wait to see our cutie sporting his new glasses in a few weeks!

So excited!

2011-12-04T22:40:00.001-05:00

I'm so excited because I noticed that I have 81 followers. That's several more than I had a month ago. And that is inspiring me! So, before we get to deep into the Christmas spirit, I think I will give you a quick look at what Thanksgiving looked like at our house this year.

I was so excited because my family enjoyed Thanksgiving at my house so much last year that they were willing to do it again this year! And yes. Yes, I am a nutball, because I volunteered to do it all. Again! But, it was so much fun that I couldn't help myself.

I roasted the turkey.

I set the tables.

But, my sweet Isabel made the two flower arrangements all on her own! She is so creative.

I cooked all the food.

But, for some reason Jennifer carved the turkey.

That is still a mystery!

Brianna was my helper and boy did she! She came a day early, thanks to a ride from college that was coming my way, and was so much help.

We had the little kids table for Christian, Asher, Claire and Isabel.

And a teen table for Parker, Brianna, Megan and Noah.

But, I'm still kind of in denial that any of them are actually teenagers. Never mind that one of them is old enough to vote and three of them will be getting their driving permits soon....

My family is so beautiful!

My nephew, such a blessing!

The food was pretty good.

The company was better!

And the conversation lasted for hours around the dinner table.

At one point, my dad needed a "procedure". The doctors were called in to remedy this!

And then we broke for pictures.

Because, what would a holiday be without some completely posed pictures. Right?

Asher's been trying to get us to take his picture with Georgia for months now. I have no idea why, except that our boy just loves his dog. When he got here, he was totally fine with our little dogs, Roxy and Lola. But, he would run from Georgia. He was quite scared of her and would try to climb into your arms and carried on like he'd never seen a dog her size. And, he probably had not. The first time we were in China, we saw no dogs. It was a few months before the Olympics and apparently everyone was hiding their dogs. Because this time, we saw plenty of them. But, not in the poorer area, where Asher lived and few were the size of our Georgia!

Now? Now Asher is a big fan of our big girl! He got past his fear to see that she's just a big lump (100lbs big) of black lab lovin'.

Me with my sisters: Amy is the baby and Jennifer is the "Middle Child". I am the oldest and no one that meets us is surprised by that fact. Amy has the best smile. Jennifer has the prettiest eyes. And me? Well, I have the most gray hair and wrinkles! I wonder? Amy has two kids. Jennifer has two kids? And me? SIX kids! I wonder if that has anything to do with it. :)

Me will my sweet mom!

All the kids! Well, except Brooke.

And I'm thinking we don't get to classify her as a kid anymore.....since she is "with child" herself! My amazing niece is making my sister a GRANDMOTHER is just a few weeks.

The upside is that there will be a little baby around to spice things up. The downside is that I live here and they all live there and that means I won't get to see said baby very often! And Brooke wasn't able to make it to town for the big Thanksgiving dinner.

Teens must goof off!

It runs in the family!

It was definitely a Thanksgiving full of thanksgiving!

And I am so excited about having a few more readers that I promise an update adoption post about Asher soon!

In Other News.....

2011-11-17T15:54:00.001-05:00

We baptized Claire and Asher earlier this month. It was a very lovely day that we celebrated with family and friends. Many of our dear church friends helped to bring these two into our family through their prayers and financial contributions to the process. It was such a joy to be able to share this special event with them.

Both children wore traditional Chinese clothing in honor of their culture.

And cross necklaces that were gifts.

The rector of our church, Steve Wood, performed the service. He baptized Isabel almost 10 years ago in November of 2001 so it was pretty special to have him baptize our youngest as well!

Asher's Godparents, Steve and Stacy were there for him. He is so fortunate to get to see his Godparents on a pretty regular basis.

And Claire's Godparents, Trey and Michelle, are also a big part of her life!

A very nice brunch was provided by a family friend and we could not have enjoyed ourselves more!

We even managed to snag Lizzie from school for a few hours! Color those grandparents thrilled that they got to spend the entire brunch in conversation with her.

And it was a good day! A very good day.

Isabel's decided to enter some of her pottery into the Coastal Carolina Fair's Creative Arts contest. And our very talented girl WON! She scooped up two second place ribbons, one for a bowl and one for a doily, and a first place ribbon for a different bowl, that also earned her a second place Best in Show! She is blessed with talent and creativity, that is for sure!

And then the twins had to go and turn 15 on the 13th! Fifteen. Really? Was that necessary?

They thought so.....apparently.

Because they went and did it anyway!

And now we are faced with decisions like, when to let them get their permits, who is going to teach them to drive, and what are they going to drive...... Oh. My. Is a third car in our near future? I can tell you for sure what is not. A fourth car! They will just have to navigate sharing a car the same way they have manged the cell phone and the computer and the books and the xbox.

I mean! Hey, they figured out how to share a womb for 8 months, so this should be a breeze.

Another Year

2011-10-21T21:37:00.000-04:00

I can't believe it, but another year has gone by and our oldest, is 22. That hardly seems possible. Hardly possible that she could be a senior at College of Charleston.

Hardly possible that this time next week she will house sit for us. Because it seems like just yesterday she needed a babysitter!

Hardly possible that this time next year she could be working full time somewhere as an Anthropologist. Or going to GRAD school! Or worse {better for her, worse for us} living overseas learning neat things about other cultures. Because it seems like just yesterday she was graduating from kindergarten!

Life needs to slow down a bit. Way down! We are starting to realize that it won't be too much longer before we have to face the fact that we really aren't going to be seeing her much. We are trying to enjoy every single minute we can squeeze from her schedule!

So, despite the fact that Claire is again under attack from a vicious uti and Asher tried to rip the ear from his head WHILE I baked Lizzie's birthday cake {From scratch.....because that's how I roll}, we had a lovely dinner to celebrate another year with our Lizzie.

And yes! Yes, she is beauty and brains. Not even kidding. And yes. Yes, I did put 22 candles on that cake. And when she blew the them out, there was in fact a cloud of smoke.

We sang, we laughed and we listened. It was good. No presents this year. Just cards, loaded with money of course. Which is all a college kid wants anyway. Am I right?

I just hope the next year doesn't go by as quickly as the last. I don't know how much more this mama can take.

Rite of Passage

2011-10-16T22:34:00.000-04:00

Soon to be 15.

*sigh*

Their dad decided this morning before church would be a good time for a shaving lesson.

To rid their faces of that dirty upper lip look.

And while I'm happy to have my baby-face boys back,

not so happy about how we arrived at this!

Does anyone know how to turn back the clock?

13 years would be good.

A Good Excuse

2011-10-07T23:55:00.000-04:00

It turns out that having two pre-school aged kids in the house is a pretty good excuse to take advantage of a Friday morning field trip to the Pumpkin Patch. Something we haven't done in years. You know, due to the lack of pre-schoolers in the house.

Yeah, yeah.

I know Claire has been here for three years and she definitely qualified as a pre-schooler. But, there was the whole mobility issue to consider.

That first year would have involved me lugging her around all day. Or dragging the stroller through the patch!

The second year was better, but she used a walker.....not exactly conducive to the terrain of a working farm.

We did visit a barrier island and if I remember correctly, I hauled her around on my back most of the time. Because a walker won't go on a hike across a barrier island either.

Ya know?

The third year was a possibility. She was walking on her own. However, balance {or lack of} was a huge issue when I made choices about activities. She fell. A. Lot. And I saw the real possibility of her falling in a cow patty unattractive.

These are the things I think about.

This year? Well, our girl has really come into her own. She works so hard and has made such strides. Her balance.....is still an issue. I mean, we did just visit an ER with a head wound. But. BUT, believe it or not, she doesn't fall nearly as much as she used to. She is finally able to navigate curbs, steps, humps and bumpy ground. Somewhat. Which is better than never. Which was last year!

Soooooo

To the pumpkin patch we went!

She was ready!

She had very little trouble with the landscape.

They picked their pumpkins. I loved that there were little ones just right for little hands!

And what is it with this kid and balancing things on her head?

Isabel got her pumpkin two.

This one is bound for glory as .....{her favorite jack-o-lantern design}vomiting pumpkin.

I know!

What do you do with that?

We hauled our produce to the car.

And went back to feed the animals.

Asher wasn't too sure about this option.

But. what a good sport!

He even fed the cows.

Why yes. Yes those are swarms of flies!

Life is good!

And no one fell in a cow patty.

This Mama is thankful for a good excuse to play around. Thankful for a local farm that we can support and homeschool group that we can hang with. And very, very thankful for a little girl that can walk around on a farm like everyone else!

A Different Normal

2011-10-03T09:09:00.000-04:00

One of the things I enjoy most about homeschooling is that if you decide on the fly to pick up and go somewhere, you can. You just tweak the school schedule. And that is exactly what I did when I realized that Paul's national sales meeting was going to be held in Nashville this year. Why? Because some of our favorite people live near Nashville!

I had to steal this from their own blog. Why haven't I thought to take a new picture during one the two weeks we have spent together this year? I do not know. That idea won't escape me next time we are together! I hope.

I ran my idea past Anna and got the okay to pack up my crew in the monster van and drive up with Paul. We offered to stay in a hotel. Didn't want too, but I was afraid that our brood would prove too much for their small house. And let's face it, if you aren't used to the noise and activity that comes with so many kids, it can be overwhelming. But, they would have nothing of it, and set themselves up for the punishment. They called it great fun. Ha! I think they are just being sweet. But, I will have to say that they handled our invasion with the utmost grace.

We piled into their home and lives, wreaking havoc on their schedule for 7 days and nights. And though there were a few moments of stress, it was so good to be together that those moments were forgotten quickly.

The big boys got to camp out for a night before we pulled the plug due to near freezing temperatures one night and made them sleep on the kitchen floor. The little ones sleep on the floor in the room with YoYo and FuXia. It was a logistical nightmare for the Caudills to get their boys off to school for 4 of those days, but they never complained. No doubt, these are just plain good people.

It's amazing how our families could get along so well.....well enough that they could over-look the complications of having us in town on school days! And now that I'm home and had time to reflect on the visit, I realize one of the major reasons I enjoy their company so much is because when we are together it isn't odd to be dealing with/thinking about/talking about cathing schedules and braces and adoption bonding/discipline issues......because they are dealing with ALL those things too. And when we are together, Claire isn't the odd one out. She isn't the only one that has mobility issues or a cathing schedule or special things to consider. She gets to feel normal....a different kind of normal, but normal all the same. And that is good! It's good for her and for me. Just to see first hand that our normal isn't completely foreign.

Oh how I wish I'd remembered to take pictures of us all eating around their table {some having to sit on plastic tubs, or step-ladders} or sleeping in sleeping bags all over their house. The toys strewn across every room and the front yard. Four older children, plus the men folk around a little poker table in the living room having a blast. Us laughing our Beeeee-hinds off at the movie Monsters Vs Aliens. The chickens. The chickens make me smile and remind me of my grandma's house. Sitting around the chicken coop talking and feeding them clover from the yard. The kids having a water fight in the yard. Asher dressed as Superman for two days. The three little ones coloring on the floor. I took pictures of none of that, yet those were some of the best times of the trip!

But, I did get some pictures of the train ride, which all the children thought was cool....even the big ones, and that's saying a lot!

Asher was beside himself excited about this!

Claire and YoYo had a photo shoot waiting for the train ride to happen.

And I even managed to get some pictures of some of the kids at the playground.

But, for the most part, I was just enjoying the visit and forgot about the camera. Am I sorry? Yeah. But, the only thing that is really sad is that the visit is over......for now anyway. My kids have to get back to school and the Caudills have to prepare for some upcoming medical travel {something we understand}.

But, that's okay. I have a feeling we all enjoy the different kind of normal we feel together and will end up planning another way our families can hang out together soon!

The Two of Them

2011-09-14T23:58:00.001-04:00

The two of them are thick as thieves, I tell you. They are best buds. You can't usually find one without the other these days! I don't know if Claire just adores having a sibling so close in age or if it really is the fact that she feels a special bond with someone that is "like" her. And yes, she notices. She notices enough to talk about skin color and hair color and eye color. A lot. She notices that I have lighter skin and Asher's skin is the same as hers. She notices that we have green or blue eyes and she has brown eyes. So dark they are almost black. Asher does too. And she loves this about him. She is the kind of child that really needed to have someone of the same ethnicity in the family. We didn't know that about her when we left China with her, but I'm sure glad we felt the need to add Asher to the family!

She also loves that she is older than him. And she loves that he is just the right age to want to play with her. And boy do they! Play, hug, fight, play some more. Yes, daily....sometimes hourly, there is conflict.

But, it's normal sibling conflict and anything less would just not be right. Because they are normal siblings.

If you didn't know, you would actually think they have lived together all their lives.

Not kidding.

Although she had been the baby in this house for almost three years, Claire is perfect big sister material! Just the right mix of boss/mother/ally.

Oh, the competition. It is a mess!

If I tell Asher to make his bed, the first thing out of his mouth is "What about Claire?"

The next thing out of his mouth is "Why I make my bed all day?" Which translates: Why do I have to make my bed every day??

But, that issue is for another day!

If I give Asher a complement, Claire is quick to ask if the same is true of her. If I give Claire something, Asher will race to me to see if he can have it too. He spent the first month of life here feeling slighted because Claire gets medicine every night and he doesn't!

It's that bad.

So bad that Asher felt the need to split his head open less than twenty-four hours after Claire had! No! It's not that bad. But he did. And she did. And it was less than twenty-four hours apart. Two emergency center visits involving copious amounts of dermabond on two heads in one family......you do that math. Hurts my head. Almost as much as it hurt theirs.

But, at the end of the day, they love each other to pieces!

Unless you count when Claire asked me if we could send him back today.

Um.................Yep, perfectly matched sister and brother, those two!

The Middle Child

2011-08-30T17:48:00.002-04:00

Once upon a time, Isabel was the baby in this family.

And she liked it there!

She was the only girl that lived in this house.

Except for Mama.

But, I don't count!

Except that she is one big Mama's girl.

But, Isabel was never been crazy about being the only sister in the house. She wanted a little sister for as long as I can remember. Since the day she could talk she asked for one.

She was beyond thrilled when we decided to adopt a sister. And again when we told her we were adopting a brother. But, to this day, I don't think our diva realized just how tough it would be to get stuck in the middle some days. Actually, I don't think she thought about the fact that she'd be in the middle. Until she landed smack there. Not the oldest. They get to do all the cool stuff. And not the youngest. They get away with everything.

Slap in the middle.

But, she thinks that getting to be an older sister is way better than being the baby.....even if it does mean landing in the middle.

Some people think that the middle kid gets shoved in the corner and forgotten. Just ask my sister, Jennifer *eyeroll*. She'll give you an earful!

But, I assure you, Isabel wouldn't let that happen! It is not in her nature not to be noticed. She is loud. She is spontaneous. She is a force to be reckoned with!

She is usually in. your. face.

You will notice her.

Trust me!

And don't you worry about her not getting her fair share around here. Plus, she has people. People in her life that make sure she feels special. I mean, other than us. Because we do work at making all our kids feel special.

But, her aunts and uncles, cousins and grandparents do too. And her Godparents are awesome! Rather than giving her things for all her birthday's and Christmas's, they find out what she'd like to try and they pay for it.

Iceskating lessons ring a bell? Yep, that was them.

And, the latest?

Some horseback {or in this case, pony-back} lessons!

Something she's been wanting to try.

So, on a beautiful day last week, she got her chance!

She loved every blessed minute of it too!

It's hard to tell if May loved it as much. But, I like to think she was happy.

Her instructor was a great guy.

He was good with Isabel, but also great at giving a little attention to the littles.

And that was just nice!

After a one hour lesson turned into an hour and a half.....just because Mr. David loves his job, he then let Asher take May out for a spin around the ring.

And managed to squeeze in a quick ride {back to the stables} for Claire as the rain came down.

But, see the smiles on all the faces!

We have been so blessed to have been able to see our kids have all kinds of experiences.

And we have been so blessed to see Isabel move from the baby into the role of older sister.

She's doing a great job, too!

The Day Brianna Went To College

2011-08-25T16:53:00.000-04:00

Here she comes!

With all the other freshman.

And there she goes! Off to school. All grown up.

And all moved in.

Why yes, that is almost all of our family!

Crammed into her dorm room.

'Cause doesn't everyone bring there parents, aunts, cousins and grandparents to college with them?

So maybe that isn't normal.

But, some of us {not sayin' who} needed a little special time to get used to the idea of Brianna at college.

Some of us, needed to see it for ourselves to know that she was going to be a-okay.

So, we went.

We saw.

We are thrilled with her choice!

Okay.

Clearly some of us {not sayin' who} are not thrilled with any of it!

But, I know some other people.....

That are super proud!

And very excited for our girl!

And that's not even counting her parents.

They were so excited.....ahem.....they just had a little trouble saying goodbye.

That's all!

To Do

2011-08-16T09:16:00.003-04:00

As another summer slips away, I think of my to-do list and the many things on it that I did not get to. I wonder why I even make a summer to-do list? I know that June will be dominated by swim team commitments. Throw in a quick trip to St. Louis, doctor appointments, dentist appointments, and the occasional house guest.....or 11...... and well......there isn't much time for a to-do list. Then again. Maybe it's just the wrong to do list!

So, what did I get done this summer? You mean besides sitting poolside with a cool drink {of water} in hand?

Let's see......

I got to witness yet another miraculous achievement in the life of a child born with spina bifida and given little hope for a normal life as a toddler, when Claire swam 25 meters without the help of ~~lane lines~~ a floatation device. Not once, but three times this summer. And while her coach was instrumental in this, her Mama spent a lot of time in the pool with her outside of swimteam practice. So, I think I will check that off my list. Not that it is mine to claim. It is Claire's for sure.

Make sure Claire continues to Ooooo and Ahhhh her adoring fans. ✔

I was able to train yet another Gour child in the fine art of sleeping in. Asher entered our family late in the school year and therefore had to be fast-tracked for the summer sleeping schedule! Like a true Gour, the boy mastered the skill with flying colors. Sorry if you can't get your kids to do it, but I can. So, I'll just check that off my list too.

Insure that Mama doesn't have to see the angelic faces of her precious babes before 9am-ish. ✔

I can't check off the list that was able to keep our family eating well during the summer.....'cause I so failed at that. We didn't go so far as to partake in any Golden Arches{if you know what I mean} fast food, but suffice it to say that it was bad. Bad! Twizzlers at the beach kinda bad. But, to look at the bright spot....Twizzlers or not, I live near the beach and got to go. A lot. Not as much as I wanted, but enough to make me thankful I'm not one of those land locked souls that don't.

Buy a juicer so you can detox your family after the summer-o-junk-food and catapult them into a whole new level in freakish nutritional intake and raw/organic/vegetarian eating! ✔

I didn't get to paint the upstairs hall. Or the stairwell. Or the Foyer. I didn't get to re-grout the kitchen tiles and seal them. I didn't get Paul to finish building a play set in the yard for the little kids. Or get the back yard landscaping spruced up. But.....

Got to know Asher's Godparents better by having dinner with them almost every weekend. ✔
Spent time with sister and her family when they visited for Asher's birthday. ✔
Got to take Isabel on her first airplane ride.✔
Threw birthday party for child that never had one. ✔
Spent quality time with future son-in-law, YoYo.....oh, and his precious family!✔
Took walk downtown with sweet friend and remembered why I love living here!✔
Rode wave-runners for the first time and had a blast with sister. ✔
Watched children grow like the weeds in the back yard. ✔
Found sand dollars and whelks at the beach.✔
Took long walk with sweet daughter on the beach. ✔
Read three books.✔
Was a good influence on two nieces and one nephew....I hope! ✔
Hang out with a little monkey {Casey} and her mama!✔
Learned to grind wheat and bake bread.✔
Dropped niece off at college! ✔

So, maybe I didn't get my to-do list done. But, I think I like this list better! .

Sick

2011-08-06T00:29:00.001-04:00

Asher has been a part of our family for five months now. And for that entire time he hasn't had so much as a sniffle. Until Thursday morning.

I knew something wasn't quit right when he laid down on the couch right after breakfast. That boy doesn't just lay around in the mornings.

~~After taking a few minutes to enjoy the peace and quiet~~ I immediately went to check on him and found his head to be a bit warm for normal. A thermometer confirmed my suspicions. His temperature was 99°.

His temperature rose as the day wore on and eventually he reached 102°. He complained of his stomach hurting, then his head and his mouth. But, mostly he just laid on the couch and did nothing. He did drift off to sleep for a few short cat naps too. All this behavior, very unusual for Asher.

But, by the evening he was back to himself. Still had a fever, but was up and playing. No congestion. No stomach ache. No complaints. And he ate dinner.

So here's the thing.....what do you do? I never rushed my three older kids to the doctor for a fever at four years old. If they had no other symptoms or complaints I would wait it out a few days. It was usually a virus, ran it's course and that was that.

Claire is a different story. If she runs a temperature, there is a good chance it is a bad thing. I will always take her to the doctor right away. She doesn't complain until it's a full blown ear infection/sinus infection/uti or whatever. And when she goes downhill, she goes fast!

But, this boy is new to us. We don't know his body. We don't know how he reacts to being ill. So, when he woke with another 99° temp this morning, we heading in to our doctor.

And boy was it a good thing!

A quick swab of his throat revealed the culprit. A strep infection.

Poor guy!

Although, don't let this face fool you. As soon as we got home he was off and running with the pack again. But, apparently it has finally caught up to him. He has been up crying twice tonight, just since we put him down a few hours ago. I have moved his bed back into our room for the night so he won't disturb anyone else.

Thankfully, I was able to get two doses of antibiotic in him today. Hopefully, he will be feeling much better by this time tomorrow.

Quarantine? I think it's a little late for that! Now we just have to wait and see who will come down next. Given the fact that he accidentally spit IN my face and mouth at the doctor's office today while he was talking, I'm either going to get it or I'm immune to this germ!

I know this isn't his first illness. His papers say he was found in a hospital with a respiratory infection. But, this is his first illness with us. I don't want him to be sick, but I'm thankful we can take care of him this time.

Where in the World...

2011-07-30T21:11:00.004-04:00

Were Shane and Paul?

Well, Shane climbed up on our roof and he would not come down.

Paul tried and tried, but he said he wasn't coming down until we served red meat!

Just kidding!

Shane came to SC with the intent to help us with a ~~little~~ project. And by "us", I mean Paul and by "little", I mean ginormous! Every morning, Shane donned his overalls and got on with the job. That man is dedicated! And he has a servants heart, that is for sure.

The first day he pulled all the old rotted wood siding off the sunroom before the rest of us even got out of bed good! Okay, Paul was out of bed, but he was at work. The rest of us.......well, we just sort of tried to stay out of his way. He was definitely on a mission.

Then there were rotted fascia boards and soffits. The old AC unit had to come down and then all 7 sliding glass doors came out. Of course they started working on the hottest days of the summer so far! Paul helped out when he could, but Shane was a machine!

He framed in the holes for dry wall and windows.

And like last summer, when we were at the Caudills helping , the boys were invited to join in the fun!

And by "invited" I might mean told.

Hey, it was an opportunity to use sharp objects....And power tools. What boy in his right mind passes on that one?

The house is now covered in ply board, foam board and house wrap! I think it's pretty well insulation!

And I am very excited about these doors! Can I just tell you how very much I hated those sliding glass doors! I HATED THEM! I love this. The windows....the doors.

So, next on the agenda is vinyl siding.

And then the inside will need a lot of love and work.
Maybe we'll have it finished before next summer!
Bahahaha.

You've heard about the kitchen remodel we did in 2009......and 2010....oh yeah, we aren't really quite finished with it yet. But, then are the projects ever really done?

*sigh*

That's okay. I'm just thankful it's been started!

The Best!

2011-07-27T00:30:00.003-04:00

I can't explain it. The attachment we have to some of the families we traveled to China with three years ago. Maybe it is because so many of us were going through our very first adoptions. For sure, it was the first international adoption for all eight families with our agency.

We were thrown together by our choices and God's providence into a place where everything looked/sounded/smelled/tasted/felt different from anything normal in our lives and the only thing familiar to us were the strangers we were with. And I know that doesn't make any sense and yet.....doesn't it make perfect sense?

The experiences we had were exclusive to international adoption. We weren't just traveling to places afar for the sake of the view. We were being lead through cities and legal processes in an effort to soak up the culture and bring home a child. Children many of us had waited years just to hold. Children who when put in our arms had the whole of their worlds turned upside down and inside out. That alone drove us to connect to the only other people that know, really know what it's like and were there with us from the beginning.

The connections with made with some of these families will most likely last a lifetime. Three summers after returning home with Claire and I still long to be with these families for a while. But, this summer looked like it would be one without any visits. Just home from our 3 weeks in China with the L'il Emperor, Paul is down to just a few days of vacation for the rest of this year.

It has been a year since we traveled to Tennessee with the Gulkes to be with the Caudills and a year since Karla visited us with Mia last summer. I was so sad to think that I would not see any of them this year.

But, surprise! God smiled on us and sent the Caudills our way. I don't know what kind of trouble that was, but it could not have been easy for them to drive away from home and therapy and doctors and work with all they have going on, to come see us.

But, they did. And it was a wonderful week!

They drove up ready for our welcome.....because after last summer, they knew what to expect! Yep. Water guns and water balloons. It was a very wet welcome to Charleston for the Caudills. But, they are great sports!

Shane took it like a man!

Anna jumped out and grabbed up the hose to fend off the soaking guns!

And YoYo just did his darnedest to look cute as he can!
Which is pretty cute in my opinion.
But, since he is my future son-in-law I could be called biased.

Our week was filled with Nerf wars!

Water Balloon fights.

And pool fun!

It was a giant happy sleep-over!

We spent a wonderful day at the beach

Playing

It was a first for this guy!

And he gave it a thumbs-up because it was awesome!

I think he looks like a natural beach boy!
Right at HOME.
{hint hint}

YoYo and Claire gave me permission to take photos at their wedding ! YAY ME!

And all to soon it was time for them to go back home.
As they drove away, I missed them.
And I miss them to this day, several weeks later.
It was such a good visit!

THE BEST!

What?
Where were Paul and Shane in all the pictures?

Hahaha.
Funny you should ask.
You'll have to come back and visit again to see!

Ten Years

2011-07-25T15:49:00.002-04:00

Ten years ago an answered prayer and the reason we landed on the international adoption scene was born. I was induced around 8am and spent the morning and early afternoon surrounded by family and friends.

At 2:05pm we welcomed our daughter, Isabel Lee into the world. We laughed with surprise when they said she weighed 8 lbs 1oz. She looked so tiny to us! But, then we had been lugging around 4 year old twins before she came along.

A tiny perfect addition to our family.

Nothing but sweetness from the beginning.

She has always had a way of experiencing life to the max!

And she was born to be a princess.

From the first birthday to this one, Isabel has been a bright ray of sunshine in every day of our lives!

Happy Birthday to my sweet girl!

Hello.....Hello......Anyone there?

2011-07-23T22:33:00.003-04:00

I doubt I have any readers left out there.....maybe a few die-hard ones. So if you have stuck around, waiting and hoping for an update.....and pictures, today is your lucky day, people!

Why haven't I blogged? If you need to ask, you don't know me. I want to blog, really I do. But, busy with these kids is an understatement this year!

And it's not just the kids. It's the homeschool and the home repair and the cousins. It's the cooking and the cleaning and the packing and the unpacking. It's the shuffling here and yonder for this and that.

And the kids!

My mother asked me just this morning, "don't you ever just get tired of it". No. No I don't as a matter-of-fact. I figure the kids {cousins that visit every summer} are only here for a while and then they grow up and have their own life. Two already have. And one is my step-daughter. We have seen Lizzie only once since May. Last night. And it isn't because she doesn't want to see us, it's because she has a life. And, it's not here.

Thankfully, she took a few minutes out to meet us {last minute I might say} for frozen yogurt last night. We were in her town for a post placement visit with our social worker. It was so good to lay eyes on her and hug up on her. She looks great, doesn't she?!

And so, I miss blogging, but I wouldn't trade my crazy busy life for it. Which just means that if you want to see pictures of my kids or read anything I have to say {as if it's all that great}, you have to hang around and check back. Often. Or not, if you have better things to do or blogs to read! That's okay too.

How did our post placement visit go? Amazing! Just like our little boy! Our social worker is very kind and fun so she makes it easy. And you can see that Asher is thriving. Just look at that boy go and you know, he's gonna be fine!

More on his adjustment later. And hers. And mine.

What else have we been up to? Besides swim team and jetting to St. Louis and first 4th birthday parties? Well......

We had some familiar visitors in June. They usually start showing up in our photos about this time every year! Yep, my niece, Brianna, nephew, Christian and Darling Daughter from over at Not a Significant Source.

Asher had his first bowling experience!

Having fun!

Big brothers are the best!

I know, right? And we get to live with her!

Still can't believe she is going to college this fall!

They left and then we got prepared for the highlight of this summer, a visit from the Caudill family. I was so sad when I realized there was no way we could get on the road this summer to visit with any of our travel group family friends. But, so exciting when Anna called to say they wanted to come see us!! And help Paul with some renovations. And stay a week!
But that is enough for today. I know, I know. But, it is. 'Cause I have 2 kids to get into bed, more cleaning to do and .....well, I won't bore you with the details.

She Did It!

2011-07-08T10:56:00.002-04:00

I practically have my own team!

Here we are at the end of Claire's second year on our swim team. Our team coaches have been wonderful with her! All along they have let her use a floatation device of one kind or another because with very little lower body strength we feared it would be years before she could attempt to join in.

Remember last year's ducky floater?

Who could!

Everyone on or associated with the team has encouraged her and cheered her on at each meet. Coaches, swimmers, parents! She always finishes last. She always holds up the meet to get to the finish line. But, they never once were in too much of a hurry not to let her swim. Not to stop and watch. Everyone has always been a blessing to her. Older swimmers high-five her when she gets out, and stop to tell her what a good job she does. And many of the parents and grandparents too!

So, here we are at the end of her 2nd year on the team. At the request of one of the coaches, I searched high and low and found one of those floaties that has removable foam pads. For weeks now, we have slowly removed pads from the front and back of it. Claire was unaware. Because it became apparent to me that she now has the strength to swim, but not the confidence or endurance. Slowly she has built up more endurance. More confidence.

Last week I forgot the floatie and had to wait for big brother to bring it from home for practice. But, practice started and coach decided not to use it. Miss Claire surprised everyone and swam 3/4 of the pool to him without it!

So last night, at the end of her 2nd year swimming...

Claire lined up for her 25 freestyle missing a little something!

A little something that she doesn't need anymore!

See for yourself.

Yes, she grabs the lane line quite a lot. More than she really needed to. Out of nervousness I think. But, that's okay.

She DID it!

She swam just like all the other 6 and unders!

And she was so very proud of herself!

His first Fourth

2011-07-05T12:46:00.002-04:00

His first Fourth of July as an American Citizen!

His first Fourth of July Celebration!

It was definitely one to remember.

Thanks to his brothers.

They begged and reminded me to sign us up for the celebration at Peaceful Way this year.

Peaceful Way is property owned by a local family. A very sweet local family with hearts for the Lord and hearts for their neighbors.....all over the world. They open their property to the public twice a year for fun and fellowship. And to raise awareness about widows and orphans. And to speak the Good News.

We drove up around 3pm, parked our car and staked out our spots. We dropped donations off in the Remember Them box, and handed off our dessert and side dish contributions, because that was all this day cost us. Which is totally unbelievable!

We enjoyed eating with many good friends!

Isabel reconnected with an old friend that moved away from our neighborhood.

And hung out with one of her current besties!

Getting ready to head into the pond for some extreme fun!

Parker and Noah got to hang out with many of their homeschool and youth group friends......doing what teens do. Which mostly means leaving mom and dad in the dust, sneaking sodas, eating your body weight in free BBQ, spending hours in the pond, shooting black powder guns and....

Taking helicopter rides! Yes, that is my boy in the bird. I know this for absolute sure....because I have eyes like a hawk for my kids. They may have thought that I didn't know what they were up to, but had one eye on each one at all times.....which of course meant I had to employ the ~~eyes of several other watchful parents~~ eyes in the back of my head for the day.....you know, since I have 5 kids and appear to only have 2 eyes.

And the littlest Gours?

They too had new experiences! This is the first time Asher has seen a pony up close and personal. His first pony ride ever! And, in Asher style, he loved every minute!

This is not Claire's first pony ride because she rode one three years ago when we came out to PW for a homeschool event. But, she was much more sure of herself this time. Just look at that smile! They also got to swim in the pond, kayak with their awesome Daddy, play on the amazing playground and in the spray pool.

We ended the day on the lawn watching a magnificent display of fireworks that would rival the ones at Waterfront park or the baseball stadium! Plus we had live Bluegrass music.

It was an incredibly fun day!

And I am glad the boys pestered us into doing it!

Now He Is 4!

2011-06-28T15:08:00.002-04:00

The Little Emperor, after spending his first three birthdays in China, got to see what our American birthday's look like! And, I think he likes! Although, it was clear that he sort of knew what having a birthday was about.

You see, in his little suitcase, that was packed for him by his foster parents, he came with a small photo album. I will share some of those pictures soon. He loves to look at them and we let him whenever he wants. In this album is a picture of him in front of a Chinese birthday cake. And in his journal it says that his "big brother" bought him a birthday cake. His big brother was the biological son of his foster parents. So, I have showed him this picture and said the word "birthday". And he seemed very much to understand this, as evidenced by the fact that his face lit up and he would say "My birthday?" very excitedly!

He got the royal treatment! Breakfast in bed, his first ever birthday party and a chance to see Cars 2 on the Big Screen. His first movie at the theater! He loved it all. And since it all took place over the course of several days, a guy can get a little spoiled! A weekend all about Asher......I think he could get used to that!

There were cupcakes with sprinkles!

A cake with fire!

And some Slip-n-Slide enjoyment for all!

Yes! Another first for Asher!

And boy did he love it!

I know it's hard to tell by these pictures so you will just have to trust me here.

HA!

He was surrounded by Godparents.

Grandparents!

Aunts and Uncles that came all the way from out-of-town!

And cousins! Mixed in with God-brother and God-sisters.....which are like best friends!

Or in Natalie's case, she said she is already married to Asher.

I know it's a little young....at 4 and almost 4, but they can handle it.

LOL!

He caught on quick to how to blow out the candles.

Did I do it right??

There were presents and cards and spoiling from all directions!

And at the end of the day, we weren't sure who had been honored, Asher or Lighting McQueen!

By the looks of it, we bought out the Cars 2 department of the store.

But, we ended up with a very happy and extremely tired, contented little guy!

Happy {first with us} Birthday Asher David Jun'an Gour

You are 4!

Baptized

2011-06-26T22:20:00.003-04:00

Like sunlight burning at midnight

Making my life something so

Beautiful, beautiful

Mercy reaching to save me

All that I need

You are so

Beautiful, beautiful

~Francesca Battistelli

My niece Brianna was Baptized in the ocean off the Isle of Palms today!

I got to witness this beautiful thing.

excuse the drops of water on the lens in all these pictures.

I had no idea until later that I'd splashed some up on the lens.

It was very spontaneous. Her family was visiting us for the weekend. They went to church with us and near the end, one of our pastors gave an open invitation to be baptized at the beach today. Brianna turned to her mom and asked if she could be baptized! Brianna is almost 18 and has known for a while that she wanted to be baptized, but has not had the opportunity. You don't pass it up when it jumps out at you like this one did! She loves Charleston, loves the beach and though she loves her own church, she has always felt at home at our church as well. We made a mad dash home for the cameras and a beach towel and then raced to the Isle of Palms. She was baptized by John, an associate pastor and our youth leader, Dave.

Afterwards, my sister pulled out her iPad {yes she did} and clicked her task manager app {mm-hmm} and checked off ~Insure Brianna gets baptized.

My sister makes me laugh!

It was a very beautiful day. A very beautiful thing.

"You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ." ~Galatians 3:27

A Boy and His Cars

2011-06-24T09:45:00.000-04:00

One Boy

Plus One Car

Equals Happiness.

1 boy + 10 cars = Bliss!

This boy had the opportunity, thanks to a ministry at our church, to spend a little moolah on anything his little self wanted. Guess what his little self wanted. Can you? I'll give you two chances....

Not just one car....

Or two new cars.

We went for the whole shabang!

'Cause you just can't have enough cars, right?

Yes, I think we have a little obsession on our hands. Our little man went through the toy department and inspected everything Cars. He settled on this gem. And he has not regretted it one bit. It has been his constant companion for days!

Thankfully, he loves his sister enough to share with her!

Guess who has a birthday in just a few short days?

He is getting very excited. Unlike Claire, he seems to have a little understanding of what his birthday might be like. Claire had no clue and clearly had never had her birthday celebrated before she came to us. Asher seems to know already that it will be all about him!

Take a wild guess what will be the first movie Asher will get to see in theaters!

Photo Upload!

2011-06-15T11:10:00.059-04:00

So we made it home and I was finally able to upload the pictures from Isabel's very first flight! She had complete control of the camera for this trip and I did not even take my Big Camera. Just the little point-n-shoot. Without Further Ado.....Isabel's Photo Collage: First Flight.

Two excited girls.....one a little nervous.

Take-Off

Obviously, this is not our plane...

or we would have bigger problems than not being able to upload pictures.

Our plane!

Looking a little worse for wear, I must say.

Boarding!

Can you see the excitement? Can you?

'Cause let me tell you, I could see/hear/feel it!

Southwest is so cheap because they let the kids volunteer to pilot the planes!

No.

But, when Isabel asked for a a quick picture of the pilot, they invited her up!

You think she was excited before!

Future pilot?

Trying to enjoy a little in-flight entertainment.

And a little snack along the way.

This concluded our two flights on Sunday. We flew Southwest because of the fact that the tickets were so much less expensive. It's how I was able to afford to get Isabel a ticket. Shriners paid for mine and Claire's. But, I have to say, even if I had money I think I would choose Southwest. We had a wonderful experience. The people from the check-in staff to the plane crew and pilots were all so very nice!

I'd say that even if they had not let Isabel in the cockpit. But, they did.

So there!

Once we landed in St. Louis, we were shuttled to our beloved Frontenac hotel. Why do we love it so much? I have no idea except to say that we have had so many good memories made there in the last three years. It is where we stayed on our first trip to see Dr. Dobbs and we made a family vacation out of it. Our first vacation as a family with 4 kids. We stayed there numerous times that summer while Dr. Dobbs worked his magic and then next summer before going on to see our friends in Chicago. Last summer it was the stage of our travel group reunion. So. Much. Fun!

Monday was the doctor day and for the first time, we did not actually get to see Dr. Dobbs. We did see Kristina (his right hand ~~man~~ woman) and the brace guy and another doctor. All were in agreement. No more night brace! YAY Claire! Continue with AFO's and PT. Feet lookin' good!

As much as we love St. Louis, St. Louis without a means of transportation.....is just not the same. Each day we walked up and across the street to the one shopping strip that is near enough for Miss Claire to walk to. We visited Starbucks and Poptions. We ate ice cream and popcorn. We walked back. We watched TV.

Eh.

Not much else to do.

It was exciting for the girls just to eat in the hotel room.

And really, the trip was all about the flying parts for them!

Tuesday, it was back to the airport!

This travel thing is old hat for these seasoned girls now so they were much more relaxed.

Isabel rode the people mover just to ride it.

Several times.

The whole thing wore Claire slap out and she got on the second plane, covered her head with her blanket and was asleep before we took off. Slept until we were landing in Charleston!

Isabel decided on this last leg of the trip that she was brave enough to hang out by the window long enough to snap some pictures. I thought these were really cool.

She did not like the idea of being stuck by the window so she would only sit in the aisle seat. But, she did enjoy seeing the clouds up close!

The End!

First Flight

2011-06-12T15:54:00.055-04:00

Or we could have titled this Isabel's Adventure!

After a month of counting down the days.

And tearing off links from her paper chain...

Isabel got to check something off her Bucket List.

She got to FLY!

Every year, we trek to St. Louis for a visit to our favorite Doctor, Dr. Dobbs. And every year we make a family vacation out of it. And every year, it takes us on a 9 day adventure across the US. An awesome adventure that we love, because we get to see some of our favorite friends along the way!

But this year, we found Paul's vacation bank a little short on days after three weeks in China and our bank account a little short on funds, what with the gas prices right now!

So, we called up the Shriner's and they graciously offered to fly us out this year! When I went online to find a couple of tickets, I actually found a great deal at Southwest. So great in fact, that we decided to surprise Isabel with her own ticket to fly!

Talk about excited! She has been beside herself for weeks. And driving us a little bit crazy too. We were thankful that this day finally arrived. Seriously!

And this turned out to be the perfect adventure for her. No delayed flights or cancellations! Two flights that were just long enough for the girls to be excited, but not so long that boredom and restlessness could set in. We flew from Charleston to Baltimore and then onto St. Louis.

It also turned out to be perfect because the people at Southwest are so nice! Isabel asked a flight attendant if he could take a picture of the pilot for her and he took her right up to the cockpit! The pilot turned everything on so she could see how it worked and they cut up with her for a few minutes.

Funny thing though, she would not sit by the window. She totally loved flying, but really didn't want to see how high she was. She took the aisle seat and was happy. She even got to use the bathroom....which of course, is totally part of the experience. And, she thought she would be sucked out of the plane when she flushed!

So, where are the pictures of Isabel's adventure? Well, they are stuck on my camera. See, I didn't bring the big camera. Just my little point and shoot. And that camera? Has a tiny memory card that requires an adapter to fit into the card slot on my laptop. Where is said adapter? Yep. It's a home.

I knew I'd forget something. At least it wasn't my underwear, right?

Pictures to come....Tuesday!

New Shark in the Pool!

2011-06-09T09:00:00.052-04:00

Can anyone spot the newest baby Shark on the Shadowmoss Swim Team?

Well, there is Claire....but, she was a Shark last summer. This is old hat for her!

How about now? Can you see him now?

No?

What about now? Just there in the splash. Can you see him?

Now?

No, no.....not the girl in orange goggles.

THERE! There he is!

The newest Shadowmoss Shark!

With big sis as a role model Asher is diving right in!

He seems a little nervous at times, but is doing really well. We knew he was ready when we let him jump in the pool to me with no life-jacket and he just took off!

And you see him there next to that sweetie? That is precious EV, newly adopted from Rwanda, along with little brother, MV! I just love our swim team. There are a handful of adopted children and several kids with special needs. The coaches are GREAT with all of them! I mean, who lets kids on a team when they speak little and no English? Shadowmoss does! Who lets kids on a team when they have to use a floatation device? Shadowmoss does?

Have I mentioned that I love our swim team?

This is such a good experience for him. He gets to do something without mom, but I'm nearby. He is doing well with the instruction of the coaches!

And follows Claire's lead.

Claire is learning backstroke this year!

Working one-on-one with Coach Kimmie.

Asher is not exactly Grace in the Water....if you know what I mean!

But, that's okay! We are just thrilled with him.

So, surprise!

We love our littlest Shark!

Three Months

2011-06-02T09:00:00.002-04:00

Okay, it's really pushing 4 months since we made Asher a Gour. But as usual, I haven't had time for the update. Now that my summer has officially unofficially started, I hope to be more on the ball.

Officially unofficial?

Yeah, that is what happens when you can officially call it a year, but one of the kids still has some school work to finish before you feel like you can be done. Gotta love homeschooling!

So, what have the last ~~three~~ almost four months looked like from here? I guess you remember the handful of a kid we picked up in China, right? Well, he has settled in quite nicely!

Is he still a handful? Sure. But, we wouldn't have it any other way!

The little guy that screamed out in the night without fulling waking, now sleeps soundly on his hand-made dog print pillow every night. As a matter-of-fact, he has graduated from Mom and Dad's room to sleeping in the room with the girls. Why not the boys? Well, after much consideration, we thought that since he went to bed at the same time as Claire, it would make more sense to put his jr. bed in there for now. It will probably only last a few months and then we are hoping to move the big boys downstairs and give Asher his own room.

The fella that would shake his head no at everything thing on his plate, now eats many American dishes without so much as a second thought. There are things he doesn't care for, but he will usually take a bite or two anyway. Could I ask more of a three year old? I think not! And he gobbled up my weak attempt at making a Chinese dish.....so maybe his palate isn't all that refined anyway. Hmmm................

You remember the boy that threw an absolute fit every time we told him that he could not have something he decided he wanted?

Well, he still hangs out here some days.

But, other days, Asher is just a big sweetie!

He and Claire are usually found playing together as best buds. They enjoy many of the same things right now and that is working out great......except when they want the same toy at the same time. But, since I have already been there done that with twins, I knew this was bound to happen.

He has learned to say "Yucky" when we pass by the golden arches!

He expects me to say "no" when he asks for junk and toys in the stores. He rarely makes a fuss anymore. He loves his doggies and his kitty cat! He loves to jump on the trampoline, ride his bike and play whatever Claire is playing. His trucks and cars are his favorite toys and he is all about Lighting McQueen!

He loves his Mama and his Daddy. He also loves his fingers and his Woobie. Woobie is a rag. Just a rag.....you know, like a wash cloth. He came with Woobie. It was explained to us that he could not sleep without Woobie. But, he has. Some nights he seems to need Woobie more than others.

When Woobie comes out, the fingers go in. For that matter, so does Woobie. He sticks his fingers in him mouth and his Woobie in his ear. His ear? A little strange maybe. I'm sure we will never know why. But, then why does Claire chew on her blankie? No idea.

Why do we call it a Woobie? Ummm......yeah, I do not know. I think I heard a lovey called that on tv and it stuck in my brain. I started calling it that and now he does too. At least it's more creative than blankie. Isabel and Claire both have blankies. If you ask me, that is akin to naming your cat, Kitty. Of course, you didn't ask me and maybe you did name your cat, Kitty.

He loves the pool too and that is a good thing since we spend just about every afternoon there! He is a little more cautions around spray pools and fountains, but eventually gets into the action.

And his English? Oh. My. Immersion does wonders for language development, I tell you. He is all English, all the time now. Which is kind of sad. He won't even say a word in Mandarin now and he gets upset if we ask some local Chinese to speak to him. We hear this is normal when they are first fitting into the family and developing their English skills, but I'm sad just the same. Of course, I wanted him to speak English, but I would have loved for him to hang onto his Madarin as well. IF I had the money, we would have a tudor!

That's all for this update, but check back tomorrow! I do intend to keep this up and I have something really cool to show you! Plus also, three of us are about to take a little trip that is exciting......at least to one of us and she really wants you to hear all about it. So news of that coming soon. And also, the big boys are on an adventure of their own right now that I might get to share about. And, for my friend Andrea, more recipes!

Sunday Snapshot

2011-05-22T10:30:00.000-04:00

AKA, Sisters on a Mouse Hunt

I think every {cute} town or {touristy} city should do this. The city of Greenville {which is a totally cute city by the way} has a Mice on Main scavenger hunt. I have two sisters and we decided to do a sisters get-away weekend in Greenville because I knew we could get a room downtown and never have to get back in our car all a weekend. We were within walking distance of anything we wanted.....so many restaurants, cute shops, a Greek Festival, a beautiful park and {if we had had the money} spa treatments! Anyway, we soon discovered the Mice on Main and the scavenger hunt that went with it. Mice on Main is based on the children's book Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown where there is a cute little mouse {not really} hidden on each page. In Greenville there are 9 cute little bronze mice hidden on Main Street.

We grabbed our clues at the General Store {Okay, not really because my sister Amy is a super planner and already had them downloaded to her iPad......which we carried up and down Main Street all day Saturday}

And, we found all 9 mouse plus and an extra one to boot! Some are sadly missing their tails, but all were cute and it was a nice way to walk down Main Street being silly with my sisters!

This is the extra little fella, not part of the scavenger hunt.

Confirmation

2011-05-20T14:00:00.001-04:00

For my parents, who could not be with us, I am posting Parker and Noah's Confirmation video clips. And, some really cute pictures!

Testimonies

2011-05-19T21:00:00.001-04:00

Six months ago, Paul and I made the decision to "make" Parker and Noah take the confirmation class at our church. We had originally thought it was an unnecessary step for them. After all, we know where they stand, as we have taken a major part in raising them in God's Word rather than leaving that up to others. And, based on my experience with the church I grew up in, I didn't think it was that big of a deal. I remember nothing of importance from my experience with that class.

But.....

Well, we had heard really good things about the confirmation class at our home church now. And, it is tradition. I like tradition.

But.....

Was it really all that important? They didn't want to do it. It would be a pain too. We live 30-45 minutes from our church depending on traffic. Confirmation class was 3 hours after church. It would mean staying in the area after church to drop them off for the class, then driving home and then coming back for them 3 hours later. What. A. Pain.

But.....

In the end, we decided it would be good for them. And, it was just for a few months, so we figured we would all survive it.

They went ~~kicking and screaming~~ to the first class, and came out alive and surprisingly......happy. One class had changed their whole perspective on confirmation.....or taking the class anyway.

Which only made me wonder if it was any good at all. I mean, they were supposed to be learning something about the church, right? How much fun could that be? It wasn't fun when I did it. I don't think. Then again, I don't remember. Which is sad, I guess.

But, I quickly remembered that they also loved the three years of Biblical Worldview classes I'd put them in and I know they walked away from those classes with good stuff. So, maybe it wasn't a waste. Maybe they would get something out of this.

Week after week, we arranged our Sundays around their class and they did their part. Homework. Bible reading and some questions. They went to class and I assume, they participated in the table discussions that were supposedly going on. They went on the weekend retreat too. This was a first for us. Our boys had never been on a church retreat...... or, for that matter, away from us for that long without it being with family.

They were fine. ~~Mom~~ Dad had to be distracted all weekend! It was tough and I don't mind saying that I'm not looking forward to them leaving one day. But, they came back acting as if they had been on the best trip ever. It had music and worship and play and worship and food and worship. What more could they ask for, right?

Anyway, as the big day approached, the boys began to whine about having to write and then read {in front of the church!} their testimonies. They knew this was part of the class. And they knew that they could not be confirmed unless they did it. Frankly, I'm not sure they cared. They began to act like it was fine with them if they weren't confirmed this year. Or ever! Just don't make them talk in front of everyone.

Since I have the same phobias about talking in front of a group of people {or one stranger for that matter}, I understood what was happening. But really, what was the point of going to class all those weeks? Having to do this was a main reason we signed them up to begin with.

Why?

Well because neither Paul nor I were raised in churches that made giving your testimony a priority. And therefore, we have trouble with it to this day. As a matter of fact, we don't do it often enough. While I may teach my children all about God and the Bible and go to great lengths to insure they have a Biblical Worldview to apply to every situation, haven't I failed if they don't understand that our purpose is it to tell people what God has done in our lives so we can share our faith and pass hope to others?

So we made them do it. Sometimes parenting means tough love.

They spent one week writing their testimonies. And, I have to say, it was not easy. Why? Well, we quickly realized that 14 year olds don't really have all that much to say about what God has done in their lives. At least, my 14 year olds don't. They do get that that is what their testimonies are supposed to be about. But, since they have grown up in a happy home, with Christian parents, and they haven't lived through any real struggles {that they know of} or had any health problems....they don't have those kind of testimonies yet.

But, they have heard those kinds so testimonies and so they kept thinking they were supposed to come up with something like that. I finally realized that that was the problem. They thought they needed a story of miracles and adversity to have a testimony. And, those testimonies are great. But, we don't all have one of those! Especially when we are young. I know that if I had had to write a testimony at 14, it would not have been filled with Glory stories. I went to church because my parents brought me and always had. I prayed because others in my life modeled that and I read the Bible because my Sunday school teachers said I should. And......ummm, yeah. That's would have been it. I have no idea what else I could have said at 14. Other than the fact that I knew It felt right to have God in my life and that I was at peace when I could pray about things. But, that's it. Nothing spectacular.

And the boys were having the same problem coming up with something to say about what God had done in their lives. I didn't want to put words in their mouths either so I had to try to ask questions {that weren't too loaded} and get them thinking about things. One of them finally said that Dave {the leader} had said that he would be thrilled if the only thing his daughter had to say on Testimony night was "I am a Christian and I've always been one!"

So we started there.

Somehow, they managed to come up with testimonies that a mom and dad can be proud of! Words from their heart that DO show how God has worked in their young lives. They were short, but sweet. No, they weren't stories that will knock your socks off. We did here several that night from other children that have had things like drug addiction and family abandonment to overcome. But, our boys had simple stories of how God has always been a part of their lives.....and maybe that is one of the reasons they don't have edge-of-your-seat conversion stories.

And, I have to hand it to them.....they didn't choke under pressure. They aren't comfortable up there in the spot light, but they survived! They more than survived. They showed that their lives are a testimony to God's grace and love. And that they are a work in progress.....just like the rest of us!

Hello, my name is Parker Gour. My testimony is a testimony of thanksgiving.

I have grown up in a Christian home and I’m thankful that my parents chose, even before I was born, to raise me this way. When I was five, my parents decided to homeschool me.

I am very thankful that part of my education has included a morning devotional, memory verses, creation education and an amazing Biblical Worldview class outside our home where I connected with many other teen believers.

All these things have worked to strengthen my faith in Christ and my understanding of His word. I am also thankful that my parents found their way to St. Andrews, where I have been influenced by many amazing people. Too many to list!

I am thankful that I have been able to be a part of not one, but two great youth groups. One here and one at another church.

Basically, I have spent 14 years learning about God and His word through my parents and all the Christians they have made sure to surround me with, so as far as my testimony goes, I guess you could say that I’ve always been a Christian.

But that is not the end of my testimony. In confirmation class, I learned from our study of Luke that Jesus always wants to have a good relationship with his followers. I am thankful that He knows me perfectly, but my testimony is that I want to know Him no matter how hard it gets. I need to remember that it cannot be as rough as being nailed to a cross for something someone else did.

Sadly, standing up here tonight is one of the hardest things I have ever had to do for my faith. As I studied and worked to get to testimony night, I have come to realize why it’s not enough to say I believe or even to live a well behaved life. I have to live a life for Christ.

Hello, my name is Noah Gour.

I don’t have a conversion testimony. I don’t have a “Road to Damascus” testimony. My life doesn’t look like a “darkness into the light” testimony.

But, we all live in darkness until we accept that we are sinners, and that we need to see God as El Elyon [God most High], and believe that He sent His only son down to die on the cross for us.

I am a sinner but I have been saved by God’s Grace and realize that he gave His son to die on the cross for my sake and that He is now my Adonai [Lord and Master].

In the past few years of my life, I have come to know God more and have spent an entire year learning his names.

I have learned that when I am about to do something wrong, I can always know that He, El Roi, [the God who Sees], is watching what I’m doing. And when I’m going through tough times, I know that he is always with me and guiding me as [Jehovah-sabaoth], the Lord of Hosts.

I also know that if I am ever in need of something and it is in His desire for me to have it, Jehovah-jireh will provide it for me.

I have accepted God as my God and know that Jesus is His son and that he died and rose again, and I have been sanctified in Christ by Jehovah-mekoddishkem [the Lord who sanctifies you].

I am Noah Gour and though it isn’t much, that is my testimony.

What did I learn from this?

I learned a valuable lesson. I learned that we should share our God stories more so that our children are able to see and remember how God works in our lives all the time. So they will recognize it more easily in their own lives. I think Linny at A Place Called Simplicity has it right with her Memorial Box Monday posts. You should check it out. And I think I might start doing my own MBM posts. Or at least doing something like that with my kids. Because we? Yep, have loads of stories to share about how God has worked in our lives!

Talent

2011-05-15T11:58:00.000-04:00

Guitar playing

Loud singing

Asian boy!

With accordion accompaniment!

Me thinks that living in the South may have a strange effect on them.

Can I just say that my life has gotten infinitely noisier since they discovered these talents!

What a Weekend!

2011-05-15T11:31:00.000-04:00

*Blogger had some kind of techinical difficulty the other day and took all posts down going back to a certian date in order to fix said issue. For whatever reason, it also took this post back to a date before it had been finished and therefore deleted part of it. I have re-posted it here, but because I don't know EXACTLY how it was, it is not exactly the same. Oh well!*

I don't know about you, but I had an amazing weekend!

I got married!

Well......I did.

Okay, so it was 17 years ago!

But, it was 17 years ago, Saturday, May 7th that we stood before our family and friends, and our God and pledged to love each other for life. Through thick and thin, for better or worse, richer or poorer. It was all in our wedding vows and we have kept them!

17 years ago I married my very best friend.

And we drove off into the sunset to begin our new life together!

That drive, lead us to this. Our older, much more mature selves. But, we are still learning and loving! Seventeen of the best years of my life and I have no doubt that there will be seventeen more and hopefully seventeen more and maybe seventeen more.....! And I know that none of you is gullible enough to think that it's been all Easy Street. But, isn't that was makes it all the sweeter? I think so.

And if that wasn't awesome enough, Sunday was Mother's Day! For me, these two go hand-in-hand anyway. Mother's Day began for me on the same day I married Paul. That is the day we became a family of three!

Granted, I was the step-mother and the dynamics of that are completely different when the mother is still very much a part of the child's life as well. But, Paul and Lizzie were a package deal and I loved and committed myself to both that day. And, never looked back!

We did it up right too! It started with being served breakfast in bed by 5 of my blessings and my wonderful husband. Then church. After church comes my favorite part. Our annual picnic at the beach! Followed by playing on the beach and we finished up the day with a dinner grilled by Paul for us and his parents and served on the deck he built for me three years ago! Wonderful is all I can say.

Crash

2011-05-04T13:16:00.000-04:00

I told you before that Paul dubbed this child "Crash" while we were in China. Claire's physical therapist says that it's because his head is.....well....ummm.....large. But, that he will grow into it! He manages to bang it at least one good time each day. Really.

In the mean time, ~~we will call him Lumpy.~~ we think he's a cute as he can be even if he does look like he went a few rounds with Rocky Balboa! And, I keep a bag of frozen peas on hand. At all times.

Because, by the time I posted this, Crash had already added a third lump to the middle of his forehead!

What is a mother to do?

By Request

2011-04-27T16:27:00.000-04:00

This is a recipe post for my sweet friend, Andrea. She has been asking for some recipe ideas since before we went to China. I'm sure you can guess that that hasn't made the top of my do-to list for obvious reasons! But today as I was making lunch I decided I would just do one. One at a time every few days or weeks until she's happy. Or I run out of fun, new recipes! So here goes.

And if you aren't interested in this awesome Chicken Noodle Soup recipe, just skip to the bottom to see a super cute dude eating said soup!

Oh, and Andrea, I know you said that your husband isn't crazy about soups because they aren't hearty enough for him. Well, I intend to change his mind! Do you see the picture of my husband over there? Does he look like the kind of man that could be satisfied with a dainty soup? Huh? No. This soup is kid friendly, teenager approved and man filling! Trust me.

Chelsea's Chicken Noodle

Ingredients:

1 small onion
carrots
2-3 stalks celery
3 or more cloves garlic
1-2 cups frozen corn
2 32 oz boxes of broth (I use Veggie)
salt
pepper
curry powder
Bragg Liquid Aminos
parsley
Kombu {optional-more on this later}
1 package egg noodles
Chicken

Instructions:

First brown the chicken in a skillet with olive oil. You can use boneless, skinless breast or I use tenderloins. How much depends on how much you like. We tend to go easy on the meat so I use about 1 tender per serving and this recipe will serve 8. You can use more if you are big meat eaters.

Dice onion, press garlic, slice carrots and celery and then saute in olive oil until onions are transparent. I do this in the pot I will use for the soup.

Next add the broth. I use two boxes (32 oz each) of veggie broth or if I don't have any on hand, I will use vegetable soup base mixed with water.

Cut the browned {or almost brown} chicken into bite sized pieces and add to the soup with 2 cups of frozen corn.

Turn the heat up to bring the soup to a boil and add the seasonings while you wait. I put in 3 or more Tbsp Bragg, a tsp curry powder, a thumb sized piece of Kombu {see package below}, some chopped parsley and salt and pepper to taste.

Turn down to a simmer and leave on until the carrots are tender, about 20 minutes. You can leave it on longer if you want.

See the Kombu in the soup. It's that green square in the bottom of the picture. I buy dried Kombu and tear off a piece to add to soups, sauces, grains and beans when cooking. Kombu is a sea vegetable that reconstitutes and releases it's nutrients into the cooking liquid. This is absorbed by your food and will infuse your foods with the highly alkalinizing minerals, iron and iodine. So, I use it often! {Insert Significant Source rolling her eyes at me!}

The last thing you do is add the package of noodles and let simmer for another 5-10 minutes. Take off the heat and serve!

I often make the soup up ahead of time, but do not add the noodles. You can refrigerate or freeze the soup, reheat and add the noodles later.

This soup is heavy on noodles and veggies so I can't see how it could not be classified as a hearty soup. It's so hearty in fact that my kids eat it with a FORK!

And the best part?

It fills teenagers!

And cute 3 year-olds with hollow legs!

HIs First Easter

2011-04-25T09:56:00.001-04:00

This was a lot of firsts all in one for the Li'l Emperor this week. It started when we had our first family portraits as a family of EIGHT! Eight y'all. Go ahead and feel bad for the photographer. She should be getting her Sainthood notification very shortly!

Just in case anyone in the area is interested, we used Lynn Cobb. Check her out at her website. She is awesome! Not only did she take amazing pictures of our large family, but she did it with an unbelievable amount of patience. I asked her to do them at the upper end of Church St. in downtown because I think that area captures the essence of Charleston living. As a family, we love to walk around downtown, so it made sense to us.

Well, anyway. Asher did great! All the kids did a wonderful job and Lynn really captured us. You can take a peek by clicking on this link. http://www.pictage.com/1032845 You have to sign the guestbook to view the pictures. Don't be afraid. Your information doesn't go anywhere and the only people that can see it are the photographer and me. Lynn already said that she doesn't even look.

Then of course, it was Easter. I can't believe so much time has flown by since Asher came home. It's been over two months since we were in China and meeting him for the first time!

You would not believe the amount of English he uses now. It's still mixed with Mandarin, which is very cute if I don't say so!

We attended Church on Saturday Night which is pretty normal for us for Easter. Our Church does an amazing outreach service at Boone Hall every year for Easter Sunday. It's a wonderful tradition and we used to volunteer to help in some capacity every year. We haven't in a while and a big part of that is our large family and the fact that the littlest ones have really bad reactions to bug bites. There are usually about 5000 people in attendance that morning and I believe it's on the gnat calendar way in advance because they attend by the droves! I don't know about the gnats where you live, but Charleston gnats have teeth!

Well, I don't know if Steve {our rector} noticed or not, but part way through the service Saturday Night, a bored Li'l Emperor thought it would be cute to start imitating him. Steve uses his hands while he speaks. So Asher started by coping all Steve's hand motions. Next thing I know, he's repeating the last few words of every sentence Steve says, to go with the hand motions. No amount of shushing could make him stop either. I finally had to threaten {between giggles} to take him out to the van. That did it! I know the people in front of us were happy.

Sunday morning found us bright and early with some excited kids. Asher was of course, clueless. This year I didn't put Easter Baskets on the table for the kids. I wanted them to focus on the Resurrection first. With that in mind, we did a Resurrection Egg Hunt, complete with Bible verses that explained the story of Easter.

The older children all took turns to read from the Bible.

And everyone got in on the action of locating all the Resurrection Eggs too!

Each egg contained a visual of the Easter Story. A toy donkey, a cup, a leather whip, a crown of thorns....you get the picture. And they got the picture, which is the important part!

It wasn't about the hunt, it was about the story.

Then after a some play time and cooking time, we had a lovely dinner together.

And surprise! Lizzie made it to dinner. I believe this is the first Easter dinner she's been too since sometime in high school. Sadly, it was also the last time we will see her for a while.

Lizzie will finish her junior year here at College of Charleston and move back to Lexington to find a job for the summer. Pray for her and her other family as this summer is set to be a rough one. Her step-father will be deployed overseas at the end of May for a year. This is the first time this has happened and I don't think any of them really know what to expect.

The kids had a hug fest before she headed back to campus to finish all her exams and papers.

While Paul drove Lizzie back, I had the chance to do a little egg dying with the little ones. I didn't buy a ton of eggs this year. Each little one ended up with only three eggs to dye, but they had a blast anyway!

Surprisingly, Asher really enjoyed this activity. Even more surprisingly, he did not make a huge mess!

Isabel is the reason we can't just forgo the egg dying. She really gets into it!

And some how comes up with some masterpieces! All she had to get this was a wax candle and the egg dye. I have no idea what she did!

We ended the day with a good ole fashioned candy egg hunt!

I hope each and every one of you had a glorious Easter Sunday with family and friends. I know we did! I assure you Asher did. He consumed more candy yesterday than he has since he left China! Thankfully, there is just a little left and then this is going to be a candy free home for a while.

Back in Time

2011-04-21T09:43:00.000-04:00

This post obviously isn't a recap of anything adoption related or a look back at how far we've come as an adoptive family.

It's about a little time travel! The kind of time travel that takes place when two boys got to go back to The Roaring Twenties! But, ahead as grown men. As an actor/producer and a director in Hollywood. It was a sort of back in time, ahead in time experiment, I guess!

I don't have to tell you that it was quite interesting to see my boys as grown men from a different time period! And right now, that is the only way I want to see my boys as grown men! Just so you know.

But, boy were they handsome in this time period! When Lizzie saw the thumbnail to this picture {before I told her what the pictures were all about}, she thought it was a picture of her Papa Shaw {my daddy}!

What was this all about? Well, our homeschool student council hosted a 1920's themed mystery party that our twins attended. In costume! Along with about 30 other 8th through 12th graders. Mostly in costume.

The party was apparently a huge success. I can tell you that my boys had an absolute blast and we feel so blessed that while some teen boys are loitering at the mall, hanging off their "girlfriends" as I saw this spring break week, my boys are perfectly happy to be having G-rated fun under parental supervision with their friends!

This mystery party involved some of the top actors, actresses, agents, directors and producers of the time. All trying to solve the who done it mystery while also trying to make alliances with other actors, directors and producers to complete an award winning movie!

Based on how confident Noah looks here, I am afraid we may be in big trouble.

And no! My children did not take up smoking for the night. They simply thought these fake cigarettes we found at the local costume store were hilarious! And it did make them seem more authentic. I have to admit that it was pretty neat that you could "blow smoke". Right up Noah's practical joke side!

Who ever said that homeschoolers are unsocialized has never hung out with my kids for a week!

These are a Few of My His Favorite Things

2011-04-19T12:56:00.002-04:00

Before you break out in song from the reference to Sound of Music.....oh, is that just me? Well fine. Before I break out in song {yes, I know you don't want to hear it}, I thought I'd share a few photos from this morning's ~~recess~~ playtime.

As we've gotten to know our boy and he's gotten to do/have/experience things I'm not sure he ever did/had/experienced before, it's been pretty easy to see what he likes and doesn't like. He's easy to read like that.

I put broccoli in the buggy at the store and say "Yummy". Asher looks at me, shakes his head and says "No yummy!" His likes are just as easy to distinguish as his dis-likes are.

There are two things that Asher asks for as soon as he wakes every morning. Cereal! Bicycle! In that order, too. He races to get dressed {in his Cwars shirts, of course} and get to the kitchen for some grub. A bowl of cereal later and he is ready to ride!

And ride and ride!

Like the pink shades? He found those yesterday and has decided they are the bomb! Claimed them for himself and I dare you to touch them. He will have a fit.

What could be cooler than a Spider Man bike and pink polka dot shades? I mean, really. Does it get any better?

Yes, he cuts his sister off like this all the time. And, runs into her! Don't worry about her too much. She's got gumption. She will take him down in b-ball!

When we need a break from biking, basketball is the fall back activity of choice!

Then we have to play with "My trucks!" that his super cool Godparents gifted him with last week.

These are just a few of his favorite things!

Now, I'm off to find a copy of The Sound of Music somewhere.

At least I know that Isabel will watch it with me!

Bulldozers 101

2011-04-12T10:08:00.000-04:00

So, this is what Godfathers are good for!

Thanks Steve, for making my little man so happy!

And just so you know, he said Mommy's a goober, Steve is awesome on the ride home.

Gee, thanks for that too.

Sand and Surf!

2011-04-11T21:48:00.000-04:00

So, what's your guess? Did he loathe or love his first beach day? Do you think he sat in the beach chair for hours on end because he didn't like the sand and was afraid of the big wide ocean?

Well.....he was definitely careful to contemplate the awesomeness of it.......

For about 2 minutes!

Then he spent hours running!

And jumping.

In and out of the surf.

Back and Forth.

Up and down Kiawah.

I have a feeling we will be spending quite a bit of our summer here!

How Is It Really Going?

2011-04-08T16:00:00.001-04:00

Mostly, it is going very well. I've told you we have a happy, healthy bouncing ~~baby~~ boy! He is the sweetest little booger around. He wakes up, bleary eyed but happy each morning and ready to ~~wreak havoc~~ tackle the day. First he tackles his brothers in full-on bear hugs, usually before they have even gotten out of their bunks!

First time in at Monkey Joe's for our little monkey!

He dresses himself.....and redresses himself until he finds just the right combination of pants and shirt that he wants. Oh. my. That drives me only slightly nuts! I honestly have no idea what he is doing, but he is seriously picky about his clothes. Even Isabel can choose an outfit and stick with it usually!

And, he is totally in love with "Cwars". That would be Cars to you and me. Not sure where the w comes from, but it is absolutely adorable and I will not let anyone correct him! He loves the movie, the toys and anything and everything with cwars on it! We've watched the movie two or twenty times in the last month. Just so you know. And praise the Lord, our clothing supplier {that would be Charlene and little, but bigger than Asher, CJ} must have totally been into Cars too, because there must have been 5 Cars shirts in the latest deposit of hand-me-downs. Talk about excited!

Showing off one of his many beloved Cwars shirts!

It was a sad day when I would not let him wear the dirty "Cwars" shirt he pulled out of the hamper last week after discovering that there weren't any clean ones left. Woody and Buzz Lightyear became the back-up choices. Poor Woody.

Once dressed and brushed, the boy is ready for cereal. Cereal. That was one of his first consistent English words. Who knew cereal was so important! That boy loves him some Cereal though! He can put away two bowls.....and a yogurt and a banana if they happen to be around. This one is going to be the one that bankrupts us at Whole Foods.

He is slightly less motivated to do chores though. Okay, he down right hates them. And he only has one beyond the regular clean-up-behind-yourself stuff. He has to fold kitchen rags and dish towels. What? It's the entry level chore around these parts.....and well, he's entry level! So the mean mom that I am, I make him sit until he does it. Oh, for crying out loud! There is only one load every few days anyway. And Claire does half. She's still entry level. But, the emperor balks at doing chores for some reason! So Claire does hers and off she goes. That motivates him! Until next time, when he refuses again and has to stay. Again.

Oh well, bud. You came to the wrong family to get out of chores. Just ask Parker and Noah! They have been trying for 12 years and haven't had any success.

Another English word he uses a lot.....I mean besides "no"? Bicycle! That boy loves to ride his bicycle in the driveway. Problem is, he wants to do it every morning! He pitched a fit because I said no this morning and told him that it was raining. That did not compute. Finally, after arguing with him for a few minutes it dawned on me {poor guy, mom is slow}, that he had no clue what I meant. So, I parked his little self on the front stoop. And held my hands out and said "rain!". He caught on.

He also loves to play with toys. All kinds of toys! Right now the doctor kit is a favorite. He also likes to fight over toys with Claire. That has been one of the hardest things. See, Claire is going through her own little issues right now too. Half the time, she loves Asher to pieces and even says so! The other half....not so much.

{Most of the time} they love playing together and have a ton of fun!

Claire loves her little brother!

Asher has a tendency to snatch toys and he will hide things under his legs when he is done playing with them, just so she can't have them. If you make him share with her, he pitches a fit. Yes, screaming and kicking are involved in fit pitching. And Claire? She is fed up! So now she is snatching toys and whining when she doesn't get her way and pitching fits too.

Great day!

If Claire sits in my lap, Asher has to sit in my lap. If Asher gets a hug from someone, Claire wants to know why they didn't hug her. If you say something nice to Asher, you had better say something nice to Claire. Claire hugged a stranger {to her, someone I know}, the other day, because Asher did. Claire doesn't always want to hug us! She would never hug a stranger! But, there was no way Asher was getting a hug and she wasn't.

Aside from the fact that the boy packs away food like he is going into hibernation, I have to say I'm impressed with his eating. In China, he was soooo very picky. And, he wanted mostly junk. Here? Well, it's kinda funny. I put the plate of food in front of him. He says no and shakes his head. I say yes and nod. Then we all ignore him and begin to eat. He sits. And watches. And then? He eats. It's kind of a "if you can't beat um, join um" thing. But, he usually eats it all And asks for more! So, I think he is just resisting the new foods, until he tastes them and decides they aren't all that bad after all. Whew! So glad we don't have food issues.

The boy loves his bath, loves riding in the car, doesn't mind his car seat and sits {mostly} quietly for church! What more could we ask for?

Future Shadowmoss Shark!

Except maybe a little more sleep. That would be nice.

Asher {mostly} sleeps through the night. But, he cries out in his sleep some and even thrashes around. He is saying "no, no" when this happens. I have no idea what is going on, but I know he isn't awake. We can usually settle him down easily. But, it happens as often as three times a night or not at all. There is no rhyme nor reason to it, either.

But, he sure loves his snuggles in the morning!

I'm not gonna lie. Adoption is not for wimps. There are times when I think I'm at the end of my rope with two preschoolers running around.

Then, I look down and find there is always more rope. Some days I'd like to use that rope to tie them up! But, mostly I'm having a blast!

My handsome guys!

And pretty girls!

Yes!

2011-03-31T15:28:00.002-04:00

YES!

We are still here!

YES!

We have been very busy with our busy boy!

YES!

We have had a few appointments that have helped us get to know our boy better.

Want to know what we found out?

I bet you do!

First off, and this came as no surprise to us at this point, there is no evidence {as seen with the naked eye} that Asher has CP. Cerebral Palsy. You know, his "special need". Cerebral Palsy is what got him on the waiting child list. Cerebral Palsy can be a pretty scary diagnosis, especially when all you know is what is on a few sheets of paper known in the adoption world as "a medical file". And all you can see are a couple of grainy old photos. So, I believe Cerebral Palsy is the reason that boy waited and waited on the list.

We didn't have a CT scan and see no reason for one at this point. He pretty much looks and acts like an ~~ordinary~~ extraordinary three year old boy!

Like any good international adoption parents, we also had him tested for everything under the sun. Eleven vials of blood, one urine specimen and a stool sample later {TMI?}......WE STILL HAVE A HEALTHY BOY! Everything that needed to, came back negative.

Some even better news is that Asher's titers came back that all the vaccines he had in China were good! So, he is actually up to date on all that and won't need anything until he turns four.

What else did we learn?

We learned that Asher has a head full of cavities! Bad genetics? Too much junk? Not enough brushing? I don't know. Probably a combo deal. It doesn't matter now, anyway. We have a head full of cavities so we just have to deal with it.

By-the-way, he ~~really enjoyed~~ tolerated going to the dentist really well. He followed Claire's lead all the way. She had an appointment too, so we used this as an opportunity to let him see how it was done. And it worked!

Claire hopped in the chair for her annual x-rays!

Asher hopped in the chair...

And tried to give himself the x-rays!

Oh, that boy of mine!

What can you do....except snap pictures, of course!

Then it was time for cleanings. Claire used to only sit in my lap, but with little brother watching? Well, there was no way she wasn't going all the way this time! Up in the big chair is the only way to go when showing little brother's how it's done.

Open wide!

Monkey see, monkey do!

Good news for Claire!

No cavities!

Bad news for Asher.

He's going to loose a few damaged front teeth.

Needs a few crowns.

And about a dozen fillings.

Great visit for Claire and her pretty smile.

And well, Asher got on his zebra and rode off .....'cause it seemed like the thing to do at a time like this. You know, with all this dental work to look forward too.

It's what I would do!

First Days

2011-03-16T17:53:00.000-04:00

So far, Asher has stolen the hearts of many here in Charleston, SC. He flirts with our friends, enchants the neighbors and has his Godparents and Grandparents right where he wants them!

Isabel is smitten.....and her mother-hen tendencies have kicked in big time!

And big brothers?

Are the bomb!

Especially when they play basketball with you, and give you piggy back rides. And they boys say that we can keep him because he is at least as cute as YoYo!

Whew. Thank goodness for that!

For Asher's part, he has learned their English names, but continues to call them GeGe (GuhGuh for big brother) and JieJie (GiaGia for big sister).

The English word he uses constantly?

No.

Hmmmm, I wonder why?

The rest of the language is not so interesting to him yet.

His first church experience wasn't so bad. He actually sat for all of the service and was......well, not as noisy as usual for him! I personally, was very impressed because I figured one of us was going to missing church for a while until Asher got acclimated to the situation. We will see how next week goes.

This boy? Is fearless! He climbs, runs and jumps with total abandon! His exuberance is refreshing.....and also a little scary for Mama!

And, after his first doctor's appointment, during which 11 vials of blood were drawn for a battery of tests, Mama took him to get a little bicycle. I know it was an indulgence. But with all the other boy stuff we already had, it was the only thing we needed to buy.

And Claire is so thankful not to have to share her's anymore!

Because, that was not her favorite part of having a little brother.

I just knew you wanted to see picture proof!

Home

2011-03-14T23:14:00.000-04:00

I hope everyone will forgive me for my abrupt absence here, but to semi-quote my friend Anna, and put it bluntly, re-entry is hard! You spend three weeks on the other side of the world, living in hotels and eating out everyday, devoting all your attention to that one little soul you are responsible for at the time, and BAM! You are back in the real world, on this side of the world, that is getting up when you were going down, that means cooking and cleaning and sharing with all five blessings at home.

Not that I'm not happy, thrilled, oh so thankful to be home. I missed home. I missed my kids so, so much! It's just that it takes time to pull it all together enough to sit down and put something here for everyone to see.

Coming home from an adoption trip is not like ending a vacation. It's more like starting something than ending something. The adoption trip has ended. Life as that child knew it, has ended. But, coming home is starting something. Starting life at home as a family of seven. And believe it or not, one more child does make a difference!

It's a good difference, but a difference all the same. And right now, it's kickin' my butt! Of course, it doesn't help that I volunteered to be the coordinator of our homeschool Father Daughter Dance.....that was scheduled for 6 days after we got home. So, in addition to introducing our new son into our family life, unpacking, dealing with jet lag, teaching co-op classes, taking kids to drama, art and composition classes, doing all the laundry, and cooking for the first time in three weeks, I was also working non-stop to make sure the dance came off without a hitch.

So, down to the nitty-gritty! What you have all been waiting for. How is The L'il Emperor doing? In a family? A large family? Where he has to share us and just about everything else. And he can't always have his way....or what he wants? And we drive right on past McDonald's without a second glance!

Well......

Better than expected on many levels. The flights home were looooong. We had our guide explain to him before we left that we were going to go on three planes and that it would take all day and night to get home. He said he didn't want to wear the seat buckle. We figured that out on the flight to Guangzhou when he sneakily unbuckled every chance he got! She then explained to him that he had to wear the buckle!

He spent the first flight playing and listening to music with the headphones......oh, and pressing the call button for the flight attendants! Nice. We landed in Korea and let him play in the play area for a while before our next flight. That was a nice outlet for him. Because that next flight? Yeah, that's the one that lasts thirteen hours! He spent the first three hours watching T.V. and eating dinner......oh, and pressing the call button for the flight attendants! Yep. Even from the bathroom!

He spent the next hour screaming. And the next four or five, sleeping. Thankfully! Then he was back up and ready to go! But, there was no place to go. So that made for an interesting few hours with a mommy and daddy working on no sleep. When we finally landed in Atlanta, we had to get into line with hundreds of others to have our passports checked and stamped and to turn in his brown envelope from the consulate. Well, that darn brown envelope meant that after standing in line for 45 minutes to have our passports looked at, we then had to go to the Immigration processing room. And wait. Wait in a room full of people, most of whom were waiting on green cards, and one other adoptive family. Wait for one officer to process the 15 or so files in front of us so she could get to us. Thankfully, as the room got more full, they sent another officer. After another hour, they tore open our brown envelope, typed a few things in the computer and sent us on our way. To get our checked bags so we could walk them through customs and re-check them. Then we raced to get our flight home only to find it delayed! We finally made it home around mid-night. Twenty-six hours after we left our hotel in China! Whew.

I have to say that even though the paperwork for international adoption is nerve wracking, that flight home is brutal. I think it's the worst part of the whole process!

Home? Well home was a sight for sore eyes. And an eye opening experience for a little someone. The first few days were a little difficult. He wanted to explore everything, naturally. But, there were things we didn't want him into. His "push every single button" tendency is not as bad as it was in China. He still pushes buttons he shouldn't push, just not every single!

I thought he would be insanely jealous of his brothers and sisters. Not so. He adores them! He and Claire do have an occasional scuffle over a toy. But, for the most part he seems to really enjoy having all the kids around. He is very upset when we have to drop someone off somewhere for something. The boys take a class on Friday and Isabel takes some on Tuesday. He calls for them until they return! It is really sweet.

He is eating much better! He has tried things I didn't think he would try and eaten things I didn't think he would eat.

He chases Piper, the cat, loves the two little sister-dogs and is absolutely terrified of our sweet, harmless beast of a black lab, Georgia. He has locked me in the sun room twice because I walked out there to do something and that is where Georgia is being kept right now. I guess he thinks that she can open the door if it isn't locked so he keeps a close watch on that door!

The hardest things is sleeping. He cries at nap time and bedtime, which he rarely did in China. He also cries out in his sleep a lot at night. That part is very sad. I don't know if he is re-living that moment when he his foster parents left......or the times we told him no. Maybe it's the time I put him in time out at dinner that upset him so much? Or could it be that he is remembering something we don't even know about?

He has learned very little English yet. At least to speak it. He seems to understand a lot of it perfectly well. And he answers completely to Asher now. We called him Jun An in China because it was the only thing he would answer too. As for speaking. He still goes on and on in Mandarin as if we understand him. He doesn't seem to get frustrated either. You know, that no one has a clue what he is saying!

His nick name? It's Crash. He earned this name in China because the child leads with his head. And it often results in a knot on it! I do believe that he hit his head at the very least, once a day in China! Well, it hasn't gotten better here. Last night he tripped over a root, running in the dark, and landed, face first on those darn gumballs that drop from sweet-gum trees. The side of his face looks like someone drug him on the asphalt! Nice. And just in time for our first post placement visit on Saturday!

And life? Has been crazy enough, that I have taken very few pictures. I have no great shots of him with the other kids to share yet.

I guess I better get on that!

This is what I know.

2011-03-04T08:56:00.002-05:00

I have only known my son for 17 days. Not long at all in the grand scheme of things. But, in that little bit of time, this is what I've come to learn about Asher:

Asher is a Strong Willed Child. As in, he should have been the cover model for the book! That iron will is going to take him places one day.
Asher has no boundaries.....yet. He feels he has the freedom to do and touch whatever he wants. He walks up to strangers and looks at their things. He put the lid on some lady's cup in the park. He took a pen out of a waitress's shirt. He takes things off your plate, punches every button he sees and runs off to wherever he wants to go.

He has a smile that will charm the socks off you! And, he knows it.
He is very, very, very smart! And a wee bit manipulative.
He LOVES his daddy!
He tolerates me.

He loves toy cars, buses, airplanes and trucks.
He doesn't care about books.
He loves to be outside!
He loves to eat......as long as it isn't green....or vegetable.....or generally healthy for you. Basically, he likes McDonald's nuggets and fries. Oh, and pringles, oreos and chocolate.
He does love peanut butter and eats it by the spoonful! And he loves yogurt. At least those are healthy. Just don't tell him that!
He loves to take showers and baths.
He loves blowing bubbles and playing with playdough.

He is fiercely independent. But, wants you nearby.
He is a good sleeper....but, he is still wrestling demons and he cries in his sleep most nights.
He is very attached to his Mandarin language and doesn't seem to want to learn English yet. That's going to change in a few hours when he realizes there is no one to translate for him.
He is nervous around other children.....for a few minutes.

He can throw an excellent tantrum when he doesn't get his way!
And there is something in his eyes that lets you know, he's had a rough 3 years 9 months....

This is what I know:

I can't promise that the rest of his life is going to be carefree or all happy days. But, I can promise, that no matter what, we will be here for him. Even when he thinks he doesn't want us. Even when he says he doesn't need us. Even when he's had a bad day, like today, when nothing seemed to make him happy and all he did was whine and throw fits. At the end of the day, he is still my son and I hugged him and told him I loved him. He wiped my kisses off! Oh well. Some days will be like that.

The Red Couch

2011-03-03T02:17:00.000-05:00

The tradition of all Chinese adoption traditions is the Red Couch photo. I have no idea how it got started. I do know that most adoptive families used to stay at The White Swan hotel on Shamian Island because it was nice an very near to the American Consulate offices. The Consulate has since moved, but most families still stay on the Island because it is very adoption friendly.

The red couches are part of the decor of The White Swan hotel lobby areas. And most adoptive families, no matter where they stay, make their way to the White Swan to plop their child on a red couch for a photo shoot. Because it is a tradition.

Anyone care to remember what Claire thought of that tradition? Yeah, it wasn't pretty! She and her betrothed, YoYo, screamed bloody murder all over that little adoption tradition.....in their Chinese dress clothes, no less!

Nice.

Asher's day was different. You see, Asher = big ole ham.

Some people call it, being photogenic....but, I know different.....HAM!

Oh, the cuteness is killing me!

Back row: Jackson age and Tao Ming Zhu ....or Judy....or Callie Jo {age 12}

Front Row: Kimi {3}, Jon Paul {3}, Jonathan {4}, Asher {3}, Dylan {4} and Will {3}

I posted a few of the best. When you try to photograph 8 children at once, you are not going to get that prefect shot. At least, I won't. But, these were pretty cute!

Here is one of the entire travel group.

Just for cuteness sake.....a few of the boy cutting up.....and only he can!

A little Kung Fu action.

And some goofiness that almost landed him in the pond!

I kid you not!

All Done!

2011-03-02T07:15:00.000-05:00

Today was the big day, of the trip to Guangzhou! It was our consulate appointment. We were up at the crack of o'dark thirty and traipsed down to the East wing of our hotel.....which is like three blocks away, for breakfast. Then we boarded a bus to the consulate with the others in our group. Once there, we had to pass through two security points and leave all electronics at the desk.....so no pictures. The next part was when we took our oath and then we turned in all our paperwork for Asher's visa. Everything was inspected in front of us and we were told it was all good! Now we just have to wait until the visa is ready.

I almost choked in the window where we turned everything in. The Chinese guy processing everything mistakenly said "his visa will be ready August 14th!" What he meant, I soon found out, was that it would EXPIRE August 14th. BIG DIFFERENCE!

Good news? Asher's visa will be ready tomorrow afternoon! Bad news? We didn't know about the change in the process that shortened the time until after we were in China! So, even though his visa will be ready Thursday afternoon, we can't leave until Saturday morning, because our flights were already booked based on it being ready Friday afternoon. But, it's good news for those coming behind us. You don't have to stay as long because they do your oath and paperwork on the same day!

Even though I could not take picture in the consulate, I got a few before and after. There are some pretty cute ones of other kids in our group too!

This is Dillon with his dad, Mark. He is four and a cutie pie!

This is Jon Paul. It's hard to get one of him smiling so I did great by surprising him when he wasn't paying attention! His parents are right in front of him.

The little button on the left is Sophie. She is Dillon's sister and she was adopted over a year ago. But, the big girl, Tao Ming Zhu, is a new adoptee! She is absolutely beautiful and I'll try to get a better picture soon!

Here is one of my favorite little girls, Kimi. I fell in love with Kimi months ago, when she was on the list waiting to be matched. I think her parents, Kathy and Mike, are wonderful. God sure knows what he is doing!

This is Jackson with his mom, Beth. Sweet, sweet boy!

All soon to be US citizens!

And of course, Asher!

Anyone want to take a guess at why Asher is usually on Paul's shoulders in pictures?

To celebrate, we took the customary "Red Couch" photos and then had dinner together. I'll be waiting until tomorrow to post those famous pictures, but for tonight, I'll leave you with this....

Dinner.

Look closely......because that is no chicken!

That would be pigeon.

Did I mention that we also had a group dinner, all set up by our Chinese guide. Cantonese special food = pigeon! And before you ask, yes Dad, I ate it. Hello, my name is Chelsea and I ate roast pigeon thigh {not the head} in China.

It was actually {clears throat} not horrible.

But, I won't admit that it was good.

Dinner?

2011-02-28T03:52:00.002-05:00

Today we had Asher's TB test read.....and he is negative! So yay! Everything is going well and with will have our consulate appointment on Wednesday and come home on Saturday. After our little trip to the medical center, our guide wanted to take us over to the markets in Guangzhou. We have been through there before, so I knew what to expect.

So I figured, what better time to buy the ingredients to make an authentic Chinese dinner for Asher's and Claire's Godparents! Lucky people, right???

For an appetizer, I thought we would start with some little tasty snake skin bites! Yum, yum, come get you some!

As a main course, I was thinking I would grind up these prime choice black ants for biscuit making and then work on a nice hearty stew!

Some of these gigantic mushrooms will give it a nice flavor and then...

I'm thinking baby turtle and

And lizard! Yes, that should make a great stew, don't you think?

Oh, I know what you are thinking! You wish you were their Godparents right? Sorry, we couldn't choose you all! Maybe next time!

And the best part? Dessert of course!

Sugared Scorpions!

I picked out some fat juicy ones just for Steve!

Oh, don't worry. It will be organic and all-natural! I'm sure.

You know, come to think of it.... we should have plenty, so come on over next week!

Any takers?