Mandy

Mandy is out of surgery. She is doing well, and we have been able to control her pain with a mild pain killer. The doctor said she was a super patient... I think she "buttered" him up with her note she gave to him before surgery. Really, she just has a wonderful, grateful,and loving heart, and she wanted to share with her doctor the appreciation she felt for his skill and hard work and for her "new" ear. This surgery should conclude her ear reconstruction; however, we have at least one follow up visit to Little Rock probably sometime next week.
When she is feeling up to it, we will take and then post pictures of her new ear. Thank you all for the prayers that you have prayed on her behalf over the last year. We have certainly felt them, and we are confident that they have blessed our wonderful surgeon's hands.

Reflections...

There are some days that I just beat myself up over not getting enough accomplished. I have felt that way everyday this week. I have lots of "projects" started and haven't managed to complete one. Everything just seems chaotic and "topsy-turvy"... and then I reflect back over the last year, the last month, the last week and realize that there has been a lot going on in this family. All of this reminds me that it is okay to give myself a little break...

Just a little reflection...

2008

1)We HOMESCHOOL!

2)We went through 4 different surgeries with 2 different children.

3)We added another child to our family.

4)We bought a house and tried to sell one.

5)We have 3 boys involved in baseball(4 if you count the "big" boy in our house,who just happens to love baseball), and 2 princess in dance class(that means practice,dress rehersal and a recital).

6)Did I mention, we homeschool?(haha)I love spending my days with my children and teaching them, but homeschooling means having them with me all the time. I love it; however, I have to remember this adds a different dimension to my family. It helps me to accept that my house will never be perfectly clean and that I can only accomplish just so much.

...and now in 2009, we continue to be busy and to keep ourselves busy. We have already been through one surgery(Levi's) and are preparing for a second(Mandy's) coming up. We will be closing(Praise God!!) on the sale of our old house at the end of next week. The kids are involved in dance and music lessons which will be closely followed by baseball season and dance recital. I have been working on organizing the school room (this is not going as quickly as I would like) and ultimately my house. Once I get the "school room" running smoothly, it will bring our controlled chaos to one room of the house instead of all over it. I am also trying to slowly change the decor around our new house. In our spare time Brad and I are busy painting, building shelves, and changing(modernizing) things. This process seems so slow to me; however, I am trying to keep it all in perspective.

Thank You God that you give me the insight to reflect and the strength to accomplish all that we do!

On a side note: adding to our fun... Mandy will be undergoing her 4th and final surgery this coming Monday. She is a little anxious and very excited to complete the ear reconstruction. We are being allowed to see such sweet glimpses of her heart... she is the most worried about talking to her doctor. She wants to tell him"that I think he is a terrific doctor, and to thank him for the terrific job he has done on my ear." I stand humbled... God is certainly Amazing, isn't He?!

Snow Days

Looking out across our front yard... The Snow Gang...minus Nate

Beautiful Snow Bunnies

Look,Momma! I found an ?...an Icicle.

Most of the pictures I can get of the older boys....full of sillinessA group effort to build a big snowman...they all got tired and quit before he was finished.

A Battleship...

Mandy's "littlest snowman"

Since we homeschool, snow days aren't nearly as exciting for our kiddos. We stay the coarse, and we school each day even if the weather is bad. However, Our kiddos do love the snow. So, when school work was finished, the kids bundled up and headed out the door. (Nate wasn't feeling so great and opted out of the cold,wet fun. I thought he made a wise decision... we really would like to avoid as much sickness as possible.) The other kids had great fun. They played their "annual" snow football game. This year they had a much wider space in which to play. They explored the snow and built many creations including a snowman and a battleship. I love to see their creativeness at work! I spent only a little time outdoors with them, taking pictures most of the time. I kind of opted out of getting too cold and wet. We are expecting more snow in the month of February, and if that comes about,maybe I will join in on the snow fun then!

I really love the beauty of snow. Everything,even the ugliest tree, becomes beautiful under layers of the glistening white snow. I love to see my kids run, slide, play and laugh, but I hate the "bundling" up... the piles of wet clothes,shoes,mittens, and hats. Most times it takes longer to get them ready to go out than they actually stay outdoors. Does anybody have any suggestions to make this easier?

Celebrations...

"What is this that I am making momma?...Oh! an OX for the year 2009" "I like making puppets,momma!"
Singing In English and Chinese...

The Ribbon Dance...

" See How fast you can make it twirl!"

"I think it goes like this,Levi."

The Dragon dance...there was one very long dragon and a second smaller dragon(Mandy and Friend) Precious...our blessings!

Precious in His Sight!!

We took all of the kiddos to a Chinese Spring Festival(also known as Chinese New Year)on Saturday. This years celebration wouldn't disappoint. There were fun crafts,dances,singing,musical instruments,and lots of food. The kids had just as much fun as last year. The little ones enjoyed the crafts to make, and they loved participating in all the songs and dance. The big boys didn't quite know what to do with themselves until....they met some girls. Nolan's "boredom" had put him in a rather "ugly" mood(don't you love when your discipline backfires...he wanted us to send him to the car,haha). Then he ran into these girls who happen to "like" cars(speaking his language). Since he had someone to converse with,his day got much better. Mom and dad were very grateful for that! Mandy and her friend M had a blast together. They sang with the choir (Mandy really didn't know all the songs,but she loved being with everyone), danced the ribbon dance and just had to participate in the dragon dance as well. Mom and dad were busy keeping up with all of the kiddos and taking pictures. We did manage to squeeze in a few moments to visit with friends. We left Saturday afternoon and all of us were extremely tired, but we had such a great time that everyone was ready for next year!

Gung Hay Fat Choy

Making Crafts for the New Year

Painting folding fans...

Getting daddy's help...

Look what we made...
Lots of food.... Noodles,rice, chicken,beef,veggies,and egg rolls

Today the kids and I decided to have some fun, and it tied in with our World History studies. We celebrated the Chinese Spring Festival. We invited friends to share in our fun celebration. After all, the fun of Chinese New Year lies in celebrating with family and friends. We had lots of fun crafts for the kids to make. The girls, and little ones loved these activities. The big boys just wanted to run around outside and goof off. So, we let those who wanted to make of the crafts do so, and the others could do as they wished. We fixed an Asian food lunch complete with chopsticks. It took a bit longer than I had anticipated to get everything ready,so I think the kids were very hungry to say the least. They ate lots of the food (more like inhaled it), and then they were up and out the door. About thirty minutes later, they were back again hoping for the dessert of scrumptious brownies and almond cookies that our friends brought for us to enjoy. We made crafts,shared stories of our trips to China, ate lots and played lots. We just had an all around enjoyable day.

P.S. My "big" boys who were too big to make the crafts.... well they wanted to make them after their friends left. Crazy kids...

A Visit from Nana

Loving from Aunt Ce...

Reading with Nana...

Loving from Nana...

Hugs for Mandy...

Hugging cousins...

The boys...I think there is Mischief written all over those faces...

The kids were so excited when my mom(Nana) called to say that she was coming for a visit this weekend. She,my sister, and my niece and nephew piled in the car and drove from Texas for a short 2 day visit. We didn't do anything overly exciting, but it was fun just having family in for a visit. The kids,especially Levi and my nephew J., played almost non stop. My niece,E.(she is 2yrs old) grew very close to Mandy. I do believe that Mandy was the only one she gave hugs willingly to. The kids had a great deal of fun just being together. My mom, my sister, and I spent lots of time talking and catching up. Along with lots of "gabbing", my sis and I made a couple of "tied" blanket/throws which we had originally planned to do during the Thanksgiving Reunion. Since we ran out of time over that busy week, we decided that this visit would be a good one in which to complete that project. We were able to get two blankets done in record time considering that we had 8 kids running around this house. I do have to sing praises once again for the blessing of this huge house. We never felt crowded. There were plenty of bathrooms, and everyone had a bed to sleep in(not that the kids slept in one...they all wanted to sleep on the floor watching movies). It turned into a very relaxed and comfortable weekend shared with the people we love.

Books,Books...Oh How I love to read!

A friend of mine is hosting a book giveaway on her blog(you can link to her blog in the right hand corner of mine and join in the fun/she is also selling candles to help with expenses for their upcoming adoption). This giveaway got me to thinking about some of my favorite books. As many of you know I was a kindergarten teacher for many years, and my favorite part of any day was storytime or anytime that I got to share books with my kiddos. One of my favorite authors during my teaching career was Jan Brett(author of The Mitten,Gingerbread Baby and many more). When my boys were still itty -bitty, I read a book to them entitled When Daisy Comes Home by Jan Brett. This story was one of our favorites, and the boys and I read it over and over. As with all things as time went by this favorite was replaced by others. This brings us to the present,to the book giveaway, and my reason for this post. When this book came to mind, I went on line and searched a little information on it. I read through the review and BAM! it struck me... This book is about a little girl from China. Do you know where the setting for this book took place?... yep, Guilin and the Li River.You can read more about the book on www.janbrett.com. When the boys and I began reading this book several years ago, we could never have guessed that we would go across the ocean to adopt a sister and to tour this very river. Another of my very favorite books was one that I read a very long time ago as a little girl. It was entitled Mandy by Julie Andrews Edward(yes of Sound of Music fame). This book was my absolute favorite as a child. The original copywrite date is 1971, and I still have my original copy. A 30 year anniversary addition is now out and available for purchase. This book told the story of a young orphan girl(about 7yrs old) who lived in an orphanage. It details all the adventures, hopes and dreams of this little girl. Now, when we were selecting a name for our 7 yr old daughter, I hadn't recalled the name of this book(I promise!)... but take a look...
All of this made me realize(really slapped me in the face),yet again, that God was planning this all along...even back to when I was a little girl...