Catching up...

Our sunshine boy who loves to be outside.


Making Christmas cookies. Otherwise known as ritz crackers and peanut butter...

dipped in chocolate. I'm thrilled that I have a child old enough and neat enough to dip for me. I'll pass on that part of the job. :)
Kaitlyn found her swimsuit. Then she discovered that Davis had gone outside. She thought the addition of mittens, hat, and coat prepared her for the great outdoors. I wonder how long she would have lasted in this getup?
Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without! Megan is becoming the third generation of my family to be infamous for holey socks. She needs a Penny Wright to take pity on her. :D
Okay, I told the poor kid to dump the wrecks in the trash, put on another pair, and we bought a ten pack (without holes) the next time we were in Wallyworld.

Comfort

I have four kids howling with joy over a marble rack in the other room. The tree is lit, cookies are baked, presents are wrapped, and we just finished a warm dinner. It's a wonderful life.
I know that for others this is a really difficult time. Death, grief, illness, heartache, hardships, and poverty have deprived many of the joy we are experiencing. Perhaps this song will provide some comfort.

Last Year at this Time...

we were waiting...and waiting...and waiting to bring this precious bundle home from China.We'd gotten our referral in August and our agency believed we'd travel in November or December. But in December we were still waiting on documents. It was a difficult Christmas.
I heard this song last year. I bawled for an hour. It hit pretty close to home.

This year we get to celebrate the joyful ending in this song.
Merry Christmas.

Eric Ludy - Depraved Indifference

I found this on someone else's blog. I found it very moving. Maybe you will too.

Snow

For a southern China girl, our little one doesn't have any problems with snow. She loves to be out in it. Her comments after the first snowfall were:

"Eat. Snow."
"Play, Frosty."

Guess what we've been watching. :D

Megan

Megan is our natural athlete. She's constantly on the move. She swings, jumps, runs, bikes, crouches, crawls, slides, hops, roller-skates, hikes, and is often upside down. Seeing her on the trampoline is terrifying. She's doing gymnastics this year. It appears to be a good fit.The other day she was on roller skates. Imagine the effect of roller skates back and forth. All. Day. Long.
She's the only person I know who cleans the bathroom while roller skating.

Caught in the act...

Wanna guess what's in the bag?Well, now we know that the top of the fridge is no longer secure.
So much for remorse! :P

Happy Birthday

This was Kaitlyn's first birthday with us. I don't know what she did last year, but her first birthday was in the hospital having heart surgery to close a valve.
Being the super-dooper party pooper mom that I am, I went waaaay outside my comfort zone and had a birthday party. Although, give the girl something with sugar and some presents and she's good to go.
We had five little munchkins come celebrate the joy(translation: come, play, and eat piggy cupcakes)
Later Grandpa and Grandma joined us for supper and Kaitlyn got another round of Happy Birthday.
Daddy got his own song, too, since his birthday was the next day. Notice that birthday pumpkin pie from his mom? I've heard several times, "Mom makes the best pumpkin pie! Her pumpkin pie is even better than cherry!" Normally his favorite is cherry.
.
Birthday are over for the year...but Christmas is coming. :P