The mind/imagination of a four year old never ceases to amaze me!

MK: "Mom, I can't decide what to be, a mom or a mom fairy. Or maybe even a tooth fairy, I just don't know."

Me: "Well, you mean you may want to be a tooth fairy when you grow up?"

MK: "Yes, but I don't really know how I could get my kids to go everywhere and then get back to change into my wings and stuff. I just don't know."

Me: "Hmmm." At this point, I was at a loss for words.

The Tree Farm

Every year, our family enjoys a day out together choosing just the perfect tree for our home to celebrate the Christmas season.

Following a hayride into tree neverland, we all hop off and begin our hunt for the tree. It is always so interesting to me to see each child choose a tree and their reasoning behind it. We have everything from the "Clark Griswold" size chooser - aka the bigger the better, to the economical chooser to the "lets just get this one so we can go get snacks!" chooser.....

Maddox just decided that her siblings could choose the tree while she made her list for Santa.

Alas, the tree was chosen and chopped down. On to the Christmas Cafe for some yummy eats and treats.

I think all six of us would agree that our favorite part this year was playing hide and seek in the Christmas trees. We ran around for what seemed like hours hiding from one another and dashing from tree to tree.

I love this pic.....P is saying "I found YOU!" and MK is looking like "Where?Where is she?"

Sweet Maddox.....again, just so glad to have her HOME! As this season progresses, I find myself reflecting on where we were in the process last year to bring her home. We were so close to having her yet it was agonizing to wait for each approval knowing she was across the world without us.

Every year, the boys have received a Lionel train holiday car from my father. Last year they received the ever-so-important engine and track. Dutifully, we set it up around our tree and they all enjoyed the train fun. However, we realized during the fun that our "real" tree was causing a real mess on the track - the needles were dropping and it was hard for the train to get around the track. Soooo, we were off to Target early the day after Christmas to purchase a not-so-real tree for the train to reside under during the subsequent holidays. The funny part....this year, we forgot we had purchased the tree so it was a real surprise to us when we were pulling out all of the decor and we found this big box with a big tree.....and the even funnier part was putting the tree together with the boys! I grew up with an artificial tree so I knew how this part worked - match the colors, etc. The boys were just bewildered by it all.

The final not-so-real product. P was feeling horrible in this pic, not yet quite over the looming bug that was in our home during Thanksgiving. Amidst feeling horrible, he was determined to get the tree up and the train running before retiring to bed.

What They Are Like Now.....

Thankful for this guy who is our leader of the pack. At the age of 11, C is homeschooled; his favorite subjects are logic and debate; he is our reader - always reading one book for school, another book for fun and somewhere he finds time to read yet another book just because!; he has been taking piano lessons since the age of 5; he is an avid Clemson football fan; he is loving his first year in youth group at church; he is on the area homeschool basketball team - loves it!; he relishes in a good cup of coffee; electronics are his fascination; and, he desires to be a pilot.

Thankful for my number 2! P is just like me, a second child, a middle child. His smile warms a room and his empathy for others will melt your heart. At the age of 9, P is all about sports - baseball being a top favorite, watching football a close second and basketball; he detests corn; he is in his second year of piano; he is homeschooled and loves math, his strongest subject; he is developing a love for reading and can often be found absorbed in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series - sigh; he is measuring himself daily for growth - his mean mother STILL makes him sit in a booster seat due to the fact that he falls a bit short of the non-booster seat requirements!; he is the king of laughter - always wanting to make others smile; he desires to be a pharmacist or a "kids doctor" when he grows up!

Oh MK! How we embrace her determination and love her strong will - hoping we continue to shape these two characteristics in our sweet girl! Thankful for her belly laughs and her sweet heart. At the age of 4, MK loves ballet; she is willing to try most foods and LOVES anything sweet; she goes to pre-school four days a week where she is all about chasing the boys - sigh!; she is often found asleep with pj pants on and pj shirt off all cuddled up in her Hello Kitty snuggy; she understands that she was born in China (and Maddox too!) and the boys grew inside mommy's tummy; she loves to put a pile of random items in her purse; she likes to wear her hair all down, no bow; flip flops are her favorite shoes even in 32 degree temps; she wants to become a doctor, a ballerina and a mommy when she grows up.

Our caboose. Maddox Ren. How thankful we are today that she is home with us forever. How thankful we are that her two little arms wrap around our necks each day with a big squeeze; she is two and in this season of her life, she is all about mommy; her favorite drink is chocolate milk; she eats when she is hungry and turns away food without a second thought when she is not; she has been home for almost 9 months and she understands everything we say to her but has a limited vocabulary of understandable speech; she does speech therapy 3 times per week and occupational therapy twice a month; she wins over everyone she meets be it through her contagious grin or her engaging dances; she loves animals; she is a great puzzle solver; she loves babies and strollers; she is a climber; she is loved by all and we are so thankful to hold her when she sleeps and cheer her on when she meets a goal!