Day 40

But who is counting???? :)
LSC = Letter Seeking Confirmation
LSC is what we are currently waiting on from China.
And, as usual, anticipation is running on high in our house!

Kisses In The Wind

We hold you in our heart and touch you in our dreams.
You are here each day with us, at least that's how it seems.
We know you wonder where we are... what's taking us so long.
But remember child, We love you so and God will keep you strong.
Now go outside and feel the breeze and let it touch your skin...
Because tonight, just as always, We blow you kisses in the wind.
May God hold you in His hand until we can be with you.
We promise you, our little darling, We're doing all that we can do.
Very soon, you'll have a family for real, not just pretend.
But for tonight, just as always, we blow you kisses in the wind.
May God wrap you in His arms and hold you very tight.
And let the angels bring the kisses that we send to you each night.
--- Unknown

Halloween

Halloween is always a fun filled time in our home! Saturday we FINALLY found time to pick out the perfect pumpkin to carve. Sunday it was church time, and then the carving began. The children chose to do a nerd style pumpkin this year.

Then not too much longer after the carving, it was time to get dressed up. This year, the boys were much more interested in the accessories. In fact, forget costumes, they just wanted daggers and axes and funky styled hats - a sign of the aging for sure.

And MK, well, she has a drawer filled with all sorts of tu-tus and princess dresses and crowns and shoes. Then I remembered the ladybug costume. I bought this ladybug costume just weeks before we learned about MK....it is hard to believe she can finally wear it!

With costumes prepared and bags awaiting candy, the children scarfed down their burgers and set out on an attempt to tackle our entire neighborhood for their desired candy. MK visited one house and soon announced she was tired....but, that did not stop her for long as she was off to another house in no time. I asked her what she was going to say when she visited each house and she said, "Thank You!" She would not say "Trick or Treat" for anything but she was all about the thanking!

Another sign of the times.....Pryce and Colin announced that this year they would no longer be toting their monogrammed pumpkins that they have always carried in years past. They have now graduated to pillow cases.

And then, after giving out of gas halfway through our neighborhood trek, we made our way back home for the annual trading event....as always, this was a highlight.

After an evening full of fun and one last picture taken, it was off to capture some much needed zzzz in our home!

School Projects and Adoption Gathering

Pryce just finished reading the Boxcar Children. Part of his reading included doing a comprehension guide as he read. The guide also included projects. One particular project was to design your own boxcar from a large box. After a few lines being drawn and a few cuts being made, here you have it.....the boxcar, complete with a sunroof! While we were on a boxcar note, we chose to eat like the Boxcar Children did. Our meal - cheese cubes, bread, fruit and milk.

MK has really been stepping up to the test lately. She loves to sit with us and practice writing her name while the boys do spelling and she loves learning Latin. She has also developed a liking for puzzles and completed this ABC one all by herself for the first time this week.

In other news, we had our friends who have adopted from China over on Friday evening. We try to gather together every other month. As we were preparing for our guests, I realized that we have been doing this "gathering" for exactly two years. What began with four families, is now booming with nine families and together we have brought home nine children from China, two families are waiting for their daughters in China, one son from Ethiopia and one family has adopted domestically as well. My children love these gatherings. After everyone left, C said, "I really wish we could have adoption gatherings every Friday!" and P said, "Yeah, I love it when they are all here!" and MK said, "My puppy is having a 'doption party and you can come. You want to?" There was no answer from the boys.

The very first "gathering" for our adoption friends.....

This was taken in October last year....we had just learned of little Cynthia who was waiting on her family in China!

This was January.....

And this is NOW! (Note there are a few new faces and a few missing faces yet the red couch tradition still stands!)

She's Always On Our Minds

This week I have been reminded that no matter how much we have going on, no matter how sick the children are nor no matter how full of life we feel, she is always not far from our minds. Case in point, prayer time. During dinner, our family takes turns saying the blessing. It was Pryce's turn earlier in the week and he prayed specifically for Maddox just as he did last week during his turn. And then there is Colin, he was simply helping MK with her shoes (in reality, he was really helping ME as I had a million other things to tackle as we headed out the door). He states, quite nonchalantly, "Well, I suppose I must get used to this because when Maddox gets here I will have two sisters who will need help with their shoes!" Yep, he's got it! And then there is MK who, out of nowhere, will begin singing a song about being a big sister - and then, of course, it is followed up by an Annie solo! Ryan and I are counting the days to our next approval. We look for it daily in the form of a phone call but to no avail. It hasn't come yet and it most likely won't come for another couple of weeks. Or more :( In the meantime, we are biding our time helping with our local adoption ministry auction and following other families who are in China now being united with their child. In so many ways, I truly want for this to be in fast forward motion, a motion that would bring us to our child sooner rather than later. And then I sit back and take it all in knowing that this is our last child, our last adoption. No doubt we will be involved in adoptions, we will support adoption and assist in any way possible to make another couple's adoption dream a reality, but this is our last. And for that reason, I want to savor every moment, including the wait. It is a funny place to be.

Yes, I FORGOT!

Every Tuesday is our co-op day for homeschool. And every Tuesday during co-op, Ryan comes to get MK, dresses her in her ballet clothes and off they go to her ballet class. The only thing that does not happen every week is the ballet class Fall party. But this week, lo and behold, they had their Fall blast and we were not prepared. Ryan called me and quietly said, "Uh, can you come over here real quick? It's MK's Fall party day and all of the parents get to watch!" Of course, she didn't know any different. She didn't realize that everyone else came in all dressed up in their best Halloween decor. She didn't seem to be fazed by the fact that everyone else brought in a special treat to be shared with her classmates. Nope, not our MK. Instead, she got all dressed up in a, sigh, borrowed costume from the dance studio. And she pranced right into her classroom with the biggest of smiles on her sweet little face. And she danced. And she twirled. And she galloped. And she twirled some more. And she jumped. And she spoke in French, words that I have no clue as to what they mean. And she smiled. And she was so, so happy to have all of her family there to watch - mommy, daddy, and her boys. In her world, she had no idea how sorry I was that I forgot about her special party. I laughed as I remembered how we recorded every minute of Colin's music class at this age, not missing a moment. And here we are with our third child and we can't even remember the event! My how things change from child to child.

At 3 1/2 she has come into her own. She loves to laugh and make others laugh. She loves to sing, Annie tunes being her favorite. She has mastered entertaining herself, an art that we thought would never be accomplished. She is cuddly. She is happy more than sad. She talks non-stop about her sister, Maddox. She has tea parties. She loves to play games. She says the most incredibly funny statements daily. She loves going to speech and is so proud to do her homework each night. She loves to read to her babies. She is curious. She loves doing schoolwork with the boys. She knows her birthday. She can spell and write her name to include the dash. She loves ballet and dances quite a bit. And, she is coming to be quite relational. She is all about her friends, her "new best friends" to be exact. Unless your name is Sara Kate or Jaida, you fall into the category of her "new best friend." (SK and Jaida are always said to be "my very best friends") She is no longer one to watch the other children playing. Gone are the days when we were begging her to just smile at another child. We are now entering the days of pretend play - "you be the mommy, I be the baby" or "lets play puppies but no growling" or teacher and the list goes on. It seems everywhere we go, MK finds a "new best friend." My favorite part is asking her what her new best friend's name is - usually she has no idea and it doesn't really matter to her, she just enjoys the laughs and the games. I love this age!