Yesterday was absolutely beautiful! The children, who had somewhat finished their work, took a two hour break and played outside together. The weather was beautiful and listening to the four of them play together was priceless. A perfect day in my world.

Of course, I had my camera out. C has a big day coming up and the girls do too. So, I am busy trying to get some pics of them to share on their special days. The boys are not as much into the whole camera scene....in fact, they see the lens and rUn the opposite way. The girls, however, are all about a good picture.
Maddox has a new trick. Serberts. And she is good at them. And she is putting more and more two word phrases together. Remarkable.
This was just a fun pic. She was actually using the flowers as a weapon but I managed to sneak in a shot without getting hurt :)
Our FAB four. These guys are my heart. My joy. Yesterday, seeing them all together, playing a game in which all of them had a part, was just perfect.

Our week began at the doctor with Maddox. She was just not doing well and I have learned that she just bottoms out crazy QuICk. Thankfully, 24 hour of meds plus lots of rest worked wonders for her and by Wednesday she was up and running full speed ahead!

Wednesday, the children and I jumped in the car and went to visit my grandmother. Who knew that we could put Annie in for the girls as we were backing out of our driveway and the credits would be rolling just as we pulled into my grandmother's home?! We have all been singing the songs over and over and over. I digress. Nannie was waiting for us and was all smiles! She had spent the better part of her day preparing one of my favorites - biscuits! No one can make them the way she does and the homemade jelly was the bomb. Awesome. The boys immediately engulfed two each and then asked for another - yikes! They are going to eat us out of house and home! There was a piano in the dining room and the boys took turns sharing their songs and talents. The people loved it! Instead of "BRAVO," they were yelling, "Play another one!" and "Don't stop, that can't be the last one!" I will have to say that my favorite part of the day, besides the biscuits and loving on Nannie, was talking with the residents. They were quite funny. One lady came over and said, "The children are beautiful! Do you work in a home that houses these children?" I just smiled and said, "Oh no, these children are all mine!" I am thinking the Asian plus the not-so-Asian kiddos threw her off a bit. She never said another word but you could tell her mind was pondering the situation.
Friday night we tipped off our week with the boys' piano recital. Always so much fun! We are so thankful to my friend Shauna who graciously teaches the boys, and others, how to maneuver their hands across the keys of the piano. The children all played beautifully!
These two were the original piano students. And they go waaaayyy back. Back to infant-dom together. They are now 12 and one week shy of 12.
And these two go waaaayyyy back as well. Back to infant-dom as well too. 9 years old and 9 years old. The second born kiddos. The successful, push forward kiddos yet the lets-kind-of-be-silly-too kiddos. Never a dull moment.
And then you have the aspiring musicians of America. This picture was just too sweet not to share.

Creative Discipline

The short part of the story is that the boys have always gotten along 99.9% of the time. Truly, I could count their arguments on one hand up until recently.

Recently, they get along 89.9% of the time. And the disruptions drive this momma CrAzYYY! After one encounter, I called Ryan, at work no doubt, described the incident and asked what in the world to do??? His response (and his parents will love this!) was, "Well, I don't know. How did your parents punish you? I never got punished." Just what was he implying???

At the end of the day, the boys are not bad....and even their arguing is not bad.

However, we are addressing their little spats with a bit of creativity. Today they were told to write 200 ways (each) that they could show kindness to others, be it a family member or an acquaintance. Each day they will do 5 of the examples until the 200 have been completed. Here are some QUESTIONABLE examples:

"I can show kindness when buying a car for someone." OYE - this purchase will be a Matchbox no doubt!

"I can call someone skinny, not fat."

"I can help Dad unload the pizza when we eat it." Great, that will be EVERY Friday.

"I can drive someone to school." Thing is, neither have a license.

"I cannot bite." Ok, that one hasn't happened since these guys were little, very little.

"I can give a pet to someone." Not sure that will go over well.

"I can give Dad a sport coat."

"I can tell Dad he looks good in a sport coat."

"I can watch the Sound of Music with the boss." Yes, I am being referred to as "the boss." This is the term used in Cheaper By The Dozen when referring to the mother. We finished the book today.

"I can buy Gran a Krispy Kreme gift card."

"I can let ***** use the green wheelbarrow." (Apparently, one brother always makes the other brother use a tiny little red wheelbarrow when doing yard work)

And so on and so on and so on.....suffice it to say that Ryan and I got a good laugh when reading their suggestions. Some were serious and spoke to our hearts....

"I can teach someone about God."

"I can play the piano for someone."

"I can encourage others around me."

"I can do the laundry." AMEN! Wonder when he wants to begin with that one?!!

And, with that, I close by simply saying that I just love my boys to pieces.

That's What Siblings Are For

MK: "Pryce, can we play together sometime?"

Pryce: "Mason-Kate, we have the rest of our lives to play together!"

Celebrating Lulu home forever! Sunday we were able to gather together, the moms and the girls in our adoption group, and celebrate another miracle. So happy for the Hatcher family and their littlest one - glad they are all under one roof together, safe, happy and forever!

Sadly, our littlest one fell sick soon after. She was just not herself. Fever. Coughing. Rapid breathing. And she was oh so tired.
Poor baby girl just wasn't comfortable unless she was sleeping in the middle of everything - the phone ringing, the dryer buzzing, the children doing school, MK dancing....she slept right through it all. However, if you chose to put her into a bed, she woke up extremely unhappy.
So we let her sleep wherever. And we continue to pray that she will feel better soon.

Happy Valentines Day

"Happy Valentimes Day!!!" - straight from MK's little mouth. I love the "times" part :) Granted she can say it correctly but it is one of those words that are just better off left alone for the sake of cuteness!

The children were more than thrilled to awaken to a house full of cards and special surcies in honor of the big day. Pryce declared it a school holiday???!!!
Because my children love surprises, we decided to surprise those in our lives that may not have that special someone. Balloons were delivered, donuts were given, letters were sent....the boys love what they call a "good deeds day." One of my favorite moments of the day came early when the boys went in to buy balloons at a local store. They went in, got three HUGE balloons and walked right out of the store with them - they were so excited! Curious at how much said HUGE balloons cost, I asked, "So, how much were those?" Colin looked at Pryce, Pryce looked at Colin, they briefly glanced at me and then they screeched in unison, "Oh no! We forgot to pay for them!"
In my attempt to get a group photo of 4 out of my 5 favorite Valentines, I said, "Hey, lets do a silly photo." Not sure what C heard. P and MK are posed accordingly. Maddox, well, lets just say that she is a very good listener when she is told to do something silly :)
I couldn't resist. C has a thing for strawberry flavored milk. When he was in school, he drank it everyday for lunch. I am not sure that he has had it since he walked out of the school building three years ago until a few weeks ago....the week of Chinese New Year, the boys and I visited my niece's school to talk to the first grade students about the Chinese culture. After our presentations, we dined with Emma and her classmates. Colin was in heaven when he saw the pink carton in the lunchroom - his beloved strawberry milk. EWWWW, makes me cringe to think of it as I am a chocolate kind of girl. However, he drank every single bit and then had another....so, for Valentines Day, the best gift of all for C was breakfast with strawberry milk!
As the day wore on and the treats were exchanged, we moved on into our next round of events....soccer practice and a basketball game, all P! (Yes, on Valentines Day!)
P wants to give it all a try. This season has been basketball and he has risen to the occasion.

His epic moment came when he scored the winning basket in the last few seconds of the game! I love this little guy's zest for life and his enthusiasm when learning new sports!

Eleven months home and today was BIG in her world. Church day. The day that, six months ago, I dreaded. Why? Because our girl would cling to me as we entered the building, accumulate huge crocodile tears in her big round eyes, and scream. We would leave her. Check on her. Still screaming. We would pick her up after thirty minutes and just hold her and hug her tight. Heartbreaking. Today, and might I add that it was the coldest day of our year yet, Maddox Ren decided to overcome all fears. We parked our car, and, as usual I went to get her out of her seat. She quickly let it be known that she wanted down to walk - this is where the coldest day of the year comes in, and windy, oh it was more than cold. Despite the negative temps, I let her walk. She held my hand. Walked through the double doors, into MK's class to drop her off, gave MK a kiss and a hug, walked down another hall and right into her classroom. Maddox then proceeded to take off her jacket, hang it up, kiss me, hug me and wave goodbye. No tears. Not one. Eleven months later and she is secure when we leave her, she is confident we are hers forever, she knows we will be back.
In other news, Maddox is all about play doh and coloring, two things she does on a daily basis. However, as one can tell from the pic above, she is not all about sitting in her booster seat to do said activities. She is Houdini I tell you. For sure. She managed to scramble herself out of her booster seat and then craftily climbed atop the tray for better seating????
Boys will be boys. What mother lets their child "paint" themselves with marker????
This crew is one of a kind, the best of friends, all of them.
Speaking of friends, my dear friend Sandi came into town over the weekend. Sandi was one of my very best friends growing up. When we graduated from high school, I remember being so sad because not only did she choose to go to a college out of state, her parents moved away that same year. I knew that seeing her would be a challenge. Of course, we have always kept in touch and visited sporadically through the years, the last visit being just one week before we received Maddox's referral. Recently, Sandi's brother-in-law and sister-in-law moved to a neighborhood less than five minutes from ours.....great news for us! Full circle.