Quote of the week goes to Colin.....after spending an afternoon in the car going to and fro from this activity to that activity with his adorable little sisters, Colin looked at me and very seriously asked if I thought any children came with a mute button.

Maddox was a close second....I was laying with her for a bit one night while putting her to bed.  I told her I thought she should close her eyes and go to sleep.  She said, "I sorry, Mommy, but my eyes want to wake up!"

And MK always has something matter of fact to say.....she and a friend were discussing swimming.  MK's friend said she did not like swim lessons.  MK asked her why.  The friend said that she was afraid of drowning.  MK shrugged her shoulders and said, "Drowning?  What's so bad about that?"

It has been a full week once again!  Loving every.single.minute!  Highlights include C's basketball game in which he scored a few points for the team - YAY!; basketball practice beginning for P - glad to see him working with good coaching mentors; swimming; ballet; box seats for our holiday favorite A Christmas Carol - thank you to a sweet former teacher to the boys who made this happen!; and pics to come of C's Christmas semi-formal - LOVE!

The day after Thanksgiving, we were invited to spend some time with family and friends at my brother's new lake house.

 The view is spectacular and the lake was peaceful.....

 every now and then a boat would appear and the children would all gather to yell, "Happy Thanksgiving" as it drove by.

 The boys enjoyed eating ribs and Colin even tried an oyster - ewww!  Then, it was time to say our goodbyes and tackle the drive back home.  

 Bright and early the next morning, the decorating began.....

 I honestly am not sure what these three were doing.....maybe fluffing the tree?

 Our annual Christmas tree farm adventure began in the afternoon.....

 while one girl was all about a pose here and a pose there....

 the other little one in our life just enjoyed traipsing through the trees.

 The boys found "the" tree and then posed for the annual tree hug photo....note, they are not in many pictures, as usual, due to the fact that when they see my lens, the RUNning begins!

 One of my favorite pics from the day, though it is a little blurry - kind of depicts our day to day life, mostly fun and happy yet a bit hairy at moments:)

 Everyone has grown, even Miss Frowny Maddox.  Colin has accomplished his goal to grow taller than me....it's official, he is the second tallest member in our family.  

 Hide and Seek on the farm is our favorite pasttime.....

 hiding with daddy is typically the way to go!

 I love this pic....MK was hiding under a tree and giving me a thumbs up signal to tell me she was good to go!

 We ran, we laughed, we played and ate, we gathered our tree and the day was complete!

Oh, if only time could stand still....my littles and my bigs are growing up WAY too fast!  So thankful for every minute we have with our family and even more thankful for the many memories we continue to create!

Maddox enjoyed her time on the farm too!  We went exploring and I captured a little bit of her personality on camera.

She is naturally a curious little one....

and if you watch her expressions, she can be read like a book.

Her sweet smile will light up any dark room.....

I am so thankful for my children, the youngest, oldest and my two middles.  They are all such special pieces to our puzzle. 

Thanksgiving on the farm celebrating family with my grandmother who is 92 years old! 

 I love family photos....the black/white photo shows a portion of the chaos that most always evolves when one tries to photograph more than one subject....my grandmother's five children were all present for this day as well as seven out of her twelve grandchildren AND sixteen great grandchildren....PLUS her siblings and their families....lots of people, lots of memories.

 Growing up, we always went to the farm.  It is our family reunion of sorts each year and everyone comes from across the nation to visit the farm....our immediate family pictured above is only a portion of the attendees.  

 The children dove right in to arranging an afternoon game of football....

 and ladder ball was a hit as well!

 And more pictures were needed.....again, the chaos in arranging more than one subject - love it!

 The Fab Nine....

and my mom with her fabulous three! 

Pre-Thanksgiving

One little turkey....

 singing her heart out....

 decorating good eats....

 and showing her thanks!

Maddox has loved school this year and, for this, we are THANKFUL!  No tears, all smiles.  She comes home singing songs that I remember singing as a child, she has learned the Pledge of Allegiance, she has made friends, and she has stolen the hearts of her teachers and the director!  

 And, MK enjoyed some well deserved time off from school with one of her besties, SK.  These two never share a dull moment when they are together! 

 The love to dress-up, play house and babies, they love games and art has become a favorite too.  While together, they made cards for their brothers, just because that is what loving little sisters do:)  And little Maddox was right in the middle of it all too!

And, as tradition would have it, we all settled in to watch Happy Thanksgiving, Charlie Brown - well, most of us!

 

Six years ago we were officially waiting for a referral for a non-special needs baby girl under the age of 12 months.  We waited patiently for 10 months and realized we were not going to get anywhere quick. Six years later, and we would still be waiting.
So thankful God had other plans.
MK and Maddox.
November is National Adoption/Orphan Awareness month.  Be aware....in our little community alone, in just the last month, eight orphans have found their forever families - eight less.  An eight year old boy celebrated his Gotcha Day in China with his forever family - nine less.  A family in our neighborhood awaits their Letter of Acceptance for their three year old daughter in China - 10 less.  Dear friends of ours await their Travel Approval for their two year old daughter in China - 11 less.
I read a blog last night about a little girl whose family is going to China soon to pick her up.  The family had received updated photos and posted them on their blog.  The little girl was all smiles.  In the background, there were three babies, looking to be in the neighborhood of 8-10 months of age, laying on their backs, big brown eyes staring up into space.....three babies, on a dirty mat, on their backs, no toys, nothing.  These are the faces of the thousands of orphans that haunt me, these are the faces of the children who are left behind, who may or may not be considered for adoption, who may or may not ever be wanted.
My girls will always know they were wanted.  Always.  Their birthmothers wanted them to have life just as we wanted them in our lives.
Orphans truly are not real until you meet them, spend time with them, and experience their desperate pleas for your attention.  We had the privilege of visiting the orphanages of MK and Maddox though both girls spent most of their time with foster families while in China.  MK's orphanage was in the middle of a city, the two hour drive there was all highway, and the streets were bustling with energy.  The orphanage was small.  We saw maybe 10-15 babies ranging in age from 2 weeks to maybe 12 months, all dressed accordingly in five hundred layers and all seemingly having their needs met.  Appearance wise, there were toys, there were plenty of nannies fussing over them, and, if one chose to overlook the fact that two babies were sharing the equivalent of one-half the size of a US crib, all seemed well.
And then, three years later, we visited Maddox's orphanage.  Ten minutes into the one hour drive, we found ourselves weaving in and around potholes filled with mud....there was no highway, just dreary mud.  At one point we were so far away from anything that remotely looked like an area that would have outside communication, that I began to wonder where in the world our guide was taking us.  Frightened, I surely was, and then I saw the gate.  In the middle of what looked like a field with trash around it and a few abandoned (but probably lived in) buildings, there sat M's orphanage.  We walked into a quiet, dark, sterile environment.  No pictures were allowed.  After a moment, we were led into a classroom with children ages 3-5 years, I am guessing.  They immediately came to us, wanted to touch our hair, they wanted us to listen to them talk, I helped one little girl cut, the boys gave candy....I remember thinking I was in my element and I could have stayed their all day just soaking up their little small yet needy desires for love and touch.
And then there was the next room.  The room filled with cribs.  A room filled with cribs yet only the sound of one screaming baby.  The baby was not being held.  Instead, the nannie had placed it in a wooden chair on the floor while she heated the bottle in a microwave.  When the bottle was warm, the nannie took the bottle, sat down on a stool in front of the baby, never touched or picked up the baby, and began to feed it.  The tears ceased.  No touch, no love, no kisses.....a bottle, in a hard, wooden chair.
This is when it happened, my heart changed.  I was shaken by the reality that the children, who I had always seen pictures of on this tv show or this orphan ad, were real; their needs were real and the problem was huge by all accounts.  My heart continues to hurt for them, for their lost childhoods, for the love they will never feel.
Yet, I have two of them.....two beautiful baby girls who were wanted and prayed over and will never know anything but love.  And my girls have two handsome, adoring brothers.  The four of them have shared our story countless times with curious onlookers.  And we love to share our story, in hopes that our sharing will encourage others to step outside of the box and consider adoption for their family or become aware of the needs that adopting families have, both financially and prayerfully.
After all, sharing our story could mean another one less.

We welcomed November with a bang celebrating P's 10 1/2 birthday!  Following this celebration, he was invited to spend the weekend with Gran and Pop.  "Gran Camp" is an annual event and my children look forward to it every year.  And they say the same thing each year - "Next time, I think it should be longer!"  They love this special time with their grandparents and cousins.  

 The fair came to town and the children were more than excited.  In fact, they have been anticipating its arrival for quite sometime now.  We have told them no in the past but this year we decided to make it an evening of fun for everyone.  *Note that Maddox is wearing her "life jacket."  Love that she calls her coat a life jacket.  On this particular night it served as her life jacket due to the extremely cold temperatures in the air.

 Maddox was thrilled to be tall enough to ride a few of the rides.  Poor little thing is so petite and yet she will hold up her arms and proclaim, "I BIG and STRONG mommy!"  

 The boys and MK proved fearless.  They were riding every ride that would allow them to twist and turn.....the faster, the better, especially for these two pictured above:)  There were moments when these two would beg to ride a more-than-fast ride while C would take a break with his favorite fair food, a funnel cake.  

 On Thursday, our sweet MK's luck turned bad once again.  Poor girl, while she was innocently sitting in car line, she was stung by a yellow jacket on her face.  I arrived on the scene and was ushered into the nurse's office where I found my teary-eyed girl sitting with her teacher and an ice bag.  You know your child is loved when her teacher gets weepy describing how she got stung.  When we arrived home, the boys quickly made a special place for her to watch a movie, got her a bottle of sweet tea (you know, in her world, that is what cures everything!) and gave her a new minky-dot pillowcase with her name on it!  MK is all about soft material and the minky-dot pillowcase did not disappoint.  Of course, it was supposed to be a Christmas gift but we did what we had to do to make our girl all better:)

And our weekend....the boys were off bright and early on Saturday for a Boy Scout camping adventure.  There was cooking and archery and fishing and geology, oh boy!  So while the boys were away, the girls went out to play:)  Among other special treats, the girls were treated to getting their nails painted, Maddox's first time!