A Few Fall Photos

We picked up Great Grandma Norma and took her to the park to play. The kids rode bikes and scooters and brightened GG's day.

Sadie's class made turkey tail hats during their Thanksgiving party. Mama got to help out!

Thanksgiving at the P-Pod. Shenanigans abound.

With all the wonderful things to do and see at the Safari Park, all the kids want to do is ride the carousel.

Grandma took Benji and Sadie to the Old Globe Theater to see The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. It's now an annual tradition for the 5-and-older crew. Of course they had to dress up.

I grew up in a home where we always had real trees, and the smell of a live/cut/dying evergreen tree is a hallmark of my Christmas experience. And by golly I wanted to have that for my kids. But, man oh man, getting this artificial tree a few years ago has been one of the keys on the chain of holiday sanity for us.

So for now, this is how we do it.

Every now and then this occurs: peaceful playing by the fireplace, the whole lot of them.

PRICE. LESS. This was taken after the kids' (Benji and Sadie) Christmas concert. Sadie's not tired or punchy or anything...

Trying Something New

Mama got a fancy new phone last month. The realization that one might be able to blog from this phone began to settle in a couple days ago. So here I am, trying it out.

My hope is that I will post more because it will be easier than having to load photos onto the computer in order to post. This will only make a difference with cell phone snaps, not the extra pretty ones I take with my DSLR, but still. It would be a big improvement over not posting at all, which is my current holding pattern. Eek.

So enjoy this photo from Valentine's Day. When the kids got home from school, I made special protein smoothies and busted out the chocolate that The Papa brought us. And of course, there were decorations. I finally have the energy for decorating again.

A Scarecrow, a Ninja, a Rainbow, and an Astronaut Walked into a Yard

Happy Halloween from these yahoos! As usual, we raided the dress-up bin and the thrift store to create this bit of munchkin cuteness.

She busted out this scarecrow pose all on her own.

Of course we took about ten photos of all the fierce ninja poses. Because he knows so much about martial arts. (Insert laughing emoticon here.)

We had planned the rainbow facepaint and the hair, but this $3 thrift store leotard really made the whole thing!

This is the boy who wants to fly to the stars. Though this costume was a bit of a challenge when he needed to use the restroom.

Our tradition is to visit the neighbors we know before taking off to a Halloween party with friends...one of those gatherings where the adults get into dressing up and the kids run through the house at full speed. Yeah, all kinds of crazy fun. But we always check in on the neighbors first because they love these yahoos.

Ending on a shot with the kids who live across the street from us! Hope you had a fun night!

Remember Easter?

Yeah. I'm not so great at getting photos up in a timely manner. But you are getting Easter pics right in time for Halloween!

After church we went to Grandma and Grandpa's house because a.) fabulous yard and b.) fabulous wine selection.

Not gonna lie.

So the kids hunted for eggs filled with coins and chocolate covered...raisins?

We crazy like that.

And then there was time for a romp in the sprinklers.

And playing with balloons.

And playing corn toss.

And jumping off the corn toss boxes.

And napping in the sunshine.

And drinking wine. Of course.

And surreptitiously photographing my dad and brother-in-law.

And hanging out with my two awesome seesters.

Looking back at Christmas 2015

I am finally getting around to sharing a slideshow of this past Christmas.

Here's what the slide show is NOT -- a complete picture of our Christmas. It does not show our attempts at advent readings and activities to still our pace and center our hearts, or how the kids picked out and sent gifts to impoverished families around the world through World Vision. It doesn't reflect our desire to make Christmas about Christ, though that was the focus.

It does show lots of presents which could appear to be all about consumerism. These were not ordinary presents, however; they were thoughtful gifts from so many family members near and far, biological and adoptive. Gifts from people who, in some cases, suffered a lot this past year, and they still made time to think of our kids. To send something from Ohio or New York or Florida to bless the kids.

This year there was much loss in our families -- our extended families, our kids' biological families -- deaths, financial struggles, cancer, dissolving marriages. The opening of these presents represents the giving hearts that continued despite all the grief.

I chose this somewhat odd song to accompany the slide show because there is always room for forgiveness, new starts, and ultimately the redemptive and transforming power found in Jesus -- God become man to connect with us, heal us, and change the trajectory of this fallen world and our broken lives.

The past two years (since Oli and Bella joined the family) have been so hard for us, but we are finally on the other side of the transition. This Christmas finally felt like that. Finally felt as if I had breath in my lungs again. (I am working on a couple of posts to let y'all into that part of the journey. Coming soon...) When the lyrics say, "So it's been a long year, every new day brings one more tear..." my heart sighs with the knowledge of that feeling. And yet the good news is what Christmas represents. God with us. Emmanuel.

Christmas Quack-Along

This week I visited my grandma, and she tried to convince my sister and I to haul off and use all her old Christmas decorations. I am not much into red velvet bows, baskets of fake poinsettias, and bears wearing red plaid scarves, but the singing goose? Now that was a find.

When I unloaded all the stuff (most of which we will pass on to someone else), I set the goose on the stairs and turned it on. Then I stood behind a doorway to spy on the reactions. Of all the kids it was Sadie who arrived on the scene, eyes gleaming like she came upon a treasure. She looked around the room hesitantly, then picked it up and examined it - its moving beak, its floppy "wings." None of the other kids were into it (in fact Benjamin spent the afternoon attempting to avoid it).

So here we share a poorly lighted playtime from this evening when the goose brought some Christmas cheer. And, yes, I need to do something about that burned out strand of lights on the tree. I have already attempted to replace the fuse AND many of the individual lights. Poop.

Catching Up: Easter Morning at the Beach

I really love the significance of certain celebrations in the Christian church. And as for Easter, when we remember Christ breaking the bind of death, it's right up there at the top. But it's really hard to do the BIG DEAL CELEBRATIONS with a child who can't handle overstimulating environments, and three others who, just because they are so young, can't handle all the hubbub either.

So this year, we decided to calm down the celebration and take it to the beach.

Instead of church at church, with a bunch of candy and visitors and craziness, we woke the kids early and put them in the car (in their jammies) for a lovely morning adventure.

On the way to the beach, we played the parts of the Jesus Storybook DVD that covered his last days and death and resurrection. We chatted (for like, 5 minutes, because that's all we're gonna get at this age) about what it means that Jesus conquered death, and we prayed a tiny prayer.

I think there is not much more peaceful than waking up and setting foot on the beach in one's jammies.

Of course they didn't stay in their jammies, we brought clothes and swimsuits, but it was a nice start.

I made a special breakfast - blueberry muffins, boiled eggs, lots of fruit and yogurt options.

And we busted out the kite that almost never gets used. The weather was perfect, and it was one of those days we'll always remember.