Flashback Friday 2...The Gingerbread "House"

We decided it would be fun to construct a gingerbread house.  Jae-min was ready......He began by squirting the icing on soooo gingerly.....

And then began to add the candies......

And then the "house' came tumbling down.....

So what are boys to do????  Squirt icing into each others mouths thats what!!!!

The finished "house"

I LOVE the pictures at first with a clean table, clean faces, clean fingers.  And then this last picture with stuff EVERYWHERE!!!!  Now that's how you make a gingerbread house!!!!!

Flashback Friday....Getting The Tree

First up was getting the tree.  Its one of Joe's favorite things to do with me (insert eye roll).  You see, I'm a little "picky" about my Christmas tree....I like them short and fat and will walk around and around and around (did I say around) that tree lot till I find just the one....and its usually the first one we had seen.  I make Joe take them all out of their stands and hold them, spin them, and then frown,and say "nope, next".  Good golly its a wonder he still takes me there year after year  But this boy just rolls with it all.....

We found the tree alittle quickly this year and then headed home to decorate.

Decorating the tree was fun and I was surprised that even little Charlie didn't try to touch it!!!

Little Dokey even visited the tree.

Its always fun looking at all the ornaments and finding just the right spot on the tree for them.  And then Mommy moves them to a "better" location after everyone leaves the area  Haha

4 Years......

It was a freezing cold Tuesday morning....a day which started like any other.  I was driving around all day for work, from one client to another.  I pulled into the snowy, icy driveway of a little boy with pretty significant needs and while I worked with him I had no idea how my life was changing.  You see when I returned to my car I had missed messages.....lots of missed messages......from our social worker, from Joe, from our social worker, from Joe etc.   All of which were trying to share this news.............CONGRATULATIONS, YOU HAVE A SON!!!!!!!!!!!!  In that driveway, on the side of the road in a nearby town, I became a mother to this little baby boy.......................

I will never forget that feeling.  The way my heart was racing, my hands were shaking, and the tears were streaming down my face.  I will never forget thinking "this is what I had waited for" and despite my location, despite having missed the news firsthand, despite all the "imperfections" in the call....it was perfect.....because in the end on that Tuesday morning in a town not my own, in a car on the side of the road I became a MOTHER in every sense of the word.  He became mine as it was always destined to be!!!!!

And now 4 years later I marvel at this little boy.  To think how truly blessed I am to be his mother.  To think how God pulled some strings and made this little 27 week preemie, weighing 2.5 pounds at birth, my son.  To think how one little phone call can change EVERYTHING!!!!!!

I had waited years for that phone to ring..............and it was so so so much better than I ever could have imagined!!!!

OCC

For years now I have read on so many blogs about an organization.....Operation Christmas Child.....where you fill a shoebox of goodies for a child on the other side of the world for the holidays   I have always thought "I would love to do that" but either missed the week in November to participate or just never pulled it together.  This year I wanted to make a point to participate, the kids are at the age where I want them to know the Christmas season is about more than just getting....its also for giving.  So when I saw when the week to drop off your shoe boxes was in Nov I went into full Operation Christmas Child mode!!!!

I then had a brilliant idea.....why not have the kids use their money they got for Halloween to buy some goodies for this little shoe box.  So one night we talked to them, gathered the money, and headed to the dollar store.......

They had a super fun time gathering things for a child (boy we picked) ages 2-4.  Our basket and shoe box didn't take long to be filled all up. 

Next we went on line to find a church nearby to drop this special box off at.  We found one, alittle bit of a drive away and loaded up after the parade in town for this adventure.  We were all excited to drop off the box!!!!!  Unfortunately Jaelah fell asleep on the way there and was in no mood to go in to deliver the box when we pulled into the parking lot.....so Jae-min had to do the deed.

The people there were so kind to us and even ran this sign out for me to take this picture!!!!  They showed Jae-min pictures of kids in Africa receiving the boxes, opening them, and their joyous faces.  Our boy was so excited to see all this, to see all the boxes piled high, and to feel a sense of belonging in something way bigger than us.  We also saw pictures of people on elephants delivering a big box of boxes to remote places in the world.  How cool is that??????

To think this little shoe box will eventually make it into the hands of a little boy on the other side of the world blows me away.  This is definately a new family tradition for us.  It was pretty cool!!!!!!

A Turkey and An Elf....

We had a nice Thanksgiving.  As Jae-min would say we got dressed in our "fancy duds" and spent time with family.  While at my parents house for Thanksgiving the kids had gotten some gold coins from Noni.  Well, they kept "disappearing" and Jae-min concluded it was only one explanation......

Dokey must be playing tricks on us!!!!!.  And the very next day who did appear, but Dokey with a note......make your list for Santa as he's waiting to deliver it.

Jae-min wasted no time gathering his scissors, his markers, paper, and glue to find just the right Lego set to ask Santa for.

Jaelah hasn't grasped the concept yet and doesn't want to share what she's wishing for.  Which is making Jae-min VERY nervous.  He keeps telling her something like this "listen, you need to figure this out.  Either you have to sit on his lap or make a list or something.  You better do it quick.  Just say you want a doll....just say SOMETHING!!!!"  I think he's worried about her future relationship with the big man.
Dokey will stay for a few days and then hit the road.  He'll return again in a few weeks.  Oh and Jae-min gave Jaelah the lo down on the Dokey rules....."'Don't touch him, you can never touch him.  If you do he'll lose his magic and then can't fly that would be a tragedy.  So doooooooon't touch him whatever you do.  OK"  She just stared at him like he was crazy and walked away.  To which he responded "oh I hope you were listening".
He's taking Dokey's presence very seriously this year.  And its so so fun!!!!!!

November.....

November is National Adoption Month....a month to be thankful for adoption, a month to think of those still waiting.  Our family (and many we now know) were so blessed by adoption that November brings us such joy......it makes us pause to think that without the miracle of adoption we would not be a family.
In honor of this special month a video was created to celebrate those that are HOME (as well as those still waiting).  We invite you to visit You tube National Adoption Month 2012 video.....take a little look you just may recognize 2 very familiar faces!!!!

This month take a moment to remember the children who now have a family through this miracle, the families who have grown from this miracle, and all those still waiting who hope to one day be blessed by this miracle. Because without the miracle of adoption our family would not be.  Let's keep those waiting in our prayers that someday soon they too would know the love of a FAMILY!!!!

Halloween

I have decided to keep the details of our meeting/session private.  I will say it was an emotionally and physically exhausting day for myself and for Jaelah.  I will also share that while there were no breakthrough moments at the office, we have noticed a difference in Jaelah this weekend....clingy, whiny, very anxious and agitated.  My miraculous moment of her breaking down seeing these images did not happen....on the contrary her wall was visibly built even STRONGER....Sigh....I can't even wrap my brain around it anymore... I'm feeling very defeated.....

Yet amidst all these tough moments we continue to muddle through and I know your all dying to see some Halloween pics so here they are....

Jaelah and Jae-min sporting their Halloween outfits before costume time.  Do you see that hair bow??  Made especially by yours truly!!!!  I've been dappling in making hair bows lately and Jaelah likes wearing them so its a win/win. 

Here they are....Little Luigi and a bumble bee.  Jae-min has a slight obsession with Super Mario on the Wii and wanted to be "the green guy Maaweeegi with an L" is what he told everyone.  Jaelah is sporting Jae-min's costume from last year.  We weren't sure how successful it was going to go for her so when she saw the bee costume in Jae-min's closet and wanted to try it on, it became a no brainer....another busy bee!!!!

They were excited to get started.  Jaelah got alittle freaked out at one house with scary music and from that moment on, only wanted mommy.

Not Jae-min though.  He rocked that trick or treat thing down to the bone.  He loved every aspect and wasn't scared at all.  He seemed to enjoy the atmosphere in the neighborhood and dove in head first!!!  Jaelah liked getting the candy....and then could be heard saying "mommy home" till the next house.

We came home to check out our loot and of course these 2 are the stars of the street so they even had many special gifts from neighbors to look through.  We all got to try 1 piece of our candy and then the doorbell rang.  And look who it was........

Yup, the Easter bunny paid us a visit on Halloween.  I thought Jae-min was going to fall over!!!  Then the questions came "why is the Easter bunny hopping around on Halloween????"  Parents on the spot came up with a great story of how the Easter bunny was making sure everyone was only eating 1 piece of candy tonight.  And Jae-min's response "whoa, I'm glad I was following that rule"  Phew....almost got caught by the Easter bunny!!!!
Halloween was fun.  We have a great neighborhood and neighbors which makes a night like this one so  special!!