Advent festivities and decor

Well, I am almost done with our Christmas prep. The presents are bought and in piles and bags and boxes in our closet. Lots of sorting and wrapping to do still (and one more homemade project for me) but it's coming together. The house needs a major cleaning (top to bottom) and then I will feel ready. My parents are making an unexpected visit this year (I asked them sorta last minute) and we couldn't be happier. We are so excited to have them with us for our loud and crazy Christmas morning. They are in for some fun - and lots of laughter and screaming (we are a loud bunch). Shh...don't tell the kids but there will be lots of games under the tree this year...so lots of gaming will be going on here.

The elf on our shelf has been busy - not in creative ways like one sees all over the internet - but I actually haven't missed a day of hiding him in a new ("Mom, these aren't so hard") spots. My secret? My phone alarms at 6:15 each day to remind me in case I forgot the night before. I need to do tooth fairy alarms next time she's needed. I stink at tooth fairy-ing.

The Christmas cards are out. This has been a tradition that I have been slowly giving up. We get so few cards anymore and most years it is just a stress to get the right picture, pick the right card, and get them all addressed and out.

I do enjoy seeing my friends' pictures each year and watching their families grow and grow up, so I am torn about giving up the whole card thing.

We have always just sent long distance cards, and now with Facebook, I feel less motivated to do the whole card thing. Most years I use coupons to get a deal on the cards but end up spending my savings on expedited shipping since I have procrastinated so long and am so late...haha. Last year we took off from doing cards to save the money. This year we sent the cards to announce our adoption.

The Santas are out...

The Nutcrackers are out...

The tree is up with all our sweet handmade-by-our-kids ornaments and all the others that are so sentimental...

sorry for the blurry effect

Jesus is prominent - I hope. Each year I put less and less decorations out and more and more out that point to  "Jesus." This year a friend even gave us an extra sign she had (I had commented on hers). For years I have wanted a sign or something outside that just said "Jesus." After all, wreaths and greenery, and lights and all the colorful outdoor decor - really don't directly celebrate the reason we even have Christmas. They are pretty and wintery, but not about Jesus.

So this year we have a Jesus sign in the yard (even spotlighted - John's idea)! I am so happy about it. We live at the front of a large circle so everyone drives by our house. Praying that it will give neighbors (and myself each day) a gentle reminder to remember the reason we celebrate, decorate, and give our gifts.

Christmas music is playing here all day and school is sorta out for my homeschooled kids. College classes and exams are over for Drew (he rocks - his hard work paid off!). We had planned to do school all week but the little girls were home sick on Monday so we lounged around with them. We will do a few schooling items as the week draws to a close but mostly I will get all the wrapping and cleaning done so we can enjoy being together doing some of the family traditions - a drive through town to look at lights, making yummy Christmas cookies and sharing some with neighbors, and making a gingerbread house.

Last year's cookies

Last year's gingerbread house

We had a Christmas party here last Sunday with our lifegroup and, luckily, we haven't been inundated with lots of holiday gatherings and parties this year to fill up the schedule. It is a more peaceful December than ever before (last year we had Nutcracker practices and performances all through December). I'm loving it. We have even had the chance this year to do a weekly advent candle lighting during our family night - reading parts of the first Christmas story from the Bible, and watching pieces of The Nativity Story movie. Lovin' that too...

As the year draws closer to a close, I realize that through the stress of parenting and schooling, the exhaustion of days of teaching and driving all over and what seems like non-stop disciplining, that I am living my dream. I am blessed and in love with my life. I am "expecting" another blessing in the next year and can hardly believe the exciting path that the Lord has led our family to. Lest you think things are perfect around here (and I realize that some of my writing might lead you to think that), please know that things here are never perfect. Days are often chaotic and messy and noisy and hard. Our kids are normal kids (if Santa really did the coal thing, some might find that on Christmas morning). We fail miserably at times around here - both the parents and the kids. We need to be constantly reminded how to love each other - and how we need a Savior. There are disappointments, tears, and trials, but through it all, I still see the blessing that this life is.

Merry CHRISTmas to all!

Giving thanks...

Our Happy Thanksgiving is over...sniff, sniff...

I love Thanksgiving. It is a relaxing, slow, holiday with family, friends, lots of talking, laughter, and yummy eating. It is time to reflect on the past year, all that we have been blessed with, and the beginning of the excitement that the start of advent holds.

I just love it...

We spent a wonderful Thanksgiving visit with all the Snells up in Maryland. Mimi and PopPop hosted a wonderful few days of awesome food (despite their new oven not working - yes, turkey can be done on a grill!). We got some shopping done (just the craft store for me - I don't really like shopping!), and lots of cousin time. We even got to visit for a while with John's aunt and uncle from Maine and their son and his wife and their cute little boys (who live on the Maryland coast).

We returned home to find our house...alarming. Smoke alarming, that is. We had received a call, the first day away, from a concerned neighbor (thanks Carol!), who had been walking her dogs by our house and heard our alarms going off. She called our house to check on us and luckily our home phone rings our cell phones if we don't answer. We tried to talk through telling her where the hidden key is located and where the power box is in the house, etc.

Luckily there was no smoke or smells, but nothing turned off the alarms. They are connected to one another electrically but even without power, they all have batteries. We didn't want them to have to deactivate all the batteries on all three floors. So the alarms sounded the entire time we were away. Nothing too loud outside, except if you were walking by (we have a sidewalk that many walkers use - I'm sure it turned a lot of heads. On the bright side, no robbers would have come near...)

Mimi and PopPop's treehouse in the woods for the grandkids - complete with built in bunk beds, ceiling fan/heater, dvd player, front porch with a porch swing, real windows and doors. It was a labor of love and is a family favorite!

John found the problem when we returned and fixed it. Although, just now (as I was typing), I had to run and take down the one defective alarm as they all just went off again. Guess it still needs work. Man, they are loud...

Thankful that there was no fire, among all the provisions that I thanked the Lord for this week.

Reminding myself that being thankful and giving thanks is something to do daily - not just once a year.

Thank you God for all you have given me. I am one lucky girl...

News...

Guess what? Got a call today...

If you recall a few posts back, I ran through the long list of steps we still have til we meet our new daughter. We are now in the middle of those steps, waiting for one step after another (yes, most are known by initials) of the process in China. At this point we are L.I.D. which means our paperwork has been "logged in" to the adoption system in China.  The "D" stands for "date" which is today, October 9. Sometime during this step, all of our paperwork will be translated into Chinese in order to be ready for our future court date (I had incorrectly thought this was done before it went to China).

The next step is a long one - L.O.A. (Letter of Acceptance) -it can take from 2-4 months and most parents in the China adoption world actually count the days - you sorta kinda need to know your number of days til you receive the next step as you WILL be asked by someone at some point as they are going through or have gone through the process. Sorta like a childbirth labor story - the number of days you had to wait for your L.O.A. is just something you know (tho' knowing me I am likely to lose track). In the meantime, we will receive a bunch of paperwork in about a week - lots of official things to sign. I thought we got the actual referral papers at this point but we don't get that til we get the L.O.A. More immigration application forms will be filled out next week when we get them so they will be ready to send in once the L.O.A. arrives.

Once we have the LOA - and the LOC (the letter of confirmation that we will receive with that), we can send T a care package with our family pictures and gifts!

Praying hard for T's little heart for the time when she learns she will be leaving the home she has been in for so long. Praying too for an easy transition into our family. 

We are moving right along...

Days of Summer...

Ah...summer has been fabulous this year! We are enjoying each other more, doing more, and I am loving having all my kids here while life is carefree and fairly schedule-free. Personally, I am dreading the school schedule and daily grind that is fast approaching...

All four of the older kids were blessed to be able to attend youth conferences. The younger boys attended CIY-MIX in Knoxville TN, and the older two attended CIY-MOVE in Cleveland, TN. They traveled with our youth group, spent a week away from home, learned and worshiped lots, and had tons of fun. They were blessed to be able to do these trips through financial gifts the church received. All four spent their Thursday mornings this summer, serving at the church - cleaning, fixing, gardening, babysitting, etc in exchange for being able to attend the conferences. All around a win - they really learned to appreciate the gift of getting to attend (during a year when we are really trying to save), as well as felt real pride in the hard work they provided to God and our church each Thursday.

The little girls attended several VBS programs around town, took swimming lessons, and Kulate attended a few weeks of summer school. We hung out at the pool and the playground, and did crafts and lots of reading. We also had a great start to summer with a much needed trip to the Snell family and cousins up in Maryland. We always celebrate the July 4th with them in style with the best fireworks ever in PopPop's driveway!

Drew got to do some extra fun things this summer. He went "on tour" with his band (Raintree) and went up the East coast playing at house parties, festivals, and a few restaurants. They are a group of 5 extremely talented guys who compose their own music (most of it I like, some, well, not so much). They are wonderful guys and tho' I totally trust them all, this was a tough thing for me - to let Drew go with just a small amount of his own money, in a car with 5 guys and a trailer hitched on back. They had some idea of a plan and some booked shows, but everything else wasn't planned. They spent a few nights with relatives (my parents included), a few at hotels, and a few with new friends they met, and two in sleeping bags in a Wal-Mart parking lot (EE-GADS!!!). They went from VA all the way up to MA. So proud of my boy (and me too for not freaking out too much and letting him "follow his dream"). Thank you Lord for your protection.  He also got to do another fun short trip with his girl friend Zoe and her family - up to visit her relatives and the beach in DE.

We have recently returned from the family's favorite week of the year...the beach...the Jersey shore (THANKFULLY it is NOTHING like the Snooky's Jersey shore). We have gone to Long Beach Island now for 12 years. Having grown up in NJ and going "down-a-shore" for most of my childhood, my memories of our times at the beach are some of my happiest. So it is for my kids.

We go to the beach because my mom is AWESOME! She "gives" us this week each year. She arranges and pays for our house and provides us with towels, sheets, papergoods for the kitchen and always some wonderful foods she has lovingly prepared before. Spending this week with her each year is so special (especially this year - she just turned 80 and is just as energetic as ever). This year there were 17 of us at the house - other years there have been more but we were missing two of the husbands due to their work. The house is huge and the noise and laughter is huge and the memories will last forever!

God gave us glorious warm, sunny, breezy weather and we forgot about phones, and emails, and schedules, and worries, and just played in the ocean like little kids, built castles, rode rides at the Fantasy Island Amusement Park, celebrated Kulate's 6th bday, and enjoyed tea and coffee and long chats on our wonderful front porch. It was heavenly.

This year we ended our vacation with a two day stay at my mom's after the beach along with my sister and her family. Our little girls had never been there and were just as excited about seeing Grandma and Grandpa's house as they were going to the beach! 

**Notice my mom over our shoulders! (that's actually a reflection of her in the mirror behind us!). lol.

We spent one day in NYC (an outing I had long wanted to do) with my brother-in-law Jimmie as our driver (of our big ugly van) and tour guide. Little did we know that he is as good as any taxi driver there and can spout off history and knowledge about everything in the city as he makes his way through the crazy traffic. We could never have seen as much as we did without his help. It was a whirlwind tour of the city - we saw all the highlights without all the walking. We even saw a tv actor walk right by our car (Michael Emerson from Lost).

The most meaningful part of the tour to me was the 9/11 memorial. I haven't been back to the city since the event and it was so emotional to me to be there. Having been born in the city and spending my first nine years living in the city (Greenwich Village), I am a true New Yorker. It made me cry. The place is very peaceful and will be beautiful when all finished. Truly a place of beauty in a place that had seen such devastation. 

Before leaving mom's we went out to breakfast at a local NJ diner. Look who showed up and happily agreed to a picture? Chris Christie, governor of NJ (and keynote speaker at this year's upcoming Republican Convention).

After about a week back home in VA, we were able to journey back up to Maryland again to meet up  with my sister (who had stayed at my mom's for the week after our NYC tour) and her kids, at my other sister's home. The purpose of our trip was to visit DelGrosso Amusement Park in PA for a day. What a cool place - like something from another time. We spent half the day at the amusement rides, and several hours at the water park. Soooooo fun!!

Janie traveled back to VA with us as they were ultimately on route to  FL where they live. We got to have another few days with them (as well as with Jill's two older sons who came back home with us). We spent the days swimming, shopping, playing games, and eating! Jill made the trip down with her two little ones for a night to retrieve the boys. We had one more night all together before everyone had to return home to face the inevitable end of vacations, playing, and summer. Bleh... do I really have to  start to think about fall and plan our school and all this next school year will hold? 

Thank you God for family and summer and vacation and the beach. We are so blessed...