one tooth down....

Six years and 5 days old - and her first tooth is out :) 

The front two bottom teeth have been loosening for a good long while now.  The new teeth started poking through a few months ago and we got wise counsel from a trusted dentist to just wait it out - "those baby  teeth will fall out soon enough" he said. 

And he was right :) 

But the teeth didn't fall out on their own!  After much-o waiting Matt asked "you want me to just pull that really loose one?"  And she said YES!  My sweet non-risk-taker who avoids bloodshed and pain, she said YES!  So Matt explained clearly, "I'm going to pull it, and it will hurt and it will bleed.  You still want me to do it?"  YES again. 

So he did!

With a pair of pliers.  Ugh.  I couldn't even be in the same room!  But Julianna?  Not one tear, not one hesitation.  Just pranced out of the room with tooth in hand and hole in mouth ;)

According to the internet (which is never wrong, ha!) children loose about twenty baby teeth.  Looking at five kiddos, that means we've only got 99 more to go :) 

Christmas Day

What a great Christmas Day!  After the hustle and bustle of the previous week(s) I think we were all ready for a super laid back day with nothing to do but celebrate!  So grateful to Jesus for the special gift of yesterday - in one sense it seemed like time slowed down and the day stretched on forever, and in another sense I was so sad to realize it was 6pm already.

Christmas Eve night we joined a bunch of other foreign families for a big celebration - lots of kids and lots of food and lots of fun!  I never seem to take many photos at events like that, and I wish I did.  Matt narrated and I "directed" the kids in the acting out of the Christmas story.  I didn't count how many actors/actresses we had - maybe about twenty, between the ages of two and eight.  Pretty awesome :)

The kids were invited to attend in their pjs and my kiddos thought this was great fun - and I do love this one picture of us cuddling on the couch....this baby in the belly is well-loved, often-snuggled, frequently-squished.... I often think "oh little one, how preciously safe is your current home and how different things are going to be when you need Momma's constant vigilance and protection!"   

We started Christmas morning (not too early, thankfully!) with the kids giving the gifts they purchased for their siblings and parents.  Total money spent is pretty limited, but the heart behind the gift is so neat to see, and they really do a good job choosing for one another.  Mostly, we just want to instill this spirit of "it is more blessed to give than to receive", even while the Lord has placed our family in a economic place that makes us wealthier than probably 90% of the people on the planet.... 

All three kids gave Matt something "to play with them" - a mini football, mini basketball, and kids-sized badminton set. 

Isaac finally got a glimpse of the promised "gift too big to fit under the tree" (thanks Grandma and Grandpa!). 

And we spent a lot of time outside playing - it was chilly, but there was a speck of sun in the sky (not always the case here in our smoggy, foggy gray-colored home town).

Isaac with his new ball and baseball bat (and the improvised baseball T, an empty water container is basically the perfect height for my little man).   

We went nice and easy for Momma in the kitchen (after weeks of cooking!).  Cinnamon rolls for breakfast (which I made up the night before, so it really is easy to pop them in Christmas morning), cheese and summer sausage and crackers (yum - imported!) and hummus and veggies and fruit for a snack-y lunch and dinner. 

And then more opening gifts.  We didn't finish til about 4 oclock! - not because the pile was that big, but because we took it so slow (and took time out for some naps!)  If we opened something and heard "can we read it now? can we play with it now? can we do this puzzle now?" then we stopped and read and played along the way.  Loved this! 

Took a nice long afternoon bike ride - now that Isaac is on a two-wheeler my days of being able to keep up with the three of them on foot is limited! 

Puzzles and games before dinner :) 

It's late afternoon on the 26th and I scrambled to get these photos uploaded cause I really want to remember these days!  Hosting a group of local friends for dinner tonight, two crock pots of chili cooking and I need to get my potatoes and bread baking! 

MERRY CHRISTMAS

school Christmas parties

Yesterday's school parties were awesome.  Not flawless, not perfect... but we rejoice that many (parents, teachers, children) heard the Christmas story for the first time.  Who knows how much the little ones retained?  Probably not much!

But I dream that one day heaven will be filled with people whose stories I will gladly hear - and one, even just one, will say "Even though I grew up in a strongly atheistic country I first heard the name of Jesus at my preschool.  There was a little foreign girl in my class.  And her parents came and told us about Christmas.  Mostly I remember that her Mommy brought cookies, but I also remember that her Daddy told us about a baby King born in a barn......."

Lydia did SOOOOOO well in the often awkward role of class-foreigner and also the only child whose parents are ever invited in to talk to the class!  I'm proud of my little chicky! 

Isaac looks just about big enough to be in the class himself, doesn't he?  [Current plan is to have him start in the spring semester, right at his third birthday - but he won't be in big sister's class :)]

Julianna's teachers wanted me to not only bring cookies for the kids to taste, but also teach them how to make them.  Well, imagine 25 kids (and their parents) all making sugar cookie cut outs for the first time, with only me and Matt and Julianna there to coach them along.... it was a tad chaotic but actually loads of fun too. 

While the cookies baked Matt told the Christmas story (with the help of our advent calendar). 

We also taught both classes a few English vocabulary words (star, bell, tree..... the shapes of our cut out cookies) and how to sing "we wish you a Merry Christmas".  Fun times, for us and our girls! 

a Christmas birthday party

 My Christmas baby is six years old tomorrow. 

This afternoon we hosted seven girls for a birthday party - 

 

Fun fun fun!  I love delighting my children.  We've got more cupcakes and birthday celebrating to do tomorrow (the 23rd, her actual birthday) and....

Tomorrow is the big school party day - I just talked through the schedule with Matt and it looks like .... well, very full :)  I think I'll feel a little more up to the task after a good night's sleep! 

 

party time

I think we have a party every day between now and December 28th.  Here's the run down:

Dec 20: students in our home - such a HUGE opportunity! 

Dec 21: party downtown

Dec 22: Julianna's birthday party

Dec 23: "hosting" two different parties at the girls' school - one in each classroom.... what a sweet chance to teach the littlest ones about Christmas, and double bonus that the school invited all the parents of Julianna's classmates to come to her class and hear "all about Christmas".  Surely this will be the first time many have heard anything close to the truths behind Christmas celebrating! 

Dec 24th: party at a friend's house with lots of little kids and mucho yummy food

Dec 25th: just the five of us partying here all day!  yay for Jesus' birthday! 

Dec 26th: hosting local friends for baked potatoes, chili and more celebrating

Dec 27th: another student party! 

What does this mean?  It means that if you are wondering where I am, try looking in the kitchen :)  I started early and my list is intense, but so far I think I am right on track prep-wise. Trying to maintain focus and remember: December is not about food and gifts.... or rather it is totally about food and gifts - the GIFT of Jesus, the BREAD of life. 

Oh that HIS NAME would be glorified in our hearts, and our home, and all our partying this week! 

I want to remember these days, so I'm hoping to chronicle the parties here.  Off to the kitchen.....

in the kitchen

I cook with my kids all. the. time.

And I love it.  So all this Christmas baking is a real treat - though I do confess that on Saturday morning I tried to sneak in the kitchen and get started on the peanut butter kisses while they were busy playing in their bedroom.... epic fail.  The same kids who hadn't left their room in twenty minutes were in the kitchen within moments of me turning on the mixer.  How do they do that??!!??

For most things I'm happy to plunge in with just my three sets of helping hands and the motto "well, we can clean it up later".  But for the frosted sugar cookie cut outs I knew I would need some serious back up support.  So we waited til Sunday afternoon when Daddy was home. 

Before we got started I gave a little warning: "if you eat too much frosting and cookie dough while we're working your tummy will hurt and you won't be able to eat ONE BIG COOKIE at the end of the afternoon".  I'd like to dream that it helped keep the consumption down, but in reality I don't even dare guess how much they ate in process! 

I didn't count, but I bet we have almost 100 frosted sugar cookie cut outs in our freezer if anyone is hungry :)

And this girl, well after much practice on salt dough ornaments and sprinkle sugar cookies she's getting really good with the rolling pin. 

She's also not afraid to think of some creative uses :)

The big week is here!  We've got lots to celebrate - a six year old birthday and a Savior who came to dwell among us! 

my new favorite ornaments

So I saw a picture of this when the kids were resting today and by the time the girls came out of their room I was convinced we absolutely must create them :)  

 

 

The picture I saw didn't have any 'how-to' instructions but it was clearly done on some sort of wood cutout shape.  And while that would be undeniably cute (and probably longer-lasting), I live about 10,000 miles from ACMoore and wasn't willing to go through the trouble of trying to create my own.  So we used a paper plate :) 

Our 'hay' is leftover Easter grass (Julianna's idea). 

Isaac is battling a nasty cold and sleeping long today, but I will definitely be trying to talk him into letting me paint his hand for one of these precious handprints!  (Baby Jesus is the thumb - seriously fun!)

neighbor gifts

Christmas is a fun time to love on our neighbors. 

After all, most of the holidays around here leave me feeling like a fish out of water - I never really know how to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival (drop by? bring a gift?) or Tomb Sweeping Day.  So I love when Christmas rolls around - though many people here have heard of Christmas, few know the reason behind the glitz and glitter, and it's the perfect opportunity to tell them!!!  

This year we bought glass-jar candles for all the people on our list and today the kids and I got them ready for giving.  The list is made up of folks who live within walking distance of our home.  I wouldn't describe them as 'great friends' - but they are definitely more than nod-and-wave-hello neighbors.  Most (but not all) have been in our home for a meal or snacks or just to hang out.  The list isn't complete yet, but we hope to give about fifteen candles :)

I wrote up a little "Jesus is the light of the world" gift tag with a brief explanation of why we think Christmas is worthy of celebrating.  And the kids helped me get them all ready.

Sure, I could have made them a whole lot cuter working alone but I chose to sacrifice cute-potential so the kids could participate.  As long as you don't look too closely at the tags you'll think they turned out just fine :) 

When we piled today's bounty on the coffee table Julianna said "oh, they look so great".....

and I have to agree :)

salt dough ornaments

This has got to be one of my most favorite Christmases ever in terms of the kids' ages and ability to really engage in and enjoy the festivities.  I am just LOVING this stage - even my youngest little man is really "grown up" (relative, of course) and he is able to participate in so many things. 

(And by youngest I mean "youngest currently living outside the womb and in our home" - don't you worry, I have many a moment when I realize how complicated life will - HOPEFULLY! - get in the next twelve months with the addition of a newborn and adopted toddler.  I feel this little one twisting inside me and am just grateful that he/she is so very easy to take care of at this stage!  And I fall asleep every night wondering where our adopted addition is, and how much delight - and challenge - he'll be adding to our family this time next year!)

Anyways, to sum it up: It's pretty much the perfect year for making salt dough ornaments.  The girls can do almost everything on their own, with just a little supervision ("not too much flour honey, I think that's plenty") and Isaac is just along for the rolling pin fun. 

I guesstimate that this craft costs me less than one dollar per big batch of salt dough (ingredients: salt, flour, water).  And it's the craft that keeps on crafting - so humid here that I ended up baking my ornaments almost four hours before they are good and dry, which means its a minimum two day activity!  Double bonus. 

Isaac surprised me and was content to just use markers on the first two sets he decorated.  He's also only used his ornament as a weapon ever so briefly - as it turns out, if you put a nice long string on that thing it has a pretty good range when you get to swinging it good and fast!

The girls won't settle for anything less than paint and have pretty much mastered the art of nice thin layers of paint that dry quickly :)

We're planning to paint ornaments for Julianna's birthday party too!

Tonight we are joining the other foreign teachers (5 total) and some really tip-top administrators from Matt's school for a big formal dinner.  This is one of those events that could easily go either way - amazingly, refreshingly smooth for our little crew....... or one big fat disaster waiting to happen.  I've cried in frustration IN THE MIDDLE of this kind of event and, honestly, I'm tempted to say "let's just leave me and the kids out of this!" 

I once called my dear friend from one of these things and half-jokingly said "would it be rude if I gathered my kiddos and just walked out before we spilled another sauce or broke another dish or created another scene?" - the Lord gifted us some very mild-mannered easy-going children, but these events are a stretch for even the most mature of us adults, and when you tack on the added stress of "most watched family in the entire noisy crowded smoke-filled restaurant" you've got quick the mix!

So, with hesitant heart we'll head downtown here in a few hours (ugh of living in a big city - even though we are walking distance from Matt's school the restaurant for tonight's dinner is an hour-ish drive).  Wish us luck :)

christmas memories

Many things I love about Christmas....

Last year we celebrated in America (for the first time since 2003!)... needless to say, we'd developed a few traditions of our own over those many years celebrating in Asia and as I was packing for our time in the States I was careful to include a few special items that we wanted to have with us.

So in amongst the pieces of luggage on July 1 (2010) were several Christmas items: our advent calendar, our stockings (each handmade but that's worthy of a whole separate post!), and our Christmas Memories book.

It's hard to get more special than this.  My Grandmother gave it to Matt and I our first married Christmas - which was also her last Christmas with us, she died November 7th of the following year. 

I'm sure she had no idea that I had been looking for exactly this kind of a thing but hadn't yet found one that I thought was perfect. She did find the perfect one, and gave it to us a few days before Christmas 2003.  We have faithfully recorded every year. 

It's quickly becoming a favorite with the kids too, though I'm pretty particular about letting them page through it.  If you wanna look at the Christmas book, then it's on my terms - in the living room (where I can keep an eye on you) and on your own (eliminates all kinds of sibling instigated craziness). 

I don't consider many of our possessions to be heirlooms, no one wants to grow up in a museum.  But this is one of those "museum worthy" kind of things and I feel justified being a bit strict with it! 

Plus it kind of adds to the lure of the book :) 

[in the picture above the page is turned to Christmas 2007]

little boy no more

Last night I cut Isaac's hair.  A lot.  This was no small trim around the ears, but a major cut. He went from this

to this.

Full disclosure: I don't like it.  I miss my little boy.  And you have to admit he had a gorgeous head of hair - perfectly silky blond locks that loved to be tousled.  But Matt was more than ready for the change.  And Matt loves the new look. 

Moral of the story: When in doubt, Daddy chooses hair styles for the little men of the family. 

So we got out the clippers and went to work. 

And work it was.  I was cutting off four to five INCHES of hair!!! 

Isaac didn't even squirm once - ha!!!!

We've got a little touching-up to do, but that shouldn't be a problem.  Isaac went straight from the hair salon (aka dining area) to the bath and while soaking pronounced "I want to cut my hair again on Saturday."  When I asked him why he said "because I LOVE getting my hair cut". 

That's not exactly the same tune he had been singing about fifteen minutes earlier when the novelty of the clippers had worn off and I still had gobs of hair to cut through.  But I'm grateful the experience left a good impression.  (I nipped the skin behind his ear once before when I was trimming with the scissors - ouch! - so at least with the clippers I don't have to worry about drawing blood!)

He is still such a handsome little guy - but all of a sudden looks so much more like a three year old (birthday coming up in March) and less and less like the Isaac I still think of as "baby of the family" (though not for long!).

outtakes

We need a family Christmas card photo (tis the season, right? - who doesn't need a good photo?!?).

So Matt set the camera on it's timer function, we settled ourselves in the living room and all was going just fine......  until I told Isaac that Bei Bei (his stuffed tiger) was not going to be part of the picture. 

Sad moment for the little man.  And photographic proof for all of you who have been deceived by my precious Isaac into thinking that he is a dream child who never creates a moment's mess or worry for his Momma :) 

Good news is he recovered quickly when we compromised - no tiger, but he could hold his yellow pick up truck. 

The process was quick and painless.  We got a great photo and headed off to our small group church.  Look for it coming soon to a mailbox near you (and be sure to check out Isaac's truck).

If you'd like a picture (and who wouldn't?!?    ha!) and you think you might not be on our list send me a quick email with your mailing address.  [My email is my first and last names - all one word - at yahoo dot com.]

wrapping gifts (and #4 in the belly!)

Matt is due home by 6 tonight.

Technically, he's already back in town but shushhhhhhh! don't tell the kids!  He arrived at the train station but had to head straight for campus and I didn't clarify the situation with the kiddos who are excitedly anticipating his return.

No need to spend time explaining why he is here but also not here.  Especially when they've selected "Hark the Herald" as this year's most requested Christmas song - I'm busy enough explaining lines like 'veiled in flesh the Godhead see, hail the Incarnate Deity'.  Not that I'm complaining at all... LOVE the music, and if we're going to be belting Christmas tunes at the top of our lungs (Isaac's preferred style) then I'm happy to be singing some good theology!

Anyways, the big reason the kids can't wait for Dad to grace the front door is that we shopped for and wrapped his Christmas presents this morning - and boy are they ready to show off the fruit of their labor!

With all the tape and paper and scissor action I was busy enough wrapping, but when it came time to work on the gift tags I did manage to pull out the camera.

This morning Julianna took a pic of #4 in the belly :)  23+ weeks and growing every day.

Looks like the plan is to carry this baby high and shaped like a ball.  Just like my previous three :)  

This is not something I EVER thought I would say, but we are really seriously considering having the baby here, no traveling to better medical care.  I met an English speaking (local) doctor a month or so ago for my first check up and was pretty encouraged.

I see him again next week (for an ultrasound) and we'll try to make the final decision then... I keep telling Matt "well, if 36 weeks rolls around and we're still here then I guess this is where we'll have the baby".  [I can't fly commercial after 36 weeks.]  He'd like to nail down some details a little earlier than that :) 

Current plan is that Matt and the kids will come along for the ultrasound - if we get any good pics I'll be sure to post them.  And I really hope it's fun for the kids to see.  They are especially intrigued by the idea that baby can hear their voices.  Who wouldn't be?!?!?! 



Oh, and is it a boy or girl?!?!?  We decided to let this one surprise us on his/her birthday! 

December first

The big countdown started today.  

Matt and I wrote the story that accompanies our advent calendar.  Day one starts with a few simple sentences.  Each day we start the reading at the beginning, and add a new sentence or two.  And of course each day contributes a character or background piece that matches the unfolding plot. 

The story begins "Jesus is the Greatest Treasure of All.  He is the son of God and He lives in heaven."   By the end of the first week the kids will have much of it (including direct Scripture that we wove into the story) memorized. 

LOVE this.  Love hearing my littles daily recite along with me "Jesus is the Greatest Treasure of All."  So I'm delighted that today is December 1st!

So far it's been a pretty smooth week - I've tried to schedule something for a few of the days as Matt is gone...  a little English speaking fellowship goes a long way (not that my kids don't provide English speaking fellowship, but you know what I mean!)

And tonight was dance class again - it's getting cold and dark for the little man and I as we wait for the girls to do all their twirling.  It doesn't seem like that long ago that we could sit outside in short sleeves and long-lingering daylight..... and now its dark and cold when we arrive.  Darker and colder when we leave :)

It is December first, after all!! 

oh christmas tree

We finished decorating Monday morning.  In our pajamas of course :)  It was actually one of our first 'typical' days off for Matt in months.  And we loved every minute of it.

Notice that the tree is green and has a bit of a triangle shape. 

Smaller than we were hoping for, and the branches didn't hold all the ornaments, but we're big fans regardless. 

As usual when Matt is away traveling, I seem to think that I'm going to jump into hyper-productive mode and get tons of things done.  In the late evening hours, no less :)  My to-do list is impressive.  Very impressive. 

Tonight for sure I'll be up late making phone calls to CST dealing with adoption paperwork issues.  The theme of our journey seems to be: if there is trouble to be had, we will find it.  UGH. 

Although I am delighted to be an official resident of North Dakota ("the few, the proud......") I haven't had a lot of warm fuzzy feelings towards Bismarck lately as we have spent weeks getting the run around about document authentication. 

Hopefully we're soon to put this most recent set of potholes behind us and get on down the road towards receiving a referral!!!