Happy Birthday to M!

M is five!  It's hard to believe that my first baby is five and will be heading to kindergarten next August.  M believes in the birthday week I have learned so every day is her birthday starting on Thursday evening (her birthday was Friday) and heading on into Sunday at least.  We had a family dinner on Friday and will have a little get together with our extended family and a friend tomorrow.

Many changes coming to our house this next week.  Daddy starts a new job on Monday and the kiddos head back to their preschool.  M and E had been staying with my sister S for the last couple of months.  S is now working outside the home so all the kiddos will be going to M and E's old preschool.  We left the preschool because of the awesome opportunity to have them spend the days with their aunt and cousin so we are happy to return and so grateful that they have room for us.  It is a great school and M had gone to it since she started their infant care at 11 months old.  All of the kiddos have been staying home with daddy or mommy since I returned from China (isn't the picture of daddy and S so precious, he loves their snuggle time).  This is going to be a huge change for our little S as she hasn't stayed away from us since we were united.  Praying that she makes the transition well, she has come so far in nearly two months.  She has turned into such a confident little girl.

Feeling Yuck

We had a great weekend, Saturday was spent laying around the house with the kids playing and watching movies.  Very relaxing.

On Sunday we were off to church.  The two big kids went to their class and S joined mommy and daddy.  She does great in church, sits fairly quiet and plays with whatever she can find.  She has fallen asleep both times during service.  When M was little going to church didn't work out.  She screamed and fussed the entire time and still wasn't happy in the cry room.  She had a lot of seperation anxiety so we couldn't take her to nursery either.  She really didn't do well in church until E came home.  Now she loves her class and going to Awana's.

After church the kids got invited to join their cousin S at the local children's science museum.  The kids and I headed to the museum for a couple hours of play.  M and E love the museum so we decided to get a family pass this year and amazing it only cost $45 for the entire year.  S and M had a great time playing in the grocery store.  E is really into the science and robot stuff.  He hung out with S and Uncle JS doing the guy science stuff.  M also had a great time playing in the Vet Center.  It was a great afternoon and I can't wait for them to spend many more days playing there.  Unfortunately, as is the case a lot these days, I forgot my camera.

I woke up on Monday morning feeling horrible.  I had a little cold when I left for China and it hung on while I was there.  I didn't get my customary upper respiratory infection while in GZ for two weeks so I really say it was a healthy trip in spite of the cold.  When we got home I still had a bit of a cough and it went away but then my sinus congestion came back last week.  Yesterday when I woke up I had horrible pain in my back and taking a deep breath was very painful.  Daddy took the kids to gymnastics and I called work to let them know I wouldn't be in and layed back down.  By the time my family returned I was feeling worse so decided I better get myself to the doctor.  Turns out I have bronchitis and an ear infection.  Taking one more day to get some rest and then back to work for mommy.

Thankfully, my family is well and doing great.

Bible reading is great, so far I am keeping up with it.  I absolutely love You Version, it really keeps me going.

Boss Your Heart, Bible Reading Challenge

I am a follower of a beautifully written blog All Are Precious In His Sight and Lorraine has a wonderful challenge for us all this year.  It's a Bible reading challenge for 2011.  Check out Lorraine's post and take a look at all the different reading plans available on You Version.

Take this next year to spend more time getting to know God.  I've picked my reading plan, have you?

Happy New Year!

Lord, move me into powerful ministry that will impact the lives of others for Your kingdom and Your glory.  I humble myself under Your might hand. O God, Knowing that You will lift me up in due time, I reach out for Your hand today so I can walk with You into the future You have for me.

This devotion really spoke to me, it was my devotion for Thursday and I knew the Lord was speaking to me about this next year.  This past year has been filled with many trials and huge blessings.  Being Christian doesn't mean that life is going to be perfect, that everyday will be easy.  If anything it may bring more pain because you SEE the injustice of the world without rose colored glasses.  I SEE the Orphan Crisis.  I have now been to China three times to bring three beautiful treasures home and every time my heart is broken more.

What more can I do?  That is a question that I ask myself every day.  I know that the Lord has put Orphans deeply in my heart and each day this question is the first thing that comes to my mind when I wake and the last thing on my mind when I fall asleep.  It is part of my daily time with Jesus.

As humans we make resolutions to lose weight, get debt free, simplify, earn more money, work towards better health and the list goes on.  While these are are great resolutions and all things that I would like to spend time working towards, they are not my resolution.

My resolution for 2011 is to spend more time with Jesus personally and with my family.  That we will all spend time daily thinking of the Orphans and working towards Orphans No More.  What that will look like for our family I am not sure but I know if we listen we will find out.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

I am a terrible blogger.  Unfortunately, being a better blogger isn't going to be my resolution.

So December has flown by, we will have been home for a full month come Monday.  What have we been doing this past month.  Well, I can't say that we have been super busy.  We have spent a lot of time together as a family of five.

On December 11th we took our kids on a train ride to the North Pole.  We have done it every year since M has been home.  You get to take an hour ride on a vintage train to the North Pole and see Santa.  Then you ride the train back to the depot.  The kids love it!

On December 14th E had his tonsils and adenoids removed.  He had a hard time with the recovery, especially at night.  We are now just a little over two weeks since surgery and he is healed and waiting for the ok to eat popcorn again!

We spent Christmas at home, just the five of us.  While it was different than normal for us it was nice to have some down time together after the last two months.  We spent Christmas day laying around the house, kids playing with their new toys and mom and dad watching the Hallmark Channel.

I returned to work part time on December 22nd and daddy is staying home with the kids for now.  S has adjusted very well to her new home and family.  While she still prefers to be with mommy she can be daddy's girl when I am at work.

New Years Eve is a great deal like Christmas,  the five of us laying around doing puzzles, reading books and watching the Disney Channel.

Wishing you all a Happy and Blessed New Years!

So Powerful

Pause the music at the bottom of the page to watch this.  It is so powerful.  There is always more we can do.  What is Jesus putting in your heart?

Starfish Calendars!

These adorable calendars are available to purchase.  All proceeds benefit the kids at the Starfish foster home in China.  Check out More Kids 4 Me for all the information on how you can order your calendar.  Anne also has a link to the full calendar.

I can't wait for our calendar to arrive and hang in our special China calendar place in our hallway.