Rainy Day Fun and Looking Back on Christmas

We stayed in our jammies today until Abbey's Chinese lesson late in the afternoon. We set up the princess tent and had a cheerio, cheese and Otter Pop party with Abbey's babies. Later I heard her singing Happy Birthday to MLK and having cake in there. She also told me she was writing her own new Bible book today (in a princess journal). It says, "Jesus you are great. You are a blessing."
She has had a factory going in her room all weekend and had called me to come buy some toys, but when I came she had hung up a sign on the door that said Sorry, which meant it was closed. She is just so funny. Do other kids play factory all the time? Ever since she was two years old she has been setting up assembly lines and putting people to work.
Last week she was over the moon to go to a Barbie birthday party with a bunch of second grade girls. Each girl was given a Barbie (something we had successfully avoided until now) and had to create outfits out of toilet paper. Of course Abbey's was a bride. She kept telling me at Christmas that Santa was going to put a Barbie in her stocking and I kept explaining that he doesn't give those to four year old's. I am hoping I can tuck Barbie away somewhere in a week or two and she'll be forgotten about.
Little Miss Muffet also cut a hole today in my Pottery Barn duvet cover. She was mortified after she did it and was literally wailing. I was trying to talk to her about how it happened and whether or not it was an accident. When I suggested that it might have been on purpose she let out a terrible shriek. I started crying because of seeing her so upset and told her that she's more important than any blanket and to forget about it. It was less than an inch long and near a seam, so I quickly stitched it up. I feel bad that she tries so hard to do everything right and is so worried about making a mistake and being forgiven. I always tell her that there is nothing she could ever do that I wouldn't forgive her for. Little sweetheart.

So even though it's long past Christmas I just had time to load my photos and want to do a little recap.

We had an incredible time at the Nutcracker ballet. Of course she wore her Sugar Plum Fairy outfit. It was just magical to be watching it with her for the first time. She had a little fever from some shots, but we sat in box seats and it felt like it was just her and I. When it started "snowing" on us she was just in awe. I think it was a great connection for her to see the beautiful results that ballet lessons can lead to.

All through the season she was focused on Mary, saying she was Mary, looking for her in every Nativity scene, asking about her in songs we would hear. When I would ask her why she liked Mary so much she would always say it's because of her "bridal", meaning the head covering cloth. Abbey is so into anything relating to weddings or brides. A few weeks ago she told me she wants a bride birthday party. I was about 24 hrs into trying to wrap my brain around how I could pull that off when she changed themes. She is currently saying she wants a Jesus birthday party with angel napkins. We'll see if that sticks until April and if it does maybe I can find some Easter things to make it work.

One of the things I loved about this Christmas was her pronunciation of it. She says Chrit-mas, without the first "s". I still love the last lingering baby-ness to her speech...it's just really sweet. We always play a game called Rumikub, but she calls it Barbeque.

So she did get a little wedding play set at Christmas but what she asked Santa for was race cars. She loves her little racetrack. I got her a Geo Trax train set and a Leapster and she is loving both of those as well.
She loved being at Auntie's house and running around with cousins and friends. It really is as good as the North Pole there. Cookies, candy, and presents everywhere.

Love Without Boundaries

I was thrilled to learn that parents of students in my class made a donation to Love Without Boundaries in my honor as a Christmas gift. I can't tell you how much more meaningful that is than the normal "teacher gifts".
I love my copy of the first edition of Love's Journey and can't wait to get a copy of of Love's Journey 2: The Red Thread. Learn more about how you can receive a free copy of these beautiful stories and photos here.

If You Think Candy's Sweet...

there's a gal you ought to meet. Sugar drips from her lips when she smiles...






My sweet little girl has been so much fun to be with in these weeks leading up to Christmas. We've had many magical moments where her face has lit up and been in awe of the sights and sounds of the season. We've been loving the lights, decorations, music, and treats. I can't wait to see her face tomorrow and watch her open gifts. What an incredible experience to have a four year old daughter at Christmas time!

Yangdong Reunion

We were so happy to be able to reconnect with two families from our travel group whom we have not seen in the three years since our trip. It is amazing to see the transformations in our girls who were babies the last time we were all together. We were able to let the girls play all day and enjoy pizza, princess dancing, doll house toys, and shopping at The Grove. A few days later we were able to meet Kelly, Eric, Katie, and Ella at Disneyland for a day. It was freezing, but we had a blast. We hope to have more pictures soon. My camera battery died, but Kelly is the photo queen. I got teary eyed a few times thinking of the orphanage where our daughters were together and then seeing them now running around with the princesses at Disneyland. No matter how dark or difficult a season may be, God could have an beautiful plan for the next chapter in your life.


Loving all the toys at Elizabeth's house and the fun friends to play with.


Darling Ella. Her big sister Katie was from Yangdong with Abbey. Kelly was like our amazing travel team captain. This woman's got it together.

Shopping at The Grove. All the girls made purchases at the sticker store and enjoyed some wild stroller races.
First stop at Disney, princesses and make-up (face painting). Perhaps due to Katie's influence Abbey branched out from Fantasyland and enjoyed Thunder Mountain and Soaring Over Califoornia. Hope to include more pic's with Katie soon.

The Pledge

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Brightest Little Sunshine

Three years ago today the most brilliant little light came into my life. She is as warm as sunshine, a cheerful little bundle of giggles, the softest little bunny to hug and hold, and in all ways a joy unspeakable and full of glory. I am always tearing up and thinking how did I ever become so incredibly blessed?

Abbey is in that incredible stage of soaking in the world around her. I am not sure who is doing the learning around here. She is constantly asking me to explain things about everything inside our bodies, how electricity works and gets to houses, how car engines work, how fruits and vegetables grow, etc. We go to the library and stack up on books and I now know all sorts of things about valves and pistons, crankshafts, and cooling systems. Now when I see a cherry picker I know about the boom, bucket, and outrigger. She is just a constant sponge for information.

She's also very into writing and wants me to spell things out for her all the time. She'll go through lists of words that she wants to write on the magnadoodle and they are so funny because it will be things like princess, cupcake, parking lot - just random, but in her mind it all works.

She loves making little books for me every day. She colors, cuts, tapes, and writes, many times adding in lift the flap areas and often putting little paper chocolate chip cookies to make it extra special.


Things she does that just melt my heart...

She got an blow up globe that she loves. She calls it her, "Great Big Ball of Love."

She always tells me, "I want to keep you forever and ever, Amen."

When she sees something beautiful she touches the item and then lays her hand on her forehead and then her heart saying that she will keep it with her and remember it forever. She asks me get sparkly fairy cards and other beautiful things she can't reach in stores and hold them down for her to lay hands on and then apply to her heart and mind. How she came up with this I have no idea, but it's fascinating to watch.

Her prayers are the sweetest words and I know they go straight to God's throne.

I could not be more thankful for all that we've been given.

First Day's of School - We're Lovin It!

For months Abbey has been telling me, "I don't want to go to *** *** School, I want to stay with you!" The night before her first day I was feeling frustrated that nothing I had said was helping and that she was dreading her new school. After her first day she came home happy as a lark and loving it all, as I knew she would. When I asked her what had changed her mind she said, "I thought they were going to make me concentrate very hard, but all we do is play!" I should have clued in on her concerns several days before when she asked me if she would have homework. Somehow she had gotten it in her mind that it was going to be quite academic, and we are both so happy that it's just FUN.
I have been working my tail off at my new job which I love. I am at a wonderful school teaching Jr. Kindergarten. It's a new program and really just a perfect fit for me. The school is wonderful - staff, parents, children - all of it. Here are some glimpses into my first day...










And as if both of our new schools don't have us busy enough, there is also Abbey's new dance school. She is thrilled to be taking ballet and tap and has the greatest little class and teachers.




She is so excited on Saturdays to go to class. She has turned into a little giggle box that just has the funniest, most contagious laughter that you've ever heard. Once she starts it's impossible not to join in. All things "ballet" and "wedding" now have equal ranking with all things "princess".
We finished swim lessons before school started and they were great, we really should do more. We've also been trying to work out Chinese school. We couldn't register for our local school online from China and the only option was to show up the first day of classes (you had to pre-register in person in the spring, which of course we couldn't do from China). Abbey was number two on the waiting list but I felt that it probably wasn't going to be a good fit for us. There were 32 4 year olds sitting in high school desks for two hours responding to the teacher one by one. This past week we went to another Chinese school a little farther away and the dynamics were better, but it only meets on Sunday morning, which wouldn't work for us because of church. I spoke with the teacher and she is willing to give Abbey individual lessons during the week so that's what we will do for now. I want to gather up some friends and start an American style Chinese class that's fun, interactive, and hands on. I'd love for it to have dance, music and crafts in addition to language. In the mean time I'm glad we've found someone that can teach Abbey.
So much more to say but I have to get some sleep!