Field Trip Friday

First stop: the library. . .for a book on the shells of coastal south Texas.



Because this is what the beach on the base looks like.



A few extra finds, like beached jelly fish and hermit crabs, add delight to the day.



And what would an afternoon at the "shell beach" be without a Black Hawk fly-by? (Seriously, these things are amazing!)


Sorry the light is really harsh on this one, but I wanted a group shot with before we left.


Who knows where next Friday will take us?

How did you spend your MLK Jr. Day?

A Backwards Glance at 2008

I know that 2009 has been here for quite some time. I mean, you've all probably stopped writing "08" on your checks by now. Maybe not. Sometimes I still write "99." Don't laugh. That was the year I became a mother, and we all know that children suck brain cells away like X-Men's Rogue (who, by the way has the coolest name AND the hair of the gang) sucks away others' powers.

Anyway, I thought it might be fun to go through the beginning-ish sentences of some of last years blog posts and see what kind of story they tell.

January 8 Okay, it's been almost forever since I've talked to you.

Today was a little hard, but not too bad.

January 9 I thought today would be harder than it is.

January 10 Today I spent a lot of time searching.

January 17 Last week was really hard.

January 24 Today is Day 17.

January 26 Caleb: "You know what Jesus is working on right now?"

February 7 "Gong Xi Fa Cai" or Lots of blessings and prosperity to you!

February 13 Two years! How they have zipped right on by.

February 20 40 days of prayer and God speaks...and this is where he is leading.

February 22 I just had to share this picture of my youngest two with you.

February 26 The kids begged me last weekend to let them have a cook-"in," so we rigged some wire hangers and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows for s'mores over the fire in our woodburner.

March 3 "Gabriel is transforming...into a seven-year-old!"

March 5 Last week, on a Sunday afternoon, our neighbor called.

March 13 For Lily's third birthday, my brother Josh and his wife Lana bought her a cute Barbie doll, all decked out for the beach in her fairly conservative bathing suit, wrap and big, beach feet.

March 27 I LOVE Easter. Love it.

March 31 Is your refrigerator running? You'd better go catch it! Hee hee.

April 9 Such a glorious, warm, sunny, earthy, springy weekend we were given!

April 18 I hate coloring my hair.

April 21 I gave my little blog a face lift today...do you like it?

April 23 So it's not as golden as I thought. Rob's new job is not going to work out.

April 24 I know it's officially spring, because literally overnight my weeping cherry trees erupted into full blossom.

April 30 Today Lily and I met my sister Jamie and her daughter Emmaly for a day of shopping (low budget!), lunching and just being together.

May 6 Seth Sightings

May 12 Why I love being a mother. A small sampling.

May 22 My heart is breaking today for a fellow adoptive parent.

This morning the kids and I drove out to Russ Forest to walk the trails.

May 23 I've taken Jeny's yellow challenge.

May 30 What happens when you leave your firefighters in the drier too long.

June 17 Right now, as I type, Rob is in Washington DC, either waiting for his turn to interview with the Navy Chaplain board or actually in the middle of the interview.

June 30 "Lieutenant Fasnacht." It's official!

July 8 I recently joined a yahoo group for military families who homeschool.

July 18 Have I shared with you Caleb's obsession with berries?

July 27 Yee Haw (Picture of Texas license plate, indicating that we will be moving there.)

Okay, so Friday my doctor found an "abdominal mass" the size of a softball parked in my midsection.

July 28 "Dog Show At the Fair" Gabe did really, really well. Disney...she decided she was not a performing monkey and chose obstinance over obedience.

August 5 I've had blood drawn, and I underwent an ultrasound and just yesterday a CT scan. They think it's a cyst, but I'm still waiting for the CT scan results to come back to confirm that's all it is.

"Horse Show" I'm so proud of my little cowboys.

August 11 "My Weenend In Photos and Captions" (Included are photos of Caleb's birthday and Rob's commissioning service at church.)

Blood tests for cancer: normal.

August 13 The Good: The OB surgeon is AWESOME. The Bad: Okay, I'm going to be cut open from above my navel, around my navel, and then down below my navel. The Ugly: 17 cm X 13 cm X 9 cm. Yeah, that's how big this growth is.

I have a surgery date: Tuesday, the 19th at 2:00 p.m.

August 19 "Today's the Day" (Surgery.)

August 21 Hi. I'm home. Very glad to be home.

August 22 Wanna See? ***Warning Graphic Medical Photo

August 31 "Rob's Gone: Day 2"

September 8 I'm still mending, but much to my boys' chagrin, a little tiredness on mama's part does not stop school from coming to our house.

September 17 "The New Justice League" Evil-doers beware!

I told the kids to go outside for "recess" and ride their bikes.

September 18 Pretty Lily

September 23 "Cardboard Testimonies"
::Watch this only if you want to feel so thankful to God for what he can do in a broken person's life::

October 9 The kids and I just returned from a 2100 mile round-trip road trip.

October 24 These autumn days are all running into one another.

November 3 I'm answering Jeny's pink challenge today.

Gabe's first toothless smile in seven years!

November 14 "Two." That's how many days I have left until the movers come and start loading up our stuff.

December 2 The bird has landed...and the mama bird is reassembling the nest. (Okay, that sentences really doesn't make that much sense, does it? Sorry.)

December 15 We're starting to get settled here in TX, though it's kinda hard to feel Christmasy when the needle outside points to 72 degrees.

* * *


A crazy kind of year. I've noticed lots of reasons to be SO thankful to God. I can clearly see His hand throughout it all. I can also see lots of areas that need improvement in my life...and in my writing patterns. We'll work on those things together, you and I, dear reader.

How was your year?

Decking the Halls

We're starting to get settled here in TX, though it's kinda hard to feel Christmasy when the needle outside points to 72 degrees. I can't say I'm not enjoying it though, because I am! We all are! I felt a little down this weekend as my family celebrated together with my Grandparents at their annual gathering. The first one I've ever missed. My sister called me and told me about the feast and how everyone was doing, and everyone shouted, "HI, JODY!" so that I could hear them. I felt a little better.

Last week we were able to locate the box labeled "Christmas Tree" and then the boxes with the ornaments, and we set our tree up last week. The kids and I had fun making the house look festive, even if it's only one corner of the house. The other corners are still decked in brown boxes!



We even made a few batches of cookie dough together.





I'm also working on our Christmas letter. First up, I needed a family picture. I had outfits in mind. Rob had a great idea for a location. We stopped by after church, since we were all dressed up. Unfortunately, the wind didn't give pause to our plans, so we'll try again later, maybe later today. This is an actual, untouched picture of the wind and my hair duking it out. Definitely NOT Christmas-card worthy.



Saturday, the youth activity center had a Christmas party for the kids. There were pony rides (of which all but Lily said, "No, thanks." Not a novelty for the boys, but Lily, a girl after my own heart, can't say no to anything equestrian.)



Of course, they all got a turn sitting on Santa's lap. Even Caleb and Gabe, who had eyes only for the goody bags he was handing out. Seth ran in and grabbed Santa in a huge hug and shouted, "Hi, Santa! I would like a toy robot!" A little too enthusiastically for this mom who is trying to teach her children to embrace the true meaning and spirit of Christmas. Yet I happen to know personally that Santa is looking for a robot to fill a certain red-head's stocking.

That morning the children from our chapel performed some Christmas songs for the crowd, and they repeated the performance Sunday morning. The crowd favorite: "Go Tell It On the Mountain." Gabe is a natural, and he performed like a Broadway star. Caleb played it coooooool, man. Great fun was had by all.





And as the children shared the true meaning of Christmas by song, their sweet, precious hearts kindled in me the hope and peace Christmas brings, even without the Currier and Ives view out my window. Even with family and friends who are so precious to me miles and miles away. God is near, WITH US even, and there it is, the Christmas spirit my heart was looking for.

The bird has landed...

...and the mama bird is reassembling the nest.

We made it. The cable guy just left so we have internet...hooray! The movers got here this morning around 9:30, unloaded an unbelievable amount of boxes for about five hours, tipped their hats, and left me surrounded by mountains of items I have no idea where to tuck away. This is the first house we've had that does not have a room designated as an office, so I'm having to redefine our living space. Not necessarily a bad thing, but an overwhelming task, to be sure.

Our home is adorable and we all love it. It's very different having neighbors just a few feet away and a backyard that is barely big enough for the dog, much less four children. But we are adjusting already. I think we're really going to like it here.

Today's weather in Corpus Christi: Warm and sunny. It feels like we're on vacation...for the winter. I feel chilly for my friends and family in the northern midwest who are hunkering down for winter's fury. I wish I could just bring you all down here with us. You'd have to bring your own towel, though, because I can't find mine yet.

Or the coffee filters.

Or the bedding.

Or the vacuum cleaner...which is supposedly coming by freight any day now, along with several other items that would not fit in this shipment.

I would love to send you a few pictures, but we don't have all our computer parts put back together yet.

I just wanted to let you know that we're here and doing well.

We miss you!

I'll update more soon. Back to the boxes I go...

Two

That's how many days I have left until the movers come and start loading up our stuff.

I'm ready. As ready as I'll ever be.

I'm so tired. I have some funny stories and I remember thinking, "This would be a good blog entry to entertain the masses." But I have no energy to share tonight.

And our internet will most likely be disconnected sometime Monday. Let's call that time of world wide web detachment "The Dead Zone." I hope I can cope.

Don't be alarmed if you don't hear from me for a little while. I'm probably in a van with many children. In the next two weeks, I'll be logging in 3557 miles. Some by plane, most by van.

I'm a travelin' woman.

See ya on the flip side!

All I Want for Chrith-math...

Gabe's first toothless smile in seven years!

(He's actually already lost two bottom teeth, but the adult ones were already there to fill in the holes, so we didn't get any of the fabulous toothless smiles that I cherish so.)

The other front tooth is getting pretty loose, too...I can't wait!

He asked me afterward, his brow furrowed with concern, "So, how'm I s'pose' ta say the letter 'z?' It doesn't sound so good."

He's so cute and sweet he makes my heart ache.

Calling All Pinks

I'm answering Jeny's pink challenge today. I must say that nearly everything in my home that blushes in any shade of rose is of Lily. I just don't gravitate towards pink. But Lily LOVES pink, and as mother of three sons...I love that I can bring pink into my home.



Lily loves her pink camera. And boy, does she have an eye for detail!




I see pink toes peeking out of the pink blanket I bought for her when she was still waiting for us. We took it to China with us so that she would have something familiar to cuddle when she came to her new home.




This is the pink section of a gorgeous portrait Rob's mother painted of all of my children. She gave it to us on Lily's first birthday home with us. It is a family treasure.





These are some of the pink squares of fabric I've collected from family and friends--and some strangers from adoption groups--to make Lily's 100 Good Wishes Quilt. It's a tradition from Northern China. I have many different colors, but I just pulled out some of the pink ones to show you. Hey, some of you haven't given Lily a square yet. I'm hoping to finish this for her next Gotcha Day (in February). I would love to have an 8 inch square of fabric from each of my family and friends, along with a wish or prayer for her written on a card to go in an album with the quilt. It will be an heirloom for Lily to treasure, to know how wanted and loved she is.

Blogger Vacation

I took one. A long one. But I'm back. I hope ya'll didn't give up on me.

These autumn days are all running into one another. Only 27 more days until I fly out to be with Rob for his graduation from the chaplaincy school. Only 30 until we're all together as a family! Woohoo!

The boys do have a trick-or-treat date set up with a friend of ours who works for a local nursing home. Caleb and Lily's costumes are finished. Gabe's is going to be the most work, but I should be done soon. And Seth...well, he said that wants to be a "blue cat with blue stripes who's a "NINJA MASTAH!" Um...Can we say redirection? If not, we'll figure something out! I do have some blue face paint and I know we have ninja costumes from the boys' dress up box. I may be able to make this work...

We carved our pumpkins two days ago. The experience was a study of the effects of sibling birth order in action. Does anyone else find that as interesting a topic as me? We have a little loop-d-loop in our family, since Lily joined our family last, but she is older than Seth.

Caleb, the oldest, set about making an index of all the possible jack-o-lanterns he could think of. List-maker. (When thinking of a Halloween costume, he also drew out all the possibilities so that he could pick on.) He probably drew about 10 different jack-o-lanterns. I thought, "No way are the rest of the kids going to want to pick one of his ideas." But true to his take-charge leadership skills, he convinced all the other kids that he was actually doing them a favor by designing all the jack-o-lanterns, that there really weren't any other viable options, and he was being gracious enough to allow them to have a choice at all. I kept quiet to see how this would play out. They all sat down together outside to draw their designs.

Gabriel, middle child #1, was happy to go along with Caleb, to make him happy, people-please that he is. However, he added a couple extra features to make it stand out and be unique. Peace-maker. Yet he still wants to make his own mark in the world. (This is the same kid who carved last year's jack-o-lantern face upside down so that it would stand out from everyone else's.)

Lily, middle child #2, picked out a traditional face for her "pumpkin night-light" but didn't want to use Caleb's list. Caleb convinced her that she needed to. She also wanted to add something unique to hers, in that she wanted hers to be a girl and have hair, which of course Caleb did not include in the list of choices. She went to great extents to blaze her own trail, separate from the others. She definitely wants to do her own thing, follow her own ideas, rejecting other good ideas, just because she's not the one who came up with it.

Seth, baby of the family, picked out a face, but he wanted to pander off any of the work, like carrying the pumpkin to the table or scooping out guts. He also wanted me to draw his chosen design. He couldn't help, he said. He was "too little." Yep, he played the baby-of-the-family card and got out of all the work somehow. And somehow, I let him.

Road Trip

The kids and I just returned from a 2100 mile round-trip road trip. We journeyed out from Michigan to Rhode Island to witness their dad graduate as a Naval officer. The trip there was full of excitement and anticipation, and the kids behaved so well. My mom and Rob's mom came out with us--I doubt I would have been able to do this without them--and we drove Rob's jeep to him so that he would have transportation during the next section of his training. So we divided the kids between the two vehicles to ward off conflicts. It worked. On the way home, all seven of us were crammed in the van, and there wasn't a lot of fighting, but OH, THE NOISE. It was quite the challenge to drive through NY City and then down the New Jersey Turnpike with squeally Lily and yelling Seth and giggly Gabe. Caleb was the quietest one...unless he was sitting by Lily, who engaged him in her loud and physical play.

But other than the noise, the kids did great.

Oh, the joy of that very first glimpse of Rob dressed in his summer whites. Hubba hubba. Caleb and Gabe tried to leap out of the moving van. Lily and Seth screamed and laughed. My heart was full and my smile was large.



The first words out of Seth's mouth: "Dad! You're a captain!" (Not quite...) Later he told me, "Daddy wears a pilot's costume!" Seth and Lily clung to Rob the whole time. Seth especially couldn't stop touching him. Lily said, "Can we please bring Daddy and his red jeeper home with us? Pleeeeeeeease?"

We had the best time with him. His graduation was as full of pomp and promenade as you can imagine there would be in a Naval ceremony.

Our time together sped by, and too quickly we had to say good-bye.

Seven more weeks...six and a half now...and we'll be a family together and not apart.

We're so proud of him and the sacrifice he is making to answer God's call.







The sadness of departing Rhode Island (a gorgeous, highly under-recognized destination) mixed with excitement about our next stop: historical Philadelphia.

WE LOVED IT! Standing in the same room that held so many American Greats gave me goose bumps. Being so close to the bell that rang out its announcement of FREEDOM! swelled my heart with thankfulness to the God who gives true freedom and the people who have sacrificed so much so that my children can live in a free country. In the midst of economic unknowns and election-year divisions, still I must stand up and say, "God bless America, land that I love!"

Cardboard Testimonies

::Watch this only if you want to feel so thankful to God for what he can do in a broken person's life::

He uses cracked pots. And we're all cracked pots.

He delights in redeeming prodigals. We have all at one time or another left the side of the Father who loves us to seek out our own desires...and failed.

He loves to lift the humble. If only I will humble my heart in obedience, He will do miracles in my life.

I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.

Praising God today,
Jody

Haircut

Before...




After...still wet







Pretty Lily

Peddling Pedals?

I told the kids to go outside for "recess" and ride their bikes.

They decided to play store with their bikes instead. Each bike was a different mechanical booth. Spin the pedals which spins the wheels, and out pops a treat. Very Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang-esque. I was wondering why they asked me if I wanted to buy a cookie.

This isn't exactly what I had in mind when I sent them out to get some exercise...

The New Justice League

Three of these crime-fighters are my sister's.

Conversations heard throughout the day:

"Have you seen Super Lily?"

"I Spiderman!"

"Mom, Seth took my gun!"

"I am NOT a bad guy! Mom, Caleb says I'm a bad guy!"

"I need a cape, too!"

"Can you help me with my mask?"

Plus multiple sound effects including flying, shooting, swording and webbing.

::Evil-doers beware::

My Little Wild Man

*Notice Lily in the second frame trying to get away from the inevitable splash.

Don't you just L.O.V.E. the goggles???







"Again!"

School

I'm still mending, but much to my boys' chagrin, a little tiredness on mama's part does not stop school from coming to our house.

Caleb's says: "Hmph. I hate school."

Gabriel says: "I can't wait until summer vacation so I can get back to my real life."

Lily says: "Mommy, can you help me with my school?" while poking me with a pencil out of a deep sleep at 6:00 in the morning.

Seth says: "I don't have any pencil sharpeners," grinning and holding all four of them behind his back.














I mailed copies of these pictures to Rob so that he could see them all hard at work.

They are too precious. I SO love being their mom. When I die, if these children are all I have to show for a life's work, my life will have been full to overflowing and completely successful.

Rob's gone...day two

Two exes on the calendar.

Two colorful, construction-paper chain links clipped away.

Only 33 more until we see him again.

The kids and I are doing okay.

Lily asked on the way home from the airport, "Is Daddy going to church with us tomorrow?" "No, honey, Daddy will be in Navy school." "What?!" she exclaimed incredulously. She asked if we could go back to the airport tomorrow and pick him up. She keeps asking for confirmation that we are going to go see him on Seth's birthday, which we are. Over and over she asks. I gently reassure her over and over.

Seth said, "I miss my daddy. He's my favorite kind of daddy." I'm with ya, buddy. Then after church this morning, my mom picked him up from his class. Rob usually does this. Seth asked her, "Where's my dad?" She told him, "He's in Navy school." He didn't say anything, but just looked straight ahead, suddenly remembering.

Caleb said, as we watched Rob's red and gray plane fly off into the blue, "This is the worst day of my life." He posted to his blog: "Today my dad left to Rhode Island for Navy training. I feel a little down, but I'm glad he's going into the Navy, because the Lord Jesus told us to go." Rob's obedience is having a tremendous impact on our children.

Gabriel posted to his blog today. His post is titled "When Dad Left" and it reads simply this: "Dad left. It was hard. I was sad." He's mostly quiet and introspective about his thoughts, but on the page he expressed himself clearly and effectively, nearly breaking my heart.



We miss him. I still sleep on my side of the bed and reach over for him in the fogginess of early morning. Then I suddenly remember, too. 33 more days.

When Rob got to the Newport naval station, he checked in, got his orders signed, and was then told that he is on leave until Monday night because of the holiday weekend. His lucky roommate only lives an hour from the base, so he checked in, and then he went home to spend the weekend with his wife and child. I am happy for the leave time, because at least Rob can call me when he wants to. Here are a couple tidbits from his new experience: the food is not good, he is surrounded by water and noisy seagulls, the dark of evening comes a lot earlier in RI than MI, and he can't seem to find a coffee maker anywhere on base. God have mercy! He's got another whole day of nothing...and then he's going to be thrown into the deep end.



I'm doing better. I'm down to needing pain meds only a couple of times a day. For me the worst part is how easily wiped out I get. I hate the blah feeling of exhaustion with nothing to show for it. I have a post-op doctor's visit this Friday. I can then talk to my surgeon in length about my surgery and the cyst.

Thanks again to everyone for their thoughts and prayers. We're still prayer needy...