Discovering Discovery

Katie had her first real field trip last week - and it was to the Discovery Museum here in town. She had been their once before, and let's just say it wasn't my best decision as a mom! It's a busy, crowded and loud place - a triple whammy for Katie. Needless to say, I was a bit apprehensive about her going, but we gave it a go anyway! 

It was better going as a school group, as they let us in first and took us to the second floor ehxibits where for about 15 minutes our school was the only group there. She was able to look at things and try things out without too much distraction. 

 I did have to take her outside after we went downstairs for a snack and a break; it was beginning to get over whelming! Her BFF from school, Kelly, and she had a great time exploring the outside dinosaur area! 

 We are so very blessed by her placement. Finally, after 18 months and thousands of dollars, she is in the right class with the right teachers and it is showing. 

Katie loves to do things that "typical" kids do; thankfully, she has a teacher who believes that her kids should be able to do those things! 

We still have a long road ahead of us - and we have absolutely NO idea what that will look like - or where we will be in 1,2, 10 or 20 years with Katie. So, once again, I am learning through my kids (!!) to live in this present moment and be content where we are planted. I am learning that I may not know Katie's future - but God does - and that's enough for me! 

A marathon weekend in so many ways!

Last weekend was a marathon monumental weekend here! First, on Friday...our very favorite and cutest baby in the world flew down to surprise her grandpa! She did bring her mom & dad too! Jonathan got short notice of a four day pass - and this grandma was quick to hop on the internet and get them some tickets!!! Ashlee and I plotted and planned to keep it a surprise - and we were very successful! 

 The auntie's had a fabulous time with Melidee - I think poor Ashlee was feeling a little left out! She used to be the "big draw"..but this 14 pound bundle of absolute cuteness has totally usurped her spot as the favorite! 

 Katie really loved her...she was convinced it was her baby! 

SO...we have Jonathan, Ashlee and the baby here. Add in my mom, stepdad and brother who were already scheduled to come to help out with the girls....

And we had a FULL house!!

Which would not have been bad - except that it was also the weekend of the LA Marathon. Which would not have been bad, except that not only was I managing the Love WIthout Boundaries team, I was also running the full 26.2 miles! 

This group was beyond amazing! Many had not been able to train the way they wanted, yet everyone showed up and gave it 100% - and then some! We were able to raise about $14000 for Love Without Boundaries medical kids. I can't think of a better reason to run that long than for those precious kids! 

At the finish - I was so blessed to be able to share all 26.2 miles with my two friends Heather & Tamara, both who were completing their first ever marathons!! 

 Surprisingly, I could walk the next day so before my brother took off home, he gave Jonathan, Cami and Becky a spin around town...

 Frequent fliers!!

It was a FULL weekend  - full of love, and purpose and family and all those good things!!

(as an aside to those fellow families with trauma kids - yes, we paid dearly for all the activity and people coming then leaving and mom being busy. It would definitely NOT have been our choice, but the US Army doesn't really care that it would be too much for our kids! So when they say "4 day pass"  we answer with "yes sir"! We knew we would pay for it later, and most times we avoid this much in one weekend, but sometimes life just happens. We did have a MAJOR blowout Wednesday, but the good news is it was shorter than usual...so there is progress and healing!) 

Authenticity

Authenticity.

One definition is: true to one's own personality, spirit, or character

It's what I try to be on my blog. On my Facebook. In my life. 

It's hard to really convey who someone really is in a two dimensional format. It's hard for you - the reader- to see my personality, spirit or character simply through some ill formed words on a page. To understand the essence of my being through some pictures posted or some perspective about child raising. 

Authenticity. 

It's a value I want to instill in my children. I desperately desire that they be true to who God made them to be - their spirit be truly their own. 

Raising kids from tough places begins to strip away the trappings of things that get in the way of our being authentic. It's easier to maintain a facade of "everything is great" even when it's not when you are not beaten and bruised - both physically and emotionally - by the 6 year old living in your heart and home who appears to hate you. Looking "perfect" on the outside comes effortlessly when your 10 year old can dress herself because she is not overwhelmed at the thought of enduring another day at school. 

I have been stripped of a lot of pretense the last few years through my kids, so it was doubly hurtful when someone  accused me of being insincere - in of all things - my faith. Ouch.

I am not the perfect Christian. In fact, the more I know Jesus and strive to follow His way, the more acutely aware I become of just how messed up I am. Every word uttered and thought I think that is displeasing to Him is a daily (ok - hourly - no, wait - minute) reminder that I am far from perfect. 

But I pray that through this I am authentic. That who I appear to be on "paper" somewhat mirrors what is in my heart. I take to heart a criticism that may have a nugget (or boulder) of truth in it and hope I can grow through it. 

Authenticity. Apparently like all growth - is a journey, not a destination. 

Happy Birthday Becky!

6 years old - hard to believe, harder to accept.

But what a beautiful 6 she is! 

I can't let this day pass without a special prayer for her birth family. Becky's birthday is also the anniversary of the day she was left to be found. This day is an anniversary for them as well - and I am sure not one that is celebrated with joy - or maybe not even recognized - but a day that for them is a marker in their family. 

I pray that they know in their hearts their baby is well cared for and loved. I pray that they know that we will talk about them to her in a way that honors them. I mostly pray that in a place where love is often in short supply, they will find the love of a Savior - who can heal the anniversary. 

Milestone

Becky FINALLY lost her first tooth. There has been (if you will pardon the expression!!) much gnashing of teeth around here surrounding the fact that her sisters have lost teeth and she hasn't. However, once that little tooth actually got loose, it was some serious drama surrounding the actual event. For four days, there was massive amounts of consternation surrounding the extraction of the offending tooth, which was dangling by a thread.  Finally, we sat her in front of the mirror and had her push and pull - then mommy told her I would hang onto it while she pulled (but mommy pulled). 

Once out - she was quite proud of herself! 

pardon the dirty face - remnants of Dr. Seuss day at school!) 

A snapshot of blessings

I have been a bad blogger, lazy photographer and over-all slacker when it come to using the blog as a record of our moments. I would like to say I will get better, but I may not - so I may just have to accept that for a while, it will be a "fits and spurts" experience! This  blog started as a way to stay in touch while I traveled to go get Becky - almost 5 years ago, became a vehicle to keep in touch with our families and friend scattered about while chronicling for ourselves our lives, and is morphing into a look inside lives dealing with the very real ramifications of raising kids from trauma backgrounds - the good, the bad and occasional (praise God it's only occasional anymore) ugly. 

So here' a look at some of our recent "good" - and "very good!" 

I am starting with me - yes, I have a life outside of trying to hold together the lives of the three little people in our house. Part of that life is that I run. Not because I like it - because I don't. I actually hate to run. I started running two years ago because I agreed to help raise money for Love Without Boundaries - a non profit dedicated to providing Hope and Healing for Orphans - in China. I am running the LA Marathon in one week (and if you would like to support me in my run, you can do so here). 

My best friend whom I have known forever loves to run. Always has. I never got it - still don't. BUT - we have discovered that this thing called running can give us an excuse for time together without our children. Between us we have 8 under the age of 10 - her five in Chicago and my 3 here (and quite frankly we are FAR too old to have that many children that young, but that's another story!). 

So we ran, in Phoenix, together, in January. We had two nights together, a 13.1 mile run - and some badly needed friend time. Who knew "friend time" was a benefit to running!  

 Meanwhile, back at the ranch...the girls had some very fun school events. They got to be cheerleaders for a night at Family Night. Nothing fancy or involved or professional, but jus some good cheering for the high school basketball team! 

Becky also got to do opening. One of the things that I love about their school is every morning they gather as a school and honor their country through the Pledge of Allegiance and God through the Pledge to the Christian flag, and a prayer. It sets their minds on the things at hand from the beginning - then those concepts are woven through every lesson. 

 We celebrated Matt's 19th birthday - the girls were MUCH more excited about it than he was - but he was a good sport for them. 

 Katie got a haircut...because Katie thought that perhaps she might have a career in hair dressing and decided to demonstrate that talent on herself. 

I tool the girls to the El Capitan theatre for a showing of Mulan. It was an very fun time - the theatre is beautiful and it was a real treat to see one of their favorite movies up on the BIG screen! 

 Katie's amazing ABA therapist, Natalie, joined us. Natalie has become an honorary member of our family. She is with us 8 hours a week after school working with Katie, and her kindness and commitment to Katie - and all the girls - is a blessing to us. 

 Becky had dad's day at school where the dad's came in and talked about their jobs. She apparently was having a better time than this picture indicated! 

 We also had a bout of the illness here - poor Becky had it with a four day fever. She has never been sick before - and really was quite at a loss for what to do with herself! Cami and Katie escaped it - but I did not, and was sick for almost two weeks - during which Doug did a stellar job at holding things together. 

There was also a park field trip for the kinder class last week - it was supposed to be a fire house field trip, but there were some bad wildfires east of here, and stations were covering for other stations and sending teams out to help, so the firemen had to reschedule us. 

 And dad has a birthday. This picture does not begin to tell you about the day - but it is after baths because in the middle of dinner, as is want to happen, a couple of our children went into meltdown. It took an a couple of hours and a bath to get them regulated - and then they needed to "have cake" with daddy. 

These moments are the blessings that are showered on us. None of them are huge, flashy, exciting or exotic. They are slices of beauty in our every day life that too often go unnoticed and unrecorded and unappreciated for the beauty of them. 

It's a snapshot of beauty and grace and redemption and love and joy. We call it our family. 

The End of New Year Celebrations!

The beginning of our CHinese New Year got off to a slow start (and was a bit rocky). We made up for it with the end of the New Year. We celebrated with some of our very favorite people and attended out local FCC (Families with Children from China) event. We started with a little Chinatown visit. 

Then got to the event and met up with Georgie

We did some dancing

and met some real Chinese princesses! 

Cami also got be the guest DJ for a song or two - she might have a career here! 

Instead of "real" fireworks, they do FCC fireworks - by laying out a huge roll of bubble wrap in layers on the floor for the kids to pop!

This kind of a celebration is WAY too much for Katie to handle - and it always results in a bad time for everyone, so Katie had an alternate celebration - out to Chinese food with daddy! 

It was a very fun day for all!