TJ - 12 and 2

I am FINALLY finding some time to post about TJ's second anniversary with us - and his 12th birthday!  Unfortunately, since he doesn't like his picture taken, this is what you get to see of him.

(I think I'll nickname him "Wilson")

You're stuck with pictures of the rest of us.

Celebrating as usual with our donuts

Tim actually wrote out a lengthy list of items that he wanted for his birthday - in English!  He got a couple of his wishes - money, a new MP3 player and a trip to see the Oklahoma City Thunder play the Orlando Magic.  

As for his second anniversary with us, he has become very thoughtful lately about this anniversary.  He is truly processing a lot of issues related to his adoption and to being a part of our family.  As is characteristic of an older child adoption, some parts are easy and some parts are difficult.  Overall, though, TJ is adjusting very well.  He is doing great in school.  He played basketball with one of our local Christian schools and did very well.  He also is reading his Bible a lot and recently asked to start attending the Chinese Bible study again.  He still struggles with the boundaries/limits placed on him since he had so much freedom in China, but he is learning.  Many of the sibling struggles we had early on are rarely seen now.  TJ even asks a lot about when JA and AT will be home when they are gone somewhere.  

I'm so glad we ventured into the unknown territory of older child adoption.  I encourage everyone to at least consider it and see if it is right for your family.

Christmas at Our House

Lessons in Safety

Today we had lessons in safety.  This morning, we learned about safety at home - specifically in the kitchen.  You see, one of our children put some water on the stove to boil - and then walked out.  What they didn't realize is that a towel was sitting very close to the eye.  A few minutes later, one of the other kids asked me why it smelled like a campfire.  I responded that it was the heat (it is the first time we've turned it on).  A few moments later, the cooking child heard the timer go off and went back to the kitchen.  That was when the child found the flaming towel.  I happened to be following said child into the kitchen and spotted the towel as well.  The child did knock some of the flame down by smothering it with the other end of the towel.  But I ended up grabbing the towel and tossing it in the sink where I had some meat thawing for dinner.

Needless to say, we had a discussion reviewing the rules about NOT leaving the kitchen when you are cooking.  I have also hung the towel on the stove as a reminder for the next week.

Then this evening, we learned about safety away from home.  The four boys asked to walk to the W*lm*rt which is about 1 mile from our house.  We allow them to do this on occasion, but only if they go together (never alone).  They also take a cell phone so they can call if the need arises.  I called them about 5:10pm and asked if they were on their way home.  I wanted to make sure they would make it home before it got too dark.  They said they were still at W*lm*rt because they had forgotten to buy something we asked them to purchase.  I told them to hurry home and call if they weren't going to make it in time.  About 20 min later, I got a phone call.  One of the boys said he got cramps and the rest of the boys didn't wait for him.  I decided that I was going to teach them a lesson.

I went and picked up the lagging child (who fortunately had the phone) and drove him home.  I let the other three continue their walk.  About 5:50, I was ready to head out the door to go pick them up when I got a call from them.  They couldn't find their brother and had walked all the way back to W*lm*rt looking for him.  I played it to the hilt.  I went and picked them up and started drilling them.  They readily admitted that they had left their brother behind, though they claimed to have been looking back for him every 30 seconds.  I asked where they had seen him last and we drove there; they were noticeably concerned.  I made them get out and look in the stores (it was a small strip mall) for him.  Of course, they didn't see him.  I continued to drill them about where they last saw him.  Then one of them asked if the "missing" child had called home.  I stalled.  I finally pulled over and told them the truth.  I explained to them how I had picked him up and they hadn't even noticed.  I pointed out that I could have been anyone and who knows what might have happened to their brother.  I believe that they all learned a hard lesson and I hope they will never leave a sibling or friend alone again.

Once we got home, they all apologized to their brother and we discussed safety even more.  Hopefully, they will never need to put to use what they learned today.

Love Your Neighbor

Yesterday, we had a different Thanksgiving.  The kids and I got up early (like 6:30am!) and went to church. We helped prepare Thanksgiving lunch for the residents of a local mobile home park.  This particular mobile home park is very run down.  Many mobile homes have been removed due to being uninhabitable.

The kids became the "Mashed Potato Crew".  The night before, others had peeled and cut up a TON of potatoes.  When we arrived, the kids loaded the potatoes into steamer trays and then loaded the trays into the steamer.  Fifteen minutes later, they took the trays out and dumped the steamed potatoes into the mixer.  They then put the next load of potatoes in the steamer.  While the first batch was steaming, I heated the milk and butter to be ready for mixing.  We kept up this routine for probably a good hour and a half!  There was a LOT of mashed potatoes when we were done.  In fact, they had so many potatoes, that they decided to use some of them for Wed night chicken pot pies in the future.  BUT, they needed the potatoes cut smaller.  I volunteered TJ as he is excellent with a knife and routinely helps me cut up veggies at home.

The girls and I made lemonade; AT helped with making tea while BG continued to monitor the potatoes.  (We left JA and CP at home due to their injuries!)  Then it was time to start loading up some of the food so the boys helped load a number of pies, cakes, and bread to take to the mobile home park.  CP showed up a little later with JA and Grandpa and took the kids to the park.  I stayed behind to finish cutting up the turkeys.

We arrived at the MHP and had a wonderful Thanksgiving Lunch with the residents.  I met two people:  Robert and Amber.  Robert is probably in his mid to late 50s and has lived a hard life.   Right now he doesn't have a job and spends his days playing with his dogs.  Amber is probably 18-20 and lives with her grandparents.  She is trying to get a job, but is finding it difficult.  She told me she called 34 places last week and only 5 suggested that she come in and put in an application. However, she doesn't have a car, a bicycle or any money for the bus to get there.  Even if she was able to get the job, she wasn't sure how she would get to and from it every day.

As I was telling a friend about this, he commented that there is a critical level of resources needed here in the US (including transportation) that once you fall below that level, it is very hard to climb back out.  Even if she had a bicycle, if it rains on her way to work, I'm sure they wouldn't be happy to have a soaking wet employee on the job.

Last night, we enjoyed North Carolina Bar-B-Q that Grandpa brought home from his trip.  The meal was completed with Brunswick Stew, brown and serve rolls, homemade cole-slaw, boiled potatoes and pumpkin pie.

I think it was one of the best Thanksgivings I have ever had.

Shark Bait

CP, BG, and JA had the opportunity to go Shark Fishing with our church youth group last night.  They had a great time (with the minor exception of when BG got sea sick).  About 27 guys and dads went on the trip.  Almost everyone caught a shark.  Some were kept and some were thrown back.  The best part of all was some quality time the boys had with their dad.

I want...

The other day, CP was asking me what I wanted for my birthday. 

I told him I didn't really want anything.  But that's not really true.  It's just that what I want

are things money can't buy.

I want to lose weight.
I want to sleep through the night.
I want to finish reading a book in less than 4 months.
I want to serve others more selflessly.
I want to have more time to spend with my kids.
I want to know more about GW and TJ's time in China.
I want our other house to close (we have a contract on it - the 2nd).
I want time to purge more stuff from our house.
I want to figure out how to truly live sacrificially.
I want GW and TJ to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior.
I want more friends in real life that "get" what Christianity is all about.
I want my kids to understand what is truly important in life.
I want to find a church that understands Radical Christianity.


So, I guess he is just going to have to figure out how to live with a wife that just can't be satisfied. 

Father's Day

I know - I'm late as usual.  We had a nice, somewhat relaxing Father's Day.  We went to church that morning and then came home for lunch.  BG and JA had a basketball game that afternoon (more in a later post), then I grilled steaks for the adults and burgers for the kids.  We had corn-on-the-cob and green beans and watermelon for dessert. Our good friend Mr. E came over to join us for dinner.  The four adults - CP, my Dad, Mr. E and I - sat outside enjoying a beautiful sunset and great conversation.  We had such a nice time, I forgot to take any pictures.  But here are some recent shots of the 3 fathers we celebrated on Sunday.

A Wedding

Today we went to my nephew's wedding.  He waited until he found the right one for him.  I am so proud of him for waiting!  I pray they have a long happy marriage!

I took the opportunity of a captive audience to take some pictures.

I also managed to get pictures of all the boy cousins

and the girl cousins

We had a great day!

Building Trust

One clear indicator of how much our older adopted kids trust us is how they handle the situation when they have done something wrong or something for which they believe they will get in trouble. 

Today, we had such an incident with BG.  Each of the kids has chores to do around the house.  One of BG's chores is to clean the leaves out of the pool. (No small job since we have a large pool and LOTS of trees hanging over it). 

CP was gone (to the pool store of all places) to pick up some items we needed.  BG was out cleaning the pool.  He noticed that part of the automatic pool cleaner was tangled up, so he pulled it out of the water. 

Unfortunately, when he did, he managed to grab hold of a part and it broke when he lifted it out of the water. 

When CP got home, BG took him to the pool and showed him the broken part.  CP wasn't clear at first how it happened, but with some help from JA explaining, he understood that BG was lifting it out of the water when it broke.

This is a HUGE matter of trust on BG's part - that we won't get mad at him for a simple accident.  I'm so glad that he trusts us to tell us the truth when something goes wrong.

Crazy Busy

So, here is how our week is shaping up:
Sun - time change - ugh!  This of course the night we were at the SCC concert until 10:30pm
Sun - BG's last basketball game
Mon - Boy Scouts
Mon - grading school work - my slow night!
Tue - Basketball Camp for BJ, JA, and TJ
Tue - Baseball for AT
Tue - Boy Scout parent meeting for me
Wed - Baseball for AT
Thur - Corporate 5k for me, TJ, and SG (and an ipad seminar I have to miss)
Fri - Homeschool Evaluations
Sat - 5k 1 hr from our home with a 7:30am start time (ugh!) for TJ
Sat - a friend's birthday party for SG and HJ
Sat - Baseball for AT

And this was supposed to be time for things to slow down!

Harlem Globetrotters

Homeschooling has it's benefits!  We were able to get group tickets to see the Harlem Globetrotters AND since we had such a large group, we were able to have a Meet-n-Greet with a couple of the players before the game.

Here is Bingo with the kids (HJ didn't want to join us)

This is Stretch. He is 7' 4" and wears a size 16 shoe.  Notice how "tall" SG is standing next to him!

This is Handles.  He is the "Clown Prince" of Basketball.

Not sure who this is.  This was during warmup before the game.

Needless to say, this was not your ordinary basketball game!

Slam Dunk!

They have a lot of crowd participation.

If you have ever been to a Harlem Globetrotters basketball game, you know they do a great water trick. If you aren't familiar with it, you can see video here.

Well, WE were the recipients of the water bucket last night!

It was great!  I knew what was going to happen, so I was snapping away.  Unfortunately, I had my zoom lens on, so this was about the best I could do. 

AT, TJ, and JA who were sitting closest to the aisle were sure they were going to get soaked!

We had an AWESOME time!