My Cup Runneth Over

Horton Hears A Who

We just took the kids to see Horton Hears A Who! this afternoon. It was very fun - the kids all enjoyed it. Gotta love Dr. Seuss.

It is hard to ignore the message that Horton repeats throughout the story..."A person's a person - no matter how small." AMEN to that!!

I need to post pictures from Chase's week at TeenPact - which was excellent. We're just enjoying some family time this weekend, pondering the lists of things we need to do before Miss Ren joins us, and getting a few things done around the house. We're still praying for an April referral, but either way - we're getting close!

Mara is settling in.

                                 

Mara has been here 2 days and 2 nights and she's settling into life in our family. We've had the opportunity each day to have a video phone call with her folks and new sister in China. (Which is WAY cool to see them 15 hours in the future! And to see their sweet new daughter!) But, it has been a bit awkward for Mara and I think she's working through some of those tough 'to be expected' feelings of becoming a big sister. I imagine it's especially hard for these kids who are way beyond toddler hood and into their 4th year as the only young child in our families. It will be a big adjustment, but it will be worth it in the end when they are blessed with a new sibling and life long friend. We've have had lots of extra snuggling and I'm getting a good work out by holding two not-so-little girls quite often!

The girls are doing pretty well together. They have their moments, but they also have a lot of fun. Right now they are taking a bath and having a non-stop conversation in some pretend world. Very cute! Here are a sprinkling of pics from the last few days. I've been e-mailing some to Jeff & Laurie each night because she's not able to view my blog in China. But, I thought I better stick some on the blog as well - since this is a memorable few weeks for Loe, too.

                                 

Here are the girls snuggled up for bed the first night and warming up by the fire after their first breakfast together.

                                 

Mara and Loe checking out Ailah's Gotcha Day photos on Laurie's blog. And then they had a big play-doh session.

                                 

Toasting to a new day and fun gifts from Mara's mom. They get to open a goodie bag each day with something new. Glasses, Cracker Jacks and socks so far!

                                 

The snow has been around for weeks now and is pretty crusty from a few days of strong winds. But, that didn't stop the girls from heading out to play in it. They tried pulling each other in the sled, which proved a bit challenging. So, Hunter was nice enough to come out and pull them around a few times. They giggled and begged him to go faster and faster!

                                 

Mara's normally a night owl and she woke up quite a bit earlier than her normal time on Monday - so while she doesn't usually sleep during "rest time" she took advantage of catching a few winks that afternoon!

                        

                                 

Climbing on the bears outside the theater on our way into see The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything. Which we all enjoyed along with popcorn and chocolate of course!

                                 

The girls posing in their new socks. They are such girls...giving me all kinds of different poses. But, they were on their way to the bathtub - so most of the pics aren't appropriate for the internet. However,they will be good blackmail later in their life! ;)

                                 

The cuteness and the silliness just doesn't end. I love watching these two girls. God creates them each so uniquely beautiful and so full of life. The giggles of two little girls in the house gives us a glimpse of the future when Ren is home and a little older. Should be a blast!

Fellowship

What an awesome day of fellowship today and a fun weekend! Yesterday it was Trevor's birthday. Now, when it's my birthday and I get any say about how the day will go (sometimes it's just like any other day with parenting, house work and homeschooling, and I don't really get a say in it! But, sometimes I'm spoiled!!) I would choose to go have a pedicure or a massage, go on a date with Trevor, or just relax with my family - basically not do any work!

Not Trevor - he chose to make his own birthday dinner - he had a new recipe in mind. He said that would be "fun" for him. Then for our main activity of the day - the boys decided to take Trevor up on the offer to help them move their bedroom down stairs. We thought when we moved in this summer, that our basement would be completed by now. But, we don't know when exactly that is going to happen. So, in the meantime the boys decided they'd be happier spread out in the unfinished basement rather than being a bit scrunched into the small bedroom they were sharing upstairs. So, that meant lots of sweeping, moving furniture down and moving school room/home office furniture in from the garage to their old room. When they do start on the basement, we'll probably just take down a table and move out a filing cabinet then move the boys' beds back in - and stick the rest of their stuff back in the garage. We also set up a small TV downstairs with the X-box and a cd player hooked up to it. And we found Loe's playmats and moved a bunch of her toys down - so her room is less crowded. I'm looking forward to unloading at least a portion of our books onto the bookshelf in the school room and getting our maps back up. Our filing cabinets have been buried in the garage - so I have lots of work to do in that area. It will be nice to be able to do some of these things.

We did enjoy Trev's birthday dinner night and then watched Spiderman 3 with the boys after Loe went to bed. Trev's birthday dessert request...chocolate chip cookie dough - so I whipped up a batch of that and he was happy! Dang - he's easy to please!

Today we had a wonderful church service and then met up with our Fellowship Team for a Thanksgiving dinner. What a sweet time of fellowship it was. The kids played at the nearby park, at the dirt pile next door to the home we were at, and downstairs with various games. We ate, and visited and ate and visited some more! Then rolled ourselves into the family room to discuss another chapter out of Age of Opportunity. WOW - God is already doing a work through that book - it sparked some great discussion. We followed that with a little singing and prayed together - dedicating our parenting and kids to the Lord and asking God to break down the idols in our life, the ones that keep us from ministering to our kids. Afterwards Loe went home with some friends so we could take the boys to see Bella. If you haven't gotten a chance to see that movie - GO SEE IT!

It was a hard movie, but refreshingly full of sacrificial love and how God's hand can work in the midst of really difficult situations. It touches on some tough topics and having an adopted little girl in our life caused us to really be touched by this movie.

We're looking forward to Thanksgiving week. We'll probably go ahead and do school through Wednesday. We'll also be working on the Thanksgiving cookie delivery and taking the opportunity to visit with friends and family. and end the week with some fun field trips on Friday.

Have a great week!

Matinee, Shopping & Trip Planning

Yesterday after a great sermon at church about loving the Lord with all of our heart, soul and mind AND loving our neighbor as ourselves...we enjoyed the afternoon with the kids. We ordered some lunch off of the dollar menu at Wendy's and ventured over to JAX. This is a store full of all kinds of outdoor stuff, clothing, kitchen stuff and the boys' favorite part - a military surplus section! Part of their bedroom decor is from JAX! They own a few shirts, hats and various other items they have purchased there. Even if they don't have money to spend, they like to browse. Hunter did bring along a gift card and so he chose a new airsoft gun after we looked around for well over an hour. Loe played with puppets, tried on sunglasses, sat in lawn chairs, loved on the most adorable puppy someone brought in and ran around giggling a lot. She amused the employees everywhere we went.

After the shopping was over we drove with our windows down (spring is definitely here!) over to a discount theater to see The Astronaut Cowboy. Some would say it's a bit slow and I admit the story was a tad on the hokey side. But, we all still really enjoyed it. It's so fun to see a movie with a family that pulls together, loves one another, the kids respect their parents, the parents actually enjoy being parents. The wife's role was especially admirable as she supported her husband's dream no matter what. They even pulled their kids out of school for a while to focus on their dream together - learning all the while. Gotta love that! :) Plus, it had some great one-liners.

We made it home in time to warm up some left-overs and take a family walk. When we got back we spent some time talking about at all of the great, historical places to see in Washington, DC and pouring over some maps and brochures. (Thanks Jeanette!) We want to make sure we get to see the places that appeal to the boys. We're so excited to have the opportunity to go on this trip. When we realized that Trevor would be traveling here for business, we couldn't stand the thought of not taking the boys to this educationally rich city. We also plan to meet up with about half of our travel group from Loe's adoption trip. We haven't seen any of these families since we left China over two years ago. We can't wait to catch up with everyone and see how all of these girls have grown!!!

Amazing Grace

This afternoon Trevor and I took the boys to see Amazing Grace. What an extremely moving and powerful movie. In our social studies reading, the boys and I just came to the point in history when the slave trade was taking place, just a few short centuries ago. We recently finished reading the book, Amos Fortune, Free Man. It tells the true story a 15 year old prince of a tribe in Africa, who was captured by slave traders, placed in chains and forced to endure the long, horrendous ride to America on a slave ship. He spends 45 years as a slave. During that time he came to know Jesus. Over the course of the following years after he was free, he worked to give several other people their freedom. He established his own business and made an amazing impression on everyone around him, both black and white. The boys and I were in awe of his patience and strength, his endurance and passion.

This movie was perfect timing in our studies. In fact it opened on Friday, the day that marked the 200th anniversary of when William Wilberforce finally succeeded in pushing an abolition bill through Parliament. Wilberforce spent 20 years in England trying to stop the slave trade. He was determined to fight against all odds for what he knew was right. He struggled with the dilemma of how he could praise the Lord and change the world (politically)...his friends told him he could do both. Wilberforce is encouraged in his fight by John Newton, who spent part of his life transporting 20,000 people on his slave ships. In response to Christ's redemptive power in his life he penned the song, Amazing Grace. It is rather shocking to hear the name of Christ at the theater, especially in the way Newton refers to Him when he says, "I'm a great sinner and Christ is a great Savior."  All I can say to that is Amen and Amen!

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,

That saved a wretch like me...

I once was lost but now am found,

was blind, but now, I see.

T'was Grace that taught...

my heart to fear.

And Grace, my fears relieved.

How precious did that Grace appear...

the hour I first believed.

Through many dangers, toils and snares...

we have already come.

T'was Grace that brought us safe thus far...

and Grace will lead us home.

The Lord has promised good to me...

His word my hope secures.

He will my shield and portion be...

as long as life endures.

When we've been here ten thousand years...

bright shining as the sun.

We've no less days to sing God's praise...

then when we first begun.

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,

that saved a wretch like me...

I once was lost, but now am found.

Was blind, but now, I see.

Facing the Giants

We rented this movie at the end of last week. The boys were babysitting on Friday evening and having a sleep-over at Grandma's house on Saturday evening. So, after the kids came home this evening, they unpacked and showered, we popped some popcorn and got comfy in the living room and watched the movie together. Like many Christian movies there is an obvious difference between this and the slick Hollywood - big budget films. But, the message of this movie surpasses any movies we have seen in a long time. There have been many family football movies over the years, but this one will be our favorite because they stand apart for Jesus. What a testimony this movie has! The kids loved it and Loe even watched some of it, when she wasn't busy building roads to drive her truck across and dressing her G.I. Joe (yeah...she has brothers!). It was a perfect ending to a very nice weekend.

The kids had a great time at Grandma's house. Trevor and I thoroughly enjoyed our date night which included dinner out with lots of visiting, relaxing at Barnes & Noble and watching a movie when we got home. This morning we picked up the house before our social worker came for our homestudy visit. It was a good meeting and we're one step closer to our sweet Baby Ren! This afternoon Trevor and I got some things done around the house, worked on some school work and got groceries. We also spent some time praying together - laying our parenting, homeschool, marriage, finances at the feet of Jesus. The giants we face can seem overwhelming, but NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD!!!!!!  He is so faithful and we look to Him to guide us through each decision. I simply can't begin to imagine life without Him.

Tomorrow starts a new week...please come Lord Jesus and be the center of all that we do. Pour out your grace in love into us until our cup overflows and Your love spills out onto those around us. Thank you for movies like these that point us to You. Bless the people who made this movie and we pray for more movies like this to hit the theater. As we face the giants in our life we look to you and are excited to see how You will work. No matter how the day ends, we want to give you the glory.

Entertainment with Tots and Teens

        

    

 

Parenting a toddler and teens at the same time provides a wide range of entertainment! The Letter Factory is Loe's current favorite and she requests it at least once a day...every day! We all have the song and lines to the entire movie ingrained into our memory!

Thr3e is a movie based on suspense/thriller book, written by Ted Dekker. Chase has been faithfully reading all of his books for the past couple of years. I've read many of them, though I think he's ventured into some really strange areas in the last few novels. I really enjoyed Thr3e when I read it years ago, so it was easy to agree to accompany Chase to the movie yesterday. It was a low budget film and could have been better. But, we're excited about the faith-based movies that have made it to the theaters over the past couple of years and try to support the films. Thr3e sparked some good discussion and we noticed they had a preview for House, which is also based on a Dekker book. (Though that was one of his stranger books that he wrote with Frank Peretti. Another great author...we've been hoping for years that they might movies from his two best books; This Present Darkness and Piercing the Darkness...these books were eye openers to my family when we were fairly new believers. They paint a very vivid and I imagine perhaps a fairly accurate picture of what is going on in the spiritual realm.)

The Letter Factory is playing as I type and the Z's are singing their song...so I better think about some lunch. While Loe is napping today I'll continue working on some data entry and record planning for homeschool...with an eye towards high school transcripts. I do love having this age spread between our kids...I never would have planned it this way. But, God knows what's best for us and it's awesome to be a part of His plan!

Movie review

 

Years ago I was a movie fanatic, I took in practically every film that came to the theater (with the exception of horror movies and a few others). Now it seems I go in spurts with seeing movies, sometimes weeks and even months go by without venturing to the theater. This last week I saw three movies!

Mom and I saw A Good Year - we really enjoyed it, a very sweet, romantic movie that made me want to spend a holiday on a vineyard in France with Trevor (not Russell)!

Trevor and I went to see Stranger Than Fiction. We thought it was hilarious and I was surprised at how much I liked the characters and the dialog was wonderful. I'm not a Will Ferrell fan, but he did a good job with this role. I love Emma Thompson and this was a very different sort of character for her to play. Dustin Hoffman was brilliant! Two days later and we're still having after-laughs about some of the lines from the movie!

My cousin and I went to see The Prestige this afternoon. We weren't very impressed. It was much too long and though I like both Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale, I wasn't fond of either of the characters that they portrayed. The plot was choppy and though not always predictable neither did it seem fun or mysterious. The Illusionist, on the other hand, was really good if you are in the mood for a Magician type of movie. I found the setting and camera angles extremely interesting. I admit Edward Norton is strange, but always an impressive actor.

I'd still like to go see Babel and possibly a few others over the holiday season. Movies set in other countries always interest me, different cultures, people and languages are so fascinating and often beautiful. Even if a movie is fictional, I like that it causes me to think about what life might be like outside of America.

So there ya go...don't take my word for it - if you want to check out these movies and have a different opinion let me know! :) I will warn ya'll that like most movies today there is some language and some completely unnecessary sex scenes. So frustrating. We are mourning the closing of companies like Clean Films that would sell or rent movies that had been edited. It opened up a bit more variety at what we would watch as a family. Oh well...they are just movies and if they aren't worth taking the kids to, they're probably not usually worth seeing. That's how I need to look at it.

Stranger Than Fiction

                               

Last night we celebrated Trevor's birthday. One of the items on his wish list was a new watch; something reliable, but not too expensive. Friday afternoon the kids and I quickly browsed the Timex watch case and picked one out for him. It turns out after we got it home and the boys were looking at the box, it mentions that this is the same watch that is seen in the movie Stranger Than Fiction! We had a good chuckle and decided if Dad didn't like it, he could exchange it for a different one. Turns out he does like it and intends to keep it. Trevor and I had plans to see the movie this afternoon and along with laughing at the watch's role - we really enjoyed the movie!

         

              Trevor showing off his new watch (and Loe looking on!)

         

The boys bought him a pair of sunglasses and Loe picked out the gift bags. (She had her eye on a princess bag, but I talked her into at least choosing some "boy" bags!)

Invincible

Invincible: Incapable of being overcome or defeated. While we did enjoy the movie, it's hard to think of anyone but Jesus when I hear the word invincible. But, it was a pretty incredible story. We took the kids to see this on our family night last night. We all enjoyed it - it's one of those warm stories that leaves you feeling pretty good when the credits roll at the end. Which I like - especially when we bring the kids along. The boys have been very focused on football this year with the season starting and they are involved with their Dad, cousins and uncle in a fantasy football league. (I was reminded after posting this that an Aunt and girl cousin are also in it!) They are all having fun drafting players, setting up their teams and comparing stats already. So, this movie was right where the boys are at. We debated about bringing Loe, but since she has a cold I didn't want to ask someone to watch her - especially on a Friday night. She watched almost all of the movie! We were so surprised! We got a booster chair so she could have her own seat, and maybe that was part of it. She munched popcorn, ate a few M&Ms and just stared at that big screen. (The screen seems even bigger when you watch a little 2 year old looking at it!) She yelled, "FOOTBALL" when they ran out onto the field and danced to the music when it was loud. It was a nice, relaxing night out with the family.

It was moving to see how this community was revived as they watched this unlikely bartender make the team and play well for the Eagles. But, I couldn't stop thinking how football (or anything else) might revive a community temporarily, but the only thing that will fill their lives and remove the hopelessness forever is JESUS! He brings us true hope and joy!