DIY: Family Photo Wall

Last year, shortly after the holidays, I spied a cute re-vamp of a family's photo collection and tucked the idea away in my mind for future reference. Then in June, when The Boss lost his job and we had lots of projects lined up that were free or really inexpensive to fill some of his time, I pulled out the idea again from the recesses of my brain and got him going on it while I was using the days to sort through end-of-the-year school papers for each kid. He took a ton of frames from storage and various spots all over the house and spray-painted them all a high gloss black. This part of the project was totally free, as we had the paint (we always have glossy black spray paint, it's a staple!) and the frames were mostly sitting in storage unused and dusty. They turned out beautifully and it was a quick and easy way to create a unifying theme for the big project I had brewing in my head. I started a file folder of all of our most current favorite pictures of the Gang and started printing and tucking away other things I wanted to round out the project.

However July got really busy with some other pressing projects and then so many other issues took over (many of which I'll share in my coming series of gang member updates). Finally, during Christmas break, when The Boss was working from home and the bigger kids were free to watch the two little girls, he and I dug in and finished the project. Here's a peek, with a progression of the two days' worth of work.

This is how the big wall started out. I loved the simplicity of that large twig wreath over the couch but other members of the Gang made fun of it regularly. I moved it to the front living room and the proportions there are much better for the new space but some gang members still mock it. Sigh.

I had this family photo from November 2013 put on a large canvas, thanks to a great coupon code from my sister to Easy Canvas Prints. It was a new idea to me, though I'd seen others do it and I'm really pleased with the way it turned out. I am thinking of other projects now that I can do to update and freshen our walls around here!

This was the starting point, using our family photo as the anchor. We had previously placed all our favorite pictures into the newly sprayed black frames and tried really hard to get a good mix of shapes and sizes and orientations of the pictures. To give us a better perspective of what the final product would be, we laid the pictures out on the floor in front of the couch, arranging and re-arranging with help from LadyBug, who has an incredibly artistic eye. Her suggestions and tweaks were almost always "spot on!"

We just built on the anchor line and filled in with a combination of posed and candid shots. We also included some of our favorite artwork from our different trips to China that have meaning for us. But something was not quite right. It just felt, even with the couple pieces that we were still fitting into frames, that something was off-balance.

Baby BlueEyes came in from playing with the little girls and agreed that something was "missing." Right away, he said, "Hey, what about the 'Our Family' quote you have up in the dining room? That's black and white and it's a perfect size for the big empty space you can't quite fill."

Well, what do you know? He was right! It's a perfect fit for the space! Apparently, HE has a great eye for aesthetics as well. I'm still impressed by his suggestion!

Later that day, I headed down to our local crafting store and found the script-style letter "W" to add to the top of the arrangement. And there you have it! Our Family Photo Wall is done. Well, almost done. I've got about three or four other pictures I want to print and add. I'll just  move the picture of my handsome soldier boy up a little bit. But that's the beauty of this arrangement. We have a good amount of wall space still to work with AND we have things placed in a way that I know exactly what I can add and where.

I got so excited by all the work we finished that day that I took some extra time that weekend to find frames for all our updated cousin and extended friend & family pictures, too. I love having all the people we love best in pictures where the kids can see them and stay connected that way. Some of the annual Christmas cards we got were just stunning and lent themselves well to framing, too. There's a really inexpensive idea for you - at no extra charge! Take those Sh#tterfly cards of your sister's kids or your best friend's family and frame them! Youarewelcomeverymuch :)

I'm so pleased with the project and the whole thing cost us less than $100, canvas, mats and lettering included. Even when I go and print the three or four pictures I am working on, this will still come in under a hundred dollars. SO exciting to have current pictures of our gang - I seriously still find myself looking at the wall and sighing in happiness.

It's Perfect!

So I've been looking for a while. Knowing what I wanted, digging through retail sites, wasting far too much time on Am@zon and e-b@y trying to find what I knew existed in my head and must SOMEHOW, SOMEWHERE exist in real life. I could see it in my mind's eye. I knew it had to be out there and I was determined to find it.

What was it for which I was searching, you ask?

Why, the perfect family ornament, of course.

I was going crazy... crazy enough to start thinking about making my own. Really. Like I have the time or the energy or the resources to start ANOTHER project this month. Heh. Like I have the time to sit and search for hours, googling key word after key word. Oh, whatEVER.

In my defense, I think the 10,000 viewings of Despicable Me

has turned my logic skills to mush this month.

In my defense of the said 10,000 viewings,

it's the only thing that distracts Mei Mei completely

and totally from her pain and activity limitations.

There. I feel better. All those disclaimers and explanations....

Apparently, sleep deprivation messes with my ability to be succinct, too.

I slapped myself out of my delirium and put the word out to my very-connected F@cebook friends.Yes, I harnessed the power of social media for my own gain. Dude. I'm so 2013.

I knew it had to be something like this one, which I found the year after Li'l Empress came home. You know, back when we thought (ha!) we might be done building up our gang's population. I do love it. After all, it is perfect for our folk-art style decor but it's dated wrongly (she came home in 2008 and it's dated 2009). But it had to be different. And again, so far that different existed in my head but I was looking for it in "hard copy."

So, on the advice of several of those friends,

I turned to Etsy. I mean really. What CAN'T you find at Etsy?

Just a few clicks is all it took. A link here and a link there.

I found it. It's perfect. And I love it.

This is The Gang's un-officially official Forever Family ornament.

2013. The year that The Gang is {finally} all here. Home. Forever.

The Gang's All Here. And it's literally "set in stone."

And I love it.

If you like it, go check out Rosi's Place.

Tell her The Gang's Momma sent you. Check out all the beautiful stone work.

I'm certain you will find at least one or two things you will love.

Why don't you head over there now and look.

Come on back and leave me a comment about your faves!

For my friends who prefer to support businesses

that are run by adoption-hearted folks,

I'm thrilled to tell you that Rosi has two beautiful

children adopted internationally.

**(I was not paid or given any discount for the review of this product.

I simply am happy with my purchase and wish to share a great resource with you all.

And I might still be a little delirious, as I'm hearing minions in my head almost daily now.

And yes, I'm very aware that this is a lot of fuss and bother about a little ornament.

Again. I'm a tad delirious. Go with it. It's working for me for now.)

When Christmas Shopping at the Mall

When Christmas shopping at the mall,
the $6 shelled out for a Minnie Mouse camera

at our very first-ever visit to the Disney store is absolutely money well-spent!

When Christmas shopping at the mall,
it was kinda amazing that I didn't even BLINK at the idea

of shelling out that $6. Not even once.

I have SERIOUSLY softened with age.

When Christmas shopping at the mall,
in order to get anything done on your gargantuan To Do List,
it is vital to have a plan of attack.

When Christmas shopping at the mall,
with a feisty two-year old, it is vital
to expect to have that plan shot to you-know-where.
In a matter of minutes.

When Christmas shopping at the mall,
it is necessary to have a kind answer
to the inquiries of well-meaning strangers:
"Yes, dear grandmother, I do have my hands full with THIS one.

As I do with all of 5 of her siblings.
Put all 6 of them together and I am happily and insanely overwhelmed."

*sigh*

When Christmas shopping at the mall,
a very petite Chinese girl strutting through the mall

with her hands shoved into the pockets of her purple cargos

is quite possibly the CUTEST! SIGHT! EVER!

(This was validated by the many passers-by who voiced this over and over.)

When Christmas shopping at the mall,
watching that little one dancing to the Christmas music
WITH her hands shoved in her pocket
while singing at the top of her lungs is HI.LARE.EEEE.USSSSS!

And again, I'm shocked at how I've softened with age.
I likely would have totally "sssshhushed" my other kids when I was a younger mom.

When Christmas shopping at the mall,
and contrary to popular belief (and by popular, I might just mean mine)

Chik-Fil-A waffle fries do NOT make every thing better
for a hungry, almost-tired two-year old.
Worked pretty good for me though.

When Christmas shopping at the mall,
being unsnapped from one's stroller and allowed to walk

with her hands in her pockets again, DOES, apparently, make it all better.

When Christmas shopping at the mall,
someone should remind the "mall Santa" to look up to the upper level

above his big fancy Santa couch, to say hello to his constituents.

As opposed to looking up, startled by the raucous shouts of "HI! HI! HI!"

from a certain little curious constituent.

Heh.

When Christmas shopping at the mall,
raucous shouts of "HI! HI! HI!" echo quite nicely to the ear

of said little constituent.

Which makes her repeat it. Again. And again. And again.

Through. The. Whole. Mall.

Double Heh.

When Christmas shopping at the mall,
a tired two-year old being forced to "snap back in" to her stroller
for transport out to the car is unpleasant for all to see. And hear.

When Christmas shopping at the mall is all done,
an OVER tired two-year old who drops her dolly
in the car 7 minutes from home has the magical ability
to make that 7 minutes stretch into 77 minutes.

Finally, when Christmas shopping at the mall,
anything productive that you do accomplish from that aforementioned
gargantuan To Do List must be treated as a BIG! HUGE! EXTRA! BONUS!
to the fact that you made it there and back
without losing a shoe, a water cup,
a dolly, a hair bow, or your sanity.

And THAT, my momma friends, deserves a celebration.
Or, if you are old like me, a nap.

The Joy Is Greater

Mei Mei turned 2 on June 30th. It was a beautiful day to celebrate our girl, even if the weather wasn't perfectly cooperative.

The cousins swam, we ate burgers and dogs, Grandma Bonnie made her FABLIOUS (Li'l Empress' new word o' the day!) macaroni salad, and we enjoyed a perfect day together. It was awesome to watch her blow out her candles - she knew JUST what to do, as The Boss had his big 45th birthday just a few days earlier.

It was such a treat to introduce her to our family birthday traditions and to make sure that her first birthday home with us was grand and memorable! I loved watching her figure out that the gifts were for HER. That ripping open that paper would bring a fun new surprise guaranteed to make us all "oooh and "aaaah" while she explored it. It was pure joy seeing her new family just wrap her up in all their love and affection and carry her along on the wake of "forever."

 

But when I had a few moments alone to think and observe the goings' on, I was also a little sad. I watched her giggling and teasing her cousin with her trademark impish grin and wondered what her birth mother was feeling at that same moment. I couldn't escape the thought that her birth family will never know what an amazing, delightful, brilliant child she is. That pierces my heart each and every time I think on it.

While we may never fully know exactly what led them to place her at the orphanage, we certainly understand that her physical needs and health issues might have been the predominant factor in their choice. Culturally and economically speaking, it's likely that they were completely ill-equipped to handle what they knew she likely would need. But it couldn't have been an easy choice for them, knowing what a gorgeous and sweet baby she must have been. The early pictures of her just take my breath away - her perfect little rosebud lips, her long sweeping eyelashes, and those deep onyx eyes. Thinking of it tears me apart - their pain and fear juxtaposed against what I can only (maybe niaveley?) assume was utter joy in looking at their pretty new baby girl. I don't know any of it for sure, obviously, and I can only suppose any of this from my readings and experiences within the adoption community.

I am everlastingly grateful for the choice they made for Mei Mei - the attempts to ensure her safety and well-being, the plan to find security and medical care for their beautiful baby. I pray for their peace of mind and comfort for their hearts often.

I am forever bound to the women who carried my daughters and I don't let myself forget it. My gratitude unspoken makes me hug my daughters a little tighter. Linger a little longer in their sweet snuggles at the end of the day. Love them a little more fiercely than I thought myself capable of doing.

So I joined the celebrations, juggling my mixed feelings. As I also do for all of Li'l Empress's birthdays and milestones. As I will for years to come, I'm sure. And celebrate, I did. For even though the losses are indeed great, the joy is greater. The endlessness of forever promises that.

Happy Birthday, America!

Oh.My.Word. I can hardly believe it's the 4th of July already. At the risk of sounding trite and cliched, seriously: Where did the month of June go?! I have so much to catch up on and will have to do some backing up of events like the end of the school year, Mei Mei's birthday, and all things momentous. I've mentioned before that Mei Mei does NOT tolerate me sitting at my desktop very well and it really hasn't gotten better. When she's awake, I'm hustling to get something done around here and clean up the messes and STUFF she gets into while trying to "hep" me. And when she's asleep, I'm trying to finish all that I started when she's awake. Or I'm crashing in exhaustion myself. This little one is a spunky little busybody and she seriously is never ever still. Even in her sleep, her little toes and fingers are in motion. Which I know because she's spent the last four mornings in bed with me, snuggled in to go back to sleep after waking at o'dark thirty. Oh.MY.WORD! Anyhoo, that's my disclaimer going in... more to come on other big stuff later!

**********************************

This year, the 4th of July is taking on some new meaning for The Gang. It's now forever linked with an important anniversary that we will always mark as a family. Yesterday, our son, known here as Dr. D, enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserves. It's been a long time coming, as he's been praying, researching, and meeting with recruiters of various branches of the armed services since January. But truthfully, it's a calling and a path that The Boss and I have seen growing within our boy since he was a very young child. We are very excited and proud of his single-minded focus to figure out what was the best path for his career and at the same time, nervous and concerned about what this choice means for his life. But this has been in his blood a long, long time and we know God has great plans for whatever twists and turns this path will unfold along the way.

Dr. D has an unusually developed sense of honor, justice and loyalty to country and there's no doubt that he's been deeply affected by world events in his 17 years of life, when viewed through those lenses. I so enjoy listening to his heart, full of idealism and pride in what our nation means to him. I love that he gets legitimately upset at those around him who fail to summon proper respect when the Pledge of Allegiance is spoken at school or other events. His pride in our flag, his respect and honor for the men and women who serve the armed services around him, the rapt attention he pays to his grandfather's stories of their own service, all of it speaks of a deep identification and camaraderie that he is now so excited to be a part of. When he arrived home yesterday after the trip out to Ft. Dix for his official enlistment event, he was beaming. We've always known that he is a kid who NEEDS to identify with a cause or a purpose bigger than himself, and it's a point of great pride for us both that he has found his niche. This niche.

And just like that, I've got a new label to add to my own resume.... As a dear friend mentioned to me on FB yesterday, I'm now a military mom. I even get my own bumper sticker for my van that says so!

Here's some pics of our little attempts at home to honor Dr. D since we couldn't be with him for the actual enlistment ceremony. He was surprised that we did all this for him, but really, he should know me better than that by now! This momma does love to celebrate, especially something so amazing for one of my gang!

Here he is, the newest soldier to join the ranks the U.S. Army.

And just because no celebration of America's birthday

would be complete without a picture (or two!) 

of the cutest little new citizen in town, I give you these!

MWAH! Happy Birthday, America!!!!

I love my new country!

"Daddy's Sweetheart"

and an

"American Cutie"

It just doesn't get better than that!

A Happy Mother's Day, Indeed.

What a wonderful Mother's Day weekend I had with my gang! The Boss's folks came in for a long weekend on Friday afternoon. His sister and her family came in Saturday afternoon. Everyone wanted to meet Mei Mei. It was LadyBug's 14th birthday {sigh. sob.}on Sunday. So we celebrated all three big events together. All weekend long. We ate. We laughed. We watched the kids play together. We ate some more. And I got the exquisite joy of having all 6 of my kids home, together, for the first Mother's Day ever. Knowing that our Gang is now complete, that we are, indeed, "all here" added such a sweet note to the day. I am a blessed momma.

Getting a picture of me and my three girlies

proved almost to be my undoing.

I bought the matching dresses for the little ones

at Gift From China on Shamian Island.

The pictures are not doing the

utter cuteness any justice at all...

I guess that's to be expected with a 22-month old

who moves faster than any shutter speed I know!

LadyBug with her yummy chocolate cake

and the delicious coconut cupcakes from my sweet friend, Kateri.

NO ONE on the planet makes coconut cake

(and cupcakes) like this woman can.

Seriously.

Mei Mei completely agrees.

She sucked the icing off that cupcake

faster than I can even SAY cupcake.

And was so sugared up she practically ran

circles in the kitchen.

If she had a tail, she'd have been chasing it!

LadyBug and her bestie cousin, Alyssa.

They are about a year apart in age.

This is one of the rare sitings of them during our weekend

visit. We always joke that as soon as they get together,

they disappear for the entire visit, whispering and talking together

and catching up on all their girl talk!

Happy Momma with all my gang.

All together. At last.

I just love these kids of mine.

LadyBug has a frame that she likes to keep

filled with a picture of the two of us.

She asked for an updated picture while the camera was clicking.

Now that I see this, I might have to go into the archives

and find one from her chubby little baby days.

This one is giving me a heart attack.

Hope your Mother's Day was beautiful and memorable.

Wordless Wednesday {last one}

My gang posed together for an Easter morning family shot.

It's the last one of just the five of them.

Can't wait to see how Mei Mei fills in the spaces created just for her.

For more Wordless Wednesday fun,

click over to 5 Minutes for Mom.

Happy Easter, belated

Happy Easter, a day belated. We spent the holiday with family... there's no better way to spend it, especially given all the big changes coming for us all in the coming weeks and months.

There was a great children's program at the start of both services, in which Shaggy did some puppeteering with some other teens to tell a unique version of the real meaning of Easter. Interspersed by a couple songs in which Li'l Empress' class participated. Oh, so cute! She sang with super gusto, every single word, during the first service. But then during second service, she was so focused on being ready for her "job" of holding up the sign at the right time that she completely skipped singing the words. CRACKED us up!

Then, my Pastor BIL invited our gang forward to pray for us and launch us off on our trip to Mei Mei. It was a sweet moment, feeling the covering of our church family and the love that they have for us and for our girl. The little sigh of delight when they flashed her picture, in both services, made me totally tear up. Again!

After services, we headed off to the mountains to spend time with my family and enjoyed a yummy meal followed by deadly, decadent desserts. Orange Coconut Cake. Cadbury Creme Egg Brownies. Angeletti cookies. Sigh.... we all sunk into a sugar coma shortly after the meal was cleared and dishes cleaned.

I have no pictures of that. It's to protect the guilty. Heh. And let me tell ya, on the dessert front, we were all pretty darned guilty!

Hope your holiday celebrations with your family were lovely. I'm so grateful for friends and family that share the joy of celebrating His Resurrection. And for the love that changes everything.

Christ in You

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I was going to post something funny, you know, those light-hearted little "blessings" that are all around the internet this weekend. But I kept coming back to this excerpt from St. Patrick's well-known Lorica. It seems fitting for us, generally as followers of Christ, but very specifically now as we gird ourselves in the coming weeks to parent yet another blessing. She is coming to us from broken-ness and lack. While we know full well that there is nothing in us that is worthy to be the ones that lead her to healing and plenty, we are VERY mindful that it is CHRIST IN US that makes us even slightly eligible to have that privilege. I love the comfort and security of knowing that all of the tasks to which He calls us come because He chose us, He wooed us, and then He equips us.

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me,
Christ in the eye that sees me,
Christ in the ear that hears me.

If you've never read up on this patron saint of all things Irish, I highly recommend you do some digging. I'm a history buff so reading up on some of the ancients such as St. Patrick is something I do for fun. I know, that is weird to some folks (my kids!). There are so many rich things to learn from the godly folks who have gone before us. I love learning about them and remembering that they were usually "every day folks" who were anointed for their tasks because they were AVAILABLE. That's it. They loved God. They pursued Him as He pursued them. They chose to listen to the call that God put in all of us. He made us all to bear His image, to carry HIM inside and to spill HIM out in all we do. Those men and women of the faith that we honor and hold up as standards of holiness represent what we are also completely capable of accomplishing. Sure, it may not be that our image-bearing actions will affect an entire island nation But if we avail ourselves to His voice and let HIM fill us and arm us, we can certainly affect our world.

Have a fantastic day celebrating today. And May Christ be in you and flow out of you with the unique and creative ministry that God placed within YOU.

Valentines from The Gang's House!

From our house to yours....

Would you be our Valentines?

Our house AND our hearts say...

to you all!

Merry Christmas...

From Our Home

To Yours.....

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

a Christmas hymn

O come, O come, Emmanuel,

And ransom captive Israel,

That mourns in lonely exile here

Until the Son of God appear.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel

Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer

Our spirits by Thine advent here;

Disperse the gloomy clouds of night

And death's dark shadows put to flight!

O come, Thou Key of David, come,

And open wide our heavenly home;

Make safe the way that leads on high,

And close the path to misery.

In Which I Try To Balance Brutal Honesty With Holiday Cheer

Tuesday morning's update about our anticipated LOA dispersal was basically a "no new news update." Which I know is as frustrating to my agency as it is to us.

I'm trying to be okay with that for now. It's not easy. With the crazy pace of school concerts, parties, shopping, wrapping, and baking we've been keeping, I'm trying to keep my heart and mind occupied. On the one hand, it feels like a giant holding pattern hovering over the days. On the other, I find myself creating a tightly planned schedule of events during the days and then crashing at night to wonder what I accomplished and where the day went. The contrast of it all is exhausting.

I know I'm not alone in feeling this but last week's tragic events are weighing so very heavy on my heart, in addition to what seems like an already hard holiday season for our gang. I'm confident in saying that I do NOT recommend that your first holiday for one of your kiddoes spreading his wings away from home is the best holiday season to also be waiting for another of your kiddoes to find her way home after two years of longing and waiting. Not that we could have managed it or planned it otherwise. But maybe it'll help you as your little ones grow. Sigh. (Sorry, my snark slipped out there a bit.)

When I slow down to think about it all, I am overwhelmed by the enormity of it all: the tremendous losses our nation has suffered, the anguish of parents and families all over the country, the unknown and even danger that Shaggy is facing, the remoteness and the intensity of his mission, the cold hard winter of Beijing, the fragility of Mei Mei's heart and mind... Oh my... I have to throw out a great big STOP sign and make myself change course. Change focus. Immediately.

I know you'll understand when I say that no new news" was not the message I wanted to hear from my agency yesterday. I'm grateful that they understand that, too. On top of all of the other "stuff" these last two weeks have brought, now this delay represents now weeks "lost" as we approach closures for the holidays here in the States. Which will be  followed by closures in China for their upcoming holidays. Waiting through the resolution of this "clerical error" has forced a conscious choice to keep trusting, to keep confessing that HE is sovereign and HE has not forgotten us. Any of us. HE has not. And on that I am standing.

Each time we sit down to the dinner table together in these last five days, I've found myself almost at a loss for words. Choking up at the privilege of having my kids around my table. Praying for my two that aren't home with us and begging God to grant them safety and health while we are apart. Thanking HIM for the honor of even getting to do a dinner together. I've been amazed at the gratitude I am feeling, even in the midst of the frustration and pain. May I be so humble and thankful moving forward when "normal" returns.

And so I pray. I cry, like I'm sure so many of you are doing this week. I sing Christmas hymns and replay over and over my iPod rotation of silly Christmas songs for Li'l Empress to sing along to. And now I'm off to cook and wrap and shop some more. The good news is that in my need to keep busy and NOT focus on Shaggy's absence, the delays to our process, and now the horrific sadness of the Sandy Hook tragedy, I am almost done our holiday preparations. Here's hoping that my Christmas Eve day can be spent relaxing and hanging out with my gang. We could all use the down time of jammies, cheesey Christmas movies, and free-flowing popcorn.

The Next Big Step

Well, the day has arrived. Today, Shaggy boards a plane with the other members of the team they have dubbed "Team Thaibodia" for the "Outreach" portion of their YWAM experience.  We F@cetimed with him last night, to chat, say good-bye and pray together as a family for his team and for him. NEVER in all of my life have I been so incredibly grateful for the technology that allows interactions such as this to occur. While I greatly dislike the inability to hug his neck and kiss him as he journeys off, I am so thankful that he got to hear our prayers over him. From Li'l Empress's prayer for safe travels all the way up to Dr. D's prayer for them to be used by God to The Boss's prayer for anointing and power in sharing The Gospel, the time together was sweet and one I will cherish in the many days ahead while we are missing his physical presence here in our home.

If you could, please pray with us for his team. There are 13 young people from YWAM Arvada heading out today to spend a month in Thailand and a month in Cambodia. They are being led by a young gal named Molly. Please pray with us for the following things:

• safe travels in each leg of their journey
• unity, health and physical protection for their team
• spiritual wisdom and discernment in light of all the new experiences they will have
• great opportunities to show the love of Jesus to the teams they are supporting and the work they will be doing themselves
• deepened intimacy and strengthening of their own personal faith journey as they follow the path God has set them each upon

Please also pray for the teams that Shaggy's team is partnering with while in-country. The work these teams are doing include things like campus ministry, ministry to victims of human trafficking and caring for orphaned children. There is much opposition to a lot of what the teams do each day, it's truly a supernatural spiritual battle they must face daily. Pray for strength and clarity in the face of the evil and opposition they face in their mission.

I have an update letter written by Shaggy that I would be happy to email to you if you are interested in what he has experienced and learned thus far. And the team leader will be sending weekly updates that I'd be happy to share with you and your family. Please just email me at the gmail address connected to this blog.

Thanks for praying with us for our boy. We are so proud of him and his passion to follow Jesus' calling on his life. My momma's heart would ask that you also pray for us who are left behind. There were quite a few tears here last night, as it sunk in to the littler kids that their big brother would be flying across the world today. It's a lot to take in and they are doing a great job of supporting him and praying for him. But we all miss him terribly. And all our holiday activities have that little tinge of missing him kind of lingering in the background. Thanks for that, too.

Flexing With the Times

It's a well-documented fact that The Gang has lots and lots of traditions. I've told you before about our annual treks to the lake, always around my birthday. I've mentioned our baking parties with my family for holiday treats. I've shared our favorite songs and movies and recipes surrounding the many celebrations we do here with friends and family.

I've also mentioned that Shaggy would be home for Thanksgiving but that making it home for Christmas this year is just not going to happen. When we planned our family festivities with both sides of The Gang's gang, The Boss and I intentionally built into the weekend some time for just the 7 of us to be together. We had several conversations about what that time needed to look like but no final conclusion was reached.  On Friday, we were pushing to make a decision as we waited for Shaggy to return from his morning out with his cousins and for Dr. D to limp home from track practice.

And Baby BlueEyes, listening and taking it all in, piped up with the best input we'd had to the conversation all fall long. It definitely struck just the right note with us all, because as soon as we mentioned it to Shaggy, 3 of the 5 of us who were standing there just teared up and dripped together. I'm pretty sure this tradition is the one thing my kids love THE.MOST. about our holiday festivities and it was so fitting that we used our one family day together to do it.

The thing about doing it this early this year, is that we had to get a little creative and a little flexible in the doing. After all, the full blown tradition usually involves a Saturday morning trip to a tree farm to cut a big fat blue spruce. And a day of letting it settle before we spend all of Sunday whole night decorating the tree and the whole downstairs of the house. It's an all-day event for The Gang. With lots of home-made cookies and hot cocoa and Christmas music all sprinkled liberally in there for good measure. But flexing things around a little bit was absolutely the right way to make sure Shaggy was involved somehow in our Christmas preparations.

So while Shaggy visited for a couple hours with a friend, The Boss went up and dragged down our somewhat "Charlie Brown-ish" artificial tree and our boxes of ornaments. He rigged a set of lights up and sorted through the ornaments to pull out all the hand-carved ones from Grandpa and the hand-made ones from all five kids over the years of pre-school, Sunday school, and art class projects.

Once Shaggy returned, we placed our order for Chinese food to be delivered and set about decorating the tree together. It's been a long time since we did two trees, so we kept the little tree fairly simple and "kid" focused. Then we sat and ate by the light of the tree and watched "Arthur Christmas" together. It was pretty much a perfect way to do our one night alone together. The movie struck a great balance between silly enough and just meaningful enough to keep us all connecting and listening to them all laughing together was music to this momma's ears.

There's a lot of change ahead this year for The Gang, and we have so far weathered all the big changes of 2012 pretty well together. I'm experienced enough at this "life" thing to know that the pace of change won't quit any time soon. But for this one night, with a little flexibility and creativity, we got to do one of our most treasured traditions {almost the same} as all the previous years. And for now, that's enough for me.

Re-evaluate Your Methods

Wow. Sunday night was brutal around here. There were LOTS of tears. Shaggy helped us put Baby BlueEyes and Li'l Empress to bed, as part of his good-bye time with them since he had to leave so very early this morning. The reality of just how long it will be till they see him again and have him home to hang out with again really sunk in. These four days together just weren't enough. For any of us. But I think the two little ones really connected with the good-bye differently this time because they have lived with his absence for the last 7 weeks.

Shaggy was so wonderful about it. He spent some time hanging out, talking with Baby BlueEyes, hugging him and really loving on him. As they were winding down their good nights, I happened to look over at Li'l Empress. She was sitting in the living room behind me, silently crying.

Oh. My. Gosh. The silent cry kills me. Yes, I started crying too.

And then she wasn't silent about it anymore.

We walked upstairs together and she crawled in to her bed, just sobbing. Shaggy came over to her room and just crawled right onto her bed with her. He was so loving and comforting and she calmed right down in his arms. The two of them looked up at me with big tears in their eyes.

As she was quieting down, he looked at me and said, "This is the downside of raising a tight-knit family. You might want to re-evaluate your methods."

I just smiled through my tears. We both know, whatever "method" we have employed to get us to this point is exactly the right one for us. This crazy, slobbery, messy love is exactly who we want to be. Exactly who we want them to be. And while they all may express it between them very differently, with or without tears, this close tight-knit family is the greatest accomplishment of my life. The most rewarding, most satisfying thing I've ever done. Even if sometimes it's also the most painful thing I do.

And I won't be re-evaluating that any time soon.

Happy Thanksgiving

I haven't been around much this week. Cooking, cleaning, and preparing for our big family weekend has kept me quite busy. And I likely won't be around much till next week. My boy is home from YWAM for four whole long beautiful days and I plan to be very busy hugging him and talking with him about all that God is doing in and through him.

So I leave you with this. And much, much love to go with it.

Happy Thanksgiving from

Our Gang to Yours!

"Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations."
Psalm 100:4-5

You are Cordially Invited...

My sweet friend Joslyn, strikes again!!!! Several weeks ago, I attended an Open House at her home, intending to pick up some new mascara for Lady Bug and myself, have some intelligent adult conversation and play with a bit of pretty jewelry. By the time the night was over, Joslyn had fully talked me in to hosting a big holiday event. And her friend, Karoline (of Premier Designs Jewelry) offered to join in. By the next day, we had two more home-based businesses on board and pretty soon, we were trucking! We've been busy all week gathering links, confirming participants and going live on Facebook.

I am so excited to unveil the big event here now, too. I'm even more excited to tell you that those of you who are not local to me can participate, too. Yes, it's true: You are ALL invited! You can also check out the "public event" here.

Isn't this invitation simply gorgeous? I'm always so impressed when folks can create graphic designs like this.  I'm also incredibly grateful for the time and effort that was put into this beautiful invitation and the support that each of these participants is lending to our event.

*********************************************

If you are here by way of the Christmas Frenzy linky event, thanks so much for stopping by. If you don't know what a Christmas Frenzy linky event is, stop by over there and check it out. And thanks to the Richards family for helping families get the word out!

If you have any questions or need more information, please feel free to contact me at the above email (which is also the email attached here to my blog. And if you are the praying sort, we'd appreciate your prayers for a successful event for all of us.

Simple Beauty

After a pretty hectic week,

kicked off by a stomach virus responsible for

stealing time away from my dearest friends

and then dominated by juggling skills I didn't know I had, 

a morning walk through my gardens re-adjusted

my heart and my mind.

The simple beauty is soothing and restorative.

This is my Father’s world, and to my listening ears
All nature sings, and round me rings the music of the spheres.
This is my Father’s world: I rest me in the thought
Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas;
His hand the wonders wrought.

This is my Father’s world, the birds their carols raise,
The morning light, the lily white, declare their Maker’s praise.
This is my Father’s world: He shines in all that’s fair;
In the rustling grass I hear Him pass;
He speaks to me everywhere.

Words by Maltbie D. Babcock