Random Acts of Kindness

On our final shopping trip two days ago, we visited the Dollar Store for gift boxes. Ahead of us in line was a young mom and her two little girls. As she went to pay, she realized that the ten dollar bill that she thought was in her wallet was gone. She then tried her credit card and that was declined. Embarrassed, she said "I'll just put a few things back." It was then that the man behind her handed money to the cashier to pay for her things. She initially protested, but he insisted. She was ever so gracious as she pleaded for his address to pay him back. But he quickly said "Merry Christmas" and disappeared out the door. That man was my husband. And that's what Christmas is about. That's what I love about him. That's what I love about my children as they learn from these acts. It reminds me of my father, when I was young and still today. I hope that woman and her two sweet little girls have very Merry Christmas.

Orphanage

One of the things we chose to do this Christmas was to support some children in an orphanage in Mexico. A woman who was in our adoption group decided to take her family to Mexico and spend Christmas in an orphanage there. The building is cold and children sleep on cement slab. Many do not have warm pajamas or socks. So Scott and I took our kids shopping and picked out warm, fleece pajamas with fleece socks, toothbrushes and books. All essential items for a fun and warm bedtime. It was so neat watching even our little boys try to decide which color pajamas and which socks these girls might like. Our girls that we bought for happened to be young teenagers. I love that our kids "get" that many kids don't have the little things that ours take for granted. They need these gentle reminders in the society in which we live. To listen to their conversations amongst one another about what else they would love to give these girls. Melts my heart.

If I Were President...

Just a little follow up from the last post, this is a letter Preston wrote a few weeks ago stating what he would do if he were president.

Toys For Tots

Each year, GTACS teams up with Traverse City Fire Department and the State Theater to raise toys for children in need. Both Holy Angels and Immaculate Conception walked downtown and sang Christmas carols as they carried their toys to donate. Their toy was their "admission" to the movies. The state theater staff worked from 6 am to make popcorn for all the children as well as drinks for each. The fire department staff waited with Santa as the kids loaded their truck with gifts. As the kids filled the entire auditorium, the children prayed for all of the kids who would now have something to open at Christmas. Toys for Tots were actually short on toys this year, but after our schools filled the truck, the staff was pretty certain we made up for what was lacking. We are so proud to be a part of a school system and community who generously donate for causes like this. Not to mention the values we are teaching our children. At least once a month, our kids bring either goods or money to school for various causes around the community. It is so refreshing when dinner conversation revolves around who they can donate their piggy bank money to and how old they have to be to go on a mission trip. Thank you GTACS, TCFD and Traverse City State Theater!

National Adoption Day

In celebration of National Adoption Day, Elijah, Isabelle, Mimi, Abuela, Papu and myself attended a luncheon which was also the retirement party of Judge Stowe. Judge Stowe was a significant part of our journey to adopt Eli. It is not often that an adoption is expedited except for special circumstances. However, at our initial hearing at 21 days post birth, Judge Stowe witnessed our family, along with the Menchaca family, sitting together in the courtroom taking turns holding Eli. It was then that he announced to our case worker that it is very rare that he experiences such a "true" open adoption situation. We were just that. He agreed to the petition to finalize our adoption three years ago on National Adoption Day. It would have normally been about another four months of waiting. There is not a day that goes by that we are not thankful for the selfless, most priceless gift we were ever given. Mimi chose life and made a sacrifice of which is unimaginable for most of us. So, here is Eli, three years later. Pretty soon he will know and understand everything. But, for now, he was just happy to have balloons and a cupcake!

Halloween 2012

I think Ninjas may have been the most common costume this year and we had three of them! In addition to the sword fighting boys, we had Belle as a ghost princess and Amelia as Cat Woman. Cueter's invited us to their house on Sixth Street which is great fun, as we each bring a dish to pass, as well as some candy to donate to their over 2,000 pieces of candy they go through that night!!!! And, let me just say that it's so crazy on Sixth Street that there were lines down people's sidewalks and Scott and I had to create a system to keep all kids in check. One of us at the line and the other corralling kids before going on to the next house. Not to mention, the extras we picked up along the way! And Tessie! But it's such a social event for the adults too! If you haven't seen someone in a while, you will probably see them there!!! Everybody knows everybody!!!! My fav part: Mary's delicious homemade Mac n cheese and Natalie's exquisite chili!!! I missed out on the pigs in a blanket but oh well. It made for a poor night sleep but it tasted good! Kids had a blast and it was wonderful to see so many great friends and their children. Looking forward to next year! Thanks, John and Mary!!!

All Saints Day

The morning after Halloween consisted of getting kids up 45 min earlier than usual in order to get one Saint Lucy ready for her 8:15 Mass and presentation and one super cute P Dog ready in his shirt and tie to do a petition at the 9:30 Mass at St. Francis. Preston was chosen as one of about 7-8 kids in his school to be a speaker at the high school/elementary school mass. It was a very full house and we are so proud of him! Thank goodness we have all these aunts and grand parents in town to split up and support the kiddos! I went to Amelia's beautiful mass along with Aunt Kate, Mimi and Scott. They were able to go to her classroom after and watch her speech while I went to St Francis church to watch Preston do his petition with Aunt Sarah, Tess, Isabelle and Papu! It was a very nice celebration and many of the children wore crowns to represent various Saints and their lives and sacrifices we celebrate. Each day I'm ever so grateful that our children are part of such an amazing community of children and families in this school system. I cannot be more proud of them and the spiritual growth they've made. Lately our conversations have revolved around their desires to go on a mission trip to help the less fortunate and also to work in a shelter or soup kitchen over the holidays. It couldn't get much better than that. Thanks to our family who got up early to support them! It means the world.

Hockey Boy

I had to capture Ollie tonight at hockey. He's skating so well and loving this sport! It's so fun to watch these little ones on the ice. It's amazing how quickly they pick up the skill at such a young age. I cannot wait until Eli is out there. Ollie's favorite activity is the tennis ball drill. His most favorite thing is that his daddy always makes it back from Detroit in time to get on the ice with him. Today on the way to the rink, our conversation consisted of defining the word "meet." I told Ollie that dad would meet us at the rink (which I have said a million times before) but he needed to know exactly what they word meant. Gotta love those simple, teaching moments!

Pumpkin Carving

Sunday after hockey and a date with Scott to ToysRUs (yes, our shopping is almost done-yippee!) it was pumpkin carving time. The actual "cleaning out" process is really not my thing, but I'm not so bad at carving. With a pot of homemade beef stew on the stove and homemade whole wheat pumpkin chocolate chip muffins in the oven, it was a fun and yummy evening!

Jacob's Corn Maze

We had the brilliant idea of going out to the corn maze Friday night despite the blistering cold. A few families from skating went to dinner and headed out there. I guess the last time I did the maze was when it was just that: a maze (singular). This year, they have a barn set up that you MUST walk through in order to purchase tickets to the mazes (plural). So it's getting colder by the minute and we are now in a barn surrounded by candy, hot chocolate, donuts, cider and the list goes on. Of course the kids are "starving" (didn't we JUST have dinner?) so Dr. Merrithew buys donuts for all the kids. Then comes the big decision: which maze do we do? There are now THREE! Not to mention, the one is so big that we would need the Coast Guard to find any of my little ones if they were to get lost. So we choose the smaller two. Yes TWO. Before the tickets were purchased, the girls were off on a mission and the boys wait for an adult. This entire time it's flashing through my mind that it's going to get dark soon and my babies are let loose in a field of corn. A HUGE field.

Long story short, they all came back in one piece. We enjoyed the fire and caramel apples and headed home. Oh, but we mustn't forget to pick out our pumpkins on the way out...:)

Cut Outs

Love my boys. But I am not good at playing cars or baseball or transformers. They laugh at me when I try to make "zoom" noises like they do. I'm just not as good at it as Daddy. But I AM good at reading, cuddling, bath time, and BAKING. Preston has been begging me to make cookies with his Star Wars cookie cutters. We finally began the process this morning and after realizing we were out of stick butter and eggs, we just now got all of them baked. And when I say all, I mean ALL! Note to self: no need to double the recipe. I have cookies coming out of my ears, not to mention the boys were tired of cutting out cookies after about 10 min, which left me cutting and cutting and cutting. But it was time with my boys doing something mom knows how to do and they loved it!

Laundry

You can tell I've been sick for 9 weeks when Oliver comes downstairs this morning holding all of his sheets including his mattress pad! He wet the bed and probably knew that if he didn't bring his own sheets down, they would sit on his bed for another 3 days. These kids are ready for their real mom back!!!!!!

Blueberry Picking

With the heat of this summer, I feel like we have not done as many things as we normally do outside. Not to mention, the heat just made my nausea ten times worse. So yesterday we decided we better get to the Farmer's Market for some yummy Halls corn, my favorite flowers from Jennifer and whatever else looks good. After, we decided to get our blueberry picking done to fill our freezer with local blueberries to use in our smoothies and muffins throughout the winter. Let's just say that 5 lbs later, I barely made it. The heat was too much but the kids were champs about it. They picked their share and got homemade ice cream after. The highlight of Eli's day was Niko the parrot.

Coming February 2013

Many of you may have guessed, wondered or just thought I was gaining weight so here it is. We had our first ultrasound today and have great confirmation that we are just about 12 weeks pregnant and due February 18! Strong heartbeat and VERY active baby. The morning sickness and exhaustion has been nothing like I've ever had. But things are better and the kids could not be more thrilled!!!!! We told them by giving them each a gift that was a baby item. The look on their faces was priceless. Especially Isabelle. Pure joy. Interesting to see who reads this first...:)

Bieber

Oliver is officially obsessed with Justin Bieber. He found his jewelry that we bought him on a cruise 3 years ago and insists on wearing it. He's quite certain that Justin wears the same stuff. He's also perfecting the "dougie" that his sister taught him after going to camp. Hilarious. He walks around singing "Boyfriend" and even has all the moves. I'm pretty sure if we sent him to L.A., he would land a part on Disney channel!

Note

A note that I found when Amelia came home from camp. Every time she emailed me from camp, she thanked us for letting her go. Love her gratefulness...

Golf

First, let me say I love my new Blogger iPhone app. I can publish blog posts in just a few seconds without having to download my photos to my computer first and then posting. It's so easy! Maybe I will keep up now?? So golf is a love of our kids. Isabelle could do without the heat (not sure who she got that from) but they all enjoy it. Preston is a total natural. Ollie is darn good when he can keep his feet from dancing. And Eli just listens and pretends he is part of the class.

Five Beach Babies

Here is our updated photo of the five monkeys at the pool.

Camp

Today was bittersweet as we dropped the two middles off at camp. I don't do well leaving my kids. Not because I don't trust who's in charge, but because I have a hard time enjoying myself when I miss them. Amelia went to Springhill last year for 4 days but did not want to come home. We agreed to let her go for a week this year. She is there with Sierra and Sophie, amongst other girls from school that happened to be there too. Preston went with Laiken and he will stay for 4 days. Man alive it was hot! We left them with fans, water bottles, bibles, journals, stuffed animals and enough clothing for many days and changes!!! I wish I could go. The property is georgous with lakes, water park, zip lines, a farm, horse riding, wall climbing, art, and the list goes on. They do bible study every day with journal writing to follow. Cannot wait to hear all about it!!!!