Yesterday, Grace "told" me in "Gracese" (her form of communication) that she wanted to grow her hair long and pierce her ears. She's been in America 5 months, and already she is turning into a Diva!
Something struck me in church this morning that I wanted to share. A new couple has been visiting our church for the past couple of weeks and the wife decided to become baptized today. We went through the same "baptizing routine" where we sang and prayed while she got ready with the help of a few ladies. When she came out into the baptistry, I put Grace on my lap and directed her attention to the scene. I whispered in her ear all that was happening--that this woman had decided to follow Jesus and all her sins will be washed away and that Jesus was going to come live in her heart now. I even put Grace's hand on her heart and my heart so she could feel the beating. Right before the woman was immersed in the water I said to Grace, "Here we go, Jesus is about to come live in her heart!" When the woman came up from the water Grace let out a squeal and said "Yay!" and was smiling so big and so excited. I want to be that genuinely excited about people being saved and not look at baptisms as just part of the "routine". I pray for the child-like view of Jesus and His people that Grace has.
On a side note, the pictures above are from our trip to Meramac Springs in St. James, MO. Blessings to all of you!
My "little" girl, Emma, turned 13 on July 2nd!!!! How can that be possible? We granted her wish and made sure she was able to celebrate it in La. She spent her actual birthday at my parents' house, as well as visiting friends and getting a snoball in Ponchatoula. The next day we went to Dave's mom's house and spent time with grandparents and cousins. Emma made and decorated her own cake at her request. On the 4th, we drove over to St. Francisville for the annual family reunion on Dave's side--HUGE crowd of people. It was a special time for our family as it was Grace's first time meeting her HUGE extended family and their first time meeting her. Of course, everyone loved her and she loved everyone! We drove back to St. Louis Sunday--just in time to get KidsFest rolling on Monday morning. KidsFest is our church's version of VBS, only it's BIGGER and BETTER! It goes from 10am to 3pm Monday thru Friday and though it entails the normal Bible stories and applications, it offers so much more. There were 2 water days where the kids had water slides, water guns, a firetruck hosing the children, shaving cream, etc... The other days had rock wall climbing, moonwalks, games, a visit from a helicopter, motorcycle, and police dog. Gabe and Hayden are campers and Emma is a counselor. I was the morning/afternoon songleader--and these aren't just any songs. They come complete with dancing and movement--I feel like I've been at an aerobics class each day. A funny thing happened this week with Gabe: one of the boys in his group said to him, "Aren't you embarrassed about your mom being up there?" Gabe replied, "That's not my mom." Talk about throw your mama under a bus!!!
Been a few weeks since I blogged--we have had 4 straight weeks of visitors through the month of June. It's kept us busy, but we certainly enjoyed having everyone. In the beginning of June we were blessed to have Dave's mom (Nana) and Paw Paw Hugh come--we visited the butterfly museum while they were here. A few days later, our neighbors from Ponchatoula (Tim, Stephanie, Halee, and Greg Morris)came to stay for 4 days. We went to the zoo, the arch, and toured the Anheiser Busch facility. They left on a Monday morning and that afternoon more beloved La. friends graced us with a visit: Christine, Emma, and Sean. We swam, relaxed, and visited the Onondanga Cave together. 2 days after they left, my parents, sister, and her family arrived (on Fathers Day)and stayed a couple of days. We shopped, swam, and thoroughly soaked up our time together. Everyone left this past Wednesday and no one is scheduled on the calendar as of yet. Of course, we are enjoying the quietness of just our family, but I really enjoy having company also. Grace did pretty well with all of the upheaval, but she was affected by it somewhat. She threw a lot more tantrums than normal--some were VERY public. For instance, she threw a doosey at the Arch-----everyone was staring and I had to take the 4 kids and leave the museum while my friends continued their tour (Dave was at work). Everyone stared at the "poor little Chinese girl" who was screaming her head off and assumed her mommy didn't know how to take care of her. A security guard even came and stood by me with a very concerned and worried look. But the topper was when a one-armed woman (no kidding, she only had one arm---which I'm not making fun of--it just has significance in the story) tried to take Grace by the hand and walk away with her. Normally Grace goes with ANYONE, but for a change, she wouldn't go with this woman (possibly due to her one arm--hence the significance of mentioning it). The woman said--"tell her to go with me"--I think she felt she could do a better job calming Grace down. What she didn't know is that Grace was just mad because I wouldn't give her a cookie until she held my hand in the museum so she wouldn't get lost. I said back, "Excuse me, I am attaching and bonding with this child whom I've just adopted, I've got it, thank you." She almost wouldn't take "no" for an answer until I got REALLY firm with her. I've learned how to not let public tantrums ruffle my feathers or dirty, concerned, looks from people derail me from my task.
On June 20th, our church threw us a money tree shower in honor of Grace's arrival which was really nice and thoughtful. We go back to La. for the 4th and Grace gets to meet all of her cousins and aunts on Dave's side. All of the kids are thrilled--especially Emma since she gets to spend her 13th birthday in her beloved La. All in all, the summer has been great fun--hope all of yours has been too!
One of the most exciting things for us is to watch our little Grace experience the big world and all that it has to offer. This weekend we had the pleasure of taking Grace to a "big movie" for the first time---we went to see "Up"--which is a great movie, by the way. She doesn't even watch TV nor does she EVER stay still,so we weren't sure how it would go, but we figured we had to do it sometime. So, equipped with 2 bags of skittles, we made our way to the 11:45 showing (before noon movies are cheaper!). We had really talked it up--she was so excited and she didn't even know what she was excited about. Well, I must say, she did incredibly well! She even watched a good part of it and laughed at a few spots! Of course, she went from Dave's lap, to my lap, to her seat, etc... but the skittles didn't run out until 10 minutes before the end and we were still able to make it. Another first this weekend was the pool!!! Again we talked it up and she was REAL excited to go----we had gone swimsuit shopping a couple of weeks before. She was so cute picking out her pink, shiny swimsuit and trying it on in the mirror. Grace, who has no fear whatsoever, went right into the pool with Emma and was jumping in and going under water within a few minutes. She will be taking swimming lessons with Hayden in a week and I figure she will have it down in no time. She's the kind of kid that things seem to come easily for her--she's pure joy!!! Emma and Gabe kept fighting over who would hold her in the pool---hope it stays that way for a while :). One last first---Emma, Gabe, and Hayden taught Grace how to play hide-and-go-seek. It was the cutest sight to witness---Grace would count and go find everyone. When it was her turn to hide she would hide and then yell "ight eya!" (translation, "right here"). What a gift to be able to experience these little joys with such a precious little girl!!!
Can I get an "Amen"!!!??? Yes, today is our last day of homeschool, and I must say; I am probably more excited than the kids! It's been an interesting school year to say the least-----in fact, it's been an interesting year period! June 5th marks a year living in St. Louis---what an unbelievably eventful year for us. 2 MAJOR events in our lives in the same year--relocating and adoption! Oh yeah, let's not forget homeschooling 3 kids for the first time. All in all--it's been a good year and I'm glad we have all survived it. St. Louis has brought us many blessings. We like our church and have built some special friendships here. Though the school system is one of the top systems in the country, homeschooling is a very popular choice here and so much is offered that we can't possibly do them all. We love our neighborhood--we live on a cul-de-sac and there are lots and lots of children. As it gets warmer parents and kids sit out together on one of our driveways until dark and just relax and visit while the kids play. We all look out for each other and help out when someone's in need. The only one of us who hasn't adjusted as well is Emma. She has had the hardest time with the move. She has refused to make new friends because she feels it "replaces" her old friends. At the same time, I think it has been especially hard to make friends because of the stage of life she is in. She is on the cusp of teenager (turning 13 in July), but not like other girls her age at all. We are glad that she is not "boy crazy" or overly concerned about wearing the "right" clothes and that she wants to stay a kid as long as she can. However, that sets her apart from every other girl her age and she has felt quite lonely at times which breaks my heart. She wants to do everything with Gabe who has never found difficulty finding friends---in fact, he is the most popular kid no matter where he is, but he is getting tired of Emma "riding his coat tails" as he puts it. We are contemplating sending Gabe to public school for several reasons: he is very interested in going for one and it might be a good thing for Emma and he to be separated for a while. Gabe also does better in school than Emma which causes more heartache for her. Anyway, we are praying and praying to make the right decision. Meanwhile--I'm looking forward to the summer and all that it will bring to our family!
I know it's been a while since I last posted---it's hard to get a lot of "extra" things done these days. Everyone is still sleeping this morning (miracles do happen), so I decided to take a moment to update. A few weeks have gone by since my last post---a lot of ups and downs have occurred since then. We had a few tough weeks with Grace---she finally began grieving her loss which caused her behavior to be pretty difficult. By her "loss" I mean the loss of the life she had before--her country; her language; her friends; her "home"; her food; her smells and sounds; etc... It's a completely normal thing for an adopted child of this age to experience--especially one that has completely changed cultures and countries. We were also concerned that she might be exhibiting characteristics of attachment disorder and have been given the name of a therapist that specializes in this. However, at this point, we may have turned a corner. We are now in the second week of a much more pleasant and normal atmosphere. Grace's tantrums have lessened and are more like a pre-school child's would be and she seems to be falling in to a routine with us which has made school and piano go a lot better. It's also been better for the other 3--they were having a hard time dealing with the tantrums and the upheaval for a while there. All of these things are normal and to be expected, but it still makes life difficult at times for everyone. I have had to keep my eyes on the Lord more than ever these days to remain focused on the task before me and I have realized that, DUH, I should be doing that EVERYDAY anyway!! As Mother's Day has just come and gone I am reminded how incredibly blessed I am to be a mother to these four wonderful children. Each child is unique and wonderfully made by the Lord and I am so grateful to have been given the gift of raising them and watching them grow. Happy Mother's Day to all of you and bless you for the awesome job you are all doing!
