Holiday Week

Gingerbread house workshop.



Christmas Eve



This guy just showed up, we don't know who he is...



Yummy Girl


Fish kiss



Here is a photo of the beautiful Korean lunch my friend 'K' made for Zinny and me. So so delicious!!



Here is 'K' and Zinny enjoying this yummy lunch!



Z watering 'K' plants.



Christmas gift from 'K'! Darling!



Finn shopping for Pokemon at the comic book shop.



You might be thinking that these blog posts are heavy with photos of Zinny and a bit skimpy of Addie, Oscar, and Finn. In my defense, the older 3 refuse to let me photograph them 90% of the time, and Z hasn't yet learned to sabotage my photo sessions yet. So there. I usually have to sneak them, like the gingerbread and Pokemon above.

And I sincerely hope Z's foster family is watching this blog, so they can know she is doing so well.

Arm Scripture:

Nevertheless I am continually with You;
You hold me by my right hand.

Psalm 73:23

A Blessed Happy New Year to all!



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Peek at our Week

Going out to lunch Grandpa Style:




Playing with angels



Major table battle



Opened the freezer and found this fine specimen. Apparently the boys found a priceless (and huge!) piece of ice in the back and couldn't bear to let it melt. It's right next to the month old snowball.



Mmmm, feels so good!



Papa and Addie off to the theatre



Watching Finn bring in garbage cans




"and that's where I was born!"



These are booties my dear friend crocheted for Z. They have sheeps wool inside and suede bottoms. All natural wool. So toasty comfy! Thanks Tina!



Kitties in pockets!



Cheerio! And Merry Christmas!


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Just a quiet little week

A lovely quiet week. It is so incredible to be home and just hear the activity of all my children around me. All the anxiety and intense worry of the horrible wait for Z to come home is over and I am at such peace. She is doing so well, we are all embracing her and she us. I read so many blogs and the Korean adoption forum and there are so so many beautiful families who do not have this peace this Christmas, and some may not NEXT Christmas. I know their pain and have a sense of guilt about Zinny being home and their children being left behind. It is not right or good that a government would choose a child to wait so long to be with their forever families, and also for the many thousands of little children who will not get the opportunity of having a family and face a life in an orphanage. All this has been said a thousand times. I cherish my children being all together and I will never forget the families who are waiting.
















Neil and I are beyond blessed. It's hard (!) and messy (!) and not always so pretty, but being parents to these 4 children is the greatest gift from God.

Arm Scripture for today (yes! It's finally back)

I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations;
I will sing of you among the peoples.
For great is your love, reaching to the heavens;
Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
Psalm 57: 9,10




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Feeling Christmasy

Ahhh, snow at last!





Trimming the tree...



...with Clone troopers (Sam this photo is for you!)



Snow ice cream courtesy of Oscar



A snowman named 'Pigpen'



Hot cocoa dregs (popcorn and stale marshmallows)



These are gnomes and ninjas my good friend Anne made. Her daughter is selling them to go to camp this summer. You know I'm crazy for toys!



Pals



I met with my good friend 'B', my adoption Process Buddy. It was so so amazing, after that horrendous wait for our babies, to be sitting there, chatting, as if this last year's worth of torture never happened. Crazy! PBF! (Process buddies forever)



Finn finally gets his '8' shirt (a little late...I was in Korea for his birthday)





And finally, Zinny and baby. (thanks Sandy!)


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The Real World of Z

I'm not going to shine-up this post and glamorize our new normal. I'm not going to sift through reams of photos and pick only the Gap-ad worthy ones (frankly there are not many to choose from this week). I promise not to highlight my 1 1/2 minute of having-it-all-together this week. I'm going to give it to you straight. Short and sweet style. I can sum up our week in one four letter word ( and I really really wish I had a photo for this, and you will be glad I don't) and that word is:
S•N•O•T
Ugh! Sticky, gooey, salty(tasted plenty...not mine...), greenish, cement encrusting, never ending SNOT.
That's the reality of toddlers in fall. Sure sure, there are people who are adept at harmonizing wipe snot/snap perfect photo of there little ones, but I know they are drowning in snot just as much as we are. I'm the whistle blower, I'm the mole. We parents of little ones, and in particular the parents of new-to-this-germy-America little ones, we are all DROWNING!! Dont be fooled! And there's little to be done. Sure, visions of taking the vacuum to the little one's nose and lungs are ever present, especially in the wee suffocating hours of the night. And why hasn't anyone invented a safe vacuum like this?? And don't tell me to use those worthless 'bulb syringes'! They are torture and produce nothing valuable at the end of the writhing struggle. I am a seasoned veteran I like to think, in this parenting thing. Zinny is our fourth child. I include in my inner circle many mothers of countless children, I have a plethora of wisdom and experience at my fingertips. This is the elusive Holy Grail. I hear what you're thinking, but an antibiotic is only for the bacterial cases, and honestly, the doctors office was where I am certain we picked this bug up(even though I am that crazy mama who slathers her daughters bare feet with anti bacterial gel after walking around the office bare foot.)
So please please, someone fix this epidemic so we can sleep, I mean so THEY can sleep...
Let's talk about something else...



This last week I took Zinny to meet my Korean friend. They have a new puppy "Snowball". Zinny's cuter!





Aunt Sarah sent Z bitty baby from American girl!



(this is not a Gap worthy outfit!!)




My yummy girl!



Mmm, orange (vitamin C for darn cold!!)
That's all for now, outta time!

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Popcorn & Malt Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! Today marked our very first Popcorn & Malt Thanksgiving Day. Most of the family has travelled to the east coast to spend Tday at my sister's house. In fact all of my siblings and their kids are all there. That leaves the Opitz's and Grandma & Grandpa here. Neither Jill or I was up to making the big dinner, and frankly, my kids have never been into all the food, so we proposed making popcorn and malts and watching a movie:







I provided the popcorn, Grandpa made the malts! What a great tradition! So relaxed and easy!

This is post-feast:



Some things that we did this week:
Played beauty shop with Aggie (that would be Neil's idea)


Celebrated Oscars birthday! This is his breakfast of choice served in bed (this year: Captain Crunch)


Epic Bionicle Battle



Here is Neil and Zinny playing guitar.



And after Zinny went down for her nap, it was Manny's turn for some carrier/bonding time.



Seriously, I am so very blessed and so very grateful for the life God has given me. What a gift it is. Neil is my most valuable treasure, I can't imagine life w/o him and will hopefully not have to ever. Each of my beautiful children bless me every day with their laughter and even their tears. This is what makes my life so rich and fascinating and many times exotic, like living in a foreign country! (I consider myself somewhat multi lingual, I can speak Pokemonese, Bioniclish, legoean and am just starting to use my new teenage girlese with some success)
I love it all, even the hard, smelly, exhausted, and so so very busy parts.


It is literally true, as the thankless say, that they have nothing to be thankful for. He who sits by the fire, thankless for the fire, is just as if he had no fire. Nothing is possessed save in appreciation, of which thankfulness is the indispensable ingredient. But a thankful heart hath a continual feast.” ~W.J. Cameron




And I am so very thankful Zinny is home at last!

Praise be to God for His blessings on our family. And may He richly bless you.


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