{This Moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments at SouleMama for all to find and see.

Belly buttons

I've known all along that the day would come.  The day when Kate would first hear that she didn't grow in my tummy, but someone else's.

I know that some adoptive parents talk about the whole story from day one.  We certainly have not hidden anything from Kate, but we've only talked about the "going get to get you in China" part and answered questions that maybe arose from those conversations.  We celebrate Gotcha Day and she's heard the word and the story of her adoption, but there have never been any discussions of a 'birth mother' or 'Chinese mommy' that I know some other adoptive children hear very early on.  It just hadn't come up and never felt like the right time to bring it up.

Until tonight.  Kate was getting out of the bath tub and we were putting her lotion on.  She does her tummy and I do her back.  She wanted to know what belly buttons were for.

That should be easy enough to answer.  Except I got a bit of a lump in my throat.  To those of you who know me well....No, I did not cry! :)  I might cry while typing this, but in the bathroom, I was the picture of calm.

So as nonchalantly as possible, I told her it was for when a baby is in the mother's tummy they are connected by a cord and so on.  And sure enough, she said "When I was in your tummy?"  I simply told her she grew in another lady's tummy in China.  Kate wanted to know what her name was and I told her we don't know.  She kept asking questions so I ended up pretty much explaining the whole thing about that lady couldn't keep her and she stayed in a safe place until we could go and get her. 

I'm glad it happened the way it did.  At home, not in the car while I was driving, no body else around and without any tears on my part.  That itself is a blessing straight from God!  Adoption has two extreme sides to it.  Pure joy on one end (at least for us, I know sometimes that is not the case), and such heartbreak on the other.  I certainly don't want Kate to see me blubbering about it like I have reason to be sad.  Someday she'll understand the heartbreaking part, but until then I want her to see the joy and blessing of it.  How God saved her, in two ways, and how wonderful His plan for her is.  I want her to be so convinced of the goodness of God and His plan that when she does understand the sad parts, that she'll be okay with it.  This is my prayer for Kate.

A Nice Surprise

Cameron was out of town last week for work and had to go away a couple of days this week.  The morning that he left he was going to take my van to put gas in it and get a couple of things at the store.  Well, not only would it not start, it was doing some other strange things too.  So he's leaving town and I am stuck here at home with no vehicle.  Also, it has rained every day for I don't know how long.  My laundry pile and kitchen floor, not to mention our septic system, can't take anymore.

So....when Cameron comes in and tells me the van is dead and there is no way to do anything about it until he gets back, I just about hyperventilated.  I remained calm in front of the girls, one person hyperventilating is enough.  I knew if I freaked out, Callie would too.  But on the inside, I was freaking out!

You can bet Dr. Pepper and chocolate were added to his list of things to get from the store!

The surprise is that the girls and I have had two really great days together.  We have no where to go, so there's no reason to feel rushed.  We've gotten all of our school work done,  some sewing, crafting, knitting, and water color painting.  I've even cleaned out some one's office. :)  As much as I could anyway.

So being "stranded" at home has sort of been nice.  If we had really needed anything, we have friends close by who would have been glad to help.  Thankfully, we haven't needed anything and even though there has been a ton of rain, there haven't been any serious storms.

There's always something to be thankful for.

Our Easter Celebrations

Easter 2011 seemed to be the year for breaking tradition.  It all started with the eggs.  For some reason the idea of dying them like we normally do just wasn't appealing to me at all.  I saw this idea here and a couple of other places too and decided it looked like fun.  It was a lot of fun and the girls really liked it too.  The eggs are boiled and while still very warm you just color them with the crayons.  Our beeswax crayons were my favorite.  The colors were really bright.  After they were all decorated we put them on a pretty egg plate.  

Normally, we always go to the Good Friday service at College Park Church and I make hot cross buns.  But this year, Cameron was out of town all week, we had some bad storms that "stole" some of my time and I was way behind on sewing that needed to be done.  So we didn't go to the service and there were no hot cross buns.  But we were very excited to welcome Daddy home and go to Chipotle for dinner and then to Trader Joe's to pick up a few necessary ingredients for the next day and Sunday.

Saturday, my parents and one of my sisters and her children came up for brunch and an egg hunt.  My other sister and her family weren't able to come for the first time.  We missed them, but we still had a wonderful time.  Sorry Valerie! :)   Kate and Aidan played together like two peas in a pod and Callie and Claire played with, what else, their American Girl Dolls. 

My parents used our Resurrection Eggs to tell the story of Christ's death and resurrection while the other grown ups hid the eggs outside.  It was nice having them tell the story and hopefully we can do that every year.  It was very wet, but we had on our boots and the kids had a great time running around looking for eggs.  I used to turn up my nose at plastic eggs, but not more!  We decorate one dozen real eggs for fun, but for hiding, we go all plastic. 

Listening to Granddaddy

Isn't she beautiful?  Baby number three due in June. :)

Callie and Claire with my mother

Kate is on a mission!

Aidan, he really was having fun.

Even Lilly got in on the fun

Thanks to my mom who hemmed the girls dresses, they were finished and I even  had time to make myself a skirt before midnight!  It was cold and rainy so this is the only picture we took, but we will take some more the next time the sun comes out.  Although I am seriously beginning to doubt if that will ever happen!

We did continue our tradition of Resurrection Rolls for breakfast and Easter baskets before church.  We actually attended two churches.  First our regular church and then several of us from our church volunteered at a church in downtown Indianapolis serving them lunch.  It was a great day worshipping and serving others!



A Night Out

Monday night, I had a much needed girls night out.  We went to see the movie Jane Eyre.  I've never read the book, so I really had no idea what it was about.  I was warned that I would cry, so since I knew to expect some sadness, I didn't cry.  It was a really good movie, but it was very intense and sad at times.  I was told that the movie was pretty true to the book, just a lot more sadness cut out.  I don't think I'll rush out to get the book anytime soon. It was very nice to get out with friends and here is what I saw when I came home.

This cap was bought when we visited the historical  Jamestown colony in Virginia.  Callie has worn this cap to bed more nights than I could count, usually pretending to be Laura Ingalls.  I had noticed the last few times I had seen her put it on that it was too small.  It was so cute to see it on Kate's head now, I had to take a chance and take a picture.  Thankfully, she slept through it.

Gratitude, Even if I Don't Want To

Some weeks counting blessings comes easier than others.  Like the weeks when there is very little arguing and whining.  Or the weeks when we go on a field trip or there's some extra money for something fun.  And then there are the other weeks.  When it seems like all that is happening is arguing and correcting and paying bills and car repairs, nothing awful, just the not so fun parts of life but a little more intense than at other times. 

This is when the tracking of and thanking God for his gifts is the most necessary.  It's probably when it is also the most beneficial.  Other than the obvious good health, job, home, etc.  I really had to think today.  Shame on me!  God is so good and so merciful, but I am quite human and can easily be discouraged.

So here goes....

256.  Finding a Chocolate Chip Cappuccino muffin in the freezer that I didn't know was there.  And eating it without getting caught!

257.  Finding some things that Callie has been wanting and will be perfect for her Easter basket.  I found them at the antique mall for next to nothing!  I love antique mall shopping.  It's not just antiques.  These items were brand new and I know she will be very excited.

258.  A pastor that doesn't pull any punches.  I'll admit that sometimes he's made me mad doing that, but I'd rather have that than a bunch of fluff coming from the pulpit!

259.  A sermon that made me really think about verses I've read a thousand times.  The only problem with growing up in church and being a Christian most of my life is that I sometimes forget just how amazing God and his plan of redemption is.

260.  Callie's love of and skill at taking pictures.  I think she took all of these in Mississippi, except the one above which I took.

261.  Spring....sort of.  I'm probably the only person I know that is totally stressed out by spring.  Seriously!  Do I work on the girls Easter dresses or do I work on the garden?  Do we do school as usual or do we take advantage of the sunshine that has been missing for months and make up the school later?  Do I clean out the flower beds or fold the laundry?  Do I cook supper or sew on the dresses?  Do you get the idea?  But, I am thankful for the warmer temps and flowers!!

262.  An invitation to girls night out and my dear friend's wonderful timing!

263.  My wonderful husband who truly wants me to go and have fun.  And even washed the dishes!!

264.  My {mostly} sweet girls who were asleep when I got home.

{This Moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments at SouleMama for all to find and see.

Gratitude, Southern Style

235.  Burger King at 11:00 PM in Alabama

236.  Back seat occupants asleep with full tummies

237.  Welcoming smiles at 3:00 AM in Mississippi

238.  Sleeping in

239.  Second hand shopping

240.  Mariachi bands!

241.  Safety

242.  All sleeping together in our "suite"

243.  Parents who are willing to dog sit

244.  Old movies with Granny and Poppy

245.  Home made brownies

246.  Azaleas-- We have to see if these will grow up north!

247.  Touring Antebellum homes

248.  Carriage rides

249.  More shopping :)

250.  Air conditioning

251.  Side walk chalk

252.  My husband!

253.  Free hotel nights.  The only good thing about Cameron's month long business trip last August is the points he gets with the hotel chain!

254.  We had a wonderful trip and were spoiled rotten by Cameron's parents!  We've been home three days now and I think I'm back to reality.

Oh and I have found  255. Grocery Shopping Paradise!  Out of sheer necessity I went grocery shopping this morning before Cameron left for work.  The fridge and cabinets were full of ingredients to make...nothing, just lots of ingredients.  Let me tell you about Kroger at 8:00 AM.   There were no lines, no crowds, no whining, no asking......it was Grocery Shopping Paradise.

I tried to get this done on Monday, but it just didn't happen.  Better late than never!