Christmas Chapel

This past Thursday at the boys school, their class and the kindergarten class shared Christmas Chapel. Their class sang songs and shared their Bible verses for each month of the year with the audience. The kindergarteners blew my mind when they quoted in unison the Christmas story from Matthew. Whoa...we've got to start practicing now!

The boys were so cute! They both sang out. Jeffery sang especially loudly! After the program, one mother came up to me and told me of a dialog she had with her daughter that morning. Her daughter, Lily, is a very sweet little girl. She is often very quiet, and her mother told me that she had encouraged Lily to sing really loud and pretty for chapel. Lily's reply to her momma was, "really loud like Jeffery?" Hilarious!

After chapel, their class had their Christmas party. John Isaac received a bag of bugs which he cared very little about until the other boys in the class rushed him to see the bugs. He quickly caught on that bugs are "cool". I suppose I had repressed this curiosity about bugs for personal reasons. Jeffery received a hot wheel and two card games. When he approached the little boy who had brought his gift, the little boy said, "those are mine". Jeffery, looking very confused, handed the little boy the gifts, and approached his teacher for another turn at choosing a present. Their teacher was quick to return the gifts to Jeffery. As a momma, I felt a bit awkward about the interchange.

I do, however, love the boys teachers very much! They are very good at what they do, and their love for the Lord is quite apparent. They had the children make gifts for their parents, and we received them at the party. The boys had each made a calendar for us. Each month has an art project that the boys have been doing at school. They are wonderful!

All in all, the boys had a very nice time.

Many thanks to Gigi for attending Christmas Chapel.

Stocking Success

A couple of years ago, I purchased some very classic looking stockings from Pottery Barn Kids. They are a lovely red velvet with gingham trim. Some of them are solid red velvet and others are trimmed with white and green ribbons. I purchased them hoping that they would be the stockings that we use during the growing up years.

As most anyone knows, we are in the process of adopting again. (The delays we have experienced with this adoption are so numerous that they are worthy of their own blog post. I am choosing to believe that it is all about timing...His timing.)

This year, as I pulled out our Christmas stockings, I began to think about ordering a stocking for our new son or daughter. I certainly wanted his or hers to match the other stockings that I had purchased. I visited the PBK site to place my order, and I was greatly disappointed to see that they are no longer selling their classic red velvet stocking or their red velvet ribbon stocking! AAAHHH! I know that this might sound trivial to some, but I had already had five stockings embroidered and they coordinate so well. I called PBK because in their catalog, they had printed a picture of the exact stocking I wanted to purchase. I was told that it was a misprint, and that the stockings were no longer being sold.

Very sad hardly describes my response...heartbroken is more like it...

This evening, however, I had the idea to look on ebay. In the past, I've been very frustrated by ebay because I will find an item that I want to purchase, make a bid, watch it, make another bid several seconds before closing, yet I am consistently outbid at the last second. :( This time, however, I found just what I was looking for, a PBK Red Velvet Stocking with Gingham Trim, and it was posted with the option to buy it now!

I am delighted to report that two of these lovely stockings are on their way to my home!

Yes, that's right, two stockings...

because you never know about these things. ;)

The Worst Blogger Ever...

Oh my! It has been forever since I posted to my personal blog! I've been so very busy. The boys have kept me busy, and I've been working diligently on getting a small photography business up and running with my dear friend, Sarah Beth.

The boys are growing so fast! I took pictures of them this fall. A few of my favorites are below.

I LOVE this picture of my boys! I put a copy of this photo in a frame that reads, "brothers first, friends forever."

I so hope that they will always be good friends.

Ok, so this picture isn't all that great, but Greggy is cracking

me up in this one. He's such a cutie!!!

I feel super-blessed to call these three boys my sons!

All Grown Up

The picture above is of Kathryn and I. Isn't she just beautiful!?!?! Not only is she beautiful in appearance, but she is honestly one of the most beautiful people I know on the inside as well. She'll tell you that's because of Jesus. I'm inclined to think she's absolutely right!

I'm so thankful for the relationship that she and I have been able to develop through Mentor Kids Kentucky over the past several years. She was in sixth grade when we first met. I just visited her very clean and well-kept college dorm room last week. She's pursuing a physical therapy degree, and she'd like to work in pediatrics.

Please pray for us as we will be working together this fall with a group of girls waiting to be matched with a permanent mentor. I'll have you know that she was the first to say "yes" to such an activity. Kathryn has such a big heart! I am so proud of her!

We're no longer matched, but, as an adult,

I feel honored to call her my friend. :)

Adoption Update

We have been in the process of adopting again for what feels like a very long time. John and I have been so blessed through the adoption of our oldest child, John Isaac, that we felt completely compelled to adopt again. There are so many children without parents, and we feel privileged beyond measure.

The word "adoption" holds so much meaning for John and I. It means family, provision, love, & care...forever. It is the same beautiful word used to describe God's accepting of us as His children. (Galatians 4:4-6) How is it that I never recognized that before we adopted John Isaac? I absolutely believe that God had purposed to teach me much, much more about Himself through the adoption of our first child.

We have had a number of reasons to place our adoption on hold since beginning the process in January of 2009. However, we are to the point where our dossier is being sent to China! We have not received confirmation that we are logged in the system in China, but we are hopeful that it is forthcoming. Below is a picture of John carrying our completed documents. He looks happy and relieved. I felt the same way.

From this point, we will be receiving, on a monthly basis, a shared list of children with special needs who are eligible to be adopted. There are a number of special needs that our family has been approved for in our home study. When a child on the list has special needs that meet those which we are approved for, we can request further information on that child. We will then have the information reviewed by a local pediatrician and another pediatrician who has had further training in assessing medical information in international adoptions. That process, from the time we request the referral information until we have an assessment of the information, should take about 24 hours. If we decide that our family is able to well care for that child, then we would let our caseworker know. Hopefully, we would be able to adopt that child, however, if another family were to make their request before us, we would have to wait for the next list and complete the process of requesting information on another child. Once we officially accept a referral for a child, we can expect to travel in approximately 6 months. Realistically, we travel whenever the Chinese government invites us to do so, so we can't be certain of the 6 months either.

I have talked with families who have adopted the first child that they made an informational request about, and I have spoken with others who have been unable to do so. John and I are really praying for wisdom. Choosing a child from the list presents itself as a daunting task in light of the fact that each of those children is in need of a family.

In addition, at this moment in time, we are serious about taking our current children with us when we travel to China. Several people have said they will travel with us. That is a wonderful blessing, and we are very thankful! We are intending to take the boys on a plane trip in the next few months as a trial-run and to familiarize them with the airport, airplane, flying, and landing that are certain to happen on a trip to China. I am so hopeful that they will do well on such a trip. I've spoken with another mother who took her younger children on the trip to adopt their fourth and fifth children. She assured me that it is difficult, but that it is absolutely doable and an experience well worth exposing the boys to. I have to admit I am a bit nervous, but who wouldn't be!?!?!

Please pray that John and I will be wise in selecting a child. Pray for our boys, that they will do well on such a trip, that they will adjust easily to a new sibling, and that they will be safe when we travel. Please pray for our child in China. Pray that he or she is safe, developing well, and being nurtured as best he or she can be in that situation. Also, please pray for the other 142,999,999 children who are waiting for parents. I truly can't imagine that feeling, and, for that, I am absolutely thankful.

31...4...2

I'm attempting to catch up on my blogging. This is just how far back I am having to go to do so. In early August, we had a birthday party for John, Jeffery, and Greggy.

All of the boys like to help open presents!

I think Jeffery enjoyed the party.

Greggy is getting really good at opening all of his own presents.

He is so serious about it.

Papa & Uncle Tom visited with us.

Greggy loves his new Bear Bear. It says, "Happy Birthday, Greg! Daddy loves you. I love you, Greg. (said by John Isaac) I love you, Greg. (said by Jeffery) Mommy loves you!"

I had to include this fun picture of Duncan.

He's such a sweet and super-cute boy!

Super Funny Videos!

I've been without my computer for a couple of weeks, so I've not updated the blog in some time. I found these super-funny videos on YouTube, and I thought that I would share them. John and I laughed until we cried, and the kids think the videos are hilarious too!

Jeffery's 4th Birthday

This year for his birthday, Jeffery wanted to go bowling. So, the five of us celebrated!

I think that he really enjoyed the presents that he received! He was also pretty good about sharing with his brothers.

After opening presents and eating breakfast, we went to the bowling alley. The one that we went to in Owensboro has a huge bowling pin that sticks up high in the air. Every time that we drove by it over the past two months, Jeffery would talk about going bowling on his birthday. Here, he is showing off his bowling shoes. This is the first time that his feet were large enough that he could wear them.

For such young bowlers, John Isaac and Greggy were quite patient while waiting for their turn to bowl.

Greg had to have a little help from Daddy. This was his first time bowling, and, honestly, we were slightly afraid that he might break his foot or someone else's if we were to turn him loose.

A jump for joy from the birthday boy!

John Isaac really enjoyed bowling as well!

Greg was really excited about getting two turns each time!

So, we have to discount Greggy's score because he had a "little" help from Daddy, but I was amazed that John Isaac and Jeffery scored the exact same number! They thought that was pretty fun too.

We told Jeffery that he could choose anywhere in Owensboro to go for lunch. After very little deliberating, the birthday boy chose McDonalds...it's gotta be a kid thing. :)

While waiting for our food, Greggy showed us his nose...

...and his ears...

When we arrived back at our house, we ate birthday cake and ice cream. Jeffery wanted an Imagination Movers birthday, so on his cake is Warehouse Mouse. I never thought I'd eat a cake with a rodent on it...the things you do for your babies. While we were eating his cake, Jeffery mentioned that he thought that we should share some of the cake with Morgan when she came over that evening. I took this as a sure sign that he liked the cake! ;)

All in all, I think that Jeffery had a great birthday!

I love, love, love that boy! He and his brothers are beautiful answers to many prayers.

The Niece & The Nephews

We had an opportunity to see our niece and nephews while visiting Bardstown for a birthday celebration. Being an only child, I feel very blessed to be an aunt.

Olivia, the birthday girl, was pretty in pink!

Nick, the birthday boy, really enjoyed his new Toy Story bike, and he shared so sweetly with the boys while playing after opening his gifts. He is such a sweetheart!

Duncan is getting so big. He wanted to ride the scooter like the big boys, so Uncle John took him for a spin.

Check out his super-cute grin!

Murray's Good Bread

Shortly after the 4th of July, we took a trip to Murray. John and I love Murray! It's where we met, became friends, fell in love, and lived the first year we were married. John's grandparents, Grandmother Murray and Grandaddy Murray, have lived there for many years. In recent months, John had been requesting that I begin making "good bread". Good bread is bread that John remembers his grandmother making when he was a child. The particular start that Grandmother Murray uses has been going, distributed between friends, since 1973. I called her earlier in the month to request a lesson, and she graciously agreed to teach me.

Before the lesson, we enjoyed lunch at Pagliai's. Grandmother Murray had cookies for the boys with their names iced on!

Mary Beth, Trent, and Kristen met us for lunch, and they came over to the Lyons' house to visit afterward. The boys enjoyed working this puzzle.

This is the start and recipe for "good bread"!

Grandmother Murray showed me how knead the bread and prepare it to rise.

This is a loaf that I baked at our house. John's right...it is good!

July 4th Weekend

This year the 4th of July weekend was somewhat hectic, but it was very fun! We spent Saturday at the lake with John's family, and my parents came to our home on Sunday to spend some time with the boys. It was so nice, as always, to see our niece and nephews. They're growing so quickly!

John, Greggy, Uncle Walt, and Nick enjoyed their ride on the boat.

I thought that this was a sweet picture of John Isaac and Gigi during the boat ride. This was about the only time my John Isaac would sit still on the boat.

John, Jeffery, Gigi, Pop, Greg, and John Isaac enjoyed swimming in the lake with the rest of the family.

While we were at the lake, I took a few pictures for Dan & Elizabeth. They do make a lovely couple.

Grandaddy Florida and Greggy played and read books.

This is a picture of some of the fireworks we saw at the excellent fireworks show put on Sunday evening by PGBC.

Papa enjoyed getting to see the boys enjoy their first-ever fireworks show! John Isaac loved it!

Jeffery was captivated as well!

Summer Reading Fun

My blogging this summer has been so irregular. I think that is mostly because we have been so super-busy! I am working on getting many of our summer pictures up for a future blog post, but, for now, I thought I'd share a few sweet pictures I have taken of our boys being read to by some very special people in their lives. I am so glad that they like to read books!

Memaw reading to sweet Greggy!

John and the boys enjoying a chapter of Peter Pan. The boys really started to like this book once the pirates became an integral part of the story.

Gigi and the boys reading a very fun book!

Greggy and Jeffery enjoyed Papa reading to them about friendship.

John, on a different occasion, reading a chapter of Peter Pan to the older boys. Good grief, I love that man! Check out the gray in his hair. It's a beautiful sign of the fact that we are growing older together.

Those are some sweet and attentive listeners!