Getting Ready to Party

Mim graciously agreed to hold down the fort tonight while EJ and I ring in the New Year with dear friends. She is not just babysitting. She came with a suitcase full of activities for our four plus 8 other kids!! A modern day Mary Poppins :)

 Owen and Ryan had fun helping her get everything ready for our guests. They are SO excited.

Mim is so creative and very organized. 

I am so thankful b/c I didn't have a single second to plan anything extra.

Fun with Paints

One of Mim's Christmas presents from us was a date with the boys and me (as a helper) to a paint your own pottery place. We went yesterday and they had so much fun. I will go back in a week to pick up the finished pieces. They can't wait!

Round 3

If you count the gifts received at Thanksgiving, this made for round 3. EJ's mom arrived Sat. her gifts have been here since Thanksgiving. She is so on top of things, that they were all wrapped and ready to go. The only problem was we forgot to strap on the rooftop carrier. It made for a cozy ride home.

Owen's theme was sports. Phillies and Eagles to be exact. He promptly put on his new jersey. And continues to wear it proudly especially after their win against cowboys ;)

Mason got lots of Legos which he as already constructed.

Ryan was thrilled with his new room decor ;)

EJ got extra long twizzlers!

Miss Avery got a new set of wings which she was thrilled to put on and keep on. How do girls know these things? She also go the cutest tutu dress that she will wear for NYE :)

Mim is so very generous. Thank you!

The Aftermath

The kids and I had great days on Thursday and Friday. There was lots of playing and lots of finding spots for new toys. The electric scooters provide no real exercise for the boys, BUT I've gotten quite a workout on the long walks they are more willing to take. I even hoped on one. They really are fun :)

 Mason was very busy constructing new lego sets.

My parents took the boys to see Frozen on Friday morning. I took advantage of having just Avery and did some grocery shopping and errands. Ryan did not like Frozen, he spent most of the movie covering his eyes and whimpering that he was scared. He does that with most movies. He gets that from his momma.

Christmas Day

We had a very wonderful Christmas Day! It was loud and fun and happy. Four children make for a lively Christmas morning. Thankfully it didn't start any earlier than a regular morning. Owen and Avery actually had to wait for Mason and Ryan to wake up. We ventured downstairs around 7:30.

Stockings are always first. Santa brought a train for the tree.

 

Avery quickly caught on to the unwrapping.

 He did not take this off except to sleep and then put it back on the day after Christmas :)

She loves the vacuum, now she can join me.

 Their big gifts were scooters. The older two got electric scooters. 

They have been scooting around the neighborhood ever since.

Baby Tripp slept through a majority of the gift opening.
After his nap, he and Avery (who stopped mid way) continued to open presents.

Christmas dinner was yummy and not a really big deal to prepare. Love that!

I even managed an hour+ nap mid-day. Mom made the yummy coconut cake for Jesus' birthday.

We missed EJ's mom this year, the first in awhile, but she arrives tomorrow, so we will have another round of gift giving on Saturday.

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve Day was not pretty this year. Perhaps it never is, but I thought I'd loose my mind and I did loose my temper a couple of times. EJ went to work, leaving me with 3 wild (more than usual) boys and a little girl who didn't understand what was happening. The time crunch was upon me as we needed to prepare the house for Christmas day guests and make the twice baked potatoes for Christmas dinner (which took way longer than I thought). The boys were not motivated to use their more than abundant energy to help. It was like pulling teeth each time I gave them a new task. Finally after their to-dos were done, Owen started reading from our Christmas book basket. He kept most of them entertained while I wrapped up and made lunch. EJ made it home by 1p.m. What a relief!

I did manage a game with Mason who was really craving my attention. I was able to scoot around in the kitchen at the same time.

We attended the family service at our church at 4 p.m. and then heading to my parents for dinner. I didn't get any pictures at dinner, I was a little too busy helping my children ;)
My dad was in charge of after dinner entertainment ;) The kids enjoyed playing and singing and dancing along.

 EJ and Alex somehow managed a game of pool together.

Thanks for a FUN night and for putting up with my kids' Christmas crazies.

Sweet Tooth

The infamous Ginger Bread House decorating. Always more fun in my head ;) The boys enjoyed themselves the candy. I intentionally planned this activity when Avery was napping.

Ryan slowed down on his decorating when he realized he'd have less leftover to eat. I think he ate more than he used on his house.

Mason was pretty focused and deliberate with his decorating.

Owen was not interested this year. He choose to watch football until he realized he was missing out on the candy. Then he jumped in.

 

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve!

Enjoying the Lights

We took advantage of the 60 degree weather and took Avery for her first tacky light tour.

There is a set houses nearby that has made national tackydom. We go by at least once every year. It was extremely crowded, we did not walk around for long.

Avery quickly caught on to the use of "ooh and ahh"

My Girl

I tripped over this post a few days ago when looking back for something about a previous Christmas (that's what is so wonderful about blogs- I can refer back when the years blur together). I am so glad I recorded my thoughts even though it wasn't one of my finest moments. 

This is part of what I wrote, "It's not that we are sad for another boy, I actually haven't begun to process what that will be like! Boys are so fun and I am happy to have another one for lots of reasons. I pray they will be the best of friends! It's actually just sadness that we won't have a daughter. (Yes, folks this is it. My body is done. Don't ask me how women have 12+ children, or 4 for that matter, but my body can not.)

Anyway, in my disappointment I have come to some great realizations and have learned a lot about myself. The experiences a mother assumes she will have with a daughter (tea parties, prom dress shopping, wedding, 1st baby, weekly phone calls, late night chats etc.) are not promised to us just because we have a girl. A daughter might not choose to do any of those things, or may choose not to involve her mother anyway. There is also no guarantee for that perfect mother and daughter relationship (which doesn't exist anyway). It's easy to glamorize what we don't have! And from what I've heard the hair curling, tights and bows and extra tears aren't so fun ;)"

Four years ago, I would never in my wildest dreams have imagined I'd be celebrating my daughter's 1st Christmas. Yes, we are calling it that, they do not (at least not most) celebrate Christmas in China. And so in honor of her 1st Christmas and because 5 months ago today, I held her in my arms for the very first time, I am celebrating with lots of precious shots and some tidbits from my heart.

You've seen the bows and tights and we've shared "tea." And I do not take any of it for granted. Of course it's only been 5 months :) We did not go overboard with girl gifts for Christmas. I am still very new at this and well, she hardly plays with anything. She is better at destruction. Most things, like this cute outfit, have been gifted to us (thanks Mimi) from folks who have also waited 10 yrs for a girl ;) It is still catches me off guard to see little girl toys lying around. Yesterday, Owen said, "no more dolls, I want her to play sports." Hmm... I made sure to remind him we still have twice as many balls as we do dolls ;)

I think that the attachment process has been easier on EJ and me b/c Avery is our first girl. There is such an air of excitement and newness. Don't get me wrong, we have already begun rolling our eyes and muttering "drama queen" under our breathes. We knew it was coming and she is GOOD at it.

"Avery" was the name we choose 10 years ago when we were pregnant with Owen and didn't know if the baby was a boy or girl. When we started talking about names this time around I was hesitant, but still very much loved the name. You see, 10 years ago, I did not picture a Chinese girl, I pictured one whom looked just like my baby pics. I wasn't sure how I felt about using the same name. And then, God did an awesome thing. He reminded me that this was the little girl He had planned for me before the beginning of time. That was it, my heart was set on "Avery," I just had to convince my 4 males :)

Avery Li-Mei we love your silly faces and how you can say so much with just your facial expressions. And we love how your eyes disappear when you smile. The other day Ryan said, "I am so glad Avery is from China." I couldn't agree more!

Last year on Dec 21st, I posted "Wishing you were home for Christmas! You are top on my list." Now here she is. I don't need to write a list this year ;) Praise God, from whom all Blessings Flow!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Crazies

There hasn't been a whole lot of Christmas on my blog yet this year. The decorating is at an all time low. My mind is elsewhere and my heart just hasn't been in it. I've missed the creative side of it, but I think I am the only one who has even noticed ;) I am getting plenty done for next week, just not really focused on the house, other than daily maintenance. I'd love to say my focus has been on the real meaning of Christmas, but that isn't really true either. I am very much just living day to day. Not in a sad or bad or holy way, just "doing" it.

I have ONE MORE HOUR until ALL four will be home for 16 days! I have a few activities planned, but holding to them loosely. Thankfully the weather is going to be gorgeous for the next few days, so they can exert their Christmas crazies outside :)

My elves heading to school this morning - in shorts :)

 These two have a different kind of crazy :)

 The snowman in the background sings and dances, so they were grooving along.

 Look at her sweet face. JOY

It's about to get a whole lot louder and messier up in here!