Wordless Wednesday: {My Little Construction Worker}

A Turkey of a Conversation

On Sunday evenings, we usually have something light for supper because we have our big meal at lunch on Sundays. Also, for Sunday night supper, hubby is usually at church preaching the evening service, and the kids and I eat while he is there. This was tonight’s pre-meal conversation:

Me: We’re having sandwiches for supper. What do you want?

K: [Who, for the record, is Miss PB&J] I want turkey and ham and cheese!

Me: Not peanut butter and jelly?

K: No, turkey and ham and cheese.

M: Want tuh-key too! And ‘am!

Me: OK, MJ what do you want?

MJ: Turkey and ham

[There is a little more discussion here, but nothing really relevant.]

I go into the kitchen, open the refrigerator, and discover two things:
(1) There are only 2 slices of turkey left, and (2) They expired 3 days ago.

Me: OK, change of plans...we can’t use the turkey. Is just ham ok?

K: I want peanut butter jelly!

M: Want delly, too!

[Glad I hadn’t started putting plates together yet.]

Me: MJ, is just ham ok for you or had you rather have peanut butter and jelly, too?

MJ: Just ham.

I return to the kitchen and get everything ready. Several minutes go by.

Then, as MJ sits down at the table:

MJ: But I wanted turkey, too!

[Insert internal Mommy scream here...]

Sunday Snapshot: {Like Mama's}

As I posted here, our big girl decided she wanted her hair cut short the other day. This was a pretty sudden decision as she has always liked having long hair, and in the day or two since the cut, the reason why has come to light. You see, she wanted her hair “like Mama’s.”

I’m sure that she gets tired of the inevitable speculations and discussions about her younger siblings and which parent or grandparent they most resemble. So, she decided to control the one thing she could...her hair...and make it look like mine, at least as much as possible.

And her haircut is cute...

Another Haircut

MJ has consistently told me that she liked her hair long. She mentioned once a week or two ago that she wanted it shorter, but then went right back to saying she wanted it long. The girls had a hair appointment set up for yesterday afternoon, and about 45 minutes or a half hour before time, MJ told me that she wanted to get her hair cut short. She caught me off-guard, but she was adamant about it. I told her to think about it until it was time, and if she changed her mind and just wanted a trim, we could do that. I even had K go first so MJ could have more time to think on it. But, her mind was made up, and here she is this morning before school...

Wordless Wednesday: {First Dance Class}

Happy Adoption Day!!!

Five years ago today, our family grew in the Civil Affairs office in Nanchang, China, when MJ became our daughter. Here are a few memories from that day...

We usually celebrate in a fairly low-key way, but this year was extremely low-key, even for us. We moved up our Chinese meal to the night before, just because it was too crazy of a night to even think about cooking. The girls started dance, and we had Open House at MJ's school. Because the kids were absolutely out of sorts by the time we left the school, our meal at the Chinese restaurant became take-out eaten at home.

And here is our big girl on her 5th Adoption Day!

We love you, MJ, and cannot imagine our family without you!

Ten Years Ago...

Ten years ago today, I was at work, teaching fifth grade in a suburban Atlanta school. I walked my students to PE, and the PE teacher told me that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. I remember being shocked, my first thought being that my husband and I had been there just a little over a year before on our honeymoon. We only had a brief time in New York, so we didn’t stop at the Trade Center, but we did go right by there and made pictures. We had told each other we would go back one day and do the tour then...

Since that was my plan period, I stopped back by the library where several school staff members were watching the coverage on television. I watched in amazement at what I was seeing...the shock, the sick feeling in the pit of my stomach...I still remember. From there, I went to my classroom, grabbed my cell phone, walked into my co-worker’s classroom next door, and called my husband. He was working at home that day, preparing a sermon for a revival service he was preaching at our church that night. He had not heard the news and thought I meant that a small plane had run into the World Trade Center. Then he turned on the news...

I remember watching the towers fall...looking back, I’m thankful that I was on my plan period because I at least had time to begin processing what was going on before having to continue with my school day.

We were told not to tell our students what was going on, but that the school would be on lock-down. With all of the uncertainty and rumors going around, the lock-down was probably not a bad idea. Of course, trying to explain to a group of 5th graders that we had to have indoor recess on a beautiful day in September while trying not to seem overly worried about the events of the day was a challenge in itself. Minor in the grand scheme of things, but it was part of the reality of my day.

I was very thankful that we were in the midst of revival services at church that week...I can’t think of a more appropriate place for us to have been that evening.

The days after 9/11 were eerie...we lived at the time in a flight path for Hartsfield Airport. The sky around our house was never silent...until that day.

My in-laws were on a trip out of state...they had to deal with the logistics of getting back home.

Life changed for all of us in some way that day...

We will always remember...

Let us also remember that God is still on His throne and He still reigns!

Always...

(Photo from our trip to NYC in August 2000)

How the Lifebook Turned Out

In this post, I mentioned that when I completed MJ's lifebook, I would share some pictures of the finished product. As a quick recap, I ordered a template from My Story Lifebooks and used that to create one for MJ. I have just included a sampling of pages here, trying to not include names, etc. I was so pleased with the way this turned out! (Please excuse the horrendous photography. I probably should have taken these during the day when I at least had some natural light to work with . Oh, well...)

My Story also offers a template for biological children, and I can see myself ordering that one for K and M later, as they are very interested in their big sister's book and would like to have their own.

*I received no compensation from "My Story Lifebooks" for this post. I am just an extremely satisfied customer and wanted to share a great product.

Wordless Wednesday: {Kindergarten is Exhausting!}