Life's small joys

I want to remember the small joys of being the mom of Grant, Garrett, and Halle Grace. Here is my list of my recent little joys...
1 - There has been a pink bow nestled into the driver's floorboard of my car for a couple of weeks now. I keep forgetting to bring it in, yet, everytime I see it while getting into the car, I am so thankful that the Lord has giving us our precious daughter. That pink bow is a reminder of the gift and the miracle that she is.

2 - Garrett has only had one temper-tantrum day this week. That is a huge accomplishment for him and it makes me SOOOOO happy! That's no small joy...

3 - I got to lead math groups in Grant's class this week and I just love doing that! I am so proud that Grant is such a smarty, but I also love seeing what a fun kid he is and how loved he is at his school.

4 - I love that when one of the girls in Halle Grace's class told her to only wear dresses on Wednesdays and Thursdays (she was wearing a dress on Tuesday), Halle Grace told her that she wasn't the boss of her. Way to go, HG, you tell her!

5 - I love the way Garrett's face lights up when he tells us that he is now the fastest kid in his class. Isn't that every boy's dream? I'm sure it won't last, but he's enjoying it now!

6 - I love that my boys cleaned off and set the table for me last night without even being asked.

7 - I love how Grant was still complementing the hamburgers I made last night this morning.

8 - I love that Garrett is such a cuddler.

9 - I love that Grant is learning to love reading and often reads without being asked.

10 - I love that Grant often helps Garrett make his bed out of the kindness of his heart.

11 - I am sad to see Halle Grace's curls go, but I am so happy to see how thick and healthy her hair is becoming! It's amazing the difference good nutrition makes.

12 - I love how every night, Halle Grace thanks God for putting her in our family.

13 - I love that Grant never gives up on asking God to make his teeth straight so he doesn't have to get braces.

Valentina

On this day last year, our facilitator in Ukraine told us about a little girl who was stuck in the system in Ukraine. Her name is Valentina and her older siblings had been adopted a couple of years earlier. The family who adopted them put a hold on Valentina's file and planned to return for her. They never did, yet the hold on this little girl's file prevented her being adopted at all. She was 4 years old at the time, and we decided to take on the battle to adopt her. This required us to get in touch with the family who adopted her siblings and get them to sign a letter saying that they were not planning to adopt her. We poured our hearts and our prayers into this ordeal. My ladies prayer group lifted Valentina up in prayer so powerfully, that I just knew something major had happened for this little girl. We got on the plane for Ukraine in March, believing that everything was in place to adopt Valentina, and we were thrilled! We packed clothes and toys for a 4-year-old and couldn't wait to meet this little girl. Upon arriving in Ukraine, the first thing our facilitator told us was that something had happened and someone else had been able to free Valentina from the system. She was being adopted by another family and they had just had court. We were devastated. We already felt that she was ours, and it was tough to take. We were now facing luck-of-the-draw like many others and had no assurances of finding a healthy little girl (those who know about Ukrainian adoption know how difficult that can be).
Anyway, of course, God was in control the whole time and we came home with exactly the little girl God had planned for us. But do I believe he used the power of our prayers to free little Valentina? Absolutely. Counting back the days, the day my ladies life group prayed for Valentina would have been right around the time she was released for adoption. I don't know who adopted Valentina, but today life up a prayer for her - that the Lord will bless her and continue his incredible plan for her life.

Any of you Ukrainian adoption vets know of this little girl? She was in the Odessa region, Bilgorod-Dnistrovsky orphanage, 4 years old - adopted in March of last year. Just curious...

Valentine's Day

Better late than never... I wanted to blog for posterity the happy events of Halle Grace's first Valentine's Day. It's so much fun celebrating "first" holidays with a 6-year-old who can understand what's going on! Sadly, I don't have many pictures as it was a very busy day around here.
Friday night, Daddy came home with roses for me and for Halle Grace (I sure love that guy!!).
The next morning, we had a yummy breakfast and everyone got a bag of little treats. Scott had taken the boys shopping, and they each had a little gift for Halle Grace and for me. (That hubby of mine is training those boys up right!) :) Then Scott walked in with a HUGE stuffed puppy dog for Halle Grace. She was lit up like a Christmas tree all day and carried that thing around all over the place!
That evening, we had our 3rd annual Valentine fondue dinner. Unfortunately, I tried a new recipe for the cheese fondue, and it didn't work out so well. But the chocolate came out perfectly (that's the most important anyway, right?).
After dinner, we all got dressed up and went to see Oz the Musical. Our friend, Skylar Silvia, was a munchkin in the show and Diana DeGarmo (sp?) from American Idol played Dorothy. The kids were GREAT! We were so impressed - they were really into it and loved the show. They were all sacked out in the car on the way home.
All that love in one day would wear any kid out! :)



In other news, Grant is working toward his wolf badge in cub scouts. One of his projects was to plan a meal for the family, cook it, and clean up. He looked through a kids recipe book and chose spaghetti and meatballs (one of his faves). He did such a great job - he even chose "helper" jobs for Halle Grace and Garrett. Here they are rolling meatballs (sorry - I know it looks a little gross!). The dinner was a huge success and I was so proud of him!


This past weekend, we took a little weekend trip to Charlotte to visit some dear friends from college. Thanks, Ryan and Renee for a GREAT weekend! We got together with Shannon and Ron as well, and the kids all had a ball! It's so fun to see all the kids together - and they all got along swimmingly! We are so blessed to have these friendships that time doesn't seem to touch. LOVE old friends!

Cowboys, Tea Parties, and Race Cars

Western Day was Friday at school. We are not really a cowboy type of family, so we're always scrounging on days like this! Fortunately we had these hats from a visit last summer to the Big Texan with Papa and Grandma Hinshaw. Kindergarten does it up big with wagon rides, stick-horse races, and tons of cowboy fun. :)

Our big news is that Grant's Pinewood Derby car won 1st place in his den at the big derby this weekend! Grant says he would like to thank the people who helped make this happen... Grandad - thanks for helping me build the car, Mom - thanks for helping me paint it, and Dad - thanks for getting to to weigh the right amount and for the graphite on the wheels!
Way to go, Grant!




These pictures are from a tea party that Halle Grace and I planned for Molly and some various animals. Once Garrett heard there was real food involved, he joined in too.


Notice Halle Grace and Molly's matching tu-tus?
She is such a girly-girl!
I KNEW she would be.
God knows me through and through.

I miss blogging

As our adoption story fades and the normal routine of a family of 5 takes its place, I find that I am blogging less and less. The other night, I got to reading old posts, and it was like being transported to that particular time and place - like living that day all over again. That was one of my goals in starting this blog - to preserve our family memories. It motivated me to at least make an effort to blog once a week or so. Our days are so quickly turning into weeks, and time is just flying by. I don't want to forget all the little moments that make life so much fun. You know those moments or comments that you think you'll always remember, but you just don't? Those are the moments I want to record. I don't scrapbook and I'm not an author, but I can use this simple blog as a memory holder. Sweet Halle Grace will never have a baby book like my boys have. But I can at least make the effort to record the memories of her first few months and years in our family, right?
So I start again with a goal of at least a weekly post! :)

Here's the latest...
I have started reading The Shack - again. Life keeps getting in the way, but I am determined to read it. Next stop - the Twighlight series. :)
Halle Grace LOVES ballet! Sweet thing. She's just the cutest little thing in a ballet leotard you've ever seen! I promise to post pictures. Her class is through the North Central Ballet. They put on a show every spring, and they let all the little ballet classes participate. So - she's going to be a little fairy in Cinderella in May!

Garrett is so cute with his toothless grin. His grown-up teeth are starting to come in, which is sad to me. They just loose that little kid look when those permanent front teeth come in. He's lost 4 now, but Halle Grace still has all her baby teeth still intact (much to her dissappointment). Garrett is excited about starting another season of soccer in March. He continues to just crack us up with his comments and his outlook on life. God really broke the mold on that kid! Some blessed girl is going to get to spend her life figuring that boy out!!! :)

Grant is just getting over the flu. He only has two speeds - ON and OFF. This week, he's been OFF, which is highly unusual for him. I think few people have watched as much Star Wars in one week as he has! He's back in full swing now and loving every minute of it. I get the fun task of getting him to finish his make-up work. Grant is excited to start spring football next month. Other highlights in his life are that he got the the finals for the 2nd grade "Around the World" competition, and the finals in the Jump Rope for Heart contest at school.

We have started a new weekly family devotional time. It was something we have wanted to start for a long time, and finally just made it happen. The kids LOVE it - Grant especially. Here are some quotes from his prayer one night...
"Lord, please be with the girl that I will give my heart to someday and help me choose the right one."
"Thank you for keeping your hand on Halle Grace while she was in Ukraine and thank you for bringing her into our family".
How sweet is that boy?! Anyway, the format is simple - a Bible story with a short discussion and prayer time. We ready the David and Goliath story last week, as requested by the boys. :)

Other random things I want to remember...
On the way to ballet class, Halle Grace was talking about what she would do if she ran an orphanage. She said that all the girls in her orphanage would have pink bows and Strawberry Shortcake flip-flops, and that none of the kids would have to rest on Sunday afternoons. :)

Garrett was so proud to tell us after school one day that everyone wanted to sit by him at lunch. Can you blame them? :)

We have our house on the market - for almost a month now. It's a slow market (obviously), but we're having plenty of showings, so that's good. A couple of them have been pretty serious, but no offers so far. We have our eye on a house to move into when ours sells, so we'll see what happens! It's a great house and we are praying that it will work out!

Signing off now...way past my bedtime! Western Day at school tomorrow...I'll post pics. :)