The Tooth...

Today we celebrate the loss of Grace's tooth also known as "snaggle" and "pokey". We will be forever grateful for Eli's hard little head and the collision which started the process. This is how the tooth met its demise...

Hooray, hooray! Doesn't her little smile look so cute with the first grade gaping hole in the front? Love it!

Thankful Thursday...

Today I am thankful...

• that it has been a long while (at least a week or two) since Noah has had a night terror or migraine!
• that Eli made his bed all by himself this morning even though he thought he couldn't. I'm thankful that he's learning that he can!
• that, even though Steve was out of town last night, the dogs did not wake me up 5,000 times looking for him.
• that we are super blessed with good health most of the time.
• that my brother and his family live so close by now! It's been awesome for our kids (especially Noah) to see them so often. I'm thankful for Joshy and Noah's funny little relationship -- they have a great time together! And it's been awesome for me to be able to build a "grown-up" relationship with Matthew and a friendship with Brooke (which includes but is not limited to each of us only having to cook 6 nights out of the week and only having to drive one way to preschool. Hooray!).
• that Joey's hearing is okay and he seems to have come out of a really scary accident relatively unscathed! Yay, God!

Xīn nián kuài lè!

Happy New Year! The amigos celebrated Chinese New Year on New Year's Eve this year by going to Happy G's for some yummy Chinese food with our buddies the Wyss family. We met the Wysses a few years ago when Grace and Emma were in preschool together and we were waiting, waiting, waiting to bring Eli home. Their very handsome and sweet Chinese son, Sam, had been home for a while (I want to say a year or so) and we were all so excited to meet another family who were adopting/had adopted a boy from China. The boys are all great friends (Eli and Sam are in the same preschool class) and Grace and Emma, too. Tonight Noah was asked a few times if he was from China, too...from Sam and from the waitress who was from Guangzhou. The waitress was very fun and funny and taught the kids many things about Chinese New Year. She even tried speaking in Mandarin to Eli (who doesn't seem to have retained much, if any). It was a great night! What a blessing to have another culture to weave into the fabric of our family!

P.S. The 2nd to last photo is the kids pointing at themselves in the first photo we ever had taken as a family of five. Look how much they've grown almost a year and a half!

"Mental Detector"

So the kids were in the back seat of the car rejoicing over their new toys from Arby's. Noah wanted to know what the other options were that they didn't get and was trying to sound out the words on the Arby's bag. Grace looked at her bag and quickly responded, "Noah, you can get a tape measurer, a magnifying glass or a mental detector." Steve and I grinned at each other and really hoped someone did get a "mental detector". We could really use one.

Belated Thankful Thursday...

Today I am thankful for...

• Colorado...I can't imagine a better place to live.



• Ella and Hero...although they are, at times, crazy pooches, they're ours and we love them so much. I love the companions they are for each other and for us and I REALLY love that they play together to channel all their labradoodle energy in a positive direction. I'm thankful that Hero survived, that he's healthy and that we're allowed to be his family. And I'm grateful that sometimes we allow ourselves to make stupid choices with our hearts (like, say, for example, getting another dog) while our heads say, "What are you thinking???" and they work out.



• my friends, old and new. I'm thankful that there is an abundance of amazing people to befriend and that God brings them into our lives at just the right time. I'm thankful for reconnecting with people who I haven't seen in years and hearing their stories of God's grace in their lives. I'm thankful for friends who've been super consistent and loyal over all the years and thankful that we're allowed to walk through life together. I'm thankful for new friends who are encouraging and fun.



• my van. Even though it has seen better days, still it gets us to preschool, to school, to doctors and therapists, to gymnastics, to violin...all in one piece.



• our kids' teachers. Grace's first grade teacher is amazing and such a blessing to her this year. She challenges her and encourages her and allows her to discover that she is capable of more than she thought possible. Noah's preschool teachers encourage him to lead and call him to a higher standard...and he meets it. And they enjoy him! Eli's team of teachers work hard with him to help him become the four year old boy that God intended. They truly like him, which warms this mama's heart, and he feels safe with them.

What are you thankful for today?

Here's Eli singing a song from preschool. Listen to how clear his words are! He's been working so hard over the past few months and we're so proud of him!

Muppets...

Today we had a special visit from UPS delivering...you guessed it...Grace's self-portrait as a muppet. Thanks, Memere, Pepere, Aunt Susie, Aunt Ne, Uncle Dave, Cole and Andy! The new muppet is very fun! Here it is:
In unrelated news, yesterday I asked Grace and Noah to help with folding some laundry while Eli and I did the dishes. We heard immense amounts of giggling followed by the word "underwear" over and over again. Hey, whatever gets them helping! :) (Please tell me that our laundry room isn't the only one that looks like a bomb went off!)
Also, Grace has a tooth that just will not say die. It's her front tooth and it is highly unfortunate as it sticks straight out. So here she is modeling her very attractive tooth (and new-found eye-crossing abilities...this might be yet another post that she might not love as a teenager!):