December 1st-18th

December always has so much to document that I knew I better get started.  We started our month off with shots for Nathan.  4 year old shots that I forgot about until 4 and a half.  Nathan was so loud.  Nathan is loud in general but the dedication he had in sustaining his scream was truly impressive.  He also yelled at the lady, "I agreed to one shot, why did you shoot me twice?!"  Everyone in the waiting area was dying with laughter.  They tried to keep it together as he walked out though because he was pitiful.  She hit something because blood squirted everywhere including his pants and his spiderman shirt.  He was very distraught over the whole experience.  

Then totally forgotten at the park.

We got to play with these cute kiddos at the park while their Mom 'relaxed' with her newborn and coincidentally Joshua's first grade teacher showed up as a part of a field trip.  Joshua loves home school but has days when he misses old teachers and classmates.  He was thrilled to see Ms. Kaelan and Ms. Thomas.  

This picture is to document the life of Nathan.  He is crushed by a consequence and then completely over it in 5 seconds.

This is a great life skill but it makes it tough for his parents to make any impact.  

He says the sweetest things, "Mommy, even if you weren't my mommy I would choose you to be my mommy. I love you and you are the best even if you are bad sometimes and make me do jobs." 

I love this kid and love his sweet words even though he has no idea how profound. We ❤️ adoption and I love that he chose me to be his mommy.

Elfie, our kindness Elf reappeared on the 1st.  He brought the Light The World Campaign Calendar with him for this year.  We have just followed the calendar everyday instead of Mom, I mean Elfie bringing a kindness idea each day.  

All my loves in one picture posing by our snowmen family that Joshua found for me on clearance this summer while we were in SC.  

My mom celebrated another birthday in heaven.  My heart hurt.  We reached the 6 month mark of losing our twin girls and our sweet friend and birthmom, Taylor.  My heart hurt again.  My heart has been asked to love greatly and bravely in 2017.  I've stretched myself more than I thought possible.  I'm still standing and I'm still stretching.  I have a relationship with Taylor's sister, Carrie now.  I've been given the opportunity to see her through her grief of losing Taylor and through some tough challenges the last 6 months.  This wasn't the way I planned 2017 but I'm grateful nonetheless.  I always find these quotes or find these talks at just the right moments too.

"When we look at the life of Jesus Christ, we see that even though He was perfect, the path He walked took Him through many of the same challenges we face in life. Jesus encountered disappointment, temptation, and pain (see Hebrews 5:8–9).
Some things in our lives are not in our control, so the only thing we can do is try to control how we react to them.
Emily Kingsley wrote an essay that compares her unexpected challenge, having a child with Down syndrome, to getting on a plane for a vacation to Italy, only to have the plane land in Holland. She has the following imaginary conversation:
“Holland? What do you mean, Holland? I signed up for Italy! I’m supposed to be in Italy. All my life I’ve dreamed of going to Italy.”
The flight attendant replies: “But there’s been a change in the flight plan. You’ve landed in Holland, and there you must stay.”
But then you meet others who are going to and coming from Italy. “And they’re all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life you will say, ‘Yes, that’s where I was supposed to go. That’s what I had planned.’”
“But,” Kingsley concludes, “if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn’t get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things about Holland.”
Accepting the unexpected realities in life can free us from despair and allow us to rejoice in the life we have. Through righteous living, our happiness can be complete as we embrace life in its full, unpredictable way.
Happiness does not come from what we have, what world status we attain, or whether all goes as planned. It comes from understanding who we are and making choices that draw us closer to the Savior. It comes from knowing that our personal weaknesses do not define us. It comes from listening to those who build, lift, and encourage us so we can better understand our divine nature."

-Elder Batt

We have been appreciating "Holland" even if sometimes we wonder what Italy would have been like.

We took the boys to a boat parade which to be honest was a bust.  The pic looks like fun times but really Nathan was whining that he was bored and hungry.  Joshua was whining that his friends didn't meet us.  There was supposed to be fireworks afterwards but after waiting 20 minutes that felt like an hour we left.  Real life.  

Christmas outfits and parted hair just make me smile.

Piano lessons have been going on since September and Joshua still loves it.  He has been playing in primary which is the highlight of his week.  We love his teacher and Nathan loves the screen time while we wait.  We end the lesson and then try to meet up with the air force home school group since we are already on base for piano lessons.  

Michaels had these houses for 10 bucks and I just couldn't resist.

I left to go to a relief society activity at church and came home to this.  Matt really jazzed up the gingerbread house with lights on the outside and inside of the house.  This has been the ultimate play spot all month.  

We were minding our own business doing school work and suddenly we saw white stuff falling out of the sky on the gulf coast of Mississippi!!!!  We were having a pj day so we put jackets on top and every 5 minutes we added to our outfits as we realized this snow was the real deal.  It came down for about 45 minutes and then a couple hours later we got another sprinkling.  Unexpected snow made for a fun and magical afternoon.

We did some crafts and I asked both boys to show me their crafts.  I love the two approaches to showing me.

Nani sent some gifts for the boys to open each day.  Who needs gifts when you can use the bags on your heads?  The gifts have been fun for the boys each day.  

Nathan has thrilled me by joining in school this month.  He's growing up on me.  

We went to a Toys for Tots fundraiser at Chick-Fil-A and the boys donated a pile of new toys.  I was so proud of their willingness to donate.   I made the boys put on matching shirts and we took pictures with Matt's phone for about 5 minutes before we left.  Not too shabby. 

Santa picture

Nathan loves the CFA cows. 

Homemade snowflakes.

Game afternoons.

Guacamole and red pepper Christmas trees on tortillas.

Matching pajamas from our SC birth family just in time for Star Wars weekend.  

Followed by Madlibs from Nani's advent gifts.

Matt still had his race medal in the car from last month.  Matt gave it to Nathan for being the first one in the car and buckled.  He was so proud of himself and he kept declaring that he had his very own winner's medal.  

Getting the church ready for the church Christmas party. 

Who can spot the Bishop's children during the performance at the Christmas activity?  Matt missed this performance as he was still working.  He went at 2:30 am and was still working hard at 5:30pm.  He did make it by the ending but he probably wouldn't have been smiling during the bonus performance.  

We've also built gingerbread houses and gingerbread people.

A fossil kit arrived from Aunt Kacky today.  Joshua has been working hard and can't wait to finish his excavating tomorrow.  

We also went to see Star Wars tonight.  Joshua prepared an impressive speech about darkness and light and choosing the right.  He created a whole Family Home Evening lesson complete with songs to go with it which he played on the piano.  How could I say no to this proposal with such a pre show?  

Another successful day of homeschooling and "Christmasing" is behind us and it is time for pajamas and hallmark for me.