.Home Sweet Home.

After twelve days away, five of which were spent in a minivan, we are home! We are sun kissed and all probably ten pounds heavier. Buhahaha. I love my family - my little family of five, and my extended  family. It struck me while on vacation that this was the longest I have been able to be with my sister in over ten years. It was amazing! And this was the longest I have ever spent with my niece and nephew - both who are hysterical! We had the best time. We were able to spend one day at Magic Kingdom, thanks to the generosity of some sweet family members. I got teary in the very first line as I held Jamesy and marveled that he was there with us.(Oh, and if you have a child with a disability - for example Jamesy is legally blind and has a sensory processing disorder and therefore has trouble in crowds or lines - you can get a special pass. We were able to sit in the front seats at shows and skip to the front of almost every line!) Jim and I were able to splurge on a date night, and then the rest of the time we pretty much lazed around in or by the pool. It was perfect. Absolute perfection.  And our children are champion travelers. We could not believe how well they did in the van for FIVE days!! So it is home again, and with such a full, wonderful time away, I am recharged and ready to start our crazy life back up.

....and ADD to the crazy! While on vacation I read Seven: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess by Jen Hatmaker (a fellow AWAA adoptive Mama and author/speaker extraordinaire). I wish I could make you all read it, really I do. It was so NOT a book to read on vacation, but I did it cringing much of the time as I sat surrounded by excess. Her book is not a guilt trip, though, it really isn't. Jen's experiment is completely Christ and cross-centered. It takes seven months where one area of excess is targeted every month: clothes, shopping, waste, food, possessions, media, and stress. Jim and I are jumping in and joining the experiment....starting tomorrow {gulp}. We are starting with food. We will choose seven foods and seven foods only, and that is all we will eat for the month of May (and coffee does not make the cut. I am shaking already just thinking about that). It is a fast of sorts.  A fast in which I pray opens our eyes to the ridiculous excess around us and binds our hearts closer to the heart of our Father. I think this is a perfect way to prepare our hearts for our mission trip to Ethiopia. I am going to blog my way through it, for accountability, for reflection, and for fun - cause writing is what I do. That is essentially what Jen did with her book - she wrote her way through the experiment in real time. Again you SHOULD read the book. I think Jim and I have narrowed our seven foods down (thankfully we have had friends who have gone before us in doing this and we have stolen some of the items they wished they had chosen).

For the month of May Jim and I will be eating:

1. Chobani Yogurt (A little sneaky here as we did not choose a flavor {ahem}, but Jen emphasized spirit of the law not letter!)
2. Chicken
3. Avocados
4. Whole wheat bread
5. Sweet potatoes
6. Peanut butter
7. Apples

Only water to drink.

Tomorrow I will be back to write after I survive day #1. I am terrified of the coffee withdrawal, so much so I contemplated making coffee one of my seven foods! Ummmm.....yeah. 

Pray for me? 

Join me? I wish I had a group of like-minded friends that were into this! {hint, hint}

.Leaving On A Jet Plane...errrr... In A Mini Van for 30 Hours With 3 Children.

But who's worried? I am not worried!

We are taking our Spring break in Florida with my parents and my sister and her family, and I cannot wait! My parents graciously have opened up one of their beautiful Time Shares for us to stay in for a week with my sister, and my parents will stay in another unit. We are looking so forward to relaxing together as a family. This has been a hard, long winter (albeit very, very green winter for us). I am so thankful that Jim has paid vacation at church and that homeschooling allows us the flexibility to Spring Break whenever we choose to have it.

Jamesy's hair is ready for some fun-in-the-sun! There is something about his hair styled in cornrows that makes me constantly smother his sweet chocolate cheeks in kisses!

Despite my excitement, I am also battling guilt. This will be our first real vacation (we did go to Kentucky for a wedding last summer and squeezed in a day at Creation Museum) since coming home from Ethiopia, and in a lot of ways it feels so wrong to spend money on a vacation after seeing and knowing how so many other people live. I struggle with this just like I struggle with almost every single purchase now-a-days, but at the same time I know that we need to break away from the crazy-pace we have been keeping for months on end. I know the family time will be so good and rejuvenating. I think it is a good thing for me to wrestle with this though, and I hope it makes me more appreciative, more thankful for every single undeserving moment of my trip. And that is enough about that.

(I have hideous toes, I am ALWAYS stubbing them. Jim is constantly laughing at me.) My at-home pedicure for Cadi and myself is done.

Our bags are packed. We are trying to save some money by driving. We are doing three days of ten hours in our minivan. We typically have three very good little travelers, and we are accustomed to traveling. After all, at just six weeks old, Cadi took her very first road trip to Michigan for a camp conference that Jim and I attended. That was a 13 plus hour trip, and she did great. She even began sleeping through the night while in Michigan! Scotty's first road trip was also to a camp conference in Indiana at just 2 months old. And of course Jamesy flew overseas on a 20 plus hour plane ride last year. So they are not novices to travel, but I always get a little antsy wondering how long and far we can push them. I am prepared though - thanks to Pinterest! I found so many great travel ideas, games, and activities. I typically love road trips. I love the opportunity to talk to Jim without other distractions. We tend to have a lot of great conversation when we travel, and I am really anticipating that.

The state cards for the states we will drive through are ready to hang up in our van.

Some of the activities for Scotty's travel bag. So many great ideas on Pinterest!

So we are off tomorrow morning at 4 AM. I do not anticipate blogging while we are away, although we are making a few pit stops for a night at some very special friends' home, one family whom we met on our second trip to Ethiopia when we picked up Jamesy. We love this family. Their son, who I wrote a little bit about here, impacted my life in a huge way, and right now even just typing this, my throat is forming a big burning lump. I just may have to blog about seeing him again, and getting he and Jamesy back together after over a year - they were in the same baby room in Ethiopia. But beside that being a possibility, I do not plan on blogging. I plan on soaking up the sun and my family and returning home the first of May.

See you on the other side sweet friends! (You can follow A Moment Cherished {the blog} on facebook as I may update there with a few posts and photos.)

.A Saturday Moment.

We had just finished a breakfast of whole grain waffles. Our tummies were happy. We had shared giggles between bites, the children snug around our little table, and Jim and I cozied next to each other. Always this way. Us exchanging glances and smiles, eyes dancing as if to say is this really our life? Are we really this blessed? Are these children really this crazy?! And sometimes we just burst out laughing, right then and there, at the wonder of it all. Lately we have been reminding one another that we have a six year old, a three year old, and a two year old. So craziness is pretty much required. And most days we love it!

I began clearing the dishes as the children stayed and chatted with their daddy. The Pond, or some other Saturday morning radio drama, was playing softly in the background on our Christian radio station. As I wiped down the waffle iron and scraped bits into the disposal, I began to hear giggles, and then rhymes, and sometimes clapping. I finished up what I was doing, dried my hands, and peeked around the corner. Jim had pulled one of Scotty's "preschool" books out. The children were all gathered around him laughing and jumping and dancing in circles.

It was the best moment all week.

To see Jim embracing Daddyhood. To see Cadi with sparkle back in her eyes, and a flush on her cheeks. To see Scotty following along and understanding what Daddy was asking him to do, and realizing how much he is growing. To see Jamesy, running here and there and belly laughing - thinking he was the reason everyone else was laughing - forever our clown.

It's a memory I mostly tucked into my heart, because I was too slow getting my camera out, with little time to check lighting or settings, I began to freeze the moment. It's nice to have these photographs, blurry and all.


These are the moments, that when I am old and gray, I will pull out of that little place in my heart, and revisit.

And I will smile and remember when.

When my children were little.

When my husband was young.

When life was so full and so blessed.

This is a Momentous Monday post. To learn more go here, and please feel free to link up with us right below!)

.Thanksgiving Snapshots.

We had to stay home this Thanksgiving, as both Scotty and Cadi were sick, and Jamesy had an extremely drippy nose. (Today Scotty is finally fever free and acting more like himself. I am so thankful. He scared me. Cadi continues to run a fever on and off, but it seems as if she did not get the virus as severely as Scotty. My pinched nerve is almost gone.)



Jamesy wanted nothing to do with photographs yesterday - not even quick snapshots. Poor Cadi was feeling awful, and Scotty was just trying to be smiley and happy despite being sick



Although the photos are far from perfect this Thanksgiving - I never even really changed my camera settings - I just shot - I will cherish the photos from our day and remember our first ever Thanksgiving at home.

I have never roasted any kind of whole poultry. Jim does not care for it. On Thanksgiving he typically just eats the side dishes. On Wednesday morning, with Scotty still spiking a very high fever, we knew that we would be hunkered down at home. So Jim and I planned a menu -compromising as we both grew up with different foods on Thanksgiving. I was willing to forgo the turkey and bake a spiral ham, but Jim decided to let me try a turkey. He was brave!

I like poultry, but I am really squeamish about cooking it. When we first got married I would cook chicken breasts in my dishes, and then I would not be able to eat it because I had handled it. I would make a terrible farmer's wife! Well, yesterday was kind of like that, but I did manage to eat a bit. I cooked my turkey upside down after browsing the Internet for help. It made the breast meat really tender and moist. We liked it - even Jim.


Our ten pound fresh turkey.





My three turkeys.

I wanted one nice photo of the three of them in the outfits I had made. It was not to happen yesterday!




It was really nice to have a slow-paced day. We all snuggled on the couch and watched the whole Macy's Day Parade and ate my Mom's "num-nums" (my family's name for chex mix). Jim recorded it, so we started watching at 10 and fast forwarded the commercials. This worked great for the children.














We ate our Thanksgiving dinner early afternoon.





Turkey
Gravy
Make ahead mashed potatoes
Broccoli casserole
Sweet potato souffle'
Southern cornbread stuffing
Pear Salad
Wassail
Cheese cake for dessert
(Cinnamon pull apart pumpkin bread for breakfast)

Jamesy fell into a turkey coma at the table. He out-ate us all at his first Thanksgiving! We got such a kick out of watching him eat. {grin}



In the evening Jim and I taught Cadi to play Uno. We had so much fun! You can tell from these photos she still was not feeling well.







We enjoyed homemade (alcohol free) wassail all through the day. It made our home smell sooo cozy.



Jamesy kept peeking over the table at us as we played Uno.



We ended our evening with NY Cheesecake.

All in all it was a wonderful, relaxing, and very different Thanksgiving. I think we will look back on it with fond memories.

Last night I made stock from the turkey carcass, and today I am going to make a creamy turkey noodle soup. If it turns out yummy, I will try to remember to post the recipe here.

I have so much to be thankful for today and always.

I am not sure why God's grace has poured out on me in the form of this life I live. I am overflowing with thankfulness.

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. Col. 2:6-7

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