Happy Gotcha Day, Hannah Zhipan!

On April 16th, we celebrated Hannah's Gotcha Day. It's hard to believe she's been a member of our family for seven years!

This is our first family photo, taken just moments after Hannah was placed in my arms.

Signing the official adoption papers.

This photo was taken at some farmland in rural Jiangxi Province, outside Nanchang. Yes, that's a water buffalo in the background!

The traditional Red Couch photo. Travel groups often line their children up on one of the red couches in the lobby of the White Swan hotel in Guangzhou for a photo. Hannah is fifth from the right, sort of under two other girls!

We celebrated Hannah's first birthday in China!Hannah is being weighed at the official medical checkup in Guangzhou.
Exhausted baby!
Hannah's first full day at home with us!

My Little Bible Hero

On Wednesday nights, Hannah attends Adventure Club at our church. It's an opportunity for first through fourth graders to learn about the Bible, memorize scripture, worship, as well as play games and do crafts. One night last month was Hero Night. The children were invited to come to Adventure Club dressed as their favorite hero, either someone from the Bible, or maybe a sports hero, or someone they knew personally. Both Hannah and her friend Anna decided they wanted to go as their favorite Bible hero, Abigail, because, as they learned at Adventure Club, "She made peace!" I was at a loss about how to dress Hannah, but fortunately, Anna's mom (my good friend, Lisa) is very creative, and whipped up these great costumes out of an old bed sheet and some scarves. The girls looked awesome! And they learned about the woman Hannah's little sister was named after!

Springtime in Chicagoland

On April 11th, I woke up bright and early (5:30 a.m., thank you very much!), went downstairs, looked out the window, and saw this...and this...

Did I mention that it was April 11th??? Well, that's springtime in Northern Illinois for you! So I set about making my coffee, grumbling the entire time. Then I sat down for my devotions.

And wouldn't you know it, the devotion for April 11th, naturally, was about Psalm 118:24 - "This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."

The thing is, I don't usually get stuck in the past, but I do tend to worry about tomorrow - a lot. And I often find myself dwelling on future events - these days, it's "when Sarah comes home". Why is it taking so long, how much longer will it be before she's home, will anything go awry in the process. But what I have to keep reminding myself is that I need to just enjoy today for what it is. Enjoy my family of five, enjoy my girls at ages 8, almost 5, and 3. And not try to rush ahead in my thoughts to when Sarah will finally come home. Because each day is, indeed, a gift. Our girls grow up soooooo fast! I want to treasure each day, each moment that our children are young.

As if to emphasize the point, I had taken the pictures of the snow using an old memory stick that I hadn't used in a very long time (it came with the camera and has very little memory). When I downloaded the photos, these were on there as well...

These photos were taken in December 2004. Abbie had only been home a couple of weeks. She was about 10 months old, Rachel was 2 1/2, and Hannah was 5 1/2. They were so little! And I'll never get those days back. So I'll make a more concerted effort to not focus so much on a year or so from now when our family is finally "complete", and to focus on my "complete" family right now! I will rejoice and be glad in this day!

Easter 2007

On Palm Sunday, Rachel's Sunday School class sang at the church services. They sang a song about being the donkey that carried Jesus while the people shouted, "Hosanna!" Here she is with her friend Josh, wearing their donkey ears!

We did manage to squeeze in a bit of Easter egg coloring on Good Friday (nothing like waiting until the last minute!)

The finished product!

Our little Easter blessings!

Easter girls!

Asian Chicken Drumsticks

I found this recipe in a magazine some time ago, and everyone in our family likes it (which is a rare and wonderful thing). It's very easy and quick to put together, and I thought I'd share it.

Asian Chicken Drumsticks

1/2 cup soy sauce or tamari
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon bottled chopped garlic
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
6 skinless chicken drumsticks with thighs attached

1. In the bottom of a 3 1/2-quart, or larger, slow cooker, place all of the ingredients except for the chicken, stirring well to mix.
2. Add chicken; stir to coat with the sauce.
3. Cover and cook on low for 5 hours.

I have only ever used leg and thigh quarters with the skin on, and it turns out just fine. The chicken comes out super tender. I usually serve this with some sort of vegetable and plain brown rice with some of the sauce spooned on it. It's also good with fried rice. Enjoy!

From My Daughters' Perspective

During the two days I was at the Hearts at Home conference, Abbie told everyone, "Mama is in Bloomington learning how to be a good Mama!"

Hannah imagined my weekend this way: "They line up a bunch of plastic pretend children on the stage. The plastic children have recordings in them to make them say, 'Mine! Mine! Mine!' over and over. Then they teach the Mommies how to deal with it!" (Hmmm... I think I missed that workshop - better order up the tape!)

The first morning I was home was Sunday and we were all trying to get ready for church. Rachel said something unkind to Abbie, so I told her she had to say two nice, kind things to Abbie (as suggested in Lisa Whelchel's "Creative Correction" workshop). Hannah was observing the whole thing, and when Rachel and Abbie had kissed and made up, Hannah said to me, "I know what you learned this weekend!"

Hearts at Home Weekend

Last Friday and Saturday, I did something virtually unheard of - I left town for two days without children. Mind you, I adore my children and love my life as a full-time wife and mom, but it was time for me to take a little mini-break and focus on Becky for just a couple of days. I went to the Hearts at Home national conference in Bloomington IL. Hearts at Home is an international ministry for moms - as their slogan says, "Helping Moms Love Their Lives". I made the two-hour drive south with my friend, Lisa, and met my cousin Kaye and her friend Robyn, who flew in together from Vermont. We spent the two days attending workshops on subjects such as parenting, taking time out for ourselves, spending time with God, and hospitality. The first main speaker was Jill Savage, president of Hearts at Home, who, I just found out, adopted one of her sons from Russia. We chatted for a few minutes while she signed her book for me, and we talked a little about international adoption. The other main speaker was Lisa Whelchel, whom you may remember as Blair from the 80s sitcom "The Facts of Life". She has a great sense of humor, along with a deep faith - put the two together and she was a wonderful speaker. We enjoyed praise music led by a three-woman group from California called "Crimson Bridge" - they led a praise and worship time at the Friday night Mom's Night Out, and it was particularly moving and powerful. It was just an all-around awesome time for moms (over 5,000 of us) to come together to share, laugh, cry, learn and pray. Lisa, Kaye, Robyn and I have already decided to attend again next year!

Kaye and me with Hearts at Home president and author, Jill Savage.

Me with Lisa Whelchel as she signed my copy of her book, "Creative Correction".

Lisa speaking at the Mom's Night Out.

"Crimson Bridge" performed - I got one of their great CDs.

Kaye, Robyn, me and Lisa at Mom's Night Out.

Bag Ladies with our complimentary Hearts at Home tote bags.

Blessings of Life in the Country

Our neighbor, Kathy, boards her horses in our stable. We get to enjoy the beauty of these animals, watch them run around, and let little visiting friends pet and feed them. In the summer, Hannah has a job of giving them their evening hay, a good way for her to learn a little responsibility. Every so often, Kathy takes the time to let our girls sit on one of her horses and she leads them around the pasture. The girls absolutely love it. This past Sunday was Abbie's first time up on a horse. She finally decided to give it a try, though we didn't think she would, as she kept hanging on to us and saying, "I don't want him to eat me!" But once she was up there, well, her smile says it all!

Abbie's First Haircut

A couple of days before her third birthday, I finally took Abbie in for her first haircut. Her hair has grown so slowly, but it was finally time to neaten things up a bit and get the "scragglies" out of her eyes. My friend Cindy, one of the moms from Hannah's group, is a hair stylist, and has given each of our girls their first haircuts, complete with plenty of photos.

The cut...

The blow dry...

The finished product! Isn't she lovely?

Another Photo Update

Al gave me this awesome one-cup-at-a-time coffee maker for Christmas. It has brought my caffeine consumption to a new level!

The shirt says it all (so does the smile)!

Hannah and her friend YuYu gave a little informal recital in our living room a few weeks ago. Both girls are doing so well in their music, and they seemed to enjoy performing for their families.

We celebrated Rachel's Gotcha Day in February with our traditional Chinese dinner and family photo.

Abbie celebrated her third birthday with some of her neighborhood friends.

Make a wish!