{this moment}

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. (Hosted by Soulemama)




David's portrait of Mama...



Ho Ho Ho!

Earlier this month, Al and I took the kids to our adoption agency for their annual Cookies With Santa event. Last year was David's first Christmas with our family, but we missed seeing Santa due to a snow storm on the day of the event (and my instincts told me that taking David to see a mall Santa would just not go well at all). So this was David's first visit with Santa and his first chance to enjoy a tradition our family has grown very fond of.

David couldn't wait to show Santa his picture in the Sunny Ridge newsletter!

David was excited to meet Santa "in person" and had no trouble getting up on Santa's lap!



Santa gave each of the children a small gift to open.



Having a little chat with Rachel...

Santa gave Abbie a craft book for making little fairies (Santa knows how much Abbie loves to do crafts).

David spent a lot of time on Santa's lap, just taking in all the excitement.

We treasure this annual family tradition!

Rachel and the Bee

On Tuesday, Rachel competed in her school's annual spelling bee. This is Rachel's second bee. Last year, she made it to the top 10 (out of 30) spellers, to go on to the district bee. This year, Al and I were praying that she'd make it that far again. We didn't want her to be terribly disappointed if she didn't get to the district bee again. We needn't have worried - she rocked the bee!



Here is Rachel, spelling her "warmup" word. She chose the word "pulchritude" - Akeelah's winning word in one of our family's favorite movies, Akeelah and the Bee. (Pulchritude means beauty - it's from the Latin pulcher, meaning beautiful. Rachel likes knowing that!)



Spelling...

Patiently waiting for her next word. Notice all the empty chairs around her...

With some of the Top Ten group...

Rachel has every reason to be proud of her accomplishment. She worked hard to prepare for the bee, staying up late every night to practice new words.

On to the District Bee in January!