Sweet Relief

I referenced in a much earlier post that way back in March we became aware that Marc's job may require a short term (1-2 year) stint in San Francisco starting this summer.  It's been something that's been back and forth since then.  I feel like we've been in emotional limbo.  Today we received final word that the deal is dead, his job will remain the same for now.  Career-wise it would have been a really amazing opportunity but family wise it seemed just too much.  I cannot tell you the joy I feel this evening knowing we are staying put.  I am so thankful.  We have not settled here, really.  We were here just a few months before Christian came home and then right as things started to settle with him, we began waiting of final confirmation re. whether or not we'd be moving THIS summer.

Last week, it looked 98% certain we'd be moving in August.  Today is all fell through and it's 100% certain.  I can breathe easy.  No more packing and unpacking.  We can do work we've kind of put off not knowing if we'd invest any more in this house.  We don't have to find a school for our kids or a place to live there...I feel like we can finally enjoy summer knowing it's just summer and it's all ours.

If you have any degree of certainty in your life, say a pray of thanks.  I am reminded how difficult being in limbo is, waiting for answers....and just thanking God that the answers that came mean more stability for our family and staying at a church we love and continuing to live near my family!  It still doesn't completely feel like home here yet, but we're one more step closer, it seems!!!

World Cup Silly Supper

Today the USA is playing Portugal in the World Cup.  It's been so fun to see Marc and Phin watching the World Cup together, so I knew a silly supper was in order.

 Before Dinner they all got finger puppet soccer players to color (they didn't know yet that they were finger puppets;)

 Our spread...soccer ball plates and table cloth and the napkins were "yellow flags".

I made the juice boxes into soccer players with applesauce heads and raisin feet.  I used green construction paper to make place mats (later to be used:) and we had red and blue berries as a homage to the USA and cups filled with popcorn.  For our main "entree" I made pigs in the blanket and stuck american and Portugese tooth pick flags in them.  The dessert was simply chocolate soccer balls and Pepperidge Farm cookies (which I planned on making into soccer balls, but realized it would take me forever so I quit after three- LOL)

Oh, yes and I used guacamole and sour cream to make another soccer field for our chips;)

After we ate we used the finger puppets and chocolate soccer balls to play soccer on our place mats...such fun;)

Simple meal and great memories...another silly supper success!  I do have to report that the happiness did end in tears when Portugal tied the game at the end...Phin was so certain we'd won that the tie was devastating to his five year old heart....life lessons.

Adoption Update- Prayer Please;)

We've been doing really well...but at the moment we're in the middle of a hard spell.  Marc's been traveling weekly for a couple days since May and last week was gone all week in Ireland.  I think that trip was "the straw that broke the camel's back."  Christian struggled when he was gone, and this week is still struggling quite a bit.  We are having new episodes of potty accidents, many done quite purposefully (as in mom is in the middle of doing my sisters hair and can't hold me so I will take off my pants and poop on the floor in my bedroom).  He is chewing his hands and shirt a lot which he hasn't done since he first got home.  He is really clingly and extremely disobedient and defiant.  He needs lots of reassurance and love and affection and quite honestly those needs feel insatiable at the moment.  Nothing feels enough.  Really we just have to wait until the reassurance sets in.  I kind of feel like we are in triage again.  If you can just pray for his heart, it seems to have triggered into the abandonment complex.  In these moments, I just feel so inadequate.  We need Jesus.  He needs Jesus.  His a fragile and we are reminded his heart has a long way to go to experience full healing, but God is able and we'll just have to pull back from life and focus.  Just pray for patience, endurance, energy, compassion, and wisdom for us and for more healing to occur for our precious boy!

Chloe is 4

Chloe is four today.  What a difference a year makes!  Three was rough for Chloe and rife with tantrums and the struggle to deal with her extreme emotions.  We saw so much growth.   As she neared four, we saw new found independence and a willingness to try things she might not be able to do.  This year she moved, started sharing a room with her sister, got a new brother, got rid of her pacifiers and delighted us with her charming and silly wit.  She is truly as adorable as she looks.  She is an amazing little friend and one of the most common things we are told about Chloe is how well she plays with others.  She is amazingly perceptive and we are seeing the emotions once so hard to control make way for deep empathy for others.   We are so proud of this little girl!

Yesterday we had her birthday party.  She chose frozen, like almost every other little girl her age:)  I cannot deny that I am pretty exhausted.  Marc was in Ireland all week so pulling this off took every once of energy, organization, and spare minute I had...and help from my sister;)  Birthday parties are my thing and because of our year, I've hired out the last three (which is REALLY amazingly stress free;), it felt good to get my mojo back;)  'cept I did forget to ask someone besides Marc to take pictures so we missed quite a bit;)

No close ups of the food- whoops.

The menu-

"We finish each others...SANDWICHES" (Jimmy Johns and PB and J's)

"Sven's Antlers" (Pretzels)
"Olaf's noses"  (carrots)
"Mmmm.  What's that smell?.....CHOCOLATE" (assorted chocolates
Melted snow (bottled water)
"Only Love can thaw a frozen heart"  (White chocolate dipped strawberries and undipped strawberries with top cut to resemble hearts)

Our Birthday Princess

Elsa Cake courtesy of my dear mom;)

We didn't get any pictures of the process, but as each girl came they "built snowman" out of Sculpy which I baked and turned into these snow globes for them to take home at the end of the party.  Thanks to Ava for being the big helper on this project;)

Next we went outside to do "ice painting"- Mix equal parts Epsom salt and hot water and let the kiddos paint.  It looks like just water on the page until it dries...

When dry, it looks like ice crystals...pretty amazing "magic" for little kiddos.

I filled my sensory table with "Instasnow" (get from amazon) and frozen figurines

We played pin the nose on Olaf...

Poor Olaf never got a nose in quite the right place;)

 Those cloth snowballs I invested in during advent came in very handy for our "throw snow balls at the snow monster game"...the each took 2-3 turns at this one;)

We took a break for a bit of food;)

Then I gave each of the girls a pair of frozen socks (from the Target dollar spot;) and told them they were special imagination socks.  "When you put them on they help you imagine that this living room floor was covered in ice by Elsa and we can ice skate"

We Freeze Ice Danced to frozen songs...probably the biggest hit of the entire party.  As sick as I am of the Frozen Sound track, it's pretty hard NOT to find 10 four year old's singing "Let it Go" at the top of their lungs absolutely adorable.

Cake TIME!

And finally some presents...we are stocked with every frozen good available, I am quite sure.

Instead of treat bags, we sent each kiddo home with their snow globes, socks, and these little jars of homemade play dough snowballs (white play dough with glitter and a bit of peppermint sent).

I am tired.  This was probably the most difficult parties I've ever pulled off because of Marc's travel schedule and I'd do it all over again in an instant.  My little girl was beaming and loved every moment.  These days are my favorite parts of motherhood (minus the clean up, of course;)!