5 months!!

Time is flying!!!  I feel like I blinked and here it is July.

Meisi is growing and learning so much each day.

Her vocabulary is amazing to me.  I am pretty sure she says more words in English than Ian did at this age.  I guess the vocabulary differences start early in boys and girls. lol  She is making complete sentences - her first one was, "I love you Mommy." Followed by "I love you Daddy." Yes...our hearts melted. 

She also says, "Thank you Mommy/Daddy/Ian/Aili."  "Where is she?", "Hurry!!"  Unfortunately, we say that too often here - always rushing at last minute trying not to be late! "I sorry ____ (insert name)."  By far my favorite and sweetest sounding is when she says, "Amen" at the end of our prayers, whether at home or church.  If we forget to pray before meals, she reaches out her little hands and says, "Mommy" then reaches for our hands.  :)  The funniest thing she says is "Yay! You did it!"  That is usually as one of us is using the bathroom! lol

We actually tried out her class at church this Sunday for the first time.  She did amazing!  Of course, she had wonderful ladies and their hubbies to give her lots of attention. :)  I am super protective of her.  I think they must've thought I was crazy when I said if she cries at all - come get me. It can be hard for others to understand how different this situation is, but thankfully they were very sweet to comply and they tried to give her plenty of attention and love so that she didn't. :)

Some things about our precious Meisi.

Meisi really likes dress up, all three still have fun doing this with her. :)

She is a rocking drummer

When she laughs - she laughs big! 

She LOVES Minnie Mouse

 She actually really enjoys the rain here - which is good because it rains daily.  Of course - she has to sport her cute Ariel umbrella (handed down from big sis) and lady bug rain boots that she certainly makes adorable. :)

When tired, she knows where the softest place to lay is...

 And if she can't find Emmy...she has a back up..

She does have a grumpy face when she doesn't get her way - but even that is cute. :)

We are so very blessed to have our Littlest Princess.  I can't  believe it has only been 5 months. I feel she has always been with us. :)

She is loved beyond measure and brings more joy than can be expressed.  

"Children are a gift from the Lord." Psalm 127:3 

Thank you Lord for my precious children.

Dare I say it...

We started school two weeks ago. 
This year we are using My Father's World (MFW) Curriculum....
So far...
I LOVE it!!!

Don't get me wrong..
we have our moments of whining -
"Do I really have to do 4 pages?" 
"Please don't make me do the long division." 

Speaking of long division...
At the homeschool convention I talked about here, nearly all speakers talked about the woes of teaching long division and I wondered what all the angst was about..
Well... I get it!! 
Oh. My.Word.
Thankfully, it started to sink in the next day to my brilliant daughter.
She still doesn't like doing work...
She is s bit lazy like her Mama. ;)

Aside from the fun of long division (truly, she was proud of herself for learning how - she even tried to teach a friend).... 

We had a Pinterest 4th of July (I am not a crafty person so I totally must copy other's ideas). :)

  I was pretty proud of my cookies....yes more pink than red...but you get the idea!

I love my beautiful girls!

Meisi's first sparkler

Fun firework display with our neighbors - courtesy of Brian :)

We were invited to a birthday party for one of Ian's friends at one of our subdivision splash areas.  Meisi has progressed so much with water!  She was terrified of this area for so long..still some areas she won't venture to in it.

We had a quick trip to Legoland - Meisi really was interested in the zoo keeper lego girl. :)  She has that set - so maybe why or maybe because she looks like Meisi...not sure..

I couldn't love these four more!!

We've been to countless fun FREE library events (puppet shows, drum circle, magic shows...)

We had a blast at our local homeschool group (HEAT) "Finding Nemo party".  All three really like getting their faces painted and tattoos. :)

From our MFW curriculum - The kids and Brian made cute paper dolls and colored like the children of the world (our curriculum is about countries and cultures this year).  Today we made a world cake - the older two had to tell me all 7 continents and 5 oceans before they could eat it (we ate Antarctica first)...Meisi had to tell me if the homemade icing was good or not. :)

Even with all this fun -
This week has been incredibly hectic.
I'm not feeling well.
Meisi isn't feeling well.
We were having a friend's kids over in the afternoons to help her as she serves at high school camp.
So, we haven't been getting school done in the mornings like I had hoped.
Which lead to read aloud time to be at night...
Why am I surprised this has turned out to be great??!!! 
Let go and Let God - right??

We start our day with a Bible lesson over breakfast then start school. 
Doing the read aloud at night has led us to amazing conversations about God and our place in His family.
This week our read aloud is Kingdom Tales.  It is part of our MFW curriculum.

Just so you know, I struggled over which curriculum to use this year.  So many good ones out there.  I knew I wasn't organized enough to make my own curriculum so I needed a "boxed set".  I kept coming back to MFW.  Let me say that for our family it has created an amazing beginning to our school year.  Dare I say it... I love homeschooling!!?  I am so thankful that I brought these questions to God and He answered my prayers and guided me to this curriculum...

Back to "Kingdom Tales" -

So, last night we were reading this amazing story of the peril of orphans in this fictional very dark place.  A place where odd or untreatable dieseases and disorders are sent away to die and called "outcasts." (I was thinking that this sounds very much like a place I know). As the story progresses there is a place where people serve a King.  Unlike the dark place, the people who serve the King are joyful even if handicapped or sick.  At the end of the story there are questions we discuss - oh my word - what great discussion!  This one really jumped out at me...

What did Mercie mean by the statement, "There are no orphans here.  Everyone belongs to someone else." ? The answer - You are not an orphan when you belong to the King.
"For those that are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. ...the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by Him we cry out "Abba, Father." The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now if we are children then we are heirs..." Romans 8:15-17 - also see Galatians 4:6-7


How does this statement in the story relate to following Jesus: "One must become an outcast in order to follow the King."?  This one led to a great discussion how as believers we can't often "follow the crowd."  The words we use, the way we speak, the choices we make...may not be what the world considers "cool" or "fun."
"Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world the love of the Father is not in them.  For everything in the world - the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life - comes not from the Father but the world." 1 John 2:15-17

"Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you."  1 John 3:13

Wow - such amazing conversations to end the day with and what perfect timing in our life to have these discussions.  We have such a greater understanding of the love God has for us and our place in His family since adopting Meisi.  Unconditional love... it is amazing and has nothing to do with genes.

So thankful that God loved me so much that He laid down His life for me so that I could spend eternity with Him.

Do you belong to the King? 
Are you living as an outcast in this world in order to follow Jesus?