Win a Super Bowl Ad?

Love Without Boundaries, the amazing organization that God used to save our precious daughters life, has made it to the second round of a competition to win a Super Bowl ad!  Can you imagine the possible impact if LWB wins??

You can be a part too and it truly only takes 10 seconds.  All you have to do is click on the link below and then vote!  You can do it every day until October 13th.  There is a short video clip that shows a glimpse of the work LWB does, beneath that are different questions they are asked with photos and more information about this amazing company who truly lives out its name!

Here is the link

https://www.smallbusinessbiggame.com/OK/Love-Without-Boundaries/375636/

One of the stories shared is our precious daughter.  She was known as "Delyth" with LWB.  It is still hard for me to look at those early pictures.  Many have questioned whether she is truly the same child.  I did a post here where you can see the amazing transformation  she made under their loving care.  http://ahearttolove.blogspot.com/2013_03_01_archive.html

It truly is amazing what loving care, food and intensive medical care can do.

We are forever grateful for LWB!

Please - vote daily!!   "Every child deserves to know Love!"
Will you love without boundaries??

Seven Months!

Yesterday was our seven month celebration of Gotcha Day. :)  Will I do this every month for the rest of her life- nope... I think it will be like our first two kids - where we counted each month to one year then yearly thereafter.

This month has gone by super fast in some ways and slow as molasses in others.  Brian is still away at training and I. am.exhausted.  Having kids 24/7 without any help or break is tiring.  One positive thing about the many required military separations.. I know that I will do whatever it takes to stay married... no way could I or would I want to do this forever...alone...but that is another blog post entirely...

As to our little sweetheart - she had many firsts again this month!

Soccer season has started and she has gotten to go cheer on her big brother - who you can see she simply adores. :) 

 

After this she went to the opthalmalogist who happened to be an American born Chinese.  Wow - what an amazing conversation she and I had... which resulted in tears. :)  She shared so many of her struggles that she faces being an American born Chinese - so many things often attributed to adopted children only, which she is not.  She was very wise and incredibly helpful for me and Meisi's eyes are perfect! :)  They did have to dilate them 4 times though!!  Did you know the darker your pupil, the harder it is to dilate?  I had no idea since I have almost no pigment in my eyes!

These tiny glasses looked super sporty don't you think?

Can you tell she loves her big brother??

Here she had just learned to say, "Bagel" and was saying "That bagel?" She almost always leaves out the "a" in questions. :)

Have I mentioned how much she loves corn?  After eating she says, "That corn yummy."  

Finally used our passes again for Disney and spent a few hours at Epcot. :)  On the way we saw the big electrical post that is shaped like Mickey and Meisi said her longest sentence so far!  "Look! I see Mickey right there!"  Have I mentioned she LOVES Mickey and Minnie?

Super excited to get to see some special friends that evening. :)  I will post about these friends another time, but blessed to know these special ladies and meet their beautiful children God brought to them through adoption. 

 I have to say, Meisi was pretty excited after this hug from my friend's cutie!!  They are both heart kids. I joked that they could compare scars now BUT not again until married. lol ;)  He is a cutie though isn't he??

A few fun shots - Aili started Archery this month

 This is what Meisi did during archery.  I have no idea how she sleeps comfortably like that - but whether in crib or carseat - this is her normal position. 

And this is what Ian does during archery..yep all boy!

Thanks to our incredible online yard sale site for our subdivision, I scored a trike and scooter for Meisi.    She had so much fun riding them!! I was incredibly impressed how she just hoped on the trike and started peddling - better at going backwards than forward but impressed either way. 

I think this is our first local field trip - the Florida Aquarium.  Great way to celebrate 7 months of being a family of 5 (only sad that Brian wasn't with us)...  Some of these melt my heart... Ian is just so precious how he loves on Meisi. :)  

 Meisi had fun with freedom to run around looking at tanks.  Thankful it wasn't crowded at all. :)

 They were all smiling but took a while to take pic...so they clammed up - haha - get my corny aquarium humor??  

 Meisi really enjoyed looking at all the sea creatures but wasn't interested in touching any.

 My beautiful girls.  

 "YIKES!!!  THERE ARE SHARKS!!!"  haha - gotta have some drama right?

 Now I will leave you with some of God's amazing creations...

Ian's favorite - the leafy sea dragon

 Aili's favorite - the sea ponies

My favorite - the love of family.... :)

Our God is an awesome God!  :)

Mini Holiday in Alabama

I feel like we keep doing one mini holiday after another. :)  This is honestly one of my favorite parts of homeschooling - the flexibility to travel when we want without worrying of missed school days. :)  We just take school with us!  So thankful this is the journey we are on at this part of our life.

We were missing daddy being away at training in Alabama so we took a "little" (aka 8 hour) road trip to Montgomery to visit him for this long weekend. Somehow every time I say "Alabama" I start singing "Sweet Home Alabama."  Sorry... I digress..
We have really enjoyed our visit.  We found out the McWane Science Museum in Birmingham was free since we have a membership to our science museum (MOSI).  If you live near or around Birmingham - I highly recommend this place - it was INCREDIBLE!  We spent the entire day there.  It went along great with our STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) class kids are doing with our homeschool group. ;) 

 Can you see the big bubble around them?

 Our three kiddos built a very big fort all by themselves.  :) While they were building this I met a Taiwanese family.  We sat and chatted for about half an hour.  I've been praying for more opportunities to meet and share God's love with people.  :)  Of course, I love love love talking about our Meisi and this weekend God used her cuteness to start up conversations with two Taiwanese families.

 Before walking out the big kids HAD to get into the hurricane wind tunnel.  Ian looks like he is crying but I promise he is laughing. ;)

Our hotel room had an amazing view of the city.  Also had a great breakfast which make my kiddos happy. :)  

We had the privilege of worshiping at First Baptist Montgomery again.  There is no place for our older kids to go while we have church so they go with us into the service.  The first time we visited here I had some concerns... but after doing this I feel very differently about having them with me in service.  It is so nice to be able to converse with the kids about the sermon and how we can apply that to life.   This week the pastor talked about our posture in prayer.  I highly recommend doing family prayer time on your knees.  Try it..

After church we had a nice nap then went to a free festival at Bass Pro Shop.  Meisi was so proud of her duck and Aili and Ian got to shoot their first BB guns! :)

Before checking out of that hotel we had a little history lesson on all the flags that flew over Alabama (Spain, France, UK, then an assortment of American/Alabama flags).  See - we threw some school in ;)

 That evening we were blessed to meet a new friend. :)  Vicki and I met through our "DTC group" on Facebook last year but met for first time in person this evening.  Loved meeting her little Princess too. :)  The Korean owner of this restaurant in Montgomery "Arirang" was so touched by our "big hearts" she gave us our meal for free. :)  That was a first for us.  My prayer in this situation is always that they will know our love is from our Heavenly Father and that we are the ones blessed by adoption.

The owner really enjoyed loving on our baby girls as we left.

Can't say it enough - Got love?? Truly... truly... Adoption Rocks!!

Labor Day we went ice skating in the mall here.  Surprisingly I didn't fall!  We all had a blast!

 Meisi was too young (had to be 3) so she stayed with Brian and cheered us on. :)  She is so sweet how she'd say, "Good job Mommy!" when I'd skate around. :)

 I got tired (surprised I am walking today). :)  So, Brian took the kiddos out and I stayed with Meisi. :)

 People, I am blessed beyond measure...

 The kids did great skating!  I was so impressed with their persistance!  Ian, whose amazing ability to fall and get up time and time again created an introduction to a family from Israel.  Praying for someone to continue to water seeds planted. :)

 Perfectly placed was a Chuck E Cheese in the mall. :)

 To end the evening Aili and Ian spent the gift cards Grandma sent them at Build a Bear and Meisi brought her first furry friend to life. :)   Watching her kiss on it and hug it was precious.  It was also super cute watching her try to follow all the verbal directions from the employee trying to tell her to put the heart on her nose, forehead, cheeks before putting inside the bear. :)  She named her panda "Bear."
Needless to say, the kids slept well that eve. :)

 Today Brian had to go back to work so we did our school work in the hotel.  Then we met Vicki and her sweeties at Chick Fil A.  Our kids played together for hours.  I had to snap this picture of the girls - with their matching squeaky shoes.  haha  We only bought two pairs - what are the chances we would have matching ones??  I sure hope our paths cross again soon Vicki!!!

Last but not least - we ended our day with a trip to Peach Park where new friends met us for dinner and playtime for kids. :)  What a beautiful scenery and fun memories - this place has a teeter toter and lightning bugs!  The BBQ was good and the ice cream and cobbler was yummy.  Enjoyed our company and the stories our kids shared while there. :)  A great way to end our trip here in Alabama.

I am sad though and Aili has already started saying she doesn't want to leave Daddy. :(  This is the part of military life that is hardest for me...the separations.  Thankful for special trips and memories like these.  Prayers appreciated as we drive home tomorrow.  I frequently think of these verses while traveling alone with 3 kids...

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Phil 4:13 

Do all things without complaining or arguing. Phil 2:14

and of course - Faith, Hope and LOVE but the greatest of these is LOVE. 1 Cor 13:13

Hope you all enjoyed your Labor Day weekend!