Eight Years Already?

Has it really been eight years already? Really? Isn't it annoying when people say that, and yet isn't it true? I think the last five years have flown by and I'd like the next few to slow down, already. I don't feel like I've MISSED anything; I just feel like it should still be 2000.

We celebrated eight years of knowing Abigail Emma today. What a blessing! As per Houseworth tradition, she got the day off from school and Daddy took her out to dinner. She chose her favorite standby - China King Buffet, where she ate loads of crab and shrimp. She requested a red velvet cake with cookie dough ice cream. She is the queen of weird combinations. Yesterday we started the celebration by heading to the pool to swim. Tomorrow we will extend the celebration with an ice-skating outing and hopefully the opening of a gift that must be stuck in Chicago with the weather. :)


Here are Shiloh's pictures from her decorating endeavors this afternoon. She is SO HANDY. And she loves doing it! She took the pictures to document her handiwork. I believe she enlisted Cora's help, but only as slave labor, not as co-decorator. :)

Here is the birthday girl in a new outfit that Daddy helped her pick out with a gift card. Daniel picked the hat, and they found the outfit from there. She looks good in pink!

Um...what happened between yesterday and today? Because yesterday I think I was feeding her plums from a jar and she was smiling big gooey smiles at me.

Abigail asked for a guitar, so that was one of our gifts to her. We'll have our pastor's daughter give her some lessons. :)

Abigail is pretty easy to please with cakes. She's never said, "I want a pony with pink hair" or "I want a snowy owl" like some other people in the house. No, she just says, "Maybe a star? Or two? With sprinkles? And lots of icing?" Okay, then. Easy enough. Shiloh and Cora made Abigail's birthday tiara. Shiloh got the privilege of bringing in the cake.

Of course, I must leave you with an Abigail story at the conclusion of this birthday post. She and Cora had decided to bunk together in the guest room in the basement a couple of nights ago while Shiloh and Adah bunked together in Shiloh's room. I went downstairs to say goodnight to Abigail and she was on the bed with a card game in progress, but Cora was upstairs reading with Daniel. She looked at me excitedly and said, "Mommy, I'm playing with an imaginary person, and...I'm WINNING!" She sounded incredulous that she would actually be winning against an imaginary person. I'm not sure if I should be worried, but she sure does entertain me. :) I love that kid.

What Winter is Good For

Napping by the fire - bliss.

Old Friends Reunited

Last Saturday I had the chance to meet up with a high school friend whom I haven't seen since my wedding 15+ years ago. She graduated from UVa and now lives in Northern Virginia. She was coming into town for the UVa basketball game, so we agreed to meet up at the Barnes and Noble afterward to hang out. We met when I was 11 and she was 12 - wow! Now she has two adorable little girls. I thought it might be a little awkward, but we had such a good time catching up over coffees and then dinner. Adah and Abigail hung out with me to get to know her girls as well. What a blessing old friends are! Abigail and Ivy Jane:
Adah with Bailey and Ivy Jane:

An Explanation and a Birthday

Abigail: "Mommy! I've always wanted to know what I looked like cross-eyed, so I took a picture of myself to see! Look!"

I'm so proud. Here is Adah dressed up like a medieval princess. She bought those tiaras with leftover money on a gift card. Hand-me-down medieval princess dress - check. Sparkly tiaras that leave glitter everywhere - check. HOURS of dress-up fun with Abigail - check. Life is fun as an 8 year-old girl!

Here is our firstborn baby all grown up (sob). She went out with Daddy for Mexican food before her family birthday celebration that night. She LOVES Mexican. Daddy also took her out today to spend her gift card at Target where she shared a Starbucks mocha frappucino - also her favorite. She was one happy girl. She sensibly bought...clothes. :)

She wanted me to take a picture of her hair. :) She asked for this style, and I hesitantly agreed to do it. She is known for being...um...exacting, if the job is not done as she envisions. :)

Going out with Daddy!

My beautiful girl...

Shiloh doesn't care for birthday cake, so she requested an apple pie again. Cora suggested the horse cutouts for the top - can you tell they're horses? :)

Fun with Ice-Skating!

The girls attended a birthday party held at our local ice-skating rink, and they had GREAT fun. This was the first time Adah and Abigail had ever been ice-skating, but they're pretty proficient at rollerblading, so they didn't have much trouble. Abigail was trying to copy some of the moves of the older girls that my friend brought as "helpers," and she managed an arabesque (what is it called in ice-skating??). I got a few pictures and videos, and then I headed out to a local coffeehouse all by myself for a night of cross-stitching and sipping yummy coffee. The boys did...whatever the boys do when we leave them alone. The house was still standing and they were in bed when I came home, so that's all I care about. :) When the public skate first started, they had the ice to themselves!

Beautiful Adah, who was a little unsure and then decided she REALLY liked it!

One of the things the ice rink does to help new skaters is to give them upside-down buckets to push along the ice in front of them for balancing. It works wonders! One of the moms had never been skating, and she used them, too. The great thing about them is that you can pile as many as you need on top of one another so they're height-adjustable.

I'm sorry I sound so annoying in videos. I should just quit talking, really.

The Day Our Lives Changed for the Better

Oh, my word, has it been memory lane around here today. So, because we've been so caught up in reminiscing, I thought I'd bring you along, too. On this day twelve years ago Shiloh Elizabeth entered our lives, forever changing them for the better. Twelve years old seems like such a milestone! I'm so thankful for that little tiny girl who has grown into a beautiful young lady, inside and out. We chose Shiloh's name because it means "God's gift" or "God's rest." We were told by doctors at one point that it was very unlikely that we would have any biological children (boy, when they're wrong, they're REALLY wrong :) ). I remember one specific day in Colorado Springs when we had a possible birthmom pull out of an initial meeting for an adoption and that very same day I got a call from my college roommate telling me that she was pregnant. It was a hard day, and we cried out to the Lord. He comforted us with the knowledge that He was still a good God no matter what happened with our family. Little did we know I was already pregnant. Remember that call at 3:00 a.m. with the news, Mom?


Here I am THE MORNING of the 24th. Daniel liked this outfit, so he made me pose before church. My water broke AS I SAT DOWN TO CHURCH. Yes, I was one of those people you have heard about. :)Here we are as a family of three! I love birth stories, but many people don't, so I'll keep to myself. :) Here is the short version: we went to the hospital, I had to tell Daniel to turn off the football game on TV and stop talking theology with Jan Dragoo, then we had a baby at 6:07 p.m. and p.s. Daniel didn't faint. Then he went out and got me a Frosty with fries because that's what I wanted. :) Proud Daddy who missed being honor grad at his advanced course because Shiloh's early arrival (4 weeks) coincided with a major test. Sorry, honey - babies have their own schedule!

Even though Shiloh was only 4 lbs., 15 oz. when she was born, she was healthy and eating well so they let us go home on schedule. Notice our young, happy, alert faces? That would soon change when we realized that Shiloh never intended to sleep - EVER.

Daddy gives Shiloh her first bath. Up until she was six months old, she could fit into the basin that the hospital gave us. She loved that basin and would fall asleep in it at bathtime. Yeah - she slept in a BASIN and would not sleep in her bed. It's a good thing the Lord gives us amnesia about these things.

Shiloh meets Oma!!! Oma will tell you that it was a little scary seeing her for the first time because she was so little and I had her out in public. She was born to be a grandma.

Shiloh in all her cuteness. I loved it when we finally found some preemie girly outfits (we lived in Sierra Vista, which only boasted a Wal-mart at the time).Look how little she was! She was about three weeks old here.

This is when we started to realize that babies don't actually understand the whole "weekend" thing.When Shiloh was three weeks old, we went to visit Daniel's West Point classmate in Phoenix. His wife, Stephanie, was a much better photographer and took this great picture. The Crandalls had the first "class baby" about 9 months and 3 days after their wedding (on graduation day), so they had two children by this point. I'm pretty sure they just laughed at our ineptitude, but they were kind to our faces. :)

This picture represents the time that we started coming out of the fog of sleeplessness. Unfortunately, that was six months later, and she still wasn't a great sleeper. She had just found her thumb, though, so she was a much happier baby.

Shiloh Elizabeth, you have taught us so much about patience, perseverance, humility, joy, and most of all, LOVE. We are utterly thankful to be your parents. Thank you, Lord, for the gift of children, and today we especially thank you for Shiloh.

Abigail Emma

And after a serious post of reflection comes a post inspired by Abigail:

As I was beginning to read a book to them this evening while Daniel took Shiloh, Cora, and Jackson to Cub Scouts, I read, "In a city there lived a young dog and a very old man..."

Abigail pipes up in a sarcastic voice, "Yeah, and then the very old man DIES."

Me: "Abigail, why did you say that?"

Abigail: "Because that always happens in these stories!"

Pa Bliye Ayiti

Don't forget Haiti...

I was thinking on this all day yesterday as I listened to the news and remembered how we felt last year. We continue to follow this missionary blog to know how to pray for the people in Haiti and those on the ground who are the hands and feet of Jesus to the Haitian people:
http://livesayhaiti.blogspot.com/

We also follow this blog and marvel at the incredibly difficult work they do every day to serve the Lord and their fellow men:
http://www.realhopeforhaiti.org/
(Warning: this blog is GRAPHIC in detailing the injuries they treat and the kids they see who are extremely malnourished - do not click on it if you are at all squeamish)

Both of these blogs remind me of how little I suffer for the Lord and how cushy my life is. I try not to feel guilt-ridden about it; I try to use those feelings to remind myself to PRAY for the people of Haiti, to give THANKS that I can give my kids everything they need, and to GIVE what we can to gospel ministries that exist to help. Maybe one day one of our Haitian sensations will return to Haiti to serve their country of birth. How blessed we are to have them in our lives and to have a connection to this strong and beautiful country.

Orange?

Nathaniel handed me a picture he drew today with this explanation:

"This is the sun, and this is me, because I'm brown, and this is you, because you're orange."

Orange? Whatever happened to peach? I'm not doing the fake tan thing, I promise.

Basketball

We've entered Cora's basketball season with their first game held last Saturday. She's participating in Upward Bound basketball, and so far we have the highest praise for the program. They seem to be very well-organized with a solid foundation. The kids memorize Scripture verses and have a devotional every week during practice. There is an emphasis on good sportsmanship and Christ-likeness. We like her coach, who is matter-of-fact with them, encouraging and urging them to do their best. Cora's team is the Boilermakers, and they ended up winning their first game 18-10. Cora's strength so far seems to be on the defensive where she stuck to her girl like glue (making the girl run around in circles getting frustrated :) ). She had a couple of good passes and two shots that didn't make it in. She doesn't yet understand the finer rules of the game, but that will come with experience. In the meantime, it was a great start to the season and VERY fun for us to watch. The pace of the game, the athleticism, and the level of ball-handling was much better than I expected. We had a good time watching Cora have such a good time. :)

This first photo was taken before the game when they announce the players' names. How fun for the kids to hear their names announced! They keep the teams small so that they have a lot of time to play in each game.

This second picture was taken after the game. This is Cora's good friend, Ava, who showed us an entirely different side to herself in the game! Normally, she's really giggly, sweet, and fragile-looking. In actuality, she's REALLY SCRAPPY and I would not want to mess with her in a basketball game. After the game, she reverted back to her normal self. I am thankful that the Lord has provided such a good friend for Cora - a girl that I love having in our home and whose family I'm happy to know.




Here's to a great start to the season! I'm sure updates will follow. :)

So Far So Good

Look! It's another post, and I didn't even wait two months to write it! Crazy. In my effort NOT to be updating five months' worth of living in one day, I'm going to inundate you with the more boring aspects of life. :) I know you will appreciate this, Mom.

This first picture shows how far Jackson has come in the last three months. He was a little later in his motivation to read, and although he COULD read, he didn't care to if someone could read to him. He's finally enjoying reading, and Cora caught him reading to Nathaniel one evening after bathtime. Oh, I love it!

Shiloh got these shots one morning during a spectacular sunrise. I called the girls outside and we shivered in the cold to admire God's particularly stunning handiwork. What a great way to start the day!

Over the New Year's weekend, we headed to Williamsburg to visit with friends from our pre-kid days. It was a wonderful weekend full of our favorite things: lovely friends, fellowship 'til all hours, coffee, and ice cream. :) The bonus is that their daughter, also a very dear friend, is living close to them for a year while her husband is on sabbatical and working in VA, so we got to see her and her family. We had a big slumber party on New Year's Eve, and we actually managed to make it to ring in the New Year. (No pictures of that - we were already in our jammies :) ) They are wonderful hosts who make you feel welcome and loved.

Abigail reading to two of their grandchildren and the boys:

Lanning with the boys: :)

This was taken before bed, and I think I'm in the middle of talking. :) Shiloh is complaining that I'm pulling on her hair too tightly, and Nathaniel is being an adorable ham. He did a great job that weekend, and we were thankful for that!

Lydia learned how to play Uno, and Abigail obliged her by playing 1 or 13 games.

Cora loved on Daisy quite a bit while we were there. :)

The kids had their own table, which they quite enjoyed.