My Kid Circus

4 out of 5 kids back to school today.  Sigh.  The house is weirdly quiet.  Okay that part is a little bit nice.  A LITTLE.  I would still rather have my kids all home any day than have a quiet and temporarily clean house (okay that part is kind of nice too.)

It was truly a great break.  One of the best parts was seeing Kai bond with the other kids. They have all been in school the majority of the time since he got home. This was the first time that he had an extended period of time to just be with them, and I saw wonderful things happen.

He started initiating play with them. He made jokes with them and laughed himself silly. He seemed to feel much more confident being more than a few feet away from me, and got lost in play with his brothers and sisters.

Another beautiful step toward weaving all of our hearts together into a forever family. The sad thing is that now I think he misses them too. Even though there were several days that he was dressed up like a princess, I think he loved every minute. I know I did.

Happy New Year!

Ringing in the new year with 15 dear kiddo friends.  What could be better than that?

Back to the carpool life. 🙁

I feel embarassed that I am having to catch up on almost of month of happenings. Unfortunately being a mom of five kids during the holiday season didn’t leave me a lot of free time to blog.

Busy certainly was the word of the season.  I was trying my best to soak up the millions of precious moments though.  Going to try to remember a few.

Kaitlyn was Mary in her kindergarten Christmas program.  She didn’t actually have any lines, but she was so proud of her role.  Apparently she took it so seriously that the other kids asked her teacher if these two were actually getting married. 🙂

Four of our kids were in the church pageant.  As usual, it was one of my favorite parts of Christmas.

Zac did an amazing job as Joseph.  Poor Drew was a Roman soldier, and almost had a panic attack when it was his turn. He got through his part, but I don’t think acting is going to become a hobby for him. Kaitlyn was the Angel of the Lord, and brought us a lot of laughter during her practices as she said her lines with an unusually heavy southern accent, emphasizing Christ the “Lawud.” 🙂

Kai was excellent in the audience, but was excited to come check out the baby Jesus after the service. 🙂I took this pic exactly one year after our kids opened the present that held a small stocking that told them that Kai Yi was coming to join our family. My heart was overflowing thinking about the significance of that moment and seeing them all together now.

Christmas morning was filled with joy. Kai got past his feelings about Santa, and decided that big guy was alright after all.Our home was filled with family throughout the day.  We are all so blessed to have our family so close by, and to have cousins that are as close as siblings. It makes special days that much more special.

2014 was absolutely a wonderful one for our family.  I am so very thankful. Excited about what 2015 will bring for this circus. Resolution #1: Make sure I blog about it!

Poor Kai.  He is not at all sure what is going on around our house these days.

First there was the total humiliation…

Then came a tree in our living room?  What is that crazy Daddy doing now?  Santa?  I don’t think so.  Guys, have you seen him?  He has a BEARD!

I think Logan agreed with his assessment.Hoping he finds the next few weeks a little bit more enjoyable. 🙂

So much to be thankful for!  Not the least of which Kai has been with us 1 month today! Oh, and today he pet Clover!  A Thanksgiving miracle. 🙂