My Daughter is Beautiful

Yes, it's true. My daughter is beautiful - inside and out. This weekend she danced her way through four performances of the Nutcracker. You know what? She's graceful, she's elegant, she's down right breath-taking... and she didn't get any of it from me. I love you Piper. You are an amazing young lady and I hope you dance through life just like did tonight.

Party of 7

Olivet Family - Party of 7!!!

My heart is in China...yet again. Yes, those gorgeous eyes in my last post belong to our newest daughter. She recently turned 3 years old and is living in an orphanage in a small, coal-mining city in Northern China. I'm probably a little biased, but I think she's the most breathtakingly beautiful little girl in the whole world. Dave and I can't wait to bring her home, which will most likely be next fall (I know, adoption takes forever!)

We're working on names right now. It's fun and it's frustrating. The more people in your family, the more opinions you get! Her Chinese name is a mouthful (although we'll keep it as her middle name) and we need something to call her. I'm open if you've got any ideas.

Do we have the numbers for a basketball team now? I would ask David but he's out of town tonight. Regardless, we're one big, happy, God-loving family and we covet your prayers to keep our little girl safe and healthy until we can bring her home.

A Little Someone New

Any guesses?

Two 5's

Guess who turned 5 this week? That's right, my youngest munchkin, Asher. He's thrilled to finally be 5 like his big brother, Kai. So now we have 2 five year olds in the household (I'm going to pause while you contemplate this fact...)

Our house is like a carnival most days - loud, crazy and just a tad bit dirty. And you know what ladies and gentlemen? I LOVE IT! I'm not sure I've ever been this happy (or this tired.) My marriage is strong, my kids are full of joy and I am one pleased mama.

Happy Birthday Ash! We love you so very much.

The Warriors

Today was our boys' first soccer game. If you want to get technical, it was also their first practice, their first time on the field and the first time meeting their teammates. This made for a very interesting afternoon of so-called soccer. What I witnessed was....

a little running,

a little kicking,

a little pushing and shoving,

a little coaching (by my hubby)

a little nose picking
(check out my sweet nephew Jackson on the far right),

a little dancing,

a little girl watching
(Ash, you're a little too young to admire her, um, assets),

a little standing around,

and a little loving.

What I did not see, my friends, was any GOAL SCORING. Maybe we can work on that tiny little issue next week.

Thank God they're cute.

One Happy Mama

School, it just ain't what it used to be (or at least it's not how I remember it!) This is a picture taken for "Dress as your Favorite Rocker Day" at J.D.'s middle school. JD went as Billie Joe Armstrong, the lead singer and guitarist for Green Day. No, Armstrong doesn't have a mohawk and yes, he does wear a boatload of eyeliner. JD wouldn't let me put any more "guyliner" on him even though I explained that it would make his outfit more believable. He's adorable, he's happy and he's loving middle school (what is for many, the most horrible years of their lives.) I am one happy mama.

Tummies

I tell my boys their stories often. We talk about their "China Mommies" and how they came to live in orphanages. I don't ever want there to be a day where they feel like I've lied or misled them about their lives before they became a part of our family. Most of the time, I feel pretty good about the job Dave and I are doing.

And then there are days like today. In the midst of at least 50 other parents waiting to pick up their children, Ash sees an Asian woman and yells (loudly, I might add,) "Was I in HER tummy, mommy?"

Calgon, take me away...

Teachers

I just gotta tell you - I love a good teacher. No offense to the home-schooling mommies out there but it makes my heart swell when little Kai jumps out of the car every morning, turns around and blows me a kiss (followed by a loud, "I love you Mommy!) and skips into school. If you are, or ever have been, a dedicated and caring teacher, I want to say thank you. I ADORE my kiddos but wouldn't take your job for all the gold in King Tut's tomb.

Dancing Fool

I must admit that I am blogging about my adorably sweet daughter tonight because my teenage son is acting like...well, a teenage boy. Honestly, wouldn't you be little irked if your child accidentally spray painted his new, overpriced tennis shoes bright pink? I thought so! JD had a science project tonight (yes, on the 3rd day of school) that involved painting a huge garbage bag pink and purple. We bought the paint, helped him set out the newspaper, and voila - he proceeds to turn his navy Converse into something a 3 year old girl would covet. The kicker is that JD was mad at ME after the incident. I'm not sure why I deserved the blame but I am the mom and that must make me partially responsible for everything that happens under our roof.

But now on to my original post:

I don't know how I missed putting up pictures of Piper's dance recital but I noticed them again today and realized how cute they were. Piper is truly a dancing fool. She dances down to breakfast most mornings, she dances in the shower, she takes dance lessons after school and she dances in her bedroom before bedtime. She even teaches her little brothers absolutely hilarious dance routines (and yes, one day I will put up a video of this.) I'm hoping that all the money we've sunk into dance lessons pays off when she wins So You Think You Can Dance in 2018.

Perfect to Me

My sweet, amazing, gorgeous, super-smart JD turned 13 this weekend. I've thought about blogging every day since his birthday but I've honestly been way too emotional. I'm not sure why this birthday has thrown me for a loop. He's still my JD. The oldest child and big brother of our motley crew. And thank God we have only witnessed a few moments of teenager insanity.

For his birthday, JD took Piper and four of his best friends to an amusement/water park in our city. They had a wonderful time despite the 100 degree weather. David chaperoned the big kids and I brought Kai and Ash later in the day to enjoy the kiddie rides.

Oh how I love my JD. This is the child that made me a mother. He came into this world with a head full of unruly black hair (which we lovingly called his monkey hair), lungs that could scream like a banshee, and 2 little backwards and upside down feet. It took many sets of casts, a few surgeries, a huge pair of walking boots and one wheelchair to completely fix those crazy feet.

The funny thing is...

that he is now

and has always been

perfect to me.

Ahh, Home

We're home from Cincinnati Children's Hospital (as of 11:00pm last night.) Kai did amazing, was discharged a day early and right now is running through the house dressed up like Buzz Lightyear. The Malone procedure was a breeze for our little man. I'll try to post some pictures later. Thanks to all of you who have been praying for us. The results were evident.

Now I'll Never Win

I just told Ash that the next time Kai bothered him, he should make a big fist and punch the living daylights out of Kai. I'm not sure but I think I just ruined my chances of winning the Mom of the Year award. And I'm sure I was in the top 2 or 3 until now (yeah, when pigs fly.)

Beating the Oil

We returned from a wonderful vacation at Florida's gorgeous beaches this week. I don't know how we did it, but we beat the oil and the beaches were still pristine. As you'll see in a picture below, JD did find one tar ball in the ocean about the size of his fist. I know a lot more is coming and I'm glad we got to experience the beach one last time before the nastiness hits.

My mom and stepdad came with us and braved a week with the "terrible two" (no, they're not 2 years old, but there are 2 of them and they are most definitely terrible!) We had a great time playing in the sand, boogie boarding in the ocean, swimming in the pool, eating ridiculously over-priced seafood, and playing games late into the night.

In a week and a half, we are headed back to Cincinnati for Kai to have more surgery. This is a much simplier operation than he had last year and we will hopefully be back home within a week. We are also bringing Ash with us to Cincinnati so he can be evaluated by the amazing Dr. Levitt (yes, I may be just a little bit in love with the man.) It should be a very interesting week with Kai in the hospital, Ash undergoing testing and David and I trying to keep our sanity. Please keep us in your prayers. I'm sure we'll need them.