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.