...a little Lili laughter~

Lili came in the living room with a piece of paper tonight and asked me to make her a paper airplane. Well, sorry...but I haven't got a clue. I couldn't make a paper airplane with two engines and a room full of engineers!!!!

David was taking a nap...gearing up for his allnight research paper mode. Of course...he makes GREAT paper airplanes. So...Lili was fit to be tied.

So, out of options...I suggested that she go see Poppy (my Dad) and see if he could

make her a paper airplane.

She stopped what she was doing and stared right at me. Then she threw those little arms up in the air and said...with all the seriousness she could muster, "Uh, MOM!!!!! He can't make a paper airplane...he thinks the Moon is made out of cheese!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

I busted out laughing and the poor thing thought I was making fun of her!!! She started crying and it took me a few minutes of consoling to convince her otherwise. Poor baby!!!! I felt so horrible...but it really was HILARIOUS!!!!!!

"And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them." Mark 10:16

In HIS Mighty Grip...

My precious birthday baby...

Well, this is how we started out almost five years ago with our beautiful Lili. This picture below was actually taken just as we got off the airplane after a grueling 36 hour trip home from China to adopt this little monkey. She hadn't smiled too much up until this point...didn't smile too much for quite some time after this either. It was a pretty rough transition for this little angel.
Now, here we are five years later...celebrating Miss Lili's SIXTH birthday. I can hardly believe it!!! She has grown ...a little bit...still pretty tiny!!! She has grown up...so smart and so amazing. She has turned Six and I could not be prouder of my little Lima Bean...I am so blessed that God chose me to be her Mommy and I can't imagine having missed this precious little life!!!!


Smiling as we set foot on Tennessee soil!!!!


The six year old budding artist with her new markers.


Oh man...Dora cupcakes...does it get any better than this??? No, REALLY...does it get any better????


"The Face" I love this face...she makes this expresion all the time and I love it!!!


Liliana and her Daddy Man. She requested Cracker Barrell for the birthday dinner.

While we waited on our table...Lili enjoyed honing her Xylophone skills. Love the "Chinese Squat"

And now here we are five years later and look at the amazing little beauty she has become.

~Thank you Father for my beautiful and amazing children...please let me be one day be worthy of them!!!!!~

In HIS Mighty Grip~

PS...please let us know you stopped by!!!! The comments are open and appreciated and I'll be sure to pass on any Birthday greetings to Miss Lili!!!!

The toothpaste battle...

Aly and her toothbrush had a bit of a tussle tonight...looks like the toothbrush won!!!

In HIS Mighty Grip~

What a Day...

Resurrection Sunday is a glorious Day indeed. It is the Day that we remember and celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This past Resurrection Sunday we decided to add something amazing to that celebration. Not that we could ever top or compete with what that day means to us...but that day just seemed so fitting for what happened this year. This year David had the honor, privilege and thrill...to walk our beautiful daughter through Baptism on Resurrection Sunday. It was a beautiful moment to witness and the fact that David is the one who Baptized our baby girl was so very perfect!!!!

Oh...and in case you are wondering why it is so quiet in the room on the video, our church's baptismal is in the sanctuary, while the service was going on in the Christian Life Center. Aly's Baptism was broadcast through closed circuit TV to the CLC. Anyway...I hope you enjoy the video and pictures!!!!

Practicing how to hold on to Dad's arm when he "dunks" her!! It looks like she pretty well has a death grip going on there!! LOL

A little "pre-dunk" Daddy-Man love!!

There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. Ephesians 4:4-6

In HIS Mighty Grip

Words by Aly...

So, we were watching a movie the other night and Aly started fidgeting. She is like me...she has a hard time sitting still and watching a movie ...just watching a movie...nothing else. I end up flipping through a magazine or suring the internet or knitting or something else. Anyway...she ended up with a piece of paper and her colored pencils. She was busy writing something...doing something. After the movie was over, I asked her what she had been writing. I do hope you can see the following picture...it is a bit light, but it is hilarious. The picture examples at the bottom are the best!!!!
I thought she wasn't paying attention to the movie, but these words were all in the movie...so I guess she really was paying attention.
Enjoy~

~In HIS Mighty Grip

Oh yes she did!!!!

This past Saturday we piled in the van and headed to Jacksonville for a day of shopping and fun!! We had such a great day. Loaded up on Fall/winter stuff for the girls, hit the craft store for some goodies and then...it happened...Lili got her ears pierced!!!! She had been waffling as to whether or not she really wanted to go through with it. She finally decided and so we did it quick before she changed her mind again!!! It was funny, the ladies asked me if I would rather she do both ears at the same time or one at at time. I said "You must do both at once or only one will get done!!!!"

So, without further adieu...here she is!!!!!

In His Mighty Grip~

What did YOU do in school today?

We are studying the book of 1John. Actually I am using the book of 1 John to help the Noodles to learn HOW to study God's word. We are taking it verse by verse...reading, meditating, discussing, memorizing, praying, and copying the words of life onto paper.

I love to watch them copy from the Bible. Well, Lili is still a little reluctant, but it will come. The words will soon begin to seep in and she will start to swim instead of trudge. She is so funny...she doesn't mind working on the memorization of scripture, but when I ask her to recite a verse to me and goes into meltdown mode. Once she calms down and decides to do it...the words flow out of her like honey. She has amazing skills of memorization just like her big sister, but she doesn't think she does so she fights me tooth and nail. Then once she recites it, she couldn't be more proud of her self. She is one hard headed little coconut. I always had trouble getting her to pray in the morning before school. She always said, "I don't know what to say" Oh no...wait...she didn't SAY it she screamed it at the top of her lungs. Ahhhhhhh ... the drama of it all. So I began praying and having her just repeat after me. I figured I would give her the words for a while til she found her own words and her own footing. Well, low and behold...she is beginning to find her footing!!!! This morning I asked Aly if she wanted to lead in our prayer time or if she wanted me to. Lili jumped in and asked if SHE could lead us. ~Thank you God for giving her the words to thank you and the words to seek you!!!~

Aly is full of questions and gets frustrated if she can't understand it right away. She has yet to learn that most of her questions will be answered by that Still Small Voice in her inmost being.

Getting her to be still long enough to listen for that voice of God in her is difficult at best, but she is slowly getting there. For one who grasps concepts so very easily...this one is hanging her up. Now she tackles memorization like a woman on a serious mission!!!! She loves to tackle whole chapters and large passages of scripture. Her dear friend gave her such a sweet compliment last week at Co-op. She said how much she appreciated Aly because she always had a verse of scripture for someone to make them feel better. My heart just melted. It thrills me to know that she is letting the truths of God flow back out and is able to be a blessing!!!

Today was a bit slower paced in our little school room. After we did our bible study, and worked on our Memory Box we decided to do a little Cartography. We are studying Geography by learning to draw the world. We started out by learning about the Great Circles ( Equator, Arctic circle, Tropic of Cancer, Tropic of Capricorn, and the Antarctic Circle) and the Prime Meridian. After they could correctly place those on the paper we added the" Continental Blobs." We weren't worried about drawing them correctly yet...just putting them in the right PLACE on the paper. They had worked on that for a few weeks and once they got it down, we moved on to one continent. They decided to start with Australia. So, today I gave them gridded paper, a map of Australia on the same size paper, the colored pencils and off we went. I pulled up some Vivaldi Four Seasons on the laptop...

Some homemade Chocolate Chip cookies...

About 45 minutes later we had some pretty good maps of Australia to look at!! We had such a grand time together...drawing our maps...learning about God's world. Homeschooling is such a grand privilege!!!!!

And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. Deut 6:6-7

...and one last picture

A girl and her puppy dog. Bailey loves to help with Astronomy!!!! Oh yes she does!!!

For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line,

line upon line, here a little, there a little.”

Isaiah 28:10

In His Mighty Grip...

Smiles...

So...here are a few of the amazing smiles that I am FORCED to look at and admire each and every day of my life. Am I blessed or what??

Not sure if she was cold or just posing...but I love that smile either way!

                                                No...it's not snowing in Florida...the girls are enjoying running through the falling pear blossoms.

Here is the princess hiding under the bleachers at a track meet for Aly and her GA group from church. She had more fun running from one end to the other...ALL DAY!!!

...but when she broke out from under the bleachers...boy did she break out!!!

Why...she looks positively Chinese in this picture!!!!  Make no mistake...she is All American!!!

                                                     This child loves to have more fun than just about anyone I know..she does EVERYTHING with extra gusto...smiling and crying!!!

 Wearing her Great Grandfather's beret with love. So beautiful!!

Field Day with our Homeschool Co-op. Everyone else was having fun playing games and such together...what was Lili doing???  Manning the water spigot and having the time of her life getting SOAKED!!! She had a BLAST!!!!!

Easter Sunday...Aly's Baptismal day. I'll post more pictures of that later.

I love that little smirk she does...she does it all the time and it makes me smile!!!
                                                                           

                                                                                                       My sunshine!                                            

My oh my...look how they are growing

I hope you have wonderful dreams in your princess gowns that Daddy bought you!!!!  You look so beautiful!!!!

We have a recognition night each year at our homeschool co-op. Lili was so excited!! She received a certificate of completion from Kindergarten and also a certificate of completion for the Presidental Physical Fitness program.  This was also BEFORE she got into the blue cake!! :-)

Aly with her certificate of completion from Second Grade and her certificate of completion for the Presidental Physical Fitness program.

And this would be AFTER she got into the blue cake!!!! I think she enjoyed this part of the evening the most!!!!

I don't know how she sits like this...she sits this way at the school table and in the kitchen at the table.  She is usually hanging off of the edge of the stool by her toes. Aly does it too...it must be a Chinese thing!!!

So precious...even without her teeth!!! LOL

Um...this is Bailey (our dog) and Lili. Technically they are not smiling, but they definately are sleeping...okay, so this makes ME smile!!!!  Can you see the dog? I mean seriously...can you see how she is twisted??? She is a nut!!!

My beautiful little 1st grader!!! We were getting ready to go to Co-op and she asked me to take her picture. She had to twist my arm...really hard. I finally gave in and took about 20 along with a video.

     

 Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you.   Isaiah 43:5  

In HIS Mighty Grip~