Fun On The Fourth

Somebody had the fabulous idea of decorating the limo and entering the 4th of July parade in our small town. Yep, that was me because that is the kind of stuff memories are made of.

The parade crew. I didn't get the memo about dark on the bottom. 

Guess I have my own fashion rules. :)

 During the parade line up I started to worry a little about Micah-do.

Maybe he wasn't feeling well. It took me a bit to figure out that Micah was overwhelmed with the crowd, the parade, and mostly not understanding exactly what was happening. We haven't seen this trauma behavior for a long time.

 Trey was loving every minute of it!

 When two 18 year olds WANT to march in the parade, it's a good day.

 The master minds, limo owners, cutest-grandparents-ever.

 The land of the free.

 The limo with flags flying.

  The little boys hung out the windows....

while the rest of us walked.

 Our very own newest American.

 The head.

 And the bum-per.

 Brothers of epic proportion.

 After Micah disappeared into the dark interior, 

I moved him up to the front seat for some grandmother TLC.

 We had a good time. Can't imagine doing this life without him.

 What a good sport.

 She helped Joshua and made sure he didn't fall out his side of the car.

 Cheers.

 The pop seems to barely be touching the surface.

 Grandma was loving it though. Micah wouldn't even 

give her the time of day for the first two years of his life.

 We got a bunch of hats at the Army Surplus store.

 Cuteness.

 Jaunty.

  Gorgeous.

 Happy.

 I have a penchants for numbers and couldn't believe that our registration # was 23. 

23 is my birthday, my oldest daughter's birthdate, one of my son's birthdate. 

Cool beans.

 After the parade and a wonderful lunch at Grandma's house, 

the little boys didn't want A to leave.

 i"m often asked if these sisters are twins. To me, they are so different.

 Next stop, the annual barbecue at the campground 

followed by a brass band concert and ice cream.

 Having a good time!

 Mr. G. couldn't keep his toes from tapping when the marches started.

 At the end of a very full day, this was the best I could get.

 On the way home, we were blessed with a 

magnificent hole in the clouds that lit up the sky.

Redefining Home

Drum roll.....for my first ever give-a-way on Peterson Ponderings. 

Thank you to all who introduced themselves.

 I was excited to meet you AND I got to visit some new blogs.

Super excited.

What can I say? I don't get out much.

To choose a winner, we used the extremely scientific method.

A very tired teenager held the bag with the names.

And since the book is about China, 

perhaps the Chinese contingent should draw the name.

The winner is Jean! Aunt Jean, if you would like a copy of Carrie's book Redefining Home, leave me a comment with your address (won't be published) so that I can forward that information to Carrie and she will get your book right out to you.

While we are on the subject of redefining home, it occurred to me that it might be time to move. Or at the very least, use the strategy of stripping a room completely and put back only what you need. I declare a clutter war. In honor of this declaration, you get to see what I found in my bedroom while cleaning this weekend.

Two very large bags of 3T and 4T clothes. 

Girl clothes waiting to be looked at. 

They might come in handy one of these days.

An ironing board from my childhood and a broken fishing pole.

Just to prove that we are well rounded, on "someone's dresser" you will find a stud-finder, box of nails for a nail gun, a painting and musical instrument from Mali, Africa, figurines from Haiti, and the American flag, from America of course, all sitting on a broken IBM Thinkpad from late last century.

I have four daughters and am plagued with the phenomenon of hair elastics showing up everywhere and anywhere in every single room of our house. How does this happen?

My current bedside stack of books. No NEW ones since my bookfast began unless you count the one that was a gift and the library book.

Blessed indeed to have one of these in my window.

On my dresser is an assortment of sanitizing equipment that went to China last summer and has been sitting there unused ever since. Think what you want!

Isn't she a beaut? On the other end of my dresser, is my VERY-OWN-TOOLBOX. With my very-own-tools that you shalt not touch. I got that for Christmas and am quite protective of it.

Every room needs one of these little odd size closets.

You know, the kind that you shove everything you don't ever need but think you might want some day? Then you close the door, quick!

Oh, lookie here. What is all that under my bed.

A pile of original artwork belonging to the one who has left home. We racked our brains where to store it. Under our bed was the only guaranteed child-proof place. So far so good. If she doesn't take it soon, I may start hanging it on the walls. :)

The miscellaneous and sundry shows up here and there: half of an Easter egg, a hair band, and a refrigerator magnet. Can you explain that? Yeah, me neither.

Last but not least was the collection of children's books I gathered up. Micah loves to read books at nap time and I happily oblige that habit.

What do you think? Time to move out and start over?

Pictures of the Week 7/1-7/7

Taking a picture every day has been so much fun. 
Halfway through and going strong.

 Touch A Truck

183 / 365

Joshua was thrilled to "drive" a big rig, climb on a fire engine,

 sit in a school bus, and push the siren button on the police car

....continuously!

  Regional Hershey Track

184 / 365

Cora ran the 400, the 200, and did her very best. 

She was in the younger half of her age group so next year promises big things!

Hiding

185 / 365

When the kids yell, "Mom, bring the camera," you know it's going to be good. 

The youngest always gets the best part, doesn't he?

  Grandparents + Limo + Parade

186 / 365

My Fourth was complete!

  Science 101

187 / 365

Today's discovery was a snakeskin. 

No one is too terribly squeamish around here.

Fancy Boy

188 / 365

Had to be there! Micah wears the girlfriend's hair nicely. 

The Fresh One

189 / 365

She knew I was trying to take her picture. 

Adorable, beautiful, gorgeous...shall I go on?

For Sandra

Every time I came across these pictures, all I could think of was

 On the Eastern Journey, a blog about Americans living in China. 

  Sandra, some things are universal.

African American, Caucasian, Indonesian.

You must know your family is held close to my heart for all sorts of reasons!

Throw in a little Chinese for fun!

Yellow vehicles come in all shapes and sizes. 

Runs better in jammies I guess.

We Have A Girlfriend

In honor of our Old Home Week Celebration, our town has a concert every evening. Last night was a group offering traditional Irish, Scottish, and American folk songs.

 They did not disappoint. I loved the drum the best.

 We sat outside on the lawn.

A beautiful night. 

Cloudy but that kept the temperature at comfortable shirt sleeve weather.

 Grandpa shared his popcorn.

 The girlfriend came over to hang with the crowd for the night.

 I HEART her.

She is great with the kids. Amazing since she is alone at home with a couple of older brothers. I admit not everyone eases into our crowd as well as Allison.

 And her red hair....was a hit last night.

 Stylin' and then some.

Oh my!

Happy that Jerrod has found a fantastic girl to hang out with.

PS. Since she likes our family, we get to see more of Jerrod. 

Double bonus. :)

Fourth of July - Part 1

Our Fourth of July began at camp where we attended a very special flag raising. Because the weather hadn't decided what it was going to do yet, we had the ceremony under the tent near the flagpole.

As we said the pledge of allegiance I instructed the boys to put their hands over their hearts. Naturally, Joshua put his left hand over his heart and like a dummy I corrected him. Of course, he did because his heart is on his right side. Some day I will get it right and let him be...

Bob and his mother had a moment during the prayer. The flag had been on my father-in-law's casket for his service in the navy.

A wonderful way to honor a good man.

After the ceremony we were primed and ready to march in our small town parade.

Don't forget to enter in my giveaway here and take a moment to say hi.

A Give Away AND Who Are You

Jumping on the bandwagon of giveaways today in honor of 50,000 hits.

 Because it is so-so easy to give somebody else's book away!

Click Here To Find Out More

Carrie is as generous as they come. I won this book from her BLOG which is definitely worth reading. 

And now she has offered to allow me to give her book away here.

Carrie is a Christ follower and thinks out loud in the best possible way. She offers insight and perspective that is flavored from the worldview of an American woman living with her family in China, her multicultural-built-through-biology-and-adoption family.

I enjoyed reading her book (she published a cook book too which comes in handy for feeding Joshua some down-home Chinese food, down-home like what you find in China) because I don't want to "fit into this world." My biggest take-away here was the insight of how the Chinese learn and some cultural tips that helped me understand my son better.  The second gift was learning once again that truly, home is where your heart is. Right?

Statistically, it appears that I will hit 50,000 page views on my blog today or tomorrow. About 100 generous-with-their-time/curious people visit here every day.

May I kindly ask? Who are you?

A  lady friend of my mother-in-law stopped me in the warehouse store to visit and tell me how she enjoyed my ponderings. How sweet!

Ok, family stops by. Because I am a horrible letter writer/phone caller/etc, if they want to know, here you go.

If you would like a copy of Redefining Home, would you kindly leave me a comment. And while you are at it, introduce yourself. Say hi. Ask a question. I'd love to meet you!

We will draw a name on Sunday, July 8th.

Grieving The Leaving

While not my intent to invade anyone's privacy, it is no secret that Miss R has been with us for 3 out of the last 4 weeks. Our usual schedule has been one weekend a month giving us a chance to check in and support her family in lots of ways.

Unfortunately, this time the situation meant....a family in crisis.We all have them, the tough times. How we handle those bumps in the road, well that looks different for everyone.

As life on the other end got straightened out, the time came for Miss R to go back. 

Suddenly we found ourselves in familiar territory except this time without government agency support.

When it came time for her to go, the leaving felt oh-so familiar.

Emotionally, I checked out a few days before. I hate that about myself. We each preserve those inmost feelings our own way. I recognized the pattern from past experience when we reunified foster kids with their parents. It's super hard to say good bye even in the best circumstances. 

Micah refused to say good-bye to his sister. Broke my heart. 

New boundaries have been set.

The unknown future held in prayer.

I made mistakes and learned a lot.

And I would make them again

In a heartbeat.

 If you asked me.