Last Day of School

When I turned my computer on this morning, this picture above is what was looking back at me.  It got me to thinking of how amazingly crazy and awesome this school has been for our family!  How much we have all grown physically and spiritually.  I couldn't have asked for a more awesome school year!

As you know, I started at a new school this year.  I was super worried about how different teaching middle school vs. high school would be, and I was pleasantly surprised!  I loved my students and the people I work for so much that I didn't have much time to think about it being middle school.  I did have some ups and downs this year but over all, it was by far the best year teaching I've had!

At home, well, if you're on Facebook, then you know what's been going on there!  But there have also been some little things that have changed since September that I'm not sure if I have documented!  For example, this morning, both boys had spent the night with a friend.  As you know, Lynleigh is hit or miss when it comes to them and how she feels about their presence.  Well, today, they weren't there and I noticed that she cried a lot more while I was getting ready!  I think she actually missed them but didn't know how to express it!  She is talking so much more.  Most of her words are still gibberish to us but she is passionate about what she says!  Example, yesterday when she and Tony got home, Tony was holding her shoes.  He dropped the shoes on the floor and when Lynleigh saw him drop them, she started pointing her finger "fussing" at him and then walked over and hit him!  Now I know that hitting isn't nice, but it was so funny, I had to hid behind a pillow and laugh! 

And speaking of her shoes, this girl is serious about them!  She likes to choose the shoes she wears each day, which is usually her tennis shoes we got in China.  She is still obsessed with her glittery Toms but unfortunately, they are too small.  She will ask you to put them on her and then carry her because they hurt her feet!  She's such a diva!  Needless to say, we will be buying more Toms after Disney!  And then there's the matter of no shoes.  When we brought her home, she HAD to have shoes on at all time.  I mean, I totally understand!  I like to have shoes on too!  But she's slowly conforming to the ways of the South and will go all day, even outside, without shoes!  It's crazy!

Now to the boys.  They both had amazing years at DeSoto Central schools!  Kaden LOVED kindergarten!!  He had one of the greatest teachers I've ever met and she taught him so much!  I was worried he wouldn't like school but he loves it!  He got perfect attendance this year which is huge because he's our sick kid!  Brady also had a great year!  His teacher was one of the best as well!  We love her and are excited that she will be looping next year so he will have her for 5th grade!  I would have to say his worst moment this year would have been getting strep the second to last week of school.  Brady prides himself on perfect attendance at school and he missed his first day in two years!  Oh well, he'll get back on track next year!

Now, I sit patiently and wait for what ever time the announcement is made that we can officially begin our summer!  We are jammed packed with funness this year!  Disney next week, Texas at the end of the month.  Brady is going to Math and Science camp and we are joining the YMCA for some major pool time.  We are also hoping to move into a new house this summer.  Looks like next school year will be here before we know it...but let's not think about that right now!

Happy Mother's Day to an Unknown Mom

For the past couple of weeks, I have had a burden for a woman with whom I've never met! This Mother's Day has been so wonderful and yet I am sad for this lady who is probably getting no recognition today. You see, in September 2oo9, this woman made the ultimate sacrifice. Because of her decision, I am Mommy to an amazing little girl today. Before we adopted Lynleigh, I had this view of Chinese women that in honesty, was very negative. I thought they were ok with "throwing away" their little girls in an effort to have the coveted baby boy. I thought they did it heartlessly without looking back. And because of my stupidity, I felt like I was doing them a favor by adopting. Since bringing Lynleigh home, I have read several books on the subject and have since learned so much about the Unknown Chinese Mother. These two books have changed my opinion about Lynleigh's birth mom and the many more women hurting because of the one child policy.

Silent Tears is about an American woman who lived in China for four years. In her time there, she volunteered for an orphanage. She tells of the babies who came and went, and by went I meant mostly died. She talked about the families that abandoned the little girls. And she tells about the heart break she endured during her time there.

This next book just about killed me to read. It's a journalists' tale of meeting with the mother's who were forced to kill or abandon their little girls so that the family could try again for a boy. Could you imagine killing your own child? She also opened my eyes to the extremely high numbers of female suicide in China. It's higher there than any other country. Want to take a guess why? Both books are hard to read but yet, I wish I could put one in every set of hands I came across!

Somewhere in this province, there is a mother who is probably crying her own silent tears. She is probably thinking of her little girl that she only was able to hold for a short time. She doesn't know that her palate has been corrected. She doesn't know that her baby is using a breathing machine to help with her asthma...for that matter, she probably doesn't even know she has asthma. And she doesn't know that her little girl has a love for Elmo and Rapunzel like no other. Happy Mother's Day to an Unknown Mother! With out your sacrifice, I would not be the mommy of a sweet, silly, and stubborn little girl! Thank you from the bottom of my heart. You will never know what you have done for our family or how much of blessing you are to us!