We are heading on VACATION!!

Myrtle Beach, SC here we come!!

I am so blessed to be a Mother!

Me and my boys!!

This is a picture of my mom on her favorite day of the year, Christmas Eve!!

Instead of making this mother's day about me I wanted to make it about the reason I get to celebrate this special day, my children! My two boys are the light of my life and life's biggest joy!

Being a mother is the best opportunity for me to become aware of my own values and how I want to be in the world so I can teach that to my children. This past year has been full of soul searching for me. God continues to challenge me and to amaze me, I am learning so much every day just by keeping my eye on "The Prize" (eternal life in heaven with my Father)! I read once that a parent's objective should be to consciously train their children to act unconsciously in line with the family values when it comes to making decision and how to be in the world. I find the easy part is telling them what those values are the hard part is teaching them and showing them how to live with those values at all times. I fail so often and expect them to as well, but we continue to grow and to learn and never lose site of the Truth, if we know the Truth we can always do better. So on this mother's day I relished in being a mom and thanked my Father for entrusting these children to me for the short time that they are on this earth. This parenting adventure is a threesome; myself, my husband and God and that is just the way I like it!

Mother's Day is always bitter sweet to me. I lost my mother to cancer in 1996, when I was 24 years old. She was the most beautiful women I ever knew. I owe all that I am to her, she was a wonderful example of how a mother should be. She was the most selfless and caring person I have ever known (besides my father, he was undeniably, truly selfless). My mother was ALWAYS there for me, always! She was funny, strong-willed, a great listener, fun and a bit crazy. Many people that knew her tell me am a lot like her and I take that as the best compliment I could get. I am so grateful that I was blessed to be the daughter of Patrick and Peggy Hankey, even though I miss them so much and would LOVE to see then with my children, I have never felt cheated by their passing because their lives were so full and I got so much from them that lives on through me and can live on through my children! I love you mom!!

As for the other blessing in my life this Mother's Day; my wonderful mother-in-law, Maryann, one of the best gifts God has ever granted me! She reminds me a lot of my mother yet they are very different as well. She is such a great example to me and raised a wonderful man that I was lucky enough to marry! I could not ask for a better Grandmother for my children. To all you mothers reading this, hope you had a wonderful mother's day and may God bless you and the wonderful job you do!

Has Spring sprung??

It sure feels like Spring has sprung and we are soaking it up as I am sure you all are too. I love not being trapped in an office on days like today! My boys are at great ages, still young enough to love any type of adventure but old enough that I do not have to be on top of them at all times. Carter has 5 weeks of school left, 5 weeks!!! Two days after school is out we are heading for a family vacation to Myrtle Beach. We are so looking forward to starting the summer off with a long trip to the beach!

I spent a couple of weekends ago on a scrapbook retreat. I absolutely love these retreats, they are so relaxing; no cooking, cleaning, wiping butts or whining! This time I went with my sister-in-law, Julie (who I also call a wonderful friend) and my dear friend Jill. When we planned this trip, we invited several other women but we were the only ones that could go. It was very clear to me that God put the three of us there so that we could share and grow together. I love those women and am so grateful for what they bring to my life!

We are still moving forward with the adoption of our daughter, today we sent out a form called the I-600A to the Department of Homeland Security. This is the form that will allow us to bring our daughter to the US. It will still be a year or more until she comes home but with each step we are getting closer.

Easter this year was so much fun, the first year since Carter was born that he did not have his winter coat and hat on! But this year, the true meaning of Easter resonated with me like never before. Here is some of what I learned at church this Easter Sunday: As we celebrate Easter as the day of salvation, I ask you, "are you asleep?" Jesus' sacrifice on the cross for us and his Resurrection signify the first day of salvation but prophesy says there will be a second day of salvation. Jesus went first on Easter Sunday over 2000 years ago so that everybody who belongs to him can go next. Paul says, "wake up, for the day of salvation is almost here and it involves you." Can you sense the urgency??? Paul also tells us how to live in anticipation, "remove your dark deeds like dirty clothes and put on the armor of right living." As I ask myself, "Am I asleep, I ask you are you asleep?"

Thoughts to ponder!!

Busy Spring Break Week!

Last week was spring break here and as usual we had many things planned. Last weekend we went to Wabasha to the National Eagle Center. It was a beautiful day hang out by the Old Mississippi! After spending some time watching the Eagles we went to a toy store near by called Lark Toys. It is a huge toy store with some really neat homemade toys and an awesome hand-carved wooden carousal inside to ride. The best part was that both of the boys each picked out a toy that was under $10! We spent the beginning of the week doing things around town that Carter had been missing out on being in school all day. On Wednesday we went to the Children's Museum in St. Paul and to Chuck-E-Cheese! There were a few times during the day that Ty and I looked at each other and realized that some things are getting easier with both of the boys getting older. Just in time to add another little one to chase after. I guess we will have this next year or so to sit back and watch. Of course with all of that comes the fighting that they seem to be doing a lot lately. Thursday we went swimming and Friday we spent at hanging out at home and relaxing. We will end our spring break with a trip to a local lamb farm tomorrow to see some baby animals. And we spent a lot of time getting wet and muddy as most of the snow melted this week. Now I am exhausted and looking forward to a normal week but I will miss Carter the first couple of days he is back at school.

On to adoption news, we just found out that the wait time has increased by 2-3 months, that does not seem like much but when you are already waiting well over a year, it is a lot but to be expected . For those of you wondering, the potty training is going well, a couple things to work out but I so proud of the strong-willed little boy!

Hope you all enjoyed your spring break now bring on the SUMMER!!

Happy Mail

On Friday, in the middle of a very frustrating potty training session, we got a wonderful surprise in the mail. It was a large package full of the most wonderful items from Korea. Most of the little things Ty bought when he was there but did not tell us about. There were tea cups, magnets, art work, a beautiful little mirror for our daughter, 2 hello kitty dolls, coasters, and an authentic Korean outfit for each of us made by his friend's wife. After Griffin and I opened everything, he was playing in the box and he peed in it. He had not peed in the toilet yet despite our morning of tying, so I decided if I cannot toilet train him I can litter train him!

Check out the pictures of our new beautiful treasures!

Happy Korean Day!!

Yesterday was Korean Day. Since we are soon going to be a multicultural family with a beautiful Korean daughter, we decided to start some Korean traditions now. Ty brought a few things home for us from his trip to Korea last week. He got us a really nice set of chopsticks with Korean writing in them and a beautiful tea steeper. His friend's wife in Korea is making us each a traditional article of Korean clothing so we are excited to get those. I made sticky rice (it really is different than the minute rice we eat) and it take 30 minutes to make. I also made some Korean barbecue beef and veggies. We made a small table to place in the living room, all of the books about Korean tradition say people eat at short tables and sit on the floor. Ty informed me that anytime he has been in a Korean home for a meal they eat at at dinning room table like we do. What fun would that be, so we ate in the floor with or beautiful new chopsticks. Our boys have never eaten with chopsticks so it was very fun for them to experiment. Ty took a couple of photos he had from Korea and blew them up and taped them up so we could look at the "view" while we ate. I thought it was a great idea. We ended the meal with tea, how cute are the boys with those tiny tea cups?? After that we read a couple books about Korea and checked out Carter's awesome globe to get more information. We also tried Korean wrestling, very funny!!

It was a very fun event, the only thing missing was our little girl! We have decided to try and do different cultural events at home every once in a while so next with be Spanish night (thought I would start easy).

A Quick Update

God is so good, he has really transformed my relationship with Griffin. I have such a peace about mothering him now and he has been such a good boy. Even when he has challenged me in the past few days it was no big deal, not like before where I would get all stressed and upset. We are looking so forward to Ty coming home tomorrow, YAHHH!! I am a bit nervous with all of the snow we are supposed to get, go figure, he was gone over a week and it snowed twice, the day he left and the day he gets home. I am very lucky that I do not have to bring the kids with me to pick him up, again thanks to my good friend Jill (love that girl). It will be really nice to spend some time alone with my husband even if it is white knuckling it all the way!

Hope I can sleep tonight!