My Favorite Valentine Gift

We had some of our usual Valentine's Day fun...heart shaped everything for breakfast, flowers and special cards from Daddy, and a new valentine mailbox exchange between each member of the family. We had a Valentine themed school day, where we learned the history of the holiday and did all kinds of heart math, heart science, and all-about-love Bible learning.

BUT...Mark and I really aren't that big on Valentine's Day.

We don't give gifts (I know, we're boring) and I don't really want flowers (although he did give them anyway). But, we had a great talk with the girls about what makes us forever Valentines.

Or, what we like to call smookies.

Yes, for those who don't know, we actually call each other this crazy awful annoying cheesy name. But, it's become something our kids really "get" and love. So, as we talked about what attributes we saw in each other, and how we KNEW from the beginning God had brought us together as forever Valentines, we summed it up for them like this: The way you'll know when God has brought you His best is by their "smookie-ness". They have to have smookie power to be good enough for you. And, we'll ALL know if he has it or not. :)

So, fast forward past this conversation to four days later, when my biggest Valentine gift came.

It was a special day in our house, and all the dresses were laid out. Matching shoes and headbands and necklaces and nail polish were all selected. And, it was all done in secret.

Daddy knew nothing of the choices yet.

After pulling out the sponge rollers, and tying all the bows, adding pink lipgloss and twirling a few times in my bedroom, they were ready for the great reveal!

It was time for Daddy to see his dance dates for the first time.

And, that is the moment when my Valentine's gift came.

Do you see it?

It's the expression on this sweet face that is my biggest gift of all.

To watch this amazing man twirl my three girls around, and kiss them and tell them how absolutely beautiful they are...

that is my gift.

To watch him pick them up "officially" for the dance and show them the way girls should be treated...

that is my gift.

To watch him share little moments with each of them and treasure them for who God made them to be...

that is my gift.

To see how he recognizes their differences and celebrates their strengths in such a gentle and fun way, where they know they are something special...

that is my gift.

My Valentine sweeps me away when he shows his amazing skills as the Mark Daddy Daddy.

And, when I hear from friends at the dance how sweet it was to watch him treasure his three beauties...

Oh, man, that is my gift.

From the minute I met this guy, and he told me of his years of changing diapers in his mom's home daycare, I knew he would be a great dad. When I watched him play with my baby sister on his first visit to meet my family (who was only 7 at the time!) and make her feel totally comfortable in minutes, I knew he would be a great GIRL dad.

And, now when I watch him smile his proud smile as he shows them off to the world, I am thankful he's the Daddy who is also my partner for life.

Smookie power. It's my greatest Valentine gift ever.

Double Digits

It's absolutely impossible.

How do I have a daughter who just turned TEN?

Our sweet baby Kendyll is now an amazingly beautiful (inside and out) 10 year old, and we have all enjoyed celebrating her entrance into double digits this week!

This pic was actually a self-portrait she took on her birthday, which she probably never thought I would use...but it was so cute, I had to use it. I think her freckles are the most beautiful thing, especially with those Daddy-shaped eyes shining through them.

Kendyll's celebrations actually began with a party she shared with her cousins and baby sister, as we do every year for the February birthdays. This year, we even included Braden in the fun as a late party for his December day. :)

I LOVE cousin LOVE.

It was a fun day full of LEGOS!! Legoland and cheeseburgers and a day of cousin fun helped Avery turn 4, Abby Kate turn 5, Braden turn 6, and Kendyll turn 10! Oh, and scoops of Blue Bell ice cream with candles in the top. :)

And, as always, we sent a little love up to Baby Chase. It never gets old to see the cousins sharing their "I LOVE YOU CHASE" shouts. :)

As soon as Legoland was done, Kendyll's sweet friends met her at the mall for the BIG...I mean BIG event.

The day Kendyll had been waiting for was finally here, after years of anticipating it.

So, the whole party centered around it.

Ear piercing was the event, and accessories were the party favors. There was some major shopping deliberation done over these decisions.

Emma and Kayla study the walls of Claire's...

While Daddy and Kendyll study the case of earring choices...

It was so cute to watch all the girls choose accessories that were so "them"!

Her friends were all "old pros" at the ear-piercing thing, so they gave Kendyll lots of pep talks and helped her through the trauma.

Except when it got too hard to look. Then, they turned their heads, or took off for the back of the store. :)

But, then Daddy stepped in with his comforting kisses, which the birthday girl obviously loved.

And, then it was DONE!!

Our girl looks so old with earrings!!

I was proud of her for waiting patiently for something she's wanted for so long. I know she was ready for this "rite of passage", and she has been so thankful for it.

After mall time, we headed to get pizza at our new FAVORITE place, Pie Five! If you have one near you, you have to try it! You build your own individual pizza and it's SO yummy! It was Kendyll's choice for her bday dinner.

After dinner, we had another amazing treat, made with love by the talented cake-baker, Grandma, herself! I mean, seriously, her cakes are AMAZING. And, she incorporated every detail Kendyll wanted. It was the most adorable cake and was EXACTLY what Kendyll was hoping for!

Lots of candles to blow out this year!

And, lots of wishes made.

Let's just say that her wish this year--which she accidentally shared out loud---was for a certain someone to come HOME soon and join our family!! Okay, it was two someones. Our prayers for our little one(s) never stop, and neither do the birthday wishes. Someday.

Her "wish" inspired some time looking at videos of our trip to Rwanda, at all the precious ones they loved on last summer. She sure loves sharing their faces and their stories with her friends...or with anyone who will listen, really! :)

I LOVE all of these girls so much.

These are Kendyll's lifelong friends--literally--and we have pics of each of them as tiny babies with Kendyll! Their friendships are so sweet, and I kept getting teary all night watching them together. They really have something special, and it's built on such a beautiful foundation. I know they'll have years of supporting and loving each other, and it makes my heart so happy!

Then, after stuffing our faces some more, it was time to get busy! Kendyll had decided on a "dance party" sleepover, and decorated for her friends before they arrived, complete with fishnet gloves and glo sticks.

She made a whole CD of her favorite dance songs, which I'm very proud to say had NO Justin Bieber. We definitely don't have Bieber fever at our house. Britt Nicole, Jamie Grace, Francesca Battistelli, and Natalie Grant are Kendyll's top favorites and the songs she chose for THE dance was a tie between God Girl by Jamie Grace and Glow by Britt Nicole. So, they did a little of both.

{Can I just enter this little opinion here? There are GREAT Christian artists out there for young girls, who are amazing role models and who choose to speak out in a world where they could easily go a different direction and maybe even get greater recognition for it. Great dance songs with great messages that I love my girls taking in. Okay, that's all. Back to the party blog.}

Well, I thought I was back to the party blog. Kendyll just read this, and decided to share the lyrics of God Girl for everyone to enjoy. So, here they are! (pause my music at the bottom first!)

So, after a couple of hours of choreography, they were ready to perform.

They did GREAT! They videoed themselves while we served as an enthusiastic audience. Here they are reviewing the video. They were SO CUTE watching themselves!

By now, it was almost 11. And, the night was still young. So, it was movie time! And, then they STILL stayed up chatting and laughing after that! Needless to say, I took some tired girls home the next day, and I told them ALL to be sweet and kind to their mommies so I didn't get in trouble for keeping them up! :)

I know they were tired, because our girl DROPPED as soon as the last girl was dropped off!

I really don't think I've ever enjoyed Kendyll's birthday party more. Not only are they at such a fun age (and easy age too!), but it's in these ages that we see their true spirit coming thru, and many times throughout her celebration with friends, Mark and I looked at each other and smiled, as we thanked God for who He is making these girls to be.

Her friends are always so sweet about little Chase too, and wanted to send the balloons his way before they left. I am so thankful for such sweet ways he is always remembered by SO many who love him!

And, the fun still doesn't stop! She also got a special birthday lunch with Grandma a few days later, at a fancy restaurant, where she got her very special locket, a keepsake tradition being passed on from generation to generation.

And, on her actual birthday, one week later, we were at ACU Sing Song, Kendyll's favorite!! She got to go shopping in the school store, and got to spend the night screaming for Aunt Cailee and the Siggies!

Check out those Sing Song faces!

We love you, Kendyll Grace, and are SO honored to be your parents. We watch with great anticipation to see what God is doing in your life and through your big, compassionate, enthusiastic heart. We pray, as always, that your life "will be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God"! Happy Double Digits!!

Stepping into the Splashes

This might be a bit of a tangent post. That's just the way God is working in my heart these days.

This morning, the girls and I studied the story of Jesus---and Peter---walking on water, one of my favorite stories. There are so many lessons to be learned in this story, and I was eventually in tears as we sat around the kitchen table talking about it together. Because we have alot of parallels in life right now. And, it just hit me so hard!

I kept coming back to two things.

1) First, the reason the disciples were in the boat alone was because Jesus went away and prayed all night. He had been feeding 5,000 people. And, when He finished, He withdrew. Was it because He needed to be refilled with the power He received from His Father? Did He need time to reflect on what God was doing through Him and give God the credit and the thanksgiving for the baskets of leftovers and the miracles of life that just happened? Did He need time to focus again on what was coming the very next day and what God had planned for Him in it?

It was probably all of that and so much more.

And, I find that when I DO get away...and get focused...and give Him the credit...and find His plan again for my life...

I am so incredibly strengthened.

But, another thing happens too. I start seeing Him moving in crazy amazing ways.

More on that in a minute.

2) The second thing I love about this story is that after the disciples are scared silly at seeing Jesus walking on water, Peter says "If it's you, Lord, that I'm seeing, can I come to you?" And, when Jesus says "Come!", he just gets out of the boat.

On to stormy waves.

When no one else is doing it.

Because all he cares about is being with Jesus and doing what HE is doing.

This last weekend, I spent time with 400 adoptive moms at the Created for Care retreat. And this morning, this story of Peter came alive to me as I thought about their hearts.

Some are walking hard roads right through the stormy waves. Some just stepped out of the boat and took their first step in this walk of adoption. Some are in the middle of waiting and asking "Jesus, can I come to you?"

I felt surrounded all weekend by women just like Peter.

Women who aren't doing what everyone else is doing. But, they don't care. They're focused on Jesus and they're gettin' out of the boat.

I was blown away by the stories and the miracles and the encouragement I got to hear about.

And, I was strengthened for my own dive off the side of the boat.

It was awesome.

Worship. Fellowship. PJ parties. Scriptures brought to life for the first time. Wisdom on everything you can imagine about parenting, and praying, and being an advocate for your adopted child. And, a sea of women who shared the same heart and passion for children being raised in families, and not in orphanages.

It made me ready to jump in and run on the waves to Jesus! Because you know what? That's where Jesus is. He is with the orphaned children, the abandoned and the oppressed. He IS the very heart of adoption.

And, it's so easy for us to sit in the boat and look out at the waves and just see a big old orphan stormy problem that can't possibly be conquered by one little person stepping out.

But, we forget the POWER Jesus has to stop the waves! And, to hold our hand! And, to bring children into families where they belong!

And, this weekend was full of reminders of this for me. Even when we adoptive moms feel discouraged and disconnected and overwhelmed, He is always there. Even when we start to fall and doubt and worry because the waves look so big, He "immediately reaches down and catches us" (Matt. 14:31).

I felt like this weekend was Jesus just scooping me up, and saying "Why are you worried? I got this. Keep walking with me. Trust MY power to calm the storm and heal hurting children."

But, this is the other thing I noticed.

When we withdraw from the busy life (which I very much needed a weekend to do), and spend time seeking His face, He shows us Himself.

And, He doesn't just show us a little bit of who He is. He shows us crazy awesome miracles!!!

I can't share names or stories here...not yet. But, I have been weepy today because I am a front-row witness to FIVE different adoption miracle stories that are happening as I type this blog, some of them even began happening in the middle of this conference! I wish I could tell you every detail, because I just want everyone to know how AWESOME God is when it comes to placing His children in forever families.

He moves the mountains!

And, He does it in His perfect time and His perfect way, so there is no doubt in our minds that He sees and He knows these families and these children.

I feel so blessed. Blessed to have been at Created for Care. Blessed to be experiencing adoption and walking with Jesus on this journey. Blessed to be encouraged by so many brave mommas who have gone before me in adoption. Blessed to know so many sweet families who are waiting alongside us to see what God is doing next. :)

And, blessed to be a follower of Jesus! Who calls us out on the water, but doesn't leave us to walk alone. He calls us out of the boat because He knows what we'll find there: a closer walk with Him and amazing miracles for us to experience!

Here's to stepping into the splashes!

{And, two more little things. 1) Will you join me in praying specifically for my FIVE friends? THANK YOU! I can't wait to show you their precious faces very soon. 2) If you know an adoptive mom or are one yourself, please go register NOW for the Created for Care retreat in March. It will bless you.}