"Did Jesus Call You?" (lucas)

Ever have a really close call with a potential car accident?
I'm still coming down off an adrenaline rush.

Lucas and I were down in Atlanta, near our church and waiting at a stoplight.  I proceded when my light turned green and was turning left.  As I was just passing the cars that should have been stopping on my left in the cross traffic a car came careening through the red light he had.  He wasn't even attempting to slow down.  If he had hit me it would have been on the driver's side right where Lucas was sitting.  I barely had made it past and he was already "gone" through the intersection and well on his way.  I heard an attempt at brakes, but I'm not sure it was from him.

My heart just raced and I got all shakey.  I called Peter because he was not far behind me to ask if he saw it, and he said 'no'.  We talked about Jesus protecting me, etc.

So when I got off the phone, still visibly shaken, Lucas started talking about how that would have been an "emergency" and a "car accident", etc.  I said "yes" it could have been bad.  But, that Jesus was protecting us.  He said:

"Did Jesus Call You?"

He thought the call I made to Peter was Jesus...=)

I kind of wish I could just dial up the phone like that.

But, really, I can.  I just thanked him over and over again the rest of the way home for his Provision and Care for us.  

Then when Peter got home I hugged him and broke into tears.  

The thought of something happening to our sweet Lucas boy......blah!!!!  

can't go there...

Psalm 121:3
He will not let your foot slip— he who watches over you will not slumber.

Thank You Jesus!

Did you ever.....look in the mirror....and see....

One of your parents?

I mean really.
Who do you look like?
And do you see a particular parent when you look in the mirror?

For some reason the past few months when I look in the mirror I see my dad.
Particularly in the morning when I wake up and also have no make-up on (thank goodness).
I need some hair coloring right now too which makes me look "older" cuz the grey is showing.  I don't really remember him without grey hair.

My daddy also died 7 years ago and I miss him.  So when I look in the mirror I think of him a lot lately.

I've just started noticing it, and it's a little creepy.  But, in another way it's sort of cool.
My conscious memories of my dad are at about this age.  He was about 40 when I was born and I am now 46.  So, yes it's probably the younger version of him that I remember which I am seeing, but it's still bizarre.  I'm hitting that place where I notice things are not the same on my face (and other places) as they were even a few years ago.  Weird stuff like my face looks like it's falling off my bones.  It's just not like it should be.  I'm beginning to understand the term "face LIFT"...
But, even my eyes, my lips suddenly are starting to look more like him.

This led me to another thought.

When Lucas looks in the mirror at an older age, who will he see?  I'm not sure if he will wonder or care. He has not made any comments or asked any questions like that yet because I'm not sure he really understands yet how all of that works.
Once he starts to really hear people say things like "you look like your mom" or "You have your daddy's eyes"...will he notice? and will it make a difference?
We will deal with it at that time, but all these sightings I've been having in the mirror just made me think about that.
Another unanswered piece of his life.
And then I grieve just a little more for him.
Maybe if I grieve these things for him now, he won't have to go through it later...  that's how it works, right???  
ha
(double ha)

So, when you look in the mirror....who do you see?

Lucas's 8th Birthday Party

Today was the big party for sweet Lucas boy's 8th birthday.  It was a Firetruck themed party.  I'm starting with the construction of the cake, last night because I want to remember how I did it and put notes here if anyone else wants to make one...He loved it and that is really all that matters.

The Firetruck cake under construction...

Per Lucas's request a white cake recipe.  

One 11X15 sheet cake. 

Frozen for a few hours. 

(finally learned that trick)

 Cut it into thirds.

One end cut off one of the pieces and set on top of first piece.

The third piece cut in 1/2 and set upright for cab.

assembled.

 Put a crumb coating in dark pink the night before and put it back in the freezer till morning.

This is when I was so frustrated with the "pink" frosting I was getting.  I made it the night before hoping it would be darker by morning, but no luck.  Then I added more coloring in the morning it still looked pink.

 I added so much Wilton red gel food coloring, I felt like something was wrong.  I finally looked online and I learned that you should really use white Crisco not the butter colored one.  And if you use all shortening instead of butter/shortening it may hold up better. 

But, alas, I had to move forward with what I had (butter used and butter flavored crisco) 

so it started out dark "pink".  argh~

The picture doesn't quite show the "pinkness". But, it was frustrating.
Used metal spatula and warm water to smooth surface.

 Piped on the details and smoothed with spatula.

 Lucas woke up at this point, so he got to see it before it was finished.  He was shocked that his cake looked like a firetruck.  He LOVED it!  That's all I cared about!

 As the day wore on, the coloring got darker....I was very happy.  Lucas added the Dots gum drops for lights and sirens and a pile of them right in the middle for some reason..=)

Kids arrived for the party and played for a little while, then we went outside for a Bucket Brigade...
filled bucket with water and passed down the line to put out the "fire" in the plastic box at the end of the driveway.
Then last person took bucket to beginning of line and got to fill with hose. repeat.

 Then came the Firetruck Pinata....

 Lucas was excited to open gifts next so he did.

We ate hot dogs and then came the cake.  By now it was definitely RED!  yeah!   When we sang to him he sang along...=)  it was really sweet!  He wore his "emergency" vest that he had just gotten...

That's one big piece of cake for an 8 year old...he didn't eat it all, but it was fun to call it his own...

I think it was a good birthday for the boy.  He is now in the bathtub surrounded by Mr. Bubble bubbles he got and painting a firetruck on the wall with bathtub markers he also got today.  We will end the day with a little shrimp feast and head to bed.

We love you Lucas!

 Happy Birthday!

"I'm Eight??? Right Now???"...

Yesterday was a big day for our boy.  He turned EIGHT....FINALLY!!!!

Just a brief backround as to why this birthday is such a big deal.

First, we don't think he has ever celebrated a birthday before.  And if he did, it was probably a shared experience.  The reasons are many, but one of them could be they just may not know all the birthdays at the orphanage, so they need to keep things even for all the kids.  To have one child celebrate and others not would probably cause a problem.  Also, Lucas did not know his age when he came to us.  It seems it was just not discussed.  So this is a little part of his identity that he can now latch on to.

He has been asking about his birthday ever since he went to other birthday parties way back in the Spring of 2011.  Trying to explain the months of the year, and how time needed to pass, was at first a big challenge.  Since we got him in March..his birthday had passed just 2 months prior so it was a long wait.

Since we are having an actual party tomorrow with kids and friends here we will have cake and stuff then. But, we started the day with opening presents ...

 Lest you doubt...there ARE still firetrucks the boy did not own....

  and a Playmobil Skate park to add a little variety...

 This camel came from our trip to China...

 Cars 2 movie...

 and then on to Krispy Kreme Donuts...who needs cake when there is Krispy Kreme???

I thought the boy was going to explode with glee.  He was perfectly satisfied to substitute Donuts for Cake!!

We bought 2 dozen because we intended to share withs some friends, but that didn't work out so now we have a LOT of donuts in our house.

Yesterday he ate FIVE!  Not sure I will let him keep up that pace but for his birthday..why not?

GA Aquarium with Sanders and Olivos...
Just happened to be an extra special day because we got a homeschool behind the scenes tour in addition to the already very cool aquarium...

 is little B. not the cutest thing ever???

 Lucas took this pic of the Tiger Shark

 My friend Jenni

 A little Behind the Scenes tour...

 little Jake and Lucas...

When we got home there was a Package for him from grandma and Aunt Linda and Uncle Paul.  It was the Playmobil Firestation.  I thought the boy was going to jump out of his skin.   He was giddy.   Isaac watched as he opened it and just laughed.

Then Lucas got to pick the restaurant for dinner...and the winner is....FireHouse Subs! ... of course!! (no pics sorry)

We took Isaac to work, daddy was working late, so Lucas and I spent about 2 hours assembling the firestation.  (probably would not have taken that long if daddy had been here..lol)

 The evening was topped off by a little Andy Griffith Show and a chocolate shake with whipped cream on top.

Right before bed Lucas said...

"I'm Eight??? 
 Right Now???...."

 and grinned from ear to ear.
I think the reality has set in...

He has been waiting a long time for this day. And now it is here.  He can proudly say 

"I'm Eight"!