chinese jibberish...

Lucas is cracking me up the past few days.
He likes to pretend he is talking on a phone.

ok
normal kid stuff right?
And sometimes kids will make up non-sense words like they are chatting with the other person on the line.
All good.

Except he has this funny verbage right now that is just making me die laughing.
Maybe this should not be surprising, but he is using chinese jibberish.  He really speaks NO Chinese anymore, and cannot even understand Chinese people anymore.  So this is very funny.  It has intonations and inflections in it that are very Chinese.  I am going to try to get a video and attach it.

Shriner's Appointment yesterday

Yesterday, Lucas and I drove up to Shriners for a PT appointment and adjustment to his prosthesis.  Finally, I think we have a resolution to the non-bending right leg.  They did a few adjustments and then gave us some extra exercises to do.
So beware....I think he will be running very soon with his new legs and the baseball world better watch out, cuz he is determined to play baseball this spring.  (he's a pretty good batter too, so beware of flying baseballs if you come near our house)

Happy Valentine's Day--another new holiday for Lucas to evaluate and figure out.  At our house Peter buys those little cards that you hand out in classrooms, signs them and hides them all over the house.  Each person has their own "themed" cards and we tend to find them for months after Valentine's Day-- in drawers, in pockets of pants, in books, on mirrors, etc.  Lucas is having fun searching for them all over the house.

We are having a little party later with some friends so that should be fun too.

Happy Valentine's Day to all...=)

a Grammy "A War"...

Our house is all a flutter this evening as we are apparently talking about "A War"....
Lucas and I were excitedly chatting downstairs about the Grammy Awards...
We found out Chris Tomlin won a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Christian Music Album  And If Our God is For Us...  Since he leads worship at our church we are all flippy excited for him.
Lucas even called daddy with my cell phone while he was working upstairs to tell him the news.

Now, these are the moments when we realize there are still little gaps in the fine tuning of English 101.

A few minutes later we went to take a bath, and Lucas went into Peter's office.  He was very concerned about Chris.  He told Peter,

"Chris might get injured".  

"He might get shot"

Peter was very confused.  Apparently getting a Grammy is very dangerous???

 He might get killed in "A --WAR"!

"with Army Guys"

The precious boy thought we were talking about Chris being in A WAR...not getting an awarD!!

I think we have it cleared up now.  He should be able to sleep knowing Chris is perfectly safe and happy!=)  and going home with an awarDDD! not going off to WAR!

taxes and tears...

But, not the reason you would think.
Yes, doing taxes makes me cry, but today tears came for a less obvious reason.

We have to file a special form for our completed adoption in 2011.
It should work out in our favor and we are so grateful for this credit.
But, it forced me to go searching through paperwork from our trip.
All the official stuff from China.
I had to dig a little.
I had to sort receipts.
I smiled as I recalled certain aspects of our trip.
And
It makes me want to go back.

But, I never really looked at some of the translated documents before.  And I ran across one that brought tears.

Perhaps this is too personal, but I'm that kind of person.

Maybe someday, I will remove this post, but I just had to share my heart for a moment.
As you might expect there are loads of Chinese documents and most of them are translated into English.  But, I never really read them closely.  However, today I was given the gift of a silent house for about 4 hours while everyone was gone.  I actually looked at them in more detail.  And this paragraph made me cry...the title alone should be enough to "get ya'"

Abandonment Statement

"(his name)SW, male, born Jan. 26, 2004, was found abandoned at (named) Petrol Station, (and details follow about the "where" but I would rather not list all of that) on January 31, 2004.  He was sent to CWI of Chifeng by Policemen of ....(a local Police station) on the same day.  We have tried to find his biological parents more than three months, none of his biological parents or relatives has been found up to now.  SW is proven to be an abandoned infant."

Is this news to me? not really.  But, to see it in print.  To see the details and names of locations and information in an official document, in both Chinese and English is so heart renching to me.  Maybe it is not appropriate for me to post this info. But, it is a hardened fact, that this happens so so so so often.  Not only in China, but all over the world for a variety of reasons.  

Lucas knows his "chinese momma and baba" could not take care of him.  It's just matter of fact for him.  He hasn't really processed it too deeply with us yet.  There will be layers we will have to upack over time.  

But, the sad hard fact is....

he was abandoned.

My sweet adorable precious son

had to be abandoned so that we could welcome him into our family.

Such a boatload of emotions with that.

Guilt being at the top of the list.

But, questions like "why"?

Why did it have to be this way?

I'm so sorry his beginning was so hard.

and

I am filled with such deep gratitude for where we are today.

When he drives me batty with discipline issues like he did this week, I have to take pause.  I have to maintain self-control.  I have to recall the root of the issue.  And I have to call on Jesus to help me through the day.  I have to remember what a precious gift and privelege it is to be called to adoption.  It is NOT any easy road.  There are a lot of unanswered questions.  More come to mind each day, particularly with a verbal child with a conscious memory of his past that changes his stories about what happened there.  

Today I'm overwhelmed with the Greatness of our Sovereign God.  His plans and ways are beyond my simple comprehension. In God's economy nothing is wasted.  All things work together for Good...boggles the mind.

Eph 3:20-21

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Dirt

Well, anyone who has done life with me knows...
If you send kids to Our House, especially during the summer,
or warm weather during the Spring or Fall,
they may get wet or dirty.
It's just a matter of life at Chez J.

So, today, sir Lucas Boy wanted to play outside.
He got the hose out.
He wanted to wash my car.
It isn't quite that warm out, but I think we hit 60 today so maybe that's warm enough---
especially if you can't feel how wet your feet are getting through your soaking wet socks and shoes....

I kept checking on him, but at one point while I was inside (baking bread-really I was checking a lot),
he got into more mud and more water....unrelated to washing the car.

His shoes were completely soaked as well as his socks.
Mud was everywhere.

He was such a boy!!!!
Love that part of the day!
Letting him loose to play!

Typically my response in these situations is
"It's washable"
I learned that phrase many years ago from my friend Anne G.
really
I don't mind dirt and water.
Boys should get wet and muddy.  It's part of the package.

That's been my motto for years.

UNTIL
I moved to Georgia.
What is with this DIRT anyway?

It is just evil.
Once it gets on something it does not come off.
I feel like the mom-that-can't-stand-her-kids-getting-dirty.
I don't want to be that mom.
My neighbor here once said to me last summer as I attempted to garden...
"You know what they say about Georgia clay don't ya?"
me:  "no..".
"They say it's the blood of all the soldiers"
me: "oooo....ok"
not sure how a northerner is suppose to respond to that exactly...(he was sort of chuckling so I think it was suppose to be funny)  but it was an awkward moment...

I do know it's awful to get out of clothing, carpet, and anything it touches.

Where is my good ole Wisconsin dirt?
How can I miss DIRT?

I miss my backyard in WI where we had a creek and places for adventure and creative playtime in the dirt----that was washable.

I guess I'll have to figure this out, but in the meantime, there is still something humorous about a boy getting his shoes and socks completely wet and soaked and being completely clueless about it.  Puts a lot of things in perspective.
I guess I will just deal with the dirt.

"I will tell them a Lion ate my legs!"

Sitting at a Chick Fil A restaurant...
Lucas is eating food...
Then he wanted to go play in the play yard...
ok
But, he noticed the sign that says "no shoes allowed".  Well that presents a bit of a problem..
so
I said, "Let's just take your legs off and you can go play." (another quote that falls into the "things I never thought I'd hear myself say" category from the previous post)
ok
So as we are taking them off he says...
"What if the kids ask me what happened to my legs?"
hmmm
I said,
"just tell them you had surgery"
with a chuckle and all on his own he says:
"I will tell them a lion ate my legs"
I completely cracked up!
Then he reminded me that I told him to say that a while ago.
I had completely forgotten.
It was several months ago as a sort of joke. I think he was still in casts at the time.
But, today he remembered.

So he went to play. Just socks on...which didn't last long...cuz those came off too.

A few minutes later a sweet little girl--maybe about age 6 came out with a puzzled look on her face.
All I could think was "oh noooo, he didn't"....

She went over to her table, within my earshot, where her grandparents were sitting.
She said "He said a lion ate his legs"...
I totally cracked up inside my own head.
But, tossed out a little clarification for the sweet thing....
"Um, I'm sorry, but it's sort of an inside joke for our family..uh hum....he just had surgery"

Was that wrong?
Oh my gosh I cannot stop laughing about this.
Lucas was completely cracking up and thinks it is just the funniest thing ever.

I just know I'm gonna get reported to some PC organization for kids with stumps someday.
Oh my goodness, help me!

Things I never dreamed I'd be saying....

Life in our house is .....well.....interesting.

But, to be honest I reallly don't think about the way we may look to the outside world.  Or what they may think when Lucas's legs get tired and suddenly I find myself walking through a museum carrying 2 prosthetic legs with shoes attached and a punky little boy with no feet trailing behind (well, the truth is, he is usually running ahead of me faster than I can keep up with--yes with no feet).  

It's actually kind of funny sometimes because he is running so fast and then they look at him more closely and kind of furrow their brow and then look at him again and look at me.  Nobody has really actually said anything yet.  Although I've found myself turning the cart once in a while so his legs are tight against me if he is sitting in it with no legs on.  Kids are the ones who really stare and I can see they are ready to "launch" with something.  So far, Lucas is still unashamed and not self conscious about it at all.

I never dreamed I'd be saying things like this on a regular basis...

"Get your legs on!"

"You can't leave your legs laying in the middle of the floor for people to trip over!"

"Yes, when we go out you HAVE to wear your legs.  All of us have to wear shoes when we go to the store, so you need to wear your legs."

life in our house.

entertaining

and

interesting

but 

just 

life

really

not a big deal