The County Fair

I wasn't sure this day would ever come, but I finally feel that I can manage these three beauties in places like the county fair when I am flying solo.  Because of this, I headed there last Saturday with the three littlest girls, the wagon, and a packed lunch.  It was in the lower nineties most of the day so it was hot, but the girls did so well, and we had a great time!

 There was a barn with lots of farm animals.  This is great for Molly as I am working hard to try to build her vocabulary.  She saw many, many creatures to connect to her words.  These experiences are so language building for her if only she could hear better in these crowded environments.

 Darling!

 There was a huge sandbox made with bales of hay in the corner of the barn.

 The girls played for an hour.

 It was HOT, and this little one consumed nearly 32 oz of lemon shake up all by herself.  She is her momma's girl.

 It was a large cotton candy for this one. :)

 Most of the day was free, and the girls enjoyed every minute!

 This is the first time that Anna Mei wanted to go on rides.  Everyone enjoyed them!

 Bumper boats were a hit with Jilly.

 I think Molly may be a mad, crazy driver.

 Anna Mei stayed near the side away from the bumping.

My littlest baby was on the front of the train and got to pull the string to ring the bell.  I am not sure she heard it as she kept searching for what pulling the string was doing, but she was all smiles!  It was a beautiful day.  I enjoy these babes so much.

A Special Trip

Have you ever gotten to be a part of something that is just so special you wish it could last forever?  Well, last weekend my man, who is a youth pastor, performed the wedding ceremony for a young woman whom we absolutely love like our own.  It was such an immense honor to walk alongside this young woman in her teens.  We have stayed in touch despite moving out of state, and so we have a deep, deep love for her.  The littles were so excited to attend their first wedding!  This was totally a JOY for Anna Mei as she is so social.

This young woman, whom Sean performed the wedding for, was a huge part of our lives when we brought Anna Mei and Jillian home.  We did life together with this special girl on a regular basis so seeing her marry a Godly, young man who is so in love with her was such a wonderful feeling.

Amber invested in my Em so much too in those days.  Emily was about eight when she started having dinner with us once a week.  She would do homework next to our little girl, who is now grown, and play games with her all night.

Molly was happy to meet everyone as this was her first large gathering of our friends from back home since she has joined us.  She fit right in.

 It was such a sweet night to celebrate and reconnect.  My girls danced and danced.

Anna Mei, loved reconnecting with our friends the most.  This girl is so wired for relationship.  She loves so deeply with such a beautiful heart.  She talked about how beautiful the wedding ceremony was for days.  She kept calling the groom..Amber's boy.  "Why Amber's boy...." she would say when asking about the night.  It was darling.

She loved seeing her big Anna most.  Anna (the big one), and her amazing mom, were with me in China when Anna Mei was placed in my arms.  Anna Mei is named for her, and my little Chinese treasure loves her with all her heart so seeing her big Anna always makes her happy.  I sat looking around and feeling so very blessed to have so many special people in my life.  What an incredible trip for an amazing union.

Our Jillian reconnected too as these were her people in the beginning.  These were the friends who saw her so broken and near death.  She was so isolated, and in darkness, but they loved, supported, and prayed for us as we worked to win her heart.  It was beyond hard in those early months, but this village was always, always what we needed.  I left this weekend sad to not have them so close, but so very thankful that God allowed them to be near in that season that was so very hard because they were Jesus hands and feet to me again and again.  I will be forever grateful for that, and for this weekend!

Bloomsbury Farm Fun

We had a dear friend from back home send us a gift for family fun.  It is such a blessing to be loved by so many.  We treated the girls to the Bloomsbury Farm which is one of their favorite places on earth.  It was such a blessing to enjoy all the activities with my littles, and to have Molly here for the first time.

 The jumping pillow is Anna Mei's absolute favorite activity!  Molly Kate agreed with her!

 We made precious memories as this girl is growing up so much now that we have a new baby home!

 Fun!  Fun!  Fun!

 This sensory seeking girl loves this farm.  Running, sliding, and digging in corn/hay is a perfect combination for a fabulous day in her book.

 This little one loved the hay too.

 The corn box.  It is a giant crib full of kernels that come up to my waist.  Need I say more?  My Jilly billy is in heaven here!  She couldn't wait to get to the corn!

 More corn silliness!

 Daddy was off on Thursday when we visited so Jilly had Daddy to herself.  The littles weren't going to slow her down.  She hardly left the corn!  She would walk a corn field for hours.  It is so peaceful for her to just walk among the stalks.

 This little one walked all. over. that farm, and tried out just about everything.  After a few hours of walking and playing, this little lady was worn out!

 Her legs are getting so long that the little slides don't slide much anymore. :(

 I am surprised that Molly liked the corn as she is not a fan of the rice tent or bean bin at our house.  She did, indeed, have a go at playing in there though, and smiled!

More corn for Jillian!  Seriously, the girl could be found in the corn box or the corn maze most of the day, but she was so, so happy.  She tried the slide once, and liked it, but the corn is a LOVE.  I love this farm!  I am grateful for the gift we received that allowed us to visit!  Thank you for your love and thoughtfulness Connie!  It was a wonderful, family day!

Pumpkin Soup Making Sensory Play

I set up a fun sensory table the other night in the backyard.  I scooped out a pumpkin, and set the seeds and guts in a bowl.  I then added shakers full of sand, squirt bottles of water, dirt, leaves, grass, and water to our table.  I had lots of ladles, spoons, and bowls for mixing too.  Then, I invited the girls to create their own version of pumpkin soup.  It was a huge mess and wonderful fun!

 Jillian was not at all sure about the pumpkin, its guts or seeds, for a long while.  Eventually though, she was right in there with her sisters.

 I only had one shaker for sand.  My natural inclination would be to provide three to erase any fighting, but having one was wonderful for practicing language, turn taking, and sharing.  The shaker was a favorite, and the girls were so cute shaking sand in their soup.

 I know I keep saying it, but you wouldn't even know this little lady has a hand special need.  She does everything her sisters do, and sometimes she is even better at it despite being two.

 Sometimes, soup was created inside the pumpkin.

 Other times, the soup was mixed in some bowls I provided.  Anna added so many natural elements to her soup.  She is quite the chef.

 This girl watched and watched her sisters with this shaker.  She loves shaking sand, and I could see she wanted a turn.  Then, without any prompting from me, she signed my turn.  I was thrilled.

Here she is overcoming her fear of the pumpkin and adding the guts to her soup.  She was great with the tongs.  Jillian loved showing these pictures of our play to her teachers, and she has signed "pumpkin soup" to ask to play this again most every night.  We will be getting more pumpkins as this game made our special treasure very, very happy.













Just watch Molly use the ladle to get water and dump it in Jilly's bowl..

After her sisters had moved on to playing in the hose with Daddy, Jillian was even using her hands in the pumpkin guts.  My she has come so very far!  My heart overflows watching her!

On the Pumpkin Farm

 Daddy and Em were gone for the day visiting a local Bible college so Grandma and I took the littles to the pumpkin farm.  Today friends is a day that my heart looks at my girls and gives abundant thanks to God for the great, giant sized joy they fill our hearts with.  They are incredibly wonderful and I just can't imagine my life without them!

 Anna Mei is growing so much.  She is turning into a big girl right before my eyes.

 This little punkin is so adorable exploring everything for the first time and loving every single minute.

 Jilly really enjoys lots of activities at the farm.  She loved climbing on the piles of pumpkins.  I can't honestly believe how easy life is for this girl these days.

Her second Halloween home, we had to leave the pumpkin farm we visited because she was melting down and terrified of everything.  She is such a miraculous thing!  I just never dreamed all those years ago when her little heart was so broken that she would be able to live life so fully.

 How I love them so very much..these two adorable little girls were so made to be mine.

 Getting all three to look at the camera is next to impossible, but still I try.

 The whole way there, this big girl signs "corn, in, walk"!  Jilly LOVES her some corn so the corn maze is one of her favorite activities!

 She also loved pulling her sister's wagon.

 Her first apple cider donut.  Oh my heart, she is so adorable!

 More donut goodness was to be had by my dear four year old.

This face is pure joy and I rejoice that she is here enjoying fall with us for the first time!