Wednesday, January 4th

Taking all the ornaments off of the tree this morning went much faster having three helpers. Isaiah is actually really good at very fine motor skilled activities (but is behind in some larger motor skills), which I think is interesting. Before we got started I found the boys having lined up my Christmas bins with the ottomans doing whatever you call this!

I had an hour-long battle with the souls of two of my children today (and one of them was not from Africa!) - for separate reasons but at the same time. I sat at the table with them (part of it was during snack time) and prayed that Abram would submit and that Jesus would make a way for me to reach/connect with the other. Thankfully, both happened after an hour. Whew!

I guess I hadn't looked at the weather forecast when I wrote my last post and thought the cold weather was here to stay. I'm glad I was wrong! We went to the park this afternoon after nap time. The girls gave the boys under-doggies on the swings which was another fun "first" for this mom of older adopted kids. 

I could see the Loveland kids in their backyard from the park so on our way home, we stopped by to say hi and then stayed to play for awhile. It was really fun to see all of them playing together. Claire, especially, has a fond affection for the other kids coming from C, which is such a joy to see. Before we left, I watched as she made sure to hug or hi-five all of the kids to say good-bye. I love her beautiful heart.

Isaiah had a great time playing but when that child does not smile, he really does not smile!