Prayer Request

Please keep our little Tabitha in your prayers. We were just told that she's in the hospital for an infection (quite common for kids with catheters). They say it's not serious and not to worry. I'm sure she'll be fine, but I'm worried about her being scared and miserable. She's been through enough in her little life already! Please pray that she'll be healthy soon, and that they'd HURRY UP AND PROCESS THE PAPERWORK SO WE CAN GO GET HER!!!

Our pastor's message today was on patience. How fitting. =)

Thanks for your prayers,
Erin & Heath

Cubbie Graduate!

Last night was the AWANA awards ceremony, and Ethan received his ribbon for completing his second year of Cubbies. It's been so neat to see him memorizing so many Bible verses (which he really does remember long term) and to see all that he's learned and accomplished. We're very proud of him!

Travel Preparations

Tuesday we went to the Travel Health Clinic. Boy, was that fun. All the men in the family got shots; I got off easy, because I'd gotten the vaccine several years ago. The boys got the typhoid vaccine in their legs, so the rest of the day and the next they were hobbling around saying their leg hurt. I guess it's a pretty powerful shot. Heath and I get to take pills instead. Heath got the Hep A/B in the shoulder and it left him quite bruised. I think he's recovering though. We also received some very special mosquito repellant which we were told to use the last few days of our trip when we're in southern China. They have some very special mosquitoes there that carry some disease that, in the doctor's words, "it won't kill you, but you'll probably wish you were dead, for several days." Hmmm....I guess we'll be dilligently using the repellant.

This doctor was very thorough and detailed. After listening to all the potential health risks for 45 minutes, it's quite amazing that I managed to live through 3 other trips to China with nary a problem. And, daredevil that I am, I even brushed my teeth with the tap water! But, since we're bringing our kids, we decided it's better to err on the side of caution. Travelling with children is adventurous enough without anyone getting sick!

Meanwhile, we sent a care package to Tabitha for her birthday this month. It included a disposable camera, so we're hoping to get some more pictures of her soon. No news yet on a travel date. A couple of rumors about adoptions slowing down in China have me a little worried. But our little "ticker" on this blog reminded me it's all in God's hands: "Be strong, and take heart, and wait on the Lord." Please pray with us for patience, for Tabitha's health (emotional and physical), and for us to be able to travel no later than September. Thanks.

Memorial Day Fun

On Saturday I took the boys to Middletown park for a Memorial Day "kids parade." It was pretty fun! They even had free ice cream and a clown making balloon animals. I don't think the boys really understand the significance of the day yet, but I tried to explain it at their level, and we put a few things in the donation box for our troops. Thank you to all of you who serve and protect our country. You are much appreciated!

If it ain't Baroque, don't fix it! ;-)

On May 15th, my students had their end-of-year piano recital. This recital had a Baroque theme, so the first half of the recital was all Baroque music. We'd been studying this time period all year, so it was fun to see them perform. Some of them even used the harpsichord! OK, not a real one, but the harpsichord setting sounded pretty close! The non-Baroque pieces were played on a 9' Yamaha grand. We held the recital at a piano store in Frederick, so this was THE BEST instrument we've ever had for a recital! I thought it went pretty well, and I was very proud of all their hard work. It'll be the last recital for awhile. I'll be teaching a few students over the summer, but I'm taking next fall off when Tabitha comes. And since we're still hoping to move one of these days, it'll probably be my last recital with some of these kids. So it was bittersweet, but they did a great job!

Laughter . . . the best medicine

In the last couple posts, I left out some important details about Jesse, so I thought I'd devote this post entirely to him and the ways he makes us laugh.

Yesterday, while Heath is in the shower, Jesse comes down to me holding up his thumb. He has a trail of toilet paper stuck to it, and tells me he has a boo boo. I ask him what happened, and he says he had "the sharp thing." So I go upstairs where his bathroom is covered in toilet paper from his First Aid attempt. He finally explains that he was in our bedroom, trying to "comb his hair" when this happened. I think he meant "cut his hair", because what I found was Heath's brand new razor with a few chunks of Jesse's hair, and several drops of blood on it. (Heath shaves his head, so I guess Jesse thought he'd give it a try while Daddy was in the shower.) The missing chunk of hair isn't all that noticeable, and it's a good time for a short summer haircut anyway. The missing chunk of thumb is slightly more concerning, but he seems to be fine. I guess it didn't hurt him much because he wasn't even crying--just matter-of-factly sharing information about how "the sharp thing" had hurt him. (At least this didn't happen while the social worker was here for our interview.)

We're thankful not to have been arrested for this next one. When we were in DC last weekend with our friends, walking down the lovely tree-lined walkways on the mall, we paused for awhile to let the kids pick dandelions. They were having a blast blowing the seeds around and gathering bouquets, while we 4 adults were standing and talking. Suddenly I looked at Jesse only to discover that he's at a tree, with his pants around his knees, helping to "water" the tree! Of course, being the responsible mother that I am, I yelled at Heath to go get his son. He ran over to him, but I guess Jesse wasn't quite finished because it took an eternity for Heath to get him dressed again! Meanwhile, it probably looked to any passersby as if Heath had encouraged him to use the tree for that purpose. We're not sure if the large group of retired folks down the walk were close enough to see him or not. But I'm sure they had some thoughts about "kids these days" if they did! I blame this one entirely on Granddad, who often takes the boys way out in the woods at their house and allows them to "water" the trees there but must've never told them this wasn't a good idea when visiting the Nation's Capital! =)

Jesse has definitely been the one to keep us on our toes. Fortunately, he doesn't usually get himself into serious trouble; he just adds a little laughter to our lives.

My birthday is always close to Mother's Day--this year it was the day before. That works out really well for getting a whole weekend of pampering! For my birthday Heath and the boys bought me two apple trees to plant at our new land. It was actually Ethan's idea! It was a perfect gift, that I'll enjoy for many years to come! So they presented the trees to me in the morning, and then in the afternoon we went over to the land and planted them. Well, Heath planted, the boys "helped", and I watched. They took me out to dinner, and then we came home for birthday cake they had all made for me. It was a very special day, and I felt well-loved.

Today Ethan woke up at 6:45, and hurried Heath to the kitchen so they could make me breakfast. (Jesse actually slept late today, because he had been up half the night with a cough, which is why I'm home with him instead of at church.) Heath told me this next part of the story later. . . Ethan went outside to pick me some flowers. He was taking awhile, so Heath went out to check on him. He couldn't find him anywhere! As he walked across the driveway Ethan heard his footsteps and popped his head out of his hiding place behind Granddad's tractor (which is temporarily parked here). He quietly pointed up the hill where two big Canadian geese were standing. He had seen them, and he knew geese have a reputation for being nasty, so he quickly hid himself behind the tractor. And to think, he was out there braving the big, bad geese all for me! So, anyway, they brought me my bouquet and breakfast in bed. Ethan had also made me a beautiful card. He's really been so excited about everything this weekend. He's such a sweet and giving person. Jesse makes me feel loved too, although in a slightly different manner. His contribution was to keep waking me (and Heath) up from 3:30 on this morning, to remind me about the 24-hour nature of motherhood. He did sit on my lap and snuggle for a long time this morning though, which is quite a special occasion with such an active boy.

So, I had a very nice birthday and Mother's Day. Thank you so much to all of you who sent cards, emails, and facebook messages to wish me a happy birthday! And Happy Mother's Day to all you fellow moms!