catching up: new year's eve & the {not} birthday party

New Year's Eve

I was actually awake this year to see the ball drop and the clock hit midnight. My hubby loves to tell everyone that he usually has to wake me up at midnight. That hasn't always been the case, but I guess I've become a tired mamma over the past few years! I don't have anything too exciting to report from the evening, but for the sake of the Grandmas, I'll share a few pictures...


We did do the "balloon countdown" that you may have seen floating around a few places. You write down some fun (and simple) things for the kids to do on strips of paper and put those inside balloons. You then write times on the balloons and every hour on the hour, the kids get to pop a balloon and do an activity inside. It was a fun way for them to countdown...

"sing your favorite song with your eyes closed"


"paint with shaving cream"



Some other things...call grandparents and wish them a happy new year, eat an ice cream sundae, read a book in front of the fire, color a picture with your left hand and dance to your favorite song! The balloons only went to 10pm and the girls had a great time with this! We, too, had a fun night with friends playing games, laughing and ringing in the new year together - awake!


the {not} birthday party
We love to make a big deal out of birthdays around here! This year, we were all geared up for Ellee's "Popcorn Party!" I must say - I was very excited about pulling this one together! I was going to make these cupcakes...

(aren't these so cute!! those are just cut up mini marshmallows on top!)

We had bought several plastic popcorn holders for goody bags, located a popcorn machine, bought some popcorn flavored jelly bellys and done a few other things to get ready for this!

So then why did I call it a {not} birthday party?!?

About a week before Christmas, Ellee was invited to a birthday party and was so excited to go! In the slight chance that someone reading this may know the family, I won't divulge too many details of the party. I will say this - when I picked Ellee up from the party, total chaos greeted me at the door. Seriously - it was CRAZY!! Kids everywhere, barbies flying, girls jumping off the couch, fights over polly pockets and no adults in sight! A sweet mom did eventually emerge from the back and passed Ellee off to me. I took one look at her and knew my baby wasn't going to report great things once we were in the car.

Me: "Ellee, how was it?"
Ellee: "Terrible! It was too crazy."
Me: "Well did you have fun even though it was a little wild?"
Ellee: "No. Kids my age are not ready for parties like that!"

If you know my Ellee girl at all, you know I'm not making this up! She really felt like kids her age should only have "adult" parties. She declared right then that she didn't want a popcorn party and she only wanted a few adults to go to dinner with her. I encouraged her to take a few days to think about it before we cancelled everything. A few days later...

"No Mommy, no party. Just adults."

So we gathered up some adults (not just any adults - close friends and grandparents!) and did just what she wanted!

still had cupcakes...white with strawberry icing per request
presents!

a trip to Build-A-Bear


dinner at T.G.I. Friday's


a quick stop by the carousel in the mall

(little brother looked on and waved every time the girls rode by)

We had a great night celebrating Ellee's birthday at her adult party! :) I'm hoping she'll be ready for a popcorn party next year!

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A funny story that I must share....

**It's worth noting that the lady in this story had on pajamas...in the middle of the day...in a public office.

I was sitting in the pediatrician's waiting room the other day with Sam and a lady looked at me and said, "Is your baby mixed with Chinese or something?"

"No ma'am, he's full Korean."

She then proceeded to say "Oh, well can he walk?"

"No ma'am, Koreans don't walk, they hover from place to place."

Ok, ok - so I didn't actually say the last line. I just politely nodded my head and said, "Yes."

Unfortunately, you're not able to get the full affect of the story because you can't hear pajama lady's tone of voice. There is no doubt that she was making a link between being Korean and the ability to walk.

Outside of being asked if we were going to tell Sam that he's adopted (yes, we've really been asked), that's probably the most interesting conversation I've had with a complete stranger about my sweet Sam.

I say that with caution because I'm continually amazed by people and the words that come out of their mouth!

the most wonderful time of the year

A glimpse into our Christmas...

This year, we did Christmas a little different. My sweet parents treated us to a "destination Christmas" in a cabin nestled in the mountains of north Georgia! We had a wonderful week together laughing, playing games, making fun of each other and just enjoying being together!




The first full day we were there, we took the girls (and the boys!) here...

Going to the "American Girl Doll Store" is something my two munchkins have been planning since the summer. The moment we walked thru the door, wonder filled their eyes and they were overwhelmed with all things American Girl Doll! And I couldn't blame them - I was pretty overwhelmed too! The saying "like a kid in a candy shop" doesn't even scratch the surface of how a little girl feels in this place!!



Thanks to Grandpa and Mimi, they didn't leave empty-handed!


On Christmas Eve, the 11 of us boarded a "Santa Train" for a ride with a few Christmas characters, hot chocolate and caroling!

Of course there were gifts to be opened and {attempted} photo shoots to be had...








Hoping your Christmas was as wonderful as ours!

avoiding Pinterest

For months now, I've avoided Pinterest. (For those who don't know, Pinterest is defined as "an online pinboard - a place to organize and share things you love.") Quite a few people have hyped it up to me and are convinced that it's something I'd love. I've not been able to put my finger on why I'm avoiding it, but it seems like the reason was brought to light in my mind this morning...

I was listening to a podcast of a sermon entitled "Learning Contentment." I've heard dozens of sermons regarding the topic of contentment, but the Lord used this particular one to show me some ugliness in my own heart and life. That's always exciting, huh?? (Insert a large dose of sarcasm!)

I confess - I struggle with being content. Please tell me that I'm not alone. Please tell me that someone reading this is shaking their head in agreement.

Here's my favorite definition of contentment from Jeremiah Burroughs, a Purtian preacher - “Christian contentment is that sweet, inward, quiet, gracious frame of spirit, which freely submits to and delights in God's wise and fatherly disposal in every condition.”

Maybe it's lack of contentment in the material - wishing for a bigger house with a bigger closet so you didn't have to change out your clothes for the season. Or better yet, just wishing you had a large enough wardrobe to warrant this a problem!

Perhaps the discontentment goes much deeper. Maybe it stems from the relationships in your life...or the lack there of. Possibly you feel like a different job would make you happy, or more money, or greater abilities, or on and on we could go.

All too often, we have convinced ourselves that if just "that one thing" would fall into place, then we'd finally be happy and content. When we're single, we want a spouse. You get the spouse and you want the children. The children come along and you want better behaved children. You can see the problem forming.

For the follower of Christ, this is a serious issue because discontentment basically looks our Savior in the face and says, "What you've done for me isn't enough. Yeah, we've got Christ, but we want more." We wouldn't come right out and say that of course, but our discontent heart screams it.

God, in His sovereign grace, has saved us and redeemed us. He has called us out of darkness and given us, not only eternal life, but an abundant life while we remain on this earth.

Somehow though, the truth of what God has done for us gets choked out by all our wishes and wants for more and better and different. We get frustrated at God because He hasn't done it our way. In the end, we feel like God somehow owes us something.

That's the problem, but what about the solution?

I wish I could wrap this up with a pretty little bow and a remedy for this sin problem. But I can't because I don't have it figured out.

Here's what I do know...the answer is Christ. God's Word tells us {in one of the most misused passages of scripture} that "we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength." This verse in Philippians is not referring to the ability to win a game, or pass a test or sing well. This verse is speaking directly to contentment.

This truth would be very hard to digest if it came from a James Bond-ish character - a man that has the car, the looks, the money, the girl and always wins in the end. "That's easy for you to say, you've got it all!" But let me remind you that this verse was penned from the hand of man in a dark and lonely prison cell. Sobering, huh?

So how does this play out in the life of a Christian? What does it really look like to strive for contentment through Christ?

I don't know exactly. I'm still learning and growing and being sanctified. I do know that contentment won't come naturally. We will have to fight for it. We are constantly bombarded with commercials, ads, billboards and pop-ups telling us that what we have isn't good enough and we need bigger, better and faster.

For me, I have finally realized that things like Pinterest and an OD of blog-world feeds my propensity towards discontentment. I know that may sound absurd to many of you, but it's true for me in a way that probably isn't true for most. Those things stir up feelings of inadequacy and thoughts of "I need that" or "I wish I could do that" or "I want to look like that." To echo the words of one of my favorite hymns, my heart is "prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love."

So I guess, in some peculiar way, my avoidance of Pinterest is part of my fight for contentment!

happy birthday ellee

This precious brown-eyed girl has brought us 6 years of snuggling, laughter, fun stories and pure joy!! She has an effervescent personality that completely lights up any room! I am so thankful for the gift of her life!

Of Kids and Christmas

As the excitement and wonder of Christmas quickly approaches, I wanted to share a portion of a blog post from the "Desiring God" website. The post is Called Of Kids and Christmas and is written by Rachel Jankovic. The article offers a great perspective on approaching Christmas with our kiddos...

"Our celebrations aren’t supposed to be smooth, effortless bits of quiet either. They should be as big and as glorious and as spiritual and as physical as we can make them.

Clearly, the attitude with which everything is done is important. If the house is full of physical holiday cheer, but Mom is yelling about the snow boots by the door, the blending has not been complete. If Christmas dinner turns out beautifully, but no one wants to be together, something has gone wrong. But the remarkable thing is that doing it all wrong, having bad attitudes, and resenting the work will not affect the power of Christmas at all. The neighbors throwing money at their children and resenting each other will not slow down anything.

That first Christmas was enough for all time, and no amount of fussing from us about all the busy work will slow it down. We can give each other stink-eyes all day long, and the world will just go on being transformed. The only thing that we can actually damage by losing sight of the point of Christmas is our children."

I encourage you to read the entire post here.

Have a Merry Christmas!!

a day of change

The adoption process officially began for us in March of 2010. Truth be told, the "process" began in our hearts many, many years before that. However, we walked into our adoption agency in March of last year with absolutely no idea what lay before us. We fought our way through mounds of paperwork and endured months of waiting but finally brought our munchkin home in March of 2011. The journey wasn't over yet due to the nature of the Korea program. A six month wait had to follow his arrival before we legally finalized everything.

I'm so excited to say - TODAY WAS THE DAY!!! It was a day of great change for my sweet family...

• Taehwan Kang became Samuel Lee Brown
• He went from "legal alien" to US Citizen
• We went from "guardians" to legal parents!!

Also - we are now able to go public with pictures, videos and the blog! Hence the reason you're able to read this without signing in! (And the adoption videos on here that had been blocked are not anymore!)

Just a glimpse of what today looked like...

*waiting outside the courtroom*

*inside the courtroom*

*it's final*

Words will never accurately portray this journey we've been on! Although I'm not even close to being a Grateful Dead fan, I think it can be summed up by saying, "What a long, strange trip it's been!!" God has been faithful as He always is and has taught us much about Himself and His goodness!!

**if you have not been able to access the blog until now, please take a look at what we've been up to the last seven months. we'd love to share our life with you**