• Modern Romance

    Modern Romance

    Yesterday, Handsome Hubs and I celebrated thirteen years of wedded bliss. We are parents, so this is how we spent the day… Little Man met a lot of extended family for the first time. At one point, at the trampoline place, he stopped in his tracks and cocked his head, observing my sister and I…

  • Father’s Day/Anniversary/Pre-Op Eve

    Father’s Day/Anniversary/Pre-Op Eve

    13 years, 11 jobs, 10 cars, 8 foreign countries, 14 states, 4 houses, 3 children, 5 cats, 1 dog, 2 guinea pigs, four chickens and a day ago I married this guy… … and I’m certain on those stats because we counted today. In the car. As we drove from Montana to Oregon. Father’s Day was spent with…

  • Cocooning in Oregon

    Cocooning in Oregon

    Our pilgrimage to our home state, for Little Man’s surgery, is this weekend. As it will be his first overnight stay away from home, we wanted to gently remind well-meaning loved ones of the Rules of Engagement for interacting with our precious son. Please do not pick him up. Though it will seem an impossibility, do not…

  • June Bug

    June Bug

    I can’t believe it’s June already. June is always a busy month in our house. The busiest of the year, now that we quietly celebrate Christmas far from our hometown, each December. In addition to our wedding anniversary and Father’s day, we also celebrate a marathon of birthdays. Our second daughter and I share the birth-month with…

  • Homesteading

    Homesteading

    by

    in ,

    Sometimes, I wish I could go back in time. To live on a farm, live off the land. Raise animals, grow vegetables and cook from scratch. Have a whole mess of kids and let them run wild. I suppose I don’t really need a time-machine to do those things– to varying degrees my family is already doing them in…

  • Metamorphosis

    Metamorphosis

    Cocooning Survival Tactic #7:  Gradually emerge from the Cocoon. Do not overstay your welcome. Still, do not jump back into the real world all at once. We have unceremoniously begun our own re-entry, venturing out more and more, at a calculated pace. My cousin recently asked, tongue-in-cheek, how we would know our Little Man was ready… Would he sprout…

  • Young Americans

    Young Americans

    Little Man is acclimating to our culture with apparent ease, continuing to achieve several “firsts” each day. He no longer rejects all but scalding hot bottles, like those he was accustomed to in the orphanage. In China, he barely consumed any liquid during his first 48 hours with us– until we finally realized that due to…

  • All Things Bright & Beautiful

    All Things Bright & Beautiful

    … the Lord God made them all. Yesterday we ventured into the wilderness, where we lumbered along the rocky banks of a still partially frozen lake and took turns hurling rocks onto the ice. Simple pleasures. Epic day.

  • Six Weeks Home

    Six Weeks Home

    Today marks six weeks that we have been home, together, as a family of five– though it feels like much longer. Not in a “Been-on-hold-with-the-pediatrician’s-office-for-ten-minutes-awaiting-lab-results-on-a-bacterial-culture-but-it-feels-like-much-longer.” kind of way. More like a “Hey-I-just-met-you-and-this-is-crazy…”, kind of way. By the way, the former scenario alluded to above? Not fictitious. The latest ailment assailing our household is yet another infection on poor…