The Newest Bike Rider~

SO proud of herself and we are too!!!

Calla's Book~

Right before we left for our big trip, Calla's book arrived and she was thrilled~

 She loved it so much, it has gone everywhere with her!

Life Books~ {Memories Forever}

For me, the week between Christmas and New Year’s is when I want to throw myself into lots of projects. Many projects I have put off all year and I feel this huge push to get them done. This year two of those involved printing my blog into a book and creating Calla’s Lifebook.

I have always been a memory keeper whether it be writing in a journal, saving boxes of letters and photos, or making scrapbooks. Keeping stories has been very important to me. When the big girls were young, I became a Creative Memories consultant in an effort to create their books at cost and help others catch my passion to be memory keepers too. I made each of the big girls baby books and books with all the photos of their childhood. I have shelves of beautiful scrapbooks to prove it.

Then life happened and seven little ones came home to their forever family. Creating scrapbooks from scratch fell by the wayside. I could not print all those photos, collect all the supplies, and keep the mess out all the time. I began writing my blog and scrapbook as I knew it came to an end. The stories of our family fell into blog posts and I began printing my blog each year as books. They became my scrapbooks of memories.

As our children came home I wanted to create Lifebooks as a way for them to remember ‘their China’. Their lifebooks have done exactly that. They have bridged a gap between their lives in China and now home. They are their all time favorite books too. Not many days go by that one of them doesn’t pull it off the shelf and want me to tell them THEIR story. Now they are getting old enough to read for themselves or sit with a sibling to read. It is fun for them to compare stories and see how the miracle of adoption has made us a family.

Giving them back a part of their China story was very important to me and now one of their most precious possessions.

5 Steps to Make a Lifebook:

{Photos of pages in Calla's book shown throughout the steps}

Make up your mind to do it: This might seem like a no brainer but certainly makes a difference in the time set aside to do so. Calla had been home a year and a half and I am just getting around to making her book. She kept asking me where her book was so I knew I had to make it a priority. 

Gather all photos into one place: It is more doable when you spend some time getting organized. Locate all photos, videos, and memorabilia  needed for the book into one folder on your computer. I actually had a slideshow of photos made for Calla by a foster agency and no way to get the photos off CD. I popped it into my computer and as it played, I stopped on every slide to take a photo with my phone. They will not be top quality but the photos will be in the book and we can always watch the slideshow too.

Create an account in Shutterfly: Create an account that will save the book and can be used through future projects.

Work on the book in stages: If your photos need editing, it is a good idea to do that first. I like adding all the photos to the book first. I include most all the photos of life in China before their adoption, the time we were in country adopting, and some of the first weeks newly home. Once all the photos are placed, I start adding the stories. I want to encourage you that it’s not necessary for you to write every single detail in the book. I write generally and add details as we read it together. I have thought lately about going through their books and adding handwritten thoughts as well.

Tell the story as if speaking to your child: This story is for them and telling it as if speaking to them will make reading it special and personal. Reading together when they are young will strengthen attachment and when older it will build confidence of their story.

Video Tutorial to Make a Life Book at Shutterfly:

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I sure hope this helps you decide to take the plunge and get publishing! I promise your kids will feel so very loved because of it!!! And who knows... they might just want to take it wherever they go!

Calla & China~

Calla seems to always be near so she gets more photo time.
Today she found a dinosaur egg (rock) in the backyard~

 And she drew herself riding on a horse :)

Today was Mid Autumn Moon Festival in China and we just happened to be working on our China study
so we watched a few China documentaries~

 and combined our cooking project from Farmer Boy of pumpkin pie
with moon cake for Moon Festival
and came up with Pumpkin Harvest Moon Cookies~

They were delish and we went out to watch the moon come up.
It was a wonderful celebration day!!!

Big Appointment for Calla~

When we saw the cardiologist this past summer, he suggested we see a plastic surgeon about Calla's keloid from heart scar.
He was very good with her and indeed agreed she would benefit from a scar revision~

 So she is scheduled for surgery Nov 1st.
We were so close to our favorite place so we splurged on lunch.

Then a stop at Target allowed Evie to find her new friend Mr. Boney
and then we stopped by the library to pick up the huge stack of books we had on reserve~

 The day wore the three little ones out so they napped on the way home
and everyone came home to play dr with our new friend~

If you are a praying person, please keep our baby in your prayers as we wait for surgery day!
Thank you!

Playing, Grandloves, and My Favorite Book~

Calla continues to grow and adjust to everything around her.
If she sees one of the other kids busy with a task, she wants to do it too~

Making Potholders and Play with MUS Blocks

EC has really taken off with the looming as has everyone!
The photo on the right was such a heartwarming moment.
Evie looked up and said Will was teaching her to read~

We were thrilled to go out to love on the boys for Savannah on Monday.
They were SO sweet and look how much they have grown~

I saw this book on Amazon while browsing for a new book and immediately bought the Kindle version.
I was about halfway through and decided I HAD to have it on my bookshelf!
It most definitely will be my top book of 2017 and will read again for sure!!!~

We continue to spend every afternoon and lots of mornings lately in the pool.
Here are 6 of them on the same tube~

Mama has been bringing Max, Addie, and Slate down to swim each morning~

And I think it's clear how much everyone loves it!

Including me and Mama!!!!!

CallaAnne~

Calla is growing and changing so much!
She loves drawing and writing ABCs~

 She loves coloring and talks ALL the time~

She LOVES 'reading' our blog books and looking for herself, asking~ Where Calla?~

We are still working on church.
We went to worship this week and made it through half the service~

Connection over correction~ she is NOT big on MY way but...
It is a process and takes time to trust and obey. Right???

Exactly Why I DON'T Plan~

Yesterday after breakfast we read our Story Bible about David and the Giant.
We are also memorizing Psalm 23 and sang some worship songs~

When Evie suggested we measure how tall Goliath was~

Using a tape measure we marked his height then all the children, me, Scott, and Josh!
Then they drew him with all the things he carried to fight.
We converted his height into yards and inches as well as how much taller he was than all the people we measured.
It was a GREAT bible, math, and art experience all rolled into one!

We went back in to explore the Bible App for Kids~ Stones, Slings, and Giant Things.
They hear the story read to them, answer questions, and able to play games after that~

Even the baby can play!

We moved on to our sunroom for math and clipboard work then
an Activity Tray for the little girls.
I printed farm animal pictures for them to build words, play memory, and make little books~

Everyone came back together for Charlotte's Web read aloud, copy work, and Wilber painting~

 

I sat watching this baby water coloring a pig while listening to Charlotte's Web and could scarcely take in the miracle I've witnessed over the last year.

The 23rd is Calla Day. The day she crawled into our arms a little caterpillar and through a year of cocooning, we have watched a baby butterfly emerge.

It's beautiful! She's worth it. And there are millions more just like her waiting for their forever too~

We read lots of other read alouds as well as independent reading.
Exactly why I don't plan...
I couldn't plan this much beauty!
Thankful God helps make it happen.

Watch Brave Calla~

ALWAYS wanting to be like her older siblings!!!
Good job Calla... I really think you will be swimming by the end of the summer!

Family Birthday Party for May Birthdays~

When you have as many birthdays as we do, it may be time to celebrate the family party as a group.
That's what we did for Payne, Holly, and Calla today!
Everyone came over about 3 for gifts~

 This was Calla's first birthday party ever I'm guessing and her first one home.
She peeled the tape for her gift and opened in her own time~

We had cake and ice cream out by the pool~

Then more gifts~

and swimming.

It was a beautiful day of celebrating three very precious May birthdays!!!

Brave Heart~

All the kids got a chocolate bunny and new float in the Easter baskets so today they tested them out~

and this little Brave Heart was found swimming around the whole pool on her own~

I'd say it's shaping up to be a glorious spring and summer!!!

My Brave Heart!!!

Happy 11 Years Forever EllaKate~

We did a little reminiscing about our journey to EK 11 years ago.
The big girls were little back then and SO excited when they found out we would travel to the airport in a limo~

Here is our baby on EllaKate Day 2006~

Our dreams come true~

Back to the present, we had to take Calla for her last infectious disease appt~

 She got the best report and dismissed forever unless fever comes back!

To celebrate this great news and EK's Forever family day, we went to the Varsity for lunch~

 Took a little field trip to Fernbank~

It was the BEST day and pretty sure EK loved it as much as these worn out three BUT we weren't done...

We stopped by to see Savannah and the boys~

 Both boys were angels and just look at this cute mom~

 Happy EK Day sweet EllaKate!!!