Farewell Tooth

Today was full of surprises. It began with school being canceled for the kids thanks to Typhoon Utor. Then mid- morning the tooth Josiah had been wiggling for a month fell out. This was obviously a big deal to him, but surprisingly it was to me too. I remember the day I discovered that tooth poking through his gums. Ahem, I may have actually blogged about it here (I think I suffer from a blogging sickness). A lost tooth to me marks the end of little days and the entrance into the gangly elementary stage.

I have been wanting to start journaling with Josiah so today to mark the occasion Josiah wrote his first sentence, "I lost my tooth"

Jason and I had not discussed how to commemorate teeth in our family. We don't do Santa Clause or the Easter Bunny (yes, we are that family). Josiah has a very active imagination so we didn't want him to actually believe in the tooth fairy, but we also didn't want to rob him of childhood fun.  The solution?  Jason (all his idea) dressed up like the Tooth Fairy and pranced around the house this evening. It was hilarious. Obviously. Josiah now knows that Dad is the tooth fairy and was very excited to put his tooth under his pillow tonight.

It wasn't until the kids were in bed that I mentioned to Jason that he may have started a family tradition he will have to repeat 60 more times. Ha, ha.

My favorite photo of the day was this self- portrait Josiah took on his camera capturing his new look. 

Off to School

4 Months

 - This month brought the arrival of Annabelle's voice. She laughs, coos, and squawks. The squawking just started and is quite loud. It is making me re-think my previous assumptions about her mellowness.
- She also is rolling over now both ways and no longer minds tummy time
- Annabelle is grabbing and playing with toys and her new favorite- toes.
- She laughs when she sees Josiah, but still saves her biggest smiles for daddy.
- As of our appointment today she is 13.3 pounds
- This girl spits up big time! Before Annabelle I never even knew why babies wear bibs. Now I get it. I am almost always smell like sour milk. She seems to especially go for it on Sundays during church
- I totally forgot to get her a visa for living in Hong Kong. The moment I realized was in the customs line trying to enter the country. Opps! Fortunately they let her back in!
- While I am certainly savoring her babies days, I am not doing a good job documenting them (then again I guess I am doing that right now, so no more mommy guilt)

 Josiah and Annette are having their tummy time too!

Bohol, Philippines- Part 2

 After our precious time at Arms of Love (see Part 1) we were ready to re- lax. We spent two nights at a beautiful beach resort which was the exclamation mark to our summer. The setting was lovely, the rain stayed away and we had the beach and pool to ourselves. I cherished the time with my mom and sister who so lovingly traveled around the world to be with us . They are both so fun, positive, generous and encouraging and I was deeply blessed.

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 One happy Naana and two content kiddos

 Some serious talks over breakfast

We love sister Coffee Time

We are now re- entering normalcy. Jason was in staff meetings 8 hours after stepping off the airplane. I'm uniform shopping, getting haircuts and other back- to- schooling in preparation for the kids' start on Wednesday. I'm ready for normal, because I like our normal. But, I sure would love to be back in that hammock just one more time. . . 

Bohol, Philippines Part 1

 Annabelle's first flight

I love it when worlds come together. So, you can imagine my excitement to bring my US family to our Philippines Family at Arms of Love Children’s Home. It truly was a dream of mine to minister alongside my family in a place so close to my heart. I know that both parties were blessed!

It has been two years since we lived in Bohol, Philippines with the beautiful children at Arms of Love. Thanks to facebook we have stayed in touch a bit over those years. My sister Angela sponsors two of the children, Rollie and John Lloyd, so meeting in person was very special. It was also Annabelle’s first time out of Hong Kong. She got lots of love and the Filipinos said she looked like a “dole” (doll). 

 Our visit this time was short, sandwiched between the end of summer school and the start of school, but oh so sweet. The weekend was full of hugs, crafts, food, playing, worship and laughter.  I am so proud of these kids and just delight to be with them. Aren’t they beautiful!?

We brought along mosquito nets and all 5 slept on one bed, Philippines style!

 Josiah and Annette jumped right in with morning chores

Annette was too young to remember Arms of Love however it was fun to see her jump right in. I didn't get as many photos of Josiah, probably because he was off playing!

 Sunday School at Church

 Making bead necklaces with "Ate (aunt) Angela"

House Mama Ines with my Mama

 These are our sponsored kids, Stephanie and Henry. Love them!!!

We had a fun time swimming at the beach together Sunday

In 2011 we had the privilege of riding along in the jeepney the day that Willy and Raymart were brought from the garbage dump to Arms of Love. You can read more about that here. Now, 2 years later it was incredible to see the change in these boys.  They are calm and confident, assured that they are unconditionally cared for and loved. What an amazing, powerful thing it is to be called a son and be brought into family.

If it is on your heart to sponsor a child like Willy or Raymart, please leave me a comment or check out www.armsoflove.org