March Madness

We’ve had an event-full March.

Our homeschool co-op ended the first Friday in March, supposedly freeing up more of my time. No more finishing school with my kids only to spend hours preparing for my co-op class! No more waking Brielle up early on Friday mornings to make it to co-op on time! Yes!!! The end of co-op also meant the performance of the radio drama that Brittany's Radio Drama class had been working on all semester. Brittany loves radio drama and, as always, pulled off her part with much passion and projection. Brant takes more just-for-getting-together-with-friends type classes, and he is always happy and content having no performances of any type.

March 15th, 2008, was an especially exciting day, as Brittany celebrated her GOLDEN BIRTHDAY! Our sweet daughter turned FIFTEEN years old. What a blessing she is! Brittany is content and gentle-spirited. She is creative and tender-hearted. Her dad calls her “perfect” (but he hasn’t been in her messy room lately). God has gifted her in so many ways, and we are so privileged to watch His plans for her unfold.

Thank goodness Brittany is also a loyal hockey fan, because we spent the weekend of her birthday at four of Brant’s hockey games in Dallas. Brittany was so excited to spend her birthday watching her brother play hockey…what a sweet sister. In between the games, Brittany wanted to go to the Dallas Art Museum, and we had a wonderful time exploring the works of art there.

It ended up being a rather disappointing weekend of hockey, as Brant’s team underplayed and therefore would not proceed to the Finals. You’ll note the look of disappointment on Max and Brittany’s faces (notice, too, that there are no pictures of the expression on my face…hmmm…with this finally being the end of hockey, I couldn’t help but have mixed feelings). Hockey is a great sport, and it is fun watching Brant become a solid hockey player, BUT seven months of practices, games, stinky equipment, and travel is enough for this momma…especially with a two year old “rink rat” in tow.

Broadway’s production of The Phantom of the Opera has been on tour here, so as part of Brittany’s birthday present, Max and I took her to see it. It was a beautifully staged production and a wonderful evening with just the three of us. You can read more about our evening on Brittany’s blog at http://brittscreativecorner.blogspot.com/

To add more to the excitement, last weekend our homeschool group hosted its annual Spring Ball. I guess you could call it a friend and family-centered version of prom. Brittany looked gorgeous in her gown! She had a great time dancing the night away with friends, while I had a wonderful time talking the night away with a whole bunch of adults (a rare occasion, indeed). Driving Brittany to the Ball, I looked over at her and tears welled up in my eyes. My little girl has grown into a lovely young lady. Sitting there in her gown with her hair done-up, the song “Butterfly Kisses” came to mind, and I saw her wedding day somewhere in the all-too-soon future. Wow.

Brielle continues to grow taller and taller and is talking, talking, talking. She is an adorable little bundle of energy, independence, charm, and will. She loves attention, and you’ll most definitely know if she thinks she is not getting enough of it. She had a great time Easter morning, eagerly hunting for her basket and Easter eggs. We recently went to the zoo, and she kept asking to see a “water buffalo”, which of course is one of the few animals our zoo does NOT have. I look at her, with her dark almond eyes and sweet little nose, and marvel at how God has brought our lives together. My heart swells with gratitude when I think about how He moved us to grow our family through the blessing of adoption.

Which brings me to our little Hao. We are still waiting to hear from China, some days more patiently than others. Now that co-op is over, I’ve been trying to spend some of my freed-up time learning all I can about older child adoption, microtia, etc. One thing that both older child adoption and microtia have in common is that there are no absolutes. We can do our best to prepare ourselves for our son, but we really won’t know exactly what our biggest blessings and challenges will be until he is finally home. Even then, discovery will be a process over time. I am so eager to begin this amazing journey (o.k….I don’t feel very patient at this very moment…hurry, LOA)!

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