Pumpkin Pickin' and Halloween Fun

We've had a great time this year with all of the fall activities you experience with a four year old. What a great age this is (unless it's bedtime)!! We SO enjoy doing things as a family, so picking pumpkins and trick-or-treating are right up our alley. Ella has really embraced the fall spirit and has been way more into the festivities this year. It's been a little difficult getting her to understand that the pumpkin we carved can't just stay out until next year, though. Her little mind can't grasp 365 days. She really just lives for the here and now. I'm sure that there's a lesson for her daddy and mama there somewhere :-) Here are a few pics of her at a local pumpkin patch...oh, what fun we had!
For Halloween, Ella dressed up as Snow White. Now, I know I'm probably biased, but I've got to tell you that I'm pretty sure you haven't seen a cuter Snow White than my sweet girl (unless, of course, it was your own child). Let me tell you, she played the role perfectly. Her little neighbor friend told her that she looked just like Snow White. Well, just take a look for yourself:
Seriously, have you ever seen such? Daddy is going to have a big problem when she turns 16 (or 35 if he has his way). She'll have a brother to take care of her, too. She says that Eli is in her heart, by the way; I can't tell you how sweet that is to hear. Both of my children have grown in my heart, and I wouldn't trade that for all of the money in the world, or for anything else for that matter. I read on another blog recently that there's no greater gift from God than giving birth. I'd have to say that there's no greater gift than children...period...regardless of how they get here. Sorry to get off task there, but I'm just so blessed, and I have to shout that out every now and then. Anyway, if you beg to differ about Ella being the cutest Snow White you've ever seen, you can take that up with Papa Bear (aka Brian Mast).

Veggie Tales Live

We took Ella to see Veggie Tales Live. She loved every minute of it. It was very loud, so I thought for sure she wouldn't like that part; however, she hung right in there and danced and sang with the best of them. Of course she had to have a "glow wand", and I'm pretty sure if you asked her she'd say that was the best part. Here are a few pics from the night:



Update on our adoption...the courts in Ethiopia just reopened after a very long rainy season. It's kind of funny to think that we are planning our lives around another country's rainy season, but we definitely are. Anyway, the wait is still 6-10 months, and we've been waiting around 5 months. Since we were very specific in the age range we've requested (0-6 months), it may take a little longer. We COULD have a referral by Christmas, but I'm thinking more like January. The referral is when we get a picture of our son and all his medical information. Typically, you travel 2 months after referral. Since Brian is going to Africa by himself (yes, you heard that correctly), we are hoping it will be close to spring break. Please continue to pray for us as we journey down this path.

Diving Dreams and Back to School

I feel like I'm always apologizing for being behind in my posts, but life happens and all of a sudden you find yourself in the middle of September. We are all back in school, including mama. My position at CHI was eliminated, and I had to return to teaching. I'm at a great school and am once again teaching language arts to middle school students. I'd forgotten how much I really do love teaching language arts, so it's all worked out for the best. It will be nice to share our summers together and to have days off together throughout the year. Here's a picture of Ella's first day of school.
Since the Olympics, Ella has been talking a lot about being a diver. She was glued to the tv when the diving events were on. She told us one night that she needed to eat her dinner in front of the tv because she "couldn't miss diving." This obsession has gotten a little more serious lately. Just a few days ago, I heard a very loud thumping noise. It sounded a little like someone "landing" on my hard wood floors. I yelled down from upstairs, "Ella, what are you doing?" She responded with, "I don't know." That was my clue that I needed to investigate. I snuck into the living room to find her in a peculiar position on the ottoman. She had her knees bent and her arms out at her sides. I asked her what she was doing, and she said that she was practicing her dives. After my blood pressure went down a little (I"m thinking that she might actually be diving into the floor), I asked her to demonstrate. In a very nice, fluid move, she gracefully jumped to the floor. I'm kind of wondering now if she really might have a career in this. Here's a picture of her in the tub with her goggles (she thinks she might like to be a swimmer, also):
I'll leave you with a funny story. When Ella and Brian went to the dentist last week, the dentist asked Ella how many teeth she has. This was one of those questions that really wasn't supposed to be answered; you know what I mean. However, Ella looked at him and said, "Twenty primary teeth." She's right and after everyone recovered from shock, the visit went on as planned. Who know where she comes up with this stuff? Here's one last image of her on her new scooter:

More Summer Fun

Ella has wanted to go fishing for quite some time now. Brian loves to fish, so taking Ella fishing is a moment he's waited for since as long as I can remember. Here's Ella getting ready to go:

Shortly after we arrived at the lake, Ella was kicked back ready for the "big one" to hit her line:

The funny thing is, she had a bite almost the second Brian dropped her line in. After a brief moment of panic (by mama and Ella), Brian took over; however, it was too late at that point, so that first bite will always be the one that got away. Since he got her worm, Ella (well, daddy really) had to reload:

Daddy is so patient and such a good daddy. After another unfortunate worm was put on the hook and everything settled down again, I looked over to see this:
...and this:


This was probably the shortest fishing trip daddy has ever been on, but I'm pretty certain it's one that he'll never forget.

Beach Pictures

If slide show stops, click on the 'x' in the top right corner:

Bad Blogger and Breaking News

I have been so bad about posting on our blog. We've had so much going on and have been incredibly busy. Between the beach and visits from family, our summer has been full but fun.

It's always so great to have daddy home, and both Ella and I have enjoyed spending more time with him. Daddy and Ella have been able to go to the zoo together and enjoy time at the pool, also. Since mama doesn't get a summer break anymore (a little sadness, but I love my job and wouldn't trade it), it's been nice to have daddy take over the morning duties of getting Ella to school. I am on a summer schedule that has allowed me to leave work each day at 2:30, so that has given us lots of family time at the end of the day. All in all, this has been a great summer, and we'll all be sad to see it come to an end.

**BREAKING NEWS**

For those of you who don't already know, we are adopting again, but this time from Ethiopia. We are adopting a boy, and we've requested 0-6 months...I know, I know, lots of sleepless nights, but we are super excited. Our paperwork was sent to ET in May, and the current wait time is 6-10 months. Since Ethiopia has a rainy season from August to October, we probably won't receive a referral until after they reopen. We are thinking that we may have a picture of him (oh, it's so fun to type that) in October and then travel in December. Of course, God's timeline is always perfect, and we have faith in that. It's easy to fret and to worry about your child when you have absolutely no control over what's happening in his itty bitty life, especially when he's so far away. I saw this verse last week, and I've been clinging to it ever since: "Faith is being sure of what you hope for and certain of the things you cannot see." Hebrews 11:1 Please pray for us and with us as we wait for our little guy. We'll keep you posted.

Easter Pictures and More...

Put your arrow over the picture for a caption:

Lightning Strikes and a Funny Girl

I haven't posted in a while because our computer was fried. A bad storm came through Franklin about 3 or 4 weeks ago, and lightning literally struck in our back yard. Brian's dad said our trees would start dying soon, and sure enough, the ones in the back yard have started turning brown. The strange thing about it was when it hit, it knocked out our cable, phone, and computer, but our power stayed on. We saw a big blue flash in our house and didn't realize what it was until we weren't able to turn our computer on. I'm really not sure what we did before we had a computer because it's been very difficult to function without one; however, it has been good to spend extra time playing games as a family. We haven't been so involved in email, and we haven't worried too much about what we are missing.

We were without our cable and phone for over a week, so we've definitely gotten to know each other a little better. While spending so much time together, we've had the pleasure sharing these things with Ella:

-She loves to role play. Ususally I'm Bob and she's Larry from Veggie Tales, but her new favorite is God, Jesus and the Holy Spirt. She always gets to be God.
-She's decided that when we get to Heaven, God will make sure we all brush our teeth.
-When she gets big, she wants to be "bathtized", and she wants daddy to do it.
-When the bad people get to Heaven, God will teach them to be good.
-She can't see God living in her heart because her skin is covering Him up.
-She wants a brother and a sister, and their names will be Diego and Alicia (those of you with little children will recognize those names)
-If we brush every night, we'll have healthy "guns" and won't get "fake" teeth.
-She's on God's team
-And my personal favorite, "Mama, we have a Mighty God, don't we?"

I have lots of Easter pictures and will post them as soon as our computer is fixed.

Birthdays, Snow and More!

The last week has been so full of fun. We had real snow...finally! It was so fun anticipating the big storm. We stocked up on fun snacks and hunkered down for the drifts up to the windows. When it was all said and done, though, the big event was gone by noon, and most of the snow had melted, too. Oh well, it WAS fun to look outside the night before and watch it all pile up. The main event on Saturday wasn't the snow, however. Saturday was Ella's birthday, and she turned four! We can't believe that she is that old already! She had a great day with her friends and family and was exhausted by that night. Add that to the time change, and we are still trying to get caught up. She continues to be her funny self. She woke up Sunday morning to ask if she was still four. Below are some recent pictures of birthday, snow etc. Oh, and be sure to see the one of Brian painting Ella's toes. This is Ella's new favorite thing. She loves her toes and nails to be painted. In fact, this morning, she wanted to change her nails to pink, because she thought Dr. Godfrey would "enjoy" that color best (she had her check up this morning; enjoy is her word, not mine). Brian may have found his second calling!

Happy Valentime's Day!

No, that's not a typo...that's the way we say it around our house. Well, Brian and I don't, but we don't count anymore :-) Ella awoke this morning very early to ask if it was Valentime's Day. She has been so excited about taking her cards for her friends to school. They made valentine bags for the cards, and Ella wrote her name on each card. That's quite a feat when you consider there were 18 cards. When she got home, we had to go through each card to see who they were from.

Ella has really fallen in love with the movie Cinderella. She loves to sing the songs and dance around. She's had a pair of slippers for a while, but she just got the dress for Valentine's Day. She wanted to put in on immediately, and of course, we had to wear the shoes, too. She's such a girly girl one minute, and then the next she's kicking her soccer ball around the house trying to score under the chair in our office.

This morning she told me that I was her valentine and that when she was a mommy she wanted to live with me. I hope that all of the above is still true when she grows up. I would love to be her valentine forever, and I would love to grow old with her. What a sweet little Cinder"Ella" she really is...

Happy Chinese New Year!

Gung Hay Fat Choy! Ella had a great day today sharing Chinese New Year treats with her friends at school. She picked out red Chinese take-out boxes to fill with gold wrapped chocolate coins, noise makers, fruit snacks and lots of other goodies. She also took several items we bought while in China to share with her class. Her teacher said that Ella was very prould of the things she showed her friends. That made me smile when I heard that because we want to embrace Ella's Chinese heritage and want her to feel proud of that heritage. It's a part of who she is and, really, it's a part of who we are too. Here are a few pictures of her getting her treat boxes ready:



Happy Chinese New Year to each of you!

The Rat

Being born a Rat is nothing to be ashamed of. In China, the Rat is respected and considered a courageous, enterprising person. It is deemed an honor to be born in the Year of the Rat and it is considered a privilege to be associated with a Rat. Rats know exactly where to find solutions and can take care of themselves and others without problems. They use their instinctive sense of observation to help others in times of need and are among the most fit of all the Animal signs to survive most any situation.

Years of the Rat
First in the cycle, Rat Years begin the sequence and recur every twelfth year. The Chinese New Year does not fall on a specific date, so it is essential to check the calendar to find the exact date on which each Rat year actually begins.

The Sign of the Rat
Being born under this sign determines many talents, as well as other characteristics that may not be so commendable. Rats are very lively and need a lot of mental and physical stimulation. They can be calm and perceptive, but sometimes their brains can cause a mental restlessness, tempting them to take on too much, only to discover they are unable to meet their commitments. Rats are blessed with one of the best intellects going. Add to their intelligence a curiosity and a bright imagination, and they seem as sharp as a needle.

The sign of the Rat is the first sign in the cycle giving Rat people exude great leadership qualities and are good at taking the lead. They don't mind a lot of responsibility and they demonstrate a strong presence that other people respect. For those with the Rat nature, status and monetary satisfaction are the greatest motivation.

CHARACTERISTICS
Smart, Magnetic, Well-liked, Affable, Quick-witted, Surreptitious, Selfish, Protective, Calculating


New Year Sweet Dumplings
2 ½ ounces black sesame paste, red bean paste, or creamy peanut butter
4 tbsp superfine sugar
1 ½ cups glutinous rice flour
1 ounce rock/lump sugar
Combine the sesame paste with the superfine sugar
Sift the rice flour into a bowl and stir in ¾ cup boiling water. Knead carefully (the dough will be very hot) to form a soft, slightly sticky dough. Dust your hands with extra rice flour, roll the dough into a cylinder, then divide it into cherry size pieces. Cover the dough with a tea towel and, using one piece at a time, form each piece of dough into a flat round, then gather it into a cup shape. The dough should be fairly thin.
Fill each cup shape with 1 tsp of paste and fold the top over, smoothing the dough so you have a round ball with no visible joins.
Bring 1 liter of water to a boil, add the rock sugar and stir until dissolved. Return to a boil, add the dumplings in batches and simmer for 5 minutes, or until they rise to the surface. Serve warm with a little of the syrup.

"Gotcha Day!" It's been 3 years...

We can't believe it's been 3 years since we held our sweet girl for the first time. What an amazing gift she has been. We have been so blessed and still can't believe that she's in our lives FOREVER! Here are some of the lyrics from Phil Collins' song "You'll be in my Heart". This kind of sums up the day we met Ella. When we hear this song, we always remember the emotions we felt on that day. At the bottom of this page, you can listen to the song and watch the video:

"You'll Be In My Heart"

Come stop your crying
It will be all right
Just take my hand Hold it tight

I will protect you
from all around you
I will be here
Don't you cry

For one so small,
you seem so strong
My arms will hold you,
keep you safe and warm
This bond between us
Can't be broken
I will be here
Don't you cry

'Cause you'll be in my heart
Yes, you'll be in my heart
From this day on
Now and forever more

You'll be in my heart
No matter what they say
You'll be here in my heart, always

Here's a picture of Ella on the day we met her:



Here are some of the pictures from our Gotcha Day celebration: