Monday, January 28, 2013

Kiddos Meet and a Monday

Monday morning, B.J. called us and I woke Janaya up so she could meet Liliana too (Simeon and Elianna were already up).  The kids were so excited to see her with Daddy.  They kept saying "ni hao" and "Wo ai ni" (I love you) - even Simeon.  Liliana kept pointing at the screen and saying their names - sometimes referring to them as sister or brother in Chinese but other times calling them "Nana", "Naya" and "Simee".  Myla wasn't really that interested in meeting her, but Liliana called her "Baby".  Janaya kept saying she couldn't wait now to get her home to us.  They kept crowding around the camera on the iPad wanting to see her as she sat on Daddy's lap all snug in her pj's.  She seemed more comfortable with B.J. than she had been when we spoke earlier.  It was good to see and the kids were so taken with her that they almost forgot to talk to B.J. :)


Junk food central
We spent our day after the phone call getting some schoolwork done, cleaning, and playing.  Aunt Lydia came over and offered another pair of hands.  I had canceled a play date due to the impending 'hazardous' weather (that never materialized), so I was really looking to do something fun and spontaneous to do.  We set up cushions and our beanbag chair and a mattress pad to substitute for gym mats and the girls played gymnastics for a while and then I got a great idea.  I took Elianna and Janaya to Giant (while Lydia stayed home with the two younger ones) and we bought some treats/junk food (gasp!) and rented a movie (double gasp!) and once Simeon got up, we all sat in the living room and watched the Odd Life of Timothy Green (great movie by the way!).  The kids thought it was pretty neat to get to eat junk food and watch a movie.  TV is pretty much a non-starter with the kids since they never get to watch it and I only turn it on after they go to bed, if at all, so something like a movie is a huge treat.  They loved the movie and it was nice to do something fun and different from our normal routine.  We definitely needed the change up.
Cuddling with Aunt Lydia

The kids have been doing okay with B.J. gone - though they miss him lots and the behavior has been a bit of a challenge lately.  Single parenting is hard and I have a whole new level of respect for those parents that live this life all the time.  Though I know some of the kids' behavior is due to missing Daddy, I also know that times like this squeeze us and show us what is inside and we have some work to do - nothing major, but nothing I want to leave un-addressed either :)  Of course, that squeezing works both ways and God has been showing me areas of my life that I need to work on too.  Fortunately, we have 12 more days to perfect these issues before B.J. gets home - piece of cake, right ;)


Thank you for all of your ongoing prayers and meals and notes and support and phone calls.  It is such an encouragement to us all and we feel so loved by our friends and family in the body of Christ!

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