National Adoption Month

Last year, a fellow adoptive Mom and an adoptee herself, put together a very special video celebrating adoption. In honor of this year's National Adoption Month, she has made another video with even more families participating (you can spot my little ones at 1:27).

This video is such a blessing to me, not only because we were able to be a part of it again, but because I have gotten to know many of these families. It is so BEAUTIFUL and AMAZING to see how God has brought them together through adoption!

There are an estimated 143 million children waiting to be placed in loving homes, and our dear Bethany used to be one of them. Please take a moment to watch this video, and consider how you can help a waiting child.



If you would like more information on how you can help, please visit http://www.holtinternational.org/

Other ways you can help:

• become a foster parent - http://www.davethomasfoundation.org/
• adopt a child in the U.S. or internationally
• sponsor a waiting child in the U.S. or internationally
• make donations to organizations and agencies that advocate for waiting children
• volunteer at organizations and agencies that advocate for waiting children
• pray for these children!

2+2=?

I am living proof that all Asians aren't good at Math. I never lived up to that particular Asian stereotype. I never liked Math, and never excelled at it. If anything, Language Arts has always been my strong suit, and I have my SAT and GRE scores to prove it.

My son Austin is a different story. He is quite the mathematician (and his Language Arts skills aren't too shabby either). A few days ago, we received a letter from Austin's school stating that he had been picked to participate in the first ever Mental Math Showdown for 4th graders. Each teacher picked their top five math students based on class performance and scores from the California Standards Test. A total of 26 students took part in the "showdown".

The kids were so nervous, but who could blame them? Their fellow classmates, teachers and parents were all watching. As several rounds of questions were completed, the number of students on stage dwindled down to six.

Austin was up next, but was told his answer was incorrect.

Some of us in the audience were pretty certain his answer was correct, so one of the parents went to tell the Math coach. After some deliberation, they realized they had made a mistake. Much to his relief, he was called back on stage.  Woo hoo!

Down to the final 3.

 

When all was said and done, Austin placed 3rd, and I couldn't be prouder. 

Way to go Austin!
And way to keep the Asian stereotype alive and kickin'! ;)

LegoLand Part 2 - Then and Now

Austin's very first trip to Legoland was back in 2006. I was looking through some old pictures and found some cute then and now pictures.

Then

Now

Then

Now

Then

Now

Now it's time to make some new Legoland memories with this little one. :)

LegoLand - Part 1

Instead of celebrating our 10th anniversary with a couple's getaway as we had planned, we opted to take the kiddos to Legoland instead. Summer was quickly coming to an end, and I really wanted to do something special with the family before Austin started school again. We used to be Legoland regulars, but hadn't been there for a few years, so I thought we better go before Austin outgrew it, and before we had to start paying admission for Bethany.

We stayed overnight at a hotel and spent two days at Legoland. As an added bonus, my dear friend from junior high, along with her son who has been buddies with Austin since they were itty bitty babies, were able to join us for a day.

 

 

Of course we couldn't leave the hotel without Sam taking a gazillion pictures of us.

and action!

Austin's class recently finished reading Shiloh, and had a corresponding book report project due today. Austin chose to produce a brief news report about an incident that took place in the book. Typically, Sam is the movie maker in our family, but since he was so busy with work, Austin had to rely on my amateurish skills. I now have a new found respect for those that make movies.

I'll be the first to tell you I'm not a huge fan of school projects, but I'll admit, I had fun helping Austin with this one. Hope you enjoy his news report as much as I did. :)

Two Years Ago

Two years ago, I saw this face for the first time and fell in love.

And I've been loving this girl ever since.

 

 

 

 

Happy Referral Day!

First Day

No first day of school would be complete without our annual picture taken on our front steps.

Not only did Austin grow a few inches this past summer, but you can also tell he's grown up by the absence of a character backpack. His days of Thomas the Train, Star Wars, Pokemon and Bakugan backpacks are over. Although I've never been a huge fan of character merchandising, except for Hello Kitty of course :), it's sad to say goodbye to that part of his childhood.

But, I have a fourth grader now, and it's time to move on to bigger and better things.

I was happy to see many of his friends from last year in his class again. He has a very experienced and wonderful teacher whom I know from my days of teaching at the school. I know it will be a challenging year, but I'm confident it will be a great one. 

After school, Bethany and I had a little something waiting for him in the car. It's something I've always done for Austin on the first and last days of school since Pre-K, and I'm looking forward to doing the same with Bethany. :)

I don't know what Bethany was more happy about - having big brother back home, or the balloons. :)