No Dults

Well, in the the process of trying to get everyone out of the shower and to church on time we hit a snag yesterday morning.

Maci was given to Abi for church prep - shower, pick out clothes, all that kind of stuff. Moments later Abi came down the stairs to explain to Sonya that Maci would not let her pick out her clothes.

During that conversation I look up the steps to see Maci standing there asking me to come up. Her reasoning? There were no dults. She wanted dults to help her.

How do you teach a 2 year old that is not reading that a "dult" is actually an "adult"? I guess right now we'll chalk it up as 2 year old cuteness.

And yes, she got her dult!

-Dave

We've been in hiding...

Not really. We do seem to be overwhelmed with the task of getting our family into shape.

Have you ever stepped back and taken a look at your family, only to find that the foundations are slipping?

I mean kindness, obedience, willingness to work together? We are in the midst of retooling and regrouping here at the Hillrich house. We are working on family relationships...along with a devotional called "Making Brother and Sisters Best Friends". We've only read one day - but it seems to be hitting where we need it the most. We are also working on being respectful in all situations. For instance, the book claims that at home relationships are different because we tend to expect more from each other and less from ourselves. We see it here just about every day.

Stephen has also been in charge of Fun Family Activities. He writes one up for each day of vacation. So far, it has been flag football, comic reading, and a ps2 tournament. I see him working as an activities director on a cruise ship some day!

So in the middle of all this, the blog has gone by the wayside. We'll do better...I Promise!

international relations

Fumiko is a close friend of my parents from when they were ministering in Japan for a year. They are quite excited to have her in their home this coming weekend, when we will visit.
So Dave prepares the children for meeting a new friend.

Dave:: So, everybody, when we go to Grandma & Grandpa's this weekend, FUMIKO is going to be there.

Ana:: (really really loudly) FLAMINGO????

Dave:: No, honey, Fumiko

Ana:: I dough know Daddy saying!!!
I doan understan?


maybe you had to be there.
hope she's been practicing standing on one leg.

wiped, but in wonder

I am coming off of three or so days of stomach flu. Eeeew.
I welcomed Stephen to the club yesterday morning when he couldn't much move from the couch (that's soooo not Stephen). So he was home from school today & I was trying to make up for my weekend of rest.
I feel like I got pretty behind on the "list in my head". Well, it's not all in my head, some of it is written down. But Christmas is kind of full of contrasts, isn't it?
Part of me wants to slow down & approach the gift of my Savior with new meaning & significance. And, to a point, I usually manage to do that. But another part of me is busy coming up with gifts, planning my contributions to parties, trying to be everywhere, do everything...on & on....

So I was forced to stop my busywork. I was forced to watch my family go on without me (they managed). And I wonder now, what I can learn from slowing down in the middle of this insanity?
I heard on the radio today a woman advising moms to maintain balance in the holidays. To realize that not every moment will be perfect, but to choose to see the good where it is. To let the sad stuff have its moment, but to allow our hope in Christ carry us through.
It was good advice. There are times when this all just seems insane. Sometimes it is. But when we pray for balance, when we determine to lead our kids to the manger, when we treat our relatives with grace, we honor our Savior. We reflect the hope portrayed in Bethlehem.

Oh God let us follow You where you lead.

Christmas Cards!

Every year getting the Christmas cards in the mail are a big deal...I mean getting the ones we send out!

This year we got our family photo (the lady at Wal-Mart wanted to handcuff me for "stealing a copyrighted photo - which isn't copyrighted!) The kids made pictures and snowflakes for the cards. I bought the stamps. We made the address list. We even put together an assembly line.

And this year...drum roll please...Abi was the guest writer for the family letter.

Instead of killing more trees (I killed enough to burn this year) I decided to just post it this year. Hope you all enjoy...

Oh yeah... and the cards will be in the mail!

closet day

(just skip this one, if you aren't interested in the daily workings of our household)

So, Mom H. & Mom P.,
(who I think are probably the only ones left)
yesterday after school, I welcomed the kids & then told them it was Closet Day. I told them to take a picture of their closet before & after they cleaned it. I thought the photo idea was just fun enough to get them pumped to clean up well.
It worked.
I was just going to show you the best picture, but seriously, all of their work impressed me.
Here ya go.

Bartholomew

We have been reading a delightfully suspenseful Advent story. The author does such a great job at pulling our kids into the narrative set near Bethlehem around the time of Jesus' birth.
We forget sometimes what strife surrounded the place our Savior was born, & this story puts it into perspective, at least through a child's eyes.
Check it out if you have grade-school aged kids.
You can still catch up at this point!

Bartholomew's Passage

oh & we had some yummy yummy healthy waffles for breakfast today (SNOW DAY!!! well, actually ICE day!!!)

one year ago today

we came home with these two precious bundles of joy (at least bundles of energy...the joy came in bits until they felt safe & cared for).




















Tonight we celebrated the little girls' homecoming, which is the day they officially joined our family. Our big kids remembered their favorite moments of meeting the little girls & we ate a bunch of Ethiopian food. After we ate we headed down to watch the video Dave made of our trip to Ethiopia, which does a pretty good job of telling the story.
This has been an amazing year. These two were taken tonight.

beautiful article

I think we have said before that we order our green coffee beans from Dean's Beans.
Their prices are good & the coffee is yummy. Of course, that's the point.
But recently the Actual Dean wrote an article journaling a bit of his recent trip to Ethiopia. It was intriguing & insightful.
Read on, if you enjoy having a larger perspective about our world.

HAIR!

Yeah,

I knew that Sonya going to Chicago with some friends overnight would stretch me.

Bedtime went well.

Got the kids to school on time.

It was the HAIR!

You see, Ana and Macy both had nice braids in their hair. When I mentioned to Sonya last night that I'd keep them in (because I CAN'T do hair) she said that if I want to take the braids out I would use the pick. Good thing Ana heard that!

Tears (she likes to watch her tears go down her cheeks in the mirror) followed by repeated "But mommy said..."

Followed by "Daddy's CAN'T DO HAIR"

She didn't care. So I took the braids out and picked it (adding conditioner of course) and put in a big headband. Her hair is HUGE...it used to work 2 months ago.

I got more tears...and statements like "Yes, daddy's CAN do it" (which led to more failure and more tears) and "Daddy take Ana to one of mommy's friends to do her hair!" Oh yeah. I even tried an Ethiopian scarf we brought back...but that didn't pass either (yeah, more tears)

We finally settled on the hair in the picture.

Thankfully Maci was content with her braids.

And Ana will be wearing winter hats wherever we go!

HOME

Boy did our own beds feel great last night!

The guys came yesterday afternoon and were done in a few hours!

They did comfort me by saying they have had the same problem with fixes they have done...and that makes me feel better?!

So...more blogging around the corner? Who knows...

why a tree?

Why we go get a Christmas tree in the words of our big kids (little girls are still learning):

"It brings our family closer together. We hang up the ornaments together & have fun together"
~Abi

"The star is up high & the gifts are down below. Kind of like, you know, Jesus is our gift"
~Stephen (a little reluctant to be so, you know, symbolic)

"We like to celebrate"
~Caleb

I agree with my kids & for me it gets even a bit deeper. I read the Old Testament rituals with interest & appreciation. God had such a way of requiring celebration & ritual to enrich the lives of His people. I'm not going so far to say that God wants us to have a Christmas tree, but I do think the general principle of enjoying celebration & ritual & tradition is interwoven through the entire Bible.
We begin the celebration even now of our Savior's arrival.

Adoption reflections

We are in the midst of some freezing rain here today. That reminds me of this weekend last year. We were on our way to Chicago (the Peoria airport was closed because of bad weather) to go get our girls.

We were quite excited and yet apprehensive about the trip. I just remember sitting in the Chicago airport, listening to the new Fernando Ortega cd on my ipod:

"Grace and Peace,' whose entire text is 'grace and peace be unto you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.'"

That means as much to me today as it did a year ago.

On this first day of December...may you find grace and peace from God in our Lord Jesus Christ!

(Still no pics...sorry)