He's All Boy

Elton is all boy. Today he chewed up a nugget of dog food, ran around the house with his underwear on his head (clean, thankfully), and belched as loudly as he could as often as he could. With an audience of seven girls watching his every move, his antics earned him exactly the reaction he was looking for. "Eeeeeew, Elton!" Gotta love having a boy around the house! Can't wait to see what he'll do tomorrow!

Day 4 of hosting!

"I am Glad"

The kids were racing through the house tonight. ("Tag" needs no translation.) Giggles, squeals of delight, and peals of laughter reverberated from room to room.

In the middle of it all sat little Liga. Totally oblivious to the chaos around her, she was intently poring over her list of Latvian/English phrases. She wanted to tell me something.

Finally, she found it, placed her finger on the sentence, looked at me, and said in English, "I am glad." Then she quickly scanned the list again. There was more she wanted to share. "I am okay," she added with a smile, "I like."

With that she skipped off to go play with her dollies.

Leaving me to quietly brush away the tears and send up a silent prayer of thanksgiving to God for loaning me these precious children.

Day 2 of hosting.

Love Sure Makes You Feel Good

She doesn't speak my language...

... but she knows that I love her.

And love really does make a person feel good inside.

Day 1 of hosting!

Today Our World Changes Forever

I awoke today praying for Valerija, Samanta, Liga, and Eltons. Today, these four precious children are leaving the confines of their orphanage in Latvia. Perhaps for the first time ever, they will get on an airplane and fly. The chaperones will hand them the welcome letter we have written and had translated into Latvian. They will see pictures of our house and our family. Maybe little Eltons will have his letter read to him by one of his big sisters?

Our kids are somewhere in that picture above. How I wish I knew what was going through their minds and hearts. This mama already has her heart wrapped around these kids. My arms are ready to hold them. My hands are ready to care for them in whatever way is needed.

In short, I am ready for them to arrive. I am praying for their flight, imagining their wide-eyed wonder as they wing their way over Europe and the Atlantic, finally touching down in New York. I imagine their exhaustion and resiliency as they catch their connecting flight to Atlanta.

Today our world changes forever. Today we meet the kids we have worked so hard to bring over. Today, Valerija, Samanta, Liga, and Eltons become part of our family for a month.

We're praying it'll be forever.

Cute, Little Critters

Got these cute, little critters today in the mail. Some kind person donated 200 of these to the orphans coming over from Latvia and Ukraine for the New Horizon's Winter Hosting program.

Not only are they adorable and super soft and cuddly, they have a solar-powered digital card in a tummy pocket that tells the story of Jesus in the Latvian language. So wonderful! Ally and Maya enjoyed listening to it and cuddling with the tigers, even though they couldn't understand a word of the story.

'Can't wait to see our Latvian kids' faces when they get these. I think I might have to order some English-speaking ones for my girls.

Check out this video clip about WILDLIFE STORY TELLERS:

Playing Adoption

Children imitate what they see and mine are no exception. This morning Maya ran upstairs to grab an armful of dollies. "We're playing adoption," she informed me as she headed back down the stairs while plastic doll heads peered back at me over her retreating shoulder.

This is not the first time my girls have played this game. It's actually a recurring theme in our house--especially with preparations underway for our Latvian sweeties to arrive.

Dolls and stuffed animals are collected from around the house, then promptly scattered. My girls wander aimlessly around, only to suddenly "find" these "homeless" waifs (with loud exclamations), scoop them up in loving arms, and rush them to an orphanage (nearest bedroom) to be clothed and nursed back to health. They cluck like worried hens over each and every "orphan" as they are lovingly tucked into warm beds or rocked to sleep in loving arms.

Do I wonder whether what we are doing for the orphan is impacting my kids? Not in the least.

Inspection!

It was our word of the day yesterday.

And the day before.

And the day prior to that.

It was the reason why I drove the entire family crazy for at least a week.

And when my husband pointed out that I was drinking a bottle of expired orange smoothie, I knew I had gone a bit crazy too.

But when it came down to it.

It was no big deal.

Answer a few questions.

Tour the house.

Pray the kids didn't say anything like, "Wow, Mom! It's so clean in here!"

Smile.

Shake hands.

Wave goodbye.

Collapse into the nearest chair in relief.

Take the kids out to celebrate with frozen yogurt.

Today, I wander aimlessly throughout my immaculate house wondering what to do with myself.

Not!

Our Latvian kids come in NINE days.

Why We Need to Adopt - Interview with an Orphan

What is it really like to be an orphan?

This interview is one we watched at the New Horizon's Orphan Hosting Training yesterday. Taylor eloquently tells the heartbreaking story of his life as an orphan and what it was like to be adopted as a teen.

Part I

Part II

Update: Taylor graduated valedictorian from his high school. Accepted an academic scholarship to a college where he has now graduated with honors.

How different his life story would be if he had never been adopted!