Wowza!

It has been a very long time since I have gotten on my blog.  Life just happens, so the blog gets put on the back-burner.  I seem to spend more time doing a quick photo here and there on Instagram.  I'm Cheri in Virginia just in case anyone is still reading this blog.  IG needs less attention than a blog; suits my schedule better.

So, my life is kind of boring.  And, as crazy, hectic, sad, happy, and wonderful as the lasts seven years of my life have been....I'll take boring any day!  Sometimes it is good to have nothing of major significance going on in life.  It makes me take a look around and appreciate all that I have been blessed with.  (Warning!  Iphone photos ahead!  I rarely get the big camera out anymore.)

My, son, Jack is graduating this spring.  He has taken on a part-time job, and it makes me very proud of him.  My grandson, Abe, seems to admire his uncle in this photo.  But now, Abe seems a bit timid around him.

One of my favorite photos of Abe.  I know it's just his legs...but what great legs he has!

My girls are getting too big for their britches.  They are smart, clever, beautiful, fun, wonderful, and everything a mom could hope for. 

Because of the girls, there is always music in our home.  Ivy and Joy continue learning piano, while Eva plays violin.  It is fun hearing them make beautiful music together.  Abraham probably enjoys their music even more than I do.

Christmas 2016

Seth, Tia, and Abe.  I love them.  I'm so glad they live close by.  We cannot seem to get enough of that cutie Abraham.  It's amazing how much he looks like both his mom and dad.

He celebrated his first birthday.  The year went by way too quickly for all of us.

Those curls.  Adorable.  I know I am biased.  But, I can't help it; I won't lie!

Mike's dad came down last week for a great visit to celebrate Abraham.  It was such a wonderful time for him to be with his only great-grandchild.  

All About Joy

Ten.  

She has come a long way.

She had such a temper when she first came home.  She also had lots of happiness.

She loved to be loved.  Still does.  

She's has grown into a sweetheart.  Now she is double digits.  Never to be single digit again.  It makes me somewhat sad that this time has quickly passed by.  Oh, to just rewind for a little while longer.  My youngest is 10.  Yep, 10.

We delayed celebrating because we had just returned home from Hawaii.  And she was perfectly fine with celebrating her big birthday a few days late.  

At age 10, she is still my tiny girl.  She is 47 pounds (but was 45 pounds before she had steak and potatoes at dinner) and 49 inches tall. 

This year, she worked hard at learning how to ride a bike.

I have to admit I was thinking her "day" would never come.  She was so timid...afraid of falling.

Her tiny had isn't large enough to grip the handle.  So, she really is riding her bike mostly with her rock hard abs and right hand and arm.  

She had surgery on her hand about six months after coming home to us.  The doctors hoped to widen her grasp.  

Just 24 hours after surgery, she removed that cast, exposing her stitches and skin graft.  This mama panicked a bit.  

Joy continued removing cast after cast until...

...the doctors gave up and told me just to keep her bandaged instead.  She went through 5 beautiful casts in 2 weeks.  Her doctor called her Houdini.

Of course, Joy has no recollection of any of this.  She is just a sweet, intelligent, happy 10-year old girl.  Loving the sweet life that God has so blessed her with.

My Life Lately

Life moves so quickly.  There has been so much to ponder lately, I sometime spend half the night thinking about "life" in general.

Miss Eva, obviously, needed braces.  She wears them well.

She also celebrated her 10th birthday.  Wow.  Double digits.  It is hard for me to process how fast my girls are growing up.  I told her after she turned 10 I wasn't purchasing her anymore camouflage clothing.  We'll see...

My daughter-in-law, Tia, also celebrated a birthday.  The lovely lady stopped by after work for her requested dirt cake.  She has now moved into the second trimester and I still can't tell she is pregnant.

I recently got an email from one of Joy's teachers at co op informing me that Joy couldn't see the board.  I had wondered why she always made funny faces.  I am assuming she was trying to focus on what she couldn't see.  

Schoolwork is much easier to see now; but she struggles getting used to the glasses sitting on her tiny nose.

My sweet Ivy is now a teenager.  How fast that happened!

She chose Rocky Road Pizza for her "cake".

She has definitely come a long way from those first few frightening weeks at home.  I love her so much.  She is such a sweet, gentle girl.

After eating her dinner and pizza, everyone hung out and decided to color in Ivy's adult coloring books.  Such bums.

Ivy also go an old arcade controller with the fun games of my childhood.  I was immediately hooked.  I've had to pull myself away quite a few times because it is her game, not mine.

Evan Seth got in on the action.

Moxie always enjoys it when her friends come to play.  This is Chip and Hobo.  I don't think Chip has many years left.  He was Tia's since she was a little girl.

Moxie decided she wanted a chain piercing.  How gross is that?

She seemed obliviously to the drool hanging off her jowls.

Tia enjoyed a new "Medusa do" compliments of Eva and her pick-up-sticks.

So, that's My Life Lately.  It is good and I am so blessed to have this gang around me.

Celebrate!

Today is her day.  Her last single-digit birthday.

She has blossomed so much from those first days in China so many years ago.

Afraid and frail.

But, no more.  She is happy to be loved.

And happy to celebrate.

With her family.

And, I celebrated being mom to Jordan, Seth, Jack, Ivy, Eva, and Joy.  I am so thankful for my children and an amazing husband.

(Flowers, purse, necklace, salt & pepper shakers, fun time)

I hope all you Mothers out there have had a wonderful day!

Ahhh...Spring

I'm glad it is spring time here in Virginia.  Our "winter" doesn't really hit us until late January, February, or even March.  And when it does...it is beautiful.  And this year it was a lot.  

There is just something about going down a snow-covered slide...

Usually, we get snow, it warms up to the 40's, and it is gone the next day.  That wasn't the case this year.  It hung around a long time.  Parking lots had piles of snow for a couple of weeks.  Then it snowed again.  And again.

It stayed cold long enough to make tunnels, sled, and burst a water pipe in our house.

Moxie LOVED chasing the girls when they went sledding.  The girls, on the other hand, weren't too thrilled with her interventions.

As much fun as they had, they enjoyed riding their bikes and scooters today... wearing shorts...in 70 degree temperatures.  Good-bye Winter, hello Spring!