A LampPost Flickering

This time we visitied the Corpus Christi Botanical Gardens and Nature Center. Loved it! We met our new friends, who also homeschool, for an afternoon surrounded by God's beautiful handiwork, carefully cultivated into a delightful discovery of gardens and trails and observatories and habitats. First things first: picnic lunch. One of my favorite from the rose garden. Gorgeous! And so fragrant. The kids brought their journals, and I encouraged them to sketch or write about their discoveries. They stopped often to observe and sketch. The rose garden also inspired Gabe, and he took a moment to capture some of it's beauty. All of the kiddos, forced into a group pose by two camera-toting moms. This stone seat was covered with a colorful tile mosaic. Caleb and Seth peering over a two-story lookout tower. They were disappointed that Gator Lake had no 'gators. (And with the current Texas drought, not much lake either.) It is always such a joy to watch my children learn and make new

I woke up this morning with a sweet, chubby four-year in the crook of my arm. His fingers caressed my arm as he whispered in my ear: "Jesus called them...and immediately they followed him." Pause. Then, "Jesus said, 'I am the resurrection and the life.'" Then he repeated both verses again. His memory verses from the past couple of weeks at AWANA Bible Club. Sweet. In its purest, most virtuous form. "In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation" Psalm 5:3

We celebrated: With decorations. (I bought this flashy silk lantern at a shop on Shamian Island in Guangzhou, trying to spend the last of our yuan before leaving the following day.) With little red envelopes the kids and I made. I printed out a host of Chinese characters, and the kids each picked out their favorite one to put on their own envelope. Caleb picked "Fun," Gabe picked "Fire," Lily picked "Love," and Seth picked "Happy." They all wanted Rob to have "Father" and me to have "Mother." Inside each envelope I tucked a few coins and placed them all alongside their dinner plates, in addition to a special candy treat. With a big meal, mostly Chinese fare, with American twists: Jasmine rice, General Zso's Chicken, egg rolls, steamed dumplings, fried dumplings, and ginger and garlic green beans. Yum! Chopsticks are a must! Of course, by the end of the meal, each of the kids had requested a spoon and/or fork. At least they

First stop: the library. . .for a book on the shells of coastal south Texas. Because this is what the beach on the base looks like. A few extra finds, like beached jelly fish and hermit crabs, add delight to the day. And what would an afternoon at the "shell beach" be without a Black Hawk fly-by? (Seriously, these things are amazing!) Sorry the light is really harsh on this one, but I wanted a group shot with before we left. Who knows where next Friday will take us?

I know that 2009 has been here for quite some time. I mean, you've all probably stopped writing "08" on your checks by now. Maybe not. Sometimes I still write "99." Don't laugh. That was the year I became a mother, and we all know that children suck brain cells away like X-Men's Rogue (who, by the way has the coolest name AND the hair of the gang) sucks away others' powers. Anyway, I thought it might be fun to go through the beginning-ish sentences of some of last years blog posts and see what kind of story they tell. January 8 Okay, it's been almost forever since I've talked to you. Today was a little hard, but not too bad. January 9 I thought today would be harder than it is. January 10 Today I spent a lot of time searching. January 17 Last week was really hard. January 24 Today is Day 17. January 26 Caleb: "You know what Jesus is working on right now?" February 7 "Gong Xi Fa Cai" or Lots of blessings and prosperi