what a day can bring

the morning. 
we've been feeling crummy around these parts with a wave of sickness moving through our house. but, as a bright point, it's kept us home and grounded, which is always a blessing during a time of life that feels like it's pulling me so fast in so many ways...i need and love a reason to step out of the pull.

we dug in the garden for worms to feed the chickens. who slurped them quickly like spaghetti.
we laughed at their tenacity and michael jordan leaps in mid air to be the first to play worm hoops with their beaks. i tried not to grimace as a felt bad for the sweet earth worms, one of our favorite earth dwellers. even the boys put back the baby earth worms because they, too, feel our love for these slimy buggers.
our pj's and shoes were especially muddy.

it was just the way i love mornings to be.
we rode bikes and had snacks and a picnic lunch filled with the randomness i found in the refrigerator.
oh and coffee. life needs coffee. light beige with french vanilla coffee mate, please.

we did lots of bike repair, which eventually led to random parts falling off and my inability to figure out how to reassemble brake lines. thankfully foster figured it out :)

i left my cell inside and let the morning pass at it's own pace.

i left my lawn chair long enough to refil my coffee when i caught a glace at my missed calls. 3 from my hubby. as i reached to call him back, he was calling again.

in a flash, we were in the car and gone for the rest of the afternoon. so fast in fact, rowan was still wearing his bike helmet.
our afternoon was this:

at a red light, my husband's truck (which we have been trying to sell) was rear ended by a large box truck. so hard, in fact, that it jolted his airbags open and pushed his huge truck into a lexus. (of course, it had to be a lexus, right?)
uhg. the truck is sure to be totalled. even just replacing the airbags will chock up the total dangerously close to it's 1996 dodge ram value.
i have a feeling it will end up being a blessing. an annoying, frustrating, whip lash trip to the er, blessing. perhaps the truck would have taken months to sell, or even longer. maybe this is one of God's ways to look out for the well being of our family. in fact, now i know why we didn't buy a car last weekend. because a small, compact, great on gas car would have been really REALLY smashed. clint would have also been really REALLY smashed. praise God He allowed clint to be in his truck.


on the adoption front, i continually feel myself being stretched and taught. it's the most humbling expirience of my life. this precious being who my heart aches for...she's been God's channel for so much change and growth in my life and in our family. my children see the world differently already. they show more compassion. they have a money jar in their room. they call it the clean water jar. they are saving every coin they find to be able to build a well for kids who drink dirty water. they talk about gifts they will bring to sister when she's in surgery.  foster wonders what her favorite color will be. rowan wants to feed her cheese curls. they both want to hold her and talk about how strong they are and how little she will be. several times foster has sat and cried because he misses her. his heart feels heavy for his dear sister. and every single night, we say i love you in chinese. "wo ai ni mommy!" "wo ai ni foster!" "wo ai ni rowan!" "wo ai ni emery!"
it's like the chinese adoption verson of the waltons :) and it's so adorable. melts me everytime.

我愛你福婧柳