Yeah for Emma!!

After weeks of waiting for the list to go up at school Emma finally announced that she made the musical Hairspray!
We are so happy and excited for her...can't wait to see the performance...we will have to wait a bit, it's not until April!!

Congratulations Emma Lou!

K

Baby it's cold outside!

The winter gifts from Nora's foster family arrived at the perfect time! Today the high was 21 degrees!! I am not ready for that kind of cold but now my kids are...I took a picture of Emma, Owen and Declan in their hats and scarves to send to the foster family...Nora was taking a much needed winter nap so she missed the photo shoot..however I was too chicken to try and take her coat off that she is napping in her coat so in a way she participated in the photo shoot!

Owen is making Christmas cookies, now if only someone could do my shopping for me...hmmmm.

K

are you done yet Mom?

Let It Snow...Nora is ready to go!

Today our mailman delivered the sweetest gift...I have had a close relationship with our mailman since we began our adoption journey almost three years ago..he has delivered many important documents to us from Immigration, our agency here and in Korea, and today he brought us a box full of Christmas gifts from Nora's foster family...it's amazing how excited I used to get over an envelope and now to open a box filled with so much love has completed our journey...although I know in my heart it is a journey that will never end.

Nora's foster family sent all of my children adorable hats and scarves along with a bright pink winter jacket for Nora and hats and scarves and hair bows..I know how expensive children's clothing is in Korea so this was so generous of them to think of all of us, but especially Nora. Nora went outside in the perfect winter weather to model her winter coat and I think it looks adorable on her!
She is too young to realize it now but we will always tell Nora how much she was and is loved by her foster family in Korea.

In so many ways the winter coat was the perfect gift because everytime Nora wears it she will feel her foster mothers arms around her.

Happy Winter!
K

Nora discovers the tree...

Dinner tonight=Cupcakes and Hot Chocolate

Yes, that was our dinner but what better way to spend your night watching the movie Elf? We were definitely eating a "Buddy the Elf" dinner and the best part was that Emma did it all! Today we put up our Christmas tree which is always a day filled with a little stress, for me anyway..this year it came in the form of "we don't really know where we are going to get our tree, let's just keep driving until we find a Christmas tree sign..." well, that's not really how I operate but I have learned to let go, a bit..and wouldn't you know, we ended up at a great tree farm with beautiful trees...it's amazing what happens when you let go, just a little.

Owen, my middle son was the most excited about getting the tree, he always is..he loves to help pick out the tree, carry it to the car and help Steve bring it in the house. Sometimes I forget that he is getting older, stronger and more willing to help and more importantly, happy to help..I still see him as that adorable, chubby cheeked little boy and the truth is that he is my little man now...and he takes that role very seriously. He was truly disappointed that the colored lights did not work after we untangled the mess ( I am not a very organized "putting away the lights" person...) so I said, "well, this year Owen we will just do white lights on the tree." I have to admit, I love simple, white, clear lights and I was not that disappointed that the colored bulbs bit the dust but I could see the disappointment in Owen's eyes and the words that came next sealed the deal.."what's Christmas for if kids can't have colored lights on their tree?" So, if you are a mom you know what I did next..yep, sunday night, ran to Walgreens and purchased 8 boxes of colored lights, how could I not?

As I was putting the lights up with Owen my thoughts were not of how much I am going to miss the white lights but rather how much I am going to miss when there is no one here to ask for the colored lights...so this year we have colored lights, on our tree, around the front door and lampost because after all, what would Christmas be without them?

K

"Yes, Virginia" Holiday Special Trailer

I could read this letter over and over again and the message is still new and ever so powerful.

This year I am choosing to believe more than ever.

Kelly

September, 1897
Dear Editor:
I am eight years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says,
"If you see it in The Sun, it's so." Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?
Virginia O'Hanlon
115 West Ninety-Fifth Street



Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except [what] they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! How dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance can push aside that curtain and view the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding. No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.