A Christmas to Remember

Amazing to think that last year at this time Brodie was in a Chinese Orphanage without Christmas, family, and all the things that go with both. The greatest thing about Christmas this year was seeing him enjoying every minute of it. The joy of seeing a 6 year old celebrating Christmas for the first time was priceless. Every time Brodie would open a gift, no matter how big or small, he would throw his hands in the air and say, "Yes! Thank you Santa!" Every single present, same thing. It was awesome. He got a Buzz Lightyear, many Batman and Spiderman figures, along with other goodies. His grasp of the English language has been simply amazing. He now can carry on a conversation with you. He understands everything we say. He is a smart little fellow. We feel so blessed to have him in our family. He fusses with his sisters as though they have been together forever, it is both irritating and beautiful. We are so thankful for our extended family for all of the special holiday memories and are also thankful to our church family for the gifts. The church gave me 3 days off and I took those this week and just hung out at the house. It has been a great time of family bonding. We bought the Wii game "just dance" and it is hilarious to watch the kids dance. Life is beautiful and we have a front row seat.

Its Beginning to look like Christmas

It is amazing to think that this time last year Brodie was receiving a Operation Christmas Child Shoebox in his orphanage in China. He had no concept of Christmas and especially its meaning. He still doesn't totally grasp everything, but we are constantly finding teachable moments. He is beginning to understand that he will get presents pretty soon. His mind is going to be blown on Christmas morning. He has never evened opened a present much less had 5 or 6 waiting under a tree. His language is getting better and better. He is slowly losing his Mandarin and gaining his English. It is a little sad for us to see him losing his original language. We would love to see him remain bilingual. He is doing great in school as well. He has not been in trouble in a long time. As a matter of fact, the other day at school he was a hero. His principal met us in car pool and told us the story. A little boy in his class stuck a little bead up his nose and Brodie informed the teachers about the incident. He told them as best he could, "Chase, has something in his nose." That little fellow had to go to the hospital to have it removed. Brodie came to the van that day wearing a medal around his neck. We have never seen him so proud. We were pretty proud as well. We almost have his room ready, just need some furniture. We can't wait to move him in his room. This little fellow has shared a room his whole life. In the orphanage he most likely slept in a room with several kids, so the idea of a room by himself is an amazing thought. Tomorrow night he will also be in his first Christmas play. Our children's choir is singing, "Christmas in Joyland." Brodie loves the music and sings it to the top of his lungs. He doesn't know all the words, but he has the melody down. Every day is an adventure. We are learning more about him and he is learning more about us.

A Day at Children's Hospital

Our day started at 4:30 this morning. We had to be at the hospital at 6AM. Children's Hospital in Birmingham is a wonderful place. The people there are among the most wonderful people in the world. I say that unbiased even though Lorrie works there. They got us back to a room quickly and he was in surgery before 7:30. Long story short, Brodie had seven teeth pulled and several cavities filled. Dr. Shannon pulled his two front teeth on top and the bottom front teeth as well. He now looks so different without his front teeth. His molers were so decayed, I know he has been in pain. He was also circumcised and had an MRI on top of that. He finally came back to the room at 12:30 and we got home around 3:00. He has had a great amount of discomfort, but his teeth hasn't bothered him very much so far. He was such a great patient and it went as well as we could have ever dreamed. We are so thankful for our friends and family who have prayed us through this event. Unfortunately, he is now showing everyone ALL of his booboos, which has been a little interesting with his three sisters. We fear that when he gets to church Sunday the same may happen, which would ruin a good Sunday school lesson for his class. He is so excited about putting his teeth under the pillow. The tooth fairy is in for a surprise tonight with 7 teeth waiting for financial gain. How much money is that equal to anyway? We will not be at school tomorrow, but he should be good to go on Monday. We are so thankful for Nancy Brooks. She was at our house this morning at 5:15 so we could leave and the girls could sleep in on their day off from school. She took them shopping, out to lunch and even made chicken soup for Brodie to enjoy when he got home, which he did. Thanks to our parents who were just great today. Sandra brought presents and my dad bought us breakfast. Nancy also gave Brodie some gifts when he got home. We are so blessed to have such great friends and family. It was such a strange place for Lorrie and I to be today. A pastor and a Nurse is rarely the one being visited and ministered to by others, but today we were just two parents needing support. We are thankful for all of our veterans today. My dad served in Vietnam and proudly wore his veterans hat today. I am so proud to have a dad like that. Well done veterans, thank you for your service.

Brodie's First Halloween

It didn't take long for Brodie to figure out that he likes Halloween and Fall Festivals. The sisters had to show him how to trick or treat, but after the first door, he was off to the races. He went to the next door, knocked and yelled "Trick or Treat, Thank You." He got his candy and we couldn't keep up with him as he went to the next door. He was Batman which is interesting considering last week, he didn't even know who Batman was. I watched some Batman cartoons with him and then bought an action figure at Target and before long, he was sold on the costume. We had a great time this year. With Halloween being on a Sunday, we were able to trick or treat in Hueytown Saturday night. We rarely get to do that, but with our church functions on Sunday night, we took advantage of a Saturday night candy spree. Tonight was simply amazing at Valley Creek. Our fall festival was a great success and the kids had a blast. Brodie's English continues to improve. Instead of saying "Thank You" he now says, "Thank you so much." He has begun calling me "Daddy" instead of "Baba." He has begun making sentences as well and he is reading words in school and doing great. We have set his surgery for November 11th at Children's. He will have a number of minor things done that day, but it will be a long recovery with some pains to overcome. We are also so proud of Andie. She was selected as one of the Superintendent's fifth grade scholars. We will attend a special ceremony this week in recognition for her achievement. It is hard to believe that November is already here. Brodie has been home with us for over 3 months now and he continues to make amazing progress. He has not had a bad report from school in several weeks. All greens on his daily report. Thank you for your prayers and support. Don't forget that this Sunday is Orphan Sunday. We will celebrate the day at Valley Creek in both of our morning services. Lorrie and I will share our testimonies and I will preach from James 1:27.

It is all about the color...

Brodie and the other k-5 kids are on a color system for behavior. Green means that you had a good day, yellow means that you did some things that were not very nice, and red means that you were a total terror. In Brodie's folder is a calendar and every day has a dot. That dot is filled in by his teacher every afternoon with one of these three colors. Lorrie and I find ourselves anticipating opening that folder every day to see what color he got for the day. When his dot is green, he runs out to our car in the carpool line and just goes crazy showing us his good behavior. He is so proud of himself for that. However, when the color is yellow he slowly walks up with a look of disgust on his face. We are two days in a row now with yellow dots. In the past two weeks he has hit, kicked, spit, pinched and bit another child in class. The bright side for us is that he seemingly has run the list and we cannot imagine what else he can do. We figure tomorrow he will push someone or pull their hair. Yesterday, he got in trouble for singing in the hallway. However, he was singing Jesus Loves Me. That made us feel a little better. He has lost privileges and has had to sit out of play time. It is so frustrating because he knows better. He understands what he has done and that it is not good. Yet, he chooses to keep making bad decisions. Lorrie and I are at our wits end. Tonight at church, he scratched another kid. Our son may be a bully, we don't know. One thing is for sure, he will learn right from wrong if we have to do this for an entire year, he will learn. He continues to do well with his language. He is actually reading several words now. He is struggling with his colors and his shapes. We are also finding that having a 7th grader is not easy. As I write, it is 10:11PM and Maggie is still doing homework. It has been a tough week around here!! Good news with our new room addition. Some wonderful guys have been helping us build a new room and we start sheetrocking on Saturday. It is framed, insulated, and ready for rock on the walls.
Lorrie and I are finding less time to do the things we want these days. Our days are totally filled with church, schoolwork, household chores, children's activities, and working on the new room. It seems like we are constantly cooking, cleaning, doing laundry and homework. So it really is about the color these days for us. What will Brodie bring home tomorrow. Who will his latest victim be and what will be the weapon of choice. It is like a game of clue.