A Tale of Two Boys {Part 1}

You all know that I went to Taiwan in November. This was my third time to travel to Taiwan with Superkids. I haven't talked about my trips there much. It has been an emotionally conflicting  subject for me.

This gorgeous child from Taiwan now has a family.

The organizations we visit in Taiwan are different from the orphanages we visit in China. Not in a good way, not in a bad way, just different. Right now, due to some changes in China, we are not able to visit orphanages. Naturally this makes me sad. I love China. I love the kids I know there.

You may not think Taiwan would be that different from China, but it is a totally different program with different guidelines and a different timeline. In order to be a good advocate for children from a specific country you need to understand the way adoptions work in that country. At one point it made me feel tired just to think about learning everything I needed to know to really throw myself into advocacy for children from Taiwan.

A bridge near one of the orphanages we visit in Taiwan.

I am not the type of person who can have a door right in front of me and not step through {shocker, I know}. So I started asking questions and learning.

I know that none of this seems to have anything to do with two boys, but I need to share the background before I can move on. I'm getting there...

Our youngest man-child last summer at the bay.

I started out as a boy mom, having three sons first. I love being a boy mom! I love that these big, taller-than-me boy-men are still my little boys. I love these teenage years. When they were all little, I couldn't imagine them being this size. I had no idea that parenting teenage boys would be this amazing and this difficult. I also didn't foresee how much the man-children would still need their parents.

So when I meet older boys in orphanages the ones who tug at my hearts the most are the ones who remind me of my sons...

I feel like this is getting too long. And I need you all to actually hear the story of these two boys. So I'm going to stop here and continue this post tomorrow. Please come back. I need to share this with you...

Early Dismissal

We got up and got everyone out the door today in decent time. The kids each have jobs they are supposed to get done before they leave in the mornings, which were far from done, but we made it down the lane in time to get on the bus, so I call that a win.

This kid is on winter break right now and enjoyed it to the fullest today!

Anyway, I feel like I've been behind and trying to play catch up with my Superkids work since, oh, the beginning of November or so. So I dug right in, ignoring the dishes on the counter and laundry on the floor. Somewhere between finishing a video and editing the rest of the pictures for the new children we met in Taiwan on our last trip, I got an email from the school announcing an early dismissal time due to weather.

Timber was thrilled to grab a sandwich from an un-eaten lunch.

He guarded it on his bed for awhile, but got hungry for a little snack eventually.

Since I hadn't even checked the weather or looked out the window I was shocked to realize that it was sleeting and snowing. I looked around and devised a plan. I'm not going to spell it out for you in detail, but the main components were child labor and bribery.

The house looks better now. Not great, but better. And we all piled on the bed together for a while and watched Psych. It is how I bribe them, but the reality is that it is my favorite thing to do. It is a queen size bed. And there were five of us. I think that equals about 2.5 inches each or something like that. Especially since we all need pillows and blankets. It is the best!

Now we have lasagna in the oven and I'm already secretly hoping for a delayed school start time in the morning...

Word of the Year

I've done this before. In 2013 and 2014 I chose a word for the year. I like having a goal for improvement tucked away in my mind. Choosing a word to focus on for a year works better for me than resolutions. It just sort of hangs there in my mind providing a niggling sense of inspiration, or guilt, as the case may be.

I've put thought and prayer into choosing this word, that is not the norm for me. I make decisions quickly and rarely deliberate for long, but I'm earning to be more intentional {that would have been a good word...} so I took my time and put some thought into it.

My word for 2018 is:

 Relationships

Y'all want to know how serious I am about this {and how supportive my husband is}? We added it to our budget. So that I can casually invite someone out for coffee or lunch. If that doesn't make it official, well, that and announcing it to the world on the blog, I don't know what does.

I think eggs (toad in a hole) fit this post, right? Even 2 eggs. You know, for sharing.

I want to focus on relationships I already have and build a stronger sense of community, but I also want to focus on building new relationships. {Who am I kidding? That should probably not be plural, let's not go crazy here!} I want to focus on real, authentic relationships, because I might as well face it, I'm over 40. What you see is what you get. I don't have time or energy for pretense.

I know this is an attainable goal, I also know it doesn't happen without intentionality.

So here is to community and coffee shop chats in 2018!