We finally reached the end of our birthday marathon, having all 5 kids birthday's in 3 and 1/2 months. Four just in the last 6 weeks (ouch!). Our littlest man celebrated his 3rd birthday Friday and we had a family celebration on Saturday. He was so excited about his birthday and anticipated his party for weeks. He wanted to have his "friends" at his party, or as we know them our family.
Anxiously waiting..... A little potato sak race...

You know those people. The ones that offer you advice, when you didn't ask. The ones who aren't like you. They don't know you or even more so don't know how God is working in your life. They think they know better for you than you do. Well, I work with one of those. I don't know why but she feels the need to give me advice about my family. It is not advice I have asked for or advice I need. You see I don't need anyone to tell me that having a BIG family can be hard, it is. I don't' need anyone to tell me having a BIG family is expensive, it is. I know it because there are many days we are reminded of that. Like when we sit for hours at the kitchen table doing homework or go to a fast food restaurant and it is $35, that used to be a nice dinner out for two. Or on the nights it takes an hour and a half to do bedtime with all our kids. Or when I look at the mounds of laundry, the shoes and toys strewn around the house. But the thing is I LOVE my BIG family, I would not have it any other way. I actually dream of it getting BIGGER someday. I know that may sound crazy but I love the thought of it! I know I cannot make someone else understand how BLESSED I feel but I sure wish I could. I just don't know how to respond to her "advice". Maybe my new Mantra can be BLESSED TO BE STRESSED, I could even get a t-shirt.

Driving home from church Wednesday night at sunset...

Lily: "Ma, where the sun go?'

Ma: "The sun went nite, nite." ( my standard little kid answer)

Lily: "Noooooo, the sun go to China."

Pause

Ma: "Actually Lily, it is in China."

She is so sharp.

Lily has developed some sense of God while home. She goes to church regularly and we have talked about God a good bit. Sometimes she will say things like "how did God make the sun?" and tonight she asked me, "does God sleep?", "does God take a bath?". When I told her God doesn't have to sleep and he probably doesn't take a bath she said, "God stink?". Once as we were driving with the sunroof in the car open she looked up and pointed and said, "hello God". I am not surprised by this, the Bible says we must accept Christ with childlike faith. This means we should not think too hard about it, just accept it. Somehow children are just able to. She has only just heard about God and is learning about Jesus yet it is obvious she thinks about them and accepts them. With our other kids having been in church since birth seeing her childlike faith, new at 8, is so refreshing to me. Her questions and comments are just so cute, and they make me think.

Today after school Lily and I were laying on the couch talking. She looked out the window and said, "tomorrow the trees fall?". I was confused and didn't understand what she meant. she clarifies, "tomorrow the tree leaves fall?" Oh, I get it. Tomorrow is the first day of Fall. I envisioned her teacher reading her a book with pictures about fall. Then I realize that she is worried about this. I reassure her that it will not all happen tomorrow, that it happens over time as the weather gets colder. She seemed less worried until bedtime when I heard her asking dad if tomorrow all the trees were going to fall. Once again we reassured her that was not going to happen. Poor thing. Hopefully soon she will learn just how beautiful Fall is.

Lily was so excited about her party today that she was dressed and ready at 10:00 and the party wasn't until 1:00. Everyone was excited and looking forward to the day...

Since Lily has been home she will pick up on a phrase and use it a lot. First it was Oh my Gah. I wanted to put an end to that one, thankfully she did. Next it was Oh, Man! That one was cute. Today she created her own. At first I though she was saying holy cow but then I realized she was saying, Oh my cow! It cracks us up and she says it a lot. I can only imagine what others will think when my daughter blurts out, Oh my cow in her little Chinese southern accent! I am not going to correct her today, the smile it gives me is too worth it! Maybe tomorrow.

He wants to touch the water so bad...A little closer....Hey, I kind of like it...My nephew DavisMy niece Ella.A little mishap, courtesy of the rip current.Do you notice anything new in this picture (hint: look at her ears)Lily's shells she found.This child is full of surprises. She picked this string off the ground and did this..
We had a great time, Thanks O'Cain Clan for inviting us! We love you.

is it possible we live so close to the beach but haven't been in 2 years?

well yes. with nursing school, two little ones in 15 months, the adoption, building a new home etc. we just never got around to it. we were invited to spend Labor Day weekend with some family at the beach and took our kiddos, finally. our older ones were so excited to be at the beach again (having lived there for 3 years) and our little guys were excited for their first trip. lily,of course, was very curious. she shared with us that she had been to the beach in china but did not get in the water. she said only the boys did.

we left on thursday after i got off of work (yep, 7pm) and headed off to the beach. we only had one little traffic issue and then we had a big tantrum issue on the way there. you see, lily decided about half way through Kung Fu Panda that she did not "lika the mo-veeee" (it is a boy movie, so she says). she then proceeded to repeat this statement through tears, sometimes screaming, sometimes kicking my seat (grrr) for 50 whole minutes. imagine all 7 of us in the car listening to this. john and i both were about to have a breakdown but somehow we made it through it. she finally calmed down about 5 minutes after the movie ended ( yes I let it finish-I was afraid of reinforcing the behavior) and was fine. we got to the condo about 11pm. the kiddos cousins were up waiting for them. we got to bed late but as usual the kiddos were up bright and early and ready to hit the beach. the big boys headed straight for the waves ( which thanks to a storm at sea were pretty decent) and the others hesitated. they did eventually end up in the water but spent an awful lot of time in the sand. we had a great time and really enjoyed being with our family. 4 days was just perfect for 4 adults and 8 kiddos (2 to 12) to hang out in the condo at the beach. we left with a little sunburn (john), 6 hermit crabs, some cute clothes from the outlets, a big plastic shark and some awesome memories. I took some decent pics and will add them Wed.

Years ago I learned of Compassion International. I have always meant to sponsor one of their children and didn't. No excuse, just didn't. As you all know by now my mind is obsessed with the children around the world. Those that are homeless, those that are hungry, those with no parents. Recently on a blog I read she talked about her "other" children. I felt convicted yet still did nothing. This week our local Christian radio station started a drive for the children on Compassion International. I felt convicted again. Today I did something about it. I felt overwhelmed when I went on their site to select a child. Too many. But as I expected I found the child I wanted to sponsor. I was first drawn to her name, Jenifer. Then her beautiful face and then to the little red heart on her picture. After realizing that meant that she has been waiting for a sponsor for over 6 months I could look no further. This child needed me and my $38 more than I need a new piece of clothing every month. Which is what I will give up. Or just taking my lunch to work would make it up. But it doesn't matter, she needs it and I have it. Hop on over to there site if you haven't yet, there are plenty more, waiting....

I am still having a very hard time finding the time and desire to post. I have the intent just not the motivation so this post will probably be all over the place just to get updated.











All our kiddos waiting to ride the Great Smoky Railroad on our vacation.







First off I missed posting on my son #2's birthday, Sellers. On Saturday he turned 9. We had a small get together at home, his choice, and it was so much fun. I cannot believe this is his last year in the single digits. Just growing too fast. Sellers is absolutely obsessed with Star Wars. All but one of his birthday gifts was something Star Wars, as well as the cake and decorations. Here is a recent picture of this sweet little man.










I always seem to catch his seriousness in pictures but actually he is quite goofy and lighthearted.






Everyone started back to school. Lily is in kindergarten. The school has been so wonderfully supportive of us and she has the sweetest teachers. She likes it but would prefer to stay home with me if she could. She definitely thinks school in America is easier than China. I think her school was very strict in China and she didn't get to do a lot of related arts. Her English is amazing. We can pretty much talk about anything now. We have even talked some about her life in China and she has shared with me some of her history she remembers before she was abandoned. She is a very happy child and is looking forward to going to the beach for the very first time this weekend, weather willing (rain, rain, go away!). She is also looking forward to her Birthday in September. After being given the choice of any birthday theme she surprisingly picked Tinkerbell. I expected her to pick Hello Kitty or Princesses.



Our daughter just weeks before we came to China to bring her home.





Our daughter today:


















Wyatt striking a pose... One of my favorite pictures from vacation. This is what I found in the backseat after a ice cream cone on the ride home from tubing. So funny. (and just so you know I don't ride around with my kids in car seats unstrapped, I unbuckled him for the picture. Just had to get the full effect)

Happy Birthday to my first born. You are such a great young man, I can't believe next year you will be a teenager (ouch!). You are truly a gift from God!

The O'Cain family journal is moving. I have found a blog server that I am going to try. I like the way it is set up and that I can have my site put on a memory CD as a keepsake. My blog serves two purposes. One is to share the blessings of adopting a child and the other is to chronicle our family times together. You Belong is designed for both of those purposes.

To see our new home please visit: www.youbelong.net/theocaincrew

Another reason I like this site is because it is easier for people to leave messages, no having to set up a blogger account. This should be nice for the grandparents to be able to leave messages and those who don't have blogger.