We've Got Peeps!

26 chicks joined our family this morning, straight from Meyer Hatchery in Ohio.

Amelia watched Zach and Nikita unload the peeps. We ordered 13 Austrolorps and 12 "Easter Eggers". Zach will keep 3 and raise the rest until they are big enough to go to their homes.

Already Nik is asking if we can't keep 4 instead!

On little chickie did not handle the trip well, and fell victim to the stampede. Nik held her for a while and tried to revive her, but Sickly did not make it. Zach has given her a proper burial outside.

The name games have begun! Some suggestions so far have been "Gizzy", "Rhino", "Penguin", "Spazzy". I am not sure where Gizzy comes from, but one of the chicks looks just like the hamster "Rhino" in the movie Bolt. She has so much energy, though, that she might end up being "Spazzy".

Micah has picked up a chickie a time or two already, and needs to work on his safe handling skills. Amelia likes to watch them, but has not tried to hold one yet. Pattie, Nikita's cocker spaniel, is wondering why her new toys are kept in a box with such high sides!

Farmer Boy

Almanzo Wilder lives in my house. No, not literally, but his spirit lives on in our son Zachary. Today is Zach's fourteenth birthday and we have seen him grow into farmer boy himself. We have chickens here at the homestead, five to be exact and they are cared for entirely by Zach. He is not casual about it either. He is up early to see to their needs. Zach manages their egg production and makes sure they have all a chicken could want. Furthermore, he delights in their personalities and treats them like pets that happen to also lay eggs. He is hoping to hatch a few here at some point, but he is also using his expertise to raise hatched chicks for other people we know. We are very happy to see him take to this farming that Kelly began (it was not my idea at all) and he has even shown interest in expanding. Now I recently declared, with power given me by the Lord Above as head of the household, that there would be not so much as an ant added to the animals who live here. That being said, Kelly joked that we could put a goat in the lean-to in the back of the house. Now I knew it was a joke, but Kelly is good at feigning seriousness and Zach definitely believed her and it was just fine with him. Why not let the farm grow?

Briefly that is Zach and I am glad to say he is becoming an impressive young man. Happy birthday farmer boy!

Web Cam

I received an email this week that Sunny's orphanage wants us to have a web cam visit with her. I have never done this before, but I went out and bought a little web cam, and we are all set. We get to "meet" our daughter soon!

My Mom

My mother died unexpectedly sometime this past week from complications of her diabetes, we learned of her death on Thursday. I came out to Corning right away, and Jamie is on his way out now with the kids so we can spend Easter together, with her service on Monday. Funny, 17 months ago we spent Thanksgiving in a hotel after Dad died, and now another holiday in a hotel because of a death in the family.

Mom isn't really dead though. She is now alive with Jesus, and is with Dad again. She never truly recovered from his death, and still grieved intensely each day. She and I had a difficult relationship...I feel some guilt because of that, some grief at the loss of my mom and my kid's grandma, but mostly I feel peace because for the first time in my adult life I know my Mom is truly happy and without mental anguish or physical pain. God is good.

EmmyLou Harris sings a song called "All My Tears", written by Julie Miller:
"When I go don't cry for me
In my Father's arms I'll be
The wounds this world left on my soul
Will all be healed and I'll be whole

Sun and moon will be replaced
With the light of Jesus' face
And I will not be ashamed
For my Savior knows my name

It don't matter where you bury me
I'll be home and I'll be free
It don't matter where I lay
All my tears be washed away

Gold and silver blind the eye
Temporary riches lie
Come and eat from Heaven's store
Come and drink and thirst no more

So weep not for me my friend
When my time below does end
For my life belongs to Him
Who will raise the dead again

It don't matter where you bury me
I'll be home and I'll be free
It don't matter where I lay
All my tears be washed away"

Mom was wounded emotionally and physically, but now she is whole. All her tears are indeed washed away. God is good.

Hearing Date!!

It is 2:00 in the afternoon here in Massachusetts, which means it is 2Am in Taiwan. It is already Tuesday, April 7th there! Today is the Hearing Date for our adoption of Sunny!! Within 2-4 weeks we should get our Final Ruling, followed by travel 3 weeks later.

Sunny has no idea the decisions that are being made today will bring about such a big change for her in 5-7 weeks time. My prayer for her is that God will prepare her heart for us. She is soon going to have two big brothers, two big sisters, and she will BE a big sister to two younger brothers. New foods to eat, new routines to learn, a new language to learn.

Sunny and Amelia are only seven months apart. Sometimes I try to imagine what Amelia's reaction would be if she were to leave us at this age and go back to Hong Kong. Knowing how I think she would react helps me to understand, or at least try to understand, the loss that Sunny will be going through, and the time it will take for her to adjust.

It is surreal to me that as I am sleeping tonight, a judge will be looking at our adoption paperwork halfway around the world. I am so glad we are finally so close to the end!!

The Panic Button

The little red button on my van's key chain was whispering to Amelia yesterday, "push me, push me". I really think it is called the Panic Button because that is what I do when it is pushed!
Amelia was sitting at the computer yesterday morning listening to her songs, so I told Zach that I would be taking a shower. Unfortunately, I had left my van keys on the desk instead of hanging them where they belong. Poor Zach, I am not sure if he was more panicked because the van in the driveway was honking non-stop, or because I came running down the stairs wrapped in a towel with my wet hair plastered to my head. Here we are trying to figure out if you push the button once or twice to make it stop, and it keeps starting and stopping while we keep panicking. And Amelia just keeps listening to Elmo sing "Drive My Car".
We did get it to stop, and I wonder--- was Amelia really thinking this is all a normal morning as she ignored us and sang along with Elmo, or was she trying to act nonchalant so I wouldn't realize she had been the one to push the button?