God's gifts from the Advent season

Yikes!  I've gotten behind!  I am glad I have all these pictures and scribbled notes to help remind me of these moments of grace.

So here are the gifts God has blessed me with from the last two weeks...

- Having a tea/reading party with Adrianna
... Of course, with imaginary cookies
- Abel learning how to set up his own train tracks
- Finding Abel jamming out on the itty-bitty Barbie guitar


- Abel counting game pieces while Adrianna and Jenny played during game night

- Getting Ruthie spayed
... And her finally learning how to cuddle during her recovery
- Babysitting the neighbor boy, and Abel having a grand time playing with him



- Abel dancing while playing the piano

- Abel always being a trouper during our weekly errands
- Adrianna in the matching coat/hat set we gave her for Christmas last year
- Abel having a blast with the little boy toys at a friend's house while Scott and I put together missionary care packages
- Adrianna working on her very first school poster
... And her choosing to make it about Christmas in Ethiopia


- Adrianna writing her own thank you note to Will 
- "Mommy, I want more cucumbers"
... Words I never imagined I'd hear from him!
- The joy of three dogs in one house

- Making mesir wat (Ethiopian red lentil stew)
... And our house smelling like the delicious aromas of Ethiopia for a night

- Sharing coffee cake (made from garbanzo beans -- and tasty!) and homemade coconut ice cream

- "Mommy, I ready for my craft!"
... And him running to get there before I did

- Gluten-free flours arriving from Amazon
- Hot chocolate that they can both have
- The creative girl building
... And her determination to make the tallest tower, even after it toppled time and again
- Laughing at our always-hungry Dizzy cat
- Painting flower nail designs for Adrianna
- Smiling at all those ingredients just to make gluten-free pumpkin bread
... And it being so worth it
... And her chocolate coconut milk mustache to go with the pumpkin bread
- Watching Adrianna give her first sign language performance at school: "Silent Night"
... And Abel making it through all the band performances beforehand

- Abel's harmonica skills
- Finding Abel's cars lined up
- Another failed gluten-rice-corn-free play dough attempt
- Abel's Mr. Thomson fun
- Adrianna sharing her poster with the Thomsons
- The grandparents coming to visit
... And their fun reading Adrianna's school newspaper


... And playing a game with Grandma
- Abel showing off for the grandparents at Starbucks



... Even doing his chicken dance
- Grandpa Richard reading to Abel


- Sharing a special chocolate-only shop with my mom and Richard
- And sharing the Children's Museum, too









- Making a set of cards there to give as presents



- Capturing reflection pictures
- Adrianna's funny pen
- Abel's yogurt mustache

- Chatting and tea with my neighbor
- Our neighbor watching Abel for me
- Abel and Scott ear flicking
- Abel making a joke of "Donkey... quack, quack."
- Abel: "Hey, Momma, what you makin'?"
- Swapping Jesus stories with another neighbor
- Wrapping Abel up after a shower
- Wrapping presents with Scott
- Rusty's improvement from seizures

Comments

AH said…
Oh my goodness! Abel doing the chicken dance = total adorableness!
December 24, 2011 at 11:11 PM
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