celebrating the little things

So it's February and I didn't even get a post written in January.  Wow! What have I been doing since I rang in the year 2014?  Well, if you are a mom of kids under 10 you understand what happened.  You got back into a routine that doesn't allow time for sitting down and recording the events of your life.  The ball dropped in New York on January 1 and it was like I heard a gun go off simultaneously in my head.  'And we're off ', someone yelled and I began running.  Back to preschool, packed for a trip, flew my parents and Zoe to Florida for 6 days, went to court to officially change Zoe's name, endured 7 snow days, attended a family birthday party in Canada and was privileged enough to get away for two days to scrapbook.  Oh ya, that's what I did in January.  Back up to a pretty significant event in Zoe's life - getting on a plane for the first time since we flew home from Ethiopia NINE MONTHS ago!  I cannot believe it has been that long.  Zoe got a zebra print, rolling suitcase for Christmas and we told her we were going to visit Aunt Cheryl in Florida and go on a plane.  Her expression changed and she ran out of the room.  Scott and I followed her and we found her crying on her bed.  Scott, the compassionate one, hugged her and asked her why she was crying.  We figured out that she was worried about me taking her on a plane.  The last time she remembers that big event was me taking her from her birthplace and bringing her 'home'.  Poor thing felt like we were taking her back to Ethiopia? After I hugged her and talked up the big trip to Florida she was fine.  And when I say fine, I mean she didn't get sad about it again. Even on the morning we left and drove an agonizing three hours to the airport through the worst snowy roads I've driven on and had a 'home alone' experience to get to our gate on time with two 80 year olds and a toddler, she didn't get upset again.  Take off and landing was an amazing experience (when mommy pulled out homemade banana muffins to snack on and games to play). Never a dull moment.  Throw in a momentous occasion on January 7th. Standing in court for 45 minutes to hear our name called and officially get paperwork for Zoe to be Zoe Ayame Clode.  Then one morning last week I received a CD I requested from the agency of all the pictures they had of Zoe in the time she was at the orphanage.  We looked at it together and she laughs.  We watch videos of her speaking another language and I think about when we can explain how this, how she, has changed our lives.  She's the reason I get my snow pants on and bundle up to play in our winter wonderland out back.  She's the reason I sing about 6 little ducks, and the itsy bitsy spider and shop at Gymboree more than any other store these days.  We celebrate dry pull ups in the morning and empty cereal bowls and when we can change her hair barrettes without fussing.  What will you celebrate today, this week, this month? Share with me.  Write it down. Stick it to your mirror.  Enjoy February 2014.
This is spoken so strongly to me in Hebrews 10:23-24 in the Message Bible
Let's keep a firm grip on the promises that keep us going.  He always keeps His word.  Let's see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out...