Remember This?

You are going to have to click, click, click to really get a grasp of what has transpired through this story but I promise you it's worth it.

Do you remember this? 

And oh my goodness you HAVE to read this
(The Lord BLOWS ME AWAY so often.
The way this story was weaved together absolutely astounds me. Katie.....seriously?!)

And then this happened.

And then there was this incredible day. 

And today?

THIS. 

Thrilled.
Humbled.
Standing in awe of the One that could have placed these boys anywhere on this Earth that they have ended up one hour away from us.

Faithful,
faithful God.

Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. 23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23 

Great.
Is.
Your.
Faithfulness.

Remember Last Week When I Went To China Unannounced?

And I didn't tell you?
Well.....actually I didn't tell ME either.

Yesterday I was minding my own business at school when I received a couple of text messages asking me if I had seen Lori & Stacey's blog.

Well pfft no, I've been in school all day.

I'm thinking at that point that they have written some beautiful heartfelt blog posts about their trip to China when Lori adopted Abby coming to a close.

Well ummmmm....that's not entirely what happened.
Read for yourself.
And simultaneously pee your pants. 
I know I did. 

So yeah.
I had a blast.
Rocking my pearls and a super cute new dress. 
I'm home now and surprisingly unaffected by jet lag.

Lori & Stacey seriously girls, thanks for the laugh.
I'm slightly but not really less bitter about not going with you now.
Love you both!

A Little Post I Like to Call

Going to College with Teenagers. 

Seeing how I am nearly a senior citizen {she said sarcastically....
ahem....kinda}
This experience of going to school wit them there youngens' has been ummm.....interesting.

A few observations for you:

• They sometimes wear their pajama pants to class. Wait, what?  When did this become ok?

• They sometimes wear shirts that aren't fully shirts. It's at this point that I have to restrain myself from walking up to these young ladies, pulling up their tops and knitting them a quick afghan while I simultaneously explain the virtue of modesty. This is hard for me. Truly.....in a so not joking way....this is so hard for me. They are such sweet girls for the most part but they just have not been taught to protect what should be protected.....

• Two of them were amazed yesterday that I had a FaceBook account. Hahahahaha still makes me laugh.Wait till they find out I don't ride a horse and buggy to class, that'll really freak em out.

• When someone sneezes in class about 28 of them will all say "Bless You." This intrigues me. At first I thought maybe they were all being hazed for some fraternity but now I realize it's just kinda what they do.

• They are on their phones all the live long day.

• They are on their laptops all the live long long day.

• They think I'm cool. Holla.

• One of them complimented my shoes the other day, asked to try them on and then said (I'm so NOT kidding), "So cute! You have fat feet just like me!" Ummmm.....thanks? 

• They eat almost as much as I do. I love this about them.

• They always have some new scented Bath & Body Works lotion with them, and they share. I love this about them.

• They remind me what it is was like yesterday when I was 19 {cough cough} and how passionate you can be about what you think you believe.

• When they are sick and come to class looking like they need their mommies it is ALL I can do to not rush over and pat their back, brush the hair out of their face and run home to make a crock pot of chicken soup. Wait....do I do that for my own kids? Note to self: Find out how to make chicken soup out of a can crockpot. 

And that's the what what on going to college with teenagers. At which point I come home to teenagers. Perhaps I should be majoring in ya know teenagers....is that a thing?

Yours,
Social worker in training Sonia.

That Day That Baby Pictures Appeared in My Inbox.

Do you love it when Chinese characters appear in your inbox?
I do.
I so totally do. 

Bestill my heart.
It's baby Jacob

and toddler Joey.

Anybody have a minute to turn his pants right side out and not backwards? Anybody?

These and the other 8 pictures that came with them today are my new favorite screen savers.
If only I'd known them then...
~sigh~
if only.

I can't tell you how weird it is to look at baby pictures of your own children that you didn't know.
It's weird.
Like weird weird.
Like can't quite wrap your mind around it type weird.
Like hello, some kind Chinese man that I don't know is holding my baby in a toy store.  
Number of times a kind random Chinese man-stranger held my biological children in a toy store: 0.

The amount of time I spend thinking about how our worlds would collide years after these pictures were taken baffles me even still.
It begs me to wonder what I was doing around this time.
What was I doing that day?
The twins would have been around 18 months,
Jason and Jordan would have been 4 & 5,
we were living in the vast frozen wasteland of North Dakota at Grand Forks AFB and I was probably snowed in and alone.
The idea that there were two babies in China that would 7 years later be calling me mom would have not been even a thought in my sleep deprived little head.

It's craziness.
Pure craziness.
{But ridiculously cute nonetheless.} 

Remember That Time We Went To MineCon?

Dear Justin & Jack,

This weekend I took you to MineCon.

It was just us & 7,948 of our closest friends.
Last year it was in Paris and we were all set to go but tragically at the last moment I realized that I still have to feed you
and clothe you
and shelter you for a few more years so I cancelled our non-existent plane reservations and our imaginary hotel reservations for that place overlooking the River Seine.
I know....my priorities are whack.
This year it was in Orlando.
Hello.
That I can do. 
I know when you are 30 and you are reading this you will want to know just what on earth was so great about this weekend and what the heck a MineCon is, and I'll respond with are you freaking kidding me?! Do you know how excited you were?!! And then I'll admit that I no longer remember what a MineCon is either.
So let's just save ourselves that conversation in the future and allow me to document it for all of us.

We checked in to both the convention and the hotel,
got some dinner

And then the next morning we were there 2 hours ahead of time to stand in the longest line in the history of lines for the opening ceremonies wherein you two looked like this:

And I looked like this:

Because let's just be honest....
I don't know what a MineCraft is nor do I play one on TV.

Hahaha best shirt ever

 We hit the exhibition hall where in you tried out loads of new products, sat in on a few panels wherein you learned all sorts of MineCrafty tricks,

got some freebies, checked out some new technology, and posed with a variety of square things that have something to do with the game.

Weird square things to me.
Very cool relevant things to you.

That night we hit Island of Adventure at Universal Studios.
The MineCrafty people were kind enough to rent out the entire park so it was just us and those few thousand friends of ours, we had a blast, were able to walk right onto any ride and stayed up waaaayyy past our bedtime.

It's at this point in our weekend that I'd like to pause and tell you a little story.
Ahem.
Here goes:

When you go on the water rides at Universal at 9:45 at night you will get wet.
When you get wet at 9:45 at night you will get cold.
When you get cold you will realize that you don't have a jacket.
When you realize you don't have a jacket you will remember that your mother told you to bring one.
When you realize that you in fact did not bring one you will remember that she is a smart, smart woman and you should spend more time listening to her wisdom. 
When you don't have a jacket you will look at your mother with your teeth chattering and sad, pathetic eyes with dripping wet hair.
When you look at your mother with your teeth chattering and sad pathetic eyes and dripping wet hair, her motherly instincts will kick in and she will offer up her cute lil' green pea coat and her purple scarf.
When she offers you her cute lil' green pea coat and purple scarf you will wear them with honor cuz you are just that cold.
When you are just that cold you won't care that you are wandering around Universal wearing your mother's clothes and you will always remember how awesome she is.
The end.

Mark Ruffalo was there that night and he was at the Con' with his kids.
Hold on....did you hear me?
MARK RUFFALO!

Who in his day job plays the Hulk.
But I love him more for his role in this:

I'm ashamed to admit.....
I looked for him again after I caught a glimpse.....
Not in a stalker psychotic type of way but in a.....
never mind.
It was totally in a stalker psychotic type way.
~sigh~

I thought about getting in line to go on the Hulk RollerCoaster because surely he would be there! It's his coaster afterall!!!

but then I realized that I am not...ya know..... a crazy person that would actually ride that thing. And even if I did, and I saw him on the ride, it would be kind of hard to appreciate the moment whilst I was preoccupied with fearing for my life, screaming with abject fear, and simultaneously peeing my pants and throwing up on account of the aforementioned fear.

Hello, I know I'm covered in pee and vomit and I'm shaking like a leaf but could I have a picture with you? 

Yeah. No. Just no.
Besides, that scenario would completely ruin this scenario that I have in my head of the two of us walking together just. like. this.

So in the end this is the closest I got to him.

We had a moment together.

Sigh.
So, so sad.

At one point we were walking onto the SpiderMan ride when I happened to glance behind me and saw a guy that I vaguely remember seeing at opening ceremonies. 
To which I nudged the twins and literally(like a total idiot) said,
"Hey guys, isn't that bald guy somebody?"
They turned around, saw him, and proceeded to flip-the-heck-out with excitement.
Bald guy turned out to be Notch, the inventor of MineCraft.

Who apparently was lactating. Hate it when that happens.

We also met Sky that night

Who they know of...but don't interact with. He apparently has a potty mouth. Tsk-tsk.

Then we ran into Jeb

who I'm told is the founder? owner? creator? I dunno....of Mojang....which is the parent company of MineCraft? I dunno. Clueless mom, that's me. 

The next day at the convention you two met two other guys

No idea what his name was....something Bajancanadian?

Yeah...sorry dude....totally don't remember your name

And then it happened.
My truest most pure demonstration of love for the two of you.
I 
sat
on.
the.
floor.
of the Convention Center for 4 hours to save your place in line whilst you hung out in the exhibition hall

Coffee anyone? A book? My dignity?

 so that you could meet this guy

CAPTAIN SPARKLES

Who ironically enough an hour before this picture was taken got mobbed in the bathroom and had to lock himself in a stall and call security to come and get him out. 
Hahahahahaha still makes me laugh. 
Poor dude. Poor millionaire dude.

And that, my sweet 11 year old twins, was our weekend at MineCon.
If you need me for the next couple of weeks I'll be in bed eating chocolate and watching my Mark on TV.
And if you are reading this when you are 30, call me and we can relive our weekend.

Love you both.
Hugs,
Mom.