Snow Day!

A Day in the Life

I'm going to try to blog our day today. If you think this sounds super boring, remember grandparents read this stuff.

8 am - Faith was up first this morning. I've already denied three requests for "a kid's show" on TV. There have also been whines about how cold the house is(?) and how she has nothing to do. ["Mama - I don't know what to do! I don't know what to think about!"] We did get in a good conversation about MLK day, though. One highlight: "I know what color God didn't make anyone in the whole world - BLUE!"

When Davis started making noises we went in to get him. Faith asked me to leave, and she's been in there singing the Hokey Pokey and Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes to him for the last five minutes. There's been lots of giggling. From both of them.

9 am - Faith is exercising her one-hour-a-day-of-TV-max rights while I try to bring some semblance of order to the house. Davis, a-boy-of-very-many-toys, is playing with a sock.

10 am - School time! Faith is doing her homeschool co-op homework and I am reviewing my co-op lesson plans. Davis, a-boy-of-very-many-NEW-toys, is playing with a large plastic screw from a toy tool set that used to belong to his mama.

10:10 am - Faith is finished with her homework. This girl knows her letter N.

10:15 am - DANCE PARTY!

11 am - Art time for Faith and her faithful apprentice

11:45 am - Lunch. All our favorites - grilled cheese and tomato soup with oranges for Faith; peas and pears for Davis. For some reason I have in my mind: Peas in your hair/ Peas in your hair/ Looking like a fool with peas in your hair.

12:15 pm - First insubordination of the day. Quickly squashed with time out. Davis, a-boy-of-very-many-toys, is playing with one of Faith's belt. I am noticing a trend.

12:20 pm - Is it naptime yet?

1:15 pm - I find a small amount of peas in Davis' neck roll. Lovely.

1:20 pm - Faith Bullington, M. D., has some unorthodox methods of treatment. But great bedside manner.

2:30 pm - Everyone naps!

O.K. - I guess I should have called this "a morning in the life." Because I am done. Hope you enjoyed this slice of Bullington family life pie.

Beautiful Names

Aren't these beautiful? You can read all about how to create and purchase one from Dayspring and/or have a chance to win one at The Nesting Place.

Every family with adopted children seems to have some awesome evidence that their adopted children were meant to be theirs. I used to read these and tell myself not to get too disappointed if nothing that cool happened to us (you know, besides the whole miracle of adoption itself and getting to bring home our son.) But I did pray for some small sign. Some indication that our boy was indeed ours.

When we were expecting Faith, we looked for a name which meant "light" for her middle name and found Eleanor. At her dedication we read the verse in the sign above to illustrate the meaning behind her name.

One of the first things I did when we were referred our son is to look up the meaning of his beautiful Ethiopian name, Berhanu, which we planned to keep as his middle name.

It means "Your light."

At first I marvelled at the fact that God had given us this sign, that he had directed our boy to be given a name so similar to his sister's. And then I realized I was being silly.

Because what I should have been marvelling at was the fact that God had directed the naming of BOTH our children. As they are each equally His children as they are each equally ours.

The verse is a prayer for them and for ourselves.

Merry Christmas from the Bullington Board

Happy Birthday, Davis!

Davis' First Birthday from Leslie Bullington on Vimeo.

The song in the video is from Andrew Peterson and Randall Goodgame's Slugs & Bugs & Lullabies. This is the soundtrack of our life these days.

Davis looks like he is whistling a lot in these videos because he is, in fact, whistling. I've never known a baby who could do this, and I will post video of just that soon!

Happy Birthday, my baby boy!!

Fish Camp Nativty

Tonight David's Dad came through town and took us to dinner at a fish camp. There are always plenty of goats, ducks, and chickens wandering around to delight the kids, but tonight there was an added attraction - just outside the parking lot in the field next to the restaurant a group was performing the nativity every half hour. After we ate, we huddled in the cold next to the makeshift stable and watched the very first Christmas take place. At least, what Faith saw was the actual first nativity. Even though we've had many conversations about real v. not real (i.e. the young woman dressed up as Ariel at Disneyworld is a real person, but she is only pretending to be Ariel, the Little Mermaid) there is still some misunderstanding. This evening Faith asked all of the following questions and then some:
Where is the bright star?
Why aren't the angels flying?
IS THAT JESUS!!!!????
Where is the inn that had no room?
Where are the wise men? (That question came up about 10 times because the wise men were not part of this production)

When Faith came into the room the other day dressed in her green fairy outfit and I said, "Hey, Tinkerbell!" She said, "I'm not Tinkerbell. I'm just a person dressed up in a costume LIKE Tinkerbell." So she has this level of understanding, yet tonight she sincerely believed that the baby doll Joseph was showing the shepherds might be Christ himself. It really confused her when we saw one of the angels walking through the parking lot after the show. "How is that angel walking right next to us?" She asked. It is kind of funny and kind of inspiring, really.

We were a little late to the show and as we walked up, the beautiful song "Labor of Love" was playing over the loud speaker and as Joseph carefully arranged the hay in the manger to make a bed for the baby it really struck me how humble a beginning this was and is. How tender and mild, the moment in which our history turned.

These are too fun. Get your own here.