….on waiting a year

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We’ve been anxiously waiting for our Christmas cruise to be here and now it is!!! The big kids have been counting down to relaxation and family time….the little Wonders are unfortunately counting down towards the doom and gloom of our plane crashing and there not being enough life boats on the cruise ship (noted: dont let your anxiety-ridden son research titanic the same year you’re taking him on a cruise). ?

We’re ready to tackle their anxiety with the best strategy I know – real life experiences that will reassure them that it will all be okay and that we will help them through it. That traveling outside of what we “know” is something to look forward to – not be scared of. And that creating family memories sometimes means we have to leave the house (or the country!).

Please pray for our littles and their anxiety – although I tease about it, I know their fear is strong and it is real. And we will struggle getting them through it and then we will. We will enjoy each other and the trip and use it as a “success story” for our next trip.

On her first mission trip….

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So some of you may remember that the last time my hubby went on his annual mission trip to Haiti my sweet, innocent child did this. Enter anxiety and fear and a whole lot of grace and patience and here we are with my husband leaving again this Spring. But this time we are super excited for WonderGIRL to go with!!!!

Although I am worried for her anxiety levels in traveling to such a faraway and unknown place, I know that the lessons she will learn about servanthood, poverty throughout the world, and the Haitians undeniable gratitude for their humble lives will blow her away. She is about to be such a joyful and energetic addition to the team as they care for them medically – she gets to entertain the littles and hand out comfort and kindness. I can’t wait to hear and see the children flocking around her and to see the mutual blessings they will be in each others life paths.

If you would like to help support WonderGIRL, please know that prayers and encouragement is the heavy load of what we need for her. She also has a fundraising link if you’d like to support her financially. Every time we get to tell her there’s a new donation, the WG signature squeal-and-clap is in full effect so thank you to those of you who have already donated.

Hopefully Scott will get lots of pictures and video for me to share about her trip!

PS we like totally love Snapchat filters.

December already?!?!

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I am in full December shock mode and also in full blog avoidance mode…..and a very loving friend of mine reminded me this weekend (Hi Lori!!!!) that people actually read my blog and I’ve left a few of them hanging on some life updates.

While I’m not sure I have the words for a life update, I will share a few nuggets of our silly little life as of late!Even though we own a house and have children and are fully adults, for some reason hosting Thanksgiving and being in charge of THE turkey felt like the next level of his whole adult gig. And it went fairly smoothly and people left extra bottles of wine behind so it was a raging success I’d say. 6th in state! These girls did awesome and my heart overflows with pride and love for them and their families. What a beautiful journey it was this year….Two things I am loving right now: my adorably feisty savage cat Rexie and the Clicklist option at Fred Meyer (aka the rare chance to sit in the parking lot eating my dollar tacos from Jack in the Box while sweet college students load up my trunk with groceries as my two kiddos interrogate them about their life and I get to focus on nothing but not spilling that red hot sauce in my new car). Also I should note the cat willingly got into this bag…..there was no grand suffocation hit out on the cat for this to happen – I swear. I got to sneak away for a fast and furious (“R-U-L-E”) trip to Vegas with a dear friend and I finally found my Ellen slot machine. It was fun. I lost all my money. It was still fun. This pic has gotten some attention on social media and I completely stole it (like word for word on the letter stole it) from someone so please steal it from me and let’s make these hard-working delivery people feel appreciated during their peak crazy season. Snack it forward guys!!!!

Wonder – part two

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So apparently the only words I can muster/type have to do with this story and now movie and I’m okay with that for now….

….because the movie exceeded all of my expectations. Truly, I can’t wait to show every kiddo and maybe even every parent this movie to increase some empathy and compassion in this world that is severely lacking both.

If (when) you take your kiddos to see this movie, here are a few questions that may spark some conversation that may just surprise you.

1. Which character did you feel like was most like you? (Auggie – the target, Jack Will – bystander/friend that gives in to peer pressure, Via – sister jealous of sib with special needs, Julian – bully who has entitled and helicopter parents)

Important follow up: Why? (This is where the magic happens…..allow for silence…..and more silence……)

2. Which character showed the most bravery?

3. Is there someone like Auggie at your school right now? What can you do tomorrow to show them that they belong and are not alone?

4. Can you share a time that you were like Julian towards others? How do you think that affected the other person? Now that you know how it affected Auggie would you think differently before repeating that behavior?

Here is another blog post with suggested questions.

If for nothing else, this movie highlights both the struggles and joys of parenting a child that is outside of typical. Bring some tissues and ugly cry in front of your kids – it’s good for the soul and for them to see that all the emotions are meant to be felt and processed, not hidden.

on Wonder….

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For those that know me as a school counselor, you know my love and obsession with the book Wonder. For those that know me as a Mama, the inspiration for my kiddos’ blog nicknames came from this book and even calling them Wonders seems like a huge understatement for the magnitude of their bravery and resiliency. 

I love this book, the message and the character Auggie with my whole whole heart and can’t wait for the movie to come out soon!!!! Every time the trailer comes on tv, my family looks at me to spot the first tear escaping my eyes but I’m saving them all up for the theatre. 


Isn’t this poster the awesome-est?!?! You can make your very own here.

One year as Team Hoelzle Brown…

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As many adoptive families know, family celebrations carry this dual impact of excitable joy and uncontrollable grief. The tension of those two things fighting for space in our Wonders’ heads and hearts this week has been and continues to be huge.

But tonight, I lay here grateful that they said yes. Grateful the system worked to protect these two. And grateful for the coming forever years we get to continue loving them, protecting their bodies and hearts, and walking alongside them in their grief. If new here, click here to read our adoption day story.At dinner tonight, I was brought ice cream with a candle for my own birthday and as I blew it out, WonderGIRL said “I’m guessing you had nothing to wish for since you told me all your wishes came true when you adopted us.” And while that is true – my wishes are now only multiplied into bigger wishes for how WG and WB  and all other brave kiddos we love on will get to grow and thrive in their future.

I also want to make a plug that there are bunches of kids in this county (I get an email daily telling me the desperate need) who are wishing on every candle and every star for a loving family that will step into the gap and take a chance on vulnerable littles (and even more vulnerable teens!). Follow your heart….ask questions….get involved. Saying yes, if just in your heart for now, is the first step.

On being the keeper….

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This Facebook post got me to click….and keep reading….and feel united with millions of other keepers around the world and I so appreciate these gems late night in bed while my brain is refusing to shut off. 

It also got me thinking about my own journey with the “weight and overwhelm” of being the keeper and how surprisingly, it has felt far from heavy on most days. In the past year, some amazing books have stumbled across my path that have helped me review and re-align my life and my time management especially now with kiddos in our mix. The messages from these authors have shifted my mindset of time (and stuff) from one of scarcity (needing more) to abundance (I have what I need). 

I won’t go into detail about each one but will let you peruse if wishing to do so (or if you have time to do so) but I did post them in rank order of how much I would recommend it – happy reading and happy “keeping” all!!!!

On hospitality….

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A few years back, Scott and I took a class at our church diving deeper into our faith and as most reflection classes do, this class encouraged us to explore what our “spiritual gift” was and how that played out in our life. At the time, I thought “teaching” or “leadership” would totally be on top of my list and since I always guessed my Seventeen quiz outcomes correctly…..surely this would turn out as I wished as well (spoiler alert – the answers are on the next page). But as the final page popped up and right at the top of the list, winning by a long shot was HOSPITALITY, I remember being severely disappointed.

“Really God? I’m good at throwing parties? That’s not going to change the world!!!!” I thought and as any good 3.98 high school graduate student would do, I promptly went back to the start and took the quiz again so I could get more right answers than I got before. I changed at least 10 of my answers and still got HOSPITALITY. Grrrr…..

And then I moved on from that harrowing experience of not being able to retake a quiz for “more credit”….because well adulting means those stupid quizzes don’t matter right?

Fast forward to NOW and the act of HOSPITALITY is quite possibly the foundational piece of my home, my heart and my marriage and something we live out (and have to remind ourselves is a GIFT) on a daily basis. By definition, hospitality means “the friendly and generous reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers.” We generously give what we have (right now rooms and beds in our home, our hearts to kiddos who need it the most, and our resources to whoever and wherever needs it). So…. long story short (k 500 words short)…..as a message at church a few weeks back encouraged the congregation to use their gifts and not hide them within themselves, my memory of this test from years before and my utter disdain at the results was ironic to say the least.

I am proudest of this gift and how it lives outside of me in the following ways:

These three little beings below filling our home with love, laughter, and the need for protection and the hundreds of others I get to generously welcome and love on at school. Meet our newest special houseguest, BraveGIRL…..one of WG’s friends that we’ve loved for many years and now we get to love her tighter and closer (plus look what she does for our collective height average).

One of my FAVORITE parts of my career as an elementary school counselor in the past couple of years has been WELCOMING new counselors or interns into the field and mentoring them through their first year(s) of what sometimes is a heart-wrenching, “who would want to put themselves through this?” kind of job. Pictured below are a few school counselors in my new district that I am very excited to work with this year.

I’ve said this many times before, but I do long for people stopping by my house whenever they want to and coming in for coffee/wine/Cougar Gold cheese/free scratches from our devil cat or whatever your heart desires. Now you know the true reason behind this longing…..well God told me I was good at it and sometimes, you just can’t retake the quiz and have to be okay with the results.

 

Summer 2k17 in photos – August

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Such a fun month as summer training for volleyball dies down and we get to cram in a bunch of fun family memories! This year, we traveled to Idaho to visit Silverwood and it was a hot, sweaty blast. I am pretty sure WB’s version of heaven would include a lazy river and WG’s would include death-defying adrenaline-overload rides so 2 days here were just perfect.

Celebrating our 5 year anniversary (and the welcoming of WG’s friend – BraveGIRL, to our household making us 5 deep as a family) by getting some ice cream on a lazy day – everything I dreamed about for summer. Pajamas, no schedule, ice cream – check!My favorite part of the end of summer???? The start of volleyball…..we have a new floor in our gym and I have a brand new team to love on and develop and after one week so far, my heart is happy with my current group (and their super supportive parents) and all of the hard work they are putting in (both mentally and physically during our two-a-day practices). To say I am excited about this season is a true understatement….it’s going to be a good one. You should probably look up our schedule and write some games in your planner now.

My move to a new district brings me a new team to work with and it’s been so fun getting to know these women and plan what is going to be quite the adventure this first year together!

WG has been trying to earn a little pink hair this entire summer and finally got her wish (thanks to WonderGRAMMA) this week. Both her and her daddy are loving the new style and it’s safe to say this little one is sooooo ready to take on freshmen year!

A few favorite things from August

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These little guacamole cups make for awesome avocado toast first thing in the morning. Costco for the win!THIS SHOW…..stole a lot of sleep from me this past month. Similar to Orange is the New Black but way darker and sometimes a little hard to watch. And hard to NOT watch. There are 5 seasons on Netflix and he 6th won’t be out until June 2018. Toooooo long. My beloved little Prius was getting a little squishy for our fam so we upgraded to Toyota Highlander and we love it so far. The best part? There is a speaker system in it so when I speak to the kids in the back seat my voice gets pumped over the music through the back speakers. No more hollering “leave your sister alone” over and over when a softer voice into my steering wheel will do the trick.Still loving my 31 gifts Zip Top Organizer Bag for work related stuff. It can fit my laptop and multiple files along with my varied beverages, keys, and lip glosses in the pockets. Want one of your own to personalize and take with you? Click here. This view hasn’t gotten old and doesn’t disappoint on summer nights like last night. Swoon.