Five years older with even more wisdom!

They are not so little anymore but still full of wisdom! After five years and many big changes in our life I've decide to update the blog! Since my last post, we have moved our home twice, I moved to a new teaching position, we lost a beloved pet, and the boys are in a new school district!

I will be updating the format of the blog to better fit the boys ages. I am also going to print it out in a book form because it is so precious to me. For now I will post some new pictures to bring you all up to date. The pictures show the boys doing what they love. Cole is very quiet and introspective. His passions are sports, math and creative writing. He is great at everything he tries to do and he truly puts his all into each new thing. Noah is right on the brink on being a teenager. He loves Instagram and selfies and girls. He is amazing at all things technical or mechanical. He got on the A honor roll this year at school! He is loved by everyone who meets him as he is always so charming and friendly.

The Boys Next Adventure

As I look over the forgotten papers in the "to do" box, amongst school papers, co-payments, receipts, bank statements, small paper memories...I find the most important stack; cards from Cole and Noah for various occasions but mostly just for fun. Words like "I will always love you, you are the best brother/mama/daddy ever, I love you so much." I hold them dear as reminders that we absolutely do love each other no matter what. We fight, brothers call names and hurt each other, we cry but we always make up and under it all we are there for each other. I pray that 2012 holds more hugs, more smiles, more laughter, more fun, and more love than we ever thought possible.

Noah got his haircut yesterday and he looked in the mirror and said, "Someone's gonna marry me someday!" He melted my heart. I also pray that both of our boys realize they are loved just because they are. We have so enjoyed watching them grow and sharing that with all of you. This will be our last post for this blog. We will start another blog soon with a new format. They are both in school now but we will always treasure their "little boy wisdom." Thank you for caring and for following our blog. We love you all.

Little Boy Wisdom # 77: Make homemade cards, call, text, facebook, shout it from the rooftop, but no matter what, tell those you cherish how much you love them as often as possible.

C is for Cookie...and Cole!

 Today was our 6th annual cookie day with our adoptive family friends! As we made the cookies, I asked Kevin to get some tinfoil so we could store the cookies in a tupperware container. Cole overheard and said...I was just going to EAT them all, we don't need a box.

Here is Noah's angel, complete with a gumdrop halo on top. Right after the cookies the kids chose to run outside and play in the snow. They are rarely phased by cold temperatures.

Little Boy Wisdom #76: Eat your cookies while they are still warm. Go sledding as soon as the snow falls. Life is short, seize the day!

You're Braver Than You Think

Today was Cole's first day of Kindergarten. It was Noah's 2nd day of 3rd grade. Parents are not allowed to drop their children off at the classroom, but Cole was lucky enough to be escorted by his big brother. As they left me, Cole was crying and holding Noah's hand. Another teacher told me later that they were very sweet, with Noah telling him as they walked to the room, "Kindergarten is really fun Cole, I promise. You're going to love it!" At the end of the day Cole came to me with a big smile! Both boys think school is great so far. Still, as Cole fell asleep he kept saying, "scared...scared...scared." He said the same thing last night, but I know tomorrow he'll champion through and come back smiling. We once read a Franklin (the turtle) book about how being brave doesn't mean you can't be scared at the same time. Cole has always liked that book. Now he gets to live it.

Little Boy Wisdom #75: There are some things in life we just have to do. Go ahead, be brave, despite your fears.

The Tao of Cole

Tonight at dinner I was talking about our dream place to live, California. A fellow teacher at my school just moved here from San Diego. She told me that there are no teaching jobs open in California anywhere. To which Cole chimed in, "That's great! Then you wouldn't have to work!"

Little Boy Wisdom #74: Don't worry so much. It'll all work out for the best.

Some pictures of Sir Cole and Sir Noah at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival (their dream place to live). Thanks for joining us Nana, Boomie and Papa! Huzzah!

Compassion Fills the Space

Gale Woods Farm, Three Rivers Park District, Minnetrista, Minnesota

In first grade, Noah's teacher gave him the title of "star student" for one week. Not because he cleaned up or received a good grade, it was because he chose to be a friend to a boy who was new. He helped the boy feel welcome and made him belong.

This year I was looking over the list of his classmates (a benefit of working at his school) and he saw my expression change when I saw a particular boy's name on the list. He asked me "what's wrong?" I said, "Oh nothing, this boy...well I had some trouble with him last year in my class." Noah pressed further, "Is he really bad?" I explained, "I don't think he's 'bad,' I really don't. I think he just needs someone to show him he's cared about." Noah got a very serious look on his face and replied, "I will fill that space." Beautiful words from one so young.

We all feel a space somewhere in our hearts. A space that can only be filled by compassion. Maybe we can't always fill it completely. Sometimes we just have to work around it and accept the space that will live in us. But I believe, by giving and receiving compassion, we can make the space feel much smaller. In some cases, we might even help it to disappear as it fills with kindness and a sense of peace.

Little Boy Wisdom #73: By allowing ourselves to give or receive compassion, we can fill the space in our hearts.

Happiness and Pride

Last week we were at Korean Culture Camp for the first time. It was wonderful! The boys were so happy to go everyday. I was amazed to see the transformation in the boys attitude. They went from just being okay with being Korean to complete pride and excitement. Each day they had classes on language, history, music, art, self esteem, and tae kwon do. At the end of the week they participated in a performance with 300 plus Korean children. They were so sad when it was over, Cole said, "Noah, we have to wait a long, long time until the next one." Each night when he wanted to go to bed early so the morning would come faster. Let's hope they can be as excited when school begins this fall. :)

Little Boy Wisdom #72: Go to bed early and look forward to a new day! You just might learn something new.