The Best Day Ever

Speech has been a tremendous challenge for Elle. We've had professional testing and countless hours with speech therapists and the results have been far from encouraging. But our dear, sweet Elle perseveres and tries and tries and tries, and is tremendously patient as she takes in instruction, coaching, and correction every day. We try to keep it positive and fun, but it's tough. We celebrate over every victory, no matter how small, but there have been really low points in this journey. She has also come to the realization that others don't always understand her tremendous efforts to communicate and sometimes their dismissal or lack of patience pierces her heart. It breaks ours.

It is an uphill climb for Elle, but we are so proud of her and humbled by how God has used this challenge to shape her heart in a way that might have been more difficult any other way. Her desire to be right with God, us and others is an example to us every day. Her innocence, sensitivity and kindness is dear.

One significant challenge for her has been guttural sounds. Whew.... One speech therapist (not to mention all our therapy at home) tried to get the 'k/c' sound out of her for an entire year, but to no avail. So we had been working and working on this. For example, 'key' is 'tea' and 'go' is 'do'. Substituting every 'k/c' sound for a 't' and every 'g' sound for a 'd' can really hinder successful communication.

Well, Elle had the best day ever on Saturday, December 18, 2010. It was a stellar day for us too! We were in Branson for pre-Christmas celebration at S D C. Elle was super excited as S D C is currently her most favorite place on earth. We had just spent the night at a hotel, woke that morning to a huge breakfast with waffles, played at the pool and soaked in a hot tub. After drying up, we were just minutes from heading out when Elle's elastic lace broke on her tennis shoe. Those things are hard to jerry-rig. Eric tried, but it was hurting her. The shoes were getting worn anyway and she certainly couldn't walk in them all day, so we headed to the outlet mall to buy a new pair of tennis shoes before heading to The City. Shopping with Mama and new shoes; things were getting very exciting for her...hotel, waffles, pool, S D C - WOW!

Elle had recently been noticing the different types of vehicles on the road. She had been pointing out SVU's and asking "Is that a fat tar?" So she started asking this as we crept down The Strip on our way to the mall. We answered as we had been for the past several weeks...

Us: "Cars aren't fat, they're big. Remember to use the 'c' sound for 'car'. Try car."

Elle: "Tar"

Us: No, that was a 't' sound, but good try. We'll keep practicing.

We were nearing the mall and she had been silent for a few minutes and then she said...

Elle: "Is that a faaaaat Caaaaaaar?"

Me: ELLE! (Turning around and SCREAMING) YOU SAID IT! YOU SAID CAR! YOU SAID THE 'C' SOUND! ELLE - GREAT JOB - YOU DID IT! (Still SCREAMING) WOOHOOOOOOO!

And she knew she did it! The smile on her face was priceless - we will never forget it. I don't know how Eric stayed on the road, he was 'screaming' too!

Elle: Car, car, car!

Us: Yes, yes - you got it! You can say the 'c' sound, Elle!

Eric: We have to celebrate!!!

And right then, we came to the intersection of a Krispy Kreme donut shop! So we pulled in, Elle smiling ear to ear, saying 'car, car, car' and Zane just thrilled that he was going to eat again. We have never taken the kids to Krispy Kreme and they've probably had one other donut in their lives - LOL! So this was BIG!!!!!! We had the place to ourselves and three glass cases of donuts to choose from.

Eric: Donuts for everyone! Elle, choose whatever donut you want!


So that was Elle's best day ever...hotel, waffles, pool, hot tub, the 'k/c' sound, new tennis shoes (and they were hot!) and S D C with unlimited rides on F*re In The Hole! Does it get better than that?! :)


About a week passed and then the 'g' sound came. We were just heading out the door when she ‘nailed’ it. A few minutes later we were filling up at a gas station and I pulled some change together to get her a yummy drink in celebration. The machine ate my money. I told the elderly attendant that my coins were gobbled up and why we were celebrating – LOL! He got them back for me and discovered the drink was out, so he gave Elle a bag of M&M's that he wouldn’t let me pay for. He was proud of her too!

Every day since she has been retraining her mind to produce the 'k/c' and 'g' sound for all the words she has been saying incorrectly. She's still in process, but never gives up and her victory is SWEEEEEEET!

We love you Elle and are so very proud of you - you are perfect in every way!


Never take your eyes off the boy...always keeping us on our toes...

Kindred Spirits

The Andrews family swooped in for 24 hours of sweetness.

Eric and I moved to Michigan just after we were married and spent five years growing up there. We worked and played, but the fellowship with couples like the Andrews -- we will treasure for eternity.

Now a decade and six children later, it was an incredible blessing to see their beautiful faces again. The finest qualities of Ben and Kris are now abiding in the hearts of their children... gentleness, graciousness, truth, and love. They are truly a breath of fresh air, a taste of heaven -- sharing meals together, playing, and talking about all that our God has accomplished by His merciful hand.

While we were waiting on China to get to Zane, the Andrews were waiting for the final details to unfold to bring their son and daughter home from Ethiopia. It was exciting to be paper pregnant together and know the challenges and thrills that we shared by God's miraculous gift of adoption.

Noah is clever. Lydia is a true friend. Haile is kind and Minna is just too adorable. See...

I told you so!

My heart sank when they pulled out of the drive...how I wish Michigan was a whole lot closer!

Happy 5th Birthday, Elle!

We usually decorate the dining room with all-things birthday just to see their faces when they discover it in the morning. This year, it did not disappoint our Elle-Belle, who decided she wanted a princess theme. During this past year she discovered Cinderella -- the book, movie, music -- and it's been all about dressing princess and roll-playing the drama. Eric has become quite good at playing all the parts while Elle dashes about in her pink and blue gowns. You'll often hear Eric yelling out, 'But wait, please wait...your shoe!'

So, Elle's big day had finally arrived. Before Daddy left for work, we all enjoyed eating Elle's requested chocolate chip pancakes, and watching her open up a violin that she's been wanting for months (ever since she played one at her friend's house). She even let Zane try it out. But the biggest joy of her day was when she opened up a package of gum and had her very first chomp of the cinnamon sweetness. It's a five-year-old privilege in the Wolfe home and she's been counting down the days for over a year. It was everything she had dreamed of, and she only swallowed one piece between breakfast and lunch.

Zane LOVED the pancakes too!

Elle's first piece of gum!

After much gum-chewing and talk about gum-chewing, we met Daddy for her requested lunch -- pizza! We stuffed ourselves and had more talk about gum and how life is so much better now with gum. Noteable was Zane's behavior at lunch; he has definitely found a new peace about food and we are seeing far fewer temper tantrums over finishing a meal. We still have to have verbal preparation to transition away from meals, but his new attitude has definitely made eating-out much more enjoyable.

Then it was home for naps, play and more gum-chewing before friends and family arrived for a chili/cornbread dinner. Now Elle had been anticipating her fifth birthday since she turned four. There hasn't been a prayer of hers -- and she prays out loud at least three times a day -- that hasn't started with 'thank you for my birthday'... for a year's time! It's like she has just always known that she should be five! :) I really do believe this will be a BIG year for Elle and you can tell she is glad to have 'arrived' and happy to be living in the moment, finally! Has to be the gum, everything truly is better with gum.

Party friends.

The evening concluded with her requested chocolate cookie and ice cream cake, presents and pictures with her buddy, Isaac. Isaac is a dear friend, who has been on furlough from Africa (with his parents) for several of Elle's birthdays. Elle thinks it's very cool that Isaac was born in a far away country like herself.

It's hard to believe that our baby is five. Seems like yesterday that God performed a miracle and placed her in our arms. She is our perfect match and we are amazed by His spirit within her. There's something very dear, kind and soft about her nature, her care for others and love for Jesus. We are so grateful to watch our precious child grow in His grace.

Before putting her and the day to bed, we talked about her birth story, God placing our family together, His special plans for her... and, of course, gave thanksgiving for gum. Glorious gum!

Valentine's Day

We did Super Bowl Chinese style and made such a spread, it wiped us out! The food was good (still not completely satisfied with my dumplings), but we just took on too much! Homemade egg rolls, dumplings, egg drop soup, stir fried rice, bok choy, sauces.... whew! With little ones that needed their mommies and a game that we didn't want to miss, next year it'll be pizza!

Enjoying his Chinese New Year chocolate coin.

But I'm a glutton for punishment and determined to improve my dumplings, so I tried them again with another batch of egg rolls for a family Valentine's dinner. Again, crazy! Eric had just an hour between getting home from work and leaving for class (first semester of MBA program). In the end, we pulled it off, and had to cut Elle off of the dumplings -- she loves them! Throw in a cherry dessert (from our neighbor's tree) and some homemade cards, and it made for a short, but sweet, Valentine's Day.

I was able to forego butter and gluten (and some calories) by making the cherry filling with Xylitol (naturally occurring carbohydrate, 40% less caloric than sugar, and fights cavities). I served the sweetened and thickened cherries with a pizzelle -- it was very pretty and yummy. Because Zane is allergic to cherries, he enjoyed some pumpkin on his pizzelle.

Elle and I had the best craft time ever making Valentine cards. The coordination of cutting, taping and gluing has definitely been a challenge, but with steady progress and practice, practice, practice -- she really has improved and her pride nearly matched mine for her determination and creativity. Even Zane got in on some of the fun -- in fact, Elle is a great teacher and, of course, Zane loves to do anything just like big sister.

Zane's face when you tell him to smile.

When Eric finally got home from class, he installed a new garbage disposal and I ran to the grocery store for last minute birthday items. The day finished early in the morning, but we were ready for Elle's big day!

Year of the Rabbit

"Snooooooooow." That's how Zane says it and most appropriately because it's just everywhere. We experienced the 2011 Blizzard and survived. Not as bad as we imagined, but impressive at 12 inches with drifts at 3 feet.

Our road is private, but with help from the sun and a few neighbors that have tractors, we headed out this morning to shake our cabin fever and have some fun on Chinese New Year's Day. Really, you can only mush playdoh and pretend to be Cinderella for so long.


We met up with Aunt Alicia and Titus at one of the largest Asian markets in town. We are making plans for a delicious family Chinese meal in a few days so we wanted to get some key ingredients and fun items to help in our celebration. While cruising the isles, we saw familiar things from our time in China and Taiwan and just had to throw them in the cart as well.

About 50 heads of garlic - we're smelling yummy baby!

Yes, that would be Zane throwing a temper tantrum. As if we weren't already interesting customers. ;)

What is that duck-thing? A rice cooker? A trash can?

There was also a cafe there where we dined on pork dumplings and egg rolls, but the standout was a green onion roll drenched in butter - OH.MY.GOODNESS.YUM. Zane and Titus could not get enough of that!


Elle and I are fighting a cold, so we were super tired when we got home. Zane had mercy on us and took a long nap so we too could rest - sweet!

After a late nap, I fixed up a pot of bok choy that tasted just as good as it did in Fujian where I 'fell in love' with it. Using an internet recipe to go off of, I sauteed fresh garlic and ginger in a tablespoon of walnut oil, tossed in fresh bok choy, added 2 tablespoons of chicken stock, 1/2 teaspoon salt, covered and steamed for three minutes. Drizzled it with a little sesame seed oil and served with a side of chopped chicken fixed up exactly the same way. It was delicious!


Zane had some texture issues with the bok choy. Maybe if I cover my eyes, it'll disappear....

Argh, still there!

All done, all done, all done!

For dessert we had dragon fruit, but unfortunately, not as good as the platefuls we ate in China.

Yes! Dessert!

Aunt Alicia saw tons of these in Taiwan, but don't remember them in China...soda sealed with a marble.

Push down and the marble releases.

Cool!

Today was fun...talking about China, remembering our time there together, and tasting our favorites from a part of our family's culture.

Gung Hay Fat Choy
Best wishes and congratulations. Have a prosperous and good year.