The Pumpkin Patch

Visiting the pumpkin patch at The Old Christmas Tree Farm this year made us reminisce quite a bit.  This was Arella's third trip.  She's growing but yet she's the same silly little girl.

2011

 2012

2013

Like most things this year, the pumpkin patch was a first for Zoe.

It's hard to remember that sometimes because it feels like she's been in our family her whole life, not just 10 months.  Eriek also just happened to be wearing the team shirt we made for an orphan run we did in Zoe's honor long before we received her referral.  She was about 2 months old at the time of the run.  I love that he's wearing it while the little one we ran for is now on his shoulders.

I also had a precious conversation with her about a pumpkin she told me was sad.  I asked her what would make the pumpkin happy.  She said "Dada, Mama, ALL!"  Apparently just 10 months in, she knows that a family makes her happy.  And that just melts this mama's heart completely.

The girls loved the hayride and train ride, although we couldn't get them to smile for a picture.

But throwing hay and climbing on a hay turkey bring out the pearly whites!

Hopefully we wore them out enough so they'll get a solid night's sleep.  After a few weeks of sleepless teething nights, we're ready to get some shut eye before our next big adventure.

Twins?

Several kids have asked me if Arella and Zoe are twins.  Not just sisters, twins.

At first I just thought this was just a funny little kid thing.  But it's happened more often than you would guess, and as it happened again tonight, it's just stuck in the forefront of my brain.

We were out and about getting blood tests and other fun medical exam stuff done for our next adoption and Daddy was going to be working late through dinner.  So like any brilliant mom, I set my mom-mobile on autopilot for Chick-fil-A.  We got there early so it was actually relaxing.  Had a nice little meal with my girls and then giggled on over to the play area to get some energy out before driving home.

There was just a 5 year old boy and 7 year old girl already in there.  After studying my girls for a few minutes, our conversation went something like this:

Girl: Are they sisters?
Me: Yes.
Girl:  How old are they?
Me: (pointing) Arella is 2 and Zoe is almost 2.

 She ran off and played but kept watching them.  A few minutes later she wandered over again:

Girl:  Are they twins?
Me: No, but they are sisters.
Girl:  But they're wearing the same shirts.

There it is.  Nearly every time the girls wear the same shirts, kids ask if they are twins.  It's funny to me that kids seem to have the idea of sameness or likeness in regards to what a twin is but a similarity in their outfits is the most compelling argument that they might be twins.

I just love that kids, even older kids, just see two little girls wearing the same shirts.  I love that it doesn't compute that those girls are completely different sizes and have completely different appearances.  They just see two girls playing together wearing the same clothes. 

I think it's important for us to celebrate our uniqueness and different cultures and histories, and I think looking at each other through the eyes of a child is how we do just that.  We need to take off our predetermined judgements and assumptions and truly see the beautiful person sitting next to us for the first time.

In the last week or so, Arella and Zoe have started discovering their differences and I stand in awe of the sweetness of it.  Arella has discovered Zoe's "little ear" for the first time and Zoe has discovered Arella's curly hair.  It's like they have found MORE things to love about each other instead of less.

Lord, I pray that you would help me discover more things to love about those around me instead of reasons to keep my distance.