Signs of Life : The Brownie Chronicles

Ken and I have started that exciting and horrible search for a home in Austin.  It can be so much fun, but also tedious and disheartening at times. Over our 15 years of marriage, Ken and I have learned a few things about the difference in wants and needs in a home.  We've also learned (the hard way) that some of the wants that we felt were needs end up being a big, expensive pain in the rear!! (Beautiful, extensive landscaping for example.) We adored our home in Highland Village.  It served us well for the 4 years we lived there.  The neighborhood, the pool, the schoolroom, the location were all dreamy!  Then we hit the jackpot finding this place to rent.  It was scary to move from a pretty big house on a half acre into an apartment, but the Regency has been an excellent home.  I'd recommend this place to anyone moving to the Coppell area. We had our share of trouble with neighborhood kids, but that has all died down.  The kids have foun...

Travis. I'll never forget the first time I saw Travis' little face.  Then, he was only known to me as Xu (I thought it was pronounced "zoo," but it's actually "shoe."  These were the photos we saw in his file: When we saw his photo and read his file, we knew he was supposed to be our son.  I had read of other adopting families who felt that special "knowing," but didn't understand it until we saw our boys' pictures.  I am thankful to God for His direction.  Travis adds a special joy to our family that I find difficult to put into words. A few things about Travis: He's smart! There's no better way to say it.  He observes every detail about life, soaks it in, and tries to understand it.  He is hyper-observant, just like his dad, taking in every visual detail possible.  Travis is loving and friendly.  He gives visitors a big smile and often hugs or even kisses to match. Travis is almost always easy-going and happy, but i...

Last month, the seven of us loaded up in our trusty monster of an SUV and drove down to Austin.  Our main purpose in going was to tour Texas School for the Deaf and have both boys tested by an audiologist there. Our view (Instagram) Driving into Austin, we headed toward Congress to our favorite hotel, Embassy Suites.  We stay there whenever possible in almost any town we visit. We like the consistency of nice, clean rooms, comfy beds, great customer service, an indoor pool, and the made-to-order hot breakfast included.  When you're a family of seven good eaters, that breakfast can be a major blessing!  It also helps that Ken stays in Hilton hotels as much as he can when traveling, so we often are able to use points for a room or upgrade.  This time, Ken surprised us with the Presidential Suite!!  We had a picturesque view up Congress, a huge living area and dining room, two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and enough places to sleep that everyone is ...

It's hard to believe I posted this entry in November of last year, but I did!  I went looking for this old entry and figured I posted it back in February or something.  I was shocked that it was from November! I had posted: "Because of the season of life I'm in (nearing 40, newly-expanded family, major life-changing move, and weight gain that ticks me off greatly), I've been experiencing days feeling very low.  I've blogged before about how I don't like using the word "depressed" lightly, so I don't think I'll use it here.  But I've been feeling dark, low, melancholy, aimless, and tired." Since November, those feelings didn't go away.  Oh, they might subside for a time, but would rear their ugly heads at any random time.  In addition to those feelings, I was experiencing an overwhelming feeling of failure.   These feelings would manifest themselves by my simply giving up and doing nothing.  I felt so overwhelmed by everythin...

The Brownie Clan has gone through a lot of changes over the past 12 months.  Downsizing, moving, adding to our family through adoption, radically changing our daily schedule, etc.  A few posts back , I alluded to our moving when our lease is up.  Well, we're making one more "big" move and it's to Austin! Austin is about 215 miles south of where we are now, so we're not moving to the other side of the US, but it's still going to be a big move for us.  Next week, we're going to visit the Texas School for the Deaf and will have both boys tested by an audiologist there.   There are several reasons why we are choosing to make Austin our home, but the driving factor is Travis' (and possibly Tian's) education.  The boys have made amazing strides with their language development, but I can't spend as much time working one-on-one (or even one-on-two) with the boys as I would like.  I still have a 6th, 4th and 3rd grader to teach, so that leaves down-t...

Where did the entire month of March go?!  The best way to update is through photos: Spent a beautiful day at Fort Worth Zoo The boys with the elephant The kids and I stop at Olive Garden A day at Parr Park Fishing at our place We made two trips to Six Flags in one week! Swings! TJ and Kenz entered the Pinewood Derby Exploring around our ponds. Already swimming every day! I'm a VI! Love my new job! Meeting Matt "The Hammer" at DeafNation The month of March wore out the boys!

Looking back through the past year of this blog, I've really slowed the frequency of updates on the boys.  I wonder if it has anything to do with the boys !  We've also been  attempting to get back into the swing of  a full school schedule. About the boys: Travis and Tian are inseparable best friends and brothers.  Almost daily, Ken and I comment on how happy we are to have brought them home together.  Seeing them love each other so much just confirms to us what God was impressing on our hearts over a year ago.  Adopting two certainly didn't seem completely logical at the time, but we just knew it was what we were supposed to do.  They were both our boys and we needed to bring them home! Tian is 2 1/2.  He's adding new signs and words to his vocabulary every day.  His most recent favorite is "WATCH!"  He says, "VAtsss" while he signs it by putting...