School began again today. Getting up before dawn this morning was torture. I was sure some kid had punk'ed this ole mom by dispensing a tiny drop of super-glue under each of my eyelids as I slept. Seriously, opening them was painful! That said, I must confess that we pushed our vacation fun to the eleventh hour (not literally, of course.)

Last night after dinner we all cuddled up together on the couch to watch Kung Fu Panda 2. One last hoorah before heading back to school!. The boys had all seen it before, but I hadn't. What an awesome flick! I loved it. Po's passion for Kung Fu and his Jack-Black-ish personality (not just voice) made for much laughter. One line in particular made me laugh till my side ached.

China's nemesis in this sequel, Shen the Peacock, was ready to take the throne of his ancestral home. Feeling sure of his victory over Po and the Fabulous Five he exclaimed, "This is the year of the Peacock!" His evil henchman reminded him, "um, the year's half over. Maybe you should say it's the half-year of the Peacock."

After the film Matt and I put the boys down to bed, with their clothes laid out and ready for the morrow, and proceeded to sit together and talk through our goals for the New Year. We kept coming back to one theme, one goal, one word... RELATIONSHIPS. Deepening our relationship with the Lord via consistent Bible Study, Prayer, and a healthy dose of Repentance; working on our relationship with one another, as we learn to better communicate; growing relationships with other families in our midst; and most important in both our minds was the need to purposefully and creatively build relationship with specific children in our little family.

Caleb is the one I have the hardest time connecting with because he is always running from activity to activity, and I am always waiting to go deep. Conversely, Matt is always on the move like his first-born "mini-him", but Brody is more like me and wants to simply be still with us. So Matt is committing to be still with Brody this year, and I am looking for opportunities to join Caleb on his adventures in the New Year.

Unlike "the half-year of the Peacock," we have an entire year stretched out before us... and we plan on making the most of it!

Here is the picture I snapped with my phone at midnight (9PM) on New Year's Eve.  I hold onto it as a photo reminder to make this year about my relationship with my first-born miracle.