Dragon Boat Festival

Another adventure we shared with Papa Rex and Baba was to attend the annual Dragon Boat Festival.  We met Uncle Eric, Aunt Kate, and Cousins Elle and Zane to share in the fun. I love the fact that Titus shares a rich heritage with several of his cousins.  We enjoyed watching the traditional dragon and lion dance, several native Chinese dances and of course a couple of Dragon Boat races.  To complete our adventure we enjoyed a delicious Chinese cuisine.  What a fun filled day!

At the K

Daddy and Papa Rex took Titus to his very first baseball game to see the Royals play.

Love my men in blue!

Guest Relations printed and gave Titus a certificate to 

commemorate his first game.

Family Time

It's summer time and that means Papa Rex and Baba (Babushka-Russian for Grandma) are here for the summer from Russia. For weeks we've been talking to and prepping Titus about their visit and how they were coming to stay with us. When we first picked them up at the airport Titus was a bit shy; a new development for him. But, the shyness only lasted a short time. Soon he realized that having Papa Rex and Baba here meant extra tickles, extra hugs, extra cuddles, gifts, more stories read, more playtime, and of course more attention. Titus sees his Papa Rex and Baba online almost weekly through Skype, but hasn't seen them in person since he was 6 months old and first came home from Taiwan.

Needless to say, I think this week we will be going through Papa Rex and Baba withdraws. As soon as they left and the door was closed he ran to the door and started banging on it and crying "Baba! Baba!". When Dada came home Titus really didn't care that his dada was home (very odd). He just carried his books to the front door and kept saying, "Baba. Baba.". Baba read LOTS of books to Titus during her visit.

While Papa Rex and Baba were here the Wolfes all had one evening where everyone's calendars were open, so we seized the opportunity and had a fun evening together picnicking, playing games, and swimming. Thanks Uncle Eric and Aunt Kate for hosting; we had a wonderful time!

 By nature the Wolfe brothers are VERY competitive and enjoy playing games together, so while the little ones swam the uncles played Ladder Ball with their nephews.

Will he make it?

Also by nature, the Wolfe brother's games always have a way of morphing into something more competitive and daring. Notice the ladders have been cast aside and now they are throwing the balls high into the air and catching them. Ahhh...boys will be boys...errr men will be men. :) I always love watching the creativity and crazy competition come alive!

And of course, it wouldn't be a Wolfe get together without some family photos! What's truly amazing is we captured all 16 people looking at the camera on the first and second try. :)

Father's Day

Today was my first Father's Day holding Titus.

Titus' present was to let us sleep in until 10:30!  Daddy and Mommy have gotten out of the habit off setting an alarm since Titus has arrived. Whoops!  We'd all had a long weekend so far and I guess we all needed the sleep.

We got ready for the day and ate at 5 Guy's burgers, then went to Crown Center for the rain forest display and the Chalk Walk festival.

The rain forest exhibit was a little too old for Titus, but he had fun walking around and looking at everything. He really loved walking through the tunnels.

 There were dozens of artists participating in this years Chalk Walk. One artist said they had all started on Saturday, but it rained last night and washed most of the chalk away. Most of the artists came back and started from scratch this morning. We really appreciated all their creativity and ability!

To cool off, Titus and I played in the fountains. Titus received a few face fulls of water when he was watching for the water.  But, we had a lot of fun playing and cooling off!

Noah

As a belated birthday present for Kevin, Mom and Dad treated us to Noah the Musical.  I was a little anxious about how Titus would behave for a three hour show, but to our delight he was well behaved.  The best part was when the live animals started walking onto the stage and Titus started waving  and talking to them (thankfully quietly).  We sat in awe as the entire theater became the inside of the ark with hundreds of animals.  It was honestly hard to depict some of the live animals from the animatronic ones.  Unfortunately, they would not allow pictures or videos, however I found a great Youtube video that shows some great footage.

Pre-Show in the Atrium

Finger Food

Titus is VERY serious about his food.  We have attempted repeatedly to teach Titus to enjoy his food rather than shovel it in.  To much avail, he refuses; food is serious business!  However, today was a rare day of discovery and enjoyment with food and once he made the great pasta discovery the rest of his bowl of pasta was eaten one finger full at a time.

I love that he holds both pointer fingers up-silly boy!

Joplin

Kevin grew up in the Joplin area.  We both graduated from college in Joplin.  Together we made our first home in Joplin.  We have family in Joplin or in the area as well as many friends.  Despite where we live, we will always be a part of the Joplin.

Our first home (it had been a duplex)

As the images of destruction rolled in Sunday night and Monday morning our hearts broke for the people of Joplin.  We were glued to the news, waiting, listening and praying.  We talked, we prayed, we cried.  Then we decided to go and serve and be a blessing.   I think in the end we were the ones who were blessed.

We went to our old church, College Heights Christian to serve.  We were absolutely blown away at how well they implemented their disaster relief program in such a short time.  Every day since the destruction CHCC has had 1500-2000 volunteers coming through their doors to help serve.  It is such a blessing to see the community of Christ surround the people of Joplin.  There were families, youth groups, churches and just individuals coming to serve from all around the nation.  On top of the volunteers there are also 1500+ people a day affected by the tornado coming through the doors for help and support.

Kevin and I didn't care where they plugged us in the help.  We just wanted to help.  One morning we canvased a neighborhood with cases of water.  We went door to door making sure people had drinking water, due to the boil order.  We met many people and heard many stories.  The rest of the time we were the information desk at CHCC.  We evaluated needs, directed people, gave information, and most importantly listened to their stories.  The days were long and overwhelming emotionally, but we left praying that we made a tiny dent in such a great need.

Sunday morning we attended early service at CHCC.  We knew it could potentially be an emotional service, since this was the first worship service since the tornado.  However, I think we were both unprepared for our own emotions. After seeing the destruction up-close and in person (pictures do not do it justice), and listening to the stories of people, the words of familiar songs have taken on a new meaning.  "Blessed be Your Name"   "In Christ Alone", "It is Well with My Soul", "You're the God of this City".  I don't think there was a dry eye in the service.

Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ. Philippians 3:8 

Praying for Joplin

Programmer in training

Kevin has many extra computer parts and due to spring cleaning he has been eliminating and donating lots of extras.  One of the items in the donate/trash pile was an extra keyboard.  Titus has always been drawn to our electronic items and today he dug the keyboard from the pile.  He has spent the entire afternoon dragging the keyboard around and typing. It’s been a great opportunity for me to talk about letters and numbers.   We have spelled Titus name to him since he came home and he easily recognizes us saying the letters of his name.  But, this keyboard has brought on a whole new level of letter recognition.  Daddy is seizing the opportunity and secretly hoping for a mini-me programmer some day and he might just get his wish.  

A taste of summer

Weather in the Midwest can be interesting.  This week it was 90 degrees, hot and balmy and we felt like summer had arrived.  There are a few things that scream summer to me: bare baby feet, eating outside, and cooking over an open fire.  Ahhh... Summer!

Mother's Day

Dearest Titus,

Thank you for your precious little life.

Thank you for waking up every morning with the happiest, infectious little grin on your face. Seeing you every morning is the perfect way to start the day and any time I walk into the room you let me know that you’re happy I’m there. What a great feeling!

Thank you for your sweet, sensitive spirit. Your little heart breaks when we tell you “no,” but you are so easily soothed when you get a hug from your daddy and me.

 Thank you for introducing me to the true feelings of sacrificial love. I’d do anything for you and your health and happiness.

Thank you for that precious giggle that makes us giggle, too. It’s such a sweet sound to hear your happiness and it warms my heart to watch you observe and appreciate the things around you.

Thank you for your curiosity- it has helped me to learn more about the world and God’s beautiful creation. Seeing things through your eyes has been an eye-opening experience and I love every day because you’re in the world.

 Thank you for being such a unique little boy and for being your innocent, beautiful self.

Thank you for saying, “mama.” It’s such a sweet sound to me.

Thank you for making me a mother, I'm so blessed!

Love,

Mama

Thank you, Kevin for creating a wonderful first Mother's Day.
We  enjoyed some wonderful family time marveling God's beautiful creation
at the arboretum and botanical gardens. 

The Lord has done great things for us and we are filled with joy  Psalms 126:3