Christmas Recital

Claire played beautifully in her Christmas Recital today.

She played

Christmas Day Secrets

Here are a few pictures from her performance. . .

The bow

All of Miss Ksenia's students.

They all did an amazing job.

Proud of you, Claire.

We so enjoy the gift of your music in our home!!!

God Bless You on Your Birthday, Claire!

She is nine today.

How did that happen?

My little Boo is nine.

She woke early to start her day in her most favorite way....

breakfast with daddy and time

to read the Bible together.

I will take her lunch at school this afternoon and deliver

54 cupcakes to her classmates

{3 classes of 3rd grade is a lot of cupcakes!}

Tonight we will enjoy a family dinner together and open a few presents.

God bless you on your birthday, Claire.

You bring so much joy to your family and friends.

You bubble over with creativity and joy...and cuteness!

We're thankful for God's mighty hand upon your life

for the gifts He has given you,

for

and for the blessing He has on you.....

just like we read last night -

He is making you to be the little girl He created you to be

from the inside out.

He delights over you with singing!

He is mighty to save!

Take great delight in Him and follow Him all the days of your life!

"You have been born again, but....your new life will last forever!"

1 Peter 1:23

That is the greatest gift of all and your GREATEST source of joy!

Joy to the World

Our school's Christmas Concert was last evening.

And as always, it was a beautiful evening of worship.

All the elementary choirs sang.

The high school choir sang.

The musical theatre class sang.

And Mr. Horn our choir director offered a most beautiful singing of

O Holy NIght

signed with passion and emotion by

our ASL teacher.

It was gorgeous...very moving.

Claire sang with the 3rd graders.  She loves to sing!

So grateful that my kids are at a school that 

celebrates Christmas

and

worships the King born to be our Savior!

JOY TO THE WORLD, THE LORD IS COME.

LET EARTH RECEIVE HER KING!

Little Lady Warrior Soccer

Claire is playing in our school's elementary soccer league

and on Saturday mornings we play our games

The team, which is made up of her classmates, has really improved

during the first weeks of the season.

Instead of running in a little blue clump....they are learning to run to space.

Instead of avoiding the ball, they are learning to go to the ball.

Instead of waiting to see what the other team is going to do, they are learning to

be a little aggressive!

Our coaches are wonderful....

a 5th grade Cypress teacher and a beloved Kindergarten teacher's husband

They sure do make it fun for the girls to learn a new game!

And our Claire Bear....she has really enjoyed it!

One things for sure.....she is fast and she is strong.

I took the camera to last Saturday's game and got some good action shots...we have another game this morning.  

They get tired out there!!!

The post I don't have margin to write right now is our family's insane schedule.

Achterkirch's Adventures is not just a catchy title....every day

is truly an adventure.  

It is amazing we get through most days.

It is by God's grace that we do!

Tired?  Yes I am.

Rejoicing? Yes I am.

Delighting in all that God gives us to do.
May we do it ALL unto Him

even soccer and ballet and taikwando and laundry and football and homework and birthday parties and work trips and family relationships and class projects and Bible study and small group and volunteering and rehearsals and tests and meal prep and piano and cleaning house and car maintenance and book reports and church events and lawn work and pet care and grocery shopping and ministry

{deep breath}

God,  you have created us for every good work
and granted us gifts beyond measure
and set us in relationships to treasure
and called us to work and play in your kingdom
to make your name great.

We savor your goodness to us.  We are busy, but we are rich because of you!
Today is yours, God, every busy crazy bit of it.
Help us to enjoy you this day and delight in your good gifts to us.
Use us in all our activity at home and away from home for your glory.
Help us to be a joyful, thankful, loving, servant minded family!

...and go Little Lady Warriors!

Gotcha Day Memories!

September 22, 2004 was a beautiful day.

It was Gotcha Day....the day Yue Hui Ping joined our family forever!

Today we will celebrate Claire.

We will celebrate God's faithfulness in her life.

We will recall His mighty deeds in the life of our family.

We will pray over and bless our precious daughter.

We will cherish memories and share stories.

We will look at photographs from our first trip to China.

And yes, we will have Chinese food - or Tex Mex if she prefers.

We just scrolled through this short summary of Claire's adoption

and her "Gotcha Day"

HERE

We have celebrated 8 "Gotcha Days" -

and I still get teary when I stop and ponder God's goodness to us.

Claire Hui Ping,

You are dearly loved and cherished.

God blessed us BIG when He gave us YOU!

Love to you on this special day!

Happy Gotcha Day to all our Bethany friends, too, who received their daughters at the same time!

These are special "sisters"...sharing a crib room for the first 10 months of their lives.

We love you all!

And our guide Sheyan, Bethany Coordiantor in China, who is assisting our friends

in China right now....8 years later!  

What an amazing ministry she has!

Great to look back and remember!

My heart swells with gratitude and joy!

Making Music

I am so grateful when Claire gets home from school

and plays the piano.

It is music to my ears...and my soul!

She has been taking from Ms. Ksenia for a year now

She works hard and she really does play with all her heart!

She is very close to finishing up the first Suzuki Book.

All the pieces must be played perfectly and by memory

to advance to the next level.

It is a very big accomplishment...she is getting very excited to receive her trophy!

She just put hands together on

Christmas Day Secrets

and it made her so happy to be able to play it.

It is beautiful!

Piano is one of the things that make for a busy week at our house

now that school has started.  I enjoy practicing with her

as is the Suzuki way, but she is very self motivated and sits to play

frequently when we are not "practicing", too!

I simply love having music in the house!  Thanks, Claire bear!

Blue & White Night

Somebody else wanted a Warrior haircut!

David is crazy about his brother.

And I am crazy about my boys!

Couldn't be more proud of both of them!

Peter is such a remarkable big brother....and David

is trying his hardest to follow right in his footsteps.

{Just the other day, he was sad he couldn't do something Pete was doing

and said, "It's NO fair.  While I was in China, you were growing up without ME!"}

Tonight was . . .

A great evening of Families, Food, Fun, and Fellowship!

It is the annual kick off for the new school year.

A time of prayer and praise, of thanksgiving and supplication.

And definitely a time of celebration!

It's all about school spirit

And seeing old friends

{like Mimi from the soccer team last year}

It's a time to welcome new families and

see friends from your class...like sweet Bella!

It's a time to celebrate being a Warrior

For Christ!

in the classroom

on the field

on the court

in our community!

It's a timet to revel in advancing to 

High School

It's a timet to introduce and celebrate our athletes and teams! 

And get super pumped for Warrior football!

Their Warrior chant was SO LOUD.... They are ready to RUMBLE!

The athletic theme for the year is

I feel so blessed, once again that the Lord made a way for our kids to be at

Cypress Christian School.

I am so blessed to know that they are challenged in every way

every way

to honor and glorify God in every endeavor.

SO to God be the glory for this new year.

We truly dedicate it to Him.

Family Photos

With a new school year right around the corner, I couldn't resist getting everybody's picture

with the beautiful backdrop of the Savannah marsh in the evening sunlight.

Don't we just look relaxed and ready for the new year!?