A Melting Heart

We had a big snowstorm the other day so that meant lots of snowball fights for the kids. As the battles wound down and the other kids turned to making snowmen, my son Madiyar made me a special gift...a carefully crafted heart shaped snowball


My oldest son has been with us for 2 years now, coming to us with his younger brother from Kazakhstan after a hard fought adoption battle. He was 13 when we brought him home, already thinking of himself as a man. Accepting our affection took time...and saying "I love you" is still darn near impossible for him. Does this bother me? Not really...because while the words stick in his teenage boy throat, he finds other ways to show me his affection. My snowball heart is in our freezer, a reminder of my sweet man child's love for his mom. He's still a tough guy on the outside...but his heart is melting.