Nardos' graduations!

She had two!  She graduated from Susquehanna Preschool and Fort Osage Early Childhood Center.  Now she is obsessed with what kindergarten will be like.  I purchased a set of 5 pre-kindergarten workbooks.  One and a half weeks into summer and she has already completed two books!  She also had her vision check and passed with flying colors!  Go Nardos!

Here's Nardos marching in with her friends!

Nardos was very busy searching the crowd to find us!

Here's Nardos with her teachers Mrs. Haight and Mrs. Jones.

Marshall's 6th grade Band Concert

Marshall rocked at the 6th grade band concert.  What a super drummer!

A stellar photo shoot!

We had such a great time!  Hope you enjoy the view!

Photo shoot

I am in love with RaeEllen photography. We had our family photo shoot today. And we had a great time! I will post some as soon as we get them. She was fabulous!

Knit a Square

A teacher in my building share with me a great opportunity to give to others!  History:  She has headed up a knitting club at school in the past, and I have had the pleasure of working with her in this endeavor.  Present:  She found this organization that accepts 8 inch crocheted or knitted squares.  They then ship the donated squares to Africa where another group of volunteers makes them into blankets and garments for children with HIV, AIDS or are disabled orphans.  What a blessing!  Do you Crochet?  Knit?  Join us!  You may use any scrap yarn you have laying around or buy new yarn.  Here's the website.  Check it out!  I know what I will be doing!

http://www.knit-a-square.com/

Peanut gets a ride

Oh, the life of a dog!  Nardos had Pet day at her Preschool today.  Peanut went along.  Then at home she has taken to putting him in her dolly stroller and pushing him around the house.  He's soooo tolerant!  What a good dog!

Levi and the broken leg...

Ok - so I tend to tell the kids "sorry you got hurt, I'm sure you'll be fine".  I mean, you figure it out, if we went to a doctor every time a kid got hurt, we would practically live at the doctor's office.  So, here goes my Mom of the year story --

Last July, yes, I said LAST JULY, Levi slid into second base and said it hurt his leg.  It didn't swell, didn't get bruised, so we told him "I'm sure you'll be fine".  Every 6 weeks or so, he would say, "my foot hurts".  But that was it.  He was running on it, playing feverishly and so we let it go.  Then, this Spring, I saw him running through the yard and he was turning his foot in - pretty bad.  I made the appointment, Bob took him to the orthopedic doctor and sure enough, he broke - or chipped - the leg bone.  He has a (very stinky) cast for three weeks and then he "should be fine".  Just wish I had done this last summer!  Live and learn!

His teacher has even be so kind as to push him in a rolling chair when his leg gets tired of walking!  So nice!

Beti gets Baptized!

After being here only a few months, Beti started saying she wanted to be Baptized.  We were careful in talking to her about the details and making sure she truly understood what she was asking.  So this past March, Bob had the honor of Baptizing Beti.  She was excited and nervous, Bob and I were emotional wrecks!  Enjoy the pictures.

Nardos was just cheesy!

A few pictures

Ok, So I've not been so good about posting lately.  Well, again, I am short on time and not feeling like such a deep thinker today.  So, here are some fun pictures from our Dr. Seuss week.  The blue hair on Bob is a special treat!  As you know, he is bald, so he calls this picture, "Rogaine Rocker".  Levi and his friend went to school dressed as Thing 1 and Thing 2.  Nardos got the hat from a playtime with some friends.  Enjoy!

...just a "little" scary!

Hello Again

It's been a while since my last post.  We are doing well.  Very well.  Today is the anniversary of our homecoming.  It's hard to believe that a whole year has past!  We are so comfortable and such a family.  Just when I stop to think about the enormity of it all, life happens and I am sucked back into the daily stuff:   Homework, hair, library, brushing teeth, making dinner, doing more homework...  You get the picture.  Speaking of pictures.... I will attach a few more...  Can I say - as you view these.... WE ARE SOOOO READY FOR SUMMER!

Nardos is braids.

The girls with their dolls - all in matching dresses!

Marshall and Peanut!

HOPE

Our girls have been home for about 11 months now and Nardos had a moment of remembering last Thursday. She, at bedtime, suddenly started talking about things she remembered. I think she was finally feeling safe an vulnerable enough to open up. Beti was nervous, because she knew how hard those memories can be ~ even if they are good memories. And they were good memories. But, as she tried to settle down to go to sleep, she started to cry. I took her to the couch and asked her what was wrong. She said she missed her "Mommy". My Mom passed away three years ago, and that gave us common ground, so I told her that I missed my Mommy too. It was so hard to know what to say. We know so little about their circumstances and I didn't want to say something that wasn't accurate or helpful.

I knew that they had attended church with their family and that they came with a good understanding of spiritually related things, so I asked her if her Mommy loved Jesus. She said, "Oh, Yes". So I carefully proceded with "the Bible tells us that one day, all of the people that love Jesus will be together again." I wanted to be careful in my offer of Hope. She is young and VERY concrete ~ also not very patient! So, I told her that it would be a long time and that we had to be patient and trust Jesus to take care of the details, but that He promised it ~ therefore it will happen. She had some questions, but eventually perked up and with a smile said, "I have two Mommies!"
We cired for about an hour on the couch and several times since then. I told her she didn't have to cry by herself ~ she could come and I would cry with her anytime. A few days later, she was super sad and we had a chance to talk about how I was sure that her Ethiopia Mommy missed her too, but that she wouldn't want her to be sad all of the time. Sometimes, we get sad, and it's ok to be sad, but then we have to choose to let it go. She was responsive to that.

Now, when she mentions this topic, it sounds like this:

"What if my Mommy gets to heaven and doesn't have enough clothes?"
"Will we all stay in the same house?"
"I can't wait for you to meet her."
"I want your Mommy to meet My Ethiopia Mommy!"
"We are going to have so much fun!"
"What color will my coat be? I want pink with Princesses on it!"

My typical response is, "We will have to trust Jesus to take care of that detail."

I try hard to keep the answers real without crossing any biblical lines. Some people might think I am giving her false hope, but this hope is very real. It's just so hard to wait!

Snowflakes!

Yep – a snow day again.  Today was a day for snowflakes.  A little tissue paper, a lesson on fractions and “voila” SNOWFLAKE.  We had fabulous time.  A few paper snowmen were created (which will likely become notecards in the future – aren’t they cute!?).  An opportunity came up to discuss the uniqueness of each snowflake and, in addition, each person.  I just love having and taking the chance to tell each of my children how unique they are and that each special cut, in character and body, was specially selected and made by God.  As they strategized on each of their snowflakes, how to create a new and beautiful snowflake, we talked about how God picked each “shape” found in them.  Every day the world tells them they are not good enough, not big enough, not special enough.  But my God says otherwise.  You are special.  God made you that way!  Celebrate the beauty.

Celebrate!

Snow day!

A few days ago, Nardos declared that Ciera (her cousin) told her that if we get snow, we don't have to go to school.  I clarified that sometimes that is true, but not always.  Well, the weather cooperated with her theory and we ended up with a Snow Day!  Great, I though, this will be a hard train of thought to change.

So, after getting all 5 kids suited up and explaining to the girls that even with all this stuff on the snow will get on your face and on your wrists and ankles AND it will be cold, they headed out.  They played outside for quite a while.  There was MUCH giggling and squealing.  Enjoy the pictures.

Happy Snow day!

I'm in real trouble - we just got news that we are having another snow day tomorrow!

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

That finger chain mess on our Christmas Tree...well, I just couldn't bring myself to throw it away.  So, I got out  the biggest crochet hook I have and created a blanket mat for Peanut's kennel.  He looks thrilled, doesn't he?