Why ........

1. are pinto beans such a huge magnet for my kids? Every time we go to the grocery store, they run to play with the beans that you can bag and weigh on your own.

2. are some kids afraid to flush the toilet? I would be more afraid of what would happen if I didn't.

3. do my girls wait to play twenty questions when I'm tucking them into bed? Don't they know that I would much rather tell them about how I met daddy when I'm peeling potatoes?

4. do Raspberry Dreamsicles taste so much better at 9:30 pm when the kids are in bed and I'm laying in my own next to John watching Grey's Anatomy?

5. according to 3 out of the last 5 people I've told that we are adopting again, would we extend ourselves? Hello? Haven't they already learned that once you get to 10, the philosophy becomes, "What's one more?"

6. do I still wake up with Jonny snuggled up between John and I every single morning? Ah, probably because he knows we love it. :)

7. do I love my 15 passenger van so much? I really think that people just don't know what they are missing out on by hopping into one of these cool cruising machines and going for a ride. Sad thing is, I am dead serious. I really like my van that much. BTW, what should be a 3 point turn, used to be a 12 point turn but has recently graduated to a 6 point turn. I'm getting better. :)

8. is it that, Jonny, Anna, and Rachel love to play with my tummy fat? I really think it has to do with how soft it is, not that it feels like mushy play dough. :)

9. do the kids still get enthralled when I tell them the story about Gary? Gary is the invisible, imaginary person who lives in our home that everyone always leaves the lights on for so he won't be afraid. This is such a hard concept for my kids to understand. "Who is really Gary, mama?"

10. do my kids beg to sleep on the floor every chance they get, when they have nice, soft beds. And why do they actually wonder why I politely pass when then they ask me to join them?

Sorry for my goofiness, it is Halloween, and I have spent the last fifteen minutes laughing myself silly as I typed these up. Hope you enjoy.

Homemade Kotleti (have you heard of them?)

Tonight Julia and I made homemade, delicious kotleti. Have you ever had them? They are Russian you know. They also serve them in Ukraine. Rachel knew exactly what I was making, and said she ate them frequently back in Ukraine. Now she wants me to make Veriniki.

The tooth fairy visited!!!!!

Last night, the tooth fairy visited Rachel (yeah!), and Sveta. When I slipped into Sveta's room, she was sleeping with her head at the opposite end of the bed. How thoughtful, and what strategic planning on her part. I guess she wanted to make sure that the dairy fairy had plenty of access to her tooth. :)

Rachel was a bit harder to exchange her tooth for a gift. It is such a tense moment when I sneak into the room and slip my hand under their pillow to get their tooth. They all put them in little plastic bags to make sure the tooth doesn't get lost, but boy, is it noisy. Just as I was slipping the gift under her pillow, she sits up half way to turn her body around. I froze as I silently tried to duck down and get out of their as quickly as possible. As I pulled my hand out, I pulled the gift half way out too. Oh heck with it, I thought, and left it as it was. Who's to say that during the rest of the night she won't knock the gift on the floor anyways.

When I got to bed, I let out a big sigh of relief. Mission accomplished ---well sort of.

This morning, Rachel was all smiles. She wanted to share the mechanical pencils she got and would not let me throw the package away when I offered. She put the rest back in it and carefully put them away for later.

Sveta on the other hand, wanted to covet her gift and not show anyone. I coaxed her to bring them out, and showed her how cool the markers were. They have a roll on stamp on the end of them. What really excited her was when I showed her what cool microphones they made. This made her extremely happy.

The Tooth Fairy is a Loser ..... or a Cow

Here, my daughter Rachel loses a tooth (her second one with us), and she still hasn't had the tooth fairy visit her. I can use the excuse that I have been fighting a cold, and and therefore when I fall asleep, I'm really asleep, unable to even remember that she lost a tooth, let alone get up and play tooth fairy, but really I just forgot.

That was my excuse the first night.

My husband even jokingly said the next morning at breakfast, "Rachel, maybe the tooth fairy was sick in bed." Ha ha, John.

Then I remembered that Rachel had told her sisters and I that she didn't believe in the tooth fairy ---so that was my excuse to myself the second night. In reality, I really just forgot yet again, and slept right through the night.

The next morning, I asked Rachel if the tooth fairy had visited her, knowing full well she hadn't, and she interestingly enough said, "I don't think she thinks I believe." Well, there's my out --straight out of her mouth (what a loser I am I thought to myself). I told her that she was probably right, and even though that wasn't the real reason why the tooth fairy hadn't visited, I decided from that point on to go with that, and help her to get the tooth fairy to visit her.

See, Rachel and my other adopted daughters have not had the chance to experience make-believe, fantasy, childhood traditions like the tooth fairy, wishing on a shooting star, or Santa, and I want to give that to them before they grow up. Heck, I've managed to convince Sveta that the tooth fairy is a cow, hence the dairy fairy picture, so you better believe that I want to get Rachel to believe if not just this one time, that the tooth fairy is a little flying creature that comes down to steal your tooth and leave behind a little gift. How I want to experience this with her, just one time, as she wakes up in the morning to find a little present under her pillow in place of her tooth --- all because she allowed herself to believe. I think to feel that little bit of magic would do wonders for her lost childhood.

Last night, Caleb lost a tooth, and my plan was have the tooth fairy visit both of them, after I talked to Rachel. Well, I talked to her and she still didn't really believe, so I went to bed a little bit sad. Again, I forgot to play the tooth fairy (how rotten can a mom get), and woke up to find Rachel very unbelieving that the tooth fairy existed at all.

Well, I quickly went to talk to Caleb, who caught us in the act one night, but pretended to still believe so that his younger sibs could still enjoy the tooth fairy, and I quickly paid him a tooth fairy visit. He promised to hype up the gift (liquid candy --yum!) and ask Rachel what she got.

This morning there was great conversation, and for the first time, I really think Rachel believes that there is a tooth fairy that will only visit those that really believe in her.

Why else would the tooth fairy bring a gift for a child who believes and purposefully overlook one who doesn't?

I really think that the tooth fairy is going to be visiting Rachel tonight ----and Sveta who also lost a tooth tonight. For the first time, I think that maybe, just maybe, Rachel will give in to the magic -----if only for this one time.

"Oh and hey, can someone please call me around midnight to wake me up? If I miss this chance, I will be very disappointed in myself."

Remember that yellow envelope you gave to customs when your child entered the US?

I got an email from a friend who wanted to bring this to my attention. Thank you.

It seems that there is a way to get back the original documents that you carried over from whatever country's embassy you adopted from. I remember how they instructed us that we MUST not open this package, or we might jeopardize our new daughter's eligibility to enter the US or at least cause huge delays in the process. We handled that package as if our lives depended on it, until we safely handed it to the right person. It was taken very serious by us. Looking back, I think we were a little to serious silly.

Well, my husband and I have always wondered what was in that envelope, and now it looks like we will get the chance to finally find out. Check out this site for instructions. After I dig up the paperwork, I am going to be filling out the form too. What do we have to lose ---after all it is free to do this. You just have to pay to have the form notarized.

Just look at that meatball

Poor William didn't want the ramen soup I made the other night for dinner, so he asked to have the leftover spaghetti and meatballs. Originally, it was served on a plate, but after eating the majority of the noodles, he transferred the meatballs, his least favorite, to a napkin. He often does strange things like this with his food.

Well, a mother can only watch so much suffering, and so I asked him to eat only one of the meatballs. Boy, was he happy to hear that, but I think deep down he already knew that I would let him up. With William, because of his Sensory Processing Issues, we usually make special food exceptions for him.

Ottoman Tree Swing

Anna and Julia took one of our old patio ottomans (they are so rusted and torn up that I was planning on throwing them away this year) and turned it into a tree swing. I guess I can't even think of throwing it away now.

Top Ramen Soup

Tonight I made top ramen soup. It's quick, easy, cheap, and delicious. For our size family I break up five packages of ramen noodles. I add one bag of frozen veggies and I crack about 4 eggs in it about four minutes before it is done. Sometimes I add leftover chicken, but tonight I didn't. I serve this with toast or crackers.

I serve this when I know it is dinnertime, and I have made absolutely no plans beforehand. Rachel likes it the most usually going for thirds, probably because she is amazed that such simple ingredients can easily feed a family of 12 and taste good too.

Looking at life through a new pair of glasses

Sorry if all of the video clips bug you, but I feel compelled to share them anyways. They have moved me and my older children in such a powerful way, that I think they are worth sharing. Be careful, this next one will make you cry because a light will turn on inside you.

Annie, thanks for commenting so often. It is really encouraging to me. To everyone else, please leave a message, if you got anything out of watching these clips. Thanks in advance.

http://www.sermonspice.com/search?topic=121&q=get+service
Click on Get Service the first clip

Action Packed Reed 2007 Video

Here is a video that I made of our family. It summarizes our 2007 activites, and how we like to have fun. I promise you won't get bored. :)

Wisdom from my oldest daughter

For the last three days, I have been doing three loads of laundry a day with the dirty clothes piles never getting any smaller. I know some of you are thinking that I should stop complaining because afterall, it was our choice to have so many kids in the first place, but that isn't really the issue. The issue is that my kids should be able to wear their jeans and jackets more than once before they just throw them in the laundry. I would expect that of an only child as well.

Besides, I wear my jeans lots of times (I know it sounds yuck, but I do change my underwear :) ) before I throw them in the wash, so my kids can too.

Anyways, as I was doing the girls' hair this morning, I reminded them to try not to get their clothes too dirty so that they could at least wear their jeans one more time. I explained just how many clothes I have had to fold in the last three days when Rachel said to me, "Mom, why haven't you asked me to help you? Remember, I can put clothes in the washing machine and help fold them."

You know what? She is so right. I shouldn't forget that I have lots of able and most times, willing hands to help me with the laundry. It's ridiculous that I haven't tapped into this great resource yet. Come to think of it, Adam and Caleb are also great at doing laundry.

Miss Anna NoPoke and Mr. Andrew Can'tSeeReader

This morning I took Anna to get her blood test done at our local hospital. Since no one was there at 7:30am, and 35 minutes had already passed, I had a feeling that something was wrong. Sure enough, the lab tech was not familiar with all that was requested by the endo so she told me to come back later after they had gathered all the right tubes. I was fine with that since I had another appointment at 9am, and Anna was definitely fine with that since that meant one more day of putting off a needle poke and one more day of missing time from school. Too bad they later called to tell me that they were not equipped to do the lab work afterall, and I would have to take her somewhere else ---- 15 miles away.

But on the upside, I made it to my other appointment on time, and was even able to make it back to town for the school assembly at 10am. I was very glad for that because Andrew got a terrifc reader award for the month of October. Too bad Andrew didn't even see me there. Even after I kept waving till I thought my arm would fall off, he still didn't see me. My main reason for going to these assemblies is to show my suppport and cheer the kids on.

Plus, I really like the cheer they sing after the kids get their awards.

"We - are - proud - of - you

We - are - proud - of - you

Hey - Hey - Hey

We - are - proud - of - you

We - are - proud - of - you!"

You'd have to be there and feel the spirit. :)

That's my King

This short video came to mind many times today. I'm just passing it on.

What does it have to do with the smiles and trials of our everyday life?

Well, I am who I am, and I do what I do, and I live like I live, because of Him.

I wasn't kidding about the tiara

This picture was taken a few days ago of Anna doing her homework while wearing the tiara. Maybe it is her thinking cap. :)

Future Treehouse

We planted this Mulberry tree with the intent to build a treehouse in it someday. Well now after about six years, John and the kids are slowly getting the tree ready for it. Here they are cutting up the branches that they cut off the tree to make room for the treehouse. It was a good two hour project. Anna enjoyed the task of compacting the contents of the green can by jumping on it with all of her might.

Anna's endocrinologist appointment

Today I drove Anna up to Valley Children's Hospital for her big appointment. On the way there, I forgot to take the right exit onto the freeway that takes me to the hospital, because I was too busy singing a song. Then I went to the wrong building only to find out that the right building was across the parking lot. You better believe I got my exercise today, as we ran to make our appointmemt on time. After all that, we were only 5 minutes late. Pretty darn good considering that we ended up waiting for 4o mintues because the doctor wasn't there yet.

I felt the visit went well, and that they thouroughly examined Anna ---twice, because the doctor was teaching an intern ---so that was good. The only thing is that I left with more questions rather than answers.

I did learn however, that Anna is actually 45 inches tall. The office has a neat way of measuring the kids they see, by taking three different measurements and then taking the average. I also learned that Anna could be short for a variety of reasons, and in about six weeks once we have all the results back we will be able to rule out many things and hopefully pinpoint the reason.

She may be short just because her birth parents were short, in which case we would look into growth hormone treatment. She may have a consitutional delay which means that her bone age is younger than her chronological age which may be treated with GHT if she doesn't make good progress over the course of six months. She had an x-ray of her hand taken today for the doctor to look at to determine whether or not Anna has this.

The doctor also ordered lots of bloodwork to rule out hypothyroidism (um, I don't think she has this), growth hormone deficiency where her body doesn't produce enough on its own, malabsorption, arthritis, and kidney problems.

The doctor also wants to genetically test Anna for Turner's syndrome. She reminded me that though 1 in 60 girls has this, 59 out of 60 do not. Anna is very healthy and so I am not too worried.

If Anna's tests come back with nothing, the doctor is likely to conclude that Anna has idiopathic short stature which simply means that she has no known cause as to why she is short. Since Anna's height is below the eligible measurement, this means that she would qualify to have our insurance pay for growth hormone treatment.

Again, we should know something in about six weeks. Only then, will my questions be answered. Thankfully, my concern about Anna getting too old where she would no longer benefit from GHT was unwarranted. She is actually at the perfect age to start treatment if we so choose this path for her.

Teacher comments

As part of the paperwork chase for our re-homestudy, I had to request school reports for the kids that I haven't done post-placement reports for in the past four months. Yes, this is a royal pain, to get progress reports for each of the children, but I can't tell you how blessed I was to get them back. Not only did I appreciate how quickly most of them have come back to me as I only sent them to school this morning, but I feel really honored to call each of these kids mine. They are really great kids.

I wanted to share some of the comments that have come back so far. Sorry, if it seems like I am bragging, but I can't help it. :)

"When I have observed Andrew with his siblings, it is awesome to see how much they care about one another and how much they enjoy being together. It has been a pleasure getting to know the Reed family this year. Andrew is in my top reading group, he is well behaved, and he knows right from wrong."

"Caleb is an active, intelligent, well-mannered 6th grader. He is very social and has much to share due to his high amount of knowledge and experiences. Caleb is an outstanding, young person."

"William is honest, hardworking, and responsible. He seems proud of his family and always walks to school together with his siblings."

"Adam is attentive in class, polite, and respectful of students and adults. Adam is considerate of other people's needs. His GPA is 4.00!"

"Julia is doing very well in all areas of school!"

"Rachel is very very respectful and well-behaved. She is not afraid to ask questions, and she has made a lot of progress since the beginning of school."

Ukraine......Here we come

Yes, you read right. :)

We have started the process to adopt from Ukraine. Please join us on our journey at http://theukrainetrain.blogspot.com/. I am absolutely ecstatic, and look forward to having a new, little one in the home.

Oh, and if you wondering, I will continue to post on this blog as well.

Quite the Artist

Annalyn drew these pictures after Daddy offered to draw her portrait. He really inspired her to start drawing whatever she felt in her heart and saw in her everyday surroundings.

Since Annalyn got grounded this week, she is spending all her "extra" time drawing these great pictures. She has even come up with a great signature, which I taught her, all great artists must have.

Playing Tag ---- Kinda fun

My friend Courtney at Camp Girdwood tagged me. I'm new at this so I hope I do it right.

Jobs I've had in my life:
1. Worked at Weinersnitzels for 2 months.
2. Various babysitting and housecleaning jobs.
3. Pesticide clerk for Del Monte/Yorkshire Foods.
4. Wife and mom - by far the best job in the world.

Places I have lived:
Los Angeles area, California
Madera, Ca
Kerman, Ca
Fresno, Ca
Sanger, Ca
Reedley, Ca

TV shows I like to watch:
Anything on TLC
Desperate Housewives
Grey's Anatomy

Places I've been to:
California
Nevada
Oregon
Washington
Maryland
Russia

Fave food:
Pizza with jalapenos and ranch dressing
Waffles with sweet milk
anything sweet

Books I've read in the last 5 years:
If You Want To Walk On Water, You've Got To Step Out Of The Boat
Redeeming Love
A Different Kind Of Perfect
Another Place at the Table

Things I enjoy:
Being a mom
Spending quality time with hubby
Blogging
Getting pumped up by God's word through sermons, bible studies, and friends
Helping others with adoption related things
And I can't forget coffee

I tag Kristen and Annie who want to blog but keep coming up with excuses. If you need to answer in the comments, that is a great place to start. ;)

A 1000 piece puzzle and the tiara

Here is what our family (ok I confess mainly I) has been working on for the last couple of days. Puzzles are so therapeutic, and I like when I am working on it and one or two of the kids will walk by, and end up sitting down next to me to do a couple of pieces. It's like they can't resist quickly finding where one piece goes and then continuing on with what they were doing.

Springbok by Hallmark are the best puzzles out there. They are beautiful, durable, and very fun to do. The pieces are in such weird shapes, unlike the cheaper ones that have all the same shaped pieces. You can buy them used off of E-Bay for a couple of dollars. I would prefer to do a Springbok puzzle that has a couple of missing pieces instead of a brand new generic puzzle. If you buy a brand new one you are looking at spending $20-30, which is too rich for my blood.

We got our first Springbok puzzle from my old high school history teacher. He gave it to us as a wedding present. I thought he was so dumb. Who in the world gives a stupid ol' puzzle as a wedding gift? At the time, I didn't even know where to return it. It ended up sitting in our closet until I was pregnant with our first child.

We pulled out that aquatic scened, 1500 piece puzzle that day, and it changed our life. We spent at least 30 hours together, basked in the sense of acomplishment we had achieved working together as a team, and got to really know each other during that time as the conversation flowed freely. We even flirted with each other by finding each others pieces that we had been looking for.

My old teacher was very smart. That darn puzzle ended up being the best wedding present ever. Thank you Mr. MarcAntonio.

If you look closely at the picture you will see a little tiara. I had to mention this because it is a cute story. I was going through some cupboards and getting rid of junk, when I found the tiara. I put it in the girls bathroom for them to play dress-up with. When I was doing the girls' hair this morning, Anna brings it down and waits patiently for her turn for me to do her hair. When it was her turn, she gave me this tiara and asked me to put it on for her. She seriously thought she could wear it to school like any other hair clip.

"Anna, you can't wear that to school, sweetie. That's for dress-up only."

Needless to say, she was quite sad. I told her she could wear it to Wednesday night church next week.

Anna has an appointment!

We got a call last week about Anna. She has an appointment on Tuesday up at Valley Children's Hospital with an endocrinologist.

I am so glad because after talking it over with John, we both feel that she could benefit from Growth Horomone Therapy. Anna just celebrated her 9th birthday, but she is only 42" tall. I have been looking into taking the kids to Magic Mountain for the day, and Anna wouldn't be able to ride any of the roller coaster rides that even her younger brother William can ride. We could even have her wear her high heeled boots, but they would barely put her at 44". It is quite disappointing for her and us.

I wonder what people with Dwarfism do? Isn't it considered discrimination if the rides cannot accommodate them?

So, so worth listening too

Hi everyone. This is not really adoption related, but in many ways it is. It depends on how God speaks to you through the speaker. Honestly it may not be what you want to hear, but I think you need to hear it.

For those of you who don't normally attend church, I ask that you please set aside 47 minutes of your life to hear this message. Consider it the service that you haven't attended in years. It really picks up after the first five minutes. I bet that after 15 minutes, you will want to hear the rest. If you can only listen to parts of it at a time, that's okay to, because you can come back to the audio clip and move the time bar to where you last left off.

Please just click on listen or you can download it to your computer.
Oct 14, 2007 Dare To Be Part 5: mp3 Download Listen What You Feeling? - Bart Campolo
Here is the link to our church website for more talks if interested.

If you do listen to this please leave a comment as to what you thought.

I thank you ahead of time for taking this time to hear one of the most in your face, inspiring messages that I have heard in a long time.

Just like someone who discovers and is very excited to share the latest and greatest thing like a new restaurant, or a new store, or a great book that they have just read in one night, or tv series that you've just got to watch, I want to share with you this message.

Under the bed

Last night, Jonny wet the bed (very rare) and wouldn't stop crying until he woke me up and I went upstairs to see what had happened. He soaked through everything! Too lazy to change the bed, and knowing that he would soon join us anyways, I changed him and brought him to sleep with me.

In the morning, as I was changing his bed, I noticed all kinds of stuff shoved down the side of it. I pulled his bed out, and this is what I found. One thing turned into another and by lunchtime I had changed his bed, vacuumed the carpet and baseboards, dusted the shelves and fan, and spackled the toy dings in the wall and touched up with paint.

It sure felt good to know they had a clean room! And to think that none of this would have gotten done had Jonny not wet the bed. :)

He's fine

It may not look like it, but the rash is much better. I don't think it was impetigo because no one else got a rash, and John and I (like fools) never resisted the temptation to kiss on our little Jonny but we still didn't get any reaction.

It must have been something he rubbed his face up against and had an allergic reaction to. I can't think of anything else. Can you?

A morning in the Reed house

I was recently asked what a typical morning in the Reed household was like. Until now, I hadn't really thought much about it, because I think it is pretty normal. Whether you have 1 child or 10 children, every family has a routine, and really that's what it is all about ---routine.

Every school morning my kids get up around 6:30 am. They get dressed and fix their bed before they come to breakfast. After breakfast, we clean up and put away the cereal or whatever it is we ate that morning, and fix lunches. Five of the kids make their lunch everyday, while four of them trade off between home and school lunch.

After lunches are made, hair is done. Most of the girls love when I do their hair, but I will only do it if there is enough time. It is a great incentive to make sure the girls are ready on time.

Usually everyone is ready by 7:15 and they want to play computer or go outside and play ball. They could do this if the house is neat and tidy with shoes put away, kitchen trash taken out, room neat, and dishwaher unloaded. Most times these things are done so it is not a big deal.

The kids play until 7:30, and then they either walk or John drives them.

Nothing out of the ordinary. We just follow a routine.

Now getting the kids who didn't grow up with this routine to accept it and follow it, that's a different story. But they do, and I admit that I have been taking advantage of the smoothness of the morning by staying in bed until I hear the kids finishing up breakfast around 6:50am. I do help make the sandwiches, and for whatever reason the kids don't like to grab the chips out of the big bag and pack them into little plastic baggies. They want Mom to do it.

What's up with that? You want chips, you pack them.

Oh, except for Caleb. He packs his own chips. Remember, he is a germaphobe. He won't even use a bowl from the stack on the table because somebody else might have touched it. He has to get a "fresh and clean" one out of the cupboard. Hello? Doesn't he know that someone had to have touched the bowl in order to put it away?

One Billion Dollars

Caleb brought this home one day. William got particularly excited when he saw it.

"Mom, I can buy all the PS2 games if I had that much money."

Here are what some of the other kids would buy if they had one billion dollars.

Julia would buy Disneyland.

Anna would buy tickets to all of the Hannah Montana and Cheetah Girl concerts.

Andrew would buy a cool motorcycle and a big toy gun to play with and be cool.

What would you buy with one billion dollars?

A Mysterious Rash

Jonny was sick a couple of days ago. As a way to comfort himself, he would put his fingers in his mouth. This would lead to him rubbing his hands across his face, and he would get chapped lips making him lick and rub his mouth all the more. He developed this that I thought was a bad case of chapped lips or a rash from his face being constantly wet and rubbed. Well this morning, we woke up to this and right away I thought of impetigo.

Just great, I thought. Why does this have to happen on a Saturday when I can't take him to the doctors? I did some research and found that putting an antibiotic on it should help. At least until Monday, when I can take him in and get a presecription of something stronger if need be. Well I washed it with soapy water, applied Neosporin a couple of times throughout the day today and it looks so much better. I will get a picture of him in the morning.

After doing more research, it may not be impetigo afterall. He had two blisters and they didn't crust over with a honey colored ooze, and nobody else has gotten it yet. I read it is very contagious.

Well, we'll just have to wait and see what happens.

What can be funner than this?

This is a typical night at the Reeds. No joke. As I watched John playing with the kids, I thought that this would be something they would want to watch years down the road, so I grabbed the camera.

John is pretending to be a mechanical bull in case you couldn't figure that out. :)
Notice that the bigger thus heavier kids had a very mellow ride compared to the littler ones like Anna, Jonny, and Andrew.

Caleb was trying to get me to take him to Starbucks because he won the grand prize at Wednesday night church --a $10 gift certificate. He earned the right to be called the "Pillow Fighting Champion" at our church against at least 50 other participants. (I told you he was athletic.)

It will make you cry........and smile

I came across these videos on another blog. They touched my heart deeply. I don't even have a child with Down's Syndrome, but ever since we adopted our daughter who has FAS we have been incredibly blessed in the simplest of ways, and so I can only imagine the joy that these families have been blessed with because of their amazing children.
http://www.onetruemedia.com/otm_site/view_shared?p=88b31728ac885d830e7be&skin_id =0
http://content.impactengine.com/ieViewer.php?tid=61948

Jonny Squarepants

I forgot to mention that Jonny's IEP meeting went well last week. It was agreed upon by the team, that he would begin receiving speech therapy, starting today. Each session will last 25 minutes. He missed it. Kind of ironic that I push to get him services as soon as possible and then he doesn't even attend his first session. I let Jonny sleep in this morning since he is still getting over some virus that has been going through our family. Since normally he is up by 7am and it was already 8:45, I thought it was best that he just sleep. Obviously, his little body was using extra energy to fight off this 48 hour bug. I called the speech therapist, to tell her his first day will have to wait till next week. She agreed this would be best.

Since I am on the topic of Jonny, I wanted to share this video of him back in January of this year. He is just so darn cute, even if he looks like one of the underweight, awkward little boys that I remember seeing in Anna and Sveta's orphanage. I literally could eat him up, he is just soooo adorable.


Since this video, Jonny has changed so much, and it is a reminder that time goes by too darn fast. Before we know it, our children will be all grown up. Please make it a priority to get out the camera and take some photos and or video footage of you kids. Years down the road, you will be so glad that you did.

My secret to organization

I guess I would call myself oraganized. But, not in the sense like one would think. Most times when you think of someone who is organized it is evident by lots of plastic tubs, the consistent method of labeling things throughout your home, or the need to have a special place for everything. Well, I don't really do any of that, in fact, the only material sign that I have any organization skills whatsoever, is in these blue little tubs that I ingeniously (not) thought up, bought, labeled with each of the kids names, and declared that they be used to put clean laundry in.

Quick story : Right about the time we were thinking about adopting Rachel was when I bought these tubs. Of course I bought 10 at the dollar store instead of 9 just in case. One night after dinner with my in-laws, John's dad looked over and saw the tubs. He asked what they were going to be used for and then silently counted them in his head. At this point, we still hadn't told them about Rachel and so you could imagine the awkwardness when he said, "There's ten there Christine. I think you miscounted when you bought them. You're not adopting another kid are you?" I was afraid to tell him because I was unsure of his reaction so I quickly answered, "No Dad, I bought an extra one in case one of them breaks."

As to my real secret to organization, it is quite logical. If you make a mess, clean it up. If you get it out, put it back. If you are a part of this family, chip in and help out.

Reed Family Fear Factor

One night after dinner, we had left over guacamole that wouldn't keep very well in the fridge so one of the kids suggested that we play Fear Factor. Instead of just throwing it away, we thought this would be a fun family activity. It was such fun that the kids are already planning on what we could mix up to eat next weekend. One suggestion was straight tuna. Uh, come on guys, can't you get a little bit more creative? How about pineapple chunks smothered in brown gravy and topped with chopped onions? Yeah, that's what I'm talking about.

Sveta and Rachel both ate the guacamole and got the choice of five bucks or a bowl of Skittles. You can see what each girl picked.

Besides me just being a kid at heart and loving to do fun stuff like this, it is so important to set aside unstructured family time where the family can let loose, have fun, and just be themselves.

This is something that I know they will remember forever.

The Mailman Stalker

This past Saturday, Sveta spent most of her day doing this. She was dubbed the "mailman stalker." This picture was taken in the latter part of the day by our mailbox. Earlier, she had made camp across the street at the neighbor's mailbox. When we later asked during dinner, how her day went, she said she had so much fun. If your anything like me, you have to just chuckle and smile.

It never gets old

I know, I know, this looks familiar. I did make a short video of Anna sliding down the stairs a while back, but this is a little different. After a trip to Costco, Julia saw this box and thought it would make the perfect sled. After numerous attempts to slide down on her bottom instead of her tummy, she finally got it right. So did Annalyn and Sveta. I wonder when this is going to get old. Ah, no complaints here ---it saves me a trip to the amusement park.

Food is a family affair

Here is a picture of Rachel and Pearl Barley Soup. It is a Russian recipe, one that I grew up eating. Served with a nice, hot, crusty, Artisan bread, this soup really hit the spot.


These are Pumpkin Scones. They were quite delightful.

2 cups all-purpose flour
7 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
6 tablespoons cold butter
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
3 tablespoons half-and-half
1 large egg
____________
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon powdered sugar
2 tablespoons whole milk
_____________
1 cup powdered sugar
3 tablespoons powdered sugar
2 tablespoons whole milk
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 pinch ginger
1 pinch ground cloves

TO MAKE THE SCONES:.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Lightly oil a baking sheet or line with parchment paper.
Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and spices in a large bowl. Using a pastry knife, fork, or food processor, cut butter into the dry ingredients until mixture is crumbly and no chunks of butter are obvious. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, whisk together pumpkin, half and half, and egg. Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Form the dough into a ball.
Pat out dough onto a lightly floured surface and form it into a 1-inch thick rectangle (about 9 inches long and 3 inches wide). Use a large knife or a pizza cutter to slice the dough twice through the width, making three equal portions. Cut those three slices diagonally so that you have 6 triangular slices of dough. Place on prepared baking sheet.
Bake for 14�16 minutes. Scones should begin to turn light brown. Place on wire rack to cool.
TO MAKE THE PLAIN GLAZE:.
Mix the powdered sugar and 2 tbsp milk together until smooth.
When scones are cool, use a brush to paint plain glaze over the top of each scone.
AS THAT WHITE GLAZE FIRMS UP, MAKE THE SPICED ICING:.
Combine the ingredient for the spiced icing together. Drizzle this thicker icing over each scone and allow the icing to dry before serving (at least 1 hour). A squirt bottle works great for this, or you can drizzle with a whisk.




Today we made Whoopie Pies for dessert. Adam was quite the helper. Simple but yummy! Annalyn and Daddy licked the beaters clean!

Of course all of these recipes had to doubled to feed our family, but it is still so much cheaper to make them at home rather than go out and eat.

Here is the Whoopie Pie Recipe
Cakes:
1 box chocolate cake mix
1 tbs. oil
3/4 cup water
2 eggs

Creme filling:
1/2 cup butter
1 jar marshmallow creme
1 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 375. Mix together cake ingredients with a fork. Make sure there are no clumps. Scoop spoonfuls of batter 1 inch apart onto greased cookie sheets. Bake for 7-12 minutes. Yield 24 cakes.

Beat ingredients for filling together. Once cakes are cooled, spread cake with 1 spoonful of creme and smoosh together with another cake.

Yields 12 pies.

Hyperlexia

I'm always on the internet looking up things, specifically to research things that are of interest to my family. Well, I happened to be going through the list of favorite sites on one of the computers I normally never use, and ran across a link titled Hyperlexia.

Has you ever heard of this? I haven't until today, but obviously my husband has, because he is the one who saved the link. I guess we think alike, when it comes to researching things on the internet.

Hyperlexia
Hyperlexia is a syndrome observed in children who have the following characteristics:
A precocious ability to read words, far above what would be expected at their chronological age or an intense fascination with letters or numbers.
Significant difficulty in understanding verbal language
Abnormal social skills, difficulty in socializing and interacting appropriately with people
In addition, some children who are hyperlexic may exhibit the following characteristics:
Learn expressive language in a peculiar way, echo ro memorize the sentence structure without understanding the meaning (echolalia), reverse pronouns
Rarely initiates conversations
An intense need to keep routines, difficulty with transitions, ritualistic behavior
Auditory, olfactory and / or tactile sensitivity
Self-stimulatory behavior
specific, unusual fears
Normal development until 18-24 months, then regression
strong auditory and visual memory
Difficulty answering "Wh--" questions, such as "what," "where," "who," and "why"
Think in concrete and literal terms, difficulty with abstract concepts
Listen selectively, appear to be deaf


Here are links with additional info.

http://www.hyperlexia.org/hyperlexia.html
http://www.margaretkay.com/Hyperlexia.htm
http://www.autismkey.com/hyperlexia.htm

Hyperlexia vs. Autism. "The definition of autism is being stretched to cover too many things." This statement taken from this link hit a chord with me. In a previous post about William I had mentioned how how he had been first diagnosed with Autism, only later to find out this just didn't fit him. Before reading this, I was pretty certain that the diagnosis of Sensory Integration Disorder and Language Processing Disorder was right on ----now I am not so certain. I guess it doesn't really matter, although I will definitely be bringing this up at his next IEP to see if his goals and or services would change to better address his weak areas.

All about the kids

Adam is our oldest child topping out at the ripe old age of 12. He is experiencing the seventh grade and enjoys playing volleyball on the school's boy team. He also plays both the acoustic and electric guitar and takes lessons every Wednesday from a teacher that is also named Adam. Pretty cool, since the only other Adam we know is the one in the bible. He is getting involved in the youth worship team at our church and has participated in some of the skits. Other than his "sassy" mouth which I mainly attribute to the "pre-teen punk" years, Adam is an awesome young man with a wonderful future ahead of him.

Rachel is our oldest girl who will be celebrating her 12th birthday this December. She is in the fifth grade, and though this is her first year here with us, she is making many new friends. She is running in cross-country and has a competitive streak that pushes her forward and as a result has placed in the last two races. Rachel is attending Wednesday night church with her siblings and is awesome at inviting friends from school to join her. Her younger sisters, especially Annalyn, look up to her and enjoy spending time together.

Caleb just turned 11 and is in the sixth grade. Recently, he attended 6th grade camp and came home "pumped up" from the experience. Caleb is very outgoing and enjoys physical activity. Sadly, his Asthma continues to be an issue for him even with preventative medication, and limits his physical endurance. He has not found his true passion yet, but has dabbled in playing a variety of musical instruments such as the piano, guitar, drums, and violin, and goes back and forth between skateboarding, football, and baseball. With his talent in sports and charismatic personality, I wouldn't be surprised if he goes on to be the next Tony Hawk.

Sveta is 10 years old and has moved on to the third grade this year. She gets the extra academic help that she needs with various pull-outs for speech, general ed, and occupational therapy. She has developed a trusting relationship with her teachers and enjoys going to school. She is focusing on her school work this year so she isn't involved in any extra-curricular activities, but she does attend Wednesday night church and helps make sure that we don't forget to go. Sveta is very happy and playful and absolutely loves to listen to music and sing. Sveta has a tender heart for animals, and I am sure one day her job will revolve around caring for them in some way.

Annalyn is 9 years old. She is enjoying the 4th grade with one of the nicest teachers I have ever met. She loves to write ---poems, stories, letters, you name it, she does it all! Her imagination is fed by her love of reading, and results in some very descriptive and imaginative material. Annalyn takes piano lessons every Thursday night with Daddy, and is getting better everyday. She enjoys playing anything that is make-believe, and is able to make anything come alive!

Julia is 9 years old too, just two weeks younger than Annalyn (a "virtual twin"!). She is in the fourth grade. The teacher has specifically paired up new students in her class with Julia, because Julia is great at getting other kids to feel like they belong. Julia is in her fifth year of piano, and though she doesn't always enjoy it, we all know her playing is a special talent. She is involved in cross-country this year and is enjoying it very much. Her time continues to improve with each race. Julia has been asked to sing and dance to help lead the children's worship on Sunday mornings, and this has quickly grown into one of her favorite pastimes.

Anna just turned 9 years old this past September. She is working at grade level this year in second, and seems to be enjoying another year with her teacher. She has started attending art classes held every Tuesday after school, and loves getting to create pieces of art with her hands.
Anna's specialty is doing everyone's hair really fancy with braids and clips and bows, and often times has sisters lined up waiting to get their hair done by her. Anna might be small, but she more than makes up for it with her outgoing, fun-loving personality that everyone adores.

William is 7 1/2 years old and just loves being in the second grade this year. He has mastered handwriting, and excels in reading this year with little effort. He prides himself in being a well-behaved boy in class and enjoys recess time with his friends. William does an amazing job helping me around the house, and often does things without having to be asked. William attends Wednesday night church with his siblings, and is also the youngest of our children to attend Monday night BSF (Bible Study Fellowship)with Dad. William has a knack for memorizing his bible verses.

Andrew is 5 years old. He is in morning kindergarten. He is doing very well and enjoys playing with his best friend at recess. Andrew is joined in his class by Mom and his little brother Jonny on Monday mornings during 'center times'. Andrew is very helpful in showing his brother the ropes. Andrew partners up with Grandma every Thursday afternoon for piano class, and seems to have an ear for the notes. He is old enough this year to attend Wednesday night church with his older siblings. Andrew is very energetic and is often referred to as Caleb's "mini me".

Jonathan at four years old is considered the baby of the family. He started Pre-K at the local community center this year. He can already spell his long name. He is too cute for his own good and often melts the hearts of everyone around him. You see in Jonny a little bit of each of his siblings, and as a result, he is growing up to be quite a terrific boy!

Jonny opening presents

I wanted to share this video because it is a great reflection of the kids' true personalities. I love to watch and hear Jonny and William's excitement.

You ever do this?

Aaaaggghhh! I must have been reminded of one of my major parenting weaknesses at least four times today.

What am I talking about? I'm talking about coming in after one of my kids, and just doing what it is I had asked them to do instead of calling them back to do it right.

So that means, when I walked into my bathroom and found the package of toilet paper on the floor instead of in the cupboard, I picked it up and put it away only to stop myself and take it back out of the cupoboard and place it back on the floor. Then I yelled, "Sveta, come put the toilet paper away where it belongs!"

Then I found the dishwasher loaded haphazardly, to which I started to rearrange and then had to remember to stop and remess it back up and call Rachel who was watching some Disney show with the other kids to come and load it right.

Next, I found some scraps of paper swept behind a door instead of into the dustpan and then trash so I started to pick them up. I caught myself, threw them back down and called Annalyn to see what she had to say about how the paper got behind the door. Thankfully, she only offered to sweep it right (without any excuses) and so I left it at that. I knew that she too had been in a hurry to watch tv.

Finally, I had asked Jonny to put away his socks in his drawer only to find them on the floor of his room. Tempted to just pick them up and put them away myself because hey, at least he had made an effort to get them in the room, I called him upstairs to put them away right.

By the end of the night, I was more exhausted then if I had just done these things myself. That is why I consider this one of my weaknesses that I am working on because in all honesty, most of the kids are really good about doing things right the first time.

Jonathan is four!

Jonny officially turned four today! Here he is getting ready to blow out his candles.
Anna and Caleb helped me make the chocolate cake. We spelled out, "Happy Birthday Jonny" with Skittles, and though I thought they wouldn't taste very good with the cake, they were actually a scrumptious combination.

Later tonight as we were getting ready for bed and I held up his new Transformers underwear to the light so they would glow in the dark, Jonny asked me as he saw them glowing, "Are they too hot for me to put on?"

What a smart four year old!