Cute and Crumbly--- the Perfect Combination

Alex and Dennis are such a joy to watch play together. Their imagination is fascinating to watch as they talk to each other and set up their little corner.


They both have taken an interest in books--- hopefully Alex doesn't start tearing out pages like I have caught Dennis doing. ;)

Yesterday, I took the kids to Toy R Us so that Andrew could spend his birthday money. He bought a new Lego set. William had a few dollars so he bought a much smaller set-- so that he could play with Andrew. Out of curiosity I browsed through the clothes rack and found the coolest t-shirt for Alex. It is so perfect for him-- and it was incredibly marked down on clearance. Of course I bought it for his upcoming birthday!

Sveta and Alex took turns pushing each other around on this chair. They both enjoyed when it was their turn!

Today Julia decided to make us a pie from scratch. Annalyn helped her to cut up the apples until she cut her finger. Ouch--- but she will be okay.

The pie Julia chose to make was an Apple Crumb Pie.

It turned out wonderful! Not only did it slice up nicely, but it was delicious too! Even William who is very particular with what he eats, loved it-- and ate 2 1/2 pieces!

I Was Reminded Today...

that even great teenagers talk back.... sometimes.

And they were reminded that even great parents yell and react over the top.... sometimes.

In a nutshell, Annalyn knocked over a bottle of bright orange nail polish that shouldn't have been in the bedroom. It made a huge mess on the carpet. I got upset not because the nail polish was accidentally knocked over but because the nail polish shouldn't have been in the room in the first place, and had they listened there would not be a bright orange stain on the carpet. John comes in the room insisting on opening up all the windows because of the nail polish remover fumes killing all of our brain cells and Rachel starts in with talking back about how it is too cold and how he is being rude for opening the blinds. John says to put on a jacket. Rachel retorts. I am still upset about the nail polish and how the girls disobeyed by having the polish in their rooms. I of course was quick to remind them of why we don't keep nail polish in certain areas of the house. In the end, most of the polish was cleaned up, we all made up, and the windows were shut.

Good night. Off to bed to cuddle next to John and read a few pages of "The Shack."

From My Daddy

As I prepare for our adoption study that we will be leading in a few weeks, I came across this.
Oh how it blessed me-- again. May it bless you too.

Also, if there are things weighing heavy on your heart-- things from the past, sin you have not breathed a word about as it slowly eats away at your broken spirit, I encourage you to give it to the Lord today-- AND NO MATTER WHAT-- DON'T TAKE IT BACK. If any of you ever want to talk-- I am here and I have a shoulder. If not, I know God is always listening.

Kids' Pictures

Finally, new pictures of the kids are up on the wall.

Dennis Today

Thank you for your prayers. Dennis' surgery site is healing nicely. He is looking more handsome everyday. But he is still my chunk-o-love!

He has been going to pre-school twice a week that specializes in speech. This has made a huge difference. Our little boy talks--- and talks-- and talks. You should just hear him when he gets on the phone-- he will talk your ear off if you let him! Of course it is not always easy to understand what he is saying-- but if you are around him long enough you learn to understand his language. The point is-- he is talking! He also repeats what we say--- usually two or three times. It is so cute to hear! Maybe I'll take a video of him next time he talks to his Daddy--- whom he absolutely adores and never tires talking on the phone to. :)

Gimme an R!

I got this idea from a friend. For less than ten bucks, I was able to make this wonderful piece of art that represents our last name. John commented on how the right leg of the R did not match the left, so I added part of a toothpaste box before decoupaging it.



Other than getting glue all over my clothes and making a mess-- this was a quick craft I got done while Dennis took his afternoon nap.

I think it turned out great-- and nicely occupies the space above our dry-erase board.

Feel the Fun... Feel the Love

The weekend flew by-- way to quickly! So did February. Julia leaves for 6th grade camp tomorrow and we will be celebrating Alex's birthday in a few weeks! Never a dull moment-- that's for sure!

One morning, Andrew thought it would be cool to put on his jacket backwards. He even asked, "Can you cut out some holes for my eyes?"

Alex is just so precious. Plain and simple.... precious. Not only is he always this happy-go-lucky little boy, but he is also very sweet and polite and good-hearted. This morning as we were all getting into the car for church, two of the kids were arguing about where Alex's walker should go. Finally, John took hold of it and set it on his lap. Relieved, Alex gave a big, "Thank you Daddy!" It melted both our hearts.

Caleb surprised me with this sign he made in wood shop. He did such a great job on it-- I can't wait to hang it up!

Dennis is growing up so fast. Not only is he make-believe playing more and more, but he has also taken an interest in watching tv. Dennis was excited when Alex came over and got into this tent area that he made. I gave them some flashlights-- and they were two of the happiest boys on earth!

Please pray for Dennis. Ever since his last surgery, there has been an area on his temple that does not have skin covering it. I knew about it and cared for it per the doctor's instructions, and it was fine up until two days ago when Alex accidentally bonked a toy on it. Now I think it may be infected. It is getting better, but it is not back to how it was before the accident. I am giving it another day or two and if it doesn't continue to improve, I will take him back to the doctor.

William is on this fresh squeezed orange juice kick! Yum!

Ever since I began preparing the frames for the kids' new pictures, I realized that many of the pictures didn't turn out very well. Since Adam didn't like his at all, we decided to take a new one-- one that he would be happy for me to display. This is it! And we both love it! Gosh, is he one handsome young man! I'm also redoing a few of the other kids' picture too!

Recently, our family got new tennis rackets. One evening John played with the youngest three boys. They all took turns trying to hit the ball--- it was very cute!

The Specials

Has anyone watched this? It is a reality show that takes place in London--- about five young adults all of whom have Down Syndrome. Each episode is fairly short-- and we have enjoyed watching the first three. Sveta especially enjoys them. Last night she came up to me after I picked up Adam from music practice and asked, "Mom, can we watch those special kids on tv?"

Smiling, I asked back, "Why do you like them so much?"

She answered, "They are just like me with accents and they act like me too." Well honestly that is sugar coating what she actually said. She thought that their brains had the same problems as hers with thinking. She relates to them and now keeps asking to meet them. "Let's go Mom. Let's go see Sam." She thinks Sam is alot of fun.

I had to explain things to her about how just because someone might have different abilities it doesn't mean that it is a problem. It just means different.

We watched two episodes together and she mentioned a few times how she is special like them.

"Yes, you are very special Sveta. Don't ever forget it."

Family Trip to the Park

A few days ago we all went to the park! The weather was beautiful so we took advantage of it.

Many of the kids roller skated.

Some of the kids played on the equipment.

William is one of the kids who did both!

Julia's hair was full of static after sliding down the slide!

William and Jonny taught Dennis how to live dangerously!

John played tennis with the kids. He and Rachel played against Adam and Caleb!

Anna and Julia had so much fun double swinging together!

Afterwards, we swung by Sonic Drive-thru so Annalyn and Rachel could redeem their free soda coupons they received for being on honor roll!

Kids Are Often the Best Teachers

I grew up with a fondness for hand-me-down clothing. Everytime someone gave my Mom a bag of their daughter's outgrown, boring clothes it was on those days that I had hit the jackpot! Of course, at that age this was not something I wanted anyone to know least my classmates, but it was always a special event to me to be handed down those clothes. I got a new wardrobe. Who cares where they came from or if they were previously worn.

I've heard that many children who were forced to wear hand-me-downs as a child grow up to loathe anything second hand, but that wasn't the case for me. We just didn't have a lot of money to spend on expensive clothing. Naturally, I grew up to pass this trait onto my children-- at least most of them.

I had quietly been trying to pass on a few rules for wearing the hand-me-down clothing as well. I knew my rules were a bit prideful so I thought of them more as a guide to the unspoken proper etiquette of wearing second hand clothing. I was trying to subtly teach them to my girls because coming out and just telling them-- "Don't wear that dress to church because so and so who gave it to you will see you wearing it," sounded so hypocritical. I knew better than to teach my girls to be like that. I had managed for the longest time to keep my girls from wearing clothing to the same place that the giver would be at until they were given a bunch of pretty dresses from a family who attends our church. This would be a huge problem since these dresses would mainly be worn at you guessed it-- church.

This past weekend, two of my daughter's proudly and beautifully wore two of the dresses. I couldn't come up with one reason for them not to wear them-- and finally I had come to the point where I realized how wrong I have been in the past to secretly keep up this charade. So what if my children wear hand-me-downs? And so what if the family who gave them to us sees us wearing them? If my daughter's don't care-- why should I?

I am very thankful that we always have enough clothes both new and gently used. What a blessing to not always have to buy everything new. In return, we are able to give the clothes that are no longer being worn in our home to other families in our community who can benefit from them just like we do. Thank you God for using my children to open my eyes and to teach me.

A New Book

I am so excited! I just finished our adoption book of Alex. My goal was to have it done so that we could take it with us to Ukraine when we adopt. It has been so much fun getting familiar with the program. Did you know that you could add trims, borders, different fonts and colors, page styles, and design your own layouts? What a keepsake for Alex when he is older. If you are interested in learning how you can turn your own blog into a memorable book go ahead and browse through this one simply by clicking on the picture-- I've left the book open for full viewing.

Smiling All Th...

"Adopting one chil...

By

Book Preview

Celebrating Andrew's Birthday

Last night we went out to a fun pizza place. As soon as John walk in the door from an overnight business trip we were headed out the door to celebrate Andrew's 8th birthday! Thankfully there was no line so we were seated immediately.

As soon as we ate-- which was really quick because the kids wanted to go to the fun zone-- we were off riding rides and playing games.

Alex and Dennis watched the older kids ride this crazy ride that spins as fast as you can make it go.

Of course Rachel and Julia had their pods spinning out of control!

It really turned Alex off the idea of riding anything! Thanks alot guys!

However, he loved this dinosaur and resigned to sitting on it for the whole evening. However, Dennis had other ideas! He pulled me toward the car ride and soon he was getting inside this truck. Not wanting to be one-upped by his little brother, Alex quickly screamed that he wanted to go too.

And guess what! They both loved it! The highlight of the evening for me was watching my two boys enjoy this ride. They were thrilled when we let them ride it twice!

Andrew had fun at this little shooting gallery-- and he had pretty good aim too!

Dennis the fearless pointed to this ride... so Julia went on with him to give him a pep talk if need be. Well sad to say, the need was there as soon as the ride started. You should have seen Dennis' face--- priceless. But he made it through and as Alex watched you could see that he was glad that he had passed on the ride.

As everyone continued playing games and riding different attractions I could see that Alex was loosening up. It clicked in his mind that this is a place to have fun with your family!

As Alex walked around he shook his little toosh to the music playing in the background. It was adorable!

Anna, Rachel, and Sveta really enjoyed the bumper cars! Sveta was screaming with excitement the whole time!

As we were getting ready to leave, Alex asked if he could ride the Frog ride. I made sure that he was serious--- and he said yes. I was half expecting him to have the same reaction as Dennis.

But that little turkey had a blast and laughed and smiled the whole time! I couldn't believe that in the course of one evening Alex went from a scared, whiny, little boy who was deathly afraid of rides to an outgoing happy boy wanting to ride everything he could!

Between everyone in our family, we earned over one thousand tickets. And a few of us thought it would be a wonderful idea to give them all to Andrew so that he could pick something out for his birthday. All but one thought that was a great idea, so Andrew picked out a skateboard and lava lamp. The one child who wasn't too happy with the plan needed to be reminded that it was because of Andrew that we even got to come to this pizza fun place. And that it was us-- Mom and Dad and Grandma and Grandpa, who paid for all of the games and rides that she played-- not her. And I asked her if she would be okay if everyone donated their tickets to her when it was her birthday. Afterall, when we all put our tickets together, the prize was substantial instead of a bunch of junk that would be lost or broken within a few days. In her heart she knew it was the right thing, but her mind often tells her something else-- so of course we heard three or four times about how it was disappointing to have given away all the tickets like she worked to win the tickets for nothing. "No, it wasn't for nothing. It was for Andrew. Which by the way, did you get him anything for his birthday? How I wish that I could buy all of you presents by playing games and winning tickets. Really this is something you need to just let go of and be thankful for the good fun and games and rides you got to do tonight."

Anyway, we all had a fun time-- and I think Julia summed the evening up the best!

"Thanks Andrew for being born!"

And last but not least, I insisted in being in at least one picture.

With my Andrew of course! Happy Birthday big boy!

P.S. The cake that Julia baked was not eaten because there was a dessert bar. We brought it home. Oh well, we'll eat it tonight.

Chillin' Out

Poor Andrew, he was swinging around some metal object and dinked his own eye! Nothing like frozen vegetables to make it feel better! He turned 8 this week and so tonight we are going to John's Incredible Pizza for fun and food! Earlier in the week we had made a cake for him and had him open presents but I accidentally deleted all the pictures. I was so bummed-- but oh well.

Julia and Dennis look too sweet in this photo-- don't you think?

So do Rachel and Alex.

And for that matter, so do Alex and Dennis.

Our copy of Smiles and Trials 2007 came in the mail. All of the kids have enjoyed looking at it-- but it is Annalyn who has taken the time to read through it cover to cover. Even the stories about her (getting in trouble) made her beam from ear to ear. She said that the book brought back many wonderful memories for her. Bless her heart.

She enjoyed reading the stories outloud to her siblings.

Here is a close-up shot of Sveta and I. Gotta love those candid shots!

Alex has taken it upon himself to make a cozy place for himself in this toybox. Well maybe he had a little help from one of his big brothers.