This is a test:

One of these kids is not our own. Can you guess which one??

This pic was taken at Lydia and Daniel's birthday party. Daniel just turned 3 and Lydia just turned 2. We celebrated with family at Crowley Park.

School is in Session

Charis Christian Academy has recently doubled in admissions. We now have 2 more students - Isaac Davidson and Maya Beauty Clark. (Where we live, home schools function as private schools, thus the need for a name. Charis is greek for grace.)
Isaac and Maya's first week in school went much better than expected. Isaac learned how to write his letters for the first time on Monday. By Thursday, he was filling pages copying his name over and over. Maya has beautiful handwriting. She did copywork with the Bible verses she is learning for Awanas. We were really surprised to find out how much Bible these kids already know. Both were able to recite John 3:16, Eph. 6:1 (Children obey your parents. . .), and Gen. 1:1 (. . .God created the heavens and the earth.) This week, they both learned who Pablo Picasso was, and were interested to discover the famous painter's daughter was Maya. What a beautiful name!
Everyday, we spend a good portion of our day outside. We play in the backyard or go to the park. The kids have a great time and it's so relaxing for me. I love being in the sunshine. When it rains, we head to McDonald's playground.
Life with six littles is much easier and better than we expected. We figured we'd be hermits for the first several months. That lasted a week. Just went out to dinner with friends tonight. We're getting to know all the "kids eat free" restaurants. HA!

Lost In Translation

Isaac is learning so many new words and phrases. He seems to really enjoy practicing, so he tends to chant the new phrase he has learned. The other day, he asked Elena a question (I didn't hear what it was) and she said, "It's none of your business." He didn't know what that meant, but thought that he better learn, so he started repeating, "It's not your biscuit. It's not your biscuit!"
Because we've had several issues with the remote being used incorrectly, I've given Elena charge of it. She's the only kid who really knows how to use it. The kids were all watching "Magic School Bus" and Isaac kept screaming to Elena, "Stick it! Stick it!" He wanted her to pause the Tivo.
Yesterday, all the kids were singing the Obey song. "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Ephesians 6:1" They sang it over and over. Suddenly, Isaac got tired of that song and yelled out over them, "Chitty Bang Bang. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, We love you!"
There's lots of laughter in our full house!

Two Whole Weeks!

We had heard from many adoptive families that the first week was h*#! and I'm not sure we would disagree. That first week was a hard adjustment period. But now, we've made it through 2 weeks and things are really normalizing!
Maya is such a special gift from God. She is motherly, helpful, and tenderhearted ~ a real joy! Isaac has made significant progress in a short time. The whining has ended, altough he wil still pout silently when we tell him he can't have thirds on dinner. (Although he seems to never feel full, his digestive system can't handle that big of a change, so we're being really careful.) After several nights of finding the boys' bedroom light on in the middle of the night, we got Isaac a nightlight. Problem solved. For the most part, he sleeps through the night now.
Daniel is my little sweetie pie. He is bonding so well and we were the most concerned about him initially. He was so confused when the escort handed him to us. He thought she was his new mommy and cried and cried when she kissed him goodbye. Now the confusion has been replaced with security. At least a hundred times a day, he initiates this game where he says: "Mama" and I reply: "Daniel". We go back and forth like this for several minutes, flirting with each other. He just loves calling me Mama. Big smiles from my sweet boy each time I respond to him.
One bonus to this whole adoption has been the change in our marriage. Kyle and I have grown so close and depend on each other more than ever. This has been a very unexpected blessing. Everyday this past week (Kyle's first week back to work), he has left me a note of encouragement on a paper plate. I find it each day when I'm preparing the kids' lunches. He usually gives me a scripture or a prayer to dwell on. Those scriptures have been my strength! We are praying together more than ever. God has been so good to us!