Out of the Archives

Once upon a time, I had two toddlers. Elena was 3 and Chloe was 2. Oh, those were the days! The hard days. And I kept telling everyone that I couldn't wait until they were a little bit older. Man, I was struggling. And everyone kept telling me, as some sort of cruel encouragement, that it doesn't get easier when they get older. Boy were they wrong!

I wanted to foster their artistic sides, so I gave them some paper and some markers and then went to fold laundry. Does anyone see anything wrong with my strategy?

Awwww. So cute! Look how precious my little girl was! A little artist in the making.

CHLOE! I only left you alone for 10 minutes and look what trouble you got into! Well, luckily you're still cute, green lips and all. Don't move! I gotta get the camera.

Oh great! Not you too! You're the older one! The more responsible THREE YEAR OLD, for heaven's sake!

(Oh my, what was I thinking?!)

Lucky for them, they stayed cute, even while I cleaned them up and lectured them about proper care and handling of markers. I couldn't stay mad for long.

(After all, it was my fault!)

Finally! After All This Waiting. . .

It's Splash Park time again! Ya-hoo! We've been waiting for a warm day when we could hit the splashgrounds, since it opens in May. Yesterday was in the low 80s, but the humidity made it feel hot. Good enough! We woke the babes up early from their naps, slid on our suits, and ran out the door.
They made a mad dash from the car to the water. No time to waste!

Isaac was soaked from head to toe within 3 minutes. His favorite spot is under the buckets.
My goodness, my kids are cheesy.



I'm so glad it's this time of year again!

From the Archives

Guess who??

Hint: This is the child who is most like me, both in looks and personality. She is a perfectionist, a good artist (actually that's not at all like me), and she's shy (that used to define me). She was a very easy baby. I did little more than nurse her, change her, and gawk at her the first several months. She is still a peaceful, compliant child. The kind of child I most feared. I didn't want to break her as I am much more confident in my ability to handle a strong-willed child like myself. In that way, we are not at all alike. Praise God for His mercy. :D

Family Game Night

A couple nights a week we play a game before the kids go to bed. Tuesday night, Elena chose Pictionary, so tonight Isaac picked Junior Monopoly.(Since someone always asks) I'm not in the picture, because I didn't want to be in the picture. I haven't been feeling great and I looked plain awful. You don't get to see me looking like that.
The game is only set up for 4 players, so we use a penny and a dime as two extra pawns. Daniel and I are a team, and Lydia & Kyle are a team. (They roll the dice for us and they're quite skilled at it.)
Since there are only four game pawns, there are also only four colors of houses. So Kyle and I use legos. See what creativity you gain by being a bigger than average family?

Highlights of the game:

• Isaac cried when he was corrected the second time for rolling the die and knocking houses over. (He's a perfectionist just like his daddy.)
  
• Chloe was completely unaffected all seventeen times she was corrected for playing too slow.
  
• Maya won "Moply" with a whopping $28
• Lydia serenaded us with the first 6 words of Amazing Grace, over and over again.
• Daniel was quiet as usual, but smiled when anyone looked at him.
• Elena learned, for the first time, the point of Monopoly: ownership. (She's a tightwad like her mommy.)
  

We're Back!

We just got back from a super fun vacation atGreat Wolf is a resort with a HUGE (80,000 square feet) indoor waterpark. It was a BLAST! Daniel and Lydia pretty much stuck to either the wave pool or the kiddy play area.
When a wave came, Daniel jumped on all fours on his tube and rode the waves. Or he would dive into the wave as it came to him. He was fearless!
Lydia, on the other hand, preferred to stay as dry as possible while having her fun. She had been playing in the wave pool area half a day. Look at her. Half her hair is still dry!
They all loved playing in the basketball pool. Amber taught Maya and Isaac how to swim here:
Well, they loved different parts of the pool I guess. Chloe loved clinging to the side
She preferred the big fort
Look at that happy girlThis is where I preferred to be
I'd drag along whatever willing participant I could find. I especially loved the two slides that ended up feeding into the lazy river. Very relaxing after the adrenaline rush.
Of course, I also liked being rocked by the waves at the wave pool
Actually we all enjoyed the wave pool, but for different reasons
The hotel rooms were really cool too
The kids had their own little cabin with a bunk bed and a daybed. (We slept two to a bed, head to foot.) They even had their own tv and playstation which might have been neat if our kids played video games.
The decor in this place was really impressive
In the main area was a giant puppet show type thingy that played a few times a day. The story was all about being one with nature or something new agey like that. We avoided "story time".
A fun time was had by all
at Great Wolf Lodge

Gotcha Day!

Tuesday morning, we started our vacation with a brunch celebration at The Original Pancake House. April 6, 2007 we brought Maya, Isaac, and Daniel home from Liberia. It is so hard to believe that a whole year has passed. I don't feel like I've accomplished enough in one year. I should have read more adoption books (and I read a bunch!) There are so many things that I'm just now figuring out!

We went to breakfast with our good friends, Paul and Amber, who adopted their Hannah two years before our three came home. They also brought along their neice, Autumn, a good friend to my girlies.
My pecan waffle was delicious. I feel full just thinking about it. Yum! Daniel ate 4 pancakes, 3 thick slices of bacon, an egg, and one of Kyle's potato pancakes. Lydia ate the same, minus the potato pancake. I expect them both to be an inch taller next week.
Paul kept commenting about all the eyes we were getting at our long table. With his one kid, he apparently isn't as used to it as we are. hehe
It was a fabulous way to start our vacation!

Spring Fling

Yesterday we had our first annual Spring Fling (big celebration for all the Spring birthdays between my sister's family and mine). We met at the park for what turned out to be a very generous brunch. I made a complete glutton of myself and thoroughly enjoyed the bounty. [Thank you, Jamie, for the giant cinnamon rolls. They were fabulous!]
We hired our friend, Angela, as a face painter. She's an impressive artist! The face decor was the hit of the party! We'll definitely be requesting her presence again at the Fall Party.

Daniel instinctively backed into a hug from Uncle Mike after getting his face painted. I sure do love that little boy! Isn't he the cutest?
Stephanie and Alex are such sweet siblings. (I told you homeschooled kids have great sibling relationships. Look at that love!)
Liddy Bitty and her adoring Daddy:
Ainsley, Jamie's middle child, was only too happy to smile for the camera. She was having such a good time.Jamie's littlest, Lillian, is the sentimental type. She always reads the sappy cards before opening the gifts. She has such a thankful heart.
Stephanie and Maya: best friends & beautiful butterflies! More good friends: Dan & Tracy (parents to Maya's best friend, Stephanie & Isaac's best friend, Alex). They came over to play games with us after dinner that night. But we never actually stopped talking to play a game. Sat on the couch the whole night solving the world's ills. Good times! Grrrrrr! Isaac wants to try out for the musical, Cats! but I'm not too keen on being a stage parent. I don't think I'll let him.
Did you know a slinky could also pose as a clown nose? This picture is so indicative of their personalities. I can still hear Chloe and Ainsley giggling when I look at this silly picture:Pretty pretty Princess Elena:Party animals:
While I was taking pictures of all the painted kids, Shannon, my stepmom, snuck over to Angela's booth and had her own face painted! After almost two hours of face painting and relaxing socializing, we decided to go ahead and open presents. Bubba & Nana (my dad & stepmom) gave the kids a zoo membership and Nealy & Pappy (my mom & stepdad) gave them: (Drumroll, please.)

Something from our favorite store, Vision Forum. . .What is it??? There sure is a lot of it!
A complete set of Jonathan Park CDs!!! Woo-Hoo!
Daniel was also thrilled about his new set of Kid K'Nex. I was pretty thrilled about that one too. I'm a big fan of "play quietly" toys! [Dad, remember when I was a newlywed and I swore I wouldn't buy loud toys for my kids?? You laughed at me back then. Remember? Remember?? Who's laughing now, huh Dad? Who's laughing??]Isaac got a set of cap guns with a fancy shmancy holster. He was giddy! I immediately reminded him, with a big smile on my face, that those are outdoor toys. He knows this, though. He always plays the good cop. Um, I bought these for him. [Nevermind what I said earlier, Dad. I take it all back. But I still don't buy battery-operated toys!
Well . . . there is that one thing. Oh forget it!]

It was a great party and we're all looking forward to the Big Fall Party now.