At Long Last

Much to my chagrin, we had yet to all go anywhere together in what has been affectionately named "Big Mac," the voluminous red vehicle, who came home to be part of our family on January 19, 2010. Apparently we were waiting for all to be present and accounted for. On Saturday, February 20, 2010, the magic moment arrived. Don't they all look excited. I won't lie. There was intense posturing for seating preference. I don't think fist fights incurred but I don't know, I wasn't watching. If you look close you can see them all. The macho teenage boy is bending over scratching his leg, or picking lint out of his toenails, or something.
First Row: Babies obviously rate!
Second Row: Might get rowdy!
Back Row: Wow! At least they are smiling, sort of. Anything to humor Mom.
Our fearless leader.
We've arrived. Warning: These photos were definitely NOT taken by Lindsey M. Peterson. Sorry about the dirty van. It is winter.And now for the clowns.....
Okay, let's unload. Come on Trey.
Am I supposed to be smiling or something?
Jump!
Sprint!
Get me outta here!
Do not take a picture of my butt! Very funny mother. But I got the baby.Okay, little man.
Somebody's gotta be last.
This is the cool teenager look. Posed just in case the other one didn't come out.
I'm not sure when this will happen again. It was kind of anticlimatic. Did I mention that we drove exactly 1.0 mile to church. We did not all ride home together. Oh well, it's the thought that counts.

Obsession

Kloey is obsessed......
with Banana-grams.
Throw out the spelling program, forget the vocab! All day long, "Mom, is v-o-t a word?" and so on.
If it is really quiet and you don't know where she is, chances are......
she is working. But don't tell her how much she is learning.
The kind of obsession any homeschooling mother would LOVE!

About the Rainbow....

Last summer we were on vacation with my parents. My mom, in a celebratory tone, said something like, "Your family is like a rainbow, quite a melting pot. But you don't have any Asian children." She was joking of course. Or was she prophetic? In the spirit in which it was intended, I think I replied that interestingly we never felt called to the Asian culture. When we, like everyone else, thought briefly about international adoption 15 years ago, that was never on our radar. No particular reason. Just wasn't.

Until now.
And God prepared the way. I followed a comment link one day on a blog and found a couple living in China raising their son and waiting to adopt a Chinese little girl. I have been following their story and have fallen in love with the Asian culture through their experiences. They have a wonderful blog and are very honest in telling about their journey of living as ex-pats in China.

It's a good thing because Rosy is Indonesian. Her skin tone is amazing. Her eyes are precious. Her brothers adore her. She's a licker not a sucker. She is making great eye contact. She is allowing us to comfort her. Thanks Sandra and Shorel for going so gracefully before us. For sharing your travails and your triumphs.

So we have chocolate, coffee, cream, and some in between.
Curly hair, straight hair, thick hair, and thin.
Long fingers, chubby fingers, musical fingers, sports fingers.
Brown eyes, blue eyes, green eyes and so dark brown-you-can't-find-the-pupil-eyes.

It is quite a rainbow.

Different? Really?

One of my children came to me the other night and said, "Mom, I think people are going to think we are a little different. My friends might think we are a little weird." This was said in earnest with an honest and sweet spirit. How my heart was lifted.

Because....
We are Christians.
We home school.
We are foster parents.
We are an adoptive, trans-racial family.
We are a traditional two parent family.
We have more than 2.3 kids........way more.

Only now, at the impending placement of a ninth little one did this child think that maybe we might be a little different.

It's okay to be different.

I hope we are.

Was it Hello or Good-Bye?

We were blessed to spend some time with Rosy, the boys' sister this week. Our social worker, a wonderful person, brought her up for a visit. Lindsey posted about where our family is right now. She had the words I could never find.
http://lindseys-sur-ren-der.blogspot.com/2010/02/to-little-girl.html




We will hear next week what the future of our family will be.

Hebrews 11:1 Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we cannot see.

KinderMusik on Fridays

On Fridays, the boys go to their Kindermusik class. This session is "On the Go." Right up a boy's alley with train sounds and car sounds and fast movements and slow movements. They have done so well with their classes. They participate beautifully and I am so proud of them. Trey has caught right on to all the routines. Micah is coming out of his shell and emerging quite a dynamic fellow. I'm not sure if it is all the stimulation or just his "time", but my heart swells for him as he seems to have finally caught up from his birth circumstances. The teacher caught these shots today as they were climbing through the tunnel...
I have gotten in trouble with the teacher a few times because I was directing the movements too much. This is about free expression and allowing the children to explore their surroundings to create optimum learning. I have a lot to learn. :)

Who Knew Bowling Was Phys-Ed?

Every other Monday we go to a bowling league over in Sanford, Maine. It is about an hour drive but worth it because the kids have a lot of fun doing something they don't get to do very often. It also gets us out of the house all winter.

Here is Erik in action. Unfortunately, he cannot decide whether he should bowl right-handed or left-handed. Erik is left-handed but insists on trying with his right hand because it "feels" right. Mother moment: Oh no! Did we make him left-handed when he should have been a rightie?
Right or left, right or left, right or left???
Cora and her teammates. Very sweet girls. The name of their team is "Black Beauty."
Cora in action.
Erika with a smile over her shoulder. She has a good time with her new friends.
Erika's team called "The Miles."
Kloey in action! She puts her all into everything she does.
Kloey with her teammates. They named their team "The Three Little Sheepdogs."Yes, physical education does most definitely include the sport of bowling!

What'd We Do Today?

Bob gets "Dad of the day" award for taking the girls to Home Depot for a free workshop They made a display shelf for their pinewood derby cars they will be building in 4-H. Dad also stopped at a friend's house where they were treated to hot chocolate with a big spoonful of Fluff. Wow!
Jerrod and Erik went to Hilltop Fun Spot to play laser tag with the Junior High Youth Group. They had a ball. Then went straight to Dinner Bell to help out. Erik is on the team that cooks the first week of every month. Jerrod knows how to supervise.
Erik was on camera duty. These pics are from someone's camera phone.
We all came later for dinner. Dinner Bell has been serving over 100 meals every week.

Our Favorite and Most Willing Actors

CHEESE!
Don't mind the profuse drippage from all my orifices. It's to be expected when one is getting 4 molars and has a cold.
My big brother knows how to have a good time. He taught me everything I know.
What is Daddy doing behind Mommy and the camera?
Ok. We'll pose and be cute but only if you let us look at the picture right after.
Brothers, in every sense of the word.
Baby Einstein! A face only a mother could love? Oh, but I do.

Can We Fix it? Yes, we can.

I think it is broken right under here. Hold on, Micah. Don't turn it on. I'm going to fix it.
Okay, maybe if I push this button. Micah, hold it steady.
I think if I just push it a little harder, it will really work this time. Micah, are you helping?
Looks like it's serious. I'm going under.
Whew. Got it. Now gimme the vacuum.