A few more.....

We got a picture of all of us and Tim's mom and dad with everyone smiling! This is an amazing feat b/c the camera was precipitously balanced on the ledge of a window, focused from the inside of the house with Tim's dad yelling out to Tim to tilt up or down and then taken with the auto timer!

All of my children love to walk around the house pretending they are mom's or dad's, landscapers, teachers, chef's or whatever else......the one thing that remains constant is that they all generally need some sort of backpack, briefcase, purse, bag or whatever to carry all of the essential things that they will need. I think their general motto is: the more they can carry the better! The picture of Kaden is a typical day for him.......being a landscaper is a very important job that requires a lot of things.....according to him!

Trip to California

We got to take a trip to California and we all had a lot of fun. We had an impromptu reunion with some kids from Uganda and Mia a lot of fun with one of the kids that she was friends with. They held hands all day and had a great time being reunited!

We enjoyed the chilly weather while we were there and we duplicated a picture that we had taken a little over a year ago. The kids are all bigger now and Piper is now in the picture!

Fun in the fall

To start out with.....yes, I actually walked around our neighborhood dressed like a tree in case you could not tell what I was supposed to be. Tim was dressed like a tourist, with a pillow for a gut, socks with sandals, sunscreen on his nose and camera around his neck! The kids begged us to dress up with them...Kaden told me I was not too old to dress up! The kids were similar to what they were last year......super Kaden, super Joey, and cute little fairy princesses.

The kids also had fun "helping" is carve a pumpkin and they wanted to make sure we carved a happy pumpkin!

October!

Kaden and Mia started playing soccer this month and it is definitely a learning experience for them.....they look cute in the soccer stuff.

The picture of our cat shows what happens when I leave Tim alone with an electric razor and the cat. He started out planning on cutting out a small area of matted fur so I left the room and when I came back, he had done a terrible looking stripe down the middle of her back. I actually think she's embarrassed.

The last picture is of my little girls wearing hats! My girls are getting big~

Homeschooling Update......better than I expected!

I will soon post some pictures of our little school room area but its not quite finished so I will hold off until its complete. So, for a homeschooling update for all those that might be curious. We officially started homeschooling the first week of September and I was a little nervous about beginning. I took the month and a half before school started to read some books about education, how children learn, etc and to review the curriculum, collect supplies and get organized. I created a school area in a room where we have workout equipment and storage stuff. I organized all of the supplies into bins, put things on a bookshelf and put labels on things. Tim's dad helped me paint the room because it was a really ugly room and the paint made it feel so much more welcoming! I selected some toys and activities to keep in the room to help occupy Piper and Joey. Each day we begin by "getting on the school bus" which means I honk the horn, figuratively speaking, the kids get in a line behind me and we make our way to the school room while we sing "wheels on the bus". Then we start our morning by praying, saying the pledge of allegiance, going over the alphabet, counting, doing the days of the week, the months of year and so on. We go over shapes and colors for the preschool side of things. I always greet the kids and have them tell me their full name and birthday and we will eventually move to them telling me our address and phone number. Then we follow our curriculum for the day which is full of hands on learning, some phonics exercises, songs, math skills, a little science and a Biblical foundation. I have been pleasantly surprised at how easy it has been, how much the kids are enjoying it and how much I have enjoyed it. I am really enjoying being a part of this early learning with the kids. I did not anticipate this to be the case when we decided to homeschool, I thought it was going to be difficult for me to do and to stick with. I was apprehensive before and I felt like it was going to be a big struggle and I have been happy it has not been that at all. As we go further in the year, I will spend more time but this has been a good "breaking in" these first few weeks!

Are you babysitting?

Since our family has expanded to four little ones, two of which are black and three of which are pretty close in age, a common comment or question has surfaced when I am out with the kids by myself and even once with another friend and her two kids: "Are you babysitting?"  "Those are not ALL yours?"  "Do you have a daycare?"  I know that for many families that have adopted children, that question can be a little offensive because from our perspective these precious little ones are of course ours and just because they do not look like us or have our same skin color or whatever else, does not mean that a little one is any less a part of our family than a biological child.  Many people take offense that people would right off the bat presume something other than the reality of these kids that look a little different than mom and dad being part of a loving  adoptive family.  The reasons that many would be dissapointed are many but I find that most often I am glad when people comment or ask me.  Many people have never given adoption much of a thought and many cannot fathom making a "choice" to love, as opposed to the common assumption that people love their kids because they are part of them.  When people ask me about my kids, whether its from curiosity, ignorance or whatever, it opens the door for me to talk about God!  God is the one that gave us the example of being adopted into the body of Christ, God is the one that enables us to share the love of Christ with anyone, including children that were once orphans.  God is the one that gave Tim and I a desire to expand our family in a way that reflects what He has done for us.  God has put our family together as He has seen fit and when people ask me about the interesting mix of children that are always with me, it reminds me of His love and gives me a possible opportunity to talk about the gospel.  So, if I was keeping a list of some of the great things about adoption, I would have to add, "It can provide many opportunities to share the gospel of Jesus Christ."

Fun at the school bus!