Thoughts From Still Moments

Seven Lies About Homeschoolers

2012-01-17T13:45:00.001-07:00

Couldn't help but post this video... so stinkin' funny!

Christmas Eve/Christmas Day Recap...

2012-01-02T11:39:00.000-07:00

We had a very full, but very fun Christmas weekend this year! We started off by attending the Harvest Community Church Christmas Eve service... I tried to take pictures of my kids up on stage singing Jingle Bells with car keys, but the lighting was dark and the pictures didn't turn out. Oh well, maybe next year?? At least I did catch one picture of them in the lobby -

Too Cute.

After the service, we headed over to Micah's parent's house and enjoyed dinner with the Hutchison side of the family. We also have a good time playing a white elephant game with ornaments... this year was not quite as "rowdy" as some past years have been :) But still fun, and we ended up with some cute ornaments (now if only I can find room for more ornaments on our tree...).

Merry Christmas Eve!

The Hutchison Cousins... minus the two babies! I didn't get a single picture of all of them looking at the camera :)

My wonderful in-laws! AKA: "Nana and Papa" We love you!

All of the cousins waiting to open their gifts from Nana and Papa...

This picture is a bit blurry, but Eli's expression was so great I just had to include it. LOL!

Sweet Mikayla :)

Good times ahead with these!

We spent Christmas morning at home, just the four of us. Santa does visit our house each year to fill the stockings and leave 1 or 2 gifts for the kiddos... :)

Exploring their stocking treasures...

A surprise gift from Santa - Scooters!! Mikayla keeps telling people, "Santa brought me a scooter with NO training wheels!" :)

Earlier this month the kids wrote letters to Santa (part of a homeschool writing activity) and Santa granted their requests by bringing a "girl video game" for Mikayla and "Cars 2 cars" for Eli.

Funny story about the Cars 2 cars that Eli received... one would assume that the cars actually have wheels that move. After all, who would make a Cars 2 set like this, full of cars that don't actually roll?? Well, apparently Santa did... or he was deceived by the evil elves that built this toy. What could have been so disastrous, ended up being "mostly" fine because of my sweet boy who still happily played all day with is non-moving cars. He told me "Mom, you didn't tell me that I needed to put in my letter for Santa to get me cars that move, and not FAKE cars." You are so right my son, that was totally my bad... I can almost guarantee that he will have no problem working on descriptive writing in next year's letter. On another note... we did make to to WalMart soon after Christmas and he spent some Christmas money on actual Cars 2 cars that move :) Though surprisingly, he still does enjoy playing with the non-moving cars as well!

Thanks for being such a good sport, buddy! Sorry that Santa was not very smart this year.

Petey was on the "naughty list" this year, but he must have given Santa his "cute look" because his stocking was filled anyway.

Our "big gift" to the kids this year was an outdoor basketball hoop. Last year you may remember that Micah stayed up all night on Christmas Eve putting a backyard swingset together... thankfully, the basketball hoop didn't require as much assembly :) Ever since putting this up, our driveway has become quite the hot spot for all of the neighborhood kids to play!

Go Eli!

Nice shot Mikayla!

She wanted a doll house... and was thrilled to receive a PINK one!

After playing a guitar with his good friend Aaron, he decided he wanted one too. If he ever becomes a rich and famous musician, at least I will always have this picture of where it all began...

Thank you to Grams and Pa in Florida for the Pillow Pets!! They sleep with them every night!

Thank you to Grandma and Grandpa for taking us to Build-A-Bear for our "early" Christmas presents... we love "Lightning McQueen" (blue bear) and "Pom Pom" (the bunny).

Around lunch time on Christmas day, we headed over to my parent's house to spend the afternoon with the Thompson side of the family. The Green Bay Packers happened to have a football game on Christmas so we were met at the door by this creature...

Merry Christmas from the Cheesehead!

And he converted two followers...

We enjoyed a great lunch together, exchanged some gifts, and played our annual white elephant DVD exchange game. Good times, good times.

I think I caught everyone right after they took a bite of food :)

I guess that wraps it up! Lots of laughs, great food, fun with family, making memories, and remembering the baby born long ago, who changed my life forever. What a great Christmas we had! Until next year...

Merry Christmas From Our Family To Yours!

2011-12-25T00:00:00.000-07:00

Our 2011 Family Christmas Letter:

DearFamily and Friends,

Wehope this letter finds you healthy and enjoying this Christmas season with yourloved ones. Here are a few updates onthe Hutchison clan…

Eli (5 yrs.): Eli continues toenjoy playing sports, and was able to fit in two seasons of soccer and one seasonof t-ball this year. He told me he likes,“soccer better than t-ball, because in t-ball everybody gets a turn to bat andrun around the bases so nobody actually wins.” Apparently he has a competitive streak? Eli started Kindergarten in August and has become quite the avid reader. He is very proud that he can check-out booksfrom the library and read them all by himself.

Mikayla (5 yrs.): Mikayla is truly the “princess” of the familyand loves to play dress-up, have tea parties, dress her dolls, and “talk” onher cell phone. She was in her firstballet recital last June, and to say that she was in heaven dancing on a stagewould be an understatement. A couple ofweeks ago she told me, “Mom, when I grow up I am going to be a princess, balletteacher, and a mommy.” Yep, that soundsabout right for Mikayla. She alsostarted Kindergarten in August and loves learning (especially learning towrite), but would gladly ditch math and reading assignments in lieu of all-day artprojects!

Bethany: My personalhighlight of the year was having the opportunity to cut way back in my job (ie– working just three days per month!) in order to stay at home with the kids. I mentioned they were both in Kindergarten…but did I mention who their teacher is? Well, that would be me! I amhaving a blast teaching my kids at home, and really allowing myself to fulfillthe role of “mom” in a much greater way than ever before. I am also really enjoying leading a women’s Bible study at church onTuesday mornings, and coordinating church-wide women’s ministry eventsthroughout the year.

Micah: Micah continues to enjoy the joys andchallenges of being the Executive Pastor at our church. Our church plant is now 2.5 years old, andthis past August we had the opportunity to move out of the movie theater wherewe first began meeting, and into a large high school auditorium. This has been a blessing in providing moreroom for our children’s classes, as well as plenty of room for futuregrowth! I also have to give props to mywonderful husband who chose to sell one of our cars and drive a scooter as hismain form of transportation this year, in order to help us transition to livingoff of one income. Now that’s lovepeople! And yes, driving a scooter isdefinitely as cool as it sounds. :)

Inother news… we were incredibly blessed to move into a new home this past summerthat is much closer to our church (and therefore Micah’s work), our families,and “civilization” in general. I canactually drive five minutes or less and get to a grocery store! Of course new houses always have theirglitches… right after we moved in and started unpacking, the downstairs flooded! You can read more about the whole fiasco byvisiting this post.

Ourfamily looks forward to 2012 with great anticipation of all that God will do inour lives, and the lives of those around us. We ask that you would pray for us this spring, as Micah and I begintaking part in training classes to become licensed foster parents in the stateof Arizona. At this point we don’treally have a plan for what will happen after we complete the licensingprocess, but we can rest assured that the Lord knows… and his plans are alwaysgood. I am reminded of his words in Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you,’declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give youhope and a future.”

Fromour family to yours, have a very merry Christmas and a blessed New Year!

Love,

The Hutchison Family

Christmas Sights At Our House

2011-12-24T07:00:00.000-07:00

Can you tell I am catching up on blogging? Three posts this week... I think that's a record for me in 2011!

One of my favorite things to do during Christmas is decorate! I love getting all of the decor out of the boxes and sifting through memories that each item brings. This year I had fun deciding where to put everything, since we are celebrating our first Christmas in our new home. Once it's all set out, with each thing in it's "perfect" place, I like to sit on the couch after the kids go to bed, dim the lights (with the exception of candles and Christmas lights), and just enjoy the PEACE and beauty of it all. Here are a few glimpses of Christmas at our house...

Love, love, love candles

My grandma made this a few years back out of safety pins, beads and lights! I somehow misplaced my star that goes on the top, but I'll probably find it when I'm packing everything up :)

I think this little church looks beautiful when a candle inside lights up the stained glass windows.

A tealight candle tree... of course!

My mom bought me this little tree a number of years ago... I believe during her days of working at Hallmark when she could get great deals on all the "cute stuff!" I still love taking this out and decorating it with the mini-ornaments. (Mom, if you are reading this, will you please get my children one of these so I do not have to share mine?) :)

No fireplace to hang the stockings? Don't worry, China cabinets work just as well.

Christmas wouldn't be complete with an ornament wreath!

Love Christmas trees. Ours is filled to the brim with ornaments... many with special memories... and we add more each year. I think we are going to need a bigger tree. We might have to keep it in the back yard.

This was my favorite ornament growing up... I believe my parents first got this when I was a baby. A wind-up toy with a ribbon attached... perfect :) The baby's walker is a bit broken, but she still deserves a place on the tree.

This one belongs to a certain, special little girl...

And these are treasured by a certain, special little boy...

And who is this cute kid?? Ha ha - had to include it! :)

Christmas Traditions - Old and New

2011-12-23T22:06:00.000-07:00

I love traditions, especially during the holidays. It has been fun to build some family traditions with our kids and watch them remember things from one year to the next, in anticipation of what is to come.

One tradition that we started two years ago when our kiddos were both 3 years old, was to celebrate "advent" each evening, and read a portion of the Christmas story leading up to Christmas day. My family used to do this same thing when I was growing up, using paper chain links that contained different portions of the story. I found this ornament "kit," that we have really enjoyed using:

The kids take turns picking out the numbered story for the day, and then we read and discuss what happened. Then, they get to hang it on the tree! They look forward to it every night and it's something we all enjoy doing together. It also helps us, in the midst of gifts, toys, lights, Santa, treats, parties, etc., to spend intentional time teaching our children what Christmas is all about and why the baby that was born in the manger was the most incredible gift they will ever receive.

Another thing our kids have enjoyed the past couple of years is a chocolate "countdown" to Christmas calendar. They love opening the little window each day to see what delectable chocolate shape is awaiting them :)

During the Christmas season, we also enjoy reading Christmas-themed books to the kids as their bedtime stories. This year, I stole an idea I found on Pinterest and decided to wrap up 25 books so that they could open one each day for us to read together.

Now, I sort of cheated on this because we are on a tight budget... so with the exception of a couple books I purchased to add to our holiday collection, I actually just checked the rest out from the library! Ha! My kids could care less, they just loved opening the books each evening to "discover" what we were going to read. This also gives me the chance to carry-on this tradition in years to come, without having to buy 25 new books each year... see people, if you set the bar low then it won't take much to beat it :)

Another new tradition I put into place this year was having a special "activity" for each day of December, up to Christmas Day. This took a little bit of planning because I had to look at our calendar and determine what dates certain "fun events" were already assigned to so that I could stick them on the activity calendar, and then I filled the rest of the days with various things I knew we would enjoy. If you use this idea, I highly recommend setting it up in such a way that you can easily move activities around to different days if needed (or change them altogether). I used the small white cards you see below to write the activities on, and then "hid" them behind the numbered red cards. It was very simple to move the white cards to different dates as needed, or use the extra white cards I kept on hand to write out new ideas as things came up!

This was one of our activities....

The kids wore their new footie pajamas (opening those was another activity from a different day on the calendar):

An activity that Micah got to "oversee" (since I was gone for a few days this month at a work conference), was making gingerbread houses! This was the first year our kids have done this, and they had a great time. Daddy did a pretty good job too :) The houses were mostly eaten by the time I got home, but here is a picture of the one that "survived" the longest!

Another activity, was spending the morning volunteering as a family at the Salvation Army Christmas Angel project in downtown Phoenix. We were assigned to be "runners," and as families came to pick up gifts for their children, we found the items on the shelves and brought them to the cars to be loaded. It was neat to have the opportunity to serve others in this way, and remind our kids that not everyone is blessed to have the many things that they have.

And yet another exciting activity included... BAKING DAY! Fortunately my mom came over to help with this event, and we decided that a 1:1 ratio with the kids is a necessity on Baking Day :)

Some of our final products... frosted sugar cookies, fudge, oreo truffles, and Christmas krispie treats!

Doing the December activity calendar was A LOT of fun, and the kids woke up every morning excited to see what "fun thing" they got to do that day. I included some of the more time-consuming activities that we do every year, anyway (like baking, looking at Christmas lights, etc.), but some days also just had very simple activities such as: coloring a Christmas picture, writing a letter to Santa, singing a Christmas carol, drinking a mug of hot chocolate, watching a Christmas movie with popcorn, etc. These are the things that made it not overwhelming :)

Hope you enjoyed reading about some of our Christmas traditions! Would love to hear about some of your family's favorite Christmas activities and traditions, so leave a comment!

Thanksgiving Week

2011-12-21T22:02:00.001-07:00

Obviously you can tell by the title that this post is a little belated. I guess we have been busy. You can probably relate :)

Nonetheless, we had a wonderful Thanksgiving spent with Micah's side of the family this year. We enjoyed a traditional meal at his parent's house, and then some lively games of Scattergories and Catch Phrase! I remembered to take my camera along, but forgot to actually get it out and take pictures. I tend to become very competitive when games are involved... who has time for pictures when you are trying to WIN at Catch Phrase.

I did, however, happen to take ONE picture. And I just have to laugh that this is the one and only picture I will ever have from Thanksgiving 2011...

drum roll please................

I am pretty sure that when people think of homeschooled children, the picture above might describe what pops into their heads. :) I'm so glad we can fit the stereotype.

Fortunately, I had more picture-taking opportunities during the week of Thanksgiving as we visited Zoolights! We took advantage of the member preview nights this year, and we were so glad that we did! Normally the place is crowded and you tend to walk around in a "group" of people the entire time. Well the preview night was hardly busy at all - the kids had room to run, jump, and do all those things kids like to do! We took our time walking around, watching the dancing trees, eating kettle corn, and just enjoying the sights. If you are a Phoenix Zoo member, I HIGHLY recommend attending Zoolights on one of the November preview nights if you plan to go in upcoming years.

Mikayla and I also had the privilege of joining my mom and sister for our annual outing to the Nutcracker. Mikayla first became interested in dancing ballet after she saw the Nutcracker performance in 2009, when she had only been home with us for about two months. She absolutely loves going, and this year when I asked her if she enjoyed the show, she said yes but that she really wanted to be dancing on stage instead of watching in her seat. Since I couldn't accommodate that request, we at least downloaded the sound track on to my ipod so she can dance around the house (which she would probably do in all of her spare time if she could).

Here's the pretty little lady, all ready to go to her 3rd Nutcracker... yes, the purse had to come.

And she even had the chance to see Santa Claus!

We had a wonderful time, and I'm already looking forward to going again next year. What a great way to ring in the Christmas season!

How to Make An Apple Pie and See The World

2011-11-23T14:11:00.000-07:00

Our second Five in a Row unit of the school year was based on a wonderful book called How to Make An Apple Pie and See The World by Marjorie Priceman. In this cute story, the main character decides to make an apple pie but the market is closed... so "naturally," she has to travel all around the world to obtain the ingredients needed for her pie and bring them back home. My kids really enjoyed learning about the countries and places she visited, and also appreciated the humor of the story :)

Here is a glimpse of some of the fun activities we did to go along with this story... we spent about a month rowing this book because I tied this into a larger theme unit on "apples" in general - perfect for FALL!

Scavenger Hunt - I found this great idea HERE and we spent the morning "traveling" to different countries (ie - different rooms in our house) to collect all of the ingredients we needed. We acted out the story as went - including catching the chicken and trying to milk the cow (our dog Petey played the animal roles in our drama, so you can imagine his dismay with this activity). Unfortunately we were too involved in our "travels" to take any pictures, so you will just have to imagine the looks on our neighbors faces as we attempted to peel bark off of our "kurundu tree" outside in order to obtain cinnamon. I can just picture them saying it now... "that weird homeschool family is outside doing something strange again." :) At least, we weren't all wearing homemade, matching denim jumpers (which my friend Stephanie will appreciate).

Mapping and Sequencing - You really can't avoid mapping activities with this book, so we made great use out of our giant wall maps and plotted the character's adventure around the world. My kids also enjoyed making a flag book and coloring the flags of the countries she visited. In addition, they loved playing this matching/sequencing game where you had to match up the character's mode of transportation, ingredient, and country for each leg of her journey, and then put them in order. We have been finished with this book now for a few weeks, and my kids still pull this game out on a regular basis :)

Videos! My kids love videos, and as previously mentioned, I love YouTube! In this unit we enjoyed watching a classic Disney movie (from 1948!!) on Johnny Appleseed - Part 1 and Part 2. And I also had fun making my kids experience an important part of my past... Reading Rainbow! Who remembers Reading Rainbow?? Yes, there was actually an episode produced on this particular book, so of course we watched it :) (And yes, they loved it!)

Apple Seeds and Apple Stamps - The kids predicted how many seeds they would find when we cut open an apple, and we also read this cute story to learn about the hidden star pattern you can find when you cut an apple open. We also observed and labeled all of the parts of an apple. Then we busted out the paint (yes, this was a messy day!) and made apple stamp patterns. FUN!

Play Doh - Found a great recipe for apple play-doh, so we mixed up a batch and created our own apples. This play-doh smelled AWESOME thanks to the yummy cinnamon and nutmeg spices :) I appreciated every time my kids played with it because it made my house smell great! If you have kids who enjoy play-doh, I highly recommend making a batch of this :)

Salt Experiment - One of the ingredients that the main character has to pick up in her world travels, is salt. To do this, she filled a jar with salt water and then let the water evaporate. So, we had a great time conducting our own little salt evaporation experiment. I loved the fact that this coincidentally went along with our last science unit on steam and the water cycle when we read Mike Mulligan... the kids actually remembered enough to make intelligent predictions about what would happen to the water and the salt :)

boiling the water

adding some salt

pouring it on to a plate and setting it in the sun

later that day... what was left??

Bible Lessons - Since our character in the story traveled around the world, we talked about how God is the Lord over all nations and all people, and the kiddos memorized Psalm 113:4. We studied the story of Creation, and made wheels to illustrate what happened each day. We also spent a couple of weeks studying the fruits of the Spirit (to go along with apple of course!) and the kids did a great job memorizing Galations 5:22 and remember all those FRUITS! We had fun identifying when someone would demonstrate a fruit of the Spirit in their daily life, so we would usually point out if someone was being joyful, patient, kind, etc.

Mikayla recites Psalm 113:4...

Eli recites Galations 5:22... I love the end where I ask him what book of the Bible this verse is in... how can you argue with his response? :)

Taste Test - Studying apples tends to make a person hungry, so it was only fitting to have a taste test! The winner? Gala apples by far! The only problem is that now when my kids are offered an apple they ask, "is it a gala?" Lol! Greeeeeaaatttt, we are now picky about the "types" of apples we eat. One day they will ask this in some type of public setting and I will be very embarrassed (or maybe beam with pride at how smart they are............??).

KWL Chart - We sure learned a lot from our apple unit!!!!

Making an Apple Pie - And yes, for the grand finale I successfully made an apple pie with my two little bakers. It may not have the prettiest lattice crust, but it sure tasted good (as my hubby can verify) :)

Our Lapbook - And finally, we put it all together in a lapbook! As you can tell, we had a lot of fun learning about apples :)

Soccer

2011-11-12T19:23:00.001-07:00

Another soccer season has come and gone... Eli had his last fall season game this morning. He enjoyed the season overall, and for the first time was one of the "better" players of the group. He was in the upper age range for the league, so I think that helped a lot :) He really has improved in his skills, and it's hard to believe that this was his 4th season! I still remember the 3-year-old team he played on back in 2009... you would have thought we were torturing the kids with how much time they spent crying on the field. If you have a 3-year-old, I would highly recommend starting them out in t-ball... it's a nice, friendly sport where everyone takes turns getting to bat, run the bases, and catch the ball... unlike the soccer mob mentality, ha! Nonetheless, Eli survived that first rough season and has grown to really enjoy the sport. He told me after his last game today that he, "can't wait to play soccer again, and get more trophies." After all, that's what it's all about right??

group shot

soccer star!!

Eli was fortunate to play in this league with two of his good buddies from Harvest Community Church... Aaron (a fellow "PK") and Evan. The three amigos had a good time together :)

a few action shots...

Eli was all about getting a sportsmanship medal AND a trophy this season :)

group trophy shot

good job buddy, you make us so proud!

Ballet

2011-11-07T20:41:00.001-07:00

Last June I mentioned in a post that Mikayla danced in a ballet recital... well this is a bit belated, but I finally got my hands on some of the images that the professional photographer took of her and her class, and they were just too cute not to post :)

This fall Mikayla has been taking ballet classes once again, but at a different location closer to our new house. She has a great teacher, and really looks forward to going each week. She loves to practice her "leaps" all over the house... I am just waiting for the day she crashes into something or accidentally leaps down the stairs! A couple of weeks ago her class allowed visitors to come in and watch them perform a dance they had been learning, so I was able to get some video footage of the ballerina in action. Sorry my camera wasn't really in focus... not sure what was going on :( Oh well, you get the idea!

Halloween Fun

2011-11-07T20:21:00.003-07:00

We spent Halloween morning gutting and carving our pumpkin... as well as cooking up the seeds with salt and Parmesan cheese - yum!

We even accomplished a bit of school work :) The kids had a great time predicting the number of seeds in the pumpkin... you can see their predictions were a little low... and yes we actually did count every single one of those 500 seeds!

That evening we enjoyed the company of Micah's parents, sister, and our niece. We chowed down on pizza and then headed out trick or treating with the kiddos while Nana and Papa handed out candy from our house. This was our first time trick or treating in our new neighborhood, and it was GREAT! There were tons of people out enjoying the evening, lots of trick or treaters, and our kids hit the jackpot with candy. :)

Belle (Emmie), Woody (Eli), Tiana (Mikayla)

I was happy my kids "recycled" costumes this year, so I didn't have to spend a dime!

Three cute cousins + Nana = A perfect ending to the evening :)

Five in a Row: Mike Mulligan and the Steam Shovel

2011-10-19T15:59:00.001-07:00

This post is quite overdue considering we finished "rowing" this book a few weeks ago (and have actually finished rowing another one since then), but I really want to use this blog to archive some of the fun things we do in homeschool ~~so that nobody can say I didn't teach them anything~~ so that we can look back and remember how much we've accomplished! By the way, the term "rowing" is a unique term used amongst those who use the Five in a Row curriculum which I first introduced in this post. It basically means the book you are currently working your way through (reading, doing activities, discussing, etc.).

Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel was the first book we rowed this school year (actually the first book we rowed EVER since this is all new) and we had so much fun with it.

We rowed this book for three weeks. Typically, people using this curriculum only row each book for one week. I like stretching it out in order to have more time to do activities that go along with the story, and not stress myself out by feeling like I need to pack all of those activities into a short timeframe.

Throughout our weeks with this book, we read it in a variety of different ways - I read it aloud, we listened to it narrated on CD, we listened to a different version narrated on CD that incorporated music from the Philharmonic Orchestra (my library had this and it was so cool!), and the kids even watched an animated version of the story here on YouTube. By the way, I have come to learn that YouTube is a homeschooler's best friend. It's amazing what you can find! We even learned a bit about the history of steamshovels and watched some "in action" again thanks to my friend, YouTube.

One component of FIAR that I really like (and the kids do to), is that it emphasizes geography with each lesson - relating it to where each story takes place. There is an opportunity to teach about where the location is on the map, what the culture is like, what language is spoken, etc. With each story that we read, we plot a story disk on our map to remember where it is taking place. For this particular story, the location is fictional (Mike and Mary Anne dig a cellar in the town of Popperville... near other fictional towns that are named in the book), so we posted a "Land of Make Believe" on our wall next to the real maps and the kids helped to draw in some of the landmarks and towns. We placed our story disk on this map :)

We learned about story characters by discussing the four main characters in the book and how they were similar/different from one another. We also talked about how authors can make a story interesting by personifying characters (such as Mary Anne in this case). We watched a clip from Beauty and the Beast (the "Be Our Guest" song where all of the dishes, food, etc. are personified) in order to see some more examples. The kids then created their own personified characters:

Meet "Rainbow"

and "Belle"

We also studied some new vocabulary words. Since my kids regularly discuss cellars and canals they will be getting lots of use out of these new words for sure. :) haha.

Our Art lesson used the drawings in the story to demonstrate how to make something appear close-up or far away based on the amount of detail added. We drew trees to represent this.

The kids LOVED doing science experiments... we learned about steam and the water cycle.

steam

condensation

evaporation

They made bead necklaces for their stuffed animals using colors to represent the water cycle:

blue: water in ocean

yellow: sun heats it up

clear: evaporation

white: clouds/condensation

blue: rain/collection

(then repeat the cycle)

As our Bible lesson, the kids memorized Philippians 4:6 and we talked about how we don't have to worry when things don't go as expected because God is looking out for us and we can always trust him with our needs. We discussed the character trait of FLEXIBILITY and tied it into the story by talking about how Mike Mulligan and Mary Anne were faced with numerous opportunities where they chose to be flexible when their plans didn't work out. I had the kids hold up these happy and sad face cards as we read, and they turned them to one side or the other to show if the characters were facing a sad or happy time and demonstrate how they had to constantly be flexible.

I think the highlight of our time with this book was making a Mike Mulligan cake!

The kids did a great job measuring their ingredients, and even took the finished product to their daddy's office to share with him and his co-workers. (Can you see Mary Anne digging the town cellar with all of the "people" watching?)

Mmmm, it was tasty!!

To consolidate what we learned throughout our weeks of rowing Mike Mulligan, we created a lapbook. I am hoping to work with the kids to create a lapbook for every book that we row this year, just so they have something tangible to hang on to and look at as a review. They have already pulled this one off the shelf many times since we completed it! I just made a short, narrated video to walk you through the components of our lapbook in case you want to use any of the ideas. I got most of them from homeschoolshare.com, but also a few ideas from other blogs and forums. Thank you to everyone who shares ideas and resources online!!

Happy Family Day!

2011-10-16T21:28:00.000-07:00

On October 9th we celebrated our 2nd "Family Day" in honor of becoming a family of four in 2009 when we arrived home to the United States with Mikayla. We spent a fun evening together going out to dinner and then hanging out at Enchanted Island, a small theme park in Phoenix.

The kids had so much fun flying helicopters,

driving bumper boats,

riding the dragon coaster (multiple times),

flying planes,

racing cars,

and riding horses!

The big kid had fun riding horses too :)

Speaking of the big kid, I think he had as much fun as the kids did on this next ride... either that, or he wanted to see if he could make somebody puke. I certainly would have! As you can see from the video below, the bucket holding my children was spinning faster than any of the others (by FAR)!

And yes, they did request that their dad take them on this ride THREE times throughout the evening. :)

Wheeeeeee!!!!!

This one cracks me up because it looks like gravity is just plastering Eli up against the side.

Then we came to the "parachute ride." From the looks of it, Eli wasn't quite sure if he wanted to ride it. Doesn't it look a little intimidating?

So of course, the best thing to do in this situation is end your sister on the ride and see if she comes back in one piece... ladies first, right?

There they go! Up, up and away!

She came down smiling! :)

Now Eli decides to give it a try... as you can see he's a little unsure...

Hmmm...

Fortunately he was all smiles as well when they came back down.

As you can see, the "fast" descent requires loud, dramatic yelling...

What a special day! So thankful to be a family of four and take the time to remember a journey to bring home a little girl, our daughter, who changed our hearts and our lives forever. We are truly BLESSED!

A Guest Post, A Great Cause, and An Aspen Giveaway!

2011-09-29T13:24:00.000-07:00

Today I am doing something a little different on my blog... I have invited Mary Beth Picker to share with you about the exciting work she and her husband Casey are a part of in Ethiopia. I met Mary Beth online (she is one of my many "virtual" adoption buddies) during our adoption journey to bring home Mikayla, and her first adoption journey to bring home her son... Casey and Mary Beth traveled a couple of months before us and had the chance to visit with Mikayla in the care center. :) Since then, they have started and finished the process a second time to bring home their daughter! Anyway, I will let her fill you in on the rest of the story, so please continue reading to find out about how you can be involved in helping to expand a school for children in Ethiopia, while having the chance to win an awesome getaway in Aspen...

Thank you so much Bethany for allowing me to post on your blog about a subject that is so important to me.Over three years ago, my husband and I began our journey to adopt our son from Ethiopia. And since that time, God has been filling our hearts with an overwhelming love and passion for the people of Ethiopia. We returned a year after our first adoption to bring our daughter home. After arriving home with her, we knew we had to do more. We have been so blessed to team up with other adoptive families around the U.S. and with Lifesong for Orphans. Lifesong is doing some amazing work through a small nursery school that they support in Adami Tulu, Ethioipa. You can read more about Adami Tulu here.Last year, we, with five other families, raised over $40,000 to build a new building, restroom facility, and gate at the Adami Tulu school. In August, we got to return to Ethiopia to see the new building. We had an amazing trip, and have absolutely fallen in love with Adami Tulu. You can read more about our trip here and here. The school is changing the lives of so many vulnerable children in the area by offering them a wonderful education and two nutritious meals a day.We've returned home with the knowledge that we have so much more to do in Adami Tulu. So we've agreed to continue our work with Lifesong by raising funds for another school building on the Adami Tulu campus. This will enable the school to expand to include 1st and 2nd grade. More details will be coming soon, but we're anxious to get a jump start on fundraising. We know that this project will cost at least $50,000. But, for these sweet faces, we'll do anything!

We are very excited to announce our first fundraiser for our next phase of the Adami Tulu project: another Aspen Giveaway!

Our Aunt and Uncle have, once again, generously donated toward our fundraising efforts. Only this time they've offered us not one but FIVE stays at the Hyatt Grand Aspen.

Any one of these November stays might make a great early-Thanksgiving get together for you and some friends or family!We will begin the giveaways today and draw winners on October 15. To enter, donate $20 by clicking the link for the stay that you're interested in. For every $20 you donate to Lifesong for Orphans, you will get one entry in the drawings. By the way, 100% of your donation will go to our work in Adami Tulu.Here are some details and pictures about the Hyatt stays:Hyatt Grand Aspen has complimentary continental breakfast, a pool and hot tub, fitness center, fire pit, daily room cleaning and nightly turn down service complete with chocolates. There is even a little hut by the hot tubs where you can hang your robes to keep them warm for you! The hotel is within walking distance of lots of shops and restaurants in Aspen.The retail value of each stay is approximately $2,500.

To get to Aspen, you could fly into the Aspen airport. The hotel will pick you up and, since everything is within walking distance, you can go without a car during your stay. Or you could fly into Denver and rent a car to drive to Aspen. Or, of course, you could also just drive to Aspen.

Hyatt Stay Giveaway #1:

Sat.- Sat. November 5-12 (full week stay)
Studio Unit (Like a nice hotel room with small kitchenette.)

To enter the drawing for Giveaway #1, donate to Lifesong for Orphans here:

Hyatt Stay Giveaway #2:

Sun.- Thurs. November 13-17 (five days/ four nights)
Two Bedroom Unit (Two Bedrooms and Bathrooms, Kitchen, Livingroom, Dining Room, Washer and Dryer, etc.)

To enter the drawing for Giveaway #2, donate to Lifesong for Orphans here:

Hyatt Stay Giveaway #3:

Sun.- Thurs. November 13-17 (five days/ four nights)
Three Bedroom Unit (Three Bedrooms and Bathrooms, Kitchen, Livingroom, Dining Room, Washer and Dryer, etc.) Maybe a family could do an "early Thanksgiving get together" in this one.

To enter the drawing for Giveaway #3, donate to Lifesong for Orphans here:

Hyatt Stay Giveaway #4:

Tues.-Sat. November 15-19 (five days/ four nights)
One Bedroom Unit (All the things a two bedroom has but only one bedroom and bathroom)

To enter the drawing for Giveaway #4, donate to Lifesong for Orphans here:

Hyatt Stay Giveaway #5:

Tues.-Sat. November 15-19 (five days/ four nights)
Two Bedroom Unit (Two Bedrooms and Bathrooms, Kitchen, Livingroom, Dining Room, Washer and Dryer, etc.)

To enter the drawing for Giveaway #5, donate to Lifesong for Orphans here:

Just imagine, you could win a stay in Aspen, just for donating $20. What a deal! Plus, you get to be part of this amazing project to help these precious kids in Adami Tulu.If you are unable to use one of the stays, you could donate your entry to a friend, or minister, or someone who could really use the time away.Help us raise money to expand the Adami Tulu school and spread the word about our giveaway. Please repost on twitter and facebook! Thank you!

What Curriculum Do You Use?

2011-09-24T21:05:00.001-07:00

This is one of the most common questions asked of me when people find out I am homeschooling. So, if you are interested in knowing what we're doing, then read on!

Before choosing a curriculum, I spent time thinking about what my main goals were for the school year. Here are the three I came up with:

I want my kids to grow deeper in their knowledge of the Bible.
I want my kids to value what it means to be part of a family, and continue to solidify family attachments and relationships (this goal has a special emphasis for Mikayla, but applies to all of us).
I want my kids to LOVE learning!

Is this simple enough for you? Notice I do not even have a single goal about reading, writing, math, etc.? Don't worry, we are doing all of that stuff... it's just not my focus. By prioritizing the three goals above, I truly believe my kiddos will be equipped to learn and handle whatever comes their way in terms of academics. And most importantly, my prayer is for them become people of character and integrity who love Jesus with all of their hearts.

So, in my quest to choose curriculum I did a lot of research, consulted trusted friends, browsed through samples of things, and ultimately decided not to actually purchase a "full" curriculum. One in particular that I really liked (I was able to attend a session on it at the homeschool conference last summer) is called My Father's World. If I continue to homeschool in the years ahead, this might be an option that I choose.

But, for this year I decided to just piece a few things together...

We start off our morning each day with Circle Time. I gain ideas for this time from this lovely site, and even downloaded her ebook which has been a great resource. I use this time for a variety of things, depending on the day. Here are some of the options I choose from:

Calendar and Weather Journals
Counting (Hundreds Chart activities)
Songs or Poems
Memory Verse
Devotional
Map skills
Read-Alouds
Handwriting practice or Copy Work
Cutting skills
Praying together for our day (most important part!)

I really enjoy Circle Time, because it brings the three of us together first thing in the morning and really "sets the tone" for our day. We spend anywhere from 10-30 minutes doing Circle Time, just depending on what I have planned (and how the kids respond to what I have planned... even more important!).

For Reading, I am using Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons.

This was recommended to me by a couple friends, including one of whom gave me the book since she was done with it... getting things for free pretty much seals the deal for me. :) So far, this book has been serving us very well. My kids were at two very different "levels" in terms of reading ability when we started the year, so I do the lessons one on one with each of them, instead of together. One kiddo flies through two lessons a day, and the other is able to make it through one without feeling overwhelmed. Both of them feel very successful and by the time we finish I have no doubt they will both be reading like champs!

During our reading time, the child who is not sitting with me doing a reading lesson from the above book, is sitting at the computer using a wonderful online software program called "Raz-Kids." The program provides differentiated reading instruction using animated books that teach sight words, fluency, phonemic awareness, vocabulary, and comprehension. The kids are able to first listen to a book, then read the book (with help prompts), and then take a short quiz on the book. They earn points through the site's incentive program and can then cash in their points to buy things for their virtual rockets :) My kids love this program, and I love that it keeps one of them busy doing something meaningful while I work with the other one.

For Math, I am using Math in Focus which is part of the Singapore Math Curriculum series.

I debated a long time over whether or not to purchase a math program, and if so, which one to purchase. I knew in Kindergarten my focus would be more on literacy, so I considered just creating my own math activities for the kids, based on state/national standards... but in the end, I knew I would have a lot on my plate and would probably enjoy following something a bit more sequential and already planned out. I am glad I made the choice I did, even though it's a little more of a financial investment. In the Kindergarten series, there are four student books... Eli and Mikayla just finished the first book last week and jumped right into the second! Something tells me I'm going to need to order the 1st grade materials by early-spring... and no, it's not because my kids are amazingly gifted (though doesn't every parent think that about their kids?), rather it's one of the many "perks" of homeschool - the ability to go much faster due to having 1 or 2 kids to teach the lesson too, as opposed to 20-25!

And finally, my favorite component of our "hodgepodge" curriculum... Five in a Row!

I had so many people recommend this program to me, not to mention the fact that someone gave me the first volume free (remember what an influencer "free" can be for me?), so I couldn't wait to check it out! The program provides "theme units" based on children's literature (picture books) and brings in Science, Social Studies, Language Arts, Fine Art, and Applied Math to go along with each book. I LOVE theme units, so this program is right up my alley. It is extremely flexible, so you can really use it to meet your needs and the needs of your child. I also purchased the Bible supplement to go along with it, and we have been utilizing that for our devotions and memory verses each week. I have found incredible resources for this program on the homeschool share website, as well as the Five in a Row forums, and blogs of other homeschooling parents. We just finished our first "row" last week - Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel - and had a blast! Look for pictures and a report of our activities in an up-and-coming blog post :) We are currently rowing, How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World, which lends itself nicely to what has become an incredible unit on apples... and yes, I will be attempting to make an apple pie (from scratch) with the kids when we finish this book... so wish me luck!

I guess that about wraps it up! We have officially be "in school" now for 4.5 weeks, and so far so good! I am thoroughly enjoying my role as both mom and teacher, and the kids seem to be having a great time and learning a lot. If you came across this post because you are considering homeschooling, or looking at any of these curriculum options, please let me know if I can answer any questions for you.

Happy 5th Birthday Mikayla!

2011-09-19T21:33:00.000-07:00

Mikayla had a blast celebrating her 5th birthday last week! She woke up on her birthday morning and could not wipe the smile off of her face - she was SO excited. You can catch a little glimpse of this here, as she dances with her new "Build A Bear" birthday bear (which she fittingly named the Sugar Plum Fairy):

We have a tradition of doing some type of "family outing" in conjunction with each kid's birthday, so thanks to a groupon deal purchased last spring we headed up north to spend the day at Out of Africa Wildlife Park in Camp Verde. This was technically a few days before Mikayla's actual birthday, but we counted it since daddy was off of work and able to spend the day with us :)

Petting Snakes

Feeding a giraffe

The zebras lined up for a picture

Feeding a camel

We called this bird "Ms. Finch"

(if you've ever seen the movie "Follow that Bird" maybe you'll get the resemblance)

It was SO cool to see the lions and tigers up close

The tiger show was a highlight!

The birthday girl!!

Such a fun day - we even saw some rain! :)

On her "official" birthday, Mikayla started off the morning opening a few presents...

And later that evening we enjoyed having family members from the Thompson and Hutchison sides of the family over for dinner, cake, and ice cream.

Cousin Love

A princess cake... homemade this year! Simple but yummy :)

We love you sweet birthday girl!

All About Mikayla, Age 5:

Favorite Toys - Dolls, stuffed animals, crayons and coloring books, magnadoodle, princess and Barbie dolls, anything "crafty"
Favorite Foods - Willing to try ANYTHING, she is the least picky eater I have ever met! Mikayla loves PB&J sandwiches, macaroni, chips and salsa, but probably pizza is her all-time favorite
Favorite Activities - Going to a grandparent's house, dancing ballet, watching movies (especially about Disney princesses), riding bikes, swimming (she learned to swim on her own this summer!), playing make-believe games with Eli, singing songs, playing learning games on the computer
Easy going. Mikayla takes everything in stride and can easily roll with the punches. Her bottom line is having fun - and she can find a good time most anywhere! She is definitely the perfect balance for her more "uptight" brother :)
Shy. As with most "shy" kids, Mikayla is not at all shy around familiar faces and places... but in new surroundings she definitely becomes the fly on the wall (doesn't speak until spoken to, etc.). On the other hand, once she is comfortable... watch out! This girly girl can sure give you a run for your money in wild behavior :)
Girly-girl. Mikayla continues to love all things girly... anything pink, purple, with frills, shiny, etc. I think this is summed up in what she told me the other day, "Mom, when I grow up I am going to be a princess, a ballerina, and a mommy!" You go girl!
Loves her brother. Mikayla really looks up to Eli (though technically she is taller... so he is actually the one looking up... but I digress...) and enjoys playing with him for hours on end. Now that they share a room there are a few more "squabbles" that pop up during the day, but typically you might find them surrounded by stuffed animals on the floor of their room in the midst of a make-believe Christmas or birthday celebration.
Loves God. She enjoys talking about the Bible stories she learns in Sunday School, and puts forth a lot of effort into memorizing Bible verses. She enjoys praying, and will often pray lengthy prayers that list off anything and everything one could thing to pray for :)

Happy Birthday Mikayla!!

May all your wishes come true...

1st Day of Kindergarten - Homeschool Style!

2011-08-24T16:16:00.000-07:00

So I was planning on waiting until September to start our Kindergarten homeschooling adventure, but I was ready, the kids were ready, and August 24th seemed like as good of day as any. So, thanks to the homeschooling perk of "flexibility" and doing whatever you want, whenever you want, KINDERGARTEN STARTED TODAY!!!

Our day began like most others with the kids having time to eat breakfast, watch a cartoon, play for awhile, do a couple of chores, and I even got dinner in the crockpot! I was thankful not to be rushing around trying to get the kids ready early like would probably be the case if they were going to a school this year.

The first thing I did was what any good parent does on their child's first day of school - take pictures! I decided to take them outside by the tree in our front yard. I want to continue taking first-day-of-school pictures in the same spot each year so as to easily see how much the kids grow and change.

Mikayla - 4 years old (will be 5 in a few weeks!)

Eli - 5.5 years old

The kids share a bedroom in our house, which allows us to use the 3rd bedroom as a "school room." I know of many families who homeschool just fine without a dedicated room in their house for it, but I personally appreciate having a place for all our "stuff" so that it's at our fingertips when we need it. I also enjoy being able to utilize the wall space! Here is a little glimpse into our school room....

What Kindergarten is complete without a calendar, hundreds chart, and alphabet?

Maps of the world and the U.S.A. - these will especially come in handy with our Five in a Row curriculum series that we will be starting next week (more on that later...). My kids have LOVED looking at these maps since I put them on the wall... they spend so much time finding and talking about all of the places! I suggest putting maps in your kids' rooms even if you aren't homeschooling! :)

A little song for the first day (tune of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star)... go ahead, you know you want to sing it...

My hubby had the AWESOME idea of converting the outside of the closet doors to be white boards - BRILLIANT!

One benefit of not being in a public school is that I can put Bible verses on the wall! My son tends to be a perfectionist, like me, and has a tendency to want to give up if he can't do something just right. My daughter, on the other hand, has a tendency to sometimes "daydream" through thing and not really focus and do her best. I put this sign up in the room and we are working to memorize Philippians 4:13, as it applies uniquely to each of them. I also secretly have this verse on the wall for myself and the days ahead when I want to pull my hair out and give up on this homeschooling thing... lol!

The teacher "command center" - an OCD person like myself is in heaven when I see this many different tubs and slots for organizing things.

Every house needs a kids' bookshelf!

And here is the table where we do our seat work. I set-up some "first day of Kindergarten" books as a surprise for the kids this morning. We enjoyed reading some of these today! I appreciated the one on the bottom left corner, Kand0o Kangaroo Hops Into Homeschool, as it's one of the only books I could find about a child starting school in a home environment (and it ties in Philippians 4:13!).

We enjoyed lots of fun activities today including: calendar, weather journals, starting our Math program, reading stories, starting "All About Me" books - both digital and on paper, singing songs, and trying out a new learning website on the computer.

All in all it was a great first day! Eli said his favorite thing was doing Math, and Mikayla said her favorite thing was working on the "All About Me" books. I think my favorite thing was just spending the day investing in my kids and seeing the looks on their faces upon learning or being able to do something new. Here's to another great day tomorrow!

The Flood of 2011

2011-07-28T15:06:00.003-07:00

On July 1st, we moved into our new home... closer to work, closer to a family, great neighborhood - we were so excited!

On July 12th, the downstairs flooded.

I was the first to notice it when I walked into the pantry to get food for lunch, and realized I was walking in standing water. I noticed the water all over the pantry, laundry room, and bathroom. I called Micah right away and he came home to assess the damage... by this time, we could walk in the kitchen (which was on the other side of the wall from the standing water), and feel the floor squishing beneath our feet.

This wasn't good.

Before long, our house was filled with workers telling us what we needed to do. I honestly wasn't completely coherent but caught phrases such as, "level 3 water damage," "need to remove drywall," "cabinets will be coming out," "replace all the flooring," "we'll get your appliances back in as quick as we can," "large fans running for days," etc. The next thing I knew, we were re-packing much of the downstairs back into the boxes we just finished emptying.

Within hours, our downstairs looked like this:

bye bye cabinets, sink, dishwasher...

yes, that's the stove/oven in the middle of the floor :(

hallway

bathroom... well, it used to be anyway

pantry (at least we got to keep the shelves!)

bye bye washer and dryer

i always wanted my dining room table in the middle of my living room anyway...

The large blowing (loud) fans did their thing for four days (and nights), and the workers finally decided the wood was dried out. At that point, they were able to at least hook my washer/dryer back up, and I received this lovely consolation prize... :)

I always say, a plastic sink is better than no sink!

Although my stress level has been quite high this month (Lord... why NOW?), I am trying to be positive and have reflected on these things:

1. It could always be worse. Really - it could be much worse. I lost "convenience." I did not lose my house. I did not lose my family or my friends. I lost convenience. I can handle that.

2. I am so thankful for friends who brought meals over, people who invited us to their homes for dinner, and the fact that thanks to our move we actually live close to many great restaurants.

3. Insurance. Praise the Lord for insurance. Minus our deductible, everything is covered and we were even given some funds to help with our "eating out" expenses. (Something our regular budget doesn't allow us to do very much... so we are soaking it in while we can)

4. Isaiah 41:10 - "Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." I often hear people misinterpret the context of 1 Corinthians 10:13 and believe that God promises to never give us more than we can handle... the opposite of that is actually true - we are constantly faced with more than we can handle (sometimes more than others), but the blessing is that God promises to never leave us, he promises to be faithful to strengthen and uphold us. Sometimes in our weakness, we are reminded to lean on Him, and trust in Him, for HE. IS GOOD.

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust (*AND FLOODS) destroy, and where thieves break in and steal, but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Matthew 6:19-21

*Yes, I added this part in :)

Bailey's Visit and 4th of July

2011-07-15T21:03:00.001-07:00

The kids had a blast hanging out with my cousin Bailey on her recent visit from Ohio. She was here about 10 days and we enjoyed some fun activities such as: swimming, movies, Ringling Brothers circus, Sunsplash waterpark, Makutu's Island, 4th of July festivities, and she was even kind enough to assist us in moving into our new house :) Eli and Mikayla looked forward to seeing her every day, and they are now continually asking when she will be back!

Swimming at Aunt Bonnie & Uncle Casey's house... with Joey the "lifeguard"

Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus... so much fun!!

Climbing all over Makutu's Island

4th of July

Some of the Harvest Pastor's Kids... look at all those trouble makers!

Eli, Bailey, Mikayla

Fun times on the bounce houses and obstacle course!

We waited for the fireworks show, but unfortunately it never happened due to a dust/wind storm blowing through :( Fortunately, the kids had great attitudes and still had fun playing with their glow necklaces!

Thanks for visiting us Bailey, we hope you'll come again soon!

Catching Up!!

2011-06-21T20:01:00.000-07:00

I can honestly say that the month of May was a complete blur... and apparently I have spent the first part of June recovering from it, so I apologize for being a bit absent from this blog. The good news is that I am now "pretty much" officially a stay-at-home mom!! The reason I say "pretty much" is because I'll still be working three days per month next school year for the district, but after having spent the last few years jumping around between various full and part-time administrative positions... three days per month almost doesn't count :) I am really excited to begin this new phase of life and looking forward to the physical and mental energy I can now completely devote to my family. I'm going to especially need it in a couple of months when I become the Kindergarten teacher for my two kiddos.

So, here is a picture recap of what we've been up to in the past six-ish weeks...

First off, Mothers Day. Had a great morning at church where each family was blessed to receive a family portrait (mine has replaced my 2010 Mothers Day picture as the new blog header... did you notice??). I am amazingly blessed to be a mommy to two wonderful children and they made me feel so special.

After church, we went to visit MY mom for lunch and I invited myself (sort of) to join my sister and my mom on a pedicure outing! Thanks to grandpa who hung back with the kids :)

As fortunate as I feel to be a mom, I am equally blessed to have a wonderful mother who I love very much!

Right after T-Ball ended, Eli jumped into another soccer season. His team was called the "Banana Peels" and Micah was the coach. They both had a lot of fun and enjoyed the season. I was happy that the games ended right before the weather really started getting hot around here :)

Mikayla had her first ballet recital at the beginning of June and she was THRILLED to wear her tutu costume and dance on a stage. She even got flowers from grandpa after the recital was over.

It's getting HOT around here, and swimming season is well underway! The kids have enjoyed taking lessons this summer, and we have been in the pool almost every day for the past two weeks. Mikayla is officially swimming on her own now, and Eli is "almost" there.

I had a hair session with Mikayla the other day and we tried criss-cross cornrows for the first time ever on the top of her head. I thought they turned out pretty good! They were easier than I expected so I'll definitely have to put them in again.

And she hadn't had beads in awhile, so we put box braids all over in the back to accommodate many colorful beads, including butterfly beads on the ends of each braid :)

New hair - do = Happy Girl!

Well, that's the recap! Hopefully now that things will slow down a bit I'll be more consistent with my blog posting. Did I mention we are probably moving in a couple of weeks? On that note, maybe I'll start being consistent next month... or the month after that... :)

Easter

2011-04-30T20:10:00.000-07:00

Now that I've" oohed" and "ahhed" over everybody else's Easter pictures (posted in a timely fashion on their blogs) I decided I should get around to posting ours... only a week late! Never to fear, we DID have a wonderful time celebrating Easter last week, and here are the pics to prove it.

First on the agenda - Easter hair. We chose to put in corn rows all around Mikayla's head, leading to a bun on the top. I have to admit, my main motivation for choosing this as her Easter hair style is due to the fact that she has a ballet recital coming up and I was experimenting with a way to get her hair to stay in a bun. The good news? This style WILL work for the recital AND it looked super cute for Easter!

Mikayla approved!

Next up... coloring Easter eggs!

The intensity of it all...

Adding stickers...

Look, it's my name!

All Done! Petey wanted to be in the picture too.

Easter Sunday...

Waking up to find lots of goodies in the Easter baskets :)

Grandma and Grandpa joined us for Harvest's Easter service

The traditional Easter egg hunt and Nana and Papa's house

Baskets full of eggs! And LOTS of candy!

Cousins :)

And a family pic... I guess the sun was too bright for Eli! :)

My favorite thing about Easter this year was the fact that the kids were so eager to learn about Jesus death, burial, and resurrection. They asked many questions and are really beginning to "digest" what it means to be a Christian. I am humbled to reflect on what Christ went through that day He died on the cross, and grateful that He loved us (me) so much that He paid the ultimate price. I am thankful that on Easter we can celebrate because HE IS RISEN and one day He will return!

Not To Be Outdone by Her Brother...

2011-04-03T10:28:00.000-07:00

Mikayla decided that since Eli had his "claim to fame" on the blog yesterday starring in his t-ball video, she should get hers today... So I present to you Mikayla the ballerina! (You can tell she takes her dancing very seriously!)

Oh, and take note of brother lounging in the chair as if he's bored to tears :) Don't let him fool you though, right after she finished he wanted to make his own dancing video for the blog... let's just say I'm holding on that one for some great black mail in the future, lol!

I promise this will bring a smile to your face - especially those of you who knew Mikayla in Ethiopia or had the chance to see her when we first came home... boy, what a difference 18 months can make :)

Video: Eli At Bat

2011-04-02T16:01:00.001-07:00

Eli played his last t-ball game of the season today and I was able to catch a little video action - enjoy! :) Sorry the still pics at the end are a little blurry... I posted a better one down below!

Good job buddy! You had a great season and we are so proud of you!

Forts and Hair

2011-03-28T15:50:00.000-07:00

Spring weather is in full bloom here in AZ, and we have been busy! We've been taking advantage of the beautiful sunshine (and not-too-hot-yet temperatures) and spending lots of time in the backyard. The kids are really getting a lot of use out of the swingset they got for Christmas. I have realized that I need to take my camera out there more and get some pics!!

For now, I just have a picture of the "exciting" activity that occurs on a daily basis in our house: building forts. But, it's not the kids building the fort... it's me. Yep, thanks to my grand idea of showing them how I could build a fort one day... they now ask for one every day :) I must admit, my fort-building skills are getting better and better!

I have also done quite a few new hair styles on Mikayla since the last style I posted (which I think was at Christmas??). But, unfortunately haven't thought about taking pics of the styles until they were already 1-2 weeks old and looking pretty sad. So, here is a style we put in this week with box braids in the back, and corn rows into pigtails on the top (of course with beads!). I did the box braids in back on Saturday and then she wore her hair in two big braided pigtails on Sunday to church... it looked okay, but obviously wasn't "finished" yet, so she wasn't thrilled with that :) But, to her delight we finished the style this morning and I think it looks so cute!

T-Ball

2011-03-05T21:27:00.000-07:00

Eli is enjoying playing on a t-ball team this spring. He definitely prefers it over soccer. I think it's because in t-ball everybody takes turns... everyone bats... then you switch sides... it's nice, fair and predictable - that's how Eli rolls. :)

Ready for the grounder!

T-ball has more down-time than soccer... Eli can catch up on his deep thoughts in the field.

This is what happens with 4 & 5 year olds who played soccer last fall... they all pile up to see who can get the ball first and who can take it away... after all, that's what we taught them right??

Good Hit Buddy!

Run!

Funny How God Works Sometimes...

2011-02-15T20:32:00.000-07:00

So by now you would think that I would no longer be surprised when God grabs hold of "MY plans" for "MY life," and decides to shake them up a bit. Sometimes shaking them up isn't even accurate - sometimes he twists them, turns them, flips them inside-out, and gives them back to me in a form that is completely unrecognizable to me.

For example...
My Plan: I will never marry a pastor. My dad was a pastor, and although "most" of my memories of growing up as a PK were positive, there were also some very painful times my family went through being in the center of ministry. So, I pretty much decided that being a pastor's wife was out of the question, and I would marry someone who has a "nice, normal job." (You know, Monday through Friday, 8-5, with a cherry on top).
God's Plan: Well, in our 8.5 years of marriage, my husband Micah has held not one, but TWO pastoral positions in two different churches. He is currently the Executive Pastor at Harvest. And God has blessed us as a pastor's family.

My Plan: I won't attend a small church - I was done with small church politics. When Micah & I met we were both attending Word of Grace, a mega-church in Mesa, AZ. Perfect.
God's Plan: Within the first two years of our marriage God moved us out to the middle-of-nowhere in San Tan Valley, AZ, and we were faced with the prospect of driving over an hour to church every day, or helping to plan a brand new church in the area where we moved. We opted for the church plant and began our adventure with LifePoint where Micah would come to serve as the Youth Pastor. And God blessed us at LifePoint.

LifePoint Groundbreaking Ceremony

My Plan: I will not be part of another church plant, this was hard. I am ready to go to church in an actual church building. Fortunately, LifePoint was in the process of building a building so this was looking good!

God's Plan: Through a series of God-orchestrated events, Micah and I felt called to help plant Harvest Community Church in Mesa, AZ - Micah was brought on staff as the Executive Pastor. We now drive 35 minutes to church each week (we still live in the middle of nowhere) to be part of a "small church plant" (which is growing!) that meets in a movie theater. It has been so many years at this point, it now feels strange to me to attend a church service that is held in an actual church :) And God has blessed us at Harvest.

My Plan: After our son Eli turned two, God began pressing on our hearts that our next child would join our family through adoption. This seemed a little far-fetched, but we started doing our research and knew we would adopt from the foster system... after all, we could never afford to adopt internationally.
God's Plan: Within two years of attending our foster-adopt orientation through the state of Arizona, we brought home our beautiful daughter Mikayla from Ethiopia. The Lord provided in ways we never would have expected. And He blessed our family.

So, you would think that after watching this play itself out in my life over and over again, I would eventually come to a point of no longer being surprised when God's plans differ from my own. But, not quite. I still often fall into the trap of thinking I know what's "best," or I know "how" something will occur. Can anyone relate? Anyone? Anyone?

Fortunately, God has a way of nicely inserting himself into my plans each time and getting my attention. The most recent example of this began this past fall, as I started thinking about my career. You see, I have worked in education since I graduated college. I obtained my Masters degree early on, and thanks to being in the right place at the right time (another God-thing), I advanced quickly from being a teacher to a school administrator to holding a position at the district office. Even after Eli was born, I was eager to get back to work after my maternity leave (though I did cut back to working part-time).

MY PLAN has been to work part-time while my kids are little, and then once they enter school build back up to working full-time and eventually take the steps to become a school Principal.

Well, here we are... my kids will be entering Kindergarten in the fall... it's finally that time when I can re-focus on my career and work toward advancing in my field... YES! Just want I've been waiting for!

But something happened.

Something changed.

My HEART changed.

All of a sudden I found myself with new priorities for the year ahead, which pretty much involved a complete "180" from the direction I was going. I can only attribute it to the Lord. He had other plans, and He knew that in order for me to "get in line" with His plans, he needed to start with changing my heart.

And I just needed to LISTEN.

After all... if someone would have mentioned to me a year ago that I would be STAYING HOME from work to HOME SCHOOL my kids next year, I probably would have died of laughter and then passed out in shock. But, it's funny how the Lord works sometimes, isn't it? So yes, you heard me right... I'm going to home school... and I'm actually looking forward to it!!

And after all, who could resist hangin' with these two every day? :)

Five Years Old

2011-02-12T17:18:00.000-07:00

I have had to pinch myself a few times in the past week to make sure I'm not dreaming... I just can't seem to grasp that I have a FIVE year old. I guess when your child is under five, they can qualify as being in the infant/toddler/preschool stage. But five is different. Five seems big. I think it has caused me to stop and think at how fast these first five years have flown by... it means 10 is not far away... and then 15... and I pretty much can't handle that thought right now so I'll stop there :) Regardless, it has been a good reminder to enjoy every passing day, as these are days we can never get back. I am so thankful for my boy and am proud of who is growing up to be!

Eli: Age 5 (this list is more for my benefit as I don't want to forget these things... but if you are not interested feel free to scroll down below to the pictures!)

Favorite Toys: puzzles, stuffed animals, cars, magna doodle, wii (mariokart & toy story mania), toolset, leapfrog tag reader, books
Favorite Foods: Mac & Cheese, hot dogs, cheese crisp, pizza, cookies
Favorite Places: Home (yes, he is home body), Grandparents house, Church, Library, Mall (play area), park, McDonalds, the Phoenix Zoo
Loves learning - lately Micah has been teaching him easy addition/subtraction with manipulatives, and he asked in the car the other day if we could do "more math!" (To which Mikayla fittingly replied, "I don't want to do more math." haha!) He also enjoys sounding out and writing new words - we are regularly surprised at how close he can get to the true spelling of the words he is trying to write. He also likes studying maps (of the U.S., of the World, of the Zoo... you get the idea) and one of his birthday gifts was a puzzle map of the United States which he attempts to put together a number of times each day.
He is a thinker. Many times we just see the wheels turning in his brain after he observes or hears something that was said... then later typically comments on it (usually it's pretty funny). For example, the other day he heard me say that I didn't know someone's phone number. A few hours later, after his nap, he woke up and told me, "I know why you couldn't call your friend. Because her number has a 10 in it, and our phone only has the numbers to 9." (lol!)
Perfectionist. Yes, he unfortunately inherited this from me. He will often not want to do something unless he can do it perfectly. He gets easily frustrated if he can't do it "just right." I think Mikayla is wonderful for him in this area, as they are a good balance for one another :)
Loves God. Even at a young age, he has a love for the Bible and for God. He loves reading through his picture Bible, and always has to be the one to say our dinnertime prayers. He soaks up everything he learns from Bible stories and Sunday School, and often asks questions about God, heaven, etc. The other day after disobeying, he was said and wanted to know if God was mad at him. Part of me was sad that he felt God would be mad at him, but it's a perfect example of his deep thinking, perfectionism, and love for the Lord all rolled into one. It also led to a great conversation about God's grace! :)
And finally, Eli loves playing with his sister. He had such a tough adjustment the first three months after Mikayla was home, but you would never know it today. They are best friends, and endlessly play together every day. Eli loves giving his sister lots of hugs and kisses. The one thing he consistently will cry very hard about, is if he does something "not nice" to Mikayla and has to tell her he is sorry... it's really pretty cute how he cares so much and doesn't want to disappoint her.

February 10, 2011... In Pictures:

Opening presents... with his audience :)

Sometimes I feel like I have three children...

Eli wanted to go bowling for his birthday, so that's what we did!

Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Bonnie joined us for the fun.

To finish off the evening, Eli chose to have dinner at Peter Piper Pizza.

Nana and Papa met the rest of us there, and we all enjoyed pizza and games!

Eli isn't a big fan of cake, so we ordered a giant chocolate chip cookie from Paradise Bakery and it was a bit hit. We even ordered him his own 6" cookie with a number "5" on it that he enjoyed all to himself!

Happy Birthday buddy, you are loved by so many!!

Thank You Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

2011-01-17T14:33:00.000-07:00

"I have a dream that my four little children will live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."

Thankful for Martin Luther King, Jr., and the impact that his dream specifically has on the life of my own daughter. Thank you.

Bye Bye Hair... 11.5 inches that is!

2010-12-27T20:27:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was my birthday, and I enjoyed a wonderful morning going out to breakfast and shopping with my mom and sister - something that has become a tradition for the three of us. Micah took me out to a fabulous dinner later that evening at PF Changs - one of my favorites! I also received a birthday card from my children - they love writing their names on things and my card was no exception, it was signed "Eli," "Mikayla," and "Bat." (Who is Bat???)

In between the festivities, I went to a hair salon and got a new "do!" It's quite a change as I chopped off 11.5 inches of my hair. I have been planning on doing this for awhile now, just haven't had the time. My head feels like I lost a few pounds off of it :) I was privileged to be able to donate my hair to a wonderful organization called Locks of Love.

Happy Birthday To Me!

Looking forward to experiencing all that God has in store for me this next year. I am truly blessed!

Christmas Morning

2010-12-27T16:06:00.000-07:00

The kids loved their new toy kitchen giving by Grams & Pa (aka great grandma and great grandpa). A special thank-you to the Meister family for the assistance with this purchase :)

Santa brought just what they asked for this year... stuffed animals!

Bat, ball & glove... ready for spring t-ball!

Daddy's special project... he worked on this for many hours on Christmas Eve day, then stayed up finishing it until 4:30am after we got home from church services that evening!

Petey enjoyed his bone... I think it was a bone that was still in the bag from last Christmas... oh well :)

Wings, Tiara, Wand, and Purple Dress... what more could a girl need?

Oh yeah, a chef's hat!

For Unto Us a Savior Is Born - He is Christ the Lord!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Christmas with Family

2010-12-27T15:39:00.000-07:00

Christmas with the Hutchisons...

Nana and Papa passing out gifts to the grandkids

Thanks for the tool set!

She looks like me mommy!

GG you're the best, we're rich!

Beautiful daughter :)

Christmas with the Thompsons...

The kids and I spent Christmas Eve at the Zoo with grandpa, so dad could finish building a "special" present in the backyard.

In the giraffe look-out

Do I have a 3rd child?

Even the lion was awake and roaming around! This is rare!

A better view...

Taking a ride on "Dale," the friendly camel

Squirrel monkey... can you see him?

Christmas dinner with the whole gang

Christmas Hair

2010-12-20T13:26:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to share a few pictures of Mikayla's "Christmas Hair" (as she calls it). She picked out the Christmas colored beads, and I set to work on the routine of washing, detangling, parting, braiding, and beading! We started yesterday afternoon and had about four hair "sessions" before finishing up around 1:00 today. I put box braids in the back, which I have done before and was fairly happy with how those turned out. I tried a new style on top, a veil-style with braids. I could tell it was my first time doing it because my fingers were pretty clumsy and the braiding is uneven, but still satisfied with the result for my first attempt. Mikayla is just happy that her her "clickety-clacks" when she moves around :) I am happy that it's done and now we don't have to "do hair" for a couple weeks!

Christmas Cookies

2010-12-15T21:59:00.000-07:00

Tonight we enjoyed making some frosted sugar cookies... complete with loads of sprinkles :) This was the first time making cookies with the kids, where they didn't get "bored" frosting them after the first three. They actually sat and frosted cookies for over an hour! I couldn't believe it. Now we just need to give some of these away so I don't eat them all... anybody want a cookie?

Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-25T20:27:00.000-07:00

Our morning started with watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV, and we then headed over to my parents house for our Thanksgiving "feast." We enjoyed the company of my parents, my sister Bonnie and brother-in-law Casey, my brother Ben and his girlfriend Heather. Eli and Mikayla played some "rousing" matches of ping-pong with dad and Grandpa. Eli was quite concerned with how many points each team had throughout the match - I supposed you could classify him as a bit competitive :) We ate a wonderful meal cooked mostly by my mom, but I added a couple of side dishes to the mix. My mom even made some delicious homemade pumpkin and chocolate pies (the chocolate being a recipe of my great grandma Ruby). We relaxed by watching football and browsing through tomorrow's Black Friday shopping ads - yep, I'm going out to face the crowds tomorrow morning... haven't done it in a few years but am looking forward to trying to get all of Christmas shopping done in one day. Wish me luck!

This year I am especially thankful for my family, and the opportunity to work part-time so that I can be at home more with the kiddos. I am also thankful for our wonderful church family at Harvest Community Church - words really can't express how much you all mean to us. Of course there is so much more to be thankful for, but those are two that really stick out to me right now.

On a humerous note, tonight I asked Eli what his favorite food was from the Thanksgiving meal, and he replied, "the crackers." (We had crackers out as an appetizer before the meal, LOL!). He then thought about it more and added, "oh, and the turkey too." Ha! He always keeps us laughing :)

Some pics of the day...

Ping Pong Match

Looks like he is doing a karate move!

Pretty Girl :)

Being Silly :)

Happy Halloween!

2010-11-01T08:36:00.000-07:00

Step 1: Clean out the pumpkin guts

Step 2: Carve a funny face

Step 3: Put on costumes

Step 4: Go door-to-door begging for candy (aka "trick or treat!")

Step 5: Smile for a picture and enjoy your loot! :)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

2010-10-17T15:25:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago I traveled with my mom and the two kiddos to Ohio, to spend time with my grandparents and other members of my mom's side of the family. I am behind on my blogging so I'm just finally getting some pictures up!

Fortunately, the first two days of our visit the weather was beautiful and we were able to visit two farms, go to the park, feed the ducks, and just enjoy the cool fall weather. We loved that the leaves were starting to change... something we hardly see here in the desert.

Milking a cow... trickier than it looks!

Grandma and Mom (or to my kids: "Grams or Great Grandma" and "Grandma")

My cousin Nicole and I used to love to come to this Chuck E Cheese when we were kids... now here we are taking our own kids to Chuck E Cheese! Somehow the "magic" of the place just isn't quite the same, but we had fun! :)

Celebrating my mom's birthday with more cousins... Bailey, Josh, and Cory, who came to hang out with us the last weekend we were there.

FAMILY DINNER!

Cousins :)

A highlight of the trip was being able to meet up with a family that was in our travel group when we brought Mikayla home from Ethiopia - they brought their daughter, Sira, home at hte same time. The girls shared a room at Holt's care center before coming home, and it was wonderful to see them reunited! They had a great time playing together and it made me so wish that they could do it more often. It was strange to hear them speaking English to one another, since of course the last time they were together this was not the case... we used to not be able to understand anything of their conversations :) They are such cuties!

Had a great trip - even enjoyed the rainy days! Eli spiked a high temperature our last night there, so the plane ride home was not so much fun... but he is better now, and I'm thankful he got sick at the end of the trip and not the beginning! Hopefully it won't be long before we can visit everyone again!

Soccer!

2010-09-25T14:25:00.001-07:00

Eli and Mikayla are playing on a soccer team together this fall.... that is one of the perks about having two kids the same - they can play on the same team which means we only have to drive to one practice and one game! And they BOTH get to have daddy as their coach!

There is a big difference in this team of 4/5 year olds versus the 3-year-old team that Eli played on last fall. Nobody cries about "having" to play or walks off the field at random points in the game :) I have seen a huge improvement in Eli as far as his desire to play, hustling on the field, and actually trying to get the ball (though he still mostly likes to run around the outside of the "pack"). Mikayla is definitely athletic and coordinated, but I think she was half-asleep during the first game. She did much better today (game #2) and actually became quite aggressive - almost scoring a goal! Her true desire is to take some type of ballet class, so we may look at doing that in the spring, we'll see. For now, she will "put up with" this soccer thing. :)

"Are They Twins?"

2010-09-21T17:01:00.000-07:00

So by now I am used to the numerous stares I get when I am out in public with my two kiddos... most of the time the stares are harmless, but sometimes random strangers take it upon themselves to ask me inappropriate personal questions about whether or not my daughter is my "real" daughter, etc. I know all of you other adoptive parents who have children of another race know what I'm talking about! :)

For those who don't know... it is one thing to talk about your family and your adoption with people who are invested in your life as friends, or who are honestly trying to find out more information about adoption because they are considering adopting themselves. It's a whole different story to fend off questions from complete strangers who insert themselves into your lives in public places and seem to think it's appropriate to ask you very personal questions. I find myself often "on guard" in these situations because I know my primary responsibility is to guard my children and show them appropriate responses to "inquisitve" questions from strangers. Sometimes people mean well, but the fact of the matter is that if we don't know them (or why they are asking) then we typically don't share much. I also want to protect my daughter and her story... it's not the business of the lady at the library to know what happened to her parents and whether I love her as much as I love my son (yep, just a sample of questions people actually ask IN FRONT OF my kids). I could write a whole post on this, but I think I will save that for another time...

Today, I have a lighter, more humerous story to share!

I was at Target this morning with my kids and noticed that the cashier was "studying" us, and I was prepared for the typical round of questions. But this time, the conversation went a little different....

Cashier: You have beautiful children!
Me: Thank you!
Cashier: How old are they?
Me: They are both four.
Cashier: (continues thoughtfully studying them) Oh, are they twins?
Me: (stunned silence) Um.... no.... they are not twins. But they sure act like it sometimes :)
Cashier: (smiles)

And with that, we left the store! True story! I have no idea what she was really thinking but I just smiled all the way to the car and knew this deserved to be recorded in a blog post :)

"Twins"... can't you see it?!?

Happy Birthday Mikayla!!

2010-09-19T14:26:00.007-07:00

Tidbits About Mikayla, Age 4:

*Loves to wear dresses, earrings, hairbows, hair braids (and beads), and all things "girly"

*Enjoys playing make-believe games with Eli - usually ones that involve taking out every stuffed animal in the house

*Favorite foods are pizza, macaroni, and chicken nuggets

*Likes "cooking" us food with sand or play-doh

*Can make-up a song about pretty much anything

*Is scared of bugs, snakes, and her closet being open at night

*Can't wait to take ballet classes someday

*Usually content to go with the flow and willing to take risks and try new things

*Enthralled by Disney princesses

*Loves going to church, learning about Jesus, and saying her prayers :)

We had a wonderful time celebrating Mikayla's 4th birthday this past week. I remember last year sending her paper dolls and a card across the ocean... what a difference a year makes.

Many times people comment on what a lucky little girl she is, but the truth is that WE are the lucky ones. Mikayla is a gift from God and we are privileged that He has entrusted her to us. On this special day we celebrated her birth - even though it was not something we were a part of. We remembered her birthmother, with heartfelt gratitude. And we praised God for His faithfulness to her and to us as we know this birthday is the beginning of many to come, and it is by His love and grace that we are bound together, forever, as FAMILY.

Though this was Mikayla's 4th birthday, this was her FIRST birthday with us, and she was so excited for the day to arrive (especially after witnessing Eli's birthday back in February!). She asked me almost everyday if there would be presents for her, and if she would have a cake. She almost couldn't believe that it all actually came true and she had those things :)

We started off the morning the way she wanted to - opening presents!

Mikayla is truly a "girly girl" and loved receiving some new jewelry, a Cinderella doll, a pink piggy bank, a tutu, a "girl" train, and a cute new outfit! Eli was so supportive and happy for her to open her presents. He commented nicely on each thing she opened, and was happy to smile right along with her for all of the pictures I was taking. I love that my kiddos LOVE EACH OTHER!

We then headed off to IHOP for some birthday pancakes!

Fun times at Jump Street! Tramplines & bounce houses, what could be better?

The birthday excitement continued the following day as we met some extended family members for dinner at Red Robin followed by cake, ice cream, and of course.... more presents!

Mikayla has wanted a Princess Tiana dress since our visit to Disneyland in June. We told her she could ask for it for her birthday... and she has, almost everyday! She finally got to open (see the picture above) and we have had Princess Tiana running around our house ever since!

And of course... what could be more fitting than a Princess Tiana CAKE!

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!! We love you!!

One Year Ago (Yesterday)...

2010-09-04T09:43:00.001-07:00

We received our long-awaited travel dates to fly across the world and bring home our daughter. I am re-posting "Part 1" of our adoption journey as a way of looking back and remembering God's faithfulness to us!!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Home Depot Kids Workshop

2010-08-07T17:25:00.000-07:00

This morning we took advantage of the FREE Kids Workshop that Home Depot offers on the firstSaturday of each month. I've been meaning to take the kids to try this out for months, but never got around to it until today. Grandma and Aunt Bonnie joined us for this crafty, fun-filled adventure, and we were happy to spend time with them!

This month's project was a school bus pencil holder. As you can see from the pics, the kids had a great time gluing, hammering, and putting stickers on their boxes. Aunt Bonnie & I held the wood together and just hoped that our fingers would stay clear of the hammers... fortunately, they did! This was a great way to spend a hot Saturday morning, and is definitely an activity we will do again!

July... Where Was I??

2010-07-27T21:02:00.000-07:00

Well, I was right HERE. Yep, I can honestly say that I probably spent more of the month of July in that building than in my own house :) I took on a new position for this school year as an Assistant Principal at one of our K-8 schools... it just so happens to be the school right down the street from where we live which is definitely a plus! After working in our school district's main office for the past four years, I am welcoming the opportunity to be back in a school setting. I already have so many funny stories and am truly enjoying the daily interaction with kids again!

The year that I was pregnant with Eli, I held a school administrator position at another K-8 School within the district, and truly enjoyed the position. The part I did not enjoy so much was the time commitment. When I was a teacher I put in a lot of hours, but I was fortunately able to work some of those hours at home... lesson planning, grading, etc. In administration you put in a lot of hours as well, but unfortunately those hours require you to be at school for morning/evening activities and events. So, after Eli was born I decided to put the school admin thing on hold for a few years and fortunately gained a part-time position (which eventually became full-time again) working out of the district office.

This past school year I was really sensing that I wanted to be home more with the kids in the next year, before they start Kindergarten in the fall of 2011. Micah and I started praying for wisdom and that God would open doors for this to happen. Shortly thereafter, a job opportunity presented itself... and I couldn't have designed it any better. The opportunity? Take an Assistant Principal position... but only work part-time. Really?!? So God came through... doors were opened and soon enough the contract was signed. I have the privilege of job-sharing the position with a friend who has a newborn at home and wanted to have more time to spend with her daughter. She has been out on maternity leave since June, so I have been filling in full-time during her absence. But, she comes back next week!! So this is my last full-time week at school and starting next week I'll be down to 3 days! I'm so excited that 4 out of 7 days of the week, I will get to spend at home with my kiddos. They have sure missed their mommy this month, and I have missed them too. Don't worry babes, the end is in sight!! ...and maybe I'll actually have time to blog again too :)

California Trip

2010-06-24T17:40:00.000-07:00

We had a blast on our trip to California this past week. We spent five days at Disneyland/California Adventure Parks, and then three days in San Diego. The trip was jam-packed with activities so I wouldn't use the word "relaxing" to describe it, but it was definitely fun :)

The kids loved Disneyland and CA Adventure. I think that meeting the characters was a favorite activity for both of them. They both got autograph books this year and collected over 20 signatures from characters of all sorts: Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Ariel, Belle, Tiana, Buzz Lightyear, Woody, Pooh, Tigger, just to name a few... :) Eli's favorite ride was the new 3-D Toy Story ride at California Adventure - we went on it three times! Micah and I had fun competing for the high score on that one as well, but I unforunately I think I always lost. Mikayla's favorite ride was Thunder Mountain Railroad which she rode 3 or 4 times (thanks to FastPasses). She calls it "the fast train," which it was. Eli even rode that one twice, and they both enjoyed seeing the snow monster on the Matterhorn bobsleds. We pretty much rode every ride in each park that they were tall enough to ride!

Thanks to the research-based route maps (no joke) from THIS AWESOME BOOK, we didn't stand in any line more than 20 minutes. Except for the time we chose to ride Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan at night (when Fantasyland was really busy), and when we chose to stand in line for Toy Story in the late afternoon hours. I recommend that book to anyone who is visiting these theme parks - FOLLOW IT. You will be so glad you did. (They republish a new version each year so it is always updated) If you are a Type A personality like me, you will love the book. If you are the opposite of Type A (like my husband), you will love your trip more if you force yourself to follow the book... just ask Micah, he's a believer! :) We really made the most of our time by riding everything in the early morning hours, then going back to our hotel for naps/lunch, and then returning to the parks for the evening shows and parades later in the day. It was fabulous.

Mickey's Fun Wheel

Silly Kids

Thunder Mountain ("Fast Train")

They kids loved the Disney Parade... this year the theme of it was a "dance party" in the streets, and they allowed kids to be a part of it by having them go out and dance with the performers. You can see Mikayla and Eli below joining in the conga line.

Meeting Mickey and Minnie :) We participated in Minnie's Character Breakfast one morning, and the kids had a great time scarfing down Mickey-shaped waffles and meeting a ton of characters.

Alice in Wonderland

Of course we had to ride Dumbo!

Mikayla met one of her heroes... Princess Tiana!

I do not like spinning rides, so Micah had the task of taking the kids on the Tea Cups. They yelled, "Faster! Faster!" the entire time and kept their arms up in the air. LOL. Micah actually spun it so fast he felt a bit sick by the time he got off.

Cinderella LOVED Eli! She gave him a big kiss, and you can tell he is just so proud :)

The name of this train car says it all...

Riding the raft to Tom Sawyer's Island (now called "Pirate Lair")

Toy Story 3-D ride

After day #5 at Disney, we headed south to the San Diego area where Micah's parents had rented out a beautiful house overlooking the Pacific Ocean. We joined them there for three nights, and spent time at Old Town, the beach, and Sea World!

The view from our house... rough life, I know :)

We had a great visit to Sea World. Mikayla told me that when she gets big she wants to "learn how to pet dolphins, and whales, and be a princess."

Hanging out in Old Town San Diego. Eli loved playing ball on the green grass... a luxury when you are from the desert. The kids also thoroughly enjoyed the candy shop!

The kids loved the beach! Eli spent tons of time jumping the waves. For a kid who is usually so timid of things like that, I couldn't believe how brave he was :) Mikayla loved building sand castles.

Yarn Braids!!

2010-06-12T20:59:00.000-07:00

Well, we did it... only took ALL DAY... but the yarn braids are in! I like how they turned out for the first try. The most difficult part was trying to start the yarn as close to the scalp as possible. A couple of mine started further down then I was hoping for, but hopefully they will stay in okay. I will be happy if this holds well through our vacation next week, but I'm honestly hoping these will last for a good 4 weeks or so.

The cool thing about yarn braids is that we will be able to do a variety of styles very easily while these are in. Since all of the parts are already there, we'll just add headbands, hair bows, barrettes, etc., in order to change it up a bit.

Some people don't like yarn braids because they aren't appreciating the "natural hair." I am not too hung up on that stuff. I love Mikayla's natural curls, and even today after we put these in I talked to her about how fun it will be to take them out later and see her curls again :) Mikayla's head was shaved twice when she was in the care center in Ethiopia, and I now know how traumatic that was for her, based on how much she has talked about it since then. There is nothing she has wanted more than for her hair to grow long. She is fully aware that this isn't her "real" length of hair, but it's definitely worth putting them in just to see the smile that was permanently plastered on her face all day. It made all the time and effort completely worth it... even if they don't end up lasting long due to my amateur attempt.

One Year Ago Today...

2010-06-11T06:30:00.001-07:00

We were #18 on our adoption agency's waiting list, and out of the blue we receive an unexpected phone call... a little girl was waiting for us on the other side of the world.

All we had at that point was a picture and disconnected pieces of information... but it was enough to change our lives forever.

(You can read the story here)

110+ degrees = Craft Time

2010-06-05T19:41:00.000-07:00

This has really been the first week I would classify as "pretty darn hot" here in the Phoenix area. Usually the "true heat" begins in May, but we had a very mild month of May and now the high temps are hitting in full force! I am hoping this late arrival of the heat doesn't imply that it will last until Thanksgiving...

I don't mind the heat too much... I grew up here so I'm used to it I guess. When I go to cold places I tend to freeze :) The nice thing is that there are always ways to escape the heat around here. Swimming, is obviously one of them, and we have already had our fair share of that! The other is just to stay inside and do exciting ART PROJECTS! This past year has been the first year that Eli has really gotten into doing crafts, coloring, etc. I'm not sure if it's because he's a boy or because he just finally reached a good age for it, but he never seemed to care much before. Mikayla wasn't into any kind of art project or craft (not even coloring) when we were in Ethiopia or when we first got home. We tried some things a few different times, but she would just get bored after a few minutes of working on something.

Now they have both turned a corner and a daily question in our home is, "what craft can we do today?" And it's commong to find them both coloring at their little card table many times throughout the day. Here are a few glimpses of some of our "craft experiences" over the past couple weeks...

Painting mini-canvasses for their walls

They love these bead projects where you place all the little beads on the

pegboard and then iron them to hold them together in the correct shapes.

This morning they painted little bird houses.

Of course we hung them on the tree outside because the birds are just flocking to move in!

Hair Care, Skin Care

2010-06-02T18:44:00.000-07:00

After deciding to adopt from Ethiopia, I spent a lot of time researching how to care for black hair and skin. I found many blogs, youtube videos, websites, and articles that provided tips and insight in regards to what to do and how to do it. Since coming home with Mikayla, we have tried various products/techniques and through trial and error have setted on some favorites that seem to really work for her hair and skin types. I wanted to share what we do, in hopes of providing tips for others who might be on the same journey... and still trying to find something that works.

Skin
Honestly, this one has been easy. The first products I tried are the ones that I stuck with... and they are readily available in any grocery or drug store. Drum roll please.... ready for it?

We lather Mikayla's skin up twice a day with Lubriderm Intense Skin Repair body lotion.

After baths, we use Johnson & Johnson's Baby Oil just for added moisture.

That's it! Mikayla has regularly seen a dermatologist for the past 8 months, and every time the derm. comments on how moisturized and healthy her skin looks/feels. Now that the weather has been heating up around here, we have been swimming on a regular basis which definitely takes its toll on her skin, but these two products continue to work their magic and haven't let us down!

Hair
Caring for Mikayla's hair has been a bit trickier than the skin. In my opinion, the two essential items needed to care for black, natural hair are: 1) a good conditioner, and 2) a great daily hair moisturizer. Here is our routine, including products we use and like:

Daily - On a daily basis we use a hair moisturizer (also referred to as "hair milk" or "hair lotion). We moisturize Mikayla's hair three times each day: in the morning when she wakes up, after her nap in the afternoon, and before bed. This is probably the most important part of our hair care routine. I am currently alternating between these moisturizing/detangling products:

Carol's Daughter Black Vanilla Leave-In Conditioner. This product smells wonderful, and I use it sometimes as an all-over spray for detangling/moisurizing, and sometimes just to target those spots prone to lots of tangling. Many times I use this product in combination with the next one...

Blended Beauty Curly Cake Shake. Love this stuff. Mikayla's curls look gorgeous every time we use this. I typically defer to this moisturizer when we are going out somewhere, because it gives the best immediate results.

Taliah Waajid Protective Mist Bodifier. This stuff is a bit thick, so I usually pour it into a separate spray bottle and dilute it with distilled water. I like to use this product when I want to get Mikayla's hair a bit more damp, so that I can comb and detangle certain areas on non-conditioner days. This is used most often when she wears her hair in a loose style. I love the smell of this product - very tropical!

Coconut Oil. Yep, pure oil... works great! This is wonderful to put on her hair overnight - the hair is always so soft the next day. It is also helpful to use prior to bathing or swimming, because it helps the hair retain moisture in the water. And of course it smells great! We always laugh because our dog follows Mikayla around everywhere she goes when she has this stuff in her hair :)

Every Other Day - We typically "co-wash" Mikayla's hair every two days, when she is wearing it in a loose style. "Co-Wash" is a term that means washing the hair with conditioner (versus shampoo). We regularly use these two conditioning products:

Blended Beauty Tug Me Not Conditioner and Herbal Reconditioner. Both of these products are fabulous. The Tug Me Not can be used on a daily basis, and the Herbal Reconditioner we use every now and then to get a really deep condition.

Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose Conditioner. This product smells yummy, and leaves the hair very soft and silky. I actually think it works just as well as the Blended Beauty products... and it's cheaper! Yay! Once we finish the BB products, I will probably just continue to use this conditioner due to the cost savings.

Weekly (or more) - Every week or two (or three) I wash Mikayla's hair with actual shampoo. We are sure to use extra moisturizer on the nights we use shampoo, since typically it dries the hair out quite a bit. The shampoo that we use is:

Blended Beauty Silky Swirls Shampoo. Both of these products are fabulous. The Tug Me Not can be used on a daily basis, and the Herbal Reconditioner we use every now and then to get a really deep condition. It's a very gentle shampoo, and the bottle is lasting FOREVER since we only use about one pump of this every couple of weeks. :)

For Styling - I have found two products that I tend to "fall back on" every time I put Mikayla's hair in any sort of style that needs to "hold" (such as braids, puffs, twists, etc.).

Taliah Waajid Lock It Up Gel. This is a pretty light formula (for a gel), and I find it especially helpful to use when I put in braids or cornrows because it holds all the little pieces of her hair in the braid. This type of gel may not be necessary as her hair gets longer/thicker, and might possibly hold itself better.

Darcy's Botanicals Avocado & Honey Twisting Cream. This product is great because it acts as a hair moisturizer, but is a thicker cream and therefore great for helping hold styles. I enjoy using this product to hold in all the "fly away" hairs when I put in puffs or pigtails.

A few products we have tried that we DON'T really care for are:

Carol's Daughter Hair Milk - Many people LOVE this product, but it just really doesn't keep Mikayla's hair moisturized. It also has a weird smell (in my opinion), so I don't like it for that reason alone.
Curls Products For Kids - Again, many people loves these products, but they just don't do the moisturizing job of the other products we regularly use. We ordered the trial kit and are still using it up so as not to waste the money, but I am glad I didn't spend money on any of the larger size products.

A couple of my favorite "hair" websites are:

Happy Girl Hair - This site has lots of great tips on anything and everything about black, natural haircare (mainly focused on kids). The most recent posts are actually on "Yarn Braids"... a style we are definitely considering trying out this month since we'll be going on vacation and I want Mikayla to wear a style that will last and be EASY! Mikayla will love it because the yarn acts as "extensions," and makes the hair longer :)
Katlynylyn's YouTube Channel - Everyone laughs when I tell them that I learned most of my styles from YouTube... but it's true! And in my opinion, this is the best channel for learning :)

Here are a few pictures of "the princess" herself, modeling various hair styles we have tried over the past months...

First attempt at styling, other than headbands... Puffs!

All-over box braids with flower clips

Two-Strand twists with flower clips (Mikayla wore this style for Easter this year)

Multiple styles in one... cornrows on top (first attempt), held with bantu knots, box braids in box with our first-ever use of beads!

And the style we still fall back on for loose hair... a super cute headband that shows off Mikayla's beautiful curls!

And yes, in case you are wondering from the above picture... she did lose two more teeth recently! We are now up to a total of four and I think we may have another two out before long. The tooth fairy is going broke around here! :) But, teeth or no teeth, she still wins the "cutie patootie" award!

Thanks for reading our post about hair and skin! Leave comments and let me know if you have any suggestions or tips for products, styles, websites, etc. that you have learned from or enjoy!

Did He Really Just Say That?

2010-05-20T21:35:00.000-07:00

So today, a feature story aired on the ABC Family Channel, as well as cbnnews.com, highlighting Summit VI (see my last post to hear more about our personal experience there). The news report itself covered the Summit beautifully. Many of the people shown in the interviews led sessions that we attended, and we were so blessed/inspired by them!

However, at the end of the news segment, Pat Robertson decides to add his own commentary... and that's where things really take a turn for the worse. He has said some crazy things in the past, but this hit much closer to home for me. I am just not sure what I would have done had I been sitting in Terry Meeuwsen's position as his co-host (and mother of 5 adopted children). Kuddos to her for voicing TRUTH during her interview. And for not throwing something at Pat like I probably would have done.

So, what did he say? Well, where do I begin...

How about the part where he talks about how you can't just return adopted children, like you can return animals to the pound
Or how about when he discusses how children can be so mentally and emotionally damaged in their first years of life that they will never adjust to being adults
Oh, and I loved this quote when he points out that children might have had some type of demonic influence in their past and "you never know what's going to come out."
Awesome quote #2, "You can't tell if they have been brain damaged as a child."
He has to quote the Bible by reminding us that, "the Bible says count the cost, count the cost, and there IS a cost."
And the one that tops them all... "It can be a blessing if you get the RIGHT child. That child becomes part of your family and you love them like your own. BUT..."

So I would like to ask Pat what he thinks we should do? How should we, as Christians, respond to the fact that there are 146,000,000 orphans in the world today and the Lord commands us to care for them. The Bible doesn't say to follow God's commands when it's convenient for you and fits into your "little box." Following God can be messy. Following God can lead to struggle and hardship. Following God means you obey what He's called you to do, even when it's hard, and even when there is nothing in it for you. Fortunately for us, adopting our daughter Mikayla (although it has been hard times) has truly been an amazing blessing for our family... but what if that had not been the case? I am praying for a particular family right now who adopted a little girl from Ethiopia and their lives have basically been turned upside down, for the worse. They are truly going through what I would call a "hell on earth" experience. Does that mean they were wrong to adopt? Does that mean God didn't actually call them to adopt? No, it doesn't. And they would be the first to tell you that. They are fighting for their daughter, both physically and spiritually. They are fighting to save her from the demonic forces that truly have a grip on her little life. And PRAISE GOD that SOMEONE is fighting for her. If you are interested in praying for, and standing with, this family, you can read their story HERE on Facebook (it's long, but worth the read).

God doesn't promise to always bless you when you are following Him... in fact, he actually promises in John 16:33 that "in this life you WILL have trouble." But, no matter what, God is still God. Today. Tomorrow. Forever. He has called us to follow him no matter the cost. I must say, I am so thankful that God adopted me into his family without taking into account how "damaged" I am, or how much I may not have been the "right" child... He took me in, told me He loved me, and promised to love me forever. No matter what. There is no greater picture of what it means to adopt a child.

If you would like to see the video segment for yourself, you can visit this post on the Christian Alliance for Orphans blog.