Spiderman's 10th Birthday!

My how time flies!  My momma's heart wants to know how this big guy can be 10 when he's only been home 3 years?  Tonight we watched some old home movies and saw him while still in Ethiopia.  He doesn't even look like the same person.  The common theme though is he's still as sweet as ever.  Here he is above with the Lego set he's been wishing for (and talking about incessantly) for the past couple of months.  To top off that dream come true, he had 4 boys spend the night last night to help celebrate and he loved every minute of it.  Below they are modeling all the Lego creations they made to stage their imaginary Star Wars battles.  He really is blessed with a great set of buddies here. 

His best buddy, Jacob, even came with his own Bobba Fett costume.  That added quite the drama when it came to the Nerf gun, sword and light saber battle they had outdoors.  Spiderman had such a wonderful time and he came down pretty hard when it was all over and the friends had gone home. 

In fact, I was painfully reminded again today that the flip side to the beauty of adoption is deep loss.  While the details are private, there has been no denying that for two of my children - birthdays (and gotcha days)can be difficult.  They are something to celebrate for sure but you can't celebrate a birth and remove it from the fact that it happened in another place with other people present who are no longer in the picture.  The loss of those happy and sad memories, the "knowns" and the "unknowns",  is enough to grieve over again and again. 

Just as my children have long noticed that there is always something "bad" that happens in a story before it can have a happy ending, we are all still working our way through the story and trusting that God's perfect plan will bring us to the ending beyond what we've hoped for.

Boo's Makover

Boo has been thinking about a haircut for awhile now and it finally all came together.  Of course she would only let Katie Ball cut it (not some stranger) and she wanted to wait until fall (I think it's here) so she took the plunge.  This is all a pretty big step for this girl who asked for a haircut this summer and when I took off a couple of inches, she sobbed the rest of the day because Goose's hair was no longer than hers. :)

So this was actually taken well into the haircut, it was even longer to begin with.  I was scooping up piles of hair so she wouldn't see them and freak out how much hair was coming off.  She said she wanted it short, well above her shoulders and when it was done (we went with a slightly longer version) she was THRILLED!  In fact, she couldn't stop giggling and we could hear her from the other room as she was looking in the mirror.  I don't know if I've ever seen her so completely unable to stop smiling.  She posed for quite a photo shoot after that.  Isn't she adorable?

She spent the afternoon trying out all different ways to wear her hair and BOUNCING around the house since, "It feels so bouncy".  Boo tends to be a fun loving kid but she avoids anything that draws attention to herself.  She'd rather not have all eyes on her and even positive attention can make things difficult around here.  My favorite statement from her today was, "I feel like a whole new person".   In many ways this year, I see her becoming more sure of herself and growing into a whole new Boo. 

Mother-Son Stampede

We finally had our turn (according to my boys).  After watching the girls head to dances with their Daddy in the past, there was an event just for the boys and I this week.  The Stampede was put on by various organizations in town and the boys were thrilled to hit the town with Mom.  Of course, the silly thing is that once we arrived and took the hayride to the party, they were runnin' with the boys more than hangin' with their mom.  Imagine hundreds of boys, eating, shooting guns & bows, running obstacle courses - all while their moms are trying to keep up with them or just keep track.  Just when I'd coral Jaybird to say that Spiderman & I were going to get some food, he'd inform us that he already had.  Well, technicalities aside, the boys had a blast and definitely want to go again so in their mind, Mom dates are pretty fun. :)

A Glorious Day

Spiderman is an amazing boy.  We often marvel at what all he has been through in his short, little life and yet he has such a positive attitude (most of the time).  How beautiful to watch today as his earthly Daddy helped him publicly identify with his Heavenly Daddy through believer's baptism.  Precious!

It was over 2 years ago that he gave his heart to Jesus and we've watched him grow in his faith ever since.  He's been "contemplating" baptism for the past year but had been too scared to get up in front of everyone to do it.  All this week he has been praying that God would help him to be brave so he could be baptized.  Well God did help him and he even told me afterward that  it really wasn't that scary after all.  That's the peace that comes from knowing you've obeyed what your Father has asked you to do.  Thank you Jesus!

In God's timing, All God's Children International chose this week to share the miracle story (check it out) of what God has done here in our little family and our little church.  Today was a neat reminder about the bigger picture of why God brought this child to our family - to help bring him to his eternal family. 

 "Come and see what God has done, how awesome His works in man's behalf!" Psalm 66:5 NIV

Parting shots of August

This month we celebrated Spiderman's 3rd Gotcha Day.  Yep, we've been blessed to be his parents for 3 years now and time has just flown.  We've watched him grow physically (5 clothing sizes, 26 lbs and 7 inches since coming home), mentally (he has progressed in school - not easily but with much hard work), culturally (now loves pizza, Bill Cosby and often says "Dude"), socially (while still quiet, he's gone from painfully shy to everybody's best friend), and spiritually (he's come to faith in Jesus Christ and prays for everyone he can think of to do the same ).  He seemed to accept us as his family from the get go but has definitely grown very comfortable in his place here with us.   God has exceeded our expectations!

In honor of the celebration, Grandma and Great Aunt Liz made a trip out to visit for the week.  We had a great time and played a LOT of games.  We're thankful they took the time to travel so far out to see us.

August was also a time to get some summer projects done that we've been putting off due to the crazy heat.  My man and I worked on powerwashing the house and decks, water sealing them both and scraping, sanding and painting the trim on the front of the house.  Nothing too enjoyable though it all looks pretty nice.  The kids got in on the action by painting our shed (now lovingly called the barn) a more festive color.

It's very cheery now and it complements the nice new roof my man gave it earlier this summer.  The kids were proud to put their own elbow grease into the project, though they were surprised to see that painting was as much "work" as it was.  Looks great guys!  Now we're ready for fall and school! 

local wildlife

Just a quick look at our recent nature opportunities.  We had fun waiting for our monarch caterpillar to hatch from it's cocoon.  We actually missed the actaul moment it emerged but we had fun holding it while it got it's strength together.  Here is Jaybird showing off his new buddy - it actually stayed around us for over an hour.

Now you have to look really closely but here is Spiderman holding a cool spotted salamander we found out back.  That's the first one we've ever found here and I was glad to see the boys were both interesed in holding and examining it -though the girls kept their safe distance. 

 

Here is Goose trying her hand at milking a cow.  She had been bugging me for a year or so about wanting to milk a cow and we finally had our chance.  All the kids gave it a shot and figured out the proper technique.  We were really put to shame when Mr. Noe took hold and did some serious milking in very little time.  Very impressive.  The kids tried some fresh, warm milk but decided they prefer it cold!  The Noes were nice enough to send our milk home with us so we could enjoy it for the next few days.

The Budding Chefs

As part of a summer experiment and teaching opportunity, we decided to have each of the kids try their hand at playing chef (planning and preparing the meal for the family).  They had to choose what to make, check the pantry for ingredients, make a shopping list for what was missing and then prrepare and serve the meal on their night.  Each week, we had a night where it was someone elses turn.  They loved it!

Goose went first and planned a big meal of chicken lasagna, garlic bread and jello parfaits.  It was all delicious but I forgot to take any photos.  Silly me.

Spiderman here chose homemade pizza, fruit salad, and this cake for dessert.  They relished every step, from what to make and how to prepare it.  Can you see the big smile?

Jaybird chose to BBQ for his meal and you can see the hot dogs and burgers sizzling on the grill.  He paired that with chips and salsa and pumpking pie (his favorite dessert).  Oh the power he weilds with those tongs...

Boo had a more creative touch with her meal plans.  You can see her showing off her ocean themed seashell mac and cheese topped with octo-dogs.  Finish that off with a big bowl of dirt and worms (chocolate and gummy respectively) for dessert and we all felt like kids again. 

GOOD JOB KIDS!