As summer comes to a close....

I can't believe it's almost over. Daniel starts Kindergarten in 2 weeks!! We have really had a great summer. We've seen this little boy just blossom before our very eyes. His English is picking up in leaps and bounds. His confidence is increasing and we can see that he feels more and more secure in his new home. And what just really thrills my soul is when I can see that he is just overcome with happiness and he throws out his arms and says, 'Mom, Big Hug!' and then he says, 'I love you!' What a sweetie! God is so good and we just can't stop praising Him for blessing us so richly.

Last week we went with the neighbors and their 2 little boys to the zoo after work. They have late hours for members and free carousel rides! Check out this big boy:

Did I mention he has grown at least 2 inches in just 4 months? He is still a skinny little thing, but is shooting right up. We look back and those pictures that we have of him while we were in Ukraine and it doesn't even look like the same little boy. I guess the Love of a family, lots of playing outside and french fries will do that to you! (when we are trying to decide what to have for dinner, he will say, 'Mom - me like it cheeseburger, french fries and tea.')

This past Sunday was my Birthday and we rented a paddle boat and took him out on the lake. He had already been on the Belle of Louisville, but now we told him we were going on a mylinkey (little) boat. It was great because he sat in the middle and was the captain in charge of the steering wheel. It was cute seeing him learn how to steer. We would tell him to head towards the bridge and after awhile he would say, 'Oh no, me go that way!' (totally the wrong way) and we would show him again how to correct it. I think he was getting the hang of it by the end of 2 hours. And he also got his first 5 star terrain geocaches!! Congratulations Sergeant Squash!

Look at this cutie!

They are re-painting the children's department at our church. I found this great spot where the blue and yellow came together and it totally looks like the Ukraine flag. Isn't this a great shot?




It was another weekend of blown expectations. We had planned to take Daniel to a BIG swimming pool for the first time. He was finally going to graduate from the baby pool in our backyard. Wouldn't you know it? It's July in Kentucky and the high temp on Saturday was 69. Isn't that crazy? It just wasn't meant to be. I hate to complain about the beautiful weather. I know we will be dying for it in August but I was so looking forward to a pool day. I was so excited to see his reaction! Well, there is always next weekend!

Only 4 more weeks left and then school starts. What happened to summer? We had all of these big plans and have run out of time! It has really been a great summer though. Daniel's English is picking up so fast. He rarely ever speaks in Ukrainian anymore. It's only been 3 months - it's so hard to believe. He can really communicate and get his point across. His teacher at day care said that he knows all of the kids names in his class and is interacting well.

We are past the honeymoon period and he is really pushing his boundaries. We seem to be standing in the corner more and more lately. Our biggest issues are hitting, throwing toys and obeying. Even though he doesn't have a ton of English, he knows when he is doing wrong. He will throw something and then take off running because he knows it's wrong. Or, when he hears the stern, 'Daniel!' he will take off running. When we go after him, he laughs like it's a game. Of course, when he finds himself in the corner he really has a fit - crying and screaming. We know consistency is the most important thing, so we try to always have the same consequence every time. Every time he hits mom or pop - he goes in the corner, no matter where we are. We have done our share of standing in the corner in public restrooms. We are hopeful that once he realizes where the lines are, he will choose not to cross them. We keep praying for wisdom and discernment.

Becoming a parent has really opened my eyes to my relationship with my Heavenly Father. When we tell Daniel, No, it's to keep him from getting hurt. He can't see the big picture and just thinks we are trying to keep him from having fun when really we are trying to keep him from running into the street or grabbing something that's hot. It's the same with God. We just have our own small perspective whereas He sees the big picture and He loves us so much, he's just trying to keep us safe. His ways are higher, His ways are better. I need to get my ideas out of the way and trust Him. Thank you God, for loving me so much!

Indy Cache Run 2009

Once again, Jason and his good friend Robert planned to find 100 caches in one day in the Indianapolis area. Robert actually was pushing for 125, but Jason wasn't so sure they could get that done. After working for months on solving puzzle caches, the map was pretty well filled in. At about 5:15am on 27 Jun, they started on their quest in the Greenwood area and worked north to downtown then east with an arc going north, northwest, and southwest along the I465 corridor.

The day was going very well until they hit Fort Benjamin Harrison. Jason was stationed there with the army in 1993 so it was nice to revisit the area, but the caching went poorly - 3 DNF's and no finds in an hour.

They got back on track, though, with cleaning up the caches in the Crown Hill Cemetery (akin to Cave Hill in Louisville). By about 8:15p they found their 100th cache at the Indianapolis Museum of Art.

There was still about 75 minutes of daylight left so they continued hunting until they reached 114 finds - the last several in the pitch dark. On the way back to Robert's home (where the wives and kids were fast asleep), they found one more cache that was directly on the route. Exhausted, the boys arrived at nearly 11pm with 115 yellow smilies for the books.

They are now giving some consideration to another run in the fall. The amount of daylight will be a lot less, but so will the underbrush and foilage. Who knows? Perhaps another 100 caches can be grabbed.

Congratulations Uncle Chuck and Aunt Brandi!!

For those long time readers of this blog, you will remember that right after we announced our adoption plans we also announced that Kelly's brother got engaged. Well, the main event was finally this weekend. Daniel's first wedding! I was worried about how he would do, but as always he wowed us. He was so well behaved and had a great time at the wedding. He didn't like wearing a tie, but looked adorable in his fancy duds.

Congratulations Uncle Chuck and Aunt Brandi - we love you!!

Happy 4th of July!

I was hoping to have a great post with cute pictures of our new American celebrating with his first fireworks. Well, things don't always go as planned. We had a RAINY Saturday and the fireworks in town are just too late for our little guy. He goes to bed at 8:00! 10:30 is just too late, maybe next year. He was also running a fever on and off last week. Poor thing. He is fine now, but he just wasn't himself. We went to see Ice Age - that's about all I have to report. He loved it! His coloring has really improved too. That's a recent development. He used to NEVER want to color. I guess he didn't think he could do it very good, so he didn't want to do it at all. Now all of a sudden he is coloring. I think maybe it's seeing the other kids at day care do it - he realizes he doesn't have to be perfect. Of course, he is still very careful and takes his time. He does a very good job and is proud to display his work. Between coloring, working with scissors, and working on our letters - our refrigerator is absolutely covered with masterpieces.

A friend from church read my last post and sent me this scripture reference:
Deuteronomy 11:18-19 NIV
18 Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 19 Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

Thanks Ima! It is a 24/7 job to teach Daniel about God. Even though we are amazed at how quickly he is learning English, his vocabulary is still somewhat limited. I think I have been letting that hold me back. I need to talk to him about God MORE, read him MORE Bible stories - even if he doesn't understand now, it will come. There is no better time!