Our Adoption Adventure

Mom look - I made an X

2012-01-27T23:28:00.000-05:00

BBall

2012-01-25T16:03:00.005-05:00

Daniel is still enjoying Saturday morning basketball. There is so much to learn! Last week he made a basket (YAY) but it was in the wrong goal (BOO). He had a total meltdown, started crying and went and sat on the bench. He was totally inconsolable for awhile. I made him 'get back on the horse' and go back in the game. He didn't want to, but when he did he perked up again. Look at this sweet thang....

Then after the game, we go get breakfast. Daniel is a true southerner - he loves them grits....

A short week and a long verse

2012-01-21T15:36:00.001-05:00

Swimming lessons

2012-01-19T23:38:00.000-05:00

I was a total loser and didn't get Daniel into swimming lessons this summer. We just had too many things going on, so now I am trying to catch up. We are taking swimming lessons down at the University of Louisville this winter. Daniel is so excited about being a Cardinal!!

Learning to float on my back...

Verse

2012-01-16T19:58:00.000-05:00

Basketball

2012-01-08T19:45:00.005-05:00

Another year, another new sport. We asked Daniel if he wanted to continue learning soccer (we could sign him up for an indoor league) or if he wanted to play basketball. A big decision!! He really struggles with making decisions. I try to give him opportunities in many small ways so he can practice making up his mind. He just has such a hard time. Even when we're selecting a movie or picking out a toy, something you think he would have an opinion about - he will say, 'you pick mom'. Not all the time, but often. Anyway, I digress. So first he picked basketball and then he changed his mind to soccer and then he changed it back to basketball. So I signed him up in the program at our church. (and then when I told him we were signed up he goes, 'I thought I picked soccer.' Ha! He really cares, huh? You can't go wrong - it's all fun!) We ended up in the first session, so it is an early start time on Saturday morning! This was the first meeting. Check out this cutie....

Reflecting on 2011

2012-01-03T12:26:00.004-05:00

What a year Daniel has had! He lost several more teeth, got a stamp in his passport, committed more of the Bible to memory, learned to ride his bike without training wheels, so many accomplishments. You haven't heard me say much lately about Daniel's behavior because it's really been going great for him! After all of those episodes last year, this year has really been a piece of cake. (knock on wood!) He has settled into 2nd grade so easily. His teacher is big on responsibility, which we love, and he's been growing and maturing so much. We've been so amazed by how much he is learning. The homework is hard and we've had more than a few meltdowns over timed math (UGH!) but for the most part - it is smooth sailing at our house.

Of course, I have always said that he seems to go through cycles. We'll have several months of a perfect angel and then it's like he needs to double check his boundaries or something and our sweet child turns into a mouthy handful for a few months. We need to re-affirm the rules and who's in charge and then he settles back into our little sweetie. So, maybe we're just in a good cycle right now but Hello 2012, things are looking sunny!

Jason and I were just reflecting on how sweet Daniel is. Maybe when he hits puberty, it will all change but these years have been great. He is so affectionate, loves to sit in my lap, give kisses and hold hands. And he LOVES to be tickled! He will come in and lift up this shirt and say, 'mom, look at my belly!' If I don't take the bait he will go, 'mom, is it tickle time?' What a hoot! He likes to snuggle up under a blanket on the couch (he will say, 'Mom, you're so cozy!'), loves for us to read to him and play games. He is such a treasure! And his prayers before bed would just make you melt! He often thanks God for our family and that we love each other. The other day (after being reminded several times that day about being respectful to mom and pop and using a respectful tone), I was talking to him about why it's import to be respectful and how the Bible tells us, 'Honor your Father and Mother'. We had a really nice dicussion about it and that night he prayed, 'thank you for mom and pop who help me follow the Bible and make good choices.' Wow!! Sometimes he just blows me away!! God has his hand on Daniel and I feel priveleged to be a part of His handiwork. To God be the glory!!

Merry Christmas!!!

2011-12-30T21:10:00.004-05:00

Christmas is almost here!!

2011-12-22T20:25:00.003-05:00

We've been busy getting ready.....

Decorating Daniel's tree: Having a Christmas party at school:

Celebrating Pop's and Uncle Chuck's birthday:

Eating Christmas cookies:

Daniel is really excited about Christmas this year. We've been talking about how it's not just about presents but about Jesus coming to earth to be our Savior. It's tough - you don't really know what's sinking in and what's going in one ear and out the other. The other night, 10 minutes before a bunch of people show up to our home for a party - mom is running around like crazy, doing all of those last minute things - and Daniel goes and gets his Bible off the shelf. He brings it into the kitchen and proceeds to read:

'For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.' John 3:16

'What does that mean mom?'

Wow - I couldn't believe it. Just out of the blue, he is asking me that. What a moment! So, in the midst of all the busyness - I explanied how God loved us soooooo much, He sent His only son Jesus, and that's what we celebrate at Christmas. But God didn't send Jesus just to be a baby, He sent Jesus to grow up and die on the cross to pay for our sins. And He did that as a gift for us - the greatest gift ever.

I hope you can celebrate this great gift in your home this Christmas.

Much love to you all! Thanks for sharing our lives and our love of sweet Daniel.

Merry, Merry, Merry Christmas!

The tree is up!!

2011-12-09T17:33:00.003-05:00

With his 2 minute attention span, Daniel helped us as much as he could with getting the tree up and decorated. Daniel keeps asking me how many days until Christmas. He is pretty excited! I asked him, 'What's your favorite thing about Christmas?' Well of course he said presents. 'What else?', I asked. 'Being with your family and having joy' he said. What a great answer!!

We're ready for Christmas!!!

2011-12-07T13:14:00.000-05:00

School Christmas Program

2011-12-05T22:40:00.002-05:00

Daniel's Christmas program at school was last week. It was mandatory for his music grade, but we wouldn't have missed it for the world! He was so excited. All the kids got to pick their instrument and he was playing the bell tree. He told me, 'Mom, you can't just pick what you like - you have to think about what you're good at.' And then they sang also. Their music teacher is very dedicated. The entire program was with music provided by the kids - no CD. She says they will be more invested in it if they do it all. We were really impressed with the performances. Daniel was so proud. You could see him trying to hide his big smile.

Water park

2011-11-27T11:55:00.002-05:00

Last weekend we went to the Big Splash indoor water park in French Lick, IN. (thank you Groupon) We met our friends the Parkers there and we all had a great time. Daniel had such fun swimming, enjoying their basketball hoops, Karlen family Wipeout on their obstacle course, the lazy river and shooting down those BIG slides!!! On the weekend before Thanksgiving when I should have been home cleaning house and preparing to have 21 people over for the big day, we were off splish splashing around. It was a nice get away....

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-25T12:04:00.002-05:00

Another new belt

2011-11-16T22:55:00.003-05:00

Daniel is now a blue belt. It's impressive. We are so proud of all he has learned and his accomplishments!!

This is before the test - he is showing off his blue 'character stripes'. He works hard each week to add to this row of stripes...

Howdy Partner!

2011-11-14T21:47:00.014-05:00

The rodeo came to town last week, so Daniel and I had to go check it out. The redneck in me has been trying to convince Jason to go to see PBR for a long time now (that's the Professional Bull Riders, for you Yanks out there) so this was my big chance. The rodeo was fun because they had not just bull riding, but steer wrestling, roping, bare back riding, rodeo clowns and cowboys galore. But I was with the cutest cowboy there!

Daniel spent most of his time there doing this:

We love that caramel corn!! I have to tell you about a conversation we had the other night when I was putting Daniel to bed. We were talking about all of his mosquito bites and he said, 'Mom, I think the mosquitos bite me because I look Chinese.' What? That doesn't make any sense?? then he said, 'Mom, somtimes when I come into a room with lots of big kids, I hear them say - that kid looks Chinese.' Hmmmm...I am totally unprepared for this (what else is new!).

'Well, you could tell them that you weren't born in China but you were born in Ukraine. I bet they never met anyone born in Ukraine - it's pretty special you know. Then you could ask them where they were born.'

'Yeah,' he says, 'but they might say something mean to me.' (very true - why are kids like that?)

'You could try it once and see what happens.' I tell him. 'How does it make you feel when they say that?'

'It make me feel bad. I just wish you could change your face mom. I really do.' (whoa - my heart cracked a little when he said this)

'There is nothing wrong with the way you look. You are perfect. But I know exactly how you feel' I told him. 'When I was little, the kids made fun of me for having all these freckles. They would call me 'polka dot' and I hated it. I wished I could change my face too. But my face is exactly how God made it, so that means it's just right for me. And your face is just right for you.'

I was totally not ready to deal with this. I look at him and don't even see it any more. He's just my sweet, perfect little miracle. I hate to think that the kids are saying things and making him feel bad but if it wasn't this, it would just be something else, right? He is a mixed race child and it's my job to help him navigate this predominantly white world and still be secure with who he is. To us, it doesn't matter in the least what he looks like but I know kids pounce on anything different. [and there are other internationally adopted kids at his school - not dominant, but they are there]

That's part of the reason I love having him in karate. It's a great atmosphere, they promote a positive attitude and character building AND it's a chance for him to be around people that look like him and see that they are leaders.

With today's melting pot of our culture I really didn't think this would be an issue. How naive is that! Any suggestions??

Shopping

2011-11-06T19:01:00.003-05:00

Any guesses as to where I do a lot of my shopping?

Goodbye Mickey

2011-11-05T22:51:00.003-04:00

One of my favorite cousins passed away today. Goodbye Mickey! We love you and you will be missed!!

(this picture is from 2009, it's the only one I have of Daniel and Mickey. He has grown so much!)

Adventures

2011-10-18T21:35:00.009-04:00

Sorry for the long pause - we're still here. I have been soooo busy! In the evenings I have been working instead of finding time to update my blog. We have been having fun and Daniel is doing really great. I will try to update you on our good times through pictures....

We had a great time at the mother/son social at Camp Hi Ho:

Finished up another great soccer season:

And of course a fabulously fun Halloween....

Is this the cutest spiderman you've ever seen or what? Check out that face tattoo - I was so excited about it. This is such a fun age!

Verse this week

2011-10-02T21:33:00.002-04:00

It's just a little rain

2011-09-24T21:09:00.004-04:00

Today we played soccer in the pouring down rain. For a kid that sometimes complains about getting dirty, he faired it well. We had a pep talk beforehand about how it was ok to get all muddy and we'll wash up later. I think that was the release he needed to just get out there and enjoy it. He was even asking me why I had my umbrella, 'It's just rain Mom!'

Daniel also tested for his next belt in Karate. Oh, pardon me - Tae Kwon Doe. He keeps correcting me! He is now a proud blue tip belt...

Ukraine picnic

2011-09-17T20:45:00.006-04:00

Let me tell you about the lady at our church who helped us with our adoption. Her name is Kathy and she went to Ukraine and adopted a little girl. But that one adoption wasn't enough for her. She was moved by the plight of orphans and wanted to do more. So she helps other couples in our church that want to adopt, facilitating their paperwork process here in the states (at no charge) and then assigning facilitators to work with you in Ukraine. She also started Hopeful Hearts (check out the link on the sidebar), to raise money and assist the orphanages for those kids who will never get adopted but still need help and love and hope. The Lord has blessed their efforts so much that they've been able to extend their benevolence to orphanages in India and Afghanistan as well.

Every year they have a picnic for the families that they have helped to adopt. Not everyone can come each year, but it's a good time to catch up on the kid's progress and meet the new kids that have found their forever families this year. What a legacy - look at all these kids (and this is just a fraction of them):

Kathy - we are so thankful for you....for your willingness to follow the Lord's leading, to step out in faith where many would have thought they couldn't have an impact, for your love of the kids and passion for building families. In knowing you, our lives are forever changed.

Wedding Fun!

2011-09-13T20:19:00.006-04:00

We went to a wedding over Labor Day weekend and they had a photo booth at the reception. We had such fun dressing up and making goofy faces. Is it slightly sad that we're so good at being dorky?

On a side note - second grade is going great! (which you can probably tell since I haven't been moaning about troubles) I was all geared up for a rough start to the school year, like First grade. But Daniel is really doing great. We've had a few minor hiccups, but I have to say - he's really great at being a second grader. Thank you Lord for your special blessings on our sweet boy!

Soccer kid

2011-09-07T20:13:00.003-04:00

Daniel had his first soccer game this past Saturday. His uniform this year is orange and black so they are the Tigers! Daniel's aggressive nature really helps him out in soccer. He gives it his all the entire game - he runs, he goes after the ball, he mixes it up with the other players. Pop is so proud! Since he is always in there scrapping over the ball, that means he is also getting roughed up by the other team trying to get the ball. He gets knocked down, pushed and elbowed quite a bit. He hangs in there though and really gives it his all. We think soccer is going to be his favorite sport!

FamilyPalooza

2011-09-06T12:37:00.002-04:00

Every year on Labor day they have a big carnival at our church. The weather turned a bit chilly this year but Daniel still had a great time playing games, jumping on the inflatables, eating junk food, at the petting zoo and just enjoying a day off school!

The big one is OUT!!

2011-08-28T16:12:00.005-04:00

We have been calling Daniel 'Nanny McPhee' with his snaggle tooth hanging down. It is hanging on by a thread and really wants to come out. We were teasing him at lunch and I took a few snaps....

after an extended period of wiggling and squiggling, it finally CAME OUT!! Check out this triumphant smile:

Man - ever since we have her a raise, the tooth fairy is going broke!

Back home safe!

2011-08-27T15:24:00.004-04:00

I was able to get home yesterday and beat Irene! I am glad to be out of the city and home safely. Here is Daniel's verse for the week....

Stuck in NYC

2011-08-26T09:12:00.002-04:00

Came to New York for a client meeting yesterday, but they had bad weather and the airport backed up. I had to stay an extra night but I hope to get home today. I am missing my boys! I got to go see Rockefeller Center after my meeting. I really need to come back here one day as a tourist!

Caching

2011-08-22T13:20:00.002-04:00

We are staying busy, trying to get settled into a routine with school. So far, second grade is going great. (fingers crossed!) This morning when I dropped Daniel off at school he said, 'I don't think I am going to have a good day.' 'Why not?', asks mom. 'I just don't feel like it' he said. Whoa! Let's hope he was just teasing me!

Last weekend we did some geocaching. We wanted to get out and enjoy the nice weather. We found ourselves at the location of the very first geocache Daniel ever found in America. So of course, I had to snap a photo. We have found many caches with him in the last 2 years!

Where do babies come from?

2011-08-18T21:12:00.004-04:00

The beginning of Second grade is going great so far. (Thank you Lord!) They have to do timed math for homework. Which means, they have a sheet of math problems and they have to complete as many as they can in one minute and 15 seconds. What a challenge for a perfectionist!! We're working through it. But, his behavior at school has been acceptable so far and we're just thrilled. They had a party in the school library last Friday and got to dress up like a character from a book they read over the summer. Check out our cowboy. Of course, he can't take a toy gun to school so Pop made him a cool lasso...

And he also lost his BIG front tooth!! This is his fourth tooth to come out and he looks so cute with with the gap in the front. When I was in second grade I was missing both of my front teeth. Daniel might be there soon:

I have to tell you about a conversation we had on our vacation. I got an email that a girl I work with who was pregnant when I left lost her baby. What a sad time. Daniel overheard me sharing this with Jason. He said, 'How did she lose her baby?' Whew! I always try to answer his questions truthfully and not shield him from the sad parts of life, but still in an appropriate way. So I said, 'You know that babies grow in mommies tummies.' (we had a good friend he calls Ms Bunny who had a baby and we talked about how she had a baby in her tummy) 'Well, this lady mom works with - her baby got sick and died. So she won't be able to be born.'

Daniel says, 'I don't get it mom. How does the baby get in the mom's tummy?' (Whoa! Really?) I tell him, 'Well, that's how God designed it. The baby starts out as a little speck in the mommies tummy and then it grows and grows and when it's big enough to be born, it comes out of the mommies tummy and is born. And that's his birthday!' (let's see if that satisfies him)

He looks across the table at me with that sweet face and says, 'Did I grow in your tummy Mom?'

Do you ever wish you had a pause button? You could push it and pause everything, the whole world, while you come up with the right response. I totally need that pause button! I was flabbergasted. We do talk about when he lived in Ukraine 'with all those kids'. He remembers it. He knows he is from Ukraine. What I have not done a good job with, is to talk about his birth mother. I don't have the words. I don't know what to say to make him understand when I don't understand myself. Avoiding it hasn't been the best choice. He was almost five years old when we got him so I assume he remembers and knows he didn't start out with us. But it's our job to help him connect all these dots. So, without the benefit of a pause button - I plunged right in...

'No, you didn't grow in mom's tummy.', I said. 'You grew in another ladies tummy in Ukraine. You were born and she couldn't take care of you so she took you to the place with all the kids where they could take good care of you until Mom and Pop could come get you. And now you're OUR little boy who we love sooooo much!' He got a big smile on his face and said, 'OK.' And then we moved on to the next topic. No more questions, for now. Huh. It's just such a wide arc of emotions and it happens so quickly! I need to talk with him about it more and just make sure that he knows he can ask whatever questions he has and will get honest answers. I think he knew the answer to that question was No, but he didn't really know the follow up information. I did the best I could. I will be prepared next time!

Snorkeling

2011-08-12T16:34:00.003-04:00

Did I mention that we went snorkeling in Cancun? Not off the beach, but actually in open water! We practiced in the pool with Daniel the day before, so he could adjust to the feeling of breathing through that tube. He actually did really great and I was so proud of him. He is pretty easy going and willing to try just about anything (food or experiences!). I remember the first time I snorkeled on our honeymoon and I was totally freaked out by it all. Getting used to the breathing is totally weird!

He was excited about seeing the fish. He had a death grip on my hand but we were floating around looking at fish. Then he adjusted his mask, got salt water in his eyes and that was all she wrote. He wanted to get back in the boat. I didn't push him. I was so proud that he was willing to do it - even if it only lasted 10 minutes.

Soccer

2011-08-11T21:12:00.000-04:00

The soccer season has finally started!! We've been waiting all summer and Daniel is really looking forward to playing. I think this may turn out to be his favorite sport! (and basketball of course) Check out his great Barcelona soccer jersey pop got him...

Second Grade!!

2011-08-10T21:00:00.003-04:00

I can't believe it, but our little boy is growing up so fast and today was the first day of second grade. Oh my! When did he get so big? I am so proud and sad and amazed and nervous all at the same time. On the way to school this morning I was telling him how proud I am of him, how much he has accomplished in 2 years and how big he is! Then, we were walking in to school and he was holding my hand (love it!) and he says to me, 'look Mom, it's a penguin and an elephant!' 'Where? What?' 'There!', he says. 'That puddle looks like a penguin and that one looks like an elephant.' It was so sweet and reminded me, OK, maybe not so big. Still my sweet little boy....

New bed!!!!

2011-08-08T13:42:00.003-04:00

The missing screw came in right before we left and pop worked really hard to get Daniel's new bed together. Once he got up there - it looks really high. Yikes! We have pillows piled all around the outer edge and hoped that he wouldn't roll out. It's a double, so he has lots of room up there. The first night he slept in it was the night before we left for Mexico AND he lost a tooth (can the tooth fairy reach that high? Sure mom, she'll just fly up here!) AND it was the first night in the new bed. Whoa! He probably didn't get any sleep from all the excitement! (and mom is excited about our NEW window darkening curtains from Pottery Barn. Maybe now we can sleep in on Saturday?)

Hola!

2011-08-04T21:57:00.009-04:00

Sorry for the long pause, but Daniel got his first stamp in his shiny new passport and we just got back from a lovely, relaxing week in Cancun Mexico. It was a great vacation. We spent loads of time together, just the 3 of us and had a lazy week playing around in the sun.

Going down the water slide:

Daniel got to practice his 3rd language - Spanish! He got really good at saying Hola! and Gracias!

Enjoying the Mariacchi band:

Contemplating this great life:

Cincinnati Reds Baseball game

2011-07-26T21:55:00.000-04:00

Daniel had a good time at the game AND it was a winner!! With a water bottle and a fan - we were still HOT HOT HOT!

Babushka and Dadushka!

2011-07-24T15:59:00.003-04:00

We went up to the Cincinnati area to visit Jason's Aunt and Uncle this weekend. Daniel calls them Babushka and Dadushka. We had a great time visiting with you guys - thanks for having us! The visit was just too short!

Puzzling

2011-07-20T21:56:00.001-04:00

New bedroom

2011-07-18T21:19:00.006-04:00

Who remembers the great paint debate right before we adopted Daniel? Jason wanted to paint the 'kids' room before we left for Ukraine and I wanted to wait until we knew what we were getting and could really decorate the room for the specific kid. Well, wisdom prevailed and 2 weeks before we left we painted Daniel's room a boring bland taupe color.

So now, here I am 2 years later - finally getting around to doing Daniel's room. It took me awhile to come up with an idea, then to gather the bedding, details, etc. And now we are in the execution phase of the great bedroom re-do. I didn't want to do something too childish since Daniel is a big 7 years old now and getting bigger and bigger by the moment. So I decided on an astronaut / outer space theme. First step, paint the ceiling dark blue - like the night sky:

This turned out way brighter blue than I expected. I said to Jason, 'I think we accidentally painted Daneil's room U of K blue! YIKES!' (of course - this is with the flash on my camera, but still - Geesh!)

And then Daniel decided he wanted bunk beds. Well, he didn't need 2 beds so we got him a cool loft bed from Ikea. It is a full size bed on top and empty underneath for a desk or storage or play area or whatever. This weekend it was time to put the bed together. What a big job! The good news is - I am married to an Engineer. I can just leave all this to him. He can design and fix an electrical problem on an Explorer - surely he can put together this little boy bed.

We broke it up into 2 building sessions. It was a family affair - we all pitched in. Here is brave Pop, letting Daniel use the mallet:

Daniel was so excited. An hour into day 2 of the bed build and we discovered a screw is missing. It's just one screw. One tiny (big headed) screw. But it's a weird shape and has a purpose. So, I called Ikea and in 9 - 14 days we will be able to finish putting up the bed. UGH!!!

And then for the ceiling - my plan is glow in the dark stars. But after some reading on the internet, I guess those stars lose their glowy stuff after awhile. The sticky stuff wears off. It didn't sound very good. But I found some glow in the dark paint. And - it comes with stencils for the constellations. How great is that? Cool and Educational!! And they send a CD rom that explains how to make your own ceiling mural. Exciting and a bit intimidating. Will I be able to pull this off? Hmmmm...only one way to find out. More to follow...

And then on Sunday for a nice treat - Jason decided Daniel is finally grown up enough to inherit his army men that he played with as a little boy. Mom went shopping. Pop and Daniel had a big time playing, scheming, setting up, destroying, plotting, sorting and battling with the army men. Too cute:

Bless you!

2011-07-14T22:14:00.003-04:00

We're sitting at dinner last night and Daniel sneezed into his hand. Then he says, 'Mom, I need to go wash my hands because I Bless You'd into my hand.'

We're still filling in our English!

:)

Weekend visit

2011-07-08T07:35:00.003-04:00

Daniel and I went with my mom and dad over the holiday weekend to visit relatives in Northern Ohio. We didn't make it last year, so it was great to get up there and see everyone. Daniel had a great time......

Riding the Four Wheeler:

Catching Lightning bugs:

Visiting family:

And of course, trying not to catch anything on fire with our Way Cool sparklers!

Riding without training wheels

2011-07-06T14:50:00.000-04:00

Happy Fourth of July!

2011-07-05T21:05:00.002-04:00

Camping Trip!!!

2011-06-28T22:39:00.000-04:00

For those of you that know me, you know that camping would not be my first choice (or 2nd or 3rd) of a great time. But, now that I am the mom of a boy I told Jason I thought we should go camping and create some of those fun memories because while I don't think it's great Daniel would probably LOVE it!

So, we bought a tent, loaded up the car with everything essential I could think of and off we went to the lake for the weekend. Our friends from Indianapolis met us there with their boat and camper and we had a big weekend. We spent the night in our brand new tent on Friday. None of us got much sleep, I think from the excitement and strangeness of it all. Daniel was so excited!!! Then on Saturday we had a fun day on the lake, boating and riding the tube then we came back and roasted hot dogs, marshmellows and made s'mores and had great fun telling stories around the campfire. This is exactly what I had hoped for - what a great camping trip! Saturday night we were beat and knew we would sleep really good on our 2nd tent night.

Well, at 2:30am we started hearing thunder and at 3:00am the storm rolled in. So I thought, 'OK - this isn't terrible - it will rain for awhile and then tomorrow the sun will come out and dry everything off.' Yeah, right. What actually happened was it POURED down rain for five solid hours. I mean it was a total monsoon! Just when I thought it couldn't possibly rain any harder, it did. It was crazy! At first, it wasn't bad but after a few hours I started feeling drops on my face. Uh oh! We pulled our air mattress more toward the middle of the tent and pulled the blanket up over our heads. Daniel slept through the beginning, but then he woke up and said, 'Mom, we need to go home!' We couldn't pack up in the rain so we just hunkered down and toughed it out.

(on a side note - often when Daniel complains about something I will tell him, 'That's part of the fun!' Like this - 'That's part of the fun of eating a taco - a lot of it will drop out of the end.' OR 'That's part of the fun of splashing in puddles, you will get your feet wet.' OR 'That's part of the fun of eating s'mores, your fingers will be sticky.' So we are lying there trying to survive the monsoon and Daniel says to me, 'Mom - This is NOT part of the fun!' How right he was!)

The next morning, it was still raining. So we packed up all of our wet sleeping bags, duffel bags and sopping wet tent and headed home. We pitched the tent in our backyard to let it dry out before packing it away for our next adventure. When will that be? Hmmmm.....it might take me awhile to forget about this one and be willing to do it again. It was the perfect camping trip, right up until that crazy storm!

King Daniel

2011-06-24T07:30:00.001-04:00

They were learning about Queen Esther this week at summer camp, so they were talking about kings and queens. When I picked Daniel up yesterday he had a crown and this cool armor.

It was so fun to see how excited he was by a box covered in reynolds wrap! He kept putting it on and taking it off to show everyone. What a sweet thing. This may seem too juvenile for him, but he didn't go to preschool and get to do all this fun stuff when he was 3 or 4, so it's still new and interesting to him.

So, once they had all of these kings and queens all decked out - they had a tea party! Daniel told me he was worried that the kings would have to pick a queen and they would have to stay together for the whole party. Yuck! But they didn't have to do that. Whew!

Chores

2011-06-21T07:43:00.002-04:00

For the summer, we have implemented a few new things at our house that we wanted to work on with Daniel but have been too wrapped up with school to think about! One of those things is weekly chores and an allowance. Not that he doesn't help out around the house but I made a list of all his chores for the week and put a chart on the refrigerator. Every time he completes a task, he gets a sticker. (It's really surprising to me how motivating a simple sticker can be!) At the end of the week, if he has completed most of his chores, he will get an allowance. We are going to use this opportunity to teach him about tithing and saving too.

Can I just tell you, it's a lot of work! It's so much quicker for me to just fold his laundry or run the dust buster in the bathroom myself, instead of supervising him doing it (which involves whining, correcting, complaining, dawdling, disctractions and all around silliness). But, I know it's important for him to contribute to the household and have some responsibilities. He is also very excited about earning some money!!

We have been totally lax about bed making (I know - my mom would be apalled!) but part of our chore chart is for him to make his bed every day. The first few times it was new and fun, but that has worn off and now it's just a chore. Not his favorite chore! But he is very meticulous and does a great job placing all of his 'pets' (as he calls them) in a nice lineup!

And, I have to show you this - I came in to his room the other day and he had written up some signs and taped them to the wall over his bed. It was so sweet, I just left it up. That tape will probably take off the paint, but it's just paint.

(I don't know if you can read that last one, but it says, 'God you are the best and you are a great God!') WOW!

Things I love this week

2011-06-17T08:05:00.002-04:00

- Hearing Daniel pray 'Thank you God for making this earth, so I can play in it.'

- We are a complete family again - Pop is back from Michigan!

- Good dinner with good friends - we love you Bible Study group! Have a great summer. See you in the fall!

- Chick-fil-A YAY! (Daniel and I have been rhyming this week - this one was my favorite!)

- In this week of thunderstorms I am noticing that my umbrella stand contains: 3 pirate swords, 2 baseball bats, 1 kite and zero umbrellas. Ha! Not very organized, but what a sweet sight!

Passport

2011-06-15T20:30:00.001-04:00

We finally got Daniel a US passport. When adopting internationally, every country is different but in Ukraine the child is allowed to retain their citizenship. So, Daniel is a dual citizen of Ukraine and America.

Check it out - he is ready to travel now:

Summer Days

2011-06-13T21:35:00.008-04:00

The cord for my camera is still missing, but Jason is my hero and found me another cord so my pictures have been downloaded and now I can update you on what's been going on with us! It's been a busy few weeks....

Daniel tested for his GREEN belt in Karate:

He's really excelled at karate and you can tell he is more comfortable with the moves and the routine. We're taking a break from karate for the summer, but we will probably pick it back up again in the fall.

We've been trying to get outside and enjoy this nice weather. We've been geocaching, bike riding, going to the park, splashing in the fountains, rolling down grassy hills, playing soccer and enjoying some family time. A friend got Daniel a super cool rocket launcher for his birthday so we've been having fun with that too:

Last year was such a success with Daniel's tomato plans, this year we decided to plant two! We have one plant for BIG tomatos and one for little guys. Now we are wanting the rain to come back! We'll let you know about our progress by the end of the summer...

I am really trying to be deliberate this summer about not filling our schedule up with too many things. It's a short summer and there is lots of fun to be had. I just want it to be family fun with us spending time together and not just bouncing from activity to activity but really having quality time together. Our sweet boy is growing up so fast and I know it won't be long before he is too cool and/or too busy for us. We are enjoying this time, making memories and cherishing these days.

Goodbye First Grade

2011-06-03T09:01:00.002-04:00

Thank you Mrs. Peterson for all of your hard work with Daniel this year!

Summer is here!!!!

2011-05-31T15:08:00.003-04:00

I can't believe the school year is over and summer is finally here! I am the mom of a second grader - WOW! Sorry I haven't been posting lately. I can't find the cord to download the photos from my camera and what's the fun of posting if there are no photos? Hopefully it will turn up soon. Daniel had a great end to the school year. He got his green belt at karate. We went to Holiday World for the day. We've been busy!

One of the really fun things about the end of the school year is that all of his writing notebooks have been sent home. These are books that he worked in all year. It's been fun to see his progress and see what he writes about, what is special to him. He writes a lot about U of L basketball, treasure hunting with pop, playing and having fun, and check out this gem:

What a sweet boy!

Almost done with First Grade!!

2011-05-11T16:26:00.000-04:00

I have been totally delinquent in posting lately! With mom's surgery (she is doing great!), Daniel's birthday, Derby, Mother's Day - who has time for a blog!! Daniel only has 3 weeks of school left and then he will be out for the summer. I was trying to explain to him last night about having the summer off school. He doesn't remember last summer and totally didn't realize he will get 2 1/2 months of NO SCHOOL!!! Maybe I shouldn't have explained it so well - now he is totally excited!

We are so proud of all he has done and accomplished in just 2 short years! We put him in Kindergarten just to learn English thinking he would repeat, but they said he was too smart so we sent him on to First grade. So we let him to to first grade this year, thinking he would just repeat if needed. Now here we are at the end of the year and the school says he is too smart to repeat first grade, so he is going on to 2nd grade next year. WOW! We are so amazed at how great he is doing. He is behind his peers on his reading level so we are going to get some tutoring this summer, but overall it is really hard to believe. Part of his reading problems still stem from having a limited vocabulary. Case in point - a couple weeks ago, we were driving to church and I was going to give Daniel a quarter for the offering. I said to him, 'Do those pants have a pocket in them?'

What mom?

Do your pants have a pocket in them?

What mom??

I have your offering here, do you have a pocket in those pants?

I don't know what you mean mom?

I have a quarter, do you have a pocket you can put it in so you don't lose it?

I don't understand?

Finally, I said, 'Look at mama' and I put my hand in my own pocket. 'See, I can put money in my pocket.' Then he said, 'Oh! I get it. Yes, I have a pocket.'

He totally didn't understand what I was asking him. I think because he is so smart and because he has picked things up so quickly, I often assume he knows things that he might not. This was a really eye opening exchange for me because it highlighted how much he doesn't know still and made me think about how much goes on during the day that probably flies right over his head. It's not like we have never used the word 'pocket' before, but in a given day there is just so much he has to figure out and remember. Poor kid! How stressful and exhausting that must be!

Update

2011-05-03T21:52:00.002-04:00

Praise the Lord! Mom came home from the hospital today. Thank you so much for your prayers. Her surgery went really well!

Daniel also turned 7 this weekend. I can't believe he is seven years old already! So big!! What happened to that little four year old? We finally let him have his very first party this year where he was allowed to invite the kids. He was so excited!! We had it at the karate studio and it was a good opportunity for him to show off all he has learned. It was really a good time. What a big boy!

Asking for your prayers

2011-04-28T10:51:00.004-04:00

My mom is having open heart surgery today. Right now, actually, as I type this post. Please stop and say a prayer for her, the surgeons, the nurses.

I would really appreciate it!

Happy Easter!!

2011-04-24T21:37:00.005-04:00

I think this is the only 5 minutes of the entire weekend when it wasn't down pouring! Daniel needs a few more chocolate eggs, Peeps and Reese Cups don't you think....

Things I love this week

2011-04-16T10:05:00.000-04:00

- Talking with a new friend about our adoption process and being reminded what a miracle it all truly is!

- Having Pop home with us ALL WEEK

- SUSHI!!!! (Daniel loves it too. He'll say, 'Mom, let's go get sushi!')

- Having a pillow fight with Daniel. He falls back on the bed and says with such enthusiasm, 'Oh Mom, I love you!' What a treasure!

- Seeing how the Lord will truly carry our burdens if we'll just give them up.

- Tulips popping out everywhere!

Holding an Alligator!!!

2011-04-15T18:02:00.007-04:00

One of the fun things we did on our Florida trip was to take an airboat ride on Boggy Creek:

These boats go a lot faster than you would think. Our guide was actually doing donuts in the water. Chase thought we were going to flip right out of the boat. We saw alligators, birds, bald eagles, turtles and all sorts of wildlife.

Whoa! Check it out!!! Daniel immediately volunteered when they asked if anyone wanted to hold the alligator. He was so brave.

Vacation cereal

2011-04-13T08:49:00.005-04:00

I remember when I was a girl, we would go on summer vacation to Racoon Lake in Indiana. We would have a place at the lake for a week for swimming, fishing, boating and all sorts of fun. One of the special things my mom would do for that week is that I was allowed to pick out ANY CEREAL that I wanted for my vacation breakfast. I cannot tell you how exciting this was!!! All year long we weren't allowed to have cereal with sugar in it. So after eating Cheerios and Kix all year, this was definitely a big deal. My favorite cereal was Lucky Charms and I can still remember looking forward to vacation with such anticipation because I could finally have my much loved Lucky Charms!

I decided to repeat this tradition for Daniel. The place we stayed in Florida had a kitchen so we tried to eat meals there to save money. I told Daniel when we went to the grocery that he could pick out ANY CEREAL he wanted. Daniel has a really hard time making decisions, so I thought this might throw him for a loop (ha, ha!) but Jason said he knew what he wanted and went right to it. Oh, the power of those commercials!

I was happy to repeat this special tradition from my childhood for Daniel. Of course, it's not quite as exciting for him. Daniel isn't a big fan of cereal. I totally spoil him and make scrambled eggs or a smoothie most mornings for breakfast so cereal is a step down from that. But, he was pretty excited about having Fruit Loops, 'with SPRINKLES mom!'

Back from Spring Break!!

2011-04-10T18:18:00.011-04:00

I didn't blog while we were gone, but we decided to spend our Spring Break in Florida again this year. Pop was able to get off work this year and join us. I am one hour out from that 2 day car ride home, so I don't have too many fun things to tell you right now. Just that we're home safe, had fun, no mishaps, and next year we're flying somewhere! UGH!!! We're all exhausted...

We did some new things this year, that we didn't do last year. I will tell you more in upcoming posts. One fun event was that we had breakfast with the Disney characters. It was over-priced but still fun to see Daniel's reaction to Goofy, Minnie and Donald....

The food was yummy. We were at Cape May Cafe at the Beach Resort. Those Mickey-shaped waffles are so good, mom had to have 2! Daniel enjoyed it but was sad that Mickey wasn't there. And thus begins our week-long search for Mickey...

Circus, Circus

2011-04-05T10:37:00.010-04:00

We had a really great time at the Circus. We loved the jugglers, the elephants (my favorite), the tight rope walkers, the tigers, the tumblers, the clowns - it was really over the top. If you ask Daniel what his favorite thing was, he'll say, 'All of it!'

The next morning on the way to school Daniel was asking me if we could go to see it again - it was so much fun!!

Things I love this week

- Spring Break!!

- hearing Daniel pray, 'Thank you for mom and pop to love me.'

- Pop finally home from Michigan

- Daniel actually made my bed all my himself - he said, 'Mom, I wanted to do kindness for you!' (any guess as to what we've been working on?)

- Rocky Road ice cream, isn't it just the best?

Excitement

2011-03-31T08:44:00.004-04:00

Daniel is so excited about Spring Break next week, I just don't know how he is going to survive this week at school. Also, Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey circus is in town and we are going to that tonight. How much excitement can one kid take? (Of course, I don't know who is more excited about the circus - him or me!) Here is the verse from last week:

Notice the sweater! We did this on Sunday afternoon (the day we had snow). He was not a happy camper about having to wear a sweater to church. He said, 'Mom, it's too light. I'll be cold!' (he meant the exact opposite - I will be hot!) Sometimes I feel like I am in backwards-land. I always know what he means, and he knows what he means, it just doesn't pop out of his mouth right. Is this a learning English thing or a 6 year old thing?

Easter Eggs

2011-03-27T22:52:00.002-04:00

We went from 85 on Tuesday to snow on the ground this morning. How messed up is that! So, I know we're a little early for dyeing eggs but we were looking for a fun indoor activity.

AND - Daniel LOVES eating eggs - scrambled, over medium, hard boiled, it doesn't really matter. He loves them all...

Hilarious quote of the week

2011-03-25T17:30:00.001-04:00

Daniel and I were looking at a book of super heroes and trying to guess the names of them. I wasn't sure on one of the guys:

I was telling him we should look through the book and see if we could find the name. He looks at me and says,

'Mom, you could Google it'

It was such an unexpected thing to hear him say. Is this kid a long way from a Ukraine orphanage or what? How does he even know what that is? He is learning a lot in his computer class at school!

So, I Googled it. Apparently this guy is 'The Thing'. How hilarious!

Spring Fever!!

2011-03-22T21:47:00.005-04:00

WOW - the high here was 85 today! Woo hoo!! I am so ready for Spring to come. We had a nice weekend too, so Daniel got out a bit and enjoyed his scooter...

Recently, Daniel asked me to do his hair in a mohawk. I did my best and he loved it:

Things are plugging along as usual. Daniel has some good days and then some days he makes a bad choice, general silliness at school, talking out during class - nothing too horrible, but just kid stuff. He is still learning about personal space, and how to be a friend to the kids without running them off. Social cues are subtle and tricky to interpret but we're working on it. I was so pleased when one of the moms of a boy in his class called and setup a play date. Awww - he has an actual friend. I was so happy for him.

I have to tell you about a great thing that happened - our church does a big Easter pageant. This is the last year they are doing it, so we decided to take Daniel. I was a little worried that it would be too graphic, but we talked a lot about how it's not real. The story is true, but what we see on stage is not real. We thought it would be good opportunity to open the discussion about Jesus' life. Daniel was really engaged, leaning forward in his seat and taking it all in, asking questions (not necessarily in a whisper - sorry to the audience!). There is a scene where John the Baptist baptizes Jesus. When he brought him back up, Daniel looks at me right away and says, 'Mom, where's the dove?' I was so surprised. While we have shared many Bible stories with him, the story of Jesus' baptism is not one of them. Wow - that means he heard it at church or at school and it stuck with him. Can I just say - that Christian school education is worth every penny. You really don't realize how much is sticking in there - mulling around in that little head of his. What a blessing!

Things I love this week:

- Daniel's fresh hair cut

- out at a restaurant, Daniel reminding the table that we forgot to P - A - R - Y (OK, well he meant Pray and he spelled it wrong, but still pretty great)

- hearing Daniel read me a book

- being able to have the windows open

- finally starting to feel better

- the green buds out in the yard - it's almost here!!

Adoption Anniversary - 2 years

2011-03-17T17:15:00.001-04:00

March 10th was our adoption day and we were so happy to celebrate 2 years of having Daniel in our family. Unfortunately, I had strep throat again so I had to miss the party but he had a great time....

Frustration

2011-03-08T20:59:00.004-05:00

Well, I totally jinxed us with that last post. The very next day, I got a call from the school that Daniel was having a melt down and I needed to come over. I haven't had that kind of phone call in months!! It turns out that Daniel was taking a test, didn't know the right answer to a fill in the blank question and the frustration over that just built and built and built until he just let it take over. He started hitting himself in the head with his fists, when the teacher went to call the office he freaked out ran off to towards the bathroom and when she ran after and caught him he had a screaming melt down and had to be carried out. Whoa! Of course, by the time I got to school he had calmed down. We talked (again!) about what we can do when we get frustrated - take a deep breath, ask for help, skip this one and go to the next problem, pray. He knows all of the right answers but in the heat of the moment, he just lets the anger and emotion carry him away.

I have noticed his frustration really cranking up lately. When he can't do something (tie his shoe, button the top button, cut something out, whatever) he really gets frustrated and has an overreaction. He will start crying and kicking his feet, just falls apart. If I am right there, I can usually say something in a teasing way to make him laugh and that will break the tension and then he can ask for help before it goes too far. But I am realizing that in doing that, I am not really helping him. Because I am not always going to be there and he needs to learn how to work through that emotion and make a good choice when I am not around to make him laugh. WOW - this is tough one to learn. Especially when there is so much emotion tied to it! I am thinking I need to back off a little, let him get frustrated and try to work it out and then coach him through it a little. Just so he can experience that feeling and learn how to react appropriately. We all get angry and frustrated but it's a matter of making a good choice when that happens.

I told him, he isn't going to know everything - that's why we send him to school. He is there to learn. So when he doesn't know, he doesn't have to get upset - that's when you ask the teacher. Of course, on a test - she can't tell him the answer. (so then the mom guilt kicks in - I should have helped him be better prepared) She is worried when they get into the standardized testing towards the end of the year - it's going to be an issue. She can't deviate from the script when giving the test and if he falls apart he won't be able to take the test. She is going to send me some practice test so we can start practicing what to do when we come to a question that we don't know the answer to. It's OK to skip it and go to the next one, but that's totally not his personality. He simply cannot leave a blank and move on. He gets totally paralyzed by not knowing the answer. I guess it's a learned skill so we are going to practice it. (it's just so hard because we have also been working on not being a quitter - you finish what you started - quitters never win. Now this message is totally opposite - skip the question and move on - isn't that quitting?)

So yes, we still are having challenges but he is still an unbelievable sweetie. Check this out....

Tonight he was telling me, 'Mom, I wish God made you smaller so you could be in First grade. You could be in my class and I could have you at school.' How sweet is that?

Still here!!

2011-03-03T19:16:00.004-05:00

Sorry for the long pause between posting! I have been reeeeaally busy at work so my evenings when I usually post have been busy with work. That and Jason has been traveling a bit for work so I have been a single parent. Whew!! I don't know how you single parents out there do it. It is tough to be the only one. No one to tag team with when things get hectic. I am doing the drop off and the pick up, homework, baths, play time, stories, loving, prayers, instruction, taxi service, laundry, dinner, bike rides, cleaning house, games, ya, ya, ya.

Daniel is doing great though. 2011 has been such a turning point for him behavior-wise. Not that he's perfect (me neither!) but he is a new kid. Now, instead of getting in trouble for hitting, running away, or melt downs we are dealing with talking during class, disrespecting the teacher, and disrupting class. A BIG improvement in my book! I am the parent of the class clown! Most of the time when he gets in trouble, it's because he is trying to make the kids laugh. I definitely don't want to squash that awesome, out-going part of his personality but we're trying to learn when it's appropriate to be silly and when it's time to zip it and learn. Some days we do better than others, but for the most part - things have been great.

I just got a reminder today to slow down and enjoy those little moments because they're gone too quickly. Things I love this week:

- Daniel snuggling into my side while I read a story

- 'I love you mom!'

- those big brown eyes, hung on my every word while I explain March Madness

- Daniel's sweet prayers before bed (please keep Pop safe!)

- a perfect score on the spelling test

- Singing, 'This is the day, this is the day, that the Lord has made'

- That little hand tucked neatly into mine when we cross the parking lot. I love that I don't have to look down and grab his hand - it's just automatic. We get out of the car, I drop my hand down there and he inserts his into mine. It thrills me every time!

Memory Verses

2011-02-15T21:12:00.003-05:00

Go Wildcats!

2011-02-04T17:27:00.001-05:00

I never thought I would hear myself cheering, 'Go Wildcats!' but, that's the name of Daniel's team. (his coach is a UK fan) He wasn't paying attention, the team was having a discussion, all of a sudden he turned around and they had picked a name and it was the wildcats. It was so funny - he goes, 'Awww, mom - we're the wildcats!' That's what happens when you don't pay attention! So, here's hoping the wildcats do well tomorrow...

Bike Ride

2011-02-02T20:49:00.001-05:00

We decided to enjoy the rare nice weather this weekend and go out for a family bike ride, with a bit of geocaching thrown in....

So, I have a question for you....at what age should the training wheels come off? I am totally OK with the fact that he still has them. He has been through a ton of changes in the past year and a half so I don't care if he keeps them on. I am just curious - what's the right age? How will it go down - does he ask to take them off or do we bring it up?

Book Talk

2011-01-31T21:35:00.002-05:00

Daniel's book talk is tomorrow in the library. We had our last practice this evening. Hopefully he will do this great tomorrow...

Thanks George and Lori for coming through at the last minute with the goat! We searched all over town and came up empty!!

The sad news is that my memory card got full right there at the end. You'll just have to read the book to find out what happens...

Psalm 119:11

2011-01-27T21:41:00.004-05:00

Sorry I haven't been posting lately - I have been sick and just can't seem to get my energy back. But, we're hanging in there. Daniel is doing well at school. We've been practicing his book talk (which is like an oral book report, with props!) so I should have some cute videos soon. In the mean time, he is still learning a new verse every week for school so here is last week's verse....

Jet takes flight

2011-01-21T08:36:00.003-05:00

One of the things Daniel really wanted for Christmas was a remote control helicopter. That's an item that's a little bit too old for him, but his mind was made up. After considering all of the options, I picked the one that said 'perfect for first time fliers'. It's a jet instead of a helicopter, but it's made out of this flexible material that's supposed to be hard to destroy. We'll see...

So that sad thing about getting that kind of toy for Christmas is, it's not really great weather for jet flying - especially with all of the snow we've had lately. Well, we had a rare nice day last weekend so we took the jet out for it's first flight. It was a little too windy but we still had fun...

I love this picture. Jason is the launcher and Daniel is the pilot. You can see the jet at the very top. Daniel was whooping and hollering....

Basketball star

2011-01-19T21:12:00.003-05:00

Daniel is still really enjoying his basketball games. He is turning into a bit of a ball hog though. He has discovered the high of making a shot so that's what he wants to do every time. We are having such fun watching. It's a hoot!

I love this picture. That blur in the middle is Daniel jumping through the air to give a high five after he made a shot....

Stupid human tricks

2011-01-18T21:42:00.002-05:00

Can you lick your elbow?

Yeah - neither can we!

Memory verse and Go Cards!!

2011-01-16T21:50:00.004-05:00

Orange belt

2011-01-14T21:31:00.003-05:00

Daniel has been in karate for 8 months now. Tonight he completed the test to qualify for his orange belt. We were so proud! They have really helped him with discipline and respect (Yes Ma'am!!). It's been a great experience for him so far. Here are some cute photos....

He was so excited that his board broke into FOUR pieces:

Getting his new belt:

Adoption quote

2011-01-12T22:35:00.000-05:00

I read this on another adoptive mom's blog and thought it was so great I wanted to share it here. She didn't say who or where the quote is from so it's unknown, but good...

"For anyone who is in fear of the monsters that may be lurking around the corners of adoption, yes, as with anything, there are monsters to be conquered and there is that potential that they could gobble us up, which makes our actions so much more important. But please consider for a moment that as you are reading this, there is a child who is battling very real monsters alone. And imagine that when you make a commitment to take up arms, side by side with the child, how many unnecessary scars you, as a family, can prevent."

What a blessing to to have that reassurance. Adoption is scary but such a great blessing! (to us parents first, even before our children!)

Snow Day!!!

2011-01-11T19:51:00.002-05:00

Mom - I did it!!!

2011-01-11T08:11:00.000-05:00

After much practice - on Monday Daniel tied his shoe by himself!!!! He was so excited!!! (now if we can just teach him to swing by himself)

Bitty Basketball

2011-01-08T15:13:00.007-05:00

We signed Daniel up for basketball at church. We decided we aren't going to be those parents that run their kids through a million different activities, but he needs to try a few things out to see what he likes, right? So, we tried baseball and soccer and now it's time for basketball. We were kind of worried about how it would go. He already knows how to run and kick, so he could fake his way through soccer but dribbling is hard!

So today was the first day. We thought they would just have a practice today, but they practiced first and then had an actual game. It was so hilarious - Jason and I laughed and laughed at how sweet the kids are. None of them know what they're doing. They shoot at the wrong basket, stare off into space, steal the ball from their own teammate, pick up the ball and take off running - it's hilarious! Daniel did really great and had fun. (I think it's all of that U of L basketball we watch!) He made 2 baskets, blocked a few shots and played great defense. He didn't get frustrated and fall on the floor crying and he didn't hit anyone - whew! We were so proud. Here are some shots for you - check out those chucks! (I got them at a yard sale - he's retro!)

I thought it would be great to get his verse and then have him shoot the ball. Unfortunately, my batteries ran out right at the end - sorry!! This is I Timothy 4:12...

Verse movies - catch up

2011-01-07T19:15:00.004-05:00

First week of 2011

2011-01-07T08:27:00.003-05:00

We've had a great time playing with all of our new toys.

Uno Attack:

Rock em Sock em Robots:

And taking pictures with his fancy new digital camera:

I was really worried about the first week back to school. After all of this fun, staying up late, playing and consuming more sugar than usual - how can he ever go back to be a good first grader? Well, off to school he went and believe it or not......he has had 4 great days!! His teacher actually emailed me about taking him off his behavior plan (which is that daily report that comes home in his folder). We are going to give him another week to make sure it's not a fluke but so far, 2011 has been a major turning point for us. WOW! Praise the Lord!!

Happy 2011!!

2011-01-01T21:53:00.003-05:00

We spent new years eve watching the Cards lose :( playing with toys (UNO Attack!), and then a quick trip to the bowling alley. We rang in the new year sound asleep (well, most of us). Here are some shots from our little bowler...

Check out that form:

Victory Dance:

Giving High Fives:

For more bowling action, here is a link to a video I posted to You Tube...

Quote of the week

2010-12-29T16:54:00.001-05:00

Mom - I like toys. Toys are so fun! Toys are way more fun than school!!

Ain't that the truth kid!

Merry Christmas!!!

2010-12-27T07:32:00.000-05:00

Daniel with Santa

2010-12-18T08:34:00.004-05:00

Last year when I took Daniel to see Santa at the mall, he told Santa he wanted CANDY. I guess that's what they got in the orphanage, so that's all he knew to ask for. Well, this year it was a different story. We're standing in line and I tell him, 'Daniel, Santa is going to ask you what you want for Christmas. What are you going to tell him?' 'I DON'T KNOW MOM!' I said, 'Well, you'll think of something.' I thought for sure he would tell Santa he wants a remote control helicopter. That's what he has been talking about (and what mom has stashed under the couch). So we get up there and he tells Santa he wants a.........Guitar! WHAT?? Where did that come from? So - mom is headed back out to the store...

Can you believe this big boy? He is getting so grown up!! Compare this to last year's picture with Santa. What a difference a year makes!

Gifts from God

2010-12-13T06:41:00.011-05:00

Our current series at church is about gifts from God (appropriate for December). Yesterday, our preacher asked us this question:

What's a gift that God gave you that you initially rejected, but turned out to be a huge blessing?

This question really resonated with me. In my life, there can really only be one answer. That's the gift of infertility. You see, I would love to tell you that Jason and I are totally magnanimous, have a huge heart and care about the plight of orphans in this world. While some of those things are true - that's not why we adopted. I, like many other women, would have loved to experience the miracle of pregnancy. I would love to look into a tiny face and see my features all mixed up with Jason's. I would love to rock a baby to sleep in my arms - my baby. But that is not a possibility for me and I never thought I would see that as a 'gift'.

I was devastated, crushed, broken hearted. How can this happen to me? We cried out to God for a miracle. I am a firm believer in miracles. It doesn't matter what the doctors say, God can do anything. Sara got pregnant and she was over 100! I prayed like never before and believed that God would answer. And, God did work a miracle, just not in the way I expected.

That summer, at church we were spending time in Romans and they were preaching on 'The five words that will change your life'. The very week that we found out there was zero chance I could have a baby, the message was on adoption. Of course, they were talking about being adopted into God's family but they also spoke on building families through adoption and had folks in the lobby with information about adoption. To be quite honest, that weekend I was so heartbroken and numb - I couldn't even go there in my mind. But I can see now that God was revealing His plan for us - in a huge, you just can't miss it, way!

There is a grieving process that you have to go through, but once we processed all of that and continued to pray for an all out miracle - God brought us around to His way of thinking. Our miracle was already alive and well, in an orphanage in Ukraine. You see, we probably would not have adopted if we had been able to have children of our own and now - we just cannot imagine our lives without Daniel. We are 100% certain that he is the child we were meant to have. He is so much like us in so many ways and fits into our family perfectly. That's how God does things. His ways are higher and better than ours. So, thank you God for the gift of infertility. As painful as it is, I could not have imagined a family as great as the one you have blessed us with. You had bigger plans for us than we even had for ourselves. Thank you Lord!

It is with much trepidation that I share this post with you. As heartfelt as it is, it's hard to bare your private pain to the world. I am doing it for 2 reasons. One is to give God all the glory for this amazing child He gave us. And the second is for you. Whatever difficult time you may be going through, know that God loves you! He can work all things together for His good. And that painful, unfair and heartbreaking struggle may just turn out to be the biggest blessing of your life!

Here is a link to our church's website, if you would like to hear Kyle's sermon:

http://www.southeastchristian.org/?page=3476&project=82670&program=322717

CAL Christmas program

2010-12-10T18:40:00.006-05:00

We're still here, just extremely busy. It's the most wonderful time of the year, right? Daniel's Christmas program at school was last night. It was so sweet to see him singing the songs and amazingly enough - playing the xylophone!! He didn't know all of the words like most of the other kids, but his excitement was geniune and it was so precious to hear him singing about the birth of our Saviour!

Here is Daniel with his teacher:

The Daniel fan club was out in full force:

Black Eye

2010-11-23T15:57:00.003-05:00

The eye is getting better...

Our 'Parent homework' for the week was to make a Native American home. Pop has been out of town for work. I was fully intending for him to take the lead on this project, but now it's up to me. YIKES!! We started with a plan to make a longhouse, but the glue wasn't holding, the sticks weren't straight and it was a general nightmare. Mamaw and Papaw to the rescue! It took all of us to craft this masterpiece. If they give a prize for the BIGGEST home, he will win for sure!

We are hanging on by a thread just waiting for pop to get back. It takes all three of us to make this family work and we are missing him!!

Goose Egg!!

2010-11-15T10:34:00.006-05:00

When I picked Daniel up at school on Thursday, he had a huge goose egg on his eye. Check out this bump! Apparently he was climbing down the playground equipment and his foot slipped off and he slammed his eye right into the metal. OUCH!!

And now today, he has a lovely rainbow on his eye....

Please don't think I am perverse for posting these pictures. The grandparents want to see what happened - so this is for you!!

Oh, and last week's verse:

New toy!!

2010-11-13T21:10:00.012-05:00

Daniel got 4 stickers for good behavior last week so he chose this cool GI Joe 'steel marauder' for his treat. He's been having a great time setting up all of the soldiers and then knocking them down.

We are so happy to see an improvement in his behavior. Things have really turned around lately. We just had to figure out the right motivation and be more deliberate in our approach and things have fallen into place. This is totally a testament to the fact that the Lord answers prayer.

We have been praying (and asking you all to pray) for the Lord to give us wisdom in our parenting. We don't know what we're doing (and starting out with a 5 year old, we didn't have much time to figure it out!) and we have completely been claiming that verse in James. 'If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God.' We know we lack it and have been asking God to bless us with wisdom so that we can parent this sweet boy exactly how he wants us to. It is so great to see that He gives us wisdom right when we need it. Praise the Lord for the amazing progress we've seen in Daniel!

And, I have to share with you about a recent development. I don't know that I have mentioned this here before or not - but one thing with Daniel that's been consistent ever since we've come home is that when he gets hurt, he runs away from us. He doesn't run to me for comfort. All you adoptive parents out there know, when you're reading about attachment is that one of the signs of good attachment is that the child comes to you for comfort. Now, there is no doubt about our attachment. He definitely is attached to us, loves us, and wants to please us. We believe we have attached very well. But, when he gets hurt - he will jump up and down and cry, or run into the next room and cry, or run around in circles. He is hurt, upset, and just falls apart. This is sad for mom - I want him to come to me! At first I didn't know what to do about this. What's the right response? This child had to comfort himself for so long, what should I expect? So - not knowing if it's right or not - when this would happen (fall off his bike, trip and fall - whatever) I would grab him and pull him into my lap. He would be crying and wiggling and squiggling and try to get away, but I would hold him tight and try to give him comfort. To show him - this is how it works. I had no idea if that was a good move or not. It certainly didn't seem to make him feel better and sometimes I felt like I was being mean, not giving him what he wants - to let him comfort himself.

Just this week, he was walking up the back steps and tripped and fell and started to cry. For the very first time - in one year and 7 months, he didn't run away and he let me comfort him. He didn't run to me, but he didn't run away either. He just stood still and I came right to him, pulled him in my lap and he leaned into me and cried. I have to tell you - I think my heart stopped. I was so moved at that moment. I don't want to make a big deal about a small thing. But, to me - it was a priceless moment, and indication that our attachment is still getting stronger. What a privelege to be mom!

Memory Verse for last week

2010-11-08T12:28:00.002-05:00

Halloween

2010-11-06T08:30:00.004-04:00

Our wonderful neighbors invited us over for a fun Halloween cookout. Batman had a great time roasting hot dogs and marshmellows...

And then the boys were ready for their big night of trick or treating. Daniel was more excited about it this year. I think because he knew what was coming! Batman, Dracula and the Pirate had a great time...

All in all it was a very successful night!

I asked him at the end of the evening, 'What was your favorite part?' What do you think he said? It wasn't all the candy, or roasting marshmallows, or being batman. His favorite part was riding the wagon with Edward and Augie. How sweet is that?

Halloween week of fun

2010-10-30T15:19:00.004-04:00

Remember when Halloween used to be just one day of fun? Well, not any more! It seems like we've been having activities all week.

We went out to Bellarmine University on Monday. The college kids decorated the dorms in all kinds of great themes and handed out candy for the little ones. Check out Sergeant Squash:

And then we went out to Mark's Feed Store for their Halloween party and Batman made a re-appearance...

By the time the actual Halloween gets here, maybe he won't want any candy - you think?

Smell and Memory

2010-10-28T08:38:00.005-04:00

We are hanging in there, staying busy and getting ready for a fun Halloween weekend. Things are going better for Daniel at school. He has had a few good days in a row this week so we're hoping we've turned a corner.

Fall is really here and someone was burning leaves last weekend - you know that smell? We walked out the back door of the house and Daniel says immediately, 'Mom, it smells just like this in Ukraine!' He doesn't speak of Ukraine too often and we were surprised. It was so out of the blue. It's amazing how strongly our memories are linked to smells. We had a nice afternoon and attacked the leaves in our yard with vengeance. Daniel was really excited about raking. I think it's cause he knew some fun was coming....

Bits and Notes

2010-10-16T20:55:00.008-04:00

Daniel's 2nd tooth came out last week:

I am caving to your peer pressure and giving the tooth fairy a raise. He will be getting one whole dollar for this tooth!

Daniel chose roller skating for his prize after his good week at school. It was a fun time:

Something he couldn't do when he first came here, he has now mastered. After much practice at recess, Daniel can now make it all the way across the monkey bars! (that's something mom can't do!)

AND the Hornets won their last soccer game!

As if the weekend wasn't full enough, he also had a karate tournamet. It was so cute to see how excited he was about his big trophy!! Here he is breaking his board:

And Sparring:

And with his cool trophy and 2 medals. (Jason and I went around all day singing, 'You're the best, around. Nothing's gonna ever keep you down!' The 80's anyone? We totally felt like we were in the Karate Kid movie, with our Daniel son.)

Whew! I am exhausted just thinking back over it all. Now soccer is over and we can rest, right?

Halloween at the zoo

2010-10-11T20:19:00.006-04:00

We put on Daniel's fabulous Batman costume in preparation for our trip to the zoo. We were posing in front of the mirror and generally admiring how cool and muscular he is when he looked at me in all seriousness and asked, 'Mom - can I fly?' It was so sweet. I hated having to tell him no. You can pretend to fly, but no - don't jump out the window or anything. :( I hated to burst his bubble of innocence. I totally wanted to say YES this is a magic cape, YES you can fly, and YES mom is the coolest!!

Bummer!

Field Trip

2010-10-08T16:12:00.003-04:00

Daniel's field trip today was to Huber's to pick a pumpkin and go through the cartoon corn maze. We had a great time and I am exhausted!

A great week!

2010-10-07T19:46:00.004-04:00

At school, if you've had a good week and didn't drop your apple all week - then at the end of the week you get to pick out a treasure from the treasure chest. Well...

After 8 weeks of school,

for the very first time,

Daniel Anatoly got to choose a toy from the treasure chest. (he picked out a calculator by the way)

Whoa!! We are so excited at our house. And here is the verse for the week: