First Grade, first week

Did I mention that Daniel was going to grow a tomato plant this summer? I thought it might be a good science project for him over the summer (and I love to eat tomatoes). I told him it was his responsibility, he had to water it all summer and we would see what happened. This was him on Memorial day doing the planting:


He was good about watering all summer long - even reminding me when I didn't feel like it. And here is our little farmer at the end of summer:

He did so great, we might actually plant BIG tomatoes next year!

The beginning of school has been rough. Daniel's latest stunt is running away when he gets in trouble. He is running off from the teacher and it's very dangerous. We're doing everything we can think of to discourage this behavior. I knew that a transition to a new school would be tough, but I didn't anticipate it would be like this. We are hopeful that if we stay consistent, he will learn that this is not acceptable. He hasn't even been there a week yet, so we need to give him time. I know he was nervous on the first day. He said to me on the way there, 'Mom, will you go with me?' Of course! I wouldn't miss it! But that shows me that he was nervous. Check out this face.....

Not a happy camper, huh? We have had a lot of screaming and crying and standing in the corner and drama at our house. We would appreciate your prayers as Daniel adjusts to yet another change in his life. He is a tough guy! And that sweet smile is never far off. On Friday they were supposed to dress like a character from a book we read this summer. We chose 'Froggy goes to camp'. I know you can't tell from this picture, but his hat is a frog face and he has a bowl of BUGS for lunch!

'If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.' James 1:5

We are clinging to that verse and praying for wisdom and discernment in parenting this special little boy!

First day of school

Today Daniel was headed off to First grade! We had orientation on Monday and got to visit his room, meet his teacher and sit in his desk.

We were so excited about his chance to go to a Christian School! It's not like it's the first year in school. I didn't think I would have any trouble leaving him. But, I was full of emotion. He did better than I did - I cried all the way to work. He didn't look very happy when I left him, I am sure it was just anxiety (the stutter is back today!). I felt so bad for him. I feel like all we have done since he's been here is thrust him into a new situation and new rules and expect him to adapt. Poor kid. It's been tough, I know and he has done so well. I just felt so guilty.

But of course he did great. He was all smiles when Pop picked him up. Here is our big First grader:

And compare this to his first day of school picture from last year. He has grown so much in one year!!

Great Video

Turn your sound on, sit back, and be moved!

That's My King! [no live band] from Albert Martin on Vimeo.

Yellow belt!!

Friday night they had the summer camp graduation from Karate school and Daniel also tested for his yellow belt. It was fun to see all the kids go through their moves and he did very well. For his test, he got to break a board. We were amazed! Pop held it up and after a few, 'Aiiiyah!'s then he broke it. They were only allowed to break a board if they agreed to break a bad habit. We picked a bad habit (not listening) and wrote it on the board and then he agreed to break it when he broke the board.

Karate school has been good for him this summer. The focus on discipline and self control - all things that we need to work on. He has done so well there that I think we are going to have him continue the classes into the school year. Oh - and by the way - he did get his yellow belt.

OK - so as I read over this and my last few posts, I realize that it sounds like I am bragging. I don't mean to be bragging. We are just so proud and amazed by this little boy. I take no credit. We've worked very hard but he is 'fearfully and wonderfully made' and we are just marveling at the miracle God has worked and is working out in Daniel's life. So many things (challenges, struggles, issues) that we anticipated, expected and tried to prepare ourselves for in adopting just have not come true. Sure, we struggle like any parents. Raising a nice, polite young man is challenging! But, we are so WOW'ed by God's handiwork in Daniel.

(and he didn't have anyone to brag over him for almost 5 years, so I am just catching him up!)

Swimming lessons

Daniel is doing amazingly well in his swimming lessons. He has just had a few, but he's come a long way in a short period of time. Today he was working on breathing to the side as he does his stroke. He picked it up fast. The instructor even said, 'Most kids don't pick it up that fast.' He is Mom's little fish!

Summer fun

We are hanging in there trying to survive this sweltering heat! Did I mention that Daniel loves to play Uno? Some dear friends of ours got him Toy Story Uno for Christmas and we play it ALL the time!! We are also enjoying swimming (his lessons are going great!), watering our tomato plant (it's getting so big!) and going to Karate 3 times a week.

I can't believe school is about to start. Their first day is on August 11th. Whoa! What happened to the summer? Daniel will be going into First grade! We were wavering at the end of last year if he should repeat Kindergarten (to get another year of maturity under his belt) or move on to First grade. We really prayed over it and deliberated over the decision and in the end, he scored so incredibly high on the aptitude tests (95th %ile in reading and 91st %ile in math!!) that we just couldn't bear to make him repeat. He definitely needs to mature a bit and we are full of trepidation about the new school year, but he needs a new challenge and he wouldn't find that by repeating Kindergarten.

We are excited that he will be moving to a Christian school for 1st grade. We had him in the public school last year so he could take advantage of their ESL program and learn English but we are so excited to get him into a Christian environment. We feel the Bible focus in conjunction with their teaching will be so great for him. And he is going to be at Jason's alma mater! (Go Centurions!)

They are having summer camp graduation at Karate school this weekend and he is testing for his yellow belt. So I will have much to post about soon!

We are trying to cram in as much fun into the last 2 weeks of summer as we can.......

Summer Vacation

We decided to head north and try to find some cooler temperatures for our vacation. We enjoyed exploring northern Michigan. Here are some cute shots from our week.....

Daniel running in the sand at the Sleeping Bear sand dunes:

He loves swimming at the pool. Our latest trick is diving for these sticks:

Pirate Cove mini golf was also a big hit:

The lake was cold, but we still enjoyed splashing around and digging in the sand:

We also rode a jetski out to an island and found one of the oldest geocaches in the world!

A good time was had by all:

We were in Traverse City for the National Cherry Festival. It was quite crowded and there were lots of fun activities going on. They had rides and food booths. Daniel rode the Ferris Wheel and the Tilt a Whirl (a boy after mom's own heart). If you ask him now - what was your favorite thing on vacation? He will tell you - the rides and sleeping in the hotel. (funny - I would have thought swimming or the jetski - oh well!)

Skater boy

We had a big weekend! We went yard saling Saturday morning. Daniel is a real trooper. He drags with me to many a yard sale in the hopes of scoring a toy. This weekend it was a GI Joe tank for 2 bucks! We brought it home and put in new batteries and now it lights up, shoots bullets, and makes noises. It's great! Then we spent the afternoon at the pool. It's been so unbearably hot here - that's really all we can muster up the energy to do. There's not a whole lot that Daniel loves more than swimming.



Except for maybe roller skating. He went on a field trip with the karate school to the skating rink and that's all he has talked about since! That day when Jason picked up Daniel, he wanted to go skating again that night. He has talked about it alot since then. So, Sunday afternoon I took him skating. I said to Jason, 'Remember that feeling you had when you sat on the snow sled and looked down the hill and thought - I am waaaaay too old for this? That's how I felt when I put on those skates and stood up for the first time.' Yikes! But, I found out - it's kind of like riding a bike. It comes right back to you. It was actually fun. Here are some cute shots:

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day Pop!! Thank you for all of the tickling, chasing, teaching, laughing, instructing, playing, biking and loving. We are so blessed to have you!

Who knew parenting would be so much work and so much fun at the same time?

Baseball season is over!

Baseball season is over and Daniel got a cool trophy to show for all his hard work. He had a great time learning baseball. We signed him up at church and they had a nice program. At that age, they don't keep score. Everyone gets a chance to hit the ball and run the bases. He loved it, but I don't know if baseball will be the sport for him. It's too much waiting around - wait for your turn to hit and then go out into the field and wait for the ball to come to you. Of course, a friend says that helps them practice patience. That's true - and he does need to work on that. We're signing up for soccer next. Here are some more cute pictures:

It's out!!!

I can't believe he lost his tooth! What a BIG boy!! Oh my - sniff, sniff. Wonder what the tooth fairy pays now-a-days? I am thinking a quarter - does that make me a cheapskate?

He is so excited. He probably won't be able to sleep tonight!!

My Loose Tooth

In Daniel's own words:

I have a loose tooth. The fairy is gonna get it behind the pillow and the fairy will pay some money. The other tooth will push it out and God made my tooth and it is gonna go and maybe the fairy will get some money and put it in the bed or in the pillow.

Aaaiiyah!

Now that school is out - what are we doing with our summer? Daniel is going to be with each set of the grandparents for one day of the week and the other 3 days he is going to Karate camp! I know what you're thinking - Karate, really? When we met with them to hear about their program, we were really impressed. They really had the summer all planned out and what they are going to teach the kids every week. It's not a solid day of Karate, they have other activities throughout the day too. They focus on discipline, self control and respect - all things that Daniel needs to work on. We felt that it was important for Daniel to be in a structured program this summer. We want him to have fun but thought it he only had fun all summer, then it would be extremely hard to go back to school and settle down in the fall.


So, thus Karate. We keep saying it could go one of two ways. It could be really good for him and give him the focus he needs OR we could be taking an already aggressive kid and teaching him how to hit and kick properly. We are hoping for number one obviously but at this point it could go either way. He's been there 3 days so far and we have aaaiiyah.....

I made him promise me that if he learns the flying kick, he will come home and teach me! The first day there he spent the whole evening going around saying, 'Yes Ma'am, No Ma'am, right away Ma'am'. I love it already!

We also let him live it up and take a bath in our big tub this weekend. Check out Santa Claus...

And he's had a great time playing with his pirate ship:

We're busy learning the fruits of the Spirit (you haven't lived until you've had them sung to you by a cute soldier pointing a gun at you) and the books of the Bible. It's going to be a BIG summer!!

Memorial Day

I hope you were able to pause your day and in some way give honor and remembrance to those who have died for our freedom. We took Daniel to a Memorial Day service at Cave Hill cemetary. It was a good time for him to learn about the sacrifices that have been made for our freedoms.

We also planted a tomato plant. I thought this would be a good science project for Daniel this summer - to care for the plant and see how much it might grow:

And we did a little bit of swimming at the local pool. This child is an absolute fish - he loves the water!! I didn't want to put him in swimming lessons last summer and completely overwhelm him, but he is totally ready this summer. He has no fear. He approaches swimming the same way he has the rest of life - jumps right in with total enthusiasm!

On Saturday we went on a canoe trip. It was Daniel's first time in a canoe and he did great! He was a bit timid at first, but it was a beautiful day. We took a picnic, skipped rocks, splashed in the water and paddled 7 miles down the Blue River.

Kindergarten is done!!!

I am constantly marveling at this amazing boy and today is no exception. His year of kindergarten has come to a close. They had their 'graduation' today. Really it was just a small moment of being handed a certificate. That was about the extent of the graduation. But we're just so proud of him and all he has accomplished this year we could burst. It was so cute - when that curtain went up and all of the kids were there. They were all smiling and waving and we could see Daniel looking around saying 'where's mom and pop?'. When he finally saw us, he was all smiles and waving. Everyone at his school from his teacher, the assistant, the ESL teacher, the principal all just rave about what a smart boy he is. We've struggled here in the last few weeks with behavior and making good choices, but we just couldn't be prouder of this big boy....

All of the Kindergarteners (Daniel is on the back row - left side)

Getting his certificate:

With his teacher Mrs. Parr and the assistant Mrs. Stallings:


With the Principal, Mrs. Deeley:



It's been a great school year!

Winding down

We're just hanging in there - trying to survive until the end of the school year! Daniel has been on a frowny face streak since Spring Break. It is so frustrating! We talk about the rules, stand in the corner, lecture until we're blue, take away toys, write sentences, we just can't seem to straighten up and make good choices. Some days it is little things (talking in the bathroom, really?) and some days it is big things - hitting a kid, fighting the library, running out ahead of the class into the parking lot, throwing scissors - Yay! I went to the school to speak with Daniel's teacher on Friday. She said it's not just him, it's the whole school! She said they all have summer fever and are just trying to hang on until school is out (2 weeks!). She said the whole class has been bad. Well, I guess that makes us feel a little bit better.

Other than that, we have been treasure hunting, going on family bike rides, sword fighting, playing baseball, playing Uno, reading books, and just staying busy. Academically Daniel is doing so great. He is actually reading!! We're so impressed. He reads everything - books, The Bible, the newspaper, there are words he knows everywhere and we love to hear him read. It's amazing!

We have to wonder if all of the punishments don't seem to faze him because life is just simply so great! He is in a family, we have fun no matter what, he knows he is loved - what could be better? So what if we take away his toys? Life is good!!

Happy 6th Birthday

Does it feel like we've been celebrating Daniel's birthday forever? Well, we were planning to have his birthday dinner and party last Friday. Babushka and Dadushka came down from Cincinnati for the big event. And then, 15 minutes before we walked out the door to go to the restaurant he spiked a 103 temperature! After some Motrin and some time, he was OK but we cancelled the party for that night. The best laid plans, right? So we left all of the decorations up and had our make up party on Thursday. It was still great fun and we capped off the evening by popping all 50 of our balloons. We sat on them, we stomped on them. The boys loved it! And now he is six. I tried to convince him to just stay five years old, but he wouldn't go for it.

The Kentucky Derby