Excitement

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

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

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!!

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

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

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!!

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

Go Wildcats!

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

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

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

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

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

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

Can you lick your elbow?

Yeah - neither can we!

Memory verse and Go Cards!!

Orange belt

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

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!!!

Mom - I did it!!!

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

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

First week of 2011

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!!

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

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

Ain't that the truth kid!