Another week, another trip to the principal

And this week it's rock throwing on the playground. YAY. This was the view at our house....

We're still working on making good choices and following the rules. He knows what he should be doing, he just doesn't do it. We keep telling him, you need to STOP and THINK before you do something. Sometimes I wonder if he can stop himself. When he's in the moment, he doesn't have the self control to stop himself from doing the wrong thing. We're praying about it.

And he is also a rock star at soccer. Every parent thinks their kid is great, right? But we are so surprised! He is playing with kids that have played for years and he is right in there. He really hustles and goes after the ball. That aggressive personality is serving him well in sports and it is so cute to see.......

School Daze

Still here - sorry for the long pause between posts. I have been sick (again!) and we have lots going on. It seems to be just non-stop. Here is Daniel's verse from last week:

Daniel is still getting into a bit of trouble at school (and church). We are working through each thing as it comes up. (pushing, hitting, kicking and even spitting - wow, yelling out during class, dis-obeying) His teacher and the principal are very optimistic and have been great to work with. They keep reminding me that he has come a long way, we are seeing improvement. The Principal was just telling me on Friday how much she loves Daniel. He is such a special boy and that sweet spirit just wins everyone over.

We just keep talking about his choices. We keep telling him that bad choices will make him unhappy but good choices will make him happy. And that's true all through life. The sooner he learns that lesson, the better for him. I think part of it may still be a communication problem. When he speaks with adults, they are more patient with him and open to figuring out what he's trying to say. The other kids aren't quite as patient and understanding. I think at times he gets frustrated when he can't get his point across and resorts to what he knows gets attention. That's no excuse for his behavior but we're trying to figure out what gets into him. Check out some of his great karate moves:

We appreciate your continued prayers for Daniel. Change is hard. Adjustment is uncomfortable and it takes time to develop new habits. We're hoping we survive while he learns new habits!

Happy long weekend!

Hope you had a great Labor Day! We really enjoyed being off of work and school. They had a big carnival at our church and Daniel had fun playing games, eating ice cream, jumping in the inflatables, sliding down the water slide, and just having a great time. Way better than a day at school!

He has also started soccer at church. We thought we would try out all of the different sports to see what he would like. He had his first game on Saturday and I am not sure who was more excited about it - Daniel or Pop! He did really well. Some of the kids on his team have been playing soccer since 3 years old and they really know a lot about the game. Daniel was not timid (imagine that!) and jumped right in there, chased the ball, kicked the ball AND kept his hands to himself. YAY! (I was worried that in an aggressive situation we could be setting him up for a problem but so far, so good!) His team is the hornets. It was cute - he kept looking over at me and my folks to make sure we were cheering him on. How special for him to have people in his corner and rooting for him. We whooped and cheered our hearts out!

And I have to share with you a very special conversation I had with Daniel. Last Thursday morning I was making breakfast (and making lunch, making snack, folding laundry, signing papers, you know how crazy those school mornings are!) and Daniel was sitting on the floor putting on his shoes and he says to me, 'Mom, Kaytlyn at school said that Jesus died on the cross up on a big hill. No, he did not!'

Well, I immediately stopped what I was doing and sat down with him and said, 'Yes, Jesus did die on the cross on a big hill. That's right." "But mom," he says, "you said the cross at school." I had to clear up a bit of confusion that they do have a cross at school and it reminds us that Jesus died for us on the cross, but Jesus didn't die on that actual cross at school. He died on a cross on a big hill far away from here.

Once we cleared that up I said, "Do you know why Jesus died on the cross?"

No Mom - why?

Because he loves us very much! You know, all of the wrong things that we do and bad choices that we make, those are called Sins. And, to pay for our sins God said that we would have to go to Hell when we die. Do you know what Hell is?

No Mom - what?

Hell is where the Devil lives. There is fire everywhere there and the people there are very unhappy. But because we sin and do the wrong thing, we would have to go to Hell when we die to pay for our sin. We don't want to go there, do we?

No Mom!

Well, Jesus doesn't want us to go there either. And He loves us sooooo much, that He died on the cross to pay for our sins. He didn't have any sin, He is perfect. But He loves us and doesn't want us to go to Hell so He died for us. So anyone who accepts Him and loves Him and receives what He has done for us, can have the gift of going to Heaven when they die. We could go to Heaven and be with Jesus.

Mom - we don't want to go to the Devil's house!

Then we got distracted talking about the Devil's house and what it's like there and then moved on to other topics but I was so amazed. He sat right there with me and hung on my every word. We talked about it for a good while. I don't know how much he really understood, but just the fact that he is asking the questions is so HUGE! What a moment! This has been my prayer from the beginning, that Daniel would come to know Christ at a young age. WOW - I didn't expect it this soon.

Then at school I talked to his teacher about it. She told me that all of the kids have a Young Reader Bible in their desks and when they have free time they are allowed to get it out. Daniel flipped right to the page with a picture of Jesus on the cross and came to her and asked what it was. WOW! He is asking and wants to know. I am just so moved. I cried all the way to work that morning. What an answer to prayer!!! I know we will have many more conversations about it before he understands enough to make a decision, but I am just beside myself with excitement that he is asking the questions. Thank you Lord! I know I shouldn't be amazed when God answers prayers, but to see it happen right before my very eyes is so moving. My prayer is that the Lord will give me exactly the right words to help him understand and to not overlook those teachable moments. Woo hoo - what a blessing!!!

Memory Verse - week 3

So week 3 was a little better. Daniel actually had a pretty good week. On Wednesday, he got NO Xs on his behavior sheet and Mrs. Peterson sent home a note that he had a GREAT day! We were so happy and even celebrated with dinner at Skyline Chili!! And then the very next day he got in trouble, yelled out 'No Fair, No Fair' and threw his apple on the floor, refused to pick it up and had to go to the office. The teacher said that he would be allowed to come back to the class when he is ready to follow her rules. (her note home said that she thought it was good that he didn't run away at this point!) After spending some quality time in the principal's office, he came back to class. UGH! We are happy with the improvement we're seeing (no running in about 2 weeks) and just don't know what possesses him on those rough days.

Check out this sweet thing all dressed up for Chapel....

Memory Verse - week 2

Week 2

We are hanging in there! It was promotion Sunday last weekend at church so Daniel moved up to his First grade Sunday school class. Yes, we got called out of church again - he had to be removed from the class for refusing to participate and crawling under the table. Monday was a good day at school, but Tuesday he was back in the Principal's office for running around the library and refusing to join the group for story time. UGH!! What gets into kid's heads? I honestly think that most of his trouble stems from the fact that he is trying to be the class clown and make the other kids laugh. (I edited out some of his other antics in the school library out of sheer embarassment!) Yesterday his teacher was out and they had a sub (poor lady!) so I didn't get much of a report. At least I didn't get a call from the Principal's office either! At this point we are just celebrating our small victories!

One of the most amazing things to me as a parent is how much it truly grieves my heart when Daniel makes bad choices. On his bad days - I am just so down. It has really opened my eyes to how much my bad choices must grieve my Heavenly Father. That's something I really couldn't understand until I had a kid of my own and can see it in our relationship. Forgive me Lord for grieving you and being foolish enough to think my bad choices only affect me!

Please continue to pray for Daniel as he works his way through this transition. We are definitely seeing improvement, but we have a lot to work on. Someone told me that it takes at least 3 weeks for them to adjust so not to worry about it too much yet. I am going with that! As long as we're seeing improvements, I know he'll get there. Daniel is so amazingly smart, but I keep saying - it doesn't matter how smart he is, if we don't get this behavior under control he won't have a happy life. We know that the Lord loves him even more than we do and we are trusting that He will see us through. (and still praying for wisdom!)

Memory Verse - wk 1

Friday behavior update - another good day! Woo hoo!! 3 good days in a row - now we're on a roll!

One of the things we love about having Daniel at a Christian school is that he gets Bible teaching every day and he will learn a new verse each week. I will try to post them so you can see his progress. Here is the first:




I don't know if you can tell, but he has his T shirt on from his favorite restaurant - Skyline Chili! This kid is a Kentuckian through and through. It is so hilarious to hear him learning English with a Ukranian accent (he still says some old words) AND a southern accent. You should hear him say, 'What is thay-at?' Too cute!

Ah just have no ah-dee-yuh where he gits it. :)

At the lake

We tried to cram as much fun as possible into the last couple weeks of summer. This is a catch up posting. We met some friends at the lake one day and they brought their boat. It was a beautiful day and we had an absolutely great time reconnecting with them and their boys and enjoying the lake.





Another first for Daniel - he got to ride on the tube. I didn't know if he would be scared and we weren't going to do it if he didn't want to but he was so excited about it! Mom rode with him to make sure he didn't fly off. He loved it and I did too. It all depends on the boat driver and Robert really knows how to turn the boat and ZING us across the waves. Whew - what a ride!








And then afterwards, we went back to their campground and roasted hot dogs and marshmellows. As any boy would be, Daniel was entranced by the campfire. He didn't even want to go play at the playground, he just wanted to stay and watch the fire. We really had fun. Thanks Mr. Robert and Ms. Bunny!

Behavior update - Monday was a good day, Tuesday was a bad day, Wednesday was a good day, Thursday was a good day. Is it too soon to think maybe we are on a roll? We are celebrating our good days, and reviewing the expectations on the bad days. Thanks for your prayers and words of encouragement!

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.