Oops, I'm here.

Whoa!  Where did the month go?  I'll tell you where I've been....in the yard.  Every. Single. Day.  Until past dark.  But I'll tell you what...we've made some good progress.  I'll get pics up soon.  And I'll tell you what else....working your you-know-what off in the yard, is good for your you-know-what.  Those last few pesky pounds have melted off the past couple of weeks.

The May Challenge has been going really well, despite not having any time to blog about it.  I have a pile of receipts next to me that I am going to tally up in a minute and add to my sidebar.  I'm thinking I'm under $400 spent on food for the month, and we only have a little over a week left.  Shouldn't be a problem.

As of today we are officially on summer break.  Emma worked so hard and finished her last second-grade book yesterday.  Biniam will be done with 11th grade on Friday, and then we will all celebrate the official start of our summer.

Noah is going through a phase where he is destructive and slow to obey.  The phase has been going on for three years, so it's due to end any day now.  I write this so that years from now, when Noah is a little angel, I will look back and remember that it wasn't always like that.  Speaking victory.

My sweet hubby just emailed me and asked me out on a date.  Date?  What's that?  Do I have to shower?

Yesterday I played in poop.  Horse poop, to be exact.  I guess if you think about it, I have my hands in poop every day.  Moving on....we got a load of poop from our neighbor's pasture.  Have I mentioned how much I love living out here?  I had a smile on my face the whole time I was working our neighbor's horse poop into our garden.

I guess some of you probably call it manure.  Whatever, snobs.

Off to tally up those receipts now.

Where's Isaiah?

My poor kids have been fighting some nasty viruses this week.  Four of them had wellness checks scheduled over two days, and all four kids ended up having fevers at those checks.  So much for well-checks.  Between all four (youngest) kids they've had:  fevers, headaches, coughs, sore throats, ear infection, pink eye, and vomit.  Oh yes.

Sweet Isaiah woke up first today, just before 8:00, which is a little early for him.  He said he didn't feel well, and I thought maybe eating would make him feel better.  So I got him set up with cereal and milk, and left him to go upstairs and feed the baby.

After a while when I noticed Isaiah hadn't come back upstairs, I went down to check on him.

Milk gone, cereal half-eaten, empty chair, and no sign of Isaiah.  For a second, "rapture" crossed my mind.

Then I noticed something in the background.

The blanket on the couch looked a little more "rounded" than usual.

Sure enough, sweet Isaiah was under the blanket, sound asleep.  I thought about uncovering him, but after I determined there was enough air-flow I let him be.

Thankfully most of the kids are turning a corner and starting to get better.

Enjoying the Weather

I was feeling a bit stir-crazy yesterday afternoon.  I think it's because for the first time in a while, I didn't have a project I was scrambling to get finished.  

The weather was beautiful so I called to the kids to get their coats, bundled up Braxton, and headed outside.  

The kids decided that they wanted to try rollerskating.  After digging through the bin of toys in the garage, I was able to find six skates, three helmets, and assorted pads.  

There were feelings of unsteadiness that slowly turned to quiet confidence.

A few bruised egos (and bottoms).

Followed by teamwork and siblings lending a helping hand.

There were new tricks.

And someone to help brush away the pain.

Siblings who will be lifelong friends.

Rolling With The Punches

We are waiting for a phone call at any time to tell us that our house docs are ready to sign.  Once we sign, the funding has to actually go through, which could take a day or two.  That gives us tomorrow or Thursday to hopefully take possession of the house.  If that doesn't happen, we will be, uh, homeless for a day or two.  Our new renter moves in on Sunday, and we wouldn't feel right about pushing out her move-in date and making her homeless.  So, no matter what, we are moving out by Saturday.  Hopefully, into our new house.

Yesterday was family picture day.  When you have seven people in your family, picture day can be just a little stressful.  I was able to pull together some coordinated outfits over the weekend, and only had to buy a few things:  pants for Biniam, shoes for Isaiah, and an outfit for Braxton.  Everyone wore combinations of grey and black, with a few pops of royal blue and kelly green.

The morning started out with trimming the boys' hair around their ears, bathing them, directing Emma to shower, styling her hair, and ironing outfits.  After breakfast I got the boys dressed in their pants and shirts, purposely holding off on their sweaters until the last-minute.  I mentally planned a non-messy lunch to feed them, so their outfits would stay clean.  Plus I gave strict instructions to not eat, or color with any markers.  I knew it was a little bit of a risk to get them dressed a couple hours early, but I planned it well so I felt we would be fine.

Ten minutes after getting dressed, Noah comes upstairs to ask me something.  I am immediately distracted by the giant patches of light purple all over his grey pants.  And shirt.  And, as I later find out, the downstairs carpet.

Blueberry yogurt.

I strip Noah down, put his clothes in the wash, put a jacket on him, and instruct him to sit on the couch and watch a movie and don't move.  Surprisingly, he obeyed, and didn't move until I had long forgotten about him and he had asked for permission to get off the couch.

Later, as I was nursing Braxton, Noah came over to me, and I noticed that his teeth, mouth and lips were green.  I glanced over to the kitchen and saw what looked like a tube of green frosting sitting on the counter.  (I later found out it was green, gel-food coloring.)

I yelled for Emma to get me a wet rag, and scrubbed Noah's lips and face until the green was gone.  Then I instructed him to brush his teeth until they were white.  Thankfully, it all worked.

A while later, lunch was done, everyone was dressed, sweaters were on, hair was styled, shoes were on, and it was time to go.  I tell the kids to get in the car.  I take one last glance at Noah, and see BLUE LIPS, NOSE, CHEEKS, CHIN, AND FINGERS.  And in the background I see a bottle of blue food coloring.

You can't make this stuff up.  And, it turns out, you can't get liquid blue food coloring off as easy as green gel-food coloring.  Not even with makeup remover.

So we loaded up the car and got our pictures taken.  With our blue son.

Splash, Pedal and Dash!

We didn't make it out to Chelan this year for the Chelanman events, so we promised the kids they could do our local kids triathlon, the Splash, Pedal and Dash.  A few of our neighbors joined in as well.


We had three seven-year-olds representin'...

 One almost-five-year-old...

And two three-year-olds.

The start was staggered to avoid too much congestion.  The little boys are getting ready for their big moment.

And they're off!

 This race wasn't the traditional Swim Bike Run of a triathlon.  To accommodate the little kids (and our lack of a nearby lake) the race started with the bike, then transitioned to the run, followed by a giant water slide for the "swim".

Here comes Emma, finishing the run portion.

It was HOT out.  Poor kids were bright red.

Isaiah at the end of his run.

Noah coming in from the run.

Poor kid was SWEATY.

Celebrating his first-ever medal.

My three finishers!  Isaiah couldn't be bothered to smile...he was too busy enjoying his ice cream sandwich.

All the neighbor kids together.  What a great team!

A Picture Says 1000 Words

Photos by http://avalanchephotography.com/

My Girl is 7!

Yesterday was Emma's 7th birthday.  Seven years ago I became a parent.  Yet I can barely remember a time when I didn't have kids.  Isn't it amazing what a transformation your life takes once you have kids?  It's like your life is finally starting to have purpose.  And also like you are finally an adult.

Actually, I didn't really feel like an adult until after I was over 30 and had four kids.  And even still, it feels like I was JUST in high school.  Why does Biniam always laugh whenever I compare his school situations to my high school situations?  It's still totally relevant. 

Anyway, back to Emma.  Not to brag on her too much, but she is a JOY to have in our family.  She's the only girl with three brothers, so she can hold her own around boys.  In fact, most of her friends are boys.  But she is also still a girly-girl, and loves dolls and makeup and dresses. 

What I love most about Emma is her spirit.  She is compassionate, considerate, sensitive, and flexible.  We actually had to change her birthday party plans around a few times, and each time she was completely understanding and excited for the change - even if the change didn't seem "better" to us, she found the joy in it. 

Emma, we love you and are so proud of you.  Thank you for introducing us to parenthood seven years ago. 

Blessings

I was blessed today by Emma's desire to help out in the kitchen during lunch.  She has recently learned how to cook eggs and toast over the stove, and loves the opportunity to do so.  When we got home from the gym and I announced that I needed to make lunch, Emma jumped out of the car and said "I'll do it!" and ran inside to get started.

It is such a blessing as a Mom to see my kids learn new skills.  But even more so, it is amazing to see their hearts develop with love for each other, a desire to be helpful, and pride in doing so. 

By the way, I'm feeling like I'm slowly climbing out of this homeschool-cave I've been in.  I might actually be finding some balance, and - gasp! - even update my blog a little more regularly. 

Seen and heard on Friday night...

As Brian was running Emma through her nightly routine of jammies, teeth brushing, feeding her fish, and reading a story, I decided to take the opportunity to enjoy a warm bath. When Emma came in to kiss me goodnight she couldn't resist the urge to bathe with me - and I couldn't resist her pleading eyes - so, in the tub with me she went. Apparently the urge was just as strong for Brian, and soon he was joining us.

Now, Brian is pretty modest around Emma, so he chose to wear his swim suit in the tub. As he climbed in, Emma asked "are you wearing your suit case, daddy?".

Emma's Boyfriend

This is a picture of Emma and her "special" friend, Tristan. They have such a sweet relationship. Emma's first phone call from a friend was from Tristan, and he even called her from his family vacation in Hawaii. This past Sunday Tristan came to church with a new teddy bear for Emma that he had picked out. They like to give each other hugs, but they also have to apologize sometimes for pushing each other (no relationship is perfect!).

This picture was caught by Tristan's daddy at church last week when he went to go find them in the hallway.

Caught in the act...

I looked up from my post in the kitchen today to find Emma traipsing around the house in my boots.





















This reminded me of another picture of a toddler in boots -- my brother about 23 years ago.

Where's the poop?

Okay, this is a little gross, but too cute not to share. Last night during dinner, Emma kept telling us she needed to go potty, so Brian and I would take turns escorting her to the bathroom and encouraging her to "go" on the potty. Knowing that she hadn't had a BM all day, I told her to be quiet and relax so the poop could come out (graphic, I know). After a few seconds Emma would tire and declare that she was done, so up went the pants and back to the dinner table we went.

After dinner while Emma was playing on the stairs I could hear her grunting so I whispered to Brian "I wonder if she is pooping". Moments later I hear Emma declare, "I found it, Mommy! I found the poop!".

Adoption research

We are in the process of researching agencies to use for an Ehtiopian adoption. After wanting to adopt for quite a while, last week we finally decided on a country - Ethiopia. So far there are two agencies we like: DOVE, and Christian World Adoption. I have already spoken with DOVE and hope to speak with CWA today. Need to find out about their specifics, like timing, average age, and all the little details. We are hoping to get a girl, although I wouldn't rule out a boy (don't know what Brian thinks about that). Chances are we could have our baby within the first half of next year.

Today Emma hurt her feet by kicking the footboard of my bed. She quickly looked at her feet and said "I'm sorry, feet".