Our Adoption Adventure

Some Winter Crafting

2012-01-27T16:37:00.002-05:00

My boss gave me this old cabinet when we first brought home the girls. Its a play-size hutch that the girls have outgrown. I want to sell it at an upcoming Consignment Sale so thought it needed a fresher look.

I love the new hardware that I bought for $2 ea. at the local hardware store.

Brushed nickel looks way better than scratched up brass. (Gosh I wished I had a better camera so you could see how good the new hardware looks.)

Super Bowl & Adoption Awareness

2012-01-26T08:36:00.000-05:00

You all know we are big adoption advocates in this house and this year my favorite team is in the Super Bowl (GO GIANTS!) So I'm thrilled to join the two together and share with you all an easy way to promote adoption at your super bowl party this year. Tony Dungee (former coach of the Indianapolis Colts) has shared his heart for adoption and is offering you all the chance to download his video and share it with your church, friends, and family during halftime of the big game (when I'm sure my Giants will be up by at least a touchdown on those evil Patriots). Watch the preview below and check out Adoption Journey for more information.

Is It Spring Yet?

2012-01-24T08:55:00.002-05:00

My poor flowers have been completely confused what season it is. Saturday, I slipped around Northern KY doing 5 home visits and yesterday it was 55 and sunny. My daffodils are even up! Poor things, I keep telling them its not time yet, but they don't seem to be listening.

A House Divided!

2012-01-22T14:24:00.003-05:00

Well, today is the big game. Giants vs. 49ers for a trip to the Super Bowl. We have our monthly 4th-Sunday potluck at church tonight, so we'll have to catch up on the DVR when we get home and get the kids in bed. (We go to one of those "Real Christians Record the Super Bowl and Watch It Later" churches.)

Korean Adoption Campaign

2012-01-20T09:33:00.001-05:00

If you know someone who has adopted from South Korea, please pass this information on to them.

The Typing Stand

2012-01-18T21:11:00.000-05:00

Caesar was helping me work on a home study tonight. Such a good holder for my documents while I type...

until he rolled over on my documents

Good thing he's so cute because he just about found himself kicked out of the house a couple of nights ago when he puked 4 times on the living room carpet.

Don't Carpe Diem

2012-01-18T09:42:00.001-05:00

I saw this article posted on a friend's facebook page and just had to say "Amen" to it. I try to tell myself that I often don't enjoy the daily drudgery of parenting because we haven't parented our kids from Day 1 and therefore we face many different challenges, than my friends who started out the "traditional" way. But I think parenting is just hard. And if we hold on to the "Kairos" moments that happen each day, the joys of parenting will shine through some of those challenging moments.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/glennon-melton/dont-carpe-diem_b_1206346.html

I need toremember that, especially now, as we are daily confronting the learningchallenges of our children. My meeting with AJ's teacher last weekrevealed he's no where near on track with his classmates and the girls arestruggling with their course work also. Retention is the main problem andmany of my friends/clients with kids from 'hard places' are telling me the samething about their kids. Reasoning, problem solving, retention: all thingsthat come from proper brain development of the frontal lobe during a child'sfirst 3 years of life. If a child experiences any trauma (lack ofprenatal care, traumatic birth, early hospitalization, abuse,neglect, malnourished) during the first 3 years of their lives, thedevelopment of that frontal lobe is going to be a bit off. Not that itcan't be restored and healing come, it just takes intentional parenting. And let me tell you, intentional parenting is exhausting. And wellmeaning people keep encouraging us to try this teaching technique or spend moretime reading with our kids, etc. I have to tell you, my kids do more'homework' than almost any other family I know of. We have private tutorsand spend time every night reading to and having our kids read to us. All of mykids are getting extra assistance at school (though that's another tangent Icould go down but won't right now) and I have several 'school help' websitesbookmarked and we use these often. They don't watch TV or play videogames during the weekly (usually) but there comes point where I shut the booksand tell them, "go outside and play". They are kids after all. I just find it so hard to balance the pressures of academia with thenecessity of just being kids. And as parents, we put more pressure onourselves than anyone to have our kids "succeed". Well, I needto get to the grocery store to fret over how much money I'm spending to providehealthy foods to help my kids' brain development. =) At least it will get my mind of school woes, right? I'll leave you witha picture of my cuties who woke me up at 6am (an hour before they need to getup) this morning because they wanted to wear their "tight pants &tutus" to school today.

ps. Thanks for all the comments regarding the fort from my last post. You helped rebuild my mommy self esteem. =)

Interview with Katie

2012-01-15T18:51:00.001-05:00

I got zero comments on my last post so apparently you all didn't think the fort was as cool as my kids did. =) No worries, they've loved jumping off it into the few inches of snow we've gotten the last few days.

I've talked about Katie Davis before and I always say, "I want to be Katie when I grow up." I finished reading her book a few weeks ago and LOVED it! Such a great story teller and she's so honest about her feelings. I highly recommend Kisses from Katie. I found this clip on her blog and wanted to share it with you all.

Catalyst Atlanta 2011 | Katie Davis from Catalyst on Vimeo.

The Fort

2012-01-10T21:03:00.003-05:00

It's official! I'm the coolest mom ever. My kids said so. I found these shipping crates on the side of the road and AJ, his friend and I hauled each one of them home, one at a time. They had to weigh 50 pound each, but so worth it for the materials needed for a new fort. I've spent the last couple of days emptying them, pulling nails out and dismantling certain sides.

The result...one genuine fort, good enough for 3 kids & a slew of neighborhood kids

The green is the waterproof lining from the shipping crates

Matt helped reinforced the fort so no crates falls off and smash anyone so hopefully its ready to take all that the kids can give it. Hopefully come spring we'll be adding some improvements, its just your basic fort for now.

Adoption Tax Credit Petition

2012-01-10T13:18:00.000-05:00

Here's something you can do to help adoptive families and you don't have to spend a dime!

Change.org|Start an Online Petition »

Ballerinas

2012-01-09T21:41:00.001-05:00

The girls had their first ballet lesson today. They loved it! (of course) The teacher doesn't allow parents to sit in on the classes (I know, so NOT conducive to blogging mamas) so I had the girls reenact what they learned. Apparently Chloe learned something different than was being taught (see video #2).

Off to our first ballet lesson

Where's Winter?

2012-01-06T19:42:00.001-05:00

A 60 degree day in January equals an afternoon trip to the park. Kids needed to burn off some energy and Mommy needed to soak up some sun. My kids have become complete daredevils on playground equipment thanks to recess at WES so instead of yelling at them that they are going to fall and break an arm, I decided to grab the camera instead.

Essie

Chloe

Essie

The other big news in our house is I signed the girls up for ballet classes today. Classes start Monday and the girls are beyond excited. You know I'll be posting pics of my ET princesses in their tutus so stay tuned!

Luther Elliss on Adoption

2012-01-06T14:28:00.003-05:00

Luther Elliss from Christian Alliance for Orphans on Vimeo.

Deck Project-Final Day

2012-01-05T09:28:00.000-05:00

Its done! Its done! Our beautiful deck is done! I'm so excited! (Can you tell?) A big shout out to our contractor, Ken Proctor. He did a great job and I really think the house will fall down before the deck does. If you need any help with home improvement projects give Ken a call. His company is called New Life Construction and Remodeling- 859-553-1210. Tell him Amy sent you.

I can't wait for spring to get here so I can start landscaping around this beautiful deck!

Today's high is supposed to be 47 degrees so I will be grilling out!

I've already told Matt that for Mother's Day I want a swing to hang off the end of this deck.

Deck Project-Day 7

2012-01-03T20:15:00.001-05:00

We are almost there! We almost have a completed deck. I can barely stand it! Here's today's progress.

Deck Project-Day 6

2012-01-02T21:10:00.001-05:00

Our wonderful contractor, Ken, worked through the 30 degree day, even with the driving snow and 30 mph winds, and we now have a completed deck floor.

May The Force Be With You

2012-01-01T22:04:00.000-05:00

We took the kids to see "We Bought A Zoo" the other night (which we loved) and the theater had this promo in the lobby. Luckily I had my camera so I obliged the kids for a picture. We also watched all 3 of the original Star Wars movies this weekend so this photo op made much more sense to the kids. Back to school tomorrow so no more movie marathons for us!

Essie

Chloe

Drivin' in my Jeep car

2012-01-01T21:53:00.002-05:00

The weather yesterday was AWESOME! I'll take 60 and sunny on any New Year's Eve. I caught the girls playing in their ship/jeep/car/boat, but they spotted me coming with the camera so then had to show off. These kids crack me up!

Griddle Extraordinaire

2012-01-01T20:43:00.003-05:00

Lovin' my new electric griddle. Made French Toast this morning (which used up a stale loaf of bread) and quesadillas tonight. Now if only I could find a good place to store the dang thing.

Put 'em to work

2011-12-31T14:12:00.001-05:00

We weren't home 24 hours from Illinois when the kids were complaining they were bored. My parents always said the cure for boredom was work. Our contractor has been away this week, visiting family, so I decided to have the kids help take apart the old deck to re-purpose some of the wood. Before you look at the pictures, please know that we had a lesson on safety around tools and rusty nails.

Chloe

Essie

AJ's new favorite tool...the sledge hammer

AJ had a friend over in the afternoon and I made the boys help build the new retaining wall for the more garden space. Thanks, Nathan!

Both Ends Burning

2011-12-28T10:50:00.001-05:00

International Adoption Crisis from Both Ends Burning on Vimeo.

Home Again, Home Again

2011-12-27T21:21:00.004-05:00

I started out the morning by making pancakes on my new, giant, electric grill. Yum! Yum! Then the kids dug into their craft projects that they got for Christmas. Perfect activity for a cold, rainy day.

Essie working on her flowerpots

Chloe painting her magnets

AJ painting some fierce rocks

A Well-Informed Bunch

2011-12-26T20:09:00.003-05:00

Amy got called away while watching the nightly news, and when Matt came to check on the kids, he found them with mouths hanging open, watching with rapt attention. We'd like to say that they're concerned with being aware of what is going on in the world, but the reality is, they will be mesmerized by anything on a television screen.

A Christmas Weekend Recap

2011-12-26T19:11:00.008-05:00

This year was our year to spend Christmas with Matt's side of the family, so we headed to southern Illinois to celebrate with Matt's grandparents and family.

Chloe, AJ, and Essie at church on Christmas morning.

The fam: in addition to our five, Matt's parents, sister, grandparents, aunt, uncle, and cousin celebrated Christmas with us.

Scooters!

Aunt Buffy's new Rondo shirt

AJ got some new Kentucky gear

Ballerina skirts were a big hit

Learning disguised as fun!

Grandma Melanie

Gigi seems to like her new necklace

Matt's gift from the kids

Amy with her new Kindle Fire

Can you see the girls under all those opened gifts?

New footie peejays!

The girls try out their new scooters.

Chloe

Essie

We hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas with your families!

Oh What Fun!

2011-12-22T22:39:00.001-05:00

Our favorite Albanian born friends came over this afternoon so you know with 5 kids, a dog and way too much Christmas candy around that we'd have a blog post coming.

The kids had their Christmas party last night at church and they wanted to try on some of their gifts from their teacher, Miss Carissa. Thanks for the fun!

Reni saw the camera and had to jump in the shot

Ellie made some great towers today so we had to get some shots of them.

Everyone hard at work on different projects

The kids went camping in the living room.

Reni was thrilled to get a spot by himself for his cars and motorcycle.

He didn't seem to mind that it was a Tinkerbell tent.

The girls couldn't actually lie down, once they got all 3 of them inside the tent.

AJ chillin'

I'm not sure I've ever seen a boy so infatuated with cars. He played with them almost the whole 3.5 hours they were at our house.

Reni wasn't so sure about Caesar at first, but you can see our good dog won him over

Deck Build-Day 5

2011-12-22T21:02:00.000-05:00

The rain cut our day short with the contractor but he did get the floor of the deck started. Yah for Ken!

Name That Tune-Holiday Edition

2011-12-22T13:42:00.001-05:00

Lookout Matt, someone will be vying for your job as Music Director in a few year!

Deck Build-Day 4

2011-12-22T13:01:00.002-05:00

After an early morning rain, the skies cleared and day #4 of the deck build commenced. The kids and I were gone all day so when we got home, "We got stairs!" was heard echoed through the car. The end caps were also put on, so we now have a better idea of what a 10x16 deck actually looks like. We will not only have enough space for our grill, but also room to entertain. I see a picnic table build in the future!

Church Christmas Program

2011-12-21T22:08:00.000-05:00

Tis the season for church Christmas programs. Ours was over a week ago, but I've been a bit slow with this post. Matt arranged the whole program, which incorporated all different age groups and ensembles. Had to post some short clips of the kids and Matt's solo. Note the little drummer boy below.

Deck Build-Day 3

2011-12-20T20:31:00.000-05:00

The rain held off until this afternoon so our contractor got a bit more work done today.

This short end is where the stairs will come down from the deck

Deck Build-Day 2

2011-12-20T20:24:00.001-05:00

2011-12-20T12:43:00.000-05:00

GC Give Education: Ethiopia/GoP Promo from Lifesong for Orphans on Vimeo.

Deck Build-Day 1.5

2011-12-19T22:51:00.001-05:00

Saturday was sunny but cool. The contractor came and poured the concrete for the footers in the morning and in the afternoon, I decided to put the kids to work. They helped me move the broken up concrete to the other side of the house, where I'm building a raised planting bed. Heavy lifting, pushing and pulling are all good activities for sensory seeking kids so there is a therapeutic benefit to manual labor. Of course I didn't discuss all that with my kids, they were just happy to help Mom (well, most of the time).

The footers

Chloe being goofy, as always.

Essie picking up a gigantic rock (above) and then Chloe showing off her big muscles with the same rock (below)

Our neighbor Jamin helping out

The boys tried to pick up this big piece of limestone that hinder the pouring of the footers the day before. The girls decided to help.

But in the end, Mom needed to help and there was no one left to video.

But here is the proof that we got it moved to be the cornerstone of the retaining wall.

Dancin' Fools

2011-12-19T16:39:00.000-05:00

We spent a fun day with our friends Ellie and Reni today. The party really got started once their dad set up the Wii and we played the dance game. Just had to share some videos from the day.

Reni is the cutest dancer with no legs that I know!

Deck Build-Day 1

2011-12-17T20:20:00.003-05:00

So the stairs leading to the side of our house have almost completely separated from the top platform. It was something we hoped to postpone, but this home improvement project has gotten too bad to ignore.

note how the top step is anything but level

This is the view from underneath where the top step is supposed to attach to the cement platform...pretty sure you should not see the entire end of the nail.

or daylight for that matter

Note where we painted white 3 years ago and how the stairs have shifted

Ok, lessened learned: a deck should never be anchored to a cement slab.

It should always have its own support beams.

I put the stick up to show you where the cement slab was originally poured

And here is the culprit for our woes...the gutter that has no where to drain but under the cement

Let the destruction begin!

This picture is for my Dad-just wanted you to know our contractor is A OK.
My Dad used to work for Werner Ladders

So I had to run an errand and when I came back, the drainage issue was taken care of

and the workers were on to digging the footers for the posts

What's taking so long guys, its just a couple of 2' holes...

ah...that's the culprit, a large chunk of KY limestone

(Sidenote: our contractor asked us if we wanted to save some $$ by digging the footers ourselves. He couldn't even finish his question when Matt & I both said,"Nope, we'll pay you to do it." This is way: KY limestone)

End of day 1: holes dug and ready for cement

Amazima Ministries: Christmas Gift Baskets

2011-12-12T21:13:00.005-05:00

I've been reading this book and loving it! I want to be Katie Davis when I grow up! She is 22 and is adopting 14 girls in Uganda as well as feeding, offering medical care and school fees for hundreds of other children. For anyone looking for a great giving opportunity this Christmas, this is a wonderful ministry. For Christmas, they are providing gift baskets for families in their sponsorship program. Check it out!

A New Box to Play With!

2011-12-10T15:07:00.003-05:00

A large shipping box from Amazon brings with it a world of possibilities, and the twins got right to work making use of their little imaginations:

A car!

Ready to ride!

You'd better look out!

Taking the box for a spin

Now it's a boat!

...And we're seasick.

Time to sleep.

Pajama Day

2011-12-10T15:01:00.003-05:00

Yesterday was pajama day at the girls' school, so they took the opportunity to show of new sets of peejays.

Caesar Has a Song for You

2011-12-09T15:20:00.004-05:00

Caesar has always had quite the singing voice, though he doesn't often show it. When he does, it's usually in the morning. We've never caught it on camera before, but our friend Monica did the other day. Without further ado, here is the maestro himself, performing one of his hits:

Go UK Hoops!

2011-12-08T21:40:00.004-05:00

The Kentucky Women's Basketball Team was playing the #5-ranked Duke Blue Devils in Rupp Arena tonight, and we were able to score $1 tickets to go see the game. It was a really fun atmosphere, and the kids had a great time.

Spelling out "C-A-T-S" on our way to the game

Rupp Arena

Amy and the girls

Essie, AJ, and Chloe

Matt & Chloe

Matt & AJ

The UK Cheerleaders

The kids loved the free pompoms they handed out before the game.

Dad tries a new hairdo.

Mom

Final score: Cats win 72-65!

Coach Mitchell and the team sing the fight song after the game.

Tired kids on the way home

Some videos from the evening:

Team Introductions

Cheerleaders spelling out "C-A-T-S"

Essie and Chloe get into the music during a timeout

The team takes the court after halftime

Dogs

2011-12-08T14:33:00.007-05:00

No time to make any real post, but after cleaning up Caesar's vomit at 3 am today (because he got into hot bean cans that he pulled out of the recycling bin yesterday) Matt thought this poem would cheer me up.

I spend lots of money on dog food, and that is so absurd,

Because that ungrateful dadgum dog likes eating sticks and horse turds.

My dog has fat-free dog food; it also helps his breath, I’ve heard.

But my dog couldn’t give a darn. He likes sticks and horse turds.

Animal righters say dogs are just like humans, but I think their vision’s blurred.

Because I like burgers and fries; my dog likes sticks and horse turds.

Caesar with an empty peanut butter container.

Note to Caesar: peanut butter good for dogs; hot beans NOT good for dogs

Outlaw Cowgirls

2011-12-02T16:52:00.007-05:00

The girls thought they were going to get Mommy with their empty water guns...

but they didn't anticipate her massive vacuum cleaner gun!!

Note to Children: Never try to play outlaws while you mother is vacuuming...
you will lose

Thanksgiving videos

2011-12-01T14:26:00.004-05:00

Had to post this picture of how my kids travel now-wired in. Are we Americanized or what? I do have to say though that the addition of earbuds for them made the travel much more enjoyable for mom & dad. And for all you children of the 80's, note that they are playing with Gameboys.

My mother found this double sit and spin at a yard sale. It is the coolest toy and the kids love it. Why can't I find cool toys like this at yard sales?!?!

Sorry for the poor lighting

Even Shelby liked it...well, kinda

An Early Christmas in Indiana

2011-12-01T13:57:00.007-05:00

Since the whole Neild family was together over Thanksgiving (& its our Christmas to spend with Matt's family), we decided to have Christmas with my family. Our kids were thrilled (of course).

Chloe got some fun butterfly lights for her room from Aunt Jen & family

I had no idea Shelby would love the puzzle we got her so much, but I think she liked it more for the banging noise it made when she clapped the pieces together than for the educational value.

ShrinkyDinks-who knew they were still around??

Meemaw's paint books were a hit-painting & princess: two of the girls favorites!

One of the nicest surprises of our visit was AJ & Hunter becoming buds. Here they try on the Superhero dress-up clothes that Meemaw & Grandpa got for AJ for Christmas.

We got Hunter a huge box of Lincoln Logs (thank you Meijer clearance sale). As you can see below the boys were quite creative with them. For the record, the 2 story part of the house is where the boys sleep and the back, left, part is for the girl's bedroom (according to Hunter & AJ). The flat roof section is the eating room and living room.

Black Friday Prank

2011-12-01T11:15:00.002-05:00

Had to share this!

Oregon Sibling Group

2011-11-30T09:16:00.002-05:00

I saw this sibling groups' information posted on a Heart Gallary website and just thought they are adorable! They reside in the Oregon foster care system and are looking for a forever family. If you would like more information on them, here's the link.

What They Do In Holland

2011-11-29T18:11:00.005-05:00

The girls have been talking at school about what children around the world do with their teeth after they lose them. Which is really funny because that has been a topic of conversation on our agency's Yahoo group. In Ethiopia, children throw there tooth over the house (or into the woods) and yell to the bird, "take my pretty tooth and give me your ugly tooth". We are interpreting that as the children offering their better tooth to help the bird out. I'll let the girls explain the tradition in Holland.

Note the shiny shoes Chloe gave the girl and her grandfather

The Many Faces of Shelby

2011-11-28T10:50:00.006-05:00

We headed to Indiana last week to celebrate Thanksgiving with my family. All 16 of us were there and it was fun to see everyone. (Though the internet connection at my parents is frustratingly slow so thus no posts til today.) The kids had a ball playing tag on Grandpa's big round bales in the field and generally getting dirty. My niece Shelby has found her voice, though no words yet, just lots of loud squeals and screams. She is however now using sign language to express many of her basic needs, though to Shelby, the "potty" sign apparently means "make mommy frustrated by sitting on the toilet for 10 minutes and then filling my diaper as soon as she puts in on me". I wasn't sure where to start posting about our trip, but soon realized I had several pictures of the many faces of Shelby.

This is her "this is my elephant and you better not even think of taking it" face to Aunt Kelly

This is her "what was that noise?" face.

Truthfully, this is the look Shelby always gets when she's trying to figure something out or is feeling very unsure of a situation. We used to see it A LOT, but happy to report we see it less and less as Shelby begins to settle in to her new family (home 6 months now).

Uncle Jeremy was "watching" Shelby when she stuck her hand in a nearby peanut butter pie. At first she wasn't sure at all about this substance we call cool whip.

She soon figured out this stuff was good and this is her "mmm" face

This is Shelby sitting on Chloe, who is sitting on Matt. I took about 6 pictures of this trio and these are the best ones. This is Shelby's "I can't figure out this situation" face again.

And then Shelby got distracted because she's only 2 years old and there were 15 other people in the house. At least I got Matt trained on how to take a proper picture.

A Fun Filled Afternoon

2011-11-21T22:10:00.005-05:00

We had a fun filled afternoon with 2 sets of friends who ended up coming over to play. Nothing like 8 kids in the house at the same time. As long as I kept the boys separate from the girls, everyone had fun.

Chloe Margaret, Ruthie and Essie played dress-up and had a wedding, accompanied by quite a loud, expressive musical processional.

Nathan, AJ & Samuel rough-housed, broke the Nerf basketball hoop and spilled an entire bag of popcorn. Not sure what else they did but they had fun doing it.

I didn't get a picture of Baby Tessa, but she hung out in my arms and then fell asleep. She didn't scream once so I think she had a good time too.

More Family Photos

2011-11-20T16:56:00.002-05:00

More photos from our photo shoot with Cydil:

More Photos of the Twins

2011-11-20T16:44:00.003-05:00

Here are some more pictures of our girls from our photo shoot with Cydil.

Essie

Chloe

More Photos of AJ

2011-11-20T16:38:00.002-05:00

Here are some more photos of AJ from our photo shoot with Cydil.

Family Photo Shoot

2011-11-19T10:47:00.006-05:00

Our very talented friend Cydil (www.cydilwaggoner.com) took some great photos of our family at Waveland Historic Site just outside Lexington. The fall colors were beautiful, and the kids were great - laughing and posing the whole time. (The locations and poses for their individual pictures were chosen by them.)

Essie

Chloe

Our twins - giggling as usual

Welcome Home Wills Family!

2011-11-18T21:56:00.005-05:00

We had the privilege to welcome home the Wills family tonight with their twin daughters from Ethiopia (for those counting, we're up to 3 sets of twins from ET right here in the Bluegrass and I know of one other set in Louisville). I did the Wills' home study and actually suggested they look into Ethiopia. I had no idea at the time, it would take them 16 months to get their girls home. The Embassy caused all kinds of delays, but all that is behind them now as they celebrate being a family of 6 tonight at home.

The Mullins twins

Chloe & her buddy John (Taiwan)

Are they coming yet?

Kids melting down while we wait

Reni getting bored, but looking so dang cute!

Finally, here they come...

Had to get a picture of my kids helping with the luggage

AJ reading!!!

2011-11-17T16:48:00.003-05:00

Our poor AJ has had such a struggle with reading, with due cause. He only attended school for 1 year in Ethiopia and they called it "baby school", which we interpreted as pre-school. They sang songs and only met for a few hours a day. Not the way we do pre-school in the States, for sure. We put AJ in 2nd grade last year and school has been a struggle. Imagine my surprise tonight when he grabbed Green Eggs and Ham and proceeded to read (with minimal help) for the next 20 minutes.

Chloe loves Mommy

2011-11-10T14:43:00.001-05:00

Look what Chloe drew for me last night! Does she know how to butter up her mom or what?!?! Love it!!!

Empowered to Parent starts Tomorrow

2011-11-10T10:33:00.001-05:00

The Empowered to Parent Conference starts tomorrow and I am excited! You can still register and if you can only make it to 1 day of the conference, there's a payment option for that as well. I'd like to post more, but I've got lots to do before the conference. Hope to see many of you there!

November surprise

2011-11-05T20:56:00.002-04:00

Yes, its November 5th and my rose bushes are still blooming. I don't quite understand because roses tend to be finicky, but you can see from the picture, the plants around them have all died due to our colder temperatures and nightly freezes. Can't explain it but I love seeing roses in November!

Empowered to Parent

2011-11-03T10:59:00.002-04:00

Last day to register at discounted prices for the Empowered to Parent Conference that will be next Friday and Saturday in Lexington, KY. Ticket prices go up tomorrow. This is a great opportunity to learn why our kids act the way they do and fill in some of the missing pieces. You won't want to miss it!

Shed Project Finished!

2011-11-01T16:55:00.002-04:00

With a beautiful day in the forecast, Matt took the afternoon off to finish work on our shed.

Before

After

Three cheers for a job well done!

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T20:08:00.002-04:00

Our town has a great Trick or Treat event on Main Street, and our kids were super excited to get dressed up and get some candy.

Spiderman and two Batgirls

(Essie's #1 request for a Christmas present last year was a Batgirl costume, but we couldn't find one in December. So she finally got her wish for Halloween.)

Superhero poses

A quick family photo on Main Street

Our kids are pretty good at entertaining themselves. (Especially with the aid of sugar.)

Hugh Jackman & coffee

2011-10-31T10:30:00.000-04:00

As unbelievable as it is, we are not coffee drinkers in our house. I know...how can we parent 3 Ethiopian children and not instill in them a love of coffee?!?! Well, I love the smell of it and I love using coffee grounds in my compost. I just can't stand the taste of it. I do however, love Hugh Jackman (come on ladies, who doesn't, right?) so I had to pass on this info. I found out about him.

Hugh Jackman launches Laughing Man charity coffee brand | MNN - Mother Nature Network

AJ's First UK Football Game

2011-10-29T23:15:00.005-04:00

A last minute gift of two tickets put Dad and AJ in the east endzone for the Kentucky-Mississippi State football game tonight. It was a bit chilly, and the team is awful, but it was still great fun with lots of new sights and sounds. (We also got to meet a UK basketball legend, Jack "Goose" Givens, who was seated right in front of us.)

Championship Rematch

2011-10-29T23:08:00.003-04:00

AJ's U-10 soccer team, the Philadelphia Union, made it to the league championship final for the second season in a row, and lost to the same team they played in the championship game last season. So, another 2nd place finish for the team, and we are very proud.

AJ gets his 2nd place medal

The two teams

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

2011-10-29T21:00:00.002-04:00

The kids took advantage of the recent dip in temperatures to try on the snow suits Meemaw bought them. Great fit, Meemaw! Unfortunately, the girls ended up wearing them to AJ's soccer game because it was a whopping 40 degrees. WAY TOO COLD to be playing soccer. AJ's team made it to the championship game today (warmer temps today, yea!) but came in 2nd place. Of course I forgot my camera so I'll have to wait to post pics when I can beg, borrow & steal them from the much more organized parents.

Family Night at Chick-Fil-A

2011-10-29T20:48:00.003-04:00

WOW! I can't believe I haven't posted since Tuesday. Guess we've had a couple of busy days. Thursdays night, the kids and I headed to Chick-Fil-A for family fun night. The kids decorated pumpkins, but there were too many people to get any good pictures. We missed hanging with some friends, but did randomly meet another ET adoptive family and a foster mom who is a self proclaimed "blog stalker" (Hey, friend! Thanks for introducing yourself!)

AJ & Essie

Chloe

Thanks, Chick-Fil-A for a fun, family night.

Shed Update

2011-10-25T21:20:00.002-04:00

Matt stayed home a couple hours Monday morning so we could get the second peak of the shed done. Here it is in all its glory:

All that's left now is the back, which has no peaks or doors to work around:

Pumpkin Carvin'

2011-10-25T20:19:00.004-04:00

It's that time of year - time to get out the pumpkins and put sharp instruments in the hands of small children!

Chloe shows off her "gisgusting" hands

Essie

Dad and his pumpkin

AJ's pumpkin - drawn and carved without help!

Essie (The girls drew their own designs, then Dad cut them out.)

Chloe's cat pumpkin

Pumpkins on display on the front steps

Dad's

AJ's

Essie's

Chloe's

Happy Halloween!

Extreme Makeover:Shed Edition-Day 3

2011-10-23T21:38:00.014-04:00

We usually adhere to keeping the Sabbath for rest, but my dad had to go home this afternoon and we still had this problem on the shed.

So after church and lunch, we got back to work. Dad constructed a new barn style door from scratch.

Lookie there! A new door!

Matt finished the first side of the building so 2 sides down, 2 to go!

Extreme Makeover:Shed Edition-Day 2

2011-10-22T21:25:00.005-04:00

Well, I didn't get as many pictures as I wanted to of Day 2 because well, we ended the day with frustration and darkness.

Dad spent the afternoon working on building a new door for the shed. We didn't get it finished, but hopefully another day & it will be done.

Pictures by AJ

Mango break for the kid means Meemaw gets some extra supervisors to help her out

One of the reasons we didn't get as much done as I had hoped to was we had the take a break this afternoon for AJ's soccer game. He had 2 goals today and his team won easily.

Extreme Makeover: Shed Edition

2011-10-21T21:23:00.005-04:00

Meemaw & Grandpa drove down late last night so Grandpa could help me (Amy) help our poor shed survive the winter. The building is sound, but whoever build it, covered it with pressboard, which of course, is not waterproof.

We had to remove the bottom 2 feet and replace it, due to it being rotten.

Step #1 done.

Starting to put the siding up!

End of Day 1-most of one end done, part of the front done

Building Projects

2011-10-17T14:52:00.003-04:00

I've been working on the shed a bit, getting it ready for Friday when my Dad is coming to help me put siding on it. The kids got into some building project of their own. The girls made an airplane (notice the cockpit by Essie's right hand). AJ was hammering a bunch of boards together but he couldn't quite decide what it was yet so didn't want his picture taken. We'll see if he gets more inspired next weekend when Grandpa is here.

A Beautiful October Day

2011-10-15T16:22:00.004-04:00

Blue skies, leaves changing, 66 degrees. A great day to go hiking at Red River Gorge! Mom had to work, so Dad and the kiddos headed east to get some exercise and see some nature.

Picnic with sandwiches from Subway - our kids' new favorite restaurant.

AJ found a leaf that was bigger than his head!

The girls were not impressed with the facilities.

The Rock Bridge Trail - our trail for the day.

AJ & Essie

The girls relax on a patch of moss.

Chloe: You mean like Ms. Moss? (their teacher)

Standing under Rock Bridge

Waving at Dad from on top of the bridge

A closer look

Checking out a little waterfall

On top of the waterfall

Playing in the sand along the creek

A brief rest on the way back up the hill

Empowered to Parent

2011-10-13T22:44:00.005-04:00

I am so excited to be promoting this training that is coming to Lexington (KY) on November 11-12. Based on Dr. Karen Purvis' research, this training incorporates scientific research with Biblical principles to parent our children from "hard places". Dr. Purvis wrote The Connected Child, a book I recommend to all my parents. I attended a conference last month in Nashville with Dr. Purvis and came away so refreshed and full of hope that we can bring complete healing to our kids if we are just willing to alter our parenting style to fit their needs. We have to do our part, go beyond ourselves and the "normal" way of parenting, but we can see dramatic healing in our kids. We have been implimenting many of the things I learned in Nashville in our own family and now we are bringing some of Dr. Purvis' team here to Lexington to do a hands-on training for adoptive parents, teachers, social workers, and therapists. Please check out our website for more information on how to register.

The Failure of International Adoption Policies

2011-10-11T13:51:00.012-04:00

This is the story of what is really happening in Guatemala, but its not just Guatemala. Unfortunately, its the story in many countries that have closed their doors to international adoption (Cambodia, Vietnam, Nepal).

Fall Break: Monday at Mammoth Cave

2011-10-10T20:35:00.007-04:00

The last big activity of our Fall Break road trip was a visit to Mammoth Cave. The kids were very excited to go underground for the first time.

Waiting for the tour to begin

Heading down into the cave

Going deeper into the earth

Watch your head, Dad!

Whoa...deep hole.

Getting ready to head into "Fat Man's Misery"

Squeezing our way through

A quick family photo

Apparently Landram's Sax-Horn Band was there in 1855.

Back up into the sunlight

Back above ground, but enjoying the cool breeze from the mouth of the cave

Chloe is reading up on Floyd Collins, a man who was trapped and died in Sand Cave in 1925. The rescue effort was one of the most covered U.S. news stories between the two world wars. Hundreds came to help in the unsuccessful rescue attempt and thousands gathered to watch the excitement.

The mouth of Sand Cave, where Floyd Collins was killed.

All that walking, and still three happy children.

And Mom and Dad are still smiling after driving three kids all over Kentucky.

Fall Break: Sunday Drivin'

2011-10-10T10:37:00.013-04:00

We started Sunday at church with Gigi and Pawpaw. Matt sang a couple of songs in the morning worship service, much to Gigi's delight.

Sunday best

Chloe and Essie try out the rocking chairs at Cracker Barrel

Surely Essie won't be able to eat all those pancakes and peaches, right?

Wrong. Back toward Kentucky we go with full bellies.

A fortuitous potty break provided an unexpected stop in Metropolis, Illinois.

Kids pose with Superman

AJ and Essie

Dad and Chloe

Mom: "Get into the phone booth."

AJ: "What's a phone booth?"

Off we go on our way again!

We drove down through the Land Between the Lakes and stopped at the Woodlands Nature Station. (We were going to drive through the bison and elk prairie, but they told us the animals were too far off the road to see that day.)

Essie gets up close and personal with a snake!

An 18-year-old coyote

If you look carefull, you might see the sleeping bobcat, which the kids were excited to see, because we just finished reading "We Killed a Wildcat at Sugar Creek".

That's not a fake deer. He was off down at the bottom of his enclosure before Matt used his hillbilly skills to call him up close to us.

Wild turkey (the animal, not the whiskey)

Bald eagle

AJ tests his wingspan against a bald eagles'

Essie

Chloe

I think dad wins.

Petting some animal furs

Chloe on the shore of Lake Barkley

Dad and Essie across the way

A little hiking among some neat rock formations

Getting feet wet

AJ swore he would catch a fish. I guess this minnow counts?

The 351-foot-tall Jefferson Davis Memorial Monument at his birthplace in Fairview, Kentucky. When Chloe saw it from the highway, she said, "Look! Rapunzel!"

Dad reads Jefferson Davis' "Salute to Kentucky"

All this boring history doesn't keep these kids down

Just hangin' around

Settled in to watch a movie as the sun goes down.

Last goal of the day: get to the hotel in time to do some swimming before bed. Success!

Fall Break: Saturday at Gigi's

2011-10-10T09:54:00.008-04:00

Since the kids are on Fall Break all next week, we decided to take a little family vacation over the weekend. First stop, Matt's grandparents in Southern Illinois:

Chloe and AJ rake some leaves

Essie sweeps the front porch

Dad cleans the gutters

Chloe

Scrubbing out the birdbath

Very proud of their hard work!

The raking done, it's time to have some fun!

Can you find three kids in that pile?

Dad demonstrates the proper technique.

Loading up the wheelbarrow

Chloe is eager to help drive.

A serious driver

Taking a break on the patio

AJ shows off some soccer skills

Chloe

Essie

Chloe loves this big seashell

Tossing the football with dad

A little game of keepaway

The swingset doesn't have any swings anymore, but no matter.

Chloe with her namesake, Eva Chloe

Gigi turned 91 on Friday!

Great-grandpa took us around on a beautiful afternoon to visit the graves of some of our family members.

It's not everyday that you get to have your picture taken with Jesus.

Steve Jobs Changed the World: Adoption Changed His

2011-10-06T21:55:00.001-04:00

Steve Jobs Changed the World: Adoption Changed His | LifeNews.com

New Specs

2011-10-06T16:44:00.002-04:00

Essie got some new specs today to help her with reading and homework time. She's pretty dang cute, if I do say so myself. She also had a dentist appointment today so I told her she was a brand new woman now.

practicing reading

apparently someone high-jacked my camera while I was out of the room and took a picture of her sister Chloe so she wouldn't feel left out.

Back to working on those spelling words

Dressed for Success

2011-10-03T09:08:00.004-04:00

So many good things are going on at our house, but I've just been too busy to sit and write about it. I had to post the picture below because AJ wore jeans for the 1st time in the 13 months he has lived with us. AJ has Sensory Defensiveness Disorder and we have been working with a wonderful Occupational Therapist for the past month or so to help him overcome this hurtle. Clothes have been a big irritant for him and we have following a brushing protocol, which has worked wonders for him. On Sunday evening, he came downstairs and announces he was ready for church. We just about fell over when we saw he had jeans on. I asked him how they felt and he said, "not good." but he wore them the rest of the evening so this is a big step.

I also had to post this picture below because with the dipping temps, the girls found an excuse to were their "new" boots (love consignment sales!) to church. Props to Matt for coordinating the outfits. AJ picked out his own clothes so we had to snap a picture of all 3.

A Night at the Movies

2011-10-01T21:34:00.003-04:00

We took the girls to see Lion K*ng last night. I realized that while I'd heard it about a dozen times (from the front seat of the van), I hadn't actually watched it for a long time. And in 3D, it was awesome. The girls thoroughly enjoyed it and it was nice to have some time just with them.

A war on international adoption

2011-09-28T10:27:00.001-04:00

Tom Davis weighs in on the war against international adoption. Isn't the right to a family a basic human need?

A war on international adoption

Golf lessons

2011-09-26T21:00:00.002-04:00

Found this tonight when I came downstairs.

Sunday Morning Playtime

2011-09-26T15:49:00.003-04:00

I was in Nashville the end of last week for the Empowered To Connect conference (loved it!). If you can ever make it to one of these, do it! It is so worth the time, expense and effort. Anyways, I came upstairs on Sunday morning and found 3 children playing quietly and contentedly. I had to get it on video.

Happy 32nd Birthday!

2011-09-21T13:15:00.004-04:00

Matt turned 32 today, but we had to celebrate last night due to a crazy, busy schedule this week. Matt gets to celebrate today by attending a forum on the State insurance changes for 2012 (oh fun!) and this afternoon preparing for and then attending a board meeting. Sorry your day hasn't been much fun, Honey, but know we love you!

The Peanut Gallery always willing to help!

I bought Matt the T*ger Woods 2012 golf game for the Wii-WAY too much $$ for a video game, but he really wanted it and the poor man doesn't ask for much out of this life.

The kids got him a pack of his favorite candy bar.

Matt's parents & sister went in to buy him Wii Mario Cart, which the kids REALLY wanted, but I'm hoping will be hours of fun this winter when we are all shut indoors.

Chloe helping Dad figure out this new game.

Beautiful Girls

2011-09-20T14:20:00.006-04:00

Chloe

Essie

Had to share these pics from our friend Cydil. She got some great pics of the girls the other day & posted a bunch more on her blog.

The Truth About UNICEF

2011-09-19T21:32:00.000-04:00

A good read:

http://www.aaronklein.com/2011/09/the-war-against-international-adoption/

A Fun Friday Afternoon

2011-09-17T20:04:00.003-04:00

We have been so blessed to have the Bellew family move to Wimore this summer. I did their home study for their 2 daugthers from Liberia but they lived 2 hours away at that time. They now live 2 minutes away and their Elementary age kids ride the same school bus as our kids. We decided to have Nathan and Margaret over after school on Friday and everyone was sad when it was time for them to go home. Enjoy the pics!

Everything's Changing

2011-09-16T15:43:00.006-04:00

After Chloe saw the new grill the other night she said, "Everything's changing. We're getting all new stuff." Little did she know that another change was about to happen. We ordered a couch almost 2 months ago and after much delay, it was delivered today while the kids were at school. I think you can see from the picture below, we just about worn through the hand-me-down couch that we've had the last few years. So when we got our tax refund this year, I new couch was high on my wish list.

Yes, it's huge and its chocolate brown and it takes up a lot of space in our family room, but I don't care, I love it!

UPDATE: I had to add this picture below. Its what I found when I came downstairs for movie night. Even Caesar found his spot on the new couch and he's snoozing away right next to me now as I type.

I had to add these pictures too. Everyone keeps asking me how the kids are doing with all this transition. We had milkshakes tonight after supper to celebrate well....to celebrate that we all love milkshakes. I found these cool glasses that I had tucked away in the cupboard because well...I only had 3 of them. Anyways, I think I got them at G**dwill years ago but I thought they were so cute that I had to post a picture of them.

I think these pictures tell you how the kids are these days. We are seeing a lot more affection from and between the kids. Don't get me wrong...they are still kids and we have our daily squabbles, but the black cloud has lifted from our house and we see many more smiles these days.

Flooding in New York

2011-09-14T10:35:00.004-04:00

Forgot to mention in previous post that I also found out last week that the place where I grew up in New York flooded last week due the the hurricanes. I have lots of family members still living there and my elderly grandparents basement flooded. No one had electricity since last Wednesday. I know these images aren't as shocking as those coming out of Vermont, but when you know these streets like I do, its still shocking.