Week 11

 Chinese Jello tastes like sweet tea.  This was a treat from our friend, Helen.
Thanks Helen!

Marta ate it, but nobody else would, not even Jake and Joy.

Joy and Marta had a better week this week as you see.

Joy and Marta did Grace's make-up and then Joy did Marta's make-up.

So what makes a tough little girl come crying (almost) to her mama?

You guessed it, a hard fall on both knees in the street.

Joy was playing a game of tag with the new neighbors kid and Shane.  She fell when she was running across the street to avoid being tagged.

I was sitting on the edge of our yard and saw it happen.

After she fell, I wondered if she'd get up crying. 

As you see she recovered quickly and Marta was happy to play nurse.

I put 3 bandaids on one knee and 2 on the other.

These are our new neighbors.  Jaheim is a 5th grader and Asia is a 3rd grader.   They go to Whitesides! 

When we were in China, J & J showed discrimination toward Africans (we only saw a few). 

It's funny now how God has brought these delightful children into our lives and they live right across the street.  Since J & J have been going to school, they have not shown any ill behavior toward the 

African American children (at least not to my knowledge).  

The bugs are already bad (the knats).

Joy was able to rejoin the crew after the bandaids got put in place. 

I decided to add in a picture of myself this week to let you know, again that, yes, I am still alive.

I'm thankful that all 5 kids returned to school.  Spring break, however, did give me a picture of what summer could be like if I don't develop a plan.  Our bio kids (G & S) get out of school the end of May and the other 3 get out the 1st week in June.  I know that we'll have VBS in July, but that's all I've got on the calendar so far.

Someone took a picture of me cutting up the watermelon.  This will be one way to keep the kids happy this summer.....to make sure we have plenty of watermelon.  They love it!

Here's Joy being funny for the camera.

This is what Joy did to the watermelon.  She told me it was to much, but she ate every bite.

Thank you again to those who are praying for us!  It means the world to us and I know our Great God is hearing those prayers!  Please continue to pray for a deep element of peace to flow through our family.

If you are someone considering adopting, please take the leap of faith and do it!  God is with you always.

He will never leave you nor forsake you!

Week 10, Spring Break Is Coming To An End

Spring break started with Easter activities.  Our church had an Easter Egg hunt on Sat morning.

The kids had a great time!  Jake even found a prize egg. 



Here's Marta with the Easter Bunny before the hunt started.



This is while the hunt is happening (it's almost over). 



Here are our 2 youngest, Marta and Jake, dumping their eggs to trade for their goodie bags.  Yes, Jake's the one with the Super Man jacket.  My mom gave that to him for his birthday and he wears it all the time.



Some people see these three and think they're triplets.



     We did our favorite ice cream spot this week while we were down 2 children.  Grace and Shane got to visit their grandparents from Tues through Thurs.  We needed something special for those who didn't get to go.  So, we did the Tuesday Family Night and this was just right!

Jake also found the doctor's play kit in the closet this week. 

I think he may have a future in medicine because he has such a tender heart.
This week was the week I fell in love with our son.  He is sensitive, smart, and funny.
God has so many incredible things planned for him and I can't wait to see what they are.

We also got to have a half day visit with my great nephew, John Clifton.  This is really strange to me because I never really thought of myself as a "great aunt."  John Clinton was in town with his grandmother, Grammy Missy.  They wanted us to come over to Folly Beach to visit (Tom's Mother's house).   Marta, Joy and Jake were so excited about this little guy and his little brother (not pictured).  Jake and Joy decided to "read a book" to JC....they were teaching him his alphabet!  Imagine, Chinese children teaching a toddler English.  I was laughing at this.  After eating lunch together, we took a stroll to the Folly River pier.



Joy was doing all she could to get her hands on these little guys.  She probably was
a big help in the orphanage with the babies.

Tom was not on this visit because he decided over spring break to work on the bushes in our front yard.  He cut them all the way back.  I hope they'll grow back soon because our front yard now looks naked.  Jake (not pictured) decided to help Tom with the clean up.  I'm so thankful for his helping spirit!



This is only part of what he did.  The boxwoods on the other side of the house
are also all cut down. 

We visited the library on Friday to return books and DVDs.  Jake found this book and wanted

to check it out.  I didn't look through it until we got home.   It's was a book that J & J can easily read.

This book also got J & J asking questions about going to school. 
It's a good tool for working on their English.

     We ended the 10th week on a not-so-good note.  Joy had some attitude problems.  We

sought counsel from our Christian friend who was able to give us encouragement and shared some insightful thoughts about Joy's behavior.

    I was able to redirect Joy with some "tough love."  I was thankful that by Friday afternoon, I was seeing a change in her behavior.  However, please pray for God to give Joy a teachable spirit and heart.  

     Once things turned around for the better on Friday afternoon, Jake started running a fever.  This is the 1st time he's been sick since he's been with us.  He was almost crying when the fever was spiking.  He slept all day Saturday on the couch.  I'm happy to report now (Sun afternoon) that he's feeling better. 

     I also want to say a very special thank you to the youth group from Anderson that came down this week.  They camped out at our church and did mission work for their spring break.  We got to be one of their projects (they helped J & J with their English).  Mrs. Karmen and the girls were a blessing to our family.  We loved getting to know them.  

*  Karmen, if you come back this summer, please give us a call! 

   

Week 9, Spring Break is Here!

Week 9, Joy's Birthday and More!

On Saturday, Tom took the kids out to the Bulls Bay Nature Festival.  Our friend, Claudine, signed us up for several of the events.  THANK YOU CLAUDINE!

I wasn't able to go because of an unexpected funeral.

While they were there, they all got to go fishing!  Jake caughtt 2 fish and boy, was he excited!



Shane had to help Jake with getting the catfish in!

On Sunday, we celebrated Joy's 11th birthday.  She thought the Barbie cake was awesome!

I also made cupcakes for her to take to school on Mon (her real birthday).  She was on cloud nine!

We gave her a pair of sunglasses and a small necklace making kit.



This is the box that it came in! (Tom and Marta in the background)

 

I got it from B-Lo.  I think they did a pretty good job on it.  It was better than buying the kit and trying to make it myself.



The Barbie did not stay in the cake very long! 





I wanted to celebrate a day early because Tom was home.  He had to work on Mon. 





Opening Gift #1, a necklace making kit.





And here are the sunglasses.
Joy also got some birthday money in the mail from her grandparents.  She put it in her wallet with
her Chinese money that I had given her.  I know she'll give a big hug to her grandparents for the money
when she sees them on Easter Sunday.



On Tues, Jake and Joy had their first well check up with Dr. Powell, our pediatrian.

The kids did a wonderful job.  And thank you, Helen, for going with us!  You made it so much easier for them.  Helen had to explain to them that we were only going to the doctor's office, not the hospital. 



Waiting for our 1:30 appointment. 



He weighs 53 lbs.

  

  

"Let's check your height."

All went well at the doctor's appointment.  We weren't given any surprises!  :) 
Dr. Powell does want us to schedule a trip down to MUSC to have the kids checked out
by the International Adoption Clinic.   We'll probably get that set up sometime this coming week.


And now a few more random pictures from other moments this week.



Tom and Jake working in the compost garden.  Tom thinks we have watermelons growing in it.



Marta, our fairy.



Shane's book for the next 2 weeks.  I just checked it out from the libray on Mon and he's already on chapter 7.  He's been very interested in shooting lately and he enjoys hunting with my dad.  When I saw the young boy and the title, I thought we've got to get this book.  It's also a SC Award Book!
If you have a reluctant reader like we do, you may want to find this at your library.  I'm even enjoying it!



I'm still working on the alphabet and phonics with Jake and Joy.  I ran across this ABC book at church that I may use.  I really like it because it's a great way to teach about God and who He is.  I'll probably need to use the translator for explanations of each letter.

And last but not least, I want to say a big thank you to the Botero family for coming over this past Sat so that Tom and I could go on a date!  The kids had a great time!  You guys are a blessing to us!  We can't wait to see you again soon! :)

May God bless all of you over the Easter holiday!  Next week, week 10, and spring break pictures!

 



Week 8

Week 8



Happy 14th Birthday, Grace!

Tom made the traditional birthday waffles before heading off to school!

Grace, we love you so much!  You are a beautiful girl on the inside and out!  We're so thankful that God gave us you! 



She also got the book, The Power of a Praying Teen. 

Thank you to Robin and Ricky Mitchell for bringing over a bike this week for Jake!  Shane was so sweet.  He knew Jake needed training wheels & he volunteered to put them.  Jake was off and going not to long after this picture!



Jake watching his brother put on his training wheels in our driveway.

Thank you Anna W for doing our family photo shoot this week. 
We took pictures in Mt. Pleasant and very close to our house.
Some of these will be posted in the upcoming weeks!



 On Thursday, Shane got braces!   




Please pray for his mouth to feel better soon.  And yes, he'll be getting bottom braces in the near future.

 

On Thursday, Jake and Joy didn't have any homework.  Jake decided he wanted to work with the American themed stencils.  When I saw he was working on the Staute of Liberty, I asked him if he knew what it was.  He did by holding his arm up like he was also holding the torch.  I was happy to know that he understood this great American symbol!



His question for me was, "Mom, what color?" 

  The other highlight drawings of the week were pictures by Joy and Marta.   Marta drew the picture below.  Even though there are no people, it's colorful and seems happy.  I especially like the stars down in the left hand corner.

And Joy's family picture, below!  I was excited that she included each person and wrote everyone's name (in English) above each person!  Marta and Joy are starting to feel better about our family and each other.



The other fun part of the week has been teaching Jake and Joy the words to

"Mary had a Little Lamb."

Both Jake and Joy love music.  I was able to print out a coloring sheet with the words to the nursery rhyme.  Being the homeschool mom that I was, I knew I could tap into their learning with music and rhyme.  We had to do some school at home this week because the public school had testing.  The Vice Principal asked me to please bring them at 10:00am on Wed and Thurs morning.  We worked on our song and also on phonics! 

Over the coming weekend, we'll be celebrating Joy's 11th birthday! 
We have a Barbie cake ordered.  I can't wait to see her face.

To all you who are reading our blog, thank you again!  We love having you follow along.  Please pray for the orphans who are waiting for a family.  Please pray for those families who are considering adopting, but are afraid.  May God bless each one of you today and in the many weeks ahead with awesome His love, peace, and presence.



Week 7, The Playground & More

The Playground at Sullivan's Island

This past Saturday we went to the new and improved Sullivan's Island playground.

The 3 younger ones had a good time on a beautiful day!

                                                                                       

Marta!



Jake!

 

The Trio! (Picture 1)

These 3 are finding out that they have so much in common.

On Thursday morning before school, I found Joy fixing Marta's hair for school!  This was a huge blessing.
Then, on Friday morning, there they were again.  Joy was brushing Marta's hair and putting in pig tails.

The English word count as of today is.....?
A few of the things that they are now saying are,......
"Mom, bathroom!"   Which means, "Mom, I'm going to the bathroom."
"Please."
"Thank you."
"Let's go!"
"Strawberries."
"I like bread."
"One more."
"Wait."
"Blessing."  (which really means, "Please say a prayer with me before saying good night.")
"Milk."


The Trio (Picture 2)




The Trio (Picture 3)


Jake and Joy have been at Whitesides Elem for 5 weeks.  They have home work almost everyday, which has been assigned by the ESOL teacher.  We help them with it.  The teacher sees them for 1 hour each morning, from 8:00-9:00am and then she also sees them separately, once during the week, for 30 minutes.

 These are a few of the paper books that they have brought home this past week.



Next week I'll show you the stack that I got from the Village Library.  They have color and a bit more story!  I'm especially excited about the Peggy Post and Cindy Post Senning books! 
If you want to see them before next week, please visit The Emily Post Institute at www.emilypost.com.  


We are now getting in gear for Easter.  I've introduced our Resurrection Eggs and we've done a few egg hunts.  Spring Break follows immediately after Easter. 

Thank you again, to all, who are reading our blog and praying for us.  We can only make it through each day and week by God's marvelous hand working in our home.