Loving Homeschooling

We are loving homeschooling.  Wish I had discovered it sooner!  It is such a sweet way to raise your children.

Hello from our family

We have been continuing to settle in and are now stretching out a little with our Miss Sophia.

Kevin and I took our littles to an apple orchard recently because I am doing an apple unit in homeschooling.  So fun to be teaching these three - what an amazing priviledge it is to be doing so. 

We are also continuing our work to get our team to Philip Hayden's Shepherds Field Children's Village next summer to serve for a week at our Philip's China Home.  Below is a picture of some of my cheer section for our walk-a-thon held last Saturday!

A beautiful day for an awesome cause - James 1:27 

Here are some of our peeps from our group before our "Walking to China" walk-a-thon. 

Sophia's adjustment period is going so well.  At times, and really not very often, Sophia will get a far away look in her eyes and go away from us emotionally for a bit.  She does have times of grief evidenced by emotions written all over her face and the tears that fall, but she also is marching forward, loving being enveloped into her new forever family.  We look forward to the day she can tell us what she is feeling so we know how to best help her.  For now, loving embraces and plenty of family bonding time will have to suffice.

She is a treasure beyond compare, and we are all so happy to have her home.  She completes our family.  All those years of longing for another child to join us have vanished. 

Thank you God for your amazing blessings.

Quick "Hello"

A quick update on the happenings around here. . . .

Our littlest son is doing very well now with adjusting back to our "real life." He took some time to adjust, and he acted out quite a bit in Ch*na and here at home, but now he is having so many happy times again and really making an effort to control his behavior!

Way to go Eli!

Philip is doing well but came down with a fever of
101 shortly after we took this picture today. Will be calling his doctor first tomorrow morning!

Our newest Ch*na treausre is adjusting amazingly well! We keep pinching ourselves to make sure this is really happening. Both Philip's and Eli's initial bonding and adjustment period did not go smoothly at all, so we are a little bit dismayed that Sophia is adjusting so well! Thank you God for this gift! We will happily take it!

Even though it has been a fairly easy transition for all of us, at times it has been difficult for our daughter due to some physical issues. She is on medicine to treat ringworm and another medicine to treat intestinal parasites! Then a couple of days ago, just two weeks after coming home, she did have to undergo dental surgery.

Our dentist felt it was best to put her "under" to take care of everything at once. (Sophia had to have a tooth pulled, four cavities filled, caps on two teeth, etc.!) Ouch! The night after and the next morning were a bit rough, but then she bounced back. We notice that she doesn't wince each time she eats now! That is a praise!

So, all in all, life is getting back to "normal" - whatever that is for our family anyway! We are enjoying having a houseful of little squeals and peals of laughter, feet running here and there, and lots and lots of hugs in between! Saying that our cups runneth over would be an understatement!

A day at the zoo

We took a field trip to the zoo today. . .

A perfect day with perfect weather . . .

And trying to squeeze all of the goodie of the daddy being home a few more days before he heads back to work.

An Enlightening Conversation

For some reason, Philip's legs look so very long in this picture. They aren't really that long! Hee,hee! Funny pic.

On the way home from church today, the following conversation took place.

Kevin: What did you do in church today, Eli?

Eli: Payed (played) and payed some more and had nack (snack).

Me: What Bible lesson did you talk about, Eli?

Eli: Bout amals (animals).

Kevin: What story? Noah and the Ark?

Eli: Nope.

Philip: Adam and Eve?

Eli: No bout Eve. Let me hink (think) bout it. Peas (please) be quiet. It was bout heep (sheep).

Philip: Oh, you know that story about brothers Cain and Mable? One killed the other and was really sorry about that? Was that the story? (Maybe Philip said that because this story, Cain and Able, took place in a field and Able kept flocks?? - good thought!)

Eli: Nope. It bout heep.

End of story!

First Day of School and This and That

I am beginning a tradition, like my dear friend Joli, to take a picture (or pictures) of our darling littles the first day of each school year to document their school days.

Here are some of those pictures of our first official day of homeschooling. We have "technically" already started school because of all of those really cool field trips in Ch*na and because yesterday we just kind of happened into beginning school, but today was our "official" start day.

We had so much fun, and Kevin gets to be a part of it since he is still on adoption leave. There was so much singing and dancing going on today, you might have been tempted to think we were the VonTrapp family.

Almost, but not quite! Hee, hee!

After seeing the dentist today, we found out that Sophia has to have several things done in her mouth including a tooth extraction, two cavities filled, silver crowns on those teeth, some bonding on two more teeth and a few other things, too.

Would you pray for our sweet daughter next Friday, September 9th, as we have these things done? Our pediatric dentist feels that she would do better being put under for a brief time at the hospital to have all of the things done at once instead of continually bringing her into the office, giving her gas, and doing each procedure separately.

That is also the day the I am taking Philip back to his surgeon to see if steriod shots in his nose incision would benefit his scarring, stopping it in its tracks.

It will be a busy day!