Summer is here!

This is a post I started in June and never finished so I am going to finish it now!

The kids are home, it feels great...I love spending time with them!  The last day of school was May 25th, after a closing assembly in the morning we headed right to Timber Wolf YL camp in Michigan for the long weekend.  The week leading up to this I had gotten a nice cold and several stressful circumstances had happened that week, I felt pretty run down.  The beginning of the trip I let life get to me and did not handle it very well but by the end I could stop and appreciate the people we were with and the incredible environment we were in.  This will be something we do every year, the kids loved it!  Some of the highlights were:  Joy (Ben's sister) came with us, Joy, Jack, Kate and Lucy all did the zip line (I am even scared of that), Jack did the ropes course and drove a slick track race car, Lucy caught some fish, we all kayaked, we ate as a family 7 times and I didn't have to cook,serve or clean up any of it!

This week my excitement has mounted as I have the kids home with us I can see changes in them, positive ones.  Jack has become softer, Kate has felt rested, Lucy is growing confident in who she is and Sam well his cuteness meter is off the charts.  I feel like this is a result of our time together as a family and the amount of  time we can encourage them individually.  We actually have time and energy to do the things we always long to do through out the year.  I am talking about simple things like reading to them, all of them!  Playing games, watching movies and helping Ben date them individually.  I love summer break and I think I am going to love schooling them at home even more next year!

This is going to be another year of changes and major faith steps, we are looking forward to what's ahead but any confidence you see in me comes from the Lord.  Like I said we will be home schooling and as of May 5th we started the adoption process, eek this is so scary!  I feel like this is something we have talked about for so long, but now it's happening.  We wanted to start about a year ago and we over and over again felt like the Lord was telling us to wait till Sam was 2.  That was hard to swallow at times but now looking back I can see that it wasn't the right time and I appreciate the ways He has grown us since to prepare us.

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As I read and looked over the things I wrote I think I was just too chicken to post it since I said that we will be home schooling next year and adopting, those are just really big things for us.  I know I was putting pressure on myself to have answers for those that might ask me "why?" are we making those choices.  I still don't have all the answers but the Lord has built up more faith in me that we are walking in the right direction for our family.

So we are 2 1/2 months into the adoption process!  I am officially paperwork pregnant.  We are adopting through American World Adoption agency from Ethiopia.  I feel like God asked us to move forward in faith, each day I can see his vision for us more and more clearly.  We are of course only in the beginning stages and it will likely be 2 years before we meet our daughter or son.  So we will continue plugging away at paperwork and praying for the Lord's provision and guidance.

Home for the day and 1&2

What a day.  Last night Sam was up vomiting till 3 am, I think it happened to be one of those lovely Chuckie Cheese germs that caused it.  Jack and Kate woke up with warm foreheads and stomach aches, it seemed like a good day to not go to school especially after Sam's night time performance.  It was such a good and challenging day.  I love to have my kids home it's awesome to see them learn how to play together.  They spent most of the morning playing legos, watching a show, playing trains and so on.  Of course having all four home adds a different challenge to the day which on my own I have not taken that challenge very well.  I spent the first part of my morning drinking my coffee and reading my Bible preparing for my day.  I have had a rough week with my kids no fault of their own but my problem I several times a day have caught myself becoming angry and feeling out of control.  I knew this is not where I wanted to stay, and I could see my kids reflecting my behavior in the midst of it.  So with the Lord sustaining me I was able to have a really great day with my kids and enjoy them as individuals and as a little team.  We took a walk together (with no crying), made dinner and watched Good Luck Charlie.  I was able to get them off to bed with only one meltdown which occurred due to my rash words, dang-it always my fault :)  But they are all sleeping now which makes for a great evening.

I wanted to finish what I stared last night which was to update what's new with each child.

Kate is drawing non-stop still.  She shows others love by drawing them pictures.  Often she is drawing mermaids and unicorns, they are always for someone with lots of thought put into each picture.  Kate is the dominating older sister but she is learning what it looks like to love and share with Lucy and Sam.  If Kate and Lucy are left alone they can get into an imagination world for hours.  I am so glad they have each other it is fun to watch them.  Kate is also very good at math, her teacher says that she understands math concepts before she is finished teaching them (that did not come from me). Kate is learning how to speed up her reading.  She still has to sound out words but is getting faster and faster the more she practices.  Kate and Joy (Ben's little sister) love to play spies when they are together, they run around the house dressed in black watching all of us.  Kate will be 7 soon, that is wild how quick those years have gone by!

Jack, wow this boy is becoming a little man over night.  Jack got glasses recently, which I think he looks really handsome in.  He does very well in school when he works hard.  Jack has a great capacity for memory work.  He still loves to spend late nights reading.  Riddles have been a new love.  The other night our friend Braylen was over and told Jack that he would buy him a $50 dollar Lego set if he could solve a riddle that no other adult he had talked to could figure out, Jack was not scared here it goes "Out of the eater came something to eat. Out of the strong came something sweet." Jack took about 2 seconds and said that's easy a lion that's what Samson told the Philistines.  Braylen and Ben's mouths hit the floor it was a great moment.  Jack is pretty excited to pick out those Legos!  Jack is a great brother to Sam it's so sweet to see him read books at night or watch them play together.  I've even caught Jack sleeping in Sam's crib before.  Sam really trusts Jack and Jack knows it.  I am enjoying this age so much, it's neat to have some really rich and meaningful talks with Jack about life.  I look forward to many more moments with him!

Wrapping up the summer

School has started and we have finally gotten used to the schedule and change.  I am really enjoying my time home with Lucy and Sam, it's easy for them to be neglected when the older ones are home.  It's funny after four kids and 9 years of marriage.  I feel like God is still teaching me so much about my role as a wife and mother. I think this next year will be a year of growth and time to reflect on what's next for our family.  Since I have taken very little time to document our summer I thought as always I will try to play catch up.

In June we celebrated Jack's 8th birthday.  His birthday marked a really sweet time full of great memories.  We watched a video Joel made of Jack's 1st year, it touched Jack to the point of tears to know that people love and care for him. It is one of our sweetest moments with Jack.

Ben created a surprise birthday scavenger hunt.  We had a outdoor movie and a fire, it was a great night.

After Jack's birthday Ben and I went to Bermuda together,  I really wanted to take time to write about that trip and some fun memories later.

On the 4th of July we attended the Forth Mitchell parade and celebrated my 31st birthday!

A soldier stop to give Jack one of his badges it was so touching.

Lucy covered her ears most of the time, those darn firetrucks.

Sam enjoyed all the candy thrown to him.

We ended the night at my parents house with fireworks.

Lemonade stands are usually the highlight of the summer but this year we only had one.  Lucy quickly got tired of the heat but Kate stayed out there for a long time.  Kate looked so darn cute. At one point she had a umbrella she was holding and a fan blowing on her, it was quite the setup. 

Sam and Jack became a tight little duo this summer, it's sweet to see the love they have for each other.

In August we went camping with Ben's side of the family, it was a wet night :)

 

August 21st 1st day of school!

Jack in 3rd grade.

Kate in 1st grade.

August 31st we celebrated our 9 year anniversary.  Ben came home with a beautiful bouquet of flowers, which he got a total deal on at the Secret Garden (I love that place).

We had a nice night out, we did pizza at Via Vite on the square, a wine tasting at Party source (very fun) and ended the night with Starbucks.  It was great to be together and just talk.

We ended our summer with a trip to Chicago over Labor Day weekend.  We attended a wedding for my cousin and stayed with my friend Nicole and her husband.  They babysat our kids, this was from their time with them.

Some other summer highlights include Joel and Kerry receiving their referral for a little girl from Ethiopia who is around Sam's age.  We are all looking forward to her coming home in the next year!

Dave and Meg having their second child Gordon.  He is so precious.

Micah and Andrea had their forth baby Paul.  Paul is currently still in Nicu.  We have spent a lot of time as a family praying for Paul, he is one very special guy and a true blessing to the family.

I look forward to this next year with so much anticipation to see God work in our lives and those around us!!

Book worm

Since we have cut TV in the mornings and afternoons of the school week Jack's love for reading has exploded.  I was never much of a reader as a child as I get older and want to grow in my faith my love for reading is definitely grown.  It makes me so excited that he enjoys it so much!  After school Ben took him to the library to check out a new book he got home at 4:30 and read with a few breaks till 10 pm in his bed.  Mind you we put him in bed at 7:30 but there was no stopping him he loved it too much.  At 10 he came downstairs to inform us he had finished the book!!

162 pages way to go buddy!

Just a side note when I picked up Sam to put him down for a nap I found this cup stuck on his foot.
I know he needs a haircut!

Adopt, adopt

I had to note this so I wouldn't forget.  Ben the kids and I were looking at a adoption site called Reece's Rainbow, we came across this little boy with HIV and I asked the kids what they think about adopting him.  They of course were pretty excited that I was asking this.  Under the child's picture their is a button that says "donate".  J in all his excitement said "push adopt mom, adopt, adopt"!  I just laughed it's so sweet that they are just excited as we are about one day expanding our family through adoption.