Wednesday, May 28, 2008

What we have been up to....

So, I thought I had better get a lot of pictures out, since it seems to be quite difficult for me to find time to get on the computer much these days.

First things first.

Wow! These kids are great. ALL of them. The adjusting continues to be going SO well and we feel so fortunate and blessed.

For any of you readers out there, that are still considering your adoption plans, we would love to put a HUGE plug in for getting older kids, AND for getting more than one. I know at Gladney, there were several precious, beautiful kids at the older kids foster home, who are not matched with a family. That means they are just WAITING for a family. Maybe yours? All the infants at the Gladney homes are matched with families, but when you see these 20 or so kids ages 2-11 that are so ready, but few are pursuing older kids, it just makes you wonder how many you can cram into your own house, you know?

Now on to our life:

Our life is full. Our driveway is full of trikes, skateboards, bikes, rip sticks, sidewalk chalk, bats, balls...., our laundry room is FULL (no more explanation needed), our days are full of adjusting, our pantry and fridge are stuffed full of food, our dining room table is full of laughter (along with chunks and crumbs on the floor), our stomachs are full (although, ridiculously, we take this for granted), our floor is full of hot wheels, legos, snap-beads, etc, the kids are full of medicine (boo-hiss -- giardia), our counter is full of backpacks, lunch boxes, school papers, pokemon cards (for a few more days, at least, and then stored away in a full closet until school starts), our house is just plain full.

But most thankfully full of God's goodness and grace (a VERY good thing since we are far from perfect parents with far from perfect kids).


The twins said they just weren't tired, so REALLY didn't need a nap. So here we are, as CJ got home from school, all zonked. But, hey, we weren't really tired....
Oh, and I found out that, yes, my lap IS big enough!




PRETTY!!!
A rite of passage for the boys in our house, and Jambo can be no exception. This is, however, the first time we are putting this on the internet where it will be a permanent fixture in cyberspace. I think Kume knows it. Can't you just tell?
Yikes!



Who knew they would LOVE raw onions? What a great snack (huh?) to tide them over while I am getting dinner ready. This may be an excellent tactic right before they leave for a date someday.....




Memorial Day at Hager Park with Farmboy's side of the family.


Jambo's hair is starting to get long again.
I was thinking of doing those super-cute mini-dreads on him. We'll see.
Man, I am having fun!




This is generally their favorite way to view the world.
This time with Zgirl and cousin Claire.


Those first few days in Ethiopia, I am not sure I could have envisioned this. But now our sweet Kume is head over heels over her daddy.

OK, I think Kume smiles about 98.7% of the time. This is one of the lovely ones.

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

The pictures are all adorable, but that last one of Kume---wow, looks like a Children's Place ad or something. You should blow up that baby and frame it! Someday soon we'll all have to get together.

coffeemom said...

Gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous!!! What a gorgeous family and those twins. TRuly a gift. And I know what you mean...those kids at the older foster house...they pull at me. There will be prayers on that. YOur kids are so great and it is so great to hear and see how well it is going. Fantastic news. And even more that you are "totally over the exhaustion"....that is a hopeful sign for us all (ok, me). Thanks for this!

mama becca said...

Oh I miss you all SO MUCH! I love each picture. Hilarious. So glad things are going well for you all!!!
love
becca

Amber said...

Those pictures are awesome! What beauties. It is good to hear positive things about older children. We have considered it but were scared. Thanks for the post and the great pictures...priceless.

AB
http://boydfamilyadoption.blogspot.com

Jill said...

Such great pics! Thanks for sharing....and I agree, boo-hiss giardia! We are on round three of meds!

Angela said...

I just love all of the pictures, and although I have lurked your blog for a while, this time I had to comment about the onions.
We just recently brought our daughter home, also, and the raw onion thing just cracks me up. I think she would eat a whole raw onion if I would let her. Her other food shocker was the amount of spice the kid can handle. She can eat the hottest wings of anyone I know and loves nothing more than to sop up tabasco sauce with bread... it is so hilarious.

Mindy said...

I love the pictures. So glad to hear that things are going well!

Lori said...

I love this post. It's so great to see the twins so happy (as you remember, they were *not* happy the day we met them!).

The Vandersons said...

I am so glad you posted. I look a couple times a week and can't wait to see how things are going. They are BEAUTIFUL!!!! I truly believe that when you have people praying continually for the adjustment things go better. I still look back and cannot believe how quickly we adjusted. I hope we can get together with you this summer. I can't wait to talk!

atHisrighthand said...

wow! Awesome pictures! I can't wait! So fun! Glad to hear all all is going well! How fun are you!
Elise

Amy said...

Hi! I just popped over here from Emily's blog.. Your family is gorgeous! I would love to know if you have ever done the mini dred thing yet for your boy... I have a boy as well that has some pretty long curly locks. I want to have his hair done in little dred's too..or twisties..or something fun. I just don't know what to do. Have you tried anything??
Amy
www.bottomlysandethiopia.blogspot.com

~Laura~ said...

They are so adorable. Kume is absolutely breathtaking in that last pic.

Shelly Roberts said...

LOVE all these photos of your amazing children!!! Have missed you! Keep posting when you can ... it's such a blessing to see your family thriving all together. ~Shelly

Rebecca said...

Your family is so precious and I'm so glad to see that everyone is adjusting so well!

Don't Mess With Mommy said...

Your kids look completely smoochable! Congratulations.

jill coen said...

You have a beautiful family! Love the picture of all of you together.

Denise Bryant said...

Oh, those pictures are awesome. It's good to know things are going well and that our household isn't the only one full of toys in the yard and crumbs on the floor...

Kristy -Mom To 9 Blessings said...

Oh what comfort your sweet pictures are for my weary soul!
They are just beautiful Buttercup!
What a blessing!
Love,
Kristy

Anonymous said...

Beautiful pics! I completely agree with older child adoption. We are far from perfect, too, but our Mariyanna is such a sweet blessing. Our littlest one from ET likes to munch on raw onions, too. He's got some of the older sibs curious and trying it also! :+)

P.S. I think you might know my aunt, Terry Vandervelde? She knew your name when we were talking about Holland area fams adopting from ET.

Sparkz said...

Thanks for the update. I have been wondering how things were going. It's great to see the pictures, they are really cute!

HollyMarie said...

Your pictures are just gorgeous!!! :D We felt that tug for "older" children as well and feel so blessed to be pursuing our "Blessing" :) It's going to be hard to travel to ET and see all those still waiting... :( Healthy infants all over the world are scooped up mighty quick!

Mary said...

So fun to see your pictures! I'm so thankful your adjustment is going well. I had one of "those" days today as we have only been home with ours a week and a half, but I know we will find our rhythm soon! Keep us updated!

emily said...

Just beautiful pictures of all of your family. Thank you for sharing.