handsful

This is Ethan, affectionately known as EJ or even E-money at times (his daddy gave him that last one – no idea why, but it’s kinda cute). Ethan gives us challenges, just like any other kid, but a big one has always been this:

He hates to read.

So, when he was prompted to choose a chapter book for literature last week I thought he’d do the usual…pick the easiest, shortest, minimum-#-of-words-on-page book he could find. He surprised me and chose The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells. And, not the watered-down youth version…the adult version. Biggest surprise? He loves it! For years, I’ve been trying to find that subject, that genre of book that would “get him”. I’m now on a mission to find good science fiction novels…I’ve already found that C. S. Lewis wrote a trilogy of them and I have the first one on reserve at the library.

Just had to brag on my EJ…

All 4 of our big kids dance at church (gasp). Abbey is a member of the KidStuf worship team and Marley, Payton, and Ethan are on the Upstreet worship team. Yesterday after church, both teams practiced their songs/dances together. Randy and I are able to watch Abbey (it’s during KidStuf, a program for elementary age kids and their parents), but we’ve never been able to watch the trips since their team “works” while we’re either in church or while Randy is working with the Jr. High. I loved being able to watch them all!

You’ll see mainly Payton and Ethan on the left side of the stage…Payton is in the white tee with a brown shirt over it. Ethan is to his left in the brown shirt. Abbey is in the middle with a purple shirt and scarf. You’ll see Marley toward the end of the video, hiding behind the girl in the light blue top. She loves being a part of Upstreet, but prefers to stay out of the limelight :) The song is “Feelin’ So Fly” by TobyMac. Love that song…

We finally had Abbey’s 13th birthday party last night…only 11 days AFTER her birthday, but the kids basketball schedule made it impossible until now.  Abbey decided she wanted a roller skating party, so after having pizza at the house, we piled all the kids into our vehicles and headed to the rink! 

Ready to roll, Abbey?  heh heh…

That’s Payton on her left and her friend, Emily, on the right!  The rink last night was crowded and LOUD!  Were these places always this loud, or am I just getting….nahhhh. 

Two more friends and Abs…see Randy and Payton in the background?

Cheese! 

This poor kid got clobbered as she tried to zoom towards the camera!

EJ and Marley were there, too.  It’s scary how alike they look here!

Little one was rocking the night away too (we were there from about 8-9:30).  She loved it…she kept signing “music” and “loud”.  Oh, and she told me/signed “Lainey work” before running over to this video game.  lol!!  When we told her it was finally time to go home, she said no and signed music again.  The girl loves the nightlife. 

Hi, Marley!  (and Ethan in the back)

The whole gang :)  The party went so well, all the girls got along great…(i.e. no teen drama!).  A couple of the girls went home after skating, but the rest came home with us for a sleepover.  After a quick stop-off at McD’s for fries and ice cream and an impromptu game of “Stupid Human Tricks” (you should SEE how freakishly limber Brittany’s fingers are!!!), they settled in for a movie and quieted down around 2-ish (Randy tells me…it’s understood that he always takes the night shift at sleepovers!). 

I’m tired today!  After the girls were picked up from the sleepover, we had a boys basketball game at 11am and then another at 2pm…and EJ had to skip baseball since there was no feasible way to get him there between the other games.  I’m waiting for one of those “nothing scheduled” Saturdays.  Wonder how long I’ll wait? 

It’s the 1 year anniversary of Lainey Day!  One year ago today, we were given a wonderful gift…one year ago, a child was born – not to this world – but to us…one year ago, a baby girl was taken from the only life she knew and given to two people she’d never seen before…one year ago, we began building a relationship with that baby girl that today has blossomed as beautifully as the flower she holds.  We are more in awe of God’s gift everyday. 

Let’s take a step back and see where this all started…

This picture was taken exactly one year ago today…it was our “Gotcha Day”, February 18, 2008.  We’d just gotten back to our hotel room…I LOVE this picture, she looks like a porcelain doll, but there is also a sadness to it that breaks my heart.  So much change to handle for such a little one. 

Indulge me just a little, and take a look at the pictures we’ve taken on each 18th of the month since that day…

One month

Two months

Three months

Four months

Five months

Six months

Seven months

Eight months

Nine months

Ten months

Eleven months

Twelve months!

Here are the rest of the pics I took of her, on her special day…

After getting some ideas from other adoptive moms, and how they celebrate Forever Family days, we decided on these.  We’ll give her a book each year, with an inscription from us AND we bought a beautiful journal for Randy and I to add to each year.  Hopefully, it’ll be a wonderful keepsake for her to read as she gets older.  We don’t “do cards” (have you seen the price of those things?), so this will be a place where we can record our thoughts and feelings on each anniversary. 

We love you, Lainey Q…you were well worth the wait. 

On this Valentine’s Day, I thought I’d show you some things we LOVE…

I LOVE every kid in this picture!  They are my heart.  The one in the middle is opening her birthday present…

She LOVES her new camera!  It’s just like her mama’s and she’s already drained the battery twice using it :)

How can you not LOVE this smile?!?!  Abbey LOVES the fact that those braces are coming OFF in a month!

Lainey LOVED playing in shaving cream the other day!  I LOVED that Marley and Payton were nice enough to clean it all up for me! 

We all LOVE our homeschool co-op!  Why?  EJ gets to jam on stage with his guitar class during praise assembly…Marley is learning to cook from a local chef…Abbey is (today!) building a cement boat with her class…Payton’s drawing skills are improving like mad and, Lainey hangs out with her buds.  Oh, and the senior high does this cool thing called “Wake Up” where they come to your house before sun-up, blow a very LOUD blowhorn, and video your reaction as you jolt out of bed wondering what in the blazes just happened.  The boys were the lucky wake up recipients a while back and LOVED it.  (Yes, us parents had to approve this). 

Lainey LOVED her Valentine’s party at co-op yesterday.  This is about half of her class. 

She especially LOVED the cookie!

I totally LOVE this guy on my right.  We celebrated Valentine’s day early with a fantastic dinner at the Melting Pot.  (Good thing, too, since today I’m seriously battling a yucky cold). 

And, lastly, I LOVE my blog…I really enjoy posting about our lives, however boring it can be…guess we wouldn’t make a very good sitcom!  And I LOVE visiting all the other fantastic blogs of my friends.  Happy Valentine’s everyone!  I’ll blow you a kiss, so as not to spread my germs…Smmmooocha!! 

Oops…she’s not a teenager here!  This is her 1 year picture.  It took years for her to grow into those cheeks!! 

Here she is in her teenage glory.  Well, actually, this was taken last night when she was STILL 12.  Let’s try this again….

There she is!  Taken today…her daddy surprised her with 13 balloons.  We put them in her room while she was still sleeping :) 

Happy 13th Birthday, Abbey-girl.  Yes, we’re having a hard time believing you’re THIS old.  But, we’re excited about this new journey you’re on and couldn’t be prouder of the young woman you’re becoming.  Love, Mom and Dad.