Art in Bloom

We went to the Columbus Museum of Art this afternoon for a wonderful time.  They were having a family day called "Art in Bloom."  We got to experience art hands on, especially related to flowers.  The children had so much fun and all came home with beautifully decorated flower pots, each one a unique piece of art by them.  They have little wildflower seeds in them and should be beautiful when they bloom and a nice reminder of our time there today.  On the way home, the little ones napped while the big ones excitedly talked about all that they'd seen and done at the museum.  :-)

Love, Dawn

Basketball

Thomas and Stephen had a wonderful time this month playing basketball through the Honda Youth Basketball League.  It was the first time for both of them.  Stephen is naturally athletic and loves every sport he tries and quickly increases his skill in it.  Thomas has Asperger's and is not naturally athletic.  He started this season scared of the ball, but showed great courage.  He faced his fear head on and overcame it!  This was their last game and their first win.  Stephen had 3 baskets and Thomas had a couple of steals and rebounds.  I'm proud of both of them!

Love, Dawn

Pirates and Swim Lessons

Susanna sometimes has fun making us all laugh by pulling her covering down low across her forehead and saying "ARRRRRRRRRRGH!" like a pirate.  :-D  She got that from the Veggie Tale movie, "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything," one of the few that we've gone as a family to the theater to see.  This is  a photo of her doing it last night.  

Swimming lessons went well yesterday evening.  Below you'll see Naomi Ruth, Hannah, Sarah, Rebekah, and Stephen.  They're the ones signed up for this round of lessons.  Naomi Ruth is Level 3, Stephen is Level 2, and the other 3 are Level 1.  They are every Tuesday and Thursday evening this month.  Our next round of swimming lessons will probably be sometime this summer.

Love, Dawn

Some funnies and more photos

Yesterday as I was working on making 15 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch, I got to witness the funniest incident.  Samuel was freaking out about a bug on the floor.  He was squealing about how it might bite him and really losing it.  Susanna gave him this LOOK, walked over and got a napkin, came back and squished the bug, and threw it into the trashcan with a little "Hmmmph."  Hahaha!  Wonder where she got that from!  ;-)  

We had another funny moment at dinner.  Aaron was reading from a wonderful book of church history.  He finished up the section of Jonathon Edwards and was asking questions.  When he asked where he lived, Samuel got all excited and threw up his hand saying "ooh, ooh, ooh!"  "Yes, Samuel?"   And Samuel replied, "He lived in the egg house!"  The whole table erupted in laughter.  :-D  I have no idea where he got that answer from.

This morning we homeschooled.   During Bible time, I was teaching Rebekah and Hannah the story of David and Goliath.  After reading it and talking about it, I had them go get 5 beanie baby stuffed animals.  Then they stood a little ways back from our door, which we pretended was Goiath, and tried to throw them at "his head."  They had a blast doing it and pretty soon Naomi Ruth and Thomas had joined in and were attacking Goliath, too.  :-)

This afternoon Benjamin had his 6 month appointment and he's doing just fantastic.  We also got a referral for Hannah to see an ENT next month about her tonsils.

The whole house smells SO yummy right now.  I've got a roast plus black beans, onions, peppers, and Texas seasonings in the crockpot.  They've been cooking all day.  Later this afternoon, I'll pull out the beef and shred it all up and put it back in.  Then at dinner, we'll put that plus all sorts of toppings in tortillas.  Yummy!

Photos:

1 & 2:  Benjamin

3 & 4: Rebekah, Sarah, and Naomi Ruth

5: Stephen and Thomas - When Stephen first got here from Liberia, he was SO much smaller than Thomas.  He's grown so much and is closer to being the same size.  They're only 3 weeks apart in age.

6:  Aaron with Benjamin and Stephen

7:  Aaron with Benjamin - I love when Benjamin does those HUGE whole face grins.  :-D

Love, Dawn

Have a blessed Resurrection Sunday!  These pictures were all taken today.

1.  Hannah just lost her first tooth!

2.  Susanna is feeling SO much better now.  She had to go to the ER yesterday and received an IV of fluids and morphine.  She was dehydrated and in severe pain.  Now, she is on Tylenol with Codeine and is functioning much better.

3.  Samuel showing off his Student of the Month medal from school  He loves wearing it daily.  He's so proud to have received it.  It was awarded for trying so hard.

4.  Aaron and me

5.  Thomas, Sarah, and Samuel

6.  Miriam and Stephen

7.  Rebekah, Naomi Ruth, Susanna, and Hannah

Easter Weekend

For the longest time, I've been wanting to do some long catch-up kind of post here and then resume normal blogging.  That's just not going to happen.  So, I'm going to just start up today and move forward.  I hope you're all having a blessed Easter weekend!  Today I'm sharing these photos.  Below I'll tell you about each one.

1.  Thomas (11), Naomi Ruth (10), Rebekah (8), and Hannah (6) enjoying Uno - I love how they've finally gotten old enough that they can play games together without needing Aaron or me to play, too.

2.  Rebekah (8)

3.  Stephen (10)

4.  Hannah (6) holding Benjamin (6mo)  This picture was taken yesterday shortly before she got diagnosed with both strep throat and severe tonsilitis.  She's now on antibiotics and steroids and is slowly improving.

5.  Rebekah (8) reading Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss  This is SO exciting as she has dyslexia and has been struggling for years to learn to read.  She's finally figured it out and is so delighted to be able to sound out words and actually read books.  I am SO proud of her!

6.  Susanna (3) and Hannah (6)  Susanna is recovering from surgery that she had on Monday.  She has her tonsils and adnoids removed, plus an endoscopy with biopsies.  She'd been recovering well, but took a turn for the worse today and is at the Emergency Room with Aaron getting checked out right now.

7.  Sarah (10) holding Benjamin (6mo)

8.  Naomi Ruth (10)

9.  Benjamin (6mo) with his Occupational Therapist  He was born with Visual Maturation Delay.  He initially could not see at all, but God has mercifully given him vision.  He is just developing it at a slow rate.  As a result, he got behind on his gross motor and fine motor skills.  He's now having both Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy weekly to catch up.

10.  Thomas (11) with Benjamin (6mo)  I think they look a lot alike!

11.  Samuel (6) and Susanna (3) Our adopted children have been here for 13 months now and Samuel has stayed within 2lb of Susanna's weight the entire time.  Too funny!

12.  Benjamin (6mo)  He's getting SO big!  He's over 17lb now.  Naomi Ruth was only about a pound more when she turned a year!  He's such a little snuggler.  I call him Buddy Bear.  :-)

13.  Susanna (3) and Miriam (5)  Miriam just celebrated her birthday this month.  I can hardly believe she's 5!  She LOVES Dora the Explorer, so that was definitely the theme this year.  :-)

14.  Susanna (3) looking a little grubby, but very happy

15.  Miriam (5) and Samuel (6)  Those two are quite the handful.  Either they're best friends and therefore getting into all kinds of trouble together OR they're at each other non stop.  I haven't quite figured out which one I prefer.  ;-)

Love, Dawn

Back home

Just wanted to send in a quick update that we made it back home and are trying to get back into our normal swing here.  I'll try to post a bigger update soon.  In the meantime, if you're interested in following our family's journey in eating totally raw for one month, check out my other blog at www.rawmommyto10.blogspot.com.

Love, Dawn