Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Sunshine is Reading in English!!!

We are rejoicing at our house to see Sunshine read her first book in English! When we met her two months ago we learned that she was already reading in Tigrinya. I knew that teaching her to read in English would be easy if she could already read in her language. I never thought it would happen this quickly.

She is so motivated to learn. I started using "Teach Your Child To Read In 100 Easy Lessons." We are only on lesson 11 as I have only been schooling her for three weeks. I thought I would let her try the first Bob Book. You can see the result. I know that she has just begun to read, but this is where all readers begin.

I cried. I always cry when my kids read their first book. Reading opens the door to any possibility. I am thanking God today that Sunshine already has an amazing love of learning. I have everyone that loved her in Ethiopia to thank for that!
Sweet Momma

Saturday, January 23, 2010

A Very Eventful Week

A group shot on M&M's Birthday!

This week started on Sunday morning with Stand-Up Dad in Kansas visiting his parents and me getting 6 kids ready for church all by myself. This may not seem like a big deal, but I had never done it before. Stand-Up Dad is our fabulous Sunday morning chef and I am the hairstylist and such. So we had toast and yogurt and actually got to church early. We have kept the little ones in service with us since they came home rather than putting them in Sunday school. They are doing better every week at sitting quietly and coloring or looking at a book.

Monday we all went to our Homeschool co-op at church. Sunshine and Little Buddy are now taking three pre-school classes. They love them. For fourth and fifth period they hang out with me. On Monday it was sunny and in the mid 50's so I took them outside to play on the playground for the first time. They had been playing for about five minutes when Little Buddy went running across the playground toward the big slide and did not see a metal bar, just his height that is used for flip turns. I didn't see the collision, but I heard the crying. I was holding him within seconds and I looked to see a lump the size of a large grape next to his eye and then I saw that it was bleeding.

I scooped him up and grabbed Sunshine and drove to the nearest Pediatrician. I prayed the whole way that his eye had not been damaged and that God would allow complete healing. My prayers were quickly answered when the doctor informed me that his eye was fine and the lacerations did not need stitches. He looked like he had been in a bad bar fight. I would show a picture, but I couldn't bring myself to take any. As of today, it looks so much better. The swelling is gone and all that remains is a black eye.

Thursday we all went to a new dentist and Sunshine and Little Buddy got their first cleaning. We found a wonderful dentist that will take six children at one visit! I am proud to say that not a cavity was found among them! Sunshine and Little Buddy did great, although Sunshine was a little freaked out by "Mr. Thirsty."=)

Friday was our second pediatric appointment in Seattle. There is a group of doctors at U of W that focus on Adoption Medicine. They know how to treat and look for issues that commonly occur with children who have been adopted from other countries. They also provide Interpreters to make the children more comfortable.

I love our doctor! She is so pleased with their progress. In the past six weeks, since our last visit, they have both grown in height and weight. Stand-Up Dad and I found it interesting that Sunshine would not speak to the Interpreter in Tigrinya. She would respond in English, but never in Tigrinya. I suppose this is all part of the process. They each got three shots. Big tears and mad looks followed. The Interpreter tried to explain why we are giving them shots, but I am not sure they got it.

We ended our day at the Ice Cream Parlor. Stand-Up Dad was concerned that we were going to overwhelm them with too many choices when we got there. I said, "Welcome to America." Isn't that what living here is all about...too many choices. Little Buddy chose vanilla, which made me laugh. He is definitely not a vanilla type kid.

I am hopeful that this next week will be quite dull and uneventful, but I doubt it!
Sweet Momma

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Happy Birthday M&M!

Yes, it has been a busy week at our house! Two birthdays within six days! On the 16th it was my M&M's 12th birthday! She is so much fun to celebrate with because she absolutely enjoys the whole process of decorating and planning and unwrapping and cake eating etc.

This year she invited a few friends over to scrapbook and eat homemade pizza. She thought her sister's cake looked like fun and decided to have her friends help decorate hers as well. You can see the final product. A little cake with your frosting?=)

My M&M is such a blessing in our home. She is so warm, friendly and loving. She brings fun and life to our family. She will try anything once and will do her best to get you to try it too. She has an incredibly generous heart and truly desires to follow after God and His will for her life. She gets her dimples from me and I see a lot of myself in her as well. She is quick to hug, quick to help and quick to forgive. I can't wait to see what God will do with her now that she is twelve!

On her birthday she was surprised by a visit from Gramma and Poppa. They had not met Sunshine and Little Buddy, so it was a very special time with them. She spent the rest of the day enjoying a High School Musical Marathon. Yes, they watched 1, 2, and 3 in one day! I'm still humming a few of my favorite tunes...."What time is it?"=)
Sweet Momma

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Little Buddy joins in...

Little Buddy in Ethiopia

My sweet Little Buddy prayed his first prayer in English today. Each time I pray with him before bed I ask him if he wants to pray and he says, "No."

Today at nap time I prayed for him and picked him up to put him in bed. He said he wanted to pray. It was such a sweet, short, simple prayer, that it made me cry.

"Thank you God for Mommy, Amen."


Wednesday, January 13, 2010

And so it begins...

Sunshine in Ethiopia in her favorite dress!

Today, for the first time, Sunshine prayed in English. My heart is sad. I knew this would happen, but I am sad just the same.

I knew before we met these sweet children that we would take them from everything they know and teach them a new language. I have actually wished that the language acquisition would happen even faster than it has. There are things that I really want them to understand. They are amazing! They are learning English at breakneck speed. I am amazed at what they understand already.

And yet, as they acquire English, their Tigrinya must trickle away. I know. I can't have it both ways. I don't speak Tigrinya.

Sunshine said it best today as we were talking and misunderstanding each other again, "Tigrinya hard for you and English hard for me." She is definitely doing better than I am on the language acquisition.

With all of her new English she is daily sharing more and more of her life in Ethiopia with me and I am continually amazed at how strong this little girl of five is. She has been through so many things and is trusting me enough to share her world with me. What a privilege it is to mother her and love her and be freely loved in return.

I guess I can say that our transition is going better than I would have expected. I am so thankful. God is so good.
Sweet Momma

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Happy Birthday Sweet Pea!

Sweet Pea with her birthday cake,
decorated by all of her friends at her craft birthday party.

On Sunday my beautiful Sweet Pea turned nine years old! It is amazing to watch her grow and see all the special gifts that God has given her.

She is so kind and loving. She is very tenderhearted, yet she is easy going and often defers to others rather than herself. She is quite a girly-girl, which is so wonderful because her new little sister is too.

For her birthday she received a wooden mailbox. She wanted to be able to send letters to her family. It sits on a ledge upstairs and has already been put to good use. She loves to encourage others with kind words and beautiful pictures.

Her precious spirit has been such an encouragement to me these past nine years. It may seem obvious to say, but I can't imagine my life without her in it.

Happy Birthday Sweet Pea! I adore you!!!
Sweet Momma