The Wall Bloggers

I have an inkling that teaching supplies do not spark a wide-eyed wonder in most of the readers of this blog.  I also have a feeling that most people would wonder why I "wasted" my time, staying up until 1:00 am on Friday night and working another three hours on Saturday morning to reorganize the aforementioned supplies. Well, teaching supplies do spark wide-eyed wonder in me -- always have.  And over the years that my supplies have been in my garage, they have gone through times where they have become very hard to reach -- through the layer of lawn mowers, ladders, strollers, spare chairs, and so forth.  The whole reason I have these supplies (and have added to them from garage sale finds over the years) is to use with my children and with children whom I teach.  Having all these goodies available while teaching Adrianna and her friends preschool over the last two years has been invaluable.   But it reached the point with my supplies where that layer in front of them was

For the two years we journeyed through the adoption paperwork and waiting, we wondered how Adrianna would adjust to the big sister role.  Almost five years with Mom and Dad to yourself is a long time for a kid to get used to being the only child.  Thankfully, God has been preparing that little girl for great things. Just last week, Adrianna and I had a precious chat at her grandparents' house.  "Hey Beautiful," I told her as she walked by.  "Did you know that you're beautiful?" I asked her.  "Yes.  You always tell me that!"  I picked her up, so that I could look at her in the eyes.  "Did you know what makes you beautiful?"  "Umm..."  "It's God shining through you," I explained. She looked at me seriously, considering what I said, and exploded with words, "I've asked Jesus into my heart like 16 times -- sometimes in my bed and this one time during room time..."  "You know what?"  I asked he

Adrianna started preschool today.  I've been anticipating/dreading this day since last spring, when we signed her up.  She's been anticipating it.  I have had my girl home for almost five years, all to myself.  And now, I know I need to let her go.  It's time for her to gain a little independence.  She needs to have some time to grow, without me shadowing her. After much prayer, I took her and dropped her off quickly this morning.  I didn't give her or me a chance to cry. I gave her a quick hug, with an, "I love you!" attached, and headed out the door with her little brother.  On my way out, I took a peek back as she glanced nervously around the room, wondering what she was allowed to play with.  And then I took Abel and Rusty on a nice long walk, so I could pray for my former baby. Three hours later, Abel and I returned to find a happy little girl, sitting nicely in circle time, listening to the Berenstain Bear's back to school book.  She was the firs

Our nephew, Kevin, has been in town, staying with my in-laws, so we have been packing in the fun around here...   Adrianna and Kevin have been enjoying playing games together.   Abel's been learning to use the new tricycle at Grandma's house.   Adrianna has been harvesting Grandma and Grandpa's vegetable garden (and of course, enjoying the spoils!).   Adrianna's been continuing her crafts.  These were her Chick-fil-a paint-a-cow-contest cows.  She planned out how she wanted them to look on a drawing, before painting them, decorating them with stickers, and attaching capes to their backs.  Then, instead of entering them into the contest, she gave them to her neighbor friend, Jenny.  Her generosity always inspires me.   On Saturday, we all went to the town's rodeo parade.  Just our luck, Scott found the perfect hat for Adrianna at a garage sale before the parade.   We enjoyed a hot dog lunch after going through the arts and crafts fair.   And Scott and Adria

 Last Thursday, we left for a visit to Colorado, so that Abel could meet my family there.  We stayed at my mom and step-dad's house, and then took the kids so that Abel could meet my dad for lunch on Friday.  Poor Adrianna had a fever with some kind of bug, and barely made it through lunch.  But Abel showed off for my dad, eating his usual, incredible amount, dancing to Chipotle's music, and beaming with smiles.   Friday evening, my sister Catherine and her family came for dinner at my mom's house.  Olivia especially enjoyed playing chase and capture with Abel.  He, of course, loved the attention and the action.   And Catherine captured a few hugs from Abel, as he got to know her.   On Saturday, we all went to Catherine's pool, where, of course, fun was had by all.  Their pool is cool because the shallow end is a large section of the pool, making it fun for all the younger kids to join in.   Later Saturday afternoon, we headed to an Ethiopian market that my brother-in

Now that I finally completed the travel blogs, I figured I should update what has been going on around our house for the last month that we have been home. Thankfully, Scott used his paternity leave from work to keep a half-time schedule throughout July.  Because he worked varied hours, it was hard for us to get into a routine, but having Scott at home more definitely helped our transition.  Thanks to Scott's extra time, Adrianna felt more included, Abel got to know Scott more, and I had extra help with all the extra tasks. And now if I can let the month of photos do some of the commentary... Abel was intimidated by the big bath tub, so we started him out small, as he got used to baths.  Adrianna loved being the helper with those. We were blessed to have three weeks' worth of meals provided for us by sweet friends.  One friend brought along a homemade puzzle from her son for Adrianna's enjoyment.   Over several visits, Abel learned to be more comfortable with his grandp