A quiz for MJ-just for fun

When Mihiretu was 6, I asked him a list of questions I found on someones blog.  I thought it would be fun to repeat it with MJ.

Here it goes:

1. What is something Mommy always says to you?
"Before we get on the bus, you always tell us, "Be a good friend and a good listener!"

2. What makes Mommy happy?
"Saying YES every time, even when she says, "Go to bed!"  (So true)

3. What makes Mommy sad?
"By getting a cut really BIG and by getting stitches on your eyebrow."  (This has never happened to this child but he has a HUGE imagination, so automatic that you shake your head as it flows out of him.)

4.  What makes Mommy laugh?
"By telling me funny jokes."

5.  How old is Mommy?
"46 years old" (not telling)

6.  How tall is Mommy?
"45 inches"

7. What is Mommy's favorite thing to do?
"Play with me."

8. What is Mommy good at?
"Shuffling cards in Candyland."

9. What is Mommy not good at?
"I don't know anything."  (He thought for a while and seriously could not come up with a thing!  Love that kid!)

10. What is Mommy's job?
"Works at home and takes people to the hospital who break their legs and arms, then takes care of them."  (See comment under #3)

11.  What makes Mommy proud?
"When I hug and kiss you.  Don't say the part about kissing."

12.  What do you and Mommy like to do together?
"Read library books."

13.  What is Mommy's favorite food?
"Pizza."  (That is his, not mine:)

14.  How are you and Mommy the same?
"We both have brown eyes and you have brownish/whitish skin and mine is brown."

15. How do you know Mom loves you?
"When you tuck me into bed, pray with me and kiss me.  Oh, and when I got glass in my toe, you got very, very sad."

16.  What is Mom's favorite TV show?
"Madasgar 3!"  (Hmmmmmm....another hint that he wants me to buy that movie.)

Such a sweet kid my MJ is!!

The promised pics are coming next week, along with a big catch-up.

Blessings,
Laura
   

Where have I been?????

It's been a LONG time since I've added to my blog!!  Spring break is 6 months ago.  I have uploaded a lot of pics and will be adding them in the coming days.  It's hard to know even where to start!

I'll give you a few tidbits of the happenings of the past 6 months:

-Katie and De are moving to Ethiopia to be missionaries.  They have made a 2 year commitment and will be working in Korah.

-Kevin and Denise are in the very last stages of their adoption!  They are waiting on just one piece of paperwork and they will be going to get their kiddos!  Hopefully they will hear any day.

-We spent lots of time at the cabin this summer and enjoyed every minute.

-MJ, Blaine and Mihiretu celebrated their birthdays this summer:)

-Aliya got a job at Burger King, otherwise known by her as "King Burger"

-I am alone all day for the first time in 22 years as MJ went to first grade this year.  Still not sure how I feel about it.  But now I have time to update this blog so in the next several days, you will see pics of what's been going on around her over the past several months!

Spring Break pics

Blaine and I took the three youngest kids to Florida for spring break. Blaine's mom very rented a house on the beach and very generously shared it with her kids and grandkids. We made great memories on this trip...both as a nuclear family and as an extended family. As you could tell by my last post way back in February, things had gotten to be pretty stressful and this time away was so essential for us as a family.

We went to Smuggler's Cove...the coolest mini-golf place in the world! They had real alligators that the kids could feed. MJ made a hole-in-one as you can see in the pic. He's pretty excited!

MJ trying to walk in flippers! So, so precious.

MJ in his glory. We spent a lot of time on the beach. The kids buried each other, built sand castles and road the waves to their hearts content. I haven't spent much time at the ocean and was really surprised just how much sand a child could accumulate in their swimming shorts. And some of this sand was the very scratchy type. Halfway through the day, these boys would do the frog walk to me and need some assistance! Ouch:) Finally we figured out that wearing underwear under swimming shorts was the answer.

We found the greatest Italian restaurant on our way from Sanibel. Let's see...can Mihiretu eat this entire pizza?

Was there really any question?

For most of the week, the kids played with their cousins and had a ball! I love that they had the time just to be free to be kids and spend time together. For some reason, I don't have a great picture of all of them together! The above pic is of our friends' kids, who were in Florida for spring break and came to spend the day with us.

Blaine and his brothers in law took the boys fishing one day. They had a BLAST!! Mihiretu is standing by his Uncle Wayne and is holding a mackerel he caught.

Blaine caught a King Mackerel!

Aliya and Dad. Can you tell how much she loves him?

The 5 of us on our beautiful beach!

Things really go up and down in our house which is all part of adjusting as a family. You can't add a new person and not feel the growing and adjusting pains that it brings. We continue to work on this and enjoy each other so much when we're all on the same page. A trip affords that...all the regular stress is gone and everything is fun and new and everyone is at their best. I really treasure times like these. I need them to get through the other times;) This trip would not have been possible if it weren't for the generosity of Grandma Joani. We love you and thank you so much!!

Now I have to tell you some exciting news! Remember back in December I mentioned that our friends, Kevin and Denise were going to adopt? Well, they have been diligently working on all their adoption paperwork (at record speed I might add) and last week received and accepted the referral of three of the most beautiful siblings from Ethiopia you've ever seen! I can't give you too much information but I can tell you that the oldest is a girl, age 13, the second is a boy, age 9 and the little one is a boy, age 3! God sure had an interesting plan in that! Our kids are in the same gender order and are VERY close in ages to these 3...hmmmm. Aliya is anxious to help with interpreting since they won't speak much English. God is good and sure has a plan! They hope to have them home before Christmas. Lots to get ready:)

God sets the lonely in families (and He does so with such flair!)

I wish we knew

There is so much we don't know. For those of you who have adopted (especially an older kid), you understand what I mean.

What happened before you came to our family?

How were you treated?

Were you hurt?

How were you hurt?

Who hurt you?

How was your trust betrayed?

Were you loved...truly loved the way you should have been?

What things did you suffer?

Did you keep it all inside the way you do with us?

I have said many times that adoption (and it's magnified with an older child) is NOT for the faint of heart.

We just had our 5 year anniversary of Mihiretu and MJ being in our family!! Time has truly flown and they have settled into our family perfectly and completely.

Next week it will be 2 years since Aliya joined our family! Time has also flown but the struggle to settle in has posed to be more difficult for her. This does not come as a big surprise. We didn't have expectations of constant joy, thankfulness and warm fuzzies. We're much more realistic than that.

What we do experience, although it seems to sometimes come less frequently than before is up times and down times. The hard part is when the down times come, there is nothing I can do but pray. I know she is hurting and angry but her 10 foot thick lead walls are up at all times with me and I have learned that there is NO point in me asking to come inside them because I am not welcome. Maybe this is wrong of me but I don't even try anymore. I don't go to her bedroom and get cozy and ask "what's wrong...you can tell me...I care...I love you...you can trust me...how can I help if I don't know what's wrong." I get shot down every single time.

There are times that she freely opens up to me but it only, ever comes when she initiates it...never, ever when I do. I so appreciate those times but they are few and far between.

I am sad for her and for me. I'm sad for all she had to suffer. No child should have to endure that. No, it's not fair. It's not fair that she has to work twice as hard as other students in school because of her language deficit. It's not fair that she's not been able to control events in her life.

It gives me great joy and satisfaction that with all the other kids, I can come to them when they have a problem and get cozy and they will open up to me. We can talk things through. They trust me. They don't have reason not to trust.

Don't get me wrong...there has been much progress. When Aliya came, she would not look us in the eyes. We had to constantly encourage her to look at our eyes. She now does this without thinking twice. She also will talk when we have the need for a little sit down meeting. We don't have to pull every word out of her. That is progress!

But now it's the deep, deep stuff. The stuff that tortures her and keeps her up nights. It's the stuff that makes her cry herself to sleep. It's the stuff that makes her act the way she does sometimes...the kind of behavior that does not make her very endearing to others at times.

How can we help her heal if we don't have any idea what these things are?

This post today is for me. I just had to get it off my chest.

Awkward family photo

You know how at Christmas time you always see awkward family photos?

Here's mine.

Mihiretu was looking through old photos and I never realized just how awkward this one was! Misganaw LOVES sweets...but looks a little creepy about it here.

Noah (his cousin) simply looks bored out of his mind.

Had to share just because it's funny.

Be sure to blow it up for the full awkward effect!

What is she laughing at?

This is one of the ladies employees by Mission Ethiopia. The women make beads for necklaces and also gorgeous ornaments out of mud in the shape of Africa. We enjoyed visiting them while they worked.

When I walked up on this lady I noticed her laughing. I asked her what she was laughing about and she pointed to a picture in the Sky Mall magazine, you know the one in the seat pocket in front of you on every airplane?

This is the picture she was laughing about. It's a picture of a dog lounging on a beautiful bed/couch. She absolutely could not believe that in America dogs sleep on such beautiful beds! I have to tell you...I was pretty embarrassed.

I just smiled, shook my head and rolled my eyes that universally says, "This is nuts, huh?"

The advertisement, which thankfully I don't think she could read says, "All the comforts of a couch, with free monogrammed pillow...starting at $79."

Ugh...don't get me started!

My friend, Eve Pohl is in Korah right now and last year started a family sponsorship program for some of the most needy families there. She mentioned today on Facebook that the greatest need she sees right now for so many people there are beds. There are numerous people sharing one little twin size mattress and many others who sleep on mats or just on the dirt. They desperately need beds and bedding. A mattress there is $50 and bedding $10. She's asking for donations from people who'd like to help. Her ministry is called Hope for Korah.blogspot.com.

Check it out. I'm very impressed at what's she's doing.

Just think...$60 for a persons bed or $79 for a dog bed, albeit with a free monogrammed pillow. (for the dog who can read?)

No one asked my opinion but I will choose the person every time.

Christmas fun

We are blessed to have a pond in our back yard which is perfect for skating. We enjoyed a little Christmas Day skating. And yes, this is the same pond that Katie and De got married in front of last summer:)

Girls with skills.

Blaine sets up a big light and we even skate at night. So much fun!

MJ doing great this year on his skates. The minute he gets off the bus after school, he begs to go skating.

Blaine and MJ.

Aliya is terrified but is learning. She's never been on skates or rollerblades ever. Scary!

De and MJ.

Mihiretu the risk taker...his pants give away how many times he fell!

Blake and Reno.

The hunting thug in his jammy pants:)

We always have to do the traditional "family with the birthday girl" pose. It's not easy getting everyone together in a picture so I take every opportunity I can!

We had a wonderful Christmas this year with family and friends.

Blessings,

Laura