Say Yes

This video is so touching. It brings tears to my eyes.

Another blog that brought tears to my eyes, is this one. So very sad. Please pray for this little guy!
http://oureyesopened.blogspot.com/2011/03/kirills-story.html

Air-born!

 We went to Air-born with our friends the Hinkson's.  Christy and I had a lovely time talking while our children jumped. I'm not sure they even conversed with each other (which was our plan) but they had fun all the same.

Here's Dev....

 Rylee

 Austin

 More Ry

 This is the only picture of Alex that turned out....and even it is questionable.

Remembering....

Wow.

I've been following a few blogs of our families currently in Ukraine adopting and re-reading my posts from two years ago of our adoption experience.

Two years ago today, I sat down with Alex and we went through his cell phone and deleted the half naked women pictures and the pictures of marijuana plants.
I look at him today and can't believe he ever had such things on his phone. Today when we watch movies he'll cover his eyes when a girl is scantly clad and he could be the poster child for the DARE program. He despises cigarettes, drinking and drugs.

Two years ago, I was dying to get him bathed and into clean clothes & hold him in my arms.  Today he baths without prompting, and smells good - at least before he goes out side and captures all the smells of the great outdoors! (I call this "boy/puppy dog" smell. But Austin had the same problem. I think it's just a boy thing?) 

Last night he laid his head in my lap while watching a show and then would take my hand and rub it on his face or his back, prompting me to tickle his back. He LOVES to be touched and loved on. At this age, most boys are pretty opposed to that, I think he's just making up for lost time? 

He still struggles with matching and combing his hair but that's what mom's are for? Right?

Tonight it's just Alex and I home. Austin is out of town, Kambree away at college, Ry & Dev at parties, and James helping out a family member so I think we'll go out to eat. Alex never cares where. Will eat whatever and always says thank you, no matter what it is! He's the perfect dinner companion. 

Happy Friday everyone!

Austin Out The Door!

Austin left this morning on his choir trip to San Francisco. 

He's such a funny boy. He packed his X-box in his carry-on. At first I was "No way!" then when he pointed out that that curfew at the hotel was ten pm, and I- being an experienced mom - realized that there's no way you're getting high school kids to sleep at that time. X-boxing in a hotel room didn't sound so bad! It is way better than: 

a. sneaking out on the town 

b. sneaking into some girls room

c. some girls sneaking into his room

d. any other hooliganistic  activity Austin can come up with on his own!

He packed - you guessed it - gym shorts and white T-shirts. He did bring his tux for performing and his Sunday suit. I asked him what if they go somewhere nice for dinner? 

"Then I'll wear my suit." 

"Well, what if it's just jeans and nice shirt nice?" 

"Mom, if it's nice I'll wear my suit, if not my shorts and t-shirt are fine!" 

*Sigh*

He came up (his room is in the basement) wearing jeans and a nice polo shirt but before he came into my view he loudly announced,

"Mom, don't get all excited. I'm just wearing jeans because all my gym shorts are packed!" 

(Oh, he looked so nice!)

He had to be at the airport at six am. I was trying to get him to pack last minute stuff that he insisted he didn't need, like shampoo?

 Hotel will have it.  

Flip flops? 

No, I'll go barefoot. 

No, you'll wear flip-flops, what if you step on glass? Sunscreen? 

No. 

Yes. (And I tucked into his suitcase. Doubt he'll wear it but at least I tried!)

Hat? 

No we only have lame hats. 

Then I kept asking things like, do you have your contact solution? Toothpaste? Deodorant? Yes, yes, yes. I could tell he was getting exasperated but he's never traveled alone. Not to a real place. Scout camp, yes. But who cares if you don't smell good at scout camp, forget your toothpaste or run out of socks? But he's going far away and I can't run him anything he's forgotten. (Which I tend to do on a regular bases for all my bambinos!) Oh well, it's not like he's going to a rural place or the plains of Africa....right?

I hope he has a great time and that I don't get any calls from the authorities. It's not that he's a bad kid. He's just mischievous. Very mischievous and despite his six foot tall, broad build, he's still a boy. My little boy. 

*Sigh*

No one told me about this part of parenting. I can't help but think, how in the world am I suppose to let him go for two years in two years time? To perhaps some third world country? 

Good grief. 

I know. 

I'm a worrier. 

But I have this superstition that if you worry about something before it  happens then it can't happen? 

I know. 

Sick and wrong? 

The good part about my psychosis is that I realize it's wrong? 

Right? 

That means I'm not that far gone.....right?

Please don't tell me wrong. Then I'll have even more to worry about!!

A couple of Alexims.....

Tuesday I asked Devree how she was feeling when she woke up?

"I have a headache."

When Alex came down I asked the same thing but rather than tell me he had a headache he told me, "My head is bouncing." Which is EXACTLY how one would describe a headache...don't you think?

Last night Austin - being silly - managed to drop his slice of cantaloupe on the floor. Alex quickly proclaimed "Three second minute!" We all looked at him puzzled. "Oh, I mean, three second rule!" 

When reading yesterday I stopped Alex to ask what "I was as nervous as a cat sitting in a vet's waiting room." meant. He had no idea. I asked if he knew what nervous meant?
Yes. Shaky?
Sort of. More like scared. What's a vet?
I don't know.
Do you know what a veterinarian is?
No.
Do you know what a waiting room is?
No.
I told him he needs to stop and ask when he doesn't understand. We continued reading. I stopped him again and again, he had no clue what he was reading. He's a tricky one because he pronounces everything just fine. Hard, long words and you think he's getting it but then when you ask....nope! He's not comprehending. I asked what level this book was? 5.1 (Fifth grade, 1st month)
What? Wasn't your last book 4.2?
Yes.
Why do you have this book?
His eyes fill with tears, "I want to be 5th grade." and then the tears escape down his cheeks. 

Oh baby.....(my heart just hurt for him).

I shared with him about how I just started running in January, training for a 5K and at first how I could only run for TWO minutes before I felt like dying. And slowly week by week I added more running to my time, running for TWO weeks what was suggested in one, and today I'm up to two 12 minute runs. I told him how if I had just started running 3 miles, I would have hated it, my body would have hurt, I would have quit or never tried it again. I also pointed out that there are people my age that run marathons and I can't do that yet. And some run way faster than me and lap me on the track.  Reading is like running. We just keep getting a little bit harder each time and condition our brain to understand the words like I'm conditioning my body to run. That reading something that you don't understand isn't fun and that you don't get anything out of it and it may make you hate reading and want to quit. He seemed okay with my analogy but still so very sad.

Then in a moment of brilliance I told him to think about how he has only been speaking & reading  English for TWENTY TWO months and is currently reading on a 4th grade level but his friends have been speaking & reading English for TWELVE YEARS and they are only on a 6th grade level!! That he should be so very proud of himself! It was like a light went off in his head! He IS doing great! He hugged me and smiled and agreed to turn in his book and bring home a 4.3 level tomorrow.

Whew...

He's feeling so much better and so far (knock on wood) no one else has come down with Strep symptoms. 

In need of three of me!

Alex is a pretty resilient kid. 

He'll fall and bloody his knees and jump up like nothing happened.

He'll wrestle with Austin and be pinned to the ground and I'll yell for Austin to let him up and he'll squeak "No mom. I'm good." 

He's just tough.

But this morning, STREP got the best of him.

Yesterday he was sort of lethargic and complained of a sore throat. I gave him Ibuprofen and he seemed to be okay but not his normal self. At night I could feel his fever coming on and gave him a second dose and he crawled in my lap and let me hold him like the 96 pound almost five foot baby that he's not. But hey! I'll take what I can get.

This morning I came home from the gym at 6:45 to Alex stumbling down the stairs and rushing into my arms telling me "I don't feel well." He was burning up. I dosed him again and he crawled again into my lap and we sat in the dark by the light of the fire and he let me rub his back. He told me he had been sick like this before in Ukraine and had to go to the hospital for 28 days and get a shot each day. I assured him that shots and hospital stays were not in his future, that we would take him to the doctor and he would feel better. He kept moaning and making sad sick noises until the Ibuprofen kicked in then he asked if he could go back to "normal" bed.

Devree came to breakfast complaining of the same symptoms but dressed in her choir dress for festival today. I sent her off to school - hoping we weren't contaminating the entire choir and got Alex up and bathed, the elementary kids dropped off, a call into her choir teacher explaining that I'd be taking Alex in to the Insta-care and if he was positive, I'd be getting Devree from the festival. 

Alex was intrigued by everything at the doctors office. He couldn't hold still during the blood pressure reading so he read really high. His rapid strep culture came back positive so into the car we went to get Devree. We took her back and waited, and waited and hers came back negative. What the heck? They decided to treat her all the same but I took her back to the festival where her group had already started performing but she slipped in between numbers and finished out the performance and the day.

She is now crashed on the couch after taking her antibiotics. Alex came home, took his meds and slept too but woke up with a fever again this afternoon. I just dosed him with Ibuprofen. Rylee needs to get to dance and it's observation so I need to stay and observe, somehow dinner needs to be made before 6:30 because Devree & Austin have a choir performance at 7:00 that I need to be at and yet someone needs to stay with Alex.

Good grief. I need three of me. 

One to be at dance.

One to make dinner.

And one to hold Alex and assure him he will live!

Asparagus Champ??

Last night Austin's friend Noah ate over.

I like Noah.

My first interaction with Noah - about a year ago- was when he came over and asked Austin to introduce me to him. Austin said something like "Uhh...this is my mom?" to which Noah charmingly replied "Oh, well I thought she could be your sister." Since then he's been my favorite friend of Austin's. (I know, he probably didn't mean it and was just trying to butter me up but....it worked!)

So last night we're eating and Noah is telling me that "this is the best asparagus he's ever had" that he's had asparagus before and always thought it was just okay but this asparagus is the best, to which Austin replied nonchalantly,"Yeah, well, my mom's sorta a champ at asparagus." 

Teeheehee....Not only can I lift the crock-pot but I'm a champ at asparagus! 

Two compliments in two days from my two favorite sons!

Who could ask for more??

Conversations & Compliments

A while back I blogged about Alex and his lack of conversation skills. (And my Conversation 101 class?)  I am happy to report that he is really trying. He tends to ask the same thing each morning, but at least he's trying to strike up a conversation? Right?

They usually go like this:

Hi Mom.

Hi Alex.

How your run?

It was good, thank you. How did you sleep Alex?

Good.

But this morning it went like this:

Morning Alex.

Morning Mom.

He comes and lays his head against my shoulder - I am preparing breakfast.

Hows your run?

Oh, I didn't run today. I went to a lift class.

(Not sure he understands what a lift class is, I flex my bicep like a muscular man-that I am not!)

Oh. (He nods) Because you a strong mama!

(Sarcastically) Yes, I am so strong.

Yes, you're so strong you can lift crock pot?

(I can't help but laugh.)

Yes, so I can lift the crock pot.

We do have a rather larger crock pot and apparently that's the biggest, strongest thing he's ever seen me do?

Yesterday, he wrote the sweetest gratitude entry in his journal. (I've let up a bit on his journal writing and he is loving it. No, he still writes 5 times a week but rather than correcting, crossing out, and writing extra sentences for misspelled words,  I am going back through with him at my side and having him correct his mistakes, look up the misspelled words and fixing them himself so that his journal is more legible. I am also giving him more of a break on misspelled words which results in less extra sentence writing. I think it's really helping, at least we don't seem to butt heads so much over it!)

Here is yesterdays gratitude part of his journal entry before corrections:

 I am grateful for my mom because she loves me with all her hart (heart) and she talks (tucks) me in and buys me clothes to where (wear).

Ahh....that's my boy. 

Makes me want to make all my children write gratitude journals.

Is that bad?

Is it an old Irish saying....

Be Careful What You Wish For?

This morning I had signed up to take a short sale class as part of my continuing education for my real estate license. I hate short sales. I think the class was titled "Learning To Love Short Sales." What a crock. Anyway, I was not looking forward to going and IN MY MIND, not out loud or anything, I was thinking "I wish I had a good excuse to skip this class this morning."
But I had nothing. 

Oh dear.
I shouldn't have thought that.

After making this "green" breakfast in honor of St Patrick's day.

(It was Alex's idea....green French Toast and of course green milk!)

Austin left for school and I drove the junior high car pool as Devree has been working on a sculpture all week of some cathedral in Spain for her Spanish class. (I should have taken a picture. Darn!)

I get back home and she calls the home phone with a panic in her voice! "Mom, my geography assignment is due today not my Spanish! I need to make a cake!" 

Keep in mind, Devree is a very "on top of it" student. Often times completing assignments days before they're due, she just got the dates confused. Her plan was to make a cake and pipe the country on in frosting for geography. We had purchased the frosting the night before- thinking it was due on Friday. I asked when geography was and she told me 4th period. I told her not to panic, I'd stick the cake in the oven and come get her.

I go to make the cake and realize I am out of eggs. I went to call my mom for eggs but realized she had borrowed eggs from me last night so I called Amy. Alex ran over and grabbed them from her and I got the cake in and the elementary kids off to school.
Started the Shepard's pie - my pathetic attempt to cooks something Irish in honor of St Patrick's day (It's sort of Irish right? Potatoes? Shepard's? I've tried other Irish dishes with no success and a smelly house for days. Thank you Corn Beef  and Cabbage. So Shepard's pie it is this year!) - while the cake is cooking.

I then realize I can't find my cell phone.

That I didn't hear it ring when Devree called - my kids always call my cell first before they try the home phone. 

It's no where to be found.

I remember setting it on the treadmill at the gym this morning and not remembering anything more. Like putting it in my pocket and bringing it home?

I call Amy....again. (She's often at the Rec. Center picking up swimmers and running them back and forth to school.) She's not there but her son is so she calls him.

Before I hear back from him, Rylee calls and her wire on her braces has popped out. 

Good grief.

I tell her I'll stop by and check it out when I pick up Devree from the Junior High.

Amy calls. Jared found my cell phone. Still sitting on the treadmill where I left it. I have him take it with him to the Junior High and leave it at the front office with my friend Janie as I'm heading there momentarily.

I run up to get Devree - she has my phone - Jared found her. (Thanks Jared!)

We run to the elementary. Rylee has managed to get her wire back into the band and it looks fine. I tell her to hang with it through the day and we'll see if we need to go back to the orthodontist this afternoon.

We go home and I frost the cake while Devree prints out the names of the cities. I glue the names on toothpicks while she pipes on the frosting, make mountains with chocolate chips, sticks in the toothpick signs. As she's putting the finishing touches on it, I attempt to assemble my Shepard's pie and realize that my extra 9x13 is at my mom's house. (Devree is using the other 9x13 for her cake!) I call there and arrange to pick it up on my way home from dropping Devree back to school.  We jump in the car and and get her back in time not only for 4th period but for most of her biology review in 3rd period. (Start to finish cake decorating? 9:10-9:40...thirty minutes! Woot!)

On the way back to school I told Devree it's a good thing this didn't happen two years ago. 

Why?

Two years ago Dad and I were on a airplane going to Ukraine to adopt Alex.

Yep.

TWO YEARS AGO TODAY!

(Can you believe it?)

I stop at my parents and grab my pan and get home and assemble the pie and put my kitchen back together that looks like a whirlwind hit it after our frosting frenzy!

Sufficient to say, I did not make it to  my short sale class.
Top-o-the-morning at our house!
Hope you all have a fabulous St. Paddy's day.
Here's a little something for all of my friends far, far away today!

An Old Irish Blessing

May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind always be at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face, and rains fall soft upon your fields. And until we meet again, May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

Lessons On Prayer

Monday night, for Family Home Evening, we were talking about prayer. I asked each of my children to share a time when their prayers had been answered. 

Rylee shared a time she had ran home to get a stuffed animal out of the house to show her grandma (we live down the street from my parents) and the house was locked, she was too short to punch in the code for the garage door so she tried to crawl through the dog door but wouldn't fit. She started to cry, then said a prayer and felt inspired to see if the car in the driveway was open. It was and she noticed the remote to the garage and was able to get in through the garage. 

Devree & Austin also shared a story where they prayed to find things and found them. 

Alex shared how one night when he first got home he couldn't sleep. He said a prayer and a voice came to him and told him to calm down, that he was worrying too much about learning English. Then he informs us he was praying in Russian. I asked if God's voice was in Russian? The look on his face of realization was priceless,  YES! God spoke to him in Russian! Then he asked me if God can speak Chinese? I asked him what did he think? 

Yes?

Yes! God speaks and understands all languages and all his children.

The next day Alex asked me if Chinese people pray when they're meditating? I told him it was sort of like a prayer, that they try to relax and feel at peace or to clear their minds and get answers. He informed me that he tried meditating and it didn't work. I asked him what he did?  He demonstrates by  sitting cross legged and places his hands on his knees, with middle and thumbs touching and makes a "Ohmmm" sound. 

(I am trying not to laugh at this point.)

I asked what he was meditating for? 

"To find out who all the kung-fu masters were!"

"And it didn't work?"

"No."

I had to turn away to avoid bursting into laughter!