The Junk Draw!

So I went to Spotlight and came across this handy little contraption...and if you know me, you know I LOVE organization... haha... Yes, some of you give me a hard time about it but hey, it makes your life easier... and its just built in me...I cant change it! :)-

Look at my disgusting junk draw... BLAH!

So this is the 'contraption' ...

There are 2 pieces to it...The clear case sits nicely on top...

Look at that!!

BEAUTIFUL!!!

Haha... So I know most of you aren't going to run out and buy one... but for those of you who share my organization disorder than you will LOVE IT!!

ENJOY! xx

Sick

The last month has been a hard month with the kids and myself being sick. Its been one of those months where you don't get out of the house much, constantly washing - it feels like your never on top of it. Sleepless nights. Forcing medicines down kids throats only for to be spat out in your face. Being a zombie mum. Never really feeling like your awake. ever. and never really sleeping deeply either. So between having my head in the toilet vomiting, and lets not mention the other end, its been chest and eat infections on top of tonsillitis! BUT... Hallelujah there is light at the end of this LONG tunnel and the boys now have some energy back and we are venturing out of the house! WHOOP WHOOP!! Its the small things that get me excited these days! LOL!

Luke watches me get ready in the mornings so he wants to 'have a go' or says "My turn mum?". He LOVES the hair-dryer. I put some gel in his hair and stuck it up in a mohawk; he looked at himself in the mirror and scared  shocked himself! It was so funny.

We have been doing a lot of this.

Reading books and watching movie's...actually movie's is an exaggeration. Its just Cars and Toy Story. 

Need. To. Buy. More. DVD's! Could just about recite them. 

I know, I know all you other amazing mums would have had a million planned indoor activities - I was in survival mode! LOL!

We did get the dress-up's out! (a few times).

Ben LOVES it! Luke...doesn't! He can only stay dressed up for about 5 minutes 30 seconds!... until he moves on to the next dress-up!

I love this photo! Luke my chef! 

I have so much to tell and show you!

So blogs to come will include...

- What we got up to for Valentines Day (I know we are running late - OH WELL)

- My fire place is now completely finished! YAY!

- My dining room changes! 

So now that I'm not passing out with the boys in the afternoons during 'nap' time I might be able to get some of these blogs out!

Thanks for reading! xx

And Even MORE Responses!

Tracy asked-

I hope this question has not already been asked, but what I wanted to know is: I know that you homeschool all of your children and was wondering how do you even begin to start that process with your older children who come home and speak little to know english? Do you start with a KG curriculum and work your way up through each grade until they grasp it? Or do you teach them basic english first before you start teaching them?

First I evaluate where they are at academically. Then I work with them from where they are at or below so they are successful. No matter what, I think you always need to begin at a pre k level just to learn the basics. If it is super simple to them we move ahead quickly. 
Math is pretty universal so I have Mia and Melissa doing flashcards and worksheets for review until they learn enough English to really get going. I also have them sit in on our first graders math so they can see what they are doing and maybe start to get familiar with some of the "lingo" such as plus, minus, equals, half, etc
IMO they need a predictable schedule pretty early on- we started it after one week home. 
 I want them to get used to doing school and to learn some self discipline instead of constant play and running around- they already play enough!
Every morning is school until lunch and then sometimes for another hour or so.

I am having them write their new names(first and last) and the names of everyone in the family. They can already read the names! They are working on numbers 1-20 and counting to 30. We are focusing on the ABC's and especially the vowels. We are reading simple repetitive books and doing simple songs and finger plays. 
We are practicing greetings!
Hello, My name is _____!

Madeline seems to have a hard time with forming the sounds of English words. Some of the children home have said they cannot understand her. She has a speech eval coming up in a couple weeks. Mia and Melissa know most of their colors. Madeline feels like a preschooler to me but when Luke and Madeline played they started to "get into" a few things so now I am bringing them to the school room too. Now they can prepare for when they start school and use their morning time learning.

I can see Mia and Melissa being in combo grades- math- 1st or 2nd (they know a lot but there are so many holes and they need the language)
Reading will begin at K (because we are already doing pre K).

I do a pre K circle time with all the new kids, Emma, Luke and Abby.

I guess I am constantly evaluating and figuring what should be next and when they will start formally in a grade maybe after 6 months?
Language will take longer this time with 3 Chinese speaking children and all the others chiming in...

Which is another post... ugh!

Mandy asked-

When do you blog (like what time of day?/how do you make time? I really struggle with consistency with my blog even though I'd really like to be a more frequent poster!)?

What time do you usually wake up & go to bed?

This question may not apply yet, since you just returned from China and may still be trying to carve this out, but what is a typical day's schedule like for you?

Everyday I have a list of things to do- I put blogging on my list! When I get a moment to myself I try to read a few blogs and then post.  I don't always get to do it but I try. It is a hobby and relaxing to me!
As I am posting now I have Emma and Melissa doing my hair! It's 5:00 and some of the children just came in from playing outside. Others are playing card games next to me!

When I think of something I want to blog about I put the title in and come back to it later. Often times I think of many posts and other days I can't think of a thing!

Okay now Madeline is on my lap- it's very hard to type!

I wake up around 6:45 and to bed around 11:00.

School 8:45- 12:00 lunch 12-1
finish school 1-2 depending on the day
activity in the afternoon
ymca homeschool gym and swim
gymnastics
and soon PT, OT and Speech

We also have pretty many DR appts- so we often just do 4 days of school per week.

We save field trips for the weekend with Dad.

Alexa asked-

 I was wondering how you work on getting the children to bond to their new siblings? 

Most of our bonding happens naturally by just being together. We are together almost all the time. It has helped that our children at home can understand Chinese and some of them can speak it. 
That helps both the new children and the ones already home!
I do some things to facilitate bonding- like placing them next to a certain sibling in the car and at the dinner table. Taking a few on errands when possible.
We don't allow the children to mistreat a sibling.
We tell them we are a family and we work together.
We insist on respect for everyone.
We have not had any problem with our children bonding to each other.
I think it does help that our bio kids are older. There is no conflict of interest.

Lilijane asked-

How did you get a Dx on Emma. My daughter adopted from China is also dev. delayed. I'm currently fighting with the Children's Hospital for months just to get into the Dev Clinic for a formal Dx. She's also 12, like Emma, but after 10 years here she's obviously not going to catch up. I'm really getting frustrated because I need to start planning for her future.

Our Adoption clinic sent us to a neuro psychologist after the girls had been home 6 months.
He tested and gave her an approximate  IQ, not to label her but to help us understand where she was at.
1.5 years later we had a follow up appt with the same neuro psychologist and they retested. The results were the same. After 1.5 years Emma still had to do the non verbal test.
Maybe she is higher than they say but it really doesn't matter if they are off by 10-20 standard deviations . 
We love her and continue to work with her where she is at... 

I longed for an answer to why she struggled so much.
I wanted a diagnosis- so I could better understand her situation or try to fix it.

This last time he explained to me Emma's situation. He was blatantly honest and it was hard to hear- (another post). She only needs to see him one more time. There is no reason for her to keep coming back.

Cara asked-

I would sure love to hear more about raising a childwith anal atresia?

When we saw Sam we new he was our son. We did not know how involved his situation was, in fact we only knew he had a colostomy.
Once he got home we took him to Cincy- they are the best! 
Dr Pena and Dr Levitt.

They did all the tests there and the surgery to hook him up (bring the end of the bowel down and connect it to the anus they constructed). The colostomy stayed for 2-3 more months.
We had the take down here in MN. 

He is doing very well right now, wearing underwear and going just like the rest of us!
He has a few mistakes each week but we deal with it.

Since Sam's case was pretty easy I am not as knowledgeable about all that can be involved. If you have more questions you should join the IA adoption yahoo group. They are a great resource!

  Familjenlindgren asked-

I have a question for you. When you started your adoption journey you were already an experienced mum, maby wiser ;-) and older. Is your way of parenting different now than when you started with your five children by birth? In what way and why? 

We do parent differently than we did when we were younger.  
We are more relaxed and we do not worry about what others are doing with their children.
I think we appreciate them as they are and celebrate them without worrying if they are behind or different than other children their age.

We actually feel free to parent them the way we feel is best...
instead of they way the neighbors do or did.
There is no peer pressure on us and since we homeschool they do not have peer pressure either.

We make a point of including our faith and love for the Lord in our everyday.
We rely more on the Lord each day, instead of feeling like "hey, I can do this by myself ".

We enjoy every little thing!

I think we did a good job with parenting our older children. They are doing well and we have very strong relationship with each one! We loved our schools, our friends and the things we were involved in.
BUT we too often took control and didn't allow God to guide us.

We just weren't up for doing it that way this time.
We felt it was necessary to make a change in our parenting style this time around.
And we are thrilled with the changes!

I think this concludes the Q and A session!

I have one more post on how a large family differs from an orphanage setting.

Tigertail Beach and Snook Inn

There are three beaches on the island that are available to people that are not residents or are not staying directly on the beach.

We decided to check out beach #2 Tiger Tail.

YES!

We all had our bags for shelling!

Except...

this beach doesn't have shells!

Go figure,

a beach in Florida without shells!

Well, it's because it is a lagoon.
You need to walk over the sand bar and get to the other side of the lagoon in order to find the new shells.

Ben is often about 10-20  feet behind the group.

He is really doing well and we think he is physically getting stronger.

He is very peaceful and so good natured!

He doesn't seem to be bothered by being a few steps behind.

We have thought about a wheelchair for him for long walks but we are not sure that is what is best for him? Continuing to pray about it and evaluating.

On the way back he was in the middle of the pack so we know sometimes he can do it!

We just want to do what is best for him and what is the safest scenario for him.
Any thoughts?

Treasured and loved!

More exploring!

Once again, lovely flowers in the hair!

Ava and Melissa love doing this!

(Except I am not so sure we are supposed to pic the wild flowers?)

Attempting to get a group pic of the children...

And thank you Joey for joining us!

Yes Madeline, you did get the best spot,

we CAN see you!

Delightful!

Nothing like putting your feet in the oceans!

It's so refreshing!

Oh no!

What happened to their feet?

They're gone!

Shells,

shells, 

and more shells!

They are so beautiful on the beach BUT quite stinky sitting in plastic bags outside our home.

Does anyone know what is the best way to clean them?

This little boy really needed a family.

So thankful he is home!

I need to write a post on him sometime soon.

There are so many more treasure out there waiting for their families to find them.

Evidence...

of the fiddler crab.

I loved that some of my kiddos knew that and shared it with me!

They learned this on Disney Jr (Octonauts)!

Quite the fancy hot dog!

This is one of our favorite restaurants on the island!

And this sign is so funny!

I am sure it is hanging up just for our family!

But once again, we surprised them!

The children did so well!

Believe me- there will come a time that we don't do so well...

and what does one do when things are not going so well?

Leave quickly!

We don't hang around long once the children are done eating!

Pay, smile and go- while everyone still like us!

Island time!

Patiently waiting for our table!

another hint- we take whatever table is available- one big one or a few close together.
Anything will works- outside, inside, anything and anywhere!

I love the evenings when the children are in their PJ's, tummies are full, and we all wind down!

Thank you Mike and Carol Brady for providing the entertainment!
The children love the Brady Bunch!
(Hubby and I get a kick out of them too!)

On the lighter side of "Life"!

We had a little mishap in our house!

Somehow someones knee found someones nose!

They both were injured and needed ice packs!

It happened while they were outside playing in the snow. 

Thank goodness they both recovered quickly!

Every time Katie's puppy Penny is at our house she is the center of attention!

We have been very busy wedding planning!

It will happen this summer and then they are off to Germany and stationed in Stuttgart.

Oh my, will we miss the three of them ;-(

(I included Penny, of course!)

FYI- I am already planning a week in Stuttgart!

Maybe Penny will be safer in Stuttgart?

When Penny stays at our house she sleeps with Sarah!

One time she slept with me, one time... it didn't go well...

One of us did not sleep well...

Guess which one!

Sarah can have her!

Luke is such a great eater! He likes anything!

(He's like Mikey on the old "life" cereal commercials and I am really dating myself by saying that!))

One hour later...

Except he can be a bit slow... especially if we have the TV on (it's educational TV, of course)!

Someone is having fun researching-

 wedding dresses,

bridesmaid dresses,

reception venues,

flowers, 

reception decor,

and

the list goes on!!