Meet the Teacher Day for the Oreos!

Today was meet the teacher day for our first big day of preschool next Monday! Kristin is in K4 and Katie is in the 2's. Leni's teacher for Kindergarten will be her very own personal Mama! They are sooooo excited! We have a wonderful Christian Preschool just a few minutes away where the two youngest will go. Both have great teachers and can't wait to start! I was a little worried about Katie because she seems to get a little anxious and clingy without me.....but that little ladybug walked right up to her teacher...said "HI" and took control of the classroom dollhouse! Here are our 'oreo girls' in Kristin's new classroom doing what they do best! Kristin directs the show....Leni can't decide between princess or policeman, and Katie is just so darn cute! Looks like we're going to have a great year ahead!

Look No Further! We Have the Next American Idol!

Katie loves to sing and do hand motions to songs. We were watching tv the other night and a very bad "beat boxer" was on. Sooo....along with the other girls, we added our own "beat boxing" to Katie's current favorite. Lots of snorts, chuckas, and booming bass sounds and something like a screech meets a drum. Here she is now doing a rousing rendition of that great southern spiritual "Deep and Wide" complete with sounds that aren't normally there! She now thinks this is how the song is really supposed to be! What makes this even more special for us is that Katie has been a pretty serious child up to this point. At least the most serious of the 5. Still think so?!

P.S. We're in Florida....surrounded by water...(and hurricanes but that's beside the point right now:)) so....we're going to do what Floridians do, and go play in the water for a few days. We'll be in touch at the end of the week!

Giant Dogs Save Young Girls From Wild Animals On Camping Trip!!!!

For the Intellectual Crowd :)

I've been trying to do this post for a while now. Life keeps getting in the way!:) This summer has been a true gift from God in that we've had some genuine time to focus thoughts and actually do some intense study and reading. Scott and I are both avid readers and have sought to instill that in all our children as well. Due to the busyness of our lives, we try to be purposeful with our time and not be frivolous with this precious gift God has given. Once used, you don't get it back !....So we choose to invest our time (hopefully) wisely to further His kingdom. "We have but so little time in this world." [quote by Jeremiah Burroughs]. I try to keep this thought ever before me as I plan out my days. Today is a list of the mainstream books we've been reading and why. For me, I try to always keep a Christian Doctrinal study going in addition to my regular quiet time...and then also pursue something secular that would benefit our family...whether that be cooking, schooling, discipline issues, adoption, etc. (yes, some do overlap :)) Here is this months secular selections we've been reading.

Scott's List-
1. Einstein by Walter Isaacson. Scott loves biographies...especially ones about minds that were in the forefront of ideas & visionaries of their day. This book is candy for my husband. It is not casual reading but digs deep into the Einstein brain thing. I prefer Baby Einstein myself :) Find both at your local bookstore :)

Cissy's List
1. Nurturing Adoptions by Deborah Gray. This is a brand new book out just this month and is a MUST READ for all those who have fostered/adopted or are considering it! I wish it had been out 6 years ago. It deals with the effects of trauma/neglect/disruptions from infancy on....and how the brain responds (excellent, excellent research and studies out now!) She discusses attachment issues, grief, prenatal exposures....and points out that many symptoms may not appear for years. I think we have a tendency to expect children to suddenly "bounce back" when placed in a loving, nurturing environment...and Ms. Gray points out that this is possible but rare...and shows how there can be ongoing symptom "clusters" for years to come.
"The children who are the focus of this book are unlike children who may have had just one overwhelming event occur in an otherwise advantaged childhood, in that they experience the complications associated with repeated relationship disruptions and attachment challenges interrelated with trauma." Deborah Gray
We have 3 adopted girls. One was in 6 (and that's just what was documented) homes in her first 7 months of life. We were her 7th and final placement. One daughter was placed in our arms at birth...and one was in orphanage care for her first 11 months. All three were in compromised prenatal conditions. This book helps take the torn fragments of little lives and piece them together scientifically with the newest information to help us along this miracle of adoption journey we are undertaking. Highly recommended!

2. China Ghosts by Jeff Gammage. This is a mainstream book available at any bookstore and is also new. Jeff is a reporter for a Philadelphia newspaper and "just happened" to use the same agency we did. Anyway, this is his tale of adopting his two girls from China. Although I do NOT agree with his personal beliefs...let's just leave it at that :) I will say his writing style, descriptions, and experiences are a great read. He tells you through print what I wish we could describe to you about our journey. After all, he's a professional writer....I'm not. Much, much is the same in thought and action, and their experiences are not unlike our own. He made me want to go back!!!!

More to follow :)

Day 12~ Yes, We're alive!

Ok, someone here has been sick with a really weird virusy thing for 12 days....I've been counting. It started with Kristin....and proceeded to last a long time with each person and didn't spread very fast. Now, everyone but Julie has had it. Katie got it last and is running a low grade fever now. I will spare you the multitude of symptoms but trust us (uh...gross!!) we're hoping to be at the end. Time will tell. For 12 days, someone has been sick, with the majority being well, all at the same time. It makes for a hard dynamic for normal life (whatever that is!!)You can't go anywhere because there's someone sicko that has to go with and can't, so the well people go crazy while the sickly one(s) suffer. Sad, sad, sad.(Do I hear violin strings playing for mama??) Here's some pics of what we've been doing....not much :) Although, for you that know all the girls stories...in the rough moments of these past days..I keep thinking about the individual attention they're getting now, vs. where they were...and it is a huge motivator to 'press on'. I do wonder if anyone held Katie when she was sick at the orphanage. Anyway, she's the velcro baby now!!:) Held CONSTANTLY:)Miss Leni's asthma kicks in with stress and it seems better today...and Kristin is back to her usual blonde ambition! The parents, however, could use a cruise....any donations?? Anyone? Anyone?

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Leni's Tadpole Story~

While our life has been anything but fun this week, I thought I'd share something funny that happened. Leni discovered a batch of tadpoles in rainwater in the deflated waterslide in our now nasty, overgrown backyard that we don't get to play in much because of the heat. She's been watching them religiously and they're doing quite well we must say. Earlier this week she picked up a few and transplanted them into a different container. Then she decided her tadpoles were dirty and needed a bath. SOOOO.....she bathed those tadpoles....in Joy diswashing liquid....then gave them bubbles to swim in because bubbles are so much fun aren't they?!! She was so proud and paraded Mom out to see her happy tadpole children...rather happy D-E-A-D tadpole children (she didn't realize the dead part) and told mom their names, how they liked to swim this way and that...etc. not once realizing they were in tiny tadpole heaven. After, Mom had to explain the ins and outs of tadpole rearing to a 5 year old who hates to see anything die....we now have a new container of tadpoles thriving in "dirty" water. And a again happy (but very asthmatic) 5 yr. old!!

Laying Low~ updated

Ok....mom's been here since Friday with one sick girl or another (and glad to do it:)) however we have read many books, painted toes, cleaned closets, played with lots of toys and the troops are getting bored (mostly me:)) Kristin is fine today and decided to have a "garage sale" with the newly sorted animal collection mom put together. She was so cute! She set up a stand in the driveway ...with change in a money cup for potential buyers...got all her animals 'just so' and proceeded to sit there for 2!!!! hours! (on a Monday morning...not exactly garage sale day)...anyway, she came back in saying she didn't know why "no buyers had come around"....so Mommy got on the phone and got her a buyer.Yet again, Julie came to the rescue! We had a very happy 4 year old!! Anyone need a spare cow, horsey, pig, or maybe an alligator mixed in??!! Could we interest you in a hippo? This girl's got what you need! BTW, Katie is sitting behind Kristin putting an entire box of band-aids on one leg. Sorry...no photo available.:) (Leni was inside, now at 103',watching her new favorite Wee Sing video from Miss Kathy :) She was a sick, sick, puppy today :()