Just Barely

We couldn't be too picky when we were looking for a house to rent here,
but we did have a few criteria.
Master bathroom, at least 3 bedrooms, and room enough in the backyard
for our trampoline.
This house had it all,
just barely.
We were able to squeeze the trampoline in
by placing half of it on the grass and half of it not.
It's a tight squeeze, but it works.
It's probably a good thing
I have an up close view of all that happens on that tramp
from the kitchen window.

Dr. Seuss Night

Here are some pictures from Dr. Seuss night last week at Kyler's school:

Finding a Balance

Life is a balancing act, isn't it?
Trying to be hopeful, without getting your hopes too high.
Staying optimistic, yet realistic.
Being humble, with confidence in yourself.
Enjoying a homemade oreo, but not the entire batch.

I read this and this today on faith. They were helpful and interesting to me.

Kudos

Kudos to Kyler!

His parent-teacher conference was yesterday.

He is doing GREAT.

He is learning and growing and making friends.

After the conference,

we bought him a new book from the Book Fair

and it was so fun to see him come home and read it to Kacin. 

We are so very proud of him!

To Talk

Ether 12:27
And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.


Sometimes I think it's funny that I went into the education field. Most people think Teacher=Public speaker/likes to talk. Yet, that's not me. I may be ok if it's a room of all 1st graders, but throw even one adult in the mix, and my heart is pounding and my face is red and my hands are shaking.

Even in normal, everyday conversation I may feel intimidated and my mind goes blank, I stumble over my words, and sometimes you get some kind of nervous giggle.

It is my weakness. To talk.

But it's guaranteed that each time we move, and every year we stay, we will be asked to speak in church. And so we do.

I got through it today by remembering a few things: It could be worse--they could've asked our family to sing! And if I pass out or throw up they won't ask me to speak again.

But what really helps me through is the promise that if I recognize my weakness, humble myself, put my complete faith and trust in Heavenly Father, pray constantly, and prepare to the best of my ability than my weakness will become something a little stronger than it was.

I am satisfied that today I didn't shake too badly and the color of my face didn't resemble a tomato and I walked away from the pulpit with a sense of peace. Or just relief that I made it through.

It could be considered a good thing to be stretched and pushed and humbled. And it is. I am glad that I did it.

I'm not saying that I'm ready to do it again anytime soon, but just that I'm grateful that I have a Heavenly Father who helps me make it through things that I feel reveal my weaknesses a little too openly. He is there for us.

#7 and #8

The first indoor soccer game was today!

Kyler wanted me to write that he is very disappointed

that they don't lay grass down in the gym for them

and that the other team got 7 points today and they got 0.

See how mad he is.

He threw a nice little fit about it as he played goalie today.

They actually teach them to play offense and defense here.

I like this.

They are learning to pass the ball to eachother and work as a team instead of one or two dominating the game and the whole group of them running in a cluster around the ball.

And I think they are learning how to play goalie on one foot.

So we're cheering on the blue team,

especially #7 and #8.

The Last Time I Post About Teeth (Probably)

Due to certain birthparents not caring for their child's teeth,
we are in for a lifetime of decay and dentist appointments.
When he came to us, he had 10 healthy teeth.
That poor little mouth.
One of his silver teeth just got even more infected.
So out it came.
He gets a spacer in its place next week.
And then his second front tooth fell out this evening!
He's so excited for the tooth fairy to come tonight.
He says he'll get more money than anybody.
Apparently, the tooth fairy pays more for silver teeth.
He'll be rich.

And now I will try to stop posting each time my children lose a tooth.

Stinker

What possesses a grown man to throw a blanket over his head
run around a room with arms outstretched
while raspberries are being blown in his general direction?
Stinker: the game.
A game made up by my dad.
Basically, like Marco Polo,
only instead of shouting "Marco"
the person under the blanket yells, "Stinker".
Everyone must then put their own tongue and lips together
in such a way
as to blow a raspberry.
If you get caught,
you're the next crazy under the blanket.

Yes, that is Peter Pan who played with us.

A Kacin is a Kacin

It is becoming more and more apparant
to Eric and I
that there is not a "one size fit all" in anything when it comes to children.
We teach and encourage Kyler (well, as I've said before, he pretty much does this on his own) that after he's done playing Legos and Star Wars and reading and writing in his many notebooks he needs to clean up after himself and keep things tidy.
With Kacin,
I'm taking a different approach.
"Kacin, Please make a mess! And I'll clean it up."
The kid won't play.
His rationale?
Its the same reason he'll often opt to sleep on top of his bedspread instead of snuggled underneath.
He doesn't want to make the bed in the morning
and he doesn't want to clean up.
So I struck a deal.
If he uses his imagination and plays with his cars, animals, blocks, stuffed animals, legos, anything!
I will help clean it up.
We're making progress.

Yesterday, we took him to his new opthamologist.
The Dr.'s last words to us about how to help his eyes improve?
"He needs to spend less time outside and more time watching TV and reading books."
Things that force his eyes to work harder.
Some children, you drag them away from the television,
I guess now we'll be forcing our little guy to watch more.
But I say he still gets lots of time to play outside!

Art Day

It being a cold and rainy/hail day off of school today,
we declared ART DAY.

A day of expression, messiness, and creativity.
And a day to watch Bob Ross clips off of youtube.
Kyler and I are both enthralled by that man with the fro
who makes happy little clouds and trees and mountains appear.
Kacin whined about watching more clips.

But between good ol' Bob

and the books we read about color, shape, and artists

we were sufficiently inspired

to create a magnificent art gallery by the end of the day.

We worked with watercolor, stamps, acrylic on canvas, and wood. 

Kacin's canvas: "Waterfall of Colors"

Kyler's canvas: "The Planets"

Kyler's wood scuplture: "The Fairy House"

One of my project's is now hanging on the wall, too.

Mighty Fine Eyebrows

"Mommy, I put gel on my eyebrows so they look even better."

Coinage

Now this is a profile

that should be on coinage.

3 Brothers, 2 Families

And a happily ever after.

Two years ago this month we received a call about 2 cute, little boys who needed a safe, loving, forever home. We were also told about their older brother who, for the best interest of all 3 boys, 

would be moved to a different home.

We contempleted A LOT about whether or not we should just try it and take all three boys together and make it work no matter the challenges.

Of course, ideally, it is hoped to keep biological children together. 

But it never felt right.

Our adoption was finalized 8 months later, and older brothers was not.

We prayed for him and worried about him.

We visited and called.

His adoption journey was a little a bit of moving around

and a lot of waiting,

but I'm pretty sure he would say it was worth it.

As of this weekend,

He is now legally and officially adopted

 into a committed and loving family perfect for him.

We feel excitement, joy, relief for him and his family.

It was a beautiful day at the courthouse

for the judge, caseworkers, and all others involved these last 2 1/2 years

 to see all 3 boys doing so well.

Not a week goes by in our house without mention of older brother.

I'm soo glad that we're able to keep contact and continue to foster the relationship of

3 brothers, and 2 different families.

A Trip Back

Only 14 hours in a car and we were back in Utah.

Just for the weekend.

And we were blessed with no snow.

Yippee!

We got to see a few of our good friends and family

(but didn't get pictures with everyone).

We peeked through the upstairs window of our friends' house

to check out the changes to the backyard of our old blue house.

We visited the dinosaur museum and Farm Country.

 We almost ate at all of our favorite restuarants you can't find in WA.

We stayed at the best Bed and Breakfast I've ever been to.

And played Killer Bunnies and ate graffitied Baked Alaska.

We went to the old ward.

I walked around the old neighborhood with a good friend.

We witnessed the adoption of older brother.

We played with toe jam, ear wax, cat pee, and a black light.

It was a pleasant trip to AF.