This is Jeff shooting my dad with a pellet gun. Brilliant right? The one doing the shooting is wearing the face mask instead of the other way around. Someone please explain the logic! Could a wife and daughter be more proud?........ No comment!
Notice the pleasure Jeff is taking in getting in a few shots. To be fair, it was my dad's idea! This should explain quite a bit about me.
Jeff, Jaclyn, Ben, Nana, Aiden Momma Mary, and John Dad at ICE at The Gaylord Texan
Ahhhhh, Happy Birthday Jesus! Thank you for the life I have and the blessings that You keep giving to me! You are my SALVATION!
Happy Birthday Jeff! Thank you for giving me a life I could have never imagined! I am amazed every day of the life God has given us. Can you believe our lives after just 7 short years of knowing each other?? Only 5 years of marriage? Remarkable. Only by the grace of God!
By the way.............Mr. Jeffery just turned 40!!!
My husband is beyond awesome and doesn't act a day over 16! No one would believe he's 40!
I just wanted to say Happy Birthday and I love you!
This was Ben's answer when we asked him if he knew who Santa was. He's close. He did ask if Santa had special powers. I could only think of flying to lots of houses in one night and making himself skinny to fit down chimneys. I would like to know his secret to that one!
Anyway, we have been trying to teach Ben lots of Christmas traditions and songs to get him pumped. Its working.
Watch this after you turn off the music at the bottom of the blog:
If I had to choose one word to describe Ben it would definitely be Resilient. Since I can only imagine all of the things that he has seen and been through in his short life I know that it is his resiliency that makes him the boy he is.
We have only been with him for 4 1/2 months, home for 3 1/2, but he acts like he has been here all along. Of course that is how we act too because we forget that he hasn't been. Even Aiden, despite his struggles with having a brother attached to him, acts like Ben has always been here.
Their fights are over silly things, competitive boy things, brother things. Aiden is claiming his territory most of the time and Ben has a sense of entitlement that is somewhat surprising. He doesn't understand why he needs to take turns or why Aiden doesn't just give him the toy that he wants, even though Aiden has been playing with it undisturbed for the past 20 minutes. To be perfectly honest that one is a bit more that somewhat surprising. You would think that living with 2 other kids would help him understand the concept of sharing a bit more. But if that is the biggest struggle that we have then I am thankin" the LORD!
Homeschooling is going well, I am at a bit of a crossroad, whether or not to purchase a curriculum that puts Ben at one grade level. Right now we are working on some kindergarten stuff, some 1st grade and even 2nd in math. But pulling from lots of different resources gets to be a bit overwhelming and I am afraid I am doing more harm than good sometimes.
I'm also afraid that I am keeping Ben from experiencing a normal school atmosphere. I know Aiden misses that sometimes because he has voiced his opinion the past few days. Then again, I know that as soon as I sent him back to school he would be asking me if he could stay home. Our schedule is just so laid back right now, sleeping until 8 am rather than up at 6. (OK, I am holding on to that one more than they are!!) But in reality, I know how good we all have it with homeschool.
I maybe singing a different tune when I have a toddler home that wakes me up early and makes it more difficult to keep my older boys on task for school. I've never prayed harder for something that would inevitably make my life more difficult. I may be looking into schools this summer if I can make it that long with three kids at home all day! Kidding........kind of.
Life is good right now for us. I am thankful Jeff has a job, even if it keeps him away from us so often. I am happy to have Ben home, glad he is not still waiting on us to come get him. I am glad that our battles seem to be small right now, just enjoying that because I know that it doesn't last forever. I am thankful that Aiden is the child that he is; able to roll with the punches, laid back, and easygoing most of the time. I am just thankful for my life, that God gave it to me to live. I wouldn't trade it for anything!
It's not that I don't believe you Grace, I do, but I am cautiously optimistic.
Grace sent a text to me today to tell me that the elusive piece of paperwork needed for our January court date has been seen by the Hope staff. That is excellent news. I want to bring my baby home! So hopefully there is light at the end of this very very long tunnel.
I also want to say congrats to my friend Holly! She is officially Mamma to Maritu and Mamush. Theo's crib/roommates. She has been waiting as long as I have and had some larger bumps in her road. Today is a GREAT day for her!
When you practice for an emergency evacuation off the ship. Hence the life jackets. Muster sucks because you have to do it right after you get on the ship and all you want to do is get the party started!
I guess I have been a bit apprehensive to share this news since I really am doing my best not to think about it right now. But many of you have asked or wanted to but didn't for fear of sending me over the edge. We have another court date for baby Theo/Teddy/Cooper of January 14th. Our last court dates in October and November didn't turn out well and we thought we would get heard again in December but for some reason they decided to torture us a bit longer.
I have pictures of him walking and sitting on his little potty. I miss him. I think it was so good that I got to spend so much time with him and see how much he loves his caregivers. That really comforts me, to know how much he is loved. I am surprised he can walk at all because he is held and coddled so much. I couldn't ask for anything more from the sweet ladies who love on him in my absence.
I do want to say one thing about Hope though........for those of you making negative comments about their staff and their ability to get our cases approved. I have been there in Ethiopia to see them work. I have seen first hand how the staff works their butts off to get our children home. I stood in the court room with Rahel and saw her face when the judge told her that I would not be bringing my child home with me in August. She was almost in tears. I was with her on her second trip to court that day and I know she made a third for other children's cases. Shim tracked me down at an Embassy doctors office to make sure they were doing everything that they could to get us out of the country on time when things were looking bleak for bringing Ben home. I saw the concern on his face for my kids and me. They care, all of them, and they are trying.
My situation is not about incompetence on the side of Hope, it is about dealing with a third world government that has no rhyme or reason. A government that can change their mind on a whim and make us suffer the consequences. And if you will step back and think about it, a government that might just resent the fact that they are having to give their children away so that they have a chance in life. I know if it were other countries adopting American children we might not be in a rush either.
OK, I have said my peace and I will get off my soap box now. Just one last thing....Thank you Grace, thanks for being sad with us when you have to tell us that we are gonna have to wait a little longer. Thanks for taking the crap people throw at you even though you have absolutely no control over what the court chooses. Thank you for being a friend to me and my family. I don't know if enough people stand up for you but I know just how much you care.
So I got Bookworm Tagged by friend Angie. This one is good because it is easy! No thinking required really.
The rules are to grab the book closest to you, turn to page 56 and type the first sentence of the 5th paragraph.
There was no 5th paragraph so I used the 4th.
"It was absolutely silent for one long second before the screaming began."
That is a quote from Twilight. I am not currently reading it but Eclipse the third book in that series. Twilight just happened to be right next to my bed.
I should mention that I really didn't want to read this series for the simple fact that it has vampires in it and I usually am not into stuff like that. But I heard so many people say how good it was, especially my friend Gina and I caved. And I'm glad I did. It is actually a really good series, even if it is meant for teenage girls! Thanks for loaning them to me Carla!
I'm tagging Gina for obvious reasons.... she has great reading taste!
and Rebecca "Peculiar" Smith because she's fun and I want to know more about her!
He is such a funny kid. I think I have mentioned that, oh say, a buzzillion times before and the day of my return he was true to form.
I wanted some alone time with Aiden when I got home to ask how he was doing, because to be honest, Ben's adoption has actually been much harder on him than it has been on Ben. Going from being a very independent only-child to having a nine-year old brother attached to your hip is not an easy transition. So we had a little talk:
Me: How was your week alone with Pop and your brother?
Aiden: It was alright.
Me: Just alright? How did you and Ben get along?
Aiden: Just alright..... he is always there, every time I turn around.
Me: Hopefully things will get better after he has been here longer and adjusts more.
Aiden: I really think adoption is better when you start from scratch.
Me: What do you mean?
Aiden: Well if you get a baby then you can teach it not to follow you around but if they already know how to walk you really can't keep them away...so I think it must be easier if you start from scratch. Don't cha think?
Me: Ahhh Aiden!
What could I do but laugh?
I've missed my friends a lot and am very glad that I got see I'm not the only one whose got families and really cool stuff happening for them. It was a great great trip!
BLOGGER! I have been out for a while huh! Yikes, the past three weeks have been a bluuuuuurrr! We did 2 weeks in 1 for school, then we went to Midland to visit family and friends and have an early Thanksgiving. I saw friends I hadn't seen in 7,8, and 9 years. It was great. Then we came back and had a week of festivities with family celebrating not only Thanksgiving but also Jeff's mom's, brother's, and step-son's birthdays! And then to top it allllllllllllllllll off, Jeff and I left last Saturday for a cruise to celebrate his 40th birthday! It was sooooo fun. We went with Carla and Darren, our friends, neighbors and cruise partners! I'm gonna blog lots of pictures but thought I ought to check back in quickly first! Missed all of you and can't wait to get updates from all of your blogs!
