One Year Ago Today...

...Pete and I were in Ethiopia facing a judge, waiting to hear the words, "he is your son." What a way to celebrate Valentine's Day!! Today we remember that special day and praise the Lord for how far He has brought our family in the past year. We are so blessed to have these six precious souls to love and guide and nurture in the love of Christ our Saviour!



here we were visiting the Bethany office after court



we waited at a coffee house for the judge's ruling, along with the other couples who attended court that day




a couple of days before court was the first time we met our son

Tonight we are going out for Ethiopian food to celebrate!!

Looking Back on 2011 in pictures

January
I turned 34.




February
Pete and I traveled to Ethiopia to meet Teshome and attend court to officially adopt him




March
This was a slow month for us as we were sort of waiting around for news on when we could go back to get our son.
I had "tea and poetry" with the girls.




April
Pete went back to Ethiopia to bring Teshome home. Ella turned 4.








May
My friend, Brooke, came for a visit from South Carolina with 3 of her 7 children. The girls (my Kate and Maddie and her Emma and Lily) had great fun on our train ride and day in Chicago.








June
We had fun camping in Michigan. Kate turned 8.






July
We enjoyed a couple of days at a friends' cottage. Charlotte was potty trained.







August
Peter participated in a pie eating contest at the Lake County Fair. Maddie turned 6.







September
Our "baby" turned 3 and declared that she doesn't need her beloved "pipeys" anymore and gave them up cold turkey.







October
We went to Michigan for the day for our annual visit to my grandparents where the kids enjoy fishing in Great Grandpa's ponds.





November
My family came from Michigan to celebrate Thanksgiving with us. Here I am with my mom and sister.






December
Peter turned 10, celebrating with cousins, Curtis and Clayton who share December birthdays. Pete turned 33.

Christmas Gifts 2011

Yesterday we took the kids into the city for part of the day. The plan was to go to Watertower Place and let them choose their own Christmas gift this year. They dream of being able to go to the American Girl store or the Lego store and pick something out so that's what we did. I went to the AG store with the girls and Pete took the boys to pick out Legos. They had a set amount of money they could work with and I had so much fun watching the girls cruise around and ooh and aah over all the sweet doll things. From the minute she saw it, Ella had her heart set on the "Special Occasion Gown" for her Bitty Baby. Leave it to my sweet Ella to choose something that looked like a wedding dress! I told her that she had enough money left to choose a small thing too and she said that the dress was all that she wanted! Charlotte wanted the pet bath tub for her Sugar, but they were out of stock so she went for the Bitty Better Kit and the girls have been playing doctor with their little dogs and dolls ever since we got home. Kate chose the pet carrier for her pet, Pepper and she had Lanie's hair done. Maddie is enjoying carrying her doll around in her new bag and she also had her doll's hair done. In the past I felt that it was kind of a waste of money to pay to have their dolls' hair done at the store, but I let them choose the least expensive style and it was so worth watching them enjoy seeing their dolls in a salon style chair getting their wildly unruly manes tamed. The boys had a really hard time deciding what to get and both chose some Star Wars sets- of course! Teshome was very proud to put his together with very little help and I am very happy that he is developing the ability to stick with something challenging like that!
After the kids' shopping I was able to check out the Vera Bradley store for a few minutes. Then we headed over to Macy's to eat at the Walnut Room for lunch. The wait was four hours so, after checking out the huge Christmas tree, we decided to just head out of the city and we went to Red Robin instead.
It was a great day as a family! I am so thankful that we live so close to such a cool city as Chicago and that our kids can experience the sights and sounds- and then come home to our peaceful little town.

Putting in the Garden 2011

Roma and cherry tomatoes, basil, thyme, dill, cilantro, bell peppers, jalapenos, zucchini, and yellow squash. Yum. Here's hoping the japanese beetles stay away and we have better yield from our garden than last year! And that some very eager helpers don't get too carried away when it comes time to "weed" the garden!

What's Goin' On...

...South Beach Diet Day 2 and I'm still alive.

...all 4 girls are sharing a room now that Pete got the bed built- I'll try to post pictures of it soon.

...Pete is working on painting the little girls old room for "the boys"

...someone had a math meltdown today and I'm still trying to decide on whether or not to switch from Saxon to Teaching Textbooks for 3rd grade on up

...I haven't knitted in about a week. That feels weird.

...I turned 34 last Thursday. That feels REALLY weird. I DO NOT feel 34!

...I am going to be meeting my 6th child in less than one month.

...Ella is eating again. But now Maddie is afraid of the dark. Hmmm...wonder what our next issue will be.

...I think I confused Charlotte one day by asking, "WHAT did you eat?!" when I changed a poopy. Now everytime I change her poop she shakes her head and says, "I not eat poop."

...Everytime I turn around Charlotte is in the bathroom "yoshing" her hands. Oh, great- maybe that will be our next "issue"

...What I wouldn't do for some sugar right about now. The withdrawal is a serious headache. You just don't realize how much sugar you eat on a regular basis until you cut it out- and I'm not just talking about sweets here, but bread, potatoes, crackers, tortillas. Ugh. Well it's time for my nightly "sugar free fudgesicle"

Coming down.....

.....from the holiday high. It's rough- am I alone in this? Yesterday morning we hit the books and it took Peter FOREVER to do his math which is just not like him. He said that's because he forgot everything. In a week? YIKES! And THAT'S why we don't take breaks! I wanted to give the kids plenty of time to enjoy their Christmas gifts, but I also plan to get 3 full school days in this week. The morning started out okay. The little girls were having a great time with the tiny tea set and mini American Girl dolls from Grandma. Kate got to work with mini Samantha looking on and Peter even got to listen to a little of his new Jonathan Park before we started. By 11 am the 3 youngest were getting crabby so lunch started early and Ella and Charlotte went down for naps. That gave Maddie a fresh attitude to do some work. The three big ones had a great time making a poster about the Great Fire of London in 1666. Then the littles got up and things went down hill. You'd think after a good nap they'd be fresh and perky, but that isn't always the case. Ella wanted to use her new paint. Fine. Charlotte wanted to do it too- not such a great idea. Painting session over. Three little girls wanted to play with a two person tea set. Kate tried so hard to be a mediator for them and get them to share the dishes, but a certain little girl was being VERY selfish and domineering which led to an all out screaming fit by two of them. Thus discipline was administered, dolls and tea sets taken away for the rest of the day which led to more screaming and me wondering, "am I reading Making Brothers and Sisters Best Friends to them in vain??!!" Dinner was just not fun as I had made a big meal of roast chicken with carrots and onion, mashed potatoes, and rolls to serve without Pete since he had a meeting. It's always best to stick with SIMPLE meals when he's not here, but the chicken was thawed before the meeting was planned so there we go. So three littles oohed and aahed over a meal that they then picked at and one ended up - as usual- in tears at the table. I felt that we all needed our spirits lifted and so we sat down for a mini hymn sing. The result was Peter yelling at the cd we sang with because there was a very long instrumental portion before the singing on several of the hymns- and he just wanted to sing already. Ella cried because she can't read the words and didn't know the songs. And Charlotte just poked around and made an even bigger mess in the living room.
Now that the digging out of unpacking mess is about done and we've all had a full night of sleep, I am hoping for a good, happy day!!

It's A Mystery....

-Why Ella suddenly doesn't want to eat anything except tomato soup, peanut butter sandwiches, goldfish, and applesauce. I've always been one of those parents who thinks, "what do you mean your child will only eat _______? How about you stop making that then and try something else?" Well, let me tell you- I am NOT a short order cook. In this house you eat what mama makes or you don't eat. Problem is, she just won't eat then. So we may be going to the pediatrician soon- I'm at a loss! I've had kids go through the phase of pretty much just eating one good meal a day and picking at the rest, but this is BEYOND!

-Why Charlotte screams now when we put her to bed. She is going through some kind of separation anxiety thing, I guess?? Is this normal at nearly two and a half?

-Why Charlotte becomes an absolute MONSTER if it's a second past meal time and there's no food in front of her. I mean, she gets so worked up that I literally have to hold her in my lap and feed her. Once she gets about half a sandwich in her she perks up and becomes super cheery.

-Why I haven't figured out how to give Charlotte some food about five minutes before she gets to the monster point.

-Why my first two kids were so sweet and laid back. Well, except for Peter being REALLY curious and making messes constantly. But atleast he was happy and well adjusted. My next three have successively gotten to be more demanding and high maintenance. Maybe the Lord is preparing me for a super high maintenance number 6? Just a guess. And in case you haven't been here in awhile, no, I'm not pregnant. I'm talking about our sweet boy in Africa.

-Why as soon as you organize and overhaul one area you find five more that need to be done.

Birthdays around here

I think a birthday is such a special time to celebrate the gift that your child's life is to you. I love to make it a special day- but in little do-able ways.
Tomorrow is Peter's NINTH birthday so it's a perfect time for this post as I follow Ginger's lead at Clark Family Chatter and talk about how big families do birthdays. I feel kind of silly because I think we BARELY qualify as a "big" family. However, I suppose that if we only had 1 or 2 children perhaps we'd be a bit more extravagant with our celebrations.

Here's what we do-
When our kids turn 5 and 10 they get to have a "friend party." They invite friends from Sunday School, our homeschool group, etc. It's not a blow out with pony rides or anything like that, but I do my best to make it special.

Apart from the special years when they get a friend party, on the actual day, the birthday kid gets to choose what they'd like for dinner. Sometimes we go out to eat as a family, but for the past year we've taken them on a "date" with us. Last year we took Peter to a movie and to dinner at Red Robin. Two of the girls chose McDonald's and an indoor jumping place, we took Kate mini golfing and to Red Robin (she wanted to eat where Peter did). It's such a great experience to have that one on one time with them. We have moments of one on one time at home and we take them one or two at a time on errands with us, but this is different because it's several hours and it's for fun!

As far as gifts, we usually get them one special new thing and sometimes a new outfit (mostly when the girls were younger I liked to get them a new dress to have their picture taken in. oh no!! that reminds me that i haven't had charlotte's picture done yet and her birthday was in september!!!). I'm really excited about what we're giving Peter tomorrow!! We are taking him bowling and out to Red Robin (is there any other restaurant? apparently not!).

There's always a celebration with Pete's family (usually that is a combined party with whichever of the cousins/aunts and uncles/etc has a birthday that month as well). We celebrate with my parents at some point, but it may be a few weeks before or after the actual date due to their distance from us.

One other thing that I started doing when Peter was five and then for each of them once they turn five is they paint a self portrait. Each year after their fifth birthday I get them an 8 by 10 canvas and they paint. It is so cool to see how they perceive themselves! We've had some amazing works of art. And we've had some that are...uh...interesting. One of these days I will try to take pictures of their paintings and post them on here.

Monday

I'm pretty sure I have written posts in the past with the same title. A title that probably speaks for itself. Monday is recovery day here. It is brutal and usually not made up of happy children and a productive mama. Rather, it is a day to scoop up the mess from the weekend. I used to do a ton of laundry on Monday. That has changed due to the fact that I am needed for other things. I try to atleast get my sheets washed and maybe a load of towels done and that is it. We spend the day easing into school work. Easing because a certain daughter of mine is very tired and unmotivated on Monday. And easing because I am needed by the 3 littles to just hold them and be available. Why does it have to be this way? It's like we get a good routine going for the week and then, CRASH, the weekend happens and everyone gets out of whack. Just when we pull ourselves back together it's the weekend and we do it all again. Well, Charlotte is wailing for no apparent reason so I best go tend to my baby.

My Husband is Brave

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day and right now I am thankful for my brave husband. He just took 4 little girls out in the wind and rain to get a few things at the grocery store and pick up Mexican for dinner. Yes, it is almost 7:30 and we haven't eaten yet. Well, he just got home from work a little while ago and we wanted to wait and eat together. I wasn't in the mood to cook after the hours I spent running errands today (some with the kids at Nana and Papa's house and some with them along with me) in the cold. So I pulled a casserole out of the freezer and put it in the oven. I wasn't completely sure what was in the casserole, but I had an idea. Due to the long wait for Pete to come home the casserole spent a little too much time in the oven. So when he saw it he decided to get take out. Hee hee. I have learned my lesson. Burn dinner and you get take out. Not really. I'm just glad we have a cheap gem of a Mexican joint when we "need" it.

My Girls

Stress

When things don't flow neatly, I get antsy. When waiting for something to happen (our adoption to MOVE, the girls new bunk beds to be done, all the kids moved into freshly painted, organized rooms)I get restless. When it's 70 degrees in the Midwest in the middle of November, I get crabby. Why? I love fall. But where is it? Where are the crisp days? So, I'm antsy and crabby. Great. How to solve it? Not sure. I think adding to the restless and annoyed feeling is that my children are still coughing. And why is it that when one of them coughs, others feel like they have to chime in with their phlegmy noise too. And then someone has to sharpen their pencil. This all in the midst of me reading something in an attempt to educate them. How can I educate when it's so noisy? Then there's the major stress Pete has had recently at work. Thankfully, that's over. For now. On the way to work yesterday, anticipating a rough meeting, Pete got in a car accident. Praise the Lord, it was not his fault and he's fine, but there were some more serious injuries. Last night he took a muscle relaxant to calm his very sore body. And then he was out for the count. So I lost myself in the CMA's and knitting. Yarn has a way of uncoiling my stress. So for now, while I'm antsy and crabby I think I'll try to take it out on some yarn. Turn balls of wool and cotton into beautiful and useful things. As long as these things are not too complicated and require quiet for me to pay attention, I should be okay. Have I mentioned it's not very quiet at our house?


Just for fun here's a picture of 3 of the reasons it's not very quiet-

What I've Been Up To

The house is full of the sound of coughing children. Which means lack of sleep for this mama with an asthmatic daughter. Thankfully, Kate seems to be improving, but we have had some long nights this week of sitting up with her. After taking her to the allergist and getting her pumped full of meds (ugh) I think the worst is over. Maddie has quite the bark and the "babies" have had runny noses for a little over a month, but I am HOPING that Monday we can get back to some kind of normal.

Last night I got to do something really fun. I got to re-learn the lesson to NEVER put your toddler or baby in a warm tub if they haven't yet done their daily business. I put Ella and Charlotte in the tub to play while I got the supper mess cleaned up. Well, just as I washed the last dish, I heard the screams and I knew exactly what had happened. I walked in the bathroom to see 3 LARGE floaters and Ella STILL SITTING in the midst of it! WHY on a night when Pete wasn't home?? So I carried the girls into my bathroom to quickly get them showered and get a diaper on Charlotte. Then I began the taks of cleaning out the bath tub. Let's just say we're going to need all new bath toys. I just wasn't going to even deal with those things so in the trash they went. Thankfully, it was mostly cheap plastic cups from restaurants and a few clearance rubber duckies and a couple other things that we've had for several years- so I don't feel too bad about trashing them.

I have a ton of pictures from our fun in October that I'll try to post soon!

Atleast They Aren't Puking

Last year the minute Pete and Peter walked out the door for their fall camping trip Kate started puking. And things just went down hill from there.
They left yesterday afternoon for the 3rd annual Terpstra/Vander Wall boys campout and I had fun plans for the girls and me. I thought by now I'd be over this annoying cold and we could paint our nails and bake cookies. Well, that's going to have to wait. Ella and Charlotte have colds too and are super crabby and needy. So the house is a disaster and we're just hanging out on the couch. The question is, how much Dora Saves the Snow Princess can I handle?

Preparing

We have so much to do to get ready to bring our son home! First the paperwork- really hoping to get that done in the next day or two. Then there's the whole decision of how to arrange bedrooms. For those of you that haven't been to our house, we have 4 bedrooms, but the kids' rooms aren't all that big- in fact Peter's bedroom in the "basement" (we have a tri-level so it's not exactly a basement) is something like 9 by8. The two youngest girls have about 10 by 10 and the 2 oldest girls have about 10 by 12 I think. So we're thinking we're going to move Peter and our new son into the little girls room upstairs and put all the girls in one room . So for the boys, piece of cake. They get bunk beds, clothes will ALL go in the closet and they'll have some floor space for legos. Then for the girls it's a little more tricky! The room isn't really big enough to fit 2 bunks like we were hoping. So now do we do a twin over full with a trundle? Then we'll have very little room left over! Clothing for 4 girls will not all fit into their small closet so I have to have room for some type of dresser.

Seriously, we have thought many times about moving. In fact, we were getting pretty focussed on pursuing that until about a week ago. We decided that while this house may not be "ideal" for a large family (the ideal being a big laundry room right next to a family closet, large bedrooms for SLEEPING, a separate toy room, school room - or space for storing school things in the large dining room, and a guest room for the company we like to have, including my parents and sister and her family), it is OURS and it's just more affordable to stay put. Besides, I really love this house. So we need to make it work for awhile yet unless the Lord shows us otherwise (by dropping a house in front of our faces and having the door bell ring one day to find someone begging to sell them this house...??) So we have a lot to figure out!

Life is just a whirlwind right now. Less than a week before we got our referral I was asked to be a tutor again for our Classical Conversations group. So I'll be doing that for as long as I can with breaks as needed for travelling to Ethiopia and for possibly staying put for awhile when we get home in order to give our boy ample opportunity to adjust to his new surroundings without getting thrown into the thick of a busy schedule. Also, Pete JUST started grad school one night a week. Since we didn't think we'd get a referral for awhile he thought he could do a term or 2 first. Then of course there are the fall and winter things at the YMCA that we planned on doing- 5 week ballet class for Maddie (Kate doesn't want to do it) and then 8 weeks of basketball for Peter. We really try not to overschedule the kids for the most part so since these are almost the only sports type things they do, I hope I can manage the schedule of it without being crabby :) And without failing to cook dinner on those nights! I am also hoping that rather than make me lose my sanity, the busyness will just help the time to pass for all of us in a constructive manner.

Camping pictures in random order

someone forgot to pack the table so he made one!

Kate on the playground at the beach

Ella posing by our "fence"- this worked out really well to keep the kids from getting too close to the fire

we spent a day in Traverse City

Busy Week

Last week was really busy. I thought it would be less busy now that our Tuesday and Thursday evenings are no longer filled with swimming lessons. Somehow we quickly filled those evenings! It was all good stuff, just too much! On Monday we did our 3rd annual pumpkin painting extravaganza with the Terpstra family.

(I have no idea what they are doing here with their hands!)

Tuesday we had our church directory picture. So I met Pete at church after he got off work, got the kids in their new fall/winter church clothes (we couldn't wear them on the ride because there's always the chance someone will do something gross and mess themselves up- and it was HOT that day). When we were done with that we still had to eat supper and it was after 7 so we stopped at the little family diner type restaurant in our town. It was so great to be able to sit and nurse the baby while someone else cooked, served, and cleaned up after us! If we had gone home it would have been a crazy, stressful time of trying to hurry and cook while the baby screamed for her supper and everyone would have gotten to bed even later (much like the last 5 weeks of swimming lessons, which I actually never would have signed up for if I had KNOWN Charlotte was going to be so early!).

Wednesday we drove about an hour away to have supper with Pete's mom and his two grandma's. Neither of them had met Charlotte yet so it was great to see them and introduce them to her. I thought I had left my camera at home so I have no pictures- later I discovered it had been in my purse (grrr!). The kids did pretty well considering it was another late night!

Friday Pete and Peter went camping and my mom, sister, and nephew came for the weekend. I thought it would be nice to have some "girl time" while the boys were gone. So what do little girls want to do when there's no brother around? Paint nails? Play Candyland? Nope! Here's what they found to keep themselves busy-

Mudpies!!!

We took lots of pictures so we can remember Charlotte meeting her aunt Racine and her cousin Aiden for the first time!