Birthday Boy...

Here are two of our original referral pictures from Eyasu back in Ethiopia...

Today Eyasu officially celebrated his 6th birthday! I took cupcakes to his Kindergarten class for their snack time, got the kids all sugared up and then left poor Mrs. Knight and Mrs. Waites to fend for themselves... sorry... but, we had fun. :-)

Have I mentioned or at least hinted that each of my children have absolutely captured my heart?!. :-)

Mrs. Knight leading the class in singing happy birthday...

After cupcakes, Eyasu got to help with the daily activity board exercises... day of the week, weather, etc...

After school activities included homework (of course), playtime, dinner (yummy shish-kabobs with potatoes & salad I might add), family tee-ball game, then cake with ice cream... I think I've gained 5 lb. just tonight?!.

Eyasu received two birthday cards in the mail today - perfect timing! One from his sweet adoptive grandparents (Clyde & Mildred) and one from his great grandparents in Virginia, both with money in it. His eyes were big when he opened them...

Happy Birthday baby!

Thoughts?

What do you think about this t-shirt? Would you be interested in ordering one to help offset our adoption expenses? Meanwhile, I'm really hoping our Defend the Orphan CD project will be finished before Christmas. All the profits will go directly to the Abba Father Ministry fund so more families will be able to receive financial assistance for their own adoption journey. I'm still looking for a t-shirt company to provide affordable shirts. Meanwhile, would love to know your thoughts... Thanks for your continued prayers and support!

Happy Birthday, Eyasu!

So, the other day I went about our routine as usual: pick up Victoria and Eyasu from the Primary School first, then head over the Upper/Lower Elementary schools for our oldest three... Things seemed just like any other day when we pulled out of the car rider line to head to the next school. However, at a stop light I looked back and noticed a subtle change... ha ha ha....

Friday, we decided to go ahead and celebrate Eyasu's birthday (actually next Tuesday) with some friends... Off to pick up a special cake with "machina's" on it (Mah-kee-nah)...

We had the presents wrapped, placed in the dining room out of sight... then spent the afternoon doing a few arts and crafts, as well as few projects... I was relaxing on the porch when Jana came out to make me a purse from notebook paper. In the midst of cutting, taping and coloring, she turned to look at me and said, "Mama, you are the best mom in the whole world!" It was one of those moments that I've treasured up in my heart...

I pulled out some Dollar Store paints with picture for the girls to enjoy on the shaded deck...

Tony decided to wash our van (much needed inside and out - ha!)... Eyasu was in charge of the water hose... not sure how much he helped! :-)

The big boys scrubbed... then all three took it to be vacuumed... Again, while James and Papa worked, Eyasu enjoyed operating the machine that needed the quarters...

Jana had to draw a sweet note for Papa... I love the children's renderings of their papa, ha...

And THEN it was time... to unveil... the birthday celebration... the first ever... for our sweet, new addition... do you think he 'ate it up' or what?!. (Thanks, Darla, for the clown nose and glasses... he has been wearing them around the house saying, "Sunglasses." Ha!)

On another note, I made a scheduling mistake... James' good friend had his birthday celebration at the same time just around the corner... this celebration included friends he doesn't see anymore because we retained him in 4th grade while they all moved ahead... he was torn between the two, and since we will celebrate as a full unit on Eyasu's actual birthday Tuesday evening, he chose to be with friends... so, don't be alarmed at not seeing James in these pictures... Earlier, James went and found something of his own prized toy collection... wrapped it up as a gift for his little brother... it was so sweet... Anyways....

When Eyasu realized it was a party in his honor noticing the pile of presents with his name on it, his eyes got huge in joyful anticipation...

Thanks Mamaw & Papaw for the teddy bear ("baby" as he calls it) & CD player!

Thanks "Babushka"/Grandma & "Dedushka"/PopPop for the toy car, nerf football & wrist watch!

While the big kids enjoyed the unveiling of the gifts, the little kids had some excitement of their own... Matroyshka dolls!

Happy Birthday, Eyasu! We love you very much!!!

Click on the picture below or here to view the video of singing Happy Birthday...

Singing Basketball Player

Awesome! (Eyasu)

Eyasu singing his A-B-C's

Eyasu Merida is turning SIX!

Our baby boy is a blast to catch on video... he is quite the entertainer. :-) So here comes a series of clips (some of you may have missed who aren't on Twitter or Facebook)...

Homework Strategies (if you will)...

I knew Monday would be a little challenging and recruited some fabulous help to complete a dreaded task: another round of vaccinations required to stay in public school for our little guy. Have I mentioned that he is the sweetest little boy on the planet? Tony was away speaking at StudentLife Refuge, so I recruited our friend Amy to help with crowd control at the Pediatric Clinic after school. She kept the girls in the lobby doing homework while James played big brother to Eyasu. It was awful. He screamed at the near sight of a needle. James teared up as he watched. When it was done, I just rocked my near 50 pounds son with his head on my shoulder. The good news: he bounced back quickly (especially when I asked him if he wanted to go get ice cream... it was a miracle - ha)...

Tuesday afternoon was the most challenging homework day. All five had it! Someone asked me for some strategies for this.... Hmmm... Here's what I do each day... maybe you'll find something of value? I love taking the kids to school. It is a sweet time together. We always talk about the day or remaining week ahead and then spend some time in prayer. Sometimes the kids lead the prayer time. I cherish that time. Then it's yogurt, cereal, banana or granola bar kisses and they're out the door.

Then I'm off to do my daily tasks at home, or meetings or whatever... During that window, I try to organize assignments ahead of time. The most helpful thing for me is the weekly syllabus provided by each of the kid's teachers. My 2nd and 3rd grader practically have the same routine each week (spelling, story, with occasional math or language sheet). My 3rd grader is one of the most demanding at homework time, either by desiring my constant attention or by inserting them self in to what everyone else is doing. So, I'm working on ways to 'lovingly' and 'patiently' keep them on track. It's difficult at times, I'm not going to lie... Meanwhile, my 2nd grader mostly sits patiently until she can get a word in or receive her due assistance.

My 1st grader is easiest for me to prepare for. She has options for homework. Once I receive the syllabus I mark the ones we'll do that week and strategize the 'when'. Of course, some afternoons my 1st grader is worthless so homework is hence modified. I think she, having been separated the earliest from any sort of nurture, may suffer slightly with some institutional A.D.H.D. She is bright and when she is 'on' she does fairly well. Time, stability and nurture has reaped great growth and development in her adorable (and sassy:-) self. Like all my children, she has a wonderful teacher.

My 4th grader is sometimes a wild card with homework (meaning I can't really prepare for what he'll have). He is doing fabulous and we are definitely affirmed in our decision to repeat. Not only does he have an excellent teacher but his confidence level greatly improves his motivation to work. Sometimes he has his homework finished before getting out of the van! He not only wants to be the first person to do his homework, but he wants to do it correctly. Huge improvement!

Our newest addition, our Kindergardener, watches all of this and wants to participate as well. :-) Of course, he wants to do what everyone else is doing. I'll confess, he is getting the homework shaft. His siblings are demanding, but we're getting there. I've put him on the computer to work on www.starfall.com, his letters and such. He LOVES this and is doing fairly well with it. He cracks me up when he comes up and wants me to lean down so he can whisper in my ear, "Mama, co-poot-ah?" How can I resist?!.

The short answer to the homework strategy is: pray, plan and put in stations or timed rotations - ha! (Thought I'd use a little alliteration like my preacher husband :-)...

Rarely, are all five kids around the table at the same time to do homework... too crazy. My homework rotations involve something like these: snack time on the porch, computer time, play outside or upstairs OR be seated and get started.

Here's Victoria reading her story...

Jana doing a word search with all her spelling words in it... she LOVES word searches...

Eyasu practicing his numbers and name... he has been writing some of these sideways... His teacher and I are evaluating this and it may require a trip to the eye doctor... however, every time he finishes something he'll turn to me and say, "Mama, Gobez?" (meaning "good"?)

James makes me laugh because, as one of our family friends put it, "You know when it's Saturday at the Merida's because James is running around the backyard with his shirt off!" Below, he is doing some graphing. He LOVES math...

Angela is working on some math as well, but she particularly LOVES learning cursive writing and is doing quite well with it...

I almost forgot to mention, we finished homework in time to escape to the community swimming pool. It was a refreshing release of energy. Our friend, Darla with her 1 year old met us there and the kids went wild - ha! Once again, I thought they'd be worn out and ready for bed after dinner... turns out I WAS the ONE exhausted even into Wednesday - ha! Figures... Well, I'm off to a meeting...

A Blur...

A friend aptly said this morning, "Your week sounds like it was a blur." Yes, I'll agree. :) A good blur though... Tony was able to make up "date with dad" day with our Kindergarten son on Thursday morning. His class was scheduled for Wednesday but Tony could not make it having been in Texas for Leadership Network. I took my two from the Primary to school late so Eyasu wouldn't know what he was missing. I figured the unexcused tardy was worth it. Meanwhile, we'd arranged with his teacher to make it up on Thursday... what a blessing!

Eyasu gave his papa a card and a picture he'd made... precious....

Some gracious friends and musicians have been helping put together a recording project of original music of mine. The CD project is called "Defend the Orphan" and I'm really hoping it will be available by Christmas (working and praying :-). It will be a fundraiser project for our Abba Father Ministry that helps relieve the financial burdens for families who are adopting. Stay tuned for more details... Here are a few glimpses of our time in the studio...

Of course, all of my kids will appear on the album... My Ukrainian four all read some (well, actually repeated since they aren't fluent English yet - ha) of Romans 8 for the song, "Not Our Home"... Joshua wasn't interested in reading. He just wanted to sing. You can see his video on my Twitter and Facebook pages - ha...

Friday evening we had good friends from New Orleans come up (as well as one down from Boston) to grill out with us. It was a treat! The kids had a blast staying up past their bedtime and playing hide-n-seek outside in the dark - ha ha.

Saturday morning it was time for some football. Eyasu had to call his cousins and speak a little Amharic with them.

My girlie girls loaded up their dolls, coloring books and umbrellas to survive the heat and game... hilarious...

These are two peas in a pod... they are the entertainers of the family - ha...

James played a good game. When it was over he, my precious son, said, "Papa, we won our football game! We had three home runs!" It was hilarious. He's learning.. :)

We're taking advantage of what warm weather remains... plus, the swimming pool has provided some good one on one time with our children (something that is increasingly a challenge with 5 kids)...

Joshua has been swimming now 4 or 5 times since being home. His fear of the water has quickly subsided as he wants to just dive in along with his siblings. However, he has not quite grasped how to keep his head above water, sinking like dead weight. This makes me a little nervous to get out of arms reach from him. He, of course, wants to break away and "see if he can do it"... no fear... Well, that's how James was when we first went to the pool. He just jumped in the deep end without a clue how to swim. I had to jump in with my clothes on last summer to get him. James and his sisters are like fish now and I trust Joshua will be the same eventually...

Hope you all had a nice weekend!