our adventure…life, adoption, and a little bit of everything else

I can’t believe it has been so long since I blogged. It might have a little something to do with the title…a day in the life. Life has changed quite a bit since Thanksgiving. Raising 4 kiddos doesn’t leave much time for blogging, that’s for sure. The laundry, cooking, schooling, running to activities, housework, and did I mention laundry? It’s been crazy fun getting used to having a larger family. You might choke if you knew our grocery bill. Hana and Haile have settled in quite nicely. They are so resilient and for that I’m so very thankful to our heavenly father. Haile had some issues with meltdowns the first couple of weeks, but those have completely subsided. Now if he cries it is due to very normal circumstances (didn’t get his way, someone took his toy, etc.). He was just so traumatized by all the changes in his young life. Everything overnight was completely different to him…a language he didn’t understand, a new family he didn’t know, and a new home. He is doing so well now. Hana is doing well also. She has a bit of a stubborn streak at times and loves, loves, loves to be in control. We are working on that and she is taking guidance well. She is doing 1st grade with Clark…though she is in a higher level in math. Her phonics skills need to catch up so 1st grade is the best spot for her for now. She also began taking dance lessons last month. I think she enjoys tap the best. Haile has been asking to take gymnastics “like Clarkie” lately, so he took his first class yesterday. I was home with Clark and disappointed that I had to miss it. T.C. said that he did fine though, despite the fact he doesn’t understand everything the coach says. Haile is the lover of all things relating to space shuttles, airplanes, and Legos! He could play with Legos all day every day. Hana loves to color and do art projects. She loves her dolls and doing puzzles. They are a lot of fun to watch explore their new world.

Christmas came and went. It is a blur to me looking back. I was just trying to stay afloat from our huge life change. We did have a lovely Christmas though. It was wonderful watching Hana and Haile experience everything. They loved the tree and driving around looking at lights. They loved decorating their gingerbread houses and were so excited on Christmas morning. We tried to cut back on Christmas buying this year and we purchased some items through Samaritan’s Purse. The children enjoyed trying to decide what to “purchase.” They decided on some chickens and buying into the purchase of a donkey. We hope to make this an annual tradition.

We have also celebrated several birthdays. Ali turned 15 in Dec., Hana turned 8 in Dec., and Clark turned 7 in Jan. Dec. and Jan. are busy around the Judd house.

We took our first family vacation as a family of 6. At the end of January we took the children to DisneyWorld and then to Destin for a few days of rest and relaxation for us parents. It was a lot of fun. It was a learning process as we adjusted to how long it now takes to get all of us out of the door (especially while all sharing ONE bathroom in a hotel). However, we were on time for the bus every single morning. (you should be impressed being on time is a challenge for us) Ali and Clark were of course super excited to go back to Disney, but Hana and Haile had NO idea what to expect. They did so well for the most part. Hana had the tendancy to wander away, but we quickly learned to have her hold onto the boys stroller so she couldn’t! She also didn’t understand why in the world she couldn’t have everything in the little Disney shops. She pouted on more than one occasion. Haha!! She thought she must in fact buy every single adorable $65 princess dress. Ummm, no. She thought just because I said no 499 times that maybe just maybe I would say yes on the 500th time. Well anyway, she didn’t get the dress and one day she will learn about money and the fact that she can’t have everything she wants. We loved our hotel. We decided to try Shades of Green which is a military resort on the Disney property. It is across the street from the Polynesian. Location was great and loved that we could walk to the Polynesian to catch the monorail. So once we were completely exhausted from walking the parks from morning to night, we loaded up and headed to our favorite spot in Destin, FL. It is a lovely place right on the beach…not fancy but love that we can literally open our sliding glass door and there is the beach! Hana and Haile LOVED the beach. All the children played on the beach until they finally had to come in to eat or get a bath. The pool was heated so they also swam a couple of times. Ali and Hana braved the cold water and took a dip in the ocean! Ali was freezing and had to force Hana to get out as I think Hana would have stayed there as long as we would have let her. Brrrr!! They made sandcastles, airplanes, alligators, had “sword fights” with sticks, fed the seagulls, took walks, looked for shells, etc. I loved watching them. It was a blessing to see them experience the ocean for the very first time. We can’t wait to go back. Oh, and while we were at Disney it just so happened (thank you Jesus for working that out!!) that some dear friends of ours from our seminary days were in Orlando for a conference! We all had dinner together at the Grand Floridian one night and they also came and hung out at our hotel one night. SO FUN! It had been too long.

Clark has had a few gymnastics meets now. He has placed very well in them all. He came in 1st overall in his age division at the last meet. He has 3 more meets this season. Ali has a big swim meet this weekend. I always enjoy seeing how she improves from one meet to the next. She is doing very well in school this year. She made all A’s on her last report card. So hard to believe she only has 2 1/2 years left of high school.

Well, there is more I wanted to go into…but time is so limited. Hopefully I won’t wait so long to write a post next time! Here are pictures from the past couple of months. Just click on slide show to make it larger.

As in…forever changed us. I haven’t updated this blog in forever. I had every intention of updating it while we were in Ethiopia, that obviously didn’t happen. So I’m going to back up to November and go from there. During the early part of November I started feeling a tug to go ahead and go to Ethiopia despite the fact that we didn’t have Embassy clearance yet. It was taking far longer than anticipated for the U.S. Embassy to clear us for their Visa’s. A birth relative needed to be interviewed. Once we got notice as to when that interview was going to take place, we made arrangements for Ali and I to fly over. We decided it was best if T.C. stayed at home with Clark since we were not sure of a time frame. We knew this had been the last step in all of the cases we had heard about. So…if I was already over there when we received clearance that meant I could take the next available appointment to apply for their Visa’s. God orchestrated it so perfectly. Ali and I flew in on a Tuesday and we had Embassy clearance that FRIDAY! The next available appointment was…get this…that coming Monday (as in the next business day!!). T.C. called me with the news and I of course said that yes we would definitely be there. We had our appointment that Monday (the week of Thanksgiving) and picked up their Visa’s that Wednesday (as in the day before the Embassy would have been taking their Thanksgiving break!). Yahoo. I was so relieved. We were only in country for 8 nights. We were anticipating the worst case scenario could have been several weeks. On the way to Ethiopia, Ali and I spent two nights in Dubai for a little mother/daughter adventure. It was so much fun! We were picked up at our hotel only 30 minutes after arriving for an Arabian Adventure. T.C. and I had taken the same tour back in July and Ali was very much looking forward to being able to do it herself. We went 4 wheel driving out in the desert and ended up at an Arabian encampment for dinner and camel riding. (ok, so we didn’t do the driving…we were riding! ha) The next morning we enjoyed a double decker sight seeing bus tour where you hop on and off where you so desire. We saw the Persian Gulf, the Atlantis Resort, Palm Island, Ski Dubai, and another mall with a HUGE aquarium inside, took an evening boat tour down Dubai Creek, then on foot we explored the Dubai souks (gold, spice, etc.). We made memories we will never forget.

After we arrived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia we were escorted to Acacia Village where the children lived. I was able to take custody of them that first day. They stayed with us at our guest house for the entire length of our stay. The children did so good leaving the transition home. There were two sisters that were upset with Hana’s leaving. But they are at home with their new families in the states as of a couple of days ago also. Praise God! Hana and Haile said goodbye to their caretakers, they gave us a traditional coffee ceremony, some staff prayed over the children, and we were on our way. Just like that. The children were excited to be leaving. All in all they did very well with the huge life change of having a new family. Thank goodness there were a few other American families in our guest house and also right down the street at another house. There was a family that adopted a sibling set of 3 from the same transition home. What a blessing. The children were able to play together and we also took some outings together. Ali hung out with them like they had known each other for years. It was precious. Friendship just doesn’t have language barriers. It was beautiful to watch.

As time went on, the family with the other sibling set flew back to states. We got to know a family staying in our guest house that adopted a little precious 2 year old boy. As we were talking, I learned that they had gotten involved in a ministry involved with Korah. (google it…Korah trash dump in Addis Ababa) It was break your heart and leave you amazed that people are forced to live in such horrific conditions. It is most literally a village surrounding the local trash dump. The people living there get their food supply from digging through the trash dump.T.C. and I had already been made aware of Korah and were interested in visiting it for ourselves. However, since he wasn’t with me…I hadn’t planned on going with all the children. As it turned out, Jenny invited me to go to Korah with her one day to deliver some items that she was purchasing with money her church at home had raised. It was such an incredible experience. We first met with a pastor there that helps meet the needs of families and arranges Bible training for children. We happened to go on a Saturday and got to see some of the classes in action. We then toured the surrounding area and met with several families that Jenny’s church was able to financially help. The stories were heartbreaking. (a woman about to be forced to start begging due to her husband leaving her with a small child, families whose income included what items they could resell from the trash dump, a woman who was dying with HIV and TB and leaving behind children and medical bills, etc.) It made me evaluate all that we take for granted on a daily basis. Every time we turn our water on at home we know we are going to get clean water. We know that…but do we really think about it? We had a young man tell us on our first trip that he had to start drinking the tap water (highly contaminated) because he could not longer afford bottled water. He had no other choice but to drink that which he knew was contaminating his body. Wow! One of the drivers I had on the second trip told me that even though he might only get one meal a day (two if he was fortunate that day) but that he completely trusted in God to meet his needs. It was very sobering for me to hear. And now we are home and I’m not sure what to make of all of this. We take so much for granted. I get so annoyed with people now………you know the “Oh I MUST rip out my entire kitchen because I WANT custom cabinets and granite…I mean our cabinets are white laminate and WHO does that…who builds a house and puts that in?” Yeah I heard that conversation last week at Clark’s gymnastics meet. I was so annoyed that I wanted to turn around and rip her eyes out….don’t get worried…I didn’t really do it. Things like that just annoy me now. I mean it annoyed me before going to Ethiopia, but it really annoys me now. Oh a side note, while we were there we were able to have lunch with a sweet family that have a church plant in Addis. They moved there from North Carolina and we have a mutual friend. We got connected through our friend and had a nice lunch with them. They are about to start the adoption process also!!

I’m also reading through Advent Conspiracy (thanks Jenny!!) and T.C. happened to be teaching a Bible study on it. It is SO good, if you were wondering. Read it…it will challenge you to make a major change with the Christmas season. We made a choice to scale back our Christmas buying this year and give more to organizations that do great things. Don’t feel sorry for our children….they are still getting spoiled….we just opted to spend less and point to the manger more. It’s a win/win all around. If we can point our children to look beyond the end of their own noses to the needs of others and to Jesus…than we have succeeded. It isn’t easy. It is everywhere…this obsession with Christmas buying. The commercials that tell us we need the latest and greatest. It attracts our children…sadly. They see the commercials, the catalogs, the me..me..me mentality. We can’t sit back and be ok with that. For our family, we MUST take back CHRISTmas. To be in awe of the babe in the manger that changed history so many years ago. To enjoy simple family time. Making cookies, looking at Christmas lights, make gingerbread houses, Christmas movies. Children will remember these times far longer than they will remember what toys they get.

Hana and Haile are doing remarkably well so far. We arrived home on Thanksgiving. Only God…the giver of all good gifts….could have planned it like that. Thanksgiving….I mean wow. We had so much to be thankful for. T.C. cooked us a turkey and the fixings and we enjoyed our first Thanksgiving meal as a family of 6. It was amazing (jet lag and all). Hana and Haile are settling into their new lives. Haile has some issues with crowds and getting overwhelmed which manifests into anger and a tempter tantrum. They do not happen daily. We are trying to learn the cues and what exactly he can’t handle. Hana has handled everything like a champ though. They are both high energy and into everything. They got to experience the Nutcracker this week and loved it. We also had a few friends over and decorated Christmas cookies. Everything is new and exciting for them. They had a great time decorating the tree. Hana wanted me to buy Christmas decorations at Target before our tree was up. I guess she thought we didn’t have any.

Clark had his first gymnastics meet last weekend. He came in third overall in in his age division and placed in every individual event. He was pretty proud…though he did say that he wanted 1st instead of 3rd. But it gave us an opportunity to talk about being happy for his friend. (it happened to be a good friendon his team that got 1st) He has another meet the first weekend of January.

Ali had a swim meet last weekend as well. T.C. ended up having to work all weekend with the National Guard, so it was my first taste at juggling two big events with 4 children. When you don’t have family in town, there is no option except to drag them all. Everyone did well though. Oh and they were in opposite ends of town. (an hour apart from each other) Ali did well at the meet and has another the 2nd weekend of January.

Ali and Clark are all looking forward to our upcoming family vacation to Disney. We have plans to head to Orlando the end of January. We are playing it by ear though as to whether we think Haile can handle the crowds. I think he will do ok as soon as he sees Buzz Lightyear.

This week my sweet cousin, Cheryl, and her daughter, Georgia, made a quick trip down here to meet the kiddos. We were able to go to an Ethiopian restaurant for dinner. We had such a fun time! Love great memories with family. Last weekend a friend that works with TC at the guard hosted a small shower for the children. They got some clothing items and the boys got lots of hot wheels cars so you know they were in heaven. It was so sweet they even remembered Ali and Clark and TC and me! We got a wonderful gift certificate to a parent/teacher store so I can get books for the kiddos. We got a fun game bag with lots of games and even a “couples” bag with a Starbucks card, cheese, candle, etc. So fun!!!

Our cup runneth over this Christmas season as we are so thankful and blessed that God has finally united our family. May you and your families enjoy a God filled Christmas this year as we focus on the babe in the manger so long ago. Let us join in the Christmas story and not just have it as a side dish.

The past week has been a whirlwind of emotions, plans, prayers, being in constant touch with our travel agent, decisions, and more prayers. We feel like God is leading me to go to Ethiopia. So on Nov. 12th, Ali and I will load our plane headed for Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. We are spending two nights in Dubai for a mother/daughter adventure. Then on November 15th we are going to be escorted to Acacia Village so that we can pick up Hana and Haile. I can’t believe it. I have waited SO long for this. No, we do NOT have Embassy clearance as of yet. There is a meeting between the Embassy and a birth family member also on the 15th. God willing this is the last step in the seemingly endless process. We are praying we would then be granted Embassy clearance quickly after that meeting. We just started feeling like it would be best if I went ahead and went to Ethiopia to begin the bonding process. It will hopefully make the trip home and also the transition a bit easier. We are praying that Ali and I are only in Ethiopia 2 weeks or so…but it is very much up in the air. The bonus is that since we are legally their parents, I can pick them up for the transition home and have them stay with us at the guest home. I am over the moon. I am going to miss TC and Clark so much, but I know this is best in the long run.

I came across this blog where the lady wrote an amazing post about what it is like both before and after adoption. I thought that it is beneficial for those of us going through it and for those that would like to know how to be a good friend for those going through it. click here

Other than the ups and downs with dealing with the Embassy, we have been doing well. There is finally a bit of a chill in the air today. Love it. We have been more than ready for fall weather. Clark went as Spider Man for Halloween. We aren’t really into Halloween..ummm…much at all. But we figured it couldn’t hurt for him to go to some houses to get candy. He stays clear of the scary houses. That is fine by us…glad about that really. Halloween has become so dark and morbid over the years. Not our favorite holiday by a long shot. So now we are on to Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. Being with family, eating my mother’s cornbread dressing, and eating and eating and eating. This year Ali and I will more than likely be in Ethiopia. Ali wasn’t tooooo thrilled about that realization as she loves Thanksgiving as well. However, it’s a small price to pay to be spending time with Hana and Haile. I told my mom that maybe after we return home we could get together for a late Thanksgiving celebration. The date doesn’t really matter anyway.

T.C. and I managed to evade the stomach bug last weekend. (so far at least) Ali and Clark both came down with it. The were pretty crummy for a couple of days. Sure hate it when my babies are sick.

We have attended a couple of fun field trips over the last 6 weeks or so. We went to the Houston Museum of Natural Science to watch an IMAX movie and then go through their butterfly garden. They both loved seeing all the butterflies and cocoons. We have also been to the train museum in Galveston which included a small train ride. Clark was in heaven. They allowed us to eat our picnic lunches in some dining cars that they have on the property. That was a nice touch.

I was just glancing back through my last blog post and realized how long it has been since I posted. I haven’t even posted about our eventful trip to San Antonio! We try to take a family mini-vaca to San Antonio ever year to take advantage of the free military tickets to Sea World. Well, we went the end of Sept. We had a GREAT time at Sea World. It was the lowest crowd that we have ever seen there. Which to me…is awesome! We rode everything without waiting in any lines. Needless to say we had a wonderful time………then we got back to our hotel. Our day went downhill quickly. We were going to have a relaxing evening at the hotel taking advantage of their wonderful playground and swimming pool. Ali and Clark had decided to play on the playground (yes, Ali too!) first. All was great…then I turn around to find Ali lying flat on her face in the sand. (so very thankful it was a sand playground). She had tried jumping over the bottom of a slide and somehow caught her foot and tripped over the slide. I heard her yell that she had broken her arm. I had turned to see a site that would send chills down any mothers back. Her elbow was completely out of socket and looked broken. (even the ER doc thought for sure it was also broken) After so much need pain meds in the ER, they took x-rays to see what all was going on. Much to every one’s surprise it was just a complete dislocation. They sedated her and popped it back into place. They then put her in a splint and we were told to see our pediatrician when we got home. Our pediatrician said the x-ray was the worst dislocation she had every seen. Ali just HAD to be an overachiever..haha! She was one sore puppy for weeks. She couldn’t swim for a while due to all the trauma from the torn ligaments and tendons.

Clark is doing well in gymnastics. He will begin his competition season the first weekend of December. I can’t wait to watch that.

Here is a fabulous song by Casting Crowns. It was written about the adoption of one of the members of Casting Crown. I love it. Thanks to my sweet cousin, Cheryl, for telling me about this song. I love Casting Crowns but had not heard this yet.
click here

My ladies small group Bible study is reading Crazy Love by Francis Chan. I’m loving it so far. It is challenging and convicting. Both of which I needed right now. Our chapter this week is about giving God glory in all that we do. That it is NOT about me, but about Him. One sentence particularly struck me. “The point of your life is to point to Him. Whatever you are doing God wants to be glorified, because this whole things is His. It is His movie, His world, His gift.” I just loved that.

1 Corinthians 10:31 says, “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”

Please pray for Ali and I as we travel half a world away to bond with two very precious kiddos. Pray we will stay healthy and safe and I will maintain some semblence of sanity through it all. Pray that we will be granted Embassy clearance very quickly without any further delays.

Another delay. Another disappointment. I always ask myself, “is there a lesson in this for me?” Truthfully, at this point in the game…I’m a little tired of lessons. They stink actually. I’m drained. Exhausted. Emotionally empty. Our family is split apart and there is not a darn thing I can do about it. That is a hard thing for me to chew on, if the truth be told. I’ve begged…I’ve pleaded with the Lord. But still we wait. Two of our children are half way around the world and it’s killing me. Honest to goodness draining the life right out of me killing me. Have I complained enough yet? I could go on…but I will spare you the gory details.

We finally heard from the U.S. Embassy in Ethiopia today. It wasn’t the news we have been hoping and praying for. We were hoping for the email that states “your case is cleared you can travel for the Visa interview”…..which some fellow adoption friends got this morning! I’m SO happy for them, but so disappointed for us. We got the email that states “here is the information we are requesting….” and it just isn’t fun at all. What does that mean for us? We wait until our agency in Ethiopia gathers the requested documentation. Our case worker here in the states is really hoping that what they are requesting is actually in our file and it was just overlooked (best case scenario)…or second best case scenario is that they have the requested letter only they forgot to include it in the file. Worst case scenario is they have to try and locate said letter. All of which are keeping our children there instead of here. Ugh. I’ve been throwing myself a REALLY good pitty party the last several days. (sorry I didn’t invite anyone to join in the party…they aren’t much fun) We hope to find out more information Monday.   (oh a little background…our case was submitted to the Embassy last  Tuesday…it was delayed a week due to a holiday in Ethiopia)

I’m trying to focus on the big picture….that our children will be home with us soon. Just not as soon as we would have liked. I’m praying this will not delay our case much at all…that it could all be resolved this coming week. Will you join us in this plea to the Lord? I know he hears our cries for His mercy. He is the giver of all good gifts. I know that. My head knows that. My mama’s heart is just a little slow to understand it. My heart wants my babies home forever. My heart just wants to start our “new normal” and to see what that is going to look like for us. My heart wants my babies to have their family surrounding them…loving them. I don’t want a caretaker putting them to bed at night. I should be doing that. But for now this is how it is. I know God will sustain me until we walk through those Acacia Village doors for the last time and escort our sweet children out of that building. God is here…thank goodness…and God is there too…which gives me the peace that I do have. I know he is holding them when we can’t.

For now I will focus on getting through today. Then tomorrow. Then the next day.

Clark has his first gymnastics competition tomorrow. It isn’t a meet though. It is called the “Muscle Man Competition”…a strength competition. We will see how that goes. You just never know what you are going to get with this sweet 6 year old of ours. He’s “game on”…or “goof off”…….so we shall see which side emerges for the big day.

We are taking the kiddos to Sea World next weekend for our annual San Antonio long weekend. We always have a great time…if we can manage to not melt in this heat. It is so wonderful that Sea World has their Hero Salute program that offers free tickets once a year to military families. Such a blessing.

Ali has been saving for months and months to redecorate her bedroom. I admit, it was a little sad to me. She handed down several things to Hana that choked me up a bit. How did she grow up so fast? She changed her beach themed room to a city themed room. (new bedding, pictures, etc.) It turned out so cute though. That girl can save money!! She could give us a loan.

Ali also painted some name plaques for Hana’s door and Haile’s wall. Well, it is actually Haile and Clark’s wall. We wanted the boys room to look like it was both of their room and not like Haile was staying in Clark’s room. So…we added a picture of T.C. and Haile together at the transition home….to go with the picture of Clark and T.C. at the orphanage in Ukraine. Pretty cool. Ali did a great job painting them and they turned out so cute. A nice touch to both rooms.

I’m going to get back to all that being an at home mom entails. Laundry needs to be hung and schooling needs to be supervised. Duty calls….

I’m including some new photos of our Ethiopian cutie pies. Remember you can click on the slide show to see the photos larger.

Oh there is a great giveaway going on at Pitter Patter Art

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weakness, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12: 9-10

Yep, we have one…an unconventional family. As if homeschooling wasn’t “strange” enough for some people, now we have a multi-cultural family also. (insert cheesy grin here) We didn’t exactly start our married life out knowing our family would end up like this. However, I did begin to toss the idea of homeschooling way back when Ali was just a baby. I read an article in a Christian magazine about how well homeschooled children were doing on exams, etc. But back then I was years away from having to make that final decision. But in the end we just felt that homeschooling was the right fit for our family. We were an active duty military family at the time. Uprooting Ali every few years and sticking her in a new school just didn’t appeal to us at all. But even after T.C. left active duty behind, it was still the right choice for our family. Oh and then we felt the Lord leading us to add to our family from Ukraine and then from Ethiopia. Wew…radicals. This post is just some thoughts that have been running through my head. The questions we have been asked along the way…and answers to those questions. And wondering WHY people feel the need to constantly ask questions. I don’t ask people why they think it’s ok to stick their kids in public school. Never once.

So I have always wondered why others feel the need to question homeschoolers. Our children are being educated. Period. Does it really matter how that is taking place? The fact that Ali ended her freshman year with all A’s and only one B! (and no that wasn’t me grading her…we send her grades into Abeka Academy based in Pensacola, FL) Not to mention she maintained an incredibly rigorous swim schedule! She is learning and learning quite well actually. Clark has learning difficulties. I shudder to think about what would happen to our little man if he were dumped into a mainstream class. He has blossomed with being schooled at home. He is now watching his classes via DVD’s just like his big sister. He enjoys seeing the other children in the classroom in Pensacola where the classes are filmed. He even interacts, sings the songs, says the poems, etc. It is wonderful to watch him. He is learning to read…albeit a bit slowly since we are dealing with dyslexia. It is not an easy thing to overcome, oh by the way. It has taken tutoring sessions and lots and lots and lots of one on one. He also struggles with ADHD. Dyslexia and ADHD go hand in hand over half of the time. I sure didn’t know that before he was diagnosed. Oh the things you learn that you never think you would ever have to learn. But God has led us on this journey…for that we are certain. There are a lot of things in life we will never understand, we just accept them. Clark has such an incredible, inquisitive mind. I just can’t wait to see where God leads this precious son of ours. Right now we have to look past the learning issues and see that God has such a wonderful plan for him. It will be a blessing to see his little life unfold. Ali on the other hand was always such an easy student. She learned quickly…read by 4 1/2…could memorize at the drop of a hat. So to say it’s been an adjustment is an understatement. But I digress…moving on. I think it will be easiest to type this out with questions we have been asked then the answers.

“Do you worry about socialization?”
This one cracks me up EVERY single time. Are you freaking kidding me? I can’t believe this question is still even out there. Just because we homeschool doesn’t mean we lock our kids inside and discourage outside interaction. I heard a fabulous radio interview years ago with Dr. James Dobson. He was touching on this very subject and I LOVED his answer. It went something like this…do we send our children to school to be socialized or educated? Can I get an amen? I love, love, love that. It changed my perspective. Our children need to be educated first, then socialized. Socialization happens naturally. We don’t have to force that. With homeschooling, we actually have the ability to have input into how that socialization takes place. We go on field trips with a homeschool group, get together with other homeschooling families…and gasp…they even have friends over! Our children are active in church groups, they each are dedicated to their individual sports, and Ali is even an accomplished guitarist. One day we hope the other children will all learn a musical instrument also. They are socialized quite well.

“Do your kids ever wish they went to school?”
Ummmm, they do go to school…our school just happens to be part of our master bedroom. Should I start asking public school kids if they would rather be homeschooled? I didn’t think so. So why is it ok to ask the reverse of our children? Strange really. Schooling is such a personal matter that if we EVER felt our children were not benefiting from being schooled at home, of course we would pray about it and see what the Lord would lead us to do at that point. Believe it or not…Ali is 14 (will be 15 in Dec.) and she never ever…no, not even once asked if she could go to public/private school. And she will graduate in just 3 years. (sniff..sniff)

“How will they go to college?”
Seriously, that’s been asked. They will actually graduate with a REAL diploma from Abeka Academy and will even have the opportunity to attend a homeschool graduation in Pensacola, FL with other graduating homeschoolers. Quite cool indeed. They will then take the college entrance exams like everyone else. Yes, they can most certainly go to college.

And then there are the “off the cuff” comments…”oh yeah, your kids don’t go to school”…I mean really? For the umpteenth time…they do attend school…just not in the way you are referring. We don’t sit around and watch T.V. all day (they actually watch very little T.V.). They sit and do their schoolwork like every other kid out there. Ali is even taking Spanish this year!

This is probably coming across like I’m bitter. I’m not…not at all. It is sometimes a little humorous…the things we have been asked. I just felt like addressing some of this. To set the record straight…so to speak.

Then there is ADOPTION. Oh the wonderful world of adoption. It fits our family like a glove. This journey that God in his infinite wisdom has placed our family on. He called us to this. Why is it that we have to explain it again? I don’t ask people I meet with many biological children…”so why did you have so many children again…don’t you know there are children out there that need families.” Wouldn’t that be slightly awkward? Would that question make you fidget just a little? It might be true, but it sure isn’t my place to judge someones choice of how many children to have…whether or not to adopt…and on and on. I usually think that the answer that God called us to it would be enough. But I generally get the deer in the headlights look. But that is alright. Sometimes I think that if I could change just ONE persons view on adoption that all the questions would be worth it. That just once it would click. That adoption is God ordained.
“Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.” James 1:27
“Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows.” Isaiah 1:17

Oh, oh then there is the one that gets me every time…”is Ali your REAL daughter?” Seriously? The first time I was asked this my first thought was, “did you really just ask me that?” I wanted to respond, “well, the last time I checked she was real.” Ha! But I didn’t. I just said, “yes, she is our biological daughter.” I hate that word REAL in reference to a child. All children are real. Clark, Hana, and Haile are every bit as real to us as Ali is. Biology is so overrated. My parenting ability has nothing to do with whether my blood runs through their veins. When we are holding a sick child, does it matter if we are biologically related? When our son falls down and comes running for a hug and a kiss…does it matter that we adopted him half a world away? Not at all. We are his mom and dad and that is ALL that matters. We would give our life for his, just as we would for all of our children.

“What you are doing is wonderful…but I could NEVER do it.”
Yep, heard this one too! We are not saints, people. We are just normal folks raising a less than “normal” family. (or normal according to good old American standards) You know…the white picket fence…with 2.5 children (all the same colored children I might add). Yep, not us. What if we find all that boring? We don’t want a typical life…we want an extraordinary life. A life designed just for us by God himself before the creation of the world. And for us that means one biological, one Ukrainian American, and 2 Ethiopian Americans! (and who knows, maybe God will call us to adopt even more..we don’t foresee that at the moment, but he does surprise us sometimes!) We also love learning about their different cultures. We always want our children to know that we love their birth countries. We especially LOVE Ethiopian food. I am more than excited to incorporate their foods into our family! Yum-yum! Let’s hear it for injera bread…who needs forks when you have injera.

“Why Ethiopia…there are children here in the U.S. that need homes too”
Yes, we are well aware that there are children here in the U.S. that need a family. If God had put it upon our hearts to do a domestic adoption…well then we would have done so. Truth is, there are children here in TX all the way to the far side of the world and everywhere in between that need a family. Just in Ethiopia alone there are over 5 million orphans. 5 million….let that sink in a minute. So no matter if you adopt here or like us, in Ethiopia, the need is equally as great. Adoption is awesome no matter where it is from!!

“Hana’s hair is going to be hard to handle…do you know ANYTHING about THEIR hair?”
Like I needed others to point out the obvious, right? Of course I don’t know much about THEIR hair. But that’s not to say it is impossible. It will become second nature for me, I’m completely certain of that. I will learn how to care for their dry hair and skin. I’m also certain I will fail miserably…again…I don’t need anyone to point that out. If Hana comes to church or an outing looking a little less than magazine worthy…just know I’m learning and it’s a work in progress. It will take us time, there is no doubt. I have already purchased cute headbands and darling bows to help distract you from the obvious. I think I’m prepared. Ok, not really…but I’m also not worried about it. I’m going to make a run to Sally’s soon and see what I can find. For Haile the answer is easy…keep it short. The end.

Well, I think I will get down from my soapbox already. Again, I’m not bitter. But before you ask homeschooling families and adoptive families a million and one questions…choose your words wisely. We don’t mind educating others on our family, but sometimes the questions are invasive.

I can’t believe we are already 3 weeks into our school year. I’m so glad we started early. It makes it so much easier throughout the year to take a day here and there for field trips, etc. We also like to take our family vacation early (before schools let out) and starting early allows us to do that! Love it! It helps on crowds and also the hotel rates are lower. Double score!

The children have already had 2 fun “field trips” to start our school year off. Last week they attended one with a homeschool school group to a chocolate shop in The Woodlands. They LOVED it. They learned all about the making of chocolate and even got to make a chocolate bar. To say it smelled good in there, was an understatement. Mmmmmm! Then today we were able to visit a Ukraine exhibit at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. Check it out here. It was so neat explaining to Clark that all of the artifacts came from his birth country. There were even a few items from the region where he was born!

On the adoption front…we received electronic copies of Hana and Haile’s new birth certificates and court decree. We were overjoyed to see it all in writing! The fact that we are officially their parents. So what’s next? They have to order their passports, receive physicals from the U.S. Embassy (and wait for paper copies of the exams), and submit all of that to the U.S. Embassy. Our agency can only submit cases once a week, on Tuesdays. They also heard from the Embassy that they were not granting any appointments from Aug. 25th-Sept. 5th, but we aren’t sure if that means that they are allowing cases to be submitted during that time. It’s only 12 days in the grand scheme of things…so I’m trying to to worry about that too much. Anyway, once our case is submitted (really praying that happens in the next week or 2) then we wait to be contacted by the U.S. Embassy. They will either accept all the documentation as is, or they could request further clarification, etc. So we are asking that you join us in prayer about this matter. Please pray that Hana and Haile’s case will be accepted as is and we will be invited to travel to get their Visa’s within a matter of days. Oh we want our children home! Knowing we have 4 children but that 2 are still half a world a way…it is so hard to put that into words. But God is God and he is in control. He is still answering prayers and we covet yours! Our home is now ready for our new son and daughter. We have been pondering how to make our house work for all 6 of us. We tossed one idea then another then another. How do you cram a family of 6 in a 4 bedroom home. Keep in mind we don’t have basements here in TX and our home doesn’t have a bonus room. We do have a plan down the road for a small bonus area, but that has to wait until our ship comes in. For now we rearranged what was our “playroom” (4th bedroom) and bought the boys a bunk bed for what will be Clark/Haile’s shared room. Can you say it with me…those boys will NEVER get to sleep! Haha! Hana will now have the 4th bedroom. It turned out darling. (especially considering where it started) T.C. painted the walls a beautiful yellow months ago…we gave her Clark’s trundle bed and hung green curtains. I hope she loves it. She even has clothes hanging in her closet. (cute pink and purple clothes I might add!!) Clark is thrilled with their bunk bed! He has made many a fort on the bottom bunk already. He keeps rotating sleeping on the bottom then the top. It is simple and oh so cute. I think they will spend many a hour playing hide out under there! I can picture it now and can’t wait for the day. Oh those boys will have some fun!

We finally have birthdays for Hana and Haile. We have waited a long time for this information. Haile will be 5 in Sept. and Hana will be 8 in Dec. We suspect that Hana is a little older than this, but we will deal with that later. We are just so thrilled to have some dates for them!

Enjoy a few pictures from the last week or two. Ali had a guitar recital this past Wed. She did so wonderfully. God has truly blessed her with the gift of music and we are so thankful for that.