School Days--The Fun Has Begun!!

I finally got my kids' first day of school pics on the computer!! Woohoo!! This is a big year.....Nathan is a senior, Derek is a freshman, Faven is in 3rd grade and Emma and Diborah are in Kindergarten! It's my first year with all of my kiddos in school and no job!! I felt a bit guilty as I went to the post drop off 'kleenex and coffee', an activity planned by the school for parents of kindergarteners to gather and talk and hide their sad tears from their younguns. I didn't belong, because I was excited and looking for the pompons!! :) The past couple of years have taken alot out of me emotionally and physically and I was looking forward to the break! I have to say, after the first full week of school, I'm still relishing the 'free time'!
With that said, I have decided to look for a job. Call me crazy, but I'm looking forward to working outside of the home and possibly talking to adults! Yeah!!

Here are those pictures: (not sure how the ever elusive Derek got out the door without getting his picture taken, but.....he did! grrrr!!!)

Nathan (posing with Dibo)

And with Faven

Faven

Diborah

Emma

The Three Musketeers

And the Drop Off

Although Emma and Diborah are both in Kindergarten they were wisely put into different classes! They all love their teachers and so far enjoy getting up, getting on those uniforms and heading off to school! Truly a blessing!

Amazing Watercolors!!

When God created me, I think He forgot the creative gene! I can imagine God mixing his 'Lori potion'....all of those things that would become me. He threw in some analytical, logical and methodical. I guess He wanted to make sure I could follow a recipe, and, well, I can! :)

Either the bottle of creativity was lost behind the other bottles, or He was just plum out!!

That just makes me appreciate the creative and artistic talents of others all the more!!

Over the next 2-4 weeks, I would like to share with you the magical artistic talent of my high school friend, Kelly Eddington. I mentioned her in my last post. She met me in our home town, found an incredible tree to pose my 6 beautiful children beside and took several pictures of them. Together, we picked the ones that captured their beauty and personality the best and she has begun to work her magic with watercolors!! That's right....she is painting my children using watercolors!!

So far, she has completed Diborah.....

I may not be artistic, but even I know that this is good!!!! One down....five to go....I can't wait!

Meeting Old Friends

Last week, I loaded up my Suburban with food, drinks, luggage and 5 of my 6 kids plus a friend (leaving hubby and teenage son home), and began the 10 hour drive to Illinois. This is the second time in the past 3 months that I have made this trip--a record for me!! Since we live so far away from family, I typically spend my entire time with them---hanging out and catching up. This time, I was determined to visit friends and other family while there.



First stop was a small park in LaHarpe, IL, the town where I grew up. I met a friend from my growing up years there who is quite an amazing artist! She and her husband took several pictures of my brood and we are in the process of creating a picture/portrait for her to paint. I'm excited to have the diversity and personalities of my 6 children portrayed in a work of art that will hang on my wall for me to enjoy for years to come! (Side note: you may also be interested in visiting my friend's blog to find out how her new friendship with Roger Ebert began!)



After the photo session, all 7 of us loaded back up in the 'burb' and headed to my parents house. It was at this time that I gently informed my parents that we would be staying in a hotel and going on excursions to visit other family and friends. They took it rather well---was that relief I saw on their faces?! :)



So, over the next several days, we visited family that I hadn't seen in years. It was good to reconnect face to face rather than just through emails or facebook!!! Some of them met my children for the first time and I met theirs for the first time! Very cool!!



One of my very favorite stops--a highlight of my trip, for sure--was to see an adoption/blog friend, Shelly Roberts.





Shelly and I used the same adoption agency so when she travelled to bring her daughter home, she was able to meet my 2 girls. She was one of those much appreciated blog friends who sent me pictures of my daughters during my wait to pass court! Those of you who have waited know how much those pictures mean to a waiting family!!



It was special, after having watched her family grow up on her blog, to finally meet and watch our girls play together!! If volume (amount of noise they produced) and fun are directly related to one another, then those 5 girls had tons of fun!!! :)






A tribute to the power of adoption.....bringing strangers together to become friends forever!!!

Coming Along!

Since I've started blogging again, I've discovered that I would produce more posts if I took more pictures!!!! Because, posts are just b.o.r.i.n.g without pictures....right?!!!

I've been meaning to take pictures of my 3 littles swimming because those girls have grown gills this summer!!! They have swam (is that really a word?) at least 5-6 days each week of the summer! And they have come sooo far!!!

Let's take for instance.....Diborah.....

Diborah was scared to death of the water last summer!! She would sit on the side of the pool and watch the other girls swim. She would stick her foot in the water occasionally and maybe even stand on the first step if there were steps!!! Putting her face in the water was a MAJOR accomplishment!! This summer, she swims incredibly and even jumps in the deep end!!

I am so amazed!

This is a testament to the TRUST she has for us!!

I know this because of the steps that it took to get her to this point!! It's so amazing that it brings tears to my eyes!!

This little girl came to us at 3 years old, scared to death, with so much anxiety.

We sent her immediately to preschool and thought that she had a learning disorder!

Even after she learned the English language, she could not learn the basics! We know now that it was because she was so anxious that she could not process academic knowledge--not even the simplest 1-2-3. Now that she feels more comfortable, she is soaking up every little bit of information!!! She surprises me every day with how much she can learn in a short amount of time!!

That precious little lady is my daughter!!

So....I didn't endure 9 months of physically carrying her in my belly and many, many hours of pain to deliver her into this world (some other incredible woman did that!!!) but I endured the trials of bringing an anxious little non-english speaking 3 year old into a home with rules that she couldn't comprehend, enforced by big, non-amharic speaking people that she didn't know or trust!! Not an easy task! But, in the end, it's all worth it!!!

She is still becoming my baby girl and I am still becoming her mama!!

Sometimes the things that are most difficult in our lives are the most fulfilling!!!