The Best Thing About Having Lots of Sisters Is...

it's like a slumber party, every day!

~~Padme

Killer Wheels

Pictionary. It seems like a fairly simple game. You read the card, pick something to draw, and your team guesses what you drew. Easy, right? Not so at our house tonight. Our new daughters have little to no exposure to family games, or family time at all, for that matter. There is definitely a learning curve involved!



To be fair, it's often difficult to tell what the younger kids are drawing. That's why we make sure an adult is on each team, to help with the guessing when the drawings are difficult to decipher. And, sometimes, those who haven't yet developed good reading skills need help reading the card. Fine. No big deal.



So we played Pictionary tonight. Padme went first - she drew a globe and Greenland. No problem. Then Lil Yoda went - she drew a fairly decent looking washing machine, but ran out of time so we never guessed it.



On Angel's turn, she first asked if she could just draw the design that was on the back of the card. At that point I told Baloo, "I thought you guys explained this game to the new kids!" He returned, "We thought we did!"



We explained that, no, she must read the card, then draw one of the objects listed on the card. She drew a lovely sailboat, all the while saying, "It's an object! It's an object!" We guessed it and applauded her. Then, she returned her card to Daddy, who pointed out that sailboat was not, in fact, on her card and she couldn't just randomly pick something to draw. Pretty funny, but probably a common mistake.



When Dora's turn came up, she asked Baloo to help her read the card. She decided what to draw and began. She drew a circle, then scribbled all around it and over it. "I'm done!" she announced, then turned around, expecting us to know immediately what she had drawn. We had no clue. We convinced her to draw it a different way. This time, she drew a circle, and cut it into pie slices. Again, the scribble all around it. We gave up. She wouldn't let us give up, and kept scribbling around it. Finally, she looked at us like we were idiots and said, "Killer Wheel! See the wheel and the fire all around it?"



What?



Baloo, at this point, was rofl, and informed us that the card actually read, "Killer Whale."

Mema and Poppie's House

I have received questions about the Adoption Announcement picture.  We are on the porch swing at Mema and Poppie's house.   We went to their house for Mother's Day, our first weekend with our new girls.  Here are a few more pictures from that day.

Baloo, 14 11/12.

Padme, 9 1/2.

Wendy, 8 3/4.

Lil Yoda, 7 11/12.

Angel, 7.

Dora, 6.

Poppa, Mema and the kids. Ages omitted.

Padme's First French Braid

I was again reminded that older children really are wonderful to have around.  With three new long-haired beauties arriving in our home, I quickly recruited Padme to help me with hair-fixing!  With her help, we were able to make it to church on time, complete with cute pig-tails and braids!

Last week I taught Padme to french braid.  French braiding is not a difficult concept, but requires quite a bit of dexterity.  Your fingers must be strong, and must be able to do different things all at once.   Here are some pictures of her first french braid.  I think she did a fabulous job!  She's going to be such a great Mommy someday!

Fun with our new sisters

Here are a few pictures from our first few days with our new sisters.  The kids are all learning to get along well.  It took them a few days to get to know each other well enough to find things they could all enjoy playing together, and now they really have fun with each other.  The new girls are extremely smart, but developmentally delayed, so Padme and Lil Yoda had to adjust their expectations a bit.  Now that we all understand each other better, we are able to play pretty well.

Manicures and pedicures with The Queen-to-Be and Grandma Lori.  Papa Sparky, Grandma Lori, The Queen-to-Be, The Wacky Prince and The Chef came over to meet the girls, and to celebrate The Queen-to-Be and The Wacky Prince's birthdays last month. We had a great day, grilling out, playing outside, playing video games and painting nails.
We don't know  what Lil Yoda was doing with her tongue.  And I'm pretty sure that's her own foot.  Wendy is just smilin' and looking' cute!

Aren't Big Sisters great?  Padme is painting little flowers on Dora's nails.
That's Grandma Lori, the one that doesn't look like a grandma. :)
Dora wanted me to take a picture of her two Barbie heads.  They really didn't bring much stuff, but she loves these Barbie heads!


We love to make our own pizzas!  Everyone gets to make their own, just as they like it.  The new girls don't have any experience at all in the kitchen, so they get very excited when they get to cook! Notice the jar near Padme, she likes alfredo on her pizza.
Daddy is the best dough pounder.  Angel was covered head-to-foot in flour by the time we finished!  We have learned it's best for her to bathe after meals, rather than before!
Dora has a natural pounding instinct.  She is very determined and wants to be self-sufficient.  She would not accept anyone's help.  Even though it took her longer, she got it done!  We love her hard-working, never-give-up spirit!

Fun with Friends

In the summers, we enjoy playing with our neighbors.  The weather has been warming up quickly here, and Mr. Dave and Mrs. Shelly invited us to bring our new sisters over to swim.  They can't yet swim well, so we kept them safe with life jackets.  Mrs. Shelly said we can give them swimming lessons in their pool this week.  I think they will learn quickly.

Here, Wendy is riding a Sea-Doo water rocket toy.  She is able to control its speed, and had so much fun with this!  We were very proud of her & Dora for trying it. 

Mr. Dave's pool doesn't have a slide, so Lil Yoda and our neighbor created their own!

Dads are way more fun in the pool than moms.  Daddy played Mr. Flipper for about an hour.

Dora, chillin' with her books and grape soda.   Ain't she cute?

The Daddy Ride again.  :)
And again.  We don't know why he has a bad back...
Dora & Angel, floating on their backs.  Nevermind that they are lying on a step.  They also impressed us by putting their faces underwater.  Angel is especially good at holding her breath underwater.

Here, we are playing at "our lake."  This huge float was a house-warming gift from a friend.  Half of it is a deck, and half has a net that the kids can sit in (or cannonball into), so that they are in the water but still safe in the tube.  And, we discovered, it can comfortably hold at least 8 kids and one adult.

I told Padme she looks as though she is stranded in a flood, except that this water is ankle deep.

Adoption Announcement

We would like to introduce you all to our new sisters! However they are, as yet, nameless. Well, they do have names, but I forgot to have them create cybernames. So, you will have to be happy with their ages & descriptions for now.

We have been praying and waiting for these children for ever so long. We always knew our family was not yet complete. We know the Lord set aside these precious souls just for us, and we couldn't be more thrilled!

I have not yet blogged about the girls, because I wanted to wait until I had met them. We started this process in February of 07, went to training in June 07, did our homestudy in November 07 and were approved in Jan 08. Within just a few weeks, we were asked to adopt three precious little girls! The Lord orchestrated everything in His perfect timing, and we have seen His hand throughout this process. We are stepping out in faith by adding three at once, but we know the Lord will equip us for what He asks of us!

This weekend, we finally got to meet our new daughters, and they stayed the weekend with us! Now we want to share them with you!

Our new 8yo dd (far right in the picture) is intelligent, friendly and quiet. We were unable to produce a quiet child through biological means, but have always envied those who could. So, we adopted one. She is a thinker, and living life at a slower pace allows her to really notices things that most people would overlook. She is on the A/B Honor Roll at school, and wants us to know she gets 100s on all her math and spelling tests! She loves to help people, especially her new Mama!

The second dd is 7 yo (far left in the picture), and is a bundle of energy. This daughter reminds me of Lil Yoda, in that she keeps us all in stitches. There will never be a dull moment with these two together under the same roof! This daughter jokes and laughs and has an infectious smile. She is easygoing and easy to please, and she loves to eat as much as Lil Yoda! She and her sisters enjoyed helping cook dinner, while they were here this weekend. She told me she put extra love in it for us!

Our new youngest daughter is 6yo (second from the right in the picture). She is a little charmer, and will steal your heart the moment you meet her. She is very smart and has a heart that wants to please. She also likes to help her Mama with things around the house. She showed me her school folder, and she got a smiley face every day this month for good behavior! I may need to start a smiley face chart at home!  This one is my little tomato (thanks, Ginger!) and I look forward to having her by my side for the next few weeks!

I know this is getting long, and I will have the rest of their lives to write about them, so I'll wrap this up now. We will have them again this weekend, and then they come home for good the following weekend!  Thank you, Lord, for the blessing of children!  What a wonderful Mother's Day weekend!

A Few of My Favorite Things

Mother Auma has tagged me for a meme. I am to list three of my favorite things. I don't think this question is fair, I'll have you know, because she was able to list her three children and I am soon to have six. But that's another story...


Those of you who know me, know I am rather flighty. Favorites are always difficult for me to choose, because I love so many things! (And I tend toward the dramatic).


That said, my three favorite things, today, are:


1. My favorite color is blue. Not just any blue, mind you, but the clear, deep cerulean that we sometimes see in the sky.


2. My favorite animal is the horse. They are beautiful, strong and majestic. Also I like that they are intelligent. Stupid animals annoy me.


3. My favorite time of day is the morning. Prior to moving to the lake, I didn't care for mornings and usually slept through them. Here, though, I love to listen to the birds sing. I love the coolness and freshness of the morning, and the sense of renewal that the whole world seems to exude. I never before noticed the way mornings are so full of life.


Thanks, Mother Auma, for the tag. Tell Triss it was a great idea, and I love her Avatar. It is very...her!

I tag Ginger, The Sparks Circus and Karen at The Herd! What are your three favorites?

Raising the Cross

We raised the cross of Christ over our new church building today. It was a moving and beautiful experience.


We prayed over this new facility, that as we lift Christ up to this community, He will draw others to Himself. We prayed for those who will walk through these doors, that each would experience a loving relationship with Jesus Christ. Then we held hands and sang Oh, The Wonderful Cross and The Old Rugged Cross. It was a moment to be remembered.

Bald Eagle Cam

As if last year's Elephant Cam weren't cool enough, you can now watch streaming video of a Bald Eagle's Nest, complete with chicks! (...eaglets? chicks sounds too common, not regal enough.) However, I am extremely bummed that I missed their hatching.

Do you know what color are Bald Eagle chicks? Neither did I. Check it out!

Incidentally, the latest and greatest in Elephant Cam technology involves attaching cameras to elephants' trunks. Apparently elephants are very skilled filmmakers, as they recently captured some superb footage of tiger cubs. I feel sorry for the tigers, though. With all the Elephant Papparazzi around, they never get a moment's peace.