Mayerly's 10th Birthday

I wish I had something witty and inspiring to write today in honor of Mayerly's birthday.  Unfortunately, I've been fighting a chest cold for about 2 weeks now and I'm too wiped out to come up with anything.  So, I'll just be posting some pictures before I call it a night.

 Blowing out the candles

 She's cheezin' in this one with her imaginary knife and fork ready to eat all the cake herself...

 Bratz Leapster game from Grandma and Grandpa Verhulst

 Furry green body pillow, also from G'ma & G'pa Verhulst

 Incredibles Leapster game from Mom & Dad

 Doll clothes from Mom & Dad

Doll from Grandma Schoemig

The Starfish

One day a man was walking along the beach when he noticed
a boy picking something up and gently throwing it into the ocean.

Approaching the boy, he asked, “What are you doing?”

The youth replied, “Throwing starfish back into the ocean.
The surf is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them back, they’ll die.”

“Son,” the man said, “don’t you realize there are miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish?
You can’t make a difference!”

After listening politely, the boy bent down, picked up another starfish,
and threw it back into the surf. Then, smiling at the man, he said,
“I made a difference for that one.”

Mega Post

Here we are at the end of August.  Where did the summer go?  It's been so busy the past 3 weeks, I'm having a hard time believing we actually are almost into September.  The run-down for this month is as follows:

Colorado Vacation August 15 - 20

Finally.  We finally took a trip that was longer than just a weekend.  Our first in over 3 years.

Tim's family has a cabin about 45 minutes outside of Colorado Springs at the edge of Pike National Forest.  Tim and I hadn't been out there in over 10 years, so we decided we'd take the kids and go this summer since we had a week to kill between the end of summer day-camp and the beginning of school.

It's about a 10-11 hour drive out there from our house.  We left home at 4:30 am, packed breakfast and lunch and ate on the road at rest stops.  Here's a picture from our first stop for breakfast (pan dulce - Mexican sweet bread).

I don't have a picture of lunch because it was so windy it was literally blowing our food off the picnic table (western Kansas).  We arrived in Colorado Springs at around 3:30 in the afternoon.  The elevation (altitude) where we stayed is almost identical to the altitude of Bogota (where our kids are from) - I just thought that was interesting.  Here's where the Great Plains meet the Rockies...

The Verhulst cabin is, a bit rustic.  However, it has almost all the conviences of home - a kitchen (only missing a dishwasher), an indoor bathroom with shower and hot water, and a washing machine (no dryer, just an outdoor clothesline).  This is about as rough as I care to go when 'roughing it'.

The view of Pike's Peak from the back deck is pretty awesome... and it never looked exactly the same any two times you looked at it.  This is what it looked like one afternoon.

There were several things at the cabin that kept the kids occupied.  We had a zip line, a wagon, a dirt bike and a bb gun.  We saw black squirrels, deer, woodpeckers, elk, chipmunks, humming birds and rabbits - all without leaving our deck.

Mayerly on the zip line

Claudia on the wagon

Claudia and Tim on the bike

Doe with fawn behind the cabin

Herd of elk on a hill just down the road from the cabin

We did get out a few times.  Our first outing was to Garden of the Gods by day and the Flying W Ranch for a chuckwagon supper and singing cowboy show by night.  Another day we took the cog train up Pike's Peak from Manitou Springs.  We also drove over to Cripple Creek and Victor (a couple of old gold mining towns) for a look around.  Cripple Creek is mostly a strip of casinos now, so we actually liked Victor better.

Garden of the Gods visitor center

Balanced Rock Cafe - Garden of the Gods Trading Post (Tim, Oscar & I had buffalo burgers)

 Waiting at the table to tie on the feedbag at our chuckwagon supper

The kids' favorite cowboy (L.J.) - he was the butt of most of the show's jokes

It was 44 degrees at the top of Pike's Peak, with a windchill of 39 degrees that morning.

Here are the girls in Cripple Creek, CO.

Here's a view of Victor, CO.  They actually have an active gold mine there that pulls over $6 million in gold out of the mountain - weekly... WOW!

We drove home from Colorado on August 20th (an all day trip).  I can't figure out why sitting in a car or an airplane for MANY hours makes me so tired - but it does.  And I'm never ready for vacation time to end - but it ALWAYS does.

First Day of School - Oscar & Diana - August 22

Don't they look thrilled to be going back to school???

First Day of School - Mayerly & Claudia - August 25

3rd Annual Adoption Picnic @ Windhaven Farm - August 27

For the past 3 years Gerry and Teresa Rima have hosted a picnic at their dairy farm in southwest Missouri for families who have adopted.  Most of the families who attend have adopted from Colombia, but there were children from Ethiopia and China too.  It's a great time with lots of kids :).  The Rimas have 17 (that's not a typo) children total, 15 were adopted - one from the U.S. and 14 from Colombia.  They are amazing people and we are priviledged and honored to know them.

The Rima Family (minus their 2 adult children)

My little buddy Bella - she's taken a liking to me for some reason :)

Most of the families who attended the picnic (some left before we took this picture)

Who knew a hammock could be so much fun?

Oscar's Birthday - August 28

Last (but not least) our oldest (Oscar) turned 14 today.  He has matured so much over the past year (and I'm not just talking about how tall he is getting).  I'm becoming more and more proud of the young man he is turning out to be and so glad that we could play a part in shaping who he is and helping him achieve to his greatest potential.

The obligatory cake and ice cream...

PC games from Grandma & Grandpa Verhulst

Speakers for MP3/PC from Grandma & Grandpa Verhulst

PC from Mom & Dad (also Swiss Army type knife in his hand)

Diana's 11th Birthday

Okay, so I didn't post for the whole month of June and broke my monthly posting streak...

But, we finally got around to getting our ISP changed over (thus saving us $45 per month), but it left us without internet service for several weeks while the old service phased out, the new service connected (took two trips to our house by at&t for some reason) and then working out our 'incompatible hardware' issues.  I install everything myself, because I normally won't pay someone to do something I can do myself... but it does create some inconveniences.

As the title of this post suggests, today was Diana's birthday.  We didn't do much today.  It was so horribly hot outside, we just stayed in.  I baked a pineapple upside-down cake first thing this morning before it got too hot.  After that I made homemade pineapple sherbet to go with it.  For dinner we let Dino pick out her own pizzas from Pizza Hut (cheese for one, super supreme for the other).  Grandma Schoemig came over and ate with us.  Then she opened her presents and we called it a day.  Can't believe this is our 3rd birthday with her, time sure does fly.

9th Birthday

Diana's 10th Birthday

11th Birthday

 Tim and Oscar goofing around with Diana's new doll clothes.

I think she liked the stuffed penguin we got her.

She got a double dose of 'Tangled' from the grandparents (Verhulst & Schoemig)



May in a Nutshell

After we got home from Colombia, I vowed (if only to myself) to try to post at least every month.  Here it is the last day of May and I haven't posted a thing :).

• Earlier this month, I took a picture of my Mother's Day loot, and planned to post it, but obviously that never happened.
• I've been to more doctor/dentist/therapy appointments this past month than I've ever been to (within a month) over the 2+ years since we brought the kids home.  We had the 4 days per week of the usual therapies and then we all went to the dentist, pediatrician and Oscar went to the orthodontist.
• Last week was the final week of school for all the kiddos, I had to go to software training for my job.  Grandmas, Grandpa, and Dad got to run the kids to doctors and therapies.  I actually got a full 40 hours in that week...
• Summer day camp starts tomorrow.  The kids are excited about swimming, visits to the public library and weekly field trips.  This year all four kids will be at the same camp for the first time - that will save Tim and me a lot of driving.

In other news, Oscar and Diana have been on a mini-campaign lately.  Oscar wants a brother, Diana wants a brother AND a sister.  Tim and I haven't totally ruled out the possiblity of a second adoption - BUT WE DON'T PLAN TO ADOPT AGAIN AT THIS POINT IN TIME.  I just don't know how I would fit the paperwork into my already packed schedule - and that doesn't even take into account the cost of adoption - or the fact that we are at our financial capacity right now (paying the private schools, doctors and therapists).  I don't think my lack of availability at this time would be conducive to the bonding that needs to take place after a 'new' adoption either.  We just keep telling them 'no' - for now...

The Wemmick Story

At our church we sometimes have some fairly unusual services.  Today, a young married couple (Thoric and Sarah) was in charge of the Resurrection Sunday service.  They chose to do a 'child-centered' service.  It went a little like this:

First, Thoric had all the children in the congregation bring a hymnal up to the front of the church.  He told the kids that the hymnal would represent their sin; and then asked them to hold the hymnal out in front of them for as long as they could until it started to feel heavy.  Next he asked one of the kids' father come up and started stacking all the hymnals onto his outstreached arms.  It was then expained that this is what Jesus did for us when he takes away our sins.  He carries the burden of our sins for us (if we let him).

There was also a puppet show that asked "What is this day about?".  There were three puppets, the first puppet answered that this day is about bunnies, the next said that it was about eggs.  The last puppet told the children that today is really about Jesus dying for our sins so that we could have eternal life.

Sarah also read the following story (I have seen the Veggie Tales version of this story, but hadn't actually read the book) to the kids as they all sat in the front rows:

The Wemmick Story
by: Max Lucado, You Are Special



The Wemmicks were small wooden people. These little wooden people were carved by a woodworker named "Eli." Eli's workshop sat on a hill overlooking the Wemmick Village. Every one of the Wemmicks were different. Some had big noses, others had large eyes. Some were tall and others were short. Some wore hats, others wore coats. But all were made by the same carver and all lived in the same village.

All day long, every day, the Wemmicks did the same thing. They gave each other stickers. Each Wemmick had a box of golden star stickers and a box of dull gray dot stickers. Up and down the streets all over the city, people could be seen sticking gold stars or gray dots onto each other. The pretty ones, those with smooth wood and fine paint, always got shiny gold stars! But if the wood was rough or the paint was chipped, the Wemmicks gave dull gray dots. The talented ones got stars, too. Some could lift big sticks high above their heads or jump over tall boxes. Still others knew big words or could sing very pretty songs. Everyone gave them shiny gold stars! Some Wemmicks had stars all over them! Every time they got a star it made them feel so good that they did something else and got another star.

There were many other Wemmicks though that could do very little. They got dull gray dots! There was one little Wemmick and his name was "Punchinello." He tried to jump high like the others, but he always fell. And when he fell, the others would gather 'round and give him dull gray dots. Sometimes when he fell, it would scar his wood, so the people would give him more gray dots. He would try to explain why he fell and, in doing so, he would say something really silly. Then the Wemmicks would give him some more dots!!!

After a while, Punchinello had so many dots that he didn't want to go outside. He was afraid he would do something dumb such as forget his hat or step in the water, and then people would give him more dull gray dots. In fact, he had so many gray dots that some people would come up and just give him one without any reason! "He deserves lots of dots," they would say. The wooden people would agree with one another. "He's not a good wooden person," they would say. After a while Punchinello believed them. "I am not a good Wemmick!" he would say. The few times he went outside, he hung around other Wemmicks who had a lot of gray dots. At least he felt better around them.

One day, Punchinello met a Wemmick who was unlike any he'd ever met. She had no dull gray dots and did not have any shiny golden stars either. She was a wooden Wemmick and her name was "Lucia." It wasn't that people didn't try to give her stickers; it's just that the stickers didn't stick to her!!! Some admired Lucia for having no dots, so they would run up and give her a star. But it would fall off. Some would look down on her for having no stars, so they would give her a dot. But they would not stick either!!!

"That's the way I want to be!" thought Punchinello. "I don't want anyone's marks!" So he asked the "stickerless" Wemmick how she did it. "It's easy," Lucia replied. "Every day I go see Eli." Punchinello asked,"Eli? Who is Eli?" She replied "Yes, Eli, He is the woodcarver. I sit in His workshop and spend time with Him." He asked Lucia,"Why do you do that?" Lucia told him, "Why don't you find out for yourself? Go up the hill and visit with Him. He's there!" And with that, the sweet little Wemmick named Lucia turned and skipped away.

"But He won't want to see me!" Punchinello cried out to her. Lucia didn't hear him, as she was too far away. So Punchinello went home. He sat near a window and watched the wooden people as they scurried around giving each other gold stars and gray dots. "It's just not right," he muttered to himself. Then he resolved to go see Eli after all. Punchinello walked up the narrow path to the top of the hill and stepped into the big Woodcarver Shop. His little wooden eyes widened at the size of everything. The stool was as tall as he was. He had to stretch on his tippy-toes to see the top of the workbench. A hammer was as long as his arm. Punchinello swallowed hard and thought to himself, "I'm not staying here!" and he turned to leave. Then he heard his name. "Punchinello?" said this voice, so deep and strong. Just then Punchinello stopped. The voice said, "Punchinello, oh how good it is of you to come! Let me have a look at you."

Punchinello slowly turned around and looked at the large bearded craftsman and said, "Sir, you know my name?" "Of course I do. I made you," Eli said. All of a sudden, Eli stooped down and picked little Punchinello up and set him on the workbench. "Hmmmmm," the Maker spoke thoughtfully as he inspected the gray circles all over him, "Looks like you've been given some bad marks." Punchinello explained,"Oh, Eli, I didn't mean to; really I didn't!!! I really tried hard not to." The Maker said, "Oh, you don't have to defend yourself to me, my child. I don't care what the other Wemmicks think." Punchinello asked, "Really? You don't?" Then Eli said, "No and you shouldn't either. Who are they to give stars or dots? They are Wemmicks just like you. What they think really doesn't matter at all, Punchinello. All that matters is what I think. And I think you are pretty special." Punchinello laughed, "Oh, me special? How can I be special? I can't walk fast. I can't jump. My paint is peeling. I make silly mistakes all the time and I am not a beautiful Wemmick like some of the others. How could I matter to you?" Eli looked at Punchinello and put his hands on those little wooden shoulders of his and spoke very slowly, "Because Punchinello... you are mine. That's why you matter to me." Punchinello had never had anyone look at him like this before or say anything so nice, much less his Maker! He didn't know what to say!

"Punchinello, every day I've been waiting and hoping you would come to see me," Eli explained. Punchinello looked up at him and said, "I came because I met a sweet Wemmick girl who had no marks." Eli said, "I know. Lucia told me about you." So Punchinello asked, "Why don't the stickers stay on Lucia?" Eli said, "Because she has decided that what I think is more important than what anyone else thinks. The stickers only stick if you let them." Punchinello looked puzzled and said, "What?" Eli said, "Yes, the stickers only stick if they matter to you. The more you trust My love, the less you will care about those stickers." But Punchinello said, "I'm not sure I really understand. What you are saying?" The maker said, "You will, but it will take some time. You've got a lot of marks. So for now, just come to see me every day and let me remind you how much I care about you." Eli lifted Punchinello off the bench and set him on the floor. "Now remember," Eli said as the Wemmick walked out the door. "You ARE special because I made you, and I don't make mistakes."

Punchinello didn't stop, but in his heart he thought, "I think He really means it." And each time he remembered what Eli told him and each time he went to visit and talk with Eli, one of Punchinello's dots would fall off. They kept falling off and soon they were all gone!!!

So like Punchinello, we must remember one thing: "Man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart."
(I Samuel 16:7)

I like it that they thought to gear this service toward the kids.  It also helped explain what this day is really all about and what we should remember and focus on this Sunday.

An Actual Update

I haven't blogged about what's been going on lately.  Actually, I don't think I've done that for several months - so here it goes...

Oscar got braces on December 30th.  He'll be getting an "appliance" soon that should help with his jaw alignment.  He's generally doing pretty well in school.  His reading is improving, but he still stuggles. He still has an obstinate streak, but the school is working with us to correct that when it comes up.  He is also continuing with karate and went to his second tourney at the end of January - came home with some more trophies.  He has now started learning his second kata and is training with a bo (a long stick with tapered ends) so he can enter the weapons category when he goes to other tournaments.  Vision therapy is going well with Oscar, he is getting better eye teaming and can see 3D even at a distance now (could only see it at close range before).  This is helping his reading skills too.  We are doing speech therapy twice a week and his speech is getting much more intelligible, but he still speaks with an accent (our vision therapy doctor tells him not to lose the accent because the girls love it - he doesn't really notice girls yet, so the doctor's comment doesn't phase him).  We start our second round of auditory processing therapy in May.

Diana started wearing her glasses full time in February.  She has check-ups every three months at vision therapy with the doctor.  The last one she had, we had a snow day that day - so she hadn't worn her glasses all day.  She tested horribly on her 3D vision.  The next week the doctor tested her again - she did a lot better, but she had been at school all day and therefore had been wearing her glasses most of the day.  After that, I decided she needs to wear her glasses all day.  We'll see how she does on her next testing coming up here in about a month.  They are really focusing on 3D vision excercises during therapy now.  She has started reading too with better fluency (she doesn't have to sound out every word anymore).  The past 3 weeks she has gotten 100% on her spelling tests (which tells me her memory is getting better).  The teacher has moved her up to 3rd grade reading.  However, she started having tantrums at school when the teacher asked her to do anything that was the least bit challenging for her, so we are working with the school to correct her behavior too.  She goes to speech therapy the same days Oscar does and will also return for a second round of AP therapy too.  Her speech has improved also, but she is still hard to understand most of the time.

Mayerly continues to struggle at school, but we are seeing improvement with her too.  Reading is still hard for her, but that (I believe) has a lot to do with the fact that she has eye teaming difficulties too.  As soon as one of the older two 'graduates' from vision therapy, we will start her.  I wish we could afford to start her now, but we can't.  For now, we got her some glasses which should help her.  She has had some minor behavior issues at school too.  She was camping out in the bathroom, when she didn't feel like being in class (she does this at home too when she doesn't want to do what she's supposed to be doing).  She wasn't bringing her homework home either (she just wasn't doing it and shoving it in her desk).  The gig was up after parent/teacher conferences though.  She only gets to go to to the bathroom with the class now and she gets busted big time if she doesn't bring her homework home every night.  And if she "forgets" to bring her Friday Folder home, I print off a big stack of worksheets for her to work on all weekend and she doesn't get to watch TV either.  Amazing how the folder comes home every weekend now - after only a couple of weekends of "forgetting" it.  Her speech is the clearest of all the kids', so we should escape speech and AP therapy with her.

Claudia is doing well in her class.  Lately, she has been taking a page from the 'Mayerly playbook' and acts like she doesn't understand things that I know she does (she's doing it with her teacher at school too who has the same opinion of the situation).  We have ways of dealing with her acting out too.  She got to do extra worksheets - in order to work on her "weak areas" - until she decided she really did know how to do that stuff.  She had to finish them before TV or playing.  Again, amazing turn around.  Her reading fluency is better than any of the rest of the kids'.  However, she also got reading glasses back in December.  She has an eye tracking problem that the doctor gave me some at-home excercises (Michigan Tracking) to do with her.  I'm thinking about getting an at-home computer program to work on auditory processing with her.  I think she has a milder problem with AP than her older brother and sister, so we'll try at-home therapy first with her.

On a somewhat related note, as we drive around town lately I hear the kids reading outloud the signs on the buildings.  Absolute music to my ears.  I was beginning to wonder if we would ever get there (voluntarily reading things on their own).  Oh me of little faith.

The girls are also beginning to express interest in taking up a hobby.  Mayerly says she wants to take dance lessons (we'll see if we can work it in).  Diana colors pictures or makes a card for me almost daily.  Claudia really likes the skates she got for Christmas and practices in the driveway whenever the weather allows.  I'm just glad they are finally showing an interest in something other than watching TV (which I don't let them do very much) and fighting with each other :).