Last Day of School

Victory had their last day, which was just a 1/2 day last Thursday. We were excited for summer break (well I think we are excited) but sad knowing our time at Victory is over and the kids will be staying home in the fall. (BUT we are excited to homeschool, will save that for another post) We are so thankful for grandparents helping us out so the kids could attend this half of the year. Financially and my dad drove them home every single day. We could not have done it without them.

Makenna finished up 5th grade. She is such a great student and really takes school seriously. I never once had to tell her to do her homework, she just comes home and does it and makes sure she studies for tests. I tried to get a picture of her with her teacher but she put her foot down. You can tell she is very excited that I made her stand under the sign! ;-)

Malaine all smiles in her Kindergarten Rocks Tshirt! Last day and in her words " Now I get to stay home with you every day and you get to be my teacher!"

Sawyer with his buddy. Sawyer is for sure into the social life of school more than anything! ;-) You can see he had a teacher that was lots of fun and we are so thankful for her patience with Sawyer this year! 3rd grade here he comes!

Sawyers Glasses

We have had a "fun" year with Sawyer this year in school. I should say we have alot of fun with Sawyer all the time, but school in particular. I thought it was me, but he was really struggling with handwriting and spelling. Well once in school things did not get better. At first we thought it was adjustment. But finally we decided we needed to get agressive and figure out what is going on. First step, a vision therapist. His vision tested at 20/20, but his focus was not where it should be. So keeping something in focus is not working for him. She is trying glasses with him to see if that helps but he will also be doing some vision therapy. We go back in a few weeks for another test and to talk about the therapy plan. We are all happy to know that there might be a reason handwriting is so hard for him. It is really odd, Sawyer is an amazing reader, reading way above his grade level, but can't write or spell. And I should say he CAN spell out loud, just not on paper. So, maybe it is all to do with his vision focus. Who knew there was even such a thing to have a problem with?
Excuse the hawaian punch face. I had to take a close up to not show that he is wearing pajama bottoms and went to the eye doc in them. With the mustach. Blame his father, I did not see him before he left! (yeah last week we went out shopping and Mark buckled Sage in her car seat w/ 2 different shoes on....)
So yes, fun times around here. Our insurance is getting a workout that is for sure! We are VERY thankful for such good insurance. I got word that all his vision therapy & glasses are covered so that is a big blessing.

Our little Graduate

Our little Lanie bug graduated kindergarten! She has been saving up her $ to buy Kit when we go to Chicago. When friends were heading to Chicago and offered to shop for me if I needed anything, I could not pass up the chance to have them get Kit and surprise Malaine with her! As you can see she was excited, so thank you Karen for stopping in at American Girl for our girl! It is hard to believe that Ms Malaine is old enough to be moving on to first grade. I know my older kids think I brag on her all the time but she really does have a great personality. A little "blond" at times, ;-) but I swear if I was promised more of her I would have 10 more kids!. I am serious!
When the school year started and we kept Malaine home, I was so sad for her to miss out on attending Victory as her siblings had done. Ms Sherman is such an amazing teacher and the older 2 just loved their kindergarten experience. I wanted that for her, and I am so thankful that we went forward with sending her right after coming home from China. She did wonderful and really enjoyed it. Not to mention that Ms Sherman has now made it super easy for me to homeschool her for 1st grade! (1st grade is wonderful there to and if we could we would send her for that... And 2nd grade is awesome, and 3rd grade, you get the point)

My very favorite thing is how the children are taught to love Jesus as much as they are taught to love reading. Because to me, that is what really REALLY matters in my children's education. One of the best things about the ceremony is that the parents are asked to submit a bible verse that we have chosen to represent our child. Mark and I did much searching till we found one that we felt fit Malaine so well.

You are the light of the world, like a city on a mountain, glowing in the night for all to see. Don't hide your light under a basket! Instead put it on a stand and let is shine for all. Matthew 5:14-15

Our prayer for Malaine is that she will always be a light, always keep her smile and always SHINE! We love you Malaine Shaye and are so proud of you!

What is really crazy is that I have now graduated over half of my children from kindergarten. Wow! They are growing to fast, time needs to stop for awhile. Well besides the fact that I have to get these two tornado's out of toddler hood! Yes, Ms Sherman, they WILL be at Victory for kindergarten, get ready, you have 2 more years! ;0)

Construction Complete!

We decided after Mavery got home that we really could use another bedroom in our home. And a play area of some sort. 5 kids in here is SO loud, as you can imagine. But the way our house is, makes it even louder. (no walls, high ceilings, oh the noise just bounces around!) So, we decided to add a bedroom and play area in our unfinished basement. For those who do not know what basements are (because I have lived in states where when you said basement it was thought cellar) that is not what we have. Around here basements are finished as part of the living space, we have 12 foot ceilings down there, large windows, perfect area for noisy children! So Mark, along with his wonderful dad decided to tackle it on their own. And while I thought I was going to go crazy from it all, I am happy to say it is done and I think it looks great! We debated on the ceiling and I saw some ideas online to paint the ceiling, to give it the loft look. That seemed a good solution as we were trying to do things as cheap as possible. (and as easy as possible) After Mark got his nail gun for his birthday he said he could go ahead and do a "real" ceiling if I wanted, but I actually kind of like the look of it. Mark took these pictures before some things were actually done, so I will take more once we get everything moved in. Makenna is thrilled that she will have her own "private space". She chose the lime green and hot pink color combo, and it was such a joy to pick that out together. (NOT!!)

When we built our home we wrote bible verses in each room so that we would always be walking on the word of God. Makenna wanted to do the same for her new room and chose the verses above. I pray that she will always stand on His word.

More pictures to come, carpet, bed, clean windows, and trim. But just wanted to share with you all the hard work my father in law and Mark have been doing!

***FYI-- If you are looking for furniture and you are not above shopping at Rothmans, they are having a REALLY good sale. You get your $ back in gas and groceries so you really get your furniture almost FREE!

Grants Farm

Thanks to my friend Shannon I was able to go on the kindergarten field trip last week to Grants Farm w/ Malaine. It was a gorgeous day and we had so much fun. Certain children in my house could care less if I am on a field trip, in fact they have told me not to come so they "can ride in a different car than normal." But not my Lainey Bug. She WANTS me there and actually stays w/ me AND holds my hand AND tells me over and over she is so glad I came! I love this child of mine so much! She really is the sweetest thing ever.

Puppies!

NO, they are not ours. Though Makenna REALLY really REALLY wants a puppy. Because 5 kids a dog and a cat in one family are just not enough in her eyes. Have I mentioned she wants to be a vet? So while I want to encourage her in that, I am just not up for another dog, right now. But we sure enjoyed playing with these puppies and had to share the cuteness!

Lego Man

Sawyer has taken a huge interest in lego's this year. Which we like, since most of his interests include electronic things. (though legos are not much cheaper)Finally something that does not need turned on to play! I promised him a spot on the blog, so here is Lego Man. Sawyer is counting down the days till he gets to visit the Lego store in Chicago. Has anyone been?

Oh Happy Days!

Remember just 2 weeks ago I shared that my friend Sheila got a referral for her sweet baby girl in China? She is in the middle. Well today, Monte, to the left, got a call from Kazakhstan!!! Let me go back a bit. 20 months ago both of these friends began on the journey of adoption. Though I have to say that the journey started long before that in their hearts. They both signed on to adopt from Vietnam. Had their paperwork done and turned in. Vietnam shut the door. And while I think they wondered and questioned, they both let the Lord lead them. Sheila signed on with China, and Monte with Kazakhstan. 2 weeks ago Sheila gets news of her baby girl. We all continued to pray that Monte would hear soon, and TODAY they got news that they have been invited to Kaz!!!! They do not know their dates yet, I think things will happen quickly, like my guess is with in a month quickly.

How amazing is our God? That they would both end up being able to find out so close together that their children wait. To be able to travel so close together.

The road of adoption is not an easy one that is for sure. It is filled with much pain as we wait for our children. Yet I have no doubt that God leads us to where our children wait. My friends thought their babies waited in Vietnam and that was not easy to be told that door had closed. While I waited for Sage, I cried every day over my wait. And yet I have no doubt that I waited every single day for a reason. I waited for my daughter, my Sage. God designed her to be mine and knew the moment I would hold her. Just as He knew that Monte would meet her little angel in Kazakhstan and Sheila her gift in China during this summer of 2009. His plans are perfect.

All this sweet baby adoption news... Good thing I am barely keeping my sanity with the 5 I have or Mark would be in some serious trouble! ;-)

**Just in case you wonder, with a Kaz adoption, you fly over for a month and during that time you are matched.

Congratulations Monte!! I am so happy for you and can't wait!!

Maverys heart Check

We went Tuesday to see Maverys cardiologist. We did get her to lay on the table with out me this time so that was progress. But wow, this echo took over an HOUR to do and by the end she was tired of m & ms even which for Mavery is a big deal! You can see we also took Sage, the doctor said he wanted to see her. Yeah, she is cute isn't she now where is the babysitting for the rest of the time! ;-) Actually both girls did pretty well considering how long it took. The worst part is that after the echo is when the doctor is talking and by that point, I hear nothing but blah blah blah blah covered with little girly squeals. What I did get is that things have not really changed, if anything they are a little worse. So, they will do another heart catheterization and put a stent in to open up the artery into her lung. He is hopeful that after this we will be done. He promised me they would not do the same medication they did on the first cath, I told him if he does he is taking her home afterwards! This will be done on June 4th at Childrens and they told us we will have to stay the night this time. I feel much more peaceful this time and just ready to have it behind us. A cath seems like nothing after open heart surgery and we just want her heart to be fixed.

Happy Mothers Day 2009

For mothers day this year I took our moms to The Blue Owl in Kimmswick, Mo. It is a cute girly place with amazing desserts. Snickers pie, yum! Amy took her mother in law (my aunt) also. There are lots of cute shops around it and I wish we had been able to shop more. I am very thankful for our mothers and the christian heritage they have passed down. I got lots of goodies made by the kids along with breakfast in bed so that was a treat! I feel very blessed that I am able to be the mommy to all of these amazing children. My heart is full of thoughts this week of 2 mamas in China and I am forever thankful for them.

Tooth Fairy Finally Visits Malaine!

She has waited patiently and wiggled away and she has FINALLY lost a tooth! She is really really wanting Kit (the American Girl doll) and is trying to figure out how many teeth it would take to buy her! ;-)

Our Sageness

See the girl?

See the chair?

Yep the chair that is balanced on top of the table?

And what you can't see is that right behind the chair is the stairs that go to the basement.

Also what you can't see is the fact that the girl was standing on the chair/ hanging in the closet that is in front of the table because

"I just want to get my dress down so I can be a princess".

Sigh....

Soccer & Preschool

Last month our local soccer house offered a free morning of soccer for preschoolers. This is where Sawyer attended pre-school and just a few minutes from the house. We took Sage & Mavery for a morning of exercise! While there I began talking to the director about preschool and my crazy little girls. We were not planning to send them for another year, but seeing how much fun they were having on that soccer field had me thinking. Then, the director calls and offers me such a sweet deal to send them we could not resist. What a blessing when some see that having doubles is EXPENSIVE! So, in September the girls will begin attending preschool 4 days a week for 3 hours. The great thing there is that they will get tumbling, soccer & karate during the class which will be perfect for Mavery. And Sage if you know Sage and her energy. All of Maverys doctors have agreed that getting her into preschool will be a very very good thing to have that routine. And it will be a HUGE help for me to homeschool the oldest 3 during that time. So crazy to think my babies are old enough to go to school! Kind of sad. And yet it kind of makes me happy! ;-)

Awana Commencement

This just shows how far behind I am on blogging only a gazillion to catch up on. This was back at the Awana Commencement in April. Awana is such a great program. Think girl/boy scouts but instead of doing things to earn a badge, you are memorizing scripture to earn a badge. I am especially amazed at all the adults that are willing to serve every week with all the children. THANK YOU for serving. As you can see, Sage kept busy with Grammys camera. Whatever it takes to get them quiet.