Spring Sports Sensation

Spring feaver is in the air! I have been on a serious school countdown this year. It starts when I leave for work in the morning, and I say to Landon, "26 school days left until Mommy gets to stay home with you every day!" And, then an hour or so later when I remind my students how many days of school are left (followed up by a short speach about finishing the race strong...just like one of my favorite teachers always said to me), assuring them that I love coming to teach them everyday, but that I am probably just as excited as they are to have the summer off!  (Sidenote here...I am in full NJ ASK prep mode and have used the alliterative title strategy on purpose...I can NOT WAIT for this coming week's testing to be OVER!! Personally, it's the least favorite part of my job, and I am now dreaming about the NJ ASK ...okay, I'm done my rant) ;)

We have been super busy around here lately. It seems like there is some event we need to be at 4 out of 5 nights of the week. At least 2 nights each week, we go to our church softball team's games. Greg is the coach (and player), and Uncle Chris plays too! Then, we have Cubbies on Wednesdays, and soccer on Fridays/Wednesdays. Not to mention I try to run with the boys 2-3 days after school as well. That all adds up to busy week, and neglected housework. :/ I am trying to remember the advice a wise friend and mentor has given to me.... "The housework and laundry will always be there...your little ones will not." That being said, I am taking advantage of the good weather, and really enjoying spending time with the boys!

Landon considers himself one of the players. He watches most (if not all) of the game, and even runs along the fence, down the 3rd base line as each batter runs to first. It is so cute to watch! I had to talk to him about trying to stay in the spectator area more, and giving the players more space over by their bench. I guess my lecture got through at some level: One of the players decided to come sit on the bleachers to take a breather (luckily, it was one of my best friends' husband), and Landon goes over, and yells at him, saying, "No sit here! Spectators sit here! Players need to sit on players bench!" Needless to say, the entire specator area broke into laughter, and Mr. Jason moved back to "his spot." :-)  Landon's infatuation with the softball players doesn't stay on the field. He refers to them all the time. "Players don't eat dinner, mom." or "Players no do time out." I've had to turn things like that into my benefit...."Landon, players can't go to the game unless they eat all their vegetables. They need to be strong to hit the ball reaaalllly far." (so far, "the players" motivational strategy is working!)

As you can see, Landon has made a few friends on his soccer team!

Um, Landon... it's soccer, not hockey, dude! ;)

Whatever it takes!

My handsome spectator!

Breakfast date with Aunt Wawa at CFA!! :)

The monkey I go bananas over!

(stolen borrowed from Aunt Faith)

A fun trip to the zoo with our cousins!!!

Yes, I am crazy taking 6 kids to the zoo. Couldn't have done it without you, Hannah! :)

Ready to run with Mommy and Aunt Sarah

Ethan now zooms around in his walker!

 He is constantly bumping into Dakota (poor puppy girl!) and over my toes! He loves to stop and stare up at the refrigerator at all the pictures of our family. He also likes to push the bottom drawer of the dishwasher in and out too!

That's all for tonight, folks... this tired mama needs her sleep!!

Russian Easter Party

This year we were able to go down to Washington, DC for their annual Russian Embassy Easter Party held for Russian adopted children and their families. What a nice way to have Landon meet other Russisan children and experience his cultural heritage.

We drove down with Poppop (Greg's dad) and stopped at good ol' McDonalds around noon for a bite to eat and to feed and change Ethan. After parking in the National Cathedral lot, we walked a couple blocks down to the Embassy of the Russian Federation. We were met at the gate by a couple guards who checked to make sure we were on the list, and we passed through security, saying "Das-vee-dan-ya!" Landon mimicked, as he always does, with "dan-ya!" which got a half smile from one of the men. :)

Once inside, we found the rooms to be very formal, with marble flooring, and art of many kinds depicting various regions of Russia. On the second floor there were different game/play stations set up for the kids to stop at. Although we didn't get in too much game time before the show began, Landon's favorite station was the Lego station. I don't know if it was the size of the table, or because Aidan was there. :)

It was at the Lego table that we found Joy and Anna, and Stacy and Aidan! I have been following their blogs since the beginning of our process. I felt like I knew them already, but it was so nice to be able to finally meet in person! I had the chance to meet Joy at the C4C retreat a month ago, but this time I was able to see her with Anna! :)

The musical show was a combination of adult and children performances. They included vocal, instrumental, and acting (Landon's favorite!) numbers. The play the children put on included a giant, which Landon was very attentive to, because he owned a garden and didn't want the children to play in it. Landon associated this with Peter Rabbit's Mr. Mc Gregor's garden storyline, and therefore, was attentive. I don't know whether it was the 3 hour car ride down that morning, or the fact that the performance was an hour, or just over his head, but Landon didn't want to have anything to do with sitting still through it at all. He just wanted to get up and run around. That made for a fun hour! After the show, we were invited into another room where they had a small luncheon for everyone...sandwich wraps, desserts, fruit, etc. It was very nice! It was during this time that Landon, Anna, and Aidan were able to play together. I loved watching them interact! What a special bond they have! Here are a few pictures from our day of celebration!

The kids are all singing:

"May there always be sunshine, May there always be blue skies,

May there always be mommy, May there always be me!"

Maybe it was who they were singing the song to...or maybe it's just me...but, I got choked up during that song. :) Oh, and the boy on the right with the big, black hair is dressed up as the giant.

Aidan, Anna, and Landon with their "Sunshine"

My new favorite picture of us with Landon :)

A Zoomed in shot of the Moscow portion of the mural- amazing!

Having fun! How sweet is Aidan!

Posing for a group shot outside the Embassy

The National Cathedral

We were back on the road around 4:30, and stopped at CrackerBarrel (thanks, Poppop!) for dinner. We got in around 9:30. It was a long day, but SO worth it! We are absolutely making this event an annual tradition, and would like to extend our DC visit next year. Maybe driving down Friday night and staying overnight, and maybe even visitng the zoo next year! I'm already looking forward to it!

STOP MOM!!!

While pulling out of the church parking lot, taking Landon home from Cubbies on Wednesday night, I hear Landon yell from the backseat, "WAIT A MINUTE MOM, STOP!!!" I calmly reply, "Why, bud, what's wrong?" To which he yells in a panicked voice, "ETHAN DISAPPEARED!" I tried to hold back my laughter while trying to explain, that, no, Ethan had not disappeared. He was home, with Daddy, sleeping in his crib. Being the know-it-all 3 year old that he is, Landon continued to insist that Ethan had disappeared. He even followed up by saying, "Landon sad, mommy. Need to get Landon new baby brudder." Yeah, who's laughing now!?! Not me, that's for sure! Of course, I tell him that he is not getting a new baby brother, and then secretly give God that look that says, "Don't even think about it. I already know how funny you are."

PS- after I hear "Need to get Landon a new baby brudder" at least 3 more times in the car (that's what happens when you ignore a 3 year old...they just keep on repeating themselves until you answer), I finally say, "What would you name your new brother?" And, he says, without any hesitation, "Ezekiel!" haha!!!

Easter Fun!

I wonder if I'm the only one annoyed that I haven't posted any Easter pictures yet. My type A personality sometimes makes me feel like blogging is a job that I haven't gotten to. No, let me re-phrase that...blogging is a relaxing hobby of mine that I haven't gotten a chance to enjoy at all over the past week. But, who's keeping track, anyway? Not that I need an excuse, but I had some technical difficulties. Apparantly, I've reached my google max on uploading pictures to my blogger. I needed to purchase more storage space. We will see how this goes!

Our Easter fun began a couple weeks before Easter Sunday, when we took Landon and Ethan to see the Easter bunny. Landon was very excited, thinking that just like Santa, the Easter bunny took requests. Turns out, he does, and hence, the basket of goodies he received from us, our parents, and other treats from his very generous aunts and uncles who all must think Landon needs more sugar...what were you thinking??? ;)  Good thing I've taught him the rule: "One per day." He says the rule, tries to make me abide by the rule (if only!), but always tries to take more than one, all while repeating "one per day." I think it's safe to say he doesn't truly get the concept. :)

We enjoyed our annual visit to Mommom and Poppops to dye eggs! Landon really has improved over this past year in fine motor and balancing skills. Although he had a few eggs hit the table with a cracking thud, most of them made it safely from the bowl to the cup and back to the carton to dry.

All  by himself!

Mommom and Daddy lending a helping hand

Uncle Chris got home from work just in time to join in the fun!

Even Ethan had a fun time!

I "scored" a bottle!

I'm the overprotective mom who hovers to make sure the eggs are safe. :)



Nana and Landon finding eggs at our church's community Easter egg hunt!

Yes, a car that didn't even work, which was on the property, stole someone's attention!

We spent the day before Easter celebrating with Greg's family. A huge dinner which included some of my favorite annual foods- German Spaetzle, and Matza ball soup! YUM!

Ethan and Aunt Linda! ...love this picture for a special reason!

 These two have something special in common! :)

Landon posing for a picture with the Easter basket he got from Mommom and Poppop

And, then, it was...Easter Sunday!!! Greg had to work 6AM-6PM, so we went to church and spent the rest of the day at my parents house. Good food, and fun times!

Ethan with his Great-Granddad!

An attempt to get a picture with my two boys!

My grandparents with their first two great grandchildren!

Family picture!

An egg hunt at Nana and Grandpop's! This has become an annual tradition!

The next morning...the Easter bunny visited our house. That way Daddy could be with us!

Can you tell how excited someone woke up?!? :)

More eggs to find!!

A boy and his dog... Love! (Sidenote here...since Dakota's leg injury last summer, she can no longer jump into our bed to sleep, so she sleeps in Landon's toddler bed!)

This weekend was filled with fun, celebrating the Russian Easter weekend in Washington DC at the  Russian Embassy. I will be posting soon with those details! :) 

Spring is Here!!

Here are some photos and videos of the fun we've been having so far this Spring!

We've enjoyed...

Warm days outside in the backyard with Daddy while Mommy is at work,

Making Ethan laugh by calling Dakota over to him,

Roller Skating (a first!) with our Awana church friends!

Celebrating Daddy's birthday with Mommom, Poppop, and Grammie,

And....

SOCCER!!!

Thanks, Aunt Faith, for taking all these awesome pictures!! :)

Check out the Paparazzi!

Landon has a huge fan base...eh'hem, I mean...family who come out to support him! :)

What move is this? A jedi move?

Up next....Easter! I'm already REALLY enjoying the Spring Break time off here at home, getting chores done that usually fall by the wayside, and just enjoying a much slower paced daily routine.

Summer is coming!! :)

Special Family Day!!

Today was a very special day for us. We had our court hearing in our local county court for Landon's readoption and for Ethan's finalization. We were blessed to have some of our family there to support us, and to take photos. Here are a few of the pictures that my aunt so graciously took on my camera. I can't wait to see some of the others! :)  The judge and staff did a fantastic job, making the experience very informal and friendly. You could see that these adoption cases are the highlights of their day. I have to admit, the beginning was a little challenging- It was naptime, so Landon was wired in his overtiredness, and Ethan was fussy. Trying to answer the questions our lawyer was asking us trying to keep Landon and Ethan calm and quiet was difficult, but our family stepped in and helped so we could focus on our answers. 

You may wonder...why the defendant?

Perhaps because he assaulted the court official. Just kidding! He happened to be a childhood friend of Greg's who works at our courthouse.

Cheering while looking back at our boys as the judge read us the final decree!

The friendly judge was kind enough to introduce herself to both of our boys.

"Official" family of 4! :)

Sole Hope

One of the really neat organizations I became familiar with at the Created For Care conference last weekend was Sole Hope. This organization was started by an adoptive couple after going to Africa to meet and bring home their child. While there, they saw countless children, and adults as well, who suffered immensely becausue they are not able to wash their feet (there is no water!) and do not have shoes either. Instead of trying to explain what is going on, I will let their videos speak for themselves. You may want to grab a tissue. I've seen these clips a few times, and each time I cry. Sole Hope provides shoes for these children. Not just by sending them over, but by empowering the African women in these villages to make the shoes, thus enabling them to provide for their families as well! A win win! And, on a personal note, I think God is trying to teach me a little more compassion in this very area- somehow I have gotten a splinter, or one of my dog's hairs, stuck deep in my heal over the past week or so. I didn't even know it had happened, and it is now too deep and sore to be taken care of on my own. So, I have to go to the doctor to see if they can get it out for me. As scared as I am for this upcoming appointment, I am trying to focus on the fact that I have so much to be thankful for. Soap, daily shower access, and shoes! ...and a doctor! Sigh. These poor, poor children! :(



May you'd consider hosting a shoe making party, or praying for these children and for the workers of Sole Hope who are working here in the US to do everything they can to bring hope to these children's soles and souls!  Here is a link to their website. They have other videos, and instructions for how to host a shoe cutting party! http://www.solehope.com/