Maya

After a very rough couple of weeks, Maya and I needed some serious mommy-daughter bonding time.  We snuck away this afternoon while Michael took a nap with Milo and Charlotte, and it was exactly what we needed.  Our "date" started with a trip to Once Upon a Child to find a shirt she needed, then to Kohl's to return a dress that Charlotte had gotten and find something to replace it, then to Starbuck's.  Maya chose Starbuck's because she just wanted to sit and talk to me :-)  She said that we didn't even need to get a drink or anything but I think she knows me well enough to know we'd be getting something to share!  We talked about school, which has been a fairly significant part of our struggles lately, and she said that schoolwork just isn't fun.  I have tried many times to explain to her that my job as a mommy is to do x, y and z, and her job as a kid is to pick up her toys, play, and do her schoolwork.  Today I asked what she would prefer to do instead, and she told me that she'd rather just practice ballet all day, or maybe jump on her bed for 2 hours (she said that after 2 hours she'd probably be too tired to keep jumping).  Fair enough; maybe in tomorrow's lesson plan I'll add in a bit of time for practicing ballet and bed-jumping ;)

Pictures from our date :)

Maya was trying to be *such* a big girl at Starbuck's, but after sitting and talking with me for 15 or 20 minutes she started getting a little wiggly.  I had been taking random pictures throughout, but I think she caught on that I was trying to capture her wiggliness and then started making silly faces.  Oh to be 5 years old :)

 

 

Maya and Isabella shared a private silly moment before "Family Night of Worship" at church

Hello World!

Welcome to my new blog!  I am so, so excited to announce that Michael and I are embarking on the journey of international adoption.  God has called our family to adopt a baby/toddler from Ethiopia, and I am feeling so many emotions about the process; overwhelmed, excited, joyous, terrified, and just in awe.  I truly believe that adoption is a calling from God, and cannot wait to see how His plan unfolds.  Click on the tabs above to learn more about our family, about why we've chosen to adopt, and how you can help.

Though we are only just now revealing this to the blogosphere, Michael and I have been thinking, praying, and talking about adoption for the past several months.  God has already taught me so much and grown my faith and opened my eyes and heart to people I have never even met.  I'm hoping to use this blog to both share our journey with others, and to have a record of the way God is working in our family.

Science Center

Some friends and I took a gaggle of kiddos to the Great Lakes Science Center last week.  Except for the employees, we were almost the only people in the building!  It was nice to let the kids run a bit freer than normal :)

This morning we had a mini-Valentine's Day party for our playgroup.  It was probably the most low-key, relaxed "party" ever :)  I threw some craft supplies on the table and cut up some strawberries, boom, done.  Maya didn't care that I put in such little effort ~ in fact she even got up early to "organize" the supplies!  The kids had fun and mostly just ran around the house like they do every week at playgroup, so I'd call it a success :)

I spent the rest of the morning/afternoon cleaning up after the party, feeding the kids, taking Maya to Story Time, helping Charlotte address her valentines for preschool, and doing schoolwork with Maya.  This morning Milo accidentally discovered that we get PBS Kids, and I am utilizing that right now to get a bit of quiet before the dinner/dance party/bedtime rush begins :)