Cuteness abounds!

Its 9:11 and I just put Daniel and Maria to bed....lots of sweet kisses and extra sweet smiles from Maria. She loves having her own special tuck in bed time with Momma and Momma enjoys it greatly. She's had a cough and Babooshka told me to try Vick's salve on her feet to keep her from coughing at night - it worked for two nights - and now Maria thinks that is part of the bed time ritual - perhaps we'll switch to sweet girlie lotion tomorrow.

Daniel didn't really want to go to bed. He was having a good time playing with Reagan and sleeping in Reagan's bed with her in the kitchen. He had a great time playing tonight - with Reagan and with his giraffe puppet. He cracked me up with his giraffe puppet - he put it on the broom handle and had it come eat apples out of Momma's hands, chatting with Maria.....all of that normal stuff giraffes do! No, the camera wasn't handy and I was having way too much fun to get up and find a camera and miss the show! After I put him to bed in Momma's shirt (his favorite sleeping attire - forget the pj's) I went to check on Reagan. He'd left her just fine with the dimmer switch turned to barely on - so she has light but not too much. Momma laughed again - that's my Daniel!

The weekend's off to a great start - so glad we have the weekend to enjoy together!

Aunt Gay Lynn is GREAT!

Momma's feeling quite puny and came home and took a nap for the afternoon. Aunt Gay Lynn picked up Daniel and Maria from school, took them home for chicken and dumplings (way better than what we were going to have I'm sure) and a little playing with Reagan. What a blessing for her to be so willing to help and Daniel and Maria sure do love her and Reagan, too. I miss them though. They may get to stay up late tonight because they aren't home yet and I'm looking foward to seeing them!

Tuesday Update

I'm sometimes bad about blogging during the week, but I've enjoyed today something that happened this morning and I definitely wanted to share it. We turned on a north-south street first thing this morning and I heard Maria saying "pretty". I kept looking at what she was seeing - lots of businesses and nothing I'd call pretty. Then she told me "sun". She was watching the sun rise - and was quite excited about it. The things I take for granted - the sun coming up with pretty clouds all around. She yelled for Daniel and me to enjoy it with her. We both did - and I've been thankful she has eyes to see and enjoy creation all day long.

Aunt Gay Lynn ended up right in front of us on our way home, so we called and ended up going out to eat at Las Palmas (children eat free on Tuesday nights and Gay Lynn knows where all of the deals are). Both of them actually ate some chips (don't usually) and the other new food they tried and liked - sour cream! Both of them liked it and wanted more. Poor Aunt Gay Lynn didn't get any on her fajitas! We can add tamale's, mexican rice, and refried beans to the don't like so much list. Tomorrow night it is back to soup - something I know they'll both eat!

Maria doesn't get the alarm clock concept

At 4 this morning I woke up to see a smiling Maria standing beside my bed. I told her to go to bed - that she had to stay in bed until her clock said 6 and she moved that way. And, Momma went back to trying to sleep. At about 4:30 I heard a bump in their bathroom. I went to check and found lotion (that Mom didn't know was even in there) being generously applied. This time I walked her back to her bed and put her in it - discovered her alarm clock puts stars on her ceiling - and reminded her that she needs to go back to sleep and can get up when her clock says 6 in the first number (yes, she does know that number). At 5:15 I hear another bump and get up to find her sitting in my chair and playing with my laptop - adding something to my favorites. Yes, we still have training to do on the sleep front!

Sunday Update

We managed to have a great day, but left for church and never returned home until after church tonight - a quick supper and off to bed without any complaints but I guess Maria was so tired she fell out of her bed (1st time in a little over a week) and didn't even make a sound - just went to sleep on the floor where she fell on top of her new toy broom - really comfortable spot as best as I could tell!

After church we went to visit some friends that hadn't gotten to meet Daniel and Maria yet. They had toy microphones and we had two stars set to perform. They wanted us to get over so they could sing for us. We obliged, and Mrs. B let them get up on the coffee table so they were really primed for a starring performance. We got multiple renditions of "Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes" - even stopping a couple of times to tell Momma not to sing with them. I knew they loved the song because I WAS the CD player for a while, but it was amazing that they knew every word and that they were happy to sing it so articulately (and with very sweet smiles) for someone they'd just met. I've about decided that neither of my children is shy!

And, another interesting find came after church when Momma decided to whip up a really quick supper to try to stick with their normal bed time. I decided to get out the vienna sausage, crackers, and a banana. Daniel ate the vienna sausage! What a surprise that he passes on turkey, hot dogs, chicken....and eats THAT! I'm thinking that perhaps we're heading toward eating REAL meat.

Its been 3 months!

Yesterday marked 3 months home for Daniel and Maria. Hard to believe how far we've come in that length of time - I'm not sure I had expectations of what life would be like by now, but I do know I pictured it all wrong. Reality is they're speaking a lot of English to me, others, and even each other. They're way closer to each other than I would've expected, but we deal with some of the same issues that I think all families deal with on siblings. I can say without any doubt life is so much better having Daniel and Maria as my children than it was before - good different. I can't imagine them still sitting over in the Detskey Dome - not when they're loved so much here!

A new punishment perhaps?

Daniel comes crying into the kitchen. Maria comes following quickly behind him and goes to sit in time out. Daniel was coloring and Maria came up and hit him on the arm - a real capital offense if you're messing up his picture. Maria sat down and said that she liked time out, so perhaps we'll be finding a new punishment - Daniel might have a few less bruises if she likes it too much.

It was supposed to rain today, but it looks like it isn't going to now, so we're off to the zoo. When I heard hippopotamus at the store the other day I decided they might like to see some real ones. It should be fun!

Stud Finder and Haircut Updates

I figured stud finder would be a more fun title, but we've had a great time with new haircuts last night. There's a kid haircut place called Snipits here that has cartoons and fun stuff all around. Daniel had asked to get his hair cut - just didn't want it almost shaved like at the orphanage. He got a cool do that he can spike up in the front. Momma immediately was concerned taht she might not know how to do it, but he clearly was pleased. I'm not sure why I worried because when I did it wrong this morning before school he let me know I'd done it wrong and quickly fixed it proudly just like the lady had done last night! Momma will learn how from Daniel I expect!

Maria just got a trim - we're really trying to get hers to grow out but wanted to get it neatened up a bit. I looked up and she had a single ponytail on top sort of tilted to one side with a cute pink bow on it. This was while Daniel was getting his hair done - two stylists creates some minor issues. Anyway, Maria was delighted and Momma's hoping that the ponytail wasn't to cover up a bad haircut or something. It was interesting that neither stylist really asked what MOMMA wanted and while Maria and Daniel are learning English fairly well I doubt that they were able to give instructions that they people that don't know them well could understand. It was fun - and I got in my aerobics switching between watching excited children.

We stopped off last night to get two new alarm clocks so that Momma can get some sleep. Daniel and Maria will have alarm clocks to tell them not that they have to get up but when they CAN get up. Didn't work perfectly on night one - Maria was up at 2 and sent back to her room. Daniel made it to 4 AM. Both went back to sleep and Mom did, too. So, hopes are high for an end soon to the waking up too early stuff. I'm not sure what happened because they'd been sleeping until an almost normal time but that is not the case this week! Momma will be ready for a weekend chance to catch up on a little R&R (ha ha - even I don't believe that!!).

Now, for the stud finder story. This morning Daniel found the stud finder that I'd stuck up high after hanging some pictures. Obviously it wasn't high enough. I showed him how to use it this morning before school and he checked out quite a few walls. We got in tonight and he picked up right where he left off this morning. I can almost tell you where every stud is in the whole house. He really enjoyed checking it out and getting the beeps and we knocked on the walls to hear the sound difference where the studs are as well. I can't believe that I've got a young engineer (or contractor perhaps) living in my house - I'll get to really explain what I do for work to somebody that will enjoy it soon. It thrills me to see how curious he is.

Maria is not quite so interested in that stuff....she looks to be headed for a career as a vet or pet groomer perhaps! We went to Pet Smart tonight and enjoyed playing with Reagan (their dog cousin per Aunt Gay Lynn - and about as close as they'll and some other people's dogs, the fish, rats, and more fish. Who knew that a place like that could provide such great places to work on English - we're trying to learn over, under, top, bottom, beside....so while they were quite entertained we were learning the connecting to words to this great vocabulary they were learning.

Raise your hand!

We're working on our after work routine to get dinner, baths, and a little fun time. Tonight we did our baths while dinner was on the stove - soup and pasta again since it worked so well last night. I even added vegetable pasta tonight and Daniel ate it, too - and not even in his tomato soup. The goldfish are definitely the secret ingredient to getting him to eat his soup - and I discovered it by accident when I ran out of plain old crackers!

While we were waiting for Daniel to finish his second whole bowl of soup, Maria and I started playing a game I invented - Raise your Hand. I decided to see if I could find out what she liked and didn't like - I knew there wasn't much in the way that she won't eat under certain conditions (Daniel doesn't say yuck before she tries it). Anyway, Momma gets to ask a question "Raise your hand if you like......" I started out with easy stuff and I realized they'd really rather raise their hand than not! I probably need to remind Daniel about some of the stuff he said he liked - even meat and it won't cross his lips! Perhaps he likes the idea of it, but the execution isn't there yet. Reagan (Aunt Gay Lynn's dog) definitely got two hands raised....... No. I didn't find any new foods that Maria doesn't like - she raised her hand on everything - even Reagan's dog food! And, I'm guessing that was probably not a wrong or untrue answer - she loves to feed it to Reagan! But, they loved this game and we'll play it again. I got all kinds of kisses in the middle when I said stuff they really liked! Momma loves this game, too!!

It sure is interesting to see that God put a budding young engineer in my home. This morning on the way to school I was showing Daniel a road construction project and sort of explained what they were doing and that Momma shows them how to build things like that project. He's always liked big machines, but he was particuliarly interested today. He asked me to pull over so he could watch. We didn't have time, but I really laughed when he wanted me to stop right then and there so he could see (and he didn't particularly want me to pull over). We'll plan it in our day soon (you can do it when you wake up at 4:30!), but since it was at the intersection of Coursey and Sherwood Forest I didn't think it was such a good idea to stop just right then and there. It is so fun to be able to have conversations with Daniel and Maria. Who'd have thought we could speak/sign and understand each other so well at 3 months!!

Daniel and Maria's day off

My parents came to help Aunt Gay Lynn with some projects and Gay Lynn had already volunteered to babysit while I had to work for the MLK holiday. We got their small sized hoe, rakes, and shovels and jeans on and off they went. Apparently they're champion weed pickers and brick stackers. The yard looked great - and they sounded like they had great fun playing/working with their grandparents and aunt.


I hate just having a couple of hours with Daniel and Maria like we do on school nights. Tonight I had to put 'em right into the bathtub because they were filthy from all of the fun at Aunt Gay Lynn's. They love playing in the tub still and Maria has the most well rinsed hair you've ever seen. Daniel played "Momma" and poured water over her hair WAY more than Momma ever does, but what can I do....he was the "Momma" tonight?!? Ok.....I was laughing and enjoying the show....and Maria was a very willing participant (now, why does she always yell for a towel when I do it?!).


We tried tomato soup over pasta as Peggy suggested. Maria loved it just like that and her eyes told the story. Daniel liked it, but he still wanted his goldfish in it....didn't you know that goldfish liked to be eaten in soup? He negotiated with Maria to get some of hers when Momma wouldn't give him any more.

Guess they slept great after the hard day of play, but they still woke up at 4:30 this morning ready to go. We must work on that!! I act like I hate it, but I really don't too much unless it gets earlier than that. I'm an early riser and they wake up awfully happy and ready to go. We have two hours to enjoy together before school this way.....Momma just needs to go to bed when they do!

My big girl's in her new bed

Maria is rocking and singing to herself in her new bed - hopefully well on her way to her new bed. Its been a fun day...thought I'd share a little of the fun:

1) Been meaning to mention that Daniel has learned sign language from Carson. Last Sunday they were talking about signing and Daniel piped in with his "more" doing it exactly like Carson. He's been doing it all week for more.....more goldfish.....more volume on the TV.....more kisses. He doesn't miss a thing!

2) In the Daniel doesn't miss a thing, we'd been over at our friends, the Luke's, two weeks ago. When we went back today Daniel immediately went and turned on their fireplace and wanted to roast marshmallows. If you don't want him to remember something forever, don't let him see it!

3) Daniel loves his sister to be with him. Maria was playing with the Lukes while he went to his friend's birthday party. He did not want to go and cried all of the way over there. He was instantly cured when he saw the jumpy thing in the back yard of his friend. It ended up being a good chance for him to learn to trust his mom to always go back and get he and Maria. There's no way I'd leave them for long. I'd miss them way too much. I keep going back to that same spiritual lesson from them on this. God has such good plans for his children yet how often I want to fight with Him over it wanting to do what I want to do right then. I had really good plans for Daniel for the afternoon yet he couldn't trust. When will we both learn to trust!

4) Maria is so fine with playing with Momma's friends and their dogs! And, she's an entirely different child when Daniel's not around. She's a content little girl - with Daniel or without...playing by herself or with cousins or friends. Its neat to see that she pretty much came here being herself. I love it!

Wacky Wednesday Pictures

Here are a few pictures from Wacky Wednesday. Daniel definitely wanted to wear one of Momma's shirts. How could I put him in anything but a Tech shirt? Think I forgot to put it on Wednesday, but we tried going out to eat at a local Chinese place - mostly carry out. We tried quite a few things since I started out knowing that Daniel liked plain rice and sweet and sour sauce. As the pictures show he really likes sweet and sour sauce - drinking it like soup. And, Maria definitely was a fan of the egg rolls - solid cabbage. As it turns out, as is usual, Maria tried a few new things and Daniel......not so much. That had to be the most fun day we had this week.

We have Maria's new bed. I was disappointed to find out that I'm going to have to rearrange the room to make it look right (ah - no pictures) because it is really a big bed. Daniel are both in there playing "boolit" - sick. Maria's new bed is sick bay! Off to another fun weekend!

Note to self.....

......Santa Claus brought my young musicians each a CD player. After having had to sing "Head and Shoulders Knees and Toes" incessantly with Daniel and Maria for the last week without any CD in the player (they quickly wiped out with messy fingers the ones that Santa brought) I ordered another couple of CDs. I put it on the player in Maria's room and quickly discovered that it was time to dance, do motions, and everything else they could think of. This WAS supposed to be wind down time. Now they went to get the electric guitar to supplement their musical abilities....oh - and we had to totally clear the floor for dancing (one way to get the room to stay clean I suppose).

Its an hour until bedtime. I'm hoping that they'll want to come sit with Momma in the living room and chil out a bit....so far that hasn't happened. It WILL here in a few minutes....it is time to wind down! Its fun to be able to ask questions about what is new to them now. They never "danced" before they came to America - so this is a new experience. They love doing songs with motions or going in circles, etc.. Momma definitely needs to expand her repertoire as I feel like I'm a CD player with a repeat button - one they don't mind pushing repeatedly. Oh yes, it is fun though!! I do enjoy singing and playing with them!

Lots of Successes today!

One of these days, Momma is going to learn that there is no need and nothing to gain from worrying about things. I'd worried about separating Daniel and Maria. Did I ever worry for nothing - and I'm already seeing some benefits. Daniel's been quite creative with his play - tonight we had a puppet show while he played the harmonica with his red rubber boots on. If he hadn't had on such ugly pajamas and if it wasn't wind down time for a ham (momma's fault on the jammies) I'd have definitely needed to have pictures. No. He didn't do that when it was the playroom - not sure why, but he didn't. Maria still enjoyed finishing out the day in Momma's lap in the rocker and we both enjoy that time virtually every night.

I'll have to add a picture later... too tired tonight, but too fun not to share. Today was Wacky Wednesday at preschool for Daniel. I'd had to ask what they were supposed to do and heard that it was really a child directed thing from a book they read, but that some were going to wear shirts wrong side out, mismatched shoes, etc. I asked Daniel what he was going to do really expecting that he didn't understand. He responded quickly that he was was going to wear one of my shirts. He wore one of my Tech shirts over his clothes, and I'm sure he was the proudest little guy in his class. Hard to believe in less than 3 months he's picked up English so much that he knows when they're having fun in his class and how to participate.

What an encouraging week it has been!

Gotta Tell One on Daniel

The night went GREAT for them in their separate rooms. This morning all was completely normal......at least until......
We were eating breakfast and I remembered a last minute something in the back. When I came back I was surprised to see Daniel laying on the sofa and Maria saying "boolit" - Sick! Daniel quickly got up and showed me his secret hiding place (you know you have to hide stuff so Maria can't take it!) where there was a McDonald's Chocolate Milk container. That'd be nice to have chocolate milk with breakfast, but that had been in his secret stash since Sunday afternoon! No wonder it was sickening - I'd gag, too! I poured it out and it was solid clabber....chocolate buttermilk. I had a brand new container of chocolate milk in the refrigerator and poured him a glass. He was not interested. Some M&M's did a fine job of masking the yuckiness!

First night is a success!

Momma is excited to report that Daniel and Maria both were asleep in only a few minutes in their own rooms. Daniel was actually excited to have his own room. His room is the old playroom so we will definitely have to learn how to sleep in rooms that now contain toys! I had to go in and take a couple of toys away from Daniel but Maria didn't seem to want to play with her toys when it was time to sleep. As usual the issues that I think are going to be big deals are not. Maria definitely noticed the difference because she went back to rocking herself to sleep - hopefully it is a one night thing. Both Daniel and Maria rock 1% of what they did when they came home - something that is reducing as they have a loving home and feel secure in it.

Daniel and Maria have separate rooms

I'd expected it to last a little longer, but Daniel and Maria now have separate bedrooms. Maria's got a new bed coming on Saturday. Our doctor recommended separating them so the new bed is the perfect "reason". They have an unbelievably close relationship, but they need a little space to grow and be individuals. I'll be surprised if there aren't tears at bedtime tonight - they're just so close and love being together!

Momma had a day to do it unexpectedly because Maria made the mistake of throwing up at school - which means she get's to (ok, has to) stay home the next day. She was the healthiest sick child I've ever seen - she came home and ate everything in sight. Think she had a cough that caused her to throw up - at least that's Dr. Mom's hypothesis. So, making the best of the situation I took Daniel on to school. He went in crying for Maria, but they called and let me know that he didn't seem to like not having her there but he was tolerating it. They're not even in the same class, but Daniel definitley seems to like knowing Maria's whereabouts at all times.

All of the furniture is moved - now it is sorting whose toys and books go where. This is going to be fun to get in some sort of order before we get to go pick up Daniel. He'll be so surprised!

As days go this was a good one....

Today was another good one. I love weekends and all of the time we get to spend together.

This morning we played for a couple of hours before church. Daniel snuck away from the toys and went and colored an armadillo. He's been doing that the last few days. And, it is amazing how much better he's doing at staying in the lines. I don't believe he'd really ever colored before coming home from the orphanage.

After church we attempted very unsuccessfully to take a nap because Momma had been dying about to fall asleep in church. Oh well, Momma will adjust one of these days.

We went bicycle riding and then went to a neighborhood park for the most adventure of the day. I'd spotted this park on the way to church and thought we'd check it out. It was great but I've never seen people there. They have the best slide we've seen and Daniel and Maria were overwhelming with their "Thank you , Momma's" when we drove up. We had been playing about 10 minutes when I heard what sounded like gunfire. Decent neighborhood here so I'm thinking car backfiring. After about 3-4 shots I decided it wasn't a car backfiring. Then, I heard a very loud "Go home". At that point, I'm "Daniel, Maria, let's go". And, I don't think the'd heard the shots, but they came right along when they heard the urgency in my voice. This was NOT something I expected to have to deal with. I called 911 and will have to give y'all the verdict later. I'm not sure if it was someone shooting to try to get an animal to go away or just a neighbor that doesn't like visitors to the park. Either way, we'll be missing this park, but I naturally must know what happened. I was so pleased with how fast they responded. When we got back to the car they did say that they didn't want to go home, but they were just normal children responding appropriately - and they've only been home 2 1/2 months! They're amazing me! Their English is coming right along.

Momma is tired of fixing supper and having Daniel eat none of it. Tonight I decided to try tomato soup since Daniel loves ketsup so much. Daniel loved it. And, when I ran out of crackers to put in it, he was perfectly content to have goldfish swimming in his soup.

Here's a little story that I have to record so I don't forget for Maria. Y'all be sure and don't tell her or pick at her about it, but Momma did have to laugh. For the last few weeks, they've both been "Baby Jesus" all over the place. Maria's been saying "babies" a lot, too. It seemed weird because she was never holding a doll when she said it. I thought she wanted to be the doll and I know I've even picked up and held my baby when she did. Tonight getting them ready for bed she pointed to her "babies". She's got a pair of them on her chest - and she pointed to mine as well. I had to laugh at how many misunderstandings I had on that one!

I love the weekends!!

Started to title this one - thought I had a son and a daughter. This morning I thought I had two boys. After the rain, we went for a bike ride, then came back to play with sidewalk paint and chalk. Daniel and Maria both poured their paint after a few strokes and experimented every sort of way with hands and feet in it - at some point we were on to snow angel style painting....of course, all the while with Maria still in bicycle helmet. Yes, I have pictures. We had a picnic outside and it was a half to come inside and leave their clothes at the door. They were a mess. I'm pretty sure I NEVER got that dirty as a child - at least I don't remember it, but it is getting to be a couple of decades ago (no laughter from the peanut gallery!). They headed straight for the bathtub and the green went straight through to Daniel's knees....and the water turned green, too!

We're going to give up on naps on weekends because it just isn't something they'll do. So, we're watching a little TV to give Momma some rest....watch 'em ask for a nap....I can hope, huh?!?

Need some creative food ideas

Daniel really doesn't eat much - he'd rather play and stuff. I'm trying to be more creative with my presentation. Last night we had a snowman supper - a face of mashed potatoes w/ pieces of hot dog for the eyes and mouth, a piece of string cheese for the nose, and ketsup for the ears (I know it isn't much for the ears, but he will just lick ketsup up with his finger and I did want him to at least have something he liked on his plate). Anyway, he tried the string cheese and liked it and requested more, so there was some progress. I'm trying to think of creative ways to get him to eat more foods - he might find he likes some. We tried string cheese with our breakfast and Maria wanted hers cut up like a nose, but Daniel wanted his whole but .....didn't eat it. As they say, it is all in the presentation (or how hungry you are) I guess.

Daniel eats and is pretty much maintaining his weight, but it is with ZERO meat, plenty of yogurt, bananas, crackers, and a few other things. Oh, to be way more interested in other stuff than eating like Daniel is!! Won't be too bad if he keeps eating to live instead of what most people here do - live to eat!!

I'd love your ideas for fun food presentations! I know Aunt Gay Lynn can probably help us with a Mickey cutout or two. Hmmmmm.......

Sleep Patterns.....Momma was Stupid!!

Tuesday night Maria was so excited that she couldn't sleep. It came from a good thing....we'd had a great evening that night and she was clearly too excited to sleep. She came to lay on the couch, wandered around, and about 2:30 or 3 I finally gave her some benadryl and she finally went to sleep in my bed. Bad mistake!!!!!! The next night, she was so excited that she didn't have any trouble sleeping but her cohort, Daniel, woke up at 5 and and came to sleep with Momma....something they've not gotten away with until this week for 2 months! I was already awake, so I let him get in bed with me, he fell asleep, and I got up for the day. Tonight, I decided to give them a break from their melatonin for the weekend. How stupid! We've been in and out of bed for the past hour and a half. I went and got the melatonin but they're still not asleep. Momma has learned her lesson. We WILL be sticking with our bedtime routine and there will be no sleeping in Momma's bed! Sure hope the consequences of a moment of weakness don't last too long!!!

I'm so glad the weekend is here. We get so much more time to play together. I'm disappointed that rain is in the forecast since they love to play outside and ride bikes. Sure hope that they'll be sleeping a lot later since they're going to be late. I'm not a fan of their very early wakeup times on the weekends anyway, so we shall see.

A few tidbits from getting back to regular life

It was nice to get back to our regular schedule for school. Daniel and Maria both seemed to have a good day, but Daniel did come home with a Maria inflicted scratch on the face. Somehow when Daniel gets scratched all of those around when it happens say he deserved it for tormenting Maria. I'd say she gets her money's worth when she's had enough from the two times I've seen results of "enough". Somehow I've not ever been around for payback. Perhaps we'd better cut those nails. They do play rough but quite happily most of the time. It is fun to watch.

Last night after being eaten out of house and yogurt, I had to resort to the large plain container that was originally purchased for my health conscious mother who never ate it. I put a couple of M&M's in it to make it tolerable for them knowing I couldn't imagine eating it at all! Who knew I was messing it up for Maria? She left the M&M's and ate the yogurt. Daniel loves the yogurt and the M&M's. We had to have yogurt again tonight with soup for supper (saved a grocery store visit after work!). Maria's was just plain old plain old and she was only too happy to eat it. Daniel wanted the special treat again in his.

Dinner is more fun all of the time - getting a bit less wild. They both have learned "God is great. God is good......" and love doing our blessing multiple times. We had a little conversation in English tonight with .....a lot of happy smiles. Maria was just full of smiles and you could tell she was exuding joy. They often come whisper "Amen" after the blessing in my ear. Tonight she was about to bust and I figured that she was coming to whisper "Amen" 10 minutes after the blessing. But, after a couple of deep breaths where she couldn't express what she wanted to say, she gave me the sweetest kiss on the cheek and went back to her chair smiling ever so sweetly. Think she said it loud and clear - she's a happy little girl feeling pretty blessed to have a home. Her momma feels the same way about Daniel and Maria. I'm so grateful God called me to this....and with such special children!!

Rain rain go away

Definitely a rainy yucky day here. So, we went to Skate Galaxy today - knowing they had an indoor playground and I thought we'd see if they were interested in skating. Maria not so much on the skating, but Daniel was fairly pleased with himself. He fell.....a lot....but he kept at it until he was pretty decent skating on the carpet (the hard surface is totally another animal). But, they loved the indoor playground. It was by far the biggest they've played on and I'm guessing they never even knew such as that existed!

Maria had wanted to swing in our backyard today and was definitely not interested in going any place else....cried all the way to Skate Galaxy. Knowing that they were going some place way better than our backyard and knowing that the rain wasn't leaving our backyard a fun place to play, I wish that Maria trusted me more.....that I want to give her good things. I couldn't help but wonder how often my heavenly Father thinks the same thing about me. I've heard children teach you a lot of spiritual lessons and that was mine today. It wasn't the first for sure.

Whoever said that you have to be quiet to fish?

Today we had a fun day. Daniel and Maria were up and ready to play at 6 AM - on New Year's Day.....there ought to be a law. They wanted to watch a movie, so we watched Horton. We had a fun morning and then went to our friends, the Luke's for the traditional New Year's lunch. From there the fun really began as you can see from the pictures.

Daniel and Maria roasted marshmallows in the fireplace, played with Tiga and Tundra (their dogs) and then we went out for the real fun - fishing! There were only two small fish caught by the noisiest one in the bunch - Daniel. There's no possible way that he could've had a happier look on his face when he caught it - I'm just sorry I didn't get that one on film! He was thrilled. They weren't big fish but they were his - fairly stupid fish because his pole went in the water almost as often as the bait. And, he'd had to yell for the fish to come a couple of times as well.

From there Tyler and Justin did a bit of a fireworks exhibition - it was daylight so there was definitely more noise than beauty with these. And, we even blew up a bit of our can of corn bait from fishing. Daniel especially was entertained.

Maria didn't catch a fish, but I don't think she enjoyed the afternoon any less. This was a fun day. Its so nice now that Daniel and Maria are understanding lots more English and are really responding well enough to instructions to be able to do some more things. It is so much fun to see them experience new things!