Home again!

We got back from Seattle and the Washington Coast 2 days ago. We were treated to this fantastic vacation by my dad, and what a great trip we had. The kids got to meet and spend time with Grandpa (my dad), LeLe (my step-mom) and their Aunt and Uncle. Their Aunt Lyssa is 10 and their Uncle Trystan is 12... we had a blast! My sister and her boyfriend joined us for part of it and the kids are always so happy to see Rebecca. It is always fun to hear her take on the kids and how much their English has improved since our flight home from Ethiopia. It was so much fun spending time with everyone and the kids got along really well!

Yesterday we helped Grandma and Grandpa (the ones that live here in Kennewick) with a going away party for a friend from church. The kids were so cute and helped carry food, chairs, tables and drinks for the guests. Addy was sad that she didn't have a job so she was in charge of greeting people and saying, "thanks for coming". The girls all wore their matching dresses that our friend Alyssa made them. They looked so stinkin' cute!

Today Marti (she has requested that she be called Marti (pronounced Mar-Tee) from now on) had her first soccer game. She played so well and was graceful and FAST! It was fun to watch her play. Jacob, Danny and Lilly all played today too. They were fun to watch and won their game 7-0.

We have had such a fabulous week and now we prepare for school starting! I cannot believe our summer has come to an end. We finished school supply shopping ($180 later) and will finish our clothes shopping this weekend (along with every other family in the world). I will do my yearly before-school-starts interview with each of the kids this week too. Every year since Danny was 3 and starting pre-school I have "interviewed" him about important things. I love how his answers have changed over the years. It will be fun to do this with all 5 of the "big kids" this week. I can't wait to see their answers!

Next week all the kids will have their Home Visits with their teachers from school. It will be fun to spend time watching the kids interact with their teachers. We are super excited about the teachers each of kids has this year. We feel like God picked them out just for our kids :).

The last few weeks have been really hard on our kids. The "Honeymoon Phase" is definitely over and although things are still really good everyone is trying out their limits and their roles in the house. The kids are really missing Ethiopia and the way life used to be. We have had several tears (from me too) but we are getting through it and will surely be a stronger family for it! We would appreciate your prayers during this transition back to school and as we move through this more difficult phase of adjustment.

Well... I better go make lunch and get the kids ready for a birthday party for one of their best friends! Have a great weekend!

Love,
Brooke

Letters Home

Tonight I wrote a letter to Mesalech. We are sending it with a group from AWOP that is traveling to Sodo next week. They are taking letters from us and the kids, pictures, and sponsorship packages so that we can sponsor Mesalech and the boys. We (actually from my sister mostly) will begin sending money each month that will help pay for medecines, job training and food so that her burdens will be lightened. I am so thankful for this opportunity to support her and the boys. After being there and seeing what it takes to survive, I am glad we can help a little.

What did I write in the letter... all the things I would want to know if my kids were somewhere else. Are they healthy, growing, happy? Are they reading their Bibles? Are they being good? I told her all about the fun experiences they are having too. The swimming, school, sports, birthdays, vacations... all the important stuff. We are sending almost 50 pictures of the kids along with the letters. Pictures of them goofing off with their siblings as well as pictures that show they are happy. I wonder what she will think? I hope that the tears she will probably shed will be from relief at knowing they are well not because the letters will cause her to hurt all over again.

There are so many different philosphies on this part of adoption. I never expected that I would be such a supporter of the communication that we have had. But I truly believe it has made all the difference in our kids adjustment and bonding. Does it hurt sometimes? Sure. The other night Jacob got out of bed and was asking Marta for a picture of "his mom". He wasn't talking about me. My heart skipped a beat and then we walked hand in hand downstairs where we found the picture he wanted. He told me all about Mesalech's kisses and spankings. He told me that he missed her and that she was beautiful. He told me that she wore a scarf in her hair most days. I think he was forgetting her... being able to talk about her and look at her picture calmed him and he went to sleep happy.

Summer Blues

Right now I am sitting in a class (well we are actually on a break) learning about the new math standards. I am excited to see that the new standards are have more depth to them at each grade level so that we don't feel like we are always having to teach everything every year. This is good.

I am so sad that school is almost starting. As much as I love the first day of school, I guess I love summer more. I love way everyone wakes up slowly in the morning and the relaxed feel of the day. Oh well. All good things must come to an end.

The kids are all sad that school is still 3 weeks away. They would be happy to start tomorrow. We will be setting a new record at Bethlehem. We will have 5 siblings enrolled at 1 time! It will be wonderful to have them all together at 1 school. Joseph is excited for school soccer and can't wait to play - he is lamenting the fact that it has been 3 months since he has played.

Well class is starting...

Extreme Home Makeover in Tri Cities

I just sent in my nomination for our Extremem Home Makeover... boy that was hard! The nominations are not due until August 8th (I know I put the wrong date before) but I am glad to have gotten it sent off. Recently 4 different people have said that we should apply and I kept telling them all that they were funny... not that we didn't want one - just that we were sure it would never happen. And then all the sudden our paper was declaring that EHM WANTED to come to the Tri Cities... They WANT to come to Kennewick??? Well, who am I to deny them the opportunity to meet my great kids :) ??? So the application has been sent and now we enjoy the part where we have something fun to dream about... It is kind of like when you buy a lottery ticket and spend the next couple days dreaming about how you could spend your millions. That is what I have been doing. Dreaming about a room for Joseph... Dreaming about a "sanctuary" for Ben and I... Dreaming about the beautiful pantry which will solve all the worlds problems... :) Seriously, the dreaming is so much fun!

I am dreaming of a pantry...

Seriously, last night I dreampt of a pantry that had paper towels lined up and kleenex next to that and toilet paper next to that. Nearby were my cleaning supplies and across the room (next to my 2 washers and dryers) was my canned food. It was beautiful. It was a lovely dream.

I am not sure if my dream was inspired by my trip to WinCo and trying to find room for my case of green beans (they were super cheap) in the garage or by the fact that Extreme Home Makeover is looking for a family to help here in the Tri-Cities.

I can't stop thinking about it.

I can almost hear Ty Pennington yell, "MOVE THAT BUS!" and there in front of me would be a house that won't flood AND has enough showers that getting ready in the morning won't look like a scene from 'Yours Mine and Ours'. I love that movie. The part where he puts up the shower schedule cracks me up.

The television program Extreme Home Make-Over would like to come to the Tri-Cities and build a home for a family in need. Nominations can be emailed to emhewashington@gmail.com

Nominations need to include the following:

1. The names and ages of each member in the household
Ben (35), Brooke (35), Joseph (14), Marta (12), Danny (7), Jacob (6), Lilly (5), Addy (2)

2. A description of major challenges in the home
Our 1700 squre foot home has 3 bedrooms and 2 1/2 bathrooms. It flooded in 2005 and we still worry it will happen again. It is hard for me to list the "challenges" of our home because I am so thankful for it. It has served us well these last 5 years. But I must tell you that I would love to NOT worry about a flood everytime it rains. I hate it that Danny and Lilly still worry about it too.

3. Explain why this family is deserving

:) You are on your own here....

4. Please include contact information
I am guessing most of you know us so getting our address and phone number should be OK.

5. A photo of the family
You can use any from the blog. Just right click on the picture and it will save to your computer and then you can email it to the nomination people.

Nominations are due by August 2nd

Is this a shameless plug for nominations????????? Maybe. Are there families who are more deserving???????????? Absolutely. But I got to tell you, the dreaming is a lot of fun! :)

Vacation Pictures

We have just returned from a fabulous vacation! Thank you Grandma, Grandpa, Auntie Karla, Uncle Tim, Uncle Joel, Auntie Mary, Lance, Erika and Abby for a fabulous week! We loved our vacation so much!

On the way home our conversation went like this:

Me: What was your favorite part of our trip?

Joseph: Fishing and sports and snow and boat (kayak)

Marta: My birthday, sheep (at Glacier), snow fight, swim

Jacob: I don't know - I like sports with Lance

Danny: Fishing, kayaking, swimming, the high dive

Lilly: Everything

Addy: I like sleeping with my pillow on da floor. (she really slept in a bed)

By the way... we used checklists for packing this time - it worked well. We still have some kinks to work out (like deoderant on some lists but not on others) but overall it worked well. We also bought tubs for packing and that was fabulous. Everyone had their own so no more mixed up socks for us.

PS Addy started fully potty training this week... here we go!

Hello from Montata

Hello!
Right now I am enjoying wireless internet at Trinity Lutheran Camp in BigFork! I feel like I am back at Mt. Gilead (my summer camp/job/favorite place from my high school and college years). We are sleeping in a cabin that is maybe 20'X15' and walk to the bathrooms and dining hall. It is totally beautiful and we are loving jumping off the dock, swimming, kyaking, canoing, and hiking. It cracked me up our first day here because when I asked Joseph how he liked it he wrinkled his nose and said, "Mom, it like Ethiopia."

I never realized that this "roughing it" would not be seen as a VACATION by our Ethiopian kids. For them, this was reality... Walking to the bathroom, living in a 1 room home, keeping warm by fire outside, cooking outdoors was the way it was.

That is not to say that they are unhappy. They are having a blast and loving their vacation. They are jumping off the high dive into the lake and having so much fun.

Last night my friend Jenn and her family came to the camp to visit. I have never actually met Jenn... we just talk on an adoption web board often. When she went to Ethiopia in December to pick up her kids she took pictures of our kiddos and gave them kisses for us. We had 11 kids between the 2 of us (I know... crazy) plus 1 extra kiddo who was spending the night with her family. We had so much fun swimming and hanging out. It was really a fabulous evening. My kids remembered her kids and had fun playing with them and teaching them some of the Ethiopian games and songs they learned while together at the "care center/orphanage".

We celebrated Marti's birthday on Monday. I will post pictures when we get home. Let's just say that she LOVED HER BIRTHDAY!

signing off for now... I can hear a rambuctious ping-pong game going on and think Ben may need back up! :)

English Language 101

We have so many funny moments around our house as the kids learn English and try to correct their daily mix up of their f's and p's... Flip Flops are Plip Plops and Kung Fu Panda is Kung Pu Fanda. Chipmunks are Chipmonkeys and next week we are going to BigFork Lake in Hannah Montana. I must laugh 59 times each day. The kids are working super hard to learn English and seem like they have a list of words each day that they don't understand. Today I did great pantomimes of the words "bratty", "knight", "night", and "continents". Apparently Marta missed that part of 5th grade in Ethiopia and she was mightily confused. We got out the globe and a map and Ben did a great lesson!

Tomorrow we are going shopping for Marta's birthday at the story. :)

How many is too many?

I have always wanted 6 kids. Always. I NEVER thought it would actually happen. And in all honesty when I heard someone tell me they had 6 (or more) kids there was a small part of me that thought they were nuts. Sometimes I still do. I don't mean the kind of nuts where you try to hit squirrels with your car... more like the kind of nuts that wonders how you do the dinner and the laundry and the kisses.

Lately I have become very aware of the stares we get being a family of 8. We definately attract a bit of attention wherever we go. At the store the other day the lady asked if I had more kids... at my daycare. I quickly responded that they were all mine and she looked at me like I was nuts. I wanted to tell her that my kids all get kisses and clean clothes and reasonably healthy dinners. I wanted to tell the people in line behind me that we love having 6 kids and we would even consider adopting more because we love being parents. I wanted the entire store to know that we aren't nuts. Why???? I honestly don't know.

The great things about having 6 kids...

• There is always someone who wants to cuddle on the couch.
• The kids always have someone to play with.
• There is always someone to play with the dog and water the flowers on the porch.
• I never worry about wasting food - someone always eats it.
• Someone always remembers to bring the camera - and take pictures!
• Someone always eats those last cookies that are too crunchy or old and cereal never gets stale.
• There is almost always someone singing or laughing.
• There is always someone to read with.
• Eventually they all go to sleep! :)

Right Now...

Marta and Ben are upstairs watching the African Children's Choir video. I can hear Marti clapping.

Jacob and Danny are arguing over the CORRECT way to play their baseball game. (obviously my "you have to be wearing an athletic cup or uniform if you are taking the game seriously" rule is not working).

Addy is drinking juice while sitting in the sun.

Joseph is watching a local cable channel that is showing a church service.

Lilly is complaining about the wet grass.

Ooops... now Lilly is wanting to change her clothes and the boys are now pouting - just a little.

I told Ben that I wanted matching referee uniforms and whistles for our anniversary.

I haven't seen them yet.

Addy is crying because, "the ground bumped her head."

Now Danny, Lilly and Jacob are getting ready to swim and Addy is running around the house to find Daddy to help her with her swimsuit.

Oh, and the dogs are barking at something!

Daddy is now sleeping.

And my house is a mess. :)

I think I am changing the name of this blog to

Never A Dull Moment

I want to clarify that I am not complaining at all. This is actually making me laugh. Sometimes Ben and I look at each other with amazement and say, "We SIGNED UP for this?????????"