During the second weekend this month we had a lot of activity. The family (minus Emily) went camping at Hocking Hills with our friends the Apthorpes. Emily stayed home to attend her fall Homecoming.
We had an awesome time camping for a long three day weekend. The nights were chilly and the afternoons very warm but we were prepared and had a great time. The kids had a blast exploring the different rock formations and caves and it was nice that the hikes to the natural features were so short and family friendly. We had no real plans except to enjoy one another’s company and enjoy the nature around us, mission accomplished!
It’s also a comfort to know that all of our kids get along so well and play together like best friends. The Apthorpe’s younger daughter, Caroline (4 years old), has taken a special interest in Masamo and was like a little mommy to him. She followed him around, played with him and was quick to tell me if he needed anything.
We did have one misfortune. We were exploring one “waterfall” (there was no water, we’re in a 7+ inch drought) and Ella unfortunately discovered a destroyed bees nest while climbing around. Needless to say the bees took aim at Ella and Ella tore off screaming hysterically. She has never been stung before and let’s just say that she is now VERY wary of anything that flies and has a stinger. It took her a good hour to calm down and I think that she provided the entertainment for all those hikers that were at the “waterfall” with us.
Emily spent the same weekend being very busy. She spent the Friday night with the church youth group at the fall retreat and came home on that Saturday afternoon to get ready for Homecoming with some friends. The fall homecoming dance in our district is not a formal dance, they reserve that for the winter homecoming and prom. This will explain the outfits, along with the fact that the “theme” was The Roaring 20’s. Emily had a great time with her friends and spent the next day (Sunday) recovering at Mimi and Boppy’s house.
This past weekend we celebrated Masamo’s 4th birthday. We started the celebration with a visit to the zoo where they had some Halloween activities going on. I must say that I have never been to the zoo when it was so crowded. It was interesting to see so many children in costumes and there were a lot of very cute outfits. Jennifer and Finn joined us for a short time and we took a look around at the animals and collected candy along the way!
That evening we went to the only Ethiopian restaurant in our city. We were joined by Jason’s parents and Nataliya. We ordered a variety of dishes and although the other kids were not too impressed, Masamo loved eating the injera and lentils (red and yellow) that we ordered. Jason and I also had a good time eating all the good food prepared for us. We decided at the end of the meal to sing Happy Birthday to Masamo but as soon as we started to sing he got embarrassed, climbed of his chair and ran away from us. Poor guy didn’t seem to enjoy the attention we were paying to him, nor having me video tape it!
In a last minute decision, all the kids spent the night at Mamaw and Papaw’s house that same night. They offered to keep them and Jason jumped at the chance to have a night alone, I however was more concerned with how Masamo would do during his first night away from us. I reluctantly agreed and let Masamo join his siblings in the sleepover. Although the kids go over to Mamaw and Papaw’s house once a week Masamo had never spent the night away from us. Jason compared me to a new mom as I was fretting over how Masamo was doing the whole time we were away from him. However, true to form, Masamo took it all in stride. He was said to have run around the house like a wild man until 10:30pm when all the kids were put to bed. Masamo and David shared a bed and I took comfort in the fact that he was not alone but with his siblings and so hopefully he would feel that much less abandoned by Jason and I. We were not abandoning him of course but it is a reality that adopted children can feel abandoned when left by their parents in new circumstances.
The next day was birthday party day!!! We had just family over for the celebration but it was enough. At 2pm we met up at our house and then headed over to a local farm that had a fall celebration going on. The kids played, ran through a sunflower field and picked out pumpkins. The same unfortunate luck followed us to the pumpkin farm that we had at the zoo. It was super crowded! We have gone to this farm several years now and this was the absolute craziest I had ever seen it! I’m happy that they were getting so much business but it was hard to stay together and keep an eye on the kids in such madness.
Once done at the farm we headed back to our house for presents, cake, and ice cream. Masamo got the hang of opening presents very quickly and I helped out when needed. Everyone was very generous to our little guy and he got some great gifts! I really enjoyed getting to present Masamo with his monster truck cake that I had made for him. He really enjoys monster trucks and his favorite is Grave Digger! Here’s a video of us singing “Happy Birthday” to him while I brought in the cake and he didn’t run away this time!
Video of us singing "Happy Birthday" to Masamo!
KID UPDATES:
Emily
School work seems to be getting a little more manageable for Emily. She is learning to prioritize her times so that she can get things done in a timely manner. Jason and I do not harp on her to get her school work done, she is very self motivated and it’s a really big blessing. Emily did recently finish a presentation on AIDS orphans in Africa. It was for her language arts class. The teacher had each one of the students pick a cause and do a presentation on it. I applaud the teacher for this, it makes not only that student aware of what needs are in the world but also exposes the other students to a variety of subjects they may have no knowledge of.
Emily also completed an art project that is being featured in her school for three weeks. We got a nice postcard in the mail from her art teacher informing us of her “excellent” art project. I can’t wait to see it and will post a picture of it on the blog as soon as possible.
Ella
Ella is quite the bookworm. I find her reading in her bed until late into the night. I’ve had to monitor how late she is up and turn off her light to make her go to sleep. Another popular thing to do at bedtime is to listen to books on CD. Ella, David and Masamo have gotten into doing this at bedtime and follow along (sometimes) with the corresponding book. The ones they listen to the most are “Magic Tree House” and “Geronimo Stilton” books. I am happy for the library which supplies us with a large selection to choose from.
David
We recently had a parent-teacher conference with David’s first grade teacher, Mr. Grubenhoff (Mr. G). I was enlightened to hear what his teacher had to say. David is said to be eager to please the teacher but his hard work in his school work is self motivated. His reading level is almost twice that of what is expected! David’s teacher also said that he can see David’s “genuine remorse” for when he’s done something that he should not have (i.e. speaking out instead of raising his hand). Mr. G. said he really respects that in David because he does not see that a lot in his classroom. He commented on how bright David is and how he has an enthusiasm for math. I had noticed at home that he lights up whenever he has a math sheet to work on. WOW, what a switch from the girls who dreaded math!
Masamo
Masamo had a very exciting development; he can now do a two footed jump! This is one thing that he has really struggled with and on 10/5 he did his first jump with two feet at the same time. Now he wants to jump everywhere and off of everything!
A few funny Masamo stories to share with you…
~ I’ve noticed a trend with Masamo. As soon as we get in the car he asks for a piece of gum. He is good at chewing gum and doesn’t swallow it so it’s usually not a problem. The other thing he asks for is if you have brought your Ipod so that you can play his favorite songs (at the moment it is “Dynamite” by Taio Cruz and “You Are My Sunshine”). He is a creature of habit and unless something strange has happened you can count Masamo to ask you those two questions.
~ One recent afternoon we were all finishing lunch and Jason asked David to pull his finger. David was happy to do this and of course Jason resulted in producing a loud and smelly expulsion of gas. Masamo was watching this whole scene and immediately said “Do it again!”…. Boys!
~I was in the bathroom helping Emily to color her hair a week before Homecoming and Masamo was searching for me. Once he found us, I explained to him what I was doing. A minute or two later he walked back into the bathroom holding a pink marker and said “I help color Emily’s hair too!”
~ I was putting Masamo to bed and gave him a kiss on the cheek. He looked at me and said “Don’t kiss me on the cheek, kiss me on the kiss (the lips)!”
No comments:
Post a Comment