The Hartland

Here’s the next update for our family!

Since being stuck inside our kids have been playing a lot more Wii. One game that they all enjoy playing is Mariokart. David and Ella have become very skilled at it and are becoming experts. Masamo likes to join in the fun too by holding the steering wheel (without remote) and he thinks he’s participating in the game, I dread the day he figures out that he’s not really playing. Here’s a pic of them all playing together.

I caught a really cute moment between David and Masamo. I was trying to get some things done around the house (imagine that) and I told the boys to entertain themselves for a few minutes. I stumbled upon them curled up on the couch with David reading a book to Masamo. Look how adorable they looked together!

We had an awesome trip to see our friends in New York State, the Apthorpes! We went over the long President’s Day weekend and didn’t want to leave to come home. Here’s a brief overview of what our weekend held….

Sledding (and David attempting to ski)

The skis and boots David used were old and broke with the first attempt so we just broke out the duct tape and kept going!

Ice Castle Festival

Up at Lake Chautauqua they build an ice castle every winter with the ice that they saw out of the lake. The blocks of ice that they use come from just off shore (within 50 feet) and are about 2.5 feet long, 1 foot wide by 14-16 inches thick! They had the castle lit up with colorful lights at night and also had a huge bonfire, fireworks and a snow/ice slide for the kids to slide down on and then onto the frozen lake!

Here's a view of the ice castle in the day time.

Ice Fishing

Walking on the frozen lake

Ice hut!

Drilling a hole for fishing

Scooping out the ice from the newly drilled fising hole

About a foot of snow fell the last night we were in New York. We made it all the way down the Apthorpe’s driveway before getting stuck. It took Jason and Clint about 10 minutes to dig us out of the snow but once on the roads we were happy to see that they were clear! Those New Yorkers don’t mess around when it come to snow!

I think the best part of going to New York was the time just spent hanging out. Talking, playing, cooking, and eating together was more fun than you could throw a snowball at!

Today we spent the one year anniversary of Masamo’s arrival home in the USA by going to Kids Against Hunger. This wonderful organization was hosting a Million Meal Marathon to put together a million meals in four days to help feed the people of Haiti. 30,000 children a day die of hunger and this great group of people is working hard to get that number down. The food we packaged was a “fortified rice-soy casserole, chicken flavored”. It is an extremely nutritious meal that can be made very easily with only adding boiling water. Here is a link to their website it you’re interested in more information on them Kids Against Hunger.

All six of us participated from scooping food, to measuring, sealing bags, and boxing it up! We spent two hours working and had a wonderful time. Everyone there was upbeat and positive and the music they played to go along with our time was motivational (who wouldn’t enjoy working to the Village People’s YMCA?) We concluded our time by praying for each person that would touch the meals we prepared and especially for the people who would be consuming the meals. We pray that not only will their stomachs be filled but that their hearts would find and be filled with God’s love.

Despite the look on Masamo's face, he did have a great time, just couldn't capture it on film!

The number of meals we helped produced in our two hours!

Please note the Ethiopian flag in the center of the picture!

Kids Updates:

Emily has exams this next week for the conclusion of the second trimester. She’s a little stressed out but looking forward to a (hopefully) much easier third trimester. She also informed me that she heard that the high school will indeed be offering AP and Honors courses next year. If this works out it means we won’t need to have Emily move schools next year!!!!

Ella continues on in her art classes at the YMCA but it’s become very apparent that they are not very challenging to her. She says she has a good time (which is nice) but it’s not really giving her the outlet I thought it might. I’m keeping my eyes open for something a little more inspirational to offer her. She really enjoys drawing and so maybe we can find something that just focuses on that instead of an overall “art” class.

David has continues with karate and this past week got the first “tip” on his white belt. A student must have three “tips” to test for the next belt in karate. There are certain things that a student must do to get their tips and for this first one David had to memorize and recite the student creed for the studio that he attends. We’re coming down to the end of our “free trial month” and have to make a decision if we want to sign David up for the year. The owners of this studio say they do not view karate as a seasonal sport and so have you commit for a year at a time to pay/participate.

Masamo melted my heart the other week when I sang “You Are My Sunshine” to him and at the end when I sang “please don’t take my sunshine away”, he looked at me and said “I won’t Mommy” and proceeded to give me a big hug. This has now become his favorite song and each time I sing it he tells me the same thing. I love it!

Masamo is really advancing with his letters and here is his attempt at writing his name this past week!

I will conclude this post by mentioning that February 21st was our one year anniversary of Masamo’s “Gotcha Day”. I’m not really a big fan of this term, it is however the day that Masamo was placed in our arms for the first time. Has it really been a year? Has it only been a year? Isn’t it strange how time works like that, it went so quickly and at the same time seems to have been so long ago. What a year it has been. My next post will be dedicated to our youngest son; I’ll have it up as soon as I can.