Fall Fun!

I have been very bad about updating the blog on time. Other things have been on my front burner, nothing too exciting but the blog has become less of a priority. However, I want to keep it up for posterity’s sake. Having said that, here are some things we’ve done and/or experienced this recent fall season.

Jason, David and Masamo set off rockets with the Boy’s Brigade group from our church. Masamo only had a rocket because David was not able to make it to the rocket launch last year and had an extra rocket. I think the boys had a great time!



Right after the rocket launch we headed over to a nearby church where the Ethiopian adoption group we are a part of was having their monthly play date. Unfortunately this is the first one since Masamo came home that we were actually able to make it to. There were several other families there and it was nice to see other families who looked like ours and to just enjoy being together and feeling “normal”.
 

David playing with one of the little girls there, they took a real liking to one another



I was able to go on a field trip with Masamo’s preschool. They were going to the nearby pumpkin farm that I mentioned in the previous blog update. We went on a hayride, picked out a pumpkin, got a snack and then were free to play.



On the hayride



Masamo and his friend Parker, who at first mispronounced  Masamo name as "Miss Elmo"

As a part of Masamo’s birthday gift, Jason and I gave him a traditional Ethiopian outfit. I almost cried when I saw how natural and handsome he looked in it. To go along with it, we played some Ethiopian music from You Tube. Here is a video of the three younger kids dancing to the music and Masamo entranced watching the dancers do the “shoulder dance” on the computer screen.

 

I was able to capture a rare event on my camera recently. We went out to dinner at Waffle House and as we were sitting there a double rainbow appeared. I happened to have my camera in the car and so ran outside to capture it. I’m sure the picture would have turned out a lot nicer if the Waffle House sign wasn’t in the way!

 

We spent a weekend at the land in October. It was beautiful and chilly, but not too cold. Ella brought a friend (Tori) for the first time. The girls were hard to find as they had set up their own camping area right down a trail from our trailer. The boys felt a little left out but amused themselves just the same. Here are some pictures from our time…



The girls' camp



My mom and dad bought our kids passes to Kings Island for the 2012 season for Christmas and so Jason and I also purchased one. We took advantage of the fact that you were allowed one visit during the 2011 season and went to enjoy the day at the amusement park. It was Masamo’s first time at Kings Island. I wasn’t exactly sure how he’d take to the rides but my fears were put to rest when we got done riding his first roller coaster, the Beastie. The Beastie slowed down and he looked around with a disappointed look on his face as if to say “That’s it?!” He was eager to get right back on and do it all over again! I was so relieved, next year is going to be fun!

Bumper cars

Lastly, here's a look at our Halloween...





Masamo as Luke Skywalker



Ella as Hermione Granger, holding her cat Crookshank



David as Obiwan Kenobi



Emily spent the first half of her Halloween studying, oh the fun!



David, Ella and their cousin Nataliya running from house to house



Emily handing out candy at the end of the evening

Masamo's 5th birthday!

Masamo celebrated his 5th birthday in mid October. His birthday was on a Sunday this year and so we used the weekend as an excuse to celebrate it for two days.

On the Saturday (day before his birthday) we went to the zoo for “HallZOOween”. Emily did not join us because she was on a retreat with her church youth group. The three younger kids dressed up in their Halloween costumes and we went around the zoo looking at the animals and collecting candy and coupons! Ella decided to be Hermione Granger from Harry Potter and David and Masamo are Jedi knights.

It's a Jedi mind trick!



After the zoo we went to Emanu, a local Ethiopian restaurant. Jason, Masamo and I all really enjoyed the lamb tibs, lentils and cooked vegetables with injera that we ordered. Ella and David tried the food but did not care for it.

David trying some injera.

Ella eating some chicken.



Masamo LOVES the red lentils and injera!

The next day Masamo woke up to a Kelly family tradition, the 5 bunny! Every time someone in our family turns five, the 5 bunny hangs fives all around the house to celebrate! Here is a video of Masamo waking up on his fifth birthday and discovering the fives!

After church on that Sunday we had a quick lunch and then it was birthday party time! The family showed up and as soon as everyone was settled it was time for presents and cake and ice cream! Here are some pictures of those events.



Our 5 year old!



Opening presents

Here is the video of Masamo getting his birthday cake, another monster truck cake, this one lovingly made by Jason’s aunt Cheri who owns her own bakery.

After presents, cake and ice cream those who chose to headed up to a pumpkin farm about a mile from our house. Boy was it crowded! It was a beautiful fall day and I guess everyone else had the same idea we did.

Kid Updates

Here is some news on each of the kiddos that I’d like to record and thought you’d enjoy reading.


EMILY


Emily went to Homecoming in late September with a bunch of friends. The theme was “Neon Night”. This dance is known to be more casual than others and as such Emily did not spend a lot of money on her outfit. Despite this, I think she looked absolutely beautiful!

The shoes!




Emily’s fall has consisted of little else than school, home and youth group. She had hoped to acquire a job but has not secured one yet.

Emily and David have had several humorous interactions lately, here are a few of them…


* Emily announced at the dinner table that she had a new boyfriend (she’s no longer dating him now) and David’s response was, “Hubba hubba!!!”


* Again at the dinner table, Emily and David both burped and high fived over the table about it. I know I’ve taught them better than that but it was quite amusing!


* Emily said one evening “Don’t trust teenage boys!” David thought about this for a moment and then responded “That means when I’m a teenager, I can’t trust myself!” How true!


ELLA


Ella started playing piano this fall. As a “compromise” over her not playing in the school band we decided that she would take piano lessons for one year. At the end of that year she could decide whether or not to continue with the lessons. I found a local piano teacher who is the step mother of one of the girls I went to nursing school with. She offers very reasonable prices and is less than 10 minutes away!


Ella practicing on her keyboard.


Another change for Ella is that she has been trying new foods lately. Since she’s turned 10 years old, she no longer is under any obligation to take a certain amount of bites of food at the dinner table (one of our rules). Since this time she has willingly tried several foods and even said she’s liked them! A further change for her is that she is asking for a doll for Christmas! If you know Ella, she has rarely played with a doll, choosing stuffed animals instead. The only time I’ve known her to play with a doll is when all her stuffed animals have been bagged up (either for a consequence or because of a lice invasion).


One last thing is that Ella surprised me one Saturday morning with a song she had written, entitled “Happiness”. She used the music to the song “Fireflies” by Owl City and wrote new lyrics. Here is her song….


You wake to morning light,

tired but in delight.

You feel happy,

you want to shout out now!

As day fills the open air,

You leave happy everywhere.

I'd like to make the world believe

that our Lord is our key.

All we need for happiness

is Him and Him alone,

so why do some people reject?

Spring, many are great reasons,

yes but the main one

is being sheep of God.

I'd like to make people believe

that our top reason to be happy is God.

Ohhhhhh, I love Him so much,

My trust is complete.

Another reason is this,

your family and friends.

They're another part of your

good attitude and help you through life!


DAVID


David recently lost his two and a half year old goldfish, Goldie. If you’ll recall, David got Goldie on his fifth birthday, click here for the link to that post. We had the traditional toilet bowl burial and I couldn’t get the scene from the Cosby Show when they flush Rudy’s goldfish down the toilet, we looked just the same gathered around the porcelain throne. You can watch it on You Tube here. Although we were not dressed up, in fact Masamo was about to get into the bath, we gave Goldie the funeral she deserved. Despite this, Masamo was very upset that we flushed Goldie. I don’t think he really understood that Goldie was dead and thought we were just being mean and Goldie was stuck in the potty! We had to prove to Masamo that the fish was not stuck in the potty by taking the tank lid off and telling him that what we did is how you bury fish!


All that said, David got a new fish. Flashy is a blue male Betta fish. I can’t tell you how much cleaner this fish is than our beloved Goldie, it’s wonderful!

David and his new fish, Flashy!

In early October David tested for and got his LIME belt in Karate! He blew through his orange belt and only spent two months learning what he needed to in order to advance to his Lime belt. Here are some pictures and a video of that day.

David testing for his lime belt.

David and his instructor, Mr. Patten.



David with his new lime belt on!



David stating his name, favorite thing about karate, and eight things he has improved upon showing self discipline (this is part of his test too).

Here are two other stories involving David…


David asked out of the blue one evening in early fall if we could pray for “the people who were attacked by ‘The Irene’”. It was amusing and touching all at the same time. News about hurricane Irene was all over and I was happy to see David showing sensitivity to others in need and knowing that we can always go to God with our needs and concerns.


David was in the backseat with Masamo one recent morning and was busy explaining to Masamo that the work “hot” not only meant very warm but also meant cute. In his next breath he looked up at me and asked “Mom, what is a toupee?” I’m not really sure what to make of his train of thought here but I like what a friend of mine said, “Make sure he knows that toupees are NOT hot!”


MASAMO

Two silly Masamo stories are as follows…

Masamo was being a little crazy and decided to repeatedly say “I beg your pardon” over and over again. By doing this he ended up confusing himself and started saying “A bag of puddin” instead!

One recent morning I was trying to explain what "holy" meant to Masamo and I used the word "clean", among many other words and phrases to try and explain it to him. I guess "clean" stuck with him because he asked me if I was going to make the house holy today!

One last thing I'd like to leave you with is a new song by Casting Crowns, it's entitled "So Far To Find You". This song so wonderfully expresses an adoptive parent's heart for their child.  Please listen to it, I hope it touches your heart as much as it touched mine.  Click the link to a You Tube video with the lyrics here.

New School Year

A new school year has begun. The three older kids started in late August but Masamo did not start preschool until about mid September. I waited to post on this until everyone had started and had a good idea on how the school year was progressing.


Emily had a challenged ahead of her even before starting her junior year of high school. Just five days before the first day of school she finally had her car, a 1991 VW Corrado whom she affectionately calls “Enrique”, licensed and road ready! The challenge was in learning to drive Enrique as he is a stick shift and not an automatic! I am proud to say that Emily rose to the test and passed with flying colors! I took her out for an afternoon lesson on Sunday and that Thursday she drove herself to the first day of school!!!

Emily about to drive herself to her first day of 11th grade!


Emily has found her junior year of high school to be challenging. The school district went to a quarter/semester system from the trimester system that they had in the past. This increased the number of classes Emily has per day (from 5 to 7). I don’t understand all the logistics but it has to do with money that the district can save because of our levy having failed 9 times in a row. Nevertheless, Emily’s most challenging class is AP European history. She says she loves the subject but the work load is very heavy. That on top of her other classes and she’s doing homework and studying constantly, it’s exhausting to watch!

Emily on the first day of school.

Ella started her fifth grade year at the junior high building (again, another result of the failing levy). She has two main teachers but also switches for other classes. I was really hoping she would try band this year (first year it’s offered at the school) but she opted not to pursue it. What she wanted instead was to take an art class (offered for one quarter) instead of a year of band. This speaks to Ella’s love of art. She has not been able to take art in school since second grade and was thrilled to have it as an option for school!

Ella at 6:25 am about to get on the bus for her first day of 5th grade!


David is now in second grade and has found his teacher this year not so easily charmed by his cuteness. She and David had to work out a few things before they understood one another and it took a few weeks and a number of notes back and forth from school and home to resolve their differences. Despite the rocky start David has found his stride and is doing beautifully academically and behaviorally at school.

David on his first day of 2nd grade!

Masamo started afternoon preschool at the same local church preschool that David attended. I feel very comfortable sending him there due to our familiarity with the program. I did contact the school and Masamo and I went in a week or so beforehand to give him idea of what his classroom looked like and he also got to meet one of his teachers!


On Masamo’s first day of preschool he was so excited to be going to “his school”. I stayed the first day as it was an introduction (with parents) to the class and was only half a day long. He kept checking in and looking at me during this time but seemed to get along wonderfully with the other kids and teachers and was volunteering answers to questions. Although Masamo is the only dark skinned child in his class he is said to be popular. One of his friends, Parker, calls him “Miss Elmo” because he has a hard time pronouncing Masamo’s name. At first this seemed to bother Masamo but now he likes it and thinks it’s funny.


Masamo on his first day of preschool!

 However, a month into school, Masamo has started getting upset when I leave him at preschool. I take him on Mondays, my parents on Wednesday and Jason on Friday (as I work on Wednesdays and Fridays). His disturbing behavior only happens when I take him to school. The past two Mondays he has screamed and cried when I dropped him at the door. I won’t go into a lot of detail but will say that it has really upset me to see him so distressed at my leaving him. We talked and talked and talked at various times about it, read a book about going to school and even role played me taking him to preschool but nothing seems to have helped. I might be overreacting but I pray that he understands that I’m leaving him in a safe environment and WILL be back to get him at the end of the school day. Please pray with me that God provides the peace he needs to deal with this situation and the understanding that he is safe.