Catch-up?

Well, I'm never going to be caught up but here are a few things going on.

I've been working on my Blog Book like crazy. I want to get it done. I'm not exactly sure why I'm in such a rush since it will be too expensive to buy - at least until I get some Christmas or birthday money. :-) I already have my 2006 scrapbook finished and waiting to be ordered when I have the money. Oh well. A couple of people have asked about the blog book. I hadn't heard about blog books until a few of my bloggy friends talked about making theirs. I always thought it would be great to have my blog printed in some way, but I had no idea how to do it. There are many different options, but I decided to go with what I thought was the easiest. There are two sites that I know of that can easily print blog books: www.blurb.com & www.lulu.com. I looked them over and decided I liked blurb the best. So, I downloaded the software (called BookSmart). Then I slurped (yes, that's the word they use) my blog into the software and started creating my pages. Unlike my digital scrapbooks I'm not using different backgrounds - I'm just going with black. I was a little worried at first because there aren't a ton of options for page layouts, but I quickly realized that I could edit their layouts or even make my own. Awesome! I'm going post-by-post and in just a few weeks I'm 3/4 way done. I started my blog in January of 2007 so I've decided to put both '07 & '08 into one book since it will be much cheaper that way. I had hoped to not worry about what it looked like so it would go faster, but I was kidding myself. I'm excited to be done with it soon and one day have a printout of my "journal" for the past couple of years.

Plans for the fall are starting to fall into place. I'm still not sure exactly what will be happening since I seem to have to wait until last minute to make decisions. Orin will start going to preschool 3 days a week in the mornings (9am-12:45am) on Mon., Wed., & Fri. Caiah will be going two days a week on Wed. & Fri. I'll be working at the preschool (hopefully in one of their classes). This will offset the cost of Micaiah's two days as well as Orin's extra day. Otherwise we couldn't swing it. On Monday morning's Caiah and I will continue going to Mainly Music at a local church. It was so much fun last year and I can't wait to start. You can't beat an hour of music, snacks, and cuddle time with your kid for $1. Monday afternoons I hope to continue a new Bible Study I've started attending. I really enjoy it and I hope it works out. And hopefully Micaiah will be able to nap while we're there. Tuesday morning is story time at the library which we've really loved the past 6 months we've been attending it. Wednesday is school for the boys and I'm looking into volunteering somewhere. Either here on the center or maybe a local food bank or pregnancy center. Still trying to figure out the details. Every other Thursday is play group and on the off Thursday we often go out with the kids somewhere. Friday mornings is preschool for us all! Saturday mornings are Orin's soccer games as well as practices on Tues. & Thurs. We're still figuring out other schedules such as community group and possibly mentoring as a family. I enjoy being busy and I hope I'm not over-scheduling us. We'll have most afternoons at home and we can always forgo some of our activities if need be. I looking forward to a great fall!

We've joined a community group at church for adoptive & and pre-adoptive parents called Tapestry. We're going to the first time on Saturday and I'm really excited about meeting other parents who've gone through or are going through the "wait" that we are right now. I'm also looking forward to getting lots of advice and some mentoring on post adoption issues.

Damien (and I) have always enjoyed movies by Hayao Miyazaki. He is a Japanese director who makes animated movies. Some for kids and some not. Damien was excited that a new movie came out and was rated G and couldn't wait to take the kids to see it in the theater (with English dubbing of course). Damien took the morning off last Friday and we all went to the 11am showing. We had a gift certificate that was probably 2 years old which we finally used. The movie is called Ponyo. It was inspired by the Hans Christian Andersen story, The Little Mermaid but very different from the 90's Disney version. It was so great. Perfect for the kids. Go here to see a preview.

6. When we potty trained Orin we kept him in diapers for a few weeks at night and naps. After a couple of weeks he was not wetting his diaper any more so we got rid of them. We attempted the same thing with Micaiah. However, instead of wetting his diaper less and less he started doing it more and more. I guess he realized he could be lazy and not have to get out of bed in the middle of the night. Smart, huh? Finally we decided to just get rid of the diapers all together and just suffer a few nights until he figured out it was better to get up. We told him that if he didn't wet it for 5 nights we'd let him get King (from the movie 'Cars') from the store. It only took 7 nights and he did it. We thought that was pretty good. He's doing great now.

Orin is still loving school. We let him go this summer (2 mornings a week) even though the topics of 'study' were different. ABC's were out and learning about family, animals, food, etc. were in. On Tuesday, after not going on Monday because of Labor Day, he told me that he really missed Mrs. L and couldn't wait to see her and that he bet she missed him too and was looking forward to school Wednesday. We put him in school last September for reasons such as the structure, so he could be around other kids besides his brother, so he could learn to take instructions from people other than Damien and I, etc. I'm sure no one would be surprised to hear me say that Orin is an ACTIVE kid. REALLY active! Since was a year old he has had a very difficult time sitting still. He doesn't have ADD and he isn't hyperactive or is undisciplined (at least I hope not). :-) He can sit and focus on something for ages. But the kid just likes to go, go, go. I knew story time/circle time would be difficult for him. Sitting still and being quiet for 20 minutes is NOT easy. So it didn't surprise me when I recently asked the teacher how he was doing and she said he has a tough time. It's not the sitting still as much as the being quiet that gets him. He often talks a little, gets a quick time out and then does fine the rest of the time. Mrs. L was so encouraging about it though. She was quick to encourage me that he was sweet, intelligent and obedient (for the most part) and that some 4 year old's have a harder time than others. Anyway, we've been doing a lot of practicing at home. We have our own "story time" for 20 minutes and he has to be quiet the whole time. We'll practice sitting and not talking. He does great. It has helped a little at school. Wednesday he talked once, was corrected and then was quiet the rest of the time. I'm just praying that my little boy can learn to zip those lips!

Recently Damien had to attend a few meetings on Child Safety here on the center. Everyone was encouraged to come. One of the BIG focuses was teaching your child about appropriate "touch". Lots of statistics were given and lots of warnings about really knowing the people you leave your children with. It's pretty scary to think about how often children get abused by trusted friends and family. Anyway, it was a good reminder that we really needed to talk to Orin about it. One of the biggest defenses against abuse is having a child who is educated about it. We got a book from Orin's school and read it a couple of times and talked about it. I'm glad we've done it but we really need to remember to bring it up every once in a while. The book was called, "My body belongs to me." At the end, Orin asked, "What happens if someone takes my body?" Good question, right? I mean, his toys belong to him and if someone takes one he'll try to get it back. So, in his mind he needs to know what to do if some takes his body. Should he get it back? Anyway, it was hilarious at the time.

The kids were looking through some pictures of our wedding. It was 10 1/2 years ago so many of our family members now look quite different. Micaiah recognized Damien but as he was looking at it he noticed something that confused him. He pointed to Damien's shirt and said, "What is THAT?" You'll never guess what it was. A tie! It may be possible that you can count on one hand the times Micaiah has seen Damien in a tie in his lifetime.

Orin & Caiah have a small light in their room set to go off on a timer. It goes off at the same time each morning and they have to stay in their beds until it does. The entire purpose of this is for my sanity. It was so hard for me that they would get up at 7:30 one day and 9 the next. So, we were at the zoo today and Micaiah couldn't wait to see the Tigers. Unfortunately, they were no where to be seen. We told Caiah they were sleeping and that we'd come back around in a while once they woke up. And Caiah says, "Yeah, the Tiger is sleeping and he's going come out when his light comes on." I guess Tiger mommy's set lights too!