Live and Learn

BRENIN:  Mornin' Mama.

ME:  Hey baby girl.  Mmmm...you smell good...did you put perfume on?

BRENIN:  Yup...the person kind, NOT the house kind. 

(There was an incident). 

Live and learn. 

(wink)

Date Day!

My lucky girls each got to have a special date today. 

Brenin spent the day with Grandma volunteering at the quilt shop in town where Grandma has quilt guild.  She was so excited to have a "job" and spend the whole day with grandma and of course was GENEROUSLY rewarded for her time (pizza, ice cream and a doll quilt kit!) 

Luca's date was right up her alley too...projects, projects, projects!  She spent the day with Grandpa and made some furniture for the cabin up North and also got to help in the kitchen making lasagne (building and cooking believe it or not are two of her all time favorite activities, so she had a BLAST!) 

I don't think either girl has stopped smiling since they got home - Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for the super special day and for taking the time that you do to know and to love these girls so deeply.  You are an amazing "village," and we love you!   

Flake Out Fest

Spent the afternoon at Flake Out Fest in the Dells yesterday.  The girls were thrilled to find horses to ride, and we all loved the horse-drawn carriage ride.  It felt pretty chilly, but actually the temps were above freezing, not so good news for the huge ice sculptures!  As we were standing by one particular sculpture of a man, his head fell off and splashed to the ground in a big pile of slush!!!!!  So sad for the artists, but what can you do?  Next we hit the mall and finally to Famous Dave's for some BBQ ribs! 

Here's some pics from the day!

Went to the waterpark yesterday and took NO PICTURES!!!!  I know, it's a record for me.  We had such a good time though, and it was a great way to spend our day off of school. 

Tonight we're heading to the Dells for Flakeout Fest:  Awesome ice sculptures, fireworks, food, etc.  We're actually expecting RAIN today, so we'll see how the plans work out, but I'm sure we'll find a fun rain plan anyways.  It'll be interesting to see how much snow we have left after a good rain...hard to believe it's January around here these days! 

I've been having so much fun experimenting with my photography of late.  The new house is filled with natural light and space for my backdrop/equipment, and the girls are always willing to pose, so I've been finding lots of cool shots.  Here's some of my faves from this week! 

Had a busy day today with school and an afternoon/evening birthday party for Brenin's friend, Olivia.  The girls played for 5 hours and still didn't want to leave when the party was over!  As I type this, I can hear Brenin melting down for her daddy over putting pajamas on, a tad overtired from the day's activities I think.  (And yes, I will pretend I don't know it's happening and show up at the end to see if I can "help."  hehe)  I think we'll all be in bed early tonight! 

No school tomorrow, and we're heading to a waterpark in the Dells to soak up some artificial sun!  :-)  We'll take it any way we can get it these days! 

Happy birthday, Olivia! 

The recent "heat wave" in our area (don't get too excited...we're talking low 30s) has been producing bountiful beauty as the hoarfrost paints the trees each morning and dense fog creates a backdrop of soft air all around.  It's a scene created for worship and but a fingerprint of God's goodness and beauty.  Suddenly it's more than a field or a forest. 

It's a church. 

Luca's First Haircut

We took Luca to a salon Saturday to receive her very first "real" haircut!  She had all of the relaxed hair cut off, which turned out to be quite a bit of hair.  It's shorter than I've ever seen it, and for the first time since we've met, I'm not able to put it up into piggy tails or a pony (which is taking a bit of getting used to for this "just throw it back" kind of girl)!  She looks precious, nonetheless, and it's so nice to have her gorgeous curls back.

Little Peanut

Tina Turner  :-)

An awesome story by Tiny Revolutionary

The Children's March

The Story of How Kids Changed the Course of the Civil Rights Movement in America

In the spring of 1963, Birmingham, Alabama was ground zero for the Civil Rights Movement. Heavy intimidation by Birmingham authorities had created intense fear and anxiety amongst movement members and paralysis had begun to take hold. Many were ready to give up, but one night, when Dr. King asked who would demonstrate with him, ready to go to jail if arrested, the children of the meeting hall stood up. Dr. King was grateful for their offer and thanked them but refused to allow their participation. The children, however, would not be denied the opportunity to be part of change. They reasoned that if they were old enough to experience discrimination, they were old enough to fight against it.

On May 2, 1963, using a secret word-of-mouth network, more than 4,000 black school children organized themselves to desert classrooms at exactly 11 am, touching off a week of mass demonstrations and rioting that shocked the nation and rocked the world. Police tried to stop them with attack dogs and fire hoses but the children would not be discouraged. As expected, notorious Sheriff Bull Connor arrested the young protesters and put them in jail.

Across the nation, people watched as Birmingham police abused and jailed thousands of children whose only crime was to advocate for a normal childhood. Up to now, President Kennedy felt he could do nothing about segregation in the South. After the chaos and embarrassment of the Birmingham Children's March, he could no longer stand by and watch. The Children's March had awakened the nation -- the ugly, violent, and unjust situation in Alabama was no longer a "local issue." The original goal of the Children's March was to desegregate downtown stores in Birmingham. Now, Dr. King had a global stage and the leverage to demand more from citizens and from government leaders. Children made the difference. 

Happy birthday, Eric! 

We are thinking of you on your special day and sending lots of love over the many miles.  You are so loved and so missed!  Have a wonderful day! 

More Photos

A few more shots from Garret's photoshoot yesterday...These young models (hehe) were willing to sit in while I figured out my lighting situation.  Not exactly dressed for the occasion, but I kinda like the photos anyway! 

My supergirls

Bath Math and Garret's Photo Shoot

Found a great idea on a blog yesterday from a homeschooling mama who wanted to spice things up during these long winter months.  She threw her kiddos in the tub with some measuring devices and had the kids experiment away.  "How many one-eighth cups fit into a three-quarter cup," or "how many one-quarter cups fit into a one-half cup," she would quiz, and the kids would measure the water as instructed.  Always looking for a break from the page, we decided to give it a whirl, and big surprise, my little mathmetician loved it!  I see more "bath math," as we so lovingly named it, in our future!   

My sister's been after me for a couple of weeks now to take some photos of my nephew, Garret for his 2 year pictures.  Garret's one of those guys who has a "lot to get done" in a day, so we had to use some interesting techniques (bribery and fart noises) to catch these winning shots.  I think they capture him perfectly, and they make me want to squeeze on him for hours (which he would NEVER tolerate, by the way). 

Also got a teeny bit of fun shopping in and grabbed some Chinese for dinner before Danny headed out to a movie with friend.  All in all a wonderful day spent with my sister and her beautiful boys. 

Look Out World...

Luca can read 3 letter words!!!!!

(Did I mention the girl's a genius?)  :-)

When Life Gives You Snow...

GO SLEDDING!!!

p.s.  Life gave us snow.  Lots and lots of snow. 

Tonight we're off to dinner with some friends, and then the hubbies are going to a basketball game and the girls are going to hang with the kiddos (oh they'll pay...they'll pay dearly).  (wink)

Happy Friday everyone!!!!

This week in our Native American studies, we learned about choosing a "camp name" and the ceremony involved.  We decided to choose a Native American name and hold a ceremony of our own! 

Here's my Ethiopian daughter playing a Ugandan drum in a Native American ceremony in my kitchen (phew...chalk that up to yet another sentence I never imagined myself saying/typing!)

Ni-da-wi (Fairy Girl) taking herself VERY seriously during the ceremony. 

Beautiful Whak-cha (Flower)

When Brenin is fully immersed in what we're learning, it's all over her face. 

What a gift to witness these moments with her!

In case you're wondering, the chief mama's name, Wate-win, means "victory woman," and the chief daddy's name (chosen by the female population) wasn't revealed to him until the very end of the ceremony and means "little turtle."  (hehe...still funny.)

_____________________________________________________

Today was a bit of a harrowing day.  We took my dad to the hospital for a procedure in a rather unexpected snowstorm, and when we arrived the EMT starting his IV invited the kids to watch.  A moment later, Brenin started to feel sick and thought she might throw up!  The nurses ran for a garbage can, some towels and a cool beverage.  We moved the party (wink) into the bathroom where she proceeded to become limp, PALE white, cold and sweaty!  The girl was about to PASS OUT!!!  In came the nurses (my sister included...thank God she was there to tell me what was going on!) with blankets.  She laid down and elevated her legs and before long was back to herself.  She's never done this before, so it was quite a shock.  It was a little cute though because it's exactly what my dad would do if he closely observed someone getting an IV.  Definitely Grandpa's girl! 

Meanwhile, Luca was in a crisis of her own (yes, at the very same time!).  When she saw the room Dad was waiting to go to surgery in, something in her was triggered and she was overcome by fear.  She stopped dead in her tracks at the door, and when I picked her up, she desperately clung to me to the point I had to loosen her grip around my neck.  She was obviously terrified and looked like she was going to cry the entire time!  I kept asking her why she was scared, and all she would say is, "I don't like it here."  I thought she was afraid SHE might get a shot like Grandpa was and tried to reassure her, but nothing seemed to help.  When we got home hours later, I asked her again why she was so scared at the hospital, and she hugged my neck and looked up at me and said, "I just want to stay with you." 

Wow. 

Something in her set of memories correlated the clinical setting with a goodbye...a very big goodbye.

It was a "smackintheface" moment (am I ever 'gonna see these comin'??)

It's so easy to forget that Luca has lived a lifetime before she joined our family because it really feels like she's been here forever. 

It's simply not natural for me to assume the things she thinks about or goes through emotionally at any given experience because what she's already experienced shouldn't be natural for any child.  I'm working hard to create an open dialogue with Luca so she can feel safe to share these feelings with me so that I can begin to carry some of their weight.  I can't say I'll always (or even often) have that great piece of wisdom she needs to hear at the moment, and I know I won't always remember all the wonderful tools I've spent hours reading about from other mommies and daddies who have traveled this road before me, but I will hold her close each time and remind her of these simple yet life altering truths, that I am hers and she is mine and that will ALWAYS be.  If I deliver this message a million times, I will never tire of it. 

It's the end of the story and also the beginning. 

On a side note, school was called off early due to the snow, and since we were in town already, we offered to pick up my nephew Tucker from school.  After picking him up and heading back to the waiting room, I set up some coloring for the kids to keep them busy. 

A while later I examined the kids' creations and had to smile when I saw Tucker's version of Huckleberry Pie. 

He's brown. 

Not because Tucker's brown and everything

he creates has to look just like him. 

Not because he's learning about diversity

and has to complete a project. 

Not because he's making it for Luca or

other person with brown skin. 

But because it's beauty in his eyes. 

I love that kid. 

New Year's Day

We've been trying to plan a fun activity for each day of Christmas break, and New Year's Day we headed to the roller-skating rink!  We all had a blast (Danny even surprised himself by making it around the loop without clinging to the wall or severely injuring himself!  hehe)  

My sweet girl slowly making her way around the circle

Luca, as usual, was DETERMINED to conquer the task at hand and wouldn't leave the floor for a second the entire time we were there.  She progressed from wall-hugging to a slow crawl on her own!  When this girl sets her mind to something, there's just no stopping that train! 

Pulling out the dimple on me, eh?  Ruthless!

Daddy and Brenin

Lovely Lukes

I'm usually not a big fan of new year's resolutions, but this year I am going to take a stab at it.  With life as busy as it is, I'm constantly making "to-do" lists for myself, and they're filled with items like "clean toy room" and "shampoo carpets."  At the end of the day, the list is filled with productive tasks which have very little to do with me and which take up all my days.  This year my resolution is to regularly add some items to the list which feed my soul (fiddling, scrapbooking, writing), and I can't wait to start checking some of them off!  Looking forward to 2010!