Photo Perspective

Siah's violin teacher holds a concert each year at Christmas time to allow her students a chance to perform as a group for an audience. It is usually great fun. Last year, Siah had just started and was learning to hold the violin and the bow, but this year he actually got to play along with several of the songs. Isn't he sweet?

It is going to take me YEARS to use all of the Christmas freebies I'm finding this year. Another collaborative mega kit is online this week. Check it out here: Christmas Around The World.

I happened across a blog that not only lists freebies, but includes a preview of them as well. Plus there is a new post EVERY DAY. DigiFree is powered by a sophisticated computerized search engine that searches for freebies on blogs.

Currently there is also a huge collaborative freebie kit "One Night In Bethlehem" that is being hosted by 16 different designers. They have committed to keeping their freebies up from Dec. 1 until Dec. 7, so if you want parts of these freebies, you need to jump on it this week.

Our church holds a Thanksgiving Eve service with a traditional time for sharing what God has done over the previous year. The sharing includes tough stuff - deaths, sicknesses, ect. but also includes more lighthearted things as well. One little boy was thankful for his 5 kitties and shared each name with us. After Meister saw that Pastor Jeff was sharing the microphone with kids, he desperately wanted a chance to speak to the crowd.

"Mom, Can I say something too?"

"What are you going to say?"

Meister shrugs his shoulders.

"You can if you can tell about something that you are really happy or thankful for. Can you think of anything?"

Meister nods his head.

"Whisper it to me first, OK?" I had to check make sure it was appropriate. He whispered what he was thinking, and I tearily agreed that he could raise his hand for the microphone.

Pastor Jeff brought the microphone over to Meister who excitedly took it in his hand. Enjoying the way his voice was broadcast over the entire room, he said, "Well . . . I got 'dopted by Pete and Julie!"

Wow! Talk about making 300 hearts melt! Pete was getting teary-eyed. Pastor Jeff was blinking back tears. And the whole audience applauded. What a gift to us especially since we hadn't been talking about being thankful for adoption. That was totally out of his own sweet little heart.

It came today. I was sooooo excited! Over a month with no camera was driving me insane. I ended up earning the majority of the money by offering portrait prints of students in our homeschooling co-op. So Sunday evening I ordered my lens of choice - a Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di II. The advantage to this lens is that it is extremely fast - allowing a lot of light in quickly so I do not have to use the flash as often.

Today was an extemely cloudy day. There was a bit of light coming in the window, but with my old lens it would not have been sufficient to capture a fidgety puppy without serious motion blur.

Then with the window to my back, I got this shot of V sitting at the dining room table. The picture actually looked like there was more light than was actually there - and all without a flash. I think I'll be keeping the lens. :-)

I caught up on a few birthday layouts over the weekend.

A weekend scrapbooking with a bunch of friends broke through the creative wall I had been hitting in regards to the kid's scrapbook pages. Here is one I finished after I got home. I'll be posting more shortly. :-)

Credits:

I pulled out my camera yesterday to take individual pictures of well over a hundred people involved with our homeschool co-op only to discover that my lens is severely misshapen. The focusing ring will not work, and even the zooming ring is tough to turn. As we recounted the life of my camera over the last couple of days, we think it may have been melted as it sat next to the stovetop while the oven was going through a self-cleaning cycle.

I feel totally unprepared for life now. I am so used to being able to be ready to capture any memory that not having that option is disturbing to me. There are so many things I had meant to capture. I need to get pictures of S and Shadrach before either of them grow up too much.

So I've been researching lenses only to discover that the ones that make most sense for me based on how I use my camera cost $400+. Yikes! My job today is to pull out that old box of camera equipment, get a quote for it, and get it packaged to send away. I doubt that will raise all the money, but it will be a start. Hmm, what else can I sell around here?

It is quite a story, but one evening we had a Kirby salesman stop by the house and ask to do a demonstration. Pete, an experienced salesman with quite a knowledge of large and small appliances, had a LOT of fun quizzing the poor Kirby sales guy and throwing him off track. At one point I think he knew we were a lost cause as far as closing the sale, but he made the most of it by giving the kids a night to remember.

We've been talking about symmetry lately, and Miah lost his second tooth to provide an illustration for us.

Of course, Dad had to bribe him with a bowl of ice cream, a banana muffin, a chocolate cookie, and $.50.

One of the major concerns for us in choosing a dog is whether it would be good with kids. I think the pictures tell most of the story, but let me tell you that Shadrach was not whining or struggling during this whole playtime. He definitely has more playful moments when he is not this mellow, but S started playing with him just before his nap.

Once we decided to get a puppy for Christmas, I couldn't wait. The kids agreed that they would rather have a puppy than Christmas presents this year, and I decided I'd rather housetrain a puppy in October than in December/January. So we found a cuddley, sweet little male Bichon Frise who is now officially named Shadrach.

There has been more laughing in this house over the past couple of days than a whole week combined before our puppy days. The kids each react and play with the puppy in different ways, but it always ends up with laughter. Even Pete got into the play and ended up chuckling as he realized his face was more ticklish than he thought.

Our little guy is non-shedding, loves people, and will only grow to 10-12 lbs. He is currently 8 weeks old, and is quickly adjusting to his new family.

Miester is a monkey, a dare-devil who has stopped the hearts of many a grandmother with his antics. Now little S started climbing early as well, and has recently figured out how to climb her sister's ladder to her loft bed. She's only 17 months old, so I can only imagine what she will be into at age two.

Today was the first day of our homeschool co-op classes. If you could have seen me this morning, I felt a little out of sorts trying to get all four backpack-ridden children into the building and to their correct classrooms.

I've been working with Meister for the last couple of weeks to prepare him for the dramatic routine change. Due to his tumultuous start in life, he tends to be very anxious about routine changes. To ease him through this transition, I printed out a color-coded schedule of his K4 activities for him to keep with him, although by the time we actually went, he had the thing memorized. Everytime I checked on him throughout the day, he was calmly participating in whatever activity the rest of the class was doing. Once we got home, rather than the bouncing, climbing, always-moving-not-sure-how-to-deal-with-my-anxiety Meister, I had a quiet, calm, cuddley, don't-want-to-leave-mom Meister.

V's most exciting part of the day was discovering that mom bought him a recorder to learn to play during Music class. He could hardly wait to play a song for us - so we listened to recorder music on the way home. AND for the next 20 minutes or so AFTER we got home. I have to admit, though, that the recorder is much easier to listen to than that trumpet of his!

K is currently singing about her friends. She is such a social butterfly as her father calls her. For the last half hour she has been jabbering non-stop about this friend or that, things that happened during classes, counting how many friends she has now, ect. She is at co-op solely for the social aspect. So far I approve heartily of all of her choices for friends, and it is so good for her to get some normal girl-time.

Then there is Miah, my big Kindergartener. He is acting so grown up, and is begging to be taught to read, write, do math, music, spelling - basically anything under the "school" category. He brought home a "Treasure Box", treasure map, and an ant habitat complete with google-eyed pom-pom ant.

And last, but not least, is little Gus. She lived up to her real name in the nursery today. All the cribs were taken, worker's arms were full, she was sooo tired, but content to just chill out on the floor with her pacifier and blanket. She only fussed once when another little girl started playing with a dolly she had previously claimed as "hers". Oh - and the time at the very end when I knocked a toy off of a shelf which landed on her forehead and gave her a huge goose-egg. I felt so bad. :-(

Big thanks to my brother for taking the pictures and to my mom for entertaining the crew. This was my favorite souvenir from our trip.

Meister has a love/hate relationship with foods. There was a time when he would gag on anything green. We've patiently pushed and stretched his palate so that now he will at least eat one or two bites of anything green. Well, Meister pleasantly shocked me the other night. Pete was dishing out spoonfulls of peas, gave Meister a generous spoonful and Meister said, "Can I have some more please?" He ended up with a large pile of peas on his plate and the best part - He Ate Every Little Pea.


As much he hated green things, Meister L-O-V-E-S pancakes. He'll ask me at bedtime the night before if I'll make pancakes for breakfast the next morning. When we're at the library, he'll scan the shelves for pancake books. Then when it is time to read, he'll pick out - yep, the pancake books. He knows all the ingredients, and can gather them all for me. If food was one of the five love languages, I would have no problem figuring out how Meister gives and receives love.

Seems like the youngest always gets to be the guineau pig for the olders "inventions".

She wasn't hurt, but the idea of my baby doll being tied up to a car seat dangling in the air just didn't feel right to me. This "invention" has now been strictly forbidden to be used with live subjects. Stuffed animals and dolls are ok.

After 5 years, it seems God has called Pete back into full-time ministry. Almost two months ago the elders of our church approached Pete requesting that he apply for the position of Interim Children's Ministry Director. After the application and interviewing process, the elders agreed to officially offer the position to Pete, and he accepted. The announcement was made during church this morning.

Personally, I look forward to having Pete home a bit more often. He was working 55+ hrs at his job plus putting in numerous hours this summer working with Junior camp, VBS, planning for this fall's AWANA program, ect. On the flip side, Pete's new more fluid schedule will be a change for our household.

So now that I have our school books for this year chosen and ordered, I'm facing the daunting task of scheduling our days. I was getting most everything done last year - schooling two kids, cleaning, cooking, ect. but not nearly as well as I would have liked. I wasn't often free of my to-do lists to just relax and enjoy my time with the family. This year I am teaching 3rd grade AND kindergarten AND have a very busy little girl to keep track of.

Now if I can get this all figured out in time to catch the free laminating at Office Max, I'll be set!

I voluntarily came down into the basement about an hour ago in order to make some phone calls. Just a minute ago, I climbed to the top of the steps to get my to-do list, and realized I am stuck in the basement.

My clues? Stuff that was in the living room but belongs in the basement is lining the top steps. Sounds of chairs moving and a broom sweeping. A sign on the basement door that says, "Your Private Downstairs". No fighting. No arguing. Peace and calm.

Not wanting to ruin what I am hoping is a crew of children trying to surprise me by cleaning the upstairs, I am now gladly stuck in the basement. I think I'll go lay down for a rest -- after I wipe the tears of joy from my eyes.

In my attempt to paint V's bedroom this week, there have been many times where I have been painting with a busy 14-month old underfoot. I thought I'd share what I've learned from my experiences:

Do expect baby to want to help.
Don't expect to get much done.

Do dress baby in only a diaper because skin washes easier than clothes.
Don't put baby dressed only in a diaper down for a nap without putting more clothes on, she is likely to take the diaper off.

Do put up a baby gate so baby cannot splash in your paint bucket.
Don't use lead-based paint because baby likes to taste anything she splashes in.

Do put plastic or dropcloth under your paint bucket and preferably all over the floor of the room you are working on.
Don't let baby stand on your paint bucket. When she tips it over, the lid will come loose spilling paint all over.

Do secure baby someplace safe before cleaning up spilled paint from the carpet so she doesn't track it through the house.
Don't let the paint spilled on the carpet dry before cleaning it up.

Miah comes up with the funniest things sometimes. Today he spent the day at a friend's home while I was working on V's room. He noticed a picture of Jesus hanging on her living room wall.
"Why do you have a picture of Jesus?" he asked my friend.
"Because I like that picture of Jesus." she replied.
"Did you go to heaven and take that picture?" he wondered.
Of course having a photographer for a mom that WOULD be the ONLY way to get a picture of Jesus, right? Makes sense to me.

While V is off at Junior Camp this week, I've been repainting his room. He is a self-proclaimed cowboy, so I went with a western theme. I still have more painting and a lot of decorating (curtains, shelves, ect.) but the messiest of the job is done.
The faux wood plank wall took the longest, but wasn't nearly as hard as it looks like it could be. Using a wood graining tool dragged through brushed-on brown glaze gave the grain texture.

I'm hoping to place a video camera in his room when he walks in to see this surprise. Funny thing is that he was already hoarse from yelling and singing at camp as of yesterday (Tues. afternoon), so he probably won't be able to talk by the time he gets home.

Tonight as I was tucking Miah into bed, I told him I loved him. His response took me by surprise. "Don't say that anymore, mom."
"Why?" I asked feeling a little hurt.
"'Cause I took a picture of it in my mind so I could remember that you love me and you don't have to tell me anymore."
"Oh!" I'm glad he will always remember I love him, but I'm not going to stop reminding him.

. . . when you have to have 5 ft of sub to feed your family.

Seems like I should celebrate or something. I just dropped off our homeschool portfolios at the local school. Truth is, it wasn't that big of a deal. I'm actually glad to have the portfolios of the kids' school work - samples of their work, artwork, pictures, ect. So much better than that pile of papers and pictures and artwork that I still haven't gone through from their years in public school - I keep meaning to put it in a scrapbook somehow. But they have their second grade scrapbooks now and it will be lots of fun to look back at them in the future.

The principal of the same school K and V went to before homeschooling is the homeschooling superviser of our school district. I placed the kid's portfolios up on the counter, and she glanced at them. "These are cute! Oh - and there's V! (as she pointed to his picture on his notebook) How is V doing? He is so adorable. Did you have a good year?" And so on it went. No nightmares from the school district - didn't even have to ask for proof that I dropped the portfolios off. Mrs. Martin (used to be Ms. Costanza until recently) gave me the receipt, made sure I knew the secretary at the school could notarize next years' affidavit, and chatted about how she keeps forgetting that her name is changed. As I turned to leave, I noticed the 4x6 table set up holding the portfolios already reviewed and waiting for pick-up. I left wondering how I lucked out in having such an easy-going school district to homeschool in compared to others around PA (knock on wood).

So it's over for the year. We can officially start school again on July 1, and I'm actually chomping at the bit to get started again. I kinda doubt the kiddos are going to be as excited though. Maybe I just won't tell them. :-) We'll pick up books here and there to read and they don't have to know that they are actually learning.

We visited Letchworth State Park today where the gorge is described as the "Grand Canyon of the East."
The Genesee River has a Upper, Middle, and Lower Falls in this park. The Upper Falls has a unique railroad bridge above it.The park also has a memorial to Mary Jemison, "White Woman of the Genesee". On the way to NY I read aloud a biography of Mary Jemison, who had been captured by the American Indians as a teenager and eventually chose to remain with the Seneca Indians whom she had grown to love. It have really enjoyed sharing in K and V's excitement when they know the stories behind the places we are visiting.
K is standing outside the restored cabin Mary Jemison lived in during her later years. It had been moved to this location.

Pete always does such a good job of teaching the kids to honor mom on Mother's Day, but I usually really struggle with ideas on what to do. This year I found an idea on the internet, and the kids really got excited about it. First we went to the store and bought different types of candy with good words for names like snickers, kisses, and treasures. Then the kids thought of sentences using those words and put them together into a giant card for dad. The card was followed by a massive group hug.

Just as I was heading upstairs to make supper, I peeked over at S playing with the other kids in the basement. I immediately knew that I would not be making supper just then, but supervising an emergency bath to remove fabric paint from the little wrinkles of S's fingers and face.

Turned out that Miah had created a design for the window with fabric paints and had failed to put it up high to dry. (For those of you with crafty kids, my kids love to paint designs using fabric paints on ziploc bags. After they dry, they can be peeled off the bags and placed on the windows like a window-cling. I even wash windows right over them with no troubles. When we want to remove them, they peel right off.)

Pete says that we have to build a second bathroom before I can save for a laptop, so I'm doing some design research. I found this decorative toilet, and even though it won't fit with my design scheme, maybe it would fit with someone else's.

A buddy from college who has also adopted from Ukraine found this video and shared the link on her blog. It is a must-see and explains itself. Click HERE. There has been some discussion regarding the facts that are stated in the video regarding what happens to the children when they graduate at age 16. Some areas in Ukraine are much worse than others, but the government has recognized the problem and is working on it. It is still true that while the government is trying to put supports in place, many kids are graduating and ending up homeless, jobless, and forced to live lives of crime and prostitution.

Jo and I dragged all 8 kids to Philadelphia today to the Franklin Institute. The Tut Exhibit is in town, and since we just studied ancient Egypt in school this year, V and K have been very excited to go see the treasures from Tut's tomb. While we were waiting for our appointed time to enter the exhibit, we explored the rest of the Franklin Institute's science exhibits. It was a little crazy with all the school field trips going on, so we felt more like sheep herders than parents ready to experience science with their children. Thankfully, we had our trusty saints, Kelli and my brother Dan with us so we did manage to come home with all of our children.

Here's a picture of S enjoying the mirror maze. Most of the exhibits were not meant for little ones her age, but this one caught her attention.

These production numbers were in the early afternoon. Can you imagine how much chocolate goes out of there in a day? We took the kiddos (ours and our visiting friends) to the chocolate world factory tour today. Afterward, we learned some of the history of the town and factory through their 3D show. The kiddos were trying to act tough with their new shades.