Square One

Home schooling is rewarding and fun, but it is not easy.
Teaching children at home can frustrating, stressful, and at times, overwhelming! It's not easy to balance housework, child care, and school work - and it's challenging to prioritize and schedule our time accordingly. It often seems as though there are not enough hours in the day and that we are always leaving something undone.

That said, I am incredibly grateful to be blessed with schooling my children at home. I love having my children together with me each day. I love learning, teaching, experimenting, creating, and exploring with them. I love watching them work hard to master new lessons and seeing that "light-bulb" when they finally "get it!". I love seeing them help each other and grow their relationships.

Home schooling an older adopted child poses its own challenges.

Tesfaye arrived home as a 5-year-old. He had been attending school for 6 months while living in an orphanage in Ethiopia. This schooling had been in Amharic, the language of Addis Ababa. Sweet child worked hard in his school, but struggled. Before the orphanage, Tesfaye spoke Sidamigna, which is not a written language.

We began Tesfaye in "kindergarden" when he arrived home in April 2011, working with him through the summer to prepare him for the coming school year. Our focus was mainly attachment/ bonding and language (full immersion language learning) - all critical for his success in schooling and in life. We quickly realized we were starting at square one in a lot of areas.

Now that we are half-way through our school year, Tesfaye is doing exceptionally well, especially considering where we started. It is mind boggling to think we have a 6-year-old child who is learning his third language! He has had to adapt to so many new things, but he is eager to succeed and a very determined and dedicated worker. Still, school is a challenge for him.

We find new challenges in our schooling each day . . . it goes beyond language barrier. Comprehension and lack of basic pattern recognition cause struggles in nearly every school subject. We have been working to grow his understanding and skills, and make the learning fun by reading picture books, acting out words, hands on learning, logic games, puzzle building, coloring, matching, and copying.

Tesfaye has made incredibly huge progress, but we have found sweet boy is a bit too quick to say "I got it", desperately wanting to be successful. He's a smart cookie, possesses amazing adaptive ability, and is very skilled at sliding by without true understanding. We have quickly learned that "I got it" does not necessarily mean he does.

Home schooling is perfect for Tesfaye. We are able to work closely with Tesfaye to make sure he is truly understanding the teaching. If one method doesn't seem to work, we can alter our approach to meet Tesfaye's needs and help him to achieve success in learning. Not being on a strict time schedule helps too. We are so grateful for the one-on-one work and flexibility home schooling enables. And, we've loved watching Hendrick and Davis helping and encouraging Tesfaye.


We are so proud of Tesfaye's growth, accomplishments and achievements in school. It's amazing to see how far he has come in such a short time. He is nearly at a first-grade level, which is quite impressive considering the challenges and struggles and barriers he has had to work through. He's a hard-worker and a smart boy!

Sheepy

Maegli has a fuzzy constant companion - they have been inseparable for the past 2-1/2 years. "Sheepy" (sometimes called "Lamby") shares a bed and goes everywhere with Maegli.
Sheepy was with Maegli for her first steps, is the perfect snuggler, has been dragged around and pushed around in strollers, goes on every trip, has been washed (bathed) countless times, and loves to be dressed up.

Sheepy is a 24" square, comfy cozy plush lamb blanket lovey by Gund.

We are currently on Sheepy II, the first Sheepy was lost on the streets of Philadephia. Poor girl cried herself to sleep each night until Sheepy II arrived in the mail. We learned our lesson - Sheepy III is waiting in the closet, just in case :)

Skills

Tesfaye has been gifted with natural athletic talent - boy has skills!

Soccer is definitely his best and favorite sport. He grew up playing village football with a banana leaf ball - now he is proud to show off his fancy footwork on the soccer field.
He took immediately to the game of baseball - impressing all with his amazing throwing arm and seemingly impossible ball catches.
Tesfaye is effortlessly able to pick up practically every sport with ease.

We recently took the boys to see a basketball game at Union University to cheer on the Lady Bulldogs. Tesfaye had never seen basketball before in his life, but while watching decided he would like to play basketball. "I like play basketball. I like people lots watch me!" The boy liked the idea of having an audience!
At half-time, children were invited onto the court to play. Tesfaye immediately ran onto the court, grabbed a ball, dribbled, and started shooting. He had NEVER played or watched basketball before in his life and he was dribbling the ball! He quickly mastered shooting a basket, so turned around to challenge himself with a backwards shot. THREE times he threw the ball over his head and into the hoop for a backwards basket!!!

He is amazing to watch.
God has blessed our boy with some serious athletic skills!

Photos by D. Willis

Temporary

Bed rest is hard on everyone: Amy is stuck on the couch, Mike is working double duty, and the kids have had their whole world turned upside down. Our past five weeks have not been normal!
Fortunately this time is temporary.
We have had a lot of special people coming in to help us - it's been truly incredible!

We have been completely dependent on outside help from friends and family. People have come every day to care for our children, clean our house, and deliver meals - wow!
We are extremely grateful for this much needed help.

The outside help has been necessary and has been incredibly special and fun. It's been good: they have received lots of special attention and treats, and have grown even closer to each other . . . but it's still stressful (and mom is still on the couch!). No matter how good and special, a deviation from the norm is bound to be stressful on the children. The stress manifests itself in different ways.

• Our constant, content, calm and joyful boy Kolpin has been incredibly fussy at nap time and has been obstinate, refusing and saying "no" to practically everything.
• Sweet, joyful, ballerina girl Maegli, actually laid on the floor during dance class refusing to move.
• Hiwot, who has come so far and grown so much, has reverted a bit: crying at the drop of a hat and being incredibly snuggly and shy with new visitors
• Our typically charming Burke has been a dramatic roller coaster - quickly moving from super sweet to lashing out at siblings and caregivers.
  
• Poor Davis has become very clumsy: constantly getting hurt, tending to trip more, running into obstacles, and managing to spill his beverage at every meal.
• Hendrick and Tesfaye, our big boys and our helpers, have become expert show-offs, going "wild" whenever a new person drops by: scaling furniture, noisy pillow fights, and scooter wars.
  

These changes in the kids behavior is inevitable during this deviation, and fortunately this time (while necessary) is temporary. It will be nice to get back to a more normal schedule, but realistically it will be a while.

For now, we'll enjoy this change from the norm - incredibly grateful for the generous help, extra care and spoiling.

Thanks so much for all the help, love and care!!!!

(and for helping the kids to build super special blanket forts!!!)

The Bump - 36 weeks

For 36 weeks, our prayer has been "please help this baby grow strong and healthy, and inside!"
Now we are prayerfully preparing for the arrival of this sweet babe.
Still hoping for at least one more week!

It's amazing to remember that God already intimately knows this sweet child.
God knit this precious babe together.
God knows boy or girl, He knows the name, and He has a plan for this precious life.

We can't wait to get to know this little one too!


(we're trying every trick in the book to help little one stay put - praying contractions stop!)


*Evening Update: Thank you ladies for the incredibly fun surprise Baby Blesssing!*
(I'm still laughing)
Thanks for loving on me and the little one.
What a special way to celebrate 36 weeks and this sweet babe :)

Loss and Gain

One year ago . . .
We were in Ethiopia, to attend a court hearing which legally declared Hiwot and Tesfaye as our children.


They have added so much to our family and so much to our lives. We are so thankful God blessed our family with these precious kids. They have been home with us for 9 months - their lives have changed dramatically (so have ours :)


Hiwot and Tesfaye joining our family is a tale of loss and gain. They have lost an old life, but gained a new one: lost their birth home, but gained a forever home; lost their first family, but have gained a new family; lost a language, but gained a new one.
We pray God will give these precious kids peace and comfort as they continue to deal with these significant losses and gains throughout their lives.

English has replaced their original languages. It's truly amazing how quickly they have learned English, and incredibly sad (but inevitable) how fast they have lost Amharic and Sidamigna. We are thankful we have adopted a smattering of words, a mix of both languages, into our everyday.

• tey-nee (good-night/ sleep to a girl)
• tey-nah (good-night/ sleep to a boy)


• bah-rah-cho (corn)
• fee-nah (balloon)
• ababa (flower)
• doro (chicken)
  
• shint (pee-pee)
• poe-poe (poop)
  
• desta (happy)
• a-mah-se-gah-na-low (thank you)
• ish-ee (ok)
  

• deh-nah-nish (I love you to a girl)
• deh-nah-nick (I love you to a boy)

• salam (hello)
• ciao (good-bye)
  

Sharing

Burke has been wonderful sharing his new toy - - - it is a new favorite in our household.

. . . Eeny, Meeny, Miney, Moe . . .

Kolpin's turn!

Burke demonstrating the stomp rocket!

It is an absolute joy watching the kids playing together :)

Making Sense

We've been talking a lot about babies in our household, preparing for the arrival of our new little one. Hiwot and I had a conversation the other day, I was curious if she remembered ever seeing a newborn baby. Hiwot doesn't have a lot of memories from her first home in Sidama, but she remembered more than we expected about babies.

(This is her telling. These are her memories. In the memories of a little one, the line between reality and fiction is a bit blurred :)

In her own words:

I see different little baby born
I see a light brown little baby
A baby boy
Baby drank his mommy's milk and I carry him
Baby lay down to sleep
I covered with a blanket
Baby didn't wake up
Baby died
Baby had tiny pink jacket
We had a pink house
Everything was pink
And pink food too!
I lay down
I cover with a blanket
I left alone
They sit in rocking chair
I cry
God came and game me food
God gave me crackers to eat
I have twisties in my hair
I was a baby
I just got growed up and I turned into Hiwot

That was a lot of talk I was talking!

Hiwot is very excited to have a new baby in our house. She has decided we are having a baby girl (we'll see!) and that they will share a bed. Hiwot has been carrying her baby doll around in our infant carseat and visits the baby crib each morning. She is going to be a wonderful big sister to this new baby.

The Race is On

The kids have enjoyed racing Hot Wheels on our new racetracks. They've also been incredibly creative combining our three track sets!

(This was our family gift for Christmas)

Mommy

We are thankful for a good friend generously taking a few shots of Mommy and the kids.
We are thankful for a beautiful sunny day in January.
We are thankful for silly kids who are thrilled to welcome a new baby.
We are thankful to be able to capture this time of excited expectancy.

The Bump - 35 weeks

We are working on one goal at a time.
Each day, each week is a triumph.

. . . we have achieved our first big goal . . . 35 weeks . . .
. . .our new goal is 36 weeks . . .

. . . then we'll aim for our ultimate goal: 37 weeks and a home birth . . .

(we'd love to get even further . . . but we'll take one day, one week at a time)


*We are incredibly grateful for the amazing people who have descended on our household to help.
. delivering meals . volunteer house cleaners . taking care of and spending time with our kids .
Amy's been staying on the couch!

Stretch!

Three months post Surgery, the range of motion in Davis' right wrist is AMAZING! We are down to one Occupational Therapy session per week (dropped down from 3 per week). Davis is working hard to strengthen and stretch the tendons in his wrist: he climbs a rock wall, leans onto a table with his weight on the right hand palm, he moves his hand side-to-side to cover and reveal hidden objects, and can support his weight as a "wheel barrow" for several steps. He works everyday at home on his stretches, each day they are get a bit easier and are less painful.

We are incredibly proud of how hard Davis is working and how much progress he has made.
Davis is proud to show off his new range of motion, demonstrating to people how he can hold his hand out straight - something he has never been able to do before. It's truly amazing.

We are so thankful for the success of the surgery. We praise God for the incredible healing of Davis' wrist.

Davis showing the amazing flexibility of his wrist while stretching:

Coloring Music

The other day, a good friend generously volunteered to get the kids out of the house and take them to a special "Color of Music" class. The kids were set up with paint and were directed to paint the music.

Apparently Hiwot was incredibly focused on this task, feeling the music and painting while in her own little world. She created a beautiful work of art :)

Hiwot

Little Pretty

4

Maegli, our darling little girl, is FOUR!!!
Happy Birthday Maegli!

. colors endless portraits of mommy . dances to the music . shrieks .
. girly giggles . dress-up princess . late-night chatterer . snuggler .
. lover of all things pink . baby belly kisser . song singer . trouble :) .
. memory game player . princess puzzle builder . comfort seeking finger sucker .
. loves to read ballet books . styles mommy's hair . fixes fancy (play) meals .
. mommy's kitchen helper . daddy's dance partner .
. coordinates her outfits . always wears a dress and tutu . "sheepy's" constant companion .
. adores her big sister . gives gifts . strong stubborn streak . blanket fort builder .
. loves to play "mommy" . unmotivated cleaner . wild girl . ballerina girl .

We adore this little ballerina. Our precious girly-girl adds a lot of femininity and PINK to our home.
She has such a darling personality and is full of energy and sweet giggles, kisses and hugs.
We love you little one!

(Maegli is so excited to be Hiwot's age!)

Grandpa

We have been incredibly blessed to have Grandpa (Amy's dad) stay with us for the week.
Grandpa bravely and expertly took charge while Amy has been on bed rest, spoiling us all for the week. Grandpa arrived prepared with a meal schedule (achieving an impressively high approval rating from all parties) and special activities planned. He's stayed busy and has given us a very special week.

. cookies . donuts . chocolate milk . tomato soup . clementines . Skyline chili .
. birthday cake(s) . pancake breakfast . ravioli . tootsie rolls .
. magic tricks . playground play . ice cream outing . neighborhood walks . marching band .
. making silly movies . writing letters . reading books . building puzzles . snow play .
. laundry washed . dishes cleaned . floor vacuumed .
. "the claw!" . "good button, bad button" game . hidden candy hot-and-cold find .

The kids watching their hilarious own original movies :)

The kids have had an absolute ball!
And, Amy has been able to stay on the couch :)

Thanks so much for the wonderful week - it's been really nice having you here! (You'll be missed!)
We look forward to your return for our final week of bed rest!

Tesfaye: "Grandpa is a really good maker, he makes food really good!"

Bed Rest Blues

It's hard to be stuck on the couch.

Life is happening around me.
The kids need help.
The kids need attention.
The kids need their mom.

It's hard to be stuck on the couch.

My husband is working double time.
I am not able to play my part.
I wish I could do more.
It's hard needing help.

It's hard to be stuck on the couch.

But, I am doing my job.
Right now, my job is to stay on the couch.
I am doing what I can to keep precious babe inside as long as possible.
Every day counts. Each and every day is better for this baby.

I am eager for bed rest to be over. I am eager to be a mom again. I am eager to be a wife again. I am eager to help my kids. I am eager to help my spouse. I am eager to pick up my children, dance and run and play. I am eager to cook for my family. I am eager to take care of my house.

But for now, I'm stuck on the couch.
Hoping to be stuck on the couch for 20 more days.


We are incredibly grateful for the generous help provided by our family and friends during this time!
I guess I should just enjoy this restful break :)

(While stuck, I have put together and labeled family photo books from the past 12 months!)

The Bump - 34 weeks

Hanging on, taking it easy, lying down.
Praying for (at least) 3 more weeks!

Whisper Talk

Kolpin's language has really taken off this past month.

Our incredibly sweet, affectionate, compliant and quiet child has always communicated very well using a baby signs, head nods, and expressive eye brows. Recently, he has added verbal language to his effective communication.

Sweet Kolpin whispers.

Kolpin is constantly making sounds in a sweet sing-song whisper - whether puppy dog whimpers, super hero battle sounds, or race car vrooms. He repeats most everything: words, songs and phrases, whispering sweetly followed by a giggle - apparently thinking either our talking or his repeating incredibly funny.
He also has his own words and phrases. In addition to the basic words and animal names and sounds, he will sweetly request: "jacket off", "help me", "watch this", "open this please", "fix it", "more food please", "water please". He points out "right here"; sings "winnie the pooh" as he makes his "pooh bear" jump on the floor; plays with his most prized toy, labeling it "race car - vroom"; whimpers and states "ow, hurt me" when inured; and he'll point to his pants and say "diaper" when he needs a change.

"peese" (please), "hank hew" (thank you), "wah-ther" (water),
"pee-haw" (pizza), "hews" (shoes), "hacket" (jacket)

We love hearing his sweet sing-song whisper!

*Kolpin has also decided he is done with his high chair, much preferring to sit at the table with everyone else - we like him there too!

Motivation

Hendrick knows what he wants and is willing to work hard for it.

We compensate the children for doing chores around the house. It helps everyone: we have enthusiastic helpers willing to work hard (we certainly need the help!), and the kids are able to earn money while learning valuable money lessons. The money is kept in their individual piggy banks until enough is saved for the much anticipated trip to the toy store. (They count stacks of quarters regularly so they are always aware of their money status.) When it's time for spending, they put aside some money to give (tithe), some money to save, and always make sure they have enough to cover tax (government).

Hendrick recently has been working hard to earn money for Ninjago Lego Spinners. He is amassing quite the collection of spinners and cards. He looks up how much money is required to purchase the desired addition, setting his goal, and then gets very busy, asking for the biggest jobs. He'll wash windows, pull weeds, rake out garden beds, hang and sort laundry, load and empty the dishwasher, and fold all Kolpin's clothes. It's so nice to have a motivated worker.

He is so pleased to be able to purchase his own toys. (He is currently working hard to earn money for his next set :)

We're proud of our hardworking, money saving, goal setting boy!


*Some chores are unpaid, expected and required of everyone: making their own bed each morning, folding and putting away their own laundry, cleaning up their own toys and messes. (And if Mom or Dad ask for something to be done, they are expected to do it!)

We pay work work that benefits everyone and is above and beyond (payment based on time required for the task): setting and clearing the entire dining table ($0.25 ea.), emptying and loading the dishwasher ($1.00), hanging up wet laundry and sorting dry laundry ($1.00), washing the windows ($2.00), raking leaves ($1.00 per pile including transporting pile to woods), vacuuming the first floor ($0.50), sweeping the floor ($0.25), organizing the toy and book shelves ($1.00-2.00).

Hiwot and Maegli typically earn $0.50-1.00 ea. per week, Davis and Burke typically earn $1-2.50 ea. per week, Tesfaye and Hendrick work the hardest and earn $3 - 6.00 ea. per week . . . it's well work every penny, the help they provide is priceless!