Our new favorite place

I've driven past this place a hundred times and always thought it looked really pretty but never bothered to stop. There is usually one car parked on the side of the road and someone running or walking on the trails. No parking lot because it is technically just a part of the local college campus. So I finally stopped with the kids on Sunday to see if we could get a couple of good pictures. After reading one of the signs, we discovered there had been until recently an old pioneer cabin and a "shed" of sorts. So we decided to go check it all out. What we discovered is a child's (boys!) wonderland! The local creek winds throughout the property, there is a pretty neat bridge across at one point and tons of walking/hiking/running trails. It was getting dark so I promised we'd go back the next day, which we did. We have had so much fun exploring and the area is huge so there is lots to discover! I have a feeling we'll be spending plenty of time there in the future!

Ok, seriously

I wish complete strangers would quit telling me how cute Paige is! Don't get me wrong, I want people to think she is cute and love dressing her up, but oh. my. gosh! I made the mistake of going to Value Village on senior citizen day and didn't hear less than 6 times in 20 minutes how cute she was! I always say "thank you" and feel kind of weird about it. What am I thanking them for? I didn't create her adorableness, I just provided the clothes! Not to mention all the attention it focuses on her - which is especially hard when the boys are with me. One elderly man who just happened to be Asian, pointed her out to his wife and said, "look at the little future president." Ok, that was cute! It isn't just the words though it is also THE LOOKS. I know we are being watched, followed with eyes, and in all other manner oogled over. Honestly, I do know you are watching me! I know there isn't anything I can do about it but I have gotten to where I avert my eyes quickly before someone can say something. Or I just don't look at people. Or I smile at them first then turn my attention elsewhere quickly. The funny part of this is that in the beginning, probably the first year, I almost sought out the attention! I loved showing her off and telling people about all we went through to bring her home. Other adoptive parents would complain and I honestly didn't understand why they wouldn't want to show off their children too. NOW I GET IT. It gets old. Really old. Sometimes I just want to do my shopping in peace and without being watched. Is that fair? I know it is asking a lot, I honestly do, and I know we chose to make our family "different" but uugh. So I guess if you run into me at the store, or another adoptive parent and there is no eye contact made, assume it's intentional and just keep going. I really can't believe I'm complaining about this. Most people only have good, kind intentions which makes me feel especially cruel. But if they only knew they were the 3rd, 4th, ...10th person to say something just that day! Oh, and don't ask me "Where I GOT her". Are you kidding me? She isn't an object! Someone actually said that to me the other day and I just wasn't quick enough to say, "On, isle 4, they have several different models." I also don't want to embarasse anyone who only had good intentions. Something tells me that in another year that just may change too!

I took the above picture last night and thought it was particularly appropriate for this post!

What we've been up to (in pictures!)

Trace and Paige hanging out during a brief moment of down time.
Paige was helping to slice olives. Look closely at her cheeks in the second picture! I'm pretty sure she ate more than she sliced!

Our unicyclist! He can make it about 50 yards or so at this point.
Caden finally sitting down to write thank you notes to his friends.

As you can see it isn't very exciting - or even remotely interesting. Just day to day stuff! Hope all is well with everyone else!

Yes, we are still here!

Not that anyone has asked. I just thought there might be someone out there who keeps checking for a new post and is getting frustrated! Maybe.

Nothing particularly interesting is happening these days. We are just crazy busy right now! Only a few weeks left for a couple things then it should slow down a little.

Trace is now in unicycle club! Yeah, I know go ahead and laugh. My mom and I got a little chuckle out of wondering just where he would use this newfound ability. He is doing really well though and just loves it. I guess in the spring is a more advance class and if you take that one you have the option of buying one of the unicycles at the end for a great price. Guess we'll have to wait and see.

Both boys have started a new Wednesday night activity at church called Rock Solid. They are both enjoying it so far.

With those two additions to our schedule it is hard to keep everything straight! Let's see...
Monday - nothing!; Tuesday - C soccer practice 3:50-4:40, T unicycle 3-4, T soccer practice 5:30-7; Wednesday - Me volunteer in C's class 2 hrs.,T unicycle 3-4, $.99 dinner at Applebees with grandparents, Rock Solid 6:30-8; Thursday - repeat of Tuesday but add in family Survivor night and me making homemade pizza during T's practice; Friday - Me filling folders at school in the morning; Saturday - two soccer games and lately at least one birthday party!

I just had to write it all out! If you even bothered to read it you are probably just as confused as I am! It all keeps us busy though and so far has been running pretty smoothly!

pictures coming soon!

A day for JDRF

We were invited by our (oh-so-wonderful) friends to walk in this year's Juvenile Diabetes Research Walk for a Cure, in honor of their 4 year old daughter who was diagnosed about a year and a half ago. It turned out to be a beautiful day with around 5000 people! After the walk we had unlimited ride bracelets for the adjoining amusement park since we had participated. The kids had a great time and didn't even complaine about the walk - I was very proud of them. Paige had a great day too (and a little nap in the stroller). We left home this morning about 8:30 and didn't get home again until after 5. When we pulled into the driveway and turned the car off none of us moved for about five minutes! Apparently all of us are a bit worn out from the day. We had a lot of fun though and hopefully we can walk again next year!

Our little stinker bug...

Just a couple of cute pictures of Miss P from this morning. The same little cutie who decided that 5:30 was a good time to get up today. When I refused to join her and sent her back to bed she took it upon herself to wake each of her brothers up instead! None of us were too happy with her! She is finally getting to like the camera though. When I pulled it out this morning she came running over with a big grin yelling "cheese pickles!"

Berry picking.

These are a couple of clandestine photos I took the other day. I made Caden a yogurt smoothie with some fresh raspberries in it and naturally Trace decided he wanted one as soon as he saw it. Since I'd used all the berries I told Trace he would have to go get some more from the neighbor who gave them to us. Caden immediately volunteered to go instead. I just thought he was so cute over there in his socks with the neighbor. It was also unusually brave of him to go and ask by himself!
The pictures aren't the best because they were taken from across the street and through our (not so clean) front window!

He listens to our prayers!

Please continue praying for little Susannah! Her parents report that she is improving and they have faith they will be able to bring her home. Her situation is still very critical though and she desperately needs to get home to good medical care. If you'd like more information or to follow their story they are keeping a blog at http://www.roomforatleastonemore.blogspot.com/ They are also asking for prayers for their two young boys at home and their caretakers.

Prayer Request!

There is a baby girl in China who needs our prayers desperatly. Her parents arrived to get her and instead were told she was in the hospital. They knew she had a heart problem but did not expect to find her the way they did. If she doesn't get home to the US or at least to a better hospital in China she will die. This is urgent and the family is asking for prayer. There is a lot of red tape so please pray that God will make a way where there seems to be none! Her name is Susanna.

SCORE!

I'd like to say the second picture was of Caden saving the day but unfortunately that ball rolled right past him into the box the second the camera clicked! Let's just say goalie isn't his best position. Both boys had fun at their first games of the season and we had beautiful weather. Caden scored a goal and both of their teams won - a great start. I can already see my future flashing before my eyes though - we had a game at 9am about 25 minutes away,made it home for an hour (just enough time for a quick lunch) then had to drive almost 40 minutes to the next game. After that we rushed home so Trace could take a shower then immediately left to get him to a birthday party. Then it was back to pick him up and go to a special event down at Fort Vancouver. We didn't get home for the night until about 7:30! Next week will be the best since both games are at the same time at the same field! Whoo-hoo...

7 on the 7th!

We had Caden's little family party yesterday. (I decided that when our kids start school they no longer get big family parties, just little ones with grandparents and anyone else who chooses to come. Otherwise it just felt like we were seeking gifts from people that we only see a couple times a year.) Ok, off my soapbox...

Trace spent Saturday night with Nana and Papa and the rest of us went to church so that Caden could just lay around on his birthday morning. It turned out to be a great choice he really enjoyed his 'alone' time.

A little reflexion on the past seven years... (feel free to skip)

Caden was born on a Friday morning, two weeks early. I'll never forget the scowel on his little face as the docter lifted him up for us to see for the first time. His babyhood was not an easy one for me. A pretty fussy baby who was stingy with the smiles unless he was in a really good mood. Toddlerhood wasn't an improvement. He had speech difficulties on top of sensory issues on top of a very opinioated personality! When I recently looked back at his original diagnosis I couldn't believe how far he has come! Speech therapy made him totally understandable within a few months of starting which in turn decreased the tantrums a bit. Therapy for his sensory issues helped him a little but helped me even more know how to respond and react to him. Time, I think, has been the biggest help. And maturity. I still have to cut the tags out of shirts, and toss a perfectly good pair of shoes - because "they hurt!" But I no longer have to carry him everywhere because of weakness in his muscles (low tone). Now he can run up and down a soccer field! There are other patterns and issues that we have either managed to work through to an understanding, or are still working on but he has made such huge progress!

While Caden and I seem to butt heads a lot there is also an extremely sensitive side to him. He is always asking me to play with him or sit with him on the couch. Bedtime is our special time together to talk about anything he wants and he loves that. He can be an awsome brother to both of his siblings (when he wants), often thinking of them when he is getting something special. As our little comedian he can get us all laughing over the oddest things. And he never tires of helping his papa out in the yard. It has been seven crazy years and so many things have changed in his short life! I hope the next seven bring more growth and joy together. HAPPY BIRTHDAY CADEN!

A momentous day...

Most of you will not appreciate the significance of these pictures so let me explain. We discovered when we moved last February that all four of the corner brackets that hold our bed together had cracked. The bed is almost ten years old so I guess things happen. So we put the mattress on the floor, made it, and that's where it has remained! Until Monday. Exactly 7 months later and we finally got the new brackets and put the bed together! I can't tell you how happy I am to no longer be sleeping on the floor!

p.s. Paige is so thrilled to have her Daddy home that she has pretty much attached herself to him and follows him everywhere!

Back to school

The boys are back in school and so far so good. Caden is doing pretty well with the full day but has said he gets a little homesick a couple times during the day. I can't belive how accurate his therapist was when she said he'd hold everything in at school then come home and fall apart! That is exactly what he does and a few weeks ago was actually able to verbalize that to me for the first time. It should be an interesting year. Trace is happy to be back with friends and seems to really like his teacher. This is his first year with a male teacher and I hope it is a good experience for him.
Soccer started again last week also. We have missed it since there was no spring league this year. Trace got on a team with a lot of kids from school so he is thrilled. I had to laugh during his first practice though. Those coaches are serious! They ran those boys for almost a solid hour and a half. They aren't able to sit during water breaks either - makes them too relaxed I guess. I love it and Trace really needs it! Caden has a pretty good coach too and knows at least one other boy on his team. They both are in awe that there are no girls on the team - they played co-ed in Illinois for the past two years. The only downside to the whole thing is the schedule. They get off the bus at about 3:30 and Caden is supposed to be at practice at 3:50. He is done at 4:40 and Trace doesn't have to be back until 5:30 and picked up at 7:00. It makes Tuesday and Thursday pretty long days!

Summer's final farewell...

Labor Day weekend I took the kids down to the beach for our last camping trip of the year. We mainly went so that on Saturday we could go to see the cival war re-enactment. My parents met me part way there and took the boys on to their motorhome for the night. So Paige and I had a night alone in our trailer. I can say two things about that, it was very quiet and very clean! It was also very strange. The next morning we met at the fort to spend the day. The boys loved pretty much everything about it. Caden, our little war hero, thought he'd died and gone to heaven. He is convinced that Rick needs to get a uniform so we can all do that every year! I'm not so sure the rest of us want to dress in period clothing and live like pioneers for a weekend though! Papa bought each of the boys a rifle and union hat and after that they took off to join a band of boys they had seen running around the park. They spent the rest of the day running around with about 20-30 other little boys who all had a gun of some sort. Half of the time we had no idea where they were, but they had, as Caden put it, the best day EVER! We later found out that they were in the "Indian" camp, on the battery (from WWII), and down by the river(yes, that would be the mouth of the COLUMBIA river - holy cow, maybe it's better we didn't know where they were). Once we were back at the trailer I got it cleaned up and out and ready to store for the winter and on Sunday we bid it farewell and went home to see Rick.

OUCH!

I was in the kitchen when I heard the screams. Not your typical scream, but the only-mom-knows-something-is-seriously-wrong kind. Then next thing I know Caden is dripping blood across my kitchen floor and crying hysterically with his hand over his mouth. I managed to get a little look and saw two tooth-sized gashes on the inside that were bleeding so fast I could barely see them. My heart was racing and I was trying to stay calm and figure out what to do. So I called mom. My brother has had his share of split lips so I figured she could help me analyze the situation. In the meantime I got the battered and bloodied Caden onto the couch with washrag and ice so I could evaluate the rest of his body. One badly scraped and bleeding knee, a long scratch on the other leg, a bruised and scratched belly and, we later discovered, one missing tooth (that was contributing substantially to the bleeding). Fortunately Trace was able to find the tooth (which had already been loose) in the street. Unfortunately when it tore out it also managed to tear the gum in two spots all the way up (ouch!). After a call to the doctor we determined stitches wouldn't be necessary and a visit to the dentist checked out ok too.

Now for those of you who know me well, you will remember that I don't do well with medical situations involving myself or someone I care about. I break out in a cold sweat, get nauseous, shaky and just have to sit and take deep breaths. It isn't pretty. Especially since it usually happens during a rather inconvenient time (like when my child is bleeding to death!). Well, thank goodness my parents were able to come right over and as soon as he was comfortable with Nana I got in the shower and tried to get myself back under control! What a nightmare. Just typing this makes me feel queasy again! I'm pretty pathetic, I know.

Update:

Thanks to Darlene I realized that I never mentioned HOW this happened! We live in a neighborhood with a few hills, including our street. The boys like to go with the neighbor kids up and around then ride down one hill turn then turn again and go down our hill picking up speed all the time. Then we also have those new fangled curbs that are a big bump and don't slope into the street. (Exactly like the ones in Minooka - for those who are there!) Put two and two together and, well, you get Caden. I guess he tried to turn into our driveway and the way his tire caught just threw him. He is doing much better tonight and spending the night with Grandma. When the motrin wore off he started showing it a little so we drugged him up again. The dentist asked him right away if he was wearing his helmit - YES! We are huge pro-helmit around here - no helmit=no bike.

The Zoo!

Looking at a bunny. Just thought this was a cool picture.
Watching the penguins.

Even though we were all exhausted from over 8 hours of driving the last two days we decided to go ahead and go to the zoo with Rick's cousin and family who are in town just a few days. It was a beautiful day and just perfect for the zoo - not too hot, not too cold. The boys haven't been since they were in pre-school and back then were highly unimpressed. Paige had never been. Well, I am happy to say that all three of them had a great time and really enjoyed the animals. Paige was just fascinated with everything and kept saying, "lemme see, lemme see!" She says her favorite was the bears, specifically the black bear who came right up to the glass and walked back and forth! It was really cool to be less than a foot from a real black bear! When I ask her what her favorite was she says the bears then growls. We were really lucky to get to see a lot of the animals up and moving; the otter, the sea lions, the bears, the penguins all gave us quite a show! It was a fun day and we are happy to be home now to finally put our feet up!

Little cabin in the woods...

Taking a boat ride with Dad and Scott. Notice the little spot in the water just in front of the yellow barrel. That's Trace!
He made it in to the dock from the swimming platform before hypothermia set in!
The kids and I after 'summiting' our mountain! We were a long way up, and I do mean up! Straight up.
I took this about half the way up the rock wall/landslide that we climbed. The picture doesn't do justice to how steep it actually was!

Rick's sister and family in invited us up to their family cabin this past week. The drive up was nothing short of agony with three bickering kids in the back but is was a great chance to visit with Rick's cousin and family who went with us. The lake was absolutely beautiful though. The weather was a bit cool so we didn't do any boating or swimming (most of us), but we did relax, throw lots of rocks in the water, and do a bit of climbing.

New Pictures

I'm having so much fun taking pictures of the kids! Paige is obviously more fun but I was feeling like the boys were being slighted. So this last weekend I took all three camping and took a ton of pictures of the boys. Let's just say one is a bit more photogenic than the other but I eventually got a few good ones of both. I'm pretty happy with the way they turned out and the setting was just perfect! (I also added on the collage I made from Paige's pictures last week).

Our little princess

This outfit was given to Paige when she came home by a friend of mine (thanks Cheri!). I've been wanting to get her picture in it before she out grew it. Today seemed like a good day! I think they came out pretty good.

Take me out to the ball game...

Aunt Chris gets to take family to a Beavers game every year curtesy of her company. This year we were the lucky ones since we had just moved back and hadn't had the chance before. I didn't tell the boys until the day before though. They were soooo excited! We rode MAX which is Portland's above ground subway type system, something we had promised the boys we would do this summer. At the stadium we discovered that our seating area was literally right on the field! We were standing on the same turf as the players! Trace and Caden chose a table right in the corner against the Beaver's dugout. About half way through the game a man came over and slid a ball under the net to Trace. Trace was bouncing around with excitement but Caden, of course, was bummed. So we sent both boys over with instructions to stand there looking at them, acting like you're having fun, and politely asking for a ball. It worked! Caden had his ball too. By the time we got on MAX to head back to the cars everyone was pretty beat. We had a great time and really appreciated Aunt Chris for taking us!