Showing posts with label Adoption. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Adoption. Show all posts

Saturday, April 11, 2009

One Year Home Today!

I put together a slideshow of Halle Grace's first year with us. The computer was extra slow tonight, so they are not in chronological order after the first few... :)

How blessed we feel today! Thank you, Lord!

Saturday, March 14, 2009

One Year ago Today Part II

March 14, 2008, we met out daughter for the first time. It was nothing like the day we first met our boys. This day invloved no labor pain and no hospitals - just the joy of finding our daughter after a long journey. God led us down a path we never expected, and he was so faithful through every twist and turn.
Here is another blast from blog entries past...

In she walked – this precious little girl. It’s one of those moments you know will stay in your memory and in your heart forever. She had on a purple turtleneck, a denim jumper with a butterfly on it (which she was very proud of!), yellow knee-high socks, and silver sandals. Her brown hair was in a ponytail, and I was just dying to take down that hair and play with it! She was very polite and we spoke to her via our translator. She started telling us all the things she likes to do – she likes Cinderella, dressing up, baby dolls with strollers, cooking, and dancing. Then she belts out in PERFECT speech this Russian poem about sunflowers! Precious! We knew right away that she was meant to be ours. We showed her the photo book we brought with pictures of our family, our home, friends, etc. She pointed to the bed in “her” room and said, “I want to lie down on THAT bed” (in Russian, of course!). Little does she know the hours I spent choosing that fabric and making that bed look perfect just for her! When it was time for her to go, she gave me the biggest hug and would not let go. I also got a couple of kisses on the cheek…while she probably got all wet from my tears! What a precious gift this little girl is!

After running around literally ALL day long getting paperwork started to set a court date, we got to go back for a quick visit this evening. This time, she gave Scott big hugs and even sat in his lap. We brought her a little doll, and she spent most of the time braiding the doll’s hair in perfect little braids (no delayed fine-motor skills here!). She also downed 3 cookies, and wrote down her numbers for us to show off her skills! We measured her, and she is about 42in. tall – just about Garrett’s height! She is just the smartest little thing…we’re biased a little, but I really would never have guessed that she was an orphan! It’s incredible and we know that the Lord has truly been keeping her in the palm of his hand for us. There are no doubts that He has been preparing her to meet us, and us to meet her.


Here is our first picture of our little Veka (short for Victoria...now Halle Grace Victoria)



More orphanage visits...

Thursday, March 12, 2009

One Year ago Today

March 12th will always be a day we remember. It's the day of our adoption appointment with the SDA last year in Kiev. It was a day of miracles in the uncertin world of Ukrainian adoption. Here is a trip down memory lane...from the blog archives.

We have a referral!!!
We didn't sleep much last night. We knew it was in God's hands, but we are human and we were nervous. Finally, the time came, and we headed to the SDA. It's right by one of the beautiful churches (St. Andrews, I THINK). We walked up the stairwell into the office of the psychologist (more of a secretary, really). They were short on staff, so our facilitator got to come into the meeting with us. This was a HUGE blessing. She asked us our age and gender prefences (girl, up to 5), and started pulling out files one at a time. She showed us 2 girls under the age of 4. It was heartbreaking. One had FAS and one that could not use one of her legs. We asked for more files - new files. She left the room and returned with a beautiful little dark-haired 7-yr. old. We knew she wasn't ours. She was Grant's age. We asked again - "do you have any new files anywhere?". She left the room again, and returned with one more file and a big smile on her face. The little girl is ADORABLE! She is 5 years old. She has strabismus (crossed-eyes), which have already been corrected once by surgery. She could need one more operation. She has sandy-brown hair - with a few curls, and brown eyes. She is HEALTHY! We can't travel to meet her until tomorrow night, but we will get to meet her on Friday. She is in Mariupol, witch is a LONG way from Kiev. It's a small town about an hour and a half from Donetsk. More later...we're off to eat lunch (we're starving!!!).
Praise God for this gift! We feel so blessed, and feel this file that seemed to come out of nowhere was straight from the Lord. Pray that when we meet her, we will find that she is the one we came here for!

Back to today...
As I think back to that day, I remember the stress of not knowing what to expect at the SDA. We knew of several families who were in Kiev waiting for 2nd and 3rd appointments because they were not shown any remotely healthy chidren. It was one of those situations you can't strategize through...it's a pure, often terrifying, walk of faith. I remember standing in the cold, outside the SDA, waiting to be called in for our appointment. I remember staring at the GIANT iron gates in front of the building. And it struck me what a metaphor they were for all the obsticles in the Ukrainian adoption system. Then the Lord reminded me of one of the scriptures he had given me for that day...

I will go before you and level the mountains. I will break the break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. Isaiah 45:2

I didn’t know when or how, but I believed that the Lord was going to lead us to our child. He truly had gone before us and broke through the red tape to bring this little girl into our family.
Through that experience, I loved seeing the side of God that powerfully defends and rescues his precious orphans. What an amazing day to celebrate!

(Scott's going to scan in the SDA file photo we have of Halle Grace.)

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Valentina

On this day last year, our facilitator in Ukraine told us about a little girl who was stuck in the system in Ukraine. Her name is Valentina and her older siblings had been adopted a couple of years earlier. The family who adopted them put a hold on Valentina's file and planned to return for her. They never did, yet the hold on this little girl's file prevented her being adopted at all. She was 4 years old at the time, and we decided to take on the battle to adopt her. This required us to get in touch with the family who adopted her siblings and get them to sign a letter saying that they were not planning to adopt her. We poured our hearts and our prayers into this ordeal. My ladies prayer group lifted Valentina up in prayer so powerfully, that I just knew something major had happened for this little girl. We got on the plane for Ukraine in March, believing that everything was in place to adopt Valentina, and we were thrilled! We packed clothes and toys for a 4-year-old and couldn't wait to meet this little girl. Upon arriving in Ukraine, the first thing our facilitator told us was that something had happened and someone else had been able to free Valentina from the system. She was being adopted by another family and they had just had court. We were devastated. We already felt that she was ours, and it was tough to take. We were now facing luck-of-the-draw like many others and had no assurances of finding a healthy little girl (those who know about Ukrainian adoption know how difficult that can be).
Anyway, of course, God was in control the whole time and we came home with exactly the little girl God had planned for us. But do I believe he used the power of our prayers to free little Valentina? Absolutely. Counting back the days, the day my ladies life group prayed for Valentina would have been right around the time she was released for adoption. I don't know who adopted Valentina, but today life up a prayer for her - that the Lord will bless her and continue his incredible plan for her life.

Any of you Ukrainian adoption vets know of this little girl? She was in the Odessa region, Bilgorod-Dnistrovsky orphanage, 4 years old - adopted in March of last year. Just curious...

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Two Hours in Ukraine

Today I spent 2 hours in an Eastern European deli in Richardson. It was like stepping back to my life in Ukraine 7 months ago. It was EXACTLY like the little mom-and-pop grocery stores in Mariupol. EVERYONE in that store was speaking Russian, and everything was in Cyrillic. It was the craziest thing!
I was there because this is a Meest location, which is the shipping company I used to send our orphanage care package. After taking MUCH too long to sort and pack everything, we finally got it loaded in the car this morning. All I had was the Russian address for Solnitchka - I hadn't been able to find it in English. At the last minute, I absentmindedly checked my email before I left the house, and there was an email from our missionary friend in Ukraine (thank you, Lord!). He sent me the English address and said that he had just come from the orphanage! He said that the director sends her love and wanted to let Halle Grace know that many of her friends have found families!
Hooray!
Now I was really ready. So off I went on my 45-minute drive to Richardson. When I got to the store, the owner was so nice, but told me that I had too many boxes. There is a $20/per box fee (I had 7 or 8 boxes). He thought I could consolidate, though. Sure enough, there was plenty of room in those larger boxes (that's what happens when I let the kids help pack!). His scale only went to 30 pounds, so we had to open each box, take some stuff out to weigh, then weigh the box and add the totals together. Then we repacked the boxes into 4 LARGE boxes and taped them all up...all while he was helping customers in a pretty steady stream! (which explaines why I was there for 2 hours!) He was amazing!
I enjoyed practicing my Russian (I'm nearly fluent after today! Ha!), and shopping for all the goodies I remember so well. I brought home 3 boxes of strawberry tea, some cherry juice, and some Granny Smith apple juice. Yummmmm!
I guess Meest contracts with UPS, so next I was sent there to drop off the boxes. I was actually taken aback when I walked in and heard English again. Oh yeah, I'm in America!
For those of you who asked about shipping to Ukraine...it's not cheap! Using Meest, we sent about 190 lbs in 4 boxes for a total of $325 (MUCH cheaper than UPS or the Post Office). A few families donated money to help us with shipping...and guess how much we were given? $310. Amazing, huh?
It will arrive anywhere from 5 to 8 weeks.
Although this was great, we are thinking that next time, it might be better just to send cash. That way the orphanage could get what they really need on their own(this is an orphanage I know we could trust). But it was an incredible experience for our kids, and for our school, to be a part of something that brings out such compassion, generosity, and joy. I think it's something they will always remember. Thank you, Liberty Elementary!

Here is most of the stash. I took this picture before the last day of our collection time, and it grow by about 50 percent that day!





Here is the final result (at least until I had to repack it all at the European Deli!). Poor Garrett had been crying because the boxes were too heavy and he wanted to help. Some days, it's just hard to be 6.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Our Box Runneth Over!

We have been BLOWN AWAY by the response at the kids' school. The orphanage care package drive has been wildly successful - and there's still 2 days to go! Every day this week, I have gone up to school to take loads of loads of stuff home. Grant, Garrett and Halle Grace have been promoting the drive all week on their video morning announcements, which they think is super-cool. We so proud of their enthusiasm for this project, and I pray that it will instill in them a life-long love of service and showing compassion to others.
So far, it's all piled up in the garage - but tomorrow I plan to begin sorting through the loot. I'll try to post pics. It will be a sight to behold. We might need to take out a loan to ship it all! :)
(by the way, we are using Meest to ship. It's slower, but MUCH cheaper)

I wish my kids could be flies on the wall the day the boxes arrive at Solnitchka...especially Halle Grace. If it wasn't so incredibly hard to get there, I'd be tempted to deliver it ourselves!

On a different note...and because it's my blog, and I can...here is my favorite political quote of the day: "Remember that it took a President Carter to bring us to a President Reagan" (sorry, I can't remember who said it...Rush? Mark Davis? Don't know...:)

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Solnitchka Care Package

There are so many things that Halle Grace wants to send to her friends at Solnitchka (Little Sun Orphanage) in our Christmas care package. She and the boys asked if we could include others in our "collecting" for the care package. So, with Halle Grace's permission and input, we are organazing care package donations through the kids' school. We have our letter all ready to go. I wanted to get some input from those of you in the adoption world...
Halle Grace came up with many of these items (things they didn't have there, like children's toothpaste, no-tears shampoo, and PJs with feet!). Here are some things I listed as suggested care package donations:
Children’s toothbrushes (not electric)
Children’s toothpaste
Johnson and Johnson baby shampoo or body wash
Soft Kleenex
Warm pajamas (sizes 3T to 5/6)
Slippers
Hats and scarves and gloves
Underwear – girls or boys
Thick, warm socks, tights for girls
Shoes of all kinds (for children ages 3 - 6)
Girls’ hair bows or clips
Educational toys (no stuffed animals)
Art supplies

For those of you who have spent time in orphanages, do you have anything to add?
I also want to send some kind of children's story Bibles, but I haven't been able to find one in Russian. I'm thinking about making my own...coloring book style so the kids will have more interaction with it. Anyone have any experience with this, or thoughts/ideas?
Thanks, Bloggies!
More later on our Halloween festivites this weekend...

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

6 Months with Halle Grace!

We can't believe it's been 6 months! It's hard to imagine life without this little girl who has captured our hearts. In these six short months, she has become fluent in English (and has lost most of her Russian, sadly), she has made lots of new friends, learned to swim, ride a bike and scooter, learned the English alphabet, learned about Jesus, learned to pray, riden planes and trains, fished, celebrated her 6th birthday, climbed trees, camped out, started Kindergarten, started gymnastics... she has become a US citizen, and she has become our daughter. Busy girl.

We love you, Halle Grace, and we are so proud of you! You are such a sweet and generous little girl. You are always thinking of others. Your sweet and kind spirit is such a blessing to everyone around you. We are so thankful that the Lord brought you into our lives!

Here are some pictures of our little girl then...and now.
The day we met...


In Kiev...


April 11 Homecoming


yesterday...practicing her gymnastics moves outside


Happy 6 months Halle Grace!

Monday, August 25, 2008

First Day of School

Alone....
Alone...
Alone.
Alone. It feels weird. Not as blissful as I expected. Dropping off my babies for the first of at least 13 years of school was not easy. I know they will love it and they will grow so much this year. But I will miss them so much! (I'm talking mostly about Halle Grace who is gone all day. Garrett gets out at 11am - yes, that's 11am! Gotta love Keller ISD!) :)

All that aside, they all went in like pros. It's going to be a great year!



Thursday, August 21, 2008

Our Brave GIrl

This little girl of ours is always amazing us! In these last few days of summer, she's experienced her first bounce-house gym (where no one could even keep up with her), she had her "dedication" at church (yes, in front of everyone!), and she had her ears pierced (ouch!). Today, she has her Meet the Teacher at school, and I'm sure she will be our brave girl again. We'll see what happens on Monday when she has to actually stay :)

Here are some of our memories from these last days of Halle Grace's first summer with us...

Notice Garrett and our neighbor, Sophia, trying to keep up... Halle Grace was FULL SPEED!

I missed the focus spot on this one, but these are her cute little pierced ears! One earring came out yesterday when she took off her dress without unbuttoning it first. I had to stick that earring back in and it was NOT easy - and it hurt all over again. Poor thing!


At church on Sunday, they called us all down to the front to pray over Halle Grace and over our family. The pastor who led the prayer knows our whole story, and got a little choked up when he thanked God for the great lengths he went to to unite this little girl with her family. It was an amazing time of powerful prayer for her life, and she felt so loved and special. The church gave her a little pink Bible that she now wants to take with her everywhere she goes. :)

Don't you just love an 8-year-old boys enthusiasm for getting his picture taken? That's all there is to say about this one.


We went to lunch with the whole family after church and had a great time. I need some serious photoshop help with the glare on HG's glasses! :(


I've been wanting to take the kids to the museum all summer. Yesterday, we finally went and it was so much fun! Here are all the 3 kiddos sitting in a dinosaur footprint. Wow!


Grant was so proud of his magnetic tower. He asked he to put it on the blog...so here it is! :)



While the boys built the tallest towers they could, Halle Grace spelled out her name with the blocks. This girl's going to be a teacher's dream.


Today is jammed-packed with one last trip to the water park with dear friends, gymnastics, Meet the Teacher, and Garrett's first soccer practice. What will we be doing tomorrow? Absolutely NOTHING! Whew!

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Two-Monthiversary

Today, Halle Grace has been with us for 2 months. It's been amazing, truly, and we can't imagine life without her. In this two month time period, she has experiences countless firsts, her hair has grown longer, she's got some Texas color on her cheeks, and her English is amazing. She speaks mostly in English now, with Russian mixed in when she doesn't know the English word for what she wants to say. I wanted to do another video interview today, but the day got away from us. Tomorrow...

Today we had swim lessons and a trip to the water park. Halle Grace and the boys were up in line for a slide in the kids' area when Halle Grace got stung by a bee!!! The lifeguard carried her down and I ran over to them. Halle Grace was screaming and I had to run to keep up with the lifeguard carrying her towards the first aid clinic. She asked me if she was allergic or if she had been stung before. Of course, I had no idea. I explained that we had recently adopted her from Ukraine. The lifeguard just looked at me and said, "Does she speak Russian?". I said yes, and she immediately began speaking to Halle Grace in Russian! She asked her if she had been stung before and Halle Grace said no. She went on explaining that they were going to put some medicine on it and that it would be ok (at least I think that's what she was saying. Like I had any idea! Ha!). But it sure put Halle Grace at ease. After she was treated and feeling a little better, the lifeguard explained that she had been adopted from Russian 5 years ago with her 2 siblings. How crazy is that!!! It just goes to show that the Lord is still answering all those prayers for comfort that we sent up on her behalf. What a sweet gift her gave her today!

After the obligatory drama, Halle Grace was back on the water slides in no time. They are all in bed now, thoroughly exhausted. Tomorrow is the last day of swim lessons. She and Garrett have done so well and made so much progress! Halle Grace is still afraid of deep water, but she is actually swimming, so that's fine with me!

Here's a little memory-lane walk from April 11, followed by two current picture of Halle Grace with her brothers (sorry, they're repeats!).
The Lord has truly blessed us beyond all our expectations.




Friday, May 30, 2008

Things I need to write down so I don't forget...

Garrett said in his preschool graduation that he wants to be a pilot when he grows up. This week, in the car, he asked me what a pilot was again. I told him that they fly the airplanes.
Garrett: "Oh yeah! Who are the ones who pass out the drinks?"
Me: "flight attendants. Like Dee."
Garrett: "Ohhhh! Do they get to have drinks and snacks after they pass them out?"
Me: "yes"
Garrett: "then that's what I want to be. I know one thing - I do NOT want to be a builder-guy because they have to work every day."
Gotta love a good work ethic!

We went to a sporting goods store tonight to buy a birthday present for one of Garrett's friends. They had these Dallas Cowboy Christmas stockings on display (I know, weird...they weren't even on sale). Anyway, Halle Grace got so excited, took two off the rack, and put them on her feet! She had no idea what they are for. Good thing she's a fast learner... :) How FUN will Christmas be at our house this year???!!!

Out of the blue, on the trampoline today, Halle Grace started doing forward flips. She even landed on her feet sometimes! I had no idea she could do that. I don't think she did either.

Earlier this week, Halle Grace complained that her head hurt. I told her that she couldn't go to the water park the next day if she had a headache - too much sun would be bad for a headache. A couple of minutes later, she smiled and told us that God had made her headache all better! It was a miracle! ;)
(It was funny, but I LOVE that she has picked up already who our healer is!)

Grant is spending the night at Grandad and Dee's tonight. He and Grandad are designing a tree house for their backyard, and Grant is beside himself with excitement! Can't wait to see what they come up with.

Thursday, May 29, 2008

No Fear!

This little Ukrainina/American of ours has no fear. Today we finally went to the water park. Here are the kids getting out of the car - ready to go! The boys and I have been getting season passes to NRH2O for ages (I think this is our 5th summer). I wondered how she would do - there are some pretty big slides there. Well she took it all like a true Hinshaw! She wanted to ride every slide over and over and showed no hesitation whatsoever. We were in line for this steep racing slide, and the middle-school-aged boys behind us kept making comments about how scared they were to ride it and how they couldn't believe "that little girl" is riding it!
Yes, our Halle Grace was in heaven today. We had so much fun and can't wait to go back! We saw some of our neighbors there and plan to meet them there a bunch this summer. :)

This is an overview of the water park. We rode just about everything - including the Green Extreme, which is like a water roller-coaster (SO FUN!).

More pics from our fun day!




Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Home about 6 weeks now


(Sorry the video's a little dark. It's dark and stormy here today!)Here's just a little sampling of how far Miss Halle Grace has come in her English. We have been home about 6 weeks now and she is speaking tons of phrases and many full sentences as well. She can almost always get her point across to us now, which is a huge difference. She has started taking words that she knows and forming her own sentences with them (rather than just memorizing the sentences we teach her). We are so proud of her!

She goes to Bible class at church by herself now (although she cries when we first take her, she gets over it quickly)...she's had her first sleepover (at my parents')...she learned to ride a bike (with training wheels)...she is well-bonded with her family...she loves to pray...she loves our food (finally!)...she loves dressing pretty...she has made several new friends...she has gained 2 pounds...she loves music, books, flip-flops, sweets, hair bows, cooking, and swimming...and she's made us all fall head-over-heels for her!

It's really hard to believe she hasn't always been with us. This morning, she was looking at some pictures from the past year, and kept asking where she was in the picture. I told her she was still in Mariupol. She kept saying "no". She doesn't grasp that we had a life and a family here before she came. It's getting harder and harder for me to grasp that, too!

Yesterday we went to see Prince Caspian with some friends. We loved it! Especially Grant - it was right up his ally. It was a little over Garrett's head and he got a little restless. Halle Grace did great. I'm sure this particular movie wasn't really her thing, but it was her first time at the movies and the experience itself was enough to entertain her. It was definitely more of a war movie than the first Narnia, but I really liked it.
We were supposed to go to the water park today for the first time, but it cooled down and started storming. Poor kids - they have been counting down the days! I think we'll head to the library instead.

Monday, May 26, 2008

Indiana Jones and Princesses


Many discussions on our house right now revolve around Indiana Jones and Disney Princesses. I have to hand it to Disney. They are just a bunch of marketing geniuses over there. They have my boys obsessed with Indiana (Grant's excitement over these movies come from the ride at Dinseyland! Garrett pretty much likes it because Grant likes it! :) We have shown them two of the old Indy movies, with our close supervision and actively using the fast-forward button when needed. And boy do those movies need it... :)

Halle Grace LOVES the Disney Princesses. Cinderella is her favorite, but this week she saw Beauty and the Beast for the first time, and loved that one too. She wants everything princess - bike, helmet, fruit snacks, band-aids, toothbrush, bubble bath. Marketing geniuses I tell you!

What is even more amazing is that these are the SAME movies Scott and I watched as kids. That's some serious miles on those movies! Who would have even thought that we would all be watching those same movies we loved as kids with our own kids. I wonder which ones will stick around for them to watch with their children?

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Big week...

I don't think I've mentioned what my sweet husband got us for Mothers (and Fathers) Day. New patio furniture! We feel like we've added on to the house. The kids love eating breakfast out there, too. Thanks Honey!

Halle Grace's Highlight this week was getting her new bike! She started asking for one last week (or should I say crying for one). Grandad and Dee just happen to drop by on Monday with a princess bike for her! (and just in time for "bring your bike day" at preschool). She jumped right on and learned in no time! Just one spill, but she went right back on. By the next day, she was a pro. We continue to be amazed at her coordination and motor skills.

Grant's Highlight - Field Day at Liberty Elem. This was a greatly anticipated day, and they all had so much fun! I was so impressed with how organized it was. Our PTA is amazing, and they just went all out. Grant loves a party, so he was just in heaven. Halle Grace and Garrett went with me and loved playing on the playground with the other little siblings! They are both chattering about being in Kindergarten this fall and are so excited.



Garrett's Highlight - he got to have his cousin Tyler over to spend the night this week. They had the best time and can't wait to do it again! They are so cute together and truly are best friends. We can't wait to have him over again!

Saturday was one of those days that felt like a week. Lots of fun packed into one day. We started early with a garage sale at our back neighbors house. We put a few things in it, so we helped work the sale. The kids had a ball just playing and riding bikes and scooters. Garrett found a new friend that he grew very attached too. He even gave his new friend skateboard lessons (did I mention he got a skateboard last week? He's been begging for one, and we let him use his allowance money to buy one. He's quite the little dare-devil - already working on some tricks!).

Halle Grace loved playing outside with all the garage sale junk. She and Garrett made little forts out of old boxes. I am amazed at how often kids just love boxes. Why do we spend money on toys at all? :) Finally, after lunch, we called it quits and headed home to rest.
Then we headed to my parents' house for a big family cook out. My Grandma Prince is visiting from California and my sister's family came also. The kids had a blast in the pool (as usual). The water's getting a little warmer, but not quite enough for me! Halle Grace is getting braver in the water, and had so much fum paddling around in her ring floaty. I can't wait for her swimming lessons to start (in 2 weeks). Notice she is wearing arm rings AND a floaty. :)
Here's my sister with Halle Grace and Zoey.



Tonight at home, we had popcorn with M&Ms and watched Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (the original). We love that movie! Some classics just don't need to be remade.

Halle Grace is learning English so quickly - and she is truly adjusting and attaching like a dream. Garrett has been having a harder time than Halle Grace has. Poor little guy is trying to find his new place in the family now that he has this "twin" sister all of the sudden. He's always been our more sensitive one, and just seems to have a short emotional fuse lately (like pretty much any time he is told "no"). Any adoptive families have experience with this? He loves his sister, and for the most part, they are great playmates. We want to help him through this and give him the time and comfort he needs, but we also are trying to make it clear that fits and tantrums are not acceptable and will have consequences. He really is such a sweet-spirited kid - this is just not like him. Last week, when Halle Grace was crying for a princess bike, Garrett offered to buy her one with his allowance. How sweet is that? THAT's the Garrett we know and love. This fit-throwing, screaming kid is just not him. Ughhh!

One more thing to throw out into the blog world... I want to do some homeschooling stuff with the kids this summer. Garrett could use some practice to get him ready for school. His preschool wasn't terribly academic, so I'd like to help fill in the gaps. Of course, Halle Grace is starting from square one, so I'd like to work with her on just about everything. I am also looking for some independent ideas for Grant (Valerie sent me the Book Adventure site - THANKS! That looks great!). Any ideas, resources, suggestions? I'm thinking just an 1.5 to 2 hours, maybe 4 days a week.

Thanks and have a great Sunday!