Tired but fun

This week my nephew and I had a community service project to knock out before he goes back to school. As his confirmation sponsor, I have been very much a part of his journey of faith this year. I must say, I have been a sponsor before and just had to show up to the church the night before confirmation for a rehearsal and then the next night for the event. This time I have been to several class periods, done a couple of projects, and grown much closer to this nephew who resists hugs and any show of emotion. And having a conversation with him??? Forget about more than a 2 word answer. I went to the big city on Thursday, where we were handing out shoes to needy children for school. We chatted all day, no long awkward silences over dinner when just the two of us went to Taco Bell, and had a great time. He got to also count those 7 hours not just for our confirmation hours, but they also are going toward the hours he needs for school. We both had fun - it's nice to make the kids smile because they are happy with their school shoes. By the end of the day, I was in desperate need of ibuprofin (which my sister provided before my 2 hour drive home, on which I stiffened WAY up), and a hot bath - I hurt from my lower back to my ankles from all the stooping over and getting up and down off the ground to check shoe sizes, go find shoes to bring out, fit them on the kids, and repeat until we found shoes they liked. Yesterday was a steady dose of ibuprofin and rest as my hip and ankles continued their protest. (One job I can cross of my list of what I want to be when I grow up- shoe sales person) But it was a lot of fun and a great day with my nephew.

Home Work

Last night, Handy Hubby built us a homework station in the dining area of our combination dining / living room. It's nothing fancy, a piece of counter top attatched to the wall in the corner with a leg to support the unattached side. The horror of this is that the boys can't see the TV from there - what mean, abusive, awful parents we are! I bought a rolling organization station to slide under this desk top - complete with purple (they didn't have pink) stapeler and battery pencil sharpener (girly colors so the boys don't walk away with them to disappear forever into the dark hole of the bedrooms). My laptop has found it's way to this counter since this year both boys are assigned homework to do on line as well as our regular handouts or assignements out of the book. 2 classes even have textbooks on line so if the kiddos don't bring home their book, we can still access the text for clarification - I am praying math has this same feature, as they NEVER remember to bring this book home and of course, we have to look up what we are supposed to be doing - 2 boys taking Pre-algebra this year who, unfortuanately, don't seem to be at the same place in the book and we are only a week into the year. Last night they both had on line home work. My dining room table has been full between my computer and the other things that always seem to land there when kids come home. As I type I am here at the homework station thinking this is pretty nice - I may have to look into hanging a shelf here too.....

Fun, Fun, Fun

Pete trying out skateboarding while we waited to ride horses

Zach loved playing with the kittens

Cool sculpture!

Our Last Summer Fling

As our end of the summer treat, we met some friends, went to play in Lake Michigan and then back to their farm for horse back riding. Everyone had a great time on the horses - especially Zach. He started out scared, but by the end of the day, he just wanted to keep riding. Steven was confident enough to kick his horse up to a trot - then promptly fell off. After a heart to heart talk with his horse, he got back on before the end of the day to keep his courage up. Boy, did my legs hurt for the next couple of days. I haven't ridden a horse since I was Steven's age. And for Mike it had been about the same amount of time- we won't wait nearly so long before the next time.

School Has Begun

The first day of the new school year is always an exciting time, but the first day of school EVER, well, that's an especially big deal! A long day of all day Kindergarden, a long bus ride home, and a tired boy - but what a day!!

Back In Business

Let's see, since the last time I posted we went on our overnight campout for our Great Lakes BE group for Steven. We talked to a very nice family who had an 11 year old boy they had adopted from China with Bladder Exstropy. She actually has adopted 3 children from China, 2 boys with birth defects, and has a great family. She was telling us that the agency she got her kids through -which brings kids with medial needs over on medical visas for treatment and then hopes a family will adopt them before they have to go back- calls her now and then to either see if she can host a child or if she knows of anyone who could. She had a little boy who had lived with her for a short time as a host family she was supposed to pick up that next weekend from the family he was now living with in Tenn to fly him to Texas to live with the family who wanted to adopt him. We told her that if she heard of a little girl needing a home, she should let us know - we might be interested. 2 days later, I got a call from this lady saying the home for the boy she was telling us about had fallen through and would we consider giving a home to this 6 year old boy, Keji. We told her it was too sudden for us to commit to adoption, but we would host him. That was on Tuesday. The following Sunday we were welcoming Zach (his American name) into our home. It has been 2 weeks now and we have fallen in love. It's not perfect, things aren't always easy for any of us while we are adjusting, but we are making it work. School starts tomorrow and Zach is going to Kindergarden. Pete has been an awsome big brother - he even volenteered to share his room with Zach. Wish us luck.