A happy fall

It is hard for me to believe that Thanksgiving is just a few short days away. This happens every year it seems. September rolls in and I'm ready to savor all the goodness of fall.  And then I blink and it's Thanksgiving and I need to Christmas shop! This year was no different especially since we added to the mix a busy baby boy who's schedule alone keeps me hopping. But we did manage to find lots of fall fun.

 Fall festival horse rides- she loved it!

 Mati wasn't quite so sure.

 We enjoyed some beautiful weather and taught the baby about mini golf. 

 Haven found herself a new reading spot. Looks really uncomfortable but she was thrilled with herself!

 We did some art projects, too. Oil pastels and water colors- a favorite combo!

 Trick-or-treaters ready to go!

This year we had a soccer player, a baby zebra and a veterinarian. They had a blast despite the rain.

I might have my eye on December and be itching to do all manner of Christmas-y things, but I will be clamoring to be the first to share my thankful heart on Thursday. We had a huge hearing for E last week and found out that he will be staying with us for the foreseeable future. We've lived so much of 2012 in 6 week increments, always waiting for the next court date and to not have one looming for many, many months is such a relief.  We have so enjoyed being a family of five this fall and are thrilled to get to celebrate the holidays together!

Haven = Six

Haven,
Six years old?  Who told you that you were allowed to keep getting older?!  I can not believe that my beautiful girl is six!  I love you so much and am so thankful that I've got a front row seat to the amazingness of you!  It has been a big year, this 5...the most important thing being that you believed in Jesus as your Savior and asked Him to be Lord of your life!  It was a decision that you didn't take lightly and, like everything, you did in your own time when you were ready.

Haven's baptism- December 28, 2011

 I have loved to see your desire to do what pleases God and to know His Word.  He has given you a heart that longs for what's right and that deeply loves other people.  I've been humbled and amazed at your generosity this year and your willingness to follow through with even the simplest of ideas to help other people.  You are a born helper- big or small, you truly have a helpful spirit and that has been especially needed in the last month as our family has grown.  You are such a little mama to E and it makes me smile to see you trying to care for him in the same ways that I do.

You are the best big sister and take seriously (sometimes a little too seriously) your job; Mati and E are blessed to have you love them so much!  You love hard and good and long and feel it all deeply.  You get that from me and my first inclination is to tell you I'm sorry because loving that way gets you hurt, but I really wouldn't want you any other way.  Loving people well is part of who you are.

You are a crazy voracious reader!  Nine times out of ten if I can't find you, you are off reading somewhere. You love school and learning and workbooks and going to CC.  You have easily transitioned into school this year and I love being there at the moment when an idea finally clicks for you.  You love to be creative and do art projects.  This year found you slightly obsessed with perler beads, but God even used those to teach us some lessons and help others.  You discovered a love for audio books and that's how you usually pass part of an afternoon.  Listening to a story while you craft is maybe your perfect way to spend a quiet time.

You are funny and crazy and love to be wild. You love a good wrestling match and to sit and cuddle.  You love Indian food, ice cream and apples.  You like to dig in the dirt and get your nails painted.  You love to play games, help in the kitchen and boss people around (again-you get that from me and I'm sorry!).  You love to color and paint and help weed the flowerbeds.  You love a good bike ride, campfires and trips to the library.  You love adoption, helping other kids and playing computer games.  You are a beautiful combination  of so many good things.  

God has great plans for you in being six years old.  New challenges, lessons to learn, places to go...but I'll be right there with you.  I'm your biggest fan, Haven and know that you will face it all with a brave smile and a willing heart.  You are my BEST GIRL!

love,
Mommy

Christmas 2011

Christmas was quite the celebration around here!  See for yourself...

click to enlarge

We had early risers, the Christmas story in bed, stockings, Christmas coffee, gifts, a yummy breakfast and then we headed to church.  We've decided that going to church on Christmas morning is awesome and we should do it every year!  What better way to celebrate our Savior's birth then gathering with His church to worship Him?!!  We were fortunate to be able to share a Christmas dinner with a full table of family and friends.  A wonderful day full of His goodness and grace that fill our lives!

Thanksgiving 2011

We had a great Pennsylvania Thanksgiving with my family, despite a nasty stomach virus that hit my mom the day before.  I thought we were going to have to cancel Thanksgiving if we all ended up sick.  But I'm happy to report no one else did and the holiday went as planned.  We just didn't let mom touch anything and she stood in the kitchen and bossed us all around to get dinner on the table.  It was delicious, as always!

Kids table

and the grown-ups table

We did our annual Black Friday shopping and completely enjoyed the early opening times.  We headed out around 10pm and hit Walmart, Target and Kohls and were home and in bed by 2:30am.  And we all got exactly what we were looking for.  Black Friday shopping gets such a bad rap, but we really love it.  And we didn't meet any mean or crazy people.  So fun!

Friday afternoon we enjoyed another family tradition, our sleigh ride.  Except it was 60 degrees and breezy so it was a wagon ride.  But fun regardless!  This was our fourth year and our third without snow, but we don't care.  The kids love it!  They each get a turn driving the horses and halfway through we stop at a cabin for a little break.  At the cabin we have snacks and the kids put on some sort of short play/program.  This year's was a hit as we figured out what Christmas is all about: Christmas is Christ.  Growing up we went on sleigh rides for several years with my grandpa, aunts, uncles and cousins and I love creating the same kind of memories with our kids!

Haven's turn with the horses.  She loves it! Mati would have nothing to do with it!

The kids getting ready for our show!  Then it's time for hot chocolate, caramel corn and humdingers!

 Trying out the horses before we headed back

 And of course the biggest kid couldn't be left out! 

The whole gang: Thanksgiving 2011

Pierced Ears

When Haven turned 5 we debated getting her ears pierced as one of her gifts.  She liked the idea of having them pierced, but wasn't ready to do it.  We've talked about it occasionally a few other times and she was still on the fence.  Last Friday, faced with a family day and trying to think of something fun to do, I blurted out, "Let's go get your ears pierced!"  And she said, "YES!"  So we did.  I didn't get mine pierced until I was 9 and it was a big deal.  We went back and forth with waiting and not waiting.  Making it a big deal and not.  We decided that if she wanted them, we'd go for it.  We're still completely responsible for all her hygiene so why not add cleaning ears to the list every night?!  I'm glad we did it. She loves them and is so excited about wearing earrings.  It was a little expensive for a hey-let's-just-go-do-this-kind-of-thing, but it was totally worth it.  Cale captured a play-by-play on his phone.

She was nervous/excited while we were getting set up and drawing the dots on...

And then she winced in pain while they did it....

Just as she was about to burst in to tears, I whipped the mirror in front of her so she could see herself...

And she liked what she saw!!  So did I!  I was so proud- no tears at all!

Two years later

 Two years ago today, you slept in my arms as we drove away from a place that was never home to you.  I silently cried, overwhelmed by the unknowns that laid ahead.  I cried because I had to leave Silas behind.  I cried because you were a sad, frightened baby and I didn't know what to do to fix that.

But God did.  He saw it all...each piece of the puzzle of your life moving together to unite us as a family.  He poured out His love to us, that overflowed to you.  He filled us with extra grace that carried us through the beginning of our new life together.

And today I could sit here and cry because I'm overwhelmed by the amazingness of YOU!  I love you, Mathios Jon Kumalo!

Family Road Trip

We crossed state lines last weekend and headed to Indianapolis for a little family getaway.  We spent Friday at the Indy Zoo and fun was had by all.  It's not a huge zoo, but had plenty of animals to see including some special features that we loved.

For the low, low price of $1, Haven was given the chance to feed a giraffe.  Guess what they fed them?  Sweet potatoes!  A mammal after my own heart!  She loved it!

We spent lots of time watching the giraffes.  There was a baby who was only a few months old.  Right across from the giraffes was a huge area that held zebra and kudu.  We also enjoyed watching them.  Mati was very into the zebras.  He was also into carrying the map around.  And then he dropped the map into the zebra enclosure.  Whoops!  He was so upset and started crying.  The next day at the museum he was holding the map and he said, "Mama, I not feed the zebras again."  So funny!

They also loved the shark petting exhibit. We spent so much time there as they patiently waited again and again to try to touch one.  Haven was successful several times.  Mati's just a bit too short!  Since we planned to stay the night it was so nice to take our time through everything and not feel rushed because we had to be somewhere.  Another highlight of the zoo was the dolphin show.  It was a little low-key because they had a 2 week old dolphin, but the kids still loved it. We also liked the train and roller coaster.  A great zoo all around!

After a fun night of swimming and a wonderful dinner here, we were exhausted!  We found a great deal on a hotel via Hotwire and even had a free breakfast.  Saturday morning we headed to the Indianapolis Children's Museum.  We got a membership for it this year and have absolutely loved it!  (Thanks, Groupon or some other deal site like it that hooked us up!)  We spent 6.5 hours at the museum and we were dragging by the time we left!  All that time and we still didn't see everything!  We did check out the new National Geographic Exhibit and the kids had lots of fun "deep sea exploring".

A fun trip from start to finish with so much packed in to two days, but it was perfect for our family.  Five and three are such fun ages and I loved just being able to be on the go with them.  It was great time together as a family and we're already thinking of where we can go on another little weekend getaway.

Three looks good on you

Well, people...she's done it again.  Amber took breathtakingly beautiful shots of my boy.  She posted some here already and here are a few of my favorites.  She always makes it so hard to choose!

This is it...it is just so Mati.  It's my favorite.  Well, at least for tonight!

Here's what  he looked like last year!  Can you believe how much my guy has grown up?! Thanks, Amber for capturing our sweet, sweet boy!

First week of summer

We didn't have an official last day of school at our house, but we did have a first week of summer fun!  I am definitely a schedule girl so I need some structure to our days. As with everything, I want the schedule to serve me and me not serve the schedule.  So we're shooting for some happy mediums here while enjoying the best that summer has to offer.  This was our first week so I can't say it will last but it worked well this week.  Week-to-week I'm sure it will look different, but you get the idea!

Monday: Outing somewhere (this week it was Wegerzyn Gardens)
Tuesday: Errands
Wednesday: Library
Thursday: Animal Day (Haven wants to have "school time" all the time- this is our compromise.  She picks one animal a week to learn about.  We'll read some books about the animal and do a related craft.  This week it was giraffes and we did this based on Giraffes Can't Dance.  Really fun!)
Friday: Friends- Invite a friend over or go to some one's house.

We're also reading together everyday which is something we usually do, but I'm focusing more on fun chapter books.  We just finished Mrs.Piggle-Wiggle and we all really enjoyed it (even Mati sat and listened which really surprised me).  Next up: My Father's Dragon. Have any good read aloud book suggestions for me?

And in other exciting news, Haven lost her other front tooth today, courtesy of the dentist!  She's pretty darn cute toothless on top!

Summer List 2011

A new tradition was started this year, thanks to Meg at whatever...the Summer List.

What's on your list?  What should we add to ours?

Three

Today, my little man turned three.  It was a fun day, filled with lots of things Mati loves like cake, church and ketchup.  When I asked him what he wanted for his birthday dinner he replied, "Ketchup."  We made it happen for him!

 Super Mati!  You really are a super guy Mat-Mat.  You are the most polite child and are endless with your praise of others.  You are Haven's biggest cheerleader and always tell me how proud you are of me.  I pray that your gift of encouragement stays with you all your life.

 All smiles as he opened presents.  My happy boy!  You are the life of the party, full of jokes and dances and being crazy.  You love to make us laugh.  You love to talk..."Ya know what, Mama?" is something I hear ALL day long.  Followed closely by, "Dat cool?"  You wear my brain out some days with all the talking, but I love your sweet voice filling up this house.

 Its always sad to say farewell to your sweet little babyish habits.  For almost a year you knew your colors by 

the characters on Sesame Street.  Red=Elmo, Blue=Grover, Yellow=Big Bird, etc.  You are not doing it very often anymore and while I'm so glad you're growing and learning, I thought that was one of the cutest little things you did, especially since it's something you came up with on your own.  What will that mischievous little mind come up with next?

You are the sweetest boy, Mati.  I can't imagine life without you and I am amazed that God orchestrated you into our family.  I love to hear you say, "Our family Papa, Mommy, Haven, Mati!  Our family!"  You love each one us passionately and it is so easily returned.  Thank you for being one of the greatest gifts of my heart and for filling up a part of me I never knew was empty.

 You are my best guy!  Happy birthday, Mati!