Smartie (Dry) Pants

When we brought Ellie home and saw the specialist...we told him she had regressed on her potty training. He explained that the children in orphanages are not so much potty trained but rather "potty-timed." Most children will regress due to the stress, time change, change in diet etc. Since she was only just two, we decided to put her in diapers and let her be for a while...I tried about a month ago to sit her on the potty and it quickly became clear that she did not understand what was going on and that I was going to STRESS out...can I just say that on the fourth child, I still HATE potty training and I am still no better at it! I am convinced it is the only bad thing about being a mother.

Anyway, I decided this week to concentrate my efforts on the potty training...I got a little baggie and stuffed it full of "rewards." I know, I know...all the experts say your are not supposed to reward a child with food when they go in the potty...WHATEVER! It has worked for my first three and they have no weird frued-isms to speak of...yet. Well, this morning Ellie sat on the potty...for 3 hours...and finally, she produced...we had a small party, invited the neighbors (just kidding) and at long last, she got 2 little Smarties for being so smart and going poo poo in the potty...

Not what you signed on for? Well, I am happy to announce that my fourth and final child is on her way to being potty trained, and it feels pretty good!

If Wishes were Garages....

We have the stomach flu...good times...it started with Flip on Thursday...He threw up in the pool at swimming lessons...SWEET! He seemed fine all day Friday and then Saturday night...we'll just say his digestive track was completely emptied at about 10pm. Yesterday, I kept him home from church...you guys can all thank me for that later:0) This morning we woke up and today it is Ruthie's turn...I figure by the end of this week, we will all have paid homage to the privy.

It is stinkin' hot! I mean I seriously don't even want to go outside...forget about loading and unloading groceries. We have been hitting the high nineties nearly every day and with all the rain, the humidity has been unbearable. Speaking of rain...we have been having torrential down pours lately. The other day, I needed to load the kids into the car to take Ruthie to the gym and it was coming down like mad...as I ran out carrying Ellie and then positioned the car so the other three could run out and get in quickly without hopping into puddles, I thought, MAN, it would sure be nice to have a garage!

Then I came home and sitting by the front door in our formal living room is the very nice, very expensive road bike that Adam borrowed from his boss. We can't put it in the shed, it leaks. And so as I looked at it leaning against my furniture, I thought, MAN, it would sure be nice to have a garage!

Then I walked into my room where Adam has been working on base board and crown moulding and I see the huge saw that is necessary for cutting the angles...all around it is saw dust...we can't put it in the shed, it leaks...have I mentioned that? and I couldn't help it, I thought, MAN, it would sure be nice to have a garage.

I wish I had a garage!

Ps...this song goes out to my momma...because I know it always puts her in a good mood.

Prayer Request

It has come to my attention over the last week that a family in the VA area has recently lost their little boy whom they adopted from Russia about the same time we brought Ellie home. The new father was to drop him off at day care and instead drove directly to work and left the child in the car. I know we have all at one time or another driven somewhere on autopilot...not quite remembering how we got there. Someone walking past the car around 1-2 pm reported the incident to the administration in the building...the father collapsed and was admitted to the hospital suffering from shock. As a result of the little boy's death, the father will face criminal charges and three adoption agencies related to this adoption have lost accreditation. Please be in prayer for this family (the Harrison's), for the agencies involved and for families that are in the process with these agencies.

Not Too Much Happenin'

DOES ANYONE FEEL SORRY FOR THIS CHILD?


Not too much going on around here...just the usual summertime stuff...the kids are back in camp this week...it's good for them to get out of the house and have something productive to do. They go to a camp called "college for kids." Each week has a different theme and they go to to classes like they will in middle and high school...science, Lang arts, foreign Lang. etc. but they have fun,learning about the theme, playing games and doing projects. This is their third and final week for this summer. Swimming lessons are also wrapping up...just one more two week session. The boys have really learned a lot this summer as far as stroke and breathing so that has been fun...

Since Ellie's birthday party was at the beach, we decided to bring her gifts home to unwrap, which we did the next day...she didn't quite get it but it was cute none the less...they immediately got into a little dress up box that she got from her Auntie Dinah...here are few pics...

PS...just want to give a shout out to Mr. Stofer who I have discovered is a blog reader and is keeping his wife up to date when I am in a "funk." :0)

An American Child

The other day I was in Office Depot...dragging all four of my children on an errand. I got up to the register and the woman said I looked like she was going to look the following week. I said, "oh, really?" She went on to tell me that her daughter in law was having surgery and her son was on his third tour in Iraq and couldn't be there to help take care of her and the kids so she was going to go do it. I wished her good luck and we went out to the car and got in, buckled up...the first song on the radio was I'm Already Home by Tim McGraw. Well, if you haven't heard it, it is a letter written by a soldier to his wife...he has died, and this is the letter that he has written to her in the event of his death. His home is Heaven...only a one way ticket over there. I sat in the parking lot and listened to a song I have heard dozens of times. I like the song a lot and I always sing along. But in that moment I heard it a little differently...those men and women carry letters...written to their loved ones so that when they die, they can say I love you, just one more time. And I am so thankful for all of them, serving, sacrificing their lives, time with their families, seeing their children be born, being halfway around the world while their wife has surgery...with chains around their necks that will identify their bodies, with letters in their pockets that will be mailed or carried to their loved ones...

Since Ellie turned two while she was still in the orphanage, we decided to have her birthday party and welcome home party a little late...what better day to welcome her to the USA than July 4th?So, friends and family brought coolers and chairs, towels and buckets, shovels and sunscreen and we all converged on the beach on the most crowded beach day of the year! We brought out tons of chicken, chips and cake and we played and had such a good time in honor of our little girl being home. Ellie got to see her first fire works show, hold sparklers, and sport her country's colors celebrating right along with the rest of her American brothers and sisters...this year, I am a little more than proud to be an American, I am thankful I am an American child and so are my kids...Happy Independence Day.