Spring Break Action

Don't worry, we didn't go anywhere too wild for spring break. We did make it to Clifty Falls State Park for a night though. It was pretty fun. It would have been better if the weather had cooperated a little bit more but we had fun. We got to swim a lot and we did get to do a little bit of hiking. We will probably go back when the weather is warmer and hike some more. We also played a game called Boccerball. The kids really enjoyed that. I have included a short video of some Boccerball action but it is kinda dark.

We enjoyed staying up late watching basketball but it made it hard Sunday and Monday when we had to get up to go to church and school/work. I am anxious for spring to get in full bloom for every reason except for mowing grass. I am thinking about buying goats and turning them loose in my yard for the summer. Perhaps they would respond to an underground fence??

Here is a picture of Coy with his Great-Grandfather Wigg. Wigg has a lot of wit and has a likeable tendancy to tease and aggrevate, which may be where I get some of my tendancies. I can remember laying on the floor of my Grandma and Grandpa's house as a little kid and him pulling and popping my toes. Now I enjoy pulling and popping my kids toes. Is that cruel?? I stop if they ask me to stop and I usually don't keep pulling them if they don't pop right away.

Happy Easter

Ok, so it has been a while since the last post. It has been almost two weeks but it seems like months ago. We have been very busy, but healthy. I have been traveling a lot for work and between soccer and baseball and science fairs and Awana and Easter Treks and Parent/Teacher conferences, there just has not been much time to sit down at the computer and let everyone know what is going on.

I had to go back through the photos to remember everything that has happened since I last posted. Pictures from the snow storm as well as Coy's big performance at CBS were items that I forgot.

Stacey and I have begun to work on Coy's annual report that we owe to the Ukraine Consulate in Chicago. Today, I went through some of the paperwork, digging out information that we need to include in the report. It is hard to believe that it has been a year almost since we adopted him. The one year anniversary of when we first met Coy is just a couple of weeks away. I have to admit, that just looking at some of the important papers (adoption certificate, court decree, birth certificate) brought back a rush of emotions for me. Coy seems happy enough now but I can't help but wonder what emotions he might feel later when he reads what we knew about him. We can only hope that we can prepare him and let him know that he is as much a part of our family now as anyone else and that we love him and we are glad to have him here with us. We also need to convince him that he is here for a reason and that it was not luck or happen stance that he ended up here with us. I believe that it has been just as much for our benefit as it is for his. People have often told us how lucky Coy is to be here and that is true but Stacey and I would both say that we are lucky to have him. He brings a balance and a perspective to our family that we can't help but appreciate. It is hard to be greedy or selfish when you imagine what those children that are still in Ukraine, or other parts of the world are having to endure.

The Easter season is going to be the last "first" for Coy. Actually, the Derby will be the last "first" for Coy, but I'm not really going to count that.

Stacey bought a dozen "Resurrection Eggs". She hid them inside tonight and let the kids find them. She then lead them through a devotion as each egg had an element that described the Easter story. Caleb and Katie both knew almost every detail but Coy probably did not. I know that we talk to him about pieces of it and we read stories to him about it and that they teach him about it in Sunday School, Honeybees, and CBS but this Easter season will be pretty much the first time that Coy hears the Easter story. I don't know how far it will sink in with him but it sure makes an impression on me when I watch him listen and try to imagine what he is thinking.

OK, he is probably thinking -"Where is the candy?" but I will give him the benefit of the doubt and hope that he is thinking "I am so lucky to have Jesus".

Something funny that Coy says sometimes after church is that Jesus is coming to our house. He says it with such enthusiam and conviction that I wonder if he is disappointed when Jesus does not physically show up at our house. We try to explain to him that Jesus lives in our hearts and that he is with us in spirit but I am pretty sure most 3 years don't grasp that. Hey, I'm 36 and I have to convince myself that I kind of understand it almost everyday.

"This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine" You shine on Coy, you shine on. And keep on Shining till Jesus comes big boy, keep on shining. I love seeing your not so little light shine.

Snow Day

I will try to post more later. I did create this little movie while the kids were watching TV earlier. Try going to this link: http://www.jibjab.com/sendables/view/Mc5tKcTZr1ibqkSzcIZLK1eq
We did get to go outside today (twice actually) and we have pictures so I will try to post them later too. Unfortunately, the snow has postponed the concert so we won't get to go to Casting Crowns tonight.
Stacey got up and ran her 8 miles on the treadmill. She is one tough cookie.
The kids all enjoyed the snow. Caleb got outside and was cold enough to come inside before we got Katie and Coy outside the first time. Later in the day, the wind died down and the sun came out and we got to stay outside for an hour or so. We packed down the little hill and we were able to sled down it a little bit. Everybody except Katie enjoyed that. She was too busy working to have fun on the sled. She shoveled snow most of the time we were out. The only time she did not shovel, she was busy building a fort. But, that was after the driveway was clear.

A GREAT BOOK TO READ

Here is the book that Caleb wrote in his "Young Authors" section at school. He was quick to inform us that he did not win any awards for his efforts but we were quick to tell him how proud we were that he had done his best. It is a unique glimpse into the eyes and heart of a 6-7 year old that is very special to me.

A couple of FAQs that have come up from other readers of this book that I will share with you.

1. Straps=seat belts or the straps on a child's car seat.
2. We were actually gone for only 26 days.
You may need to click on each page to see the picture and to be able to read the words.

Kids grow fast. Everybody knows that right?? Here are the grandkids on Stacey's parents side in late February 2007. Compare that to the photo a couple of posts down where the four of them are now hanging around our table.

We got out and enjoyed the warm weather today. The kids played outside almost all afternoon and then our neighbors brough supper over and they played inside most of the evening as well.

We got the kids' science projects completed over the weekend too. Now all that needs to be worked on is the presentations. Caleb did an experiment with paper airplanes and Katie did an experiment with hoola hoops. They worked hard on the experiments. It is nice that they are motivated and interested and we are not having to drag it out of them.

I just realized how much earlier Easter is this year than last year. Last year, we were leaving the Tuesday after Easter but this year, Easter is not even the last Sunday in March. Strange. As is changing the time after the first full week of March.

Caleb is on a baseball team with his best friend in Lanesville. The mom of Caleb's friend called to get his number preference. Caleb picked "7". I was glad. I really can not remember ever telling him what my number was in high school.

Batman sings B-I-B-L-E

Here is Coy's rendention of B-I-B-L-E. As with everything else, by the time I got up to get the camera, his best performances were behind him but he does a good job.

We got to go to one of Katie's Angel's Wings performances tonight. It was at an assisted living house over in Jeffersonville. Caleb volunteered to read a scripture but something happened (I am not quite sure what happened) and he didn't get to read it. He was really funny about it though. I love seeing Katie performing with Angel's Wings. She does such an awesome job.

Coy had his first dentist appointment last week. Katie went first so that he could be convinced that it was not going to hurt. We learned that Katie has three loose teeth and one permanent tooth already has broken through. The dentist told us that Coy was obvisouly missing a tooth and that more than likely his permanent tooth was not going to be there either. He also said that orthodontics were definitely in our future but that in general, there were no real major concerns. The dentist was really impressed with how well the plastic surgeon had done repairing the roof of his mouth. Coy did a great job for the dentist and the lady that cleaned his teeth.

Coy's speech continues to improve. He is also improving on the potty training front. It has been almost 2 weeks since he had a massive accident. Most of the time, he ends up with a wet spot about the size of a silver dollar in his underwear.

It won't be long until we can start to say, this time last year, we knew the date that we were going to Ukraine. We got our appointment date on February 28 last year, so it was exactly a year ago this week.

I have noticed that my entries aren't as "deep" as they were while we were in Ukraine. The truth of the matter is that I sometimes have really good ideas about things that I would like to post but I often forget them by the time I find a free minute to sit down and type. My entries quickly turn into a data download session more than a blog entry. One of these days, I am going to write down my ideas when they come to me so that I can remember what I was thinking when it is time to share.

The mini-marathon is April 26 and it starts at 7:30 AM and should be over for Stacey by about 9:30. I suspect that we will have soccer that day but I don't know what time yet. Also, we signed Caleb up for baseball too. One of his best friends is playing on a team in Lanesville and we were able to get Caleb on the same team. He is not really interested in baseball all that much, but if his friend is on the team, perhaps he will at least give it a fair try.

Cabin Fever and Valentine's Day

These are the guys on the morning of Valentine's Day with their valentine's treats. I think they were all glad to get them. Nothing too big, just a small box of candy for each. They all made out like bandits at their school so they really didn't need much from us.

Their Aunt Ruth Ann sent them all a Valentine's Day card with money in it. They all love to open mail. They must get that from me. Caleb and Katie are both to where they can read the cards. Not that they don't rip them open first to see if there is money in there or not, but they do come back and read the card to see who it is from and to see what it says. Coy enjoys just getting anything and being able to say that it is his. He sees the other two get excited about money so he gets excited when there is money in his card but he has no idea what to do with money. He can't eat it and we won't let him play with it so it has no real value to him yet.

Here is a picture of our crew out in the "snow". It was snow on Monday night but by the time that we got outside, the snow had turned to freezing rain. We were pretty much on a solid sheet of ice with a bitter cold rain coming down. The kids loved it though. If we could have kept their hands dry, we probably would have stayed out longer but there is just not that much to do in the slushy, ice. The plastic sleds that we had went pretty well since none of the kids were heavy enough to break the ice. Lexa pretty much made a cameo appearance and spent most of her time outside, in the garage. Coy and Katie were outside the longest and Caleb eventually made it outside.

Tonight at the supper table, we had to remind Caleb and Katie that Coy is like a little sponge and that he is watching their every move and listening to their everyword and that is one of the reasons why it is important for them to choose their words wisely. It soon became a game for them to say a phrase and see how long it took for Coy to parrot it back to them. Coy caught on to this game pretty fast and he was having a good time with it too. Caleb then decided to sing a portion of the Halleluah chorus and see if Coy would follow suit. Well, of course he did. So while Coy turned around to face me with the camera, the other two directed the music. This was actually a recreation of the initial performance. They were both pretty funny.

During one of the snow days, the girls from across the street came over and spent a little bit of time playing with our kids. This video is a dance that they made up with the singing frog that Caleb picked out for Katie for her birthday. Make sure that the volume is turned up for this one.

A Special Visitor

Stacey's sister's husband has not been feeling well so Stacey offered to let her niece stay with us for the week to give her sister a helping hand. I was anxious because the plan involved Stacey driving north on I-65 during all of the snow. It took her a little while to get home but they made it safe. All of the kids were excited to see Lexa, that is for sure. We will see how long it will last. Tonight at supper, Caleb and Katie took turns feeding her. Coy enjoys her too. Tonight during the prayer, Coy thanked God over and over for letting Lexa come to stay at his house.

It won't be long now when we will be talking about "this time last year". We got the call from Kathy on February 28 last year telling us when our appointment would be. It doesn't really seem like it has been a year already. But in some ways, it seems like Coy has been with us all along. Of course, we didn't get to meet Coy until April 13th, but making plans to go to Ukraine was certainly more exciting than waiting on paperwork to expire so that we could redo it all.

We are expecting school to be closed tomorrow. We have several inches of snow on the ground and several more are expected for tonight. I am considering staying home from work tomorrow too. Not because the roads are bad, which they may or may not be, but because we don't get snows like this very often and it might be a good chance to play with the kids in the snow.

One of the local news stations had a story on a couple from the Louisville area that is in the process of adopting a child from Ukraine through the same group that helped us. The little girl, who is as beautiful as can be, has a severe cleft lip and pallete. According to the news story, she is going to go to the same surgeon as Coy.

Stacey continues to train for the mini-marathon coming up in April.

We are also planning our family vacation. A real good friend of mine from high school owns a condo down in Gulf Shores Alabama and has agreed to allow us to stay there during an "off-peak" time for only his cleaning costs, which is a HUGE deal for us.

Also, I ran over a screw one night last week and the Big-O on State Street fixed it for free. Of course, it took about 50 minutes for them to do it, but it was free. Stacey had gone to get Katie and the boys and I sat down there. Caleb had his game boy so he didn't care and the guy gave Coy and Caleb both a balloon (Caleb let Coy have his) so Coy didn't care either.