A Beach Day

Today we enjoyed time with friends at the beach. Erin, and I woke up at 9:30 am (told you we don't get up early for fun... or often) found suits, packed a lunch, grabbed the beach toys, and headed out the door by 10:30 am. I don't know about you, but to us... that's a record.

We got to the beach by 11:00 am, and it was already 84 degrees Fahreinheit! So we swam, played, ate lunch, swam, talked, tanned, and swam some more. We loved the time with friends, and the chance to go to the beach! Finally some good beach weather...
Blessings,
~Michlyn

A Look into our Life

Today we're busy staying at home, and having fun of course. Since Erin and I have been big fans of barbies for our whole lives, and kept them for our new little sister last summer -- Our brothers also got into them! :) So today, all three of the little ones are enjoying playing with the barbies!
Erin is also staying busy today... She started crocheting a pink&brown scarf today. When she's done, I'll post it for you to see. She's a very creative person, and loves to learn new things.
Wishing you all had a wonderful Wednesday! 
Blessings, ~Michlyn
**please note that this entry was posted earlier this morning, but there were some glitches.

LONG overdue... Happy Father's Day!

I think I've mentioned before how we had a few camera malfunctions. So we finally got our Father's day picture on our memory card. We had a wonderful Father's day, and celebrated in many ways. Went out to lunch, visited our Grandpas, and more!

Unfortunately today my dad has a migraine and has been in bed all day. Hopefully he'll be feeling better tomorrow, and can go to work. :-0

Since I made a list for my mom on Mother's Day about 10 things I loved about her, I'll do it for my dad too!

1. All the work you do

2. Your positive attitude

3. Your willingness to help others

4. How hard you work at your job

5. Your faith in Jesus Christ

6. All the things you've taught me

7. Your sense of humor :)

8. You're a great cook

9. You take time to spend time with us

10. Enjoying the things we have in common

WE LOVE YOU DAD!

beautiful author

Our beautiful first born daughter has been so eloquently taking pictures & posting to our blog for some time now. It's such a blessing to have our "journey" recorded here for future reference ... We've already been able to read back and see God's hand in the everyday details of life. God is so good! 

I wanted to post a picture of the beautiful author (who is so often behind the scenes/camera/computer these days) and take a moment to brag on one of God's most precious gifts to us...

Michlyn Kate

Intelligent

First Born

Big Sister to many - And very good at it :)

Determined

Perfectionist ... like her grandpa

Compassionate

Lovable

Writer

Teacher

Giver

Beautiful inside & out

Faithful

Honest

and so much more...

I love you Michlyn Kate. Words can not express the multitude of JOY you bring into all our lives!

Blessed to call you mine!

Love, Your Momma

Fun, Fun, and more Fun!

This weekend was full of fun family time. On Thursday Erin played Soccer, and for about the second (or maybe first) time, I got to watch her. She's an excellent soccer player, and has been playing ever since she was 5 or 6 years old. I used to play once upon a time too. It was fun to see her play with her team!

On Friday, my mom finally got 'T's yarn extensions out. Well, I guess that's not so fun, but her hair is pretty in her natural "poof". (If it's not right when she gets out of bed) Yarn extensions are pieces of yarn that are braided into her natural hair. It helps her hair grow faster, and it's very cute. The first time we did yarn extensions in her hair, we added a few pink "highlights". We didn't do any colorful yarn extensions this time or last time, but I think we will do them again some day. :)

To end the weekend, we all went to the new movie, Cars 2 in theatres! It was a really good movie. It has lots of action, and it's a cute racing movie... A wonderful movie for the family. 

Wishing you all a fun and productive Monday! 
~Michlyn

God's Beautiful Creations

I am in always in awe by God's beautiful creations. To think that he spoke these things into being is mind-blowing. So in the past few days, I've captured a few pictures of them!


Hope you all had a very relaxing weekend!
Blessings, ~Michlyn

Table Time

For the past 6 weeks, 'T' has been doing "table time". She does it everyday for 1-2 hours. This is a common tool that adoptive families use for their children. How long they do it is up to the family. My mom knows families who have been using "table time" for many years, and others who have just started. It was actually quite surprising to me that 'T' had been doing it for that long. "Table time" is a tool used to help child(ren) dis-engage from stresses caused by everyday transitions. Most adoptive children wake up everyday not knowing if their family will still be there, or if they're going to eat again, or maybe this is the day... the day I go back. It's heartbreaking to me to think my little 5 year old sister's broken heart has her worried about these things, something I never have. I can't imagine her hurt and loss but I trust and know that God is mending it back together piece by piece.
Through the recommendations of fellow adoptive families & an adoptive expert, my mom has 'T' currently doing "table time" twice a day everyday. In our house you can't get out of your bed until 7:30 am. It's a reasonable time for the little ones especially, because I can promise you that Erin and I do not get up at 7:30 am every morning just for the fun of it! :) So every morning 'T' gets up, goes to the table with mom's assistance and starts using the fun activities in her "table time bag". A few things in this bag include: polly pockets, coloring books, crayons, markers, plain paper, safety scissors, and glue sticks. It's nessecary the bag only includes open-ended items. (Items that you can't do wrong...ex: puzzles) Of course my mom will take this time to attempt to rest, but usually fails. One of the table time rules is it's quiet time but 'T' tries asking lots of questions... Mom generaly answers with "sshhh, it's quiet time." or "we'll talk about it after table time."
The time of day or how long your child does it depends on your family's schedule and other plans.

Here are few pictures of 'T' during "table time"...

"Table time" is a time for her to stay focused, because it can also help the time to go by faster. We are proud of 'T' more and more everyday, and excited at how much progress she's made in the last 11 months. WOW!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone, and I will try to post again soon!

Blessings,

~Michlyn

Soccer Stars

Since the weather hasn't been the greatest these past few days, soccer has been cancelled. So, all of my siblings went and practiced in our yard! It's fun to see the three youngest go against Erin all by herself. Sure there is some confusions about the points, (even though we shouldn't keep score) but it's fun altogether to see their teamwork.
After running a few errands yesterday we finally got a new memory card. So I snapped a few pictures of them, showing their skills! ;)

Blessings,

~Michlyn

Warning: Rough Road

Today, was the last day of swimming lessons for all of us. (not including me) Due to some meltdowns my mom decided that it would be best for 'T' to stay home. She has said goodbye to so many things in her life, that we need to keep things as simple as possible. Coming up on our one year "Gotcha Day" you'd think that it would be easier. That's what we wish too, but around this time each year (Gotcha Day) it gets harder. One year, is a HUGE milestone. But, as I sit here at the dining room table writing this, 'T' is still having a hard day.

As I've mentioned before, we like to call it our "roller coaster ride". We notice that almost every time that we have a few busy days, or one busy day for that matter, that 'T' gets overwhelmed. Whether it's seeing friends, going places, or being busy at home, she just takes it all in and it can upset her pretty easily. One event that we all thought she was going to have the hardest time was her birthday. Around that time, was when we started to notice how she can have hard days after so many events.

To our surprise she did amazingly well for the next week. Usually it will be a couple days after, but she held it together for about a week! :) That was one of our small steps into learning how we can make better choices for our family.

With 10 days of swimming lessons already done, we're onto our next choices for the summer. It went by so quickly, and they ALL did great! 'T' has started arguing ALOT. Whether it's what we're having for dinner, or something we're doing she has to argue about it. One of the best ways to not accept this behaivor is to ignore it. If my mom is making something for dinner and 'T' starts to argue or complain about it, my mom will ignore it and continue.

Sometimes 'T' will see that as a chance to keep saying things under her breath, or she may just be annoyed that it simply didn't bug us. Yes, she pushes lots of our buttons but we're still working on that. One of us (the kids) might be having a particular bad day because of fighting, or siblings just annoying us. So, what we have started is "dates". A day that mom brings one of us alone to do something special, with just her.

Some of the things that we've done: (depends on our age) :)
M: Shopping, and renting a movie.
E: I think she still has a date to set.
J: His is coming up.
S: Smoothie, and a toy for doing a great job at his doctor's app.
T: She also had a doctor's app... Smoothie and a few goodies to bring home

I'm sorry this post got SUPER long, but just thought I'd update. I wish there was a detour we could take on this road trip, but God has it all in his hands. Thank you to everyone who has
continually been praying for our family! We appreciate it more than words can explain!

Have a wonderful day!
In Christ,
~Michlyn

Update

Well I hope you're all having a fantastic weekend! It's been a pretty busy weekend, but fun. I guess our life has "slowed down" these past couple days. :) Sorry I haven't posted in a while, I guess there isn't that much to write about. (hard to believe; I know)I thought I would just update about a few things to keep you posted for the next couple days. Or maybe something crazy will happen tomorrow and I'll just have to get the laptop and post about it.

11 months HOME!
'T' has been home for nearly 11 months!! It's so hard to believe that almost a year ago, I got to meet my new little sister for the FIRST time! It was a bittersweet moment, and I can remember it so well! 'T' has improved so much, and we're so happy and proud of her. Although the adjustment and bonding is still taking its time. 'T' has learned so much in these last 11 months, it's almost hard to imagine.

Blogger Family!
As I told you a couple of weeks ago, that I had been following a family blog. They are the de Boer family, and are HOME! Deborah, did a fantastic job on keeping all of her bloggy friends, and family updated as they were in the Phillippines! They brought home their 3 daughters, and now are a family of 9! WOW, God is sooo good! Please continue to keep this family in your prayers, as they start this new journey of life together!

Sports, Sprinklers, it's SUMMER oh my!
It has officially been summer here at our house for about the past week. Last week, we got some unusal HOT weather! Around 90-100 degrees fahreheit! So we stayed cool outside with water balloons, buckets, and more. (That topic was on my last post) Also all of my siblings have started the summer soccer program. So we have soccer about 4-6 days a week. Yes, we're definitely staying BUSY!

Blessings,
~Michlyn

Summer fun!

The busy-ness of summer has definitely started! We're staying busy, with soccer 5 days a week, staying cool in the 90 degree weather, fun church events, and spending time together indoors. We haven't been able to take very many pictures so far, because we're just so busy! So while he had fun staying cool with waterballoons, buckets, and spray bottles I decided to take just a few.

Well hopefully I'll have more to post about later this week. Enjoy the summer fun everyone!

Blessings,
~Michlyn