Sprinkler Fun

Today was HOT and I decided to get the sprinkler out. This was a First for Sitota and Delson, and judging by the pics I would say they LOVE it :)

New Shoes

I LOVE shoes! I remember when I used to buy a new pair of shoes and rush home to put them on. I would basically "show off" my new shoes everywhere. Over the years things have changed...less money and different priorities have meant few NEW shoes for this mommy. I got the shoes pictured above for Christmas and Just now broke them out...of course I could not wear them today because I did not want to get them wet in the rain or take a chance they would get dirty. This is not the first time I have SAVED new shoes in fear they would not be New anymore. Christmas of 2008 I got a pair of shoes for Christmas, not just any shoes but TOMS (look them up if you do not know them!), and I first wore them about 3 months ago in fear they would get dirty or I would wreck them and would no longer have them. This is not exactly an earth changing post, but just a funny thing I noticed :) Tomorrow though, I will wear my NEW shoes with pride and Not care if they get a little dirt on them! Melissa

Very Happy Mothers Day

Today was such a special and wonderful Mothers Day for so many reasons. It was my first Mothers Day as a mom of 3 rather than 1 and there are so many things that happened to touch my heart! My kiddos all wanted to spend some of their "own" money on gifts for me so Scott took them to the Dollar Tree (let's face it, they don't have a big income yet!) and let them choose their own gifts. Sitota had made me a poster at school that says all sorts of things she Loves about me and then she bought me some lotion and ice cream! Delson made me a hand art work project in school and bought me circus peanuts and sixlets. Micah proudly presented me with an open box of gummy lifesavors(I guess he needed to make sure they were good!) and a NutRoll. All the candy was Great, they really know what I love :).
Today we also had dedication at church for Sitota and Delson. It is so special to be able to dedicate the children back to God on such a memorable day. It just so happens that Micah was dedicated last Mothers Day! We had lots of family join us for the service at church and were then able to enjoy some time with them after at our home. The weather was beautiful, so we were able to let the kiddos all play and sit and enjoy lunch outside. Was great to catch up with everyone.
After everyone left and we had a chance to clean up I begged Scott to take us to the local zoo and park(it did not take too much convincing!). This was Delson and Sitota's first visit to the zoo and they LOVED it. It was really fun watching their reactions to the animals. They really enjoyed feeding the goats and sheep. After the zoo we walked over to the park and all had a great time playing.
Ended the day with pizza supper outside along with handmade Frappes. Then inside for an episode of Little House on the Prairie.
I could not ask for a better day. I am so thankful to 3 Very special ladies who made this all possible: Verigene (Delson's Haitian Mommy), Worke (Sitota's mommy who is with our Heavenly Father), and Micah's Ethiopian Mommy (though we do not know her name, she is always in our hearts!). Without the gift they gave me I would not be celebrating this day as a Mother...Thank you is not enough! - Melissa

Imaginary Friends,Identity Crisis',and Talk of Marriage

I have had several funny conversations with my little ones over the past few days. Here are a few examples:

Librarian to Micah: "What is your name little fella?"
Micah: "Delson!"
Me: "Your name is not Delson!?!"
Micah: "Micah silly..Me Micah!"

Lady in the mall to Delson: "Aren't you handsome. Where are you from?"
Delson: "Ethiopia!"
Me: "No Delson, you were born in Haiti"
Delson: "No...Yeah!"

The kids answers to who they will marry:
Micah: "Emily and Gracie." (looks like we will need to move to a different state!)
Delson: "Sitota" (again, marrying your sister is not allowed in WI!)
Sitota: "I am too young to know that" (PERFECT answer!!!)

Micah also has his first imaginary friend. His name is Mr Grace and he has been hiding in Delson's bed. It was hard to explain to Sitota what an imaginary friend was and that we could not really see him. Mr.Grace joined us for dinner tonight and lucky for us, he does not eat much!! I will do my best to post some pics soon!-Melissa

Surprise, Surprise (aka Will the Changes Ever End)

It seems as though international adoptions are full of the unexpected even after the kids are home. We have sure had our share of surprises with all our kiddos, mostly involving birth dates. To recap - Micah was issued a bday of Nov 25, 2007 by the Ethiopian government, but we had knowledge and recordings of his actual bday being February 23, 2008 and thus changed it to that at his re-adoption. Sitota was issued a bday of July 12, 2004 and after several medical and dental tests have a more accurate bday of July 12, 2001. We thought that Delson was our one kiddo that we would have no issue with his bday since they have birth certificates in Haiti and that is where the agency would have gotten the info from...or so we thought. Today we got a translated copy of Delson's birth certificate and it actually lists his birth date as February 15, 2006!! Meaning that he just turned 4 (and was actually home with us for his bday!). This means several changes including that he will NOT be able to attend Kindergarten next year. I spoke with his 4K teacher at Head Start tonight and she said that he can attend their program again next year and that may actually be a Great benefit to him. We also found out that we actually passed IBESR(that is what we were waiting to pass for several years before putting the adoption on hold in June 2008)on July 31, 2009! It is totally a God thing though that we were not made aware because otherwise we would likely not have Sitota home with us since we started her adoption in July 2009!What a week of changes and it is only Monday...Melissa

Upward Climb

I have not posted a real "progress" report for awhile, so here is a little update on how the kiddos (and myself and Scott) are doing:
Sitota got her first report card from school. They no longer do the A,B,C,D,F system any longer it is now a 1,2,3,4 kind of thing with 4 being best and 1 being needing a lot of work. We were very happy that she got some 2s and several 3s. She did have a few 1s, but that is to be expected since she has only been in school about 2 months. Her teachers had nothing but great things to say about her and said that once the language barrier is gone she will SORE. We were very proud. She continues to help around the house to earn her allowance and really enjoys doing it. She has been talking to us a lot about her family in Ethiopia and is very open with us about her feelings. She obviously has a LOVE for them(as do we), but she tells us all the time how much she Loves being here and in our family. Sitota has many friends in the neighborhood now and enjoys getting to go and play with her friends without her brothers tagging along :) Her re-adoption will be coming up soon and we are all excited about that day!
Delson continues to make forward progress. His speech is still pretty poor, but it was recently discovered that he has a Lot of fluid in his ears and this may be affecting his speech and also balance. He is going to see an ear doctor to find out if vents may help. He likes going to school and seems to be picking up on a few new things there, but has a long way to go. His fine motor skills are still very poor as he can not even grasp a pen or crayon. Also can not zip or button, but we are working on it. He is still VERY full of energy, but is sleeping better at night so that is helpful to all of us.
Micah is Micah. He is so funny lately and has been learning SOOOOO much. He recently learned to jump and wants to do that ALL the time. He is also obsessed with going to school and can not wait to join the big kids. He is enjoying going to story time and got to move up to the Big kid class with his other friends. He is eating SOOO much, only problem is that he keeps growing taller while not gaining any weight...tough one when it comes to pants!
Scott and I are doing well. We are preparing to celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary next week and even have a baby sitter so we can go for dinner! We are just starting the planning stages to go on a short term mission trip to Africa in 2012. It is in the very early stages, but we are so excited to have been blessed with this calling! We will be opening the camper up this weekend and will see how that goes with our now family of 5 :) That is about all we are up to...Be Blessed - Melissa

Spring Break Fun

This week is spring break for the kids and we have been having a Fun filled week so far. Monday was story time at the library and also lots of outdoor fun at the Caters. Monday night Sitota braided my hair...fun, but I can not pull it off as well as her! Tuesday we went to Monkey Joes with Aunt Heidi and the kids. Unfortunately the camera was not working, so I only got one picture. Then we came home and played hide and seek, Simon says and play dough. Today we took the city bus for the first time. The kids have been asking to take the bus since Delson started taking the school bus, so I gathered some other moms and kids and off we went. We rode downtown and took the kids to the coffee shop for smoothies. They had a blast! Then we played more hide and seek, did a little bike riding, and had a play boona(coffee)ceremony. Fun week so far...who knows what the next few days will bring!!