Foundations

I was recently reminded about how important having a level surface and a good foundation is to any building.  We have been saving for some sort of storage building here at the WGM student center and when we saw that they were on sale at Lowes, we bought a kit for the 10' by 10' Heartland shed.  According to the directions, only 'intermediate' building skills were required, and I was confident that along with some help from some college guys I could get it up and save the center the $1450 fee for assembling and painting the shed.

I have done enough building to know that you don't skimp on the foundation, so we worked hard for several hours leveling blocks for the floor.

Everything lined up well, so we built the decking and lifted it into place.  For some reason, when the floor was in place the level from front to back remained perfect, but from left to right it appeared a little off.  Knowing that we would have to remove the decking and reset probably 9  of the 12 leveling blocks, we joked that it was 'within tolerance' and moved on to the next step.

Maybe the large stop sign on these directions should have been a clue to me to start the leveling process over!

The walls went up easily and the rafters did too, and we thought we must have been 'level enough' for the structure until we started adding the plywood to the roof.  I am still not sure how it happened, but while one side of the roof went up perfectly, the other side just wouldn't fit together right.  Strange overlapping made the plywood not line up with the rafters correctly.  The whole east side of the roof was somehow skewed.  I guess 'within tolerance' wasn't good enough.

The finished product (minus the contrasting trim paint).

We did get the roof on, and I am confident that short of a tornado, it will be around for many useful years. Buy I know I spent more time correcting for the 'within tolerance' mistake than I would have spent leveling those blocks correctly at the outset.

Foundations are also critical in a child's life.  Biological or adopted, the foundational months and years of a child's life are so important in helping to set the course for success.  We adopted our children while they were pretty young, but even their short lives before coming into our family has shown me so clearly how important foundational things are: being touched, talked to, held, loved on, rocked, sung to...  Just being fed and kept alive is apparently 'within tolerance' for so many orphanages including Elisona's!  Praise God 'Within tolerance' wasn't good enough for Reni's orphanage though, and how thankful we are for every volunteer that ever held our son and prayed over him and sang to him!  This evening I was reading the blog of some friends who have adopted older children whose foundations were severely damaged.  The wounds from years in an orphanage are so deep that they seem unable to accept the love of their parents.  They push away the very thing that could help bring healing!  The process seems hard if not impossible.  Many of us do the same thing with our heavenly Father too.  Pushing Him away in anger for hurts in our past when His love is what can begin the healing! 

After reading our friend's blog and praying for them tonight, I was reminded of God's promise:

 25I will restore to you the years

   that the swarming locust has eaten,

 the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter,

   my great army, which I sent among you.

 26"You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied,

   and praise the name of the LORD your God,

   who has dealt wondrously with you.

                   Joel 2:25-26 ESV

How awesome is it that we serve a God that can restore lost years!  We have seen God restoring the years the locust ate in Ellie's life, and can praise the name of the LORD our God, who has dealt wondrously with us!

June in Kentucky

During this month of June, I'm finding myself in the midst of photographing a handful of weddings. While it is a lot of extra work on top of my already busy life (which is made manageable thanks to some help from a college student who helps me at the computer several hours a week), I find fulfillment in attending these momentous occasions  and creating images that will be enjoyed by families for a lifetime.  One of the perks are some of the beautiful places I get to visit as a result.  Sometimes I just have to stop and take a photo to capture a bit of the surroundings to remind myself what a beautiful place we are blessed to enjoy for this season of our lives.  Thank you, Lord.

The blog may be on hiatus for the next several days or so while we take a quick trip this week, return for the weekend to entertain friends and host some University events at the center, and then travel again.  Please come back -- we'll be sure to document some memories from these times and share them when time permits.

*the photo above was captured during an engagement shoot two weeks ago here.
** click over to my photo blog to view images from some gorgeous June weddings here in Kentucky!

Launching the Lanterns

I'm too tired to put together some pics from Ellie's birthday (plus I still have to blog about the visit from some special friends last week), so hopefully this video will suffice for now. If you can't watch the video, I'll just let you know that the lanterns worked and exceeded our expectations. I heard from a friend that our lanterns made her Facebook newsfeed from friends who had either spotted them or caught one as it drifted back down to earth! While it wasn't a windy day, they nevertheless traveled over half a mile from the launch site!

Odds and Ends

I don't know where the time goes.  I have some photos and video from Ellie's birthday that need to get posted here, but I'm having major computer aversion right now.

I did get online long enough to see this:  an online auction to help our friends, the Rascos, bring baby Joshua home.  Their adoption has been finalized and now have just one more trip to Russia to go get him.
Click here http://www.rasbebe.com/index.html  to view and bid for items up for sale.

Also, my cousin Dallas and his wife, Amanda, leave on the 29th to bring Max home from Thailand!  It's been a LONG process, but we are glad to see the end very close in sight.  I know they would appreciate your prayers!

On a slightly different note, in therapy yesterday Reni stood up unassisted, in the middle of the room (e.g. bent over to pick up a toy and stood back up without using any furniture or assistive device) 20 out of 24 times in his prosthetics!  WOW!  Our boy is getting strong!  Around the house we're trying to put him in his "legs" now and just let him be to see how he does.  Of course, we're never far, but we think he's probably capable of more than we give him credit for and if we hover too close, he won't become more independent.  He's just doing great and we're so glad that he still enjoys his new legs!

Happy Birthday, my sweet Ellie girl!

Dear Ellie,
Happy Birthday, girlie! I can't believe you are a big 6 year old! You are growing up so fast! I greet this birthday a little bittersweet because you are entering a new phase in life. Your legs are getting longer and it's more rare to pick you up and feel your arms around my neck and legs around my waist.  Yes, to answer your question, 'Am I growing up?' you are!  You need me less and less in taking care of yourself (which is a good and necessary thing) but it has been my joy to care for you in these ways.

This past year as a 5 year old was a big one! Not only did you get to visit your birth country, but you became a big sister.  Not that I didn't love your brother or was excited that he was coming home with us, but I was a little sad at first that our family of three was going to change and I didn't know how it was going to change you, for better or worse.  I must say I have been SO, so proud of you.  You have been the best big sister -- you exceeded my expectations and then some.  I love your tender heart and how you try to help your brother and keep him safe. My heart melts to watch you both wrestle on the floor and dissolve in giggles.

This year you started all day Kindergarten at a new school.  We saw you touch the hearts of your teachers in a big way.  Many a day they told us with smiles on their faces how you would tell them you loved them. We could tell it meant so much.  In fact, at the end of the year your teacher started crying that you were leaving her class.  They (and we) were SO proud of your progress!  You learned lower case letters, addition and subtraction, and could now write your own name!

Before the end of your fifth year you would also make great strides in eating more of your food without any help, and eating a a wider variety of kinds of foods.  You started asking ALL kinds of questions this year. Why does this happen? What is that called? With each question we could see how your mind was growing and taking in the world around you in new ways.  One of my favorite questions is when you ask, "How do you say __________ in Albanian?"  Your fellow Albanians would be so proud!

This past year we worked a lot on understanding the difference between friends and strangers.  I appreciate that you are not shy and that you can easily start a conversation with people you don't know. Our life at the center has been full of meeting new people all the time, and for the most part, they are "safe".  Perhaps this is part of why you feel so at ease with people you don't know. I can tell that when you start a chat with someone (like that lady in the elevator last week with a broken wrist) that people enjoy talking with you -- your conversations are so unexpected and I think they enjoy talking with kids your age because it is so rare for your friends to engage with new people.

God has given you a mind that sees the world a bit differently than the rest of us. While sometimes it is a challenge because it occasionally takes time for us to see things from your point of view, it also brings us unexpected laughter. One of my current favorite ways of you expressing yourself is when I tell you 'I love you' and you respond with the question, "Do you have a giant heart popping out of your head?" [like in the classic cartoons]  You love to be silly and make others laugh and smile. Perhaps your sense of humor will be a big part of how you endear yourself to others, as you endear yourself deeper and deeper into my heart.

Ellie, I am so, so happy to be your mommy.  I thank God every day for the gift of your life. I don't know if you'll ever understand what a gift you are.  I can't help but think that there is another woman on the other side of the world who is also remembering today and wondering about her baby girl.  I pray for her and that she might receive healing in her heart for her loss of you.  She was so brave to make a  plan for you, even before you were born, that someone (us) could adopt you and bring you into our home.

Right now you are snoring in bed beside me.  This past year it has been a challenge for you to sleep all the night through in your room and we have indulged your need to be close.  Daddy thought a reward system for staying in your own room til morning would be a good thing.  We told you that with 5 stars you could buy a new game for the iPad.  About an hour after I thought you had gone to sleep last night, I heard you crying, quite upset in your room.  When I came in you told me through tears, "Two stars is enough.  I don't need five!"

Well, Els, the sun has been up.  I hear your brother chattering in his crib.  Your birthday day is about to begin!  Never doubt the special girl that you are.  Thank you for loving us back and teaching us so much.
You have our hearts.
Love,
Mom

Children: Don't Try This at Home

One sleep 'til Ellie's birthday.  She's been counting down.  And Nathan and I have been trying to think of what we can do to make it a special day for her.  A few months ago we were online and Nathan discovered a company that makes "floating" lanterns -- the kind you can light a flame inside and it will float up in the air, much like the lanterns which played a big role in the movie, Tangled.  Needless to say, after discovering they were a reasonable price, we purchased them and they have been hiding in a closet until the big day.

To fully appreciate tomorrow evening's surprise, I need to share a previously-unpublished event that happened last Christmas.  To celebrate the 4-year anniversary of bringing Ellie home, we left a napping Reni with Nonna and took Ellie to see the movie Tangled.  She LOVES going to the movies (a very rare treat) and  she loved Tangled.  Before the movie even concluded she was asking if we could go buy lanterns like the ones released for Rapunzel's birthday.  So we made a detour to Hobby Lobby on our way home and picked up some paper lanterns and votive candles.

 I wish I could remember what she was writing on here (this is why it's important to blog events shortly after they happen)!

Nathan's family is proud of their "science experiment" heritage and Mom and Dad eagerly joined us in the driveway to see if this one would "fly"

 No luck.  Apparently the votive candle didn't produce enough heat to lift the lantern off the ground.  We needed a bigger flame.

I don't want to say "I told you so" or claim I made a wild prediction that just happened to come true, because I don't think it would take a rocket scientist to tell you that lighting a kerosene-soaked handkerchief in a PAPER ball would have any results different than what you see below (photographed from the warmth of indoors).

Hopefully tomorrow night's lanterns will meet with better success!  If you want to leave Ellie a birthday greeting, we'll read them to her tomorrow night!

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

How fun to be FIVE!

Probably my all time favorite pic of the girls together.

The twins always insist that Ellie's in the middle for all of their pics.  Cracks. Me. Up. 

They decided they needed to hatch a plan.  Not sure what they're doing here, but I thought their tushies were sure cute.

Okay, while Ellie's Dad is installing the last of the lattice around the new tool shed, the girls think he needs a little respite from the heat.

Wait, Ellie's thirsty.

Attacking Dad, Round #1

Round #2

Their expressions are priceless

Dad's turn to turn the tables. ;-)

Okay, what to do next?  "Let's go to Canada."
Seriously, that's what they said!
Happy Birthday, Amy!

To see Amy's pics from Ellie's visit to the Kinnells on Tuesday, click here.

First Day of Summer!

Monday was our first real day of summer and if it's indicative of what's to come, we're looking forward to some fun times!  We hosted our monthly adoptive families group, but this time instead of our usual parents discussion time upstairs while the kids play downstairs, we had a cookout and hung out altogether in the backyard.  We were pleased to have some new families join us and hope they'll return!  Between the 13 families there were 7 different nations represented -- how cool is that?  Our kids had SO much fun with all of the friends here.  We're going to try to be more intentional about having friends over so they can keep strengthening those friendships.  I look at these images and my heart smiles.  

Pedal Pushers

Reni's arrival into our family has shown us something new about our daughter... she apparently has a very competitive streak buried deep inside of her!  It was first manifested in the form of 'competitions' at dinner time.  While we love to hear our daughter talk, we didn't appreciate that she often wouldn't start eating her food until the rest of us were well done with ours.  We made the innocent (?) comment one night, "Look!  Reni is beating you at eating his ___________ (fill in the blank)." Now we have to remind her that it's not important if she finishes first, that it's not a race, and stuffing your mouth to overflowing isn't healthy, safe or attractive.  But, it has led her to eat foods that previously she wouldn't touch (like her fruits and veggies), so she can 'beat' her brother. 

Fast forward to the last several days since Nathan has returned from Japan.  Our evening routine has turned into eat, clean up supper, then head outside for a walk with Reni riding his new trike.  It didn't take too many nights before Ellie decided she couldn't be outdone by her little brother and that her bike (which has been sitting in the garage for a few years) was due for a dusting off.  Here are pics from about a week ago when she took it on her inaugural ride outside of our driveway.  Note the small size of the helmet -- we have been waiting a long time for her to overcome her anxiety!  A new, properly fitting helmet has since been purchased.  And Reni now has a helmet too.  UH-dorable.  We are so proud of our kids, but especially of Ellie for overcoming this fear and finding joy and freedom in this activity.

Enjoy these pics of the kids riding in the empty campus parking lot.  We also take spins around the campus sidewalks -- a child bike rider's paradise!

A very quick, but related sidenote:  this morning Ellie had her 6-year check up with Dr. Taylor.  When it was finished (and she had cooperated quite well), she asked, "Did I beat the other patients?"  Yes, she is competitive!

And since some readers were unsure of how Reni's tricycle works, here is a brief cell phone video of him demonstrating the "hand" pedals:

The "Albania Song"

I completely lost track of time and forgot to post the bicycle pictures and video, BUT, the Wyatt's shared this quick clip from Cheers which I haven't seen in years.  If you want to learn some quick facts about Albania, you'll get a kick out of this (if you haven't seen it already).  The Waggoner kids will be back on here Sunday... ;-)

Ellie's End-of-the-Year Kindergarten Program

Just hours before picking Nathan up at the airport, I was pleased to attend Ellie's Kindergarten awards program.  Her class performed 3 or 4 songs.  Ellie's was last.  She was the alligator in the song, "5 Little monkeys".  You can watch her stellar performance here (seriously -- she did her part with no prompting.  I was so proud!):

With classmate, Lillie

Ellie and Ms. Paula, the teacher's aide

Ellie and Mrs. B -- an amazing Kindergarten teacher who went above and beyond.  We are so grateful!

Ellie and her special ed teacher, Mrs. Moberly -- this wonderful teacher has come up with some creative strategies for Ellie that have been great!

On Tuesday we had a meeting with Ellie's team, this time to discuss the possibility of retention.  Before I share what we have decided to do for next year, let me give a little background: The day before Nathan left for Japan we had Ellie's annual ARC meeting to plan her next IEP (individualized education plan).  We went into the meeting wanting one thing for Ellie, but left with our ideas for her next year of school even more muddled.  Because of state requirements for Ellie to continue to receive special education services, she needed a "label" for her needs.  After lots of testing, it appears that she is landing somewhere on the autism spectrum.  This was shared with us at her ARC meeting and allowed us to have some time to mull over all of her results before her retention meeting at the end of the month.

While the pros and cons for holding her back to repeat Kindergarten appeared to be pretty equal, it appears that she likely has a lifelong disability that more time to mature won't cure.  We also began to realize that in order for Ellie to face the fewest numbers of educational transitions (which transitions have historically really disrupted and delayed her learning), she probably needs to move on to 1st grade. Due to school policy, she can not repeat the same teaching team she has had this year -- but she theoretically could repeat her 1st grade teaching team if deemed necessary.  Her IEP has some very specific requirements which will ensure that the learning strategies which have been successful in Kindergarten should continue on at her new school for 1st grade.  Her Village teaching team has also expressed a strong desire to help her new team at Wilmore Elementary so that she can have as successful a year of 1st grade as possible.

Through these meetings with her teachers, we've gotten a clearer picture of our Ellie at school.  We heard lots of positive things about her from a social perspective that were new to us -- probably my favorite word was "charismatic."  I think it explains why she appears to be so well liked by everyone who knows her (and at her school of more than 800 kids, it appears that EVERYONE of the staff knows her!).  They said she seeks out social interaction with her peers (something we did not witness in pre-school) and her classmates enjoy her company (I've heard this from teachers as well as parents who say their children have "Ellie stories"). This kind of feedback also helps alleviate some of the fear that accompanies a possible diagnosis like autism which has a lot of social implications.  But it is precisely because Ellie is so well liked, that there were fears that she might not receive the positive peer modeling she needs should she remain in Kindergarten (where she might be rule as queen bee of her class). Whereas in first grade, her peers would be more likely to give her the social correction that she needs to understand appropriate behavior.  Additionally, she has met all the content benchmarks for Kindergarten and with some individualized instruction they assured us she has the intellectual capacity to handle 1st grade material.  So... we move forward and covet your prayers for us as we prepare her for a new school and all that it brings.  After three years at the Early Learning Village, I think Mom and Dad are more nervous about her new school than she is!

On a final note, we learned this week that Ellie will be evaluated at Cincinnati Children's Hospital in early December.  While that may sound a long ways off, we're hearing that it's actually about half the wait time for most kids awaiting evaluation by them.  We're on a cancellation list and have been told she's been given "priority status" -- by whom, we don't know, but we're not arguing!

Check back tomorrow for some fun bicycle pics and video!  And maybe for a slightly better edited version of this post.  It's late.  I'm tired.  I'll fix my mistakes later. ;-)

Presents from Japan

Nathan brought the kids these gifts home from Japan.  Funny how we didn't have to show Reni once how to use a sword.  He picked it up, swung it through the air and said, "Hee-yaw!"  Yes.  Totally 100% boy.  And we didn't ask him to make this face for the camera either.

For Ellie's sake I'm glad this sword is padded.

100% GIRL

2 Swords is better than one.

Scroll down to the post below to view kayaking pics.
Coming up tomorrow:  Ellie's Kindergarten Awards program (sniff, sniff).