FB Friday

October 19, 2013 ~ Maya K's new experience for today was having a car "run into"/scrape the side of our car as we were passing a gas station. Everyone was/is fine and our car just has scratches on the paint and hubcap and we are very grateful that it was minor. Maya K has been getting lessons on what insurance is and how they are going to "fix" the car, etc.

October 21, 2013 ~ We had a great time going with the HUGS home school group to the Center Grove Orchard today. We went on a hour and a quarter tour and then had an hour to "play." Maya K did a FANTASTIC job of listening and we had a TON of fun!!

Excited and ready to get started!!

Just hangin' around :-).

She has a hard time waiting and staying still, so climbing the fence was a GREAT way to wait!!

Her first hay ride!!

It took her a little while to find the perfect three apples to pick, but she finally made her choice.

Me and my little girl!!!

Petting the goat.

One of Maya K's FAVORITE stories is "The Three Billy Goats Gruff". She was sooooooo excited to get to "trip, trap" over their bridge :-).

AND, she even got to be the troll!!!!

The baby Billy Goat Gruff is her favorite!!

She wouldn't go in the straw house or the twig house. She insisted on finding the "rock" house and would only go inside that one. "Oh no!! The wolf is coming!! Get inside quickly, Mommy!!!"

We are happy and safe inside the house made of bricks.

"Let's look scared, Mommy!!!"

"Let's look sad, Mommy!!! Let me see the picture. Hahahahaha!!! I tricked you, Mommy!!!!"

"I tricked you AGAIN!!!!"

She's "hiding" from the wolf :-).

I love kissing this little pig!!!

And Maya K loves it when I let her use my camera!!

I didn't know if she would be brave enough to go up and then come down the slide all by herself the first time......

......but she DID!!!! And then she did it over and over again!!!

Jumping on the "pillow".

I can't even put into words how much I love this little girl that God gave me!!!

She melts my heart....

.....every time I see her smile!!!

She was VERY insistent that SHE get to carry the pumpkin!!! That's my STRONG little girl!!!

It was a FANTASTIC trip and we had a TON of fun!!!

What a difference a year makes!!

October 23, 2012

October 21, 2013

October 22, 2013 ~ I need a hug.

It was "Trick or Read" night at our local library. Maya K had a lot of fun making a craft, listening to stories, picking up little treats from the librarians, eating popcorn, and watching part of a movie.

We do NOT do vampire teeth in our house, but these were one of the "treats" that she picked up. I figured she could enjoy them for a day or two. She was THRILLED when she discovered that she could sick her tongue out through the middle!!! Silly girl!!!!

She ASKED me to take her picture with the owl :-). I guess she isn't afraid of dressed up "characters" . Whoooooo knew :-) :-).

October 23, 2013 ~ Last night, Maya K discovered that one of her bottom teeth is a tiny bit wiggly (very tiny bit). She was VERY excited!!! Then, this came out of her mouth - "Mommy, when I am asleep, will you please come in a wiggle my tooth out?!?!" I started LAUGHING!!! She just asked me to wiggle her tooth for her while SHE IS SLEEPING!!!!

We have had an emotionally draining evening with Maya K. Would you please join me in praying that she sleeps in tomorrow morning? She didn't get to bed until almost 10 p.m. and she didn't have a nap today :-(. Also, we desperately need prayers for wisdom in a parenting situation that we are trying to work our way through. Thanks!!!!

October 24, 2013 ~ Nathan has been working 10 hour days this week because he company has to "close down" on Friday for something. With things going on in the evenings, Maya K and I have been gone when he gets home and then we get home just in time for Maya K to go to bed. So she hasn't been seeing her daddy very much this week. Last night, as Nathan was putting her in bed, he told her that his work was closing on Friday and he would get to see her a lot that day because he doesn't have to go to work. She got VERY excited and said "Yay!!! So you never have to go to work again since it is closing!!!!!" Poor girl was very disappointed when he had to tell her that he DOES have to go to work again and that his work was only closing for that one day :-(.

Maya K was supposed to have 15 minutes of sitting on her bed at the start of her quiet time today as a consequence for something that happened yesterday. Well, I went upstairs after 15 minutes and she was asleep!!!! So much for the consequence, but I'm VERY glad that she is getting a little nap today since she went to bed so late last night!!!

Maya K, aka "Tinkerbell", with her cousin Joseph, aka "Peter Pan". Aren't they just the cutest EVER?!?!

October 25, 2013 ~ Nathan and Maya K got to go out on a combine this afternoon (thanks to some friends from church who invited them)!!!!

FB Friday

October 12, 2013 ~ I stayed up late last night playing games with some great friends!!! But I'm definitely feeling the late night this morning!!!

I get to take a mini-road trip with my sister today!!! We're heading up to Independence, IA, to attend our aunt's wedding :-). The morning was full of washing/styling Maya k's hair and laundry!!! Now, it's time to GO!!!

October 13, 2013 ~ It was a lot of fun to get to spend time with my sister driving to and from our aunt's wedding yesterday!!! We got to see our parents and grandparents, along with other family members that we don't see very often :-).

October 14, 2013 ~ Maya K: "Is God ever silly?"
Me: "Ummmmmmmmm.........." (getting ready to give some sort of theological answer about the holiness of God)
Maya K: "I mean, if there are kids in Heaven, does God ever be silly with them to make them laugh?"
Me: "YES!!!! I think that God likes it when people are happy and I am SURE that He enjoys hearing kids laugh in Heaven!!!!" :-)

We had our third and final post-placement visit with our social worker tonight :-). It went great and now we are almost "officially" done!!! We still need/want to finish her re-adoption and name change, and then update her name change on official documents, but we are getting close to DONE!!! :-)

October 15, 2013 ~ Maya K just called me to come upstairs and show me something. She had sounded out and written all by herself the words "nut", "tub", and "log"!!!! I'm so happy with how much she has learned since we started school two months ago!!!!

How many peas is it safe for a 6-year-old girl to eat in one sitting??? Just sayin'!!!!!

October 16, 2013 ~ Oh dear. I was trying to do something crazy with Maya K's hair for AWANA tonight, but it ended up looking good :-). Oh well. The barrettes are in a rainbow of colors, so maybe that counts as crazy???!!!

October 17, 2013 ~ Congratulations to my brother Tim and sister-in-law Mandie!!! They are excited to be expecting their first little blessing and I am excited to be an AUNT again!!! (I haven't shared the news with Maya K yet :-). That excitement will be for tomorrow!!!)

Just for fun!! Nathan and I first met the summer of 1997. There was nothing "special" between us then, but it was a piece of the puzzle that God used to bring us together!!! I love you, Nathan!!!!!

October 18, 2013 ~ For whatever reason, this week has seemed long. And, now that Friday is here, I'm wanting a relaxed day. Maya K has complied (so far) by sleeping in a half hour (yay!!!) and being content to play upstairs in her room for MUCH longer than normal!!! But, I suppose that we need to eat breakfast at some point, so I guess the lazy part of my day is done :-(.

"I think you need to have a little patient, because they are wanting...giving people a little rest of it....that way they like it some more." ~ Maya K, speaking on why I am having a hard time finding her favorite kind of gum in the stores :-).

A neighbor just came over to invite Maya K to come help her make glitter pumpkins this afternoon!! This will be GREAT!! It's not my mess and not my garage so it will be FUN!!

Maya K got to help our neighbor make glitter pumpkins!! It has been a blessing to get to know our new neighbor Hannah and she has been so sweet towards Maya K. She came over this morning and said that she thought it would be a lot of fun for Maya K to help her!! Since I am NOT a glitter/mess-making person, this was GREAT!! And she let Maya K pick a pumpkin to keep :-).

Nathan: "Are you going to be good for Mommy tonight?"
Maya K: "If I say 'No' will you stay here?"
Nathan: "NO. I will (insert consequence) and then I will still have to leave."
Maya K: "Okay. Yes, I will be good."
I did not smile. On the outside. :-)

FB Friday

October 5, 2013 ~ I "heart" these moments!!!!

October 7, 2013 ~ Maya K and I are heading down to Indianola to visit some of my old students at VCA over lunch and recess today!!! I'm excited to get some HUGS from my kids and Maya K is excited to get to play on the playground :-).

What a blessing to get to see my many kids and get so many HUGS!!! I am so glad to be home every day with my little girl, but I definitely miss VCA and all my kids!!! Maya K had fun and got to spend some time in the kindergarten classroom while I wandered the halls :-).

October 8, 2013 ~ Me: "Maya K, it's almost time for breakfast, so if you want to make the beds and get dressed before breakfast you need to do those things now."
Maya K: "I'm on it!!!"
I think she's been listening to her Daddy!!!

Maya K: "Just call me 'Silly'."
K: "I thought your name was 'Sally'?"
Maya K: "Oh yeah. It's 'Sally'."

We're a little sad today :-(. PBS Kids has changed its scheduling and Daniel Tiger is no longer on after lunch. He has been a part of our daily routine for MONTHS and now he is only on at 10 a.m. which is during school. I'm trying to figure out WHAT TO DO?????!!!!!!??????? :-)

October 9, 2013 ~ "I'm trying not to smile, but I just keep graining!!!" (translation: grinning!!!) ~ Maya K

After talking with Maya K for almost TEN minutes trying to answer her question / help her understand ~ "Can God sin? Can He make Himself sin if He wanted to? But He can do anything. If He wants to." ~ I finally had to give in and use a ridiculous illustration. But she finally understood.
"The one thing that God cannot do is sin. He is perfect and if He sinned He wouldn't be God anymore. He can't do it. I cannot talk to a cat and make him understand me. Even if I WANTED to talk like a cat and have the cat know what I am saying, I CAN'T do it!!! God CAN'T sin!!!!"

October 10, 2013 ~ Thursday mornings have been hard the past few weeks. I wasn't sure if school was even going to happen today. It took Maya K SIX tries to be able to sing the alphabet song; something she has been able to do for a very long time (and she was only finally able to do it because I had her run up and down the stairs five times!!!). Reading through the blend cards was NOT going well and I almost stopped. But then, all of a sudden, she started reading the blends better than she ever has!!! It lasted for about 20 blends, and then it stopped. But for those 20 blends she HAD them!!! It was great!!!!!

This picture is from last week, but I wanted to show how well Maya K's handwriting is coming along. She LOVES handwriting time!!! It's honestly one of her favorite things to do in school!!!!!

I am printing some pictures today and came across this gem from our family vacation in CO this past May. Maya K being silly with her cousins :-).

"I just like to talk like a princess sometimes." ~ Maya K

October 11, 2013 ~ A blessing of homeschooling ~ When a friend just needs you to come spend time with her, you can drop your plans for the day and just go!!

FB Friday

September 28, 2013 ~ A year ago right now we had landed in D.C. (or almost landed; can't quite remember what time) and I had a very scared and upset little girl in my arms. I couldn't put her down because she would run away (and she was FAST), but she fought me and didn't want me to be holding her. She was crying and moaning like her heart was breaking :-(. This lasted for a couple hours as we worked our way through customs and getting our luggage. Finally, Nathan had the fantastic idea to put the food we were trying to fee her in her hands and she clutched on for dear life. With her hands full of food (that she wouldn't eat) she finally calmed down!!!! How FAR we have come since that emotional and exhausting day!!!

September 28, 2012 - I finally had my little girl HOME!!!

"God, I believe in You. Thank you for dying for my sins. And thank you for the food. Jesus' name, Amen." ~ Maya K's prayer at bedtime tonight. Is this head knowledge or heart belief? Only God knows, but I am so thankful and grateful for the way HE is working in her heart!!!

September 30, 2013 ~ At the grocery store today I was told - "She looks like you. Definitely looks like you. Almost exactly like you." And he was dead serious!!! Love it!!!

Wish I had taken my camera with me tonight!!! It was a beautiful evening eating Arby's by the pond, watching the ducks and geese, walking around the pond with my  hubby while Maya K rollerbladed, and played on the playground while the sun was setting. The chance for these evenings is fading as fall arrives so I'm glad we were able to enjoy it tonight!!!

October 1, 2013 ~ Me: "Maya K, what kind of muffins do you want for breakfast today?"
Maya K: "It's your deeshishun."
(While her pronunciation still needs work, her vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds!!!)

Maya K is learning how to READ!!!!

October 3, 2013 ~ Lesson plans. Need to do them. That is all. :-)

Nathan and I decided to watch a Tim Hawkins DVD tonight. Maya K wanted to watch it with us and we told her that she wouldn't understand most of what the man would talk about, but he would be telling jokes and saying funny things. After snuggling with us on the couch and watching it for about 10 minutes.....
Maya K: (very confused/disappointed voice) "When is that man going to tell the knock-knock jokes?!?!"
I laughed sooooooooooooooo hard I cried!!!!!

Look what I found a picture of!!!! My first car!!! Wasn't she a beauty?!? We called her my banana :-). A 1981 Buick Skylark. (picture taken in 2005)

October 4, 2013 ~ Maya K went out to the garage to take a box to the trash can. (Panicked voice) "Mommy!!!!! There is a parobobly...blem!!!!" ("problem") I went out to see that there was an empty box on top of the trash can lid :-). BIG problem!!!!

I have an audiologist apt. this afternoon and I was telling Maya K that she gets to go to her Aunt Debbi's house this afternoon while I have my apt. I then tried to explain to her how the doctor is going to see what I can and cannot hear. Here is what she got from our conversation - "Like seeing if you can hear a mouse squeak. Because I know that you probably can't hear a mouse squeak because it is MUCH quieter than I am. But I know that I can hear a mouse squeak because God give me much better ears than you."

Maya K: "When Adam and Eve did not sin yet, did other people sin already? How did it happen when Adam and Eve sinned that everyone started sinning? Did God want that to happen? So everyone sins now because Adam and Eve sinned and then had a consequence? We have the same consequence?"
I guess our Bible lesson today is on...."Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned." - Romans 5:12

Maya K got to go see her very first movie in a theater tonight!!! Monsters University was so much fun!!!!
Side Note: Maya K gets very protective of me when she is tired!!! I was getting a drink from our water bottle in the car on the way home and I handed it to Nathan when I was done. "Daddy!!! Why did you take that away from Mommy?!?! Give it back!!!!" Nathan was reading Maya K her bedtime story in the car and I kept glancing over to see the pictures. Nathan told me to keep my eyes on the road and not look at the pictures :-). "Daddy. That was very rude to talk to Mommy like that!!!" There were a couple others, but you get the picture!!!!