Haiti Hope

Our dear friends Dave and Christie have been working to adopt a little girl from Haiti for the past 3 years.  Their daughter has been living at an orphanage in Port-au-Prince and lots of red tape seemed like it would still be a few more years before she joined their family.  The terrible situation created by the earthquake in Haiti sped up the process and after many stressful sleepless nights at home and in the airport they were able to hug their daughter for the first time.  It really is an amazing story that had a happy ending but they also know how blessed they are because there are so many children in Haiti left in the aftermath of this disaster without anyone to care for them or advocate for them.  Please continue to pray for the country of Haiti.

Here is a great family picture with Ila home safe and sound!

  Mathis-4, Ila - 3, Jonas 16 months, Christe and Dave ages to remain a secret.  We love these dear friends so much and rejoice with them that their daughter is finally home safely after so many years. 

Beans and more beans

I take Symeon to a sing and play group on Friday mornings and they have these plastic bins full of dried beans, rice, or dried corn and he loves them so since it is winter and we still have a ton of dirty half melted snow on the ground I am looking for fun indoor activities to keep him busy.  I had an extra bin and bean time was born which of course is the same time Marin is sleeping since she eagerly eats the beans.  Here is Symeon enjoying his beans. 

I love hoodie towels

Soon Marin will be to a bit big for the hoodie towel but until then I use them every chance I get. 

 

Marin's smile is one of pure joy!

Time out times two

 

This mess is a regular occurrence we are working to stop.  Marin loves to pull all the books off the bookshelf and Symeon is always willing to help with the books out of her reach.  It is so annoying and they love it so much they both squeal with laughter but still it is coming to an end.  They both had a time out the other day for doing this when I told them not to.  Marin had to join Symeon since she started the whole thing and we want to be "fair" in Symeon's eyes.  It was so funny to see them both in time out.  I didn't get a picture because honestly I was just taking in the moment.  Marin had no idea she was just happy to be sitting next to Symeon so no harm done and Symeon had a bit of justice. 

Happy Valentine's Day

We had a Valentine's Day Party at Paxton this week and the kids wore their holiday best.  Really they just happen to be clothes they already have that are pink or red and I called them Valentine's Day outfits which seemed to make Symeon pretty happy. 

It is hard to be such a cool guy and dressed to impress at the same time.  

The resident's loved his tie and the bow in Sissy's hari.  I was sad every picture of Marin by herself came out blurry. 

The things they say or don't

As many of you know Symeon is still a child of few words although on a daily basis he is adding new word/

When Symeon is busy he combines both our names to make one word in hopes of getting someone's attention.  We are lovingly known as MaDA.  What I find funny about Symeon talking is the words he chooses to say.  He does not say any of the usual kid words such as up, down, please etc rather he says multiple words that mean something to him.  For instance he says "unday chool", "fall down", "remote control", and "babeee" which is the only name he will now use for his sister.  It is so sweet he draws out the eee with this sweet little smile when he is talking about her.  

It will be fun to add even more as he continues to expand his vocabulary everyday. 

I am not an artist but Symeon thinks I am

Symeon has a little table you can draw on with dry erase markers and right now he is obsessed with drawing pictures of our family using the different colors.  Shawn is blue.  I am orange.  He is purple.  Marin aka "Baby" which is the only name he will call her right now, is green. 

Snow Days

We have had so much snow this past week it is hard for Symeon to play in it because it is so deep.  Here he is enjoying it after the first storm.  The second storm topped us off at about 3 feet so that is over his head in spots.  He loves to be outside and will never admit to being cold so at some point we just drag him back inside when he face seems frozen and his hand seem numb. 

 

  

These things happen right?

Well I am ready for this week to be over because our rash of injuries continue.  Symeon figured out he could get the side of his crib down from the inside and when he did he fell out and his hand was smashed.  At first we thought he broke his hand because he was holding it up and close to his body and he would not move it.  I was driving  him to the ER when I looked back and he was sound asleep.  So I decided to return home and see what happened when he woke up.  He slept for about 3 hours and when he woke up he was using his hand.  His one nail will probably fall off since he it was smashed pretty good and his other knuckle is swollen and two of his fingers are really bruised but otherwise he seems fine. 

Marin was walking to Shawn when she fell and hit her face on the side of his desk.  Luckily she only has a long red mark down the side of her face.  So over all Smash and Scar Face are doing fine. 

The smashed finger

 

  

Somehow this mark seems to fit her and her "attitude"