We Have a Court Date for the Girls!!!

July 23rd!! Please pray with us that it is successful the first time. Pray that ALL paperwork is in order and everything is spelled correctly (with a name like Vikki it gets spelled every kind of way except the right way). Pray that if any family has to be present that they are there or the proper abandonment paperwork is in order. One family has had four unsuccessful court dates while others will have a successful first one. Pray that if something isn't in order that God would blind the judges eyes.

Once we have a successful court date then the girls are legally ours and we can share their beautiful faces with you! Then we need an embassy date and we can go get them. Woo Hoo!!!

By the way the courts close August 6 and don't reopen until October. So we REALLY need this to go through the first time.

Thanks for praying with us and for us.

Derartu has a cold & other adoption news

We got an email today that our youngest daughter has an upper respitory tract infection and the prescription of the medicine she is on. One little boy coming home this week has pneumonia. It's the rainy season in Ethiopia so as it is when we have winter, little ones get sick.

We found out the courts don't close Until August 6, so that gives us an extra two weeks for a court date. Then they're closed until October. It has been confirmed that two judges are now hearing cases instead of one. Until now there has been only one judge in ALL of Ethiopia hearing the adoption cases.

Please pray for the health of the children in the orphanages.

Library Reading Program

Yesterday I took James and Joel to the library. We signed up for the summer reading program. James is to read 800 pages and Joel is to read 300 pages. I'll have to read Joel's pages to him as he didn't do too well trying to read on his own. James has finished about six-seven books all ready! He picked out dinosaur books and has been devouring them since we've been home.

I signed up for the adult program. I just have to read five books. I'm in the middle of two books right now. I did pick up a book about Ethiopia that looks very interesting.

Before we went to the library we walked and I got two miles in and then after the library we went for some frozen yogurt. Yum!

Interrupted Plans

Before we left for fireworks last night James told us he had a tummy ache. We loaded him into the car anyways. As we were heading down our hill we realized how serious his tummyache was. He brought a big white bag in case he needed to throw up. WHAT!?? We decide that instead of parking along the street without access to a bathroom like we were going to do that maybe we should head over to our two oldest son's condo. We call Jake and he says we can come on over. Steve decides to take a trip down memory lane as we get to Jake's and drive by our old house, which really wasn't that far away, but when you have someone who doesn't feel good in the backseat, exiting the car asap sounds like a great plan to me. I had to TELL Steve to drive FASTER down the street and not the crawl that we were doing. No sooner did we drive up to the Jake's and James started vomiting-big time. He was able to get it into his white bag. Steve parks the car and I try to help James, but you know how it is when someone else is throwing up. I had to turn away or I would have joined him. I ran up to their condo and got a wet papertowel and a trashbag to put the white paperbag in. I pick up the paperbag and all the vomit pours out the moment. Okay, I almost lost it. Poor Steve, but not really, remember he was the one driving us around, took over and put the trash in the plastic trash bag. Ugh.....We go upstairs and let him rest for an hour.

Then I swear that we'll be able to see the fireworks from their balcony. Wrong! We piled into our minivan and went to a nearby hill to watch the show. We dropped them off at home afterwards, came home and had James brush his teeth. Kids, you gotta love 'em.

Happy Birthday America!!!

Joel asked me whose birthday it was today. I responded that it wasn't anyone's birthday. Then I caught myself! It is our country's birthday!! Happy Birthday America!! Hope you're enjoying your Fourth of July. We are!

We took a two mile walk this morning around the new track at the local high school. If you could have seen my six year old, you would know that life just can't get any better. He was walking, running and skipping! How long do guys actually skip? Do you see teen boys skipping? Older elementary boys skipping? How about any men that you know? This is what being six is all about. Skipping just because you want to and you can. Having legs that work and a brain that sends the right messages to the right parts. Thank you Lord for allowing him such movement and the freedom to do it!

We took the two boys to see Ratatouille. They loved it! We then went to Olive Garden for a late lunch/early dinner and then over to Cold Stone for some ice cream. Steve & I brought dessert home from Olive Garden so we'll have that later tonight.

Now I'm uploading songs to my iPod. I bought a bunch of songs from iTunes, but my internet connection is so slow it's having a hard time downloading them. I did get Queen and Hall & Oates to upload from a CD. I love MOST kinds of music (Christian & secular). In my car you'll find Loretta Lynn, VBS, Mercy Me, Newsboys, Country hymns & Scripture Rock. I'm having fun uploading songs that I don't usually get to listen to because as you all know the kids are in charge of the music in the car. Now I'm uploading Wings & their album Band On The Run.

Tonight we're going to watch fireworks and be extremely happy that we live in America where we have the freedom to go to church, listen to the music we want to, worship the Lord in the way we see fit, keep our own belongings and property, the ability to have more than one child, not be forced into an abortion for having a second child, and etc....

I last of all want to thank my brother who has been in the Air Force since 1988, and is now serving with the Army in Iraq in 125* weather. He had to leave behind his wife and two daughters to ensure our freedom. Thank you, Stevie. You're loved and appreciated for ALL you do and have sacrificed.

Walking

Yesterday I started walking. Four (Steve, me, James & Joel) of us walked a mile yesterday and today three (Me, James & Joel) of us walked. I was able to do 1 3/4 miles today and was ready for more, but needed to go. I had my IPod on and could have went forever listening to Blake Lewis & Chris Richardson from American Idol. I really need to figure out how my IPod works, I have no idea how to adjust the volume. I went to Junonia.com and found a sport skirt that's 20" long. That's the longest I've been able to find in the running, tennis, sport world. I've worn my regular skirts, but they're a little cumbersome. Tomorrow I'm going for the 2 mile!

Out with the old & in with the new!

Emptied our shelves of last year's school books!!! They're sitting in a laundry basket ready for Sarah to put away for me in our book cupboards. Our new books are sitting on the shelf and ready to go!

I love the way My Father's World looks. I'm going to go through the Kindergarten reading program with Joel. When acclerated there are twenty-six lessons to coincide with each letter of the alphabet. Then John, Joel & I will dive into the first grade reading. John didn't test so well in his reading. I think the A Beka readers were too hard, too many words & pages at once. MFW seems to be gentler in their approach. I want my guys to LOVE school not dread it like they do now. I want to like it too! I should be homeschooling until the year 2024. YIKES! I'll be ready for Social Security!!!

I also bought Singapore Math for John & Joel, Saxon for James, Joe & Sarah & Chalk Dust Pre-Calculus on DVD.

Spelling Power for spelling.

Grammar lesson books recommended by My Father's World. Reminds me of books from the 50's.

Writing Strands for Joe.

Grades, Grades, & more Grades!

Finished posting James & Joe's grades. I have all of Jesse's done except for Algebra 2. Sarah helps me by figuring out her grades. (Yes, I trust her to give me the right ones.)

James's subjects for last year: (1st-4th grade) James has autism spectrum disorder and has always seemed to be behind about a year. This year he made leaps and bounds in reading and likes to read dinosaur readers with bigger words.
Math (3rd)
Penmanship (2nd)
Grammar (2nd)
Phonics (1st)
Reading (1st)
Art (Class Day)(4th)
Cooking (Class Day)(4th)
PE (4th)

Joe's subjects: (6th grade)
Reading
Grammar
Spelling
Penmanship
Math
Science (Class Day)
Music (Violin)
Bible
PE

Sarah's subjects: (10th grade)
World History
World Literature
Consumer Math
Biology
Spanish 1
Beginning Writing (Class Day)
Bible 10
PE 10 (She plays ayso & indoor soccer, self-defense class & volleyball)
Missionary Studies (she went to Ecuador, read missionary biographies & other book work)

Jesse's subjects: (11th grade)
U.S. History
American Lit
Honors Chemistry (Class Day)
Piano III
Band I
Bible 11
Landscape
Algebra 2

Indian Hills Camp

Yesterday we dropped off two of our boys for a week at camp. John was a little apprehensive when we got there, but Joe has been two times before and helped John feel more comfortable. To check out this cool camp go to: www.indianhillscamp.com