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Archive for January, 2010

Learning is fun

Thursday, January 28th, 2010

Well, maybe it’s not always fun, but the kids have enjoyed learning through some particular activities this week. Because of my background with Japan we have always enjoyed some origami here and there; we have several origami books and always have a supply of origami paper around. The kids have been on quite a kick this week of making all sorts of things. This isn’t “school”, but you can bet I’m going to count some art hours! Michaela discovered a neat site that your kids might be interested in. It has countless designs, many of which are simple to recreate.

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In science this week Benjamin, Elijah, and Johanna have been studying static electricity. Of course this means lots of fun experiments. Some experiments don’t need to be written out in a book. This is Johanna after rubbing her head on the couch!

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After science time this morning I got out the humidifier to help with our dry air.

Posted in Benjamin, Elijah, Family, Home School, Jocelyn, Johanna, Michaela | 2 Comments »

Elijah’s cursive

Tuesday, January 26th, 2010

I had to show off Elijah’s beautiful penmanship from this morning. He had fairly good printing when we met him last year, but over the last few months we have also been working on cursive. He copied this verse from his Bible without asking for help or looking at his letter chart at all. Yes, I’m proud!

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Posted in Elijah, Family, Home School | 5 Comments »

Memorial Box Monday – Standing Stone – Elijah’s Adoption

Monday, January 25th, 2010

Most of you who know us are very aware that Elijah’s adoption story is no small miracle. It’s hard to know how to even wrap up his story in the proverbial nutshell. If you are unfamiliar with the miracles that brought our latest treasure home and are up for some reading, I would encourage you to go back in the archives to the middle of August 2008. That’s not when our story started, but that’s when I backtracked and started blogging about it.

In June of 2007 we began sponsoring Elijah through the Philip Hayden Foundation. God planted a seed in our hearts early on and we knew without a shadow of a doubt that Elijah was to be our son. What happened between that point and January 8, 2009 when we were united in person with him could be represented by one “standing stone” after another. Our key verses throughout that time were from Isaiah 45:2-3. “I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, who summons you by name.” We witnessed leveled mountains, broken down gates, and cut through bars of iron. Our God was mighty and it was an incredible period for our family to live through.

Our Memorial Box is filled with “standing stones” that show God’s faithfulness and hand in our lives, based on Joshua 4. Now we have a literal standing stone to place in our box. You see, Elijah and his new cousin Zane are both from Fujian province. Their home province is know for soapstone. We purchased some on our trip last year, but Elijah’s aunt and uncle also purchased this special standing stone carved from soapstone for our family on their trip just last fall. We felt it was a perfect representation for Elijah’s adoption story. We also wrapped it in twisted “iron” to represent the broken down gates and bars of iron that were cut through that brought Elijah into our family. We thank Him for this indescribable gift, our promised son, and for the journey that He took us through to receive that gift!

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Posted in Elijah, Family, Memorial Box Monday | 2 Comments »

Ami’s cloths

Thursday, January 21st, 2010

When we went to China to get Ami I packed along some burp cloths. In my prior mothering experience we had had a couple of kiddos that spit up a lot and I wanted to be prepared for this. Little did I know that these burp cloths would become Ami’s little security cloths. That sweet baby would stick her first two finger into her mouth then she would also tuck a corner of one the burp cloths right under those two fingers and suck away. I was actually glad that she had a way to soothe herself, probably one of the ways she got through eight months of being institutionalized.

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Over time Ami somehow gave up the fingers, but she has continued to suck on those cloths until they are ragged. No other cloth or towel would do, only the original burp cloths. She gets a clean one every night and I have also bleached them regularly, but they are raggedy on all corners and even somewhat stiff on the corners. Gross!

Ami only uses them to go to sleep at night, but I’ve been wondering how long this would go on. So I decided that when she turns four (in just a couple of weeks) that it would be time to say good-bye to the cloths. I don’t mind at all that she has a security item that she sleeps with (I have an older kid who still sleeps with Kitty every night!), but the sucking on it is what I was concerned about. It’s nothing like a thumb that will mess up her teeth, but it just doesn’t seem right at this age.

Am I doing the right thing? We’ve been talking about it for several weeks now and she knows her fourth birthday is coming up very soon. She laughs about it, but I know she doesn’t really want to give the cloths up. If she just slept with them that would be fine with me, but I know from habit they would end up in her mouth.

Aaaaah, is she really growing up? I’ll be sad in a way to see the cloths go, so maybe that’s why I’m second guessing myself. What to do!!! I took these pictures this morning after she came wandering out into the kitchen.

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Posted in Ami, Family | 4 Comments »

Our latest project – Care packages for the homeless

Thursday, January 14th, 2010

Recently I was inspired by a post on a blog that I follow. Not only was I inspired, but the kids and I took action on it. We have had bitterly cold temperatures here for the first part of January and we have thanked God every day for our warm house. While being thankful for what we have, it reminded us of the many that are without proper shelter even in our local community. The kids and I came up with a list of things that we could put in ziploc bags and keep in the car to hand out to homeless people as we saw the opportunity. So many times I have sat waiting at a light and felt the tug to do something for a panhandler on the side of the road or highway exit. Now we are prepared. We made up eight bags to have ready and filled them with items we hope will be a blessing to those that receive them.

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This was a fun and easy project. We bought a few things at the dollar store and we used several items that we had stocked in our house. All in all, we only spent about $25. We included: a granola bar, box of raisins, peanuts, hand warmers, toothbrush, toothpaste, tissues, wet wipes, mints, cough drops, water, $1 gift certificate to McDonalds, a comb, and deodorant. We also included a note praying God’s blessing on the recipient.

The neat thing about this is that yesterday we had just been to the store to shop for supplies, then stopped at the post office. Outside there was a man asking for help. We hadn’t even been home yet to put our bags together, but we quickly gathered a few things from our purchases and gave them to the man. The kids were excited and it was a blessing that they so quickly got to see the importance of being prepared to meet the needs of others.

I hope this inspires some of you to do the same. Most of all I hope and pray that this not only blesses those we minister to, but that it ministers to my children’s hearts. I want to instill in them the desire to serve Jesus through those among us.

Posted in Ami, Benjamin, Elijah, Family, Jocelyn, Johanna, Michaela | 3 Comments »

Thanks, Laurie!

Saturday, January 9th, 2010

With five kids we have to keep things fairly organized around here, but with all the snow we’ve had these last three weeks the mitten/glove/hat/scarf mess has grown out of control…..that is until yesterday. I give all credit to my pal, Laurie, for posting this idea on her blog. I think it’s the best idea since sliced bread. This was the best $15 I have spent at Wal-Mart in a long time.

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Yes, it’s an over-the-door shoe organizer and it has seven rows with six pockets in each. Each person has their own row. In the summer I can see soccer shin guards, baseball caps, sunglasses, and other little surprises the kids might stick in their pockets. Just perfect!

On another note, Grandma Wolfe left today. The kids enjoyed lots of crocheting and playing games with her. We’ll look forward to getting to see her and Grandpa again this summer.

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Posted in Ami, Benjamin, Chris, Elijah, Family, Jocelyn, Johanna, Michaela | 4 Comments »

Gotcha Anniversary Pictures

Friday, January 8th, 2010

We had a fun day remembering the events of a year ago. Chris, Elijah, and I had a lunch date at Pizza Hut, then for dinner Grandma took us out to eat. The boys were also given their swords that they picked out last year in Guangzhou. If you ever visit Jordan’s on the island and see a hole in his nice leather couch……yep, that’s why the boys waited a year to receive their swords! After our family devotions this evening we watched the DVD of Gotcha Day. It was neat to remember and feel again the excitement we all shared. We are blessed.

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Posted in Ami, Benjamin, Chris, Elijah, Family, Jocelyn, Johanna, Michaela | 1 Comment »

Happy Gotcha Day, Elijah!

Friday, January 8th, 2010

One year ago today we landed in China, with much anticipation, to meet our new son and brother. We pulled up to Shepherd’s Field shortly thereafter and waited just a few short minutes for him to get out of school and head over to the Inn to meet us. The kids spotted him walking across the courtyard towards our building and could hardly contain themselves. Oh, what a special day that was, the day that we got Elijah, and he got us.

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As I reflect back on the changes Elijah has been through in the last three years of his life, I am amazed all over again at the resilient spirit that he possesses. From living with family, to abandonment on the streets, to orphanage, to major heart surgery, to a new family, to leaving behind all that’s familiar, to new citizenship, to new language, to new food,…. I stand in awe. What I see in my son is joy, love, exuberance, curiosity, adventure, excitement, compassion. Those are not the words I would have thought would have described someone that has walked in his shoes. But God.

This year has not been without some bumps and trials. We have all had to make adjustments. We have all had to learn more patience. We have all had to learn to be more selfless. We have all learned more about the amazing love it must have taken our heavenly Father to want to adopt each of us into His family. To steal some words from a special friend, I have loved him from the moment I saw his picture, but learning to like him is taking longer than I ever would have imagined. That’s pretty raw and hard to admit, but that’s the truth of it. Adoption is amazing, but it is not without it’s struggles. We’re not perfect and we’re still working on things, but with His grace we’re learning to like each other more and more every day.

Despite any struggles, I also have to say that this last year has gone better than I ever could have imagined. We had prepared ourselves and educated ourselves on what an older child adoption might be like, but the reality is that we have more than beaten the odds. Elijah is an amazing, happy, obedient, helpful, and loving child. We are blessed to have him in our Wolfe family. We are so thankful that God leveled mountains, broke through gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron to bring us this treasure. (Is 45:2-3, Our faith verses that brought us to Elijah.) Happy Gotcha Day, Elijah.

(I’ll post some pictures later of our Gotcha Day celebrations, we’ve got plans!)

Posted in Ami, Benjamin, Chris, Elijah, Family, Jocelyn, Johanna, Michaela | 7 Comments »

Brrrrr

Thursday, January 7th, 2010

We are having a record cold winter here. It’s been a while since we’ve been above freezing. Today’s high is 10F and tomorrow our high is supposed to be 4F. Oooh, then Saturday we warm back up to 8F. Oh, then there is the windchill which makes it feel more like -15 to -20F. You would think we live in Canada or something. Nonetheless, I’m a nice mom and allow the kids to bundle up and enjoy the snow, and I was brave enough to go out for just a few minutes and take a few shots. Good thing we have a fireplace to thaw out by!

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