OUR FABULOUS FIVE!

We got to go up to Minneapolis to see Stephen run in his 2nd college cross country meet!  This meant we could also visit with Abigail!  

It was nice to have the whole family together. 

The above photo is actually from Stephen's 1st college meet 2 weeks ago.

NOT WINNING ANY "PINTEREST AWARDS" WITH THIS ONE!

Jonah's 8th birthday is today!  What an adventure it has been since this little 7 pound bundle came into our lives.  We are so privileged that we are able to be his forever family.  He has brought great blessings and joy to our lives!

From this:

To this:  

Now the story about his birthday treat for school today.  Jonah doesn't like sweets- no cookies, cake, candy etc.  About the only sweet he will eat is ice cream.  However, for reasons only understandable to Jonah himself, he was adamant he did not want to bring ice cream cups for his class treat today.  

I mentioned this relunctance to his teacher and said that really the only thing Jonah would consider a "treat" would be buttered bread.  Jonah loves buttered bread!  This has been his church snack for the past 2 years.  It's his go-to food.  

Well Jonah's teacher, being the amazing teacher she is, came up with an cute idea.  There is a book called Mercy Watson to the Rescue which is about a pig who loves buttered toast.  His teacher suggested that she read the book to Jonah and his class, and then Jonah could supply the class with buttered toast as both his birthday treat and supplement to the book.

So that is why I am being the worst "Pinterest mom" ever by having my son's birthday treat being buttered toast!

Happy 8th Birthday Jonah!  We love you so much!

Ready to bring his treat to his class!

1st DAY OF SCHOOL

In keeping up with my tradition of taking the WORST 1st day pictures, here is the one for 2018-19.  

In my defense, the boys are like moving targets when trying to take the photo.  

They never stand still at the same time!  

At least Lydia has a smile on her face. 

Lydia 10th grade, Ben and Jonah 2nd grade

After school the first day, I took the boys to the park.  Needless to say the 1st day wore out Jonah!

ANOTHER ONE LEAVES THE NEST

On Wednesday, we helped get Abigail settled into her new apartment for her 3rd year of college.  

We also brought Stephen to his college for the start of his 1st year.  

It wasn't any easier for the 2nd child....

All packed up and ready to leave home

All moved in and time for us to leave Stephen

Stephen's sweet note he left for us in his bedroom.  

It's hard giving up the pilot seat to your kids.  

God bless you Stephen as you start your amazing adventure and to Abigail has she enters 

her last half of college. 

Time flies!

DOG DAYS OF SUMMER

There is just something about a boy and his dog...

Because Stephen is leaving soon for college, we wanted to catch some good pictures of him and his dog.  Of course, the little boys wanted to also be part of the photo shoot! 

VISITORS AND VACATIONS!

Andrew's Aunt Joyce came to visit from San Francisco for a few days this July.  This was the 1st time she met Ben, and only the 2nd time she has seen Jonah.  Aunt Joyce has a strong and interesting personality.  Our Ben has this same type of personality.  To our surprise, these two hit it off tremendously.  Ben was very charming and sweet during the visit, and he seemed very comfortable with Aunt Joyce.  Who can figure?

We just got back from our vacation to WINONA, MN!  Winona is located right on the Mississippi River so it is a very beautiful area.  We did hiking along the bluffs during the mornings and went swimming at the lake in the afternoon.  Simple but fun vacation!  And so grateful we could all be together for this time- the older the kids get, the harder it gets to schedule family time...

RESOURCES: PARENTING A CHILD FROM A HARD PLACE

As I am constantly trying to analyze and figure out Ben's behavior issues and how to best help him, I came across these interesting articles.  

The 2nd article talks about Reactive Attachment Disorder.  

PLEASE NOTE, Ben has not been diagnosed with this disorder, nor do I think he has this disorder.  Of course, since his adjustment to his new life is a very long processwith lots of ups and downs, there is always the possibility we may have to consider this more seriously down the road...

I do believe though that Ben has some of the tendencies related to RAD.  

So in the 2nd article, I thought there were some very valuable points about how parents and teachers should react/respond to a child who needs to always be in control.

The third article discusses how difficult self-regulation can be for kiddos with traumatic pasts.  A great resource for classroom teachers...

What continues to amaze me with Ben is the fact that him having Down syndrome is probably the least of what we deal with with him.  Most of Ben's issues are a result of being an orphanage for his first 6 years.  

That being said, probably the best information I found regarding kiddos coming from a hard place was this simple saying:

"Sad presents as mad."  

I would do well to remember that as I deal with the many power struggles and acts of defiance from Ben during the day.  What is really going on his mind?  What is he really trying to communicate to us?   

5 Things You Should Know About How Orphanage Life Affects Children

Ways to Deal with Attachment Disorders


Trauma Informed Teachers