Settling In

The past few weeks have been very busy for us and we have continued finding our way as a slightly larger family.  I have heard it takes about a year to really gel when you get a new family member and I am starting to believe it!  There is just so very much to learn for all of us.
But we are having fun too.  We went to the city park one day and walked back to the little pond behind it.  It was a sunny day and turtles were out sunning themselves and this made Benjamin's day.   It was fun to see his joy over seeing turtles.

                              Ellie can not help but make faces now when we take pictures!

We went walking one day and the kids picked up pine cones to make bird feeders.  They enjoyed making them and watching the birds eat from them.  When given a task, Benjamin always looks so serious and works so hard to finish it and do it well.  The girls had lots of fun with it though, as always!

We went to a supper for foster and adoptive families and our kids had such a great time.  I think it is so important for them to see that we are not the only family put together a little differently so I hope things like this will be the norm for them.  And of course, we enjoyed visiting with actual adults too!!

                        This is the kids play table so that the adults could have some time to visit!

We met friends at the Mississippi Children's Museum one afternoon and the kids had a blast.  Everything is still so new to Benjamin and he ran from station to station taking it all in.  At one point we got in the elevator to go to a lower level and it dawned on me how much he has changed.  While we were in Ukraine, he was afraid of riding in an elevator and now he does not give it a second thought.  It is amazing to me how quickly he is adapting to so many new things.

This past Saturday, we had blocked off the day so we could be at home and get a few things done.  It was a beautiful day so we spent it outside doing some yard clean-up.  I think it was Benjamin's first family work day and he took it in stride.  We had some very tired children by Saturday night!

You will not meet a harder worker than Jocelyn and Benjamin was not to be out done!  It                          took all their strength to pull this load to the burn pile.

                                      And of course, Ellie Grace always does her part.  ;)

In church Sunday night, Benjamin's and Jocelyn's choir class sang in church.  Jocelyn loves getting up in front of people so we knew she would be good.  But we were not sure how Benjamin would react.  He did great!  He looked so serious and so focused.  If we caught his eye, he could not contain a smile though.  It was really sweet.

                                       Here is Benjamin trying his best not to let a smile escape.

                                              And here are both of them fully into the song.

We are managing to fit in lots of school in addition to all the fun.  Benjamin has learned to count by 10's and we are working on counting by 5's.  He is learning addition and subtraction facts and his reading is coming along.  Jocelyn, for the first time ever, has started being able to write her name correctly......correct spelling AND correct use of upper and lower case letters.  This is a huge step for her!  An occupational therapist that we saw with Jocelyn 2 weeks ago suggested we try Jocelyn writing on a vertical surface and I think that is making a huge difference for her.  Baby steps are still steps forward and we are grateful for that.  Today we read about Moses and the burning bush.  So after lunch, I put in The Prince of Egypt for the kids to help bring the story to life for them and to give me some time to write.  It is winding down now so I better as well.  Thanks for following our journey!