Not letting go of summer...

If you know me well, you know that I LOVE summer! Today is October 11th and for a few days now we have had summer like temps! It makes me happy, very happy.

Last Friday afternoon the kids and I met some friends at a local park and the park ranger came up to us and told us that the new splash pad and park was open and we should really check it out. He was very persistent, so off we went to check it out. The kids had a lot of fun, but because we were not dressed for the splash pad we didn't let them try that part out.

Today the temperature is 86, so after school I told the kids to go get their swimming things on. HOW CRAZY IS THAT? Off we went to the splash park. Because it is brand new we were the only ones there. There were a lot of people driving by probably thinking, "Who is the WORLD lets their kids go in the splash pad in October?" That would be me and oh what fun they had...

Chloe is my water baby! She stayed in the water till it was almost time to go.

Hannah having fun!

Josiah was a little chilly. There is no humidity today and a slight breeze, so it doesn't feel like 86.

Lots of fun was had by all...

You can see that they were a little cold...

When they were done, they played at the park for a while. I am so excited about this new park. It'll be another place we can go and make memories!

The whole time we were at the park the girls were asking me to take their picture... love it! This one was my favorite.

We ended our "not letting go of summer" outing by going to Dairy Queen...

I am pretty sure life doesn't get any better!

On the wild side...

Monte has been talking about getting a tattoo for over a year now. I am not a tattoo person, at all, so when the topic came up I would just nod, smile and hope he would change his mind.

Then he told me what kind of tattoo he wanted...

A Bible verse in Amharic (the main language spoken in Ethiopia).

He got my attention and I slowly warmed up to the idea.

This past Saturday he got together with our local Ethiopian Pastor, Yosef. He showed Monte the verses in our Amharic Bible.

That night Monte went to the tattoo parlor {he shared some interesting tales} and 2 hours later came home with this...

It is from Psalm 127:3-5 "children are a heritage from the Lord... like arrows in the hand of a warrior... blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them..."'

His whole purpose of getting a tattoo was not to hid it. For him it is his testimony and he decided to put it on his forearm.

He didn't get home until late Saturday night, so the kids didn't see it until Sunday morning. Hannah LOVES it. She kept grabbing his arm saying, "Ethiopia, Daddy!" and showing her siblings again and again. We really think she recognizes the letters. It was precious!

Life continues to stay busy here at the Alexander establishment! I will hopefully post pictures soon of all that we are involved in this fall. Have a great week!

How are the boys?

I have gotten this question a few times, so I thought I would answer. Please know that you are going to get the real thing on this blog. This answer is the truth and what our life consists of right now. I know I will be able to come back to posts like this later and praise God that things are better!

OK, lets proceed.

How are the boys, you ask? Isaac and John are having a blast with the girls. They are eager to play with them and to help in any area I ask. It is really fun to see the girls so excited about EVERYTHING and it has rubbed off on them. It is just precious. I pray this willingness continues, because it does a mom's heart so good!

Here are a couple of pictures.
Chloe Desalech tells John about the snake show we were watching.

Hanna and Isaac.

This picture of Josiah about sums up his thinking on being a big brother...

Poor Josiah. For those of you who may not know, Josiah was named after a great king in the Old Testament. If we would of know that Josiah was going to come into this world thinking he WAS a king, we may of thought harder about what we were going to name him. He has been the baby for five years, so it is a lot for him to take in. No matter how hard you try to prepare any child for the changes that lie ahead, there is just no way of doing it until the children are home to stay. I know it'll just take more time for him, but as a mom I long for the day to see him enjoy the girls as much as the oldest two. He is a very loving child, so I do know that he will come around as some point.

A SIDE NOTE: My dear friend Monica came over yesterday to drop off our dinner. THANK YOU MONICA. She is a RN, so I showed her the rash that I have developed over my neck area the last couple of days. Guess what her answer was... CHICKEN POX. Can you believe it? It seems to be a mild case, like Hanna's, and for that I am thankful. I know understand why Hanna was so whinny. It is no fun and I find myself more tired than normal.

Oh, the drama

Our home computer somehow got the microsoft virus that was all over the news last month. I have been on the phone for countless hours with our anti virus company, trying to get them to fix it. We have still been having lots of trouble. I am guessing they really didn't help! We haven't been able to get on the internet since Friday. That has been the only thing that has working for the past month. Right now I am using my hubby's work computer and I am so thankful for it! Tomorrow I will hopefully drop off our computer to be worked on and have it back by the end of the week. Not sure how I will survive until then, since my hubby and the computer have to go to work tomorrow.

I like answers...

I always thought I was a patient person. That was until we started the adoption process. I am tired of waiting. The sad thing is that the waiting really hasn't really even begun and I am already freaking out.

We are STILL waiting on my background check. It has been 5 weeks and 2 days. I did find out today that my home study is approved 100% and ready to go. All we are waiting on is the background check...ugh!

I know there is nothing that I can do but wait, but it is killing me.

On a positive note, I did find out that once our dossier makes it to our adoption agency in OR we are officially on the waiting list. I originally thought we had to wait until it was in Ethiopia.

In the mean time I have been reading a lot about Ethiopia and adoption. Monte never read a parenting book when I was pregnant with the boys. Now he is reading as much as I am. It is funny to see him soaking in all the information.

Speaking of Monte. His work has slowed down a lot. He gets a base salary and then he also gets a bonus. The bonus is based on how many loans he does. Well, with not many loans, that means not a big bonus. We have always lived on his salary and are using his bonuses to pay for the adoption. We know the Lord will provide, He always has. We are just trusting in Him. If you wouldn't mind lifting us up in prayer, we would both appreciate it.

Makes me want to take a nap...

There is nothing new to report about the adoption. We are still in the mist of all the paperwork. I am starting to see the end, but it'll still be about 3 more weeks before our dossier is done. I am still optimistic because we only begun this process 5 weeks ago.

As a family, we remain very busy. The oldest 2 boys are still taking piano lessons one afternoon a week. With all 3 boys being in flag football it takes up 2 nights a week for practices and all mornings on Saturday for games. I believe their last game is the last weekend of October.

Our homeschool co-op start classes this Thursday, so I have been busy getting things ready for that. I am not teaching this semester, but I am the coordinator for all the classes up to 1st grade. We are at a new church this year. It is the biggest church on the west side (that I know of) and I am so excited for this change. The church even has an indoor playground, like McDonald's. I know the kids will be in love with it! We have a lot of new families this year. I am looking forward to getting to know them better!

So thinks are a little crazy, but I am thankful that I am able to stay at home and teach the boys. I am also beyond thankful that we are finally on our adoption journey! I am blessed.

I am raising a bunch of hillbillies

We do not see the inside of restaurants very often. This is one area that we feel we can save a lot of money and I believe we do. Now don't get me wrong. I LOVE to eat out, but I didn't we needed to eat out. That was until yesterday when we went to The Cheesecake Factory.

Yesterday was national cheesecake day or something like that. So,The Cheesecake Factory was selling their yummy cheesecake slices for $1.50. They are usually $7.00 a slice, so that is a HUGE savings. So, me being the fan that I am of Chocolate Peanut Butter cheesecake, I decided a week ago that I would load the boys up and travel 25 minutes to the nearest establishment.

We got there when it opened and were just going to get them to go. I had a cooler filled with ice in the back of the Explorer, so they wouldn't go bad. Well, we soon found out that the deal was only good if you dined there.

So, we got a seat. I am willing to go to great lengths for my cheesecake... I think you can tell. I told the boys when we sat down that we would ONLY be getting water with lemon today because it is not a deal if I am spending $12 on drinks. So they went along, because they had no choice are good boys.

Once we got our drinks I turned my head away from the table for some reason and when I turned my head back around I got NAILED in the face with the straw paper. They have learned from their FATHER how to shoot the straw paper across the table. I COULDN'T BELIEVE IT!

I told them "THIS IS NOT MCDONALD'S"!

Things really didn't calm down after that. They were using napkins as masks, eating lemons and making bets on who could eat the most lemons (John won, just for the record). Disaster with a capital D.

Finally when we got our cheesecakes thing got better... there was no talking.

Not a sound... perfect!

But the amusement was not over... of course not!

By the time John was done eating his cheesecake he had it EVERYWHERE. And when you think I am being overdramatic when I say everywhere... #1 you don't know John #2 you don't know John.

There was not one inch on his face that wasn't covered in whip cream. He had it on his napkin and table. His FORK was even COVERED, all the way to the tip, with whip cream. I didn't have my cell phone on me or there would be a picture to prove my sincerity.

So, as I was sitting there trying to understand why my children were acting this way, I realized something...

If I don't want my kids to be hillbillies we need to go out to eat more. Time to work that into the budget!

Changes

Summer has proven to have a great effect on my blogging. There are just not enough hours in the day some days!

I do believe that this is the best summer we have ever had though. It has been full of going to special places, seeing neat things and just having fun. We have made it to the pool almost daily. I think now that the boys are a little older it is easier to load them up and take them somewhere without having to worry about naptime. Although I feel like I need one at times!

We started school last Thursday and thus far things are going smoothly! I just love the curriculum we are using this year. It is based from the Bible... isn't that the way all schooling should be? The youngest 2 are doing Kindergarten work and are learning about creation right now. Isaac is in 1st grade and in the process of making a scroll. We made pottery jars on Friday, which is where the scrolls were kept in bible times. There is lots of learning with Christ at the center of it all!

Monte found out last week that he can start working from home one day a week and on the weekends. It'll be nice to have him around, even if he is working. I know it'll take some time for the boys to realize that Daddy has to work and isn't home to play all day. He drives about 55 miles a day, so we will save a lot of money on gas considering neither of our vehicles are fuel friendly!