Why Do Something the Conventional Way?

The Littles would rather crawl up than slide down.

It’s A Big Deal

Wow.  This is coming to Fort Wayne! An event that is totally worth clearing your schedule!!!

Date: Friday, July 8th, 2011
Time: 6:30-9:30 @ Pine Hills Church
On Coldwater Rd. between Dupont Rd and Union

Come join the fun as we celebrate an Ethiopian night in Ft. Wayne! Guest speaker, silent auction, Traditional Ethiopian Dancing, Music, Desserts, and more! All proceeds from the event go directly to the Starved 4 Hope carepoints in Awassa Ethiopia Starved 4 Hope.

 Guest Speaker—Tom Davis, President of Children’s HopeChest and author of “Scared” & “Fields of the Fatherless”.
 Silent Auction—Vacation packages, sports memorabilia, Vera Bradley, Art Work & Much Much More to bid on!
 Live Traditional Ethiopian Dancing!
 Music and Desserts!
11834 Grabill Rd. Phone: 260-627-0159
Leo, IN 46765 E-mail: walz@starved4hope.org

picture from www.starved4hope.org

Three Divas and A Finn

Whew!  We just returned from an extended weekend with family in Illinois.  The Littles got to finally spend time with their dear cousins and they thought they had woken up at Disneyland.  I am running on fumes now and can only imagine how tired our hosts, Tadd and Jill, must be, as we are not the easiest crew to accommodate. :)

I don’t trust the words I write to be cohesive, due to exhaustion, so I will use them sparingly and smother you with pictures! :)

Little A thought she was on top of the world on the playset.

Finn, probably the world’s happiest child.

Not gonna lie, I kind of want to gobble up The Littles in their ruffley bikinis.

All three girls tried to gain courage to run through the sprinkler

(Sort of where the title comes from, the girls were so funny, not wanting to touch fish, scared of the sprinkler, etc).

 

The adorable Miss Selah

 

The girls got a long well…really, they did. Poor Selah wasn’t sure what to think, she was just being obedient and holding The Littles hands. :)

Trying to get a picture of all four kiddos was comical…

The youngest three thought it was a race.

 

Comically, this is actually the best I have.  (Jill, hope you got a better one!)

Tadd, Jill and family, seriously, thank you for the great weekend!  So glad we could finally all hang out!

Building Trust

God is so amazing. Do you know that He created a child so intricately that the baby starts bonding with Mama upon conception?  Baby learns her sounds, smells, heartbeat and emotions.

When a child is separated from their mother, even if it is upon their moment of entering the world, there is a loss and a trauma.  It registers with impacts for different children. 

There is a helpful, little chart that I have grabbed from Dr. Karyn Purvis in “The Connected Child”.  The Trust Cycle looks something like this (concept is the same, chart is totally different due to my lack of techy skills).

Child expresses need+Parent meets need=Trust is built

Isn’t that great?  Every time an infant gets a diaper changed, burped, covered with a blanket, held, talked to, etc, it is actually building trust from that child with their caregiver.  They learn, “I express a need and it is met”.

In a conference with Michael and Amy Monroe from “Empowered to Connect” they estimate that within a child’s first year of life, there are approximately 100,000 opportunities for trust to be established, for a “yes” to be given.  Yes-I will meet your needs, yes-you are a precious individual who is very loved, yes-you can trust.

Children who have been neglected, abused, switched from multiple caretakers or not given many “yesses” often are children that have difficulty attaching and feeling secure even when they are put in a stable, loving situation because of their past in a hard place.

Adoption is based in loss, particularly for the adopted child.  We serve a God who heals and redeems any painful situation.

I don’t really have a strong point to make, just thought it’s too interesting not to share. :)

And just so the post isn’t pictureless…

Why Do The Neighbors Think We’re Weird?

Because we spend at least 30 minutes everyday on the porch swing, singing loudly (with motions) and waving at passing cars.

Oh yes, and they prefer to wear buckets on their heads or in this case, Little A was adamant that Mama wears the bucket.

Look Mama, Look What I Can Do!

The best is when she does it with both legs or tries to do it while she is standing up. :)

How Did I Catch Him?

I seriously still can’t figure it out.

Happy Father’s Day to the best Daddy and husband I know.

A Warm Fuzzy

Remember this family?  You prayed for them, that these precious two could finally come home.

Well praise God, guess who has been home for a little over a month?!?

www.daveangdonaldson.blogspot.com

Got Your Tail

About 25% of our days, The Littles want to wear their leash backpacks.  Obviously it is a cool accessory.

We now haul around town in a sweet Radio Flyer (Well, The Littles ride, I pull) and we stop wherever it looks like fun.

 

Don’t they look so grown up? Sniff…

Hugging the tree…

Isn’t 19 months a little early for the forced camera smile?

Much to Little A’s disgust, Little J discovered that she could keep a hold on sister.

Until…

Mama evened things up so Little A could drag sister along.

Can we PLEASE just stop time?

19 months is so amazing fun (and challenging but that would ruin the mood). :)

Just Casada

I haven’t finished with my Mexico pictures yet, but threw in a post of The Littles yesterday to appease you. :)

It was so wonderful to be with our Mexican side of the family. How we love them!

The girls I used to help take care of have all grow into young women now!

The rehearsal dinner was about the cutest thing, done very well by Raquel, in the beautiful, Cafe Sed. It was picnic themed, complete with games for the kids and fresh squeezed limonada in Mason jars.  Sigh. So cute.

 

Day of the wedding

What does the bride do immediately after leaving her reception?

Why, laundry of course.  :)  She is a mom of four.