Pre-Halloween Festivities

Several weeks ago, during a Target trip, Markos and I purchased his Halloween costume.  He wanted to be a cowboy.  He frequently became confused after we purchased it and called himself a "cow" though.  He then spent the next few weeks driving me completely insane, asking if he could wear his costume, when Halloween was, when we were going trick-or-treating....followed by the demanding question, "well, WHEN IS Halloween?"  Unfortunately, no matter what answer was given -- in 3 weeks, October 31st, in 2 weeks, after your school party -- he has no concept of time, so he was as annoyed as I was waiting for the day to arrive that he could wear that cowboy costume somewhere.

Finally, on Thursday, a friend invited us to join her and her kids to go to the trick-or-treating at Southwestern Nursing Home.  Markos was so excited to finally get to wear his costume.  And I was so excited for him to stop asking me when he got to wear it trick-or-treating.

Markos the Cowboy

When Markos and I were at Target weeks ago, I also saw this large display of Angry Birds' costumes.  I chuckled and thought to myself, "I should get that for Daniel.  I bet he'd love it."  Then, I idiotically talked myself out of it and thought, "Oh, I should bring him back with me so he can pick out his own costume."    Then, I went home and told Daniel about it and he was all excited and said, "OH YES!!  That's what I want to be!"

However, when he and I finally made it back to Target a few weeks later, all Angry Birds costumes for kids were completely sold out.  I checked a few other stores.  They were also sold out.  I looked online - sold out.   I hopped on eBay just out of curiosity and saw that people were bidding over $120 for the same costume that I had seen at Target just a few weeks earlier for $15!!!  (At this point, let me just add that PEOPLE ARE OUT OF THEIR MINDS!!!!)  Anyway, it was at that time that I informed Daniel that he could forget being an Angry Bird because it wasn't going to happen.  So, he chose the nice Ninja costume at Target instead.  And because Daniel has to be Mr. Creative with everything he does, he made a little Ninja "costume" for his stuffed Penguin so he could join us at all the Halloween activities. 

Daniel the Ninja & Pengy the Ninja

Cutest conversation EVER as we prepared to go to the nursing home for Markos' first-ever trick-or-treating experience:

Me:  "OK, now, Markos, do you remember what you say when you go to get candy?"

Markos:  "Please"

Me:  "ok, that's good.  Yes, you do say please, but I mean when you  go up to someone for trick-or-treating and get candy."

Markos:  "Thank you"

Me: "ok, yes, that's good, too.  But, I mean when you go up to someone and you want them to give you the candy for Halloween...."

Markos:  "TRICK OR TREAT!"

The trick-or-treating was great.  The residents at the nursing home got the biggest kick out of all the kids in their costumes and of course, the kids loved getting all that candy!

When we first started, I thought it was going to be an ugly scene because at the first 3 or 4 places we stopped for treats, Markos' deep seated need to have EVERYTHING be exactly equal and "fair" reared it's ugly head. The boys would approach a nice man at his door.   The man would give Markos a Kit Kat; then he'd give Daniel a Hershey's Bar and Markos would flip.  "HEY!  that's not fair!  I got this and Daniel got that..."

Trust me, if you do not have an adopted child from an orphanage, I doubt you can understand this obsession of his.  You can't reason with him about it.  (believe me, we've tried.)  You can't ignore him because he will NOT tolerate that.  It's completely, totally annoying and aggravating as a parent.  (BTW, any adoptive parents who have been home for longer than 9 months, please feel free to comment and assure me that this WILL eventually stop!!!  Please!....)

Anyway, he did this several times and I immediately started thinking, "oh, this isn't going to go well.  I'm going to have to take him out of here and let Daniel finish with Chelle' and her kids."  But, thankfully, once we got going and he started to get into it, he stopped paying attention to what Daniel was getting and if he was getting the exact same thing every time (thank goodness!!!) and he started to enjoy it.  Until his bag started getting too heavy.  [First world pains:  This giant bag full of candy that I did nothing to earn is SO heavy to carry while I walk around being given even more candy!!]  He did well though, and really did say "trick or treat" and "thank you" to every person who gave him candy.

Markos' first trick-or-treating experience

As if that weren't enough pre-Halloween excitement, Markos also had his party at preschool on Friday.  The kids all wore their costumes and had their little "parade" through the halls, along with some of the kids from the daycare.

Then Mrs. Lucarelli (or, as Markos pronounces it, "Mick-a-relli") had all the kids gather together so parents could take group pictures before we scooted out of there to enjoy what was left of our 2.5 hours free from kiddos!

So happy and excited!

"Everybody look here!"  "OK, good."

Friday evening, we went to a little trunk-or-treat party at Markos' preschool, but we got there late and missed the majority of it.  But, the kids had fun making a few crafts and playing some games while Chelle' and I colored.  :-)

This morning, we woke to snow.  Yes, snow on October 28th.  Markos has been asking about snow for weeks.  He wants snow so badly!  We have been trying to explain the seasons to him and keep telling him that, no, it's only Fall and it usually snows in winter, that he'll have to wait a little longer.  So, when he woke me up at the crack of dawn, after I had just stumbled back into bed after Lily woke me up to go outside and pee, I picked him up in our room and showed him the snow out the window.  He yelled, "SNOW!!!".  I whispered, "I know!  Are you surprised?"   And, he asked, "Fall all done?!"  (this poor boy is going to be so confused by the time we get done with him!)   

The last Saturday of the month, we try to make it to an Ethiopian Adoption playgroup that meets at Tana, one of the Ethiopian restaurants in Pittsburgh.  Today, we went and the kids wore their costumes for a little Halloween party lunch.  They colored Halloween pictures and played with toys in the back corner, where Seifu (the owner of the restaurant) puts a carpet out for the kids to play when the group comes.  He is an awesome guy, who loves all of our kiddos from Ethiopia.  If you've not eaten there, you should definitely go!  It's delicious!

Markos loves when we go there and he can chow down some Ethiopian food.  I mean, really, what cowboy DOESN'T love injera and shiro wat?!  ;-)  (Actually, we did have to take his costume top off of him when he ate because the cowboy fringe on the sleeves proved to be not very conducive to eating ET food!)  And just to gross everyone out, the kids got some candy when they were finished eating, and, at one point, Markos was eating Razzles (the candy that turns into gum), while dipping his finger in his leftover Shiro Wat and licking it off.  Yum!  Nothing goes with Razzles quite like Shiro Wat! 

Tomorrow, we have nothing planned except going to church, so all pre-Halloween festivities are now complete -- aside from eating the ginormous bowl of candy and huge bowl of salty chips and such that now sit on the counter to make room for the additional ridiculous amounts of candy and chips that the kids will receive on Monday night.

Anyone know of any organizations that are doing that "send your candy to the troops" thing this year?!

Fall Fun

It seems like, lately, every weekend is insanely busy and leaves me thinking, "shoo, that's over with, now things will settle down" only to find that the next weekend is equally as busy!  Last weekend was Mackenzie's first Homecoming at the high school -- football game with friends on Friday night, nails & hair Friday and Saturday, and then the big Homecoming Dance on Saturday night.  I posted some pictures on Facebook, but Kenz likes her privacy now, so I don't post much about her activities.

This weekend, Daniel had a hockey game on Friday night, then on Saturday, we took our annual trip to Simmon's Farm to get pumpkins and goof around in the beautiful autumn weather.  It was Markos' first trip to the farm.  He was initially worried about the hay ride, asking if it was "scary", and if it was "fast", and finally if it was "like a roller coaster".  :-)  No, it's not scary, and not fast, and nothing like a roller coaster.  He enjoyed it, and kept cracking me up, calling it a "Haiti ride".

Hay Ride anyone?

Daniel and Markos on the hay ride

all 3 kids enjoying the "Haiti ride"

Almost to the pumpkin patch and activity area

Eric and Markos jumping on the pile of tires

Possibly the cutest little witch, EVER!

Markos heading into the tunnel while Daniel climbs up through the tires

Ready to do the huge slide

The Slide!

Eric, painfully, taking his turn after sending the boys down

Markos giving me a hug after he made it down the slide by himself!

Markos running back and forth to the corn field while waiting for Daniel to go up and do the slide again.  The boy has to stay busy somehow!

Taking pictures with his big sister!

Here comes Daniel!

The boys coming out of the hay maze

Running to the fire truck slide

Driving the fire truck

Apple Sling-shots

Even Mommy took a turn!

Daddy's turn was not nearly as hilarious (to us) as last year's incident, but his apple traveled the furthest.

Markos was not impressed by the tire swings - especially with Daniel pushing him.

Kenzie enjoyed the swings - even if Eric was trying to push her into the tree.

Daniel being a goofball.

Apparently, it's impossible for him to be on the tire swing without making a "silly face".

The 3 kids ready to pick out a pumpkin.

Markos got to pick this year since it was his very first ever trip to a pumpkin patch.

Bagging the pumpkin so Daddy could carry it back to the van.

Hi, My Name is Lily

I was such a cute puppy!!

And I love to cuddle with my humans in their comfy, cozy bed!

Every day, I sit and watch for the kids to come home and play with me!

Unlike the little Ethiopian here, I LOVE to take naps - mostly on the bed or couch!

Poor me.  Like that other little boy here, I have lots of allergies and am currently not eating beef or chicken.  That means no yummy Pupperoni or beefy steak treats - only organic lamb and duck.  Yuck!!

The human lady says it's a good thing that I'm so cute.  Whatever.  She's not easy to please.

I tried to get rid of those ugly day lilies, but apparently, my human actually liked them there!

She also didn't seem too happy that I got dirt all over the porch.  Geez.  Not sure how she expected me to dig up all the flowers without getting a little dirt all over the place!

They also didn't appreciate the giant hole that I dug in the yard.  Hmmpf!  I mean, I know they got that zappy fence so I can run in the entire yard now, but geez, I need to entertain myself somehow out there. 

I left one of the kids' windmill things, and didn't dare touch the stone that said, "Don't make me come down there.  -God"    I think that was pretty smart of me.  Again, the humans didn't seem to appreciate it.

The human lady got these things out and put them on the table.  She says that my world is about to change.  Oh boy, I can't wait!  I hope this means that I won't get put in this crate anymore!

A is for...

...Adam

...Apple

...Amazing!

Just a quick little story about Markos.

Markos is attending preschool now.  He loves it (most days).  I have been working with him at home to help him to learn his letters, but he seems to be doing well even without my help.  Unlike Daniel, Markos actually will tell me every excruciating detail about his day when he gets home.  

Last week, they were working on the letter 'A'.  When I picked Markos up, I asked him what he did at school and this was our conversation:

Markos:  We learned about Jesus today.

Me:  You did?  What did you learn about?

 Markos:  About Adam and Eve.

Me:  What about Adam and Eve?

Markos:  They eat the apple, but God said "NO!".

Me:  That's right; He did.

Markos:  The apple make them die, but Jesus come to make them better again.

Anytime my kids talk about what they're learning about God and Jesus, it warms my heart.  And, of course, this warmed my heart, but more than that, it amazed me.  Here is this little boy who only 8 1/2 months ago, arrived in the United States speaking no English at all, now he's learning his letters and telling his proud Mommy Old Testament stories like he's been hearing them for years in Sunday School class.  

Although at times, Markos is attention-seeking and hyper and won't stop talking for anything, he is also smart!  Really smart!  And amazing!  

Tomorrow, I'm going with his preschool class on their field trip to the farm.  Markos is very excited.  He told the ladies at Mother's Day Out all about it today, apparently.  

They're learning the letter 'F' this week.  'F' is for farm.  But Markos is most excited about....B!  

B is for Bus!  

He finally gets to ride on a school bus.  He's been begging to ride the bus since he first arrived here early this year.  Here's hoping he doesn't wake up earlier than normal tomorrow morning in his excitement!  Come to think of it, I should go to bed.  Now. 

Just for Giggles

Just a quick post to pass along a few funnies from recent days.  Markos' English language development continues to amaze us.  I've started working with him with the Child 1st curriculum that I used with Daniel and he now recognizes the letters A, T, F, C, S, and O.  He's loving the stories and is very proud of himself when I quiz him and he answers correctly.  Very cute!  We have, however, discovered that, as impressive as his vocabulary is, there are still lapses in understanding.

Early last week, I noticed his preschool teacher's phone number on our caller ID.  My first reaction was 'oh no! Why is she calling?'.  She didn't leave a message, so I tried not to worry about it.  Then I ran into her in the hall the next morning (and no, Eric, I didn't "knock her down" -- Eric's standard joke when I use that expression). 

She started laughing as she approached me and said, "oh, Lori, I have to tell you, Markos is SO FUNNY!".  She proceeded to tell me how they were putting stickers on these large letter 'S' papers, but some of the stickers were those very old kind that you have to lick to get them to stick.  Apparently, Markos was trying to stick them on like the stickers he's used to and got frustrated and said, "these won't work!  These stickers don't work!"  Without thinking, she said, "You have to lick them, Markos.  Lick them and then they'll stick." 

Unfortunately, she didn't think to clarify that you have to lick the BACK of the sticker.  :-)  So, Markos proceeded to lick a whole bunch of the sticker FRONTS and then complained, "they still don't work!!  I licked them, but they still don't work!"  The teacher said they were all soaking wet, on the front, but obviously still weren't sticking.  Oops.

Then, today, I was trying to rush Daniel and Markos to get them ready to go somewhere.  I was getting irritated and was barking orders at both of them.  As I was rushing in my room to get ready, I said, "Markos, go to the bathroom!".  I kept on getting ready and about 5 seconds later, after hearing no water running or anything else, Markos comes be-bopping into our room.  Eric says, "Markos!  Your mom told you to go to the bathroom!" and he says, "I did.  I already went IN the bathroom."

D'oh!  It was one of those ah-ha moments.  No, no, Markos, not just go in the bathroom...go in the bathroom and actually PEE in the potty and wash your hands!!

So THESE are the subtle things that our adoption pediatrician was talking about with regards to understanding the English language when she encouraged us to enroll him in ESL when he starts school even if we think his vocabulary is amazing.  :-)

Lastly, I was cracking up earlier as I looked through a CD of pictures and videos that a hockey friend gave me with copies of their pictures and videos from the day that Daniel got to play hockey at Consol Energy Center.  There were videos of him playing hockey.  There were tons of pictures of them getting dressed, of the Pens players playing, of Consol, but my very favorite video on the disc was this one of Daniel and his buddy, Luke, dancing in the stands as they watched the Pens game.  Too cute!!!  (He gets his dance moves from Eric!)  ;-)

What is Truth?

Sometimes I marvel at my kids' ideas of "truth".

Occasionally, one of them will insist they're telling the truth, when, in reality, they are totally lying to my face.  Thankfully, that's a rare occasion.

Usually, they tell their version of 'truth' with either a different slant or from a different perspective.  These are generally the times when they make me laugh.

For instance, just this morning at the bus stop, Markos was acting up.  No matter what I told him to do (or not do), he did the opposite - with an ornery grin on his face.

"Markos, stop touching that trash can.  It's dirty.".... touch. touch. touch.
"Markos, get back here.".... run. run. run.
"Markos, don't knock on the neighbor's door at 8:30 in the morning."... knock. knock. knock.

The bus finally came and Daniel hopped on.  I grabbed Markos' hand to keep him from running out into the street to be flattened by a different bus coming the other direction.  He didn't want to hold my hand, but I insisted.  For the first time all morning, he relented and nicely held my hand as we walked back to the house.  As we walked, I asked, "Markos, what's going on today?  Why aren't you listening to me?"

He got all defensive and shot back, "I listen!".  I explained that no, he hadn't been listening.  He explained, "Yes, I did!  A second ago, I listened!"  Well, he had me there.  He HAD listened that ONE TIME a few seconds before, just not the other 87 times before that.

Then after school, Daniel and Markos were downstairs and I could hear some commotion starting.  Before long, Markos came running up the stairs crying to me about Daniel changing the TV channel when he was watching something and that Daniel had pushed him.  Eventually, I talked to Daniel about it and asked very non-chalantly, "hey Dan, what happened downstairs with the TV?"  After a few seconds of well-spun bologna, I asked, "Well, did you push him?".

With a very thoughtful expression on his face, he said, "I...uh...I...hugged him."
(yeahhhh, right.)  I gave him the look of 'Oh, come on!  You can do better than THAT!' and he relented and laughed, saying, "OK.  I'm going to tell you the truth.  I did.  I pushed him."  (short pause) "Hey!  I told you the truth!  I promise. I'm going to tell the truth now....for a whole year!" 

Awesome.  A whole year.  Wow.

Then there's Mackenzie who totally cracks me up.  She will say something that she and I both know is completely false, but she will stand by it, even though she totally knows that I know it's not true.  Usually these are ridiculous things, like today.  She came home from tennis practice in the rain, on clay courts.  She didn't take her shoes off before walking onto the living room carpet.  Dark footprints marked her path, and were all around where she stood.  (Side note: I JUST scrubbed the carpets 2 days ago.)

I said, "oh, Kenz!!  You didn't take your shoes off!"  She said, "oh, sorry!" as she headed for the tile entryway.  But, she was playing with the dog and didn't take her shoes off then either.  Before long, she was standing on the carpet beside the tile again!  I said, "KENZ!  You're on the carpet again!  Take your shoes off!"  She said, "no, I'm not."  (knowing full well that she was)  I said, "yes, you are!" as she scooted over onto the tile.  (The footprints marking where she had stood were a dead giveaway!)  She said, with a little smile on her face (giving away her complete knowledge that she was full of it), "no, I wasn't". 

As funny/ridiculous/pathetic as these situations were, I will admit, figuring out the 'truth' is often a tricky thing.  Truth according to whom? From whose perspective?  What is true and what isn't?  Is there really such a thing as a half-truth?  Half true, half...false??

Like the situation with Daniel today, sometimes acknowledging truth requires that we humble ourselves and admit we were wrong.  Or, with Markos, sometimes we are telling some truth, but we just weren't clear about the question.  Or, with Kenz, sometimes we know the truth, we just don't want to admit it or accept it. 

The Bible has much to say about Truth.

Jesus is the truth:

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

John 14:6 - 7

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth: 

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.

John 14:16-17

 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.

John 16:13

The Word of God is Truth:

Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.
John 17:17

 The Truth will set us free:

Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
John 8:32

Here's the thing.  The Truth isn't something to be determined.  The Truth is a Person.  Someone to get to know.  Someone with whom to have a relationship.  A relationship that will end with His Spirit taking up residence inside you, guiding you, and helping you to know, to speak, and to understand truth.

Do you know the Truth?

My Apologies to all the Dolphins...

...and other marine animals that are negatively affected by the releasing of helium-filled balloons into the atmosphere.

Marine Biologists everywhere, if you find this:

in the blow hole of some dead whale somewhere, it's my fault.

I couldn't resist Markos' pleas any longer.  He got this balloon at Daniel's birthday party yesterday.  Everytime he moved it from building to car or car to building, he received numerous reminders, "Don't let go of that, Markos, or it will float away and you won't get it back."

Today, he decided to take it outside with him to play.  Again, I started with the warnings.  Except this time, his curiosity got the best of him and he proceeded to start begging if he could let it go.  Initially, I said no, that it wasn't good for the environment.  That if he did, he wouldn't get it back.  He insisted that he didn't care, that he really wanted to watch it float to the sky.

So, doing what every exhausted, annoyed, frustrated, defeated, supportive mother would do, I finally decided to let him see what a helium-filled balloon floating to the sky looked like.

He loved it!  That huge, light-up-his-whole-face smile of his shined more than the gold mylar balloon!  He pointed.  He kept yelling for me to look at it.  He chased it around to the other side of the house and up the driveway so he could watch it float up into the sky. 

Sometimes I forget that he's never experienced simple little things like that.

When the balloon was out of sight, he whipped around and with a huge grin on his face, he asked, "balloon up in sky?". 

I said, "yes - way up in the sky".

He asked, "far, far, away?".

I said, "yep".

And, he asked, "Jesus play with it?"

Now, with a smile on my face, I answered, "I don't know, buddy.  Maybe."

Who knows.  Jesus might like that shiny gold mylar balloon.  He surely loved Markos' delight in watching it!  I know I did!