Embassy trip\ Thursday & Friday in review

Friday and Saturday are a blur, but I have already started forgetting the pain of traveling, much like childbirth. Here are some highlights of our 26 hour journey halfway around the world:  On our first flight, while the ride was bumpy & hubby was clutching his barf bag, I couldn't help laughing (because he was wearing his "man up" t-shirt). Later hubby announces his intention of eating his weight in peanuts to get his money's worth for the plane ticket fares.  Over Europe I class it up by singing "I see London, I see France..." while monitoring our progress on the monitor's map.  DH made a few fake flight announcements, having to do to strong winds & resulting needs to visit the bathroom early & often.  My feet became swollen to twice their normal size, but we made it to Addis in one piece, so we considered it a win. Helpful  hint if you are traveling through Frankfort: if you buy food at McDonalds they give you change back in American dollars, with euro coins (I call them "frank-in-cents" just for fun). Btw: 2 medium sodas $8 (but cheaper than water).  DH was able to get 8 hours of sleep the first night, but as the saying goes (no rest for the wicked) I got 6 hours after much coveting hubby's rest & 2 Tylenol pm. I will try to write more soon!

Dance Moves

The kids are with us! Check out Joshua's sweet moves!

Signs of the Times

Just to catch you up to speed:
February 2010 applied with AWAA to adopt again from Ethiopia
September 2010 dossier mailed to Ethiopia
February 2012 referral for siblings!
April 2012 court date & travel to meet the kids
June 2012 submitted to US Embassy, cleared to travel and bring them home!

We have been doing a lot of preparing to get our house ready for our fourth and fifth children. Bunk beds have been raised to fit a third son. Towels purchased in 5 colors so we keep sharing parasites & other germs to a minimum (and reduce laundry). Diapers purchased. More laundry sorters... and our oldest child turned ten. Dear hubby likes his new name "Father of the Decade." We leave in a few days & we will try to update the blog & Facebook as we are able in country.

Book learnin'

I always get the question, "What homeschool curriculum do you use?" and because the answer is not short, I decided to post here as an easy reference for inquiring minds. We do a blended classical style method.

Preschool: 

My goals during this time are obedience, knowing letters & their primary sounds, counting to 20, beginning catechism, playing (self-directed and with others), self help skills, doing chores, and sitting still for brief periods of time. Obedience is key & is probably the most important kindergarten-readiness skill, though often overlooked by parents. A defiant child, no matter how gifted, will bring his parent/teacher heartbreak and frustration. We use Sesame Street & Letter factory as fun ways to learn. We teach the right way to do simple chores as a way to serve our family. Our children start sitting in church services at age 4, which is great training for sitting still in school. Read to your child, and have older siblings read to them!

Kindergarten:

Math:            Saxon Math 1

Reading:        The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading (1st half)

Catechism:    Truth and Grace Memory Book 1

Bible:            Family devotion reading at dinner time, verse memorization

Grades 1-4:

Math:             Saxon Math 2, 3, 5/4 (1st half), 5/4 (2nd half), Kathy Troxel's Memory songs *
Reading:         The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading (2nd half), Library books**
Grammar:       First Language Lessons 1, 2, 3, 4
Writing:          Writing with Ease 1,  2, 3, 4
Handwriting:   Homemade or store bought worksheets for printing & Classically Cursive 1, 2, 3
Spelling:          Spelling Workout (A, B, C, D, E)
Vocabulary:    Vocabulary from Classical Roots 4 (4th grade)
History/Geog: Story of the World 1, 2, 3, 4. Family style (oldest child determines time period studied).
Catechism:     Truth and Grace Memory Book 1 (Founders Press)
Bible:             Family devotion reading at dinner time, verse memorization
Science:         Apologia
Latin:             Prima Latina

Grade 5:

Math:           Saxon Math 6/5
Reading:       Library books**
Grammar:     Following the Plan (Rod and Staff English 5)
Writing:        Writing with Skill Level 1 (Peace Hill Press)
Handwriting: Classically Cursive 4
Spelling:        Spelling Workout F, G
Vocabulary:   Vocabulary from Classical Roots 5
History:        Story of the World 1, 2, 3, 4. Family style (oldest child determines time period studied).
Geography:   Trail Guide to US Geography (We are studying US History this year.)
Catechism:   Truth and Grace Memory Book 2
Bible:           Family devotion reading at dinner time, verse memorization, personal reading
Science:       Apologia
Latin:           Prima Latina.***
Logic:          Building Thinking Skills 2, 3

Other learning opportunities:
church, bi-weekly homeschool co-op (mainly fun physical/social activities with some serious learning sneaked in), community choir, team sports, music lessons. We are not always in sports, or choir, or music lessons. For me, super busy=super stressed. I embrace the power and joy of nap time and recess. Every other Friday in our household is a free day, where we catch up on lessons if needed & catch up on chores (always needed).

I hope this helps!

* My oldest child followed this Math schedule. My second child took longer to do Math 3, so we are slowing down this advanced schedule for him, finishing it up during 4th grade, and moving on to 5/4 as time permits. The math memory songs have REALLY helped him & are a great resource for auditory learners! I have definitely learned my lesson that if a child doesn't get it, don't keep going as if a checklist is your lord & master; go back and repeat until the skill is mastered.
**I Google search reading lists to give me ideas for mandatory reading. Scholastic's website is great for finding books at your child's reading level.
***Yes, we are still doing Prima Latina. We started it in second grade with oldest child, who picked up the vocabulary quickly, but struggled with word endings. It became too overwhelming to me, became neglected, and we are attempting to restart it in 5th grade.

Monthly Meal Planning Ideas

I've always hated going grocery shopping. To be more specific, I've always hated putting on non-pajamas and leaving the house except in cases in which FUN is the main thing on the agenda. My kids, while normally well-behaved and not given to begging, become little green-eyed Gollums upon entering SuperWalmart, screaming, "my precious!" while passing marshmallow-laden cereals & the like. How can I avoid this trauma?
In studying (stalking from afar, while looking studious) families with LOTS of kids that manage to live on a budget I noticed A LOT of them grocery shop once a month. Due to the viewing of many a Psych/Mentalist/Sherlock episode, plus my own super sleuthing skills, I deduced that they must also make out a grocery list for the whole month & therefore, must also (gasp!) make out a menu for the whole month. There are services you can use for this, like E-meals, but I like control and I have picky eaters, so I spent the time listing out different meals I already know how to make & figuring out what works best for our schedule.
We eat something easy on Sundays, chicken on Mondays & Thursdays, beef on Tuesdays, Fridays is pizza or nuggets for kids (date night, sushi takeout, or appetizers for parents), seafood on Saturdays, and Wednesday is pork, leftovers, and occasionally cereal because of church.  Friday is also our dessert night, and having it designated helps keep the kids from begging all throughout the week, and helps the grown-ups become more disciplined with sweets. I have 2 monthly menus so far in the rotation & plan to do at least one more once winter arrives. I have shared my list below:


Chicken: Chicken Cordon Bleu(Sams), Poppyseed Chicken (Southern Living Weeknight Favorites) & Rice, Margarita Chicken & Mexican Rice, Italian Roasted Chicken, Chinese chicken (Sams), cold chicken salad (Nerrylee), grilled chicken salad, enchiladas, fettuccine Alfredo w/ grilled chicken & veggies, Chicken Piccata(Sams), Parmesan chicken, chicken & dumplings, Chicken Matzo ball soup, Chicken sausages on hotdog buns w/ sweet potato fries, chicken pot pie, chicken manicotti (Reed)
Beef: sloppy joes, beef stroganoff, spaghetti w/ meat sauce, meatloaf, hamburgers, country fried steak(Sams), tacos, enchiladas, taco salad (Penny), philly cheese steak sandwiches
Seafood: Crawfish & corn chowder, shrimp etouffee, fish tacos, salmon w/ dill sauce, Parmesan crusted fish w/ cheese grits(Grandma), talapia w/ pineapple salsa, shrimp kabobs, shrimp poboys, crab cakes (Sams)
Pork: tenderloin, ham, BBQ pork sandwiches, pulled pork w/ mashed potatoes& gravy, sausage gumbo w/ rice
Fun/Fast: Frozen pizzas, hotdogs, mac-n-cheese, appetizers,frozen lasagna, chicken nuggets, pancakes, quiche, egg rolls & lo mein, Sausage or chicken biscuits & scrambled eggs.
Winter or Vegetarian: Potato/cheese soup (SBTS Faculty Wives Cookbook-Mary Mohler), Singapore chicken stew (Sunset magazine), Tortilla soup, Eggplant Parmesan, Pasta Primavera.

You may notice that we eat quite a bit of prepared things from Sams, which work great for us on Sundays, or busy homeschooling days. Currently, most of Sam's boxed meals & roasts, will feed our family of five twice, some of them 3 or 4 meals. I try to stretch out meat by serving more veggies or sides. When I make roasted chicken, I usually cook 2, then de-bone and shred the leftovers for meals like enchiladas, pot pie, soups. I have one friend who cooks all her ground beef & chicken (to be shredded) on one day a month (grocery day), but I haven't been that disciplined yet. I make double or triple batches of spaghetti sauce & have a "soup day" in early winter where I cancel school & make 4 different triple batches of soup (one soup on each burner) that will provide 1 meal for 12 weeks in the "winter" (Louisiana winter only lasts about 3 days, but I try to indulge my inner northwesterner).  I like to add a new recipe every month or so, since you never know when you'll find a new favorite. Include regional foods from places you've lived (my list has lots of Louisiana & Seattle dishes), or have a missions night where you make couscous and pray for Morocco, or make curry chicken & pray for a missionary in India. Make food to go along with what your kids are studying in school.  Everyone's likes/dislikes vary: some love leftovers (my husband detests them), some of your Mississippi husbands may not tolerate a big salad or soup for dinner ("Where's the beef?!"), or maybe your scarf-wearing hipster family only eats meat a few times a week. Be flexible, but have a plan. I've made venison when we've been given some by hunters in our church. I've adjusted the menu when our boys have grown lettuce in their new garden, or when I've been given huge bunches of basil. I just vote a frozen meal to the end of the line, since I want to eat fresh basil fresh, and the frozen meal can wait. Hopefully my list will give you some new ideas, and you can add comments of your family favorites that I could try!

Court Trip Day 5- Order in the Court!!

Thursday night was the best night of sleep we had all week, just in time for court on Friday! I met Job downstairs after breakfast & took the short ride to court. The judge was a little late, and we were the last family called. It was nerve-wracking. While waiting, I read Psalms 103-105 and most of Hebrews, while simultaneously trying not to pass out, reaquainting myself with my good friend Imodium, and texting Dear Hubby about the joys of waiting & also a fellow waiting room occupant who looked almost exactly like Sylar (from the sadly cancelled NBC "Heroes"). Regrettably, Sylar did not speed up the clock, but after about 2 hours of waiting we PASSED court!!! This means that we are now officially their parents, and they are our children, and the adoption is irrevocable. #BEAUTIFUL We celebrated with lunch at Island Breeze, where I met a Show Hope sponsor (I had on my SH shirt), and enjoyed the BEST chips and salsa of my life. *The food was safe at all of the restaurants we ate at and we did not get sick. We went coffee shopping, visited a government orphanage, and spent the last afternoon with J4 & G5 before heading out for home. Kind of goes without saying, but it was hard to say goodbye, and hard when the airplane took off from Ethiopian soil. We are hoping to have our paperwork submitted to the US Embassy in 3-5 weeks (one Wednesday in May), and then it will take an additional 1-8 weeks to receive clearance to bring the kids home! You may notice that I'm not going to say much about our 32 hour trip home. Well, on the first flight I almost flung my (clean) spare underpants on unsuspecting passengers, when struggling to wrestle my pillow out of my carry-on from the overhead compartment. If this was the SAT's it would read: Pillow is to carry-on luggage as Woman who loves cheesecake is to control-top pantyhose. Necessary, but a very snug fit. The laughter that ensued over this event/non-event  was the highlight of our 32 hour journey. That and the ice. Imagine how sanctifying the next trip will be when we bring home our 2 new children:)

Court Trip Day 4

Thursday, April 19th: We met early morning for paperwork, rejoice that our fellow traveling family passed court with their daughter, and enjoy reading the bazillion Facebook comments of our Meetcha Day photos. We shopped for souvenirs in the Post Office district (my favorites are the traditional clothing, wood carved salad fork/spoon, and bead necklaces) and ate lunch at Sishu. They have an outdoor play area that is pretty spiffy that would be great to visit on our Embassy trip. The mushroom gouda burger was yummy & the fried banana crepes would have made N'Orleans proud! After being greeted at the Transition Home gate by the cutest boy in Ethiopia (J4), we visited all afternoon where I got my portion of squeezes from J4 & G5. We met with the psychologist, took pictures & distributed care packages for matched kids/families, and bonded some more over chalk, bubbles, smooches, and soccer. Did I mention that G5 cried for me when I left everyday? (Heartbreaking, but it means bonding is going well.) We enjoyed a traditional Ethiopian dinner at Habesha 2000, which was spicy but very good. The Ethiopian dancing and music was great and I was happy to join in the fun when they called on me to dance. Sadly, there is no video footage of the display of my "mad skillz" because I was 2 legit 2 quit (as the young people would have said back in my day), and since you, fair reader, weren't present, you can't dispute it!