2008...REALLY?

How is that possible that it is almost 2008? In just a matter of hours it will be a New Year. This time last year we were frantically packing our belongings to make a huge transition from Kentucky to Texas. Here we are a year later...another child in tow... and trying to figure out how an entire year has blown by. The older I get, the faster the years pass. Is it just me?

As we are staring 2008 in the face, we are also anticipating another milestone in the Judd home. We will be celebrating our son's first birthday at home...and more than likely his first birthday EVER celebrated. He is clueless. He could really care less how old he is, when asked, he just looks at us like "why do you keep asking me that." Apparently age was never discussed. American kids are taught from birth...hold up one finger..you are one...2 fingers you are 2. Not Clark, he pretty much doesn't even care. So, we won't be making a huge deal out of it this year. I will make him a cake and we plan on taking him to an indoor play structure to play. We will save the party for another year. However, this celebration for us brings with it thoughts of Clark's birth parents. I wonder if they ever wonder where he is...or how he is doing. As we celebrated Christmas, we were reminded of what Mary might have been feeling 2000 years ago. She knew she was with child, but that he would be the savior of the world. He ultimately gave his life so we could live eternally. I wonder if Clark's mother knew from conception that she would have to give her child up... not knowing what would become of him. I wish I could tell her just how much he is loved and cared for. To thank her for giving him life...for giving us our son. For her to know that I could not love him any more if my very own blood ran through his veins. He is our son regardless of DNA. I came across this song on another blog...I wish I knew how to post music...I don't...so I will just use the words.

Boats and Birds by Gregory and the Hawks.

If you'll be my star
I'll be your sky
you can hide underneath me and come out at night
when I turn jet black and you show off your light
I live to let you shine
I live to let you shine


but you can skyrocket away from me
and never come back if you find another galaxy
far from here with more room to fly
just leave me your stardust to remember you by


If you'll be my boat
I'll be your sea
a depth of pure blue just to probe curiosity
ebbing and flowing and pushed by a breeze
I live to make you free
I live to make you free



But you can set sail to the west if you want to
and past the horizon till I can't even see you
far from here where the beaches are wide
just leave me your wake to remember you by


If you'll be my star
I'll be your sky
you can hide underneath me and come out at night
when I turn jet black and you show off your light
I live to let you shine
I live to let you shine
But you can skyrocket away from me
and never come back if you find another galaxy
far from here with more room to fly
just leave me your stardust to remember you by
stardust to remember you by.

Isn't that neat? I really like the tune...if we figure out how to post music, we will do that.

Here is an adoption poem that I absolutely love. I plan on putting it in Clark's life book that I started making for him.

LEGACY OF AN ADOPTED CHILD

Once there were two women who never knew each other
One you do not remember, the other you call Mother

Two different lives shaped to make you one
One became your guiding star, the other became your sun

The first one gave you life, and the second taught you to live it
The first gave you a need for love, the second was there to give it

One gave you a nationality, the other gave you a name
One gave you a talent, the other gave you aim

One gave you emotions, the other calmed your fears
One saw your first sweet smile, the other dried you tears

One gave you up, that was all that she could do
The other prayed for a child, and God led her straight to you.

Now, you ask me through your tears, the age old question unanswered through the years
Heredity or environment, which are you the product of
Neither my darling, just 2 different kinds of love.
---- Unknown

I just love that poem! It is my favorite adoption poem that I have come across. It tells the story the way I want Clark to understand it.

I will post again to let you know what he thinks of turning 4 years old on Sat., Jan. 5!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEET CLARK!!!

Anyway, as we look back upon 2007...our lives have forever changed. We were blessed with a son that God chose for us before the creation of the world. We had to wait on God's perfect timing. God taught me more about trust and faithfulness during this year than probably in any year prior. He placed me in a situation outside of my comfort zone, in a country thousands of miles away, and taught me to be utterly dependent on him. He was my ONLY source of strength. My husband was back in the states and I was in a foreign country with our daughter and I didn't speak the language...no pressure there!! But God blessed beyond measure and placed me with other American families and protected Ali and me the entire time. While in Ukraine God reminded me of the verse "for I know the plans I have for you..plans to prosper you and not to harm you." I clung to those words and he returned us safe and sound to the comfort of our own home. God is forever faithful.

May 2008 bring wonderful memories, good health, and happiness!!

I will leave you with a few pictures that were taken last Friday right before Jay and family left. He received a car carrier with lots of Hot Wheels in it from Mimi and Papaw and he didn't open it until Friday. He was thrilled with all of his new cars.

random pictures...

Christmas memories...

I can't believe another Christmas has come and gone! The years seem to pass faster every year.

Our Christmas was wonderful. It was amazing watching Clark take it all in. A child who, prior to 4 months ago, had never been given a gift...now had a ROOM full. He didn't quite know what to do. He actually gave up on the unwrapping after awhile and just wanted to play. I believe he still has a few gifts under the tree to unwrap! He was so cute though. He loved the Carnival Capers set that he got to go with his Thomas the Train. He played and played and played with that.

Ali was so excited also. She got more Star Wars Lego's (which she loves), an MP3 player that she didn't know what was getting, PlayStation 2, a sewing machine, lots of craft projects, movies, cd's, tons of books, clothes...I could go on and on. (she gets very spoiled by both sets of grandparents)

We had my side of the family in and that was a lot of fun to be together. Ali and Abby enjoyed spending some time together...and Clark is totally IN LOVE with his Unca Jay!! That is all we heard this week "Unca Jay...Unca Jay.." Sorry Aunt Paula...he does love you too!! :)

Here are some pictures of our Christmas......

Christmas

Have a Merry, Merry CHRISTmas!

We wanted to wish you all a very Merry Christmas as we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior! What a gift we were given that night in a manger so long ago. May our thoughts first reflect on the blessings we have and the salvation we have in Christ because of that gift.

We are excited to watch Clark experience his first American Christmas and first Christmas with his family! We waited a long time for this. We thought for the past 2 Christmases that we would have had him home...but we wait NO longer. I think it might be a little overwhelming for him to get all these presents...but I think he will be on cloud 9. Imagine...never having been given a gift. WOW...so much we take for granted.

Ali and I redeemed ourselves.....from that disastrous candy making ordeal. Wew! We had our baking day and made a couple of batches of different cookies. I am posting pictures of our candy cane cookies...they turned out so cute! We also made snicker doodles that are oh so good, if I might say so myself. (grin)

Ali is spending the weekend with her Nona and Poppy. I have full confidence that she is NOT getting spoiled. (yeah right!) We have been busy wrapping gifts and trying to get the house ready for Christmas...since we are hosting this year. So...we will be busy this weekend. Ali asked yesterday if Clark was going to their house also...I told her "no", but jokingly told her that I could pack him up a back and he could go also. She quickly replied "that's ok, I'm not complaining." She loves him, she really does.

Again, have a wonderful Christmas!

cookies

Our firstborn is 11...how did that happen?

I am in shock that my girl turned 11 yesterday. It is scary how fast time passes. Those of you with little ones...you will see! It seems like just yesterday she was little like Clark...and then they grow up before your eyes.

We had a fun family day to celebrate her big day. T.C. didn't work, due to working a midnight shift because of a space walk. Anyway, that meant we had all day together. She wanted to open her gifts first thing, of course. We then headed out to Boston Market for lunch. We always let her choose where she would like to go for lunch or dinner. She chose Boston Market of all places. (we were hoping she would choose a Mediterranean place that we love...but she didn't..ha!) After lunch we did a little Target shopping (our favorite store)...then it was home to let the little one sleep. While Clark was napping, Ali and I tried our hand at making peppermints from scratch. Ok, that is a whole blog entry in and of itself. I don't highly recommend candy making....like ever! Buy the candy! I have never made candy...and will probably never try it again. It was SUCH a mess. We had dried up sugar goo all over the kitchen. Maybe there are some of you candy makers out there that know the tricks of the trade....we do not. I even bought a candy thermometer just for the occasion. It has to reach a certain temperature before you do the final stir...I don't know...I must have messed up along the way. The directions said "as soon as it cools...stretch it and pull it like taffy" Ummmmmmmm....it was so freakin' hot we could never quite "pull it and stretch" like the recipe called for. So needless to say...our peppermints don't resemble peppermints at all...more like pink globs. Maybe we will have better luck with our cookie baking...let's all hope so!! Let's chalk it up to making a memory with my daughter...regardless of how they turned out. We did have many good laughs throughout the process.

Anyway, after the candy ordeal and Clark waking up from his nap...we headed out to the Kemah Boardwalk to check out the Christmas lights. The kids rode the carousel and we all road the little Kemah train. Clark was so excited. ALL trains are "Thomas" and he just kept saying "Thomas, Thomas, Thomas"...he insisted on sitting on the outside like a big boy and not in my lap..until we went through a tunnel with a western scene inside (that has a little fake shoot out going on)...then he climbed in my lap and just about strangled me. Heehee.

After returning home...we sang Happy Birthday as Ali blew out the candles that were in her PIE!! We had already had birthday cake at her party...so she said she wanted pie. I bought her a piece of apple pie and cheese cake...she couldn't believe her luck! T.C. and I commented that we just can't believe she is 11. What a blessing she has been.

I will explain the video clip a little bit. You see...Ali decided that it would be great fun to snoop through ALL of our Christmas bags that were in our coat closet. She found them all....all, I tell ya. Except for a few things that had not come in the mail at the time. She claims the coats were moved out of the way and she saw a sack and decided it would be fun to go through ALL the bags. Bummer for her as she won't have many surprises on Christmas morning. Anyway, she found matching night shirts that I had gotten for she and Sierra's birthdays. I wanted to have it on video when she opened it and tried to pretend she was surprised. It was pretty funny. Though she knows we know that she found the bags and has been told that next year the bags will be locked in T.C.'s trunk. Ha!

Ali's birthday

Partying like rock stars....

Ok, maybe not...maybe just partying like 10 and 11 year olds. What else do 10 and 11 year old want to do on their birthday? Well laser tag, of course! In Ali's words "it was just SOOOOOO cool in there." Ali and Sierra had their joint birthday party after church today. We thought we were going to be late (what's new?) to her own party! We had exactly 5 minutes to run home and change clothes after church. The kids had a great time playing laser tag, eating pizza and cake, and playing in the game area. It was amazing how well behaved the kids were in the party room. All the adults were commenting on it...we never once had to quiet them down! (now that's amazing!!) Ali will officially be 11 on Tuesday. She was a little disappointed that we weren't giving her the gifts from us until Tuesday....patience kiddo, patience! Here are a few pictures from the party.

birthday party

Star Wars..........

We took a field trip this week to Space Center Houston. Ali has been dying to see a Star Wars exhibit that they have going on. On the last shuttle mission, the shuttle took up the original light saber that Luke Skywalker used. Oooohhh ahhhhhh! Ali is a huge Star Wars fan and thought it was about the coolest thing ever. They also have one of Luke Skywalker's costumes from Return of the Jedi. There is also a full scale X-Wing Starfighter. She just kept saying "this is so cool...this is so cool." Ummmm, ok...whatever you say.

There was also a cute traveling circus exhibit. You could tight rope walk, try on tons of circus costumes, etc. Clark liked playing with all the props.

Clark continues to do well. He rediscovered this past week that the ONE thing he has total control over is his bladder...and he decided to use it against us. When he would get in trouble for something and he would be angry, he would wet his pants. Arrggghh! We assume it is just a control issue...they had total control of the children at the orphanage. They basically never had to think on their own, let alone be allowed to disobey. They knew what was expected and they did it...end of story. So this new found pants wetting was irritating, to say the least. My mother had the fabulous idea for us to warn him that the next time he wet his pants due to being angry...ALL of his favorite toys were getting locked in Daddy's car trunk. It worked! (he LOVES his toys) I talked to him about it not being ok to wet his pants when he was angry, etc. He gets it...now when I remind him to be a big boy and not wet his pants he will tell me "no wet pants, toys bye-bye." So far so good!

Other than that little issue he is doing great. He loves to irritate Ali, however...though she is pretty good at dishing it out as well. They will get along great...then before I know it I hear "MOM...he did so and so...or MOM, Ali did so and so." My favorite words these days are quit tattling..ha! He loves to do things to her when I am not looking and then look totally innocent when I turn around. One of the cute things he is doing is admiring our candy dish on the coffee table. We told him about not taking candy without asking, so he will go right up to it and say things like "cute candy, Mama." (and I do give in once a day or so) He continues to love the Christmas trees and lights. He has rearranged the tree many times over. He loves to drive around and look at the decorated homes. In Ukraine they call snowmen "baba's" so that is what he is still calling them and we think it is so cute. Santa is still Noah also! He loves to point out baby Jesus in the Nativity sets. He is learning to say bedtime prayers and that is so special to us. Even though he doesn't have a clue what he is doing...he is learning.

Ali's 11th birthday party is on Sunday. She is having a joint party with her best friend, Sierra. They are having a laser tag party at a place called Main Event...they are very excited. I can't believe she is turning 11 years old on Tuesday...where does the time go? Seems like yesterday she was Clark's age.

Here are a few pictures from Space Center Houston. I had to include a picture of a truck we were driving behind the other day. The camera was in the van...and Ali HAD to have a picture of. She LOVES Elvis and couldn't believe his face was on a truck.

Space Center Houston

From Christmas lights...to little sheep (and lots of things in between!)

Well, it has been a fun week in our home! Clark was able to experience his first "drive around town looking at lights" night! We made a stop at a local park here in Dickinson for their Festival of Lights to start our evening off. It was wonderful, except for the fact that it was around 80 degrees...just didn't feel all that much like Christmas. We nixed our usual stop at Starbucks as we just couldn't bring ourselves to walk around drinking hot chocolate or coffee. Anyway, the kids loved it and we ended our visit with a stop off to see Santa...I mean Noah! Then, we headed around town in search of lights. Who knew we would find beautiful lights right in our own neighborhood. When we wound up back at home Clark just burst into tears as he just LOVED seeing all the lights. He said "no home, more lights."

Yesterday the church we are attending held something called "Bethlehem Village" for the children. It was the neatest thing and the kids had a great time. They made a little mock town in the children's building and had different "shops" that you visited. The children made a mosaic box, formed baby Jesus out of clay, made perfume necklaces, kneaded dough for bread, ground grain for the bread, made a little musical instrument, etc. It was a lot of fun. Yesterday we also made our gingerbread house. Clark thought that every time I handed him candy that it was for him to eat. I believe he about had his fill of sugar! It took me a minute to realize that his side of the house didn't have candy on it...and the fact that his mouth was full just gave it away. Ali did most of the hard work herself!

Today was the children's music at church. Ali hates standing in front of crowds...so she cried half way to church dreading it...and our son sat blissfully unaware (in his car seat) that he was about to wear a sheep hat for an hour in front of the whole church! Ha...gotta love it. So...there we were proud parents as our children march in with all the other children...in walks Ali...then Clark the sheep. They each take their places...all seems to be going well. Ali realizes it isn't all that bad standing in front...and Clark actually does the arm motions for the first song...ahhh, I breathe a sigh of relief. Then song 2..3..come along...so far so good. Then, that's it...he suddenly realizes it isn't all that much fun anymore...and we loose him. Yep...he looses total interest. The remainder of the time he could either be found turned completely around on the risers staring at the kids behind him...or playing with the little girl's dress beside him (she kept telling him to scoot over by the way!). Then while everyone else was standing (oh not our boy) he begins playing with the hem of the little girls dress...yes, same girl...and I take a deep breath HOPING he doesn't lift her dress up!!! Shew....he doesn't and they finish the musical. However, the funniest part was at the very end...he decides to finish with gusto and actually does the very last arm movements!! Guess he wanted to have a strong finish.

Christmas fun!

No white Christmases in Houston....

We heard the funniest song a couple of weeks ago on the local Christian radio station. Here is the link to listen to a little clip of the song. I have tried finding the entire song...but with no luck. Click on #4 "White Christmases in Houston" and see how true it is! http://www.branded-duo.com/music.html The rest of the song goes on to say that "we feast on tamales and sip on ice tea." It definitely made us chuckle.

The kids are enjoying the Christmas season. We will be making our annual gingerbread house this weekend. We cheat, however, and buy the kits...it's still fun, right? Sarah, don't go bragging about your Halloween house to me...OK!!! Heehee! You won Mommy of the year over that...so I cheat...ummm, it's what I do. Ha! Though I will buy extra candy...because the kits just never have enough...and you have to sneak a little while you are making it of course. Ali is also looking forward to our cooking day. We are going to spend a day making cookies and such. Then I will eat way tooooo many and feel guilty...such is the Christmas season.

Clark and Ali are out on the "jumpy" (as Clark calls it)...aka...trampoline as I type this. They love that thing. They will get on there and act so silly. Usually Clark ends up in his undies because his jeans just won't stay up while bouncing! They put a huge ball in there with them and he will bounce and flip over it. We need to get him into gymnastics!

Yesterday the kids and I went into Houston to meet a friend from out of town. We were stationed with them in Florida, and have been friends ever since. Mary was in town for a family funeral. They are stationed in Hawaii now...so it was great to get to see her. We met her at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. We saw the "Lucy's Legacy" exhibit. She is "supposedly" the world's oldest "woman." WHATEVER!!! It was a monkey they are calling a woman...a huge evolution exhibit. GAG! No thanks...Ali was so disgusted (she hates anything about evolution) that she wouldn't read anything! She just walked through with her arms crossed..ha!

museum

A visit to see Noah, oh I mean Santa....

Clark's latest funny is that he is convinced that Santa is Noah...yes, Noah from the Bible. We realized last night at bedtime it is because in a children's Bible we read from at night...the picture of Noah has him dressed in red clothing...and you guessed it, a hat! We just kept wondering why every time we see something with Santa on it he just says "Noah"...every single time. In fact, if you ask if that is Noah or Santa he will tell you Noah! So we think it is so cute, we just refer to Santa as Noah now.

Here's a picture of the cover of his Bible storybook...of course he confuses the two, have you ever seen Noah dressed like, well, Santa??

I took the kids to see "The Nutcracker" yesterday. One of the perks of homeschooling is that I can get them into school performances for the school price...SWEET!! So we all 3 attended "The Nutcracker" for $22.50! The evening performances will run you are whopping $35(each) for the cheapest seats...see why that is exciting? Clark really enjoyed all the costumes, the huge tree, the snow falling on stage, etc. He did great up until about the last 15 minutes and he got a little antsy to move around. Then, after the ballet I took them to have their picture made with Santa. Ali humored me and got in the picture also! (she wasn't too thrilled..ha) Clark really could have cared less to see Santa...but he did hop right up for the photo. It was pretty cute. He LOVED the HUGE tree that is in the mall, though. He is enjoying that much more...seeing all the trees, lights, etc. rather than all the presents and Santa hoopla! We aren't complaining...I am sure by next year he will be the typical American kid telling us he wants this or that...or this AND that!! Right? So we will enjoy the awe and wonder of all the more wonderful aspects of Christmas through his little eyes.

At the mall the kids were able to play in some pretend snow that they had shooting from machines. It was so neat...it was soap suds. It looked real from a distance. It was not bubbles like you think...but actual suds like when you are washing your hands...but blowing out in small clusters. That is all you get here in Texas! If you want to see snow.......you have to go to the mall and get soap suds. Heehee!

Today the kids and I attended the SWAT group at the church we are visiting. It stands for Servants Worshipping All Together and it is for 3rd-5th graders. They meet twice a month for fun activities as a way for this age group to get to know each other. Today they met and went shopping at Wal-Mart to spend the money they earned for a needy family in town. (they made and sold cookie mixes to the congregation to raise the money) It was wonderful to see the kids picking out items for others. Then in 2 weeks they will get together and wrap all the gifts. Ali is really enjoying this children's group. We are attending a great LCMS church called Hope Lutheran.

I think that is about all the not so exciting news that we have. I have posted pictures of our trees, etc.

preparing for Christmas

It is never a good thing when........

A family is visiting a new church and the "little fellow" decides to act up during Wed. night worship. The father takes the child to "the restroom"....and a few short minutes later screams ring out throughout the sanctuary. Oh....it is just never a good thing. I hope we are allowed back...oh, I mean..."they" are allowed back...I am leaving out names to protect the innocent. :) Thanks a mill Clarky!!

Thanksgiving in Louisiana....

Well, Thanksgiving is officially over and the Christmas season has begun. We had a nice Thanksgiving in Louisiana with my parents. My brother and his family stopped by later that afternoon for a while, and Ali was able to spend the night with her cousin. I, as usual, ate WAY too much! The food seemed endless. Now I must try and watch the waistline until Christmas when I will turn around and do the same thing. Heehee!!!

My mom and dad already had their Christmas tree up so that the children could enjoy it. As you can see by the pictures...Clark spent most of his time by the tree. He LOVED it and couldn't get enough of it. It was so cute...I would tell him time and again not to touch the ornaments (which he would take off and rearrange)...and he just couldn't help himself. He could NOT keep his hands off. Finally I just quit trying and watched him closely so he wouldn't break any. He loved this tiny nativity set they had out. He would take the pieces for rides in his trucks. We were forever on the lookout for missing pieces. We even found him outside looking intently at their fence.........and he had stuck Mary in part of the fence and gotten her stuck. However, T.C. came and rescued her! In the pictures you will see Clark carrying around a breakable duck. Mom has these breakable ducks and cats that people have given her through the years and Clark just loves them for some reason. He is always carrying them around, rocking them, holding them, etc. He HAD to have them in the pictures!

We are tackling our Christmas decorating at the moment. It is taking WAY longer than ever before. While we lived in our little townhouse in Louisville, we didn't get out all of our decorations due to space. Add that to the fact that it is my FAVORITE time of the year and I can't keep myself from buying up MORE decorations...and my mom is forever giving us more cute things she finds as well. Long story short...we have boxes and boxes and boxes of decorations!! I love snowmen, so we also have TONS of those. Anyway, it is taking us a long time to figure out where everything is going to go. We actually need to get another tree to put upstairs for our extra ornaments. We already have 2 trees downstairs. (a little overboard, well perhaps) It will be fun...until it is time to pack it all up!! But, we will enjoy it while it lasts.

Let us hear how your Thanksgiving was!! Here are some pictures from Louisiana and also of Ali and Clark putting up his little tree in his room.

Thanksgiving

A turkey hat?

Thought I would mention a few cute things Clark has done lately. A couple of days ago I noticed Ali's bedroom door was closed and I knew that Clark had gone in there. I went through her bathroom and peeked in to find a photo shoot going on. Clark had his "view master" and a stool and was sitting in front of Ali's door. He was acting like he was taking pictures of Ali with his view master. He would tell her to sit this way or that way...have her hold a stuffed animal, etc. Then, when he was "finished" he would tell her "good job!" It was so funny. (do I take too many pictures, or what?)

We bought Clark a Thanksgiving set from Fisher Price. It has pilgrims, Indians, and a picnic table with food on top. It also came with a plastic turkey for the table that is hollow underneath. Well, I bought him a Thanksgiving book and sat down to try and explain our Thanksgiving....feeling pretty proud of myself that I made the effort...I turn around and find that he had put the turkey on an Indian as a hat. Well, guess he didn't quite get it.......maybe next year. :)

To give a little background on this one...every once in a while I will joke with Clark when he has done something like...oh say...called "MAMA" for the millionth time in a row. I will say "oh Clark..you are killing me"....so anyway, Ali had taken him outside the other day to jump on the trampoline and had forgotten to take his socks off. (they turn black) So, when he ran inside for something I caught him and told him to take his socks off before he went back out and without missing a beat he yanked the socks off and said "oh, you are killing me."

Another funny he has done lately is say something is nasty. It is the way he says it. I think he heard us say it when he does something like burp at the table or whatever. I will tell him "that is nasty, say excuse me." So now he will say that when something happens. Timmy yawned in is face the other night (and yes, I admit he has TERRIBLE old doggy breath) and Clark told him "oh Timmy that is naaasty."

turkey hat

Holidays....they are approaching!

Is it just me...or can anyone else believe that Christmas is right around the corner? It just seems that every year seems to pass faster than the one before it. What about all the places putting out Christmas decorations earlier and earlier each year? Some were putting things out before Halloween! I mean, can we get through Thanksgiving first?

We do love to put our decorations out a little early as well. Our tradition is to decorate the weekend after Thanksgiving. I am so excited this year. I just can't wait to see Clark's face when the tree lights go on. So many things we look forward to...baking cookies, explaining the Nativity, putting the ornaments on the tree, driving around looking at lights, Christmas music (love, love, love it!!), and so much more. It is my all time favorite time of year.

This year, of all years, we really want to bring our focus back on the true meaning of Christmas. It is so easy to get wrapped up in the commercialism of it all. What do we want, what can we buy, what is the "new thing" this year? We want to focus on the manger in Bethlehem so many years ago. When God sent his son, Jesus, to come into the world as a tiny babe. We want to focus on what Christ did for us so many years ago. To take our focus away from the world's view of Christmas, and return to the manager. We are so excited...will you join us on the journey? We will be blogging our holiday season. Leave us comments on what you do as a family to focus on Christ during Christmas. We are always looking for new ideas. One thing we have always done is have a birthday cake for Jesus. This year we are hosting Christmas at our home...so the children (along with our niece), will be baking the cake all by themselves. I found beautiful ornaments that say "Happy Birthday Jesus" that they will each get. We also bought Clark a Fisher Price Nativity set that he can play with. That way he doesn't have to be told to "not touch" like the others we have. This one he can touch, play with, and learn the story.

I can't wait to view this holiday season through the eyes of a child that has never before experienced anything like this. To truly have that sense of awe and wonder.

What are your holiday plans? We are spending Thanksgiving in Lake Charles with my family...another first for our son. Let us all focus on what we have to be thankful for. The list is endless, is it not? I take so much for granted. This Thanksgiving our cup runneth over. God poured his blessings upon us this year with the joining of our son into our family. We are so thankful for our almost 11 year old daughter, our little son, for each other, our health, home, our needs being met, oh how I could go on. We look forward to our first holiday with Clark home. We waited a long time to be able to say that!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Boys will be boys, right?

Boys will be boys, regardless if they are born in Ukraine or the good ole' USofA!! Isn't that right? As I am getting Clark dressed this morning, I begin to take off his pull-up and put on his underwear...he gets a HUGE grin on his face, grabs his "manly equipment" and starts making a peeing sound...pppppssssssssssssssssss!!!!! He was oh so very proud of himself for being funny. Meanwhile, I bite my cheek to not laugh and give him the motherly "that is not very polite" speech!! Hardy har har har......yep, gotta love boys!!

Four months ago today...our lives changed forever!!

Four months ago to the day...we loaded up the black Lincoln Navigator in Kiev and headed on a 4 hour journey that would change our lives forever. (I will mention that it WAS a 4 hour journey that should have been at least a 5 hour journey..heehee...remember that story?) On the afternoon of July 13th, we met a 3 1/2 year old little boy that we new nothing more about than his name, Ruslan...and he stole our hearts from the moment he was escorted into the room to us. He gave us a shy smile with his head tilted down...and here we are 4 months later and he is an active, talkative, and (trying at times) little one that has learned to receive love and give love in return. God, in his infinite wisdom, made the more than 2 year wait all worth it. We knew from that moment that God chose this child to be our son before the creation of the world. He brought me into this world to be his mother. How awesome is that? Maybe not flesh of my flesh, but nothing short of a miracle. A daughter and a son...oh how we have been blessed beyond measure.

Just thought I would post some more beach photos. We returned to the beach on Monday for a little stroll along the sea wall. Our kiddos can't get enough of that place!

beach

Ali's first 200........

Ali swam her first 200 this weekend...let me just say...she HATED it! She was so mad that her coach signed her up for a 200! It takes a lot of endurance to make it 200 (and she doesn't have a lot of that). But you know what, she finished it and we were proud of her...ok, so she was the last one in her heat...but SHE FINISHED IT! It was quite funny...on her last lap her coach finally started yelling "Ali, just finish." Ha!!! Me, now I would have sunk to the bottom after the first 25...ha!! However, she did well in the other events. Between today and yesterday, she swam in a total of 9 events. Her backstroke really improved today compared to yesterday (yesterday it was another one of those...she was just glad to finish sort of things). This was her first "REAL" swim meet. The summer league meets were much more relaxed...this was the real deal. It is all about your swim time at this point. In the end, your time gets compared to all the other kids in your age group. It is interesting to see where she lines up. She was pretty much right in the middle...so not too bad for her first real meet. But let me tell you....there are some majorly overzealous sideline parents. UGH! We would just stand around and listen to all the yelling and screaming...that was something else. One mother yesterday completely tore into her little girl (maybe about 8 years old) saying how "she had wasted her whole day at that swim meet and she didn't swim like she should have"..the poor little girl just kept telling her mom she was sorry. I thought it was quite sad. The mother just packed up their things and left the kid standing in the hall (because she was still trying to get her clothes on). Anyway, I don't think Ali has another meet until after the new year. One of the coaches is already asking us why Clark wasn't swimming yet. She wants me to bring him for a trial lesson soon...she doesn't know what she is getting into!! Heehee...he has no fear.

swim meet

Any grandchildren in my future?

We were in the car today and Clark was looking at a book (that happened to be one of Ali's when she was little)...he started to get a little rough with the book, so I began to explain that it was Ali's book and we wanted to save it for her children...then I said we would save his books for his children. Without a second thought, Ali informed me "I already told Dad...I AM NOT HAVING CHILDREN after watching Clark." Well...guess she told me.

Because the world needs poets...

In case you didn't see the previous post, we have a budding poet on the loose here in the Judd household. Rachel posted a couple of her pieces on Monday after her post on our beach soirée, but I'm going to promote Ali to her own post and her own label (poetry)...because she deserves it and because the world needs poets:

"Colors of God"
Colors are one of God's miracles,
We see them every day.
Do you wonder how they came to be?
Or if they're here to stay?

What if the world had no colors?
What if it was black and white?
If there were no colors in the world,
I would rather not have sight.

We need the reds and yellows
and greens and purples, too!
And blue and pink and orange
In every different hue.

God's gifts are grace and mercy,
and lots of others too.
One is the great gift of colors,
He gave to me and you!
by Ali Judd

---

"A Colonial Blacksmith"
One day I was walking home from school,
and looked into the shed;
I saw a busy blacksmith
A'hammering at some lead.

He stopped, looked up, and smiled
and then he said, "Good day!"
He started all his work again
A'chewing at some hay.

Blistered hands, a'workin' hard,
How I think they must be tired.
Big, black mustache, grease black hair,
Molten steel, he shows no fear.

He always goes to Sunday church,
and sits way in the back.
I look there and he smiles,
and politely lifts his hat.

When he prays he cries, "I'm a sinful man,
I sin every day."
He kneels to pray a prayer or two,
and wipes each tear away.

After church is over,
he walks around to me.
He gives me a nickel to buy some gum,
and happily walks away.

by Ali Judd

I never knew..........

I never knew I could be so excited over an inch......ONE WHOPPING INCH! But, I am! Clark had his monthly height/weight follow up with his pediatrician today. I was initially disappointed because he has not gained any weight since he came home in Aug. His weight today was the same it was last month... 26 1/2 lbs. However, our boy has grown a whole inch since we got home. The doctor was really excited about that, as was I. He is still only the average size of a 2 year old...she showed me his growth chart. So...he still has a lot of catching up to do. But, she said she is more concerned with the height issue than the weight. If he continues to grow...we might not have to have the test run checking his growth hormone. YIPPY! All in all things are going well. She said his incision is healing well, he finished up his antibiotics this morning!

Ali has her first swim meet since summer this weekend. YES...both Sat. and Sun.!! It will be interesting to see how she has improved since then. Nona and Poppy are coming to watch her on Sunday, so she is excited about that.

I will explain the pictures....the other morning Clark put his boots on as soon as he got out of bed. He then decided to climb into our bed...boots and all...and he had put his shoes on his baby! Too funny. Then, the ones of him at bath time need some explanation. T.C. made the mistake one night when drying him off after bath, of saying "oh baby Russie...look how cute..." (on and on and on...because he was all wrapped up in his towel like a baby) WELL....Clark LOVED it so much that he demands we do that EVERY SINGLE night. As soon as I get him out of the tub...first thing out of his mouth "BABY...PAPA"!!! Translation..."where is Papa, I want him to do baby!" Ha!! (every night!!!) It is really pretty funny...he loves it. The poster is Ali's geography project. She had to draw a map from a country of her choice and tell about the country. She, of course, chose Ukraine. It came out very well.

boots in bed, baby Clark, and Ali's map

Just another day at the beach.....

Today was Clark's official first day of preschool. Ummm, ok...maybe we are just working on letters and colors...but it's a start. He knew his colors in Ukrainian, but is having to relearn them in English. He likes "doing school" like Ali. So it only took about 5 minutes or so, but you gotta start somewhere. Ha! We worked on the color red and the letter A. (he is clueless about the letters...but I think he gets the colors)

T.C. has been working CRAZY hours the past 2 weeks (due to being in mission control), so we headed to the beach for some relaxation this afternoon. The kids (including T.C.) built a huge sand castle and Clark loved helping tear it down before we left! He loves going to the beach, as does Ali. Ali was disappointed that we didn't hit the old fashioned ice cream parlor on The Strand!

Sat. we took them to Build a Bear to build a new bear. They both chose a cute dog! Clark thought that place was pretty fun! Ali has loved going for years now.

I thought I would include a couple of Ali's recent poems. She enjoys writing poetry...but she should really do it more often...she is actually pretty good at it! Enjoy.....

(T.C.: OK, I moved her poems here)

Build a Bear, first day of schooling, and Galveston

Tea party anyone?....Halloween....and cowboy boots!!!

What a combination...all in the course of a few days here in the Judd house Clark had a tea party for one of his stuffed animals, went trick or treating, and absolutely fell in LOVE with his cowboy boots. He had a doctors appointment today and actually wore shorts (yes, it is warm here!!), t-shirt, and cowboy boots. (black boots at that!) I probably used to think..."why would a parent let their child go out of the house like that?" But...now I am the one doing it. Ha! He even wore them with his pj's this morning. So, I honestly just didn't want the battle of trying to get them off of his feet.......so off to the doctor we went....boots and all. I remember with Ali every hair had to be in place with bows to match. Heehee!

The video is so cute of Clark having his tea party. I just came around the corner the other day and found that.

Well, another American first....TRICK OR TREATING!! I am sure he was a little confused at first, but he got the hang of it. We went with some friends from the neighborhood, and he tried to keep up with them...then he just quit trying and wanted to be carried. His little legs just couldn't make it. He loved it when the people were standing outside with their dogs dressed up! He would kiss them all...the dogs that is. (ick, but he did it) After trick or treating, Ali went to a fall festival with her friends that we trick or treated with. I didn't want Clark to be overwhelmed with Halloween...so I brought him home. She had a great time though.

Clark had a follow up appointment today with the surgeon. He said everything looks great with the exception of the redness. He said it should not be this red after a week and a half. He put him on antibiotics to be safe. Pray it heals just fine and that there isn't any infection. (you always hear about people getting staff infections from hospitals)

Oh yes, the picture of his "baby" on his potty chair is hilarious! I heard him in the bathroom this morning and that is what I found. He just looked at me and said "baby, potty!" Like...DUH, Mom!! Ha!

tea party and Halloween

Why is it?????

Tell me...why is it that when a kid gets a sour stomach it HAS to happen in their HIGH CHAIR and CAR SEAT? Couldn't it happen...oh say...as they are walking past the restroom or as they are standing near a trash can? OH NO...it is much more fun for it to go all over their high chair tray and ALLLLLL in their car seat and clothing just as you are dropping the other child off at swim practice. (of course at a time when I did NOT have a change of clothes or any wet wipes in the van!!) Just thought I would share the fun that was had today. The little guy took it all in stride though. He was happy for the most part...just didn't have an appetite. I HOPE he doesn't have a stomach bug...they spread like wild fire.

This is really funny...tonight as I was drying Clark off after his bath, I was talking to him about some dry patches that he keeps on his tummy. I said that next time we go to the doctor I would ask for some good cream for his skin. He looks down and points to his "manly parts" and says "DOCTOR!!!" I laugh and tell him that it is a different doctor...not THAT doctor. He looks down again and shakes his head saying "no doctor." Guess he was having flashbacks of last weeks doctor visit.

The star of the show.....

We are back from Shreveport, and Clark didn't know what to make of being the star of the show. Our joke for the weekend was that he had his own fan club and was being followed by the paparazzi. (everywhere he looked there were flashes!!) Lisa, he will be calling his agent soon...he is wondering where all the photographers went! We had a great time visiting with family for a few days. We had not been there in WAY too long. Clark was able to meet his Uncle Sam finally. I hope to visit there more often. Friday evening there was a get together at my cousin's house. It was so fun for us all to be together and for them to meet Clark. Ali was able to spend time with her cousin, Christopher, and they had a fantastic time together. It really made me appreciate that we are closer to them now that we are in TX. THANKS SHREVEPORT CLAN FOR A GREAT WEEKEND!!!

This evening we took the kids to a Trunk or Treat. We kept wondering what was going through Clark's head. (so you mean I have to dress up...say trick or treat...and I get candy? HUH!)

Well, this is short tonight...I am exhausted from the trip...and have miles to go before I can hit the sack...(bags to unpack...yuck!)

Shreveport trip and Trunk or Treat

3...2...1...Blast Off!!!

The space shuttle Discovery launched a few minutes ago...with T.C.in the "safety" mission control room. He is assigned to this flight...so he will be working 11 days straight with crazy hours. He will be ready for a day off when his 11 days are over. I am packing up the kids and taking them to Shreveport on Thursday while he works mission control. Samuel Clark hasn't met his Uncle Sam whom he was named after as of yet. We are all excited to be going and seeing some of our family there.

Clark did just fine during his surgery yesterday. The hospital is a trauma center, so we knew there was a possibility that his surgery time could be bumped. Well, it was! We arrived at 6am and he wasn't taken back to surgery until 10am. It was a rather long morning in a small hospital room...with a toddler. We were so glad there was a t.v. in the room so that he could watch cartoons. He did such a good job being a brave boy. When it was finally his turn, they gave him some medicine to relax him mixed with some Tylenol. So after he took that, we were able to walk him down to the holding area and we met the nurses and doctors that would be working with him. The medicine had kicked in at that point and even the medical staff was cracking up watching him. One doc said "I looked like that on my 21st birthday." He was just laughing, jabbering, and rolling around. I was laughing so hard I had tears rolling down my face. I caught a little of it on video...which I am sharing...shame on me...I know!! But, the laughing ended and reality hit...our sweet boy was undergoing surgery. He tolerated the anesthesia well, which was my main concern. He awoke slowly while I was with him in the recovery room. They like for children to wake up on their own as they tend to wake up more happy that way. It was sad, he would wake up for a minute...cry...and drift back off. After several episodes like that...the nurse gave him some morphine for pain. That knocked him out yet again...and we had to wait for him to wake up enough to drink some juice and potty. He did so, and we were able to leave the hospital a little after 2pm. However, the ride home ended up being more than his tummy could handle with the anesthesia. I won't go into detail...but after returning home his WHOLE car seat had to be taken apart and scrubbed...as did the van seat. Poor little fellow. He ended up eating some in the late afternoon and even played with his train set. I asked him when we got home..."do you want to go lie down"...his response "no, Thomas!" Well, ok then! However, the hospital pain meds wore off in the early evening and our little man was miserable! He was in so much pain last night before bed. The Tylenol with codeine helps take the edge off some...but he is definitely fighting getting his ointment applied. He is pretty happy today...already fighting with Ali...so definitely on the mend. Ha! He is still VERY sore and in quite a bit of pain. I hope this intense pain doesn't last long...we hate seeing him like this.

Well, that is about it for now. I am off to get him some chicken nuggets...his all time favorite food!

lookin' cute and hospital....

Toddlers are just so precious....

Remember when I would go on and on about what an angel Clark was....just so precious....wow...what a difference a week can make. He is testing his boundaries left and right! Here is a glimpse into our daily lives..."Clark, I said not to do that...if you do it again you will go to time-out...what did I just say...(meanwhile he decides he will try it again)...ok, you are going to time-out on the stairs...(then followed by scream, kick the floor, you get my point)" I have said a million times...doesn't he know there are going to be consequences? Human nature I suppose! But, as quickly as the madness comes...it leaves...and he is our sweet boy again. To be expected with toddlerhood, I suppose.

I am posting some recent pictures. We took the kids to the Houston Zoo this morning for the Halloween at the zoo. Clark enjoyed getting a little candy, picking out a mini pumpkin, and coloring a couple of masks. There are a few from a park yesterday evening. A co-worker of T.C.'s has a wedding photography business on the side and he offered to take our first family pictures.
http://sivanov.exposuremanager.com/g/judds&gallery_page=&gallery_all=&view=1&photo_page=1#photo_s

I love the picture of Clark over T.C.'s shoulder. The few I took are funny...if you notice the ones of Clark by the water...he is wet...he decided to pretty much scoop the water out of the pond and put it all over himself.

Pray for our little man on Monday morning. We are to have him at the Children's Hospital in Galveston at 6:00AM for his little surgery. (getting circumcised) I am nervous, but we are just trusting God to guide the doctors. I hate the thought of him being in pain afterwards.

Houston Zoo, park, etc.

Did he just say DINOSAUR?

Yep...Clark was playing (as usual) this morning and low and behold he blurts out "dinosaur"... You see, yesterday Ali had given him a little dinosaur toy that she came across and he remembered the name. It was so cute...such a tough word for a little guy just learning English. T.C. has been a little sad lately because the little mister is loosing his Ukrainian words. He now picks up his cars/trucks and calls them cars and trucks...not "machinas" anymore! Our little fellow is growing up....HA....all 26 1/2 lbs. of him. :)

For those of you that might be interested...I am re-reading the BEST parenting book ever...in our opinion. (and I have read a few...or at least bits and pieces of several) It is "Shepherding a Child's Heart" by Tedd Tripp. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!!! Read it if you haven't! It makes so much sense. It talks about our goal as parents isn't to have "perfect" behaviour from our children, but to train their hearts in God's ways. To help our children see why their actions are wrong, and point them to the cross. It is awesome...

Praise God!

Praise God, I just got a call from the pediatricians office and Clark's blood work was NORMAL!! Yippy!!

Funny........Clark was lying down for a nap today and I went in to check on him....low and behold he had a bed FULL of toys. I put the toys back in the toy basket and told him he couldn't have toys at nap time. I told him to choose ONE baby, but that was it. He was so mad at me...he started crying so loudly. I left the room, went downstairs and we hear "I WANT TOYS!!!!" Ha! Yep, his English is coming right along!

Fall??

I know it is Oct. 14th.....and officially it is FALL, however, it is too stinkin' hot here in TX to feel like fall. I kind of miss that about Kentucky...the cool, crispness of the air in the fall. Oh well, it is what it is...right? So, even though it was 85+ degrees here in TX yesterday...we still did our annual outing to hunt for a pumpkin to carve. Clark just doesn't get why we would go and pick out that funny round orange thing! But I know he will enjoy scooping out those OOEY GOOEY seeds. (what kid doesn't) Oh another thing we REALLY miss is going to Huber's Orchard up in Indiana and picking our own apples and pumpkins!! The closest pumpkin patch I could find around here was like an hour away...how sad is that? Ok, enough about what we miss.....we truly do like it here. It just doesn't quite feel like fall to us.

I wanted to get some "fall" pictures of the kids this weekend. It takes me about 50 pictures to get even a few good ones of Clark. Ha! He either just stares at me with a blank look on his face...or moves RIGHT as I am snapping the picture. But, some came out cute. The ones of him with our pumpkin were so funny. He just kept saying "oh pretty."

Fall pics

You know you have a preteen when.....

You know you have a preteen in the house when she looses her LAST baby tooth and when T.C. jokingly asked her where her tooth fairy pillow was she replied, "I don't know, maybe Santa Clause took it."!!! Ha...gotta love it!

On a more serious note...please pray for some blood test results on Clark to come back totally normal. He had a doctors appointment this morning for some blood tests and he has lost a few ounces. He was below 27 lbs. this time around. The doctor would just really like to see some weight gain by now. Just pray all is normal and he is healthy, just small. THANK YOU!!

Clark the puppy....what is going on?

I thought I would share a little humor from our lives and then get on to something a little more serious. Clark has discovered that it is totally fun to pretend he is a dog. Yes, he is continually all out canine! When he gets into his "puppy mode" he won't even speak...he crawls around, follows Timmy, rubs his head up against things, rolls over on his back, when we ask for kisses he rubs noses, etc. It sort of freaks me out a bit, but T.C. thinks it is hilarious. Ummmm, the jury is still out on that one. He will, however, snap out of it if he knows MOM is serious...I can only take so much puppy business! (he even crawls up/down the stairs) A friend of mine assured me that her son did the same thing and even went as far as barking at people when they asked him a question. Thanks, Suzanne, for letting me know we didn't have the only puppy boy out there!!! Ok, and to clarify the pictures of Clark pushing the vacuum...NO, we don't really put the kids to work...he was having a fit when he saw me vacuuming...so I had to let him push it a little! He kept telling me "me, me, me".

On to other things....
I still smile every time I say the word "kids"...it hits me again and again and I tell myself "it is plural..KIDS...it is finally plural." I waited so long for this. I truly believe I was put on this earth to be T.C.'s wife and my children's mother. That is what I live and breathe for. I can't imagine my life any other way. However, there were days I doubted everything. Most of you know that we suffered several miscarriages when Ali was a toddler. It was devastating. That is all I ever wanted to be was a mother...and I felt like I was being held back. I questioned God every single time it happened. Why me, God...why? I never understood, but trusted in God's sovereignty over our lives. I knew he loved us and had a plan for our lives. Now, we fast forward 7 years and God is allowing us to catch a glimmer of his plan. Had we carried another child/children, we would have never considered adoption. Oh, what we would have missed! He sent us a little angel..so full of life and love and so ready to BE loved. We would have missed so much. We would have missed watching our son enjoy an ice cream cone...chase frogs with his big sister...play at a park for the first time...eat his first chicken nugget (and oh how he loves them!!)...meet his grandparents...and anticipate watching him discover who God is!

I have always LOVED this song by Mercy Me (one of my favorite Christian groups) called "Jesus, Bring the Rain"

I can count a million times
People asking me how I
Can praise You with all that
I've gone through
The question just amazes me
Can circumstances possibly
Change who I forever am in You

Maybe since my life was changed
Long before these rainy days
It's never really ever crossed my mind
To turn my back on you, oh Lord
My only shelter from the storm
But instead I draw closer through these times
So I pray

Bring me joy, bring me peace
Bring the chance to be free
Bring me anything that brings
You glory And I know there will
be days When this life brings me pain
But if that's what it takes to
praise You Jesus, bring the rain

I am yours regardless of the clouds that may
loom above because you are much greater than
my pain you who made a way for me suffering
your destiny so tell me whats a little rain

Holy, holy, holy
Holy, holy, holy
is the lord God almighty
is the lord God almighty
I'm forever singing

Bring me joy, bring me peace
Bring the chance to be free
Bring me anything that brings
You glory And I know there'll
be days When this life brings me pain
But if that's what it takes to
praise You Jesus, bring the rain
- Mercy Me "Jesus, Bring the Rain"

How true it is! We are here to bring God glory regardless of our circumstances. Though that is so easy to do when things are going well, isn't it? We have all been there...then things turn dark and we question God...but God is still God and STILL the ONE in control. I think we have to go through difficult times to truly appreciate God's amazing power. He is the only one that can sustain us.

Enjoy our blessings from heaven...

Ali and Clark

A day in the life of Rachel.....

Well, there isn't anything new going on in the Judd house really...just trying to keep up with school work, a toddler, and swim team. (that in itself doesn't allow for much else!)

However, my sister in law, Sarah, wrote the funniest blog entry this week on her blog and I am going to copy some of it here. Sorry Sarah...but stealing yours is MUCH easier than coming up with my own! Not to mention the entire time I was reading yours I was going "uh huh...yep...no kidding!!" Ok, here it goes....

You know there is a toddler in your house when:
…it takes 5 minutes to open a door or cabinet.

…you don’t remember what it was like to go to the bathroom by yourself.

…you clean out your car and find a petrified goldfish cracker.

…you realize that puppies are not the only creatures who will eat paper, shoes, and food on the floor.

…you find yourself answering the same question 10,000 times.

…the most “popular” song you sing is “Old MacDonald had a Farm.”

…you find yourself eating mini corn dogs for lunch.

…you find yourself secretly laughing because someone (under the age of 4!) has passed gas during a meal…and has NO IDEA that it is funny or inappropriate.

….you can discipline a hysterical, yet inappropriate behavior (such as passing gas at the dinner table) with a stern and serious face while your spouse is across the table secretly laughing into his napkin.

…you find yourself driving in the car saying (w/ MUCH enthusiasm) things like “yes that IS a cherry picker.” “yes that IS a cornfield.” “yes that IS WalMart.”

… you aren’t embarrassed to wear stickers on your shirt (even in public).

Good job, Sarah! Now for a few of my own...

-to add to the going to the bathroom alone thing..I find it funny that Clark will open the bathroom door and want to talk to me..acting like he doesn't even realize where I am sitting. Meanwhile I am thinking "can't we talk about this in a second?"

-(this happened last night) I wanted some juice and grabbed a plastic kids cup off of the drying rack in the sink and T.C. asks me why I was drinking out of a kids cup when we have nice glasses? (Ummm, because that was easier!!!)

-we used to pride ourselves in a very neat house...now neat to us is when all the cars, trucks, trains, and Army men make it back to the baskets before bedtime...who cares if they are ALL over the floor the rest of the day!

-my purse now consists of fruit chews, sippy cups, disposable bibs, wet wipes, Hot Wheels...

Ok, I could go on...but this is probably getting a little boring. I will, however, share with you a day in the life of Rachel. This week Russie Clark had an appointment with the surgeon that will preform his circumcision on the 22nd. His appointment was at 10am in Galveston (about 20 minutes away). Well, we leave early so that we can stop by the social security office to apply for his social security card...along with ALL OF GALVESTON!!! We waited a few minutes, our number wasn't called...so we leave to head to the hospital to see the surgeon. We get called back rather quickly..I get a little full of myself thinking "wow, that wasn't bad at all"...we meet the doctor, hear the scoop...learn that if we want to go ahead with the surgery we need to go to 2 other visits while we are there. Ok...no problem...we get walked down to registration...enter the waiting room and HOLY COW...are there REALLY that many people waiting to register. I am seriously thinking of paying off some people, but decide I must wait my turn. It is now around 11:30...we finally get called back to the registration/finance office and find out how much this is going to set us back...OUCH...then when I regain consciousness...I find out we have to meet with the anesthesiologist...yep, you guessed it BACK to the waiting room. We again finally get called back...yada yada yada. Keep in mind that we are dragging our school books around, missed lunch, and have now missed nap! Ummm...he was finally lying on the floor with his cars and trucks. My first instinct was to shiver with the reality that he is LYING on the floor of a hospital...GROSS...then my mother side took over and thought "heck he's quiet for the most part." I heard an older lady tell another lady..."he is lying on the floor." I bit my tongue from saying "hey lady...I can pick him up off of this floor and hand him to you...could you do better?" Heehee...but I didn't! So...we finally leave the hospital around 2:15...grab some fast food and head back over to the social security office. Shew, I was tired when all of that was done!! For those mothers with 4 and 5 children...I quote Wayne's World in saying "I am not worthy!"

Clark is still doing great. He finally starting saying "yes" today. He had been saying "da" which is Russian. He also said "oopsy daisy" and "looka here." He surprises us all the time with a new English word. He is still jabbering his heart out and we usually just say "oh yes"...He also said "careful" the other night in the bath. It is funny knowing he is listening and hearing all that we say...even just the little sayings. We went to story time at the library this week. He loved it and did so well. However, it was rather funny as we were walking out to the car...Ali was going to have him jump off this thing and she was counting...1..2..3 and we both look down and at the say time say "oh my goodness"...his shorts were around his ankles. OOPS! Told you he was small...and those were 2T!

Just a few random pictures from this week....

pictures

It's all in the PANCAKES!!

On Thursday, I loaded up the kids and headed over to Lake Charles for a quick visit with my parents and brother/sister in law/niece. It was a quick trip...but very good to see them all.

Pancakes are of the utmost importance when we make a trip to Nona and Poppy's house. Is it because pancakes are just THAT delicious? Probably not, in all honesty...but Ali and Abby sure think they are a MUST have when they visit. Why? It is because since Ali and Abby (and now Clark) were able to eat pancakes, Nona made them "pancake ladies" (just like she did for me when I was a little girl). "Pancake ladies" you ask...yep, pancakes in the shape of ladies (sometimes perhaps a little oddly shaped...but the girls just don't care at all!). At 10 and 8 these girls still want their pancake ladies first thing in the morning. Clark got his very first "pancake man" this weekend. Who cares if he totally didn't get it yet...oh he will! Before long, he too will be demanding those pancake men! Nona lets them put all the chocolate chips their little hearts desire all over those pancakes...and syrup...yep, they each get their very own little bottle of syrup...to empty on those pancakes!! It will be a very sad day for Nona when these girls no longer ask for the blessed pancake ladies! But not to worry yet, Nona, I think you have many more years of pancake cooking ahead of you. :) Ali, Abby, Clark, and one day Addison...will grow up remembering their special pancakes from Nona!

Congrats to my brother, Jay, sister in law, Paula, and niece, Abby as they have made it ONE step closer to bringing home their daughter (and sister), Addison, from China! They made it to the "review room" (as they call it in adoption lingo)...which is when the "powers that be" in China are actually reviewing their adoption package and will ask for questions to be answered (if there are any...and we are praying there aren't as it will slow down the process even more) and then send them on to the next phase of the process. China adoptions have slowed down significantly over the last year...which is delaying their entire process. They have been logged into the China system for one year now...and have quite a while to go! However, each step is a praise and ONE STEP closer to holding their precious china doll. T.C., Ali, and I can totally relate to the wait...that is for sure...but now being on the other side, can also add that the wait is most definitely worth every second.

I am adding a few pictures from our quick trip to Louisiana. The motorcycle belongs to some friends of my parents. We decided to take Clark by and let him play on it. To say he loved it would be an understatement. He was so sad when we had to leave...he kept saying "motaaacyyycle"...

Lake Charles

San Antonio....

Well, we had a great time in San Antonio over the weekend. Sea World was crazy crowded and hot...but we all had a good time. Friday we went to The Alamo, the San Antonio Missions, and took a boat ride along the River Walk. Since the missions are a National Park, Ali earned another Jr. Ranger badge. (which she has been collecting since she was 3 years old and living in New Mexico) She has earned many badges with all of our travels...we love going to National Parks.

Saturday was our trip to Sea World. We wanted to hit the shows first...so we saw Shamu and then a dolphin/beluga whale show. Russie Clark was fascinated with the Shamu show and sat for the entire 25 minute show just staring!! We weren't expecting the crowds to be like they were, so it took longer to get from one thing to another...with a stroller. But we managed and we stayed at the park until 7:00pm! Ali really enjoyed a ski show, but Russie Clark decided to sleep through that..ha! He and I walked around while Ali and T.C. waited an hour to ride a "rapids" ride...they got SOAKED! It was so sad...Clark and I were watching from "the sidelines" and we saw T.C. and Ali ride by...I was pointing and waving...and I thought he was glad to see them...then when they were out of sight he starting crying his eyes out! He didn't understand where they were going. Anyway, he finally calmed down and was glad to see them when they got off the ride. From there we headed over to the dolphin touch pool and the aquarium building. He LOVED watching the dolphins...as you can see by the pictures.

Hope you enjoy the pictures...we can't wait to go back to San Antonio and explore the town some more. There seems to be a LOT to do there.

San Antonio

Watch out Shamu...here we come!!

Thanks to "Here's to the Hero's" program at all Anheuser-Busch owned theme parks...we are heading to Sea World in San Antonio...FOR FREE!! All members of the armed forces get into 1 of their parks for 1 day for free, all 4 of us! We are so excited. We are heading there this evening when T.C. gets off of work and will stay until Sunday. Tomorrow we will visit The Alamo, the missions, the River Walk, and whatever else looks like fun! (Ali can call it a field trip, right?) We can't wait to see what Russie Clark thinks of Shamu.

Well, we will post pictures as soon as we can...have to go pack...I do things better under pressure! :)

Lions, and Tigers, and Bears...OH MY!

Russie Clark had his first visit to the zoo today! We went to the Houston Zoo for the first time since we have lived here. Aside from it being a little hot (no...not in TX!), we had a great time. Ali brought her friend, Sierra, and fun was had by all. Clark loved the monkeys best of all...I do believe. It is just so neat for us to watch our little guy experience all these new things. It is wonderful to imagine seeing things through his little eyes....everything is new, everything is exciting. He examines everything...a plane up above, a flower on a bush, a frog in the yard, OR...a monkey in a zoo! What a gift we have been given to be able to watch him explore and learn so much about our world.

zoo

Just couldn't make it through lunch.........

Just wanted to post these funny pictures from lunch today. I had walked out of the kitchen for a minute only to return to a sleeping boy. Now as I type this Clark is thinking he already "napped" and can't seem to fall asleep in his bed. :)

The video is of him kissing all his babies after he put them to bed. Yes, he is in his underwear...the babies just HAD to be put to bed as I was trying to get him dressed. (then I couldn't resist a couple of cute shots in his undies!!) The end of the video clip looks funny...Ali had walked into his room and he was showing her the motorcycles on his undies...too cute!!

I will be sharing some studio pictures with you soon. I took the kids to JCPenney's yesterday and had their pictures made together. They turned out so cute. I had purchased the kids traditional Ukrainian shirts while we were over there. The shirts were too pretty not to have their picture made in them! I will get a link to the pictures in a week or so and will email it.

sleeping boy and putting babies to bed

Firsts

Sometimes people make some boneheaded comments when they find out you're adopting. Most folks, even the most wonderful, have a hard time making polite conversation about subjects that make them uncomfortable...and somewhere in human history, the subject of adoption has come to rank alongside such pleasant topics for public conversation as death, divorce, incurable disease, and sex. Complicating things for us is Ali, "Yes, she's ours...biologically."

At some point in the past few years, someone said something to Rachel along the lines of, "Aren't you sad about all the 'firsts' that you'll miss by adopting a toddler?" This individual was surely talking about such traditional firsts as first laugh, first smile, first steps, first words, etc. To give them the benefit of the doubt, I'm sure they weren't trying to be idiotic and insulting, but let's face it, there's really no good way to take such a question. Personally I'll rank it right up there with the unfortunate but all too often overheard funeral comment, "They did such a good job on him." What the heck does that mean, anyway? But I digress...

Since we've had some time to think about this comment, Rachel and I were not long ago discussing a list of 'firsts' that we'd get to experience and share with our son, including:

• First smile (for us, anyway)
• First words...in English
• First time to fly in an airplane
• First time to see the ocean
• First pets
• First room of his own
  
• Etc.

After going to Ukraine and seeing how the orphans lived (which really wasn't too bad, all things considered), a few items have made the list that I wouldn't have thought of:

• First yogurt (you've seen the pictures)
  
• First nap in mommy's arms (you've seen this, too)
  
• First time to sleep in an air-conditioned room (no really, it happened on Friday, Aug 10th)
• First time to run barefooted in the grass (sandals only in UA)
• First doughnuts
• First time to catch toads in the back yard (we've got a yard full)
• First Thanksgiving (forgot this totally American holiday)

Oh, yes, and let's not forget the obvious one...first family. Looks like we've a lot to look forward to!

Grandparent's Day

You gotta love grandparents, don't you? I called my dad on Saturday evening to tell him about a Grandparent's Day breakfast at our church the following morning...and you know what...he hopped in his truck and headed over! He didn't want his grands being there without a grandparent. My mom was out of town visiting her brother that had 2 strokes last week. (pray for him, my Uncle Sam...whom we named Samuel Ruslan Clark after) Anyway, he came over Saturday night and came to church with us the next day for a breakfast, and then after church there was a luncheon for the preschool department. It was a lot of fun. THANKS DAD (POPPY)!!!!

Russie Clark is still doing very well. His new thing is gathering up his "babies" (about 3 teddy bears) and putting them to bed. He will put them in his bed, cover them up, and kiss them all "night, night"...it is so precious. He also loves his Playhut set that we bought for him before we traveled to Ukraine. It is little tubes and cubes that connect together and then you dump balls in one tent on the end. He loves crawling through it all and tossing the balls around.

Ali is still enjoying swim team. It will definitely keep her in shape...she swims 3 times a week for an hour and a half. (I should jump in the water and swim also...but that won't be happening)

Here is a sweet poem I came across that I thought you might enjoy reading...

The Gift of Life

I didn't give you the gift of life,
But in my heart I know.
The love I feel is deep and real,
As if it had been so.

For us to have each other
Is like a dream come true!
No, I didn't give you
The gift of life,
Life gave me the gift of you.

--- Unknown

Enjoy the new pictures and video clips...

Grandparents Day, Playhut, etc.

A future astronaut.......well, perhaps!!

It occurred to me this weekend as Russie Clark was admiring a space suit at Johnson's Space Center...that he could possibly grow up to be an astronaut, a doctor, or the next president. The stars are the limit for this little guy, who a mere month and a half ago was parent-less with probably not much hope for a future. Now he can do whatever God leads him to do. No, he may not grow up to be any of those things...he could be a pastor, missionary, engineer...hopefully a father one day, etc!!! My point being he can do anything! Isn't that an awesome thought? Well, for me... his mother... it sure is! People have told me many times over the last few weeks what a lucky boy he is...but my response is "no, I am definitely the lucky one!" God chose us to be his parents...what an honor!

Well, we have had an exciting weekend. Russie Clark was able to meet his other set of grandparents for the first time on Friday. T.C.'s parents came in...his dad had to leave today (Monday), but his mom is able to stay until Thursday. He was a little shy at the airport...but it didn't take long for him to warm up. It is just taking him a little bit to understand this whole "family" thing. Saturday we took them to Galveston and Sunday we went to Johnson's Space Center.

School is in full swing for Ali and me. She also started swimming with the new swim team that she joined (Space City Aquatic Team...SCAT). The first day of practice she and her best friend, Sierra, were walking out to the parking lot and Sierra's mom and I asked how practice went...and their response was "you don't want us to answer that question"..hahaha. I think it was a little difficult getting back into the swing of things. The summer league ended the end of June, so it had been a while since they had practiced. The second practice went better, though. She thinks she will enjoy it. The team meets Monday-Friday, but they only have to swim 2-3 times a week. She is also starting guitar back up next week.

Well, the pictures are pretty self explanatory. All the ones of Russie in the chair are funny....I wanted to capture what it is like trying to get an active 3 year old to sit still for a picture. I obviously wasn't all that successful. Ha!! Enjoy...

meeting grandparents, first week of 6th grade, being silly...

Hi Ho Hi Ho it's off to school we go.....

Ok, so maybe not OFF to school...but you get my point. As of yesterday, Ali is officially a 6th grader. Please tell my how that happened? I don't know how my baby girl got to be 10 years old and in the 6th grade! Anyway, enough about that...but school is definitely going to be more of a challenge with a little one around. Russie wants my attention also. Understandable, but a little difficult when I am trying to teach oh say a math lesson. I know we will all settle into a routine eventually. He plays well by himself...but he also likes to say "Mama" a million and one times! :) (not that I am complaining...I waited a long time to be able to hear that)

Since my last post, Russie Clark had his first hair cut since being home. He was SO good. He just sat there as still as could be the entire time. The gal couldn't believe it. Then on Sat. Jay, Paula, and Abby (my brother and his family)were able to meet the little man for the first time. Russie was able to meet his cousin, Abby! She wanted to hold him so badly but he was having NONE of that. Though Paula did manage to get in some snuggle time. He also had his first donut this weekend...but to my disappointment he wasn't all that excited about it. Ha! I thought "you just have to love donuts...who doesn't LOVE donuts!!!"

Sunday was our baby shower. It was held at a friends house from church...they live in our neighborhood. We received quite a few clothes, pj's, books, truck and cars, and you gotta love it....his first drum set. Ummmm, thanks gals!! Maybe they don't love us very much...hahaha...all joking aside I am sure Russie Clark will love it. They told me after I opened it (2 ladies went in together) "you may never speak to us again, but we will be his best friend"...you got that right. Heehee...

My time is limited (surprise, surprise)...so I best cut this short. Oh yes, we are anxiously awaiting a visit from T.C.'s parents this weekend. This will be there first trip down here to see us and first time to see their new grandson. We are all excited. Though we aren't sure how to handle the name thing...you all know that Russie calls T.C. Papa...and well, that is what Ali calls his dad. We will see how that goes....major confusion! A couple of people suggested Grandpapa...that is pretty cute.

Another funny story...we were in the van on Sat. and out of the blue Russie called us all "coocoo". Yep....coocoo....and boy did he think it was the funniest thing ever. He also called T.C. "tato" (which is Ukrainian for Dad)for the first time. He has since called him that several times. He seems to switch between Papa and Tato. See, he had caregivers that spoke Ukrainian and others that spoke Russian...he seems to know some of each. Anyway, he would say "Mama, Tato, y Ali...coocoo"...then followed by laugh, giggle, laugh!!! Guess the truth comes out....even from the mouth of a toddler. Ha!

Enjoy the new pictures....

random pictures