Nine Months!

The end of January marked seven months of the girls being home.  And this blog post never got written.  The end of February came and went and the girls had been home for eight months and still this blog never got published.  Here we are in the beginning of March and before we hit the end, when the girls will have been here for Nine months, I am going to publish this post.  And it will be early!  (I know, this is the same thing as writing things on your To-Do list that you have already done just to show progress.  We Type A's are like that sometimes!)

We finally got enough snow to build a snow friend....but now we really want our flip-flops!

 June seems like ages ago.   So where are we seven eight almost nine months later?    By God's grace, we are feeling "normal."  There is nothing that really sticks out about us.  Okay, maybe we stick out a little because we are a large family.  For example, there was a guy in Walmart this week who asked if I did day care.  When I responded that they are all mine he followed up with, "Um, adopted?"  When I affirmed that some of them were, he threw up a big ol' high five and reported that he, too, had been adopted.  It is always nice to have a fan when you are in the trenches of shopping for aluminum foil in Walmart with six children who all want to pick out different dog treats for the new puppy that arrives in a week.  (Did I mention they were all loud and rowdy since they had only been outside once in the previous week because it is so cold? )

But aside from that, things are really normal.  Well, except there is still a little language learning going on.  Today I had to explain the difference between a hearse and a horse. That was a very amusing conversation to have.  My Haitian new reader is really fighting with the R-controlled vowels!

At the mid-point in the school year we are happy to report 6 kids who enjoy school (for the most part)!  Naomi is well on her way to being and independent reader and writer and this week she conquered the doubles addition facts and tens pairs.  These are little victories in a big war, but they are huge in our world.   Just when I am ready to throw in the towel on a given concept she shows up having mastered it.  I am perpetually reminding myself that she has MANY hurdles to overcome that most kids will never deal with, and she is attacking them head on.  She participated in our home-school science fair last month and did a great job of talking with the judges about what she had learned.  I was so proud and she loved getting a third place ribbon!

Joanna is enjoying preschool and especially loves her weekly field trip with Nana and her two cousins to the library for story time.  She loves Mr. John who sings songs and reads stories and leads them in a craft and typically comes home with her project demanding that it be hung up in the kitchen.  We are trying a couple of weeks of gluten-free diet for her to see if that will improve some minor issues.  She is such a delight that even when the rest of the crew is eating homemade bread she gladly eats her "special food" since "glue stick" makes her tummy hurt.  Gluten, sweet girl, gluten.  (Though glue sticks would hurt you too)

One of my masterpieces!

I am coming to terms with Haitian hair, and now taking hairstyle requests from Naomi every two weeks.  Last week she really brought on the challenge with a request for braids that wrapped around her head and ended on the top with beads that would look like bangs but in the end she said I did great.  "I knew you could do it Mom!"  I still have a long way to go, but I no longer feel intimidated by the lady at the library who offered me her phone number to help with Joanna's hair two months ago.

Joanna helping big sis with her photography class