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Fun was had by all ! My good friend Cindy from Florida
came to visit us ! She and I have several things in
common, such as homeschooling, having three bio older
kids and having adopted from China. Her Jessi joined
theri family around the same time Maggie joined ours. We
met Cindy when we traveled together to get our Silas and
her Sam. Then a year and a half later we traveled
together to bring home our Eden and her Anna. The kids
played great together and really enjoyed the visit a great
deal.
came to visit us ! She and I have several things in
common, such as homeschooling, having three bio older
kids and having adopted from China. Her Jessi joined
theri family around the same time Maggie joined ours. We
met Cindy when we traveled together to get our Silas and
her Sam. Then a year and a half later we traveled
together to bring home our Eden and her Anna. The kids
played great together and really enjoyed the visit a great
deal.
Jessi, 7, and Maggie 6 and a half.
Anna, 4, and Eden, 5.
Sam and Silas are both six; Sam's birthday is six days
before Si's.
before Si's.
It's not easy to get seven kids to look at the camera at the same time and smile !
Cindy and I.
The Bakers have a very strange sense of humor. Canaan
woke up with pink eye, and we went to the doctor for eye drops.
It spead to his other eye, and he also slammed his cheek on a
bar on the trampoline net, and got quite a mark. I was feeling
so sorry for him and trying to take a picture, and Hannah was
laughing so hard at him.
woke up with pink eye, and we went to the doctor for eye drops.
It spead to his other eye, and he also slammed his cheek on a
bar on the trampoline net, and got quite a mark. I was feeling
so sorry for him and trying to take a picture, and Hannah was
laughing so hard at him.
I thought this was really cute. I overheard the kids saying they were bored, and
Maggie said that they needed to put their heads together and think of something
to do. I looked over, and she had all of them like this, with their heads together.
After a minute, she said to me, "Mommy, it's not working ! We put our heads
together and we still don't know what to do."
Maggie said that they needed to put their heads together and think of something
to do. I looked over, and she had all of them like this, with their heads together.
After a minute, she said to me, "Mommy, it's not working ! We put our heads
together and we still don't know what to do."
Our next visitors were the Franco family
from New York. They showed up Saturday
night with lollipops for all ! I met Carol
online, but met her in person when we
traveled to get her John Jr. and our Eden
together. Here is Bella, who I think is 6?
and Tori, who I'm pretty sure is 7? Sorry if
I got it wrong Carol.
from New York. They showed up Saturday
night with lollipops for all ! I met Carol
online, but met her in person when we
traveled to get her John Jr. and our Eden
together. Here is Bella, who I think is 6?
and Tori, who I'm pretty sure is 7? Sorry if
I got it wrong Carol.
| Carol's husband John, who is very entertaining, enjoying a lollipop moment with Silas. |
Another attempt to get a decent picture of seven kids together.
| Me with Carol and John. |
Eden, who sat down to breakfast one morning with her
nightie like this. She is impossibly cute. I can hardly stand it.
nightie like this. She is impossibly cute. I can hardly stand it.
Silas trying to show some love to Peapod, who isn't very
interested in being loved.
interested in being loved.
I came in the kitchen to find Canaan cleaning out
the whole fridge, taking out all the shelves, 409-ing
everything, organizing, tossing.... I asked him what
he wanted, and he just said it needed to be cleaned
so he did it. Hmmm.... some woman is in for a real
catch someday.
the whole fridge, taking out all the shelves, 409-ing
everything, organizing, tossing.... I asked him what
he wanted, and he just said it needed to be cleaned
so he did it. Hmmm.... some woman is in for a real
catch someday.
Ta dah !!! Here is Hannah
with what? Is that a real
driver's license I see? Oh
my! Yes, Hannah finally got
her license this past week
and we are all relieved to
have this conquered. Now
we just need to teach her
how to drive.
with what? Is that a real
driver's license I see? Oh
my! Yes, Hannah finally got
her license this past week
and we are all relieved to
have this conquered. Now
we just need to teach her
how to drive.
08-10-09 Update:
Well five more days until Jordan comes home again! We are all so ready to see her, and she's pretty ready to
be home too. We are preparing for her return, and getting ready to celebrate her birthday when she gets
home. (Her birthday was in June, but she was in Italy at the time.) Today she is in Rome, and will be touring
tomorrow and Wednesday. Then she will fly from Rome to London where she will meet up with a friend and tour
a bit. After that, she will get on her flight home, and we will see her Saturday night!
Also coming home on Saturday is Art! He is working a two week contract at Motorola in South Florida, and will
be driving home on Friday night. We are very thankful for this bit of work to keep us afloat.
We have had fun with friends this month ! Well, actually it was the end of July, and first of August, but I put all
the pictures on the new August page anyway. My friend Cindy from Florida came up to visit us, and we met up
at our friend Shelli's house. Cindy has three children adopted from China, and Shelli has three as well, and I
have four, and our friend Tonya came with her two as well, so we had a whole poolful of beautiful black haired
children. It was a lot of fun. The next day Cindy came to visit at our house, and the next day my friend Carol
from New York stopped by to visit with her three children from China. It was a great reunion time and all the
kids had a wonderful time playing together.
Canaan will register for his classes this week, and we are praying he will be able to get into the classes he
needs. He has four classes he needs to have completed in order to be accepted into the fall 2010 Physical
Therapy program.
Hannah got her driver's license this past week and we are all rejoicing about that. She also has finally landed a
back handspring, and I'm not sure which of those she is most excited about.
Hannah also competed in her first international Taekwondo competition last week. She traveled to Atlanta
where hundreds of people from countries all the world came to compete. She was very excited and the place
was packed. She had prepared for this competition for months. When it finally came time to compete, it turned
out she was competing against the SAME girl she competed with locally at the last two tournaments! This was
very disappointing. She came home with two silvers and a gold, but next year she will have her black belt, and
will be able to compete amongst more people.
Well five more days until Jordan comes home again! We are all so ready to see her, and she's pretty ready to
be home too. We are preparing for her return, and getting ready to celebrate her birthday when she gets
home. (Her birthday was in June, but she was in Italy at the time.) Today she is in Rome, and will be touring
tomorrow and Wednesday. Then she will fly from Rome to London where she will meet up with a friend and tour
a bit. After that, she will get on her flight home, and we will see her Saturday night!
Also coming home on Saturday is Art! He is working a two week contract at Motorola in South Florida, and will
be driving home on Friday night. We are very thankful for this bit of work to keep us afloat.
We have had fun with friends this month ! Well, actually it was the end of July, and first of August, but I put all
the pictures on the new August page anyway. My friend Cindy from Florida came up to visit us, and we met up
at our friend Shelli's house. Cindy has three children adopted from China, and Shelli has three as well, and I
have four, and our friend Tonya came with her two as well, so we had a whole poolful of beautiful black haired
children. It was a lot of fun. The next day Cindy came to visit at our house, and the next day my friend Carol
from New York stopped by to visit with her three children from China. It was a great reunion time and all the
kids had a wonderful time playing together.
Canaan will register for his classes this week, and we are praying he will be able to get into the classes he
needs. He has four classes he needs to have completed in order to be accepted into the fall 2010 Physical
Therapy program.
Hannah got her driver's license this past week and we are all rejoicing about that. She also has finally landed a
back handspring, and I'm not sure which of those she is most excited about.
Hannah also competed in her first international Taekwondo competition last week. She traveled to Atlanta
where hundreds of people from countries all the world came to compete. She was very excited and the place
was packed. She had prepared for this competition for months. When it finally came time to compete, it turned
out she was competing against the SAME girl she competed with locally at the last two tournaments! This was
very disappointing. She came home with two silvers and a gold, but next year she will have her black belt, and
will be able to compete amongst more people.
Hannah practicing back handsprings.
Getting ready to go meet Jordan...
Waiting and looking for
Jordan. See Eden's hand?
Jordan. See Eden's hand?
There she is ! ! ! See her
running down the hallway?
running down the hallway?
O
| Getting reacquainted with Peapod. |
The little ones made frames for Jordan, but
Silas wanted to make her a music box. So, I
had him paint and decorate a box, and we put
a photo of him in it, and I was able to rig up a
music thing cut from a greeting card that plays
Dan Zane's "Smile". She loved it.
Silas wanted to make her a music box. So, I
had him paint and decorate a box, and we put
a photo of him in it, and I was able to rig up a
music thing cut from a greeting card that plays
Dan Zane's "Smile". She loved it.
Jordan has the best reactions....
| Happy Birthday Jordan ! We're so happy you're home!!! (Now go get a job. hahahaha!) (no, seriously, go get a job....) LOVE YOU!!!! |
08-17-09 Update
It has been an exciting week. Art came home Saturday after two weeks of work in Florida, and late Saturday
night Jordan arrived home from Italy. Last week she toured Rome, then spent a couple of days in London,
and flew home on Saturday. It was late for the little ones, but they were very excited. We got home and
Jordan opened up a suitcase full of goodies for everyone. Hannah and Canaan and the little boys all got
soccer shirts and they look great. We stayed up talking and eating Italian cookies and British chocolates.
Now I need to change my routine of waking up early every morning and going down to check if Jordan sent
any emails or posted any blogs. I hardly knew what to do with myself this morning!
On Sunday we celebrated Jordan's 22nd birthday which was actually in June, but she was in Italy so we
postponed it. The kids could not wait another day for it, they were so excited. We had Cold Stone cupcakes
and had a great celebration. I'm sure it will take many more days to catch up on all we missed of each other.
Jordan lost weight in Italy from all the walking and bike riding, hiking, and playing games with kids. She looks
GREAT! Now to find some nice, godly young man to notice that.... :-)
Well, this was certainly the highlight of the past week. We are now gearing up for the fall and school etc. We
had been praying for Canaan to get into the classes he needs this fall, and we were thrown for a loop when
the night before registration it was announced that the state of North Carolina (and no other states) has cut
funding for dual-enrollment. As a result, open dual-enrollment is only available for science, math, and
technical classes, with other college credit classes being offered through an online program that is ONLY
available in the public school system -- not even to private school systems. Discrimination? Certainly so. But
legally, we were told that the colleges are allowed to extend dual enrollment benefits to whomever they wish.
Really? What if they decided that they would not extend it to certain races or genders or orientations etc.?
But no, just private and home schooled students are affected. Completely not cool. But we have figured out
plan B and will carry on.
And Hannah has been driving for over a week and has not crashed the car or killed anyone yet (that we're
aware of anyway). Things are looking good.
It has been an exciting week. Art came home Saturday after two weeks of work in Florida, and late Saturday
night Jordan arrived home from Italy. Last week she toured Rome, then spent a couple of days in London,
and flew home on Saturday. It was late for the little ones, but they were very excited. We got home and
Jordan opened up a suitcase full of goodies for everyone. Hannah and Canaan and the little boys all got
soccer shirts and they look great. We stayed up talking and eating Italian cookies and British chocolates.
Now I need to change my routine of waking up early every morning and going down to check if Jordan sent
any emails or posted any blogs. I hardly knew what to do with myself this morning!
On Sunday we celebrated Jordan's 22nd birthday which was actually in June, but she was in Italy so we
postponed it. The kids could not wait another day for it, they were so excited. We had Cold Stone cupcakes
and had a great celebration. I'm sure it will take many more days to catch up on all we missed of each other.
Jordan lost weight in Italy from all the walking and bike riding, hiking, and playing games with kids. She looks
GREAT! Now to find some nice, godly young man to notice that.... :-)
Well, this was certainly the highlight of the past week. We are now gearing up for the fall and school etc. We
had been praying for Canaan to get into the classes he needs this fall, and we were thrown for a loop when
the night before registration it was announced that the state of North Carolina (and no other states) has cut
funding for dual-enrollment. As a result, open dual-enrollment is only available for science, math, and
technical classes, with other college credit classes being offered through an online program that is ONLY
available in the public school system -- not even to private school systems. Discrimination? Certainly so. But
legally, we were told that the colleges are allowed to extend dual enrollment benefits to whomever they wish.
Really? What if they decided that they would not extend it to certain races or genders or orientations etc.?
But no, just private and home schooled students are affected. Completely not cool. But we have figured out
plan B and will carry on.
And Hannah has been driving for over a week and has not crashed the car or killed anyone yet (that we're
aware of anyway). Things are looking good.