Tage's 100th Day Project

Tage designed and built a ship out of 100 Legos...It was really a neat looking ship!

Tage with his tally list. He grouped his Legos in 10 groups of 10 and kept quite a tidy little tally sheet so he could make sure he accounted for all 100 Legos.

Simon's 100th Day Project

For Simon's 100th day project we painted 20 hand prints, giving us 100 FINGERS!!!

Brant calls this one "caught red handed" :)

Cozy Saturday

Ben and I post nap, sipping coffee and watching a movie...Some Saturdays are like that.

Moments of Glory

If you would have asked me 15yrs ago I would have never imagined myself as a pre-school teacher, daycare provider, or children's activity coordinator...alas here I am and am loving most every minute of it. Today had it's typical moments of glory, like when Ben (my 2yr old) decided to poop on the potty by himself. Before I go on I do need to commend my little devil. He has managed to completely potty train himself in less than a week with pretty much NO help from me. I would have chosen a different week to potty train since we have 2 extra toddlers...but hey if he insists more power to him...right? Oh ya, back to that moment of glory when he decided to poop on the potty by himself. I was cleaning up the kitchen after lunch, my sister and friend Jen were helping organize chaos when Ben came sprinting out of the bathroom, nude as can be, covered in smeared stinky POOP! YES, THAT'S RIGHT...POOP. To help with things my wonderful sister decided to attempt the uninviting task of cleaning Ben up. She guided Ben back to the bathroom (not touching him of course), opened the door and then very gently said..."it's all yours." With a heavy, not so cheerful walk I managed to make my way to the bathroom only to discover massive amounts of POOP spread from one end of the bathroom to the next. With a loud sigh and quick pinch of my breath I looked at Ben, and wondered...WHAT ON EARTH COULD HE HAVE BEEN THINKING!!! DOES HE HAVE ANY IDEA HOW DISCUSTING AND...WELL DISCUSTING THIS IS? I of course did not say that to him, instead I said "hey buddy, wanna take a tubby?" He was more than happy to submit to my lets get clean request and hopped right into the white fluffy bubbles. Really, that whole incident took a matter of 15 minutes from start to finish and was long gone out of my memory by this afternoon. You would think I had had enough mess for one day, but out of some sheer whim I decided to let all 6 kids paint! It was fun, happy, VERY messy and caused Brant to have a small coronary when he saw a little paint that somehow made it's way to the carpet...but I must say...I have won the most favored aunt and mommy award for the day and probably the year!

Ben and Simon showing off their FINE artwork!
Helen and Soren

The Troops!

Our Little Lady

The Essence of Cuteness

They Made It!

Grandpa Madson (he is staying with 4 of the older kids) called this morning and said that sometime in the night Signe left a message saying they had made it to Ethiopia and were at the guest house showering and getting ready to go and meet Nezzy. Right now they are probably at the US Embassy as it is about noon tomorrow and their Embassy appointment was scheduled for the 25th of Feb. Please pray that their appointment goes smoothly and they are able to have a quick approval of Nezzy's immigration to the US.

I apologize if my terminology sounds strange, I am not sure of the exact specifics regarding Embassy paperwork etc... :)

Things are going well here. Busy, as to be expected, and mostly sane. The lack of sanity comes on mine and Brants part. Last night I decided to purchase some new shelving at Costco, which meant Brant had to put together all the pieces and parts before the troops were up and into it in the morning. In the midst of cardboard, screws, and instructions I realized that part of my wedding ring was missing! We spent the better part of late yesterday evening tearing through all the garbage, all the Costco stuff, the van, and found NO ring. Bummer! Today I will call Costco and hope someone found it there. If not...Well, I'd rather not think of if not right now...

Ethiopia Bound!

I have the grand opportunity of documenting the first stop on the Schumakers' journey to Ethiopia! Today, February 22, 2009 Rick, Signe and Brooke left Wenatchee headed for Ethiopia this evening, leaving us with their 2 youngest children Helen (3) and Soren (5). For the next two weeks we will have 6 children under our roof in the following age categories...Tage 7, Simon 5, Soren 5, Violet 4, Helen 3 and Benjamin 2...I know what your thinking... when I say it out loud or see it written like this, my heart speeds up and a fine mist of sweat starts to form on my forehead, but really it is going to be fun just fun. I have things planned...special toys put away that I can pull out in moments of sheer chaos, AND I have an AWESOME hubby that loves playing with the kiddos, and is also ready for our adventure! We feel so blessed that Rick and Sig are giving us this opportunity to participate in their adoption and we all can hardly wait to meet little Nezzy! Please pray for safe travels, and ease as they are united with their new little son.

Back sides...SOOOO Cute!
Brant is driving Rick and Sig to Seattle so I am a very single parent this evening! I kept everyone busy with movies and popcorn.

Rick, Sig and Brooke as they were about to take off. Most of the bags contain many blessings for the children and orphanages they are planning to visit while they are there.

We LOVE Aunt Katie

Our little Miss Violet with one of her VERY favorite people...Aunt Katie

Mid-Winter Break, Play Dates, and Duck Taped Diapers!

This past week the kids have been home on mid-winter break. I can't tell you all how much I love that The River Academy gives us a little break in the winter. I get stir crazy and so do the kids so a little vacation is really nice and much appreciated. We have relaxed and enjoyed each others company, slept in most mornings and eat late breakfasts that sometimes morph into lunch. A vacation from routine has been nice and makes me appreciate the importance of our "regular" schedule. Along with late nights and late mornings we have managed to squeeze in some well needed play dates with the kids friends! Yesterday was an especially fun day since I got to play too! While the kiddos were busy with their friends, I got to visit with my lovely friend Sarah (mommy of Baz and Keelauna) over coffee and lunch. Of course, as always our conversations were often interrupted by much activity but that didn't seem to stop our overwhelming appetite to chit chat the afternoon away! In fact at one point I found Ben playing in Baz's room with no pants or diaper on...he said the "biaper was broken." As usual I didn't bother to bring extra "biapers" and Sarah does not have babies so we resorted to tape...DUCKTAPE (sorry no picture) that is...the always on hand, usable for every scenario tape. I can honestly say I never thought I would ducktape a diaper onto any of my children...but hey...it worked! By the end of the day the kids were wiped out, and this mommy had a full social tank! Fun, Fun Fun!

Tage ready to go play with his buddies Gabe and Sam...He is dressed to play "Narnia"
Everyone ready to go!

Violets bags are packed full of groovy girl dolls and ponies!

Ben's Head Wounds...

It's turning out that a typical Sunday for Ben involves some kind of serious gash to his head brought on by church pews, communion cups and seat belt holders...go figure~! As with most bloody head wounds these are not without great drama and usually include lots of bleeding, serious screaming, panicked siblings or cousins, shaving of the head, starry strips, Motrin and a beer/glass of wine for the tense distraught parents who keep wondering..."WHY?!?!"

Ben's front...now only sporting a scar near the right eyebrow between the eyes. This little wound bled like the dickens AND was caused by him smashing his head into a communion cup at church.
Back of Ben's head which is quite a mess right now...The obviously bloody fresh wound is new today and caused by him falling backwards onto a church pew...no good! The not so fresh wound above it, happened last weekend while piling out of Aunt Siggies van...He will have some mighty fine cowlicks once these all scar over!

From Start To Finish In One Day!

Lookie here what I made today! I purchased these cork tiles sometime ago and decided I did not what to adhere them right to the wall, which gave me an excuse to head on over to CraftWarehouse to find something to add to my cork cube dilemma. I was browsing the frame isle not finding the right size when I stumbled upon an entire display of frames, cork cubes, dry erase sheets, magnetic board, chalk board paint and many other dandy little "odds and ends" to make it work! By the time I was finished I was out the door with all the essentials, and a little more I must confess. It was fun, fast and easy...looks great...and will be serving a MUCH needed purpose in the kitchen.

Valentines Picture Show...

Valentines Day Surprise!

Good Morning and Happy Valentines Day!

We have a little tradition here at the Madson home, that on Valentines Day the kids go away while I make a special meal (always breakfast, even if it's dinner time) and set the table with surprises and goodies for them. Usually we do it at dinner since it is hard to pull all that off at breakfast during the week, but since Valentines Day is on Sat this year we had a wonderful late morning breakfast!

The menu...Real homemade pancakes, fresh strawberry puree, eggs, and of course chocolate milk..you can't have a Valentines Day meal without some sort of chocolate involved!

The goodies...New activity books for the kids, AND very LARGE heart shaped suckers...they loved it!!!!

Where Have You Been?

Happily Piled Under And Not Run Over By
1 Hubby

4 Kiddos

2 Dogs

Countless among countless loads of laundry

1st, 2nd and 3rd breakfast

Followed by...

Lunchies, supper and dinner

2 Bible studies and loads of pre and post prayer...oh and homework

Snacks...more food

Busing, transferring, loading and unloading children

Piano, choir, and homework

The occasional run/workout

And...my down right uncontrollable appetite to be social!

Our New Nephew!

N R Schumaker age 3 holding a picture of his new brothers and sisters...

Please rejoice with us as we celebrate the adoption of our new nephew N R Schumaker (can't post name online yet). Yesterday his birth mother made it to court in Ethiopia, which allowed his adoption to be finalized, I can't express the waves of emotion that raged through me the moment I learned of this wonderful news! How exciting and scary for N to know he has a family coming to get him, how exciting and relieving for Brant's sister's family to have this HUGE hurdle behind them, now they can move onto making travel plans and embassy dates etc. As I am filled to the brim with happiness and thankfulness I can't seem to stop thinking about his birth mother and the monumental day she had yesterday. In the midst of my rejoicing I will continue to pray for her and her health and that Rick and Signe may get a chance to meet her while they are there! God is so good and IS sovereign over ALL things...

...one more thing, if any of you are interested in learning more about N's journey to his new family you can read their blog "Letting Love Cover It."