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.