Dream bike

It is my dream to own one of these. It won't do me much good here in the Bush... but someday!

Going to Town!

Tuesday, July 17th

Leaving Stevens

Our pilot told us the flight to Fairbanks should be "nice." His idea of nice must include anything short of a zombie apocalypse. The flight was the bumpiest we’d ever experienced. Turbulence was tossing the plane around like it was dancing (at least that's what Alice told Arwen). Flying in winter is much nicer. The air is too cold to move! Or something like that. I’m not sure on the exact science.

This is a video of our take off. Our airport is a gravel strip and although take off was bumpy this was by far the smoothest part of the trip. You can also see the whole of our village from the air.

Our first stop (after Taco Bell, yum!) was a dentist appointment for Alice to take care of some issues she’d been having with her teeth. Turned out the issues were pretty big. She needed her wisdom teeth removed! I thought most people got that taken care of when they were in their late teens, but Alice likes to do things differently. 

The appointment was scheduled for the next day, so we headed to our hotel outside of town. On the drive there we spotted three moose! This was the first one.

Wednesday, July 18th

The price of wisdom

We weren't sure if we had just been lucky to spot three moose the previous day. We got our answer leaving the parking lot. A moose slowly crossed the entrance in front of us. Three more were spotted before we made it to town. Each one we saw made us comment, “Wow, that one is huge!” Note to reader: 90% of adult moose in Fairbanks in July…are huge.

Alice had two wisdom teeth on her right side removed (the left are coming out next month). The rest of the trip she spent with a swollen jaw and an upset stomach, unable to eat. The pain medicine she was on made her physically sick. We went back to the hotel (no moose this time!) and she "relaxed" (threw up a lot) while I took the kids around the resort.

First, we stopped at the natural hot springs. While you have to be over 18 to get in (the water gets over 100 degrees), they were able to put their hands in the water. They had lots of questions.

"What happens if a duck gets in the water?"

Then there's a duck in the water.

"What happens if fish get in the water?"

Then I suppose there's a fish in the water.

I'm not sure what their confusion was. We went to the playground to play, and they watched a lady feed some ducks. The ducks that hung around the resort were a highlight of the trip for them. Earlier that morning, three white ducks had followed us all the way from our room to the parking lot looking for handouts, which the kids thought was hilarious.

Thursday, July 19th

A busy day

While there was no moose at the entrance to the hotel, we saw seven moose in the span of 30 minutes on our morning drive to the fingerprint appointment. Alice, of course, was on the verge of throwing up the entire time. The federal courthouse where we had to go was pretty intimidating; empty your pockets and remove your shoes kind of place. Dead quiet, too, which is not cool when you’re bringing four kids along. We had threatened them with certain death (not really, but close) if they made any noise, and the three older ones were perfect. Arwen started to whine while we were waiting, which is dangerous because she has a good set of lungs on her. She settled down well enough, though, and we didn’t get kicked out.

The guy who did the fingerprints was really nice, even if we kept messing things up. You know, they ask you to sit down, fill out this paper and wait for them, but the paper says to turn it into the receptionist when you finish. So, I go to turn it in and they politely remind me to sit down and wait for them (duh). Then I missed the piece that says ALIEN ID NUMBER (or SSN). I got skipped while Alice went first. When it’s finally my turn, the guy asks me to take my earrings out. Yeah, I’d need pliers for that. He must have noticed the deer in the headlights look on my face, because he let me keep them in.

Thankfully, though, everyone was, in true Alaskan form, very polite and pleasant. We found out that they only come up to do fingerprints from Anchorage every 2-3 months. We had contemplated rescheduling the appointment to try and get it for August when we will have in-service, but thankfully we didn’t. We might have been waiting until October for the appointment!

Oh, and Alice only throw up once in the bathroom. YAY!

After the fingerprints, it was time to get Alice some new meds that didn’t make her vomit. Of course, the dentist had the day off. We were able to call his home and leave a message. We waited and were about to give up and head to the hotel for a nap when he called back and called in the prescription to Wal-Mart.

Wal Mart Pharmacy. I’ve had some experiences there. This time was no exception. Apparently, they don’t check their voice mail for call-ins unless someone insists that a prescription should be there. Insists three times. Oh, you’re not going away? I guess we’ll check our voice mail. Oh, sir, yeah, apparently the message was on the voice mail! Who would of known!

Alice, of course, was siting in the car with a swollen jaw deciding between pain and nausea. Yeah, one of those days.

By the time we got the medicine, we didn’t have time to drive back to the hotel before meeting up with our awesome Fairbanks friends B. and K. We took care of some other business; our home study got one of those annoying pink slips from the USCIS and our case worker drafted an addendum that I express mailed to Missouri. Hopefully that will take care of it.

Still, we had two hours to kill with the wife in pain and still nauseous and the kids bored. We grabbed a giant sub, crackers and juice and parked at a hotel, of all places, that had a lot of grass. The kids sat in the back of the rental Suburban and ate, then me and the kids ran around the grass in the on-again off-again rain. They had a blast and were soaked. Alice slept in the car. She spent most of our trip sleeping in the car.

Finally, it was time to head to our friend's house! We had a great time meeting our friend B.’s wife K. for the first time and eating homemade pizza and ice cream. I got to play a mindless fighting game on the PS3 and we watched a Monster’s Inc. in Blue Ray magic.

Blue Ray, by the way, is amazing. Don’t watch it unless you are planning on buying a player and new movies, because it makes DVDs seem outdated.

We left their house around 11pm and stopped at the grocery store for some snacks before heading back the hour and a half drive to the hotel. It took over two hours. Seeing moose in the bright light of the morning is pretty cool. Seeing the dark forms of three giant moose in the hazy twilight of Alaska’s summer midnight sun on a narrow, tree-lined road is not so cool. Especially when I was fighting fatigue. I drove 20 miles under the speed limit. Unlike probably any other state, every car we passed was also doing well under the speed limit. Hitting a moose with your car is not like hitting a deer in the lower 48. That would be like saying a garden snake is like a python.

We survived and finally had a day to relax and take the kids swimming in the pool (twice).  I got to swim in the natural hot spring pool. It was probably close to 100 degrees and extremely relaxing.

Friday, July 20th

We make good on a promise

This day had only one goal: swimming. We had promised the kids that we would take them swimming when we were in town. Macy and Arwen love swimming. Arwen was yelling at me in her half-gibberish, half-intelligent language for a while before I realized she was saying "I'll do it myself!" She didn't want me to hold her in the water. Later, in another fit of independence, she demanded being placed in the water without her floaties. I let her head go under water for less than half a second before pulling her up. She asked to have the floaties back on.

I will do it myself!

Macy went all over the pool with her floaties, and even was brave enough to try swimming some without floaties, which lasted until she swallowed too much of the water. Molly Clara was brave enough to get in the water, even if she freaked out a little bit, which is a huge leap forward. Usually she just runs around the pool refusing to get in and then throws a fit when we leave because she didn't get in. Gavin did excellent playing in the pool without his floaties.

Macy helping Molly to swim

We went swimming twice, hit the playground again, and hit the activity center up twice for ice cream treats and coffee. We also had a light dinner; Alice was able to eat a bite of clam chowder. Both of us got in the hot springs this day.

Saturday, July 21st

Guerilla shopping

You should know what guerilla shopping is by now. It's when you drop $700 in mostly-grocery shopping in a short amount of time because you know it will be three weeks before you're back and since we've already paid for the charter, we have to take full advantage. We filled two carts at Fred Meyer's (aka Kroger back east), checked out, and then I went back for a cart of fruits and vegetables. We also hit the farmer's market, the health food store, the chinese restaurant and Starbucks before running out of time and catching our 5pm charter back into Stevens. Thankfully, this time it was a smooth flight and Alice was able to keep her food down.

Back home! We hadn't left the village at all since mid-April, and haven't been out of Stevens for a non school-related trip since December. We head back in mid August for in service and the beginning of the school year! 

Midnight Sun Video

(copied and pasted from our adoption blog)

This past Wednesday was the Summer Solstice. To pass the time while we waited, and since there are basically 24 hours of daylight here just south of the Arctic Circle, we decided to let the kids stay up all night until the technical sunrise, which was at 2:30 am (the sunset was technically at 1:26 am). The kids had a blast playing toys, games and watching movies, as well as having a midnight pancake breakfast. We thought all the kids would konk out before 2:30, but everyone except Arwen made it!

2 of the kids slept until 10am and the other 2 slept until noon the next day. We suffered groggily  until 8pm and thankfully got back on a normal bedtime schedule.

Since most of our friends and all of our family are in the lower 48, we put together a video showing the progress of the sun over the 24 hours, using an outside Lego house as a prop. Check it out!

Extreme Happiness

We've had a rough week. The referral we had to let go was emotional. Then I read the Hunger Games because a ton of people recommended it as soon as they heard I like Twilight. I decided, since I needed a good relaxing read, I'd give it a try. My advice to you is don't read it. It's a terrible series and I am not even close to feeling relaxed now. More like disturbed. And we have been out of the basics for awhile now... like over a week. We miss milk terribly, beans and rice has been our main meal, and my random dinner concoctions are not cutting it anymore. There is only so much you can do with beans, rice, and noodles. We should have had our groceries a while back but the airport mixed things up and sent the schools food instead (hot breakfast ingredients for testing)... which means ours is still sitting at the airport in their fridge/freezer. Our bananas will be black and some of the other fruits and veggies that are damaged will be made into purees and added to our food anyway. That part is fine I just wish we weren't waiting. There are no planes today. And I am sick again but I am blaming it on stress this time.

I got an email this morning that immediately turned my frown upside down! It's a video of us getting a box of grain sweetened chocolate chips from Joe's sister, homemade deer jerky from my Dad, minced garlic from my Ma, random foods we haven't thought to try left for us by one of the village visitors, milk from our friends in town, and the fresh fruit my Aunt Donna sent us for Christmas! Ok it's not any of those things but watch it and you'll understand.

Miniature Olympians

I am taking an apple tech college course (offered from the district so it was free! Woot Woot!). One of our projects was to make an iMovie... It's a bit dark because it was snowing and the green screen at the end is only there because it was required.

Me and Ms. M. took the preschoolers out on the new cross-country skis. The girls had a blast learning to ski and we had a blast watching them. Surprisingly there weren't many falls. These littles are going to be pros!

So what'd ya think? Have you made an iMovie before?

I know what I want for my anniversary

I was going to say a new camera. (Mine broke which explains the lack of posts... also we have strep throat AGAIN! So we are sick and recovering once more.) But I changed my mind. Now I want Cello lessons... or piano. :) This video is so fun!

Wednesday's Confession

What do you do with a child who can't stand you? How do you encourage a naughty child to behave?

Every weekday morning, between 10 and 1, my life is filled with stress and frustration. Each school day I am crushed by my inadequacy. I have no idea what to do with this child. I have exhausted all options we have come up with except a baby gate. Even if that is legal and successful it only solves part of our problem.

Today was not unlike any other morning, she left the room numerous times again today. When coaxed back into the room she screams a long drawn out "NO!" at me, yells "ow!" if I touch her (that's new), and if I try to talk to her it's "stop it!" and those are just a few of her favorites. She doesn't hurt other children (although she isn't especially nice to them) and is eager to learn for a minute on a very good day. I'm told in the mornings she can't wait to get to school and play with her friends... it doesn't show once she's there! All this week she has been sent home early (not my choice) because I can't get control.

Today was the first time I heard the whispers. This particular child has 2 family members who work at the school. Today at lunch the grandmother started whispering to her daughter about me. It was loud in the gym so I'm sure they didn't think I would hear. As soon as I realized what was happening I focused my attention elsewhere. I don't want to hear it. Then, the Auntie of the child directed her words loudly in my direction, "Then just stop bringing her to school!" This is not what I desire and have said this many times to this family. Maybe that is what needs to happen though? I'm not sure. The poor child has a difficult life and she's not yet 3! Her mother is in Fairbanks "without a job to care for her," her grandmother is considering adopting her so she doesn't have to live with her "good for nothing father," and most of the adults in her life are alcoholics! My co-workers are sober enough during school hours, I believe, but I am not a good judge between sober and slightly intoxicated. I only know when they are super drunk... such as the time one called the house looking for her son. When I promised to help her while she confided in me she told me she loved me! *sigh* Obviously drunk. At least she is a silly drunk and not an angry drunk.

So maybe the child isn't naughty at all... maybe she is hurting. Most likely this is the case. Like I said, she isn't yet 3... there are no naughty children at that age. So what now? How do I fix this? What can I do to help her if, after 3 months, this is just getting worse? It has me thinking more about myself... as a person, mother, future adoptive parent. I am so completely inadequate. I. Can't. Do. This. But He can.

Handing it over to the Big Guy

Praying for His guidance

So the title says Wednesday's Confession but feeling inadequate wasn't the only confession.
Since I had had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day (more happened I didn't post here) I convinced myself I deserved a treat. So I drank a sunkist. Then I found a box of HUGE eclairs in the kitchen. I hid in there and ate two of them.
I came back later and had two more!

Remember -always wear your helmet

Macy and Molly were in the room when I clicked on the video. They only caught the first part of the video but Macy walked away laughing like crazy and repeats, "HOLY COW! Chef!" Nice. I think I'm going to steal her word. *toe stub* holy cow! CHEF!

Update- So as soon as I posted this someone knocked on the door so I hopped up to answer it... too quickly. Wouldn't you know I stubbed my toe! It hurt so bad (it was the 'bad' toe/foot) but I couldn't stop laughing because I knew the next words out of my mouth had to be... Holy cow! CHEEEF!

If you don't love Raffi you're not human

I used to sing this often as a kid... and in fact I still do. I love love love Raffi! MUST get some Raffi for preschoolers!

Who would have guessed it?

I thought this was an adorable little girl dancing all care free and cute like kids do... woah! Watch that!



Who knew it was going to be a flashmod?! I LOVE watching flashmobs but this one totally surprised me. So it wasn't just a cute little girl dancing to the beat of her own drum? She has talent... trying to remember all those crazy moves... maybe she choreographed it herself LOL! Did it freak anyone else out when the cute little kids, hiding under the table, disappeared with the wall?

Happy day to ya!

Nothin better

Things that will ALWAYS put a smile on my face... a baby laughing, Charlie bit me, and a flash mod. This particular one has the cutest old man doing the Hammer dance! LOVE IT

Ethiopian Orphans a video

Ethiopian Orphans from Simon Scionka on Vimeo.
When I see these sweet faces I think about our kidos and it just breaks my heart. Adoption is not the only solution to the orphan crisis but it's for sure a great option! Ethiopia is not the only place where orphans need you but it's a fantastic place to start. If God has been tugging on your heart strings then please be obedient and go for it!

Matthew 25:35-40 (NLT) 35 For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. 36 I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’
37 “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? 39 When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
40 “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’

Matthew 18:5 (NIV) "And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me."

Valentines Help Giveaway

Valentine’s Day is right around the corner and every year I struggle with what to get Joe. Oh wait… We’ve been getting each other the same thing for YEARS! Every year our gifts are exceptionally unique and extremely hard to find. It’s a gift that screams, “I know you.” I know some of you are laughing already. If you aren’t you probably haven’t watched this SNL commercial parody. So go ahead and do that now.
No really, right now. You deserve a laugh today.

Feel better? Now you are ‘in the loop’ and we can continue this post properly.

So yes, every year for Valentine’s Day Joe gives and receives a ‘Teddy Bear holding a heart’! It ranges from drawings to homemade or store bought bears. For those of you who know Joe (or have seen a previous post with his artistic painting abilities broadcast) know he has exceptional artistic abilities. I can’t wait to see what he comes up with this year! I know he is already planning something in that gooey brain of his… which puts me behind in my search for this perfect gift. Hahahaha! Really though, I do have trouble figuring out how to make it different from the years previous. This year it seems harder than usual. Maybe it’s because I cut almost a foot of hair off (again… your welcome locks of love) and I’m pretty sure my brain went with it. So if you have any bizarre ideas/advice feel free to share it with me. The crazier the better! Random/Best comment wins… a special prize!

A Gotcha Day Video

The interviews are pouring in and the applications for jobs are going out. I just have to work on being less like Jonah. I will go where God wants me to... but I should do it with a good attitude too. Other than that there is nothing new to report. So here is one of those amazingly moving videos we all love so much! Enjoy! 

Maleah Vandergiessen from Jay McKenney on Vimeo.

4 yr olds work for God also

When we started this adoption thought process both Joe and I thought we would adopt babies or at most a baby and a toddler no older than two. I have to say that that didn't last long for me. I felt God pulling me a different direction. I want an "older child." When I voiced this thought to Joe he looked at me like I was crazy and said absolutely not! So I didn't bring it up. Instead I started praying that if this was what was to be done then speak to Joe's heart as well. If not then change my mind. We have to be in this together! Much later I stumbled across this blog post   and decided it was time to bring it up with Joe again to see where he stood. I quoted a line from the blog post linked above "...a child is never too old to be adopted." I looked at our children and said to Joe, "Now tell them they're too old to have a family. Macy I'm sorry but you are too old to be loved." Macy turned to him and said, "But Dad we are just kids!" Ha! So I wasn't the one meant to convince Joe at all... God used our 4 year old daughter to do it. Amazing. Well that got the ball rolling in a new direction for him. I then stumbled across the movie, War Dance, and decided to give it a try. It seemed interesting enough. (It is a must see for anyone who is trying to understand why we want to adopt from Africa. Watch it.) I have a "feeling" we will no longer be looking to adopt babies ;)

Update on progress: Joe has news about a new job option that he will be posting about soon. I am in the process of experimenting with my sewing talents to make something people would love to buy to help fund our adoption. Right now most things are just ideas. If any of you have ideas on fund raising let us know. Hopefully we will get started on those things soon! 

Where God is leading us

So last night I was reading a blog written by Sallee, whom I met at Macy's Ballet class. She had written about a give away so I clicked on this link and ended up watching this video. Those 15 minutes have changed our lives. Our 5 years together have gone something like this: we will have 3 kids and then maybe we will adopt, to we have 4 kids and one day we will adopt, to we have 4 kids and must start our adoption journey now! I have felt that lately God was leading us in this direction with more force than usual but last night He spoke directly to my heart with full force and I know that NOW is the time to get started. I know that NOW being the time won't make sense to anyone else. We have 4 children already, Joe doesn't have a "real" job, we don't own a home, and we have never had very much money but who are we to question God? Nonetheless I have in fact questioned Him on this one. Really? Me? Where will we get the money? Why?! Can I really do this? The answer to all those is simply Faith. We must have Faith and Trust in God. So here is where we are today... We have chosen to go international. Due to our ages and the number of children already in our home we don't have a large selection of countries so it looks like we will be adopting from Ethiopia. We for sure want a boy possibly 2 and in fact would like to adopt them both at once if it's possible. The first step is for Joe to move up jobs from pizza hut delivery boy to teaching. There are new teaching postings every day now that the schools are getting their contracts in. He has an interview with the DCS in Shelbyville soon and although it's not exactly what we want God has a plan. If this is what God has planned for us then let it be so.
We really need encouragement, guidance and prayers! So please pray that Joe gets a better paying job soon and for God's guidance. Somewhere (possibly not yet conceived) our child is waiting. I want to get to him as soon as possible!

...once our eyes are opened we can't pretend we don't know what to do. God, who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls, knows that we know and holds us responsible to act. Proverbs 24:12