Funny things

I enjoy the boys conversations and words that they can't say quite right yet.

Drew saw me packing his bag for our trip tomorrow and he went right over to Sam and said "Sam, I'm going on trip.  You gonna miss me?"  So sweet!

packpack = backpack

lellow = yellow

Where you are?

The boys have started playing hide n seek with each other.  It goes better than when Aaron tried to teach them a year ago, but Sam just can't wait quietly.  As soon as Drew finishes counting, he yells "Where you are?" and Sam yells back "Come find me!"  Drew goes straight to where Sam is hiding.  Sam then proceeds to accuse me of telling Drew where he was hiding.

The other game they like to play is the Quiet game and I'm all over this!  They will talk 90 mph and then one of them will say "Let's play the quiet game.  Starting now."  They are actually pretty good at this game, and surprisingly, Sam wins the majority of the time.

One year ago

One year ago, we were given custody of the boys and went to pick them up for the last time from the foster home.

One year ago

What a difference a year makes!  It hasn't always been easy, but nothing worthwhile ever is right?  We love these boys so much!

Learning

We continue to teach the boys good manners.  They are pretty good at saying Yes m'am/sir, no m'am/sir, please, thank you, God bless you, etc.  They have taken this to the point of saying "Mom (or Dad) thank you for cooking this" when we sit down to eat.  They also say this to friends so I know they are getting the message.

They are also learning to encourage others.  Today, Sam said to me "Mom, you did a good job cleaning your room."

The boys are doing really well in school. We had a conference with Drew's teacher and she said that he is right in the middle of the other kids who will go into kindergarten next year.  This is really an accomplishment since he's only been in America for less than a year. 

Sam is learning to play baseball.  He gets really excited about it, but sometimes forgets that it's baseball and he'll say football or basketball.

Christmas

Finally updating after 3 months away.  I'm blaming the holidays and life flying by for not keeping up with my posts.  I'll try to go in order.



School Christmas play - even though the boys are in different classes, Sam was seated behind Drew.  Drew's teacher told me that it wasn't planned.

 



Drew frosting his own cookie at school party

 

Sam opening a gift in his class

 

The boys decorating a gingerbread train

 

Sam meeting Santa Claus - also called Ho Ho. 



Sam was so excited when Santa Claus came to grandma's house.  He wanted to be the first one to sit on his lap.  He was not shy at all.

Drew meeting Santa Claus

Drew was very shy around Santa.  He held onto my leg when he first saw him.  Drew was the last one to sit on Santa's lap.

Christmas morning

The boys didn't know what to expect!  They slept in until 8:30 and only woke up because we let Gus wake them up.  I hadn't put any presents around the tree and they were so excited to see the stockings and presents.  I'm sure next year will be a very different experience.

We all went to Midnight Mass at our church.  Gus was an altar server.  The boys were very well behaved and stayed awake the whole time.  It was our first time at Midnight Mass since the new church was built.  In previous years, we had gone to the earlier children's mass because Gus was in the choir.

 

 

 

 

My favorite present

Aaron and the boys had a big surprise for me.  Aaron had made this metal cross.  Gus told him to weld 'Jesus lives in Family' on it.  Then he welded flowers, vines, and all our names on it.  Lastly, they all painted it.  The little boys used their thumbs for the flowers and leaves, while Aaron and Gus did the more detailed work.  I cried like a baby!